: A decentralized and open source cloud platform to support neuroscience research.

Neuroscience research has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years by advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, the complexity of the data pipeline has also increased, hindering access to FAIR data analysis to portions of the worldwide research community. was developed to reduce these burdens and democratize modern neuroscience research across institutions and career levels.

The human endogenous attentional control network includes a ventro-temporal cortical node.

Endogenous attention is the cognitive function that selects the relevant pieces of sensory information to achieve goals and it is known to be controlled by dorsal fronto-parietal brain areas. Here we expand this notion by identifying a control attention area located in the temporal lobe. By combining a demanding behavioral paradigm with functional neuroimaging and diffusion tractography, we show that like fronto-parietal attentional areas, the human posterior inferotemporal cortex exhibits significant attentional modulatory activity.

Functionally defined white matter of the macaque monkey brain reveals a dorso-ventral attention network.

Classical studies of attention have identified areas of parietal and frontal cortex as sources of attentional control. Recently, a ventral region in the macaque temporal cortex, the posterior infero-temporal dorsal area PITd, has been suggested as a third attentional control area. This raises the question of whether and how spatially distant areas coordinate a joint focus of attention.

Optic Nerve Degeneration and Reduced Contrast Sensitivity Due to Folic Acid Deficiency: A Behavioral and Electrophysiological Study in Rhesus Monkeys.

Purpose: The purpose of the research was to elucidate the role of folic acid (B9) deficiency in the development of nutritional optic neuritis and to characterize the neurophysiological consequences of optic nerve degeneration in the cortical visual system.

Methods: A combined behavioral and electrophysiological approach was applied to study luminance contrast sensitivity in two macaque monkeys affected by nutritional optic neuritis and in two healthy monkeys for comparison. For one monkey, a follow-up approach was applied to compare visual performance before onset of optic neuropathy, during the disease, and after treatment.

Workload measurement for molecular genetics laboratory: A survey study.

Genetic testing availability in the health care system is rapidly increasing, along with the diffusion of next-generation sequencing (NGS) into diagnostics. These issues make imperative the knowledge-drive optimization of testing in the clinical setting. Time estimations of wet laboratory procedure in Italian molecular laboratories offering genetic diagnosis were evaluated to provide data suitable to adjust efficiency and optimize health policies and costs.

Temporally evolving gain mechanisms of attention in macaque area V4.

Cognitive attention and perceptual saliency jointly govern our interaction with the environment. Yet, we still lack a universally accepted account of the interplay between attention and luminance contrast, a fundamental dimension of saliency. We measured the attentional modulation of V4 neurons' contrast response functions (CRFs) in awake, behaving macaque monkeys and applied a new approach that emphasizes the temporal dynamics of cell responses.

Endocrine Long-Term Follow-Up of Children with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Optic Pathway Glioma .

Background/aims: Children with optic pathway glioma (OPG) face sequelae related to tumour location and treatment modalities. We aimed to assess the prevalence of hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunctions in children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and OPG who did not receive radiotherapy or surgical resection. The causative role of tumour location on endocrinopathy development is investigated.

[Clinical and molecular study in a family with autosomal dominant hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia].

Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a rare disease characterized by deficiency in development of structure derived from the ectoderm and is caused by mutations in the genes EDA, EDAR, or EDARADD. Phenotypes caused by mutations in these three may exhibit similar clinical features, explained by a common signaling pathway. Mutations in EDA gene cause X linked HED, which is the most common form.

Reversible Growth Hormone Excess in Two Girls with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 and Optic Pathway Glioma.

Background: A total of 12 children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) with optic pathway glioma (OPG) and growth hormone (GH) excess are reported to date, but no data exist on the long-term outcome. We describe 2 girls with NF-1 with OPG and GH excess treated with somatostatin analogue (SSa) who maintained a normal GH axis after stopping SSa therapy.

Methods: The diagnosis of GH excess was established from auxological data, persistently high levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and a lack of GH suppression during an oral glucose tolerance test.

Contact urticaria on eczematous skin by kiwifruit allergy. In vivo component-resolved diagnosis.

Background: Kiwifruit allergy has been responsible for a variety of clinical manifestations, ranging from mild reactions, such as localised oral symptoms, to severe systemic symptoms, such as anaphylaxis. No cases of isolated contact urticaria (ICU) due to IgE-mediated allergy to kiwifruit have been reported in the literature so far. Here we describe the first three cases of ICU due to kiwi and we hypothesise about a kiwifruit allergen not described yet.

Altering spatial priority maps via reward-based learning.

Spatial priority maps are real-time representations of the behavioral salience of locations in the visual field, resulting from the combined influence of stimulus driven activity and top-down signals related to the current goals of the individual. They arbitrate which of a number of (potential) targets in the visual scene will win the competition for attentional resources. As a result, deployment of visual attention to a specific spatial location is determined by the current peak of activation (corresponding to the highest behavioral salience) across the map.

Selective tuning for contrast in macaque area V4.

Visually responsive neurons typically exhibit a monotonic-saturating increase of firing with luminance contrast of the stimulus and are able to adapt to the current spatiotemporal context by shifting their selectivity, therefore being perfectly suited for optimal contrast encoding and discrimination. Here we report the first evidence of the existence of neurons showing selective tuning for contrast in area V4d of the behaving macaque (Macaca mulatta), i.e.

Neural basis of visual selective attention.

Attentional modulation along the object-recognition pathway of the cortical visual system of primates has been shown to consist of enhanced representation of the retinal input at a specific location in space, or of objects located anywhere in the visual field which possess a critical object feature. Moreover, selective attention mechanisms allow the visual system to resolve competition among multiple objects in a crowded scene in favor of the object that is relevant for the current behavior. Finally, selective attention affects the spontaneous activity of neurons as well as their visually driven responses, and it does so not only by modulating the spiking activity of individual neurons, but also by modulating the degree of coherent firing within the critical neuronal populations.

Preliminary evaluation of the educational strategy of a community alcohol use action research project in Scandicci (Italy).

A community project aiming to promote responsible drinking and to prevent alcohol use-related problems in three districts of Scandicci, a town west of Florence, was undertaken between 2000 and 2004. The community totaled 21,851 residents. Among other initiatives, 8,000 carousels that provided information on different levels of alcohol consumption and more than 1,000 prints of nine drawings by local school children that promoted moderate consumption were distributed in the community, respectively, during February-July 2002 and May-June 2003.

Identification of forensic samples by using an infrared-based automatic DNA sequencer.

We have recently introduced a new protocol for analyzing all core loci of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) with an infrared (IR) automatic DNA sequencer (LI-COR 4200). The amplicons were labeled with forward oligonucleotide primers, covalently linked to a new infrared fluorescent molecule (IRDye 800). The alleles were displayed as familiar autoradiogram-like images with real-time detection.

Mixed stains from sexual assault cases: autosomal or Y-chromosome short tandem repeats?

We analyzed forensic DNA samples from four cases of sexual assault, using the Y-chromosome-specific human DNA markers and a panel of autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs). The presence of male contribution was evaluated by the analysis of the Amelogenin locus. A panel of tetrameric Y-STR (DYS19, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS385, DYS389I and II) was used in further analysis of samples, increasing the efficiency of the forensic genetic analyses.

Analysis of 13 tetrameric short tandem repeat loci in a population of Tuscany (Central Italy) performed by means of an automated infrared sequencer.

Allele frequencies for the 13 STRs of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) core were obtained from a sample of 188 unrelated individuals living in the area of Florence, Prato and Pistoia (Tuscany, Central Italy).