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The Asian small‐clawed otter Aonyx cinereus is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the presence of visitors on the behavioural repertoire of three Asian small‐clawed otters at Cattolica Aquarium, Italy. Observational data sampling took place over two periods of 11 days each. The first period was in August when the Aquarium was open and there were visitors present (open period = OP). The second period was between September and October, on days when the Aquarium was closed to visitors (closed period = CP). Focal sampling was integrated with behaviour sampling during data collection. To evaluate the significant differences in frequency and duration of behaviours during the OP and CP periods, a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was performed. The results of this study showed that the absence of visitors stimulated significant differences in frequency and duration of activity (such as ‘locomotion’ and ‘waiting’) and social behaviours (such as ‘play’). The otters also spent significantly more time visible than ‘out of sight’ when there were no visitors present. This preliminary research provides information that may influence the way zoos and aquatic parks manage their otters, and contributes to the improvement of the welfare of animals in human care.

Cerebral folate transporter deficiency syndrome, caused by FOLR-1 mutations is characterized by late infantile onset, severe developmental regression, epilepsy, and leukodystrophy. An extremely low concentration of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in the cerebrospinal fluid provides a crucial clue to its diagnosis and is a treatment target. Oral or intravenous folinic acid (5-formyltetrahydrofolate) administration improves clinical symptoms and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. We describe three siblings carrying a novel homozygous FOLR1 nonsense mutation, that were referred due to intractable epilepsy and progressive neurological decline. Brain MRI showed hypomyelination and cerebellar atrophy. Folinic acid (oral and intravenous) supplementation, initiated after over 15 years illness, has failed to result in any sizeable clinical or neurophysiological improvement. Cerebral folate transport deficiency bears overlapping clinical features with many severe developmental encephalopathies. It is crucial to recognize FOLR1 signs and establish an early clinical and molecular diagnosis in order to provide timely folinic acid treatment and improve outcome.

Objectives To compare implant and prosthesis survival rates between full-arch immediate prostheses supported by 4 hydrophilic implants with bicortical anchorage and by 5 or 6 hydrophilic implants placed without bicortical anchorage. Material and methods The sample was retrospectively selected and comprised completely edentulous patients treated with full-arch immediate prostheses supported by Morse Taper hydrophilic implants. The selected patients were divided into four groups, according to the region of implant placement and type of anchorage. Differences in implant and prosthesis survival rates between groups, as well as the influence of bicortical anchorage on implant primary stability, were verified using Fisher's exact tests (significant at p Results The sample comprised 392 implants, 72 were placed in the maxilla with bicortical anchorage, and 85 were placed without. In the mandible, 140 implants were placed with and 95 were placed without bicortical anchorage. The follow-up period was up to 24 months. A 98.8% implant survival rate was observed for the group of implants placed without bicortical anchorage in the maxilla, and of 100% for the other groups. The overall implant survival rate was 99.7% (391 of 392 implants). Prosthesis survival rate was 100% for all groups. No differences were observed between groups with respect to implant and prosthesis survival rates. Significantly higher primary stability was observed for implants placed with bicortical anchorage in both jaws. Conclusion Predictable results and high survival rates were achieved within the period evaluated by the present retrospective study, with immediate full-arch prostheses when only four hydrophilic implants are placed bicortically.

Objectives We evaluated how the Severe Acute Respiratory disease from Coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) epidemic impacted transfusion services, transfusion support required by Covid‐19 patients and their clinical outcome. Background In Italy, the first confirmed case of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection was registered on 21 February 2020. As of 20 April, about 250 000 cases were registered, 1143 of which were in the province of Pescara. Methods We compared transfusion services provided by the blood centre of Pescara between 1 March and 20 April 2019 and between 1 March and 20 April 2020. We assessed the number and type of blood components donated, those transfused in the various hospital departments and those transfused to Covid‐19 patients. Results Compared to 2019, we documented a decrease of 32% in the number of donations. The number of transfusions increased by 139% in the infectious diseases department (IDD), dedicated to Covid‐19 patients, and by 76% in the intensive care unit (ICU), whereas it markedly decreased in the other departments. Of 299 patients with Covid‐19, 60 were transfused (20.1%). Transfused patients in the ICU were significantly younger than those in IDD and had a lower number of lymphocytes, lower post‐transfusion increment of haemoglobin levels and higher D‐dimer and C reactive protein values. Mortality rate was 60.7% among transfused patients in the ICU and 39.0% among those in the IDD (p = 0.02). Conclusion The Covid‐19 epidemic had a profound impact on transfusion activities. The important blood demand for Covid‐19 patients was satisfied because of the reduction in activities in other hospital wards. Covid‐19‐positive transfused patients showed a very poor prognosis.

Phosphotyrosine residues are essential functional switches in health and disease. Thus, phosphotyrosine biomimetics are crucial for the development of chemical tools and drug molecules. We report here the discovery and investigation of pentafluorophosphato amino acids as novel phosphotyrosine biomimetics. A mild acidic pentafluorination protocol was developed and two PF5-amino acids were prepared and employed in peptide synthesis. Their structures, reactivities, and fluorine-specific interactions were studied by NMR and IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and in bioactivity assays. The mono-anionic PF5 motif displayed an amphiphilic character binding to hydrophobic surfaces, to water molecules, and to protein-binding sites, exploiting charge and H−F-bonding interactions. The novel motifs bind 25- to 30-fold stronger to the phosphotyrosine binding site of the protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP1B than the best current biomimetics, as rationalized by computational methods, including molecular dynamics simulations.

AIM To monitor functional auditory and non-verbal cognitive skills in children with cochlear implants who had associated disabilities over a 24-month period and define how cochlear implantation may impact on non-verbal cognition by restoring functional auditory skills. METHOD Sixty-four children with cochlear implants (36 females, 28 males; mean age 4y 3mo, SD 3y 5mo, 9mo-14y 5mo) were recruited and divided into three groups: children with typical development group (TDG); children with associated disabilities not linked to non-verbal cognitive disorders group (ADG1); and children with associated disabilities linked to non-verbal cognitive disorders group (ADG2). Tests of functional auditory, communicative, and non-verbal cognitive skills were performed before cochlear implantation and at 12 and 24 months after cochlear implantation. RESULTS Functional auditory and communicative skills improved similarly in the three groups at 12 and 24 months after implantation. An increase in non-verbal cognitive scores was present in children in the ADG2 from baseline to 12 and 24 months (p

Es existieren über 100 Hydrophobieskalen für Aminosäuren, die auf unterschiedlichen Ansätzen basieren und einheitlich in kondensierter Phase ermittelt werden. Ein Vergleich der Hydrophobiewerte aus verschiedenen Methoden und die Ermittlung ihrer relativen Rangfolge sind jedoch anspruchsvoll, da die Wechselwirkungen zwischen der Umgebung und der Aminosäure in jeder Methode spezifisch sind. Hier überwinden wir diese Einschränkung, indem wir die Eigenschaften von Aminosäuren in der Reinraumumgebung der Gasphase untersuchen. In der Gasphase bleiben standardmäßig entropische Beiträge des hydrophoben Effektes aus, und nur die Polarität der Seitenkette ist für die Selbstorganisation entscheidend. Dies ermöglicht die Ableitung einer neuartigen Hydrophobieskala, die ausschließlich auf der Interaktion einzelner Aminosäureeinheiten innerhalb des Clusters basiert und somit die Eigenschaften der Seitenketten besser abbildet. Dieses Prinzip kann für die Klassifizierung von nicht‐natürlichen Derivaten angewendet werden, wie hier für fluorierte Aminosäurevarianten gezeigt ist.

We report the case of two siblings presenting with failure to thrive in early years, progressive microcephaly, moderate intellectual disability, developmental delay, ataxic gait and seizures with an identical EEG pattern, and minimal cerebellar atrophy. We ruled out the syndromic and metabolic causes of microcephaly and subsequently conducted a panel of genetic diagnostic tests, including the clinical exome sequencing which revealed compound heterozygous mutations in MED 17 gene in both patients. p.Glu16fs was found to be inherited from the mother and p.Gly253Arg from the father. This case along with review of the literature suggests that mutations in MED17 may define a phenotype characterized by progressive microcephaly, intellectual disability, seizures, cerebellar atrophy of variable degree, and ataxia. More cases are needed to define the phenotype-genotype correlation in MED17 mutations. However, basing on our findings, we recommend testing MED17 mutations in any patient presenting with two or more of the aforementioned signs and symptoms.

BACKGROUND Despite the prophylactic use of platelet transfusion, hemorrhagic complications still represent an important cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies. Patient-related factors and characteristics of the transfused product can affect transfusion efficacy. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS The aim of this study was to develop and validate the Platelet Efficacy Score (PEscore), based on patient and product characteristics, to predict the likelihood of a satisfactory platelet transfusion (absolute increment ≥10.5 × 109/L). This study utilized data relative to 16,265 platelet transfusions performed in 1592 oncohematologic patients. The whole sample was divided into two random samples: a training set, in which different patient-related and transfusion-related characteristics were included in a predictive model to develop the PEscore; and a validation set, in which the predictive properties of the PEscore were confirmed. In the training set, multilevel logistic regression analysis was performed in which the likelihood of attaining a satisfactory transfusion was modeled. RESULTS The predictive score ranged between 0 and 30. Predictive properties of the PEscore were confirmed by the observed rates of satisfactory transfusions in the validation sample; the probability of a satisfactory transfusion was less than 10% for a score less than 12 and exceeded 50% if the score was 22 or higher. The likelihood of a satisfactory transfusion increased by 29% for a 1-unit increase in the PEscore (odds ratio, 1.29; 95% confidence interval, 1.27-1.31). CONCLUSION The availability of a prediction score can increase transfusion efficacy, help the transfusion medicine specialist in the choice of the best product for the individual patient, and avoid waste of resources.