Impaired Conscious Recognition of Negative Facial Expressions in Patients with Locked-in Syndrome

The involvement of facial mimicry in different aspects of human emotional processing is widely debated. However, little is known about relationships between voluntary activation of facial musculature and conscious recognition of facial expressions. To address this issue, we assessed severely motor-disabled patients with complete paralysis of voluntary facial movements due to lesions of the ventral pons [locked-in syndrome (LIS)]. Patients were required to recognize others’ facial expressions and to rate their own emotional responses to presentation of affective scenes.LISpatientswere selectivelyimpairedin recognition of negativefacial expressions,thusdemonstratingthatthe voluntary activation of mimicry represents a high-level simulation mechanism crucially involved in explicit attribution of emotions

Rapid System to Detect Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Nasopharyngeal Swabs

Currently, the reference method for identifying the presence of variants of SARS-CoV-2 is whole genome sequencing. Although it is less expensive than in the past, it is still time-consuming, and interpreting the results is difficult, requiring staff with specific skills who are not always available in diagnostic laboratories. The test presented in this study aimed to detect, using traditional real-time PCR, the presence of the main variants described for the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 genome. The primers and probes were designed to detect the main deletions that characterize the different variants. The amplification targets were deletions in the S gene: 25-27, 69-70, 241-243, and 157-158. In the ORF1a gene, the deletion 3675-3677 was chosen. Some of these mutations can be considered specific variants, while others can be identified by the simultaneous presence of one or more deletions. We avoided using point mutations in order to improve the speed of the test. Our test can help clinical and medical microbiologists quickly recognize the presence of variants in biological samples (particularly nasopharyngeal swabs). The test can also be used to identify variants of the virus that could potentially be more diffusive as well as not responsive to the vaccine

Sign-changing tower of bubbles for a sinh-Poisson equation with asymmetric exponents

Motivated by the statistical mechanics description of stationary 2D-turbulence, for a sinh-Poisson type equation with asymmetric nonlinearity, we construct a concentrating solution sequence in the form of a tower of singular Liouville bubbles, each of which has a different degeneracy exponent. The asymmetry parameter $\gamma\in(0,1]$ corresponds to the ratio between the intensity of the negatively rotating vortices and the intensity of the positively rotating vortices. Our solutions correspond to a superposition of highly concentrated vortex configurations of alternating orientation; they extend in a nontrivial way some known results for $\gamma=1$. Thus, by analyzing the case $\gamma\neq1$ we emphasize specific properties of the physically relevant parameter $\gamma$ in the vortex concentration phenomena

Mediterranean Forecasting System: forecast and analysis assessment through skill scores

Abstract. This paper describes the first evaluation of the quality of the forecast and analyses produced at the basin scale by the Mediterranean ocean Forecasting System (MFS) (http://gnoo.bo.ingv.it/mfs). The system produces short-term ocean forecasts for the following ten days. Analyses are produced weekly using a daily assimilation cycle. The analyses are compared with independent data from buoys, where available, and with the assimilated data before the data are inserted. In this work we have considered 53 ten days forecasts produced from 16 August 2005 to 15 August 2006. The forecast skill is evaluated by means of root mean square error (rmse) differences, bias and anomaly correlations at different depths for temperature and salinity, computing differences between forecast and analysis, analysis and persistence and forecast and persistence. The Skill Score (SS) is defined as the ratio of the rmse of the difference between analysis and forecast and the rmse of the difference between analysis and persistence. The SS shows that at 5 and 30 m the forecast is always better than the persistence, but at 300 m it can be worse than persistence for the first days of the forecast. This result may be related to flow adjustments introduced by the data assimilation scheme. The monthly variability of SS shows that when the system variability is high, the values of SS are higher, therefore the forecast has higher skill than persistence. We give evidence that the error growth in the surface layers is controlled by the atmospheric forcing inaccuracies, while at depth the forecast error can be interpreted as due to the data insertion procedure. The data, both in situ and satellite, are not homogeneously distributed in the basin; therefore, the quality of the analyses may be different in different areas of the basin

The combined use of VIGl@ct (R) (bioMerieux) and fluorescent amplified length fragment polymorphisms in the investigation of potential outbreaks

Even with good surveillance programmes, hospital-acquired infections (HAls) are not always recognized and this may lead to an outbreak. In order to reduce this risk, we propose a model for prompt detection of HAls, based on the use of a real-time epidemiological information system called VIGI@ct (R) (bioMerieux, Las Balmas, France) and on the rapid confirmation or exclusion of the genetic relationship among pathogens using fluorescent amplified length fragment polymorphism (f-AFLP) microbial fingerprinting. We present the results of one year's experience with the system, which identified a total, of 306 suspicious HAls. Of these, 281 (92%) were 'confirmed' by clinical evidence, 16 (5%) were considered to be simple colonization and the tatter nine (3%) were archived as 'not answered' because of the absence of the physician's cooperation. There were seven suspected outbreaks; of these, f-AFLP analysis confirmed the clonal relationship among the isolates in four cases: outbreak 1 (four isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa), outbreak 2 (three Escherichia coli isolates), outbreak 6 (two Candida parapsilosis isolates) and outbreak 7 (30 ESPL-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. pneumoniae). Based on our results, we conclude that the combination of VIGI@ct (R) and f-AFLP is useful in the rapid assessment of an outbreak due to Gram-positive or Gramnegative bacteria and yeasts. (C) 2007 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Don't forget the jumper's knee in the young sportsman: evaluation of patellar tendinopathy with a high frequency ultrasound probe.

8Patellar tendinopathy, or Jumper's knee, is a painful knee condition caused by inflammation of the patella tendon. This condition is most frequently observed in subjects who play sports that require repetitive regular jumping. Jumper's knee is frequently misdiagnosed as a minor injury and many athletes, like our patient, keep on training and competing and either tend to ignore the injury or attempt to treat it themselves. However, jumper's knee is a serious condition that requires a correct and timely diagnosis, which often necessitates ultrasound investigation in order to start the most appropriate treatment.openopenRuaro B; Cutolo M; Alessandri E; Zaottini F; Picasso R; Pistoia F; Ferrari G; Martinoli C.Ruaro, B; Cutolo, M; Alessandri, E; Zaottini, F; Picasso, R; Pistoia, F; Ferrari, G; Martinoli, C

Immunomodulatory agents as potential therapeutic or preventive strategies for COVID-19

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, represents the greatest global health threat. Most people infected by the virus present mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and recover with supportive treatments. However, certain susceptible hosts develop an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), associated with an inflammatory “cytokine storm”, leading to lung damage. Despite the current availability of different COVID-19 vaccines, the new emerging SARS-CoV-2 genetic variants represent a major concern worldwide, due to their increased transmissibility and rapid spread. Indeed, it seems that some mutations or combinations of mutations might confer selective advantages to the virus, such as the ability to evade the host immune responses elicited by COVID-19 vaccines. Several therapeutic approaches have been investigated but, to date, a unique and fully effective therapeutic protocol has not yet been achieved. In addition, steroid-based therapies, aimed to reduce inflammation in patients with severe COVID-19 disease, may increase the risk of opportunistic infections, increasing the hospitalization time and mortality rate of these patients. Hence, there is an unmet need to develop more effective therapeutic options. Here, we discuss the potential use of natural immunomodulators such as Thymosin α1 (Tα1), all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), and lactoferrin (LF), as adjunctive or preventive treatment of severe COVID-19 disease. These agents are considered to be multifunctional molecules because of their ability to enhance antiviral host immunity and restore the immune balance, depending on the host immune status. Furthermore, they are able to exert a broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity by means of direct interactions with cellular or molecular targets of pathogens or indirectly by increasing the host immune response. Thus, due to the aforementioned properties, these agents might have a great potential in a clinical setting, not only to counteract SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also to prevent opportunistic infections in critically ill COVID-19 patients

Blow-up solutions for linear perturbations of the Yamabe equation

For a smooth, compact Riemannian manifold (M,g) of dimension N \geg 3, we are interested in the critical equation $$\Delta_g u+(N-2/4(N-1) S_g+\epsilon h)u=u^{N+2/N-2} in M, u>0 in M,$$ where \Delta_g is the Laplace--Beltrami operator, S_g is the Scalar curvature of (M,g), $h\in C^{0,\alpha}(M)$, and $\epsilon$ is a small parameter