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Extensive empirical evidence suggests that there is a maximal number of people with whom an individual can maintain stable social relationships (the Dunbar number). We argue that this arises as a consequence of a natural phase transition in the dynamic selforganization among N individuals within a social system. We present the calculated size dependence of the scaling properties of complex social network models to argue that this collective behavior is an enhanced form of collective intelligence. Direct calculation establishes that the complexity of social networks as measured by their scaling behavior is nonmonotonic, peaking around 150, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the value of the Dunbar number. Thus, we establish a theory-based bridge spanning the gap between sociology and psychology.

IntroductionIndividuals who suffer from substance use disorder (SUD) are at increased risk of Hepatitis C (HCV). Mount Carmel Hospital (MCH) is the only public service in-patient mental health care facility on the island of Malta. Individuals with SUD are referred to MCH for support with comorbid mental health conditions.ObjectivesTo assess whether current practice meets the UK Clinical Guidelines on Drug Misuse and Dependence (2017) recommendations- yearly screening for HCV, further testing and referral to infectious disease specialists for those who screen positive for HCV. To compare current practice at MCH, Malta with other countries in the European Union and United Kingdom.MethodsRetrospective analysis of HCV screening, investigation and referral practices as recorded on iSoft Clinical Manager records for SUD-related admissions to MCH under the care of addiction specialists in 2022 (n=120). Admissions data were provided by the data protection office, with permission from the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry, and de-identified at source to safeguard patient confidentiality.Results60% (n=72) of the SUD inpatient population underwent screening for HCV according to guideline recommendations. 37% (n=44) of this cohort has received a positive HCV antibody result. 32 persons had HCV RNA load records, 34% (n=11) of whom had a detectable viral load. 50% (n=17) of those who screened positive for HCV were offered an appointment with an infectious disease specialist within the year, 7 attended. The table below compares HCV status between our group and published data for the UK, Austria and Greece. Despite heterogeneity in study designs and populations (we describe an inpatient cohort with diagnosed SUD, not all of whom inject drugs) comparable proportions have undergone HCV screening in the preceding twelve months and similar proportions have chronic HCV infection.% Tested in past year for HCV% HCV antibody positive% HCV RNA detectable% HCV clearedMalta (MCH 2022)60373466England, Wales, N. Ireland (UAMS 2021)43572674Scotland (NESI 2020)58558119Austria (EMCDDA 2019)59854456Greece (EMCDDA 2019)/615446ConclusionsMost SUD inpatients at MCH undergo HCV screening according to guideline recommendations but current practice falls short of ideal coverage and follow-up care. Current screening practices and chronic HCV infection rates at MCH are comparable to other countries in the EU and UK.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

There is good evidence that synaptic plasticity in human motor cortex is involved in behavioural motor learning; in addition, it is now possible to probe mechanisms of synaptic plasticity using a variety of transcranial brain-stimulation protocols. Interactions between these protocols suggest that they both utilise common mechanisms. The aim of the present experiments was to test how well responsiveness to brain-stimulation protocols and behavioural motor learning correlate with each other in a sample of 21 healthy volunteers. We also examined whether any of these measures were influenced by the presence of a Val66Met polymorphism in the BDNF gene since this is another factor that has been suggested to be able to predict response to tests of synaptic plasticity. In 3 different experimental sessions, volunteers underwent 5-Hz rTMS, intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) and a motor learning task. Blood samples were collected from each subject for BDNF genotyping. As expected, both 5-Hz rTMS and iTBS significantly facilitated MEPs. Similarly, as expected, kinematic variables of finger movement significantly improved during the motor learning task. Although there was a significant correlation between the effect of iTBS and 5-Hz rTMS, there was no relationship in each subject between the amount of TMS-induced plasticity and the increase in kinematic variables during motor learning. Val66Val and Val66Met carriers did not differ in their response to any of the protocols. The present results emphasise that although some TMS measures of cortical plasticity may correlate with each other, they may not always relate directly to measures of behavioural learning. Similarly, presence of the Val66Met BDNF polymorphism also does not reliably predict responsiveness in small groups of individuals. Individual success in behavioural learning is unlikely to be closely related to any single measure of synaptic plasticity.

The three-dimensional (3D) representation of the bifurcation anatomy and disease burden is essential for better understanding of the anatomical complexity of bifurcation disease and planning of stenting strategies. We propose a novel methodology for 3D reconstruction of coronary artery bifurcations based on the integration of angiography, which provides the backbone of the bifurcation, with optical coherence tomography (OCT), which provides the vessel shape. Our methodology introduces several technical novelties to tackle the OCT frame misalignment, correct positioning of the OCT frames at the carina, lumen surface reconstruction, and merging of bifurcation lumens. The accuracy and reproducibility of the methodology were tested in n = 5 patient-specific silicone bifurcations compared to contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography (µCT), which was used as reference. The feasibility and time-efficiency of the method were explored in n = 7 diseased patient bifurcations of varying anatomical complexity. The OCT-based reconstructed bifurcation models were found to have remarkably high agreement compared to the µCT reference models, yielding r 2 values between 0.91 and 0.98 for the normalized lumen areas, and mean differences of 0.005 for lumen shape and 0.004 degrees for bifurcation angles. Likewise, the reproducibility of our methodology was remarkably high. Our methodology successfully reconstructed all the patient bifurcations yielding favorable processing times (average lumen reconstruction time < 60 min). Overall, our method is an easily applicable, time-efficient, and user-friendly tool that allows accurate and reproducible 3D reconstruction of coronary bifurcations. Our technique can be used in the clinical setting to provide information about the bifurcation anatomy and plaque burden, thereby enabling planning, education, and decision making on bifurcation stenting.

Invasive alien species (IAS) are considered one of the largest drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide and the negative impacts of IAS can also affect human health and economy. More than 12,000 alien species occur in Europe. Terrestrial invertebrate species are the largest proportion of alien animal species and represents one of the most impacting groups in Europe. The most important European policy against alien species is the EU Regulation 1143/2014, which provides for the development of priority lists of IAS of relevant concern aimed to allow the optimization of intervention measures. Italian policy implemented the EU Regulation with the Legislative Decree No 230/2017 that provides the adoption of a list of IAS of national concern. Aim of this work is to present a preliminary prioritized list of alien terrestrial invertebrate species (ATIS) present in Italy, thus providing an useful tool to identify species to be included in the list of IAS of national concern. We defined criteria for assessing the species and ranking them in a prioritized list on the basis of the magnitude of their potential impact on wild native biodiversity. We identify 233 relevant ATIS, among the 1126 species included in the Italian Alien Terrestrial Invertebrate Database, on which the evaluation process started. After the evaluation process, 109 ATIS with considerable impacts on biodiversity were selected and prioritized. We ranked the species in four priority categories by matching their distribution in Italy with the magnitude of their possible impact on biodiversity.

The new species Atrichopogon (Atrichopogon) tolfensis n. sp. from Tolfa Mountains (Italy, Latium, and Rome) is described and illustrated. Both sexes of the species were collected using cantharidin-baited traps from June 2020 to January 2021. The new species is an atypical member of the genus Atrichopogon. https://urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3A012331-57D7-4532-B3F9-FDEE7C988FFD

Canthariphilous species are those arthropods attracted to cantharidin (CTD), a defensive compound produced by two beetle families (Meloidae and Oedemeridae). Although several species are known to be attracted to CTD, canthariphily was recently discovered in new species, suggesting that the list of canthariphilous species is still far from being complete. A systematic sampling focused to detect canthariphilous species has never been performed in Italy. The present research provides a list of seven canthariphilous species (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae, Anthomyiidae; Coleoptera: Anthicidae) from the Tolfa Mountains (Latium, Central Italy) resulting from a one-year sampling with CTD-baited and control traps. New species (Atrichopogon atriscapulus and A. tolfensis) were found to be attracted to CTD, and other species, already known as canthariphilous, were recorded for the first time in the Italian fauna (A. atriscapulus and A. meloesugans). A new scenario about the ecological significance of CTD in the sexual selection of canthariphilous species was speculated in A. meloesugans. Finally, a list of CTD-producing species occurring in the sample area was provided to suggest putative natural CTD sources.

To evaluate gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) abnormalities and their clinical correlates in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Sixteen PSP patients and sixteen age-matched healthy subjects underwent a clinical evaluation and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging, including three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Volumetric and DTI analyses were computed using SPM and FSL tools. PSP patients showed GM volume decrease, involving the frontal cortex, putamen, pallidum, thalamus and accumbens nucleus, cerebellum, and brainstem. Additionally, they had widespread changes in WM bundles, mainly affecting cerebellar peduncles, thalamic radiations, corticospinal tracts, corpus callosum, and longitudinal fasciculi. GM volumes did not correlate with WM abnormalities. DTI indices of WM damage, but not GM volumes, correlated with clinical scores of disease severity and cognitive impairment. The neurodegenerative changes that occur in PSP involve both GM and WM structures and develop concurrently though independently. WM damage in PSP correlates with clinical scores of disease severity and cognitive impairment, thus providing further insight into the pathophysiology of the disease.

The formation of capillary-like structures during angiogenesis requires a series of well-orchestrated cellular events allowing endothelial cells and pericytes to migrate into the perivascular space. The proper activation of the migratory machinery in these cells is fine controlled by the presence of angiogenic challenges and by the interactions with extracellular matrix. The two members of the focal adhesion protein tyrosine kinases (FA-PTKs), FAK and PYK2, play a central role in modulating endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells migration confirming the well consolidated observations in other migrating cell types. However accumulating data reveal that FAK and PYK2 are involved in several cell processes including cell proliferation and survival. FAK, once localized to focal adhesions, is thought to be one of the principal effectors in linking signals initiated by integrins and growth factor receptors to cytoskeleton, thus controlling migration. Although more obscure, and differently regulated, the function of PYK2 seems to be similar to that of FAK, but restricted to few cell types, including vasculature forming cells. FAK and PYK2 exert a primary role as adaptor proteins able to recruit, with high turnover, several proteins which in turn, through their docking domains and tyrosine kinase activity, determine both the turnover in focal adhesion assembly and the specificity of downstream signaling. The characterization of functional interactions of FAPTKs may provide new potential therapeutic targets in order to control vascular pathological processes including angiogenesis.

The population density of three lacertid lizards (Podarcis sicula, Podarcis muralis, Lacerta viridis) was studied along several transects crossing agro-forest habitats in Mediterranean central Italy. Overall, seven transects, in three different wooded patches, were walked for lizards. Distance sampling (with uniform model design) was applied to the dataset in order to calculate population size, dispersion, and coefficient of variation at each site. In order to detect which factors may influence lizard density, a Generalized Linear Model (GLZ; multinomial distribution and cumulative log link function) was built, with environmental variables and density of predators’ variables being included in the model as covariates (scale predictor). Density of the three lizard species differed significantly among study sites, evidencing species-specific responses to local patch conditions. None of the environmental variables taken separately in the GLZ model influenced significantly the lizard densities, whereas lizards densities showed species-specific response to the considered environmental variables. The largest species (L. viridis) showed the highest density in the fragment with the most irregular shape and largest wood size, whereas the two smaller Podarcis species presented their highest population density in the site with the smallest wood patch and with a very low snake density. Density of P. sicula was negatively correlated with both the woodland area and Colubridae density, and was positively correlated with woodland shape (i.e. with circularity).