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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Kallmann syndrome is a rare inherited disorder due to defective intrauterine migration of olfactory axons and gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons, leading to rhinencephalon hypoplasia and hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Concomitant brain developmental abnormalities have been described. Our aim was to investigate Kallmann syndrome–related brain changes with conventional and novel quantitative MR imaging analyses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-five male patients with Kallmann syndrome (mean age, 30.7 years; range, 9–55 years) and 23 age-matched male controls underwent brain MR imaging. The MR imaging study protocol included 3D-T1, FLAIR, and diffusion tensor imaging (32 noncollinear gradient-encoding directions; b-value = 800 s/mm2). Voxel-based morphometry, sulcation, curvature, and cortical thickness analyses and tract-based spatial statistics were performed by using Statistical Parametric Mapping 8, FreeSurfer, and the fMRI of the Brain Software Library. RESULTS: Corpus callosum partial agenesis, multiple sclerosis–like white matter abnormalities, and acoustic schwannoma were found in 1 patient each. The total amount of gray and white matter volume and tract-based spatial statistics measures (fractional anisotropy and mean, radial, and axial diffusivity) did not differ between patients with Kallmann syndrome and controls. By specific analyses, patients with Kallmann syndrome presented with symmetric clusters of gray matter volume increase and decrease and white matter volume decrease close to the olfactory sulci; reduced sulcal depth of the olfactory sulci and deeper medial orbital-frontal sulci; lesser curvature of the olfactory sulcus and sharper curvature close to the medial orbital-frontal sulcus; and increased cortical thickness within the olfactory sulcus. CONCLUSIONS: This large MR imaging study on male patients with Kallmann syndrome featured significant morphologic and structural brain changes, likely driven by olfactory bulb hypo-/aplasia, selectively involving the basal forebrain cortex.

Introduction The organization of the healthcare system has significantly changed after the recent COVID-19 outbreak, with a negative impact on the management of oncological patients. The present survey reports data collected by the Italian Association for Neuroendocrine Tumors on the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasia (NEN) during the pandemic dissemination. Methods A survey with 57 questions was sent to NEN-dedicated Italian centers regarding the management of patients in the period March 9, 2020, to May 9, 2020 Results The main modification in the centers’ activity consisted of decreases in newly diagnosed NEN patients (− 76.8%), decreases in performed surgical procedures (− 58%), delays to starting peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (45.5%), postponed/canceled follow-up examinations (26%), and canceled multidisciplinary teams’ activity (20.8%). A low proportion of centers (

The study evaluated the effects of eCG treatment prior to ovum pick up (OPU) on follicular population, oocyte and embryo yields in summer and autumn in Podolic cattle. The effects of repeated OPU on cattle wellbeing was also documented. Twenty-six animals were used, and split into two groups, treatment (OPU; n = 18) and control (CG; n = 8). The OPU cattle were subsequently split into two subgroups (n = 9) and underwent repeated OPU, without and with eCG priming, for a total of 8 sessions (4 sessions/season). Follicular population, oocyte and embryo yields were recorded in those sub-groups. CG was handled in the same manner of OPU, except for epidural anaesthesia and follicular aspiration. Biochemical profile, serum protein electrophoresis and haptoglobin levels were analysed in OPU and CG. Hormonal priming increased the number of medium follicles (1.7 ± 0.2 vs 0.9 ± 0.2, p

In recent years, porcine circovirus (PCV) infection has been documented as an important and emerging health concern for livestock and wildlife worldwide. The purpose of the present study was to assess the molecular prevalence of PCV-2 and PCV-3 and to clarify the epidemiological role of wild boars in the circulation of this virus in Campania, Southern Italy. For this purpose, samples from several organs were collected during the hunting season 2017–2018 from 148 wild boars in the Campania region. Quantitative real-time PCR was used for the detection and quantification of PCV-2 and PCV-3 genomes. The combined prevalence of PCV-2 and PCV-3 was 74.32% in the wild boars tested. The proportions of wild boars positive for PCV-2 or PCV-3, or coinfected, were 47.30%, 49.32%, and 22.30%, respectively. No link was detected between PCV positivity and location, but gender was a risk factor for the disease (female, p &lt, 0.0001, OR 0.29). Furthermore, our study provides a snapshot of PCV-2 and PCV-3 circulation in wild boars in the Campania region: our findings can help us to better understand the role of wildlife in PCV circulation.

The microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are crucial for host health and production efficiency in ruminants. Its microbial composition can be influenced by several endogenous and exogenous factors. In the beef and dairy industry, the possibility to manipulate gut microbiota by diet and management can have important health and economic implications. The aims of this study were to characterize the different GIT site microbiota in water buffalo and evaluate the influence of diet on GIT microbiota in this animal species. We characterized and compared the microbiota of the rumen, large intestine and feces of water buffaloes fed two different diets with different non-structural carbohydrates/crude proteins (NSC/CP) ratios. Our results indicated that Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were the most abundant phyla in all the GIT sites, with significant differences in microbiota composition between body sites both within and between groups. This result was particularly evident in the large intestine, where beta diversity analysis displayed clear clustering of samples depending on the diet. Moreover, we found a difference in diet digestibility linked to microbiota modification at the GIT level conditioned by NSC/CP levels. Diet strongly influences GIT microbiota and can therefore modulate specific GIT microorganisms able to affect the health status and performance efficiency of adult animals.

Paratuberculosis is a chronic enteric disease affecting virtually all ruminants, but only anecdotal information is currently available about the occurrence of this disease in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). We carried out a survey study aimed at determining the prevalence of paratuberculosis in 2 provinces in the region of Campania, Italy, where about half of all Italian buffaloes are reared. From May 2017 to December 2018, we collected 201,175 individual serum samples from 995 buffalo herds. The sera were collected from animals over 24 mo old and were tested using a commercial ELISA test. The herd-level apparent prevalence result was 54.7%, and the animal-level apparent prevalence was 1.8%. The herd-level true prevalence was estimated using a Bayesian approach, demonstrating a high herd-level prevalence of paratuberculosis in water buffaloes from the Campania area. These findings suggest that the urgent adoption of paratuberculosis herd-control programs for water buffaloes in this area would be beneficial.

Background Pembrolizumab is the first-line standard of care for advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a PD-L1 tumour proportion score (TPS) ≥ 50%. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (PS) 2 patients may receive pembrolizumab, despite the absence of sustaining evidence. Patients and methods GOIRC-2018-01 is a multicentre, retrospective, observational study. PS 2 NSCLC patients with a PD-L1 TPS ≥50% receiving first-line pembrolizumab from June 2017 to December 2018 at 21 Italian institutions were included. Clinical-pathological characteristics were correlated with disease response and survival outcomes; adverse events were recorded. The primary objective was 6-months progression-free rate (6-months PFR). Results One hundred fifty-three patients (median age 70 years) were enrolled. At a median follow-up of 18.2 months, median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 2.4 (95% confidence interval, 95% CI, 1.6–2.5) and 3.0 months (95% CI 2.4–3.5), respectively. 6-months PFR was 27% (95% CI 21–35%). Patients with a PS 2 determined by comorbidities (n = 41) had significantly better outcomes compared with disease burden-induced PS 2 (n = 112). Indeed, 6-months PFR was 49% versus 19%, median PFS 5.6 versus 1.8 months and OS 11.8 versus 2.8 months, respectively. Additional potential prognostic factors (radiotherapy, antibiotics, steroids received before pembrolizumab) correlated with clinical outcomes. The determinant of PS 2 resulted the only factor independently impacting on both PFS and OS. No toxicity issues emerged. Conclusions Outcomes of PS 2 NSCLC patients with PD-L1 TPS ≥50% receiving first-line pembrolizumab were globally dismal but strongly dependent on the reason conditioning the poor PS itself.

Growth, weight at birth and daily weight gain (DWG) on 12 water buffalo calves, starting from 6 days of age until completion of weaning, was investigated in this study. Different feeding regimens were given to two groups of animals with regard to daily milk replacer: (1) group 1 (G1) received a double concentration in single administration; whereas (2) group 2 (G2) received the same amount of milk replacer split twice daily. Blood samples were collected from each calf on days 6, 30, 60 and 90 to evaluate acute phase proteins (haptoglobin), bactericide activity, lysozime, total protein content and biochemical parameters. No differences were observed between the two groups in terms of dry matter intake, feed efficiency and live body weight at the end of the study. Interestingly, a significantly (P