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Using a combination of behavioral measures and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), this study finds that elite basketball players are better at predicting whether a free basketball throw will land in the basket or out and that they also have higher TMS-evoked motor potentials for when the ball misses its mark. We combined psychophysical and transcranial magnetic stimulation studies to investigate the dynamics of action anticipation and its underlying neural correlates in professional basketball players. Athletes predicted the success of free shots at a basket earlier and more accurately than did individuals with comparable visual experience (coaches or sports journalists) and novices. Moreover, performance between athletes and the other groups differed before the ball was seen to leave the model's hands, suggesting that athletes predicted the basket shot's fate by reading the body kinematics. Both visuo-motor and visual experts showed a selective increase of motor-evoked potentials during observation of basket shots. However, only athletes showed a time-specific motor activation during observation of erroneous basket throws. Results suggest that achieving excellence in sports may be related to the fine-tuning of specific anticipatory 'resonance' mechanisms that endow elite athletes' brains with the ability to predict others' actions ahead of their realization.

Neurophysiological and neuroimaging studies in the human and the monkey brain indicate that links between action observation and execution are much tighter than previously believed. Indeed, the mere observation of movements performed by other individuals brings about a clear increase in activity in specific fronto-parietal neural networks (mirror system). Here, we report a series of four single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation studies of the motor system, which show that observation of index and little finger movements brings about a facilitation of potentials recorded from muscles that would be involved in the actual execution of the observed action. Remarkably, however, a clear representational selectivity was found also during observation of bio-mechanically impossible index or little finger movements. Thus, in movement observation tasks, the human cortico-spinal system reacts similarly to the vision of bio-mechanically possible and impossible movements but it is able to detect which muscle would be involved in the actual execution of the observed movement. Importantly, this system may be more related to coding body part movements than precisely simulating their execution.

Phosphorus (P) cycling in paddy soil is closely related to iron (Fe) redox wheel; its availability to rice has thus generally been ascribed to Fe minerals reductive dissolution. However, the literature aimed to identify the best method for predicting rice available P does not uniformly point to Fe reductants. Rice plants can indeed solubilize and absorb P through many strategies as a function of P supply, modifying the chemical environment. Therefore, this study aims to estimate P availability in paddy soils coupling the redox mechanisms driving P cycling with concurrent plant responses. Soil available P was estimated in three groups of paddy soils with low, medium, or high P content assessing easily desorbable pools (0.01 M calcium chloride, Olsen, Mehlich-III, anion exchanging resins) and Fe-bound P pools (EDTA, citrate-ascorbate, and oxalate). Rice P uptake and responses to P availability were assessed by a mesocosm cultivation trial. Although P released in porewater positively correlated with dissolved Fe(II), it did not with plant P uptake, and readily desorbable P pools were better availability predictors than Fe-bound pools, mainly because of the asynchrony observed between Fe reduction and plant P demand. Moreover, in low P soils, plants showed higher Fe(II) oxidation, enhanced root growth, and up-regulation of P root transporter encoding genes, plant responses being related with changes in P pools. These results indicate the generally assumed direct link between Fe reduction and rice P nutrition in paddy soils as an oversimplification, with rice P nutrition appearing as the result of a complex trade-off between soil redox dynamics, P content, and plant responses.

Selective mutism (SM) is classified in DSM-5 as an anxiety disorder. The aim of the study was to investigate the psychological features of children with SM and their parental psychological profiles, compared to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) children and their parents. The parents of 26 preschool children with SM and 32 with children with GAD filled out the child behavior check list for 1½–5 years (CBCL1½–5) and the symptom checklist-90-revised (SCL-90-R). Information about the children and their parents’ histories was collected through clinical interviews. Children with SM scored higher than children with GAD on the CBCL1½–5 withdrawn scale and lower on the attention problems, aggressive behavior, and externalizing problems scales. Mothers of children with SM scored higher on the SCL-90-R obsessive–compulsive subscale and Global Severity Index than mothers of children with GAD, while fathers of children with SM scored higher on the SCL-90-R Phobic Anxiety subscale and on the Global Severity Index than fathers of children with GAD. Parents of children with SM displayed a greater presence of stressful life events than parents of children with GAD. Data appeared to confirm that SM and GAD share a common anxious core, though some differences in the children’s psychological profiles and the parents’ history and personality emerged. Future research should focus on the role of external factors, such as parent–child relationship, in the development of SM.

This paper presents the removal of a non-original varnish from the surface of a painting by Wassily Kandinsky based on prior experimentation carried out on mock-ups, which were made according to the original artistic technique and painting stratigraphy. Due to a generally serious state of conservation, the artwork underwent several treatments over the years that have changed its original appearance. This work focused on the study and characterization of the ketone-based varnish present on the surface to outline how this non-original film layer interacted with paint layers and increased deterioration phenomena. Aiming to identify the most suitable approach for the artwork, some preliminary cleaning tests were made on artificially aged mock-ups. A multi-analytical investigation was carried out through non-invasive and invasive techniques to support all steps of the conservation treatment. By comparing cleaning results on mock-ups, a suitable protocol was developed and applied to the original painting. The best results were obtained by using the Nanorestore Gel® Dry MWR (Medium Water Retention) with ethanol. The project has shown that the dissolving power of the solvent can effectively be controlled and limited at the surface by confining it to the nanostructure of the gel, thus minimizing the risk of interaction with the original paint layers.

Background Congenital malaria is usually defined as the detection of asexual forms of Plasmodium spp. in a blood sample of a neonate during perinatal age if there is no possibility of postpartum infection by a mosquito bite. The incidence of congenital malaria is highly variable and seems related to several factors, such as different diagnostic methods for Plasmodium spp. detection, and area in which the epidemiologic analyses are performed. In non-endemic countries, cases of congenital malaria are rare. Hereby, a case of a congenital malaria in an HIV exposed child is reported. Case presentation A 2-month-old male child was admitted to Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital due to anaemia and exposure to HIV. He was born prematurely in Italy by cesarean section at 34 weeks’ gestation after a bicorial, biamniotic pregnancy by a migrant woman from Nigeria. He was the first of non-identical twins. Combined with anaemia, spleen and liver enlargement was noted, malaria was hypothesized. Malaria laboratory panel was performed on the newborn, mother and other twin blood samples, as follows: (i) malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT); (ii) Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood smears for Plasmodium spp. identification and parasitaemia titration; (iii) molecular screening and typing of Plasmodium spp. by multiplex qualitative PCR assay based on 18S rRNA gene. Genotyping of Plasmodium falciparum isolates from mother and child was performed by neutral microsatellite and highly polymorphic marker amplification. Conclusions The maternal RDT sample was negative, while the infant RDT was positive; in both cases microscopy of blood smears and PCR showed infection with P. falciparum . Two of the genotypic molecular markers displayed different allelic variants between the two samples. This difference could imply infection multiplicity of the mother during the pregnancy, possibly harbouring more than one isolate, only one of them being transmitted to the newborn while the other persisting in the mother’s blood. Because of the increasing number of pregnant women coming from endemic areas for malaria, an accurate anamnesis of infant’s mother, and the inclusion of Plasmodium spp. research into TORCH screenings for mother-infant pair at birth, aiming at reducing morbidity and mortality associated to the disease might be suitable.

Background/Objectives: We aimed to establish biatrial and biventricular reference ranges using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) parameters in SCD patients without heart damage. Methods: This study compared CMR parameters, quantified by cine SSFP sequences, in 48 adult SCD patients without apparent cardiac involvement (defined by the absence of known risk factors, normal electrocardiogram, and no macroscopic myocardial fibrosis or significant cardiac iron on T2* CMR) to matched cohorts of 96 healthy controls and 96 thalassemia major (TM) patients without cardiac damage. Nine paediatric SCD patients were also analysed and compared to age- and gender-matched groups of nine TM patients and nine healthy subjects. Results: In all groups, studied males displayed higher biventricular volumes and mass indexes than females. Male SCD patients showed significantly higher left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volume index (EDVI), LV end-systolic volume index (ESVI), LV stroke volume index (SVI), cardiac index, LV and right ventricular (RV) mass index, and atrial areas than healthy subjects. Females with SCD exhibited increased LV EDVI, LV SVI, RV mass index, and left atrial area index compared to healthy controls. SCD and TM patients showed comparable biatrial areas and biventricular volumes and function. When compared to TM, SCD males exhibited a larger mass index, while SCD females showed an increased RV mass index. CMR parameters were similar across all paediatric groups. Conclusions: By establishing the biatrial and biventricular reference ranges through CMR for adult male and female SCD patients, we aimed to prevent possible misdiagnosis of cardiomyopathy in this population by taking into account cardiac adaptation due to anaemia.

Claudin-low cancer (CL) represents a rare and biologically aggressive variant of epithelial tumor. Here, we identified a claudin-low molecular profile of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSOC), which exhibits the main characteristics of the homonym breast cancer subtype, including low epithelial differentiation and high mesenchymal signature. Hierarchical clustering and a centroid based algorithm applied to cell line collection expression dataset labeled 6 HGSOC cell lines as CL. These have a high energy metabolism and are enriched in CD44+/CD24− mesenchymal stem-like cells expressing low levels of cell-cell adhesion molecules (claudins and E-Cadherin) and high levels of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) induction transcription factors (Zeb1, Snai2, Twist1 and Twist2). Accordingly, the centroid base algorithm applied to large retrospective collections of primary HGSOC samples reveals a tumor subgroup with transcriptional features consistent with the CL profile, and reaffirms EMT as the dominant biological pathway functioning in CL-HGSOC. HGSOC patients carrying CL profiles have a worse overall survival when compared to others, likely to be attributed to its undifferentiated/stem component. These observations highlight the lack of a molecular diagnostic in the management of HGSOC and suggest a potential prognostic utility of this molecular subtyping.

Olfactory neuroblastoma (ONB) is a rare sinonasal neoplasm with a peculiar behavior, for which limited prognostic factors are available. Herein, we investigate the transcriptional pathways altered in ONB and correlate them with pathological features and clinical outcomes. We analyze 32 ONB patients treated with curative intent at two independent institutions from 2001 to 2019 for whom there is available pathologic and clinical data. We perform gene expression profiling on primary ONB samples and carry out functional enrichment analysis to investigate the key pathways associated with disease-free survival (DFS). The median age is 53.5 years; all patients undergo surgery and a pure endoscopic approach is adopted in the majority of cases (81.2%). Most patients have advanced disease (stages III–IV, 81.2%) and 84.4% undergo adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy. The median follow-up is 35 months; 11 (26.8%) patients relapse. Clinical characteristics (gender, stage and Hyams’ grade) are not associated with the outcomes. In contrast, TGF-beta binding, EMT, IFN-alpha response, angiogenesis, IL2-STAT5 and IL6-JAK-STAT3 signaling pathways are enriched in patients experiencing recurrence, and significantly associated with shorter DFS. Clustering of transcriptional profiles according to pathological features indicates two distinct molecular groups, defined by either cytokeratin-positive or -negative immunostaining. Definition of the characterizing ONB transcriptomic pathways may pave the way towards tailored treatment approaches.

The palette and constituting materials of several medieval parchment fragments coming from books thought to be locally produced in Sweden have, for the first time, been examined by non-invasive methods for chemical and physical characterization. These books were primarily used in medieval Swedish parish churches (including present-day Finland), and they could be said to represent everyday book culture of the time. Ten fragments from the collections of the National Archives of Sweden dated to the 12th to the 15th century were studied by microscopy, hyperspectral imaging in the visible and ultraviolet range, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, reflectance spectroscopy in the UV, visible and near-infrared range, external reflectance in the mid- and near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy. Pigments, colourants, and inks have been characterized and identified. The aim was to enhance the understanding of these objects and to evaluate the value of technical analysis, the results of which, when combined with historical and palaeographic studies, will advance the comprehension of medieval Nordic book culture. The results reveal the presence of many of the materials commonly used in book production in Europe at the time, such as vermilion, red lead, azurite, orpiment, and copper-based greens, and also some more unusual substances. The colourant components evince significant variation, and it appears likely that they were largely received via trade routes and learned networks from various European locations. The documents from the 12th century differ from the others in their substances and practices, such as the use of ultramarine for calendar rubrics and the varied use of different reds and greens. There is an unusual use of an iron-based red with copper particles for initials, green earth for initials, organics for highlights, and a probable tannin writing ink with neither iron nor carbon.