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Objective: Myocardial protection is crucial in cardiac surgery: quantification is often difficult as there is a significant mismatch between body weight and heart weight as per geometric remodeling. This study has the objective to compare two groups of patients on the administration of myocardial protection in valvular pathologies: the first group has indexed the administration with left ventricular mass index; the second has indexed it on the body weight or on the body surface area. The primary endpoint of double-blind case-control study is to detect the difference in incidence in terms of post-operative low cardiac output syndrome. Methods: A single-center double-blind case-control study in a specialized regional tertiary cardiac surgery center in Italy. Between March 2017 and September 2018, 200 adults (100 per Group A vs. Group B) were scheduled for elective procedures: Group A (50 aortic valve replacement-50 mitral valve repair in minimally invasive cardiac surgery) used blood cardioplegic solution with Saint Thomas I solution, with calculation of left ventricular mass index with echocardiographic measures (Formula Group A); Group B (50 aortic valve replacement-50 mitral valve repair in minimally invasive cardiac surgery) used blood cardioplegic solution with Saint Thomas I solution, with calculation indexed on the body surface area, Du Bois Method (Formula Group B). Results: A statistically significant difference was found for Student's t-test in patients who used myocardial indexed protection on left ventricular mass index versus control: aortic valve replacement procedures in aortic valve stenosis—ejection fraction (24 hours, p-value = 0.046), TnT (24 hours, p-value = 0.047), stroke volume shift (24 hours, p-value = 0.043), and infusion of epinephrine after cardiopulmonary bypass (p-value = 0.033); aortic valve replacement procedures in aortic valve insufficiency—ejection fraction (24 hours, p-value = 0.044), TnT (24 hours, p-value = 0.047), stroke volume shift (24 hours, p-value = 0.046), and infusion of Epinephrine after cardiopulmonary bypass (p-value = 0.029). No statistically significant differences in patients undergoing mitral valve repair surgery. Conclusion: The study group in the aortic valve surgery that administered myocardial protection indexed for the left ventricular mass index and showed a statistically significant lower incidence for post-operative low cardiac output syndrome compared to the control group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to analyze the technical and tactical aspects of the Italian under-18 Academy Rugby Union in relation to different academies, regional tournaments, and game outcomes. A notational analysis (44 indicators) was performed on 16 games (2014-15 season) to evaluate strong differences (p ≤ 0.05; moderate-large effect sizes [ESs]) according to variables. Among academies, strong differences were showed for defensive breakdown, in which the defending support is much (range = 77-87%), equal (range = 11-32%), and less (range = 2-12%) numerous than the attacking support, total tackles (range = 64-122), and passes (range = 72-151), pass to possession ratio (range = 6-10), possession lost due to an error (range = 28-59%), and ball in play in own (range = 8-25%) and opponent (range = 7-31%) 22-m area indicators. For tournaments, effects emerged for offensive breakdown when the ball is used quickly using maximum 2 attacking supports (range = 20-30%) and is not used quickly (range = 28-41%), total penalty kicks (range = 11-16), and sequences period 0-10 (range = 26-35%) and 10-40 seconds (range = 47-55%). Conversely, winning and losing academies reported differences with small ESs. These results highlight that the technical and tactical aspects of the Italian under-18 Academy Rugby Union are quite homogeneous, suggesting that FIR coaching staffs are more oriented to players' skills than successful games. However, tactical and strength and conditioning coaches can benefit from the findings of this study, focusing training on cognitive, strength, and repeated sprint abilities with and without change of direction for improving the occurrence of "set pieces won/regained" and "ball in play in opponent 22 m area," which appear as the key of the game in this rugby competition level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two populations of Brachythemis impartita (Karsch, 1890) are here reported in peninsular Italy. The species was found for the first time in 2015 in Calabria in the area of the Angitola artificial lake (Maierato and Monterosso Calabro municipalities) not far from the Tyrrhenian coast. In 2016 the species was also observed in southern Apulia, along the banks of two artificial lagoons in the municipality of Ugento. Information are provided that confirm the habitat preferences of the species and a northward expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical and cognitive training seem to counteract age-related decline in physical and mental function. Recently, the possibility of integrating cognitive demands into physical training has attracted attention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of twelve weeks of designed physical-cognitive training on executive cognitive function and gait performance in older adults. Thirty-six healthy, active individuals aged 72.30 ± 5.84 years were assigned to two types of physical training with major focus on physical single task (ST) training (n=16) and physical-cognitive dual task (DT) training (n=20), respectively. They were tested before and after the intervention for executive function (inhibition, working memory) through Random Number Generation and for gait (walking with/without negotiating hurdles) under both single and dual task (ST, DT) conditions. Gait performance improved in both groups, while inhibitory performance decreased after exercise training with ST focus but tended to increase after training with physical-cognitive DT focus. Changes in inhibition performance were correlated with changes in DT walking performance with group differences as a function of motor task complexity (with/without hurdling). The study supports the effectiveness of group exercise classes for older individuals to improve gait performance, with physical-cognitive DT training selectively counteracting the age-related decline in a core executive function essential for daily living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research which was conducted to define the technical and tactical profiles of official youth taekwondo competitions played under the most recent rules of the International Taekwondo Federation. Researchers evaluated the fighting styles of 50 taekwondo athletes. They found that tournament winners were more efficient in terms of technical and tactical variables and tended to adopt an offensive fighting strategy.

The article discusses the tactical and technical aspects of losing and winning teams in unbalanced and close women's water polo games, suggesting that water polo can be analyzed according to margins of victory. Topics include training, notational analysis, offensive even arrangements, and lost possessions.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I sequence-based typing (SBT) for hematopoietic unrelated donor searching in an Italian Caucasian patient showed the presence of a novel HLA-A allele defined as A*31:48. HLA-A*31:48 has one nucleotide change from A*31:01:02 at nt 727 from C to T, resulting in an amino acid change at codon 219 of exon 4 from Arg to Trp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Prophylaxis of migraine with aura: a place for acetylsalicylic acid" by L. T. Savil, V. Condello, F. Bert and L. Pinessi is presented.

BACKGROUNDDICER1 is the only miRNA biogenesis component associated with an inherited tumor syndrome, featuring multinodular goiter (MNG) and rare pediatric-onset lesions. Other susceptibility genes for familial forms of MNG likely exist.METHODSWhole-exome sequencing of a kindred with early-onset MNG and schwannomatosis was followed by investigation of germline pathogenic variants that fully segregated with the disease. Genome-wide analyses were performed on 13 tissue samples from familial and nonfamilial DGCR8-E518K-positive tumors, including MNG, schwannomas, papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs), and Wilms tumors. miRNA profiles of 4 tissue types were compared, and sequencing of miRNA, pre-miRNA, and mRNA was performed in a subset of 9 schwannomas, 4 of which harbor DGCR8-E518K.RESULTSWe identified c.1552G>A;p.E518K in DGCR8, a microprocessor component located in 22q, in the kindred. The variant identified is a somatic hotspot in Wilms tumors and has been identified in 2 PTCs. Copy number loss of chromosome 22q, leading to loss of heterozygosity at the DGCR8 locus, was found in all 13 samples harboring c.1552G>A;p.E518K. miRNA profiling of PTCs, MNG, schwannomas, and Wilms tumors revealed a common profile among E518K hemizygous tumors. In vitro cleavage demonstrated improper processing of pre-miRNA by DGCR8-E518K. MicroRNA and RNA profiling show that this variant disrupts precursor microRNA production, impacting populations of canonical microRNAs and mirtrons.CONCLUSIONWe identified DGCR8 as the cause of an unreported autosomal dominant mendelian tumor susceptibility syndrome: familial multinodular goiter with schwannomatosis.FUNDINGCanadian Institutes of Health Research, Compute Canada, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, the Mia Neri Foundation for Childhood Cancer, Cassa di Sovvenzioni e Risparmio fra il Personale della Banca d'Italia, and the KinderKrebsInitiative Buchholz/Holm-Seppensen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]