A reflection on the role of genetics in the concept of "epileptic encephalopathy", as emerged from the most recent ILEA classification of epilepsy.

The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) has been working to standardize the epilepsy classifications for over a hundred years.The latest epilepsy classification has been recently carried out with a careful overview on several topics including the "epileptic encephalopathies" concept and several constructive discussions on this topic have taken place in the international community of epileptologists.Here we wish to share our reflection on a statement of the ILAE commission on the "epileptic encephalopathy" concept, which in our opinion pays less attention to the "electroclinical syndromes" concept in favor of the new and very rapid genetic advances, thus generating confusion.

Instrumental assessment of balance and gait in depression: A systematic review.

Psychomotor symptoms of depression are understudied despite having a severe impact on patient outcomes. This review aims to summarize the evidence on motor features of depression assessed with instrumental procedures, and examine age-related differences. We included studies investigating posture, balance and gait ascertained with instrumental measurements among individuals with depressive symptoms or disorders.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Neurodegenerative Diseases: New Evidence in Clinical Trials.

A nutritional approach could be a promising strategy to prevent or slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, since there is no effective therapy for these diseases so far. The beneficial effects of omega-3 fatty acids are now well established by a plethora of studies through their involvement in multiple biochemical functions, including synthesis of anti-inflammatory mediators, cell membrane fluidity, intracellular signaling, and gene expression. This systematic review will consider epidemiological studies and clinical trials that assessed the impact of supplementation or dietary intake of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.

Sustainable Growth and Synchronization in Protocell Models.

The growth of a population of protocells requires that the two key processes of replication of the protogenetic material and reproduction of the whole protocell take place at the same rate. While in many ODE-based models such synchronization spontaneously develops, this does not happen in the important case of quadratic growth terms. Here we show that spontaneous synchronization can be recovered (i) by requiring that the transmembrane diffusion of precursors takes place at a finite rate, or (ii) by introducing a finite lifetime of the molecular complexes.

Recommendations for managing the manifestations of severe and life-threatening mixed cryoglobulinemia syndrome.

Objective: Some of the manifestations of mixed cryoglobulinemia syndrome (MCS) can be severe or life-threatening, and should be rapidly contained but, as the therapeutic approaches to such conditions are largely based on anecdotal data, a consensus conference was organised by the Italian Group for the Study of Cryoglobulinemia (GISC) with the aim of providing a set of recommendations based on an in-depth survey of the available data and expert opinion.

Methods: The consensus panel, which included specialists working in different medical fields involved in the management of MCS patients, was first asked to divide the manifestations of MCS into severe or life-threatening conditions on the basis of their own experience, after which a complete literature review was carried out in accordance with the Cochrane guidelines for systematic reviews.

Results: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) was considered the elective first-line treatment in the case of life-threatening manifestations of MCS (LT-MCS) and patients with severe clinical symptoms (S-MCS) who fail to respond to (or who are ineligible for) other treatments.

Ti-Zr-Si-Nb Nanocrystalline Alloys and Metallic Glasses: Assessment on the Structural Development, Thermal Stability, Corrosion and Mechanical Properties.

The development of novel Ti-based amorphous or β-phase nanostructured metallic materials could have significant benefits for implant applications, due to potentially improved corrosion properties, and mechanical characteristics (lower Young's modulus, better wear performance, improved fracture toughness) in comparison to the standardized + titanium alloys. Moreover, the devitrification phenomenon, occurring during heating, could contribute to lower input power during additive manufacturing technologies. Ti-based alloy ribbons were obtained by melt-spinning, considering the ultra-fast cooling rates this method can provide.

The Path of Cicely Saunders: The "Peculiar Beauty" of Palliative Care.

This paper is aimed at focusing on the writings and the experience of the Hospice movement Founder, Dame Cicely Saunders. The in-depth analysis carried out had the objective of verifying if "the way" of Cicely to understand, live and propose palliative care was still current and "beautiful", so that we can nowadays refer to her fascinating "Original Palliative Care". With "beauty" we mean, on the one hand, a way able to allow a personal path of research of the meaning of the disease and of the care, both for those who care and for those who are cared for.

Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy as an Alternative to Lobectomy in Patients With Medically Operable Stage I NSCLC: A Retrospective, Multicenter Analysis.

Background: Stereotactic ablative body radiation therapy (SBRT) has evolved as the standard treatment for patients with inoperable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We report the results of a retrospective analysis conducted on a large, well-controlled cohort of patients with stage I to II NSCLC who underwent lobectomy (LOB) or SBRT.

Materials And Methods: One hundred eighty-seven patients with clinical-stage T1a-T2bNoMO NSCLC were treated in 2 academic hospitals between August 2008 and May 2015.

Identifying the factors that influence surgeon's compliance with excisional margins of non-melanoma skin cancer.

The rising incidence of Non Melanoma Skin Cancers (NMSC) leads to a high number of surgical procedures worldwide. The strict compliance with international guidelines with regard to excisional margins may help decrease the number of re-excision procedures and reduce the risk of NMSC recurrence. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of excisional margins as recommended by the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) and the European Dermatology Forum (EDF) guidelines, and the factors (demographic or clinical) that influence surgeons' compliance with these guidelines.

Refined 4-group classification of left ventricular hypertrophy based on ventricular concentricity and volume dilatation outlines distinct noninvasive hemodynamic profiles in a large contemporary echocardiographic population.

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) may reflect a wide variety of physiologic and pathologic conditions. Thus, it can be misleading to consider all LVH to be homogenous or similar. Refined 4-group classification of LVH based on ventricular concentricity and dilatation may be identified.

Physical exercise for late-life depression: Effects on symptom dimensions and time course.

Background: Physical exercise is increasingly recognized as a treatment for major depression, even among older patients. However, it is still unknown which depressive symptoms exercise affects most, (e.g.

Imaging of the Unstable Shoulder.

Background: Unstable shoulder can occur in different clinical scenarios with a broad spectrum of symptoms and presentations: first-time (or recurrent) traumatic acute shoulder anterior dislocation or chronic anterior instability after repeated dislocations.Imaging in unstable shoulder is fundamental for choosing the right treatment preventing recurrence.The goal of imaging depends on clinical scenario and patient characteristics.

Search for genetic factors in bicuspid aortic valve disease: ACTA2 mutations do not play a major role.

Objectives: Mutations in ACTA2 have been reported as a cause of familiar thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) with associated bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) in some individuals. Our aim is to investigate the role of ACTA2 mutations in BAV associated with TAA in 20 patients.

Methods: We recruited 20 patients who underwent surgery for BAV and TAA; clinical genetic evaluation and ACTA2 mutation analysis were performed on each patient, along with next-generation sequencing analysis of BAV-related genes.

Is PET/CT essential in the diagnosis and follow-up of temporal arteritis?

The increasing availability and improvement of imaging techniques are deeply influencing diagnosis and work-up of patients affected with vasculitis, particularly those with large vessel vasculitis (LVV). Fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET), especially when integrated with computed tomography (CT), is taking hold as a useful diagnostic technique to examine the aorta and the other large vessels in giant cell arteritis (GCA) with concomitant large vessel involvement (LV-GCA). In this paper we examined the progresses performed in this field in the last twenty years and the evidence available so far according to two different points of view ('pros' and 'cons'), in order to give a comprehensive answer to a still open question about the role of PET/CT in the diagnosis and follow-up of GCA.

Physical exercise for late life depression: effects on cognition and disability.

Background: Late-life depression is often associated with cognitive impairments and disability, which may persist even after adequate antidepressant drug treatment. Physical exercise is increasingly recognized as an effective antidepressant agent, and may exert positive effects on these features too. However, few studies examined this issue, especially by comparing different types of exercises.

Prognostic Value of Bone Marrow Tracer Uptake Pattern in Baseline PET Scans in Hodgkin Lymphoma: Results from an International Collaborative Study.

PET/CT-ascertained bone marrow involvement (BMI) constitutes the single most important reason for upstaging by PET/CT in Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). However, BMI assessment in PET/CT can be challenging. This study analyzed the clinicopathologic correlations and prognostic meaning of different patterns of bone marrow (BM) F-FDG uptake in HL.

Physical Exercise for Late-Life Depression: Customizing an Intervention for Primary Care.

Objectives: To identify which individual- and context-related factors influence the translation into clinical practice of interventions based on physical exercise (PE) as an adjunct to antidepressants (AD) for the treatment of late-life major depression (LLMD).

Design: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Primary care with psychiatric consultation-liaison programs (PCLPs)-organizational protocols that regulate the clinical management of individuals with psychiatric disorders.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the mandibular gingiva: A rare case of metastasis 4 years after radical excision and literature review.

Malignant epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (MEH), or high-risk epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, is a low- to intermediate-grade vascular malignancy. A few cases of MEH have been documented in the head and neck region, including the neck, thyroid gland, larynx and scalp. MEHs are extremely rare in the oral cavity.

Comprehensive Imaging in Women With Organic Mitral Regurgitation: Implications for Clinical Outcome.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare women and men with organic mitral regurgitation (MR) using pre- and post-operative comprehensive imaging and to analyze the effect on outcome.

Background: Management of organic MR has no sex-specific guideline recommendation, and sex differences on the basis of comprehensive imaging and links to outcome remain largely unknown.

Methods: Comprehensive imaging (MR cause, quantitation, ventricular and atrial measures, and post-operative reverse cardiac remodeling) was analyzed in 217 women and 447 men who underwent operations for organic MR from 1990 to 2000 with long-term follow-up analysis.

Physical exercise for late-life major depression.

Background: Interventions including physical exercise may help improve the outcomes of late-life major depression, but few studies are available.

Aims: To investigate whether augmenting sertraline therapy with physical exercise leads to better outcomes of late-life major depression.

Method: Primary care patients (465 years) with major depression were randomised to 24 weeks of higher-intensity, progressive aerobic exercise plus sertraline (S+PAE), lower-intensity, non-progressive exercise plus sertraline (S+NPE) and sertraline alone.