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Electronic and vibrational excitation of acrylonitrile induced by 3–50 eV energy electrons has been investigated by the electron energy loss spectroscopy. Electronic excitation spectra have been recorded for 30 and 50 eV impact energies at a 10° scattering angle in the energy loss range from 5.5 to 11.5 eV, corresponding to the excitation of electrons belonging to the outermost-valence-shell molecular orbitals. We have reviewed the assignment of the valence excited states occurring in the 5.5–9 eV energy loss region. The vibrational patterns associated with the two lowest-energy singlet valence excited states have also been re-examined. Moreover, we have proceeded for the first time to the analysis and attribution of several Rydberg series converging to the ionic ground state and to its two lowest-energy electronic excited states. The study of the excitation function of the C—H stretching modes of acrylonitrile in the 3–11 eV electron impact energy range has shown evidence of a broad shape resonance built on the electronic ground state of the molecule and centered at 5.85 eV. This resonance contributes to a preferential excitation of the C—H stretching modes suggesting that the charge distribution of the additional electron is very likely that of a σ*(C—H) valence molecular orbital. A comparison has been made between the resonances observed in C2H4 and CH2CHCN, in order to discuss the symmetry of the resonant state and also to analyze the substitution effect of the cyanogen group. © 1995 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous MR studies have established that bilateral transverse sinus stenosis (BTSS) predicts idiopathic intracranial hypertension without papilledema (IIHWOP) in migraine. However, it is uncertain whether BTSS identifies IIHWOP in patients with chronic tension-type headache (CTTH): using cerebral MR venography this study aimed to address this question. In a prospective study from February 2002 to December 2006, 198 consecutive patients with CTTH underwent MR venography. Of these patients, 58 underwent lumbar puncture to measure cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure. MR venography and lumbar puncture were also performed in 45 agematched control subjects. BTSS was considered present when the signal flow was poor or lacking (flow gap) in the mid-lateral portion of both transverse sinuses. IIHWOP was diagnosed if the patient met the diagnostic criteria for idiopathic intracranial hypertension and did not have papilledema. Among the 198 patients with CTTH who underwent MR venography, 18 (9%) had BTSS. Thirteen of these 18 patients with BTSS underwent lumbar puncture, and nine (69.2%) had IIHWOP. CSF opening pressure was normal in all 45 patients as well as in all 45 controls with normal MR venography. These data suggest that BTSS on MR venography is associated with increased intracranial pressure in the absence of papilledema in patients with headache mimicking CTTH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nutritional profile, physical activity level and sedentary behaviours, in preteen age, are determinants able to influence both short and long-term state of health, therefore succeeding in health education campaigns addressed to this age group is critical for the interested population. Is currently underway the multiannual follow-up of the Italian ‘‘sCOOL FOOD - Per un Futuro di tutto Rispetto’’ project of Monte dei Paschi Foundation of Siena, Tuscany, which offers year-round cycles of classes and workshops about the themes listed above. Our objective was to assess whether this intervention could significantly influence over time healthy, and unhealthy, behaviours of the participants. Methods: We structured the follow-up as a prospective cohort study with one-group pretest-posttest design. We used the CAWI technique, building a questionnaire based on the Italian ‘‘OKkio alla Salute’’ survey, and collected data from the whole population of students enrolled in the project (in the school year 2018-2019 they were 3787, aged from 7 to 12) before and after the intervention. Afterwards, we conducted paired data analysis on the frequencies of specific behaviours. Results: We analysed paired data from 310 respondents. Improvements were gained in: afternoon TV watching (OR 0.54; 0.34 - 0.84; p < 0.01), consumption of sweet (OR 0.39; 0.16 - 0.88; p < 0.05) and salty (0.42; 0.18 - 0.90; p < 0.05) snacks, attitude to play outdoors after school (OR 2.6; 1.21 - 6.04; p < 0.01), sedentary behaviour in leisure time (OR 0.27; 0.16 - 0.44; p < 0.0001), mean weekly sport activity (+0.14 days; +0.02 - +0.27; p < 0.05). No variable has deteriorated. Conclusions: The improved compliance with healthy behaviours in the participants at this project suggests its viability as a health promotion campaign. Further parallel surveys on control groups are pending, in order to control potential confounders such as the seasonality of some habits and the awareness of the participants on the addressed subjects. Key messages: A coordinated and cross-disciplinary food and lifestyle yearround education campaign at school can affect health determinants of children. School can correct unfavourable eating and lifestyle behaviours determined by family habits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Empty Sella and Bilateral Transverse Sinus Stenosis Predict Raised Intracranial Pressure in the Absence of Papilloedema," that was published in the previous issues of the "Journal of Neurology."

Summary: Purpose: To evaluate how many patients with a clinical picture of idiopathic childhood localization-related epilepsies may also have silent celiac disease (CD). This will help determine whether investigation for CD should be restricted to those patients with childhood partial epilepsy with occipital paroxysms (CPEO) or should be extended to all patients with childhood partial epilepsy (CPE) regardless of seizure type and electroencephalographic (EEG) paroxysms. Methods: The study group consisted of 72 patients (31 girls and 41 boys; mean age, 12.6 ± 4.28 years; age at onset, 6.4 ± 3.7 years) who were observed consecutively over a 5-year period and who received an initial diagnosis of idiopathic CPE. A diagnosis of CD was confirmed by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to assess the presence of antigliadin antibodies and the immunofluorescent undirected test to assess the presence of antiendomysium antibodies. Results: Twenty-five patients had CPEO, whereas the remaining 47 had CPE with centrotemporal spikes (CPEC). None of the patients with CPEC had positive antibody tests. Of the 25 patients with CPEO, two (8%) had antiendomysium immunoglobulin (Ig) A antibodies. In both of these patients, the jejunal biopsy showed atrophy of the villi and hyperplasia of the crypts, consistent with a diagnosis of CD. Brain computed tomography (CT) was normal in one of these patients and revealed occipital corticosubcortical calcifications in the other. Conclusions: Our study indicates that CD screening should be performed routinely only in patients with CPEO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Guidance is provided in an international setting on the assessment and specific treatment of postmenopausal women at low, high and very high risk of fragility fractures. Introduction: The International Osteoporosis Foundation and European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis published guidance for the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in 2019. This manuscript seeks to apply this in an international setting, taking additional account of further categorisation of increased risk of fracture, which may inform choice of therapeutic approach. Methods: Clinical perspective and updated literature search. Results: The following areas are reviewed: categorisation of fracture risk and general pharmacological management of osteoporosis. Conclusions: A platform is provided on which specific guidelines can be developed for national use to characterise fracture risk and direct interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De Marco EV, Annesi G, Tarantino P, Nicoletti G, Civitelli D, Messina D, Annesi F, Arabia G, Salsone M, Condino F, Novellino F, Provenzano G, Rocca FE, Colica C, Morelli M, Scornaienchi V, Greco V, Giofrè L, Quattrone A. DJ-1 is a Parkinson's disease susceptibility gene in southern Italy. Mutations in the gene DJ-1 have been shown to be a rare cause of early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD). Since DJ-1 mutations have been found in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) from southern Italy, we aimed to investigate whether polymorphisms within the DJ-1 gene could represent a risk factor for sporadic PD. First, we genotyped 294 patients with PD and 298 controls coming from southern Italy to assess the distribution of the insertion/deletion (Ins/Del) polymorphism. In a second phase, we identified five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) useful to delimit a region potentially involved and genotyped all patients and controls for these markers. All the markers analyzed were significantly associated with PD at both allelic and genotypic level. The most significant association with the disease was found at the Ins/Del polymorphism (p = 0.0001; adjusted odds ratio (OR ) = 2.05; confidence interval (CI ) = 1.36–3.08). When we considered a three-marker sliding window, we found a highly significant association between the disease and the haplotypes including markers rs17523802, Ins/Del, and rs3766606 (p = 0.0007) and markers Ins/Del, rs3766606 and rs7517357 (p = 0.0054). Our results indicate that polymorphisms located in a region spanning 3535 bp from the promoter to the intron 2 of the DJ-1 gene confer risk to sporadic PD in southern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first population-based study of vertebral fractures in Latin America, we found a 11.18 (95% CI 9.23–13.4) prevalence of radiographically ascertained vertebral fractures in a random sample of 1,922 women from cities within five different countries. These figures are similar to findings from studies in Beijing, China, some regions of Europe, and slightly lower than those found in the USA using the same standardized methodology. We report the first study of radiographic vertebral fractures in Latin America. An age-stratified random sample of 1,922 women aged 50 years and older from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Puerto Rico were included. In all cases a standardized questionnaire and lateral X-rays of the lumbar and thoracic spine were obtained after informed consent. A standardized prevalence of 11.18 (95% CI 9.23–13.4) was found. The prevalence was similar in all five countries, increasing from 6.9% (95% CI 4.6–9.1) in women aged 50–59 years to 27.8% (95% CI 23.1–32.4) in those 80 years and older ( p for trend < 0.001). Among different risk factors, self-reported height loss OR = 1.63 (95% CI: 1.18–2.25), and previous history of fracture OR = 1.52 (95% CI: 1.14–2.03) were significantly ( p < 0.003 and p < 0.04 respectably) associated with the presence of radiographic vertebral fractures in the multivariate analysis. In the bivariate analyses HRT was associated with a 35% lower risk OR = 0.65 (95% CI: 0.46–0.93) and physical activity with a 27% lower risk of having a vertebral fracture OR = 0.73 (95% CI: 0.55–0.98), but were not statistically significant in multivariate analyses We conclude that radiographically ascertained vertebral fractures are common in Latin America. Health authorities in the region should be aware and consider implementing measures to prevent vertebral fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article 'Algorithm for the management of patients at low, high and very high risk of osteoporotic fractures',written by J. A. Kanis, was originally published Online First without Open Access. After publication in volume [#], issue [#] and page [#-#], the author decided to opt for Open Choice and to make the article an Open Access publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to measure the difference between the set continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) value and the pharyngeal pressure reading during CPAP in premature infants with mild respiratory distress syndrome, using two different devices: hood CPAP and the conventional nasal system. The preliminary results suggest that hood CPAP may produce more stable pharyngeal pressure than the conventional nasal device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of refractory deficits on visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Methods: We prospectively studied subjects with refractory deficits (myopia) and no neurological abnormalities at the laboratory of neurophysiology of the University of Catanzaro, Italy between January 2003 and January 2005. The study group consisted of 15 consecutive subjects with different degrees of myopia. The myopia was between -0.25 and -8 diopters. Ag/AgCl electrodes were used and applied on the occipital surface of the scalp with Fz used as reference. Two pattern reversals were used: check size at 60' and check size at 15'. We acquired two consecutive tests, one with the patient without glasses and the second one with the patient using glasses to correct the visual error. Results: We divided the subjects into two subgroups: individuals with a degree of myopia equal or below two degree and individuals with a degree of myopia more than two degree, In subjects with a myopia <2 degree, we did observe statistical significant difference between subjects with and without glasses at either 60' (p = 0.002) or 15' (p = 0.004) check sizes. In patients with a myopia >2 degree, a statistical significant was observed at 15' (p = 0.005) and at 60' (p = 0.1145). The difference between healthy controls and subjects with any degree of myopia was very significant (p = < 0.001, with Bonferroni's correction). Conclusions: Uncorrected refractory errors may affect the latency of VEPs. Therefore, it is useful that each laboratory of EP has a simple optometry table or checks the visual acuity of the patient before a VEP test to obtain a valid result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the segregation of the dinucleotide GT repeat polymorphism in the intron between exons 9 and 10 of the tau gene in 300 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and in 197 normal controls. The A3 allele was more frequent in cases than in controls (30% versus 16%, p<0.001), and individuals carrying at least one A3 allele in their genotype had an increased risk of developing PD (odds ratio 2.78, 95% confidence interval 1.81-4.29). No significant differences were found between patients by considering the age at onset and the presence of family history or dementia. Our findings suggest a possible involvement of the tau gene in the pathogenesis of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the parkin gene in 118 patients with typical Parkinson's disease (PD), i.e. in patients who had an onset of PD after the age of 45 years. The study group included 95 subjects with sporadic PD and 23 subjects from 18 families with autosomal recessive PD. No pathogenetic mutations in the parkin gene were detected either in familial or in sporadic patients. Our findings indicate that the parkin gene is not involved in the pathogenesis of classic late-onset PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to measure the difference between the set continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) value and the pharyngeal pressure reading during CPAP in premature infants with mild respiratory distress syndrome, using two different devices: hood CPAP and the conventional nasal system. The preliminary results suggest that hood CPAP may produce more stable pharyngeal pressure than the conventional nasal device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]