Fetal Central Nervous System Abnormalities

Central nervous system (CNS) is one of the most frequent sites for prenatal diagnosed congenital abnormalities (10 per 1000 live births, much higher than the heart—eight per 1000, kidneys—four per 1000, and other fetal systems). Due to the evolving pattern, ultrasound screening for fetal brain malformations is usually performed at 19–22 weeks’ gestation, but severe congenital anomalies can be diagnosed much earlier. This chapter is a short review, structured in eight subchapters: the first one is dedicated to the normal ultrasound aspect of different CNS segments, and the following ones are to detect pathology in prenatal life. We used many ultrasound images and tried to correlate the prenatal findings with the ones obtained postpartum/postabortum for each case, by means of pathology/imaging techniques

A new approach to balance dental fear and anxiety by using BachTM Flower Therapy

Treatments in dentistry currently consist of an interdisciplinary approach, including (but not necessarily limited to) the holistic perspective. The different fields of allopathic and complementary medicine are used together to ensure not only a high-quality restorative treatment, but also to provide patients with psychological and emotional support. This perspective also applies to dental anxiety, which consists of complex (emotional, vegetative and psychomotor) manifestations. One of the most well-known complementary therapies for reducing dental fear and anxiety is BachTM Flower Therapy. Even if the mechanism of action of this therapy is not yet scientifically documented, notable results have been and continue to be reported in the literature in several clinical studies on patients with dental diseases. It is indicated for both adults and children, in the latter when they go through major biological changes, such as primary and permanent dentition. As a conclusion, BachTM flower therapy is effective and complementary to dental treatments applied to patients, by reducing stress, anxiety, as well as creating a climate of peace, trust and confidence, both for the patient and the doctor. In addition, it is a relatively accessible and cheap form of care, with no significant adverse effects noted so far

Genomic analyses inform on migration events during the peopling of Eurasia.

High-coverage whole-genome sequence studies have so far focused on a limited number of geographically restricted populations, or been targeted at specific diseases, such as cancer. Nevertheless, the availability of high-resolution genomic data has led to the development of new methodologies for inferring population history and refuelled the debate on the mutation rate in humans. Here we present the Estonian Biocentre Human Genome Diversity Panel (EGDP), a dataset of 483 high-coverage human genomes from 148 populations worldwide, including 379 new genomes from 125 populations, which we group into diversity and selection sets. We analyse this dataset to refine estimates of continent-wide patterns of heterozygosity, long- and short-distance gene flow, archaic admixture, and changes in effective population size through time as well as for signals of positive or balancing selection. We find a genetic signature in present-day Papuans that suggests that at least 2% of their genome originates from an early and largely extinct expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) out of Africa. Together with evidence from the western Asian fossil record, and admixture between AMHs and Neanderthals predating the main Eurasian expansion, our results contribute to the mounting evidence for the presence of AMHs out of Africa earlier than 75,000 years ago.Support was provided by: Estonian Research Infrastructure Roadmap grant no 3.2.0304.11-0312; Australian Research Council Discovery grants (DP110102635 and DP140101405) (D.M.L., M.W. and E.W.); Danish National Research Foundation; the Lundbeck Foundation and KU2016 (E.W.); ERC Starting Investigator grant (FP7 - 261213) (T.K.); Estonian Research Council grant PUT766 (G.C. and M.K.); EU European Regional Development Fund through the Centre of Excellence in Genomics to Estonian Biocentre (R.V.; M.Me. and A.Me.), and Centre of Excellence for Genomics and Translational Medicine Project No. 2014-2020.4.01.15-0012 to EGC of UT (A.Me.) and EBC (M.Me.); Estonian Institutional Research grant IUT24-1 (L.S., M.J., A.K., B.Y., K.T., C.B.M., Le.S., H.Sa., S.L., D.M.B., E.M., R.V., G.H., M.K., G.C., T.K. and M.Me.) and IUT20-60 (A.Me.); French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and French ANR grant number ANR-14-CE31-0013-01 (F.-X.R.); Gates Cambridge Trust Funding (E.J.); ICG SB RAS (No. VI.58.1.1) (D.V.L.); Leverhulme Programme grant no. RP2011-R-045 (A.B.M., P.G. and M.G.T.); Ministry of Education and Science of Russia; Project 6.656.2014/K (S.A.F.); NEFREX grant funded by the European Union (People Marie Curie Actions; International Research Staff Exchange Scheme; call FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IRSES-number 318979) (M.Me., G.H. and M.K.); NIH grants 5DP1ES022577 05, 1R01DK104339-01, and 1R01GM113657-01 (S.Tis.); Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant N 14-06-00180a) (M.G.); Russian Foundation for Basic Research; grant 16-04-00890 (O.B. and E.B); Russian Science Foundation grant 14-14-00827 (O.B.); The Russian Foundation for Basic Research (14-04-00725-a), The Russian Humanitarian Scientific Foundation (13-11-02014) and the Program of the Basic Research of the RAS Presidium “Biological diversity” (E.K.K.); Wellcome Trust and Royal Society grant WT104125AIA & the Bristol Advanced Computing Research Centre (http://www.bris.ac.uk/acrc/) (D.J.L.); Wellcome Trust grant 098051 (Q.A.; C.T.-S. and Y.X.); Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship grant 100719/Z/12/Z (M.G.T.); Young Explorers Grant from the National Geographic Society (8900-11) (C.A.E.); ERC Consolidator Grant 647787 ‘LocalAdaptatio’ (A.Ma.); Program of the RAS Presidium “Basic research for the development of the Russian Arctic” (B.M.); Russian Foundation for Basic Research grant 16-06-00303 (E.B.); a Rutherford Fellowship (RDF-10-MAU-001) from the Royal Society of New Zealand (M.P.C.)

RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCE OF SOME TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS ON GRAPE PRODUCTION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE TÂRNAVELOR VINEYARD

The paper presents the results of the researches carried out during the period 2017-2019, under the conditions of the Târnavelor Vineyard, in the Jidvei-Alba area, regarding the influence of some technological factors on the level of grape production. The factors considered in the study were: Factor A - irrigation regime, with graduations a1 - non-irrigated, a2 - irrigated at 50% IUA; Factor B - fertilization, with graduations b1 - basic fertilization, b2 - basic fertilization + chemical fertilization; b3 - organic fertilization; Factor C, biological material, with graduations c1 - Muscat Ottonel variety, c2 - Feteasca Regala variety, c3 - Sauvignon Blanc variety. The production results recorded during the three years of experimentation highlighted in particular the favorable effect of irrigation on the production of grapes, in all three varieties, regardless of the applied fertilization level

Dual Sensory Impairment: The Correlation between Age Related Macular Degeneration and Sensorineural Hearing Loss

The pathogeneses of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and age-related hearing impairment are not yet fully understood. If AMD and age-related hearing impairment are correlated, the cause of both may be a result of a common vulnerability. The aim of this study was to assess the interrelation between age-related macular degeneration and age-related hearing loss. Material and methods: In our case-control analysis, the hearing conditions of 40 subjects with AMD were compared with 40 age-matched healthy controls. In all patients, retinal changes were certified by clinical examinations, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescein angiography (FA). All subjects were inspected with pure tone audiometry (PTA), impedance audiometry, and speech audiometry. Results: A significant correlation (p < 0.001) was identified between age-related macular degeneration and age-related hearing impairment. The predominant hearing impairment in this case was sensorineural (SNHL). Of the patients diagnosed with AMD, SNHL was found in 88.89% of those with exudative macular degeneration and in 67.74% of those with atrophic macular degeneration. In contrast, we found that a significant proportion of the control group had normal hearing. Conclusion: One possible explanation for the association between retinal and cochlear impairment may be due to a melanin disorder

Testing Practices and Attitudes Toward Tests and Testing : An International Survey

On behalf of the International Test Commission and the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations a world-wide survey on the opinions of professional psychologists on testing practices was carried out. The main objective of this study was to collect data for a better understanding of the state of psychological testing worldwide. These data could guide the actions and measures taken by ITC, EFPA, and other stakeholders. A questionnaire was administered to 20,467 professional psychologists from 29 countries. Five scales were constructed relating to: concern over incorrect test use, regulations on tests and testing, internet and computerized testing, appreciation of tests, and knowledge and training relating to test use. Equivalence across countries was evaluated using the alignment method, four scales demonstrated acceptable levels of invariance. Multilevel analysis was used to determine how scores were related to age, gender, and specialization, as well as how scores varied between countries. Although the results show a high appreciation of tests in general, the appreciation of internet and computerized testing is much lower. These scales show low variability over countries, whereas differences between countries on the other reported scales are much greater. This implies the need for some overarching improvements as well as country-specific actions

"Exigua pars est vitae qua vivimus. Ceterum quidem omne spatium non vita sed tempus est” : divagazioni semantiche (e lessicali) su spatium e sui suoi esiti romanzi

diasistema latino, attestato in tutta la discretio della lingua che ci è dato conoscere dai testi, spatium manifesta una sorta di liminarità concettuale con tempus che solo a partire da un certo momento si scioglie nella complementarità dell’estensione spaziale e di quella temporale. Muovendo da questi presupposti, questo contributo cercherà di evidenziare la complessa stratificazione semantica di questa lessia di basilare importanza giacché connessa con categorie fondanti per l’esperienza umana tanto dal punto di vista cognitivo, tanto da quello linguistico e pragmatico. Esaurito l’excursus interno al latino si guarderà allora alla continuazione romanza, per cercare di capire se e in quale parte del lessico permangano tracce di quell’originaria complessità di spatium risolta probabilmente prima a livello “lessicografico” che semantico-concettuale