How cooperation between EU states shapes counterterrorism policies

Cooperation between EU states has become increasingly important in the fight against terrorism. But what types of cooperation are most beneficial? Drawing on a new study, Mario Gilli and Paolo Tedeschi find that intelligence cooperation is associated with more efficient defensive policies than unanimous political cooperation

Retinal micro-vascular and aortic macro-vascular changes in postmenopausal women with primary hyperparathyroidism

Aim of the study was to evaluate the micro and macro-vascular changes in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) compared to controls. 30 postmenopausal PHPT women (15 hypertensive and 15 normotensive) and 30 normotensive controls underwent biochemical evaluation of mineral metabolism and measurements of arterial stiffness by 24 hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. Retinal microcirculation was imaged by a Retinal Vessel Analyzer. PHPT patients also underwent bone mineral density measurements and kidney ultrasound. PHPT patients had higher mean calcium and parathyroid hormone values compared to controls. Evaluating macro-vascular compartment, we found higher values of 24 hours-systolic, diastolic blood pressure, aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) and aortic augmentation index (Aix) in hypertensive PHPT, but not in normotensive PHPT compared to controls. The eye examination showed narrowing arterial and venular diameters of retinal vessels in both hypertensive and normotensive PHPT compared to controls. In hypertensive PHPT, 24 hours systolic blood pressure was associated only with parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels (beta = 0.36, p = 0.04). aPWV was associated with retinal diameter (beta = −0.69, p = 0.003), but not with PTH. Retinal artery diameter was associated with PTH (beta = −0.6, p = 0.008). In the normotensive PHPT, only PTH was associated with retinal artery diameter (beta = −0.60, p = 0.01) and aortic AIx (beta = 0.65, p = 0.02). In conclusion, we found macro-vascular impairment in PHPT and that micro-vascular impairment is negatively associated with PTH, regardless of hypertension in PHPT

Prepectoral breast reconstruction: an ideal approach to bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy

Background: Bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM) has increased its popularity in the last years because of its aim to minimise the chances of developing breast cancer in high-risk patients. Women undergoing this procedure must be considered highly demanding patients given the need to combine aesthetical, functional and preventive desires. This study aims to present the authors’ experience in performing BRRM followed by single-stage prepectoral reconstruction (PPBR) with implant completely covered by acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and to report indications, surgical techniques, functional and aesthetic results. Methods: A single-centre prospective data collection was carried out from January 2017 to January 2021 of patients at high risk of developing breast cancer undergoing BRRM and immediate PPBR with ADM. Patients were subdivided into two groups according to the breast shape: Group A had small and medium size breasts and Group B had large and ptotic breasts. Oncological and surgical outcomes were collected. Satisfaction with reconstruction and related quality of life were evaluated through the BREAST-Q questionnaire. Results: A total of twenty-three patients met the inclusion criteria. Seventeen patients were included in group A and six patients in group B. Average follow-up was 18.4 months. Minor complications occurred in four breasts: one seroma, one hematoma and two cases of wound dehiscence. Capsular contracture was not observed. All patients were satisfed with the fnal result according to the post-operative BREAST-Q questionnaire. Conclusions: Immediate prepectoral breast reconstruction could represent the ideal reconstruction option after BRRM and should be offered to all women that fulfl the inclusion criteria

Long-term follow-up of patients with Bartter syndrome type I and II

Background. Little information is available on a long-term follow-up in Bartter syndrome type I and II. Methods. Clinical presentation, treatment and long-term follow-up (5.0-21, median 11years) were evaluated in 15 Italian patients with homozygous (n = 7) or compound heterozygous (n = 8) mutations in the SLC12A1 (n = 10) or KCNJ1 (n = 5) genes. Results. Thirteen new mutations were identified. The 15 children were born pre-term with a normal for gestational age body weight. Medical treatment at the last follow-up control included supplementation with potassium in 13, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents in 12 and gastroprotective drugs in five patients. At last follow-up, body weight and height were within normal ranges in the patients. Glomerular filtration rate was <90mL/min/1.73m2 in four patients (one of them with a pathologically increased urinary protein excretion). In three patients, abdominal ultrasound detected gallstones. The group of patients with antenatal Bartter syndrome had a lower renin ratio (P < 0.05) and a higher standard deviation score (SDS) for height (P < 0.05) than a previously studied group of patients with classical Bartter syndrome. Conclusions. Patients with Bartter syndrome type I and II tend to present a satisfactory prognosis after a median follow-up of more than 10years. Gallstones might represent a new complication of antenatal Bartter syndrom

An Overview of Dairy Cattle Models for Predicting Milk Production: Their Evolution, Evaluation, and Application for the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) for Livestock.

The contemporary concern about anthropogenic release of greenhouse gas (GHG) into the environment and the contribution of livestock to this phenomenon have sparked animal scientists’ interest in predicting methane (CH4) emissions by ruminants. Focusing on milk production, we address six basic nutrition models or feeding standards (mostly empirical systems) and five complex nutrition models (mostly mechanistic systems), describe their key characteristics, and highlight their similarities and differences. Four models were selected to predict milk production in lactating dairy cows, and the adequacy of their predictions was measured against the observed milk production from a database that was compiled from 37 published studies from six regions of the world, totalling 173 data points. We concluded that not all models were suitable for predicting predict milk production and that simpler systems might be more resilient to variations in studies and production conditions around the world. Improving the predictability of milk production by mathematical nutrition models is a prerequisite to further development of systems that can effectively and correctly estimate the contribution of ruminants to GHG emissions and their true share of the global warming even

Dynamic spectral signatures of mirror movements in the sensorimotor functional connectivity network of patients with Kallmann syndrome

In Kallmann syndrome (KS), the peculiar phenomenon of bimanual synkinesis or mirror movement (MM) has been associated with a spectral shift, from lower to higher frequencies, of the resting-state fMRI signal of the large-scale sensorimotor brain network (SMN). To possibly determine whether a similar frequency specificity exists across different functional connectivity SMN states, and to capture spontaneous transitions between them, we investigated the dynamic spectral changes of the SMN functional connectivity in KS patients with and without MM symptom. Brain MRI data were acquired at 3 Tesla in 39 KS patients (32 without MM, KSMM-, seven with MM, KSMM+) and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy control (HC) individuals. The imaging protocol included 20-min rs-fMRI scans enabling detailed spectro-temporal analyses of large-scale functional connectivity brain networks. Group independent component analysis was used to extract the SMN. A sliding window approach was used to extract the dynamic spectral power of the SMN functional connectivity within the canonical physiological frequency range of slow rs-fMRI signal fluctuations (0.01-0.25 Hz). K-means clustering was used to determine (and count) the most recurrent dynamic states of the SMN and detect the number of transitions between them. Two most recurrent states were identified, for which the spectral power peaked at a relatively lower (state 1) and higher (state 2) frequency. Compared to KS patients without MM and HC subjects, the SMN of KS patients with MM displayed significantly larger spectral power changes in the slow 3 canonical sub-band (0.073-0.198 Hz) and significantly fewer transitions between state 1 (less recurrent) and state 2 (more recurrent). These findings demonstrate that the presence of MM in KS patients is associated with reduced spontaneous transitions of the SMN between dynamic functional connectivity states and a higher recurrence and an increased spectral power change of the high-frequency state. These results provide novel information about the large-scale brain functional dynamics that could help to understand the pathologic mechanisms of bimanual synkinesis in KS syndrome and, potentially, other neurological disorders where MM may also occur

Reduced intracranial volume in Fabry Disease: Evidence of abnormal neurodevelopment?

Introduction: Lysosomal storage disorders (LSD) are often characterized by abnormal brain development, reflected by a reduction of intracranial volume (ICV). The aim of our study was to perform a volumetric analysis of intracranial tissues in Fabry Disease (FD), investigating possible reductions of ICV as a potential expression of abnormal brain development in this condition. Materials and Methods: Forty-two FD patients (15males,mean age 43.3±13.0 years) were enrolled along with 38 healthy controls (HC) of comparable age and sex. Volumetric MRI data were segmented using SPM12 to obtain intracranial tissue volumes, from which ICV values were derived. Results: Mean ICV of FD patients was 8.1% smaller compared to the control group (p<5·10−5). Unlike what typically happens in neurodegenerative disorders, no significant differences emerged when comparing between the two groups the fractional volumes of gray matter, white matter and CSF (i.e., normalized by ICV), consistent with a harmonious volumetric reduction of intracranial structures. Discussion: The present results suggest that in FD patients an abnormality of brain development is present, expanding the current knowledge about central nervous system involvement in FD, further emphasizing the importance of an early diagnosis

Human adipose-derived stem cells promote vascularization of collagen-based scaffolds transplanted into nude mice

Aim: After in vivo implantation of cell-loaded devices, only the cells close to the capillaries can obtain nutrients to maintain their functions. It is known that factors secreted by stem cells, rather than stem cells themselves, are fundamental to guarantee new vascularization in the area of implant. Materials & methods: To investigate this possibility, we have grafted mice with Bilayer and Flowable Integra\uae scaffolds, loaded or not with human adipose-derived stem cells. Results: Our results support the therapeutic potential of human adipose-derived stem cells to induce new vascular networks of engineered organs and tissues. Conclusion: This finding suggests that our approach can help to form new vascular networks that allow sufficient vascularization of engineered organs and tissues in cases of difficult wound healing due to ischemic conditions

Design and Experimental Assessment of a 2D Microwave Imaging System for Brain Stroke Monitoring

The aim of this paper is to present and experimentally verify the first prototype of a microwave imaging system specifically designed and realized for the continuous monitoring of patients affected by brain stroke, immediately after its onset and diagnosis. The device is a 2D version of the 3D system, currently under construction, and consists of an array of 12 printed monopole antennas connected to a two-port vector network analyzer through a switching matrix so that each antenna can act as a transmitter or receiver, thereby allowing the acquisition of the entire multistatic multiview scattering matrix required for the imaging. The system has been experimentally tested on 2D phantoms with electric properties mimicking the brain. The presence and the evolution of the stroke have been reproduced by filling a proper cavity in the phantom with a liquid having the electric properties of blood. A differential approach has been adopted by acquiring the scattering matrix before and after the filling of the blood cavity. The so achieved differential dataset has been processed by means of a linear imaging algorithm in order to reconstruct the stroke location and dimension. Moreover, the effect of pre- and postprocessing operations on the measured data is investigated. A good agreement has been obtained between the reconstructions and the actual scenario. As a final remark, it is worth noting that the entire data acquisition and processing are sufficiently fast to allow a real-time monitoring

Neurovascular coupling in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Functional and metabolic neural changes in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) can be associated with poor cognitive performances. Here we analyzed the functional-metabolic neurovascular coupling (NVC) in the brain of T2DM patients. Thirty-three patients (70 +/- 6 years, 15 males) with recent T2DM diagnosis and 18 healthy control (HC) subjects (65 +/- 9 years, 9 males) were enrolled in a brain MRI study to identify the potential effects of T2DM on NVC. T2DM patients were either drug-naive (n = 19) or under treatment with metformin (n = 14) since less than 6 months. Arterial spin labeling and blood oxygen level dependent resting-state functional MRI (RS-fMRI) images were combined to derive NVC measures in brain regions and large-scale networks in a standard brain parcelation. Altered NVC values in T2DM patients were correlated with cognitive performances spanning several neurological domains using Spearman correlation coefficients. Compared to HC, T2DM patients had reduced NVC in the default mode network (DMN) and increased NVC in three regions of the dorsal (DAN) and salience-ventral (SVAN) attention networks. NVC abnormalities in DAN and SVAN were associated with reduced visuo-spatial cognitive performances. A spatial pattern of NVC reduction in the DMN, accompanied by isolated regional NVC increases in DAN and SVAN, could reflect the emergence of (defective) compensatory processes in T2DM patients in response to altered neurovascular conditions. Overall, this pattern is reminiscent of neural abnormalities previously observed in Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that similar neurobiological mechanisms, secondary to insulin resistance and manifesting as NVC alterations, might be developing in T2DM pathology