Zoonoses and information of the public: the role of media, with special reference to Italy

The significance of zoonoses varies depending on many socio\u2010economic factors and on the specific situation that prevails in a specific area. The role of the media often determines the importance given to a disease. In resource\u2010rich countries, a zoonosis may be perceived as being important due to inaccurate information that has been circulated by mass media on the risk of infection for animals and humans and on the possible use of the agent for terrorist actions. Images of sick or dead people and animals, drastic methods of control and others, can contribute to an overestimation of the significance of a disease. Information can be lacking or absent in regard to socio\u2010economic factors that clarify occurrence and also on geographic distribution. Therefore, the sensitivity of people can be influenced rapidly and negative socio\u2010economic consequences can occur. These zoonoses can be named \u2018mediaoriented (emphasised) zoonoses\u2019. On the contrary, some zoonoses are scarcely considered for several reasons, for instance: occurrence in poverty\u2010stricken areas and populations, risks of infection for people not considered important enough to deserve medical care, little interest from the media, decision\u2010makers and health services, lack of information and official reports. These zoonoses can be named \u2018neglected zoonoses\u2019. Some examples of zoonoses included in the above categories are described

Hyperballistic superdiffusion and explosive solutions to the non-linear diffusion equation

By means of a particle model that includes interactions only via the local particle concentration, we show that hyperballistic diffusion may result. This is done by findng the exact solution of the corresponding non-linear diffusion equation, as well as by particle simulations. The connection between these levels of description is provided by the Fokker-Planck equation describing the particle dynamics.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Impaired Activation of CA3 Pyramidal Neurons in the Epileptic Hippocampus.

We employed in vitro and ex vivo imaging tools to characterize the function of limbic neuron networks in pilocarpine-treated and age-matched, nonepileptic control (NEC) rats. Pilocarpine-treated animals represent an established model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Intrinsic optical signal (IOS) analysis of hippocampal-entorhinal cortex (EC) slices obtained from epileptic rats 3 wk after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE) revealed hyperexcitability in many limbic areas, but not in CA3 and medial EC layer III. By visualizing immunopositivity for FosB/DeltaFosB-related proteins which accumulate in the nuclei of neurons activated by seizures we found that: (1) 24 h after SE, FosB/DeltaFosB immunoreactivity was absent in medial EC layer III, but abundant in dentate gyrus, hippocampus proper (including CA3) and subiculum; (2) FosB/DeltaFosB levels progressively diminished 3 and 7 d after SE, whereas remaining elevated (p < 0.01) in subiculum; (3) FosB/DeltaFosB levels sharply increased 2 wk after SE (and remained elevated up to 3 wk) in dentate gyrus and in most of the other areas but not in CA3. A conspicuous neuronal damage was noticed in medial EC layer III, whereas hippocampus was more preserved. IOS analysis of the stimulus-induced responses in slices 3 wk after SE demonstrated that IOSs in CA3 were lower (p < 0.05) than in NEC slices following dentate gyrus stimulation, but not when stimuli were delivered in CA3. These findings indicate that CA3 networks are hypoactive in comparison with other epileptic limbic areas. We propose that this feature may affect the ability of hippocampal outputs to control epileptiform synchronization in EC

Violent and Complex Behaviors and Non-Restorative Sleep Are the Main Features of Disorders of Arousal in Adulthood: Real Picture or a More Severe Phenotype?

Disorders of arousal (DoA) are NREM parasomnias characterized by motor and emotional behaviors emerging from incomplete arousals from deep sleep. DoA are largely present in pediatric populations, a period during which they are labeled as self-limited manifestations. However, an extensive literature has shown that DoA can persist in adulthood, with different characteristics from childhood DoA. Adult DoA patients usually report excessive daily sleepiness, sleep-related violence during DoA episodes or potentially harmful behaviors, which are rare in childhood. The semeiological features of DoA episodes in adulthood may complicate differential diagnoses with other motor manifestations during sleep, in particular sleep-related hypermotor epilepsy. However, it cannot be excluded that adults with DoA attending sleep centers constitute a more severe phenotype, thus not being representative of adult DoA in the general population. Video-polysomnographic studies of DoA document a spectrum of motor patterns of different complexities, the simplest of which may often go unnoticed. Despite the different complexities of the episodes, neurophysiologic studies showed the co-existence of deep sleep and wakefulness during DoA episodes or even before their onset. These aspects make DoA an ideal model to investigate the mechanisms regulating local sleep, sleep arousal and cognitive functions including spatial and temporal orientation, attention or memory

Effect of COVID-19 isolation measures on physical activity of children and their parents, and role of the family environment: a cross-sectional study

Background. The rigorous isolation measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted children’s lifestyles. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out to collect and analyze information about physical activity habits of children and their parents during the social distancing period resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. An online questionnaire was administered to 363 families (507 children aged 5-13) recruited by convenience sampling, asking for physical activity type and frequency before, during, and after the lockdown period (9th March - May 3rd 2020), education, outdoor spaces, and children’s weight gain perception. Results. Results show a remarkable decrease in children’s physical activity during lockdown (88.9 vs 39.8% active children) associated with older age and low availability of outdoor spaces (p&lt;0.001). Parents’ physical activity was related to educational level, and a slight but significant correlation between parents’ education and children’s physical activity was found, especially with father’s university degree (p&lt;0.05). Active mothers significantly influenced children’s physical activity during the lockdown, especially if not engaged in smart working. The return to an active lifestyle by children did not reach previous levels (75.9% active children) and was directly related to parent’s physical activity. Finally, the risk of weight gain was lower in active children during the lockdown (OR = 0.46; p&lt;0.001). Conclusions. This work highlights the importance of physical activity during a pandemic event to prevent the risk of gaining weight, and underlines the relevance of the entire family system as a source of promotion of healthy behaviors in children

Nightmare disorder and REM sleep behavior disorder in inflammatory arthritis: Possibility beyond neurodegeneration.

OBJECTIVES:To investigate the prevalence of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) to ascertain if RBD could be an internal red flag signaling a fluctuating state of inflammation based on the theory of "protoconsciousness". MATERIALS &amp; METHODS:One hundred and three patients with a confirmed diagnosis of IA were consecutively recruited. The patients underwent general (IA activity, functional status, laboratory tests) and neurological evaluations. A neurologist investigated RBD and REM sleep parasomnias in a semi-structured interview. Sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, while the risk of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) was evaluated with the Berlin questionnaire. Beck Depression Inventory II and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory investigated depression and anxiety. RESULTS:Patients had a mean age of 53.7 ± 14.6 years, 65% were women; 57.3% were in a clinically active phase of IA. Two women fulfilled ICSD-3 criteria for RBD appearing 11 years after and 20 years before IA onset respectively. 31 patients scored positive for nightmare disorder (ND), 8 for recurrent isolated sleep paralysis. 65 (63.1%) patients reported poor sleep quality and 25 (24.3%) resulted at high risk for OSAS. 32 (31.0%) patients scored positively for depression or anxiety. CONCLUSIONS:The prevalence of RBD in patients with IA did not differ from that in the general population, whereas ND presented a 2-fold increased prevalence. Whether RBD can be considered a red flag signaling an internal danger remains an open question, while ND may be a new player in this intriguing relation