Gender specific processing of eye contact within the human medial temporal lobe.

Eye contact is a powerful social stimulus for human and non-human primates. However, it is unclear whether brain mechanisms that interpret eye contact are sensitive to gender. Here we show that human brain responses to eye contact are indeed gender specific. Recording event-related potentials directly from the medial temporal lobes, we found that eye contact elicited specific responses in men only when they saw female faces. Conversely, women responded specifically to eye contact only when they saw pictures of men. Thus, the human medial temporal lobes subserve specifically the processing of eye contact with persons of the opposite gender.     

Foxl2 disruption causes mouse ovarian failure by pervasive blockage of follicle development

FOXL2 mutations cause gonadal dysgenesis or premature ovarian failure (POF) in women, as well as eyelid/forehead dysmorphology in both sexes (the 'blepharophimosis-ptosis-epicanthus inversus syndrome', BPES). Here we report that mice lacking Foxl2 recapitulate relevant features of human BPES: males and females are small and show distinctive craniofacial morphology with upper eyelids absent. Furthermore, in mice as in humans, sterility is confined to females. Features of Foxl2 null animals point toward a new mechanism of POF, with all major somatic cell lineages failing to develop around growing oocytes from the time of primordial follicle formation. Foxl2 disruption thus provides a model for histogenesis and reproductive competence of the ovary.     

Embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR), ependymoblastoma,and medulloepithelioma share molecular similarity and comprise a single clinicopathological entity

Three histological variants are known within the family of embryonal rosette-forming neuroepithelial brain tumors. These include embryonal tumor with abundant neuropil and true rosettes (ETANTR), ependymoblastoma (EBL), and medulloepithelioma (MEPL). In this study, we performed a comprehensive clinical, pathological, and molecular analysis of 97 cases of these rare brain neoplasms, including genome-wide DNA methylation and copy number profiling of 41 tumors. We identified uniform molecular signatures in all tumors irrespective of histological patterns, indicating that ETANTR, EBL, and MEPL comprise a single biological entity. As such, future WHO classification schemes should consider lumping these variants into a single diagnostic category, such as embryonal tumor with multilayered rosettes (ETMR). We recommend combined LIN28A immunohistochemistry and FISH analysis of the 19q13.42 locus for molecular diagnosis of this tumor category. Recognition of this distinct pediatric brain tumor entity based on the fact that the three histological variants are molecularly and clinically uniform will help to distinguish ETMR from other embryonal CNS tumors and to better understand the biology of these highly aggressive and therapy-resistant pediatric CNS malignancies, possibly leading to alternate treatment strategies.     

"It's a hair-dryer…No, it's a drill": misidentification-related false recognitions in younger and older adults

Memory for visual objects, although typically highly accurate, can be distorted, especially in older adults. Here we asked whether also erroneous identifications of visual objects subsequently corrected and replaced by a correct identification might induce false recognitions, and whether this is more likely to occur in older people. For this aim a new paradigm was developed. In the first phase, participants performed a visual object identification task with degraded pictures of objects and produced correct and false but subsequently corrected identifications. In the second phase, participants performed a surprise recognition task in which also false identifications were presented. False identifications elicited false recognitions, with a stronger and more reliable effect in elderly participants, suggesting that correcting the initial visual error is not sufficient to correct the memory for the experience. Moreover, misidentification-related false recognitions coexisted in memory along with correct recognitions of correct identifications. These findings are discussed in relation with age-related deficits in memory updating and strategic retrieval.     

Pediatric transplantation in Europe during the COVID-19 pandemic: Early impact on activity and healthcare

The current pandemic SARS-CoV-2 has required an unusual allocation of resources that can negatively impact chronically ill patients and high-complexity procedures. Across the European Reference Network on Pediatric Transplantation (ERN TransplantChild), we conducted a survey to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on pediatric transplant activity and healthcare practices in both solid organ transplantation (SOT) and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The replies of 30 professionals from 18 centers in Europe were collected. Twelve of 18 centers (67%) showed a reduction in their usual transplant activity. Additionally, outpatient visits have been modified and restricted to selected ones, and the use of telemedicine tools has increased. Additionally, a total of 14 COVID-19 pediatric transplanted patients were identified at the time of the survey, including eight transplant recipients and six candidates for transplantation. Only two moderate-severe cases were reported, both in HSCT setting. These survey results demonstrate the limitations in healthcare resources for pediatric transplantation patients during early stages of this pandemic. COVID-19 disease is a major worldwide challenge for the field of pediatric transplantation, where there will be a need for systematic data collection, encouraging regular discussions to address the long-term consequences for pediatric transplantation candidates, recipients, and their families.     

From microbiota toward gastro-enteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms: Are we on the highway to hell?

Gut microbiota is represented by different microorganisms that colonize the intestinal tract, mostly the large intestine, such as bacteria, fungi, archaea and viruses. The gut microbial balance has a key role in several functions. It modulates the host’s metabolism, maintains the gut barrier integrity, participates in the xenobiotics and drug metabolism, and acts as protection against gastro-intestinal pathogens through the host’s immune system modulation. The impaired gut microbiota, called dysbiosis, may be the result of an imbalance in this equilibrium and is linked with different diseases, including cancer. While most of the studies have focused on the association between microbiota and gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas, very little is known about gastroenteropancreatic (GEP) neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). In this review, we provide an overview concerning the complex interplay between gut microbiota and GEP NENs, focusing on the potential role in tumorigenesis and progression in these tumors.

     

Risk of respiratory cancer around a sewage plant in Prato,Italy

In this study, the authors evaluated the risk of respiratory cancer related to environmental pollutants among a population that resided near a sewage plant in Prato, Italy. Subjects included lung cancer deaths (1987-1996) and incident cases of lung and laryngeal cancers (1987-1994) among residents of Prato. The authors used the mortality or incidence rates for the entire population of Prato (by gender and by 5-yr age group) to calculate the expected cases in each census unit. Data were analyzed and adjusted for an index of social deprivation (Stone test). Among males, the excess risk of lung cancer mortality decreased as distance from the plant increased for 2 time periods (1987-1996 [p = .008] and 1990-1996 [p = .030]) and for lung cancer incidence during 1987-1994 (p = .011). Similar results were obtained when sewage plant workers were excluded from the analysis. A similar, but not statistically significant, trend was observed among female incident lung cancer cases, as well as among male incident laryngeal cancer cases. Despite methodological limitations common to geographic studies, the results were consistent with those previously published on mortality excesses for lung cancer among plant workers under study. The role of environmental pollutants as a risk for respiratory cancer must be further clarified with additional epidemiological studies and an environmental monitoring program.     

A new standardized set of ecological pictures for experimental and clinical research on visual object processing

A new set of 174 pictures in black-and-white, coloured and spatially filtered versions, taken from photographs of real objects belonging to different semantic categories, was realised for experimental and clinical research on visual object processing. Two samples, one of English speakers and one of Italian speakers, were tested in order to provide the normative data for each picture, in both black-and-white and coloured versions, in relation to familiarity, visual complexity and name agreement.