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A study on cancer of the lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue among residents aged 0-14 years was conducted by the Local Health Unit RMD (Rome, Italy; period 2003-09; codes of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification: 200-208). Age and gender Standardized Mortality and Hospitalization Ratios were computed in order to compare observed and expected cases, using municipal rates as reference. Place of residence at the time of admission, as recorded in the Hospital Registry, was compared with the information recorded in the Municipal Registers and the correlation between the two sources was calculated by Cohen's Kappa. No mortality nor morbidity excesses were observed in the study area. Although 14% of children were not confirmed as being resident at the time of admission, the Cohen's Kappa indicates a strong correlation between the Municipal Registry and the Hospital Registry (84%). The analyses restricted to children with ascertained residence did not yield different results. For those whose residence was not confirmed, the mismatch of information between the Municipality Registry and the Hospital Registry needs to be clarified.

Objective: Bodily self-recognition is one aspect of our ability to distinguish between self and others and is central to effective socialization. Here we explored the influence of emotional body postures on bodily self-processing in typically developing (TD) as well as in high-functioning ASD children. Method: Subjects’ bodies were photographed while expressing endogenously- (self-generated, Experiment 1) or exogenously-driven body emotions (imitated upon request, Experiment 2). Postures conveying positive (happiness), negative (fearful) and neutral valences were used. These pictures served as stimuli in a visual matching-to-sample task with self and others’ body-images. Results: A similar self-versus-others advantage was found in TD and in ASD children, since participants were faster with stimuli representing their own than others’ body. This “self-advantage” was modulated by self-expressed emotional body postures being present with pictures of happy and neutral, but not fearful body images. This modulation was stronger when emotional postures were endogenously rather than exogenously driven. Moreover, faster responses were observed for others’ fearful rather than happy or neutral body images in both groups. Conclusions: The bodily self-advantage is a low-level function present in typically developing (TD) and in high-functioning ASD children. Body postures, especially when they are endogenously generated, modulate the self and others’ body processing. The advantage for processing others’ fearful, comparing to others’ happy and neutral, body postures may have played a crucial evolutionary role for species survival.