Music in the first days of life

In adults, specific neural systems with right-hemispheric weighting are necessary to process pitch, melody and harmony, as well as structure and meaning emerging from musical sequences. To which extent does this neural specialization result from exposure to music or from neurobiological predispositions? We used fMRI to measure brain activity in 1 to 3 days old newborns while listening to Western tonal music, and to the same excerpts altered, so as to include tonal violations or dissonance. Music caused predominant right hemisphere activations in primary and higher-order auditory cortex. For altered music, activations were seen in the left inferior frontal cortex and limbic structures. Thus, the newborn's brain is able to plenty receive music and to figure out even small perceptual and structural differences in the music sequences. This neural architecture present at birth provides us the potential to process basic and complex aspects of music, a uniquely human capacity

Newborn of mothers affected by autoimmune thyroiditis: the importance of thyroid function monitoring in the first months of life

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>evaluation of thyroid function in neonates born from mothers affected by autoimmune thyroiditis in order to define if a precise follow-up is necessary for these children. The influence of maternal thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) and L-thyroxine therapy during pregnancy on neonatal thyroid function was also investigated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>129 neonates were tested for thyroid function by measurement of free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in 3^thday, 15^thday and at one month of life. TPOAb were measured in all patients; periodical control of thyroid function were performed until 6 months of life if Ab were positive. Data concerning etiology of maternal hypothyroidism and maternal replacement therapy with L-thyroxine during pregnancy were retrospectively collected.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>28% neonates showed at least a mild increase of TSH value at the different determinations. In the majority of them, a spontaneous completely normalisation of TSH value was observed within the first month life. L-thyroxine replacement therapy was started in 3 neonates. TPOAb titer and maternal L-thyroxine replacement therapy were not related to alteration of thyroid hormone function in our study population.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>transient mild elevation of serum TSH above the normal reference value for age is frequently observed in the first month of life in infants born from mothers affected by autoimmune thyroiditis. Persistent hyperthyrotropinemia requiring replacement therapy is observed in 2.2% of these neonates. According to our experience, follow-up is recommended in these newborns; the most accurate and not invasive way to carefully monitor these infants after neonatal screening for CH seems to be serum-testing TSH between 2^ndand 4^thweek of life.</p

Massive Amniotic Fluid Aspiration in a Case of Sudden Neonatal Death With Severe Hypoplasia of the Retrotrapezoid/Parafacial Respiratory Group

We report a case of a baby, who, after pregnancy complicated by maternal Addison's disease and Hashimoto's thyroiditis and natural delivery, unexpectedly presented a cardiorespiratory collapse and died 1 hour after birth without responding to prolonged neonatal resuscitation maneuvers. The cause of death was reliably established by carrying out a forensic postmortem examination. More specifically, the histological examination of the lungs showed the presence of abundant endoalveolar and endobronchial cornea scales caused by absorption of amniotic fluid. The neuropathological examination of the brainstem highlighted severe hypodevelopment of the retrotrapezoid/parafacial respiratory group, which is a complex of neurons located in the caudal pons that is involved in respiratory rhythm coordination, especially expiration, in conditions of enhanced respiratory drive, as well as in chemoreception. This neuropathological finding shed new light on the mechanisms underlying the massive amniotic fluid aspiration which led to this early death

Disease status, reasons for discontinuation and adverse events in 1038 Italian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis treated with etanercept

Background: Data from routine clinical practice are needed to further define the efficacy and safety of biologic medications in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this analysis was to investigate the disease status, reasons for discontinuation and adverse events in Italian JIA patients treated with etanercept (ETN). Methods: In 2013, all centers of the Italian Pediatric Rheumatology Study Group were asked to make a census of patients given ETN after January 2000. Patients were classified in three groups: group 1 = patients still taking ETN; group 2 = patients discontinued from ETN for any reasons; group 3 = patients lost to follow-up while receiving ETN. All three groups received a retrospective assessment; patients in group 1 also underwent a cross-sectional assessment. Results: 1038 patients were enrolled by 23 centers: 422 (40.7%) were in group 1, 462 (44.5%) in group 2, and 154 (14.8%) in group 3. Median duration of ETN therapy was 2.5 years. At cross-sectional assessment, 41.8% to 48.6% of patients in group 1 met formal criteria for inactive disease, whereas 52.4% of patients in group 2 and 55.8% of patients in group 3 were judged in clinical remission by their caring physician at last visit. A relatively greater proportion of patients with systemic arthritis were discontinued or lost to follow-up. Parent evaluations at cross-sectional visit in group 1 showed that 52.4% of patients had normal physical function, very few had impairment in quality of life, 51.2% had no pain, 76% had no morning stiffness, and 82.7% of parents were satisfied with their child's illness outcome. Clinically significant adverse events were reported for 27.8% of patients and ETN was discontinued for side effects in 9.5%. The most common adverse events were new onset or recurrent uveitis (10.2%), infections (6.6%), injection site reactions (4.4%), and neuropsychiatric (3.1%), gastrointestinal (2.4%), and hematological disorders (2.1%). Ten patients developed an inflammatory bowel disease and 2 had a malignancy. One patient died of a fulminant streptococcal sepsis. Conclusions: Around half of the patients achieved complete disease quiescence under treatment with ETN. The medication was overall well tolerated, as only one quarter of patients experienced clinically significant adverse events and less than 10% had treatment discontinued for toxicity

NEMO-SN1 Abyssal Cabled Observatory in the Western Ionian Sea

The NEutrinoMediterranean Observatory—Submarine Network 1 (NEMO-SN1) seafloor observatory is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily (Southern Italy) at 2100-m water depth, 25 km from the harbor of the city of Catania. It is a prototype of a cabled deep-sea multiparameter observatory and the first one operating with real-time data transmission in Europe since 2005. NEMO-SN1 is also the first-established node of the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory (EMSO), one of the incoming European large-scale research infrastructures included in the Roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) since 2006. EMSO will specifically address long-term monitoring of environmental processes related to marine ecosystems, marine mammals, climate change, and geohazards

Event reconstruction for KM3NeT/ORCA using convolutional neural networks

The KM3NeT research infrastructure is currently under construction at two locations in the Mediterranean Sea. The KM3NeT/ORCA water-Cherenkov neutrino detector off the French coast will instrument several megatons of seawater with photosensors. Its main objective is the determination of the neutrino mass ordering. This work aims at demonstrating the general applicability of deep convolutional neural networks to neutrino telescopes, using simulated datasets for the KM3NeT/ORCA detector as an example. To this end, the networks are employed to achieve reconstruction and classification tasks that constitute an alternative to the analysis pipeline presented for KM3NeT/ORCA in the KM3NeT Letter of Intent. They are used to infer event reconstruction estimates for the energy, the direction, and the interaction point of incident neutrinos. The spatial distribution of Cherenkov light generated by charged particles induced in neutrino interactions is classified as shower- or track-like, and the main background processes associated with the detection of atmospheric neutrinos are recognized. Performance comparisons to machine-learning classification and maximum-likelihood reconstruction algorithms previously developed for KM3NeT/ORCA are provided. It is shown that this application of deep convolutional neural networks to simulated datasets for a large-volume neutrino telescope yields competitive reconstruction results and performance improvements with respect to classical approaches

Event reconstruction for KM3NeT/ORCA using convolutional neural networks

The KM3NeT research infrastructure is currently under construction at two locations in the Mediterranean Sea. The KM3NeT/ORCA water-Cherenkov neutrino de tector off the French coast will instrument several megatons of seawater with photosensors. Its main objective is the determination of the neutrino mass ordering. This work aims at demonstrating the general applicability of deep convolutional neural networks to neutrino telescopes, using simulated datasets for the KM3NeT/ORCA detector as an example. To this end, the networks are employed to achieve reconstruction and classification tasks that constitute an alternative to the analysis pipeline presented for KM3NeT/ORCA in the KM3NeT Letter of Intent. They are used to infer event reconstruction estimates for the energy, the direction, and the interaction point of incident neutrinos. The spatial distribution of Cherenkov light generated by charged particles induced in neutrino interactions is classified as shower-or track-like, and the main background processes associated with the detection of atmospheric neutrinos are recognized. Performance comparisons to machine-learning classification and maximum-likelihood reconstruction algorithms previously developed for KM3NeT/ORCA are provided. It is shown that this application of deep convolutional neural networks to simulated datasets for a large-volume neutrino telescope yields competitive reconstruction results and performance improvements with respect to classical approaches

NEMO-SN1 (Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily): Example of architecture of a cabled observatory

NEMO-SN1, located in the central Mediterranean Sea, Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily Island (Southern Italy) at 2100 m water depth, 25 km from the harbour of the city of Catania, is a prototype of a cabled deep-sea multiparameter observatory and the first operating with real-time data transmission in Europe since 2005. NEMO-SN1 is also the first-established node of EMSO (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory, http://emso-eu.org), one of the incoming European large-scale research infrastructure included since 2006 in the Roadmap of the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, http://cordis.europa.eu/esfri/roadmap.htm), which will specifically address long-term monitoring of environmental processes related to Marine Ecosystems, Climate Change and Geo-hazards. NEMO-SN1 has been deployed and developed over the last decade thanks to Italian resources and to the EC project ESONET-NoE (European Seas Observatory NETwork Network of Excellence, 20072011) that funded the LIDO-DM (Listening to the Deep Ocean Demonstration Mission) and a technological interoperability test (http://www.esonet-emso.org/ esonet-noe/). NEMO-SN1 is performing geophysical and environmental long-term monitoring by acquiring seismological, geomagnetic, gravimetric, accelerometric, physico-oceanographic, hydro-acoustic, bio-acoustic measurements specifically related to earthquakes and tsunamis generation and ambient noise characterisation in term of marine mammal sounds, environmental and anthropogenic sources. A further main feature of NEMO-SN1 is to be an important test-site for the construction of KM3NeT (Kilometre-Cube Underwater Neutrino Telescope, http://www.km3net.org/), another large-scale research infrastructure included in the ESFRI Roadmap constituted by a large volume neutrino telescope. The description of the observatory and the most recent data acquired will be presented and framed in the general objectives of EMSO. © 2011 IEEE