Analyzing voter behavior on social media during the 2020 US presidential election campaign.

Every day millions of people use social media platforms by generating a very large amount of opinion-rich data, which can be exploited to extract valuable information about human dynamics and behaviors. In this context, the present manuscript provides a precise view of the 2020 US presidential election by jointly applying topic discovery, opinion mining, and emotion analysis techniques on social media data. In particular, we exploited a clustering-based technique for extracting the main discussion topics and monitoring their weekly impact on social media conversation.

Neurocysticercosis: surgical treatment of an autochthonous case in a non-endemic region.

Objective And Importance: This study describes a case of autochthonous neurocysticercosis in a non endemic region where a differential diagnosis with more frequent single parenchymal lesions must be carried out.

Clinical Presentation: The patient presenting generalized seizures and coma status under the suspicion of cerebral neoplasia was admitted to the neurosurgery division. MRI showed the presence of an ovoidal cystic lesion in right-frontotemporal region.

Quercetin inhibits the sulfation of r(-)-apomorphine in human brain.

The first aim of this investigation was to study the sulfation of R(-)-apomorphine in human brain. The second aim was to investigate the inhibition of R(-)-apomorphine sulfation by quercetin in human brain. R(-)-apomorphine is hereafter referred to as apomorphine.

[Mixed neuroglial tumor: description of a case].

A case of neuroglial tumor in a 18-year-old man is presented. The neoplasm was composed by two cell types. One type showed features typical of neuronal cells, while the other resembled glial cells.

The gln-Arg192 polymorphism of human paraoxonase gene is not associated with coronary artery disease in italian patients.

Serum paraoxonase (PON) is an HDL-bound enzyme protecting LDL from oxidation. A common polymorphism of the paraoxonase gene (PON1) involving a Gln-to-Arg interchange at position 192 has been demonstrated to modulate PON activity toward paraoxon, a nonphysiological substrate; Arg192 (allele B) is associated with higher activity than Gln192 (allele A). This polymorphism has been proposed as a genetic marker of risk for coronary artery disease (CAD).

Angiotensin-converting enzyme gene polymorphism is not associated with coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction in a sample of Italian patients.

Background: The deletion (D) allele of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene has been proposed as a genetic marker of the risk of ischaemic heart disease. However, the relationships between ACE genotypes, the development of coronary atherosclerosis and the occurrence of major coronary events are still controversial.

Methods: To investigate whether the ACE I/D (insertion/deletion) polymorphism predicts the risk of coronary stenosis and myocardial infarction (MI), ACE genotypes were determined in 394 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography.

[The type of coma as prognostic indicator in severe cranial trauma in childhood].

Various methods are used by neurologists to evaluate posttraumatic brain damage. The most important and reliable are the length of posttraumatic amnesia and coma. In previous papers we have already described the value of the type of coma in the prognosis of serious head injury in childhood (Baracchini-Muratorio et al.

[Alcoholic hepatopathy, deficiency pathology and serum transaminases. Presentation of 2 clinical cases].

The authors describe two cases of Vit B1 and B6 deficiency in alcoholics with malnutrition. In the first case serum levels of AST and ALT, initially below norm became higher after Vit B1 and Vit B6 intake; the second, with AST and ALT above norm in previous months, had AST and ALT with normal activity during the disease. The authors suggest that normal activity of AST and ALT during alcoholic hepatopathy could be related to a depletion of Vit B1 and Vit B6.

Gerstmann syndrome: a case report.

A case of Gerstmann syndrome following a trauma is presented. After one month the patient showed the four symptoms of the Gerstmann syndrome associated with slight visual memory and constructional praxis deficits. Eight months later, however, he showed only dyscalculia, dysgraphia, right-left disorientation and finger agnosia, in accordance with selective damage of the left angular gyrus revealed by CT scan.

[A case of wet beriberi].

The AA. report a case of thymine acute deficiency in a 35 year old chronic alcoholic and malnourished male, who was admitted to the hospital because of high-output heart failure, peripheral polyneuropathy, cortico-cerebellar atrophy (associated with RMN), ataxia and peripheral edema. The diagnosis of wet Beri-beri combined with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome was made and appropriate therapy with pulse daily dose of parenteral thymine instituted.

Behavioral treatment of children after severe head injury: a pilot study.

Little has been written on the treatment of cognitive and behavioral disorders in children following serious head injuries with coma. We have used the behavioral modification method known as Token Economy in 20 head-injured patients having a mean age of 11 years. The treatment, which involved the children's families, proved at one-year follow-up to be highly successful in normalizing maladaptive behavior.

Orbital decompression for severe Graves' ophthalmopathy. Results of a three-wall operative technique.

Nine patients out of more than 300 with severe Graves' ophthalmopathy followed in this institution were submitted to orbital decompression carried out on 16 eyes by a three-wall procedure consisting of a transfrontal approach with the removal of the roof, the lateral wall and part of the floor of the orbit. All patients had been previously unsuccessfully treated by orbital radiotherapy and/or systemic corticosteroid administration. The main indications for surgery were marked proptosis or sight-threatening optic neuropathy.

[Prolonged use of intravenous nitro derivatives in acute myocardial infarction (AMI)].

A retrospective survey is made on 166 cases of acute myocardial infarction, treated with intravenous nitro-derivatives for eight days of continuous therapy. This therapeutic modality appears to gain four goals: a reduction in mortality of patients, a faster return of ST tract on isoelectric guideline, fewer ventricular pump failures. In the authors' point of view, a delay in the downward return of ST tract towards the isoelectric guideline is an important but ominous prognostic sign in this group of patients.

Radiation-induced cerebral lesions in childhood.

Post-irradiation cerebral pathologies may appear in various forms from localized radiation necrosis to a plurifocal type or from local to diffuse vasculopathies. Contrary to the current prevalent opinion, these lesions are not rare in children since young nerve tissue is particularly sensitive to ionizing radiation. Given the seriousness of some of these lesions, the authors recommend careful evaluation of the risk involved in relation to the real necessity of administering irradiation therapy in childhood.

Surgical treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy by decompressive orbitotomy.

Malignant exophthalmos is often not resolvable using only medical or radiation therapy. The pressure on the optic nerve which is generally associated with it evolves rapidly in many cases towards optic atrophy and subsequently loss of vision. Only surgical treatment offers any guarantee of success and of the various techniques proposed, subfrontal orbital decompression seems clearly the more effective, in that it makes for an optimal alleviation of pressure in the optic pathways.

Nasal meningioma. Report of a case.

A case of intranasal meningioma is reported. The possible etiopathogenic hypotheses are discussed. A possible primary intracranial localisation has to be excluded.

Parkinsonian syndrome in the course of aqueductal stenosis hydrocephalus.

Report of a case of hydrocephalus secondary to stenosis of the aqueduct with associated parkinsonian syndrome. The suggested etiopathogenesis: damage to the striatal system favored by underlying weakness of the basal ganglia.

Peritoneal cerebrospinal fluid pseudocysts: a complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunts.

The authors report seven cases of peritoneal pseudocysts in children with ventriculoperitoneal shunts. After describing the etiopathogenetic hypotheses, the symptomatology and the diagnostic investigations, they review the various types of treatment adopted to date and propose a simple and effective method, which has resulted in rapid resolution of all seven cases.

Nasal meningioma. Report of a case.

A case of intranasal meningioma is reported. The possible etiopathogenic hypothesis is discussed giving advice on excluding a possible intracranial primary neoplasia. Therapy is also briefly discussed.

[Syndrome of ventricular overdrainage in children with fluid shunts].

The authors emphasize the possible complications following the surgical operation by ventriculocaval or ventriculoperitoneal shunts in the neonatal hydrocephalus. These complications are mainly caused by the liquoral hyperdrenage which occurs for the differential pressure of the valve system, since this valve is operating by the differential pressure between cerebral ventricles and the receiving cavities and not by the absolute pressure existing in the ventricular cavity. The following late complications are examined: a) chronic subdural haematoma; b) slit ventricle syndrome.

Postirradiation meningioma.

A case of meningioma of the posterior cranial fossa is reported. The tumor developed 12 years after radiation treatment for a polar spongioblastoma of the cerebellum in an 8-year-old boy. The possible role of the radiation in the oncogenesis of the second tumor is discussed.

Trigeminal schwannomas in adolescence.

Trigeminal neurinomas, unlike those of the acoustic nerve or of other cranial nerves, are relatively frequent in adolescence, making up 10% of the total. Two cases are described, bringing the number of reports in the world literature up to 13. The clinical, radiological and surgical data on these tumors are analyzed, and some particular aspects present in adolescence are pointed out.

Intradural lumbar disc hernia. Case report.

The authors report a case of intradural disc hernia at L2-L3 in a woman aged 72 years. It presented clinically as chronic lumbar pain associated from the beginning with referred pain in the thighs, later with severe paraparesis and disturbance of bladder function. The myelogram showed a partial block suggestive of an intradural neoplasm.

Neuropsychological sequelae after head injury with mesencephalic coma in childhood.

Eleven children aging between 4 years 11 months and 12 years 6 months were examined periodically over five years following closed head injury with mesencephalic coma (Plum and Posner's definition). It was found that although transient sequelae (neurological and cognitive) on coma resolution were severe, long-term recovery was generally good. The subjects had drug, neurological and psychological treatment during the 2-5-years period and showed apparently better recovery than reported in literature for trauma in adults.

Repair of skull defects by autogenous bone grafts.

To repair the infant skull as completely and efficiently as possible, the authors describe and recommend greater use of an autogenous graft taking the outer table of the skull from adjacent or symmetrical sites to the defect.