Using data from the Italian Multicentric Birth Defect Registry a case-control study was performed to verify if chorionic villus sampling (CVS) was associated with transverse limb defects (TLD), with ...or without features of oro-mandibular-limb hypogenesis complex (OMLHC), in the exposed offspring. The results show that the risk of TLD and OMLHC is increased following CVS, and is particularly high for CVS performed early in pregnancy, i.e., under 70 days of gestational age. These results, together with a review of other epidemiologic studies, biological data and clinical reports, strongly suggest a causative role of CVS as a risk factor for TLD and indicate that at this stage CVS before 70 days of gestational age should be discouraged as an option for prenatal diagnosis and that all patients wishing to undergo CVS should be informed about the possible risk of the procedure.
On May 27th 2010, the Italian astronomical community learned with concern that the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) was going to be suppressed, and that its employees were going to be ...transferred to the National Research Council (CNR). It was not clear if this applied to all employees (i.e. also to researchers hired on short-term contracts), and how this was going to happen in practice. In this letter, we give a brief historical overview of INAF and present a short chronicle of the few eventful days that followed. Starting from this example, we then comment on the current situation and prospects of astronomical research in Italy.
