Screening for developmental disorders in 3- and 4-year-old italian children: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: The "Osserviamo" project, coordinated by the Municipality of Rome and the Department of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry of Sapienza University, aimed to validate an Italian version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3 and to collect, for the first time in Italy, data on developmental disorders in a sample of 4,000 children aged 3 and 4 years. The present paper presents the preliminary results of the "Osserviamo" project. METHODS: 600 parents of children between 39 and 50 months of age (divided in two age stages: 42 and 48 months) were contacted from 15 kindergarden schools. RESULTS: 23.35% of the whole sample scored in the risk range of at least one developmental area of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3rd Edition (ASQ-3) and 7.78% scored in the clinical range. Specifically, 23.97% of the children in the 42-month age stage scored in the risk range and 5.79% scored in the clinical range. Males scored lower than females in the fine motor skills and personal-social development domains. Moreover, 22.79% of the children in the 48-month age stage scored in the risk range, while 9.55% scored in the clinical range. Males scored lower than females in fine motor skills. CONCLUSION: Italian validation of the ASQ-3 and recruitment of all 4,000 participants will allow these data on the distribution of developmental disorders to be extended to the general Italian pediatric population. One main limitation of the study is the lack of clinical confirmation of the data yielded by the screening programme, which the authors aim to obtain in later stages of the study

Diagnosis and endovascular treatment of an internal mammary artery injury

Internal mammary artery (IMA) disruption after blunt chest trauma is rare. In some instances, it may occur after mild chest trauma with minor external physical findings. However, prompt diagnosis and treatment are necessary, as it can be associated with vascular and parenchymal injuries. We report a case of blunt chest trauma resulting in a sternal fracture associated with an IMA injury, active anterior mediastinal bleeding, bilateral lung contusions, and a left hemothorax. It was successfully treated by selective embolization to the left IMA branch and chest tube placement

Semantic Self-Images and Well-Being in Young and Older Adults: Does the Accessibility Matter?

In the present study we investigated whether and how age group, dimensions of well-being and their interactions predicted the phenomenological properties of semantic self-images, taking also into account the different levels of accessibility of self-images (i.e., order of generation). Results on the first self-image revealed that, independently of age, higher levels of life satisfaction predicted higher likelihood of positive than negative statement and higher levels of negative affect and life satisfaction predicted higher levels of personal relevance of the self-image. When all self-images were considered, for higher levels of life satisfaction neutral and positive self-images were more likely than negative ones, and for lower levels of positive affect, neutral images were more likely than negative ones. Moreover, young adults were more likely than older adults to report neutral rather than negative self-images and, for higher levels of positive affect, they were more likely to report neutral and positive images instead of negative ones. These results suggest that the accessibility of semantic self-images should be taken into account in the investigation of the complex association between well-being and semantic self-images. Theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed

Modified double lumen tube for a unique bronchial and carinal resection in a patient undergoing uniportal VATS for tumour: A case report

For bronchial sleeve and carinal resection and reconstruction during uniportal video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS), ventilation technique remains a demanding challenge for the anesthesiologists. The ventilation techniques require maintaining adequate gas exchange while providing a good surgical exposure. The case we present was a 58-year-old female with carcinoma in the right upper lobe involving the right main bronchus and the lower trachea. Right upper sleeve lobectomy, carinal resection and reconstruction was performed under uniportal VATS. A modified double-lumen tube (DLT) was inserted to achieve one-lung ventilation, and high-frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) was passed through the DLT to provide oxygenation during the anastomosis without interfering with the surgical procedure. The whole procedure was uneventful. We suggest that the double lumen tube could be modified being a simple and safe option for one-lung ventilation in carinal resection and reconstruction under uniportal VATS

Iterative receiver design for the estimation of Gaussian samples in impulsive noise

Impulsive noise is the main limiting factor for transmission over channels affected by elec-tromagnetic interference. We study the estimation of (correlated) Gaussian signals in an impulsive noise scenario. In this work, we analyze some of the existing, as well as some novel estimation algorithms. Their performance is compared, for the first time, for different channel conditions, including the Markov–Middleton scenario, where the impulsive noise switches between different noise states. Following a modern approach in digital communications, the receiver design is based on a factor graph model and implements a message passing algorithm. The correlation among signal samples, as well as among noise states brings about a loopy factor graph, where an iterative message passing scheme should be employed. As is well known, approximate variational inference techniques are necessary in these cases. We propose and analyze different algorithms and provide a complete performance comparison among them, showing that the expectation propagation, transparent propa-gation, and parallel iterative schedule approaches reach a performance close to optimal, at different channel conditions

Petrology, Mineral and Isotope Geochemistry of the External Liguride Peridotites (Northern Apennines, Italy)

Mantle peridotites of the External Liguride (EL) units (Northern Apennines) represent slices of subcontinental lithospheric mantle emplaced at the surface during early stages of rifting of the Jurassic Ligurian Piemontese basin. Petrological, ion probe and isotopic investigations have been used to unravel the nature of their mantle protolith and to constrain the timing and mechanisms of their evolution. EL peridotites are dominantly fertile spinel Iherzolites partly recrystallizfd in the plagiodase Iherzplite stability field Clinopyroxenes stable in the spinel-facies assemblage have nearly fiat REE patterns (CeN/SmN=0·6-0·8) at (10-16)×C1 and high Na, Sr, Ti and Zr contents. Kaersutitic-Ti-pargasitic amphiboles also occur in the spinel-facies assemblage. Their LREE-depleted REE spectra and very low Sr, Zr and Ba contents indicate that they crystallized from hydrous fluids with low concentrations of incompatible elements. Thermometric estimates on the spinelfacies parageneses yield lithospheric equilibrium temperatures in the range 1000-1100°C, in agreement with the stability of amphibole, which implies T<1100°C. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, determined on carefully handpicked clinopyroxene separates, plot within the depleted end of the MORB field (87Sr/86Sr=0·70222-0·70263; 143Nd/144Nd=0·513047-0·513205) similar to many subcontinental orogenic spinel Iherzolites from the western Mediterranean area (e.g. Ivrea Zpne and Lanzfl N). The interpretation of the EL Iherzolites as subcontinental lithospheric mantle is reinforced by the occurrence of one extremely depleted isotopic composition (87Sr/86Sr=0·701736; 143Nd/144Nd=0·513543). Sr and Nd model ages, calculated assuming both CHUR and DM mantle sources, range between 2·4 Ga and 780 Ma. In particular, the 1·2-Ga Sr age and the 780-Ma Nd age can be regarded as minimum ages of differentiation. The transition from spinel-to plagioclase-facies assemblage, accompanied by progressive deformation (from granular to tectonite-mylonite textures), indicate that the EL Iherzolites experienced a later, subsolidus decompressional evolution, starting from subcontinental lithospheric levels. Sm/Nd isochrons on plagioclase-clinopyroxene pairs furnish ages of ∽165 Ma. This early Jurassic subsolidus decompressional history is consistent with uplift by means of denudation in response to passive and asymmetric lithospheric extension. This is considered to be the most suitable geodynamic mechanism to account for the exposure of huge bodies of subcontinental lithospheric mantle during early stages of opening of an oceanic basi

Model-based design of AM components to enable decentralized digital manufacturing systems

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a versatile technology that could add flexibility in manufacturing processes, whether implemented alone or along other technologies. This technology enables on-demand production and decentralized production networks, as production facilities can be located around the world to manufacture products closer to the final consumer (decentralized manufacturing). However, the wide adoption of additive manufacturing technologies is hindered by the lack of experience on its implementation, the lack of repeatability among different manufacturers and a lack of integrated production systems. The later, hinders the traceability and quality assurance of printed components and limits the understanding and data generation of the AM processes and parameters. In this article, a design strategy is proposed to integrate the different phases of the development process into a model-based design platform for decentralized manufacturing. This platform is aimed at facilitating data traceability and product repeatability among different AM machines. The strategy is illustrated with a case study where a car steering knuckle is manufactured in three different facilities in Sweden and Italy

A 400 Ma-long Nd-Hf isotopic evolution of melt-modified garnet-pyroxenites in an ancient subcontinental lithosphere (Lanzo North ophiolite, Western Alps)

Pyroxenite veining is widely preserved in peridotite massifs, and used to derive information on the origin and evolution of upper mantle domains. These lithospheric mantle sections can be isolated from the convecting mantle for >1 Ga or more, suffering a long history of melting and/or melt-rock reaction processes, which modify their original chemical and isotopic compositions. Here, we show the effect of ancient process of melt-rock reaction in the chemistry of garnet pyroxenites from Lanzo North Massif, an iconic lithospheric mantle section exhumed during the opening of the Jurassic Alpine Tethys. Selected pyroxenites are more than 10 cm thick, and embedded within peridotites that have textures and chemical compositions indicative of a complex history of interaction with migrating melts. Whole rock and clinopyroxene Nd-Hf isotopes of the pyroxenites consistently indicate that the first melt-rock reaction event occurred at ~400 Ma, likely in combination with exhumation from the garnet to the spinel-facies mantle conditions. Two samples still retain textural relicts and chemical evidence of precursor garnet and have high εNd (~12) for comparatively low εHf (~10), when recalculated at 400 Ma, which suggest that they were less affected by this ancient percolation process. The chemical evidence of such a long history of melt-rock reactions was preserved from 400 Ma until present. Finally, two pyroxenites located within plagioclase peridotites show evidence for an event of re-equilibration at plagioclase-facies conditions, likely triggered by infiltration of melt in the host rock. These samples reveal the coexistence of two internal Sm-Nd isochrones at 152 ± 30 Ma and 149 ± 13 Ma, thereby providing temporal constraints to the event of melt impregnation of the host peridotites as consequence of the opening of the Ligurian Tethys ocean