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The present work shows the relevance of assimilating mesoscale observations and lightning data in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, to simulate a strong convective event in northern Italy, poorly forecasted by available weather models even a few hours before the event itself. The data assimilation was conducted by testing the 3D-VAR and 4D-VAR assimilation algorithms implemented in the WRF data assimilation (WRFDA) suite, with different configurations and different assimilation windows. An extensive sensibility test has been operated to properly analyze the effect that the assimilation of a single station has on the model outcomes. Input data were taken from two networks of more than 1000 citizen-science meteorological stations, available in northern Italy, and from lightning flashes derived from Earth Networks Total Lightning Network, assimilated using the atmospheric water vapor as a proxy variable. Rain forecasts over an area in the north of Milan were compared to the station’s measurements in the same area; POD, FAR, and CSI categorical statistics have been calculated. Results showed a positive improvement in the forecasted rain amounts with the ingestion of mesoscale weather data into 3D-VAR and 4D-VAR algorithms, more pronounced using 4D-VAR with a more frequent input data integration. A few improvements were reported by the 3D-VAR, with the lightning data assimilation, probably caused by the absence of the model’s spin-up time with this configuration. An ideal simulation, which increased the water vapor of the air mass 2 h before the convective event, reported a positive enhancement of the rain amounts. The tests conducted on a single convective event are nevertheless encouraging, because they show a positive improvement of forecast with the assimilation of near-ground weather data and tropospheric water vapor 1 or 2 h before the beginning of the convection activity.

Although bipolar disorder (BD) is traditionally conceptualised as one diagnostic entity, the heterogeneity of pathophysiological manifestations in BD suggests the need to classify the subtypes of the illness based on neural markers. Specifically, the presence of psychotic symptoms seems to be relevant for the clinical outcome and may have specific neuroanatomical bases. The main objective of the present review was to assess whether the distinction between psychotic BD (PBD) and non-psychotic BD (NPBD) can improve the identification of the neurobiological markers of this complex illness. To this end, we summarised the findings from the magnetic resonance imaging studies that explored the cerebral correlates of psychosis in BD in terms of grey matter volume (GMV). Overall, the results suggest the presence of peculiar GMV differences between PBD and NPBD. Specifically, psychosis in BD seems to be associated with cortical GMV deficits compared with both healthy controls and NPBD, mainly in the frontal region. Conversely, NPBD patients showed GMV deficits in selective regions of the basal ganglia when compared with the other groups. Taken together, this evidence confirms the importance to classify BD based on the psychotic dimension, which may have a specific neurobiological architecture that partially overlaps across multiple psychotic disorders.

Although schizophrenia (SCZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share elements of pathology (Ellison-Wright and Bullmore, 2009), the neural mechanisms underlying these disorders are still under investigation. Up until now, many neuroimaging studies investigated the brain structural differences of SCZ and BD compared with healthy controls (HC), trying to identify the possible neuroanatomical markers for the two disorders. However, just a few studies focused on the brain structural changes between the two diagnoses. The present review summarises the findings of the voxel-based grey matter (GM) comparisons between SCZ and BD, with the objective to highlight the possible consistent anatomical differences between the two disorders. While the comparisons between patients and HC highlighted overlapping areas of GM reduction in insula and anterior cingulate cortex, the SCZ–BD comparisons suggest the presence of more generalised GM deficits in SCZ compared with BD. Indeed, in a number of studies, SCZ patients showed lower GM volumes than BD patients in fronto-temporal cortex, thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala. Conversely, only a couple of studies reported GM deficits in BD compared with SCZ, both at the level of cerebellum. In summary, the two disorders exhibit both common and specific neuroanatomical characteristics, whose knowledge is mandatory to develop innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies.

AbstractAimsIn the search for effective therapeutic strategies for depression, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) emerged as a non-invasive, promising treatment. This is because the antidepressant effect of rTMS might be related to neuronal plasticity mechanisms possibly reverting connectivity alterations often observed in depression. Therefore, in this review, we aimed at providing an overview of the findings reported by studies investigating functional and structural connectivity changes after rTMS in depression.MethodsA bibliographic search was conducted on PubMed, including studies that used unilateral, excitatory (⩾10 Hz) rTMS treatment targeted on the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in unipolar depressed patients.ResultsThe majority of the results showed significant TMS-induced changes in functional connectivity (FC) between areas important for emotion regulation, including the DLPFC and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and among regions that are part of the major resting-state networks, such as the Default Mode Network, the Salience Networks and the Central Executive Network. Finally, in diffusion tensor imaging studies, it has been reported that rTMS appeared to increase fractional anisotropy in the frontal lobe.LimitationsThe small sample size, the heterogeneity of the rTMS stimulation parameters, the concomitant use of psychotropic drugs might have limited the generalisability of the results.ConclusionsOverall, rTMS treatment induces structural and FC changes in brain regions and networks implicated in the pathogenesis of unipolar depression. However, whether these changes underlie the antidepressant effect of rTMS still needs to be clarified.

In Italy, paediatric rehabilitation is part of the activity of services for neurological and psychiatric diseases in childhood and adolescence. These services (UONPIA) have an integrated, multi-professional, child- and family-oriented approach to paediatric disabling conditions. At present, inadequate territorial distribution of services, shortage of resources and need of epidemiological monitoring and specific designs of bio-medical research are the main problems.