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The Covid-19 pandemic is the defining global health crisis of our time. Chest X-Rays (CXR) have been an important imaging modality for assisting in the diagnosis and management of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. However, their interpretation is time intensive for radiologists. Accurate computer aided systems can facilitate early diagnosis of Covid-19 and effective triaging. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy logic based deep learning (DL) approach to differentiate between CXR images of patients with Covid-19 pneumonia and with interstitial pneumonias not related to Covid-19. The developed model here, referred to as CovNNet, is used to extract some relevant features from CXR images, combined with fuzzy images generated by a fuzzy edge detection algorithm. Experimental results show that using a combination of CXR and fuzzy features, within a deep learning approach by developing a deep network inputed to a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), results in a higher classification performance (accuracy rate up to 81%), compared to benchmark deep learning approaches. The approach has been validated through additional datasets which are continously generated due to the spread of the virus and would help triage patients in acute settings. A permutation analysis is carried out, and a simple occlusion methodology for explaining decisions is also proposed. The proposed pipeline can be easily embedded into present clinical decision support systems.

L’incontro di calcio tra la Juventus FC e la SSC Napoli, in programma il 4 ottobre 2020, non si è disputato poiché le autorità sanitarie hanno vietato la trasferta della squadra partenopea a Torino a causa della positività al COVID-19 di due suoi calciatori. L’articolo esamina le decisioni della Giustizia Sportiva evidenziando alcune incongruenze e, soprattutto, il mancato rilievo, da parte del Collegio di Garanzia dello Sport, di un’antinomia ravvisabile nel contrasto dell’art. 30, comma 3, dello Statuto Federale con l’art. 54, comma 1, del Codice della Giustizia Sportiva del CONI. L’individuazione prima e la risoluzione poi di tale contrasto non è trascurabile perché avrebbe potuto portare ad una dichiarazione di inammissibilità del ricorso proposto dalla SSC Napoli.

Background SARS-Cov2 infection may trigger lung inflammation and acute-respiratory-distress-syndrome (ARDS) that requires active ventilation and may have fatal outcome. Considering the severity of the disease and the lack of active treatments, 14 patients with Covid-19 and severe lung inflammation received inhaled adenosine in the attempt to therapeutically compensate for the oxygen-related loss of the endogenous adenosine!A2A adenosine receptor (A2AR)-mediated mitigation of the lung-destructing inflammatory damage. This off label-treatment was based on preclinical studies in mice with LPS-induced ARDS, where inhaled adenosine/A2AR agonists protected oxygenated lungs from the deadly inflammatory damage. The treatment was allowed, considering that adenosine has several clinical applications. Patients and treatment Fourteen consecutively enrolled patients with Covid19-related interstitial pneumonitis and PaO2/FiO2 ratio 30%) in the PaO2/FiO2-ratio was reported in 13 out of 14 patients treated with adenosine compared with that observed in 7 out of52 patients in the control within 15 days. Additionally, we recorded a mean PaO2/FiO2-ratio increase (215 ± 45 vs. 464 ± 136, P = 0.0002) in patients receiving adenosine and no change in the control group (210±75 vs. 250±85 at 120 hours, P>0.05). A radiological response was demonstrated in 7 patients who received adenosine, while SARS-CoV-2 RNA load rapidly decreased in 13 cases within 7 days while no changes were recorded in the control group within 15 days. There was one Covid-19 related death in the experimental group and 11in the control group. Conclusion Our short-term analysis suggests the overall safety and beneficial therapeutic effect of inhaled adenosine in patients with Covid-19-inflammatory lung disease suggesting further investigation in controlled clinical trials. Background Covid-19 outbreak has been declared as pandemic by the WHO reporting more than 4 million new cases worldwide with 300,000 related deaths [1]. Almost 20% of these patients developed interstitial pneumonitis that may evolve in ARDS requiring hyperoxic active ventilation, with mostly fatal outcomes [2–5]. The pathogenesis of the Covid-19-related lung injury is still controversial; however, a massive and uncoordinated release of inflammatory cytokines and a post-ischemic reaction to micro-vascular damage and micro-embolization seem to be involved [5–10]. Due to the acute medical need, different drugs are tested in ongoing trials aimed to hamper the effects of the cytokines involved the first phases of the inflammatory process [11–14]. However, mAbs to IL1β (Kanakinumab), IL6-Receptor (Tocilizumab) and inhibitors of Janus kinases (JAK)-1/2 (Baricitinib and Ruxolitinib) did not produce satisfactory clinical outcomes in patients with Covid19-related interstitial pneumonitis [14–16]. The most recent clinical evidences highlight a 20–30% mortality rate in patients with Covid19-related lung injury requiring active oxygen ventilation and depending on the classification of patients, time of intervention and how critical their illness is [17–19]. These reports are leading to the suspicions that some iatrogenic complication other than a mechanical lung damage does occur [17–19]. Accordingly, we carried out a clinical investigation based on insights and therapeutic suggestions offered in preclinical studies and paper with the self-explanatory title: “Oxygenation inhibits the physiological tissue-protecting mechanism and thereby exacerbates acute inflammatory lung injury” [20]. Based on the results of those preclinical studies in mice we hypothesized that mechanical ventilation and hyper-oxygenation lead to the unacceptable inflammatory side effects in patients with Covid19-related severe pulmonary complications. We further assumed, that the otherwise life-saving oxygenation also weakens the local tissue hypoxia-driven and adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR)-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanism [21–23]. Without this major physiological anti-inflammatory lung tissue protection, the neutrophils, lung macrophages and pulmonary natural killer cells in lungs are no longer inhibited and are unleashed to destroy the still healthy lung [20, 24–26].

A C18 column packed with core-shell particles was used for the chromatographic separation of sulphonamides in feed and meat by a conventional high performance liquid chromatography system coupled with a diode array detector. Two analytical methods, already used in our laboratory, have been modified without any changes in the extraction and clean-up steps and in the liquid chromatography instrumentation. Chromatographic conditions applied on a traditional 5-μm column have been optimized on a column packed with 2.6 μm core-shell particles. A binary mobile phase [acetate buffer solution at pH 4.50 and a mixture of methanol acetonitrile 50: 50 (v/v)] was employed in gradient mode at the flow rate of 1.2 mL with an injection volume of 6 μL. These chromatographic conditions allow the separation of 13 sulphonamides with an entire run of 13 minutes. Preliminary studies have been carried out comparing blanks and spiked samples of feed and meat. A good resolution and the absence of interferences were achieved in chromatograms for both matrices. Since no change was made to the sample preparation, the optimized method does not require a complete revalidation and can be used to make routine analysis faster.

Histamine content was tested on 311 samples of fresh fish and fish products collected in Puglia (Italy) in the years 2009–2011. The analyses were carried out employing ELISA for screening and HPLC to confirm suspicious non-compliant samples according to Commission Regulation (EC) 1441/2007. Histamine concentration >2.5 mg kg−1 was detected in 58% of total samples with 5% of non-compliance. Among 216 samples of fresh fish, 70% had a content of histamine less than 10 mg kg−1, while a percentage of 6% showed histamine level higher than 100 mg kg−1. Although for processed anchovies a contamination below 50 mg kg−1 in 21 samples (75%) was observed, the highest percentage of “non-compliant” samples (14%) was found. Good quality of canned tuna and canned mackerel was demonstrated by histamine content lower than 10 mg kg−1. The validation of both ELISA and HPLC methods and the optimization of the confirmatory method were also reported.

Tryptophan (Trp) was studied by two-colour Photoionization Efficiency (PIE) and Mass Analysed Threshold Ionization (MATI) spectroscopy using a laser desorption apparatus. Conformer A of Trp was excited into the S1 state (34,878 cm−1) and the second laser was scanned around the D0 cation ground and the D1 excited state. No ionization signal into the D0 state could be found, but a clear threshold was observed for the D1 state with an ionization energy of 66,704 ± 3 cm−1 (8.27 eV). This observation is explained in terms of the electronic configurations of the S1 and cationic states.

This study evaluates the presence of anticoagulant rodenticides in animals with a diagnosis of suspected poisoning and in bait samples. The survey was carried out from 2010 to 2012, in 2 regions of South Italy (Puglia and Basilicata) on 300 organs of animals and 90 suspected bait samples. The qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted using an analytical method based on high‑performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorimetric detection (FLD) for the simultaneous determination of 8 anticoagulant rodenticides (bromadiolone, brodifacoum, coumachlor, coumafuryl, coumatetralyl, difenacoum, flocoumafen, and warfarin). The presence of anticoagulant rodenticides was detected in 33 organs of animals (11% of the total) and 6 bait samples (7% of the total). The most commonly detected compound was coumachlor (47% of 39 positive samples) followed by bromadiolone (24%), and brodifacoum (11%). The species mostly involved in anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning were dogs and cats. This study emphasizes the relevance of the determinations of anticoagulant rodenticides in cases of suspected poisoning in veterinary practice.

Il capitolo inserito nel Manuale di Neuroradiologia edito da Poletto Editore ,come seconda edizione ,analizza le tecniche dell'esame morfologico in Risonanza Magnetica.Sono descritte in dettaglio i principi fisici,le sequenze per l'imaging in RM,le modalita' della formazione dell'immagine RM e alcuni dei metodi avanzati di analisi morfologica cerebrale di RM.

The phenol(+)...Ar(2) complex has been characterized in a supersonic jet by mass analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopy via different intermediate intermolecular vibrational states of the first electronically excited state (S(1)). From the spectra recorded via the S(1)0(0) origin and the S(1)β(x) intermolecular vibrational state, the ionization energy (IE) has been determined as 68,288 ± 5 cm(-1), displaying a red shift of 340 cm(-1) from the IE of the phenol(+) monomer. Well-resolved, nearly harmonic vibrational progressions with a fundamental frequency of 10 cm(-1) have been observed in the ion ground state (D(0)) and assigned to the symmetric van der Waals (vdW) bending mode, β(x), along the x axis containing the C-O bond. MATI spectra recorded via the S(1) state involving other higher-lying intermolecular vibrational states (σ(s)(1), β(x)(3), σ(s)(1)β(x)(1), σ(s)(1)β(x)(2)) are characterized by unresolved broad structures.

Cerebral and spinal location of glioneuronal tumors have been recently described as a novel type of primary CNS neoplasia. A distinctive rare form of glioneuronal tumors with neuropil-like islands (GTNI) have been reported to occur in the adult cerebrum, whereas spinal GTNI localization is extremely rare. In the present report we describe a case of a 15-month-old child with a spinal GTNI of the cervical region and meningeal dissemination. Histologically the tumor was composed of round, small neurocytic-like cells arranged around eosinophilic neuropil cores and embedded in a diffuse fibrillar glial component forming prominent "rosetted" neuropil islands displaying strong immunoreactivity for neuronal markers. Cerebral GTNI shows abundant glial components not rarely exhibiting anaplastic features that justify their inclusion within the group of diffuse astrocytomas. In contrast, including our case, spinal GTNI do not show histological evidence of anaplastic features and exhibits a significant neuronal component that may imply considering these lesions in a separate group. Nevertheless, due to their exceptional rarity, the natural history of these lesions is not yet fully understood, but spinal GTNI seems to have an unfavorable clinical course despite their benign histopathological features, which must be taken into account for appropriate treatment and follow-up of the patient.

We report an experimental study, supported by classical and quantum calculations, of the anisole–ammonia jet cooled complex. The origin band of the S1 ← S0 electronic transition is red shifted with respect to the corresponding band for the bare anisole molecule. From the simulation of the origin band rotational contour and the results of quantum mechanical calculations, we have been able to determine the non-planar structure of the complex. The ammonia molecule is bonded to anisole via two hydrogen bonds: one in which the nitrogen lone pair interacts with the hydrogen atoms of the methoxy group; the other involving the ammonia hydrogen atoms and the π-electron density of the aromatic ring.

A simple, sensitive and selective multiresidue high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection method for determination of 13 sulphonamides in eggs was developed and validated. Sample extraction and clean-up conditions were carefully studied and factors as gradient elution and column temperature were found as key parameters to improve separation efficiency. The method was validated following the European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC criteria adopting spiking levels of 20, 40 and 60 μg kg −1 “As Low As Reasonably Achievable”. The necessary requirements for precision (RSD R % below 23%) and trueness (recovery ranging from 45.2% to 87.5%) were fulfilled. Decision limit (CCα) values below 18.5 μg kg −1 , comparable to those reported in LC-MS detection, demonstrated the suitability of the method in residues surveillance plans for the sulphonamides analysis in eggs at the carry-over level without the use of sophisticated and expensive instrumentation.

Poisoning of domestic animals is frequently caused by anticoagulant rodenticides. Validation and applications of a rapid and reliable method for the simultaneous determination of 8 anticoagulant rodenticides (bromadiolone, brodifacoum, coumachlor, coumafuryl, coumatetralyl, difenacoum, flocoumafen, and warfarin) in baits and animal livers using high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection are reported herein. The methodology was validated by an in-house validation model at 2.5 mg/kg, which is the level commonly found in the tissues of poisoned domestic animals. The 8 anticoagulants can be determined at the concentration range of 1.25–100 mg/kg with determination coefficients higher than 0.992. A recovery value from 70% to 109% was observed for all the studied molecules. The results of the validation process demonstrate suitability for application in official analysis and for monitoring purposes of animal poisoning by anticoagulant rodenticides.

The dissociation energetics in the phenol(+)⋯Ar(2)(2π) cluster ion have been investigated using photoionization efficiency and mass analyzed threshold ionization spectroscopy. The appearance energies for the loss of one and two Ar atoms are determined as ∼210 and ∼1115 cm(-1), respectively. The difference between the appearance energy for the first Ar ligand in phenol(+)⋯Ar(2)(2π) and the dissociation energy of the phenol(+)⋯Ar(π) dimer (535cm(-1)) is explained by the isomerization of one π-bound Ar ligand to the OH binding site (H-bond) upon ionization. The energy difference between phenol(+)⋯Ar(2)(2π) and phenol(+)⋯Ar(2)(H/π) could also be estimated to be around 325cm(-1), which corresponds roughly to the difference of the binding energy of a π-bound and H-bound Ar ligands. The binding energy of the H-bound Ar atom in phenol(+)⋯Ar(2)(H/π) is derived to be ∼905cm(-1).

The various dissociation thresholds of phenol(+)···Ar(3) complexes for the consecutive loss of all three Ar ligands were measured in a molecular beam using resonant photoionization efficiency and mass analyzed threshold ionization spectroscopy via excitation of the first excited singlet state (S(1)). The adiabatic ionization energy is derived as 68077 ± 15 cm(-1). The analysis of the dissociation thresholds demonstrate that all three Ar ligands in the neutral phenol···Ar(3) tetramer are attached to the aromatic ring via π-bonding, denoted phenol···Ar(3)(3π). The value of the dissociation threshold for the loss of one Ar ligand from phenol(+)···Ar(3)(3π), ∼190 cm(-1), is significantly lower than the binding energy measured for the π-bonded Ar ligand in the phenol(+)···Ar(π) dimer, D(0) = 535 ± 3 cm(-1). This difference is rationalized by an ionization-induced π → H isomerization process occurring prior to dissociation, that is, one Ar atom in phenol(+)···Ar(3)(3π) moves to the OH binding site, leading to a structure with one H-bonded and 2 π-bonded ligands, denoted phenol(+)···Ar(3)(H/2π). The dissociation thresholds for the loss of two and three Ar atoms are also reported as 860 and 1730 cm(-1). From these values, the binding energy of the H-bound Ar atom can be estimated as 870 cm(-1).

The fusion protein between the platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRalpha, P) gene and the Fip1-like1 (FIP1L1, F) may be identified in 14 to 60% of HES and it indicates a clonal hypereosinophilic syndrome called F/P-positive CEL. We herein report a case of F/P-positive CEL with retro-orbital localization, who was successfully treated with imatinib. CASE REPORT: A 53-year-old male presented an absolute eosinophil count of 25,000/mm(3), anemia (Hb 10.2 g/dl) and a moderate increase in the platelet count (571,000/mm(3)). A clinical examination revealed left exophthalm, associated with diffuse hypoesthesia and diplopia. A CT scan of orbits showed a lesion located in the lachrymal fossa of the left orbit with intra- and extra-conical extension. Molecular analysis excluded the presence of bcr/abl transcript while a F/P fusion tyrosine kinase signal was documented. Imatinib mesylate (IM) was started and, after 7 days of treatment eosinophil count significantly declined along with a dramatic reduction of the left exophthalm. IM dosage was increased up to 300 mg/day. The drug was well tolerated with an initial modest haematological toxicity. The left exophthalm, as well as hypoesthesia and diplopia, disappeared after IM therapy. MRI showed a clear reduction of the intra- and extra-conical growth process. BM molecular signal of the F/P fusion gene resulted undetectable after 4 weeks of treatment. CONCLUSION: In our case, the diagnosis of FIPIL1-PDGFRA-positive CEL and IM therapy has allowed the patient to experience an excellent clinical therapeutic result, avoiding surgical treatment of the retro-orbital mass.

A laser spectroscopic investigation of phenol...Ar(n) (n = 1-6) clusters in the first electronically excited state (S(1)) and the cationic ground state (D(0)) is reported. Resonance enhanced two-photon ionisation (R2PI) spectra have been recorded for the investigation of the S(1) state. The origins of S(1)← S(0) (S(1)0(0)) transition of phenol...Ar(n) (n = 1, 2,4-6) are all red shifted compared to the S(1)0(0) state of the monomer by 33 cm(-1), 67 cm(-1), 10 cm(-1), 20 cm(-1), 44 cm(-1), respectively. However, the origin of the phenolAr(3) cluster is blue shifted by 25 cm(-1). For the investigation of the ionic ground state photoionization efficiency (PIE) and mass-analyzed-threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopy have been applied. The spectra of phenol...Ar(3) and phenol...Ar(4) yield values for the ionization energy (IE) of 68,077 ± 15 cm(-1) and 67,948 ± 15 cm(-1). With the combination of theoretical methods and R2PI, PIE and MATI spectroscopy, the major species present have been positively identified.