Sample records for early italian violin

  1. Listener evaluations of new and Old Italian violins

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Tao, Fan-Chia

    2017-05-01

    Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall—despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player—compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the “mystery” of Stradivari’s sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.

  2. Listener evaluations of new and Old Italian violins.

    PubMed

    Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Tao, Fan-Chia

    2017-05-23

    Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall-despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player-compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the "mystery" of Stradivari's sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.

  3. Soloist evaluations of six Old Italian and six new violins

    PubMed Central

    Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Borsarello, Hugues; Wollman, Indiana; Tao, Fan-Chia; Ghasarossian, Thierry

    2014-01-01

    Many researchers have sought explanations for the purported tonal superiority of Old Italian violins by investigating varnish and wood properties, plate tuning systems, and the spectral balance of the radiated sound. Nevertheless, the fundamental premise of tonal superiority has been investigated scientifically only once very recently, and results showed a general preference for new violins and that players were unable to reliably distinguish new violins from old. The study was, however, relatively small in terms of the number of violins tested (six), the time allotted to each player (an hour), and the size of the test space (a hotel room). In this study, 10 renowned soloists each blind-tested six Old Italian violins (including five by Stradivari) and six new during two 75-min sessions—the first in a rehearsal room, the second in a 300-seat concert hall. When asked to choose a violin to replace their own for a hypothetical concert tour, 6 of the 10 soloists chose a new instrument. A single new violin was easily the most-preferred of the 12. On average, soloists rated their favorite new violins more highly than their favorite old for playability, articulation, and projection, and at least equal to old in terms of timbre. Soloists failed to distinguish new from old at better than chance levels. These results confirm and extend those of the earlier study and present a striking challenge to near-canonical beliefs about Old Italian violins. PMID:24711376

  4. Soloist evaluations of six Old Italian and six new violins.

    PubMed

    Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Borsarello, Hugues; Wollman, Indiana; Tao, Fan-Chia; Ghasarossian, Thierry

    2014-05-20

    Many researchers have sought explanations for the purported tonal superiority of Old Italian violins by investigating varnish and wood properties, plate tuning systems, and the spectral balance of the radiated sound. Nevertheless, the fundamental premise of tonal superiority has been investigated scientifically only once very recently, and results showed a general preference for new violins and that players were unable to reliably distinguish new violins from old. The study was, however, relatively small in terms of the number of violins tested (six), the time allotted to each player (an hour), and the size of the test space (a hotel room). In this study, 10 renowned soloists each blind-tested six Old Italian violins (including five by Stradivari) and six new during two 75-min sessions--the first in a rehearsal room, the second in a 300-seat concert hall. When asked to choose a violin to replace their own for a hypothetical concert tour, 6 of the 10 soloists chose a new instrument. A single new violin was easily the most-preferred of the 12. On average, soloists rated their favorite new violins more highly than their favorite old for playability, articulation, and projection, and at least equal to old in terms of timbre. Soloists failed to distinguish new from old at better than chance levels. These results confirm and extend those of the earlier study and present a striking challenge to near-canonical beliefs about Old Italian violins.

  5. Acoustic evolution of old Italian violins from Amati to Stradivari.

    PubMed

    Tai, Hwan-Ching; Shen, Yen-Ping; Lin, Jer-Horng; Chung, Dai-Ting

    2018-06-05

    The shape and design of the modern violin are largely influenced by two makers from Cremona, Italy: The instrument was invented by Andrea Amati and then improved by Antonio Stradivari. Although the construction methods of Amati and Stradivari have been carefully examined, the underlying acoustic qualities which contribute to their popularity are little understood. According to Geminiani, a Baroque violinist, the ideal violin tone should "rival the most perfect human voice." To investigate whether Amati and Stradivari violins produce voice-like features, we recorded the scales of 15 antique Italian violins as well as male and female singers. The frequency response curves are similar between the Andrea Amati violin and human singers, up to ∼4.2 kHz. By linear predictive coding analyses, the first two formants of the Amati exhibit vowel-like qualities (F1/F2 = 503/1,583 Hz), mapping to the central region on the vowel diagram. Its third and fourth formants (F3/F4 = 2,602/3,731 Hz) resemble those produced by male singers. Using F1 to F4 values to estimate the corresponding vocal tract length, we observed that antique Italian violins generally resemble basses/baritones, but Stradivari violins are closer to tenors/altos. Furthermore, the vowel qualities of Stradivari violins show reduced backness and height. The unique formant properties displayed by Stradivari violins may represent the acoustic correlate of their distinctive brilliance perceived by musicians. Our data demonstrate that the pioneering designs of Cremonese violins exhibit voice-like qualities in their acoustic output. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

  6. Structural Inference in the Art of Violin Making.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morse-Fortier, Leonard Joseph

    The "secrets" of success of early Italian violins have long been sought. Among their many efforts to reproduce the results of Stradiveri, Guarneri, and Amati, luthiers have attempted to order and match natural resonant frequencies in the free violin plates. This tap-tone plate tuning technique is simply an eigenvalue extraction scheme. In the final stages of carving, the violin maker complements considerable intuitive knowledge of violin plate structure and of modal attributes with tap-tone frequency estimates to better understand plate structure and to inform decisions about plate carving and completeness. Examining the modal attributes of violin plates, this work develops and incorporates an impulse-response scheme for modal inference, measures resonant frequencies and modeshapes for a pair of violin plates, and presents modeshapes through a unique computer visualization scheme developed specifically for this purpose. The work explores, through simple examples questions of how plate modal attributes reflect underlying structure, and questions about the so -called evolution of modeshapes and frequencies through assembly of the violin. Separately, the work develops computer code for a carved, anisotropic, plate/shell finite element. Solutions are found to the static displacement and free-vibration eigenvalue problems for an orthotropic plate, and used to verify element accuracy. Finally, a violin back plate is modelled with full consideration of plate thickness and arching. Model estimates for modal attributes compare very well against experimentally acquired values. Finally, the modal synthesis technique is applied to predicting the modal attributes of the violin top plate with ribs attached from those of the top plate alone, and with an estimate of rib mass and stiffness. This last analysis serves to verify the modal synthesis method, and to quantify its limits of applicability in attempting to solve problems with severe structural modification. Conclusions

  7. Violin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Curtin, Joseph; Rossing, Thomas D.

    The first known violins were built in Italy in the early 1500s. While not much is yet known about the instrument's prior development, European forebears include the rebec and the Renaissance fiddle, which themselves evolved from instruments found in the ancient Eastern world. The violin brought together in a particularly happy way features seen in a variety of earlier stringed instruments. Arched plates increased the stiffness-to-mass ratio of the body, creating a more brilliant sound and helping resist long-term deformation. A pronounced waist gave the bow access to the outermost strings, while the precisely calibrated curves of fingerboard and bridge enabled the strings to be played individually as well as in two-, three-, and even four-part chords. In contrast to the viola da gamba and guitar, the violin's top and back plates overhung the ribs, allowing easy removal for repairs, thus contributing to the instrument's fabled longevity. A graceful outline, harmonious proportions, and the minimal use of ornamentation together lent the violin a timeless beauty - explaining in part why it has resisted significant stylistic modification to this day. For a discussion of historical string instruments, see Chap. 17.

  8. Dr. Franjo (Franz) Kresnik (1869-1943): a physician and a violin maker.

    PubMed

    Skrobonja, Ante; Muzur, Amir

    2007-01-01

    Dr. Franjo (Franz) Kresnik (born Wien 1869 - died Rijeka 1943) was an excellent physician and a Central European intellectual, a bohemian mind whose two loves in life made him very special. His passions were medicine and violin making. Most of his life was spent in Susak (now a part of Rijeka, Croatia), where he worked, played music and studied the art of making stringed instruments. He visited Cremona on several occasions and studied a number of violins, drawings and tools made and used by old masters. For his profound knowledge of Cremonese violin making the Italians dubbed him "Uomo che legge violini" (The Man Who Can Read Violins). In his workshop he made fifty-two violins, two violas, two cellos and a string quartet. Some of these instruments are still played in Europe and America. The remaining violins and possessions (tools, manuscripts, drawings, literature and countless diplomas and certificates) have been kept in a memorial room at the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral in Rijeka. In addition, a street near the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka is named after Franjo Kresnik.

  9. Physics and the Violin

    ScienceCinema

    Atwood, Bill [SCIPP, UCSC, Santa Cruz, California, United States

    2017-12-09

    While the violin has been around for several hundreds of years, our understanding of how it works is still evolving. The character of violin sound is controlled by its frequency content, i.e., the harmonic content (or in musical terminology - the overtones). Both the player and the way in which the violin was made affect this frequency content. Both of these aspects will be examined. Research into how whole body vibrational modes can be manipulated by the violin maker during fabrication will be discussed. Examples of resulting violin sound will be demonstrated.

  10. A Comparison of Wood Density between Classical Cremonese and Modern Violins

    PubMed Central

    Stoel, Berend C.; Borman, Terry M.

    2008-01-01

    Classical violins created by Cremonese masters, such as Antonio Stradivari and Giuseppe Guarneri Del Gesu, have become the benchmark to which the sound of all violins are compared in terms of their abilities of expressiveness and projection. By general consensus, no luthier since that time has been able to replicate the sound quality of these classical instruments. The vibration and sound radiation characteristics of a violin are determined by an instrument's geometry and the material properties of the wood. New test methods allow the non-destructive examination of one of the key material properties, the wood density, at the growth ring level of detail. The densities of five classical and eight modern violins were compared, using computed tomography and specially developed image-processing software. No significant differences were found between the median densities of the modern and the antique violins, however the density difference between wood grains of early and late growth was significantly smaller in the classical Cremonese violins compared with modern violins, in both the top (Spruce) and back (Maple) plates (p = 0.028 and 0.008, respectively). The mean density differential (SE) of the top plates of the modern and classical violins was 274 (26.6) and 183 (11.7) gram/liter. For the back plates, the values were 128 (2.6) and 115 (2.0) gram/liter. These differences in density differentials may reflect similar changes in stiffness distributions, which could directly impact vibrational efficacy or indirectly modify sound radiation via altered damping characteristics. Either of these mechanisms may help explain the acoustical differences between the classical and modern violins. PMID:18596937

  11. Physics of the violin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jansson, Erik V.

    2003-10-01

    A method to measure acoustical properties of the violin has been developed. The bridge is excited by an impulse force hammer (see www.speech.kth.se/music/acviguit4). Bridge vibrations are recorded by a small magnet and an electrical coil. Measurements can be made in an ordinary room and give a record of properties built into the violin body. An old good Polish violin, B Dankwart, Vilnius ca. 1600 shows typical results with peaks P1, P2 and the BH-hill. Our goal is as suggested by Gabriel Weinreich ``to understand, not to copy,''-Stradivarius. By shifting the soundpost position the peaks P1, P2 and BH can be somewhat monitored. It can be shown that the BH is not confined to the bridge only. The feet distance of the bridge is important but also the top plate. Marcin Groblicz, the great Polish violin maker, was court instrument maker in Krakow ca. 1600 to Sigismund, King of Poland and Sweden. I believe Gabriel Weinreich has some connection to Vilnius in Poland but unfortunately not to Sweden. We like Gabi.

  12. Wood densitometry in 17th and 18th century Dutch, German, Austrian and French violins, compared to classical Cremonese and modern violins.

    PubMed

    Stoel, Berend C; Borman, Terry M; de Jongh, Ronald

    2012-01-01

    Classical violins produced by makers such as Antonio Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu have long been considered the epitome of the luthier's art and the expressive tool of choice for the most celebrated violinists. It has been speculated these makers had access to wood that was unique in some way and that this was responsible for their acclaimed tonal characteristics. In an attempt to discern whether the above conjecture is true, we analyzed 17 modern and classical Dutch, German, Austrian and French violins by wood densitometry using computed tomography and correlated these results with our previous study of modern and Cremonese violins; in all studying 30 instruments of the violin family. In order to make this comparison possible we developed methods to cross calibrate results from different CT manufacturers using calibration wood pieces. We found no significant differences in median densities between modern and classical violins, or between classical violins from different origins. These results suggest that it is unlikely classical Cremonese makers had access to wood with significantly different wood density characteristics than that available to contemporaneous or modern makers.

  13. Player preferences among new and old violins.

    PubMed

    Fritz, Claudia; Curtin, Joseph; Poitevineau, Jacques; Morrel-Samuels, Palmer; Tao, Fan-Chia

    2012-01-17

    Most violinists believe that instruments by Stradivari and Guarneri "del Gesu" are tonally superior to other violins--and to new violins in particular. Many mechanical and acoustical factors have been proposed to account for this superiority; however, the fundamental premise of tonal superiority has not yet been properly investigated. Player's judgments about a Stradivari's sound may be biased by the violin's extraordinary monetary value and historical importance, but no studies designed to preclude such biasing factors have yet been published. We asked 21 experienced violinists to compare violins by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu with high-quality new instruments. The resulting preferences were based on the violinists' individual experiences of playing the instruments under double-blind conditions in a room with relatively dry acoustics. We found that (i) the most-preferred violin was new; (ii) the least-preferred was by Stradivari; (iii) there was scant correlation between an instrument's age and monetary value and its perceived quality; and (iv) most players seemed unable to tell whether their most-preferred instrument was new or old. These results present a striking challenge to conventional wisdom. Differences in taste among individual players, along with differences in playing qualities among individual instruments, appear more important than any general differences between new and old violins. Rather than searching for the "secret" of Stradivari, future research might best focused on how violinists evaluate instruments, on which specific playing qualities are most important to them, and on how these qualities relate to measurable attributes of the instruments, whether old or new.

  14. A Research Focused on Improving Vocalisation Level on Violin Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parasiz, Gökalp

    2018-01-01

    The research aimed to improve vocalisation levels of music teacher's candidates on performance works for violin education moving from difficulties faced by prospective teachers. At the same time, it was aimed to provide new perspectives to violin educators. Study group was composed of six 3rd grade students studying violin education in a State…

  15. Model-based auralizations of violin sound trends accompanying plate-bridge tuning or holding.

    PubMed

    Bissinger, George; Mores, Robert

    2015-04-01

    To expose systematic trends in violin sound accompanying "tuning" only the plates or only the bridge, the first structural acoustics-based model auralizations of violin sound were created by passing a bowed-string driving force measured at the bridge of a solid body violin through the dynamic filter (DF) model radiativity profile "filter" RDF(f) (frequency-dependent pressure per unit driving force, free-free suspension, anechoic chamber). DF model auralizations for the more realistic case of a violin held/played in a reverberant auditorium reveal that holding the violin greatly diminishes its low frequency response, an effect only weakly compensated for by auditorium reverberation.

  16. VIOLIN: vaccine investigation and online information network.

    PubMed

    Xiang, Zuoshuang; Todd, Thomas; Ku, Kim P; Kovacic, Bethany L; Larson, Charles B; Chen, Fang; Hodges, Andrew P; Tian, Yuying; Olenzek, Elizabeth A; Zhao, Boyang; Colby, Lesley A; Rush, Howard G; Gilsdorf, Janet R; Jourdian, George W; He, Yongqun

    2008-01-01

    Vaccines are among the most efficacious and cost-effective tools for reducing morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases. The vaccine investigation and online information network (VIOLIN) is a web-based central resource, allowing easy curation, comparison and analysis of vaccine-related research data across various human pathogens (e.g. Haemophilus influenzae, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Plasmodium falciparum) of medical importance and across humans, other natural hosts and laboratory animals. Vaccine-related peer-reviewed literature data have been downloaded into the database from PubMed and are searchable through various literature search programs. Vaccine data are also annotated, edited and submitted to the database through a web-based interactive system that integrates efficient computational literature mining and accurate manual curation. Curated information includes general microbial pathogenesis and host protective immunity, vaccine preparation and characteristics, stimulated host responses after vaccination and protection efficacy after challenge. Vaccine-related pathogen and host genes are also annotated and available for searching through customized BLAST programs. All VIOLIN data are available for download in an eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based data exchange format. VIOLIN is expected to become a centralized source of vaccine information and to provide investigators in basic and clinical sciences with curated data and bioinformatics tools for vaccine research and development. VIOLIN is publicly available at http://www.violinet.org.

  17. A Study on Developing Learning Strategies in Violin Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Afacan, Senol; Cilden, Seyda

    2018-01-01

    This study was conducted for the purpose of developing a valid and reliable learning strategies scale for students receiving violin education in Departments of Music at Fine Arts High Schools. The scale was applied to 391 violin students receiving education in the 11th and 12th grades in Departments of Music at Fine Arts High Schools in the…

  18. Investigating the Role of Auditory and Tactile Modalities in Violin Quality Evaluation

    PubMed Central

    Wollman, Indiana; Fritz, Claudia; Poitevineau, Jacques; McAdams, Stephen

    2014-01-01

    The role of auditory and tactile modalities involved in violin playing and evaluation was investigated in an experiment employing a blind violin evaluation task under different conditions: i) normal playing conditions, ii) playing with auditory masking, and iii) playing with vibrotactile masking. Under each condition, 20 violinists evaluated five violins according to criteria related to violin playing and sound characteristics and rated their overall quality and relative preference. Results show that both auditory and vibrotactile feedback are important in the violinists’ evaluations but that their relative importance depends on the violinist, the violin and the type of evaluation (different criteria ratings or preference). In this way, the overall quality ratings were found to be accurately predicted by the rating criteria, which also proved to be perceptually relevant to violinists, but were poorly correlated with the preference ratings; this suggests that the two types of ratings (overall quality vs preference) may stem from different decision-making strategies. Furthermore, the experimental design confirmed that violinists agree more on the importance of criteria in their overall evaluation than on their actual ratings for different violins. In particular, greater agreement was found on the importance of criteria related to the sound of the violin. Nevertheless, this study reveals that there are fundamental differences in the way players interpret and evaluate each criterion, which may explain why correlating physical properties with perceptual properties has been challenging so far in the field of musical acoustics. PMID:25474036

  19. A simple violin oscillator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jones, R. T.

    1976-01-01

    For acoustic tests the violin is driven laterally at the bridge by a small speaker of the type commonly found in pocket transistor radios. An audio oscillator excites the tone which is picked up by a sound level meter. Gross patterns of vibration modes are obtained by the Chladni method.

  20. Violin Pedagogy and the Physics of the Bowed String

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McLeod, Alexander Rhodes

    The paper describes the mechanics of violin tone production using non-specialist language, in order to present a scientific understanding of tone production accessible to a broad readership. As well as offering an objective understanding of tone production, this model provides a powerful tool for analyzing the technique of string playing. The interaction between the bow and the string is quite complex. Literature reviewed for this study reveals that scientific investigations have provided important insights into the mechanics of string playing, offering explanations for factors which both contribute to and limit the range of tone colours and dynamics that stringed instruments can produce. Also examined in the literature review are significant works of twentieth century violin pedagogy exploring tone production on the violin, based on the practical experience of generations of teachers and performers. Hermann von Helmholtz described the stick-slip cycle which drives the string in 1863, which replaced earlier ideas about the vibration of violin strings. Later, scientists such as John Schelleng and Lothar Cremer were able to demonstrate how the mechanics of the bow-string interaction can create different tone colours. Recent research by Anders Askenfelt, Knut Guettler, and Erwin Schoonderwaldt have continued to refine earlier research in this area. The writings of Lucien Capet, Leopold Auer, Carl Flesch, Paul Rolland, Kato Havas, Ivan Galamian, and Simon Fischer are examined and analyzed. Each author describes a different approach to tone production on the violin, representing a different understanding of the underlying mechanism. Analyzing these writings within the context of a scientific understanding of tone production makes it possible to compare these approaches more consistently, and to synthesize different concepts drawn from the diverse sources evaluated.

  1. Directivity measurements of the violin during performance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hardy, Jean-François; Migneron, Jean-Gabriel

    2005-04-01

    Many studies have shown that directivity of musical instruments is significant for the perceived sound within the hall and for performer's ease of hearing each other. The directivity patterns explain in part the differences between many common or special orchestral stage plots. Measurements of the violin's directivity have been performed using an acoustical intensimetry procedure. The precise directivity characteristics of isolated tones have been compared with the mean directivity resulting from performance of four extracts chosen among the orchestral repertoire. Results, which were measured in both horizontal and vertical planes, show interesting differences between the average directivity of each test. They lead to links with few important distinctions in the traditional violin's positions inside the orchestra.

  2. Dependence of sound characteristics on the bowing position in a violin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Roh, YuJi; Kim, Young H.

    2014-12-01

    A quantitative analysis of violin sounds produced for different bowing positions over the full length of a violin string has been carried out. An automated bowing machine was employed in order to keep the bowing parameters constant. A 3-dimensional profile of the frequency spectrum was introduced in order to characterize the violin's sound. We found that the fundamental frequency did not change for different bowing positions, whereas the frequencies of the higher harmonics were different. Bowing the string at 30 mm from the bridge produced musical sounds. The middle of the string was confirmed to be a dead zone, as reported in previous works. In addition, the quarter position was also found to be a dead zone. Bowing the string 90 mm from the bridge dominantly produces a fundamental frequency of 864 Hz and its harmonics.

  3. Investigation of violin mode Q for wires of various materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dawid, Daryush J.; Kawamura, Seiji

    1997-12-01

    The Q factors of violin modes for wires of various materials have been measured in order to determine which would be most suitable for use in the suspension of test masses in the initial laser interferometer gravitational wave observatory (LIGO) interferometers. A "guitar" type apparatus was employed to measure violin mode Qs, and losses due to clamping and other practical sources were successfully suppressed below the level of intrinsic wire losses. Steel music wire was found to give the highest extrapolated Q factors under LIGO conditions among the wires we tested. This extrapolated Q sets a target for the LIGO suspension which can be attained if all the losses other than the intrinsic wire loss are successfully suppressed. The measured Qs for the steel, tungsten, and titanium wire, which were approximately frequency independent for the first two to three modes, were found to be roughly proportional to the square root of the tension in the wire. This is consistent with the theory of violin mode losses due to frequency-independent intrinsic wire losses.

  4. Reframing "The Italian": Questions of Audience Address in Early Cinema.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keil, Charlie

    1990-01-01

    Analyzes "The Italian" (1915), an early "immigrant" film, examining its problematic relation to questions of working-class and middle-class audience composition. Shows how this film reveals that the creation of narratives suitable for diverse audiences requires continuous readjustment of an adequate mode of address. (MM)

  5. Evolution of the violin: The law of effect in action.

    PubMed

    Wasserman, Edward A; Cullen, Patrick

    2016-01-01

    As is true for most other human inventions, the origin of the violin is unknown. What is known is that this popular and versatile instrument has notably changed over the course of several hundred years. At issue is whether those evolutionary changes in the construction of the violin are the result of premeditated, intelligent design or whether they arose through a trial-and-error process. Recent scientific evidence favors the latter account. Our perspective piece puts these recent empirical findings into a comprehensive selectionist framework. According to this view, the many things we do and make--like violins--arise from a process of variation and selection which accords with the law of effect. Contrary to popular opinion, there is neither mystique nor romance in this process; it is as fundamental and ubiquitous as the law of natural selection. As with the law of natural selection in the evolution of organisms, there is staunch resistance to the role of the law of effect in the evolution of human inventions. We conclude our piece by considering several objections to our perspective. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. Implementation of the Early Start Denver Model in an Italian community.

    PubMed

    Colombi, Costanza; Narzisi, Antonio; Ruta, Liliana; Cigala, Virginia; Gagliano, Antonella; Pioggia, Giovanni; Siracusano, Rosamaria; Rogers, Sally J; Muratori, Filippo

    2018-02-01

    Identifying effective, community-based specialized interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder is an international clinical and research priority. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model intervention in a group of young children with autism spectrum disorder living in an Italian community compared to a group of Italian children who received treatment as usual. A total of 22 young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder received the Early Start Denver Model in a center-based context for 6 h per week over 6 months. The Early Start Denver Model group was compared to a group of 70 young children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who received treatment as usual for an average of 5.2 h over 6 months. Children in both groups improved in cognitive, adaptive, and social skills after 3 months and 6 months of treatment. Children in the Early Start Denver Model group made larger gains in cognitive and social skills after 3 and 6 months of treatment. The Early Start Denver Model group made larger gains in adaptive skills after 3 months of treatment. Our results are discussed in terms of implications for intervention research and clinical practice. Our study supports the positive impact of the Early Start Denver Model in a non-English-speaking community.

  7. The evolution of air resonance power efficiency in the violin and its ancestors

    PubMed Central

    Nia, Hadi T.; Jain, Ankita D.; Liu, Yuming; Alam, Mohammad-Reza; Barnas, Roman; Makris, Nicholas C.

    2015-01-01

    The fact that acoustic radiation from a violin at air-cavity resonance is monopolar and can be determined by pure volume change is used to help explain related aspects of violin design evolution. By determining the acoustic conductance of arbitrarily shaped sound holes, it is found that air flow at the perimeter rather than the broader sound-hole area dominates acoustic conductance, and coupling between compressible air within the violin and its elastic structure lowers the Helmholtz resonance frequency from that found for a corresponding rigid instrument by roughly a semitone. As a result of the former, it is found that as sound-hole geometry of the violin's ancestors slowly evolved over centuries from simple circles to complex f-holes, the ratio of inefficient, acoustically inactive to total sound-hole area was decimated, roughly doubling air-resonance power efficiency. F-hole length then slowly increased by roughly 30% across two centuries in the renowned workshops of Amati, Stradivari and Guarneri, favouring instruments with higher air-resonance power, through a corresponding power increase of roughly 60%. By evolution-rate analysis, these changes are found to be consistent with mutations arising within the range of accidental replication fluctuations from craftsmanship limitations with subsequent selection favouring instruments with higher air-resonance power. PMID:25792964

  8. Implementation of the Early Start Denver Model in an Italian Community

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colombi, Costanza; Narzisi, Antonio; Ruta, Liliana; Cigala, Virginia; Gagliano, Antonella; Pioggia, Giovanni; Siracusano, Rosamaria; Rogers, Sally J.; Muratori, Filippo

    2018-01-01

    Identifying effective, community-based specialized interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder is an international clinical and research priority. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model intervention in a group of young children with autism spectrum disorder living in an Italian community compared to a…

  9. Liquid Metal Machine Triggered Violin-Like Wire Oscillator.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Bin; Wang, Lei; Yang, Xiaohu; Ding, Yujie; Tan, Sicong; Yi, Liting; He, Zhizhu; Liu, Jing

    2016-10-01

    The first ever oscillation phenomenon of a copper wire embraced inside a self-powered liquid metal machine is discovered. When contacting a copper wire to liquid metal machine, it would be swallowed inside and then reciprocally moves back and forth, just like a violin bow. Such oscillation could be easily regulated by touching a steel needle on the liquid metal surface.

  10. Comparison of electromyographic activity and range of neck motion in violin students with and without neck pain during playing.

    PubMed

    Park, Kyue-nam; Kwon, Oh-yun; Ha, Sung-min; Kim, Su-jung; Choi, Hyun-jung; Weon, Jong-hyuck

    2012-12-01

    Neck pain is common in violin students during a musical performance. The purpose of this study was to compare electromyographic (EMG) activity in superficial neck muscles with neck motion when playing the violin as well as neck range of motion (ROM) at rest, between violin students with and without neck pain. Nine violin students with neck pain and nine age- and gender-matched subjects without neck pain were recruited. Muscle activity of the bilateral upper trapezius, sternocleidomastoid, and superficial cervical extensor muscles was measured using surface EMG. Kinematic data on neck motion while playing and active neck ROM were also measured using a three-dimensional motion analysis system. Independent t-tests were used to compare EMG activity with kinematic data between groups. These analyses revealed that while playing, both the angle of left lateral bending and leftward rotation of the cervical spine were significantly greater in the neck pain group than among those without neck pain. Similarly, EMG activity of the left upper trapezius, both cervical extensors, and both sternocleidomastoid muscles were significantly greater in the neck pain group. The active ROM of left axial rotation was significantly lower in the neck pain group. These results suggest that an asymmetric playing posture and the associated increased muscle activity as well as decreased neck axial rotation may contribute to neck pain in violin students.

  11. Data conditioning for gravitational wave detectors: A Kalman filter for regressing suspension violin modes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Finn, Lee Samuel; Mukherjee, Soma

    2001-03-01

    Interferometric gravitational wave detectors operate by sensing the differential light travel time between free test masses. Correspondingly, they are sensitive to anything that changes the physical distance between the test masses, including physical motion of the masses themselves. In ground-based detectors the test masses are suspended as pendula, in order that they be approximately ``free'' above the pendulumn frequency. Still, thermal or other excitations of the suspension wires' violin modes do impart a force on the masses that appears as a strong, albeit narrow-band, ``signal'' in the detectors waveband. Gravitational waves, on the other hand, change the distance between the test masses without disturbing the suspensions. Consequently, violin modes can confound attempts to observe gravitational waves since ``signals'' that are correlated with a disturbance of the suspension violin modes are not likely due to a passing gravitational wave. Here we describe the design of a Kalman filter that determines the time-dependent vibrational state of a detector's suspension ``violin'' modes from time dependent observations of the detector output. From the estimated state we can predict that component of the detector output due to suspension excitations, thermal or otherwise. The wire state can be examined for evidence of suspension disturbances that might, in the absence of such a diagnostic, be mistaken for gravitational wave signals. Additionally, from the wire state we can subtractively remove the contribution from suspension disturbances, thermal or otherwise, from the detector output, leaving a residual free from this instrumental artifact. We demonstrate the filter's effectiveness both through numerical simulations and application to real data taken on the LIGO 40 M prototype detector.

  12. Coordination in Fast Repetitive Violin-Bowing Patterns

    PubMed Central

    Schoonderwaldt, Erwin; Altenmüller, Eckart

    2014-01-01

    We present a study of coordination behavior in complex violin-bowing patterns involving simultaneous bow changes (reversal of bowing direction) and string crossings (changing from one string to another). Twenty-two violinists (8 advanced amateurs, 8 students with violin as major subject, and 6 elite professionals) participated in the experiment. We investigated the influence of a variety of performance conditions (specific bowing patterns, dynamic level, tempo, and transposition) and level of expertise on coordination behavior (a.o., relative phase and amplitude) and stability. It was found that the general coordination behavior was highly consistent, characterized by a systematic phase lead of bow inclination over bow velocity of about 15° (i.e., string crossings were consistently timed earlier than bow changes). Within similar conditions, a high individual consistency was found, whereas the inter-individual agreement was considerably less. Furthermore, systematic influences of performance conditions on coordination behavior and stability were found, which could be partly explained in terms of particular performance constraints. Concerning level of expertise, only subtle differences were found, the student and professional groups (higher level of expertise) showing a slightly higher stability than the amateur group (lower level of expertise). The general coordination behavior as observed in the current study showed a high agreement with perceptual preferences reported in an earlier study to similar bowing patterns, implying that complex bowing trajectories for an important part emerge from auditory-motor interaction. PMID:25207542

  13. Full-field vibration measurements of the violin using digital stroboscopic holographic interferometry and electromagnetic stimulation of the strings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Keersmaekers, Lissa; Keustermans, William; De Greef, Daniël; Dirckx, Joris J. J.

    2016-06-01

    We developed a setup in which the strings of the violin are driven electromagnetically, and the resulting vibration of the instrument is measured with digital stroboscopic holography. A 250mW single mode green laser beam is chopped using an acousto-optic modulator, generating illumination pulses of 2% of the vibration period. The phase of the illumination pulse is controlled by a programmable function generator so that digital holograms can be recorded on a number of subsequent time positions within the vibration phase. From these recordings, the out of plane motion as a function of time is reconstructed in full field. We show results of full-field vibration amplitude and vibration phase maps, and time resolved full-field deformations of the violin back plane. Time resolved measurements show in detail how the deformation of the violin plane changes as a function of time at different frequencies. We found very different behavior under acoustic stimulation of the instrument and when using electromagnetic stimulation of a string. The aim of the work it to gather data which can be used in power flow calculations to study how the energy of the strings is conducted to the body of the violin and eventually is radiated as sound.

  14. Full-field vibration measurements of the violin using digital stroboscopic holographic interferometry and electromagnetic stimulation of the strings

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Keersmaekers, Lissa; Keustermans, William, E-mail: william.keustermans@uantwerpen.be; De Greef, Daniël

    We developed a setup in which the strings of the violin are driven electromagnetically, and the resulting vibration of the instrument is measured with digital stroboscopic holography. A 250 mW single mode green laser beam is chopped using an acousto-optic modulator, generating illumination pulses of 2% of the vibration period. The phase of the illumination pulse is controlled by a programmable function generator so that digital holograms can be recorded on a number of subsequent time positions within the vibration phase. From these recordings, the out of plane motion as a function of time is reconstructed in full field. Wemore » show results of full-field vibration amplitude and vibration phase maps, and time resolved full-field deformations of the violin back plane. Time resolved measurements show in detail how the deformation of the violin plane changes as a function of time at different frequencies. We found very different behavior under acoustic stimulation of the instrument and when using electromagnetic stimulation of a string. The aim of the work it to gather data which can be used in power flow calculations to study how the energy of the strings is conducted to the body of the violin and eventually is radiated as sound.« less

  15. Load-cell based characterization system for a "Violin-Mode" shadow-sensor in advanced LIGO suspensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    2016-07-01

    The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which 40 kg test-mass/mirrors are each suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation and a rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which, together, were to bracket the fibre under test. The aim was to detect transverse Violin-Mode resonances in the suspension fibres. Part of the testing procedure involved tensioning a silica fibre sample and translating it transversely through the illuminating NIR beam, so as to measure the DC responsivity of the detection system to fibre displacement. However, an equally important part of the procedure, reported here, was to keep the fibre under test stationary within the beam, whilst trying to detect low-level AC Violin-Mode resonances excited on the fibre, in order to confirm the primary function of the sensor. Therefore, a tensioning system, incorporating a load-cell readout, was built into the test fibre's holder. The fibre then was excited by a signal generator, audio power amplifier, and distant loudspeaker, and clear resonances were detected. A theory for the expected fundamental resonant frequency as a function of fibre tension was developed and is reported here, and this theory was found to match closely with the detected resonant frequencies as they varied with tension. Consequently, the resonances seen were identified as being proper Violin-Mode fundamental resonances of the fibre, and the operation of the Violin-Mode detection system was validated.

  16. Load-cell based characterization system for a "Violin-Mode" shadow-sensor in advanced LIGO suspensions.

    PubMed

    Lockerbie, N A; Tokmakov, K V

    2016-07-01

    The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which 40 kg test-mass/mirrors are each suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation and a rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which, together, were to bracket the fibre under test. The aim was to detect transverse Violin-Mode resonances in the suspension fibres. Part of the testing procedure involved tensioning a silica fibre sample and translating it transversely through the illuminating NIR beam, so as to measure the DC responsivity of the detection system to fibre displacement. However, an equally important part of the procedure, reported here, was to keep the fibre under test stationary within the beam, whilst trying to detect low-level AC Violin-Mode resonances excited on the fibre, in order to confirm the primary function of the sensor. Therefore, a tensioning system, incorporating a load-cell readout, was built into the test fibre's holder. The fibre then was excited by a signal generator, audio power amplifier, and distant loudspeaker, and clear resonances were detected. A theory for the expected fundamental resonant frequency as a function of fibre tension was developed and is reported here, and this theory was found to match closely with the detected resonant frequencies as they varied with tension. Consequently, the resonances seen were identified as being proper Violin-Mode fundamental resonances of the fibre, and the operation of the Violin-Mode detection system was validated.

  17. Early diagnosis and Early Start Denver Model intervention in autism spectrum disorders delivered in an Italian Public Health System service.

    PubMed

    Devescovi, Raffaella; Monasta, Lorenzo; Mancini, Alice; Bin, Maura; Vellante, Valerio; Carrozzi, Marco; Colombi, Costanza

    2016-01-01

    Early diagnosis combined with an early intervention program, such as the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), can positively influence the early natural history of autism spectrum disorders. This study evaluated the effectiveness of an early ESDM-inspired intervention, in a small group of toddlers, delivered at low intensity by the Italian Public Health System. Twenty-one toddlers at risk for autism spectrum disorders, aged 20-36 months, received 3 hours/wk of one-to-one ESDM-inspired intervention by trained therapists, combined with parents' and teachers' active engagement in ecological implementation of treatment. The mean duration of treatment was 15 months. Cognitive and communication skills, as well as severity of autism symptoms, were assessed by using standardized measures at pre-intervention (Time 0 [T0]; mean age =27 months) and post-intervention (Time 1 [T1]; mean age =42 months). Children made statistically significant improvements in the language and cognitive domains, as demonstrated by a series of nonparametric Wilcoxon tests for paired data. Regarding severity of autism symptoms, younger age at diagnosis was positively associated with greater improvement at post-assessment. Our results are consistent with the literature that underlines the importance of early diagnosis and early intervention, since prompt diagnosis can reduce the severity of autism symptoms and improve cognitive and language skills in younger children. Particularly in toddlers, it seems that an intervention model based on the ESDM principles, involving the active engagement of parents and nursery school teachers, may be effective even when the individual treatment is delivered at low intensity. Furthermore, our study supports the adaptation and the positive impact of the ESDM entirely sustained by the Italian Public Health System.

  18. Strings on a Violin: Location Dependence of Frequency Tuning in Active Dendrites.

    PubMed

    Das, Anindita; Rathour, Rahul K; Narayanan, Rishikesh

    2017-01-01

    Strings on a violin are tuned to generate distinct sound frequencies in a manner that is firmly dependent on finger location along the fingerboard. Sound frequencies emerging from different violins could be very different based on their architecture, the nature of strings and their tuning. Analogously, active neuronal dendrites, dendrites endowed with active channel conductances, are tuned to distinct input frequencies in a manner that is dependent on the dendritic location of the synaptic inputs. Further, disparate channel expression profiles and differences in morphological characteristics could result in dendrites on different neurons of the same subtype tuned to distinct frequency ranges. Alternately, similar location-dependence along dendritic structures could be achieved through disparate combinations of channel profiles and morphological characteristics, leading to degeneracy in active dendritic spectral tuning. Akin to strings on a violin being tuned to different frequencies than those on a viola or a cello, different neuronal subtypes exhibit distinct channel profiles and disparate morphological characteristics endowing each neuronal subtype with unique location-dependent frequency selectivity. Finally, similar to the tunability of musical instruments to elicit distinct location-dependent sounds, neuronal frequency selectivity and its location-dependence are tunable through activity-dependent plasticity of ion channels and morphology. In this morceau, we explore the origins of neuronal frequency selectivity, and survey the literature on the mechanisms behind the emergence of location-dependence in distinct forms of frequency tuning. As a coda to this composition, we present some future directions for this exciting convergence of biophysical mechanisms that endow a neuron with frequency multiplexing capabilities.

  19. The acoustics of the violin: a review

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Woodhouse, Jim

    2014-11-01

    To understand the design and function of the violin requires investigation of a range of scientific questions. This paper presents a review: the relevant physics covers the nonlinear vibration of a bowed string, the vibration of the instrument body, and the consequent sound radiation. Questions of discrimination and preference by listeners and players require additional studies using the techniques of experimental psychology, and these are also touched on in the paper. To address the concerns of players and makers of instruments requires study of the interaction of all these factors, coming together in the concept of ‘playability’ of an instrument.

  20. Learning to play the violin: motor control by freezing, not freeing degrees of freedom.

    PubMed

    Konczak, Jürgen; Vander Velden, Heidi; Jaeger, Lukas

    2009-05-01

    Playing a violin requires precise patterns of limb coordination that are acquired over years of practice. In the present study, the authors investigated how motion at proximal arm joints influenced the precision of bow movements in novice learners and experts. The authors evaluated the performances of 11 children (4-12 years old), 3 beginning-to-advanced level adult players, and 2 adult concert violinists, using a musical work that all had mastered as their first violin piece. The authors found that learning to play the violin was not associated with a release or freeing of joint degrees of freedom. Instead, learning was characterized by an experience-dependent suppression of sagittal shoulder motion, as documented by an observed reduction in joint angular amplitude. This reduction in the amplitude of shoulder flexion-extension correlated highly with a decrease of bow-movement variability. The remaining mechanical degrees of freedom at the elbow and shoulder showed patterns of neither suppression nor freeing. Only violinists with more than 700 practice hr achieved sagittal shoulder range of motion comparable to experts. The findings imply that restricting joint amplitude at selected joint degrees of freedom, while leaving other degrees of freedom unconstrained, constitutes an appropriate strategy for learning complex, high-precision motor patterns in children and adults. The findings also highlight that mastering even seemingly simple bowing movements constitutes a prolonged learning process.

  1. On the Relationship between Technique and Style: The Case of the Violin

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johansson, Mats

    2015-01-01

    This article examines the formative interaction between instrumental technique and musical style by analysing different approaches to the violin/fiddle. It is argued that technique is constitutive of style and that musical concepts are intimately related to the accumulated experience of sensations associated with handling the instrument in a…

  2. Effects of Articulation Styles on Perception of Modulated Tempos in Violin Excerpts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geringer, John M.; Madsen, Clifford K.; Macleod, Rebecca B.

    2007-01-01

    We investigated effects of legato, staccato and pizzicato articulation styles on the perception of modulated tempos. Seventy-two music majors served as participants. Two solo violin excerpts were chosen with contrasting rhythmic rates and were recorded in all three articulation styles. Examples were presented to listeners in three conditions of…

  3. A longitudinal study of lexical and grammar development in deaf Italian children provided with early cochlear implantation.

    PubMed

    Chilosi, Anna Maria; Comparini, Alessandro; Scusa, Maria Flora; Orazini, Laura; Forli, Francesca; Cipriani, Paola; Berrettini, Stefano

    2013-01-01

    A growing number of studies on deaf children with cochlear implant (CI) document a significant improvement in receptive and expressive language skills after implantation, even if they show language delay when compared with normal-hearing peers. Data on language acquisition in CI Italian children are still scarce and limited to only certain aspects of language. The purpose of this study is to prospectively describe the trajectories of language development in early CI Italian children, with particular attention to the transition from first words to combinatorial speech and to acquisition of complex grammar in a language with rich morphology, such as Italian. Six children, with profound prelingual deafness, provided with CI, between 16 and 24 months of age were prospectively assessed and followed over a mean period of up to 34.8 months postimplant. During follow-up, each child received between four to five individual language evaluations through a combination of indirect procedures (parent reports of early lexical and grammar development) and direct ones (administration of standardized receptive and expressive language tests with Italian norms and collection of spontaneous language samples). In relation to chronological age, the acquisition of expressive vocabulary was delayed. However, considering the duration of hearing experience, most CI participants showed an earlier start and faster growth of expressive rather than receptive vocabulary in comparison with typically developing children. This quite atypical result persisted right up until the end of the follow-up. The acquisition of expressive grammar was delayed relative to chronological age, though all but one CI participant achieved the expected grammar level after approximately 3 years of CI use. In addition, the rate of grammar acquisition was not homogeneous during development, showing two different paces: one comparable with normal hearing in the transition from holophrastic to primitive combinatorial speech

  4. Load-cell based characterization system for a “Violin-Mode” shadow-sensor in advanced LIGO suspensions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which 40 kg test-mass/mirrors are each suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation and a rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which, together, were to bracket the fibre under test. The aim was to detect transverse Violin-Mode resonances in the suspension fibres. Part of the testing procedure involved tensioning a silica fibre sample and translating itmore » transversely through the illuminating NIR beam, so as to measure the DC responsivity of the detection system to fibre displacement. However, an equally important part of the procedure, reported here, was to keep the fibre under test stationary within the beam, whilst trying to detect low-level AC Violin-Mode resonances excited on the fibre, in order to confirm the primary function of the sensor. Therefore, a tensioning system, incorporating a load-cell readout, was built into the test fibre’s holder. The fibre then was excited by a signal generator, audio power amplifier, and distant loudspeaker, and clear resonances were detected. A theory for the expected fundamental resonant frequency as a function of fibre tension was developed and is reported here, and this theory was found to match closely with the detected resonant frequencies as they varied with tension. Consequently, the resonances seen were identified as being proper Violin-Mode fundamental resonances of the fibre, and the operation of the Violin-Mode detection system was validated.« less

  5. Constructing a "Fast Protocol" for Middle School Beginner Violin Classes in Japan

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Akutsu, Taichi

    2018-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the process of constructing a "fast-protocol" for violin instruction. Since learning string instruments has not been common, and because there are limited hours for music in Japanese schools, the author, a violinist, collaborated with the general music teacher at a middle school in the Tokyo metropolitan…

  6. Development of a Computer-Based Visualised Quantitative Learning System for Playing Violin Vibrato

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ho, Tracy Kwei-Liang; Lin, Huann-shyang; Chen, Ching-Kong; Tsai, Jih-Long

    2015-01-01

    Traditional methods of teaching music are largely subjective, with the lack of objectivity being particularly challenging for violin students learning vibrato because of the existence of conflicting theories. By using a computer-based analysis method, this study found that maintaining temporal coincidence between the intensity peak and the target…

  7. Unraveling mysteries of personal performance style; biomechanics of left-hand position changes (shifting) in violin performance

    PubMed Central

    Visentin, Peter; Li, Shiming; Tardif, Guillaume

    2015-01-01

    Instrumental music performance ranks among the most complex of learned human behaviors, requiring development of highly nuanced powers of sensory and neural discrimination, intricate motor skills, and adaptive abilities in a temporal activity. Teaching, learning and performing on the violin generally occur within musico-cultural parameters most often transmitted through aural traditions that include both verbal instruction and performance modeling. In most parts of the world, violin is taught in a manner virtually indistinguishable from that used 200 years ago. The current study uses methods from movement science to examine the “how” and “what” of left-hand position changes (shifting), a movement skill essential during violin performance. In doing so, it begins a discussion of artistic individualization in terms of anthropometry, the performer-instrument interface, and the strategic use of motor behaviors. Results based on 540 shifting samples, a case series of 6 professional-level violinists, showed that some elements of the skill were individualized in surprising ways while others were explainable by anthropometry, ergonomics and entrainment. Remarkably, results demonstrated each violinist to have developed an individualized pacing for shifts, a feature that should influence timing effects and prove foundational to aesthetic outcomes during performance. Such results underpin the potential for scientific methodologies to unravel mysteries of performance that are associated with a performer’s personal artistic style. PMID:26557431

  8. Unraveling mysteries of personal performance style; biomechanics of left-hand position changes (shifting) in violin performance.

    PubMed

    Visentin, Peter; Li, Shiming; Tardif, Guillaume; Shan, Gongbing

    2015-01-01

    Instrumental music performance ranks among the most complex of learned human behaviors, requiring development of highly nuanced powers of sensory and neural discrimination, intricate motor skills, and adaptive abilities in a temporal activity. Teaching, learning and performing on the violin generally occur within musico-cultural parameters most often transmitted through aural traditions that include both verbal instruction and performance modeling. In most parts of the world, violin is taught in a manner virtually indistinguishable from that used 200 years ago. The current study uses methods from movement science to examine the "how" and "what" of left-hand position changes (shifting), a movement skill essential during violin performance. In doing so, it begins a discussion of artistic individualization in terms of anthropometry, the performer-instrument interface, and the strategic use of motor behaviors. Results based on 540 shifting samples, a case series of 6 professional-level violinists, showed that some elements of the skill were individualized in surprising ways while others were explainable by anthropometry, ergonomics and entrainment. Remarkably, results demonstrated each violinist to have developed an individualized pacing for shifts, a feature that should influence timing effects and prove foundational to aesthetic outcomes during performance. Such results underpin the potential for scientific methodologies to unravel mysteries of performance that are associated with a performer's personal artistic style.

  9. Parental Involvement in the Musical Education of Violin Students: Suzuki and "Traditional" Approaches Compared

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bugeja, Clare

    2009-01-01

    This article investigates parental involvement in the musical education of violin students and the changing role of the parents' across the learning process. Two contexts were compared, one emphasising the Suzuki methodology and the other a "traditional" approach. Students learning "traditionally" are typically taught note reading from the…

  10. [Deep venous thrombosis of the upper limb in a violin player: The "bow syndrome"].

    PubMed

    Sanson, H; Gautier, V; Stansal, A; Sfeir, D; Franceschi, C; Priollet, P

    2016-12-01

    Exercise-induced thrombosis is a rare cause of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the upper limb and usually affects young subjects without comorbid conditions. The diagnosis may be challenging. A 23-year-old female right-handed French teacher and amateur violin player presented with edema of the root of the right arm associated with erythrocyanosis of the extremity and collateral circulation of the shoulder. History taking revealed oral contraception and recent change in violin playing habits. D-dimers were negative. A second duplex-Doppler was required before visualization of a DVT in the right subclavian vein. The patient was given low-molecular-weight heparin alone, followed by rivaroxaban. The outcome was very favorable at 48h. The patient was seen at 4 months and had not had a recurrent episode. The diagnosis of DVT of the upper limb is basically clinical. There is a clinical probability score for the introduction of anticoagulation even if the duplex-Doppler fails to visualize DVT, a situation that can occur due to the clavicular superposition in this region. Exercise-induced DVT should be suspected in patients with minimally intense but repeated exercise (hyper-abduction), e.g. as here playing the violin. Anticoagulation is the treatment of choice. The role for surgery and pharmacomechanical strategies remains to be defined. Exercise-induced thrombosis (Paget-Schroetter syndrome) should be suspected in young patients free of any comorbidity who develop a thrombosis of the upper limb. Studies comparing different therapeutic options would be useful to achieve more homogeneous management practices despite the heterogeneous clinical presentations. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

  11. Italian news coverage of radiation in the early decades of the twentieth century: A qualitative and quantitative analysis.

    PubMed

    Candela, Andrea; Pasquarè Mariotto, Federico

    2016-02-01

    This work uses a qualitative approach coupled with a quantitative software-based methodology to examine the Italian news media coverage of radiation in the early decades of the twentieth century. We analyze 80 news stories from two of the most influential Italian newspapers from that time: La Stampa (a daily newspaper) and La Domenica del Corriere (an Italian Sunday supplement). While much of previous research on media coverage of scientific topics was generally focused on present-day news, our work revolves around the ground-breaking discovery of X-rays and radioactivity at the dawn of the last century. Our analysis aims to identify journalistic frames in the news coverage of radiation that journalists might have used to emphasize the benefits (or the risks) of the new discoveries. We also hypothesize how this kind of news coverage might have influenced public perception of technological, commercial, and public health applications of the new scientific advancements. © The Author(s) 2014.

  12. Experimental Demonstration on Air Cavity Mode of Violin Using Holed Sheets of Paper

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Matsutani, Akihiro

    2018-01-01

    The fundamental air cavity mode (A0) of a violin was investigated from the viewpoint of its dependence on the opening area and shape by using holed sheets of paper. The dependences of the frequency response of the A0 cavity mode on the shape, opening area, and orientation of the openings were observed. It was also demonstrated that the change of…

  13. Connecting science and the musical arts in teaching tone quality: Integrating Helmholtz motion and master violin teachers' pedagogies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collins, Cheri D.

    Is it possible for students to achieve better tone quality from even their factory-made violins? All violins, regardless of cost, have a common capacity for good tone in certain frequencies. These signature modes outline the first position range of a violin (196-600 hertz). To activate this basic capacity of all violins, the string must fully vibrate. To accomplish this the bow must be pulled across the string with enough pressure (relative to its speed and contact point) for the horsehairs to catch. This friction permits the string to vibrate in Helmholtz Motion, which produces a corner that travels along the edge of the string between the bridge and the nut. Creating this corner is the most fundamental technique for achieving good tone. The findings of celebrated scientists Ernest Chladni, Hermann von Helmholtz, and John Schelleng will be discussed and the tone-production pedagogy of master teachers Carl Flesch, Ivan Galamian, Robert Gerle, and Simon Fischer will be investigated. Important connections between the insights of these scientists and master teachers are evident. Integrating science and art can provide teachers with a better understanding of the characteristics of good tone. This can help their students achieve the best possible sound from their instruments. In the private studio the master teacher may not use the words "Helmholtz Motion." Yet through modeling and listening students are able to understand and create a quality tone. Music teachers without experience in string performance may be assigned to teach strings in classroom and ensembles settings. As a result modeling good tone is not always possible. However, all teachers and conductors can understand the fundamental behavior of string vibration and adapt their instruction strategies towards student success. Better tonal quality for any string instrument is ultimately achieved. Mastery and use of the Helmholtz Motion benefits teachers and students alike. Simple practice exercises for teaching

  14. Cognitive Levels Regarding Articulation Marks among Violin Students in Department of Music Education in Gazi University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taninmis, Gamze Elif

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to determine violin students' cognitive levels about articulation marks in Department of Music Education, Fine Arts Education, Gazi Faculty of Education, Gazi University (GUGEF), and to identify the variables on which the cognitive levels vary. It is a descriptive research considering the study purpose, method and…

  15. An Exploratory Survey of Digital Libraries on the World Wide Web: Art and Literature of the Early Italian Renaissance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McKibben, Suzanne J.

    This study assessed the ongoing development of digital libraries (DLs) on the World Wide Web. DLs of art and literature were surveyed for selected works from the early Italian Renaissance in order to gain insight into the current trends prevalent throughout the larger population of DLs. The following artists and authors were selected for study:…

  16. Early Treatment in HCV: Is it a Cost-Utility Option from the Italian Perspective?

    PubMed

    Marcellusi, Andrea; Viti, Raffaella; Damele, Francesco; Cammà, Calogero; Taliani, Gloria; Mennini, Francesco Saverio

    2016-08-01

    In Italy, the Italian Pharmaceutical Agency (AIFA) criteria used F3-F4 fibrosis stages as the threshold to prioritise the treatment with interferon (IFN)-free regimens, while in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C (G1 CHC) patients with fibrosis of liver stage 2, an approach with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-based triple therapy with simeprevir was suggested. The key clinical question is whether, in an era of financial constraints, the application of a universal IFN-free strategy in naïve G1 CHC patients is feasible within a short time horizon. The aim of this study is to perform an economic analysis to estimate the cost-utility of the early innovative therapy in Italy for managing hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients. The incremental cost-utility analysis was carried out to quantify the benefits of the early treatment approach in HCV subjects. A Markov simulation model including direct and indirect costs and health outcomes was developed from an Italian National Healthcare Service and societal perspective. A total of 5000 Monte Carlo simulations were performed on two distinct scenarios: standard of care (SoC) which includes 14,000 genotype 1 patients in Italy treated with innovative interferon-free regimens in the fibrosis of liver stages 3 and 4 (F3-F4) versus early-treatment scenario (ETS) where 2000 patients were additionally treated with simeprevir plus PEG-IFN and ribavirin in the fibrosis stage 2 (F2) (based on Italian Medicines Agency AIFA reimbursement criteria). A systematic literature review was carried out to identify epidemiological and economic data, which were subsequently used to inform the model. Furthermore, a one-way probabilistic sensitivity was performed to measure the relationship between the main parameters of the model and the cost-utility results. The model shows that, in terms of incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) per quality adjusted life year (QALY) gained, ETS appeared to be the most cost-utility option compared with both

  17. An AC modulated near infrared gain calibration system for a "Violin-Mode" transimpedance amplifier, intended for advanced LIGO suspensions.

    PubMed

    Lockerbie, N A; Tokmakov, K V

    2016-07-01

    The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which a 40 kg test-mass/mirror is suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation, and a "tall-thin" rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which together were to bracket the fibre under test. The photodiode was positioned so as to be sensitive (primarily) to transverse "Violin-Mode" vibrations of such a fibre, via the oscillatory movement of the shadow cast by the fibre, as this moved across the face of the detector. In this prototype shadow sensing system the photodiode was interfaced to a purpose-built transimpedance amplifier, this having both AC and DC outputs. A quasi-static calibration was made of the sensor's DC responsivity, i.e., incremental rate of change of output voltage versus fibre position, by slowly scanning a fused-silica fibre sample transversely through the illuminating beam. The work reported here concerns the determination of the sensor's more important AC (Violin-Mode) responsivity. Recognition of the correspondence between direct AC modulation of the source, and actual Violin-Mode signals, and of the transformative role of the AC/DC gain ratio for the amplifier, at any modulation frequency, f, resulted in the construction of the AC/DC calibration source described here. A method for determining in practice the transimpedance AC/DC gain ratio of the photodiode and amplifier, using this source, is illustrated by a specific numerical example, and the gain ratio for the prototype sensing system is reported over the frequency range 1 Hz-300 kHz. In fact, a maximum DC responsivity of 1.26 kV.m(-1) was measured using the prototype photodiode sensor and amplifier discussed here. Therefore, the measured AC/DC transimpedance gain

  18. Klopsteg Memorial Lecture (August, 1992): What science knows about violins-and what it does not know

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weinreich, Gabriel

    1993-12-01

    This is the edited text of the Klopsteg Lecture delivered to the Summer Meeting of the AAPT on August 13, 1992. It sketches the current state of knowledge about the violin—at least as seen by the author—in two parts, Physics of the Bowed String and The Violin as a Radiator of Sound, punctuated by a number of ``meditations'' about the nature of scientific knowledge.

  19. An AC modulated near infrared gain calibration system for a “Violin-Mode” transimpedance amplifier, intended for advanced LIGO suspensions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    The background to this work was a prototype shadow sensor, which was designed for retro-fitting to an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory) test-mass/mirror suspension, in which a 40 kg test-mass/mirror is suspended by four approximately 600 mm long by 0.4 mm diameter fused-silica suspension fibres. The shadow sensor comprised a LED source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation, and a “tall-thin” rectangular silicon photodiode detector, which together were to bracket the fibre under test. The photodiode was positioned so as to be sensitive (primarily) to transverse “Violin-Mode” vibrations of such a fibre, via the oscillatory movement of the shadowmore » cast by the fibre, as this moved across the face of the detector. In this prototype shadow sensing system the photodiode was interfaced to a purpose-built transimpedance amplifier, this having both AC and DC outputs. A quasi-static calibration was made of the sensor’s DC responsivity, i.e., incremental rate of change of output voltage versus fibre position, by slowly scanning a fused-silica fibre sample transversely through the illuminating beam. The work reported here concerns the determination of the sensor’s more important AC (Violin-Mode) responsivity. Recognition of the correspondence between direct AC modulation of the source, and actual Violin-Mode signals, and of the transformative role of the AC/DC gain ratio for the amplifier, at any modulation frequency, f, resulted in the construction of the AC/DC calibration source described here. A method for determining in practice the transimpedance AC/DC gain ratio of the photodiode and amplifier, using this source, is illustrated by a specific numerical example, and the gain ratio for the prototype sensing system is reported over the frequency range 1 Hz–300 kHz. In fact, a maximum DC responsivity of 1.26 kV.m{sup −1} was measured using the prototype photodiode sensor and amplifier discussed here. Therefore, the measured

  20. Spatial distribution of surface EMG on trapezius and lumbar muscles of violin and cello players in single note playing.

    PubMed

    Afsharipour, Babak; Petracca, Francesco; Gasparini, Mauro; Merletti, Roberto

    2016-12-01

    Musicians activate their muscles in different patterns, depending on their posture, the instrument being played, and their experience level. Bipolar surface electrodes have been used in the past to monitor such activity, but this method is highly sensitive to the location of the electrode pair. In this work, the spatial distribution of surface EMG (sEMG) of the right trapezius and right and left erector spinae muscles were studied in 16 violin players and 11 cello players. Musicians played their instrument one string at a time in sitting position with/without backrest support. A 64 sEMG electrode (16×4) grid, 10mm inter-electrode distance (IED), was placed over the middle and lower trapezius (MT and LT) of the bowing arm. Two 16×2 electrode grids (IED=10mm) were placed on the left and right erector spinae muscles. Subjects played each of the four strings of the instrument either in large (1bow/s) or detaché tip/tail (8bows/s) bowing in two sessions (two days). In each of two days, measurements were repeated after half an hour of exercise to see the effect of exercise on the muscle activity and signal stability. A "muscle activity index" (MAI) was defined as the spatial average of the segmented active region of the RMS map. Spatial maps were automatically segmented using the watershed algorithm and thresholding. Results showed that, for violin players, sliding the bow upward from the tip toward the tail results in a higher MAI for the trapezius muscle than a downward bow. On the contrary, in cello players, higher MAI is produced in the tail to tip movement. For both instruments, an increasing MAI in the trapezius was observed as the string position became increasingly lateral, from string 1 (most medial) toward string 4 (most lateral). Half an hour of performance did not cause significant differences between the signal quality and the MAI values measured before and after the exercise. The MAI of the left and right erector spinae was smaller in the case of

  1. First-time mothers' experiences of early labour in Italian maternity care services.

    PubMed

    Cappelletti, Giulia; Nespoli, Antonella; Fumagalli, Simona; Borrelli, Sara E

    2016-03-01

    The aim of this study is to explore first-time mothers' experiences of early labour in Italian maternity care services when admitted to hospital or advised to return home after maternity triage assessment. The study was conducted in a second-level maternity hospital in northern Italy with an obstetric unit for both low- and high-risk women. The participants included 15 first-time mothers in good general health with spontaneous labour at term of a low-risk pregnancy who accessed maternity triage during early labour, and were either admitted to hospital or advised to return home. A qualitative interpretive phenomenological study was conducted. A face-to-face recorded semi-structured interview was conducted with each participant 48-72h after birth. Four key themes emerged from the interviews: (a) recognising signs of early labour; (b) coping with pain at home; (c) seeking reassurance from healthcare professionals; and (d) being admitted to hospital versus returning home. Uncertainty about the progression of labour and the need for reassurance were cited by women as the main reasons for hospital visit in early labour. An ambivalent feeling was reported by the participants when admitted to hospital in early labour. In fact, while the women felt reassured in the first instance, some women subsequently felt dissatisfied due to the absence of one-to-one dedicated care during early labour. When advised to return home, a number of women reported feelings of disappointment, anger, fear, discouragement and anxiety about not being admitted to hospital; however, some of these women reported a subsequent feeling of comfort due to being at home and putting in place the suggestions made by the midwives during the maternity triage assessment. The guidance provided by midwives during triage assessment seemed to be the key factor influencing women׳s satisfaction when advised either to return home or to stay at the hospital during early labour. During antenatal classes and clinics

  2. "The Italianate Englishman": The Italian Influence in Elizabethan Literature

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fox, Maureen

    2011-01-01

    Whether it was thought of positively or negatively, Italy is a popular topic of discussion in Elizabethan literature. Some Elizabethan writers mimic Italian writers and incorporate Italian ideas into their own works, while other writers alter Italian literary conventions and openly attack Italian morals. This range of positive and negative…

  3. The border effect in surname structure: an Italian-Slovenian case study.

    PubMed

    Lucchetti, Enzo; Tasso, Miro; Amoruso, Irene; Caravello, Gianumberto

    2011-06-01

    Population surname structure in northeastern Italy municipalities, in which small Slovenian-speaking groups are present, are compared with neighboring populations of both Italian and Slovenian nationality. In the early 20th century those municipalities were part of the Italian territory and underwent a massive Italianization process that led to the mutation of the original Slovenian surnames into a derived Italian form. In order to track surname relationships among the examined communities, two different similarity analyses were performed: the first using the surnames as they are recorded in the Italian and Slovenian official telephone directories, and the second restoring the Italianized Slovenian surnames to their original form and then recalculating the populations' similarity. Both comparisons evidence a separation that depends on nationality, which is less marked after restoring surnames to their original form. Geographical elements, older historical events, and socioeconomic traits allow interpretation of these results.

  4. "The people I grew up with": the role of sociodemographic factors in early memories in an Italian sample.

    PubMed

    Artioli, Federica; Cicogna, Pera Carla; Occhionero, Miranda; Reese, Elaine

    2012-01-01

    This within-culture study aimed to investigate the age and density of earliest memories in a sample of Italian young adults. The framework of this study is sociocultural, with an emphasis on family reminiscing as contributing to early memories. In this regard Italy is of interest due to the fact that it is a Western but familial oriented culture, where multi-generational family ties are still strong in comparison with other European counterparts, providing for the opportunity to investigate the offset of childhood amnesia as a function of growing up in an extended family structure. Consistent with Mullen (1994), 90 undergraduate students were interviewed about their earliest memory and about sociodemographic factors in their early childhood years: household composition, gender, birth order, presence of family moves, and significant early childhood experiences. Participants who grew up in an extended family situation reported earlier and denser memories in comparison with those from nuclear families. Results are discussed in light of other cross-cultural work on childhood amnesia and with respect to sociocultural theories of the importance of family reminiscing for one's early memories.

  5. Discrimination against and Adaptation of Italians in the Coal Counties of Oklahoma

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    LoConto, David G.

    2004-01-01

    In the late 1800s and early 1900s coal reigned supreme in what is now southeastern Oklahoma. As was the case in the northeastern United States, Italians and other immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were brought in as a form of inexpensive labor to work the mines. Italians had different customs, a different language, a unique appearance,…

  6. Position paper of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology on early palliative care in oncology practice (Simultaneous Care).

    PubMed

    Zagonel, Vittorina; Franciosi, Vittorio; Brunello, Antonella; Biasco, Guido; Broglia, Chiara; Cattaneo, Daniela; Cavanna, Luigi; Corsi, Domenico; Farina, Gabriella; Fioretto, Luisa; Gamucci, Teresa; Lanzetta, Gaetano; Magarotto, Roberto; Maltoni, Marco; Marchetti, Paolo; Massa, Elena; Mastromauro, Cataldo; Melotti, Barbara; Meriggi, Fausto; Nacci, Angelo; Pavese, Ida; Piva, Erico; Quirino, Michela; Roselli, Mario; Sacco, Cosimo; Tonini, Giuseppe; Trentin, Leonardo; Ucci, Giovanni; Labianca, Roberto; Gori, Stefania; Pinto, Carmine; Cascinu, Stefano

    2017-01-21

    One of the priorities of personalized medicine regards the role of early integration of palliative care with cancer-directed treatments, called simultaneous care. This article, written by the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) Simultaneous and Continuous Care Task Force, represents the position of Italian medical oncologists about simultaneous care, and is the result of a 2-step project: a Web-based survey among medical oncologists and a consensus conference. We present the opinion of more than 600 oncologists who helped formulate these recommendations. This document covers 4 main aspects of simultaneous care: 1) ethical, cultural, and relational aspects of cancer and implications for patient communication; 2) training of medical oncologists in palliative medicine; 3) research on the integration between cancer treatments and palliative care; and 4) organizational and management models for the realization of simultaneous care. The resulting recommendations highlight the role of skills and competence in palliative care along with implementation of adequate organizational models to accomplish simultaneous care, which is considered a high priority of AIOM in order to grant the best quality of life for cancer patients and their families.

  7. Validation of the "early detection Primary Care Checklist" in an Italian community help-seeking sample: The "checklist per la Valutazione dell'Esordio Psicotico".

    PubMed

    Pelizza, Lorenzo; Raballo, Andrea; Semrov, Enrico; Chiri, Luigi Rocco; Azzali, Silvia; Scazza, Ilaria; Garlassi, Sara; Paterlini, Federica; Fontana, Francesca; Favazzo, Rosanna; Pensieri, Luana; Fabiani, Michela; Cioncolini, Leonardo; Pupo, Simona

    2017-07-26

    To establish the concordant validity of the "Checklist per la Valutazione dell'Esordio Psicotico" (CVEP) in an Italian help-seeking population. The CVEP is the Italian adaptation of the "early detection Primary Care Checklist," a 20-item tool specifically designed to assist primary care practitioners in identifying young people in the early stages of psychosis. The checklist was completed by the referring practitioners of 168 young people referred to the "Reggio Emilia At Risk Mental States" Project, an early detection infrastructure developed under the aegis of the Regional Project on Early Detection of Psychosis in the Reggio Emilia Department of Mental Health. The concordant validity of the CVEP was established by comparing screen results with the outcome of the "Comprehensive Assessment of At Risk Mental States" (CAARMS), a gold standard assessment for identifying young people who may be at risk of developing psychosis. The simple checklist as originally conceived had excellent sensitivity (98%), but lower specificity (58%). Using only a CVEP total score of 20 or above as cut-off, the tool showed a slightly lower sensitivity (93%) with a substantial improvement in specificity (87%). Simple cross-tabulations of the individual CVEP item scores against CAARMS outcome to identify the more discriminant item in terms of sensitivity and specificity were carried out. In comparison to other, much longer, screening tools, the CVEP performed well to identify young people in the early stages of psychosis. Therefore, the CVEP is well suited to optimize appropriate referrals to specialist services, building on the skills and knowledge already available in primary care settings. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

  8. Non-Standard Italian Dialect Heritage Speakers' Acquisition of Clitic Placement in Standard Italian

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chan, Lionel

    2014-01-01

    This dissertation examines the acquisition of object clitic placement in Standard Italian by heritage speakers (HSs) of non-standard Italian dialects. It compares two different groups of Standard Italian learners--Northern Italian dialect HSs and Southern Italian dialect HSs--whose heritage dialects contrast with each other in clitic word order.…

  9. Italian contributions to Turkish paediatrics during the Ottoman Empire.

    PubMed

    Yurdakok, Murat; Cataldi, Luigi

    2013-01-01

    The Ottoman Empire maintained close relations with the neighbouring Italian city states in the 16th and 17th century. Yacub Pasha (1425-1481), personal physician of Mehmed II the Conqueror, was an Italian Jew who advanced to the title of pasha and vizier. Domenico Hierosolimitano (ca. 1552-1622), the third physician to Sultan Murad III, was a Jerusalemite rabbi. His book is an important source about everyday life and medical practice in Istanbul at the time. Nuh bin Abd al-Mennab (1627-1707), also of Italian stock, was the Chief Physician of the Ottoman Empire, who translated a pharmacopoeia into Turkish. In the same century, two Italians, Israel Conegliano (Conian) and Tobia Cohen became private physicians to leading Ottoman pashas and the Grand Vizier. A. Vuccino (1829-1893) and Antoine Calleja Pasha (1806-1893) taught at the Istanbul Medical School. Italy was a favoured country for medical education during the early period of Ottoman westernisation. Sanizade Mehmet Ataullah Efendi (1771-1826) translated the first medical book printed in the Ottoman Empire from Italian into Turkish. Mustafa Behcet Efendi (1774-1833), chief physician to the Sultan and the founder of the first western medical school in Turkey, translated several medical books from Italian into Turkish. The first printed pharmacopeia in the Ottoman Empire was also originally Italian In the 19th century, Edouard Ottoni and his son Giuseppe Ottoni were well-known military pharmacists, both under the name of Faik Pasha. Probably the most influential physician of Italian origin was Giovanni Battista Violi (1849-1928), who had practiced paediatrics in Turkey for more than fifty years. Violi was the founder of the first children's hospital, the first vaccine institute, and the first paediatric journal in the Ottoman Empire.

  10. A Study on the Factors That Have Contributed to Italian Americans' Success in Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galli Tognota, Vittoria

    2017-01-01

    PROBLEM: Italian-Americans belong to one of the cultural groups that have suffered discrimination throughout the decades since their or their families' immigration to the United States. As early the first half of the twentieth century, Italian-Americans had already suffered discrimination, alienation, and exclusion. Such factors became obstacles…

  11. Exploring American and Italian consumer preferences for Californian and Italian red wines.

    PubMed

    Torri, Luisa; Noble, Ann Curtis; Heymann, Hildegarde

    2013-06-01

    To increase the market share of Californian wines in other countries, wine preferences need to be explored in potential markets. This work studied the preferences of American and Italian consumers for red wines produced in California and Italy, focusing on wines made from the same varieties in each location. Descriptive analysis and consumer preference tests were performed. Americans scored each of the Californian wines significantly higher in preference than the Italian wines. In contrast, the Italian consumer preference scores for many Italian and Californian wines overlapped. By external preference mapping of the American consumer segments, the ideal flavour of one cluster was closest to the Californian Zinfandel, Merlot and Syrah, which had the 'most balanced' flavour profiles. Another cluster of Italians also preferred the Californian wines. In addition, one Italian cluster was driven by a dislike of the leather, band-aid and medicinal aromas of the Italian Merlot and Refosco. The results provided information that can contribute to wine marketing research necessary for successfully exporting Californian red wines to Italy and vice versa. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

  12. Oral Tradition of Italian-Americans.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Birnbaum, Lucia Chiavola

    The assimilation of Italians into American culture led to the loss of the Italian language, and an oral tradition of Italian peasants in which Italian feminist philosophy was grounded. The legends, parables, and proverbs told by these Italian women challenged the teachings of Catholicism, perpetuating an underground religious tradition which…

  13. Immigration policy and birth weight: Positive externalities in Italian law.

    PubMed

    Salmasi, Luca; Pieroni, Luca

    2015-09-01

    A decade ago, the political party of the Italian center-right voted a law restricting immigration. The law became effective in early 2005, when the Italian parliament approved the decree for its application, but one of its articles, granting amnesty for illegal immigrant workers, became immediately effective in July 2002. As a result, 650,000 immigrants were granted the status of foreign nationals in Italy. In this paper, we examine whether the increase in the prevalence of "regular immigrants" has led to an improvement in health outcomes of babies born to migrant women, measured in terms of birth weight. Two hitherto unexploited birth sample surveys published by Italian Institute of Statistics were used for this study. Our estimates show that regularized immigration reduced the probability of low birth weight. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Early-Middle Pleistocene environmental changes and human evolution in the Italian peninsula

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manzi, Giorgio; Magri, Donatella; Palombo, Maria Rita

    2011-06-01

    This paper is aimed to elucidate the ecological scenario in Italy in the Early to Middle Pleistocene, when species of the genus Homo are known to spread across Europe in two distinct waves: earlier than 1.2 Ma and at about 600 ka, respectively. This topic represents both (1) a fundamental aspect for a better understanding of the factors that allowed humans to colonize the middle latitudes of Eurasia, and (2) a reasonable frontier for current Quaternary palaeobiology, thanks to increasing knowledge of regional and local patterns. As for Italy, a combination of palaeobotanical and palaeontological data sets shows on the one hand a general complexity in both space and time, and on the other hand changes of considerable importance within and among the biological communities. These changes had a major importance during the worldwide change in the Earth climatic system known as "Middle Pleistocene Revolution", which according to our data culminates with crucial effects of the extreme conditions of MIS 16. Subsequently, during great part of the Middle Pleistocene, the peculiar features of the Italian territory may have favoured isolation and a local persistence of plant populations and possibly mammal taxa, humans included, as for instance suggested by the corrected chronology of the Ceprano calvarium.

  15. [The early semiautomatic defibrillation: legislative Italian framing and medical-legal aspects].

    PubMed

    Fontana, Alessandro; Zancaner, Silvano

    2004-10-01

    Following Anglosaxon experience, automatic external defibrillators (AEDs), devices capable of automatically identifying a defibrillating rhythm and triggering a life-saving discharge, are now becoming widespread in Italy too. Their extremely simple functioning, and diagnostic sensitivity combined with diagnostic specificity all mean that AEDs can even be used by non-medical personnel (nurses) and, more extensively and after proper training, also by "first responders" who are not necessarily healthcare-related (red cross volunteers, members of the police force, firemen, etc.). In this sense Italian law no. 120/2001, enacted in the interests of the collectivity, and its later provisions approved at the conference of the Italian state and regional authorities in 2003, admits this type of application. AED safety assurance means that these devices can also be used by ordinary people who are not trained and have no specific obligations, but who suddenly find themselves in an emergency situation. However, medical personnel, paramedics and non-healthcare-related "first responders" trained in the use of AEDs, are required to apply them in suitable circumstances and, if they do not, may be accused of refusal to act in an official capacity, omission of first aid, and manslaughter.

  16. Italian: Area Background Information.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Defense Language Inst., Washington, DC.

    This booklet has been assembled in order to provide students of Italian with a compact source of cultural information on their target area. Chapters include discussion of: (1) introduction to Italian; (2) origins of the Italian population; (3) geography; (4) history including the Roman Era, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the "Risorgimento," and…

  17. Three dimensional motion capture applied to violin playing: A study on feasibility and characterization of the motor strategy.

    PubMed

    Ancillao, Andrea; Savastano, Bernardo; Galli, Manuela; Albertini, Giorgio

    2017-10-01

    Playing string instruments requires advanced motor skills and a long training that is often spent in uncomfortable postures that may lead to injuries or musculoskeletal disorders. Thus, it is interesting to objectively characterize the motor strategy adopted by the players. In this work, we implemented a method for the quantitative analysis of the motor performance of a violin player. The proposed protocol takes advantage of an optoelectronic system and some infra-red reflecting markers in order to track player's motion. The method was tested on a professional violin player performing a legato bowing task. The biomechanical strategy of the upper limb and bow positioning were described by means of quantitative parameters and motion profiles. Measured quantities were: bow trajectory, angles, tracks, velocity, acceleration and jerk. A good repeatability of the bowing motion (CV < 2%) and high smoothness (jerk < 5 m/s 3 ) were observed. Motion profiles of shoulder, elbow and wrist were repeatable (CV < 7%) and comparable to the curves observed in other studies. Jerk and acceleration profiles demonstrated high smoothness in the ascending and descending phases of bowing. High variability was instead observed for the neck angle (CV ∼56%). "Quantitative" measurements, instead of "qualitative" observation, can support the diagnosis of motor disorders and the accurate evaluation of musicians' skills. The proposed protocol is a powerful tool for the description of musician's performance, that may be useful to document improvements in playing abilities and to adjust training strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. The new Italian IVF legislation.

    PubMed

    Benagiano, Giuseppe; Gianaroli, Luca

    2004-08-01

    Last February, the Italian Parliament gave final approval to a new Law regulating assisted reproduction technology. The new legislation fell short of the expectations of infertile couples and of all specialists in the field. There are three problems with the new Italian law; they involve social issues, human rights and the application of technology. The present paper focuses on the fact that the new rules infringe upon basic human rights and the proper application of IVF technology, because they mandate procedures that are against the best interest of the woman seeking pregnancy. The main point of controversy is the combination of a mandatory limit of three embryos for transfer, and an obligation to reimplant all produced embryos; cryopreservation of excess embryos is prohibited. Obviously, this decreases the chances of most women to achieve pregnancy, while at the same time it increases the number and complexity of procedures they need to undergo and may expose some to an unacceptable increase in the risk of multiple pregnancy. The new law is inspired by the desire to protect every newly produced embryo; this is a commendable aim, although it is in total opposition to a law passed over 25 years ago that liberalized voluntary termination of first trimester pregnancies. This means that today Italy has a law that protects every early, pre-implantation embryo, and another that allows the 'suppression' of every post-implantation one. From a technical point of view, given the low level of human fecundity, the only way to prevent the 'loss' of even one preimplantation embryo is to simply ban IVF altogether, an option that Italian legislators obviously did not have the courage to opt for. The tragedy is that Italian infertile couples are now confronted with new rules that not only severely limit the ability of physicians to correctly apply IVF technology, but are so confused that, depending on the interpretation, anyone may try to nullify the main ideological premise upon

  19. Pronominal Objects in English-Italian and Spanish-Italian Bilingual Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Serratrice, Ludovica; Sorace, Antonella; Filiaci, Francesca; Baldo, Michela

    2012-01-01

    This study investigated the role of typological relatedness, language of the community, and age, in predicting similarities and differences between English-Italian, Spanish-Italian bilingual children and their monolingual child and adult counterparts in the acceptability of pre- and postverbal object pronouns in [[plus or minus]focus] contexts in…

  20. Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma in adults: guidelines of the Italian Society of Hematology, the Italian Society of Experimental Hematology, and the Italian Group for Bone Marrow Transplantation on initial work-up, management, and follow-up.

    PubMed

    Brusamolino, Ercole; Bacigalupo, Andrea; Barosi, Giovanni; Biti, Giampaolo; Gobbi, Paolo G; Levis, Alessandro; Marchetti, Monia; Santoro, Armando; Zinzani, Pier Luigi; Tura, Sante

    2009-04-01

    The Italian Society of Hematology (SIE), the Italian Society of Experimental Haematology (SIES) and the Italian Group for Bone Marrow Transplantation (GITMO) commissioned a project to develop practice guidelines for the initial work-up, therapy and follow-up of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma. Key questions to the clinical evaluation and treatment of this disease were formulated by an Advisory Committee, discussed and approved by an Expert Panel (EP) composed of senior hematologists and one radiotherapist. After a comprehensive and systematic literature review, the EP recommendations were graded according to their supporting evidence. An explicit approach to consensus methodologies was used for evidence interpretation and for producing recommendations in the absence of a strong evidence. The EP decided that the target domain of the guidelines should include only classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, as defined by the WHO classification, and exclude lymphocyte predominant histology. Distinct recommendations were produced for initial work-up, first-line therapy of early and advanced stage disease, monitoring procedures and salvage therapy, including hemopoietic stem cell transplant. Separate recommendations were formulated for elderly patients. Pre-treatment volumetric CT scan of the neck, thorax, abdomen, and pelvis is mandatory, while FDG-PET is recommended. As to the therapy of early stage disease, a combined modality approach is still recommended with ABVD followed by involved-field radiotherapy; the number of courses of ABVD will depend on the patient risk category (favorable or unfavorable). Full-term chemotherapy with ABVD is recommended in advanced stage disease; adjuvant radiotherapy in patients without initial bulk who achieved a complete remission is not recommended. In the elderly, chemotherapy regimens more intensive than ABVD are not recommended. Early evaluation of response with FDG-PET scan is suggested. Relapsed or refractory patients should receive high

  1. Management of hemodynamically unstable pelvic trauma: results of the first Italian consensus conference (cooperative guidelines of the Italian Society of Surgery, the Italian Association of Hospital Surgeons, the Multi-specialist Italian Society of Young Surgeons, the Italian Society of Emergency Surgery and Trauma, the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care, the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, the Italian Society of Medical Radiology -Section of Vascular and Interventional Radiology- and the World Society of Emergency Surgery)

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Hemodynamically Unstable Pelvic Trauma is a major problem in blunt traumatic injury. No cosensus has been reached in literature on the optimal treatment of this condition. We present the results of the First Italian Consensus Conference on Pelvic Trauma which took place in Bergamo on April 13 2013. An extensive review of the literature has been undertaken by the Organizing Committee (OC) and forwarded to the Scientific Committee (SC) and the Panel (JP). Members of them were appointed by surgery, critical care, radiology, emergency medicine and orthopedics Italian and International societies: the Italian Society of Surgery, the Italian Association of Hospital Surgeons, the Multi-specialist Italian Society of Young Surgeons, the Italian Society of Emergency Surgery and Trauma, the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation and Intensive Care, the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, the Italian Society of Emergency Medicine, the Italian Society of Medical Radiology, Section of Vascular and Interventional Radiology and the World Society of Emergency Surgery. From November 2012 to January 2013 the SC undertook the critical revision and prepared the presentation to the audience and the Panel on the day of the Conference. Then 3 recommendations were presented according to the 3 submitted questions. The Panel voted the recommendations after discussion and amendments with the audience. Later on a email debate took place until December 2013 to reach a unanimous consent. We present results on the 3 following questions: which hemodynamically unstable patient needs an extraperitoneal pelvic packing? Which hemodynamically unstable patient needs an external fixation? Which hemodynamically unstable patient needs emergent angiography? No longer angiography is considered the first therapeutic maneuver in such a patient. Preperitoneal pelvic packing and external fixation, preceded by pelvic binder have a pivotal role in the management of these patients

  2. Apologizing in Italian and English.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lipson, Maxine

    1994-01-01

    Compared apology exchanges in Italy and the United States by having 10 Italian university students view American situation comedy television programs and rewrite particular conflict and apology exchanges in an Italian context. The status and role of the programs' participants affected the Italian students' choice of apology strategies more so than…

  3. Ensuring an Italian Renaissance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallock, Ann H.

    1978-01-01

    Factors contributing to the renaissance of Italian and the goals of students who study the language are discussed. Alternatives to rote learning in the classroom and ways to generate interest in Italian in the community are suggested. (SW)

  4. Characteristics of Phonological Development as a Risk Factor for Language Development in Italian-Speaking Pre-Term Children: A Longitudinal Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    D'Odorico, Laura; Majorano, Marinella; Fasolo, Mirco; Salerni, Nicoletta; Suttora, Chiara

    2011-01-01

    This study analysed the early linguistic development of Italian pre-term children. Samples of spontaneous pre-linguistic and verbal production were recorded at 12 and 18 months of age from two groups of children: 24 pre-term children and 15 full-term children. The Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Questionnaire was administered at 24 months…

  5. [Naples: the historic capital of Italian paediatrics].

    PubMed

    Farnetani, I; Farnetani, F

    2008-06-01

    No other Italian city has contributed to the birth and development of paediatrics more than Naples. This is why it can be considered the historic capital of Italian paediatrics. Here are the main reasons: Luigi Somma was the first professor of Italian paediatrics whereas Francesco Fede was the first president of the Italian Paediatrics Association. Neapolitan paediatricians have been the most numerous amongst the founder members. The first three Italian journals of paediatrics were founded in Naples as well as the journal ''La Pediatria'' which was the most distributed and long-lasting journal in this field. Moreover, Neapolitans have been the most numerous presidents of the Italian Paediatrics Association, while Rocco Jemma was the one who remained the longest in charge. ''Rocco Jemma's school'' taught not only to most professors in paediatrics who afterwards taught in most Italian universities, but also four out of five paediatricians who took charge of the position as president. The first regional department of the Italian Paediatrics Association was founded in Naples as well as the Association of Nipiology.

  6. The AstroBID: Searching through the Italian Astronomical Heritage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cirella, E. O.; Gargano, M.; Gasperini, A.; Mandrino, A.; Randazzo, D.; Zanini, V.

    2015-04-01

    The scientific heritage held in the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), made up of rare and modern books, instruments, and archival documents spanning from the 15th to the early 20th century, marks the milestones in the history of astronomy in Italy. To promote this history of this historical collection, the Libraries and Historical Archives Service and the Museums Service of INAF have developed a project aimed at creating a single web portal: Polvere di stelle. I beni culturali dell'astronomia italiana (Stardust. The cultural heritage of the Italian astronomy). This portal searches for data coming from the libraries, the instruments collections and the historical archives, regarding the heritage of the Italian Observatories. The BID (Books, Instruments, Documents) of the project is the creation of a multimedia web facility, which allows the public to make simultaneous searches on the three different types of materials.

  7. Work productivity is associated with disease activity and functional ability in Italian patients with early axial spondyloarthritis: an observational study from the SPACE cohort.

    PubMed

    de Hooge, Manouk; Ramonda, Roberta; Lorenzin, Mariagrazia; Frallonardo, Paola; Punzi, Leonardo; Ortolan, Augusta; Doria, Andrea

    2016-11-16

    Spondyloarthritis often affects young people, typically in their working years. The aim of our study was to investigate work productivity and its relationship with disease activity and physical functioning in Italian patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) with chronic back pain (CBP) for ≥3 months and ≤2 years, and onset  < 45 years of age. Baseline absenteeism, presenteeism, work productivity loss (assessed by the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire (WPAI)), and disease activity (assessed by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI)/Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS)) and functional ability (assessed by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Functional Index (BASFI)) of patients with axSpA (rheumatologist's diagnosis) included in the Italian section of the Spondyloarthritis Caught Early (SPACE) cohort were collected. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations between work productivity and disease activity/physical functioning. Absenteeism in 51 patients with axSpA was low (8.3 %). A decrease in work productivity was related to an increase in disease activity. Disease activity was strongly correlated with absenteeism (p < 0.01), presenteeism (p < 0.01) and work productivity loss (p < 0.001). In addition, decreased work productivity was related to a decrease in functional ability. Physical functioning was correlated with absenteeism (p < 0.001), presenteeism (p < 0.05) and work productivity loss (p < 0.001). Impairment of work productivity was correlated with disease activity and physical functioning in Italian patients with axSpA with CBP for ≥3 months and ≤2 years, with onset <45 years of age.

  8. Playing a 3-Stringed Violin: Innovation via the Joint Evolution of People, Process, and Knowledge Management System

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cooper, Lynne P.

    2010-01-01

    Users continuously evaluate the value and performance of their Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). As suggested by a punctuated socio-technical system process model, today's success can quickly become tomorrow's failure should the KMS fail to meet evolving needs and expectations. The more deeply a tool is embedded in the actual work process, the more vulnerable it is to emergent changes and perturbations. This paper uses the metaphor of a "3-stringed violin" to explore how differing levels of user knowledge about tools and processes can lead to system perturbations and how the active involvement of other actors can dampen the impact of perturbations, i.e., help the system survive the operational equivalent of a broken string. Recommendations suggest ways to increase system resiliency and contribute to incremental innovation.

  9. Implicit Association to Infant Faces: How Genetics, Early Care Experiences, and Cultural Factors Influence Caregiving Propensities

    PubMed Central

    Senese, Vincenzo Paolo; Shinohara, Kazuyuki; Esposito, Gianluca; Doi, Hirokazu; Venuti, Paola; Bornstein, Marc H.

    2018-01-01

    Genetics, early experience, and culture shape caregiving, but it is still not clear how genetics, early experiences, and cultural factors might interact to influence specific caregiving propensities, such as adult responsiveness to infant cues. To address this gap, 80 Italian adults (50% M; 18-25 years) were (1) genotyped for two oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms (rs53576 and rs2254298) and the serotonin transporter gene polymorphism (5-HTTLPR), which are implicated in parenting behaviour, (2) completed the Adult Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire to evaluate their recollections of parental behaviours toward them in childhood, and (3) were administered a Single Category Implicit Association Test to evaluate their implicit responses to faces of Italian infants, Japanese infants, and Italian adults. Analysis of implicit associations revealed that Italian infant faces were evaluated as most positive; participants in the rs53576 GG group had the most positive implicit associations to Italian infant faces; the serotonin polymorphism moderated the effect of early care experiences on adults’ implicit association to both Italian infant and adult female faces. Finally, 5-HTTLPR S carriers showed less positive implicit responses to Japanese infant faces. We conclude that adult in-group preference extends to in-group infant faces and that implicit responses to social cues are influenced by interactions of genetics, early care experiences, and cultural factors. These findings have implications for understanding processes that regulate adult caregiving. PMID:27650102

  10. [MISSCARE Survey - Italian Version: findings from an Italian validation study].

    PubMed

    Sist, Luisa; Contini, Carla; Bandini, Anna; Bandini, Stefania; Massa, Licia; Zanin, Roberta; Maricchio, Rita; Gianesini, Gloria; Bassi, Erika; Tartaglini, Daniela; Palese, Alvisa; Ferraresi, Annamaria

    2017-01-01

    The Missed Nursing Care (MNC) refers to nursing interventions that are not completed, partially completed, or postponed. Despite the relevance of MNC, no assessment tools are available in the Italian context, and no data regarding the occurrence of this phenomenon has been documented on a large scale to date. The study aims were: (1) to validate the Italian version of the MISSCARE Survey tool; (2) to measure the prevalence of missed interventions and reasons for missed care as perceived by clinical nurses working in Italian health care settings. After having conducted the forward and backward translation, pre-pilot and pilot phases were developed to ensure face and content validity as well as semantic and conceptual equivalence of the Italian version with the original version. The MISSCARE survey questionnaire was then distributed to 1,233 clinical nurses of whom 1,003 completed the questionnaire. Overall, 979 questionnaires were analysed. The questionnaires were completed from January to March 2012, by nurses working in medical and surgical hospital departments in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. Construct validity and internal consistency of the instrument were assessed. The face and content validity were ascertained by a group of experts. The instrument acceptability was good given that 79.4% of respondents replied to all items. Construct validity was investigated by an Exploratory Factor Analysis. Four factors explaining 64.18% of variance emerged: communication, lack of facilities/supplies, lack of staff, and unexpected events. Internal consistency, evaluated with Cronbach a, was 0.94. The nursing interventions omitted with greater frequency were, in order: ambulation (74.8%), passive mobilization (69.6%) and oral care (51.3%). The three main reasons for missed interventions were: an unexpected increase in the number of patients (90.5%), increased instability of the clinical condition (86.1%) and insufficient human resources (85.5%). The Italian version of

  11. Appraising the Early-est earthquake monitoring system for tsunami alerting at the Italian Candidate Tsunami Service Provider

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bernardi, F.; Lomax, A.; Michelini, A.; Lauciani, V.; Piatanesi, A.; Lorito, S.

    2015-09-01

    In this paper we present and discuss the performance of the procedure for earthquake location and characterization implemented in the Italian Candidate Tsunami Service Provider at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in Rome. Following the ICG/NEAMTWS guidelines, the first tsunami warning messages are based only on seismic information, i.e., epicenter location, hypocenter depth, and magnitude, which are automatically computed by the software Early-est. Early-est is a package for rapid location and seismic/tsunamigenic characterization of earthquakes. The Early-est software package operates using offline-event or continuous-real-time seismic waveform data to perform trace processing and picking, and, at a regular report interval, phase association, event detection, hypocenter location, and event characterization. Early-est also provides mb, Mwp, and Mwpd magnitude estimations. mb magnitudes are preferred for events with Mwp ≲ 5.8, while Mwpd estimations are valid for events with Mwp ≳ 7.2. In this paper we present the earthquake parameters computed by Early-est between the beginning of March 2012 and the end of December 2014 on a global scale for events with magnitude M ≥ 5.5, and we also present the detection timeline. We compare the earthquake parameters automatically computed by Early-est with the same parameters listed in reference catalogs. Such reference catalogs are manually revised/verified by scientists. The goal of this work is to test the accuracy and reliability of the fully automatic locations provided by Early-est. In our analysis, the epicenter location, hypocenter depth and magnitude parameters do not differ significantly from the values in the reference catalogs. Both mb and Mwp magnitudes show differences to the reference catalogs. We thus derived correction functions in order to minimize the differences and correct biases between our values and the ones from the reference catalogs. Correction of the Mwp

  12. A Structural Equation Model for the School Reinforcement Survey Schedule: Italian and American Early Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, George R.; Galeazzi, Aldo; Franceschina, Emilio; McNulty, George F.; Forand, Angela Q.; Stader, Sandra R.; Myers, deRosset, Jr.; Wright, Harry H.

    2004-01-01

    The School Reinforcement Survey Schedule (SRSS) was administered to 2,828 boys and girls in middle schools in the United States and an Italian translation was administered to 342 boys and girls in middle schools in Northern Italy. An exploratory factor analysis using half the American data set was performed using maximum likelihood estimation with…

  13. The Teacher of Italian and the Community.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hallock, Ann H.

    This paper presents a case-study of the successful nine-month plan with which Tulane University guaranteed the growth and continuation of its Italian program. The paper provides a blueprint for the teacher of Italian on any campus who wishes to strengthen the position of his Italian program in this era when dwindling federal, state and university…

  14. 9 CFR 319.145 - Italian sausage products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Section 319.145 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... accordance with § 319.6. (2) “Italian Sausage with Beef,” “Italian Sausage with Veal,” or “Italian Sausage with Beef and Veal,” shall be prepared so that fresh or frozen pork constitutes the major portion of...

  15. 9 CFR 319.145 - Italian sausage products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Section 319.145 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... accordance with § 319.6. (2) “Italian Sausage with Beef,” “Italian Sausage with Veal,” or “Italian Sausage with Beef and Veal,” shall be prepared so that fresh or frozen pork constitutes the major portion of...

  16. 9 CFR 319.145 - Italian sausage products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Section 319.145 Animals and Animal Products FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... accordance with § 319.6. (2) “Italian Sausage with Beef,” “Italian Sausage with Veal,” or “Italian Sausage with Beef and Veal,” shall be prepared so that fresh or frozen pork constitutes the major portion of...

  17. Pathological Gambling among Italian Nursing Students.

    PubMed

    Cicolini, Giancarlo; Della Pelle, Carlo; Simonetti, Valentina; Comparcini, Dania; Sepede, Gianna; Cipollone, Francesco

    2018-04-01

    To investigate the role of psychiatric dimensions, behavioral or substance addictions and demographical variables as determinants of pathological gambling among nursing students. Multicenter cross-sectional study. From June to October 2015 a survey was carried out among Italian Nursing students. Data were collected using a six-section tool. Nursing students who completed the survey numbered 1083, 902 (83.3%) had some problems with gambling and 29 (2.7%) showed pathological gambling. Percentage of pathological gambling was significantly associate with illicit drug/alcohol use (65.5%; p=0.001) and with male gender (58.6%) comparing to student nurse with non-pathological gambling (20%) and those with some problem (24.2%). Significant main effect was observed for IAT score (Beta=0.119, t=3.28, p=0.001): higher IAT scores were associated with higher SOGS scores. Italian nursing students have some problems with gambling and pathological gambling problem, and males are those who have more problems. Results might be useful for faculties of health professionals to identify students at risk in an early stage, to direct prevention tailored interventions. Nursing faculties should be aware of the prevalence of Gambling among students. Prevention interventions should be planned to minimize the risk of gambling behavior in the future nurses' health care workers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Language Policy and Planning: The Case of Italian Sign Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geraci, Carlo

    2012-01-01

    Italian Sign Language (LIS) is the name of the language used by the Italian Deaf community. The acronym LIS derives from Lingua italiana dei segni ("Italian language of signs"), although nowadays Italians refers to LIS as Lingua dei segni italiana, reflecting the more appropriate phrasing "Italian sign language." Historically,…

  19. Radiotherapy in Italy after conservative treatment of early breast cancer. A survey by the Italian Society of Radiation Oncology (AIRO).

    PubMed

    Aristei, Cynthia; Amichetti, Maurizio; Ciocca, Mario; Nardone, Luigia; Bertoni, Filippo; Vidali, Cristiana

    2008-01-01

    The aim of surveys on clinical practice is to stimulate discussion and optimize practice. In this paper the current Italian radiotherapy practice after breast-conserving surgery for early breast cancer is described and adherence to national and international guidelines is assessed. Furthermore, results are compared with an earlier survey in northern Italy and international reports. A multiple-choice questionnaire sent to all 138 Italian radiation oncology centers. 48% of centers responded. Most performed breast-conserving surgery when tumor size was < or =3 cm. All centers routinely performed axillary dissection; 45 carried out sentinel node biopsy followed by axillary dissection when the sentinel node was positive. Most centers re-excised when resection margins were positive. The median interval between surgery and radiotherapy, when chemotherapy was not administered, was 60 days. Adjuvant chemotherapy was preferably administered before radiotherapy. Regional lymph nodes were never irradiated in 10 centers; in all others irradiation depended on the number of positive lymph nodes and/or involvement of axillary fat and/or tumor location in medial quadrants. All centers used standard fractionation; hypofractionated schemes were available in 6. Most centers used 4-6 MV photons. In 59 centers the boost dose of 10 Gy could be increased if margins were not negative. All centers ensured patient setup reproducibility. Treatment planning was computerized in 59 centers. The irradiation dose was prescribed at the ICRU point in 56 centers and portal films were made in 54 centers. Intraoperative radiotherapy was used in 4 centers: for partial breast irradiation in 1 and for boost administration in 3 centers. Although the quality of radiotherapy delivery has improved in Italy in recent years, approaches that do not conform to international standards persist.

  20. Strategies for preventing group B streptococcal infections in newborns: a nation-wide survey of Italian policies.

    PubMed

    Tzialla, Chryssoula; Berardi, Alberto; Farina, Claudio; Clerici, Pierangelo; Borghesi, Alessandro; Viora, Elsa; Scollo, Paolo; Stronati, Mauro

    2017-11-02

    There are no Italian data regarding the strategies for preventing neonatal group B streptococcal (GBS) infection. We conducted a national survey in order to explore obstetrical, neonatal and microbiological practices for the GBS prevention. Three distinct questionnaires were sent to obstetricians, neonatologists and microbiologists. Questionnaires included data on prenatal GBS screening, maternal risk factors, intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, microbiological information concerning specimen processing and GBS antimicrobial susceptibility. All respondent obstetrical units used the culture-based screening approach to identify women who should receive intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis, and more than half of the microbiological laboratories (58%) reported using specimen processing consistent with CDC guidelines. Most neonatal units (89 out of 107, 82%) reported using protocols for preventing GBS early-onset sepsis consistent with CDC guidelines. The screening-based strategy is largely prevalent in Italy, and most protocols for preventing GBS early-onset sepsis are consistent with CDC guidelines. However, we found discrepancies in practices among centers that may reflect the lack of Italian guidelines issued by public health organizations.

  1. Italian protesters win concessions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cartlidge, Edwin

    2008-12-01

    Thousands of researchers and students who have taken to the streets in protest at reforms of Italian universities and public research institutes have won some limited concessions from the government. The protesters had argued that the reforms, which include significant budget cuts, would further weaken a research base that is already short of resources. The Italian government maintains that its reforms are necessary to modernize a university system that is corrupt and inefficient, but has reversed some of the cuts.

  2. Early Integration of Palliative Care in Oncology Practice: Results of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) Survey

    PubMed Central

    Zagonel, Vittorina; Torta, Riccardo; Franciosi, Vittorio; Brunello, Antonella; Biasco, Guido; Cattaneo, Daniela; Cavanna, Luigi; Corsi, Domenico; Farina, Gabriella; Fioretto, Luisa; Gamucci, Teresa; Lanzetta, Gaetano; Magarotto, Roberto; Maltoni, Marco; Mastromauro, Cataldo; Melotti, Barbara; Meriggi, Fausto; Pavese, Ida; Piva, Erico; Sacco, Cosimo; Tonini, Giuseppe; Trentin, Leonardo; Ermacora, Paola; Varetto, Antonella; Merlin, Federica; Gori, Stefania; Cascinu, Stefano; Pinto, Carmine

    2016-01-01

    Background: Early integration of palliative care in oncology practice (“simultaneous care”, SC) has been shown to provide better care resulting in improved quality-of-life and also survival. We evaluated the opinions of Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) members. Patients and methods: A 37-item questionnaire was delivered to 1119 AIOM members. Main areas covered were: social, ethical, relational aspects of disease and communication, training, research, organizational and management models in SC. Three open questions explored the definition of Quality of Life, Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care. Results: Four hundred and forty-nine (40.1%) medical oncologists returned the questionnaires. Forty-nine percent stated they address non-curability when giving a diagnosis of metastatic tumor, and 43% give the information only to patients who clearly ask for it. Fifty-five percent say the main formative activity in palliative medicine came from attending meetings and 90% agree that specific palliative care training should be part of the core curriculum in oncology. Twenty-two percent stated they consulted guidelines for symptom management, 45% relied upon personal experience and 26% make a referral to a palliative care specialist. Seventy-four percent were in favor of more research in palliative medicine. An integration between Units of Oncology and Palliative Care Services early in the course of advanced disease was advocated by 86%. Diverse and multifaceted definitions were given for the concepts of Quality of Life, Palliative Care and Medical Oncologist. Conclusion: SC is felt as an important task, as well as training of medical oncologists in symptom management and research in this field. PMID:27877212

  3. Early Integration of Palliative Care in Oncology Practice: Results of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) Survey.

    PubMed

    Zagonel, Vittorina; Torta, Riccardo; Franciosi, Vittorio; Brunello, Antonella; Biasco, Guido; Cattaneo, Daniela; Cavanna, Luigi; Corsi, Domenico; Farina, Gabriella; Fioretto, Luisa; Gamucci, Teresa; Lanzetta, Gaetano; Magarotto, Roberto; Maltoni, Marco; Mastromauro, Cataldo; Melotti, Barbara; Meriggi, Fausto; Pavese, Ida; Piva, Erico; Sacco, Cosimo; Tonini, Giuseppe; Trentin, Leonardo; Ermacora, Paola; Varetto, Antonella; Merlin, Federica; Gori, Stefania; Cascinu, Stefano; Pinto, Carmine

    2016-01-01

    Early integration of palliative care in oncology practice ("simultaneous care", SC) has been shown to provide better care resulting in improved quality-of-life and also survival. We evaluated the opinions of Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) members. A 37-item questionnaire was delivered to 1119 AIOM members. Main areas covered were: social, ethical, relational aspects of disease and communication, training, research, organizational and management models in SC. Three open questions explored the definition of Quality of Life, Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care. Four hundred and forty-nine (40.1%) medical oncologists returned the questionnaires. Forty-nine percent stated they address non-curability when giving a diagnosis of metastatic tumor, and 43% give the information only to patients who clearly ask for it. Fifty-five percent say the main formative activity in palliative medicine came from attending meetings and 90% agree that specific palliative care training should be part of the core curriculum in oncology. Twenty-two percent stated they consulted guidelines for symptom management, 45% relied upon personal experience and 26% make a referral to a palliative care specialist. Seventy-four percent were in favor of more research in palliative medicine. An integration between Units of Oncology and Palliative Care Services early in the course of advanced disease was advocated by 86%. Diverse and multifaceted definitions were given for the concepts of Quality of Life, Palliative Care and Medical Oncologist. SC is felt as an important task, as well as training of medical oncologists in symptom management and research in this field.

  4. Diagnostic memory assessment in Italian-born Australians.

    PubMed

    Fratti, Sara; Bowden, Stephen C; Pino, Olimpia

    2011-09-01

    In many English-speaking countries neuropsychological assessment of non-English speakers is often performed in English or through an interpreter. Relying on interpreters often involves unstandardized and ad hoc translations of tests which may limit valid assessment. In a sample of 75 Italian-born elderly Australians from the general community (48 women and 27 men, aged 56-90 years) we administered standardized and normed psychological tests in both English (WMS-III, WAIS-III, BNT, Schonell Graded Word Reading Test) and Italian (Milan Overall Dementia Assessment, MODA). We examined the hypothesis that long-term retrieval ability assessed in English is primarily influenced by cognitive abilities assessed in Italian and by English language competence. Regression analysis showed that the strongest predictor of long-term retrieval in English was long-term retrieval in Italian (R2 = 0.229, F(72) = 29.12, p<0.01). After inclusion of an estimate of general cognitive ability in Italian, English language competence failed to add significantly to variance explained in memory tested in English (p > 0.05). Results of the present study support the view that long-term retrieval memory is not significantly affected by second language proficiency after control of cognitive ability assessed in Italian. As a consequence, if an Italian-born elder Australian with English as a second language scores poorly on a diagnostic memory test, this result may be due to cognitive impairment rather than language issues. If, instead, we attribute poor performance to language competence, an increased risk of false negative diagnosis may arise.

  5. The history of Italian psychiatry during Fascism.

    PubMed

    Piazzi, Andrea; Testa, Luana; Del Missier, Giovanni; Dario, Mariopaolo; Stocco, Ester

    2011-09-01

    Specific features characterized Italian psychiatry during Fascism (1922-45), distinguishing it from Nazi psychiatry and giving rise to different operational outcomes, so we have investigated the state of Italian psychiatry during this period. We review the historical situation that preceded it and describe the social and health policies that Fascism introduced following new legislative and regulatory acts. We examine the preventive and therapeutic role played by psychiatry (the electric shock was an Italian invention) and, thanks to the Enciclopedia Italiano published during those years, we are able to highlight psychiatry's relationship to psychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy and religion. The shortcomings of Italian psychiatric research and practice are also seen in terms of what the State failed to do rather than what it did.

  6. Early Rockets

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2004-04-15

    During the 19th century, rocket enthusiasts and inventors began to appear in almost every country. Some people thought these early rocket pioneers were geniuses, and others thought they were crazy. Claude Ruggieri, an Italian living in Paris, apparently rocketed small animals into space as early as 1806. The payloads were recovered by parachute. As depicted here by artist Larry Toschik, French authorities were not always impressed with rocket research. They halted Ruggieri's plans to launch a small boy using a rocket cluster. (Reproduced from a drawing by Larry Toschik and presented here courtesy of the artist and Motorola Inc.)

  7. The Evolution of Italian Radicalism, 1780-1914: A Historiographical Review.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lovett, Clara M.

    1988-01-01

    Discusses the norms within which Italian historical literature is produced, stating that they are important generally to the work of Italian historians and particularly in understanding the recent historical literature on Italian radicalism. Surveys the post-World War II progress of the historiography of Italian radicalism, recommending areas of…

  8. Analytical Evaluation and Antioxidant Properties of Some Secondary Metabolites in Northern Italian Mono- and Multi-Varietal Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOOs) from Early and Late Harvested Olives

    PubMed Central

    Trombetta, Domenico; Smeriglio, Antonella; Marcoccia, Daniele; Giofrè, Salvatore Vincenzo; Toscano, Giovanni; Mazzotti, Fabio; Giovanazzi, Angelo; Lorenzetti, Stefano

    2017-01-01

    The antioxidant activity and the phenolic and α-tocopherol content of 10 Northern Italian mono- and multi-varietal extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs), after early and late olive harvests, was analyzed. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to evaluate sample similarity. Secoiridoids (SIDs), lignans and flavonoids were the most abundant phenolic compounds identified. The organic Casaliva (among mono-cultivar) and the organic multi-varietal (among blended oils) EVOOs had the higher total phenol content both in early (263.13 and 326.19 mg/kg, respectively) and late harvest (241.88 and 292.34 mg/kg, respectively) conditions. In comparison to late harvest EVOOs, early harvest EVOOs, in particular the organic mono-cultivar Casaliva, showed both higher antioxidant capacity (up to 1285.97 Oxygen Radicals Absorbance Capacity/ORAC units), probably due to the higher SID fraction (54% vs. 40%), and higher α-tocopherol content (up to 280.67 mg/kg). Overall, these results suggest that SIDs and α-tocopherol mainly contribute to antioxidant properties of the studied EVOOs. In light of this, the authors conclude that early harvest, organic mono-cultivar Casaliva EVOO represents the most interesting candidate to explicate healthy effects ascribed to these functional constituents, particularly regarding oxidative stress-related pathologies. PMID:28398235

  9. Analytical Evaluation and Antioxidant Properties of Some Secondary Metabolites in Northern Italian Mono- and Multi-Varietal Extra Virgin Olive Oils (EVOOs) from Early and Late Harvested Olives.

    PubMed

    Trombetta, Domenico; Smeriglio, Antonella; Marcoccia, Daniele; Giofrè, Salvatore Vincenzo; Toscano, Giovanni; Mazzotti, Fabio; Giovanazzi, Angelo; Lorenzetti, Stefano

    2017-04-11

    The antioxidant activity and the phenolic and α-tocopherol content of 10 Northern Italian mono- and multi-varietal extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs), after early and late olive harvests, was analyzed. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to evaluate sample similarity. Secoiridoids (SIDs), lignans and flavonoids were the most abundant phenolic compounds identified. The organic Casaliva (among mono-cultivar) and the organic multi-varietal (among blended oils) EVOOs had the higher total phenol content both in early (263.13 and 326.19 mg/kg, respectively) and late harvest (241.88 and 292.34 mg/kg, respectively) conditions. In comparison to late harvest EVOOs, early harvest EVOOs, in particular the organic mono-cultivar Casaliva, showed both higher antioxidant capacity (up to 1285.97 Oxygen Radicals Absorbance Capacity/ORAC units), probably due to the higher SID fraction (54% vs. 40%), and higher α-tocopherol content (up to 280.67 mg/kg). Overall, these results suggest that SIDs and α-tocopherol mainly contribute to antioxidant properties of the studied EVOOs. In light of this, the authors conclude that early harvest, organic mono-cultivar Casaliva EVOO represents the most interesting candidate to explicate healthy effects ascribed to these functional constituents, particularly regarding oxidative stress-related pathologies.

  10. Italian Culture through Audio-Visual Aids.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mollica, Anthony

    The language teacher automatically teaches culture when he teaches language, but there are many ways in which the Italian teacher can specifically bring culture to the Italian classroom. Through use of vocabulary certain differences in culture can be made clear to students. Dialogues should be used to reveal major areas of contrast and similarity…

  11. Are 6-8 year old Italian children moving away from the Mediterranean diet?

    PubMed

    Zani, C; Ceretti, E; Grioni, S; Viola, G C V; Donato, F; Feretti, D; Festa, A; Bonizzoni, S; Bonetti, A; Monarca, S; Villarini, M; Levorato, S; Carducci, A; Verani, M; Casini, B; De Donno, A; Grassi, T; Bagordo, F; Carraro, E; Bonetta, Si; Bonetta, Sa; Gelatti, U

    2016-01-01

    The Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest dietary models, as it decreases the risk of chronic diseases and may modulate the organism's early response to environmental pollution. In recent decades, Mediterranean countries have been replacing their traditional diet with other less healthy eating habits, especially among children and teenagers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the MD and the level of adherence to it in 6-8 year old Italian children, in relation to residence, lifestyle, and social and family contexts. A questionnaire was administered to the children's parents in two seasons in 5 Italian towns. The diet section contained 116 questions investigating the frequency of consumption of different types of food. The Italian Mediterranean Index (IMI) was calculated according to the intake of 6 typical Mediterranean and 4 non-Mediterranean foods. On the basis of IMI score, MD adherence was classified as low (≤ 3 IMI score), medium (4-5) and high (≥ 6). Total energy load and diet composition in micro- and macronutrients were calculated from consumption frequency. Diet analysis was computed on 1164 subjects with two complete questionnaires. Body mass index, calculated for each subject, showed that 28.9% of the children were overweight, the figure varying slightly with area of residence. Our findings showed that 59.0% of the children had a low score for MD adherence. The results of this study showed that most Italian children did not follow the MD and socio-economic characteristics appeared not to be associated with type of diet.

  12. ITALIAN PEAK AND ITALIAN PEAK MIDDLE ROADLESS AREAS, IDAHO AND MONTANA.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Skipp, Betty; Lambeth, Robert H.

    1984-01-01

    The Italian Peak and Italian Peak Middle Roadless Areas, in southwestern Montana and east-central Idaho, contain areas of probable mineral-resource potential based on combined geologic, geophysical, and geochemical studies and prospect examination. Small areas along the western, southern, and northeastern boundaries of the roadless areas have probable mineral resource potential for zinc, lead, silver, and uranium. An area of probable resource potential just east of and including a part of the Birch Creek mining district, may contain stratabound and fault-controlled silver and base metals, even though geochemical anomalies are low, and extensive prospecting has not identified any significant mineralization. The roadless areas are a part of the overthrust belt, and oil and gas possibilities must be assessed.

  13. The Italian activist

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Catanzaro, Michele

    2012-02-01

    Italian theoretical physicist Giorgio Parisi has been an outspoken critic of Silvio Berlusconi's lack of support for science. He talks about how physics may fare under the new administration led by the economist Mario Monti.

  14. Novel percutaneous suture-mediated patent foramen ovale closure technique. Early results of the NobleStitch EL Italian Registry.

    PubMed

    Gaspardone, Achille; De Marco, Federico; Sgueglia, Gregory A; De Santis, Antonella; Iamele, Maria; D'Ascoli, Emanuela; Tusa, Maurizio; Corciu, Anca; Mullen, Michael; Nobles, Anthony; Carminati, Mario; Bedogni, Francesco

    2018-04-03

    To assess the efficacy of a novel percutaneous "device-less" suture mediated patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure system. Between June 2016 and October 2017, a prospective registry aimed at assessing the safety and efficacy of the NobleStitch EL (HeartStitch, Fountain Valley, CA) suture-based PFO closure system was carried out at 12 sites in Italy. Among 200 consecutive evaluated patients, 192 were considered suitable for suture-mediated PFO closure (44±13 years, 114 women). Suture of the septum with the NobleStitch EL system was carried out successfully in 186 (96%) patients. Median fluoroscopy time was 16.1 (13.0-22.5) minutes and contrast volume 200 (150-270) ml. At 206±130 days follow-up, microbubbles transthoracic echocardiography with Valsalva maneuver revealed no RLS (grade 0) in 139 (75%) patients and RLS grade ≤1 in 166 (89%) patients. Significant RLS was present in 20 (11%) patients (grade 2 and 3 in 11 and 9 patients, respectively). There were no device-related complications. The early results of this first Italian Registry indicates that the suture mediated "deviceless" closure of PFO is feasible in the majority of septal anatomies, provides an effective closure of PFO comparable to traditional devices with an excellent safety profile at medium term follow-up.

  15. A Longitudinal Examination of Risky Sexual Behaviors among Canadian and Italian Adolescents: Considering Individual, Parental, and Friend Characteristics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boislard P., Marie-Aude; Poulin, Francois; Kiesner, Jeff; Dishion, Thomas J.

    2009-01-01

    In this study, two longitudinal models of early adolescent risky sexual behaviors (RSB) were compared using a pooled sample of 267 Canadian and Italian adolescents (55% females; 53% Canadians) assessed yearly from grade 8 to 10. We focused on parenting practices (monitoring, control, limit setting), adolescent problem behaviors (antisocial…

  16. Italian in the Linguistic Landscape of Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coluzzi, Paolo

    2017-01-01

    This article looks at the presence of Italian in the linguistic landscape (LL) of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Rather surprisingly, Italian is quite visible, and it might even be the most used European language after English. After a general introduction on the Italian language and Malaysia, including the latter's LL, the article goes on to outline the…

  17. Survey of Italian human milk banks.

    PubMed

    De Nisi, Giuseppe; Moro, Guido E; Arslanoglu, Sertac; Ambruzzi, Amalia M; Biasini, Augusto; Profeti, Claudio; Tonetto, Paola; Bertino, Enrico

    2015-05-01

    At present, the Italian Association of Donor Human Milk Banks (Associazione Italiana Banche del Latte Umano Donato, AIBLUD) consists of 31 milk banks, whose management is based on Italian Guidelines. In 2013, AIBLUD performed a systematic survey to collect data on the activities of banks operating in Italy in the years previous to this date. The purpose of this survey was to evaluate the operational procedures of Italian Human Milk Banks in order to identify both areas of strength and room for improvement. A questionnaire was utilized to obtain national data from the 28 banks active in the year 2012 in order to evaluate the number of donors, volume of human milk collected, and other information relating to the period 2007 to 2012. In all, 89% of the banks (25/28) responded to the survey. Data received primarily concerned the number of donors, volume of milk collected, and average amount of milk from each donor in the period 2007 to 2012. It was evident that in 2012 human milk banks collected a higher volume of milk than in 2007. Further, the average amount of milk from each donor was higher. Most of the milk banks were following the Italian Guidelines for traceability, control of donors, bacteriological checks, method of pasteurization, storage, thawing, type of containers, and utilization of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points system. This survey identified both areas of strength and room for improvement in the Italian human milk banks. © The Author(s) 2015.

  18. From Immigrants to Ethnics: The Italian Americans.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelli, Humbert S.

    A sociological, political, and cultural history of Italians in America, this book's chapters discuss (1) Italian explorers, intellectuals, and artisans who participated in the settlement and establishment of the United States; (2) socioeconomic conditions in nineteenth century Italy that led to mass emigration; (3) the distribution of Italian…

  19. Spelling Acquisition in English and Italian: A Cross-Linguistic Study.

    PubMed

    Marinelli, Chiara V; Romani, Cristina; Burani, Cristina; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

    2015-01-01

    We examined the spelling acquisition in children up to late primary school of a consistent orthography (Italian) and an inconsistent orthography (English). The effects of frequency, lexicality, length, and regularity in modulating spelling performance of the two groups were examined. English and Italian children were matched for both chronological age and number of years of schooling. Two-hundred and seven Italian children and 79 English children took part in the study. We found greater accuracy in spelling in Italian than English children: Italian children were very accurate after only 2 years of schooling, while in English children the spelling performance was still poor after 5 years of schooling. Cross-linguistic differences in spelling accuracy proved to be more persistent than the corresponding ones in reading accuracy. Orthographic consistency produced not only quantitative, but also qualitative differences, with larger frequency and regularity effects in English than in Italian children.

  20. Spelling Acquisition in English and Italian: A Cross-Linguistic Study

    PubMed Central

    Marinelli, Chiara V.; Romani, Cristina; Burani, Cristina; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

    2015-01-01

    We examined the spelling acquisition in children up to late primary school of a consistent orthography (Italian) and an inconsistent orthography (English). The effects of frequency, lexicality, length, and regularity in modulating spelling performance of the two groups were examined. English and Italian children were matched for both chronological age and number of years of schooling. Two-hundred and seven Italian children and 79 English children took part in the study. We found greater accuracy in spelling in Italian than English children: Italian children were very accurate after only 2 years of schooling, while in English children the spelling performance was still poor after 5 years of schooling. Cross-linguistic differences in spelling accuracy proved to be more persistent than the corresponding ones in reading accuracy. Orthographic consistency produced not only quantitative, but also qualitative differences, with larger frequency and regularity effects in English than in Italian children. PMID:26696918

  1. Slavic and Italian Canadian Attitudes towards Authority.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ryan, Michael G.

    Predicting that Italian Canadians would hold attitudes of greater hostility and anxiety toward authority than Slavic Canadians, this study, using 58 part-time summer students (29 Italians and 29 Slavs) at three universities in Canada, analyzed the subjects' responses to the five-response option Likert type scale. Results confirmed the early…

  2. Assessment and improvement of the Italian healthcare system: first evidence from a pilot national performance evaluation system.

    PubMed

    Nuti, Sabina; Seghieri, Chiara; Vainieri, Milena; Zett, Silvia

    2012-01-01

    The Italian National Health System (NHS), established in 1978, follows a model similar to the Beveridge model developed by the British NHS (Beveridge 1942; Musgrove 2000). Like the British NHS, healthcare coverage for the Italian population is provided and financed by the government through taxes. Universal coverage provides uniform healthcare access to citizens and is the characteristic usually considered the added value of a welfare system financed by tax revenues. Nonetheless, in Italy the strong policy of decentralization, which has been taking place since the early 1990s, has gradually shifted powers from the state to the 21 Italian regions. Consequently, the state now retains limited supervisory control and continues to have overall responsibility for the NHS in order to ensure uniform and essential levels of health services across the country. In this context, it has become essential, both for the ministry and for regions, to adopt a common performance evaluation system (PES). This article reports the definition, implementation, and first evidences of a pilot PES at a national level. It shows how this PES can be viewed as a strategic tool supporting the Ministry of Health (MoH) in ensuring uniform levels of care for the population and assisting regional managers to evaluate performance in benchmarking. Finally, lessons for other health systems, based on the Italian experience, are provided.

  3. An Avatar-Based Italian Sign Language Visualization System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Falletto, Andrea; Prinetto, Paolo; Tiotto, Gabriele

    In this paper, we present an experimental system that supports the translation from Italian to Italian Sign Language (ISL) of the deaf and its visualization through a virtual character. Our objective is to develop a complete platform useful for any application and reusable on several platforms including Web, Digital Television and offline text translation. The system relies on a database that stores both a corpus of Italian words and words coded in the ISL notation system. An interface for the insertion of data is implemented, that allows future extensions and integrations.

  4. 75 FR 64611 - Italian American Heritage and Culture Month, 2010

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-10-19

    ... seek a new life in America. Since that time, generations of Italian Americans have helped shape our... areas of our public and economic life while preserving their proud Italian traditions. Upon arrival in.... Yet, Italian Americans have persevered with hope and hard work to reach for the American dream and...

  5. Scientific research of Italian neurologists from 2008 to 2011.

    PubMed

    Tinazzi, Michele; Toni, Danilo; Veronese, Marco; Ajena, Domenico; Cruccu, Giorgio; Calabresi, Paolo

    2014-03-01

    Quantifying the number of publications is the easiest way to estimate the scientific production of a country in any scientific field. The aim of this article is to provide information about the scientific production from 2008 to 2011 of Italian neurologists and to compare it with scientific production data of other countries. The analysis regarded the research in Web of Science, in the Subject Category Clinical Neurology, of the publications published from 2008 to 2011, with at least one Italian author belonging to a scientific Italian institution. The overall data, their quality and scientific impact were compared with those of the first 15 world countries for scientific production. We observed that even if the Gross National Product of Italy registered a slight and gradual reduction from 2008 to 2011, the neurological scientific production of Italian neurologists showed an increase in the number of papers, maintaining the fifth position in these four years after USA, Germany, England and Japan. Moreover, dividing the neurological journals in quartiles according to the impact factor, we observed constant increase of the numbers of Italian publications in the highest quartile journals during the considered period. These data suggest that from 2008 to 2011 Italian neurologists have increased the number of publications, also improving the quality of works.

  6. Thinking in Italian: Problem-Solving Activities for the Italian Classroom.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danesi, Marcel

    1985-01-01

    Looks at devices that stimulate intralinguistic thinking patterns, that is, patterns that can only be induced by the structures and forms of the target language without any dependency upon native-language patterns. Focuses on problem-solving activities that help the learner develop modes of thought that can be solved "Italian." (SED)

  7. Reflections in the Mirror of Reggio Emilia's Soul: John Dewey's Foundational Influence on Pedagogy in the Italian Educational Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lindsay, Gai

    2015-01-01

    This paper articulates John Dewey's socio-political and historical influence upon the foundation and evolution of the world-renowned Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. It proposes that the pedagogical depth, influence and endurance of the Italian project are grounded in Dewey's philosophies of education, aesthetics and democracy.…

  8. Italian for Business and Communication: Research Methodology and Creation of a Syllabus.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iandoli, Louis J.

    This paper discusses the development and content of a third-year Italian course entitled "Italian for Business and Communication," taught at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. Since there are few texts that focus on business Italian, the instructor conducted on-site research at three Italian companies in Milan. Observations and…

  9. Representation of the serial killer on the Italian Internet.

    PubMed

    Villano, P; Bastianoni, P; Melotti, G

    2001-10-01

    The representation of serial killers was examined from the analysis of 317 Web pages in the Italian language to study how the psychological profiles of serial killers are described on the Italian Internet. The correspondence analysis of the content of these Web pages shows that in Italy the serial killer is associated with words such as "monster" and "horror," which suggest and imply psychological perversion and aberrant acts. These traits are peculiar for the Italian scenario.

  10. Italian aerospace company Alenia prepare TSS-1R in O&C

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1995-01-01

    Employees of the Italian aerospace company Alenia Spazio S.p.A. prepare the Tethered Satellite System-1R (TSS-1R) that is one of two primary payloads scheduled to fly aboard the Orbiter Columbia during the STS-75 mission in early 1996 for a series of tests in the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building. The TSS program is a joint venture between NASA and the Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, or Italian Space Agency. The 'R' designation indicates a reflight. The TSS-1 flew aboard Atlantis during the STS-46 mission in July 1992 and achieved only a partial success when its tether reel mechanism became jammed after only approximately 840 feet of the 12-mile-long tether had been unwound as the satellite rose from its cradle in the orbiter's payload bay. Once deployed to the 12- mile height on the STS-75 mission, the satellite will be used to validate theories that such a system could possibly be used in the future to generate electrical power to power orbital systems, raise and lower spacecraft, study atmospheric conditions at several different heights and for many other applications.

  11. Italian validation of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale.

    PubMed

    Buonanno, Pasquale; Laiola, Anna; Palumbo, Chiara; Spinelli, Gianmario; Terminiello, Virginia; Servillo, Giuseppe

    2017-07-01

    Preoperative anxiety is usually experienced by patients awaiting surgical procedures and it can negatively impact patient's outcome. The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) is a questionnaire created to identify anxious patients and their need for information: it has been translated and validated in many languages because of its reliability and ease of completion. To date, no Italian version of the APAIS has been produced; our aim was to translate and validate the APAIS in Italian. We produced an Italian version of the APAIS and we administered it to 110 patients undergoing elective surgery; we explored its structure by factor analysis and its reliability by Cronbach's alpha. We analyzed its external validity by confronting it to the Spielberg's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the Italian version of the APAIS were determined. The Italian version of the APAIS confirmed the original structure of the questionnaire and its internal consistency; it well correlated with the STAI-Y1, the subscale of the STAI which explore the anxiety "state." An APAIS score of 14 was found as best cutoff to distinguish anxious and non-anxious patients. The Italian translation of the APAIS showed psychometric properties similar to the original version. Its reliability and its efficiency make it a powerful tool even in Italian population to detect anxiety and need for information.

  12. Self-Perception of Parental Role, Family Functioning, and Familistic Beliefs in Italian Parents: Early Evidence

    PubMed Central

    Delvecchio, Elisa; Di Riso, Daniela; Salcuni, Silvia

    2016-01-01

    Recent research has explored the relationships between family and cultural issues, claiming attention on the need to consider and evaluate cultural values and beliefs as useful factors to promote positive family adjustment and parenting outcomes (Cardoso and Thompson, 2010; Taylor et al., 2012). This paper explored self-perception of parental role, family maladjustment and cultural beliefs in a sample of Italian parents. More specifically, 204 mother and 204 fathers of adolescents (13–17 years old) filled self-report questionnaires about family system maladjustment (Family Assessment Measure-III), self-perception of parental role (Self-Perception of Parental Role), parents’ beliefs and attitudes toward the family (Attitudinal Familism Scale), and parents’ cultural values (Cultural Values Survey). Results showed that parents have a similar self-perception of family functioning and they share common cultural beliefs and values toward the family. However, fathers felt more satisfied and involved in parenting then mothers and they were more able to balance the different roles of their life. Mothers and fathers showed a similar path of correlations, in which greater level of satisfaction in parenting and better ability in role balancing correlated with a more positive family adjustment. Moreover, a higher perception of family maladjustment was associated to lower levels of family cohesion and cooperation. Furthermore, higher levels of satisfaction were associated to higher scores in family solidarity, equality among sexes and equality in decision takers. These results introduce important implications for family studies in Italian culture, and open to comparison with parenting in other cultures. PMID:26793134

  13. Self-Perception of Parental Role, Family Functioning, and Familistic Beliefs in Italian Parents: Early Evidence.

    PubMed

    Delvecchio, Elisa; Di Riso, Daniela; Salcuni, Silvia

    2015-01-01

    Recent research has explored the relationships between family and cultural issues, claiming attention on the need to consider and evaluate cultural values and beliefs as useful factors to promote positive family adjustment and parenting outcomes (Cardoso and Thompson, 2010; Taylor et al., 2012). This paper explored self-perception of parental role, family maladjustment and cultural beliefs in a sample of Italian parents. More specifically, 204 mother and 204 fathers of adolescents (13-17 years old) filled self-report questionnaires about family system maladjustment (Family Assessment Measure-III), self-perception of parental role (Self-Perception of Parental Role), parents' beliefs and attitudes toward the family (Attitudinal Familism Scale), and parents' cultural values (Cultural Values Survey). Results showed that parents have a similar self-perception of family functioning and they share common cultural beliefs and values toward the family. However, fathers felt more satisfied and involved in parenting then mothers and they were more able to balance the different roles of their life. Mothers and fathers showed a similar path of correlations, in which greater level of satisfaction in parenting and better ability in role balancing correlated with a more positive family adjustment. Moreover, a higher perception of family maladjustment was associated to lower levels of family cohesion and cooperation. Furthermore, higher levels of satisfaction were associated to higher scores in family solidarity, equality among sexes and equality in decision takers. These results introduce important implications for family studies in Italian culture, and open to comparison with parenting in other cultures.

  14. Italian Bombs & Fuzes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1948-06-01

    document states that the practice of galvanising aircraft bombs has ceased, and that a protective coat of paint is now used instead. These colourings...that the Italians are still in possession of large stocks of galvanised bombs. SECTION I CHEMICAL WARFARE BOMBS No. C.W. bombs have yet been

  15. Italian Polar Metadata System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Longo, S.; Nativi, S.; Leone, C.; Migliorini, S.; Mazari Villanova, L.

    2012-04-01

    Italian Polar Metadata System C.Leone, S.Longo, S.Migliorini, L.Mazari Villanova, S. Nativi The Italian Antarctic Research Programme (PNRA) is a government initiative funding and coordinating scientific research activities in polar regions. PNRA manages two scientific Stations in Antarctica - Concordia (Dome C), jointly operated with the French Polar Institute "Paul Emile Victor", and Mario Zucchelli (Terra Nova Bay, Southern Victoria Land). In addition National Research Council of Italy (CNR) manages one scientific Station in the Arctic Circle (Ny-Alesund-Svalbard Islands), named Dirigibile Italia. PNRA started in 1985 with the first Italian Expedition in Antarctica. Since then each research group has collected data regarding biology and medicine, geodetic observatory, geophysics, geology, glaciology, physics and atmospheric chemistry, earth-sun relationships and astrophysics, oceanography and marine environment, chemistry contamination, law and geographic science, technology, multi and inter disciplinary researches, autonomously with different formats. In 2010 the Italian Ministry of Research assigned the scientific coordination of the Programme to CNR, which is in charge of the management and sharing of the scientific results carried out in the framework of the PNRA. Therefore, CNR is establishing a new distributed cyber(e)-infrastructure to collect, manage, publish and share polar research results. This is a service-based infrastructure building on Web technologies to implement resources (i.e. data, services and documents) discovery, access and visualization; in addition, semantic-enabled functionalities will be provided. The architecture applies the "System of Systems" principles to build incrementally on the existing systems by supplementing but not supplanting their mandates and governance arrangements. This allows to keep the existing capacities as autonomous as possible. This cyber(e)-infrastructure implements multi-disciplinary interoperability following

  16. Paleoenvironments and climatic changes in the Italian Peninsula during the Early Pleistocene: evidence from dental wear patterns of the ungulate community of Coste San Giacomo

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strani, Flavia; DeMiguel, Daniel; Sardella, Raffaele; Bellucci, Luca

    2015-08-01

    Quaternary glacial/interglacial alternations, influenced by orbital obliquity cycles with a 41-ka long periodicity, started in the northern hemisphere around 2.6 Ma ago. Such alternations affected the terrestrial ecosystems, especially those of the Mediterranean region, with changes in the floristic communities and the dispersal and radiation of a number of large mammal open dwellers. Analyses of tooth wear patterns of ungulates from the Early Pleistocene site of Coste San Giacomo allow for a more objective reconstruction on the paleoenvironments and the climate in the Italian Peninsula during this epoch. Our results show that this area was composed by a mosaic of biomes, in particular by steppe and woodlands/wetlands. Evidence of such heterogeneity is provided by the wide spectrum of feeding behaviours found among the numerous ungulate herbivores here recorded, with cervids (Axis cf. lyra, Croizetoceros cf. ramosus and Eucladoceros sp.) exhibiting browser diets, most of the bovids (Gazella borbonica and Leptobos sp. and Gallogoral meneghinii) being intermediate feeders and the equid Equus stenonis showing a strict grazer behaviour. These results provide new insights for a timing of changing ecosystems in Southern Europe and reveal the environmental legacy of this global climatic shift, which is essential for understanding the early occupation of Homo in Europe. Thus, our data provide new evidence that such an environmental heterogeneity and a wide spectrum of available food resources could have been the main factors favouring the settlement of early species of Homo in this area.

  17. Italian quality assurance in mental health.

    PubMed

    Rossi, Giovanni; Agnetti, Germana; Bosio, Roberto; De Luca, Pasquale; Erlicher, Arcadio; Morganti, Carla; Neri, Giovanni; Re, Edoardo; Semisa, Domenico; Fioritti, Angelo

    2014-06-01

    Since the radical changes in Italian mental health law in the 1970s, quality assurance models have gained consensus as the most suitable service assessment tool. In the 1990s, the whole Italian National Health System changed into a corporate model, and an accreditation system was implemented.The Italian Association for Quality and Accreditation in Mental Health (Associazione Italiana per la Qualità e l'Accreditamento in Salute Mentale [QUASM]) was founded in 1984, and since then, it offers consultation and support for Mental Health Departments and Regional Governments to help them to develop psychiatric programs, self-evaluation, educational programs, and professional peer-model accreditation. The QUASM accreditation manual has now gone through several revisions, the last in 2008. Until 2008, QUASM was successful in promoting quality and facilitating both institutional and professional accreditation. However, radical changes triggered by financial crisis have jeopardized quality assurance implementation. Nowadays, the challenge for QUASM is to maintain quality and accreditation geared to excellence against prevailing leveling trends.

  18. Questionable research practices among italian research psychologists.

    PubMed

    Agnoli, Franca; Wicherts, Jelte M; Veldkamp, Coosje L S; Albiero, Paolo; Cubelli, Roberto

    2017-01-01

    A survey in the United States revealed that an alarmingly large percentage of university psychologists admitted having used questionable research practices that can contaminate the research literature with false positive and biased findings. We conducted a replication of this study among Italian research psychologists to investigate whether these findings generalize to other countries. All the original materials were translated into Italian, and members of the Italian Association of Psychology were invited to participate via an online survey. The percentages of Italian psychologists who admitted to having used ten questionable research practices were similar to the results obtained in the United States although there were small but significant differences in self-admission rates for some QRPs. Nearly all researchers (88%) admitted using at least one of the practices, and researchers generally considered a practice possibly defensible if they admitted using it, but Italian researchers were much less likely than US researchers to consider a practice defensible. Participants' estimates of the percentage of researchers who have used these practices were greater than the self-admission rates, and participants estimated that researchers would be unlikely to admit it. In written responses, participants argued that some of these practices are not questionable and they have used some practices because reviewers and journals demand it. The similarity of results obtained in the United States, this study, and a related study conducted in Germany suggest that adoption of these practices is an international phenomenon and is likely due to systemic features of the international research and publication processes.

  19. Questionable research practices among italian research psychologists

    PubMed Central

    Wicherts, Jelte M.; Veldkamp, Coosje L. S.; Albiero, Paolo; Cubelli, Roberto

    2017-01-01

    A survey in the United States revealed that an alarmingly large percentage of university psychologists admitted having used questionable research practices that can contaminate the research literature with false positive and biased findings. We conducted a replication of this study among Italian research psychologists to investigate whether these findings generalize to other countries. All the original materials were translated into Italian, and members of the Italian Association of Psychology were invited to participate via an online survey. The percentages of Italian psychologists who admitted to having used ten questionable research practices were similar to the results obtained in the United States although there were small but significant differences in self-admission rates for some QRPs. Nearly all researchers (88%) admitted using at least one of the practices, and researchers generally considered a practice possibly defensible if they admitted using it, but Italian researchers were much less likely than US researchers to consider a practice defensible. Participants’ estimates of the percentage of researchers who have used these practices were greater than the self-admission rates, and participants estimated that researchers would be unlikely to admit it. In written responses, participants argued that some of these practices are not questionable and they have used some practices because reviewers and journals demand it. The similarity of results obtained in the United States, this study, and a related study conducted in Germany suggest that adoption of these practices is an international phenomenon and is likely due to systemic features of the international research and publication processes. PMID:28296929

  20. Attitudes toward Suicide: Italian and United States Physicians.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Domino, George; Perrone, Luisa

    1993-01-01

    Administered Suicide Opinion Questionnaire to 100 Italian and 100 U.S. physicians, comparable in age, gender, and medical field. Found significant difference on seven of eight scales, with Italian physicians showing greater agreement on mental illness, right to die, religion, impulsivity, normality, aggression, and moral evil scales. Found gender…

  1. Strategic Management Accounting in Universities: The Italian Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agasisti, Tommaso; Arnaboldi, Michela; Azzone, Giovanni

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents an investigation of management accounting in four major Italian universities, which have been struggling to build their strategy in a context of significant change. Following many OECD countries the Italian government has been changing its higher education system by giving more autonomy to universities. These changes pose a…

  2. Factor analysis of social skills inventory responses of Italians and Americans.

    PubMed

    Galeazzi, Aldo; Franceschina, Emilio; Holmes, George R

    2002-06-01

    The Social Skills Inventory is a 90-item self-report procedure designed to measure social and communication skills. The inventory measures six dimensions, namely, Emotional Expressivity, Emotional Sensitivity, Emotional Control, Social Expressivity, Social Sensitivity, and Social Control. The Italian version was administered in several cities in Northern Italy to 500 Italian participants ranging in age from 15 to 59 years. Factor analysis appears to confirm the adequacy of the inventory for the Italian adult population. Results indicate strong similarities between the Italian and American populations with respect to the measure of social skills. Indexes of internal reliability and test-retest reliability are good for almost all subscales of the inventory, which should encourage the use of this inventory with Italian samples.

  3. An Italian Social Learning Experience in High Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pieri, Michelle; Diamantini, Davide; Paini, Germano

    2013-01-01

    This work focuses on an experience of social learning realized in six Italian high schools in the 2012-2013 academic year. In this experience we used ThinkTag Smart, a new learning platform, to train 400 students. After an introduction concerning Information and Communication Technologies in Italian schools, this contribution will describe the…

  4. Italian Americans: A Study Guide and Source Book.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meloni, Alberto

    Aspects of Italian immigration to the United States outlined in this guide include: (1) historical precedents for the Italian migration to North and South America; (2) economic reasons for the migration; (3) costs and resulting permanence of the migration; (4) characteristics of the family and individuals who migrated; (5) assimilation of these…

  5. Two distinct β-sheet structures in Italian-mutant amyloid-beta fibrils: a potential link to different clinical phenotypes.

    PubMed

    Hubin, Ellen; Deroo, Stéphanie; Schierle, Gabriele Kaminksi; Kaminski, Clemens; Serpell, Louise; Subramaniam, Vinod; van Nuland, Nico; Broersen, Kerensa; Raussens, Vincent; Sarroukh, Rabia

    2015-12-01

    Most Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases are late-onset and characterized by the aggregation and deposition of the amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide in extracellular plaques in the brain. However, a few rare and hereditary Aβ mutations, such as the Italian Glu22-to-Lys (E22K) mutation, guarantee the development of early-onset familial AD. This type of AD is associated with a younger age at disease onset, increased β-amyloid accumulation, and Aβ deposition in cerebral blood vessel walls, giving rise to cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). It remains largely unknown how the Italian mutation results in the clinical phenotype that is characteristic of CAA. We therefore investigated how this single point mutation may affect the aggregation of Aβ1-42 in vitro and structurally characterized the resulting fibrils using a biophysical approach. This paper reports that wild-type and Italian-mutant Aβ both form fibrils characterized by the cross-β architecture, but with distinct β-sheet organizations, resulting in differences in thioflavin T fluorescence and solvent accessibility. E22K Aβ1-42 oligomers and fibrils both display an antiparallel β-sheet structure, in comparison with the parallel β-sheet structure of wild-type fibrils, characteristic of most amyloid fibrils described in the literature. Moreover, we demonstrate structural plasticity for Italian-mutant Aβ fibrils in a pH-dependent manner, in terms of their underlying β-sheet arrangement. These findings are of interest in the ongoing debate that (1) antiparallel β-sheet structure might represent a signature for toxicity, which could explain the higher toxicity reported for the Italian mutant, and that (2) fibril polymorphism might underlie differences in disease pathology and clinical manifestation.

  6. Waiting for the Market: Where Is the Italian University System Heading?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Minelli, Eliana; Rebora, Gianfranco; Turri, Matteo

    2012-01-01

    This paper analyses the factors limiting marketisation in Italian higher education. The analysis was conducted by adopting Jongbloed's framework. Using empirical data on the Italian higher education system, it is shown that only a small amount of funds are allocated to Italian universities based on market mechanisms. The analysis shows that the…

  7. Mammography screening participation: effects of a media campaign targeting Italian-speaking women.

    PubMed

    Page, Andrew; Morrell, Stephen; Tewson, Richard; Taylor, Richard; Brassil, Ann

    2005-08-01

    To evaluate the effect of a radio and newspaper campaign encouraging Italian-speaking women aged 50-69 years to attend a population-based mammography screening program. A series of radio scripts and newspaper advertisements ran weekly in the Italian-language media over two, four-week periods. Monthly mammography screens were analysed to determine if numbers of Italian-speaking women in the program increased during the two campaign periods, using interrupted time series regression analysis. A survey of Italian-speaking women attending BreastScreen NSW during the campaign period (n=240) investigated whether individuals had heard or seen the advertisements. There was no statistically significant difference in the number of initial or subsequent mammograms in Italian-speaking women between the campaign periods and the period prior to (or after) the campaign. Twenty per cent of respondents cited the Italian media campaign as a prompt to attend. Fifty per cent had heard the radio ad and 30% had seen the newspaper ad encouraging Italian-speaking women to attend BSNSW. The most common prompt to attend was the BSNSW invitation letter, followed by information or recommendation from a GP. Radio and newspaper advertisements developed for the Italian community did not significantly increase attendance to BSNSW. Measures of program effectiveness based on self-report may not correspond to aggregate screening behaviour. The development of the media campaign in conjunction with the Italian community, and the provision of appropriate levels of resourcing, did not ensure the media campaign's success.

  8. Communication Attitude of Italian Children Who Do and Do Not Stutter

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bernardini, Simona; Vanryckeghem, Martine; Brutten, Gene J.; Cocco, Luisella; Zmarich, Claudio

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this factorial study was to establish normative data for the Italian version of the Communication Attitude Test (CAT) in order to determine whether or not the speech-associated attitude reported by Italian children who stutter (CWS) differs significantly from that of their nonstuttering peers (CWNS). Toward this end, the Italian CAT…

  9. The Italian Job: Reforming a Beginners' Italian Curriculum at University Level

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Absalom, Matthew

    2012-01-01

    In 2008, the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne embarked upon a major overhaul of curriculum in nine languages: Arabic, Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese in the Asia Institute; and French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish in the School of Languages and Linguistics. This article details the changes to the beginners' Italian…

  10. Healthy migrants but unhealthy offspring? A retrospective cohort study among Italians in Switzerland.

    PubMed

    Tarnutzer, Silvan; Bopp, Matthias

    2012-12-22

    In many countries, migrants from Italy form a substantial, well-defined group with distinct lifestyle and dietary habits. There is, however, hardly any information about all-cause mortality patterns among Italian migrants and their offspring. In this paper, we compare Italian migrants, their offspring and Swiss nationals. We compared age-specific and age-standardized mortality rates and hazard ratios (adjusted for education, marital status, language region and period) for Swiss and Italian nationals registered in the Swiss National Cohort (SNC), living in the German- or French-speaking part of Switzerland and falling into the age range 40-89 during the observation period 1990-2008. Overall, 3,175,288 native Swiss (48% male) and 224,372 individuals with an Italian migration background (57% male) accumulated 698,779 deaths and 44,836,189 person-years. Individuals with Italian background were categorized by nationality, country of birth and language. First-generation Italians had lower mortality risks than native Swiss (reference group), but second-generation Italians demonstrated higher mortality risks. Among first-generation Italians, predominantly Italian-speaking men and women had hazard ratios (HRs) of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.88-0.91) and 0.90 (0.87-0.92), respectively, while men and women having adopted the regional language had HRs of 0.93 (0.88-0.98) and 0.96 (0.88-1.04), respectively. Among second-generation Italians, the respective HRs were 1.16 (1.03-1.31), 1.06 (0.89-1.26), 1.10 (1.05-1.16) and 0.97 (0.89-1.05). The mortality advantage of first-generation Italians decreased with age. The mortality risks of first- and second-generation Italians vary substantially. The healthy migrant effect and health disadvantage among second-generation Italians show characteristic age/sex patterns. Future investigation of health behavior and cause-specific mortality is needed to better understand different mortality risks. Such insights will facilitate adequate prevention and

  11. Glycemic index and glycemic load of commercial Italian foods.

    PubMed

    Scazzina, F; Dall'Asta, M; Casiraghi, M C; Sieri, S; Del Rio, D; Pellegrini, N; Brighenti, F

    2016-05-01

    The glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) are useful parameters in the nutritional classification of carbohydrate foods. Diets characterized by a low GI and/or a low GL have been repeatedly and independently associated with decreased risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases. The aim of this study is to report the GI and GL value of carbohydrate-rich foods available on the Italian market and mostly consumed in Italy. GI values were determined according to FAO/WHO (1997) and ISO (2010). Overall, the 141 commercial foods that were analyzed represent food categories that are the source of >80% carbohydrate intake in Italy. The food items chosen were based mainly on the market share of the brand within each food category and grouped into 13 food categories: 1) beverages: fermented milk drink, juice, smoothie, soft drink; 2) biscuits; 3) breads; 4) bread substitutes; 5) breakfast cereals; 6) cakes and snacks; 7) candy and confectionery; 8) cereals; 9) desserts and ice-creams; 10) marmalade and jam; 11) pasta; 12) pizza; 13) sugar and sweetener. This database of commercial Italian foods partly overcomes the lack of information on GI and GL of local foods, contributing to a better understanding of the association between GI/GL and health and providing a more informed choice to Italian consumers and health practitioners. Copyright © 2016 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Fundamental period of Italian reinforced concrete buildings: comparison between numerical, experimental and Italian code simplified values

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ditommaso, Rocco; Carlo Ponzo, Felice; Auletta, Gianluca; Iacovino, Chiara; Nigro, Antonella

    2015-04-01

    Aim of this study is a comparison among the fundamental period of reinforced concrete buildings evaluated using the simplified approach proposed by the Italian Seismic code (NTC 2008), numerical models and real values retrieved from an experimental campaign performed on several buildings located in Basilicata region (Italy). With the intention of proposing simplified relationships to evaluate the fundamental period of reinforced concrete buildings, scientists and engineers performed several numerical and experimental campaigns, on different structures all around the world, to calibrate different kind of formulas. Most of formulas retrieved from both numerical and experimental analyses provides vibration periods smaller than those suggested by the Italian seismic code. However, it is well known that the fundamental period of a structure play a key role in the correct evaluation of the spectral acceleration for seismic static analyses. Generally, simplified approaches impose the use of safety factors greater than those related to in depth nonlinear analyses with the aim to cover possible unexpected uncertainties. Using the simplified formula proposed by the Italian seismic code the fundamental period is quite higher than fundamental periods experimentally evaluated on real structures, with the consequence that the spectral acceleration adopted in the seismic static analysis may be significantly different than real spectral acceleration. This approach could produces a decreasing in safety factors obtained using linear and nonlinear seismic static analyses. Finally, the authors suggest a possible update of the Italian seismic code formula for the simplified estimation of the fundamental period of vibration of existing RC buildings, taking into account both elastic and inelastic structural behaviour and the interaction between structural and non-structural elements. Acknowledgements This study was partially funded by the Italian Civil Protection Department within the

  13. The Italian genome reflects the history of Europe and the Mediterranean basin

    PubMed Central

    Fiorito, Giovanni; Di Gaetano, Cornelia; Guarrera, Simonetta; Rosa, Fabio; Feldman, Marcus W; Piazza, Alberto; Matullo, Giuseppe

    2016-01-01

    Recent scientific literature has highlighted the relevance of population genetic studies both for disease association mapping in admixed populations and for understanding the history of human migrations. Deeper insight into the history of the Italian population is critical for understanding the peopling of Europe. Because of its crucial position at the centre of the Mediterranean basin, the Italian peninsula has experienced a complex history of colonization and migration whose genetic signatures are still present in contemporary Italians. In this study, we investigated genomic variation in the Italian population using 2.5 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms in a sample of more than 300 unrelated Italian subjects with well-defined geographical origins. We combined several analytical approaches to interpret genome-wide data on 1272 individuals from European, Middle Eastern, and North African populations. We detected three major ancestral components contributing different proportions across the Italian peninsula, and signatures of continuous gene flow within Italy, which have produced remarkable genetic variability among contemporary Italians. In addition, we have extracted novel details about the Italian population's ancestry, identifying the genetic signatures of major historical events in Europe and the Mediterranean basin from the Neolithic (e.g., peopling of Sardinia) to recent times (e.g., ‘barbarian invasion' of Northern and Central Italy). These results are valuable for further genetic, epidemiological and forensic studies in Italy and in Europe. PMID:26554880

  14. Speech of italian ambassador

    ScienceCinema

    None

    2018-05-18

    The Italian ambassador gives a speech on research at CERN, an international organization which has the goal of knowledge in its purest form and free from planetary interest. He gives a prize to the DG C. Rubbia who thanks him in French.

  15. Speech of italian ambassador

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    None

    The Italian ambassador gives a speech on research at CERN, an international organization which has the goal of knowledge in its purest form and free from planetary interest. He gives a prize to the DG C. Rubbia who thanks him in French.

  16. Industrial action by nurses: the Italian situation.

    PubMed

    Sala, R; Usai, M

    1997-07-01

    Those who want to know anything about strike action by Italian nurses will find very little written about it. This contribution intends to show that, whatever they are prepared to admit, Italian nurses are not used to strike action because they mostly think of their profession as a form of mission. Even if we could agree with the idea of nursing as a profession subscribing to an ideal of service, we have to distinguish between a real profession and philanthropic work; vocational motivation is not enough to make a good professional. Historically, nurses perceived strikes as contradictory to human need and action; patients must never be left alone. However, Italian nurses are now interested in a dramatic transformation of many aspects of their professional life, becoming conscious of the duty to protect themselves from every kind of exploitation, even if the typical idealism and dedication of nurses makes them vulnerable.

  17. Factorial validity of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Italian psychiatric patients.

    PubMed

    Innamorati, Marco; Erbuto, Denise; Venturini, Paola; Fagioli, Francesca; Ricci, Federica; Lester, David; Amore, Mario; Girardi, Paolo; Pompili, Maurizio

    2016-11-30

    Early adverse experiences are associated with neurobiological changes and these may underlie the increased risk of psychopathology. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) is the most commonly used instrument for assessing childhood maltreatment. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the factorial validity of an Italian version of the CTQ-SF in a sample of psychiatric inpatients by means of confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The sample was composed of 471 psychiatric in-patients and out-patients (206 males and 265 females) aged 16-80 years (mean age=34.4 years [SD=16.3]) consecutively admitted to two psychiatric departments. All patients were administered the Italian version of the CTQ-SF. We tested five different factor models which lacked good fit, while the exploratory factor analysis supported the adequacy of a solution with three factors (Emotional Neglect/Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Physical Neglect/Abuse). The three factors had satisfactory internal consistency (ordinal Cronbach alphas >0.90). Our study supports results from previous research indicating the lack of structural invariance of the CTQ-SF in cross-cultural adaptations of the test, and the fact that, when measuring different types of childhood maltreatment, the difference between abuse and neglect may be not valid. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and corn (Zea mays)competition

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Italian ryegrass is an annual/biennial grass that is typically used as a pasture crop or a cover crop along roadsides, rights-of-way, and industrial areas. Glyphosate-resistant (GR) Italian ryegrass populations have been documented around the world, mostly in orchard and vineyard situations. The fir...

  19. Effects of eradication and restoration treatments on Italian thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McGinnis, Thomas; Keeley, Jon

    2011-01-01

    Low elevation grasslands in California long have been dominated by Mediterranean grasses, but many areas still have large native forb populations. Alien forbs invade these grasslands, displacing both native and other alien species. Italian thistle is a noxious alien herb that has recently invaded these grasslands, including ungrazed blue oak (Quercus douglassii) and interior live oak (Quercus wislizenii) stands in Sequoia National Park. Here, Italian thistle tends to dominate under oaks and has the potential to substantially alter the foothill ecosystem by displacing native plants and acting as a ladder fuel that can carry fires into the oak canopy. We tested the effects of selectively reducing Italian thistle populations alone and in combination with restoration of native species. Two thistle eradication techniques (clipping and the application of clopyralid herbicide) and two restoration techniques (addition of native forb seeds or planting native grass plugs) were used. After two consecutive years of treatment we found: a) clipping was not effective at reducing Italian thistle populations (clipping reduced Italian thistle density in some areas, but not vegetative cover), b) herbicide reduced both Italian thistle density and vegetative cover for the first two growing seasons after application, but cover rebounded in the third growing season, c) native forb cover and species richness were not significantly affected by clipping or spot-treating with herbicide, d) the grass and forb addition treatments by themselves were not effective at reducing Italian thistle during the course of this study and e) sowing annual forb seeds after clipping resulted in greater forb cover and moderately reduced Italian thistle vegetative cover in the short term.

  20. Thyroid swellings in the art of the Italian Renaissance.

    PubMed

    Sterpetti, Antonio V; De Toma, Giorgio; De Cesare, Alessandro

    2015-09-01

    Thyroid swellings in the art of the Italian Renaissance are sporadically reported in the medical literature. Six hundred paintings and sculptures from the Italian Renaissance, randomly selected, were analyzed to determine the prevalence of personages with thyroid swellings and its meaning. The prevalence of personages with thyroid swellings in the art of Italian Renaissance is much higher than previously thought. This phenomenon was probably secondary to iodine deficiency. The presence of personages with thyroid swelling was related to specific meanings the artists wanted to show in their works. Even if the function and the role of the thyroid were discovered only after thyroidectomy was started to be performed, at the beginning of the 19th century, artists of the Italian Renaissance had the intuition that thyroid swellings were related to specific psychological conditions. Artistic intuition and sensibility often comes before scientific demonstration, and it should be a guide for science development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. [Italian cold cuts evolution. New opportunities for diet in athletes].

    PubMed

    Driussi, Caterina; Vriz, Olga; Mos, Lucio

    2012-10-01

    Italian cold cuts were not recommended for cardiac patients, healthy people, and athletes because of their high content in salt, fat, calories, and cholesterol. Recent studies from INRAN (National Institute of Research for Food and Nutrition) have provided new insights into Italian cold cuts, showing that they are more digestible, with less sodium, fat, cholesterol and calories, than previous products. Thanks to these new chemical-physical characteristics, Italian cold cuts can now be indicated for nutrition in the general population and athletes.

  2. Students with a Foreign Background in Italian Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET) and the Access to Italian as Second Language

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniele, Luisa

    2017-01-01

    This paper is based on the results of a 2014-2015 quantitative survey on a sample of 1,840 foreign students and 1,835 Italian students, of which, 41% of the Italians and 35% of those of foreign origins interviewed were female. The overall age was between 14 and 24, and these students attended courses in the Initial Vocational Education and…

  3. Real and Perceived Employability: A Comparison among Italian Graduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caricati, Luca; Chiesa, Rita; Guglielmi, Dina; Mariani, Marco Giovanni

    2016-01-01

    The research undertaken for this article aims to analyse the correspondence between perceived employability and the actual national employment rate among Italian students and graduates undertaking different courses in a large Italian university. Data were collected through a cross-sectional survey of 2087 students in 19 faculties, and compared…

  4. Italian Sixteenth-Century Italian Writing Books and the Scribal Reality in Verona.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clement, Richard W.

    1986-01-01

    Uses evidence of common writings found in the Rosenthal Collection of North Italian Documents at the University of Chicago to determine that the type of hand written script most popular in sixteenth century Verona was not the "cancellaresca" found in most copy books, but rather the italic and mercantilist scripts. (SKC)

  5. Guidelines for asbestos remediation at Italian superfund sites.

    PubMed

    Paglietti, F; Malinconico, S; Di Molfetta, V; Giangrasso, M

    2012-01-01

    Asbestos is now banned in 52 countries. Although Italy banned asbestos in 1992, up until that date it had been one of the main producer nations of asbestos and asbestos-containing materials, and asbestos-related contamination is still widespread in the country. To reduce asbestos-related health effects, Italy has adopted many laws and regulations regarding exposure thresholds and remediation tools. Even so, there are legislative gaps that are making it difficult to manage related risks especially in the operative phase. The lack of standard procedures at a national level regarding emergency shutdown and remediation as well as reference thresholds for specific risk situations creates difficulties and different actions when dealing with the cleanup of Italian asbestos superfund sites. The authors propose operative guidelines for asbestos remediation at Italian superfund sites. INAIL, the reference national organization for asbestos-related matters, acting as an advisor to a number of state, regional, and local authorities, examined the main asbestos-related risk situations in Italy and proposed the most appropriate actions to take. The detailed analysis of many actual cases of risk, in part through inspections and the management of cleanup actions at asbestos Italian superfund sites, resulted in proposals to modify existing procedures and thresholds, which were subsequently discussed with all national, regional, and local scientific bodies. After more than two years of work and discussion at a national level, INAIL-DIPIA-Asbestos Group drafted new Guidelines for Asbestos Remediation at Italian Superfund sites, and officially submitted them to the Environment Ministry. The Ministry then adopted the document in regard to all asbestos Italian superfunds. This recently released document is also a useful reference for contaminated sites at a regional and local level. The operative Guidelines for Asbestos Remediation at Italian Superfund sites may also be of use at an

  6. A database for semantic, grammatical, and frequency properties of the first words acquired by Italian children.

    PubMed

    Rinaldi, Pasquale; Barca, Laura; Burani, Cristina

    2004-08-01

    The CFVlexvar.xls database includes imageability, frequency, and grammatical properties of the first words acquired by Italian children. For each of 519 words that are known by children 18-30 months of age (taken from Caselli & Casadio's, 1995, Italian version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory), new values of imageability are provided and values for age of acquisition, child written frequency, and adult written and spoken frequency are included. In this article, correlations among the variables are discussed and the words are grouped into grammatical categories. The results show that words acquired early have imageable referents, are frequently used in the texts read and written by elementary school children, and are frequent in adult written and spoken language. Nouns are acquired earlier and are more imageable than both verbs and adjectives. The composition in grammatical categories of the child's first vocabulary reflects the composition of adult vocabulary. The full set of these norms can be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

  7. Child sexual abuse: an Italian perspective.

    PubMed

    Cattaneo, Cristina; Ruspa, Marina; Motta, Tiziano; Gentilomo, Andrea; Scagnelli, Chiara

    2007-06-01

    The problem of child sexual abuse is a growing reality in Italy. The experience of over 200 children seen by the SVS (Soccorso Violenza Sessuale) Centre in Milan (the first Italian large-scale study) may give more information on the European situation. This study is a retrospective study based on information contained in the files of children beneath the age of 14 seen at the SVS Centre between May 1996 and May 2003, who arrived with a suspicion of child sexual abuse. Over 80% of all cases fell within the normal-aspecific category according to Adams' 2001 classification. This first Italian survey, though not based on substantiated cases but only on cases of suspected sexual abuse, supplies a perspective on a large northern European city such as Milan. Data seem similar to those published in other non-European studies, particularly as regards clinical signs observed. Thus, the results of this study, with all their limitations, start to give a perspective on the frequency and type of child population reaching this Italian center, what the scenarios are, what signs the children present and how infrequent it is to find clinical anogenital signs concerning for sexual abuse.

  8. Data-Driven Learning and the Acquisition of Italian Collocations: From Design to Student Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Forti, Luciana

    2017-01-01

    This paper looks at how corpus data was used to design an Italian as an L2 language learning programme and how it was evaluated by students. The study focuses on the acquisition of Italian verb-noun collocations by Chinese native students attending a ten month long Italian language course before enrolling at an Italian university. It describes how…

  9. Exposure to secondhand smoke in Italian non-smokers 5 years after the Italian smoking ban.

    PubMed

    Martínez-Sánchez, Jose M; Gallus, Silvano; Zuccaro, Piergiorgio; Colombo, Paolo; Fernández, Esteve; Manzari, Marco; La Vecchia, Carlo

    2012-10-01

    No data on secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure are available on a national level in Italy. To assess the prevalence of exposure to SHS in indoor public places, home and cars in non-smoking Italian population, we conducted a survey 5 years after the national smoking ban. In 2010, we conducted a survey on a representative sample of the Italian population aged≥15 years. Analyses were conducted on 2365 non-smokers. Current (during the previous week) self-reported exposure to SHS was assessed in public places, at home and in private cars. The prevalence of SHS exposure in any setting (excluding workplaces) was 31.2%. SHS exposure was 10.2% in public places, 15.6% at home and 17.9% in cars. The corresponding estimates among the young (15-24 years) were 54.2% in any setting, 21.4% in public places, 27.1% at home and 32.9% in cars. By multivariate analysis, males, the young, subjects from southern Italy and former smokers were more frequently exposed in any setting. The Italian smoking ban substantially decreased SHS exposure. However, specific subpopulations, including the young, are still frequently exposed both in public and private places. We observed a relatively high SHS exposure in private vehicles. Thus, further control to improve compliance with the smoking ban and an extension of the smoke-free legislation to motor vehicles are needed.

  10. The history of Italian parasitology.

    PubMed

    Roncalli Amici, R

    2001-07-12

    The history of Italian parasitology can be subdivided into two periods: pre-Redi and post-Redi. The first period includes the contributions to parasitology by savants who operated during the Roman, medieval and Renaissance eras; the second period started in 1668 when Francesco Redi published his experiments to debunk the theory of spontaneous generation; the work of Redi was subsequently continued by Vallisnieri, Spallanzani and others. The latter period includes classic contributions in the field of parasitology provided by veterinarians such as Ercolani, Perroncito, Piana and Rivolta, and by physicians such as Bassi, Grassi, Golgi, and Celli. Also, two outstanding pages of medical parasitology were written during this period--the unraveling and defeat of St. Gotthard's disease and the conquering of malaria on Italian soil--both accomplished through the generous efforts of dedicated individuals.

  11. A step-wise steerable source of illumination for low-noise “Violin-Mode” shadow sensors, intended for use in interferometric gravitational wave detectors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    A steerable low-noise source of illumination is described for shadow-sensors having a displacement sensitivity of ∼100 pm (rms)/√Hz, at 500 Hz, over a measuring span of at least ±0.5 mm. These sensors were designed to detect lateral “Violin-Mode” resonances in the highly tensioned fused-silica suspension fibres of the test-masses/mirrors for the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory gravitational wave detectors. The shadow sensors—one intended for each of the four fibres in a suspension—comprised a source of Near InfraRed (NIR) radiation (emitter) and a differential shadow-displacement sensor (detector), these bracketing the fibre under test. The suspension fibres themselves were approximately 600more » mm long by 0.4 mm in diameter, and when illuminated from the side, they cast narrow, vertical, shadows onto their respective detectors—these being located at an effective distance of 50 fibre diameters behind the axes of the fibres themselves. The emitter described here was designed to compensate for a significant degree of mechanical drift or creep over time in the mean position of its suspension fibre. This was achieved by employing five adjacent columns of 8  × miniature NIR LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes, λ = 890 nm), with one column being activated at a time. When used in conjunction with a “reverse Galilean” telescope, the LED sources allowed the collimated beam from the emitter to be steered azimuthally in fine angular increments (0.65°), causing the fibre’s shadow to move laterally, in a step-wise manner, across the plane of its facing detector. Each step in shadow position was approximately 0.23 mm in size, and this allowed the fibre’s shadow to be re-centred, so as to bridge once again both elements of its photodiode detector—even if the fibre was off-centred by as much as ±0.5 mm. Re-centring allowed Violin-Mode vibrations of the fibre to be sensed once again as differential AC photocurrents, these

  12. Health Information in Italian (Italiano)

    MedlinePlus

    ... in a new window. N Expand Section Nutrition Choose MyPlate: 10 Tips to a Great Plate - English PDF Choose MyPlate: 10 Tips to a Great Plate - Italiano (Italian) PDF Center for Nutrition Policy and ...

  13. Occupational Gender Stereotypes and Problem-Solving in Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ginevra, Maria Cristina; Nota, Laura

    2017-01-01

    The first purpose of the study was to establish how Italian adolescents perceive jobs in the newly emerging economy sectors as well as more traditional jobs from gender-stereotyped and gender-segregated perspectives. The second purpose was to verify the role of problem-solving and gender in gender-role stereotyping. A total of 217 Italian high…

  14. The "ARIANNA" Project: An Observational Study on a Model of Early Identification of Patients with Palliative Care Needs through the Integration between Primary Care and Italian Home Palliative Care Units.

    PubMed

    Scaccabarozzi, Gianlorenzo; Amodio, Emanuele; Pellegrini, Giacomo; Limonta, Fabrizio; Lora Aprile, Pierangelo; Lovaglio, Pietro Giorgio; Peruselli, Carlo; Crippa, Matteo

    2018-05-01

    The aim of this study was to illustrate the characteristics of patients with palliative care (PC) needs, early identified by general practitioners (GPs), and to analyze their care process in home PC services. Early identification and service integration are key components to providing quality palliative care (PC) services ensuring the best possible service for patients and their families. However, in Italy, PC is often provided only in the last phase of life and for oncological patients, with a fragmented service. Multicenter prospective observational study, lasting in total 18 months, implemented in a sample of Italian Home Palliative Care Units (HPCUs), enrolling and monitoring patients with limited life expectancy, early identified by 94 GPs. The study began on March 1, 2014 and ended on August 31, 2015. Nine hundred thirty-seven patients, out of a total pool of 139,071, were identified by GPs as having a low life expectancy and PC needs. Of these, 556 (59.3%) were nononcological patients. The GPs sent 433 patients to the HPCUs for multidimensional assessment, and 328 (75.8%) were placed in the care of both settings (basic or specialist). For all patients included in the study, both oncological and nononcological patients, there was a high rate of death at home, around 70%. This study highlights how a model based on early identification, multidimensional evaluation, and integration of services can promote adequate PC, also for noncancer patients, with a population-based approach.

  15. The Italian contribution to the CSES satellite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Conti, Livio

    2016-04-01

    We present the Italian contribution to the CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) mission. The CSES satellite aims at investigating electromagnetic field, plasma and particles in the near-Earth environment in order to study in particular seismic precursors, particles fluxes (from Van Allen belts, cosmic rays, solar wind, etc.), anthropogenic electromagnetic pollution and more in general the atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling mechanisms that can affect the climate changes. The launch of CSES - the first of a series of several satellite missions - is scheduled by the end of 2016. The CSES satellite has been financed by the CNSA (China National Space Agency) and developed by CEA (China Earthquake Administration) together with several Chinese research institutes and private companies such as the DFH (that has developed the CAST2000 satellite platform). Italy participates to the CSES satellite mission with the LIMADOU project funded by ASI (Italian Space Agency) in collaboration with the Universities of Roma Tor Vergata, Uninettuno, Trento, Bologna and Perugia, as well as the INFN (Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics), INGV (Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) and INAF-IAPS (Italian National Institute of Astrophysics and Planetology). Many analyses have shown that satellite observations of electromagnetic fields, plasma parameters and particle fluxes in low Earth orbit may be useful in order to study the existence of electromagnetic emissions associated with the occurrence of earthquakes of medium and high magnitude. Although the earthquakes forecasting is not possible today, it is certainly a major challenge - and perhaps even a duty - for science in the near future. The claims that the reported anomalies (of electromagnetic, plasma and particle parameters) are seismic precursors are still intensely debated and analyses for confirming claimed correlations are still lacking. In fact, ionospheric currents, plasma

  16. Italian Validation of Homophobia Scale (HS).

    PubMed

    Ciocca, Giacomo; Capuano, Nicolina; Tuziak, Bogdan; Mollaioli, Daniele; Limoncin, Erika; Valsecchi, Diana; Carosa, Eleonora; Gravina, Giovanni L; Gianfrilli, Daniele; Lenzi, Andrea; Jannini, Emmanuele A

    2015-09-01

    The Homophobia Scale (HS) is a valid tool to assess homophobia. This test is self-reporting, composed of 25 items, which assesses a total score and three factors linked to homophobia: behavior/negative affect, affect/behavioral aggression, and negative cognition. The aim of this study was to validate the HS in the Italian context. An Italian translation of the HS was carried out by two bilingual people, after which an English native translated the test back into the English language. A psychologist and sexologist checked the translated items from a clinical point of view. We recruited 100 subjects aged18-65 for the Italian validation of the HS. The Pearson coefficient and Cronbach's α coefficient were performed to test the test-retest reliability and internal consistency. A sociodemographic questionnaire including the main information as age, geographic distribution, partnership status, education, religious orientation, and sex orientation was administrated together with the translated version of HS. The analysis of the internal consistency showed an overall Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.92. In the four domains, the Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.90 in behavior/negative affect, 0.94 in affect/behavioral aggression, and 0.92 in negative cognition, whereas in the total score was 0.86. The test-retest reliability showed the following results: the HS total score was r = 0.93 (P < 0.0001), behavior/negative affect was r = 0.79 (P < 0.0001), affect/behavioral aggression was r = 0.81 (P < 0.0001), and negative cognition was r = 0.75 (P < 0.0001). The Italian validation of the HS revealed the use of this self-report test to have good psychometric properties. This study offers a new tool to assess homophobia. In this regard, the HS can be introduced into the clinical praxis and into programs for the prevention of homophobic behavior.

  17. Somatotype of elite Italian gymnasts.

    PubMed

    Massidda, Myosotis; Toselli, Stefania; Brasili, Patricia; Calò, Carla M

    2013-09-01

    The somatotyping method is especially helpful in sports in which the body could directly influence the biomechanics of movements and the performance's results. The purpose of this study was to determine the somatotype of elite Italian gymnasts and to compare it in terms of competition levels. The sample comprised 64 elite gymnasts (42 females (F), somatotype 1.4-4.4-3.2; and 22 males (M), somatotype 1.6-6.3-2.1) belonging to the Italian National Artistic Gymnastic Team (2007) at different competition levels: Allieve, Junior, and Senior. Mean whole somatotypes, by competition levels, were not significantly different in both sexes (Female gymnasts: Allieve, 1.3-4.6-3.3; Junior, 1.3-4.2-3.6; Senior, 1.7-4.2-2.7; Male gymnasts: Junior, 1.5-6.3-2.5; Senior, 1.7-6.3-1.6). Male Junior gymnasts exhibited greater ectomorphy than Senior athletes (F1,20 = 7.75, p < 0.01). Compared to other elite athletes male and female gymnasts tend to be less endomorphic and more mesomorphic. This study highlighted the peculiarities of the somatotype of Italian elite gymnasts and their strong homogeneity, evident also from the low values of somatotype attitudinal mean (SAM). The results emphasize the need for a specific somatotype to reach an elite level in sport and the need to integrate the somatotype analysis between the scientific instruments for selecting talent also in artistic gymnastics.

  18. Know Your Laws. Italian.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Watson, Joan Q.

    This Italian language version of "Know Your Laws" consists of 24 self-contained modules designed to acquaint the Florida adult students with law they will meet in everyday life; fundamentals of local, state, and federal governments; and the criminal and juvenile justice systems. (The 130 objectives are categorized in the first three…

  19. Thematic Issue: Italian Theatre.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirby, Michael, Ed.

    1978-01-01

    In 1964, when the "living" theatre appeared to be dying in New York, theater in Italy began changing from an author-oriented to a performance-oriented, nonliterary form. The articles in this document trace the historical development of Italian theatre and analyze current dramas which demonstrate the diversity of approaches and the energy…

  20. "Great Equalizer" or "Cruel Stepmother"? Image of the School in Italian-American Literature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oliver, Lawrence J.

    1987-01-01

    Analyzes the school motif in Italian-American literature. Focuses on novels which dramatize the Italian immigrants' initial resistance to American compulsory education. Asserts that many of these represent the American school as a reflection of the larger society, and as the root of the Italians' assimilation difficulties. (KH)

  1. Socio-Demographic Vulnerability: The Condition of Italian Young People

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Busetta, A.; Milito, A. M.

    2010-01-01

    For a kind of inertia effect, today the Italian welfare state protects the older too much and, on the contrary, it does not counter sufficiently the new risks associated with other phases of life. Not much seems to be implemented in favour of Italian young people who, as a matter of fact, seem to suffer a lot from the present changes: young people…

  2. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): linguistic validation of the Italian version.

    PubMed

    Filocamo, Maria Teresa; Serati, Maurizio; Li Marzi, Vincenzo; Costantini, Elisabetta; Milanesi, Martina; Pietropaolo, Amelia; Polledro, Patrizio; Gentile, Barbara; Maruccia, Serena; Fornia, Samanta; Lauri, Irene; Alei, Rosanna; Arcangeli, Paola; Sighinolfi, Maria Chiara; Manassero, Francesca; Andretta, Elena; Palazzetti, Anna; Bertelli, Elena; Del Popolo, Giulio; Villari, Donata

    2014-02-01

    Although several new measurements for female sexual dysfunction (FSD) have recently been developed, the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) remains the gold standard for screening and one of the most widely used questionnaires. The Italian translation of the FSFI has been used in several studies conducted in Italy, but a linguistic validation of the Italian version does not exist. The aim of this study was to perform a linguistic validation of the Italian version of the FSFI. A multicenter cross-sectional study conducted in 14 urological and gynecological clinics, uniformly distributed over Italian territory. We performed all steps necessary to determine the reliability and the test-retest reliability of the Italian version of the FSFI. The study population was a convenience sample of 409 Italian women. The reliability of the questionnaire was calculated using Cronbach's alpha, which was considered weak, moderate, or high if its value was found less than 0.6, between 0.6 and 0.8, or equal to or greater than 0.8, respectively. The test-retest reliability was assessed for all women in the sample by calculating Pearson's concordance correlation coefficient for each domain and for the total score, both at baseline and after 15 days (r range between -1.00 to +1.00, where +1.00 indicates the strongest positive association). Cronbach's alpha coefficients for total and domain score were sufficiently high, ranging from 0.92 to 0.97 for the total sample. The test-retest procedure revealed that the concordance correlation coefficient was very high both for FSFI-I total score (Pearson's P = 0.93) and for each domain (Pearson's P always >0.92). For the first time in the literature, our study has produced a validated and reliable Italian version of the FSFI questionnaire. Consequently, the Italian FSFI can be used as a reliable tool for preliminary screening for female sexual dysfunction for Italian women. © 2013 International Society for Sexual Medicine.

  3. Hepatocellular carcinoma in thalassaemia: an update of the Italian Registry.

    PubMed

    Borgna-Pignatti, Caterina; Garani, Maria Chiara; Forni, Gian Luca; Cappellini, Maria Domenica; Cassinerio, Elena; Fidone, Carmelo; Spadola, Vincenzo; Maggio, Aurelio; Restivo Pantalone, Gaetano; Piga, Antonio; Longo, Filomena; Gamberini, Maria Rita; Ricchi, Paolo; Costantini, Silvia; D'Ascola, Domenico; Cianciulli, Paolo; Lai, Maria Eliana; Carta, Maria Paola; Ciancio, Angela; Cavalli, Paola; Putti, Maria Caterina; Barella, Susanna; Amendola, Giovanni; Campisi, Saveria; Capra, Marcello; Caruso, Vincenzo; Colletta, Grazia; Volpato, Stefano

    2014-10-01

    The risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with thalassaemia is increased by transfusion-transmitted infections and haemosiderosis. All Italian Thalassaemia Centres use an ad hoc form to report all diagnoses of HCC to the Italian Registry. Since our last report, in 2002, up to December 2012, 62 new cases were identified, 52% of whom were affected by thalassaemia major (TM) and 45% by thalassaemia intermedia (TI). Two had sickle-thalassaemia (ST). The incidence of the tumour is increasing, possibly because of the longer survival of patients and consequent longer exposure to the noxious effects of the hepatotropic viruses and iron. Three patients were hepatitis B surface antigen-positive, 36 patients showed evidence of past infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Fifty-four patients had antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV), 43 of whom were HCV RNA positive. Only 4 had no evidence of exposure either to HCV or HBV. The mean liver iron concentration was 8 mg/g dry weight. Therapy included chemoembolization, thermoablation with radiofrequency and surgical excision. Three patients underwent liver transplant, 21 received palliative therapy. As of December 2012, 41 patients had died. The average survival time from HCC detection to death was 11·5 months (1·4-107·2 months). Ultrasonography is recommended every 6 months to enable early diagnosis of HCC, which is crucial to decrease mortality. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Design of short Italian sentences to assess near vision performance.

    PubMed

    Calossi, Antonio; Boccardo, Laura; Fossetti, Alessandro; Radner, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    To develop and validate 28 short Italian sentences for the construction of the Italian version of the Radner Reading Chart to simultaneously measure near visual acuity and reading speed. 41 sentences were constructed in Italian language, following the procedure defined by Radner, to obtain "sentence optotypes" with comparable structure and with the same lexical and grammatical difficulty. Sentences were statistically selected and used in 211 normal, non-presbyopic, native Italian-speaking persons. The most equally matched sentences in terms of reading speed and number of reading errors were selected. To assess the validity of the reading speed results obtained with the 28 selected short sentences, we compared the reading speed and reading errors with the average obtained by reading two long 4th-grade paragraphs (97 and 90 words) under the same conditions. The overall mean reading speed of the tested persons was 189±26wpm. The 28 sentences more similar in terms of reading times were selected, achieving a coefficient of variation (the relative SD) of 2.2%. The reliability analyses yielded an overall Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.98. The correlation between the short sentences and the long paragraph was high (r=0.85, P<0.0001). The 28 short single Italian sentences optotypes were highly comparable in syntactical structure, number, position, and length of words, lexical difficulty, and reading length. The resulting Italian Radner Reading Chart is precise (high consistency) and practical (short sentences) and therefore useful for research and clinical practice to simultaneously measure near reading acuity and reading speed. Copyright © 2013 Spanish General Council of Optometry. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  5. The Italian Code of Medical Deontology: characterizing features of its 2014 edition.

    PubMed

    Conti, Andrea Alberto

    2015-09-14

    The latest edition of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology has been released by the Italian Federation of the Registers of Physicians and Dentists in May 2014 (1). The previous edition of the Italian Code dated back to 2006 (2), and it has been integrated and updated by a multi-professional and inter-disciplinary panel involving, besides physicians, representatives of scientific societies and trade unions, jurisconsults and experts in bioethics....

  6. Parental practices of Italian mothers and fathers during early infancy: The role of knowledge about parenting and child development.

    PubMed

    Scarzello, Donatella; Arace, Angelica; Prino, Laura Elvira

    2016-08-01

    Our contribution aims to verify whether parental knowledge about child development and parenting constitutes a protective factor in the application of dysfunctional educational practices. Numerous studies have found that parental knowledge has a great influence on parenting, however it remains unclear whether both are casually linked in a direct and linear way. Data currently available on parental knowledge almost exclusively refers to mothers and subjects at risk. Furthermore, there are almost no studies which take into consideration subjects who are Italian citizens. In contrast our work takes into consideration a normative sample of 157 Italian couples who are the parents of children aged between 16 and 36 months and who completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI; MacPhee, 1981) and the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993). The results highlight differences between mothers and fathers, both in terms of knowledge levels (higher for mothers) and educational practices (maternal practices are more frequently dysfunctional); knowledge influences educational practices above all in the case of fathers, although said effect is slight, which supports the idea that interaction between knowledge and parental practices is not linear but rather mediated by other factors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. A Survey of English-Medium Instruction in Italian Higher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Costa, Francesca; Coleman, James A.

    2013-01-01

    English-taught Programmes (ETPs) have increased exponentially in European universities over the last 10 years, leading to growing numbers of bilingual graduates. This study reports on the most recent survey of ETPs in Italian higher education. A questionnaire completed in 2010 by 50% of Italian universities addressed both organisational factors…

  8. Italian Developmental Dyslexic and Proficient Readers: Where Are the Differences?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barca, Laura; Burani, Cristina; Di Filippo, Gloria; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi

    2006-01-01

    Italian dyslexic children are characterized by a pervasive reading speed deficit, with relatively preserved accuracy. This pattern has been associated with predominant use of the nonlexical reading procedure. However, there is no evidence of a deficit in the lexical route of Italian dyslexics. We investigated both lexical and nonlexical reading…

  9. Identity Formation in Adolescents from Italian, Mixed, and Migrant Families

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crocetti, Elisabetta; Fermani, Alessandra; Pojaghi, Barbara; Meeus, Wim

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare identity formation in adolescents from Italian (n = 261), mixed (n = 100), and migrant families (n =148). Participants completed the Italian version of the Utrecht-Management of Identity Commitments Scale that assesses identity processes in educational and relational domains. Within a variable-centered…

  10. [The decoration of Italian Renaissance drug jars after engravings].

    PubMed

    Drey, R E

    1994-01-01

    Although Italian drug jar painters generally devised original compositions for the ornamentation of their products, on occasion they derived their subjects from printed sources. Printed sources used by drug jar artists of the Renaissance include wood-engraved Italian tarot cards and wood-engraved illustrations by Hans Sebald Beham and Bernard Salomon in miniature bibles published in the sixteenth century in Frankfurt and in Lyons respectively.

  11. Team performance in the Italian NHS: the role of reflexivity.

    PubMed

    Urbini, Flavio; Callea, Antonino; Chirumbolo, Antonio; Talamo, Alessandra; Ingusci, Emanuela; Ciavolino, Enrico

    2018-04-09

    Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the goodness of the input-process-output (IPO) model in order to evaluate work team performance within the Italian National Health Care System (NHS); and second, to test the mediating role of reflexivity as an overarching process factor between input and output. Design/methodology/approach The Italian version of the Aston Team Performance Inventory was administered to 351 employees working in teams in the Italian NHS. Mediation analyses with latent variables were performed via structural equation modeling (SEM); the significance of total, direct, and indirect effect was tested via bootstrapping. Findings Underpinned by the IPO framework, the results of SEM supported mediational hypotheses. First, the application of the IPO model in the Italian NHS showed adequate fit indices, showing that the process mediates the relationship between input and output factors. Second, reflexivity mediated the relationship between input and output, influencing some aspects of team performance. Practical implications The results provide useful information for HRM policies improving process dimensions of the IPO model via the mediating role of reflexivity as a key role in team performance. Originality/value This study is one of a limited number of studies that applied the IPO model in the Italian NHS. Moreover, no study has yet examined the role of reflexivity as a mediator between input and output factors in the IPO model.

  12. Validation of the Italian version of the HSE Indicator Tool.

    PubMed

    Magnavita, N

    2012-06-01

    An Italian version of the Health & Safety Executive's (HSE) Management Standards Revised Indicator Tool (MS-RIT) has been used to monitor the working conditions that may lead to stress. To initially examine the factor structure of the Italian version of the MS-RIT, in comparison with the original UK tool, and to investigate its validity and reliability; second, to study the association between occupational stress and psychological distress. Workers from 17 companies self-completed the MS-RIT and the General Health Questionnaire used to measure the psychological distress while they waited for their periodic examination at the workplace. Factor analysis was employed to ascertain whether the Italian version maintained the original subdivision into seven scales. Odds ratios were calculated to estimate the risk of impairment associated with exposure to stress at the workplace. In total, 748 workers participated; the response rate was 91%. The factor structure of the Italian MS-RIT corresponded partially to the original UK version. The 'demand', 'control', 'role', ' relationship' and 'colleague-support' scales were equivalent to the UK ones. A principal factor, termed ' elasticity', incorporated the UK 'management-support' and 'change' scales. Reliability analysis of the sub-scales revealed Cronbach's alpha values ranging from 0.75 to 0.86. Our findings confirmed the usefulness of the Italian version of the HSE MS-RIT in stress control.

  13. Practicing Reflexivity in the Study of Italian Migrants in London

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Seganti, Francesca Romana

    2010-01-01

    This article discusses the centrality of reflexivity in qualitative research through examples from my study on the role new media play in the lives of Italians in London. My hypothesis was that Italians were "in transit" in London and they were using new media to build "temporary" communities. I conducted in-depth interviews…

  14. Size Matters a Lot: Drought-Affected Italian Oaks Are Smaller and Show Lower Growth Prior to Tree Death

    PubMed Central

    Colangelo, Michele; Camarero, Jesús J.; Borghetti, Marco; Gazol, Antonio; Gentilesca, Tiziana; Ripullone, Francesco

    2017-01-01

    Hydraulic theory suggests that tall trees are at greater risk of drought-triggered death caused by hydraulic failure than small trees. In addition the drop in growth, observed in several tree species prior to death, is often interpreted as an early-warning signal of impending death. We test these hypotheses by comparing size, growth, and wood-anatomy patterns of living and now-dead trees in two Italian oak forests showing recent mortality episodes. The mortality probability of trees is modeled as a function of recent growth and tree size. Drift-diffusion-jump (DDJ) metrics are used to detect early-warning signals. We found that the tallest trees of the anisohydric Italian oak better survived drought contrary to what was predicted by the theory. Dead trees were characterized by a lower height and radial-growth trend than living trees in both study sites. The growth reduction of now-dead trees started about 10 years prior to their death and after two severe spring droughts during the early 2000s. This critical transition in growth was detected by DDJ metrics in the most affected site. Dead trees were also more sensitive to drought stress in this site indicating different susceptibility to water shortage between trees. Dead trees did not form earlywood vessels with smaller lumen diameter than surviving trees but tended to form wider latewood vessels with a higher percentage of vessel area. Since living and dead trees showed similar competition we did not expect that moderate thinning and a reduction in tree density would increase the short-term survival probability of trees. PMID:28270816

  15. Size Matters a Lot: Drought-Affected Italian Oaks Are Smaller and Show Lower Growth Prior to Tree Death.

    PubMed

    Colangelo, Michele; Camarero, Jesús J; Borghetti, Marco; Gazol, Antonio; Gentilesca, Tiziana; Ripullone, Francesco

    2017-01-01

    Hydraulic theory suggests that tall trees are at greater risk of drought-triggered death caused by hydraulic failure than small trees. In addition the drop in growth, observed in several tree species prior to death, is often interpreted as an early-warning signal of impending death. We test these hypotheses by comparing size, growth, and wood-anatomy patterns of living and now-dead trees in two Italian oak forests showing recent mortality episodes. The mortality probability of trees is modeled as a function of recent growth and tree size. Drift-diffusion-jump (DDJ) metrics are used to detect early-warning signals. We found that the tallest trees of the anisohydric Italian oak better survived drought contrary to what was predicted by the theory. Dead trees were characterized by a lower height and radial-growth trend than living trees in both study sites. The growth reduction of now-dead trees started about 10 years prior to their death and after two severe spring droughts during the early 2000s. This critical transition in growth was detected by DDJ metrics in the most affected site. Dead trees were also more sensitive to drought stress in this site indicating different susceptibility to water shortage between trees. Dead trees did not form earlywood vessels with smaller lumen diameter than surviving trees but tended to form wider latewood vessels with a higher percentage of vessel area. Since living and dead trees showed similar competition we did not expect that moderate thinning and a reduction in tree density would increase the short-term survival probability of trees.

  16. [The Italian version of Nordic Musculoskeletal Standardized Questionnaire].

    PubMed

    Ghersi, R; Martinelli, S; Richeldi, A; Clerici, P; Grazioli, P; Gobba, F M

    2007-01-01

    We translated into Italian the Nordic musculoskelethal questionnaire, as completed by Canadian IRSST with Authors' agreement in 2001, according to OMS recommendations. This translation involved the following items: aches and troubles of neck, dorsal region, low back, shoulders, elbows, hands and wrists, hips and thighs, ankles and feet in the last 12 months. The questionnaire was then submitted to reliability and stability tests. The Italian version of the questionnaire, already used in different languages, proved to be suitable and reliable also for self administration.

  17. Emotion socialization practices in Italian and Hong Kong-Chinese mothers.

    PubMed

    Fiorilli, Caterina; De Stasio, Simona; Di Chicchio, Carlo; Chan, Siu Mui

    2015-01-01

    Parents' emotion socialization practices are their ways of handling their children's emotional experiences in light of cultural expectations surrounding emotions. Such practices are thought to significantly affect children's social adjustment. We compared the parenting practices of Italian and Hong Kong Chinese samples in an ethnological validation study of the maternal responses to children's emotion scale (MRCES). Participants were 71 Italian mothers (M = 39.45) and 71 Hong Kong-Chinese mothers (M = 37.75) with children aged 6-9 years. The results confirmed the two-factor structure identified by the scale's authors, namely coaching/emotion-encouraging and emotion dismissing approaches, respectively. Each of the two factors displayed satisfactory internal consistency. The Chinese mothers obtained higher scores than the Italian mothers on both subscales. Our findings suggested that parents' emotion socialization practices for coping with children's emotions received different degrees of emphasis and were underpinned by different meaning in the Hong Kong and Italian cultural groups. These cultural differences are discussed in relation to their effect on children's socio-emotional development.

  18. The New Modern Mediterranean Diet Italian Pyramid.

    PubMed

    Vitiello, V; Germani, A; Capuzzo Dolcetta, E; Donini, L M; Del Balzo, V

    2016-01-01

    Epidemiological studies have established the health benefits associated with the adherence to the MD (Mediterranean Diet), mainly in relation to reducing the risk of developing the non communicable diseases. The MD is a sustainable diet model that respects the environment, promotes the bio-diversity, the local cultural heritages, the social interaction and economic aspects. The pyramid is a graphical representation designed to represent the frequencies of consumption and portion sizes of each food according to the Mediterranean model and tradition. The pyramid was developed taking into account the LARN (Reference Intake of nutrients and energy for Italian Population) and the Italian Guidelines for a healthy diet. The frequency of consumption and the portion size recommended are located at the different level of the pyramid. At the base of the pyramid there are the foods that should be consumed every meal and some concepts typical of the Mediterranean culture. In the middle there are foods that should be consumed daily and at the top of the pyramid the foods consumed on a weekly basis. The new modern MD Italian Pyramid is an important tool to promote the MD and improve the adherence to the MD dietary pattern.

  19. [Research on antiemetics: an Italian model of success].

    PubMed

    Roila, F

    1998-01-01

    At the beginning of the 80's the Italian Group for Clinical Research (G.O.I.R.C.) identified chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting as one of the most distressing adverse events, and decided to plan and execute clinical trials on antiemetics in order to reduce this negative impact on patients. Therefore, some consecutive double-blind randomized trials were conducted on cisplatin-treated patients. The first was a dose-finding study on four different high-doses of domperidone, followed by a study comparing two different high-doses of metoclopramide, and a study comparing the addition of a corticosteroid to high-dose metoclopramide with respect to metoclopramide alone. Finally, a study demonstrating that a combination of a higher dose of metoclopramide (3 mg/kg x 2) plus dexamethasone and diphenhydramine was significantly superior with respect to a lower dose of metoclopramide (1 mg/kg x 4) combined with methylprednisolone was carried out. With the introduction of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonists the interest for antiemetic therapy increased and other Italian gynecological and medical oncology centres became involved in the antiemetic research. The Italian Group for Antiemetic Research was formed in 90's and its first study demonstrated the superiority of a combination of a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist plus dexamethasone with respect to the standard three drug combination of high doses of metoclopramide in the prevention of cisplatin-induced acute emesis. In the following years, the Group contributed to the identification of the best antiemetic prophylaxis for acute emesis induced by moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, and for delayed emesis induced by cisplatin. Also a drug utilization review on antiemetics in clinical practice has recently been carried out. Today, the interest of the Group is concentrated in studying the optimal antiemetic prophylaxis for delayed emesis induced by moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. The rules always followed by the Italian Group for

  20. Italian Validation of Homophobia Scale (HS)

    PubMed Central

    Ciocca, Giacomo; Capuano, Nicolina; Tuziak, Bogdan; Mollaioli, Daniele; Limoncin, Erika; Valsecchi, Diana; Carosa, Eleonora; Gravina, Giovanni L; Gianfrilli, Daniele; Lenzi, Andrea; Jannini, Emmanuele A

    2015-01-01

    Introduction The Homophobia Scale (HS) is a valid tool to assess homophobia. This test is self-reporting, composed of 25 items, which assesses a total score and three factors linked to homophobia: behavior/negative affect, affect/behavioral aggression, and negative cognition. Aim The aim of this study was to validate the HS in the Italian context. Methods An Italian translation of the HS was carried out by two bilingual people, after which an English native translated the test back into the English language. A psychologist and sexologist checked the translated items from a clinical point of view. We recruited 100 subjects aged18–65 for the Italian validation of the HS. The Pearson coefficient and Cronbach's α coefficient were performed to test the test–retest reliability and internal consistency. Main Outcome Measures A sociodemographic questionnaire including the main information as age, geographic distribution, partnership status, education, religious orientation, and sex orientation was administrated together with the translated version of HS. Results The analysis of the internal consistency showed an overall Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.92. In the four domains, the Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.90 in behavior/negative affect, 0.94 in affect/behavioral aggression, and 0.92 in negative cognition, whereas in the total score was 0.86. The test–retest reliability showed the following results: the HS total score was r = 0.93 (P < 0.0001), behavior/negative affect was r = 0.79 (P < 0.0001), affect/behavioral aggression was r = 0.81 (P < 0.0001), and negative cognition was r = 0.75 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions The Italian validation of the HS revealed the use of this self-report test to have good psychometric properties. This study offers a new tool to assess homophobia. In this regard, the HS can be introduced into the clinical praxis and into programs for the prevention of homophobic behavior. PMID:26468384

  1. Early Lupus Project - A multicentre Italian study on systemic lupus erythematosus of recent onset.

    PubMed

    Sebastiani, G D; Prevete, I; Piga, M; Iuliano, A; Bettio, S; Bortoluzzi, A; Coladonato, L; Tani, C; Spinelli, F R; Fineschi, I; Mathieu, A

    2015-10-01

    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a high degree of variability at onset that is problematic for a correct and prompt diagnosis. We undertook this project with the purpose of collecting an inception cohort of Italian patients with recent-onset SLE, in order to obtain information on the main clinical and serological characteristics at the beginning of the disease. In this first report we describe the characteristics of this cohort at study entry. All patients with a diagnosis of SLE (1997 ACR criteria) and a disease duration less than 12 months were consecutively enrolled between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2013 in a multicentre prospective study. Information on clinical and serological characteristics at study entry and then every six months was collected into a specific electronic database. Statistical analysis was performed by means of the Openstat program. Among 122 patients enrolled (103 F) 94.3% were Caucasians. Mean age (SD) of patients at study entry was 37.3 (14.3) years, mean age at disease onset was 34.8 (14.3) years, mean age at diagnosis was 36.9 (14.3) years, and mean disease duration was 2.9 (3.9) months. The frequency of the manifestations included in the 1997 ACR criteria was as follows: ANA 97.5%, immunologic disorders (anti-dsDNA, anti-Sm, antiphospholipid antibodies) 85.2%, arthritis 61.8%, haematologic disorders 55.7%, malar rash 31.1%, photosensitivity 29.5%, serositis 27%, renal disorders 27%, oral/nasal ulcers 11.5%, neurologic disorders 8.2%, and discoid rash 5.7%. The cumulative frequency of mucocutaneous symptoms was 77.8%. At enrolment, autoantibody frequency was: ANA 100%, anti-dsDNA 83.6%, anti-SSA 28%, anticardiolipin 24.5%, anti-nRNP 20.4%, anti-beta2GPI 17.2%, lupus anticoagulant 16.3%, anti-Sm 16%, and anti-SSB 13.1%. In this paper we describe the main clinical and serological characteristics of an Italian inception cohort of patients with recent-onset SLE. At disease onset, mucocutaneous

  2. Teaching Standard Italian to Dialect Speakers: A Pedagogical Perspective of Linguistic Systems in Contact

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Danesi, Marcel

    1974-01-01

    The teaching of standard Italian to speakers of Italian dialects both in Italy and in North America is discussed, specifically through a specialized pedagogical program within the framework of a sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic perspective, and based on a structural analysis of linguistic systems in contact. Italian programs in Toronto are…

  3. Gut Microbiome and Putative Resistome of Inca and Italian Nobility Mummies

    PubMed Central

    Santiago-Rodriguez, Tasha M.; Luciani, Stefania; Toranzos, Gary A.; Marota, Isolina; Giuffra, Valentina; Cano, Raul J.

    2017-01-01

    Little is still known about the microbiome resulting from the process of mummification of the human gut. In the present study, the gut microbiota, genes associated with metabolism, and putative resistome of Inca and Italian nobility mummies were characterized by using high-throughput sequencing. The Italian nobility mummies exhibited a higher bacterial diversity as compared to the Inca mummies when using 16S ribosomal (rRNA) gene amplicon sequencing, but both groups showed bacterial and fungal taxa when using shotgun metagenomic sequencing that may resemble both the thanatomicrobiome and extant human gut microbiomes. Identification of sequences associated with plants, animals, and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) may provide further insights into the dietary habits of Inca and Italian nobility mummies. Putative antibiotic-resistance genes in the Inca and Italian nobility mummies support a human gut resistome prior to the antibiotic therapy era. The higher proportion of putative antibiotic-resistance genes in the Inca compared to Italian nobility mummies may support the hypotheses that a greater exposure to the environment may result in a greater acquisition of antibiotic-resistance genes. The present study adds knowledge of the microbiome resulting from the process of mummification of the human gut, insights of ancient dietary habits, and the preserved putative human gut resistome prior the antibiotic therapy era. PMID:29112136

  4. Gut Microbiome and Putative Resistome of Inca and Italian Nobility Mummies.

    PubMed

    Santiago-Rodriguez, Tasha M; Fornaciari, Gino; Luciani, Stefania; Toranzos, Gary A; Marota, Isolina; Giuffra, Valentina; Cano, Raul J

    2017-11-07

    Little is still known about the microbiome resulting from the process of mummification of the human gut. In the present study, the gut microbiota, genes associated with metabolism, and putative resistome of Inca and Italian nobility mummies were characterized by using high-throughput sequencing. The Italian nobility mummies exhibited a higher bacterial diversity as compared to the Inca mummies when using 16S ribosomal (rRNA) gene amplicon sequencing, but both groups showed bacterial and fungal taxa when using shotgun metagenomic sequencing that may resemble both the thanatomicrobiome and extant human gut microbiomes. Identification of sequences associated with plants, animals, and carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) may provide further insights into the dietary habits of Inca and Italian nobility mummies. Putative antibiotic-resistance genes in the Inca and Italian nobility mummies support a human gut resistome prior to the antibiotic therapy era. The higher proportion of putative antibiotic-resistance genes in the Inca compared to Italian nobility mummies may support the hypotheses that a greater exposure to the environment may result in a greater acquisition of antibiotic-resistance genes. The present study adds knowledge of the microbiome resulting from the process of mummification of the human gut, insights of ancient dietary habits, and the preserved putative human gut resistome prior the antibiotic therapy era.

  5. Updated Italian checklist of Soldier Flies (Diptera, Stratiomyidae).

    PubMed

    Mason, Franco

    2013-01-01

    An updated checklist for Stratiomyidae of Italy is presented. Previous knowledge and information are put together in a comprehensive way, integrated also with results obtained by sampling with Malaise traps in some of the test areas of the LIFE+ project ManFor C.BD. At the time of writing, with 91 known species, the Italian fauna of Stratiomyidae is the richest in Europe. Neopachygaster meromelas (Dufour, 1841) and Zabrachia minutissima (Zetterstedt, 1838) are new to the Italian fauna. A comprehensive key to the European species of Chorisops Rondani, 1856 is given.

  6. Updated Italian checklist of Soldier Flies (Diptera, Stratiomyidae)

    PubMed Central

    Mason, Franco

    2013-01-01

    Abstract An updated checklist for Stratiomyidae of Italy is presented. Previous knowledge and information are put together in a comprehensive way, integrated also with results obtained by sampling with Malaise traps in some of the test areas of the LIFE+ project ManFor C.BD. At the time of writing, with 91 known species, the Italian fauna of Stratiomyidae is the richest in Europe. Neopachygaster meromelas (Dufour, 1841) and Zabrachia minutissima (Zetterstedt, 1838) are new to the Italian fauna. A comprehensive key to the European species of Chorisops Rondani, 1856 is given. PMID:24146573

  7. Conscientious Objection to Animal Experimentation in Italian Universities

    PubMed Central

    Baldelli, Ilaria; Massaro, Alma; Penco, Susanna; Bassi, Anna Maria; Patuzzo, Sara; Ciliberti, Rosagemma

    2017-01-01

    Simple Summary This paper examines the trend of Italian academic faculties in complying with the obligation to inform university students of their right to exercise their conscientious objection to scientific or educational activities involving animals, hereafter written as “animal CO”, as established by Law 413/1993, “Norme sull’obiezione di coscienza alla sperimentazione animale” (“Rules on conscientious objection to animal experimentation”), thereafter “Law 413/1993”. Despite an increasing interest in the principles of animal ethics by the international community, this law is still largely disregarded more than 20 years after its enactment. The Ethics Committees, Animal Welfare Committees, as well as the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research should preside over and monitor the Universities’ compliance with the duty to disclose animal CO. Abstract In Italy, Law 413/1993 states that public and private Italian Institutions, including academic faculties, are obliged to fully inform workers and students about their right to conscientious objection to scientific or educational activities involving animals, hereafter written as “animal CO”. However, little monitoring on the faculties’ compliance with this law has been performed either by the government or other institutional bodies. Based on this premise, the authors have critically reviewed the existing data and compared them with those emerging from their own investigation to discuss limitations and inconsistencies. The results of this investigation revealed that less than half of Italian academic faculties comply with their duty to inform on animal CO. Non-compliance may substantially affect the right of students to make ethical choices in the field of animal ethics and undermines the fundamental right to express their own freedom of thought. The Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, ethics committees and animal welfare bodies should cooperate to make

  8. The Italian National Seismic Network

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Michelini, Alberto

    2016-04-01

    The Italian National Seismic Network is composed by about 400 stations, mainly broadband, installed in the Country and in the surrounding regions. About 110 stations feature also collocated strong motion instruments. The Centro Nazionale Terremoti, (National Earthquake Center), CNT, has installed and operates most of these stations, although a considerable number of stations contributing to the INGV surveillance has been installed and is maintained by other INGV sections (Napoli, Catania, Bologna, Milano) or even other Italian or European Institutions. The important technological upgrades carried out in the last years has allowed for significant improvements of the seismic monitoring of Italy and of the Euro-Mediterranean Countries. The adopted data transmission systems include satellite, wireless connections and wired lines. The Seedlink protocol has been adopted for data transmission. INGV is a primary node of EIDA (European Integrated Data Archive) for archiving and distributing, continuous, quality checked data. The data acquisition system was designed to accomplish, in near-real-time, automatic earthquake detection and hypocenter and magnitude determination (moment tensors, shake maps, etc.). Database archiving of all parametric results are closely linked to the existing procedures of the INGV seismic monitoring environment. Overall, the Italian earthquake surveillance service provides, in quasi real-time, hypocenter parameters which are then revised routinely by the analysts of the Bollettino Sismico Nazionale. The results are published on the web page http://cnt.rm.ingv.it/ and are publicly available to both the scientific community and the the general public. This presentation will describe the various activities and resulting products of the Centro Nazionale Terremoti. spanning from data acquisition to archiving, distribution and specialised products.

  9. Familial hypercholesterolemia: The Italian Atherosclerosis Society Network (LIPIGEN).

    PubMed

    Averna, Maurizio; Cefalù, Angelo B; Casula, Manuela; Noto, Davide; Arca, Marcello; Bertolini, Stefano; Calandra, Sebastiano; Catapano, Alberico L; Tarugi, Patrizia

    2017-10-01

    Primary dyslipidemias are a heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by abnormal levels of circulating lipoproteins. Among them, familial hypercholesterolemia is the most common lipid disorder that predisposes for premature cardiovascular disease. We set up an Italian nationwide network aimed at facilitating the clinical and genetic diagnosis of genetic dyslipidemias named LIPIGEN (LIpid TransPort Disorders Italian GEnetic Network). Observational, multicenter, retrospective and prospective study involving about 40 Italian clinical centers. Genetic testing of the appropriate candidate genes at one of six molecular diagnostic laboratories serving as nationwide DNA diagnostic centers. From 2012 to October 2016, available biochemical and clinical information of 3480 subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia identified according to the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network (DLCN) score were included in the database and genetic analysis was performed in 97.8% of subjects, with a mutation detection rate of 92.0% in patients with DLCN score ≥6. The establishment of the LIPIGEN network will have important effects on clinical management and it will improve the overall identification and treatment of primary dyslipidemias in Italy. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. An Italian multicentre validation study of the coma recovery scale-revised.

    PubMed

    Estraneo, A; Moretta, P; De Tanti, A; Gatta, G; Giacino, J T; Trojano, L

    2015-10-01

    Rate of misdiagnosis of disorders of consciousness (DoC) can be reduced by employing validated clinical diagnostic tools, such as the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). An Italian version of the CRS-R has been recently developed, but its applicability across different clinical settings, and its concurrent validity and diagnostic sensitivity have not been estimated yet. To perform a multicentre validation study of the Italian version of the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). Analysis of inter-rater reliability, concurrent validity and diagnostic sensitivity of the scale. One Intensive Care Unit, 8 Post-acute rehabilitation centres and 2 Long-term facilities Twenty-seven professionals (physicians, N.=11; psychologists, N.=5; physiotherapists, N.=3; speech therapists, N.=6; nurses, N.=2) from 11 Italian Centres. CRS-R and Disability Rating Scale (DRS) applied to 122 patients with clinical diagnosis of Vegetative State (VS) or Minimally Conscious State (MCS). CRS-R has good-to-excellent inter-rater reliability for all subscales, particularly for the communication subscale. The Italian version of the CRS-R showed a high sensitivity and specificity in detecting MCS with reference to clinical consensus diagnosis. The CRS-R showed good concurrent validity with the Disability Rating Scale, which had very low specificity with reference to clinical consensus diagnosis. The Italian version of the CRS-R is a valid scale for use from the sub-acute to chronic stages of DoC. It can be administered reliably by all members of the rehabilitation team with different specialties, levels of experience and settings. The present study promote use of the Italian version of the CRS-R to improve diagnosis of DoC patients, and plan tailored rehabilitation treatment.

  11. UAIS Unruptured Aneurysms Italian Study (Dedicated to Massimo Collice).

    PubMed

    Maira, Giulio; Mannino, Stefano; D'Aliberti, Giuseppe; Albanese, Alessio; Sabatino, Giovanni; Delfini, Roberto; Tomasello, Francesco; Alafaci, Concetta; Marchese, Enrico

    2018-02-23

    Unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) are increasingly identified and are an important health-care burden; in the past they were commonly treated by surgical clipping, but nowadays endovascular coil embolization is increasingly employed as an alternative. The Unruptured Aneurysms Italian Study (UAIS) is a multicentric cooperative prospective study aimed to delineate the "State of the Art" of UIAs treatment in Italy. 51 Italian Neurosurgical and Neuroradiological Units, representatives of all 20 Italian regions are involved in the Study. UAIS started on June 2003 and ended on July 2007. 1138 patients were collected by that date, but 181 were ruled-out due to severe violation of the protocol; 957 had complete data and could be statistically evaluated. UAIS demonstrates that the treatment of UAs, as performed in Italy as a Nation, is effective in improving long-term outcome vs natural history, particularly in aneurysms larger than 7 mm.

  12. Stop and Fricative Devoicing in European Portuguese, Italian and German.

    PubMed

    Pape, Daniel; Jesus, Luis M T

    2015-06-01

    This paper describes a cross-linguistic production study of devoicing for European Portuguese (EP), Italian, and German. We recorded all stops and fricatives in four vowel contexts and two word positions. We computed the devoicing of the time-varying patterns throughout the stop and fricative duration. Our results show that regarding devoicing behaviour, EP is more similar to German than Italian. While Italian shows almost no devoicing of all phonologically voiced consonants, both EP and German show strong and consistent devoicing through the entire consonant. Differences in consonant position showed no effect for EP and Italian, but were significantly different for German. The height of the vowel context had an effect for German and EP. For EP, we showed that a more posterior place of articulation and low vowel context lead to significantly more devoicing. However, in contrast to German, we could not find an influence of consonant position on devoicing. The high devoicing for all phonologically voiced stops and fricatives and the vowel context influence are a surprising new result. With respect to voicing maintenance, EP is more like German than other Romance languages.

  13. Validation of the Italian version of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale in nurses.

    PubMed

    Cicolini, Giancarlo; Della Pelle, Carlo; Cerratti, Francesca; Franza, Marcello; Flacco, Maria E

    2016-07-01

    To ascertain the validity and reliability of the Italian version of the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6). Presenteeism has been associated with a work productivity reduction, a lower quality of work and an increased risk of developing health disorders. It is particularly high among nurses and needs valid tools to be assessed. A validation study was carried out from July to September 2014. A three-section tool, made of a demographic form, the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) was administered to a sample of nurses, enrolled in three Italian hospitals. Cronbach's α for the entire sample (229 nurses) was found to be 0.72. A significant negative correlation between SPS and perceived stress scores evidenced the external validity. The factor analysis showed a two-component solution, accounting for 71.2% of the variance. The confirmatory factor analysis showed an adequate fit. The Italian SPS-6 is a valid and reliable tool for workplace surveys. Since the validity and reliability of SPS-6 has been confirmed for the Italian version, we have now a valid tool that can measure the levels of presenteeism among Italian nurses. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Organizatonal Communication Issues in Italian Multinational Corporations.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cesaria, Ruggero

    2000-01-01

    Provides a brief historical reconstruction of management communication in Italian companies. Suggests that dealing with communication technologies, communication professionals, and intercultural communication represent three future challenges. (NH)

  15. Somatotype in 6-11-year-old Italian and Estonian schoolchildren.

    PubMed

    Ventrella, A R; Semproli, S; Jürimäe, J; Toselli, S; Claessens, A L; Jürimäe, T; Brasili, P

    2008-01-01

    The study of somatotypes can contribute to the understanding of variability in human body build. The aim of this study was to compare the somatotypes of Italian and Estonian schoolchildren in order to evaluate factors that might lead to variability in somatotypes. The sample consisted of 762 Italian and 366 Estonian children aged 6-11 years. They were somatotyped by the Heath-Carter anthropometric method. Data on organised extra-curricular physical activity and hours of weekly training were also collected. One-way ANOVA was used to evaluate country-related variations of somatotype in each age/sex group, while factorial ANOVA was used to test the influence of country and organised physical activity on the variability of the anthropometric characteristics and somatotype components. There are significant differences in mean somatotypes between the Italian and Estonian children in many age classes and a different constitutional trend in children from the two different countries is observed. The Italian children are more endomorphic and less mesomorphic and ectomorphic than the Estonian children. On the other hand, it emerges from factorial ANOVA, that the somatotype components do not present significant variations related to organised physical activity and to the interaction between the country of origin and sport practice. Moreover, the results of the forward stepwise discriminant analyses show that mesomorphy is the best discriminator between the two countries, followed by ectomorphy. Our findings suggest that the observed differences between Italian and Estonian children could be related mainly to country rather than to the practice of organised physical activity in the two countries.

  16. Reproducing Italians: contested biopolitics in the age of 'replacement anxiety'.

    PubMed

    Marchesi, Milena

    2012-01-01

    In national and international discourses, Italians are often represented as a greying population failing to reproduce itself. Italian women are targeted for their very low birth rates, while migrant women are scrutinized for their 'excessive' fertility and abortion rates. These demographic concerns over differential reproduction reflect 'replacement anxiety' about the below-replacement rates of Italians and the replacement of Italians by immigrants. Demographic anxieties coalesce with the intensifying of Catholic 'vitapolitics' manifesting in the paradox of pro-natalist interventions coexisting with the curtailment of fertility-enhancing reproductive technologies. The children of migrants emerge in some population discourses as a threat rather than a contribution to the reproduction of the nation. Drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research in Milan, this paper examines how reproduction in contemporary Italy has emerged as a contested social, political, and moral issue that invests Italian and migrant women in different ways, engendering different forms and terms of resistance and contestation. On what terms are subjects governed and called upon to govern themselves to be more 'rational' and 'responsible' reproducers of the nation? What subjectivities and local responses are engendered by the politics of reproduction in Italy? As different rationalities and notions of responsible reproduction circulate, ethnographic research sheds light on how anxieties over low birth rates are reappropriated and redeployed against the state, suggesting that subjects are not so easily governable by population and reproductive discourses. This research contributes to the literature on critical demography and the politics of reproduction and migration in the new Europe.

  17. Cognitive assessment in multiple sclerosis-an Italian consensus.

    PubMed

    Amato, Maria Pia; Morra, Vincenzo Brescia; Falautano, Monica; Ghezzi, Angelo; Goretti, Benedetta; Patti, Francesco; Riccardi, Alice; Mattioli, Flavia

    2018-05-15

    The aim of this consensus paper was to define the state of the art on cognitive assessment of persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), with the purpose of providing recommendations for the Italian centers involved in MS management. While there are no formal guidelines published regarding the assessment of cognitive function in MS, on the basis of an expert opinion meeting, held in Milan (Italy) on July 4, 2016, we report the recommendations of a panel of Italian experts including MS neurologists and neuropsychologists for the assessment and follow-up of cognitive function in adult MS subjects.

  18. Education and Italian Regional Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Di Liberto, Adriana

    2008-01-01

    In this paper, we study the connection between growth and human capital in a convergence regression for the panel of Italian regions. We include measures of average primary, secondary and tertiary education. We find that increased education seems to contribute to growth only in the South. Decomposing total schooling into its three constituent…

  19. Epidemiological, clinical and laboratory features of chronic hepatitis B infection in a cohort of immigrant and Italian patients from Ferrara, Italy.

    PubMed

    Contini, Carlo; Badia, Lorenzo; Cultrera, Rosario; Grilli, Anastasio; De Togni, Aldo

    2012-01-01

    Italy has recently become a land of immigration. Two hundred and fifty thousand carriers are immigrants and chronic HBV infection is the prevalent form. Considering the elevated number of foreigners resident in our province and the potential risk of transmission to local people, we retrospectively investigated the patterns of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in 154 patients (76 foreigners, 78 Italians) observed in our Institution, with regard to demographic and clinical/laboratory characteristics. The immigrants were younger (mean age 31 years) compared to Italians (51.5) and mainly came from East Europe. Regarding exposure to HBV, the intra-familial risk factor was most frequently observed in foreigners, compared to Italians (p = 0.03). Foreigners also showed a higher prevalence of HBeAg positive forms, HDV co-infection (7.9%) and abnormal ALT and/or HBV-DNA values, compared to Italians. HBeAg positivity was more associated with increased ALT (OR = 36.6, p = 0.001) than with elevated HBV viremia (OR = 6.5, p = 0.049); age was a protective factor (OR = 0.1; p = 0.014). No significant association was found between increased ALT and foreign nationality. The simultaneous presence of increased ALT and viremia was more frequent among foreigners, (OR = 7.6, p = 0,014) and increased with age (OR = 1.06, p = 0.013). Antiviral therapy was given in 7.8% of foreign citizens. Immigrants constitute a vulnerable population subgroup that would benefit from a more active approach regarding doctor patient relationship for early recognition of HBV and treatment programmes.

  20. Differences in the availability of new anti-cancer drugs for Italian patients treated in different regions. Results of analysis conducted by the Italian Society Of Medical Oncology (AIOM).

    PubMed

    Gori, Stefania; Di Maio, Massimo; Pinto, Carmine; Alabiso, Oscar; Baldini, Editta; Beretta, Giordano Domenico; Caffo, Orazio; Caroti, Cinzia; Crinò, Lucio; De Laurentiis, Michelino; Dinota, Angelo; Di Vito, Francesco; Gebbia, Vittorio; Giustini, Lucio; Graiff, Claudio; Guida, Michele; Lelli, Giorgio; Lombardo, Marco; Muggiano, Antonio; Puglisi, Fabio; Romito, Sante; Salvagno, Luigi; Tagliaferri, Pierosandro; Terzoli, Edmondo; Venturini, Marco

    2010-01-01

    Italy is divided into 20 regions. As a consequence of local autonomy, following marketing authorization by the Italian Medicines Agency, each drug for hospital use is not immediately available, because its approval needs to undergo further steps that can be different among regions. The Italian Society of Medical Oncology conducted the present study to describe the impact of the existence of sub-national pharmaceutical formularies on the disparity of access to new anti-cancer drugs among patients treated in different Italian regions. The availability of 8 new anti-cancer drugs at a regional level and the coherence of regional authorizations compared with national authorizations approved by the Italian Medicines Agency were analyzed as of April 2009. Fourteen regions and autonomous province of Trento have a regional pharmaceutical formulary. In most cases, the regional pharmaceutical formularies include the eight analyzed drugs, with therapeutic indications coherent with national marketing authorization indications. Five drugs (bevacizumab, trastuzumab, rituximab, erlotinib, sunitinib) were included in all the existing regional pharmaceutical formularies, without restrictions, whereas three drugs (cetuximab, sorafenib, pemetrexed) were found to have restrictions in some regions. The presence of multiple hierarchical levels of drug evaluation creates a potential element of disparity in the access to pharmacological therapies for Italian citizens.

  1. Italians Use Abstract Knowledge about Lexical Stress during Spoken-Word Recognition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sulpizio, Simone; McQueen, James M.

    2012-01-01

    In two eye-tracking experiments in Italian, we investigated how acoustic information and stored knowledge about lexical stress are used during the recognition of tri-syllabic spoken words. Experiment 1 showed that Italians use acoustic cues to a word's stress pattern rapidly in word recognition, but only for words with antepenultimate stress.…

  2. A Report on the Study of Italian, A Modern Language Elective.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leonardo da Vinci Society, Fort Lee, NJ.

    This report contains comments on the establishment of Italian classes at the secondary level and in colleges, a symposium on the teaching of Italian in New Jersey, college survey reports, teachers and textbooks, the school system and the community, practical and cultural values, and bilingualism as an untapped national resource. The First Annual…

  3. Importance of adherence to guidelines in breast cancer clinical practice. The Italian experience (AIOM).

    PubMed

    Barni, Sandro; Venturini, Marco; Molino, Annamaria; Donadio, Michela; Rizzoli, Sara; Maiello, Evaristo; Gori, Stefania

    2011-01-01

    Project RIGHT (Research for the Identification of the most effective and hIGHly accepted clinical guidelines for cancer Treatment) is promoted by the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) to evaluate the concordance between AIOM breast cancer guidelines and clinical practice in Italy. In RIGHT-1, feasibility and the appropriateness of indicators were assessed in patients with early breast cancer. RIGHT-2 evaluated the compliance with guidelines in a nationwide program. Thirty-five Italian centers participated in the RIGHT-2 survey. Ten indicators were evaluated to verify an agreement between 2005 AIOM breast cancer guidelines and practice. Patients with clinical stage I-II invasive breast cancer, age ≤70 years, who had their first visit at the oncology center between October 2005 and November 2006 were included. In RIGHT-2, ≥90% adherence for the diagnosis indicator and three therapy indicators were observed. The lowest degree of compliance (0%) was observed for the follow-up indicator in asymptomatic patients. In RIGHT-2, compliance to the 2005 AIOM breast cancer guidelines was 64%. When the follow-up indicator was eliminated, overall adherence to AIOM guidelines was 71%. The results highlight the need to continue improving the already good standards of breast cancer care.

  4. Comorbidity of dementia with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): insights from a large multicenter Italian cohort.

    PubMed

    Trojsi, Francesca; Siciliano, Mattia; Femiano, Cinzia; Santangelo, Gabriella; Lunetta, Christian; Calvo, Andrea; Moglia, Cristina; Marinou, Kalliopi; Ticozzi, Nicola; Drago Ferrante, Gianluca; Scialò, Carlo; Sorarù, Gianni; Conte, Amelia; Falzone, Yuri M; Tortelli, Rosanna; Russo, Massimo; Sansone, Valeria Ada; Chiò, Adriano; Mora, Gabriele; Poletti, Barbara; Volanti, Paolo; Caponnetto, Claudia; Querin, Giorgia; Sabatelli, Mario; Riva, Nilo; Logroscino, Giancarlo; Messina, Sonia; Fasano, Antonio; Monsurrò, Maria Rosaria; Tedeschi, Gioacchino; Mandrioli, Jessica

    2017-11-01

    To assess the association, at diagnosis, between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and dementia in a large cohort of well-characterized Italian patients. We investigated the phenotypic profile of 1638 incident patients with definite, probable or laboratory-supported probable ALS, diagnosed from January 2009 to December 2013 in 13 Italian Referral Centers, located in 10 Italian Regions, and classified in two independent subsamples accounting for presence or not of dementia. The collected ALS features, including survival and other follow-up data, were compared between the two subgroups using a one-way analysis of variance and Chi-square test, as appropriate, logistic regression models and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Between-subgroup comparisons showed an older age at clinical observation (p = .006), at onset and at diagnosis (p = .002) in demented versus non demented ALS patients. After adjustment for these variables, diagnosis of dementia was significantly associated with higher odds of family history of ALS (p = .001) and frontotemporal dementia (p = .003) and of bulbar onset (p = .004), and lower odds of flail leg phenotype (p = .019) and spinal onset (p = .008). The median survival time was shorter in demented versus non-demented patients, especially in case of classical, bulbar and flail limb phenotypes and both bulbar and spinal onset. Our multicenter study emphasized the importance of an early diagnosis of comorbid dementia in ALS patients, which may have clinical impact and prognostic relevance. Moreover, our results may give further inputs to validation of ALS-specific tools for the screening of cognitive impairment in clinical practice.

  5. Developing professionalism in Italian medical students: an educational framework

    PubMed Central

    Consorti, Fabrizio; Notarangelo, Mariagiovanna; Potasso, Laura; Toscano, Emanuele

    2012-01-01

    Developing and assessing professionalism in medical students is an international challenge. This paper, based on preliminary research at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry of the University Sapienza of Rome, Italy, briefly summarizes the main issues and experiences in developing professionalism among Italian undergraduate medical students. It concludes with a proposed framework suited to the Italian medical curricula. In our educational system, professionalism is defined as the context of medical expertise, the combination of rules, conditions, and meanings in which the act of health care occurs, as well as the ability of critical reflection on technical expertise. It is a multidimensional construct of ethical, sociocultural, relational, and epistemological competencies, requiring a wide range of tools for assessment. With reference to Italian versions of validated tools of measure, vignettes, videos, and a student’s portfolio of reflective writings, this paper outlines the manner in which education for professionalism is embedded in the existing curriculum and overall framework of assessment. PMID:23762002

  6. Italian polar data center for capacity building associated with the IHY

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Damiani, A.; Bendetti, E.; Storini, M.; Rafanelli, C.

    The International Heliophysical Year IHY offers a good opportunity to develop and coordinate studies on the Sun-Earth system by using a large variety of simultaneous data obtained by satellite spacecraft and ground based instruments Among these data we recall the ones coming from solar and interplanetary medium observations auroral neutron monitor geomagnetic field ionospheric meteorological and other atmospheric observatories In this context an Information System for the Italian Research in Antarctica SIRIA has started during 2003 aiming to collect information on the scientific research projects funded by the National Antarctic Research Program PNRA of Italy since its birth 1985 It belongs to the Joint Committee on Antarctic Data Management JCADM of SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research as the Italian Antarctic Data Center SIRIA being the Italian Polar Database gathers also information on research activities conducted in North Pole regions This Information System can be a relevant resource for capacity building associated with the IHY particularly for people involved in interdisciplinary researches We describe the present status of the Italian Polar Data Center and its potential use

  7. [Italian Cystic Fibrosis Registry. Report 2011-2014].

    PubMed

    Giordani, Barbara; Amato, Annalisa; Majo, Fabio; Ferrari, Gianluca; Quattrucci, Serena; Minicucci, Laura; Padoan, Rita; Floridia, Giovanna; Puppo Fornaro, Gianna; Taruscio, Domenica; Salvatore, Marco

    2018-01-01

    The Italian Cystic Fibrosis Registry (ICFR) is based on a new agreement about the data flow towards the Registry signed on October, 4th 2016 by the Centre for Rare Diseases of the Italian National Institute of Health (NIH), the clinicians of the Italian National Referral and Support Centres for Cystic Fibrosis, the Paediatric Hospital "Bambino Gesù" (Rome), the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Society, and the Italian League for Cystic Fibrosis. The aim of the present Report is to improve the knowledge on cystic fibrosis (CF) through the epidemiological description of Italian patients. The members of the Scientific and Technical Committee have to write a report on data collected by ICFR, in order to contribute to achieve the aims of ICFR itself, i.e., to improve the care of CF patients. In particular, the Report should contribute to the following objectives: - to analyze the medium and long-term clinical and epidemiological trends of the disease; - to identify the main healthcare needs at regional and national level in order to contribute to the healthcare programmes and to the distribution of resources; - to compare Italian data with the international ones. Analyses and results described in the present Report are referred to patients in charge to the Italian National Referral and Support Centres for Cystic Fibrosis in the period 2011-2014. Data were sent by Centres by means of a specific software (Camilla, Ibis Informatica) and has undergone a double quality control (QC): the first by NIH and the second at a European level (before the inclusion of the Italian data within the European Cystic Fibrosis Registry). These QCs assure the completeness and accuracy of data as well as their consistency with European core data. A total of 29 different CF centres (referral, support, and Paediatric Hospital "Bambino Gesù") sent their data to ICFR; data referred to the period 2011-2014. Data regarding Sardinia Region (Southern Italy) are missing; data from Molise (Southern Italy) CF

  8. Biobanks for non-clinical purposes and the new law on forensic biobanks: does the Italian context protect the rights of minors?

    PubMed

    Tozzo, Pamela; Pegoraro, Renzo; Caenazzo, Luciana

    2010-12-01

    Biobanks are an important resource for medical research. Genetic research on biological material from minors can yield valuable information that can improve our understanding of genetic-environmental interactions and the genesis and development of early onset genetic disorders. The major ethical concerns relating to biobanks concern consent, privacy, confidentiality, commercialisation, and the right to know or not to know. However, research on paediatric data raises specific governance and ethical questions with regard to consent and privacy. We have considered the Italian normative context focusing on what is mentioned in each document on the ethical and legal requirements that guarantee the rights of minors. We found out that there is no systematic reflection on the ethical and policy issues arising from the participation of minors in biobank research. Moreover, we have focused on the same aspects for the new Italian Law on the National Forensic Biobank.

  9. The Italian Dementia National Plan. Commentary.

    PubMed

    Di Fiandra, Teresa; Canevelli, Marco; Di Pucchio, Alessandra; Vanacore, Nicola

    2015-01-01

    The Italian Dementia National Plan was formulated in October 2014 by the Italian Ministry of Health in close cooperation with the regions, the National Institute of Health and the three major national associations of patients and carers. The main purpose of this strategy was to provide directive indications for promoting and improving interventions in the dementia field, not limiting to specialist and therapeutic actions, but particularly focusing on the support of patients and families throughout the pathways of care. Four main objectives are indicated: 1) promote health- and social-care interventions and policies; 2) create/strengthen the integrated network of services for dementia based on an integrated approach; 3) implement strategies for promoting appropriateness and quality of care; and 4) improve the quality of life of persons with dementia and their families by supporting empowerment and stigma reduction. These objectives and the pertaining actions are described in the present paper.

  10. Cardiovascular fitness, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in severely obese prepubertal Italian children.

    PubMed

    Brufani, Claudia; Grossi, Armando; Fintini, Danilo; Fiori, Rossana; Ubertini, Graziamaria; Colabianchi, Diego; Ciampalini, Paolo; Tozzi, Alberto; Barbetti, Fabrizio; Cappa, Marco

    2008-01-01

    To evaluate if insulin resistance (IR) and metabolic syndrome (MS) were associated with poor cardiovascular fitness in very obese prepubertal Italian subjects. Children referred to the Endocrinology and Diabetes Unit of Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital underwent an OGTT with glucose and insulin assays. QUICKI, ISI and HOMA-IR were calculated. Total and HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and percentage of body fat (DEXA) were determined. Cardiovascular fitness (maximal treadmill time) was evaluated using a treadmill protocol. The MS was defined as having 3 or more of following risk factors: obesity, impaired glucose tolerance, high blood pressure, low HDL-cholesterol, high triglycerides. Fifty-five very obese prepubertal Italian children were enrolled in the study. Unadjusted correlation revealed maximal treadmill time negatively related to fasting insulin (r = -0.53, p < 0.0001) and HOMA-IR (r = -0.57, p < 0.0001) and positively to QUICKI (r = 0.51, p < 0.0001) and ISI (r = 0.46, p = 0.0035). These relationships remained significant when in multivariate analysis age, gender, BMI SD and body composition were accounted for (all p < 0.01). The presence of the MS was independently associated with maximal treadmill time. Poorcardiovascular fitness, IR and MS were independently related, suggesting that the relationship between fitness and insulin action develops early in life. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  11. Italian High-speed Airplane Engines

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bona, C F

    1940-01-01

    This paper presents an account of Italian high-speed engine designs. The tests were performed on the Fiat AS6 engine, and all components of that engine are discussed from cylinders to superchargers as well as the test set-up. The results of the bench tests are given along with the performance of the engines in various races.

  12. Early Enrollees and Peer Age Effect: First Evidence from INVALSI Data

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ordine, Patrizia; Rose, Giuseppe; Sposato, Daniela

    2015-01-01

    This paper estimates peer age effect on educational outcomes of Italian pupils attending primary school by exploiting changes in enrollment rules over the last few years. The empirical procedure allows to understand if there is selection in classroom formation, arguing that in the absence of pupils sorting by early age at school entry, it is…

  13. Conscientious Objection to Animal Experimentation in Italian Universities.

    PubMed

    Baldelli, Ilaria; Massaro, Alma; Penco, Susanna; Bassi, Anna Maria; Patuzzo, Sara; Ciliberti, Rosagemma

    2017-03-13

    In Italy, Law 413/1993 states that public and private Italian Institutions, including academic faculties, are obliged to fully inform workers and students about their right to conscientious objection to scientific or educational activities involving animals, hereafter written as "animal CO". However, little monitoring on the faculties' compliance with this law has been performed either by the government or other institutional bodies. Based on this premise, the authors have critically reviewed the existing data and compared them with those emerging from their own investigation to discuss limitations and inconsistencies. The results of this investigation revealed that less than half of Italian academic faculties comply with their duty to inform on animal CO. Non-compliance may substantially affect the right of students to make ethical choices in the field of animal ethics and undermines the fundamental right to express their own freedom of thought. The Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, ethics committees and animal welfare bodies should cooperate to make faculties respect this law. Further research is needed to better understand the reasons for the current trend, as well as to promote the enforcement of Law 413/1993 with particular regard to information on animal CO.

  14. Italian translation and cross-cultural comparison with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS).

    PubMed

    Simonelli, A; Sacchi, C; Cantoni, L; Brown, M; Frewen, P

    2017-01-01

    Background : The Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS) is a computer-administered survey designed to assess retrospectively the socio-ecological context in which instances of child abuse may have occurred. To date, studies supporting the validity of the CARTS have only been undertaken in English-speaking North American populations. Validation projects in other countries and cross-cultural comparisons are therefore warranted. Objective : Develop and preliminarily evaluate the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the CARTS on college students and compare such observations to data acquired from Canadian students. Method : Seventy-nine undergraduate students from the University of Padua (Italy) completed an Italian translation of the CARTS as well as measures of childhood experiences, mental health and attachment, responses to which were compared to those obtained in 288 Canadian students who completed the CARTS in English. Results : Internal consistency and convergent validity with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Parental Bonding Instrument were found to be acceptable for the Italian translation. Within the Italian sample, correlation analyses suggested that CARTS Mother ratings referring to attachment and abuse were associated with romantic attachment, whereas CARTS Father ratings were significantly correlated to PTSD symptoms and other symptoms of psychopathology-distress. Significant differences between Italian and Canadian students across the relationship types for the CARTS abuse and attachment scales were found, indicating that Italian students rated their mothers and fathers as simultaneously less abusive, but also less as a source of secure attachment. Conclusions : The results of this preliminary study seem to suggest convergent validity of the Italian CARTS and the association between childhood attachment-related experiences and romantic attachment. Cultural variations were identified between Canadian and Italian

  15. Italian translation and cross-cultural comparison with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS)

    PubMed Central

    Simonelli, A.; Sacchi, C.; Cantoni, L.; Brown, M.; Frewen, P.

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Background: The Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS) is a computer-administered survey designed to assess retrospectively the socio-ecological context in which instances of child abuse may have occurred. To date, studies supporting the validity of the CARTS have only been undertaken in English-speaking North American populations. Validation projects in other countries and cross-cultural comparisons are therefore warranted. Objective: Develop and preliminarily evaluate the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the CARTS on college students and compare such observations to data acquired from Canadian students. Method: Seventy-nine undergraduate students from the University of Padua (Italy) completed an Italian translation of the CARTS as well as measures of childhood experiences, mental health and attachment, responses to which were compared to those obtained in 288 Canadian students who completed the CARTS in English. Results: Internal consistency and convergent validity with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Parental Bonding Instrument were found to be acceptable for the Italian translation. Within the Italian sample, correlation analyses suggested that CARTS Mother ratings referring to attachment and abuse were associated with romantic attachment, whereas CARTS Father ratings were significantly correlated to PTSD symptoms and other symptoms of psychopathology-distress. Significant differences between Italian and Canadian students across the relationship types for the CARTS abuse and attachment scales were found, indicating that Italian students rated their mothers and fathers as simultaneously less abusive, but also less as a source of secure attachment. Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study seem to suggest convergent validity of the Italian CARTS and the association between childhood attachment-related experiences and romantic attachment. Cultural variations were identified between Canadian and Italian

  16. Building the boundaries of a science: First representations of Italian social psychology between 1875 and 1954.

    PubMed

    Sensales, Gilda; Areni, Alessandra; Del Secco, Alessandra

    2011-11-01

    The present study embraces the critical traditions of "New History" and of social representations theory articulated with the mainstream historiographical tradition of a bibliometric approach. The historical analysis deals with the early representations of Italian social psychology articulated and disseminated by some of the main Italian scientific-cultural and philosophical journals. We examined seven journals published between 1875 and 1954, and gathered 2,030 texts dealing with the various forms of social and collective psychology. We have applied a grid of content analysis whose data have been transcribed to a numerical file. At the same time, we have created a textual file containing the titles of the contributions as well as the names of the authors and scholars reviewed. The two files have been processed by SPAD-T for a correspondence analysis in which both lexical data and category variables have been considered as active variables. Through the scree-test, two factors that explain 18.90% of the variance have been singled out. Their combination has produced a factorial plan able to highlight three distinct areas differently characterized from journals and years. The results are also discussed with regard to the contextual historical frame.

  17. The Italian neurological schools of the twentieth century

    PubMed Central

    Bonavita, Vincenzo

    Summary This lecture is not a historical lecture, but rather a journey through the “story” of neurology in Italy from its “prehistoric” beginning in the 19th century. The birth of a neurological school is that magical moment in which a founder attracts disciples: the more capable this founder is of transmitting methodology and allowing his pupils intellectual freedom, the longer his memory will live on. On the basis of this idea, the scientific biography of a few leading Italian neurologists of the 20th century is outlined, starting from Leonardo Bianchi, founder of the Italian Neurological Society in 1907. PMID:21729589

  18. Italian river crossing; Horizontal drilling meets pipeline project criteria

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    1988-06-01

    The River Piave flows out of the Italian Alps, crossing the Veneto farmlands on its way to the Adriatic Sea. It is an important commerce-carrying waterway. SNAM, the Italian state gas pipeline company, wanted to install a 22-in. pipeline across the Piave just north of Venice. The method chosen for crossing the river had to meet several important criteria. InArc had used its river crossing method on seven previous SNAM projects and recommended the Piave crossing should be drilled. This paper describes the use of this horizontal drilling method for this application.

  19. Early Action and Gesture "Vocabulary" and Its Relation with Word Comprehension and Production

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caselli, Maria Cristina; Rinaldi, Pasquale; Stefanini, Silvia; Volterra, Virginia

    2012-01-01

    Data from 492 Italian infants (8-18 months) were collected with the parental questionnaire MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories to describe early actions and gestures (A-G) "vocabulary" and its relation with spoken vocabulary in both comprehension and production. A-G were more strongly correlated with word comprehension…

  20. Clarifying the scope of Italian NHS coverage. Is it feasible? Is it desirable?

    PubMed

    Fattore, G

    1999-12-01

    The reduction in National Health Service (NHS) expenditure as a share of total health care expenditure, the fragmentation of the NHS into 21 regional systems and the implementation of a 'quasi-market' on the provider side of the system has pressed the government to define and specify, in detail, the set of services that are to be guaranteed by the public sector. To understand whether rationing can be more rational and explicit in the Italian NHS, the following are analysed: (i) the new positive list of drugs, as a major example of limiting and making more rational NHS pharmaceutical coverage; (ii) the Di Bella case, as an example of the difficulties of rational policy-making on sensitive issues; (iii) what Italian people think about health care rationing and priority setting (using the 1998 Eurobarometer Survey);( iv) the criteria defining the set of 'essential services' to be guaranteed to all Italian citizens, which are contained in the recently released National Health Plan. The 'revolution' that has taken place in the pharmaceutical sector shows it is feasible to limit, in an explicit and rational way, the extent of NHS coverage. However, the re-classification of the positive list should be regarded as an exceptional event in the history of Italian social policy. The 'Di Bella' case, on the contrary, shows that limiting NHS coverage can be very unpopular, and that the Italian cultural and social context can be unfavourable for the implementation of hard choices. Public attitude toward rationing seems to confirm that Italians are not familiar with rationing issues. Thus, it is very difficult to predict whether the national government will really go ahead with the implementation of a 'list of essential services' and whether this attempt will be successful. Rationing and priority setting should be discussed in the context of a general debate concerning the future of the Italian NHS.

  1. [The contribution of the Italian association of cancer registries (AIRTUM)].

    PubMed

    Crocetti, Emanuele; Buzzoni, Carlotta

    2016-01-01

    The study of cluster requires the ability to identify, with accuracy and completeness, the health events of interest and their geographical location and time of occurrence. For rare and complex diseases, such as childhood cancers, it is possible to observe a significant health migration from the place of residence, which makes the detection even more complex. The best tool to identify these rare diseases is represented by cancer registries (CRs). In fact, CRs collect, through many sources, information related to tumours that arise in the population resident in their areas of activity. The number of the sources of information has increased thanks to the computerization of health services. The availability of multiple sources of information increases the completeness of data collection overcoming the limits of a single source, and makes it possible to describe the diagnostic-therapeutic course and the outcome of the cases. Among all data sources, for childhood cancers the model 1.01, which summarize the clinical information of the cases treated in one of the Italian Association of paediatric haematology and oncology (AIEOP) centres, is relevant. Moreover, CRs produce reliable and comparable data due to the use of international rules and classifications for the definition of the topography and morphology of cancer, for the date of diagnosis, and for quality checks. In Italy, the Italian association of cancer registries (AIRTUM) coordinates the activities of 45 population CRs, both general and specialized (by age or tumour type). AIRTUM involves a population of over 6.7 million citizens under the age of 20 years, approximately 60% of the total resident population. AIRTUM plays a role of coordination, support, and harmonization for Italian CRs through training, accreditation, and a shared database, it promotes and participates in national and international collaboration involving scientific societies (AIEOP, Italian Association of medical oncology - AIOM, Italian

  2. Attivita del Centro di Linguistica Applicata nel campo della lingua e della cultura italiana all'estero (Activities of the Italian Center for Applied Linguistics concerning Italian Language and Culture Abroad).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boriosi Katerinov, Maria Clotilde

    1979-01-01

    Outlines the activities of a recently created section of the Italian Center for Applied Linguistics (CILA), dealing with "Teaching Italian Abroad." Describes these activities as encompassing four areas: research, teaching methodology, consultation, teachers' training and bibliographical information. Lists statistical surveys, research papers, and…

  3. Clinical and epidemiological features of HIV/AIDS infection among migrants at first access to healthcare services as compared to Italian patients in Italy: a retrospective multicentre study, 2000-2010.

    PubMed

    Sulis, G; El Hamad, I; Fabiani, M; Rusconi, S; Maggiolo, F; Guaraldi, G; Bozzi, G; Bernardini, C; Lichtner, M; Stentarelli, C; Carenzi, L; Francisci, D; Saracino, A; Castelli, F

    2014-10-01

    Migrants account for approximately 8.7% of the resident population in Italy. The immigration status deeply influences access to prevention and care, thus contributing to increase the burden of HIV/AIDS among such a fragile category. The aim of this study was to investigate socio-demographic and baseline clinical and immunological features of HIV-infected migrants, as compared to Italians. We retrospectively analysed data for all the 1,611 HIV-infected migrant patients and a random sample of 4,230 HIV-infected Italian patients aged 18 or older who first accessed nine Italian clinical centres in 2000-2010 and were followed up at least 1 year. Differences in baseline characteristics between migrants and Italians were evaluated in univariate analysis, while factors associated with late presentation were evaluated in multivariate analysis using logistic regression models. The baseline profile differs between the HIV-infected migrant and Italian patients, substantially reflecting what reported by current statistics in terms of gender, age, risk category as well as clinical features. Late presenters were more frequent among migrants as compared to Italians (53.0 vs 45.8%; adjusted odds ratio [(AOR) = 1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34-1.78]. Other factors associated with late presentation included increasing age, as well as undocumented legal status among foreign-born subjects (AOR = 1.41, 95% CI 0.97-2.04), though of borderline significance. Late presentation still represents a relevant problem despite the advances in the management of HIV infection. More efforts are needed to allow early diagnosis and access to care among the most vulnerable, such as undocumented foreign-born subjects in a country where migration flows are on the rise.

  4. Great landslide events in Italian artificial reservoirs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panizzo, A.; de Girolamo, P.; di Risio, M.; Maistri, A.; Petaccia, A.

    2005-09-01

    The empirical formulations to forecast landslide generated water waves, recently defined in the framework of a research program funded by the Italian National Dam Office RID (Registro Italiano Dighe), are here used to study three real cases of subaerial landslides which fell down italian artificial reservoirs. It is well known that impulse water waves generated by landslides constitute a very dangerous menace for human communities living in the shoreline of the artificial basin or downstream the dam. In 1963, the menace became tragedy, when a 270 millions m3 landslide fell down the Vajont reservoir (Italy), generated an impulse wave which destroyed the city of Longarone, and killed 2000 people. The paper is aimed at presenting the very satisfactorily reproduction of the events at hand by using forecasting formulations.

  5. Security Implications Of Italian Nationalism

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-03-01

    NATO enlargement, and the ongoing immigration crisis. This thesis also examines Italy’s role in the major Euro-Atlantic security institutions and...immigration crisis. This thesis also examines Italy’s role in the major Euro- Atlantic security institutions and assesses how nationalist movements may...79 B. ITALY’S ROLE IN EU SECURITY COOPERATION ......................82 C. THE EFFECT OF EURO-ATLANTIC INSTITUTIONS ON ITALIAN

  6. Adherence to anti-Parkinson drug therapy in the "REASON" sample of Italian patients with Parkinson's disease: the linguistic validation of the Italian version of the "Morisky Medical Adherence Scale-8 items".

    PubMed

    Fabbrini, G; Abbruzzese, G; Barone, P; Antonini, A; Tinazzi, M; Castegnaro, G; Rizzoli, S; Morisky, D E; Lessi, P; Ceravolo, R

    2013-11-01

    Information about patients' adherence to therapy represents a primary issue in Parkinson's disease (PD) management. To perform the linguistic validation of the Italian version of the self-rated 8-Item Morisky Medical Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and to describe in a sample of Italian patients affected by PD the adherence to anti-Parkinson drug therapy and the association between adherence and some socio-demographic and clinical features. MMAS-8 was translated into Italian language by two independent Italian mother-tongue translators. The consensus version was then back-translated by an English mother-tongue translator. This translation process was followed by a consensus meeting between the authors of translation and investigators and then by two comprehension tests. The translated version of the MMAS-8 scale was then administered at the baseline visit of the "REASON" study (Italian Study on the Therapy Management in Parkinson's disease: Motor, Non-Motor, Adherence and Quality Of Life Factors) in a large sample of PD patients. The final version of the MMAS-8 was easily understood. Mean ± SD MMAS-8 score was 6.1 ± 1.2. There were no differences in adherence to therapy in relationship to disease severity, gender, educational level or decision to change therapy. The Italian version of MMAS-8, the key tool of the REASON study to assess the adherence to therapy, has shown to be understandable to patients with PD. Patients enrolled in the REASON study showed medium therapy adherence.

  7. Complementary medicine for alcohol dependence in Italian services: a mail questionnaire.

    PubMed

    Bardazzi, Gabriele; Merluzzi, Jo-Anne; Voller, Fabio; Fontana, Aldo; Abenavoli, Ludovico; Leggio, Lorenzo; Addolorato, Giovanni

    2006-08-01

    It is well known that Complementary Medicine (CM) is extensively used in western countries for the treatment of many afflictions. CM has been recently promoted in addiction treatment. To evaluate CM use in alcohol dependence we planned a mail questionnaire for Italian alcohol services. We sent out 612 questionnaires. Health services that were unable to respond to the questionnaire within a 20-day limit period were contacted by phone and if we obtained agreement to participate in the study the questionnaire was sent by fax. We obtained 312 (51.82%) completed questionnaires. Only 16.50% of Italian services use CM for alcohol dependence treatment and acupuncture is utilized more frequently than other methods (phytotherapy, homeopathy, etc.). In Italian alcohol services CM is identified as an instrument incorporated into traditional alcohol treatments (self-help groups, drug treatment, etc.) and not an alternative method. In fact, health services that use it as a principal method of treatment were a rare event in our study (1%). CM plays an integrated role with traditional forms of alcohol treatment in Italian alcohol services and this utilization could be useful to reduce drop-outs and improve alcohol treatment compliance.

  8. 3 CFR 8585 - Proclamation 8585 of October 14, 2010. Italian American Heritage and Culture Month, 2010

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... helped shape our society and steer the course of our history. During Italian American Heritage and... is found in the millions of American men, women, and children of Italian descent who strengthen and... honor the long history and vast contributions of Italian Americans, let us recommit to extending the...

  9. Validation of an Italian version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ-I).

    PubMed

    Sarzi-Puttini, P; Atzeni, F; Fiorini, T; Panni, B; Randisi, G; Turiel, M; Carrabba, M

    2003-01-01

    To validate a translated Italian version of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). The Italian version of the FIQ was administered to 50 patients affected by fibromyalgia (FM) (48 patients filled out the questionnaire again 10 days later) together with the Italian version of the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 (SF-36), and a tender point count (TPC) obtained by summing the score (0-3) of each tender point tested by thumb palpation. All patients were asked about the severity of pain today (10 cm visual analog scale) and the duration of symptoms. Test-retest reliability was assessed using Spearman correlations. Internal consistency was evaluated with Cronbach's alpha of reliability. Construct validity of the FIQ was evaluated by correlations between the HAQ and subscales of the SF-36 as well as the TPC. The mean duration of symptoms was 6.5 years and the mean age of the participants was 57.4 years. Test-retest reliability was between 0.74 and 0.95 for physical functioning as well as for the total FIQ and other components. Internal consistency was 0.90 for the overall FIQ. Significant correlations were obtained between the FIQ items, the HAQ and the SF-36. The Italian FIQ is a reliable and valid instrument for detecting and measuring functional disability and health status in Italian patients with FM.

  10. Sports activities in preschool children differed between those born to immigrants and native Italians.

    PubMed

    Zaccagni, Luciana; Toselli, Stefania; Celenza, Francesca; Albertini, Augusta; Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela

    2017-07-01

    Despite the health benefits of physical activity in early childhood, little is known about sports practices in preschool children with different ethnic origins. The aim of this study was to investigate the sport activity patterns in native and immigrant children in northern Italy. The influence of some child and family determinants on the child's practice of club-organised sport was analysed to plan interventions. The study group comprised 2682 preschool children (49.5% girls) aged 5.9 ± 0.3, 2396 fathers and 2478 mothers. All the children had their height and weight measured and their parents completed a self-administered questionnaire on their child's sports participation and family characteristics. Sports activities were significantly more frequent in native Italian girls than in native Italian boys and immigrant girls. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the weekly amount of club-organised sport in preschool children was related to the sex and migrant status in the whole sample, to paternal educational level and occupation in the native-born sample and to paternal body mass index, offspring and paternal occupation in the immigrant group. This study highlighted the need to develop specific interventions for native and immigrant preschool children to promote a healthy lifestyle. ©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. The new Inventory of Italian Glaciers: Present knowledge, applied methods and preliminary results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smiraglia, Claudio; Diolaiuti, Guglielmina; D'Agata, Carlo; Maragno, Davide; Baroni, Carlo; Mortara, Gianni; Perotti, Luigi; Bondesan, Aldino; Salvatore, Cristina; Vagliasindi, Marco; Vuillermoz, Elisa

    2013-04-01

    A new Glacier Inventory is an indispensable requirement in Italy due to the importance of evaluating the present glacier coverage and the recent changes driven by climate. Furthermore Alpine glaciers represent a not negligible water and touristic resource then to manage and promote them is needed to know their distribution, size and features. The first Italian Glacier Inventory dates back to 1959-1962. It was compiled by the Italian Glaciological Committee (CGI) in cooperation with the National Research Council (CNR); this first inventory was mainly based on field data coupled with photographs (acquired on the field) and high resolution maps. The Italian glaciation resulted to be spread into 754 ice bodies which altogether were covering 525 km2. Moreover in the Eighties a new inventory was compiled to insert Italian data into the World Glacier Inventory (WGI); aerial photos taken at the end of the Seventies (and in some cases affected by a high and not negligible snow coverage) were used as the main source of data. No other national inventory were compiled after that period. Nevertheless during the last decade the largest part of the Italian Alpine regions have produced regional and local glacier inventories which in several cases are also available and queried through web sites and web GIS application. The actual need is now to obtain a complete, homogeneous and contemporary picture of the Italian Glaciation which encompasses the already available regional and local data and all the new updated information coming from new sources of data (e.g.: orthophotos, satellite imagines, etc..). The challenge was accepted by the University of Milan, the EvK2CNR Committee and the Italian Glaciological Committee who, with the sponsorship of Levissima Spa, are presently working to compile the new updated Italian Glacier Inventory. The first project step is to produce a unique homogeneous glacier database including glacier boundary and surface area and the main fundamental

  12. [The demographic and occupational characteristics of Italian migrants to Argentina, 1880-1930].

    PubMed

    Cacopardo, M C; Moreno, J L

    1984-09-01

    "This essay studies...the demographic and socio-professional characteristics of the Italian emigrants in Argentina during the period 1880-1930. Besides a reconstruction of the demographic variables (age, sex, mortality, and fertility) in the historical series, the essay also depicts the professional profile of the Italians in Argentina...." (summary in ENG, FRE) excerpt

  13. Stress Regularity or Consistency? Reading Aloud Italian Polysyllables with Different Stress Patterns

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burani, Cristina; Arduino, Lisa S.

    2004-01-01

    Stress assignment to three- and four-syllable Italian words is not predictable by rule, but needs lexical look-up. The present study investigated whether stress assignment to low-frequency Italian words is determined by stress regularity, or by the number of words sharing the final phonological segment and the stress pattern (stress neighborhood…

  14. Fully Transparent Orthography, yet Lexical Reading Aloud: The Lexicality Effect in Italian

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pagliuca, Giovanni; Arduino, Lisa S.; Barca, Laura; Burani, Cristina

    2008-01-01

    This is the first study that reports the lexicality effect (i.e., words read better than nonwords) in Italian with fully transparent and methodologically well-controlled stimuli. We investigated how words and nonwords are read aloud in the Italian transparent orthography, in which there is an almost strict one-to-one correspondence between…

  15. Cortical Reorganization in Dyslexic Children after Phonological Training: Evidence from Early Evoked Potentials

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Spironelli, Chiara; Penolazzi, Barbara; Vio, Claudio; Angrilli, Alessandro

    2010-01-01

    Brain plasticity was investigated in 14 Italian children affected by developmental dyslexia after 6 months of phonological training. The means used to measure language reorganization was the recognition potential, an early wave, also called N150, elicited by automatic word recognition. This component peaks over the left temporo-occipital cortex…

  16. Linguistic, geographic and genetic isolation: a collaborative study of Italian populations.

    PubMed

    Capocasa, Marco; Anagnostou, Paolo; Bachis, Valeria; Battaggia, Cinzia; Bertoncini, Stefania; Biondi, Gianfranco; Boattini, Alessio; Boschi, Ilaria; Brisighelli, Francesca; Caló, Carla Maria; Carta, Marilisa; Coia, Valentina; Corrias, Laura; Crivellaro, Federica; De Fanti, Sara; Dominici, Valentina; Ferri, Gianmarco; Francalacci, Paolo; Franceschi, Zelda Alice; Luiselli, Donata; Morelli, Laura; Paoli, Giorgio; Rickards, Olga; Robledo, Renato; Sanna, Daria; Sanna, Emanuele; Sarno, Stefania; Sineo, Luca; Taglioli, Luca; Tagarelli, Giuseppe; Tofanelli, Sergio; Vona, Giuseppe; Pettener, Davide; Destro Bisol, Giovanni

    2014-01-01

    The animal and plant biodiversity of the Italian territory is known to be one of the richest in the Mediterranean basin and Europe as a whole, but does the genetic diversity of extant human populations show a comparable pattern? According to a number of studies, the genetic structure of Italian populations retains the signatures of complex peopling processes which took place from the Paleolithic to modern era. Although the observed patterns highlight a remarkable degree of genetic heterogeneity, they do not, however, take into account an important source of variation. In fact, Italy is home to numerous ethnolinguistic minorities which have yet to be studied systematically. Due to their difference in geographical origin and demographic history, such groups not only signal the cultural and social diversity of our country, but they are also potential contributors to its bio-anthropological heterogeneity. To fill this gap, research groups from four Italian Universities (Bologna, Cagliari, Pisa and Roma Sapienza) started a collaborative study in 2007, which was funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research and received partial support by the Istituto Italiano di Antropologia. In this paper, we present an account of the results obtained in the course of this initiative. Four case-studies relative to linguistic minorities from the Eastern Alps, Sardinia, Apennines and Southern Italy are first described and discussed, focusing on their micro-evolutionary and anthropological implications. Thereafter, we present the results of a systematic analysis of the relations between linguistic, geographic and genetic isolation. Integrating the data obtained in the course of the long-term study with literature and unpublished results on Italian populations, we show that a combination of linguistic and geographic factors is probably responsible for the presence of the most robust signatures of genetic isolation. Finally, we evaluate the magnitude of the diversity

  17. Development of an algorithm for the management of cervical lymphadenopathy in children: consensus of the Italian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics, jointly with the Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and the Italian Society of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology.

    PubMed

    Chiappini, Elena; Camaioni, Angelo; Benazzo, Marco; Biondi, Andrea; Bottero, Sergio; De Masi, Salvatore; Di Mauro, Giuseppe; Doria, Mattia; Esposito, Susanna; Felisati, Giovanni; Felisati, Dino; Festini, Filippo; Gaini, Renato Maria; Galli, Luisa; Gambini, Claudio; Gianelli, Umberto; Landi, Massimo; Lucioni, Marco; Mansi, Nicola; Mazzantini, Rachele; Marchisio, Paola; Marseglia, Gian Luigi; Miniello, Vito Leonardo; Nicola, Marta; Novelli, Andrea; Paulli, Marco; Picca, Marina; Pillon, Marta; Pisani, Paolo; Pipolo, Carlotta; Principi, Nicola; Sardi, Iacopo; Succo, Giovanni; Tomà, Paolo; Tortoli, Enrico; Tucci, Filippo; Varricchio, Attilio; de Martino, Maurizio; Italian Guideline Panel For Management Of Cervical Lymphadenopathy In Children

    2015-01-01

    Cervical lymphadenopathy is a common disorder in children due to a wide spectrum of disorders. On the basis of a complete history and physical examination, paediatricians have to select, among the vast majority of children with a benign self-limiting condition, those at risk for other, more complex, diseases requiring laboratory tests, imaging and, finally, tissue sampling. At the same time, they should avoid expensive and invasive examinations when unnecessary. The Italian Society of Preventive and Social Pediatrics, jointly with the Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, the Italian Society of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, and other Scientific Societies, issued a National Consensus document, based on the most recent literature findings, including an algorithm for the management of cervical lymphadenopathy in children. The Consensus Conference method was used, following the Italian National Plan Guidelines. Relevant publications in English were identified through a systematic review of MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from their inception through March 21, 2014. Basing on literature results, an algorithm was developed, including several possible clinical scenarios. Situations requiring a watchful waiting strategy, those requiring an empiric antibiotic therapy, and those necessitating a prompt diagnostic workup, considering the risk for a severe underling disease, have been identified. The present algorithm is a practice tool for the management of pediatric cervical lymphadenopathy in the hospital and the ambulatory settings. A multidisciplinary approach is paramount. Further studies are required for its validation in the clinical field.

  18. [A survey on diet manuals in Italian hospitals].

    PubMed

    Donini, L M; Riti, M; Castellaneta, E; Ceccarelli, P; Civale, C; Passaretti, S; del Balzo, V; Cannella, C

    2009-01-01

    Hospital catering is very important to counteract the onset of malnutrition due to either undernutrition or overnutrition and for dietetic treatment. The aim of the study was to evaluate nutritional quality of the hospital dietetic manual used in some Italian hospitals and to analyze the role of the institutional Catering Service and of the Department of Clinical Nutrition. A survey has been carried out, in some Italian hospitals, using a questionnaire to point out the characteristics of hospitals, the typology of catering service, of the diets and of the staff of the Department of Clinical Nutrition. Only 22% of the hospitals has answered; three Italian regions (Umbria, Molise, Basilicata) are completely missing; -each hospital has a specific dietetic manual in most cases completely different from structure and nutritional quality point of view; the staff acting in this field is absolutely insufficient in term of numerousness and of professional typologies. Hospital in-patients are not homogeneous as for age, dietary needs and diseases, so it's necessary to treat them with an ad hoc nutritional intervention not established in advance in a dietetic manual; if from an organisation point of view it is necessary to have such a dietetic manual, it has to be based on nutritional guidelines and recommended dietary allowances.

  19. Legionella Contamination in Hot Water of Italian Hotels

    PubMed Central

    Borella, Paola; Montagna, Maria Teresa; Stampi, Serena; Stancanelli, Giovanna; Romano-Spica, Vincenzo; Triassi, Maria; Marchesi, Isabella; Bargellini, Annalisa; Tatò, Daniela; Napoli, Christian; Zanetti, Franca; Leoni, Erica; Moro, Matteo; Scaltriti, Stefania; Ribera D'Alcalà, Gabriella; Santarpia, Rosalba; Boccia, Stefania

    2005-01-01

    A cross-sectional multicenter survey of Italian hotels was conducted to investigate Legionella spp. contamination of hot water. Chemical parameters (hardness, free chlorine concentration, and trace element concentrations), water systems, and building characteristics were evaluated to study risk factors for colonization. The hot water systems of Italian hotels were strongly colonized by Legionella; 75% of the buildings examined and 60% of the water samples were contaminated, mainly at levels of ≥103 CFU liter−1, and Legionella pneumophila was the most frequently isolated species (87%). L. pneumophila serogroup 1 was isolated from 45.8% of the contaminated sites and from 32.5% of the hotels examined. When a multivariate logistic model was used, only hotel age was associated with contamination, but the risk factors differed depending on the contaminating species and serogroup. Soft water with higher chlorine levels and higher temperatures were associated with L. pneumophila serogroup 1 colonization, whereas the opposite was observed for serogroups 2 to 14. In conclusion, Italian hotels, particularly those located in old buildings, represent a major source of risk for Legionnaires' disease due to the high frequency of Legionella contamination, high germ concentration, and major L. pneumophila serogroup 1 colonization. The possible role of chlorine in favoring the survival of Legionella species is discussed. PMID:16204491

  20. Legionella contamination in hot water of Italian hotels.

    PubMed

    Borella, Paola; Montagna, Maria Teresa; Stampi, Serena; Stancanelli, Giovanna; Romano-Spica, Vincenzo; Triassi, Maria; Marchesi, Isabella; Bargellini, Annalisa; Tatò, Daniela; Napoli, Christian; Zanetti, Franca; Leoni, Erica; Moro, Matteo; Scaltriti, Stefania; Ribera D'Alcalà, Gabriella; Santarpia, Rosalba; Boccia, Stefania

    2005-10-01

    A cross-sectional multicenter survey of Italian hotels was conducted to investigate Legionella spp. contamination of hot water. Chemical parameters (hardness, free chlorine concentration, and trace element concentrations), water systems, and building characteristics were evaluated to study risk factors for colonization. The hot water systems of Italian hotels were strongly colonized by Legionella; 75% of the buildings examined and 60% of the water samples were contaminated, mainly at levels of > or =10(3) CFU liter(-1), and Legionella pneumophila was the most frequently isolated species (87%). L. pneumophila serogroup 1 was isolated from 45.8% of the contaminated sites and from 32.5% of the hotels examined. When a multivariate logistic model was used, only hotel age was associated with contamination, but the risk factors differed depending on the contaminating species and serogroup. Soft water with higher chlorine levels and higher temperatures were associated with L. pneumophila serogroup 1 colonization, whereas the opposite was observed for serogroups 2 to 14. In conclusion, Italian hotels, particularly those located in old buildings, represent a major source of risk for Legionnaires' disease due to the high frequency of Legionella contamination, high germ concentration, and major L. pneumophila serogroup 1 colonization. The possible role of chlorine in favoring the survival of Legionella species is discussed.

  1. The Difficult Transition of the Italian University System: Growth, Underfunding and Reforms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turri, Matteo

    2016-01-01

    The evolution of Italian universities in terms of growth, economic sustainability and reforms can be interpreted in the light of the élite, mass and universal access categories defined by Martin Trow. The findings from this analysis show that although the number of enrolled students and funding problems propel the Italian university system towards…

  2. Weight perception among Italian adults, 2006-2010.

    PubMed

    Odone, Anna; Gallus, Silvano; Lugo, Alessandra; Zuccaro, Piergiorgio; Colombo, Paolo; Bosetti, Cristina; La Vecchia, Carlo; Galeone, Carlotta

    2014-03-01

    Underweight, overweight and obesity are associated with increased mortality from several chronic diseases, including cancer. Self body weight misperceptions affect weight control. We monitored weight perception in Italy on a total of 14 135 individuals (6834 men, 7301 women), representative of the Italian adult population with available information on body mass index (BMI) derived by self-reported height and weight. Differences in misperception of BMI categories across subpopulations were analysed using unconditional multiple logistic regression models after adjustment for a number of covariates. Overall, 66.4% of individuals accurately perceived, 21.0% underestimated and 12.6% overestimated their category of BMI. In men, 27.2% underestimated and 5.0% overestimated their BMI category the corresponding estimates for women were 15.3% and 19.6%, respectively. The large majority of underweight (64.3%) and obese individuals (93.1%) overestimated and underestimated their weight, respectively. Overall, 13.5% of Italians misperceived (8.9% underestimated and 4.6% overestimated) their BMI category by more than 2 kg/m. By multivariate analysis, we observed significant differences in terms of sex, education, geographic area, marital status, smoking and drinking habit, year of survey and BMI category. In conclusion, misperception of body weight is frequent in Italy, paralleling findings from other countries with more unfavourable overweight and obesity patterns. The fact that one out of three Italian adults misperceive their weight is of great concern and indicates that media intervention campaigns aimed at explaining measurement and correct interpretation of BMI are required.

  3. Italian translation and cultural adaptation of the communication assessment tool in an outpatient surgical clinic.

    PubMed

    Scala, Daniela; Menditto, Enrica; Armellino, Mariano Fortunato; Manguso, Francesco; Monetti, Valeria Marina; Orlando, Valentina; Antonino, Antonio; Makoul, Gregory; De Palma, Maurizio

    2016-04-29

    The aim of the study is to translate and cross-culturally adapt, for use in the Italian context, the Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) developed by Makoul and colleagues. The study was performed in the out-patient clinic of the Surgical Department of Cardarelli Hospital in Naples, Italy. It involved a systematic, standardized, multi-step process adhering to internationally accepted and recommended guidelines. Corrections and adjustments to the translation addressed both linguistic factors and cultural components. The CAT was translated into Italian by two independent Italian mother-tongue translators. The consensus version was then back-translated by an English mother-tongue translator. This translation process was followed by a consensus meeting between the authors of translation and investigators, and then by two comprehension tests on a total of 65 patients. Results of the translation and cross-cultural adaptation were satisfactory and indicate that the Italian translation of the CAT can be used with confidence in the Italian context.

  4. Italian National Forest Inventory: methods, state of the project, and future developments

    Treesearch

    Giovanni Tabacchi; Flora De Natale; Antonio Floris; Caterina Gagliano; Patrizia Gasparini; Gianfranco Scrinzi; Vittorio Tosi

    2007-01-01

    A primary objective of the Italian National Forest Inventory (NFI) is to provide information required by the Kyoto Protocol and the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe in relation to sustainable forest management practices. For this reason, the second Italian NFI was aimed at providing data in a way that is consistent with the international...

  5. The Effect of Training on Italian Firms' Productivity: Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guerrazzi, Marco

    2016-01-01

    In this article, I explore the effect of training on the productivity of a sample of Italian firms and the impact of training on EU economic growth. Specifically, retrieving data from a survey performed by the Italian Institute for the Development of Vocational Training in 2009, I find that employer-sponsored training displays a positive and…

  6. Anterioposterior spinal curvatures and magnitude of asymmetry in the trunk in musicians playing the violin compared with nonmusicians.

    PubMed

    Barczyk-Pawelec, Katarzyna; Sipko, Tomasz; Demczuk-Włodarczyk, Ewa; Boczar, Agata

    2012-05-01

    Playing an instrument often requires a certain posture and asymmetric position that may affect the anteroposterior spinal curvatures and may lead to postural asymmetry. The aim of the study was to evaluate the spinal curvatures in the sagittal plane and the magnitude of asymmetries in the trunk in the frontal plane in a group of music students in comparison with a control group. The group of 67 students aged 20 to 26 years was made up of 2 subgroups: the musicians (violin playing students of the Academy of Music in Wroclaw) and the control group (physical therapy students who played no instruments). The examination included an interview, measuring of somatic characteristics, and evaluation of body posture by means of the photogrammetric method. The spinal curvatures of the instrumentalists in the sagittal plane differ from the control group mainly in terms of length and depth parameters. Compared with the control group, the musicians were characterized by statistically more significantly longer and deeper thoracic kyphosis (P < .01) and more shallow lumbar lordosis (P < .05), a greater angle of thoracic kyphosis (P < .005), and a smaller inclination angle of the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral section of the spine (P < .01). In the group of musicians, the asymmetries in the area of shoulders and waist triangles as well as the distance of the spinous processes from the C7 to S1 line were more frequent. Copyright © 2012 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. The Role of Geminates in Infants' Early Word Production and Word-Form Recognition

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vihman, Marilyn; Majoran, Marinella

    2017-01-01

    Infants learning languages with long consonants, or geminates, have been found to "overselect" and "overproduce" these consonants in early words and also to commonly omit the word-initial consonant. A production study with thirty Italian children recorded at 1;3 and 1;9 strongly confirmed both of these tendencies. To test the…

  8. Quality management standards for facility services in the Italian health care sector.

    PubMed

    Cesarotti, Vittorio; Di Silvio, Bruna

    2006-01-01

    Health care, one of the most dynamic sectors in Italy, is studied with a particular focus on outsourcing non-core activities such as facility management (FM) services. The project's goals are to define national standards to balance and control facility service evolution, and to drive FM services towards organisational excellence. The authors, in cooperation with a pool of facility service providers and hospitals managers, studied cleaning services--one of the most critical areas. This article describes the research steps and findings following definition and publication of the Italian standard and its application to an international benchmarking process. The method chosen for developing the Italian standard was to merge technical, strategic and organisational aspects with the goal of standardising the contracting system, giving service providers the chance to improve efficiency and quality, while helping healthcare organisations gain from a better, more reliable and less expensive service. The Italian standard not only improved services but also provided adequate control systems for outsourcing organisations. In this win-win context, it is hoped to continually drive FM services towards organisational excellence. This study is specific to the Italian national healthcare system. However, the strategic dynamics described are common to many other contexts. A systematic method for improving hospital FM services is presented. The authors believe that lessons learned from their Italian case study can be used to better understand and drive similar services in other countries or in other FM service outsourcing sectors.

  9. An annotated checklist of the Italian butterflies and skippers (Papilionoidea, Hesperiioidea).

    PubMed

    Balletto, Emilio; Cassulo, Luigi A; Bonelli, Simona

    2014-08-20

    We present here an updated checklist of the Italian butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperioidea and Papilionoidea) organised in the following sections (tables):1. Introduction, providing a broad outline of the paper.2. Checklist proper, summarised in a table, listing, in separate columns:a. Indications of endemicity (sub-endemic, Italian endemic).b. The relevant Annex in the Habitats Directive (legally protected species).c. Threat levels (in Europe: for threatened species only).d. A serial number (whose format is uniform across all Italian animal groups). This number runs throughout all the following tables (see 3, 4).e. Name, author, date of publication.f. Schematic overall indication of each specie's Italian range (N[orth], S[outh], Si[icily], Sa[rdinia]).3. Nomenclature, containing basic nomenclatural details for all listed genera, species and some of the generally or historically recognised subspecies and synonyms.4. Notes, where a variety of other information is provided, on a name by name (family, subfamily, genus, species, subspecies) basis. All remaining doubts as concerns each individual case are clearly stated.                The number of nominal species listed in the previous edition of this checklist, published almost 20 years ago, was 275, whereas it has raised to 290 in the current list. The status of about a dozen of these remains controversial, as discussed in the text. The present checklist is meant to provide an update of the Italian butterfly fauna, taking into account all relevant publications, and tries to explain all nomenclatural changes that had to be introduced, in the appropriate section. Many detailed comments are offered, when necessary or useful, in the notes.

  10. Self-Employment among Italian Female Graduates

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosti, Luisa; Chelli, Francesco

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gender impact of tertiary education on the probability of entering and remaining in self-employment. Design/methodology/approach: A data set on labour market flows produced by the Italian National Statistical Office is exploited by interviewing about 62,000 graduate and non-graduate…

  11. Perspectives in Italian Immigration and Ethnicity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tomasi, S. M., Ed.

    The essays prepared for this symposium range from the scholarly and highly structured to the impressionistic and subjective. Together, they comprise a substantive exploration of Italian American life and serve as a model for research into American ethnicity. In the papers three different areas are addressed: (1) current research and issues in the…

  12. Validation of the Italian version of the Movement Disorder Society--Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale.

    PubMed

    Antonini, Angelo; Abbruzzese, Giovanni; Ferini-Strambi, Luigi; Tilley, Barbara; Huang, Jing; Stebbins, Glenn T; Goetz, Christopher G; Barone, Paolo; Bandettini di Poggio, Monica; Fabbrini, Giovanni; Di Stasio, Flavio; Tinazzi, Michele; Bovi, Tommaso; Ramat, Silvia; Meoni, Sara; Pezzoli, Gianni; Canesi, Margherita; Martinelli, Paolo; Maria Scaglione, Cesa Lorella; Rossi, Aroldo; Tambasco, Nicola; Santangelo, Gabriella; Picillo, Marina; Morgante, Letterio; Morgante, Francesca; Quatrale, Rocco; Sensi, MariaChiara; Pilleri, Manuela; Biundo, Roberta; Nordera, Giampietro; Caria, Antonella; Pacchetti, Claudio; Zangaglia, Roberta; Lopiano, Leonardo; Zibetti, Maurizio; Zappia, Mario; Nicoletti, Alessandra; Quattrone, Aldo; Salsone, Maria; Cossu, Gianni; Murgia, Daniela; Albanese, Alberto; Del Sorbo, Francesca

    2013-05-01

    The Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) has been available in English since 2008. As part of this process, the MDS-UPDRS organizing team developed guidelines for development of official non-English translations. We present here the formal process for completing officially approved non-English versions of the MDS-UPDRS and specifically focus on the first of these versions in Italian. The MDS-UPDRS was translated into Italian and tested in 377 native-Italian speaking PD patients. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses determined whether the factor structure for the English-language MDS-UPDRS could be confirmed in data collected using the Italian translation. To be designated an 'Official MDS translation,' the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) had to be ≥0.90 relative to the English-language version. For all four parts of the Italian MDS-UPDRS, the CFI, in comparison with the English-language data, was ≥0.94. Exploratory factor analyses revealed some differences between the two datasets, however these differences were considered to be within an acceptable range. The Italian version of the MDS-UPDRS reaches the criterion to be designated as an Official Translation and is now available for use. This protocol will serve as outline for further validation of this in multiple languages.

  13. Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ).

    PubMed

    Bucci, Rosaria; Rongo, Roberto; Zito, Eugenio; Galeotti, Angela; Valletta, Rosa; D'Antò, Vincenzo

    2015-03-01

    To validate and cross-culturally adapt the Italian version of the Psychological Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ) among Italian young adults. After translation, back translation, and cross-cultural adaptation of the English PIDAQ, a first version of the Italian questionnaire was pretested. The final Italian PIDAQ was administered to 598 subjects aged 18-30 years, along with two other instruments: the aesthetic component of the index of orthodontic treatment need (IOTN-AC) and the perception of occlusion scale (POS), which identified the self-reporting grade of malocclusion. Structural validity was assessed by means of factorial analysis, internal consistency was measured with Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α), convergent validity was assessed by means of Spearman correlation, and test-retest reliability was calculated with intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) and standard measurement error. Criterion validity was evaluated by multivariate and univariate analysis of variance with Bonferroni post hoc tests. The α of the Italian PIDAQ domains ranged between 0.79 and 0.92. The ICC was between 0.81 and 0.90. The mean scores of each PIDAQ domain showed a statistically significant difference when analysed according to the IOTN-AC and POS scores. The satisfactory psychometric properties make PIDAQ a usable tool for future studies on oral health-related quality of life among Italian young adults.

  14. Neck muscle function in violinists/violists with and without neck pain.

    PubMed

    Steinmetz, Anke; Claus, Andrew; Hodges, Paul W; Jull, Gwendolen A

    2016-04-01

    Neck pain is associated with changes in neuromuscular control of cervical muscles. Violin and viola playing requires good function of the flexor muscles to stabilize the instrument. This study investigated the flexor muscle behaviour in violin/viola players with and without neck pain using the craniocervical flexion test (CCFT). In total, 12 violin/viola players with neck pain, 21 violin/viola players without neck pain in the preceding 12 weeks and 21 pain-free non-musicians were included. Activity of the sternocleidomastoid muscles (SCM) was measured with surface electromyography (EMG) during the CCFT. Violin/viola players with neck pain displayed greater normalised SCM EMG amplitudes during CCFT than the pain-free musicians and non-musicians (P < 0.05). Playing-related neck pain in violinists/violists is associated with altered behaviour of the superficial neck flexor muscles consistent with neck pain, despite the specific use of the deep and superficial neck flexors during violin playing.

  15. Italian Preschoolers' Peer-Status Linkages with Sociability and Subtypes of Aggression and Victimization

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, David A.; Robinson, Clyde C.; Hart, Craig H.; Albano, Anthony D.; Marshall, Shawna J.

    2010-01-01

    Little is known about the behavior of preschool children belonging to peer sociometric status groups (popular, average, rejected, neglected, and controversial) in cultural contexts outside North America. This study examined the social interactions of Italian preschoolers. The sample consisted of 266 Italian preschoolers (mean age of 64 months).…

  16. Validation and cross cultural adaptation of the Italian version of the Harris Hip Score.

    PubMed

    Dettoni, Federico; Pellegrino, Pietro; La Russa, Massimo R; Bonasia, Davide E; Blonna, Davide; Bruzzone, Matteo; Castoldi, Filippo; Rossi, Roberto

    2015-01-01

    The Harris Hip Score (HHS) is one of the most widely used health related quality of life (HRQOL) measures for the assessment of hip pathology: in spite of this, a validation study, and an official Italian version have not been provided yet. The aim of this study was to create an Italian valid and reliable version of the HHS. The score was translated and modified in Italian; then 103 patients with different hip pathologies were evaluated using this HHS version and also with the WOMAC and the SF-12 questionnaires. Content, construct and criterion validities were tested, such as interobserver reliability, test-retest reliability and internal consistency. Cross-cultural adaptation was easy, and only minor adaptation was required in the translation process. Construct and criterion validity of the HHS Italian Version were confirmed by satisfactory values of Spearman's Rho for correlation between specific domains of HHS and Womac and SF12 scores. Interobserver and test-retest reliabilities obtained values of 0.996 and 0.975 respectively; Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was 0.816. Statistical and clinical analysis showed that HHS is highly valid and reliable in this new Italian version.

  17. [Italy of miracles. Does the renaissaince of Italian science pass by the Vatican?].

    PubMed

    Naldi, Luigi

    2016-03-01

    In a commentary published in The Lancet on January 2016, Giuseppe Remuzzi and Richard Horton, analyse the origin of the decline of the Italian primacy in biomedical science. Among the others, the existence of Italian political groups «which oppose science simply to please the Church and to achieve political gain» was considered as detrimental for advancing research in such areas as assisted reproduction or embryonic stem cell research. Some hope for a change is raised, in the opinion of Remuzzi and Horton, by the more open attitude toward science of pope Francis. Hence, the two authors conclude that the time has come to promote a dialogue between Italian scientists and the Vatican and, by that, to see «if conditions are ripe to create a renaissance in Italian intellectual life». I humbly challange the analyses and conclusions of Remuzzi and Horton on the Italian scientific decline and the possible way forward. The rooth of the Italian decline in science are deep-seated into the chronic lack of resources, into the under-development of academic institutions, and into the lack of motivations for young researchers. As for bioethical paradigms, they are the end result of a co-production between social norms and scientific development, and their definition would ideally involve the participation of large sectors of the society. One example of such a process is offered by the "Les Etats généraux de la bioéthique" in France in 2009. The ethical discussion concerning biotech innovations is not limited to theological issues, but involves social aspects such as public health priorities, equity, and information strategies to avoid creating unrealistic expectations.

  18. Disparity in the "time to patient access" to new anti-cancer drugs in Italian regions. Results of a survey conducted by the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM).

    PubMed

    Gori, Stefania; Di Maio, Massimo; Pinto, Carmine; Alabiso, Oscar; Baldini, Editta; Barbato, Enrico; Beretta, Giordano Domenico; Bravi, Stefano; Caffo, Orazio; Canobbio, Luciano; Carrozza, Francesco; Cinieri, Saverio; Cruciani, Giorgio; Dinota, Angelo; Gebbia, Vittorio; Giustini, Lucio; Graiff, Claudio; Molino, Annamaria; Muggiano, Antonio; Pandoli, Giuliano; Puglisi, Fabio; Tagliaferri, Pierosandro; Tomao, Silverio; Venturini, Marco

    2011-01-01

    In 2009, the Italian Society of Medical Oncology (AIOM) conducted a survey to describe the impact of regional pharmaceutical formularies on the disparity of access to eight new drugs among cancer patients treated in Italian regions. The survey documented some regional restrictions for some anti-cancer drugs. In the study, we analyzed the "time to patient access" to new anti-cancer drugs in Italian regions. In March 2010, we analyzed the availability of 17 new anti-cancer drugs at a regional level, specifically the coherence of regional authorizations compared with national authorizations approved by the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA). In the regions with pharmaceutical formularies, we analyzed the characteristics of technical-scientific committees for the evaluation of inclusion of hospital drugs in these formularies. We also analyzed the time from EMA (CMPH) authorization to AIFA marketing authorization, the time from AIFA marketing authorization to patient availability, and the total time from EMA (CMPH) authorization to patient availability of the drugs in all Italian regions, for 11 of these drugs. Some drugs were included in all the regional pharmaceutical formularies, without restrictions, whereas other drugs were not included in one and others were not included in more than one formulary. Median time from EMA to AIFA was 11.2 months (range, 2.9-17.1). Median time from AIFA to patient availability was 1.4 months (range, 0.0-50.5) in regions with drug formularies versus 0.0 months in regions without drugs formularies. Median total time from EMA to patient availability was longer in regions with formularies (13.3 months; range, 2.9-65.3) than in regions without formularies (11.2 months; range, 2.9-24.0), where drugs are immediately available after AIFA marketing authorization. Moreover, the interval was very long (range, 2.9-65.3) for some drugs in regions with formularies. The analysis confirmed that the presence of multiple hierarchical levels of drug

  19. Social inequalities and pharmaceutical cost sharing in Italian regions.

    PubMed

    Terraneo, Marco; Sarti, Simone; Tognetti Bordogna, Mara

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, Italian citizens have increasingly been asked to share pharmaceutical costs, but at the same time, households' medicines expenditure has decreased. Cost-sharing policies have to be assessed not just in terms of limitation of moral hazard and revenue to the state, but also for equal opportunities for citizen users accessing health services. The aim of this article is to analyze how Italian co-payment policies ("ticket") on medicines may affect pharmaceutical expenditure of households, considering territorial and social groups variation. We reviewed the per capita private spending on medicines of Italian regions, separating pharmaceutical outlay and "ticket." Across the period 2001-2010 we found that the overall per capita private spending on medicines remained substantially stable, although medicine expenditure decreases while the "ticket" increases. When cost sharing rises, out-of-pocket spending on medicines by poorer families seems to remain unchanged; however, poorer families seem to reduce their pharmaceutical expenditure. Our analysis suggests that applying co-payment in Italy is partly successful, in terms of greater revenue to the health system, but in the last few years, cost-sharing increases would seem to have rebounded negatively on more vulnerable families, due to the economic crisis.

  20. Nurses' Job satisfaction: an Italian study.

    PubMed

    Sansoni, J; De Caro, W; Marucci, A R; Sorrentino, M; Mayner, L; Lancia, L

    2016-01-01

    The aim of the work presented was to assess job satisfaction of a number of nurses from different departments working in public hospitals in Italy. The assessment was carried out through the combined use of questionnaires, which measured different aspects of job satisfaction, such as coping abilities, stress level and optimism/pessimism. The literature supports the fact that nurses' job dissatisfaction is closely connected with high levels of stress, burnout and physical and mental exhaustion, together with high workload levels and the complexity of care. The growing interest in measuring the levels of nurses' job satisfaction is attributable to a number of problems that have been raised worldwide, two of which are becoming ever so important: turnover and shortage of nurses. The research question is: Which are the main motivating factors of Italian nurses' job satisfaction/dissatisfaction? The study used a convenience (non probability) sample of 1,304 nurses from 15 different wards working in Italian public hospitals from a number of cities in northern, central and southern Italy. The survey instrument was a questionnaire consisting of 205 items which included 5 different questionnaires combined together. The results show a low level of job satisfaction (IWS= 11.5, JSS=126.4). However, the participants were overall happy about their job and considered autonomy and salary important factors for job satisfaction. Research has shown that the nurses' level of satisfaction in Italian hospitals is low. The results revealed dissatisfaction with task requirements, organizational policies and advance in career. Nurses interviewed did not feel stressed and showed to be optimistic overall. New research on the subject should be conducted by focusing on ward differences, North and South of Italy and on gender differences.

  1. Informatics Education in Italian Secondary Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bellettini, Carlo; Lonati, Violetta; Malchiodi, Dario; Monga, Mattia; Morpurgo, Anna; Torelli, Mauro; Zecca, Luisa

    2014-01-01

    This article describes the state of informatics education in the Italian secondary schools, highlighting how the learning objectives set up by the Ministry of Education are difficult to meet, due to the fact that the subject is often taught by teachers not holding an informatics degree, the lack of suitable teaching material and the expectations…

  2. Historical Archives in Italian Astronomical Observatories: The ``Specola 2000'' Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chinnici, I.; Mandrino, A.; Bònoli, F.

    2006-12-01

    Italy's well-consolidated tradition in astronomy is fully witnessed by its rich archival heritage. Astronomical records are stored in many observatories and universities, as well as in libraries and in private institutions. In 2000 a project was promoted to arrange and produce inventories of all material kept in Italian observatory archives. The project was planned by the Società Astronomica Italiana, and financial support was provided by the Italian Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali. In this paper, the results obtained thus far are presented and commented on.

  3. Strong and Clitic Pronouns in Monolingual and Bilingual Acquisition of French and Italian

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmitz, Katrin; Muller, Natascha

    2008-01-01

    The present article investigates the acquisition of the pronominal systems by French and Italian monolingual children and by bilingual German-French and German-Italian children, demonstrating a stable asymmetry: object and reflexive clitics are acquired later than nominative clitics and strong subject and object pronouns. We will widen the scope…

  4. Factors associated with self-reported use of dental health services among older Greek and Italian immigrants.

    PubMed

    Mariño, Rodrigo; Wright, Clive; Schofield, Margot; Calache, Hanny; Minichiello, Victor

    2005-01-01

    The authors discuss utilization of dental health services by older Greek and Italian immigrants in Melbourne, Australia. Their study involved 374 Greek and 360 Italian adults who completed a questionnaire and received an oral examination. Nearly 41% of Greek and 45% of Italian respondents had used dental services in the previous year. As barriers to care, Greek participants most often cited waiting lists and waiting time in the office. Italian participants most often identified cost, length of waiting lists and language barriers. Multivariate analyses associated recent use of dental services with number of teeth, oral health knowledge, age and occupation before retirement for both groups, as well as living arrangements among Greek participants and perceived barriers among Italian participants. Findings highlight the need for oral health promotion programs targeted toward older adults from immigrant populations and reductions of the structural barriers that prevent these adults from seeking oral health care.

  5. Psychometric testing of the Italian and French versions of the Care Dependency Scale.

    PubMed

    Zürcher, Simeon Joel; Vangelooven, Christa; Borter, Natalie; Schnyder, Daniel; Hahn, Sabine

    2016-12-01

    The aim of this study was to test psychometrically the Italian and French versions of the Care Dependency Scale. The Care Dependency Scale assesses changes in patients' level of care dependency including important functional and mental dimensions. Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Italian version is still ongoing. The French version has to date not been validated. Nationwide cross-sectional point prevalence study. Data were extracted from the national, annual prevalence survey of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and inpatient falls in Swiss acute care hospitals in 2011. A total of 799 Italian and 1068 French-speaking patients were included in the analysis. For the evaluation, the psychometric properties were tested for each language both separately and conjointly. The scales revealed high internal consistency. Factor analysis presented a one-factor solution for both versions separately as well as combined. Comparison of internal structure revealed an excellent degree of equivalence between the versions. Highly significant Spearman correlations between the Care Dependency Scale and the Braden Scale sum scores indicated satisfactory criterion validity. Both the Italian and the French versions of the Care Dependency Scale showed satisfactory psychometric properties and a high level of equivalence. Further psychometric testing, using modern test theory approaches, is required. However, the scale is recommended as a valid instrument for further use in Italian and French. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Made in Italy for hernia: the Italian history of groin hernia repair.

    PubMed

    Negro, Paolo; Gossetti, Francesco; Ceci, Francesca; D'Amore, Linda

    2016-01-01

    The history of groin hernia surgery is as long as the history of surgery. For many centuries doctors, anatomists and surgeons have been devoted to this pathology, afflicting the mankind throughout its evolution. Since ancient times the Italian contribution has been very important with many representative personalities. Authors, investigators and pioneers are really well represented. Every period (the classic period, the Middle Age, the Renaissance and the post-Renaissance) opened new perspectives for a better understanding. During the 18th century, more information about groin anatomy, mainly due to Antonio Scarpa, prepared the Bassini revolution. Edoardo Bassini developed the first modern anatomically based hernia repair. This procedure spread worldwide becoming the most performed surgical technique. After World War II synthetic meshes were introduced and a new era has begun for hernia repair, once again with the support of Italian surgeons, first of all Ermanno Trabucco. But Italian contribution extends also to educational, with the first national school for abdominal wall surgery starting in Rome, and to Italian participation and support in international scientific societies. Authors hereby wish to resume this long history highlighting the "made in Italy" for groin hernia surgery. Bassini, Groin hernia, History, Prosthetic repair.

  7. [Comparison of hand surgery in the German and Italian DRG systems].

    PubMed

    Lotter, O; Dolderer, J; Stahl, S; Atzei, A; Haerle, M; Schaller, H E

    2011-12-01

    Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are a patient classification system grouping related types of patients treated to the resources they consumed. In this analysis we compared the Italian and the German DRG systems regarding hand surgery with an emphasis on reimbursement of clinical cases. The 15 most common hand surgical diagnoses and their corresponding operative treatment in our clinic in 2009 were processed using a DRG grouper. The underlying data were transferred to the Italian system. Thus, the length of stay and the reimbursement of both countries could be obtained and compared. The latter was adjusted and corrected by the purchasing power of each country. The mean of the upper threshold of length of stay was 10 days in the German as well as the Italian system whereas the median was 2 times higher in Italy (6 vs. 12 days). Fifteen out of 19 cases showed higher reimbursement in Germany. The case mix index (CMI) of 0.917 in Germany represents a mean payment of 2,676 € per case. In Italy the hypothetical CMI of 0.635 resulted in a mean reimbursement of 1,853 € per case. The biggest difference in remuneration could be found for replantation of multiple fingers. For this service the German health-care system pays 12,320 € more than the Italian. Total proceeds of the top 15 diagnoses applying the number of cases treated in our clinic revealed 1.7 million € in the German and 1.2 million € in the Italian DRG system. Considering the purchasing power utilizing consumer prize parities, the difference of reimbursement between the countries decreased to 300,000 €. There is no mean length of stay per DRG in Italy, only the upper threshold of length of stay is determined. In most cases the latter is higher in Italy compared to Germany. The consumption of resources for finger replantation is not adequately represented in the Italian DRG system compared to finger amputation. Reimbursement of inpatient care is influenced by multiple factors not being subject

  8. The 1978 Italian mental health law--a personal evaluation: a review.

    PubMed Central

    Palermo, G B

    1991-01-01

    The author discusses the sociopsychiatric consequences of the 1978 Italian mental health law. He also reviews the international scientific ideas that led up to it. The sociopolitical psychiatric views of the late Franco Basaglia, pioneer of the change in the mental health system of the Italian Republic, are described. Statistical reports and critical analyses are reported. Objective data, based on the author's personal experience as a practising psychiatrist in Rome, Italy, from 1969 to 1987, are given. PMID:1999825

  9. Epilepsy and vaccinations: Italian guidelines.

    PubMed

    Pruna, Dario; Balestri, Paolo; Zamponi, Nelia; Grosso, Salvatore; Gobbi, Giuseppe; Romeo, Antonino; Franzoni, Emilio; Osti, Maria; Capovilla, Giuseppe; Longhi, Riccardo; Verrotti, Alberto

    2013-10-01

    Reports of childhood epilepsies in temporal association with vaccination have had a great impact on the acceptance of vaccination programs by health care providers, but little is known about this possible temporal association and about the types of seizures following vaccinations. For these reasons the Italian League Against Epilepsy (LICE), in collaboration with other Italian scientific societies, has decided to generate Guidelines on Vaccinations and Epilepsy. The aim of Guidelines on Vaccinations and Epilepsy is to present recent unequivocal evidence from published reports on the possible relationship between vaccines and epilepsy in order to provide information about contraindications and risks of vaccinations in patients with epilepsy. The following main issues have been addressed: (1) whether contraindications to vaccinations exist in patients with febrile convulsions, epilepsy, and/or epileptic encephalopathies; and (2) whether any vaccinations can cause febrile seizures, epilepsy, and/or epileptic encephalopathies. Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccination and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination (MMR) increase significantly the risk of febrile seizures. Recent observations and data about the relationships between vaccination and epileptic encephalopathy show that some cases of apparent vaccine-induced encephalopathy could in fact be caused by an inherent genetic defect with no causal relationship with vaccination. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2013 International League Against Epilepsy.

  10. Early pushing urge in labour and midwifery practice: a prospective observational study at an Italian maternity hospital.

    PubMed

    Borrelli, Sara E; Locatelli, Anna; Nespoli, Antonella

    2013-08-01

    to investigate the early pushing urge (EPU) incidence in one maternity unit and explore how it is managed by midwives. The relation to some obstetric outcomes was also observed but not analysed in depth. prospective observational study. Italian maternity hospital. 60 women (44 nullips and 16 multips) experiencing EPU during labour. the total EPU incidence percentage was 7.6%. The single midwives' incidences range had a very wide margin, noting an inverse proportion between the number of diagnoses of EPU and midwife's waiting time between urge to push and vaginal examination. Two care policies were adopted in relation to the phenomenon: the stop pushing technique (n=52/60) and the 'let the woman do what she feels' technique (n=8/60). In case of stop pushing techniques, midwives proposed several combined techniques (change of maternal position, blowing breath, vocalisation, use of the bath). The EPU diagnosis at less than 8cm of cervical dilatation was associated with more medical interventions. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were within the range of normal physiology. An association between the dilatation at EPU diagnosis and obstetric outcomes was observed, in particular the modality of childbirth and perineal outcomes. this paper contributes new knowledge to the body of literature around the EPU phenomenon during labour and midwifery practices adopted in response to it. Overall, it could be argued that EPU is a physiologic variation in labour if maternal and fetal conditions are good. Midwives might suggest techniques to woman to help her to stay with the pain, such as change of position, blowing breath, vocalisation and use of the bath. However, the impact of policies, guidelines and culture on midwifery practices of the specific setting are a limitation of the study because it is not representative of other similar maternity units. Thus, a larger scale work should be considered, including different units and settings. The optimal response to the phenomenon

  11. Violence towards Emergency Nurses. The Italian National Survey 2016: A qualitative study.

    PubMed

    Ramacciati, Nicola; Ceccagnoli, Andrea; Addey, Beniamino; Rasero, Laura

    2018-05-01

    Physical and verbal aggression against health professionals, particularly nurses, is globally serious and widespread, with the most vulnerable being nurses working in the Accident and Emergency Department. Most international research into this issue focused on quantifying aggression, describing its nature, identifying perpetrators, stratifying risk and implementing preventive or mitigating interventions. Few studies investigated the nurses' subjective perceptions. As part of the 2016 Italian National Survey on Violence against Accident and Emergency Nurses, our research team collected qualitative data to explore their perceptions of Workplace Violence. From 19th July 2016 to 19th March 2017 we distributed online a 39-item validated questionnaire to 15,618 Emergency Nurses working in 668 Italian National Health Service Accident and Emergency Departments in all 20 Italian Regions. Answers were analysed using van Kaan's method. 1100 Emergency Nurses responded to the survey and 265 replied to our focus question. There were 144 Females, 119 Males, 2 not stated, average age 42 ± 9 years, average work experience 18 ± 9 years, average Accident and Emergency Department experience 11 ± 8 years. Four major themes emerged: the nurses' perception of physical and verbal aggression, precipitating factors, consequences, and solutions. These themes confirmed previous findings and showed that Italian nursing staff's perceptions of physical and verbal aggression is the same as emergency nurses working worldwide. How Italian Accident and Emergency nurses perceive Workplace Violence adds to our knowledge of the issue and contributes to finding shared solutions. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Stress Assignment in Reading Italian Polysyllabic Pseudowords

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sulpizio, Simone; Arduino, Lisa S.; Paizi, Despina; Burani, Cristina

    2013-01-01

    In 4 naming experiments we investigated how Italian readers assign stress to pseudowords. We assessed whether participants assign stress following distributional information such as stress neighborhood (the proportion and number of existent words sharing orthographic ending and stress pattern) and whether such distributional information affects…

  13. The Italian Expedition in the Russian Campaign 1941-43: A Pronounced Failure

    DTIC Science & Technology

    This monograph investigates the Italian Expedition in the Russian campaign during the Second World War from an operational perspective. It seeks to...identify those factors relevant for practicing operational art that caused the collapse of the Italian forces in 1943. Specifically, the monograph ...commands. The conclusion of the monograph depicts several lessons for current and future operational planners. The latter have to be ready to properly frame

  14. SN-1 and NEMO: the Italian cabled observatories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Favali, P.; Beranzoli, L.; Calore, D.; D'Anna, G.; Gasparoni, F.; NEMO Collaboration Team

    2003-04-01

    A fruitful synergy between Geophysics, Environmental Sciences, Nuclear Physics and Marine Technology has started through ongoing projects within different Italian research frameworks. The Neutrino Mediterranean Observatory (NEMO) project, funded by INFN, aims at the realization of a deep-sea experiment for the detection of cosmic neutrinos using an array of towers equipped by photosensors. To test the technological solutions proposed for the realization of the project, the Laboratiori Nazionali del Sud have set up an underwater Test Site off-shore Catania. A 25 km long submarine electro-optical cable was deployed in September 2001, in order to supply power from land and receive data from the underwater site located at a depth of 2000 m. A shore station has also been realize inside the Catania port area. In October 2001, Submarine Network-1 (SN-1), the first Italian deep-sea multidisciplinary observatory for geophysical and environmental monitoring was deployed at a depth of 2105 m, in the area of the Ibleo-maltese escarpment, in proximity of the marine tail of the NEMO cable. SN-1, funded by the Italian Gruppo Nazionale di Difesa dai Terremoti and coordinated by INGV, is presently operating in local mode storing measurements on hard disks and is powered by lithium batteries with an autonomy of approximately 200 days. In the view of mutual assistance, the coordinator institutions of NEMO and SN-1 have agreed that part of the optic fibres and power lines of the NEMO-1 underwater cable be made available to power SN-1 from land and to transfer in real time the signals acquired by the geophysical and environmental sensor packages of SN-1. On this latter's side, time series of environmental parameters useful for the analysis and interpretation of NEMO-1 detections will be available. A description of the two projects and of the 'state of the art' will be given and the benefits of the development of a submarine Italian prone site will be pointed out.

  15. Validation Study of Italian Version of Inventory for Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (I-IDEA): A Screening Tool to Detect Déjà Vu Phenomenon in Italian Healthy Individuals

    PubMed Central

    Mumoli, Laura; Tripepi, Giovanni; Augimeri, Antonio; Baggetta, Rossella; Bisulli, Francesca; Bruni, Antonella; Cavalli, Salvatore M.; D’Aniello, Alfredo; Daniele, Ornella; Di Bonaventura, Carlo; Di Gennaro, Giancarlo; Fattouch, Jinane; Ferlazzo, Edoardo; Ferrari, Alessandra; Giallonardo, Annateresa; Gasparini, Sara; Nigro, Salvatore; Romigi, Andrea; Sofia, Vito; Tinuper, Paolo; Vaccaro, Maria Grazia; Zummo, Leila; Quattrone, Aldo; Gambardella, Antonio; Labate, Angelo

    2017-01-01

    The Inventory Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (IDEA) is the only screening instrument proposed to evaluate the Déjà vu (DV) experience. Here, we intended to validate the Italian version of IDEA (I-IDEA) and at the same time to investigate the incidence and subjective qualities of the DV phenomenon in healthy Italian adult individuals on basis of an Italian multicentre observational study. In this study, we report normative data on the I-IDEA, collected on a sample of 542 Italian healthy subjects aging between 18–70 years (average age: 40) with a formal educational from 1–19 years. From September 2013 to March 2016, we recruited 542 healthy volunteers from 10 outpatient neurological clinics in Italy. All participants (i.e., family members of neurological patients enrolled, medical students, physicians) had no neurological or psychiatric illness and gave their informed consent to participate in the study. All subjects enrolled self-administered the questionnaire and they were able to complete I-IDEA test without any support. In total, 396 (73%) of the 542 healthy controls experienced the DV phenomenon. The frequency of DV was inversely related to age as well as to derealisation, jamais vu, precognitive dreams, depersonalization, paranormal activity, remembering dreams, travel frequency, and daydreams (all p < 0.012). The Italian version of IDEA maintains good properties, thus confirming that this instrument is reliable for detecting and characterising the DV phenomenon. PMID:28783090

  16. Validation Study of Italian Version of Inventory for Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (I-IDEA): A Screening Tool to Detect Déjà Vu Phenomenon in Italian Healthy Individuals.

    PubMed

    Mumoli, Laura; Tripepi, Giovanni; Aguglia, Umberto; Augimeri, Antonio; Baggetta, Rossella; Bisulli, Francesca; Bruni, Antonella; Cavalli, Salvatore M; D'Aniello, Alfredo; Daniele, Ornella; Di Bonaventura, Carlo; Di Gennaro, Giancarlo; Fattouch, Jinane; Ferlazzo, Edoardo; Ferrari, Alessandra; Giallonardo, Annateresa; Gasparini, Sara; Nigro, Salvatore; Romigi, Andrea; Sofia, Vito; Tinuper, Paolo; Vaccaro, Maria Grazia; Zummo, Leila; Quattrone, Aldo; Gambardella, Antonio; Labate, Angelo

    2017-08-07

    The Inventory Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment (IDEA) is the only screening instrument proposed to evaluate the Déjà vu (DV) experience. Here, we intended to validate the Italian version of IDEA (I-IDEA) and at the same time to investigate the incidence and subjective qualities of the DV phenomenon in healthy Italian adult individuals on basis of an Italian multicentre observational study. In this study, we report normative data on the I-IDEA, collected on a sample of 542 Italian healthy subjects aging between 18-70 years (average age: 40) with a formal educational from 1-19 years. From September 2013 to March 2016, we recruited 542 healthy volunteers from 10 outpatient neurological clinics in Italy. All participants (i.e., family members of neurological patients enrolled, medical students, physicians) had no neurological or psychiatric illness and gave their informed consent to participate in the study. All subjects enrolled self-administered the questionnaire and they were able to complete I-IDEA test without any support. In total, 396 (73%) of the 542 healthy controls experienced the DV phenomenon. The frequency of DV was inversely related to age as well as to derealisation, jamais vu, precognitive dreams, depersonalization, paranormal activity, remembering dreams, travel frequency, and daydreams (all p < 0.012). The Italian version of IDEA maintains good properties, thus confirming that this instrument is reliable for detecting and characterising the DV phenomenon.

  17. The Severe Heart Failure Questionnaire: Italian translation and linguistic validation.

    PubMed

    Scarinzi, C; Berchialla, P; Ghidina, M; Rozbowsky, P; Pilotto, L; Albanese, M C; Fioretti, P M; Gregori, D

    2008-12-01

    The quality of life (QoL) is an important outcome indicator for heart failure management. As the use of a validate questionnaire in a different cultural context can affect data interpretation our main objective is the Italian translation and linguistic validation of the Severe Heart Failure Questionnaire (SHF) and its comparison with the MLHF (Minnesota Living with Heart Failure) Questionnaire. The SHF and "The Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire" were translated. A consensus involving parallel back-translations was established among a group of cardiologists, psychologists and biostatisticians. SHF and MLHF were both administrated to a sample of 50 patients. The patients' median age was 63 years. Ace inhibitors therapy was administered in 88% of cases and betablockers in 56% of cases. Finally the Italian version of SHF correlates well with MLHF for all domains, except life satisfaction SHF domain. The Italian version of the SHF correlates well with MLHF for almost all domains and it represents a valid alternative for quality of life assessment in heart failure patients.

  18. A low-noise transimpedance amplifier for the detection of "Violin-Mode" resonances in Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory suspensions.

    PubMed

    Lockerbie, N A; Tokmakov, K V

    2014-11-01

    This paper describes the design and performance of an extremely low-noise differential transimpedance amplifier, which takes its two inputs from separate photodiodes. The amplifier was planned to serve as the front-end electronics for a highly sensitive shadow-displacement sensing system, aimed at detecting very low-level "Violin-Mode" (VM) oscillations in 0.4 mm diameter by 600 mm long fused-silica suspension fibres. Four such highly tensioned fibres support the 40 kg test-masses/mirrors of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory interferometers. This novel design of amplifier incorporates features which prevent "noise-gain peaking" arising from large area photodiode (and cable) capacitances, and which also usefully separate the DC and AC photocurrents coming from the photodiodes. In consequence, the differential amplifier was able to generate straightforwardly two DC outputs, one per photodiode, as well as a single high-gain output for monitoring the VM oscillations-this output being derived from the difference of the photodiodes' two, naturally anti-phase, AC photocurrents. Following a displacement calibration, the amplifier's final VM signal output was found to have an AC displacement responsivity at 500 Hz of (9.43 ± 1.20) MV(rms) m(-1)(rms), and, therefore, a shot-noise limited sensitivity to such AC shadow- (i.e., fibre-) displacements of (69 ± 13) picometres/√Hz at this frequency, over a measuring span of ±0.1 mm.

  19. A low-noise transimpedance amplifier for the detection of "Violin-Mode" resonances in advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory suspensions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    2014-11-01

    This paper describes the design and performance of an extremely low-noise differential transimpedance amplifier, which takes its two inputs from separate photodiodes. The amplifier was planned to serve as the front-end electronics for a highly sensitive shadow-displacement sensing system, aimed at detecting very low-level "Violin-Mode" (VM) oscillations in 0.4 mm diameter by 600 mm long fused-silica suspension fibres. Four such highly tensioned fibres support the 40 kg test-masses/mirrors of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory interferometers. This novel design of amplifier incorporates features which prevent "noise-gain peaking" arising from large area photodiode (and cable) capacitances, and which also usefully separate the DC and AC photocurrents coming from the photodiodes. In consequence, the differential amplifier was able to generate straightforwardly two DC outputs, one per photodiode, as well as a single high-gain output for monitoring the VM oscillations—this output being derived from the difference of the photodiodes' two, naturally anti-phase, AC photocurrents. Following a displacement calibration, the amplifier's final VM signal output was found to have an AC displacement responsivity at 500 Hz of (9.43 ± 1.20) MV(rms) m-1(rms), and, therefore, a shot-noise limited sensitivity to such AC shadow- (i.e., fibre-) displacements of (69 ± 13) picometres/√Hz at this frequency, over a measuring span of ±0.1 mm.

  20. The Relationship Between Reported Sleep Quality and Sleep Hygiene in Italian and American Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    LeBourgeois, Monique K.; Giannotti, Flavia; Cortesi, Flavia; Wolfson, Amy R.; Harsh, John

    2014-01-01

    Objective The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between self-reported sleep quality and sleep hygiene in Italian and American adolescents and to assess whether sleep-hygiene practices mediate the relationship between culture and sleep quality. Methods Two nonprobability samples were collected from public schools in Rome, Italy, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Students completed the following self-report measures: Adolescent Sleep-Wake Scale, Adolescent Sleep Hygiene Scale, Pubertal Developmental Scale, and Morningness/Eveningness Scale. Results The final sample included 776 Italian and 572 American adolescents 12 to 17 years old. Italian adolescents reported much better sleep hygiene and substantially better sleep quality than American adolescents. A moderate-to-strong linear relationship was found between sleep hygiene and sleep quality in both samples. Separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed on both samples. Demographic and individual characteristics explained a significant proportion of the variance in sleep quality (Italians: 18%; Americans: 25%), and the addition of sleep-hygiene domains explained significantly more variance in sleep quality (Italians: 17%; Americans: 16%). A final hierarchical multiple regression analysis with both samples combined showed that culture (Italy versus United States) only explained 0.8% of the variance in sleep quality after controlling for sleep hygiene and all other variables. Conclusions Cross-cultural differences in sleep quality, for the most part, were due to differences in sleep-hygiene practices. Sleep hygiene is an important predictor of sleep quality in Italian and American adolescents, thus supporting the implementation and evaluation of educational programs on good sleep-hygiene practices. PMID:15866860

  1. An operative measure of workplace bullying: the negative acts questionnaire across Italian companies.

    PubMed

    Giorgi, Gabriele; Arenas, Alicia; Leon-Perez, Jose M

    2011-01-01

    Workplace bullying has been a topic of increasing interest since the 90s. Several studies have contributed to a better understanding of the antecedents and consequences of being exposed to negative acts at work during a prolonged period of time. However, there is a lack of validated instruments in Italian to map workplace bullying. Consequently, the goal of the present study is twofold. First, the authors aim to validate the Italian version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R: Einarsen and Hoel, 2001; Einarsen, et al., 2009). Second, the authors aim to establish the prevalence of workplace bullying. Results from 3,112 employees nested within 25 Italian organizations revealed that a reduced version of 17 items with a two-factor structure provided the best fit. Moreover, the prevalence of bullying was 15.2 per cent according to the criteria proposed by Mikkelsen and Einarsen (2001). Furthermore, significant correlations between bullying dimensions and organizational climate were found, which provided additional support for using the NAQ-Italian reduced version. Implications to prevent bullying and improve employees' well-being using this method are discussed.

  2. No grammatical gender effect on affective ratings: evidence from Italian and German languages.

    PubMed

    Montefinese, Maria; Ambrosini, Ettore; Roivainen, Eka

    2018-06-06

    In this study, we tested the linguistic relativity hypothesis by studying the effect of grammatical gender (feminine vs. masculine) on affective judgments of conceptual representation in Italian and German. In particular, we examined the within- and cross-language grammatical gender effect and its interaction with participants' demographic characteristics (such as, the raters' age and sex) on semantic differential scales (affective ratings of valence, arousal and dominance) in Italian and German speakers. We selected the stimuli and the relative affective measures from Italian and German adaptations of the ANEW (Affective Norms for English Words). Bayesian and frequentist analyses yielded evidence for the absence of within- and cross-languages effects of grammatical gender and sex- and age-dependent interactions. These results suggest that grammatical gender does not affect judgments of affective features of semantic representation in Italian and German speakers, since an overt coding of word grammar is not required. Although further research is recommended to refine the impact of the grammatical gender on properties of semantic representation, these results have implications for any strong view of the linguistic relativity hypothesis.

  3. Langerian mindfulness, quality of life and psychological symptoms in a sample of Italian students.

    PubMed

    Pagnini, Francesco; Bercovitz, Katherine E; Phillips, Deborah

    2018-02-06

    Noticing new things, accepting the continuously changing nature of circumstances, and flexibly shifting perspectives in concert with changing contexts constitute the essential features of Langerian mindfulness. This contrasts with a "mindless" approach in which one remains fixed in a singular mindset and is closed off to new possibilities. Despite potentially important clinical applications for this construct, few studies have explored them. The instrument developed to measure Langerian mindfulness is the Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS), although this tool has been limited primarily to English-speaking populations. The study aimed to test LMS validity in the Italian language and to analyze the relationships between Langerian mindfulness and well-being. We translated the LMS into Italian, analyzed its factor structure, and investigated the correlation between mindfulness and quality of life and psychological well-being in a sample of 248 Italian students (88.7% females, mean age 20.05). A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the tri-dimensional structure of the English LMS in the Italian version. The primary analysis found a significant negative correlation between mindfulness and psychological symptoms including obsessive-compulsive tendencies, depression, anxiety, and paranoid ideation. There was also a positive correlation between mindfulness and reports of quality of life. The Italian LMS appears reliable and it shows relevant correlations with well-being.

  4. The first Italian doctorate (PhD Course) in Physics Education Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Michelini, Marisa; Santi, Lorenzo

    2008-05-01

    The first PhD Italian course in Physics Education Research in Udine aims to qualify young researchers and teachers coming from all the Italian groups of research in the field. It becomes a context for developing research projects carried out following parallel research lines on: Teaching/Learning paths for didactic innovation, cognitive research, ICT for strategies to overcome conceptual knots in physics; E-learning for personalization; d) Computer on-line experiments and modelling; e) Teacher formation and training; f) Informal learning in science.

  5. The systematic status of the Italian wolf Canis lupus

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Nowak, Ronald M.; Federoff, Nicholas E.

    2002-01-01

    In the past, the gray wolf Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758, has been recognized in Italy as either the subspecies lupus or italicus. It has also been postulated that this population has undergone introgression from the domestic dog Canis familiaris. In order to clarify these issues, multistatistical analyses were made of 10 skull measurements of 34 full grown male wolves from the Italian Peninsula, 91 other male Eurasian wolves, and 20 domestic dogs. The analyses, together with other morphological evidence and prior genetic research, support recognition of the Italian wolf as a separate subspecies, Canis lupus italicus. The same evidence indicates that the subspecies has not been affected through hybridization with the domestic dog.

  6. Italian drug policy: ethical aims of essential assistance levels.

    PubMed

    Bernardi, Alessandra; Pegoraro, Renzo

    2003-12-01

    In 2001 the Italian Government defined Essential Assistance Levels (LEA), which can be considered as an important step forward in the health care system. The Italian health care system would provide payment of essential and uniform aid services in order to safeguard many values such as human dignity, personal health, equal assistance and good health practices. The Ministry of Health has worked to rationalize the National Formulary and to define evaluation methods for drugs in order to choose what to reimburse without penalizing the rights of the individual and society. This paper describes how this job of rationalization was done and tries to illustrate the choices made in Italy by the use of two meaningful examples (statins and rivastigmine).

  7. A Bibliography of Italian Studies in North America

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cherubini, Jon C., Comp.

    1977-01-01

    This quarterly bibliography of Italian studies in North America includes books, bibliographies, and reviews of comparative literature studies, translations, and publications on art, music, philosophy, history, cinema, and sociology, which are closely related to literature. (SW)

  8. Diagnosis and management of moderate to severe adult atopic dermatitis: a Consensus by the Italian Society of Dermatology and Venereology (SIDeMaST), the Italian Association of Hospital Dermatologists (ADOI), the Italian Society of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC), and the Italian Society of Allergological, Environmental and Occupational Dermatology (SIDAPA).

    PubMed

    Calzavara Pinton, Piergiacomo; Cristaudo, Antonio; Foti, Caterina; Canonica, Giorgio W; Balato, Nicola; Costanzo, Antonio; DE Pità, Ornella; DE Simone, Clara; Patruno, Cataldo; Pellacani, Giovanni; Peris, Ketty; Girolomoni, Giampiero

    2018-04-01

    Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic immune-mediated inflammatory skin disease, currently recognized as a systemic disease possibly burdened by various comorbidities, including, but not limited to, other allergic conditions. Management guidelines issued by American and European dermatology and allergy scientific societies are available. However, some discrepancies exist in these guidelines, and some aspects of the management process, including diagnosis and severity assessment, as well as therapy duration and switch criteria, are not fully clarified by existing guidelines. Moreover, biologics such as dupilumab have now entered the therapeutic scenario of moderate-to-severe AD, offering a great opportunity to treat effectively and safely in need AD patients. For all these reasons, four Italian dermatology and allergy scientific societies joined to provide practical guidance for the management of moderate-to-severe adult AD suitable for the Italian clinical practice. Through a modified Delphi procedure, consensus was reached by 63 Italian dermatologists and allergists experienced in the management of adult AD on 14 statements covering five AD areas of interest, i.e. diagnosis, severity definition, current systemic therapies, eligibility criteria to biologic treatments, and comorbidities, with the aim to define treatment goals and improve adult AD management. The potential usefulness of a multidisciplinary approach is also underlined, given the complexity of AD and its comorbidities.

  9. Translation between L2 Acquisition and L1 Attrition: Anaphora Resolution in Italian by English-Italian Trainee Translators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milicevic, Maja; Kraš, Tihana

    2017-01-01

    This article reports on the findings of an empirical study that relates translation studies and research on language acquisition/attrition by looking at the interpretation of overt pronominal subjects, previously found to be problematic in both domains. The focus is on the resolution of intra-sentential anaphora and cataphora in Italian by two…

  10. [Survey of what is published on Italian nursing journals].

    PubMed

    Bongiorno, Elena; Colleoni, Pasqualina; Casati, Monica

    2005-01-01

    Nursing research is an important activity for nurses; the main aim is to improve the quality of nursing. Several national and european laws have been issued about it. To develop knowledge about nursing, nurses have to understand the results of researches, implement them in the different situation and sometimes carry out researches. The results can be published in nursing journals which a lot of nurses use to share information. This study reviewed the characteristics of research articles published in italian nursing journals from 1998 to 2003. Phenomena of interest are: areas of enquiry, investigators, methods, research design, sampling and means to gather data. 122 articles have been reviewed: 78% focus on clinical aspects, 55% were carry out by nurses, 92% adopt the quantitative approach, 90% used non experimental design, 89% used convenience selection sampling method and 58% answer ways. The characteristics of this study are similar to other studies about italian nursing publication. There are some limits in this type of literature: lower generalization because of lower representativeness of sample, convenience selection sampling method, and higher risk of interference due to frequent use of non experimental design. However the number of italian nurses that carry out researches is increasing and nursing is the most studied area.

  11. EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care Questionnaire: Translation and Validation in Italian PICUs.

    PubMed

    Wolfler, Andrea; Giannini, Alberto; Finistrella, Martina; Salvo, Ida; Calderini, Edoardo; Frasson, Giulia; Dall'Oglio, Immacolata; Di Furia, Michela; Iuzzolino, Rossella; Musicco, Massimo; Latour, Jos M

    2017-02-01

    To translate and validate the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care questionnaire to measure parent satisfaction and experiences in Italian PICUs. Prospective, multicenter study. Four medical/surgical Italian PICUs in three tertiary hospitals. Families of children, 0-16 years old, admitted to the PICUs were invited to participate. Inclusion criteria were PICU length of stay greater than 24 hours and good comprehension of Italian language by parents/guardians. Exclusion criteria were readmission within 6 months and parents of a child who died in the PICU. Distribution, at PICU discharge, of the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care questionnaire with 65 items divided into five domains and a six-point rating scale: 1 " certainly no" to 6 "certainly yes." Back and forward translations of the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care questionnaire between Dutch (original version) and Italian languages were deployed. Cultural adaptation of the instrument was confirmed by a consultation with a representative parent group (n = 10). Totally, 150 of 190 parents (79%) participated in the study. On item level, 12 statements scored a mean below 5.0. The Cronbach's α, measured for internal consistency, on domain level was between 0.67 and 0.96. Congruent validity was measured by correlating the five domains with four gold standard satisfaction measures and showed adequate correlations (rs, 0.41-0.71; p < 0.05). No significant differences occurred in the nondifferential validity testing between three children's characteristics and the domains; excepting parents with a child for a surgical and planned admission were more satisfied on information and organization issues. The Italian version of the EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care questionnaire has satisfactory reliability and validity estimates and seems to be appropriate for Italian PICU setting. It is an important instrument providing benchmark data to be used in the process of quality improvement

  12. Prevention of food and airway allergy: consensus of the Italian Society of Preventive and Social Paediatrics, the Italian Society of Paediatric Allergy and Immunology, and Italian Society of Pediatrics.

    PubMed

    di Mauro, Giuseppe; Bernardini, Roberto; Barberi, Salvatore; Capuano, Annalisa; Correra, Antonio; De' Angelis, Gian Luigi; Iacono, Iride Dello; de Martino, Maurizio; Ghiglioni, Daniele; Di Mauro, Dora; Giovannini, Marcello; Landi, Massimo; Marseglia, Gian Luigi; Martelli, Alberto; Miniello, Vito Leonardo; Peroni, Diego; Sullo, Lucilla Ricottini Maria Giuseppa; Terracciano, Luigi; Vascone, Cristina; Verduci, Elvira; Verga, Maria Carmen; Chiappini, Elena

    2016-01-01

    Allergic sensitization in children and allergic diseases arising therefrom are increasing for decades. Several interventions, functional foods, pro- and prebiotics, vitamins are proposed for the prevention of allergies and they can't be uncritically adopted. This Consensus document was developed by the Italian Society of Preventive and Social Paediatrics and the Italian Society of Paediatric Allergy and Immunology. The aim is to provide updated recommendations regarding allergy prevention in children. The document has been issued by a multidisciplinary expert panel and it is intended to be mainly directed to primary care paediatricians. It includes 19 questions which have been preliminarily considered relevant by the panel. Relatively to each question, a literature search has been performed, according to the Italian National Guideline Program. Methodology, and a brief summary of the available literature data, has been provided. Many topics have been analyzed including the role of mother's diet restriction, use of breast/formula/hydrolyzed milk; timing of introduction of complementary foods, role (if any) of probiotics, prebiotics, vitamins, exposure to dust mites, animals and to tobacco smoke. Some preventive interventions have a strong level of recommendation. (e.g., the dehumidifier to reduce exposure to mite allergens). With regard to other types of intervention, such as the use of partially and extensively hydrolyzed formulas, the document underlines the lack of evidence of effectiveness. No preventive effect of dietary supplementation with polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins or minerals has been demonstrated. There is no preventive effect of probiotics on asthma, rhinitis and allergic diseases. It has demonstrated a modest effect, but steady, in the prevention of atopic dermatitis. The recommendations of the Consensus are based on a careful analysis of the evidence available. The lack of evidence of efficacy does not necessarily imply that some interventions

  13. Ex post damage assessment: an Italian experience

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Molinari, D.; Menoni, S.; Aronica, G. T.; Ballio, F.; Berni, N.; Pandolfo, C.; Stelluti, M.; Minucci, G.

    2014-04-01

    In recent years, awareness of a need for more effective disaster data collection, storage, and sharing of analyses has developed in many parts of the world. In line with this advance, Italian local authorities have expressed the need for enhanced methods and procedures for post-event damage assessment in order to obtain data that can serve numerous purposes: to create a reliable and consistent database on the basis of which damage models can be defined or validated; and to supply a comprehensive scenario of flooding impacts according to which priorities can be identified during the emergency and recovery phase, and the compensation due to citizens from insurers or local authorities can be established. This paper studies this context, and describes ongoing activities in the Umbria and Sicily regions of Italy intended to identifying new tools and procedures for flood damage data surveys and storage in the aftermath of floods. In the first part of the paper, the current procedures for data gathering in Italy are analysed. The analysis shows that the available knowledge does not enable the definition or validation of damage curves, as information is poor, fragmented, and inconsistent. A new procedure for data collection and storage is therefore proposed. The entire analysis was carried out at a local level for the residential and commercial sectors only. The objective of the next steps for the research in the short term will be (i) to extend the procedure to other types of damage, and (ii) to make the procedure operational with the Italian Civil Protection system. The long-term aim is to develop specific depth-damage curves for Italian contexts.

  14. Linguistic measures of the referential process in psychodynamic treatment: the English and Italian versions.

    PubMed

    Mariani, Rachele; Maskit, Bernard; Bucci, Wilma; De Coro, Alessandra

    2013-01-01

    The referential process is defined in the context of Bucci's multiple code theory as the process by which nonverbal experience is connected to language. The English computerized measures of the referential process, which have been applied in psychotherapy research, include the Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary (WRAD), and measures of Reflection, Affect and Disfluency. This paper presents the development of the Italian version of the IWRAD by modeling Italian texts scored by judges, and shows the application of the IWRAD and other Italian measures in three psychodynamic treatments evaluated for personality change using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP-200). Clinical predictions based on applications of the English measures were supported.

  15. Manual of Tape Scripts: Italian, Level 1. Curriculum Bulletin, 1968-69 Series, Number 12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lipton, Gladys; And Others

    This manual of tape scripts, together with a set of foreign language audio tapes for level 1 Italian, was prepared to support the curriculum bulletin, New York City Foreign Language Program for Schools: Italian, Levels 1-4. Vocabulary, repetition, transformation, and recombination drills on specific grammatical features allow further development…

  16. Manual of Tape Scripts: Italian, Level 2. Curriculum Bulletin, 1969-70 Series, Number 20.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lipton, Gladys; And Others

    This manual of tape scripts, together with a set of foreign language audio tapes for Level 2 Italian, was prepared to support the curriculum bulletin, "New York City Foreign Language Program for Schools: Italian, Levels 1-4." Vocabulary, repetition, transformation, and recombination drills on specific grammatical features allow further development…

  17. Lexical Stress Assignment in Italian Developmental Dyslexia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paizi, Despina; Zoccolotti, Pierluigi; Burani, Cristina

    2011-01-01

    Stress assignment to Italian polysyllabic words is unpredictable, because stress is neither marked nor predicted by rule. Stress assignment, especially to low frequency words, has been reported to be a function of stress dominance and stress neighbourhood. Two experiments investigate stress assignment in sixth-grade, skilled and dyslexic, readers.…

  18. The Italian Restaurant Project: Lessons of Restructuring.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McBride, Mary Ellen

    1995-01-01

    Project learning, with community and school staff assistance, helped a fifth-grade class transform the school lunchroom and their own behavior. A $2,500 Alcoa grant spearheaded an Italian restaurant project. Children served on five committees: public relations and advertising, management, art and design, planning and budgeting, and research. The…

  19. Physical assessment techniques performed by Italian registered nurses: a quantitative survey.

    PubMed

    Cicolini, Giancarlo; Tomietto, Marco; Simonetti, Valentina; Comparcini, Dania; Flacco, Maria Elena; Carvello, Maicol; Manzoli, Lamberto

    2015-12-01

    The aims of the study were to describe which of the core techniques of the physical assessment are regularly performed by a sample of Italian nurses, and to investigate the potential predictors of a more complete examination. Physical examination is among the essential tasks of nursing professionals, who are requested to perform a correct and complete physical assessment. Cross-sectional survey. The study was performed between August 2013 and January 2014 in 17 Italian regions. A total of 1182 questionnaires were collected. Most participants were females (age range 41-50 years), and worked in Internal Medicine, Intensive Care and Surgical hospital units. Of the 30 core techniques that are currently taught and performed according to the Italian Baccalaureate degree requirements, 20 were routinely performed, 6 were seldom used and 4 were learnt but almost never performed (auscultation of lung, heart and bowel sounds and spine inspection). Graduate and postgraduate nurses, working in Intensive Care Units and Nursing Homes, were more prone than the others to carry out a more complete physical assessment. The skills to perform a physical assessment are suboptimal among this sample of Italian nurses. Health and educational providers should pose more attention and efforts to provide nurses with an acceptable training in physical examination practice. This study describes the specific physical techniques performed by nurses in real practice and provides information on which skills require more attention in nursing educational programmes. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Keeping It All in the Family: "Tu," "Lei" and "Voi." A Study of Address Pronoun Use in Italian

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parkinson, Amber; Hajek, John

    2004-01-01

    Although the Italian system of address pronouns is relatively complex, scant attention is paid to the issue in L2 manuals designed for English-speaking learners of Italian. After showing that Italian L2 manuals are not necessarily accurate in the limited detail they provide, we examine specifically the frequent claim that so-called informal…

  1. Italian Version of the Self-Description Questionnaire-III.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maggi, Stefania

    2001-01-01

    Developed an Italian version of the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-III) and studied the reliability and factorial validity of this translated instrument. Results show that the translated version has psychometric properties similar to those of the original English version. (SLD)

  2. Genetic susceptibility and periodontal disease: a retrospective study on a large italian sample.

    PubMed

    Tettamanti, L; Gaudio, R M; Iapichino, A; Mucchi, D; Tagliabue, A

    2017-01-01

    Periodontal disease (PD) is a multifactorial illness in which environment and host interact. The genetic component plays a key role in the onset of PD. In fact the genetic compound can modulate the inflammation of the mucous membranes and the loss of alveolar bone. The genetics of PD is not well understood. Previous studies suggest a strong association between PD occurrence and individual genetic profile. The role of genetic susceptibility could impact on the clinical manifestations of PD, and consequently on prevention and therapy. Genetic polymorphisms of VRD, IL6 and IL10 were investigated in Italian adults affected by PD. 571 cases classified according the criteria of the American Academy of Periodontology were included. All patients were Italian coming from three areas according to italian institute of statistics (ISTAT) (www.istat.it/it/archivio/regioni). The sample comprised 379 patients from North (66%), 152 from Central (26%) and 40 of South (8%). No significant differences were found among allele distribution. Chronic PD is a complex disease caused by a combination of genetic susceptibility, patients habits (oral hygiene, smoking, alcohol consumption) and oral pathogens. In our report no differences were detected among three Italian regions in allele distribution.

  3. [Do Italian university birthing centers promote starting breast-feeding?].

    PubMed

    Donati, Serena; Andreozzi, Silvia; Grandolfo, Michele E

    2003-01-01

    This study reports the results of an Italian sampling survey carried out in 1999 on the evaluation of the support and the information activities offered to women who delivered with specific regard to breast-feeding. 1986 women have been interviewed. The response rate was 95%. Ninety-four percent of the sample reported a positive attitude among breast-feeding, but only 80% breastfed her baby during hospital stay. Moreover only 31% had the opportunity to start breast-feeding immediately after birth. Around 50% of women reported the quality of the hospital support as inadequate. The authors conclude that, even in the light of the present Italian law, much more could and should be done in order to promote and support women in breast-feeding.

  4. Do Negative Acts in Italian Academia Have a Quadratic Relationship with Determinants of Health?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fadda, Salvatore; Giorgi, Gabriele; Benitez Muñoz, Juan Luis; Justicia Justicia, Fernando; Solinas, Giuliana

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of workplace bullying in an Italian university. Design/methodology/approach: More than 200 workers have completed the Italian version of the Negative Acts Questionnaire and the General Health Questionnaire. Findings: The results show a spread of low to medium negative actions in…

  5. Unlocking Australia's Language Potential. Profiles of 9 Key Languages in Australia. Volume 6: Italian.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Di Biase, Bruno; And Others

    The status of the Italian language in Australia, particularly in the educational system at all levels, in Australian society in general, and in trade, technology, and tourism is discussed in this report. It begins with a description of the teaching of Italian in elementary, secondary, higher, adult/continuing, and teacher education. Trends are…

  6. Adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy as a part of management in early endometrial cancer.

    PubMed

    Kellas-Ślęczka, Sylwia; Wojcieszek, Piotr; Białas, Brygida

    2012-12-01

    Endometrial cancer is the most frequent cancer of female genital tract. Metro- and menorrhagia or postmenopausal bleeding results in its early presentation. It allows radical treatment. However, controversies remain on surgery coverage or adjuvant therapies in early endometrial women cancer. Optimal management should minimize intervention instead of aggressive approach, as showed by recent studies. There is a role for brachytherapy as an adjuvant irradiation. Crucial publications including PORTEC-1, GOG 99, MRC ASTEC, ASTEC/EN.5, PORTEC-2 or Italian lymphadenectomy trial are discussed. Moreover, there is attention paid on adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy analyses for the past fifteen years.

  7. Adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy as a part of management in early endometrial cancer

    PubMed Central

    Wojcieszek, Piotr; Białas, Brygida

    2012-01-01

    Endometrial cancer is the most frequent cancer of female genital tract. Metro- and menorrhagia or postmenopausal bleeding results in its early presentation. It allows radical treatment. However, controversies remain on surgery coverage or adjuvant therapies in early endometrial women cancer. Optimal management should minimize intervention instead of aggressive approach, as showed by recent studies. There is a role for brachytherapy as an adjuvant irradiation. Crucial publications including PORTEC-1, GOG 99, MRC ASTEC, ASTEC/EN.5, PORTEC-2 or Italian lymphadenectomy trial are discussed. Moreover, there is attention paid on adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy analyses for the past fifteen years. PMID:23378855

  8. 9 CFR 319.145 - Italian sausage products.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... containing at least 85 percent meat, or combination of meat and fat, with the total fat content constituting... fresh or frozen pork, or pork and pork fat, and may contain Mechanically Separated (Species) in... Sausage” shall be prepared with fresh or frozen beef or beef and beef fat. “Italian Veal Sausage” or...

  9. Priming Lexical Stress in Reading Italian Aloud

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sulpizio, Simone; Job, Remo; Burani, Cristina

    2012-01-01

    Two experiments using a lexical priming paradigm investigated how stress information is processed in reading Italian words. In both experiments, prime and target words either shared the stress pattern or they had different stress patterns. We expected that lexical activation of the prime would favour the assignment of congruent stress to the…

  10. Feminist Tales of Teaching and Resistance: Reimagining Gender in Early Childhood Education (Reggio Emilia, Italy)

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Balfour, Beatrice Jane Vittoria

    2016-01-01

    This article investigates whether the memories of women's movements that grew out of the Italian Resistance to the Nazi-Fascist Regime during the Second World War have left any legacy to women teachers in early childhood education. The article focuses on the case of internationally renowned and high-quality schools for young children, the…

  11. A new predictive tool for the early risk assessment of gestational diabetes mellitus.

    PubMed

    Capula, Carmelo; Chiefari, Eusebio; Borelli, Massimo; Oliverio, Rosa; Vero, Anna; Foti, Daniela; Puccio, Luigi; Vero, Raffaella; Brunetti, Antonio

    2016-10-01

    The Italian National Institute of Health has recently introduced a selective screening based on the risk profile of pregnant women, which while recommending against screening of women at low risk (LR) for GDM, it recommends an early test for women at high risk (HR) for GDM. Herein, we assessed the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of this screening and developed a new index that improves these requirements. We retrospectively enrolled 3974 pregnant women. GDM was diagnosed with a 2h 75-g OGTT at 16-18 weeks (early test) or 24-28 weeks of gestation, according to the IADPSG guidelines. 55.6% of HR women had GDM, although only 38.4% underwent early screening. Among 2654 women at medium risk, 20.9% had GDM; paradoxically, among 770 LR women, that would not have been screened, 26.6% received a GDM diagnosis. Based on these unsatisfactory results, we elaborated the Capula's index, that reduced both screening tests (p<0.001) and potentially undetected GDM cases (p<0.001), and corrected the paradoxical prevalence estimates of GDM obtained with the current Italian guidelines. Also, Capula's index improved correlation of GDM risk profile with obstetric and neonatal adverse events. Capula's index improves accuracy of selective screening for GDM. Copyright © 2016 Primary Care Diabetes Europe. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. 22 Cases of BIA-ALCL: Awareness and Outcome Tracking from the Italian Ministry of Health.

    PubMed

    Antonella, Campanale; Rosaria, Boldrini; Marcella, Marletta

    2017-09-13

    To date, 359 cases of anaplastic large cell lymphoma in women with breast implants (BIA-ALCL) worldwide have been reported out of more than 10 million implanted patients but Health Care Authorities suspect this is a possible underestimation and the limited number of cases makes it difficult to clarify its etiology. The General Directorate of Medical Devices and Pharmaceutical Services of the Italian Ministry of Health (IMoH) has examined and studied the Italian BIA-ALCL cases, and the aim of this study is to report on the knowledge and experience gained on this new emerging disease. An official document has been diffused by the IMoH to all the Italian medical associations, aiming at encouraging all physicians to notify each BIA-ALCL case through the compilation of a specific on-line form. A retrospective study has been performed on the notified BIA-ALCL cases collected in the IMoH's database named DISPOVIGILANCE. Research on DISPOVIGILANCE gives back a list of 22 Italian BIA-ALCL cases. The patients' mean age was 49.6 years (range 30 -71). The average time to the onset of the symptoms was 6.8 years (range 1-22). The average time to the diagnosis was 7.8 years (range 4 -22). The estimated incidence of the Italian BIA-ALCL cases related to 2015 is 2.8 per 100.000 patients. The BIA-ALCL pathogenesis remains unknown. The Italian Ministry of Health, together with scientific associations and other Competent Authorities worldwide, is working on the BIA-ALCL issue to increase awareness and knowledge of this disease by healthcare professionals.

  13. IGI (the Italian Grid initiative) and its impact on the Astrophysics community

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pasian, F.; Vuerli, C.; Taffoni, G.

    IGI - the Association for the Italian Grid Infrastructure - has been established as a consortium of 14 different national institutions to provide long term sustainability to the Italian Grid. Its formal predecessor, the Grid.it project, has come to a close in 2006; to extend the benefits of this project, IGI has taken over and acts as the national coordinator for the different sectors of the Italian e-Infrastructure present in EGEE. IGI plans to support activities in a vast range of scientificdisciplines - e.g. Physics, Astrophysics, Biology, Health, Chemistry, Geophysics, Economy, Finance - and any possible extensions to other sectors such as Civil Protection, e-Learning, dissemination in Universities and secondary schools. Among these, the Astrophysics community is active as a user, by porting applications of various kinds, but also as a resource provider in terms of computing power and storage, and as middleware developer.

  14. Concussion occurrence and knowledge in italian football (soccer).

    PubMed

    Broglio, Steven P; Vagnozzi, Roberto; Sabin, Matthew; Signoretti, Stefano; Tavazzi, Barbara; Lazzarino, Giuseppe

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to investigate concussion history, knowledge, injury identification, and management strategies among athletes, coaches, and medical staff in Italian club level football (soccer) clubs. Surveys (N=727) were distributed among Italian football clubs. Athletes' surveys were designed to evaluate athlete knowledge of concussive signs and symptoms and injury reporting. Coaches' surveys explored the understanding of concussive signs and symptoms and management practices. Medical staff surveys explored the standard of care regarding concussions. A total of 342 surveys were returned, for a 47% response rate. Descriptive analyses indicated 10% of athletes sustaining a concussion in the past year and 62% of these injuries were not reported, primarily due to the athletes not thinking the injury was serious enough. Coaches consistently identified non-concussion related symptoms (98.7%), but were unable to identify symptoms associated with concussion (38.9%). Most understood that loss of consciousness is not the sole indicator of injury (82.6%). Medical staff reported a heavy reliance on the clinical exam (92%) and athlete symptom reports (92%) to make the concussion diagnosis and return to play decision, with little use of neurocognitive (16.7%) or balance (0.0%) testing. Italian football athletes appear to report concussions at a rate similar to American football players, with a slightly higher rate of unreported injuries. Most of these athletes were aware they were concussed, but did not feel the injury was serious enough to report. Although coaches served as the primary person to whom concussions were reported, the majority of coaches were unable to accurately identify concussion related symptoms. With little use for neurocognitive and postural control assessments, the medical personnel may be missing injuries or returning athletes to play too soon. Collectively, these findings suggest that athletes, coaches, and medical personnel would benefit

  15. A comparison of Italian, Japanese and American students' responses to the Adolescent Reinforcement Survey Schedule.

    PubMed

    Galeazzi, A; Franceschina, E; Cautela, J; Holmes, G R; Sakano, Y

    1998-02-01

    The Italian form of the Adolescent Reinforcement Survey Schedule (ARSS-I) was administered to (N = 648) high school boys and girls from northern and central Italy. Their responses were factor analyzed using a principal component. VARIMAX rotation procedure (SAS Institute, Inc., 1990). The 10 interpretable factors from the Italian data were compared and contrasted to factor analytic results from Holmes (1991, 1994) studies using American and Japanese students. Additionally, the Italian data analyses includes an examination by gender using t tests for each of the ARSS-I items and an ANOVA for age and age-gender effects on responses to the ARSS-I.

  16. Reading Difficulties and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Behaviours: Evidence of an Early Association in a Nonclinical Sample

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luoni, Chiara; Balottin, Umberto; Zaccagnino, Maria; Brembilla, Laura; Livetti, Giulia; Termine, Cristiano

    2015-01-01

    Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occurs with reading disability. A cross-sectional study in an Italian-speaking, nonclinical sample was conducted in an attempt to document the existence of an early association between reading difficulties (RD) and ADHD behaviours. We recruited a sample of 369 children in their first year at…

  17. The Italian version of the 92-item Prodromal Questionnaire: Concurrent validity with the SIPS and factor analysis in a sample of 258 outpatients aged 11-36years.

    PubMed

    Kotzalidis, Georgios D; Solfanelli, Andrea; Piacentino, Daria; Savoja, Valeria; Fiori Nastro, Paolo; Curto, Martina; Lindau, Juliana Fortes; Masillo, Alice; Brandizzi, Martina; Fagioli, Francesca; Raballo, Andrea; Gebhardt, Eva; Preti, Antonio; D'Alema, Marco; Fucci, Maria Rosa; Miletto, Roberto; Andropoli, Daniela; Leccisi, Donato; Girardi, Paolo; Loewy, Rachel L; Schultze-Lutter, Frauke

    2017-11-01

    Current early screeners for psychosis-risk states have still to prove ability in identifying at-risk individuals. Among screeners, the 92-item Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-92) is often used. We aimed to assess the validity of its Italian translation in a large Italian adolescent and young adult help-seeking sample. We included all individuals aged 12-36years seeking help at psychiatric mental health services in a large semirural Roman area (534,600 population) who accepted to participate. Participants completed the Italian version of the PQ-92 and were subsequently assessed with the Structured Interview of Prodromal/Psychosis-Risk Syndromes (SIPS). We examined diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios) and content, concurrent, and convergent validity between PQ-92 and SIPS using Cronbach's alpha, Cohen's kappa, and Spearman's rho, respectively. We tested the validity of adopted cut-offs through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves plotted against SIPS diagnoses and the instrument's factor-structure through Principal Component Analysis. PQ-92 showed high internal consistency, acceptable diagnostic accuracy and concurrent validity, and excellent convergent validity. ROC analyses pointed to scores of 18 on the Positive subscale and 36 on the total PQ-92 as best cut-offs. The Scree-test identified a four-factor solution as fitting best. Psychometric properties of Italian PQ-92 were satisfactory. Optimal cut-offs were confirmed at ≥18 on the positive subscale, but at ≥36 on the total scale was able to identify more SIPS-positive cases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. The Italian pilot external quality assessment program for cystic fibrosis sweat test.

    PubMed

    Salvatore, Marco; Floridia, Giovanna; Amato, Annalisa; Censi, Federica; Carta, Claudio; de Stefano, Maria Chiara; Ferrari, Gianluca; Tosto, Fabrizio; Capoluongo, Ettore; Caruso, Ubaldo; Castaldo, Giuseppe; Cirilli, Natalia; Corbetta, Carlo; Padoan, Rita; Raia, Valeria; Taruscio, Domenica

    2016-05-01

    Sweat chloride test is the gold standard test for cystic fibrosis (CF) diagnosis. In 2014 the Istituto Superiore di Sanità established the Italian pilot external quality assessment program for CF sweat test (IEQA-ST). Ten laboratories, included among the 33 Italian CF Referral Centers, were selected and enrolled on the basis of their attitude to perform sweat test (ST) analysis by using methods recommended by the Italian Guidelines. They received three different sweat-like samples (normal, borderline and pathologic chloride concentration), with mock clinical indications, for analysis according to routine procedures. Assessment, performed by a panel of experts, covered analytical performance, interpretation and reporting of results; categories of "poor" and "satisfactory" performance were not defined. All data were managed through a web utility. The program identified important areas of interest and, in some case, of concern. It is important to underline that results are referred to a small proportion, i.e. about 30%, of Italian laboratories performing CF ST in the context of the Referral Centers. Data collected highlight the importance of participation in EQA programs as it may improve laboratory/clinical performance; our study represents a model for the setting up of a large-scale EQA scheme for ST. Copyright © 2016 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Meanings of Sexual Intercourse for Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Giannotta, Fabrizia; Ciairano, Silvia; Spruijt, Rob; Spruijt-Metz, Donna

    2009-01-01

    The goal of the present study was to investigate meanings of sexual intercourse in adolescence, and the relationships between meanings, gender, age, and sexual behaviors. Subjects were 201 Italian adolescents (107 boys and 94 girls), aged 14-19 (M=17.44, SD=1.65). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires on meanings of sex, sexual…

  20. A baseline assessment of emergency planning and preparedness in Italian universities.

    PubMed

    Marincioni, Fausto; Fraboni, Rita

    2012-04-01

    Besides offering teaching and research services, schools and universities also must provide for the safety and security of their employees, students, and visitors. This paper describes emergency preparedness in a sample of Italian universities. In particular it examines risk perception within a specific professional category (university safety and security officers) in a specific cultural context (Italy). In addition, it discusses the transposition and implementation in a European Union (EU) member state of EU Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989, on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers. The findings highlight heterogeneous and fragmented emergency management models within the Italian university system, underlining the need for a stricter framework of standardised safety protocols and emergency management guidelines. The study also points out that enhancing emergency planning and preparedness in Italian universities entails increasing safety leadership, employee engagement and individual responsibility for safety and security; essentially, it necessitates improving the culture of risk prevention. © 2012 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2012.

  1. CDP++.Italian: Modelling Sublexical and Supralexical Inconsistency in a Shallow Orthography

    PubMed Central

    Perry, Conrad; Ziegler, Johannes C.; Zorzi, Marco

    2014-01-01

    Most models of reading aloud have been constructed to explain data in relatively complex orthographies like English and French. Here, we created an Italian version of the Connectionist Dual Process Model of Reading Aloud (CDP++) to examine the extent to which the model could predict data in a language which has relatively simple orthography-phonology relationships but is relatively complex at a suprasegmental (word stress) level. We show that the model exhibits good quantitative performance and accounts for key phenomena observed in naming studies, including some apparently contradictory findings. These effects include stress regularity and stress consistency, both of which have been especially important in studies of word recognition and reading aloud in Italian. Overall, the results of the model compare favourably to an alternative connectionist model that can learn non-linear spelling-to-sound mappings. This suggests that CDP++ is currently the leading computational model of reading aloud in Italian, and that its simple linear learning mechanism adequately captures the statistical regularities of the spelling-to-sound mapping both at the segmental and supra-segmental levels. PMID:24740261

  2. [Health impact of ozone in 13 Italian cities].

    PubMed

    Mitis, Francesco; Iavarone, Ivano; Martuzzi, Marco

    2007-01-01

    to estimate the health impact of ozone in 13 Italian cities over 200,000 inhabitants and to produce basic elements to permit the reproducibility of the study in other urban locations. the following data have been used: population data (2001), health data (2001 or from scientific literature), environmental data (2002-2004), from urban background monitoring station and concentration/response risk coefficients derived from recent metanalyses. The indicators SOMO35 and SOMO0 have been used as a proxi of the average exposure to calcolate attributable deaths (and years of life lost) and several causes of morbility for ozone concentrations over 70 microg/m3. acute mortality for all causes and for cardiovascular mortality, respiratory-related hospital admissions in elderly, asthma exacerbation in children and adults, minor restricted activity days, lower respiratory symptoms in children. over 500 (1900) deaths, the 0.6% (2.1%) of total mortality, equivalent to about 6000 (22,000) years of life lost are attributable to ozone levels over 70 microg/m3 in the 13 Italian cities under study. Larger figures, in the order of thousands, are attributable to less severe morbidity outcomes. The health impact of ozone in Italian towns is relevant in terms of acute mortality and morbidity, although less severe than PM10 impact. Background ozone levels are increasing. Abatement strategies for ozone concentrations should consider the whole summer and not only "peak" days and look at policies limiting the concentration of precursors produced by traffic sources. Relevant health benefits can be obtained also under levels proposed as guidelines in the present environmental regulations.

  3. Lung cancer risk of airborne particles for Italian population

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Buonanno, G., E-mail: buonanno@unicas.it; International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street 2, 4001 Brisbane, Qld.; Giovinco, G., E-mail: giovinco@unicas.it

    Airborne particles, including both ultrafine and supermicrometric particles, contain various carcinogens. Exposure and risk-assessment studies regularly use particle mass concentration as dosimetry parameter, therefore neglecting the potential impact of ultrafine particles due to their negligible mass compared to supermicrometric particles. The main purpose of this study was the characterization of lung cancer risk due to exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and some heavy metals associated with particle inhalation by Italian non-smoking people. A risk-assessment scheme, modified from an existing risk model, was applied to estimate the cancer risk contribution from both ultrafine and supermicrometric particles. Exposure assessment was carried outmore » on the basis of particle number distributions measured in 25 smoke-free microenvironments in Italy. The predicted lung cancer risk was then compared to the cancer incidence rate in Italy to assess the number of lung cancer cases attributed to airborne particle inhalation, which represents one of the main causes of lung cancer, apart from smoking. Ultrafine particles are associated with a much higher risk than supermicrometric particles, and the modified risk-assessment scheme provided a more accurate estimate than the conventional scheme. Great attention has to be paid to indoor microenvironments and, in particular, to cooking and eating times, which represent the major contributors to lung cancer incidence in the Italian population. The modified risk assessment scheme can serve as a tool for assessing environmental quality, as well as setting up exposure standards for particulate matter. - Highlights: • Lung cancer risk for non-smoking Italian population due to particle inhalation. • The average lung cancer risk for Italian population is equal to 1.90×10{sup −2}. • Ultrafine particle is the aerosol metric mostly contributing to lung cancer risk. • B(a)P is the main (particle-bounded) compound

  4. [Prevention and accidents in Italian popular car magazines during the second postwar years].

    PubMed

    Franchini, Antonia Francesca; Porro, Alessandro; Colombo, Andrea

    2011-01-01

    Between the end of the fifties and the second half of the sixties the Italian car industry was one of the few in Europe to introduce technical changes for car safety. Some Italian popular magazines took part in this plan not only by an information and prevention campaign, but also by promoting experimental safety car projects. Among them Quattroruote, rivista mensile per gli automobilisti di oggi e di domani stands out.

  5. Effects of adding an Italian theme to a restaurant on the perceived ethnicity, acceptability, and selection of foods.

    PubMed

    Bell, R; Meiselman, H L; Pierson, B J; Reeve, W G

    1994-02-01

    We investigated whether a change in the perceived ethnicity of a food can be produced without manipulating the food item itself, and if that change in ethnic perception is accompanied by a change in acceptability and food selection behavior. Italian and British foods were offered in a British restaurant for four days. Foods were offered for 2 days under control conditions, when the restaurant was decorated as usual. The identical foods then were offered in the restaurant for 2 more days under experimental conditions, when ethnic names were used on the menu to describe foods, and the restaurant was decorated with an Italian theme. Perceived ethnicity and acceptability of items were rated by customers each day, and item selection was tracked. The Italian theme increased selection of pasta and dessert items, and decreased the selection of fish. The Italian theme also increased the perceived Italian ethnicity of British pasta items, fish and veal, and increased the perceived Italian ethnicity of the meal overall. These findings show that changes in perceived ethnicity and food selection can be accomplished without altering food items, but merely by manipulating the environment, and may imply a unique strategy for increasing perceived menu variety.

  6. Work-Life Interferences in the Early Stages of Academic Careers: The Case of Precarious Researchers in Italy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bozzon, Rossella; Murgia, Annalisa; Poggio, Barbara; Rapetti, Elisa

    2017-01-01

    This paper addresses the topic of work-life interferences in academic contexts. More specifically, it focuses on early career researchers in the Italian university system. The total availability required from those who work in the research sector is leading to significant transformations of the temporalities of work, especially among the new…

  7. Italian forum of Europa Donna: a survey of breast cancer associations

    PubMed Central

    Mosconi, Paola; Kodraliu, Gentiana

    2001-01-01

    Europa Donna is the first European woman's movement against breast cancer. It is a coalition of breast cancer associations and individual women and is active in 20 nations. Europa Donna is not intended to replace existing organizations. Rather, it provides a focus for the exchange of information and experiences between members and serves as a moving force for combined action. It promotes public awareness of breast cancer, advances in research and good clinical practice. In Italy there are more than 200 active breast cancer associations. The Italian forum of Europa Donna was formed in 1996. Between June and September 1996 a postal survey was conducted to research the characteristics and activities of the various breast cancer associations in Italy in order to help, inform and promote future initiatives of the Italian forum of Europa Donna. A total of 213 breast cancer associations were sent a postal questionnaire. Ninety‐five of them (44.6%) participated in the survey. The results show that the breast cancer associations in Italy vary markedly in terms of their structure and organization. The associations perceive a variety of deficiencies in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer within the Italian National Health Service and they offer a wide range of services themselves. Their views of the relevance of the 10 goals of Europa Donna vary. In this paper, we discuss the implications of the low rate of participation in the survey and the heterogeneity of the breast cancer associations' structures, activities and views for the future activities of the Italian forum of Europa Donna. PMID:11281874

  8. Feyerabend, truth, and relativisms: Footnotes to the Italian debate.

    PubMed

    Gattei, Stefano

    2016-06-01

    There is a substantial literature on Feyerabend's relativism-including a few papers in this collection-but fewer specific studies of the ways that his writings and ideas have been taken up among the non-academic public. This is odd, given his obvious interest in the lives and concerns of persons who were not 'intellectuals'-a term that, for him, had a pejorative ring to it. It is also odd, given the abundance of evidence of how Feyerabend's relativism played a role in a specific national and cultural context-namely, contemporary Italian debates about relativism. This paper offers a study of how Feyerabend's ideas have been deployed by Italian intellectuals and cultural commentators-including the current Pope-and critically assesses them. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. The New Institutional Governance of Italian State Universities: What Role for the New Governing Bodies?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Donina, Davide; Meoli, Michele; Paleari, Stefano

    2015-01-01

    In 2010, a comprehensive reform required Italian state universities to restructure their institutional governance by revising their statutes. This interpretative paper aims to evaluate whether the Italian reform is congruent with its declarations, examine the variations in the implementation within the same country of a unitary national regulation…

  10. Family allocentrism and its relation to adjustment among Chinese and Italian adolescents.

    PubMed

    Li, Jian-Bin; Delvecchio, Elisa; Lis, Adriana; Mazzeschi, Claudia

    2018-03-21

    Family allocentrism is a domain-specific collectivistic attribute referring to the family. This research tested the one-factor structure of the Family Allocentrism Scale (FAS), examined the association between family allocentrism and adjustment outcomes, and compared the factor means and the correlations with adjustment between Chinese and Italian adolescents. To this end, 484 Chinese and 480 Italian adolescents participated in the study by answering a battery of self-report measures. The results confirmed the one-factor structure of the FAS. Family allocentrism was related to a number of adjustment outcomes. More importantly, Chinese adolescents reported more family allocentrism than their Italian counterparts did, but the relations between family allocentrism and adjustment outcomes were equivalent in magnitude between the two samples. Collectively, these findings provide crucial evidence for the psychometric properties of the FAS and shed light on the importance of family allocentrism in promoting positive youth development from a cross-cultural perspective. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. The Italian national trends in smoking initiation and cessation according to gender and education.

    PubMed

    Sardu, C; Mereu, A; Minerba, L; Contu, P

    2009-09-01

    OBJECTIVES. This study aims to assess the trend in initiation and cessation of smoking across successive birth cohorts, according to gender and education, in order to provide useful suggestion for tobacco control policy. STUDY DESIGN. The study is based on data from the "Health conditions and resort to sanitary services" survey carried out in Italy from October 2004 to September 2005 by the National Institute of Statistics. Through a multisampling procedure a sample representative of the entire national territory was selected. In order to calculate trends in smoking initiation and cessation, data were stratified for birth cohorts, gender and education level, and analyzed through the life table method. The cumulative probability of smoking initiation, across subsequent generations, shows a downward trend followed by a plateau. This result highlights that there is not a shred of evidence to support the hypothesis of an anticipation in smoking initiation. The cumulative probability of quitting, across subsequent generations, follows an upward trend, highlighting the growing tendency of smokers to become an "early quitter", who give up within 30 years of age. Results suggest that the Italian antismoking approach, for the most part targeted at preventing the initiation of smoking emphasising the negative consequences, has an effect on the early smoking cessation. Health policies should reinforce the existing trend of "early quitting" through specific actions. In addition our results show that men with low education exhibit the higher probability of smoking initiation and the lower probability of early quitting, and therefore should be targeted with special attention.

  12. Food group consumption in an Italian population using the updated food classification system FoodEx2: Results from the Italian Nutrition & HEalth Survey (INHES) study.

    PubMed

    Pounis, G; Bonanni, A; Ruggiero, E; Di Castelnuovo, A; Costanzo, S; Persichillo, M; Bonaccio, M; Cerletti, C; Riccardi, G; Donati, M B; de Gaetano, G; Iacoviello, L

    2017-04-01

    Dietary habits evolve over time, being influenced by many factors and complex interactions. This work aimed at evaluating the updated information on food group consumption in Italy. A total of 8944 (4768 women and 4176 men) participants aged >18 years from all over Italy recruited in 2010-13 (Italian Nutrition & HEalth Survey, INHES) was analyzed. The recruitment was performed using computer-assisted-telephone-interviewing and one-day 24-h dietary recall retrieved from all participants. The updated, second version, of FoodEx2 food classification system was applied to extract data on food group consumption. The participation rate was 53%; 6.2% of the participants declared to follow a special diet, the most prevalent being hypo-caloric diets (55.7% of special diets). Men compared to women presented significantly higher intakes of "grains and grain-based products", "meat and meat products", "animal and vegetable fats and oils and primary derivatives" and "alcoholic beverages" (P for all<0.001); moreover, men had lower intakes of "milk and dairy products", "water and water-based beverages" and "products for non-standard diets, food imitates and food supplements" (P for all<0.001). Differences in food group intake among age groups, geographical regions and educational level groups were also identified (P for all<0.05). Data on the consumption of more than 70 food groups and sub-groups were illustrated in different strata. The present analysis could be considered as an updated source of information for future nutrition research in Italy and in the EU. Copyright © 2017 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Quasi-static displacement calibration system for a “Violin-Mode” shadow-sensor intended for Gravitational Wave detector suspensions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    This paper describes the design of, and results from, a calibration system for optical linear displacement (shadow) sensors. The shadow sensors were designed to detect “Violin-Mode” (VM) resonances in the 0.4 mm diameter silica fibre suspensions of the test masses/mirrors of Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory gravitational wave interferometers. Each sensor illuminated the fibre under test, so as to cast its narrow shadow onto a “synthesized split photodiode” detector, the shadow falling over adjacent edges of the paired photodiodes. The apparatus described here translated a vertically orientated silica test fibre horizontally through a collimated Near InfraRed illuminating beam, whilstmore » simultaneously capturing the separate DC “shadow notch” outputs from each of the paired split photodiode detectors. As the ratio of AC to DC photocurrent sensitivities to displacement was known, a calibration of the DC response to quasi-static shadow displacement allowed the required AC sensitivity to vibrational displacement to be found. Special techniques are described for generating the required constant scan rate for the test fibre using a DC motor-driven stage, for removing “jitter” at such low translation rates from a linear magnetic encoder, and so for capturing the two shadow-notch signals at each micrometre of the test fibre's travel. Calibration, across the four detectors of this work, gave a vibrational responsivity in voltage terms of (9.45 ± 1.20) MV (rms)/m, yielding a VM displacement sensitivity of (69 ± 13) pm (rms)/√Hz, at 500 Hz, over the required measuring span of ±0.1 mm.« less

  14. Sex-Specific Relationships among Attachment Security, Social Values, and Sensation Seeking in Early Adolescence: Implications for Adolescents' Externalizing Problem Behaviour

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sarracino, Diego; Presaghi, Fabio; Degni, Silvia; Innamorati, Marco

    2011-01-01

    In early adolescence, attachment security reflects not only the quality of ongoing relationships with parents, but also how adolescents process social relationships with "others"--that is, their "social value orientation"--with possible implications for adolescents' risk-taking. In this study, a sample of Italian early…

  15. The Italian contribution to battery science and technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Scrosati, Bruno

    The activities in the battery field currently in progress in Italian academic and industrial laboratories will be briefly reviewed. After reporting the key achievements obtained in lead-acid batteries, the presentation will be focused on systems of more recent development with particular attention to the lithium batteries. Interestingly, there is in Italy quite an intense research and development activity on these new-concept batteries which are now the power sources of choice for popular electronic devices, e.g. cellular phones, and in prospect valid systems for powering electric vehicles. Basic research is carried out in various university and government centers with the aim of characterizing new lithium ion electrode and electrolyte materials. This intense research is backed by substantial development activity since few Italian industries are presently engaged in the production of lithium batteries of different size and characteristics. Italy is then well established in battery R&D, confirming the country's historical involvement in the field since Volta's pile invention in 1800.

  16. Validation of the Italian version of the dissociative experience scale for adolescents and young adults.

    PubMed

    De Pasquale, Concetta; Sciacca, Federica; Hichy, Zira

    2016-01-01

    The Dissociative Experience Scale for adolescent (A-DES), a 30-item, multidimensional, self-administered questionnaire, was validated using a large sample of American young people sample. We reported the linguistic validation process and the metric validity of the Italian version of A-DES in the Italy. A set of questionnaires was provided to a total of 633 participants from March 2015 to April 2016. The participants consisted of 282 boys and 351 girls, and their average age was between 18 and 24 years old. The translation process consisted of two consecutive steps: forward-backward translation and acceptability testing. The psychometric testing was applied to Italian students who were recruited from the Italian Public Schools and Universities in Sicily. Informed consent was obtained from all participants at the research. All individuals completed the A-DES. Reliability and validity were tested. The translated version was validated on a total of 633 Italian students. The reliability of A-DES total is .926. It is composed by 4 subscales: Dissociative amnesia, Absorption and imaginative involvement, Depersonalization and derealization, and Passive influence. The reliability of each subscale is: .756 for dissociative amnesia, .659 for absorption and imaginative involvement, .850 for depersonalization and derealization, and .743 for passive influence. The Italian version of the A-DES constitutes a useful instrument to measure dissociative experience in adolescents and young adults in Italy.

  17. The Fruitless Effort of Growing a Fruitless Tree: Early Morpho-Orthographic and Morpho-Semantic Effects in Sentence Reading

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amenta, Simona; Marelli, Marco; Crepaldi, Davide

    2015-01-01

    In this eye-tracking study, we investigated how semantics inform morphological analysis at the early stages of visual word identification in sentence reading. We exploited a feature of several derived Italian words, that is, that they can be read in a "morphologically transparent" way or in a "morphologically opaque" way…

  18. An Ecological Perspective on Early Years Workforce Competences in Italian ECEC Settings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Migliorini, Laura; Rania, Nadia; Tassara, Tatiana

    2016-01-01

    Based on an ecological perspective on competence, this study analyzed the attitudes, skills, and knowledge of practitioners in educational services for 0-6-years-old children in Italy, examining competence profiles in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) workforce. Our study considered three areas of competence, which previously have…

  19. Early Relations between Lexical and Grammatical Development in Very Immature Italian Preterms

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sansavini, Alessandra; Guarini, Annalisa; Alessandroni, Rosina; Faldella, Giacomo; Giovanelli, Giuliana; Salvioli, Gianpaolo

    2006-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate early lexical and grammatical development and their relations in a sample of very immature healthy preterms, in order to assess whether their linguistic development was typical, at risk or atypical. The effects of biological factors and parental level of education on preterms' linguistic development were also…

  20. Transition of gastroenterological patients from paediatric to adult care: A position statement by the Italian Societies of Gastroenterology.

    PubMed

    Elli, Luca; Maieron, Roberto; Martelossi, Stefano; Guariso, Graziella; Buscarini, Elisabetta; Conte, Dario; di Giulio, Emilio; Staiano, Annamaria; Barp, Jacopo; Bassotti, Gabrio; Bianco, Maria Antonia; Buri, Luigi; Carrara, Maurizio; Ghidini, Benedetta; Giannini, Olivia; Knafelz, Daniela; Miele, Erasmo; Peralta, Sergio; Riccio, Elisabetta; Tomba, Carolina; Zilli, Maurizio; Guadagnini, Tiziana

    2015-09-01

    In 2013, four Italian Gastroenterological Societies (the Italian Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, the Italian Society of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Endoscopists, the Italian Society of Endoscopy, and the Italian Society of Gastroenterology) formed a joint panel of experts with the aim of preparing an official statement on transition medicine in Gastroenterology. The transition of adolescents from paediatric to adult care is a crucial moment in managing chronic diseases such as celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease and liver transplantation. Improved medical treatment and availability of new drugs and surgical techniques have improved the prognosis of many paediatric disorders, prolonging survival, thus making the transition to adulthood possible and necessary. An inappropriate transition or the incomplete transmission of data from the paediatrician to the adult Gastroenterologist can dramatically decrease compliance to treatment and prognosis of a young patient, particularly in the case of severe disorders. For these reasons, the Italian gastroenterological societies decided to develop an official shared transition protocol. The resulting document discusses the factors influencing the transition process and highlights the main points to accomplish to optimize compliance and prognosis of gastroenterological patients during the difficult transition from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. Copyright © 2015 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Complex interplay between neutral and adaptive evolution shaped differential genomic background and disease susceptibility along the Italian peninsula.

    PubMed

    Sazzini, Marco; Gnecchi Ruscone, Guido Alberto; Giuliani, Cristina; Sarno, Stefania; Quagliariello, Andrea; De Fanti, Sara; Boattini, Alessio; Gentilini, Davide; Fiorito, Giovanni; Catanoso, Mariagrazia; Boiardi, Luigi; Croci, Stefania; Macchioni, Pierluigi; Mantovani, Vilma; Di Blasio, Anna Maria; Matullo, Giuseppe; Salvarani, Carlo; Franceschi, Claudio; Pettener, Davide; Garagnani, Paolo; Luiselli, Donata

    2016-09-01

    The Italian peninsula has long represented a natural hub for human migrations across the Mediterranean area, being involved in several prehistoric and historical population movements. Coupled with a patchy environmental landscape entailing different ecological/cultural selective pressures, this might have produced peculiar patterns of population structure and local adaptations responsible for heterogeneous genomic background of present-day Italians. To disentangle this complex scenario, genome-wide data from 780 Italian individuals were generated and set into the context of European/Mediterranean genomic diversity by comparison with genotypes from 50 populations. To maximize possibility of pinpointing functional genomic regions that have played adaptive roles during Italian natural history, our survey included also ~250,000 exomic markers and ~20,000 coding/regulatory variants with well-established clinical relevance. This enabled fine-grained dissection of Italian population structure through the identification of clusters of genetically homogeneous provinces and of genomic regions underlying their local adaptations. Description of such patterns disclosed crucial implications for understanding differential susceptibility to some inflammatory/autoimmune disorders, coronary artery disease and type 2 diabetes of diverse Italian subpopulations, suggesting the evolutionary causes that made some of them particularly exposed to the metabolic and immune challenges imposed by dietary and lifestyle shifts that involved western societies in the last centuries.

  2. Checkpoints A and B-Italian. Second Language Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Div. of Curriculum and Instruction.

    The New York City schools' syllabus for the first three years of high school Italian instruction outlines a communicative curriculum conforming to state standards of preparation for state language proficiency examinations. The syllabus begins with an introductory section that describes the objectives and approach used and provides suggestions for…

  3. The Rasch Model for Evaluating Italian Student Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Camminatiello, Ida; Gallo, Michele; Menini, Tullio

    2010-01-01

    In 1997 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for collecting information about 15-year-old students in participating countries. Our study analyses the PISA 2006 cognitive test for evaluating the Italian student performance in mathematics, reading…

  4. Renaissance and Italian Literature in World Literature Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Paolucci, Anne

    1977-01-01

    Shows how the giants of the Renaissance, from Dante to Shakespeare and Cervantes, can be taught so that they illustrate the dialectic of the cultural experience that produced them, and how the masterpieces of Italian literature can be used to suggest both national and universal qualities. (Editor/RK)

  5. Bioethics and the Italian National Bioethics Committee: historical highlights.

    PubMed

    Conti, A A

    2016-01-01

    Though the term "bioethics" was coined in 1970-1, it was immediately after World War II that there emerged the idea that the voluntary consent of human beings was absolutely mandatory for medical interventions to be ethically acceptable. The 1964 Declaration of Helsinki asserted that only an explicit consent could morally and ethically justify research on human beings. In the 1978 "Encyclopedia of Bioethics", the US author Warren T. Reich defined bioethics as the systematic study of human behaviour in the fields of health care and life sciences, and carefully differentiated the epistemological profile of bioethics from that of traditional medical ethics deriving from the Hippocratic Oath. An institutional milestone in the Italian evolution of bioethical knowledge and competence was the foundation of the Italian National Bioethics Committee (NBC), established in 1990. The NBC, which answers to the Council of Ministers, provides methodological support to the Italian Government in the field of bioethical issues, elaborating legislative acts and also furnishing information and consultation for other bodies and associations and for the general public. The activity of the NBC is clearly discernible in its free and user-friendly website. Today, the Internet is often the first repository where individuals and patients look for bioethical information. Given that the quality of this information is extremely variable and not infrequently unreliable, initiatives such as that of the above mentioned NBC website are particularly useful and precious both for health care operators and the entire community.

  6. Survey on attitudes of Italian pediatricians toward cough

    PubMed Central

    Zanasi, Alessandro; Morcaldi, Luigi; Cazzato, Salvatore; Mazzolini, Massimiliano; Lecchi, Marzia; Morselli-Labate, Antonio Maria; Mastroroberto, Marianna; Dal Negro, Roberto W

    2017-01-01

    Context Children’s cough is a daily concern for most pediatricians. The management of both acute and chronic cough requires a systematic and comprehensive approach. Despite the approved protocols for management, the pediatric assessment of cough and the corresponding prescribing attitude frequently do not fit these protocols, which can be affected by parental suggestions – sometimes substantially. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate both the perception and the behavior of a representative sample of Italian pediatricians toward cough in real life. Methods A specific questionnaire consisting of 18 questions was prepared. The questionnaire was completed by 300 pediatricians (all members of PAIDOSS: Italian National Observatory on Health of Childhood and Adolescence) who represented ~300,000 children. Results A vast majority of children have cough throughout the year (99.3% of respondents have cough during autumn/winter and 64.7% in spring/summer). Allergic disease is the most frequent suspected cause of chronic cough in children (53%), and this is supported by the high demand for consultations: 73% seek the opinion of allergologists, 62% of otorhinolaryngologists and only 33% of pulmonologists. The majority of pediatricians (92%) reported that they prescribe therapy in acute cough regardless of cough guidelines. Moreover, the survey pointed out the abuse of aerosol therapy (26% in acute cough and 38% in chronic cough) and of antibiotics prescription (22% in acute cough and 42% in chronic cough). Conclusion Our survey suggests that some Italian pediatricians’ therapeutic attitudes should be substantially improved in order to achieve better management of cough in children and to minimize the burden of cough. PMID:28352199

  7. Italian natural history museums on the verge of collapse?

    PubMed

    Andreone, Franco; Bartolozzi, Luca; Boano, Giovanni; Boero, Ferdinando; Bologna, Marco A; Bon, Mauro; Bressi, Nicola; Capula, Massimo; Casale, Achille; Casiraghi, Maurizio; Chiozzi, Giorgio; Delfino, Massimo; Doria, Giuliano; Durante, Antonio; Ferrari, Marco; Gippoliti, Spartaco; Lanzinger, Michele; Latella, Leonardo; Maio, Nicola; Marangoni, Carla; Mazzotti, Stefano; Minelli, Alessandro; Muscio, Giuseppe; Nicolosi, Paola; Pievani, Telmo; Razzetti, Edoardo; Sabella, Giorgio; Valle, Marco; Vomero, Vincenzo; Zilli, Alberto

    2014-01-01

    The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a "metamuseum", by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities.

  8. Searching new signals for production traits through gene-based association analysis in three Italian cattle breeds.

    PubMed

    Capomaccio, Stefano; Milanesi, Marco; Bomba, Lorenzo; Cappelli, Katia; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L; Williams, John L; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo; Stefanon, Bruno

    2015-08-01

    Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been widely applied to disentangle the genetic basis of complex traits. In cattle breeds, classical GWAS approaches with medium-density marker panels are far from conclusive, especially for complex traits. This is due to the intrinsic limitations of GWAS and the assumptions that are made to step from the association signals to the functional variations. Here, we applied a gene-based strategy to prioritize genotype-phenotype associations found for milk production and quality traits with classical approaches in three Italian dairy cattle breeds with different sample sizes (Italian Brown n = 745; Italian Holstein n = 2058; Italian Simmental n = 477). Although classical regression on single markers revealed only a single genome-wide significant genotype-phenotype association, for Italian Holstein, the gene-based approach identified specific genes in each breed that are associated with milk physiology and mammary gland development. As no standard method has yet been established to step from variation to functional units (i.e., genes), the strategy proposed here may contribute to revealing new genes that play significant roles in complex traits, such as those investigated here, amplifying low association signals using a gene-centric approach. © 2015 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

  9. Development of the Italian version of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale: It-NIHSS.

    PubMed

    Pezzella, Francesca Romana; Picconi, Orietta; De Luca, Assunta; Lyden, Patrick D; Fiorelli, Marco

    2009-07-01

    The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is a basic component of the assessment of patients with acute stroke. To foster and standardize the use of the NIHSS among Italian health professionals, we translated the scale, dubbed into Italian the training and test videotapes devised by the National Institutes of Health researchers, and conducted a series of certification courses using the translated videos. Translation, text adaptation, video dubbing, and editing of the Italian NIHSS videotapes relied on a team of bilingual stroke neurologists. Three waves of training courses were organized for mixed classes of medical and nonmedical health professionals. The certification test was based on the usual set of 5 videotaped patients. Scoring rules were those provided by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Reliability of the Italian NIHSS was assessed using kappa statistics and compared with that of the original NIHSS. During 3 years, 850 nurses, 460 nonneurologist physicians, and 246 neurologists were trained. Pass rates were respectively 44%, 75%, and 87%, respectively. Overall, 80% of scale items showed moderate to excellent reliability. Independent significant predictors of test failure at multivariate logistic regression were nurse profession (OR, 5.41; 95% CI, 4.07 to 7.20), older age (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.05), and first edition of the course (OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 2.43 to 4.05). The agreement across all items between NIHSS and the Italian NIHSS was 80% (kappa=0.70+/-0.18, z<0.001). The Italian translation, supervised by experienced vascular neurologists, did not influence the clinimetric characteristics of the NIHSS. Our findings support the implementation of NIHSS video training in languages other than English.

  10. Difficulties and practices regarding information provision among Korean and Italian nurses.

    PubMed

    Ingravallo, F; Kim, K H; Han, Y H; Volta, A; Chiari, P; Taddia, P; Kim, J S

    2017-12-01

    To investigate nurses' opinions and practices of providing information in a global context through cultural comparison. Providing sufficient information to patients about nursing interventions and plans is essential for patient-centred care. While many countries have specific legislation making information delivery to patients a legal duty of nurses, no such legislation exists in both the Republic of Korea and Italy; nurses' only guidance is the deontological code. This was a cross-sectional survey study involving a convenience sample of 174 Korean nurses and 121 Italian nurses working in internal medicine and surgery at university hospitals. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire between February and November 2014. The questionnaire assessed demographic and professional characteristics, and difficulties and practices regarding information provision. Korean and Italian nurses significantly differed in all demographic and professional characteristics. More Korean than Italian participants reported that their role in providing information was well explained within their teams, but both groups reported the same level and type of difficulties in delivering information. Nurses in both countries regularly informed patients about medications and nursing procedures, but provided information about nursing care plans less frequently. Few nurses frequently provided information to relatives instead of patients. Despite cultural, demographic and professional differences between Korean and Italian nurses, their difficulties and practices in information delivery to patient were similar. Hospital managers and policymakers should be aware that nurse-patient communication can be impaired by organizational factors, patient characteristics or the interaction among providers. Educational interventions and strategies are needed to increase information provision to patients about nursing care plans. © 2017 International Council of Nurses.

  11. Psychometric validation of the Italian Rehabilitation Complexity Scale-Extended version 13

    PubMed Central

    Agosti, Maurizio; Merlo, Andrea; Maini, Maurizio; Lombardi, Francesco; Tedeschi, Claudio; Benedetti, Maria Grazia; Basaglia, Nino; Contini, Mara; Nicolotti, Domenico; Brianti, Rodolfo

    2017-01-01

    In Italy, at present, a well-known problem is inhomogeneous provision of rehabilitative services, as stressed by MoH, requiring appropriate criteria and parameters to plan rehabilitation actions. According to the Italian National Rehabilitation Plan, Comorbidity, Disability and Clinical Complexity should be assessed to define the patient’s real needs. However, to date, clinical complexity is still difficult to measure with shared and validated tools. The study aims to psychometrically validate the Italian Rehabilitation Complexity Scale-Extended v13 (RCS-E v13), in order to meet the guidelines requirements. An observational multicentre prospective cohort study, involving 8 intensive rehabilitation facilities of the Emilia-Romagna Region and 1712 in-patients, [823 male (48%) and 889 female (52%), mean age 68.34 years (95% CI 67.69–69.00 years)] showing neurological, orthopaedic and cardiological problems, was carried out. The construct and concurrent validity of the RCS-E v13 was confirmed through its correlation to Barthel Index (disability) and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (comorbidity) and appropriate admission criteria (not yet published), respectively. Furthermore, the factor analysis indicated two different components (“Basic Care or Risk—Equipment” and “Medical—Nursing Needs and Therapy Disciplines”) of the RCS-E v13. In conclusion, the Italian RCS-E v13 appears to be a useful tool to assess clinical complexity in the Italian rehab scenario case-mix and its psychometric validation may have an important clinical rehabilitation impact allowing the assessment of the rehabilitation needs considering all three dimensions (disability, comorbidity and clinical complexity) as required by the Guidelines and the inhomogeneity could be reduced. PMID:29045409

  12. Pilot Study to Assess Isoflavone Intake in Middle-Aged Italian Subjects

    PubMed Central

    Bertoli, Simona; Spadafranca, Angela; Ravelli, Laura; Foti, Paola; Erba, Daniela; Testolin, Giulio; Battezzati, Alberto

    2008-01-01

    Knowledge of isoflavone (IF) intake in Western populations is scarce, primarily because data about the content of these compounds in non-soy derived foods are incomplete or unavailable. The aims of this study were 1) to enrich the data available in literature about the IF content in traditional Italian foods, 2) to estimate daidzein (D) and genistein (G) intake in an Italian population sample. Eighteen Italian foods have been selected and analysed for IF content by GC-MS; the assessment of IF intake was performed in sixty healthy middle-aged Italian subjects after investigation of their dietary habits by food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The mean IF intake was 171 ± 261 μg/die (26-1415 μg/die). The mean G intake was greater than D (98 ± 131 μg/die vs 76 ± 131 μg/die). As expected, soy products, even though poorly consumed (27%), resulted the main contributor to IF intake (IF intake was 473.4 ± 440 μg/die vs 75 ± 38 μg/die in soy consumers and non soy consumers respectively p<0.001). Among Mediterranean foods, the main contributor resulted fresh bread that is widely consumed (97%). The percentage contribution of the cereal group to mean IF intake was 91%; the legume, fruit and vegetables groups brought a low contribution (3%, 2% and 4% respectively). The total daily IF intake found was low and probably not sufficient to produce biological effects. However more studies are necessary to investigate whether low exposure to IF for a long time could have positive effects on human health. PMID:23675065

  13. Different Forms of Bullying and Their Association to Smoking and Drinking Behavior in Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vieno, Alessio; Gini, Gianluca; Santinello, Massimo

    2011-01-01

    Background: Using data from the 2006 Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, the prevalence of 6 forms of bullying (physical, verbal, relational, sexual, cyber, and racist), and the role of smoking and drinking in bullying was examined among Italian adolescents for this study. Methods: The sample was composed of 2667 Italian middle…

  14. An Xrootd Italian Federation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Boccali, T.; Donvito, G.; Diacono, D.; Marzulli, G.; Pompili, A.; Della Ricca, G.; Mazzoni, E.; Argiro, S.; Gregori, D.; Grandi, C.; Bonacorsi, D.; Lista, L.; Fabozzi, F.; Barone, L. M.; Santocchia, A.; Riahi, H.; Tricomi, A.; Sgaravatto, M.; Maron, G.

    2014-06-01

    The Italian community in CMS has built a geographically distributed network in which all the data stored in the Italian region are available to all the users for their everyday work. This activity involves at different level all the CMS centers: the Tier1 at CNAF, all the four Tier2s (Bari, Rome, Legnaro and Pisa), and few Tier3s (Trieste, Perugia, Torino, Catania, Napoli, ...). The federation uses the new network connections as provided by GARR, our NREN (National Research and Education Network), which provides a minimum of 10 Gbit/s to all the sites via the GARR-X[2] project. The federation is currently based on Xrootd[1] technology, and on a Redirector aimed to seamlessly connect all the sites, giving the logical view of a single entity. A special configuration has been put in place for the Tier1, CNAF, where ad-hoc Xrootd changes have been implemented in order to protect the tape system from excessive stress, by not allowing WAN connections to access tape only files, on a file-by-file basis. In order to improve the overall performance while reading files, both in terms of bandwidth and latency, a hierarchy of xrootd redirectors has been implemented. The solution implemented provides a dedicated Redirector where all the INFN sites are registered, without considering their status (T1, T2, or T3 sites). An interesting use case were able to cover via the federation are disk-less Tier3s. The caching solution allows to operate a local storage with minimal human intervention: transfers are automatically done on a single file basis, and the cache is maintained operational by automatic removal of old files.

  15. Italian version of the Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment (PANDA): a useful instrument to detect cognitive impairments in Parkinson's Disease.

    PubMed

    Pignatti, Riccardo; Bertella, Laura; Scarpina, Federica; Mauro, Alessandro; Portolani, Elisa; Calabrese, Pasquale

    2014-01-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is frequently characterized by cognitive and affective dysfunctions. The "Parkinson Neuropsychometric Dementia Assessment" (PANDA) is a screening tool designed for the early detection of mild cognitive impairment as well as dementia in PD. The PANDA is already validated in German and in French. The aim of the present work was to provide normative data for the Italian-speaking population, Swiss regions included; moreover, the effectiveness of the PANDA compared to the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was tested. One-hundred and eleven PD patients with and without cognitive impairment and one-hundred and three matched healthy subjects participated at this study; all patients underwent an extensive neuropsychological evaluation. A PANDA total score of 13 appeared to be the most fitting cut-off with a sensitivity of 96.6% and a specificity of 82.2%; with the MMSE, the same value of sensitivity but with a specificity of 72,4% was reached only by adopting a cut-off of 28. Moreover, a PANDA range of 13-17 appeared to be suggestive for possible cognitive disturbance. The present work provides evidence for the effectiveness of the PANDA in evaluating cognitive deficits also in PD Italian-speaking patients, even when their pathological degree is still initial or very mild.

  16. Postage Stamps as Pedagogical Instruments in the Italian Curriculum.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nuessel, Frank; Cicogna, Caterina

    1992-01-01

    Examination of several interrelated topics on postage stamps, including their multiple functions and significance as semiotic artifacts, precedes suggestions for incorporating them into the Italian language curriculum in such activities as reading, writing, speaking, listening, and cultural understanding. (CB)

  17. Extreme Energy Events Project: Construction of the detectors and installation in Italian High Schools

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abbrescia, M.; An, S.; Antolini, R.; Badalà, A.; Baldini Ferroli, R.; Bencivenni, G.; Blanco, F.; Bressan, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Chiri, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Coccia, E.; de Pasquale, S.; di Giovanni, A.; D'Incecco, M.; Fabbri, F. L.; Frolov, V.; Garbini, M.; Gustavino, C.; Hatzifotiadou, D.; Imponente, G.; Kim, J.; La Rocca, P.; Librizzi, F.; Maggiora, A.; Menghetti, H.; Miozzi, S.; Moro, R.; Panareo, M.; Pappalardo, G. S.; Piragino, G.; Riggi, F.; Romano, F.; Sartorelli, G.; Sbarra, C.; Selvi, M.; Serci, S.; Williams, C.; Zichichi, A.; Zuyeuski, R.

    2008-04-01

    The EEE Project, conceived by its leader Antonino Zichichi, aims to detect Extreme Energy Events of cosmic rays with an array of muon telescopes distributed over the Italian territory. The Project involves Italian High Schools in order to introduce young people to Physics, also countervailing the recent crisis of university scientific classes inscriptions. The detectors for the EEE telescopes are Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC) and have been constructed by teams of High School students who went in shift at the CERN laboratories. The mechanics and the electronics were developed by groups of researchers from CERN, the Italian Centro Fermi and INFN. The first group of schools of the EEE Project has inaugurated their telescopes recently. A status report of the Project and the preliminary results are presented.

  18. Italian Neo-Ethnicity: The Search for Self-Identity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aversa, Alfred, Jr.

    1978-01-01

    After a review of how Blacks went about constructing a new self-identity, an analysis of the Italian-American case reveals three motifs to be introduced as a potential frame of reference for identity building: the grandeur of Renaissance Italy; pastoralism; and the immigrant experience (family and work). (Author/EB)

  19. Cognitive Profiles of Italian Children with Developmental Dyslexia

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tobia, Valentina; Marzocchi, Gian Marco

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate verbal and nonverbal cognitive deficits in Italian students with developmental dyslexia. The performances of 32 dyslexic students, 64 age-matched typically reading controls, and 64 reading age-matched controls were compared on tests of lexical knowledge, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming,…

  20. Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability and predictive validity of the Italian version of Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ).

    PubMed

    Caravale, Barbara; Baldi, Silvia; Gasparini, Corinna; Wilson, Brenda N

    2014-05-01

    Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a motor disorder of unclear etiology that severely interferes with a child's ability to perform daily motor tasks. As a useful alternative to a time-consuming motor test and specialist evaluation, parents or teachers can complete motor questionnaires. A tool used worldwide to screen motor performance in 4- to 14-year-old children is the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ'07). To describe how we translated the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire 2007 (DCDQ'07) and adapted it to the Italian population and to test its preliminary psychometric properties in Italian children. Parents of a clinical group of 26 children (5-11 years old) with a diagnosis of DCD and 52 matched controls completed the DCDQ translated into Italian and adapted for cross-cultural purposes according to current guidelines. Twenty-four parents of typically developing children randomly selected completed the questionnaire twice to examine test-retest reliability. The internal consistency value (Cronbach alpha) for the Italian DCDQ was 0.94. The Italian DCDQ achieved moderate-to-high test-retest reliability (ICC) for 14/15 items and a good diagnostic performance for identifying children with DCD (sensitivity 88% and specificity 96%). The Italian DCDQ is a valid screening tool for assessing motor performance in 5- to 11-year-old children that merits research in a larger sample. Copyright © 2013 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Deliberate Self-Harm among a Community Sample of Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cerutti, R.; Manca, M.; Presaghi, F.; Gratz, Kim L.

    2011-01-01

    The aims of this study were to investigate the rates of deliberate self-harm (DSH) behavior among an Italian adolescent sample, as well as to explore its clinical correlates. On a sample of 234 adolescents in Italian secondary schools (Mean age = 16.47; SD = 1.7) were assessed the DSH as well as externalizing symptoms (including both conduct…

  2. Word Order, Referential Expression, and Case Cues to the Acquisition of Transitive Sentences in Italian

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abbot-Smith, Kirsten; Serratrice, Ludovica

    2015-01-01

    In Study 1 we analyzed Italian child-directed-speech (CDS) and selected the three most frequent active transitive sentence frames used with overt subjects. In Study 2 we experimentally investigated how Italian-speaking children aged 2;6, 3;6, and 4;6 comprehended these orders with novel verbs when the cues of animacy, gender, and subject-verb…

  3. Migration and work in postwar Australia: mortality profile comparisons between Australian and Italian workers exposed to blue asbestos at Wittenoom.

    PubMed

    Reid, Alison; Merler, Enzo; Peters, Susan; Jayasinghe, Nimashi; Bressan, Vittoria; Franklin, Peter; Brims, Fraser; de Klerk, Nicholas H; Musk, Arthur W

    2018-01-01

    Three hundred and thirty thousand Italians arrived in Australia between 1945 and 1966, many on assisted passage schemes where the worker agreed to a 2-year unskilled employment contract. Italians were the largest of 52 migrant groups employed at the Wittenoom blue asbestos mining and milling operation. We compare mortality from asbestos-related diseases among Italian and Australian workers employed at Wittenoom. A cohort of 6500 male workers was established from employment records and followed up at state and national mortality and cancer registries. SMRs were calculated to compare mortality with the Western Australian male population. Time-varying Cox proportional hazards models compared the risk of mesothelioma between Australian and Italian workers. 1031 Italians and 3465 Australians worked at Wittenoom between 1943 and 1966. Duration of employment was longer for the Italian workers, although the concentration of exposure was similar. The mesothelioma mortality rate per 100 000 was higher in Italians (184, 95% CI 148 to 229) than Australians (128, 95% CI 111 to 149). The risk of mesothelioma was greater than twofold (HR 2.27, 95% CI 1.43 to 3.60) in Italians at the lowest asbestos exposure category (<10 fibre years/per mL). A hierarchy in migration, isolation and a shortage of workers led to Italians at Wittenoom incurring higher cumulative exposure to blue asbestos and subsequently a greater rate of malignant mesothelioma than Australian workers. Poor working conditions and disparities between native and foreign-born workers has had a detrimental and differential impact on the long-term health of the workforce. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  4. Avian Metapneumovirus circulation in Italian broiler farms.

    PubMed

    Tucciarone, Claudia Maria; Franzo, Giovanni; Lupini, Caterina; Alejo, Carolina Torres; Listorti, Valeria; Mescolini, Giulia; Brandão, Paulo Eduardo; Martini, Marco; Catelli, Elena; Cecchinato, Mattia

    2018-02-01

    With increasing frequency, avian Metapneumovirus (aMPV) is reported to induce respiratory signs in chickens. An adequate knowledge of current aMPV prevalence among Italian broilers is lacking, with little information available on its economical and health impact on the poultry industry. In order to collect preliminary data on the epidemiological context of aMPV in broiler flocks, a survey was performed in areas of Northern Italy with high poultry density from 2014 to 2016. Upper respiratory tract swabs were collected and processed by A and B subtype-specific multiplex real-time reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Samples were also screened for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) by generic RT-PCR and sequencing. Productive data and respiratory signs were detailed where possible. The high prevalence of aMPV was confirmed in broilers older than 26 d and also attested in IBV-negative farms. All aMPV detections belonged to subtype B. Italian strain genetic variability was evaluated by the partial attachment (G) gene sequencing of selected strains and compared with contemporary turkey strains and previously published aMPV references, revealing no host specificity and the progressive evolution of this virus in Italy. © 2017 Poultry Science Association Inc.

  5. Education in Soil Science: the Italian approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Benedetti, Anna; Canfora, Loredana; Dazzi, Carmelo; Lo Papa, Giuseppe

    2017-04-01

    The Italian Society of Soil Science (SISS) was founded in Florence on February 18th, 1952. It is an association legally acknowledged by Decree of the President of the Italian Republic in February 1957. The Society is member of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) of the European Confederation of Soil Science Societies (ECSSS) and collaborates with several companies, institutions and organizations having similar objectives or policy aspects. SISS promotes progress, coordination and dissemination of soil science and its applications encouraging relationships and collaborations among soil lovers. Within the SISS there are Working Groups and Technical Committees for specific issues of interest. In particular: • the Working Group on Pedotechniques; • the Working Group on Hydromorphic and Subaqueous Soils and • the Technical Committee for Soil Education and Public Awareness. In this communication we wish to stress the activities developed since its foundation by SISS to spread soil awareness and education in Italy through this last Technical Committee, focusing also the aspect concerning grants for young graduates and PhD graduates to stimulate the involvement of young people in the field of soil science. Keywords: SISS, soil education and awareness.

  6. Medical tourism: evidence from an Italian descriptive survey on pediatric neurorehabilitation treatment abroad.

    PubMed

    Trabacca, A; Ricci, S; Russo, L; Gennaro, L; Losito, L; De Rinaldis, M; Paloscia, C

    2013-12-01

    In recent years we have witnessed a rapidly-growing tendency to seek neurorehabilitation abroad. This study aimed at better understanding this practice through a analysis of the authorizations for pediatric neurorehabilitation services issued by Italian Regions. Descriptive retrospective survey study. Outpatient. Italian children travelling abroad for neurorehabilitation. We analyzed the number of authorizations granted in the 2008-2011 period by local health agencies of Italian regions to children aged 0-18 years applying for neurorehabilitation services abroad. Information was obtained from the Ministry of Health database management systems. Our analysis showed an extreme variability across Italian regions. This is probably suggestive of an unbalanced offer of pediatric neurorehabilitation services across regions, different mechanisms used to control the phenomenon. Our study looked specifically at the practice of neurorehabilitation abroad in order to encourage further and larger studies, even at international level. A greater integration of health systems with common policies is to be achieved in order to control this phenomenon in a field as sensitive as pediatric neurorehabilitation. Our study, which is the only study so far focusing on pediatric neurorehabilitation, looked specifically at the practice of health tourism in order to encourage further and larger studies, even at international level. Health tourism is a critical issue for all Western welfare systems which are under a pressure to cut health-related expenses.

  7. Italian version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory--Head and Neck Module: linguistic validation.

    PubMed

    Greco, A; Orlandi, E; Mirabile, A; Takanen, S; Fallai, C; Iacovelli, N A; Rimedio, A; Russi, E; Sala, M; Monzani, D; Rosenthal, D I; Gunn, G B; Steca, P; Licitra, L; Bossi, P

    2015-12-01

    Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients can experience symptoms due to the tumor itself or to the treatment, with an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures pertaining to HRQoL are used in medical research and to support clinical decisions. PRO instrument applicability and cultural adaptation must be tested for each population. The aim of this study is to linguistically validate the Italian translation of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory--Head and Neck Module (MDASI-HN). Following forward and backward translation of the items of the English MDASI-HN into Italian, it was administered along with a cognitive debriefing to HNC patients able to read and understand Italian language. Individual and group responses are presented using descriptive statistics. From May 2013 through September 2013, 56 patients with HNC (18 during curative treatment, 20 in palliative chemotherapy, and 18 in follow-up period) completed the MDASI-HN followed by accompanying cognitive debriefing. Ninety-nine percent of the individual MDASI-HN items were completed. Average time to complete the MDASI-HN was 8.5 min (range 3-15). Results suggested overall ease of completion, relevance, and comprehensibleness of this translated self-report instrument in this Italian patient population. The Italian version of the MDASI-HN is linguistically valid; future research should explore dimensionality, reliability, and convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity of this patient-reported instrument, in order to use this translated version in outcomes research and clinical settings.

  8. Measuring Dispositional Flow: Validity and reliability of the Dispositional Flow State Scale 2, Italian version.

    PubMed

    Riva, Eleonora F M; Riva, Giuseppe; Talò, Cosimo; Boffi, Marco; Rainisio, Nicola; Pola, Linda; Diana, Barbara; Villani, Daniela; Argenton, Luca; Inghilleri, Paolo

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 (DFS-2), for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. In accordance with the guidelines for test adaptation, the scale has been translated with the method of back translation. The understanding of the item has been checked according to the latest standards on the culturally sensitive translation. The scale thus produced was administered to 843 individuals (of which 60.69% female), between the ages of 15 and 74. The sample is balanced between workers and students. The main activities defined by the subjects allow the sample to be divided into three categories: students, workers, athletes (professionals and semi-professionals). The confirmatory factor analysis, conducted using the Maximum Likelihood Estimator (MLM), showed acceptable fit indexes. Reliability and validity have been verified, and structural invariance has been verified on 6 categories of Flow experience and for 3 subsamples with different with different fields of action. Correlational analysis shows significant high values between the nine dimensions. Our data confirmed the validity and reliability of the Italian DFS-2 in measuring Flow experiences. The scale is reliable for use with Italian adults, young adults and adolescents. The Italian version of the scale is suitable for the evaluation of the subjective tendency to experience Flow trait characteristic in different contest, as sport, study and work.

  9. Menstrual pattern and menstrual disorders among adolescents: an update of the Italian data.

    PubMed

    Rigon, Franco; De Sanctis, Vincenzo; Bernasconi, Sergio; Bianchin, Luigi; Bona, Gianni; Bozzola, Mauro; Buzi, Fabio; Radetti, Giorgio; Tatò, Luciano; Tonini, Giorgio; De Sanctis, Carlo; Perissinotto, Egle

    2012-08-14

    suffering from dysmenorrhea. In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the largest studies on menstrual patterns and menstrual disorders among Italian adolescent girls. Adolescent girls referring persistent oligomenorrhoea, in first two years from menarche, had a higher risk for developing a persistent menstrual irregularity. They had longer bleeding periods (>6 days) and this has practical implications because it makes these adolescents potentially more susceptible to iron deficiency anemia. Clinicians need to identify menstrual abnormalities as early as possible in order to minimize their possible consequences and sequelae, and to promote proper health information.We recommend that adolescents should be encouraged to chart their menstrual frequency and regularity prospectively from the menarche onwards.

  10. Menstrual pattern and menstrual disorders among adolescents: an update of the Italian data

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    sample. About 6.2% of the girls (95%CI 5.4%-7.0%) were suffering from dysmenorrhea. Conclusions In conclusion, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the largest studies on menstrual patterns and menstrual disorders among Italian adolescent girls. Adolescent girls referring persistent oligomenorrhoea, in first two years from menarche, had a higher risk for developing a persistent menstrual irregularity. They had longer bleeding periods (>6 days) and this has practical implications because it makes these adolescents potentially more susceptible to iron deficiency anemia. Clinicians need to identify menstrual abnormalities as early as possible in order to minimize their possible consequences and sequelae, and to promote proper health information. We recommend that adolescents should be encouraged to chart their menstrual frequency and regularity prospectively from the menarche onwards. PMID:22892329

  11. 'Self body-management and thinness in youth: survey study on Italian girls'.

    PubMed

    Di Giacomo, Dina; De Liso, Giulia; Ranieri, Jessica

    2018-06-08

    Adherence to the thinness model, self-acceptance such as self-esteem is psychological dynamics influencing the young age and emerging adulthood of women life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the girls and young women' ability to deal with the adherence to thinness model according to their self-body management thought daily self-perception of ownhabits and aptitude. We analysed their emotional patterns and body management to elucidate the Italian phenomenon. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 2287 Italian female distribute in range age 15-25 years old and distributed in girl and young women groups. We conducted a Survey study by snowball sampling technique. Our results showed that girls had higher emotional pattern scores when their weight and shape fit the thinness model: skinny girls felt positively about their body even if when they did not take adequate care of it. Italian girls consider the underweight body mass index an adherence model. Findings suggest the urgent need to plan prevention programme to model healthy behaviours about their daily good practice overcoming social and cultural models based on appearance.

  12. A low-noise transimpedance amplifier for the detection of “Violin-Mode” resonances in advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory suspensions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lockerbie, N. A.; Tokmakov, K. V.

    2014-11-15

    This paper describes the design and performance of an extremely low-noise differential transimpedance amplifier, which takes its two inputs from separate photodiodes. The amplifier was planned to serve as the front-end electronics for a highly sensitive shadow-displacement sensing system, aimed at detecting very low-level “Violin-Mode” (VM) oscillations in 0.4 mm diameter by 600 mm long fused-silica suspension fibres. Four such highly tensioned fibres support the 40 kg test-masses/mirrors of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory interferometers. This novel design of amplifier incorporates features which prevent “noise-gain peaking” arising from large area photodiode (and cable) capacitances, and which also usefullymore » separate the DC and AC photocurrents coming from the photodiodes. In consequence, the differential amplifier was able to generate straightforwardly two DC outputs, one per photodiode, as well as a single high-gain output for monitoring the VM oscillations—this output being derived from the difference of the photodiodes’ two, naturally anti-phase, AC photocurrents. Following a displacement calibration, the amplifier's final VM signal output was found to have an AC displacement responsivity at 500 Hz of (9.43 ± 1.20) MV(rms) m{sup −1}(rms), and, therefore, a shot-noise limited sensitivity to such AC shadow- (i.e., fibre-) displacements of (69 ± 13) picometres/√Hz at this frequency, over a measuring span of ±0.1 mm.« less

  13. Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale: Validation of the Italian Version and Correlation With Breast-feeding at 3 Months.

    PubMed

    Petrozzi, Angela; Gagliardi, Luigi

    2016-01-01

    Psychological factors can influence breast-feeding. We translated into Italian and validated the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BSES-SF) and investigated its predictive ability and its relation with postpartum depression symptoms.BSES-SF and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were administered 2 to 3 days after delivery to 122 mothers. Breast-feeding was assessed at 3 months.The BSES-SF displayed good validity (receiver operating characteristic area = 0.69) for predicting full breast-feeding at 3 months. In multivariate analysis, the probability of full breast-feeding increased 2.4% for 1-point increase of BSES-SF. The BSES-SF and EPDS scores were inversely correlated. BSES-SF is a useful tool to identify the risk of early breast-feeding attrition.

  14. Subjective study of preferred listening conditions in Italian Catholic churches

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martellotta, Francesco

    2008-10-01

    The paper describes the results of research aimed at investigating the preferred subjective listening conditions inside churches. The effect of different musical motifs (spanning Gregorian chants to symphonic music) was investigated and regression analysis was performed in order to point out the relationship between subjective ratings and acoustical parameters. In order to present realistic listening conditions to the subjects a small subset of nine churches was selected among a larger set of acoustic data collected in several Italian churches during a widespread on-site survey. The subset represented different architectural styles and shapes, and was characterized by average listening conditions. For each church a single source-receiver combination with fixed relative positions was chosen. Measured binaural impulse responses were cross-talk cancelled and then convolved with five anechoic motifs. Paired comparisons were finally performed, asking a trained panel of subjects their preference. Factor analysis pointed out a substantially common underlying pattern characterizing subjective responses. The results show that preferred listening conditions vary as a function of the musical motif, depending on early decay time for choral music and on a combination of initial time delay and lateral energy for instrumental music.

  15. Social networking addiction, attachment style, and validation of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale

    PubMed Central

    Monacis, Lucia; de Palo, Valeria; Griffiths, Mark D.; Sinatra, Maria

    2017-01-01

    Aim Research into social networking addiction has greatly increased over the last decade. However, the number of validated instruments assessing addiction to social networking sites (SNSs) remains few, and none have been validated in the Italian language. Consequently, this study tested the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), as well as providing empirical data concerning the relationship between attachment styles and SNS addiction. Methods A total of 769 participants were recruited to this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup analyses were applied to assess construct validity of the Italian version of the BSMAS. Reliability analyses comprised the average variance extracted, the standard error of measurement, and the factor determinacy coefficient. Results Indices obtained from the CFA showed the Italian version of the BSMAS to have an excellent fit of the model to the data, thus confirming the single-factor structure of the instrument. Measurement invariance was established at configural, metric, and strict invariances across age groups, and at configural and metric levels across gender groups. Internal consistency was supported by several indicators. In addition, the theoretical associations between SNS addiction and attachment styles were generally supported. Conclusion This study provides evidence that the Italian version of the BSMAS is a psychometrically robust tool that can be used in future Italian research into social networking addiction. PMID:28494648

  16. Social networking addiction, attachment style, and validation of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale.

    PubMed

    Monacis, Lucia; de Palo, Valeria; Griffiths, Mark D; Sinatra, Maria

    2017-06-01

    Aim Research into social networking addiction has greatly increased over the last decade. However, the number of validated instruments assessing addiction to social networking sites (SNSs) remains few, and none have been validated in the Italian language. Consequently, this study tested the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), as well as providing empirical data concerning the relationship between attachment styles and SNS addiction. Methods A total of 769 participants were recruited to this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and multigroup analyses were applied to assess construct validity of the Italian version of the BSMAS. Reliability analyses comprised the average variance extracted, the standard error of measurement, and the factor determinacy coefficient. Results Indices obtained from the CFA showed the Italian version of the BSMAS to have an excellent fit of the model to the data, thus confirming the single-factor structure of the instrument. Measurement invariance was established at configural, metric, and strict invariances across age groups, and at configural and metric levels across gender groups. Internal consistency was supported by several indicators. In addition, the theoretical associations between SNS addiction and attachment styles were generally supported. Conclusion This study provides evidence that the Italian version of the BSMAS is a psychometrically robust tool that can be used in future Italian research into social networking addiction.

  17. Italian Present-day Stress Indicators: IPSI Database

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mariucci, M. T.; Montone, P.

    2017-12-01

    In Italy, since the 90s of the last century, researches concerning the contemporary stress field have been developing at Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) with local and regional scale studies. Throughout the years many data have been analysed and collected: now they are organized and available for an easy end-use online. IPSI (Italian Present-day Stress Indicators) database, is the first geo-referenced repository of information on the crustal present-day stress field maintained at INGV through a web application database and website development by Gabriele Tarabusi. Data consist of horizontal stress orientations analysed and compiled in a standardized format and quality-ranked for reliability and comparability on a global scale with other database. Our first database release includes 855 data records updated to December 2015. Here we present an updated version that will be released in 2018, after new earthquake data entry up to December 2017. The IPSI web site (http://ipsi.rm.ingv.it/) allows accessing data on a standard map viewer and choose which data (category and/or quality) to plot easily. The main information of each single element (type, quality, orientation) can be viewed simply going over the related symbol, all the information appear by clicking the element. At the same time, simple basic information on the different data type, tectonic regime assignment, quality ranking method are available with pop-up windows. Data records can be downloaded in some common formats, moreover it is possible to download a file directly usable with SHINE, a web based application to interpolate stress orientations (http://shine.rm.ingv.it). IPSI is mainly conceived for those interested in studying the characters of Italian peninsula and surroundings although Italian data are part of the World Stress Map (http://www.world-stress-map.org/) as evidenced by many links that redirect to this database for more details on standard practices in this field.

  18. Genetic Biodiversity of Italian Olives (Olea europaea) Germplasm Analyzed by SSR Markers

    PubMed Central

    Vendramin, Giuseppe Giovanni; Chiappetta, Adriana

    2014-01-01

    The olive is an important fruit species cultivated for oil and table olives in Italy and the Mediterranean basin. The conservation of cultivated plants in ex situ collections is essential for the optimal management and use of their genetic resources. The largest ex situ olive germplasm collection consists of approximately 500 Italian olive varieties and corresponding to 85% of the total Italian olive germplasm is maintained at the Consiglio per la Ricerca e sperimentazione per l'Agricoltura, Centro di Ricerca per l'Olivicoltura e l'Industria Olearia (CRA-OLI), in Italy. In this work, eleven preselected nuclear microsatellite markers were used to assess genetic diversity, population structure, and gene flows with the aim of assembling a core collection. The dendrogram obtained utilizing the unweighted pair group method highlights the presence of homonymy and synonymy in olive tree datasets analyzed in this study. 439 different unique genotype profiles were obtained with this combination of 11 loci nSSR, representing 89.8% of the varieties analyzed. The remaining 10.2% comprises different variety pairs in which both accessions are genetically indistinguishable. Clustering analysis performed using BAPS software detected seven groups in Italian olive germplasm and gene flows were determined among identified clusters. We proposed an Italian core collection of 23 olive varieties capturing all detected alleles at microsatellites. The information collected in this study regarding the CRA-OLI ex situ collection can be used for breeding programs, for germplasm conservation, and for optimizing a strategy for the management of olive gene pools. PMID:24723801

  19. Targeted next generation sequencing in Italian patients with Usher syndrome: phenotype-genotype correlations.

    PubMed

    Eandi, Chiara M; Dallorto, Laura; Spinetta, Roberta; Micieli, Maria Pia; Vanzetti, Mario; Mariottini, Alessandro; Passerini, Ilaria; Torricelli, Francesca; Alovisi, Camilla; Marchese, Cristiana

    2017-11-15

    We report results of DNA analysis with next generation sequencing (NGS) of 21 consecutive Italian patients from 17 unrelated families with clinical diagnosis of Usher syndrome (4 USH1 and 17 USH2) searching for mutations in 11 genes: MYO7A, CDH23, PCDH15, USH1C, USH1G, USH2A, ADGVR1, DFNB31, CLRN1, PDZD7, HARS. Likely causative mutations were found in all patients: 25 pathogenic variants, 18 previously reported and 7 novel, were identified in three genes (USH2A, MYO7A, ADGRV1). All USH1 presented biallelic MYO7A mutations, one USH2 exhibited ADGRV1 mutations, whereas 16 USH2 displayed USH2A mutations. USH1 patients experienced hearing problems very early in life, followed by visual impairment at 1, 4 and 6 years. Visual symptoms were noticed at age 20 in a patient with homozygous novel MYO7A missense mutation c.849G > A. USH2 patients' auditory symptoms, instead, arose between 11 months and 14 years, while visual impairment occurred later on. A homozygous c.5933_5940del;5950_5960dup in USH2A was detected in one patient with early deafness. One patient with homozygous deletion from exon 23 to 32 in USH2A suffered early visual symptoms. Therefore, the type of mutation in USH2A and MYO7A genes seems to affect the age at which both auditory and visual impairment occur in patients with USH.

  20. Italian natural history museums on the verge of collapse?

    PubMed Central

    Andreone, Franco; Bartolozzi, Luca; Boano, Giovanni; Boero, Ferdinando; Bologna, Marco A.; Bon, Mauro; Bressi, Nicola; Capula, Massimo; Casale, Achille; Casiraghi, Maurizio; Chiozzi, Giorgio; Delfino, Massimo; Doria, Giuliano; Durante, Antonio; Ferrari, Marco; Gippoliti, Spartaco; Lanzinger, Michele; Latella, Leonardo; Maio, Nicola; Marangoni, Carla; Mazzotti, Stefano; Minelli, Alessandro; Muscio, Giuseppe; Nicolosi, Paola; Pievani, Telmo; Razzetti, Edoardo; Sabella, Giorgio; Valle, Marco; Vomero, Vincenzo; Zilli, Alberto

    2014-01-01

    Abstract The Italian natural history museums are facing a critical situation, due to the progressive loss of scientific relevance, decreasing economic investments, and scarcity of personnel. This is extremely alarming, especially for ensuring the long-term preservation of the precious collections they host. Moreover, a commitment in fieldwork to increase scientific collections and concurrent taxonomic research are rarely considered priorities, while most of the activities are addressed to public events with political payoffs, such as exhibits, didactic meetings, expositions, and talks. This is possibly due to the absence of a national museum that would have better steered research activities and overall concepts for collection management. We here propose that Italian natural history museums collaborate to instate a “metamuseum”, by establishing a reciprocal interaction network aimed at sharing budgetary and technical resources, which would assure better coordination of common long-term goals and scientific activities. PMID:25709525

  1. The Italian VLBI Network: First Results and Future Perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stagni, Matteo; Negusini, Monia; Bianco, Giuseppe; Sarti, Pierguido

    2016-12-01

    A first 24-hour Italian VLBI geodetic experiment, involving the Medicina, Noto, and Matera antennas, shaped as an IVS standard EUROPE, was successfully performed. In 2014, starting from the correlator output, a geodetic database was created and a typical solution of a small network was achieved, here presented. From this promising result we have planned new observations in 2016, involving the three Italian geodetic antennas. This could be the beginning of a possible routine activity, creating a data set that can be combined with GNSS observations to contribute to the National Geodetic Reference Datum. Particular care should be taken in the scheduling of the new experiments in order to optimize the number of usable observations. These observations can be used to study and plan future experiments in which the time and frequency standards can be given by an optical fiber link, thus having a common clock at different VLBI stations.

  2. Effects of Individual Differences and Job Characteristics on the Psychological Health of Italian Nurses

    PubMed Central

    Zurlo, Maria Clelia; Vallone, Federica; Smith, Andrew P.

    2018-01-01

    The Demand Resources and Individual Effects Model (DRIVE Model) is a transactional model that integrates Demands- Control-Support and Effort-Reward Imbalance models emphasising the role of individual (Coping Strategies; Overcommitment) and job characteristics (Job Demands, Social Support, Decision Latitude, Skill Discretion, Effort, Rewards) in the work-related stress process. The present study aimed to test the DRIVE Model in a sample of 450 Italian nurses and to compare findings with those of a study conducted in a sample of UK nurses. A questionnaire composed of Ways of Coping Checklist-Revised (WCCL-R); Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ); ERI Test; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was used. Data supported the application of the DRIVE Model to the Italian context, showing significant associations of the individual characteristics of Problem-focused, Seek Advice and Wishful Thinking coping strategies and the job characteristics of Job Demands, Skill Discretion, Decision Latitude, and Effort with perceived levels of Anxiety and Depression. Effort represented the best predictor for psychological health conditions among Italian nurses, and Social Support significantly moderated the effects of Job Demands on perceived levels of Anxiety. The comparison study showed significant differences in the risk profiles of Italian and UK nurses. Findings were discussed in order to define focused interventions to promote nurses’ wellbeing.

  3. The Italian validation of the minimal assessment of cognitive function in multiple sclerosis (MACFIMS) and the application of the Cognitive Impairment Index scoring procedure in MS patients.

    PubMed

    Argento, Ornella; Incerti, Chiara C; Quartuccio, Maria E; Magistrale, Giuseppe; Francia, Ada; Caltagirone, Carlo; Pisani, Valerio; Nocentini, Ugo

    2018-04-27

    Cognitive dysfunction occurs in almost 50-60% of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) even in early stages of the disease and affects different aspects of patient's life. Aims of the present study were (1) to introduce and validate an Italian version of the minimal assessment of cognitive functions in MS (MACFIMS) battery and (2) to propose the use of the Cognitive Impairment Index (CII) as a scoring procedure to define the degree of impairment in relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and secondary-progressive (SPMS) patients. A total of 240 HC and 123 MS patients performed the Italian version of the MACFIMS composed by the same tests as the original except for the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test. The CII was derived for each score of the 11 scales for participants of both groups. The results of the study show that cognitive impairment affects around 50% of our sample of MS patients. In RRMS group, only the 15.7% of patients reported a severe impairment, while in the group of SPMS, the 51.4% of patients felt in the "severely impaired" group. Results are in line with previously reported percentages of impairment in MS patients, showing that the calculation of the CII applied to the Italian version of the MACFIMS is sensitive and reliable in detecting different degrees of impairment in MS patients.

  4. Epidemiology of ocular disorders presumed to be inherited in three small Italian dog breeds in Italy.

    PubMed

    Guandalini, Adolfo; Di Girolamo, Nicola; Corvi, Roberta; Santillo, Daniele; Andreani, Valentina; Pinzo, Barbara

    2017-12-28

    To describe the prevalence and the types of eye disorders that are known or presumed to be inherited (KP-HED) in three small Italian dog breeds. Three small Italian dog breeds: Maltese, Bolognese, and Italian Greyhound. All dogs of the breeds selected for this prospective observational study that underwent a complete ophthalmic examination between 1994 and 2015 were included. General and proportional KP-HED prevalence with 95% confidence intervals were reported. Three hundred and six of 462 dogs were affected by at least one KP-HED (66.2%; 95% CI: 61.8%-70.4%). In the entire population, the five most common KP-HED were cataract (n = 122; rate on the total number of KP-HED: 31.4%), entropion (n = 56; 14.4%), keratoconjunctivitis sicca (n = 33; 8.5%), retinal dysplasia (n = 24; 6.2%), and persistent pupillary membrane (iris to iris) (n = 21; 5.4%). The most common KP-HED in each breed were cataracts in the Maltese (35.1%) and in the Bolognese (24.2%), and presentation of vitreous in the anterior chamber in the Italian Greyhound (46.7%). Clinicians should be aware of KP-HED that commonly affect three small Italian dog breeds. Breed standards should be reconsidered, and breeding programs should be directed at limiting such disorders. © 2017 American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists.

  5. Phonetic and phonological imitation of intonation in two varieties of Italian

    PubMed Central

    D’Imperio, Mariapaola; Cavone, Rossana; Petrone, Caterina

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this study was to test whether both phonetic and phonological representations of intonation can be rapidly modified when imitating utterances belonging to a different regional variety of the same language. Our main hypothesis was that tonal alignment, just as other phonetic features of speech, would be rapidly modified by Italian speakers when imitating pitch accents of a different (Southern) variety of Italian. In particular, we tested whether Bari Italian (BI) speakers would produce later peaks for their native rising L + H* (question pitch accent) in the process of imitating Neapolitan Italian (NI) rising L* + H accents. Also, we tested whether BI speakers are able to modify other phonetic properties (pitch level) as well as phonological characteristics (changes in tonal composition) of the same contour. In a follow-up study, we tested if the reverse was also true, i.e., whether NI speakers would produce earlier peaks within the L* + H accent in the process of imitating the L + H* of BI questions, despite the presence of a contrast between two rising accents in this variety. Our results show that phonetic detail of tonal alignment can be successfully modified by both BI and NI speakers when imitating a model speaker of the other variety. The hypothesis of a selective imitation process preventing alignment modifications in NI was hence not supported. Moreover the effect was significantly stronger for low frequency words. Participants were also able to imitate other phonetic cues, in that they modified global utterance pitch level. Concerning phonological convergence, speakers modified the tonal specification of the edge tones in order to resemble that of the other variety by either suppressing or increasing the presence of a final H%. Hence, our data show that intonation imitation leads to fast modification of both phonetic and phonological intonation representations including detail of tonal alignment and pitch scaling. PMID:25408676

  6. Development of the Italian Version of the Near-Death Experience Scale.

    PubMed

    Pistoia, Francesca; Mattiacci, Giulia; Sarà, Marco; Padua, Luca; Macchi, Claudio; Sacco, Simona

    2018-01-01

    Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been defined as any conscious perceptual experience occurring in individuals pronounced clinically dead or who came very close to physical death. They are frequently reported by patients surviving a critical injury and, intriguingly, they show common features across different populations. The tool traditionally used to assess NDEs is the NDE Scale, which is available in the original English version. The aim of this study was to develop the Italian version of the NDE Scale and to assess its reliability in a specific clinical setting. A process of translation of the original scale was performed in different stages in order to obtain a fully comprehensible and accurate Italian translation. Later, the scale was administered to a convenience sample of patients who had experienced a condition of coma and were, at the time of assessment, fully conscious and able to provide information as requested by the scale. Inter-rater and test-retest reliability, assessed by the weighted Cohen's kappa ( K w ), were estimated. A convenience sample of 20 subjects [mean age ± standard deviation (SD) 51.6 ± 17.1, median time from injury 3.5 months, interquartile range (IQR) 2-10] was included in the study. Inter-rater [ K w 0.77 (95% CI 0.67-0.87)] and test-retest reliability [ K w 0.96 (95% CI 0.91-1.00)] showed good to excellent values for the total scores of the Italian NDE Scale and for subanalyses of each single cluster of the scale. An Italian Version of the NDE Scale is now available to investigate the frequency of NDE, the causes for NDE heterogeneity across different life-threatening conditions, and the possible neural mechanisms underlying NDE phenomenology.

  7. Development of the Italian Version of the Near-Death Experience Scale

    PubMed Central

    Pistoia, Francesca; Mattiacci, Giulia; Sarà, Marco; Padua, Luca; Macchi, Claudio; Sacco, Simona

    2018-01-01

    Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been defined as any conscious perceptual experience occurring in individuals pronounced clinically dead or who came very close to physical death. They are frequently reported by patients surviving a critical injury and, intriguingly, they show common features across different populations. The tool traditionally used to assess NDEs is the NDE Scale, which is available in the original English version. The aim of this study was to develop the Italian version of the NDE Scale and to assess its reliability in a specific clinical setting. A process of translation of the original scale was performed in different stages in order to obtain a fully comprehensible and accurate Italian translation. Later, the scale was administered to a convenience sample of patients who had experienced a condition of coma and were, at the time of assessment, fully conscious and able to provide information as requested by the scale. Inter-rater and test–retest reliability, assessed by the weighted Cohen’s kappa (Kw), were estimated. A convenience sample of 20 subjects [mean age ± standard deviation (SD) 51.6 ± 17.1, median time from injury 3.5 months, interquartile range (IQR) 2–10] was included in the study. Inter-rater [Kw 0.77 (95% CI 0.67–0.87)] and test–retest reliability [Kw 0.96 (95% CI 0.91–1.00)] showed good to excellent values for the total scores of the Italian NDE Scale and for subanalyses of each single cluster of the scale. An Italian Version of the NDE Scale is now available to investigate the frequency of NDE, the causes for NDE heterogeneity across different life-threatening conditions, and the possible neural mechanisms underlying NDE phenomenology. PMID:29479314

  8. [The assimilation of Italians and their descendants in Argentine society (1880-1925)].

    PubMed

    Nascimbene, M C

    1996-09-01

    "The impact of massive immigration in the post-1870 period produced major changes in... Argentine society. Integration of immigrant groups (Italians, Spaniards, the French and others) was nevertheless fiercely opposed by local elites. The essay is firstly concerned with size and development of immigration flows; secondly it deals with the characteristics of local reaction against the immigrants; thirdly it reveals how, in spite of the latter, the Italians' integration did take place in the Argentine middle classes. Finally, a particular case-study is presented, in connection with integration of immigrants and their descendants in the national army." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE) excerpt

  9. Italian chemists' contributions to named reactions in organic synthesis: an historical perspective.

    PubMed

    Papeo, Gianluca; Pulici, Maurizio

    2013-09-04

    From the second half of the 19th century up to modern times, the tremendous contribution of Italian chemists to the development of science resulted in the discovery of a number of innovative chemical transformations. These reactions were subsequently christened according to their inventors' name and so entered into the organic chemistry portfolio of "named organic reactions". As these discoveries were being conceived, massive social, political and geographical changes in these chemists' homeland were also occurring. In this review, a brief survey of known (and some lesser known) named organic reactions discovered by Italian chemists, along with their historical contextualization, is presented.

  10. Pros-IT CNR: an Italian prostate cancer monitoring project.

    PubMed

    Noale, Marianna; Maggi, Stefania; Artibani, Walter; Bassi, Pier Francesco; Bertoni, Filippo; Bracarda, Sergio; Conti, Giario Natale; Corvò, Renzo; Gacci, Mauro; Graziotti, Pierpaolo; Magrini, Stefano Maria; Maurizi Enrici, Riccardo; Mirone, Vincenzo; Montironi, Rodolfo; Muto, Giovanni; Pecoraro, Stefano; Porreca, Angelo; Ricardi, Umberto; Tubaro, Andrea; Zagonel, Vittorina; Zattoni, Filiberto; Crepaldi, Gaetano

    2017-04-01

    The Pros-IT CNR project aims to monitor a sample of Italian males ≥18 years of age who have been diagnosed in the participating centers with incident prostate cancer, by analyzing their clinical features, treatment protocols and outcome results in relation to quality of life. Pros-IT CNR is an observational, prospective, multicenter study. The National Research Council (CNR), Neuroscience Institute, Aging Branch (Padua) is the promoting center. Ninety-seven Italian centers located throughout Italy were involved. The field study began in September 1, 2014. Subjects eligible were diagnosed with biopsy-verified prostate cancer, naïve. A sample size of 1500 patients was contemplated. A baseline assessment including anamnestic data, clinical history, risk factors, the initial diagnosis, cancer staging information and quality of life (Italian UCLA Prostate Cancer Index; SF-12 Scale) was completed. Six months after the initial diagnosis, a second assessment evaluating the patient's health status, the treatment carried out, and the quality of life will be made. A third assessment, evaluating the treatment follow-up and the quality of life, will be made 12 months after the initial diagnosis. The 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th assessments, similar to the third, will be completed 24, 36, 48 and 60 months after the initial diagnosis, respectively, and will include also a Food Frequency Questionnaire and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. The study will provide information on patients' quality of life and its variations over time in relation to the treatments received for the prostate cancer.

  11. [Inequalities in mortality in the Italian longitudinal studies].

    PubMed

    Cardano, M; Costa, G; Demaria, M; Merler, E; Biggeri, A

    1999-01-01

    The article presents some of the most relevant results on inequalities in mortality, obtained by the two Italian longitudinal studies carried out in Turin, and Tuscany (in Leghorn and Florence). The two studies share the same methodology. Each database contains census data, information from population register and from death certificates. The authors approach this issue not in an analytical way (as they did in the works cited in the reference list), but answering some questions, relevant both from a scientific and a political point of view. How big are the health inequalities in Italy? Are the health inequalities in Italy increasing or decreasing? Are the health inequalities due to absolute or to relative deprivation? Does the mortality profile of the Italian population express the presence of old or new health inequalities? Can the health inequalities be reduced? The study's results prove that the health inequalities in Italy are deep and strictly related to individuals' position in the social fabric. Facing the other questions the authors focus only in the Turin data. From the 1970's to the 1990's the health inequalities in Turin have increased, despite of general improvement of population's health condition and the progressive reduction of the size of deprived groups. Turin data support both the hypotheses on the source of health inequalities, using long term unemployment as absolute deprivation's indicator, and status' inconsistency as (a row) indicator of relative deprivation. The growth of drug-related causes of death (AIDS and overdose) shows that in the Turin and--quite reasonably--Italian population old and new health inequalities live together. The essay closes offering evidence on the possibility to reduce health inequalities. For this purpose the authors analyses the Turin trend of avoidable deaths and infant and adolescent mortality.

  12. Exploring the feasibility of a nationwide earthquake early warning system in Italy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Picozzi, M.; Zollo, A.; Brondi, P.; Colombelli, S.; Elia, L.; Martino, C.

    2015-04-01

    When accompanied by appropriate training and preparedness of a population, Earthquake Early Warning Systems (EEWS) are effective and viable tools for the real-time reduction of societal exposure to seismic events in metropolitan areas. The Italian Accelerometric Network, RAN, which consists of about 500 stations installed over all the active seismic zones, as well as many cities and strategic infrastructures in Italy, has the potential to serve as a nationwide early warning system. In this work, we present a feasibility study for a nationwide EEWS in Italy obtained by the integration of the RAN and the software platform PRobabilistic and Evolutionary early warning SysTem (PRESTo). The performance of the RAN-PRESTo EEWS is first assessed by testing it on real strong motion recordings of 40 of the largest earthquakes that have occurred during the last 10 years in Italy. Furthermore, we extend the analysis to regions that did not experience earthquakes by considering a nationwide grid of synthetic sources capable of generating Gutenberg-Richter sequences corresponding to the one adopted by the seismic hazard map of the Italian territory. Our results indicate that the RAN-PRESTo EEWS could theoretically provide for higher seismic hazard areas reliable alert messages within about 5 to 10 s and maximum lead times of about 25 s. In case of large events (M > 6.5), this amount of lead time would be sufficient for taking basic protective measures (e.g., duck and cover, move away from windows or equipment) in tens to hundreds of municipalities affected by large ground shaking.

  13. Italian Education beyond Hierarchy: Governance, Evaluation and Headship

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grimaldi, Emiliano; Serpieri, Roberto

    2014-01-01

    This article deals with the changes introduced in the Italian education system after the 1997 School Autonomy reform. Looking at the complex interplay between global influences and processes of local inflection, the work explores the degree to which we are witnessing a significant shift towards a new mode of governance and the interplay between…

  14. Further Comment on "AGU Statement Regarding the Conviction of Italian Seismologists"

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amato, Alessandro; Cocco, Massimo; Cultrera, Giovanna; Galadini, Fabrizio; Margheriti, Lucia; Nostro, Concetta; Pantosti, Daniela

    2013-07-01

    In the opinion of the undersigned, AGU's position statement regarding the conviction of Italian seismologists, issued following the 22 October 2012 conviction of six Italian scientists and one government official related to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake (see Eos, 93(44), 444, 10.1029/2012EO440013), is absolutely right and correct. We believe that Franco Marenco's opinion disagreeing with AGU's position (Eos, 94(6), 63, doi:10.1002/2013EO060006) is misleading because it is based only on biased information gathered from the media. We invite Marenco and anyone who is interested in better understanding the L'Aquila trial and related issues to retrieve and read original documents and information from http://processoaquila.wordpress.com/.

  15. Geotourist itineraries along the Italian territory: examples of mapping the geoheritage in different geomorphological and historical contexts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Panizza, Valeria; Brandolini, Pierluigi; Laureti, Lamberto; Nesci, Olivia; Russo, Filippo; Savelli, Daniele

    2016-04-01

    In the framework of the studies dealing with geomorphosites mapping, many researches were carried out in the last years presenting both applied examples and proposals for tourist fruition. Researchers had to face many different challenges in transferring the knowledge about the geomorphological heritage on maps. The most relevant are those concerning the use of maps for tourist promotion, taking into account the requirements of clearness of representation of landforms and also the need of pointing out possible geomorphological hazards along tourist paths. Within the activity of the Working Group "Geomorphosites and Cultural Landscape" of AIGeo (Italian Association of Physical Geography and Geomorphology), some Italian itineraries, focused on the promotion of the geomorphological heritage by means of geotourist maps, are presented. They have the goal of: promoting landscape through its geomorphological and geological heritage; disseminating geoheritage knowledge focusing its relationships with cultural landscape and human history; assessing geomorphological hazards and possible risk situations The proposed itineraries are localised in different Italian regions and they concern: - the area around the remains of the Roman town of Ostra. The town is placed on the left side of the Misa River (Marche region, Italy), atop a stream terrace dating back to the uppermost Pleistocene-early Holocene. Detailed geomorphological field and remote-sensing mapping started in 2015. The surveying is aimed at focusing the geomorphological evolution as well as at assessing possible geomorphological hazard for both conservation and exploitation scopes. A geotourist trail is proposed with the aim of highlighting and integrating geomorphological and archaeological elements and information. - a geotourist trail along the coastal terraced slopes of Cinque Terre (Liguria, NW Italy): worldwide considered as one of the most outstanding examples of human integration with the natural landscape

  16. The 2016 Lifetime Immunization Schedule, approved by the Italian scientific societies: A new paradigm to promote vaccination at all ages

    PubMed Central

    Chiamenti, Giampietro; Conforti, Giorgio; Maio, Tommasa; Odone, Anna; Russo, Rocco; Scotti, Silvestro; Signorelli, Carlo; Villani, Alberto

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Medical scientific societies have the core mission of producing, pooling and disseminating solid and updated scientific information. We report the successful experience of the partnership of four national Medical Scientific Societies active in Italy in producing scientific advice on vaccines and vaccination. In particular, i) the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health; SitI, ii) the Italian Society of Paediatrics; SIP, iii) the “Italian Federation of General Practitioners”; FIMP, and iv) the Italian Federation of General Medicine FIMMG) have worked together since 2012 to produce shared evidence-based recommendations on vaccination schedules, namely the “Lifetime Immunization Schedule” which introduced for the first time in Italy a life-course approach to vaccination. The 2014 edition of the “Lifetime Immunization Schedule” was used as a basis to develop the 2017–2019 Italian National Prevention Plan, approved by The Italian Ministry of Health in February 2017. In this report, we present the structure, content and supporting evidence of the new 2016 “Lifetime Immunization Schedule” and we expand on the influential role of medical scientific societies in researching and advocating for effective and safe vaccination programmes’ implementation at the national level. PMID:29048980

  17. Assessing positive and negative experiences: validation of a new measure of well-being in an Italian population.

    PubMed

    Corno, Giulia; Molinari, Guadalupe; Baños, Rosa Maria

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this study is to explore the psychometric properties of an affect scale, the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE), in an Italian-speaking population. The results of this study demonstrate that the Italian version of the SPANE has psychometric properties similar to those shown by the original and previous versions, and it presents satisfactory reliability and factorial validity. The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis support the expected two-factor structure, positive and negative feeling, which characterized the previous versions. As expected, measures of negative affect, anxiety, negative future expectances, and depression correlated positively with the negative experiences SPANE subscale, and negatively with the positive experiences SPANE subscale. Results of this study demonstrate that the Italian version of the SPANE has psychometric properties similar to those shown by the original and previous versions, and it presents satisfactory reliability and factorial validity. The use of this instrument provides clinically useful information about a person’s overall emotional experience and it is an indicator of well-being. Although further studies are required to confirm the psychometric characteristics of the scale, the SPANE Italian version is expected to improve theoretical and empirical research on the well-being of the Italian population.

  18. The Italian Code of Medical Deontology. Historical, ethical and legal issues.

    PubMed

    Patuzzo, Sara; De Stefano, Francesco; Ciliberti, Rosagemma

    2018-06-15

    Medical deontology is increasingly important, owing to the interests and rights which the medical profession involves. This paper focuses on the relationships of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology (CMD) with both the ethical and legal dimensions, in order to clarify the role of medical ethics within the medical profession, society and the overall system of the sources of law. The authors analyze the CMD from an ethical perspective and through the new doctrinal guidelines and current trends in the Italian law courts. From an ethical point of view,  moral philosophical analysis scarcely seems to  address professional medical ethics. Nonetheless, the CMD needs to undergo careful ethical analysis. From a legal perspective, the Italian CMD contains provisions which do not have  an official legal nature. However, they are directly binding for medical practitioners, and therefore could be understood as a supplement to the general rules of the legal system. At an ethical level, rigorous debate on the CMD is indispensable, in order to update its specific principles and to make it a real moral normative document. At a legislative level, there is a possible contradiction between a legal system that does not take into account the CMD, but which then attributes significant importance to the violation of its rules.

  19. [Emergency room services utilization in the province of Reggio Emilia: a comparison between immigrants and Italians].

    PubMed

    Bonvicini, Laura; Broccoli, Serena; D'Angelo, Stefania; Candela, Silvia

    2011-01-01

    The aim of the study is to compare Italian and immigrant accesses to Emergency Room (ER) Services in the province of Reggio Emilia, with particular attention to time differences and to potentially inappropriate accesses. the database of ER accesses in the province of Reggio Emilia was analyzed for the years 2007- 2010. In the analysis of the resident population all autochthonous citizens and all immigrants from Developed Countries were considered Italians, while citizens from Developing Countries were Immigrants. Temporary Immigrants were those immigrants with residence and citizenship in a Developing Country. A descriptive analysis was conducted using demographic variables related to patients (age, gender, citizenship and residence) and variables related to access (admission emergency codes, cause of admission, hour, day of the week, month and discharge modality). Standardized access Ratios (SRs) were calculated for the resident population, together with 95%Confidence Intervals (95% CI). The SRs were calculated separately for children and for adults. In the years 2007-2010, 562,658 accesses to ER were recorded for Italians, 95,300 accesses for Immigrants and 6,800 for the Temporary Immigrants. Access rates for resident Immigrants were higher than Italian ones. In 2010, the SR for men was 1.24 (95%CI 1.22-1.27) while for women it was 1.18 (95%CI 1.15-1.27). Considering only non-urgent accesses, the SRs were even higher (SR men=1.65, 95% CI 1.58-1.72, women=1.43, 95% CI 1.36-1.50). Similar findings were observed in children. Immigrants access the ER services more than Italians do.They also show more non-urgent accesses in comparison with Italians. This finding is consistent with results of studies conducted in other European countries and it underlines the necessity to reorganize primary care in order to better meet immigrants' needs.

  20. [The evolution of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology: a historical-epistemological perspective].

    PubMed

    Conti, A A

    The Italian Code of Medical Deontology is a set of self-discipline rules prefixed by the medical profession, that are mandatory for the members of the medical registers, who must conform to these rules. The history of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology dates back to the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1903 it appeared in the form of a "Code of Ethics and Deontology" and was prepared by the Board of the Medical Register of Sassari (Sardinia). This Board inserted the principles inspiring the correct practice of the medical profession in an articulated and self-normative system, also foreseeing disciplinary measures. About ten years later, in 1912, the Medical Register of Turin (Piedmont) elaborated a Code which constituted the basis for a subsequent elaboration leading to a Unified Code of Medical Ethics (1924). After World War II the idea prevailed in Italy that the codes of medical deontology should undergo periodical review, updating and dissemination, and the new 1947 text (Turin) was for the first time amply diffused among Italian physicians. The next national code dates back to 1958, and twenty years later a revision was published. In the 1989 Code new topics appeared, including organ transplantation, artificial in vitro insemination and the role of police doctors; these and other issues were later developed in the 1995, 1998 and 2006 versions of the Code. The last available edition of the Italian Code of Medical Deontology is that of May 2014.

  1. Some notes on the Roman domination number and Italian domination number in graphs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hajibaba, Maryam; Jafari Rad, Nader

    2017-09-01

    An Italian dominating function (or simply, IDF) on a graph G = (V, E) is a function f : V → {0, 1, 2} that satisfies the property that for every vertex v ∈ V, with f(v) = 0, Σ u∈N(v) f(u) ≥ 2. The weight of an Italian dominating function f is defined as w(f) = f(V ) = Σ u∈V f(u). The minimum weight among all of the Italian dominating functions on a graph G is called the Italian domination number of G, and is denoted by γI (G). A double Roman dominating function (or simply, DRDF) is a function f : V → {0, 1, 2, 3} having the property that if f(v) = 0 for a vertex v, then v has at least two adjacent vertices assigned 2 under f or one adjacent vertex assigned 3 under f, and if f(v) = 1, then v has at least one neighbor with f(w) ≥ 2. The weight of a DRDF f is defined as the sum f(V) = Σ v∈V f(v), and the minimum weight of a DRDF on G is the double Roman domination number of G, denoted by γdR (G). In this paper we show that γdR (G)/2 ≤ γI (G) ≤ 2γdR (G)/3, and characterize all trees T with γI (T) = 2γdR (T)/3.

  2. Input output scaling relations in Italian manufacturing firms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bottazzi, Giulio; Grazzi, Marco; Secchi, Angelo

    2005-09-01

    Recent analyses on different database have proposed some regularities with respect to size and growth rates distribution of firms. In this work we explore some basic properties of the dynamics of productivity in Italian manufacturing firms. We investigate relations between different inputs and output examining the impact of productivity in shaping the pattern of corporates evolution.

  3. AN ITALIAN SURVEY OF COMPLIANCE WITH MAJOR GUIDELINES FOR L-THYROXINE OF PRIMARY HYPOTHYROIDISM.

    PubMed

    Vezzani, Silvia; Giannetta, Elisa; Altieri, Barbara; Barbonetti, Arcangelo; Bellastella, Giuseppe; Certo, Rosaria; Cignarelli, Angelo; Cinti, Francesca; D'Andrea, Settimio; Di Dalmazi, Giulia; Frara, Stefano; Garelli, Silvia; Giuffrida, Giuseppe; Maiorino, Maria Ida; Mele, Chiara; Mezza, Teresa; Pani, Maria Grazia; Samà, Maria Teresa; Satta, Chiara; Santi, Daniele

    2018-05-01

    The adherence by endocrinologists to guideline regarding levothyroxine (LT4) therapy and the compliance of patients may impact the management of hypothyroidism. The aim of this study was to compare the adherence of Italian endocrinologists to the ATA/AACE and ETA guidelines on the management of newly diagnosed primary hypothyroidism and to validate the Italian version of the Morisky-Green Medical Adherence Scale-8 (MMAS-8) questionnaire as applied to the evaluation of the adherence of patients with hypothyroidism to LT4 treatment. This was an observational, longitudinal, multicenter, cohort study, involving 12 Italian Units of Endocrinology. The study enrolled 1,039 consecutive outpatients (mean age 48 years; 855 women, 184 men). The concordance of Italian endocrinologists with American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists/American Thyroid Association (AACE/ATA) and European Thyroid Association (ETA) recommendations was comparable (77.1% and 71.7%) and increased (86.7 and 88.6%) after the recommendations on LT4 dose were excluded, considering only the remaining recommendations on diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up. The MMAS-8 was filled out by 293 patients. The mean score was 6.71 with 23.9% low (score <6), 38.6% medium (6 to <8), 37.5% highly (= 8) adherers; the internal validation coefficient was 0.613. Highly adherent patients were not more likely to have good control of hypothyroidism compared with either medium (69% versus 72%, P = .878) or low (69% versus 43%, P = .861) adherers. Clinical management of hypothyroidism in Italy demonstrated an observance of international guidelines by Italian endocrinologists. Validation of the Italian version of the MMAS-8 questionnaire provides clinicians with a reliable and simple tool for assessing the adherence of patients to LT4 treatment. AACE = American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists; ATA = American Thyroid Association; EDIPO = Endotrial SIE: DIagnosis and clinical management of Primitive hypothyrOidism in

  4. Physical Attributes and NFL Combine Performance Tests Between Italian National League and American Football Players: A Comparative Study.

    PubMed

    Vitale, Jacopo A; Caumo, Andrea; Roveda, Eliana; Montaruli, Angela; La Torre, Antonio; Battaglini, Claudio L; Carandente, Franca

    2016-10-01

    Vitale, JA, Caumo, A, Roveda, E, Montaruli, A, La Torre, A, Battaglini, CL, and Carandente, F. Physical attributes and NFL Combine performance tests between Italian National League and American football players: a comparative study. J Strength Cond Res 30(10): 2802-2808, 2016-The purpose of this study was to examine anthropometric measurements and the results of a battery of performance tests administered during the National Football League (NFL) Combine between American football players who were declared eligible to participate in the NFL Combine and football players of a top Italian team (Rhinos Milan). Participants (N = 50) were categorized by position into 1 of 3 groups based on playing position: skill players (SP) included wide receivers, cornerbacks, free safeties, strong safeties, and running backs; big skill players (BSP) consisted of fullbacks, linebackers, tight ends, and defensive ends; lineman (LM) included centers, offensive guards, offensive tackles, and defensive tackles. A 1-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey-Kramer post hoc test was used for comparisons between Italian players by playing position. Ninety-five percent CIs were used for comparisons between American and Italian football for the NFL Combine performance tests. Significant differences for all the variables between the 3 playing categories were observed among the Italian players; LM had higher anthropometric and body composition values than SP (p < 0.001) and BSP (p < 0.001), whereas LM performed significantly worse in the physical tests, except for the 225-lb bench press test when compared with SP (p < 0.002). American football players presented significantly higher anthropometric values and test performance scores when compared with Italian players. Administrators of professional football teams in Italy need to improve the player's physical attributes, so the gap that currently exists between American and Italian players can be reduced, which could significantly improve the

  5. Radiological contrast media in the breastfeeding woman: a position paper of the Italian Society of Radiology (SIRM), the Italian Society of Paediatrics (SIP), the Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN) and the Task Force on Breastfeeding, Ministry of Health, Italy.

    PubMed

    Cova, Maria Assunta; Stacul, Fulvio; Quaranta, Roberto; Guastalla, Pierpaolo; Salvatori, Guglielmo; Banderali, Giuseppe; Fonda, Claudio; David, Vincenzo; Gregori, Massimo; Zuppa, Antonio Alberto; Davanzo, Riccardo

    2014-08-01

    Breastfeeding is a well-recognised investment in the health of the mother-infant dyad. Nevertheless, many professionals still advise breastfeeding mothers to temporarily discontinue breastfeeding after contrast media imaging. Therefore, we performed this review to provide health professionals with basic knowledge and skills for appropriate use of contrast media. A joint working group of the Italian Society of Radiology (SIRM), Italian Society of Paediatrics (SIP), Italian Society of Neonatology (SIN) and Task Force on Breastfeeding, Ministry of Health, Italy prepared a review of the relevant medical literature on the safety profile of contrast media for the nursing infant/child. Breastfeeding is safe for the nursing infant of any post-conceptional age after administration of the majority of radiological contrast media to the mother; only gadolinium-based agents considered at high risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (gadopentetate dimeglumine, gadodiamide, gadoversetamide) should be avoided in the breastfeeding woman as a precaution; there is no need to temporarily discontinue breastfeeding or to express and discard breast milk following the administration of contrast media assessed as compatible with breastfeeding. Breastfeeding women should receive unambiguous professional advice and clear encouragement to continue breastfeeding after imaging with the compatible contrast media. • Breastfeeding is a well-known investment in the health of the mother-infant dyad. • Breastfeeding is safe after administration of contrast media to the mother. • There is no need to temporarily discontinue breastfeeding following administration of contrast media.

  6. Drinking Motives and Alcoholic Beverage Preferences among Italian Adolescents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Graziano, Federica; Bina, Manuela; Giannotta, Fabrizia; Ciairano, Silvia

    2012-01-01

    Although drinking motives have been largely studied, research taking into account the Mediterranean drinking culture and focusing on motives specifically associated to adolescents' developmental tasks is lacking. For these reasons the study investigates drinking motives in a group of Italian adolescents and their relationships with drunkenness and…

  7. Italian Translation of the Questionnaire for Professional Training Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fregonese, Chiara; Caputo, Andrea; Langher, Viviana

    2018-01-01

    This work illustrates the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Questionnaire for Professional Training Evaluation, designed and validated by Grohmann and Kauffeld. This 12-item questionnaire provides for the evaluation of different training outcomes, is time-efficient, applicable to several professional contexts and shows sound…

  8. World War One Italian and Austrian soldier identification project: DNA results of the first case.

    PubMed

    Piccinini, Andrea; Coco, Stefania; Parson, Walther; Cattaneo, Cristina; Gaudio, Daniel; Barbazza, Renzo; Galassi, Andrea

    2010-10-01

    We report the results of an attempt to identify the supposed remains of a famous World War I (WWI) Italian soldier who was killed in battle along the Italian front in 1915. Thanks to the availability of offspring from both paternal and maternal lineage Y-STRs and mtDNA were analysed and both showed a clear exclusion scenario: the remains did not belong to the supposed war hero. This is the first effort of identification of the remains of soldiers who perished during World War I within a multidisciplinary project aimed at the retrieval of historical and cultural aspects linked to WWI, and the systematic study of the remains of soldiers and ultimately their identification. This last step involves both Italian and Austrian laboratories. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Preadolescent Anxiety: An Epidemiological Study Concerning an Italian Sample of 3,479 Nine-Year-Old Pupils

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nacinovich, Renata; Gadda, Stefania; Maserati, Elisa; Bomba, Monica; Neri, Francesca

    2012-01-01

    The epidemiology of anxiety traits was examined in a large sample of Italian preadolescent children, and 3,479 Italian nine-year-old subjects were enrolled. Anxious traits were observed in 10.5% of children. No significant gender differences were found, but children of separated couples presented a relative risk for anxious traits that was 50%…

  10. The Italian version of the 16-item prodromal questionnaire (iPQ-16): Field-test and psychometric features.

    PubMed

    Lorenzo, Pelizza; Silvia, Azzali; Federica, Paterlini; Sara, Garlassi; Ilaria, Scazza; Pupo, Simona; Andrea, Raballo

    2018-03-20

    Among current early screeners for psychosis-risk states, the Prodromal Questionnaire-16 items (PQ-16) is often used. We aimed to assess validity and reliability of the Italian version of the PQ-16 in a young adult help-seeking population. We included 154 individuals aged 18-35years seeking help at the Reggio Emilia outpatient mental health services in a large semirural catchment area (550.000 inhabitants). Participants completed the Italian version of the PQ-16 (iPQ-16) and were subsequently evaluated with the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS). We examined diagnostic accuracy (i.e. specificity, sensitivity, negative and positive likelihood ratios, and negative and positive predictive values) and content, convergent, and concurrent validity between PQ-16 and CAARMS using Cronbach's alpha, Spearman's rho, and Cohen's kappa, respectively. We also tested the validity of the adopted PQ-16 cut-offs through Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves plotted against CAARMS diagnoses and the 1-year predictive validity of the PQ-16. The iPQ-16 showed high internal consistency and acceptable diagnostic accuracy and concurrent validity. ROC analyses pointed to a cut-off score of ≥5 as best cut-off. After 12months of follow-up, 8.7% of participants with a PQ-16 symptom total score of ≥5 who were below the CAARMS psychosis threshold at the baseline, developed a psychotic disorder. Psychometric properties of the iPQ-16 were satisfactory. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. The Science Training Program for Young Italian Physicists and Engineers at Fermilab

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Barzi, Emanuela; Bellettini, Giorgio; Donati, Simone

    2015-03-12

    Since 1984 Fermilab has been hosting a two-month summer training program for selected undergraduate and graduate Italian students in physics and engineering. Building on the traditional close collaboration between the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and Fermilab, the program is supported by INFN, by the DOE and by the Scuola Superiore di Sant`Anna of Pisa (SSSA), and is run by the Cultural Association of Italians at Fermilab (CAIF). This year the University of Pisa has qualified it as a “University of Pisa Summer School”, and will grant successful students with European Supplementary Credits. Physics students join the Fermilabmore » HEP research groups, while engineers join the Particle Physics, Accelerator, Technical, and Computing Divisions. Some students have also been sent to other U.S. laboratories and universities for special trainings. The programs cover topics of great interest for science and for social applications in general, like advanced computing, distributed data analysis, nanoelectronics, particle detectors for earth and space experiments, high precision mechanics, applied superconductivity. In the years, over 350 students have been trained and are now employed in the most diverse fields in Italy, Europe, and the U.S. In addition, the existing Laurea Program in Fermilab Technical Division was extended to the whole laboratory, with presently two students in Master’s thesis programs on neutrino physics and detectors in the Neutrino Division. And finally, a joint venture with the Italian Scientists and Scholars North-America Foundation (ISSNAF) provided this year 4 professional engineers free of charge for Fermilab. More details on all of the above can be found below.« less

  12. Attitudes towards honey among Italian consumers: A choice experiment approach.

    PubMed

    Cosmina, Marta; Gallenti, Gianluigi; Marangon, Francesco; Troiano, Stefania

    2016-04-01

    Honey is becoming increasingly popular with consumers for its nutritional benefits as well as many other functions. The objective of this article is to determine which factors influence consumers' purchase intentions and to assess the importance of certain honey characteristics to enable identification of the constituents of an ideal honey profile. This information will lead to satisfaction of consumers' preferences and formulation of marketing strategies that support honey makers. We applied a choice experiment to the Italian honey market to define the preferences and the willingness to pay for key characteristics of the product. A face-to-face questionnaire survey was conducted in 2014 (January-July) among Italian consumers; it was completed by 427 respondents. A latent class model was estimated and four classes were identified, with different preferences, illustrating that respondents seem to be heterogeneous honey consumers. Results suggest the "organic" attribute was more important than others factors, such as the place where the honey was produced (landscape), but less important than the country of origin; local Italian honey was preferred to foreign honey. Respondents showed a higher willingness to pay (WTP) for honey from their country of origin versus the production method used. Our results suggest that while organic beekeeping might be an important strategy for diversification, if suitable communication is not taken into consideration, the added value of the production method might not be perceived by consumers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. White paper of Italian Gastroenterology: delivery of services for digestive diseases in Italy: weaknesses and strengths.

    PubMed

    Buscarini, Elisabetta; Conte, Dario; Cannizzaro, Renato; Bazzoli, Franco; De Boni, Michele; Delle Fave, Gianfranco; Farinati, Fabio; Ravelli, Paolo; Testoni, Pier Alberto; Lisiero, Manola; Spolaore, Paolo

    2014-07-01

    In 2011 the three major Italian gastroenterological scientific societies (AIGO, the Italian Society of Hospital Gastroenterologists and Endoscopists; SIED, the Italian Society of Endoscopy; SIGE, the Italian Society of Gastroenterology) prepared their official document aimed at analysing medical care for digestive diseases in Italy, on the basis of national and regional data (Health Ministry and Lombardia, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna databases) and to make proposals for planning of care. Digestive diseases were the first or second cause of hospitalizations in Italy in 1999-2009, with more than 1,500,000 admissions/year; however only 5-9% of these admissions was in specialized Gastroenterology units. Reported data show a better outcome in Gastroenterology Units than in non-specialized units: shorter average length of stay, in particular for admissions with ICD-9-CM codes proxying for emergency conditions (6.7 days versus 8.4 days); better case mix (higher average diagnosis-related groups weight in Gastroenterology Units: 1 vs 0.97 in Internal Medicine units and 0.76 in Surgery units); lower inappropriateness of admissions (16-25% versus 29-87%); lower in-hospital mortality in urgent admissions (2.2% versus 5.1%); for patients with urgent admissions due to gastrointestinnal haemorrhage, in-hospital mortality was 2.3% in Gastroenterology units versus 4.0% in others. The present document summarizes the scientific societies' official report, which constitutes the "White paper of Italian Gastroenterology". Copyright © 2014 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. A survey on the experience with dental tourism in a sample of Italian patients.

    PubMed

    Carmagnola, D; Filippucci, L; Celestino, S; Carrassi, A; Delia, S; Lodi, G

    2012-01-01

    Dentistry in Italy is mainly private and therefore perceived as forcedly expensive. Dental tourism is becoming popular in order to get cheap dental care. The aim of this study was to carry out a survey aimed at investigating the perception of dental tourism by Italian patients who have recently received such dental care abroad. A questionnaire was posted on the web site of an Italian consumers association (Altroconsumo) and members were invited to fill in the questionnaire in case they had experienced dental treatment abroad. Eighty-one complete forms were included in the study. The main motivation for turning to dental tourism was saving money. Another frequent reason for choosing dental tourism was that full rehabilitation was offered in a short time span, usually one week. Patients have often underlined that they appreciated different aspects of the foreign dentists, like speed, kindness, humanity, interest in the course of the treatment, the feeling of ease conveyed by the environment and the personnel. Past negative experiences with Italian dentists were in some cases advocated as reasons for searching dental care abroad. Such negative experiences resulted in a lack of trust in Italian dentists. Some patients reported that while the overall treatment abroad was carried out in a short time, single prosthetic sessions were very long, up to 6 hours. Most patients were satisfied with dental tourism.

  15. Discourse Strategies of Italian and English Sales Promotion Letters

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vergaro, Carla

    2004-01-01

    This article describes a contrastive study on rhetorical differences between Italian and English sales promotion letters. It is assumed that cultural differences affect discourse genres traditionally considered as standardized, ritual or even formulaic, written business communication being a case in point. It was our goal to investigate how…

  16. [Spanish-Italian medical relations during the Renaissance].

    PubMed

    Olagüe de Ros, G

    1993-01-01

    This paper offers a general review about the Spanish-Italian medical relations during the Renaissance. Spanish physicians travelled very often to Italy during this time, in order to get a better knowledge of the news advances in medicine. Many of them later occupied academic positions in Spanish universities and wide-spread the new ideas learned in Italy. The role played by printed books and manuscripts in their mutual relationships is here reported.

  17. "Siamo Vicini, No?": Negotiating Commonality for Rapport Building in Italian L1-L2 Online Text Chat

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tudini, Vincenza; Strambi, Antonella

    2017-01-01

    Focusing specifically on the negotiation of commonality, this study explores rapport building (Spencer-Oatey, 2000) in online intercultural text chat, where Australian students of Italian interact with L1 Italian speakers. Although the initial purpose of the examined chat exchanges is to facilitate L2 acquisition, analysis of transcripts indicates…

  18. Is the perception of dysphonia severity language-dependent? A comparison of French and Italian voice assessments.

    PubMed

    Ghio, Alain; Cantarella, Giovanna; Weisz, Frédérique; Robert, Danièle; Woisard, Virginie; Fussi, Franco; Giovanni, Antoine; Baracca, Giovanna

    2015-04-01

    In this cross-language study, six Italian and six French voice experts evaluated perceptually the speech of 27 Italian and 40 French patients with dysphonia to determine if there were differences based on native language. French and Italian voice specialists agreed substantially in their evaluations of the overall grade of dysphonia and moderately concerning roughness and breathiness. No statistically significant effects were found related to the language of the speakers with the exception of breathiness, a finding that was interpreted as being due to different voice pathologies in the patient groups. It was concluded that the perception of the overall grade of dysphonia and breathiness is not language-dependent, whereas the significant difference in the perception of roughness may be related to a perception/adaption process.

  19. 1. 133842 PACIFIC AVE. ITALIANATE BUILDING ON LEFT IS THE ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    1. 1338-42 PACIFIC AVE. ITALIANATE BUILDING ON LEFT IS THE CITIZENS BANK AND THE IRVING BUILDING (1888-89). A HOMOGENEOUS DESIGN FOR THREE SEPERATE PROPERTY OWNERS, DESIGNED BY CARL AUGUST DARMER. - Union Depot Area Study, Tacoma, Pierce County, WA

  20. Analysis of the Italian generic medicines retail market: recommendations to enhance long-term sustainability.

    PubMed

    Dylst, Pieter; Vulto, Arnold; Simoens, Steven

    2015-02-01

    Italy is among the European countries with the lowest uptake of generic medicines. This paper provides a perspective on the Italian generic medicines retail market. Fast market entrance of generic medicines in Italy is hindered by several factors: the existence of Complementary Protection Certificates in the past, the large market for copies and multiple cases of patent linkage. Prices of generic medicines in Italy are low compared to other European countries. To contain pharmaceutical expenditure, pharmaceutical companies are currently forced to pay back in case of overspending, which disproportionally penalizes small and fast growing companies, to which most generic companies belong to. Current demand-side policies do not successfully stimulate the use of generic medicines. The current market environment surrounding the Italian generic medicines retail market (i.e., low prices, low volumes) threatens its long-term sustainability. Recommendations to enhance the long-term sustainability of the Italian generic medicines retail market round off this perspective paper.

  1. An Exploratory Study of Sustainable Development at Italian Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vagnoni, Emidia; Cavicchi, Caterina

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: This paper aims to outline the current status of the implementation of sustainability practices in the context of Italian public universities, highlighting the strengths and gaps. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a qualitative approach, an exploratory study design has been outlined using the model of Glavic and Lukman (2007) focusing…

  2. Entrepreneurship Education in Italian Universities: Trend, Situation and Opportunities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Iacobucci, Donato; Micozzi, Alessandra

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the present situation and recent evolution of entrepreneurship education in Italian universities and to discuss whether these courses and curricula match the demand for entrepreneurial competences. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical analysis is based on a census of…

  3. The role of the intensive care unit in real-time surveillance of emerging pandemics: the Italian GiViTI experience.

    PubMed

    Bertolini, G; Nattino, G; Langer, M; Tavola, M; Crespi, D; Mondini, M; Rossi, C; Previtali, C; Marshall, J; Poole, D

    2016-01-01

    The prompt availability of reliable epidemiological information on emerging pandemics is crucial for public health policy-makers. Early in 2013, a possible new H1N1 epidemic notified by an intensive care unit (ICU) to GiViTI, the Italian ICU network, prompted the re-activation of the real-time monitoring system developed during the 2009-2010 pandemic. Based on data from 216 ICUs, we were able to detect and monitor an outbreak of severe H1N1 infection, and to compare the situation with previous years. The timely and correct assessment of the severity of an epidemic can be obtained by investigating ICU admissions, especially when historical comparisons can be made.

  4. Sacral neuromodulation and Botulinum toxin A for refractory idiopathic overactive bladder: a cost-utility analysis in the perspective of Italian Healthcare System.

    PubMed

    Bertapelle, Maria Paola; Vottero, Mario; Popolo, Giulio Del; Mencarini, Marco; Ostardo, Edoardo; Spinelli, Michele; Giannantoni, Antonella; D'Ausilio, Anna

    2015-08-01

    To assess the relative cost-effectiveness of two therapeutic strategies: one starting with sacral neuromodulation (SNM) versus one starting with Botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) for the management of refractory incontinent idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB) patients, from the perspective of the Italian National Health Service (INHS). Direct medical costs (2011) and benefits (quality-adjusted life years-QALYs) were assessed over a ten-year time frame adapting to the Italian practice a published Markov model. Clinical inputs were based on the published literature and on the expert opinion. Resource consumption rates were provided by clinical experts; unit costs were collected from a single hospital accounting and from standard tariff lists and public prices. Interventional procedures and management of adverse events were costed through a micro-costing approach. The primary outcome was incremental costs per QALYs gained (i.e. differential costs divided by differential benefits). Deterministic (DSA) and probabilistic (PSA) sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the model. Starting with SNM appears to be cost effective (i.e. under 40.000/QALY) from year three (21,259/QALY) onwards and becomes dominant (i.e. more effective and less costly) at year ten: cumulative costs were 32,975 for early SNM and 33,309 for early BTX-A, while cumulative QALYs were 7.52 and 6.93, respectively. At year ten, DSA suggests the results robustness and 99.8 % of the PSA iterations fell within the cost-effectiveness threshold. A therapeutic strategy starting with SNM may be considered cost effective in the midterm and cost saving in the long-term treatment of idiopathic OAB from the INHS perspective.

  5. Ultrasonographic evaluation of the shoulder in elite Italian beach volleyball players.

    PubMed

    Monteleone, G; Tramontana, A; Mc Donald, K; Sorge, R; Tiloca, A; Foti, C

    2015-10-01

    Beach volleyball is an overhead sport that subjects the hitting shoulder to intense functional loads. The purpose of this study is to identify ultrasonographically the prevalence of myotendinous alterations in professional Italian beach volleyball players at the Italian championship and to look for associations between ultrasound findings and the other data collected. Fifty-three beach volleyball players (31 women, 22 men) were recruited during the second stage of the Italian championship held in July 2012 in Rome, Italy. Clinical history was obtained from all subjects, followed by physical exam. Each athlete completed a questionnaire regarding sports activities. Bilateral ultrasonographic evaluation of the shoulders was then performed. Calcific tendinopathy of the rotator cuff of the hitting shoulder was identified ultrasonographically in 30% of the athletes. The mean age of the athletes with calcific tendinopathy was older than subjects with other abnormalities on ultrasonographic examination (33.1 years vs. 25.8 years, t-test; P<0.0001). Impingement was recognized ultrasonographically in the hitting shoulder in 10 of the athletes (18.8%). The Neer's test was positive in the cases of anterior impingement (χ2; P<0.002). Calcific tendinopathy of the rotator cuff of the hitting shoulder in professional beach volleyball players has a prevalence of 30% ultrasonographically, greater than that reported in the general population. In these athletes, the presence of calcific tendinopathy correlates positively with age.

  6. Validation of the Italian version of the Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES-I) in institutionalized geriatric patients.

    PubMed

    Borgi, Marta; Caccamo, Floriana; Giuliani, Alessandro; Piergentili, Alessandro; Sessa, Sonia; Reda, Emilia; Alleva, Enrico; Cirulli, Francesca; Miraglia, Fabio

    2016-01-01

    Apathy is a very common symptom in the institutionalized elderly and represents a condition of both clinical and public health importance. The Apathy Evaluation Scale (AES) has been shown to be a valid and reliable tool for characterizing, quantifying and differentiating apathy in various health conditions. The aims of this study were to establish the validity and reliability of the Italian version of the AES, and to assess the severity of apathy in a sample of Italian institutionalized geriatric patients. Data were collected from clinical interviews using the AES informant version (AES-I). Associations between measures of apathy and depression, cognitive functioning and perceived quality of life were evaluated, as well as the effects of the living environment on apathetic symptoms. Multiple forms of reliability and validity (i.e. test-retest, internal consistency, discriminability of apathy rating from a standard measure of depression) were satisfied. Our results also show that the characteristics of the care setting may affect the severity of apathetic symptoms. The AES-I Italian version is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring apathy in Italian patients, also allowing a direct comparison with data gathered in other countries.

  7. Immunisation Registries at regional level in Italy and the roadmap for a future Italian National Registry.

    PubMed

    D'Ancona, F; Gianfredi, V; Riccardo, F; Iannazzo, S

    2018-01-01

    Immunization Information Systems, or Immunisation registries (IRs), are essential to monitor and evaluate the accessibility, quality and outcomes of immunisation programmes both at local and national level. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in order to investigate and map the level of IRs implementation obtained by the 21 Italian Regional Health Authorities. On this basis we defined a roadmap towards implementing an Italian National IR. We designed an online questionnaire. Data were collected from July to September 2016 from all the 21 Regional Health Authorities in charge of infectious diseases control and immunization management. 18/21 Italian Regions have fully implemented an IR, out of them, 11 use the same software for all Local Health Units. Two Regions have partially implemented their IRs and one Region is not yet computerised. The decentralization of the Italian Health System is reflected also on the IRs characteristics and functionalities in terms of fragmented implementation of IRs and diversity in the software systems and data flows in place. Future efforts should not only aim not only to clarify the functionalities of Regional IRs, but should also aim to define how aggregation of data at national level can be optimised.

  8. Bridging the divide between theory and guidance in strategic environmental assessment: A path for Italian regions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Baresi, Umberto, E-mail: u.baresi@uq.edu.au

    Clear and effective legislation is a requisite to bring sustainable development from theory into practice. This paper develops a methodology to investigate how Italian regional legislation disciplines the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), the procedure used in the European Union (EU) to pursue sustainable development of policies, plans, and programs (PPPs). Our case study is the Italian regional level, examined to identify eventual flaws and areas for improvement for each regional legislative framework. For this purpose, this study refers to a selection of analytical criteria recurring in the international debate on sustainability assessments. Statistical multi-dimensional analysis is used tomore » identify Italian regions with similar SEA legislation. We recognize four taxonomies, depending on the way regional legislation provides information about i) legislation and guidelines, ii) integration between SEA and PPPs, iii) sustainability goals, iv) technical organization, v) participatory organization, and vi) monitoring. The results suggest that Italian administrators should cooperate to improve legislation at the regional level. Acknowledging the institution-centred nature of SEA, this methodology could drive the EU to better support SEA development in countries with diversified traditions.« less

  9. Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Technology Demonstration Plan, MTADS Airborne and Vehicular Survey of Target S1 at Isleta Pueblo, Albuquerque, NM, 17 February - 2 March, 2003

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-03-31

    include the black widow and the brown or violin spiders. The black widow is a coal-black bulbous spider 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches in length, with a bright red...pupils and generalized swelling of face and extremities. The brown recluse, or violin spider, is brownish to tan in color, rather flat, 1/2 to 5/8 inches...long with a dark brown “ violin ” marking on the underside. There are three varieties of the brown spider, which present a problem to site personnel

  10. Tungstate adsorption onto Italian soils with different characteristics.

    PubMed

    Petruzzelli, Gianniantonio; Pedron, Francesca

    2017-08-01

    The study of tungsten in the environment is currently of considerable interest because of the growing concerns resulting from its possible toxicity and carcinogenicity. Adsorption reactions are some of the fundamental processes governing the fate and transport of tungsten compounds in soil. This paper reports data on the adsorption of tungstate ions in three different Italian soils, which are characteristic of the Mediterranean region. The results show that pH is the most important factor governing the adsorption of tungstate in these soils. The data interpreted according to the Langmuir equation show that the maximum value of adsorption is approximately 30 mmol kg -1 for the most acidic soil (pH = 4.50) and approximately 9 mmol kg -1 for the most basic soil (pH = 7.40). In addition, soil organic matter is shown to play a fundamental role in adsorption processes, which are favored in soils with a higher organic matter content. The data could contribute to a better understanding of the behavior of tungsten compounds in Italian soils for which current knowledge is very scarce, also in view of environmental regulations, which are currently lacking.

  11. Use of metronomic chemotherapy in oncology: results from a national Italian survey.

    PubMed

    Collovà, Elena; Sebastiani, Federica; De Matteis, Elisabetta; Generali, Daniele; Aurilio, Gaetano; Boccardo, Francesco; Crispino, Sergio; Cruciani, Giorgio

    2011-01-01

    Metronomic chemotherapy refers to the administration of low doses of cytotoxic agents over a prolonged period of time with no or only short drug-free intervals. It is designed to overcome acquired tumor resistance to chemotherapy and reduce neo-angiogenesis despite a lower toxicity than with standard chemotherapy. The role of metronomic chemotherapy remains controversial, and its optimal therapeutic use has not yet been defined. The present survey was designed as a short questionnaire and was sent to the medical oncologists registered with Medikey, a national database listing all the Italian oncology specialists linked with the Italian Council of Medical Oncology Hospital Consultants (Collegio Italiano Primari Oncologi Medici Ospedalieri, CIPOMO) and the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Associazione Italiana di Oncologia Medica, AIOM). The questionnaire was completed on a voluntary basis and it was totally anonymous. The questionnaire was sent to 3,289 oncologists, and 191 (5.8%) actively participated in the survey. Seventy-two percent of responders declared that they had administered a regimen of metronomic chemotherapy at least once. Metronomic chemotherapy is commonly used in advanced breast cancer patients, and in most cases it was prescribed after failure of at least two lines of treatment. Oral agents such as cyclophosphamide, capecitabine, methotrexate and vinorelbine were the most commonly prescribed drugs. Nearly 60% of responders was believed to have significantly less toxicity with metronomic chemotherapy than with standard chemotherapy. The sample of oncologists who participated in the survey is small but it appears to be representative of the Italian medical oncology community. The answers to the questionnaire indicate a significant interest in metronomic chemotherapy, which is apparently widely prescribed. This is the first large national survey on the use of metronomic chemotherapy. Considering the results, larger research on metronomic

  12. Italian Universities and the Third Mission: A Longitudinal Analysis of Organizational and Educational Evolution towards the "Entrepreneurial University"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Riviezzo, Angelo; Napolitano, Maria Rosaria

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines the diffusion of entrepreneurial activities among Italian universities, the evolution of the organizational models implemented to facilitate such activities and the commitment of the universities to the Third Mission of social and economic development. As previous analyses have shown, Italian universities have only recently…

  13. Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the Nottingham Clavicle Score (NCS).

    PubMed

    Vascellari, Alberto; Schiavetti, Stefano; Rebuzzi, Enrico; Coletti, Nicolò

    2015-11-01

    The Nottingham Clavicle Score (NCS) is a specific Patient Reported Outcome Measure of injuries to the clavicle, acromio-clavicular joint (ACJ) and sterno-clavicular joint. The purpose of this study was to translate the NCS into Italian and establish its cultural adaptiveness and validity. The original version of the NCS was translated into Italian in accordance with the cross-cultural adaptation guidelines described by Guillemin. Sixty-six patients [average age 45.7 years (SD 11.3)] who had received surgical treatment for injuries of the ACJ and the clavicle were included in the study. The study population completed the NCS twice within 5 days, the Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire and the short-form 36 (SF-36). Statistical tests assessed the construct validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, reliability and feasibility of the NCS. The translation and adaptation of the NCS for an Italian context required no major cultural adaptation. Internal consistency was high (Cronbach's α, 0.86). Test-retest reproducibility was excellent (ρ = 0.981, p < 0.00001). Administration time was 45 s (range 1 min 32 s-8 min), and all items were answered. The Italian NCS showed strong correlation with the DASH (-0.87), the OSS (-0.84) and those subscales of the SF-36 (physical functioning, role physical and bodily pain) which aim to measure similar constructs. The Italian NCS scale is a reliable, valid, consistent shoulder assessment form that can be used to assess the functional limitations of patients with injuries of clavicle or ACJ. III.

  14. Essential Information for Post-Encyclopaedic Parliaments: The Italian Case.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rizzoni, Giovanni

    This paper discusses the experiences of the Research Department of the Italian Chamber of Deputies over the past few years. The first section describes the origin of the department in the 1970s, including political factors, basic organizational features, and the salient features of the department's activity. The second section addresses the…

  15. Context-Sensitive Rules and Word Naming in Italian Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barca, Laura; Ellis, Andrew W.; Burani, Cristina

    2007-01-01

    The present study examines the role of orthographic complexity on Italian children's word reading. Two experiments are reported in which elementary school children (3rd and 5th graders) read aloud words containing simple or contextual letter-sound conversion rules. In Experiment 1, both groups of participants read words containing contextual rules…

  16. Codeswitching as a Tool in Teaching Italian in Malta

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gauci, Hertian; Camilleri Grima, Antoinette

    2013-01-01

    This article addresses the issue of teacher codeswitching in the teaching of Italian in Malta. The analysis of teacher codeswitching shows that the learners' first language (L1), Maltese, is used as a pedagogical tool to enhance language learning. Teachers frequently resort to Maltese to provide more learner-friendly explanations of grammatical…

  17. Italian, Ukrainian or Russian? Language and Identity in Crimea

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bocale, Paola

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents the results of fieldwork conducted among the small Italian minority living in Kerch, a coastal town in Crimea, between 2012 and 2013. After introducing the socio-historical background and the current situation of the minority, it presents and discusses the attitudes of members of the community towards the different languages…

  18. Group-Based Life Design Counseling in an Italian Context

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Di Fabio, Annamaria; Maree, Jacobus Gideon

    2012-01-01

    This study examined the effectiveness of group-based Life Design Counseling using the Career-Story Interview. Written exercises were used to implement the seven topics in the Career-Story Interview. The present study employed an experimental design that involved two groups of Italian entrepreneurs from the agricultural and trade sectors, namely an…

  19. BEST1 sequence variants in Italian patients with vitelliform macular dystrophy

    PubMed Central

    Sodi, Andrea; Passerini, Ilaria; Caputo, Roberto; Bacci, Giacomo Maria; Bodoj, Mirela; Torricelli, Francesca; Menchini, Ugo

    2012-01-01

    Purpose To analyze the spectrum of sequence variants in the BEST1 gene in a group of Italian patients affected by Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (VMD). Methods Thirty Italian patients with a diagnosis of VMD and 20 clinically healthy relatives were recruited. They belonged to 19 Italian families predominantly originating from central Italy. They received a standard ophthalmologic examination, OCT scan, and electrophysiological tests (ERG and EOG). Fluorescein and ICG angiographies and fundus autofluorescence imaging were performed in selected cases. DNA samples were analyzed for sequence variants of the BEST1 gene by direct sequencing techniques. Results Nine missense variants and one deletion were found in the affected patients; each patient carried one mutation. Five variants [c.73C>T (p.Arg25Trp), c.652C>T (p.Arg218Cys), c.652C>G (p.Arg218Gly), c.728C>T (p.Ala243Val), c.893T>C (p.Phe298Ser)] have already been described in literature while another five variants [c.217A>C (p.Ile73Leu), c.239T>G (p.Phe80Cys), c.883_885del (p.Ile295del), c.907G>A (p.Asp303Asn), c.911A>G (p.Asp304Gly)] had not previously been reported. Affected patients, sometimes even from the same family, occasionally showed variable phenotypes. One heterozygous variant was also found in five clinically healthy relatives with normal fundus, visual acuity and ERG but with abnormal EOG. Conclusions Ten variants in the BEST1 gene were detected in a group of individuals with clinically apparent VMD, and in some clinically normal individuals with an abnormal EOG. The high prevalence of novel variants and the frequent report of a specific variant (p.Arg25Trp) that has rarely been described in other ethnic groups suggests a distribution of BEST1 variants peculiar to Italian VMD patients. PMID:23213274

  20. Autonomy, responsibility and the Italian Code of Deontology for Nurses.

    PubMed

    Barazzetti, Gaia; Radaelli, Stefania; Sala, Roberta

    2007-01-01

    This article is a first assessment of the Italian Code of deontology for nurses (revised in 1999) on the basis of data collected from focus groups with nurses taking part in the Ethical Codes in Nursing (ECN) project. We illustrate the professional context in which the Code was introduced and explain why the 1999 revision was necessary in the light of changes affecting the Italian nursing profession. The most remarkable findings concern professional autonomy and responsibility, and how the Code is thought of as a set of guidelines for nursing practice. We discuss these issues, underlining that the 1999 Code represents a valuable instrument for ethical reflection and examination, a stimulus for putting the moral sense of the nursing profession into action, and that it represents a new era for professional nursing practice in Italy. The results of the analysis also deserve further qualitative study and future consideration.

  1. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Italian Validation of a Questionnaire on Nurses' Personal and Professional Use, Knowledge, and Attitudes.

    PubMed

    Belletti, Giada; Shorofi, Seyed Afshin; Arbon, Paul; Dal Molin, Alberto

    2017-08-01

    Patients are showing an increasing interest in the use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Most nurses are open to the adoption of CAM into clinical nursing practice, but they may experience a lack of knowledge about the safe and effective use of these therapies. Several studies concerning nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward CAM have been published, but only in one, the authors (Shorofi and Arbon) used a validated questionnaire. In Italy, there are no validated questionnaires to investigate this aspect of nursing practice. To test the psychometric properties of the Italian Shorofi and Arbon questionnaire for use with Italian nurses. A forward-backward translation method was used to translate the questionnaire from English to Italian. Content validity, face validity and reliability were established. This study examined the potential usefulness of the Shorofi and Arbon questionnaire for the evaluation of CAM knowledge of Italian speaking nurses, which showed good content validity and good reliability.

  2. Italian Credit Mobility Students Significantly Increase Their Alcohol Intake, Risky Drinking and Related Consequences During the Study Abroad Experience

    PubMed Central

    Aresi, Giovanni; Moore, Simon; Marta, Elena

    2016-01-01

    Aims To examine changes in alcohol intake and consequences in Italian students studying abroad. Methods Italian exchange students planning to study abroad were invited to report on their drinking and alcohol-related negative consequences before and after their time abroad. Results After excluding those who abstained throughout, data on 121 students were analysed and showed that they tended to consume more alcohol and experience more alcohol-related negative consequences compared to their pre-departure levels. Conclusion The added alcohol risk of study abroad for Italian students merits consideration of possible opportunities for intervention. PMID:27261474

  3. Slow intestinal transit contributes to elevate urinary p-cresol level in Italian autistic children.

    PubMed

    Gabriele, Stefano; Sacco, Roberto; Altieri, Laura; Neri, Cristina; Urbani, Andrea; Bravaccio, Carmela; Riccio, Maria Pia; Iovene, Maria Rosaria; Bombace, Francesca; De Magistris, Laura; Persico, Antonio M

    2016-07-01

    The uremic toxin p-cresol (4-methylphenol) is either of environmental origin or can be synthetized from tyrosine by cresol-producing bacteria present in the gut lumen. Elevated p-cresol amounts have been previously found in the urines of Italian and French autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children up until 8 years of age, and may be associated with autism severity or with the intensity of abnormal behaviors. This study aims to investigate the mechanism producing elevated urinary p-cresol in ASD. Urinary p-cresol levels were thus measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography in a sample of 53 Italian ASD children assessed for (a) presence of Clostridium spp. strains in the gut by means of an in vitro fecal stool test and of Clostridium difficile-derived toxin A/B in the feces, (b) intestinal permeability using the lactulose/mannitol (LA/MA) test, (c) frequent use of antibiotics due to recurrent infections during the first 2 years of postnatal life, and (d) stool habits with the Bristol Stool Form Scale. Chronic constipation was the only variable significantly associated with total urinary p-cresol concentration (P < 0.05). No association was found with presence of Clostridium spp. in the gut flora (P = 0.92), augmented intestinal permeability (P = 0.18), or frequent use of antibiotics in early infancy (P = 0.47). No ASD child was found to carry C. difficile in the gut or to release toxin A/B in the feces. In conclusion, urinary p-cresol levels are elevated in young ASD children with increased intestinal transit time and chronic constipation. Autism Res 2016, 9: 752-759. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Do Italian women prefer cesarean section? Results from a survey on mode of delivery preferences

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background About 20 million cesareans occur each year in the world and rates have steadily increased in almost all middle- and high-income countries over the last decades. Maternal request is often argued as one of the key forces driving this increase. Italy has the highest cesarean rate of Europe, yet there are no national surveys on the views of Italian women about their preferences on route of delivery. This study aimed to assess Italian women´s preference for mode of delivery, as well as reasons and factors associated with this preference, in a nationally representative sample of women. Methods This cross sectional survey was conducted between December 2010-March 2011. An anonymous structured questionnaire asked participants what was their preferred mode of delivery and explored the reasons for this preference by assessing their agreement to a series of statements. Participants were also asked to what extent their preference was influenced by a series of possible sources. The 1st phase of the study was carried out among readers of a popular Italian women´s magazine (Io Donna). In a 2nd phase, the study was complemented by a structured telephone interview. Results A total of 1000 Italian women participated in the survey and 80% declared they would prefer to deliver vaginally if they could opt. The preference for vaginal delivery was significantly higher among older (84.7%), more educated (87.6%), multiparous women (82.3%) and especially among those without any previous cesareans (94.2%). The main reasons for preferring a vaginal delivery were not wanting to be separated from the baby during the first hours of life, a shorter hospital stay and a faster postpartum recovery. The main reasons for preferring a cesarean were fear of pain, convenience to schedule the delivery and because it was perceived as being less traumatic for the baby. The source which most influenced the preference of these Italian women was their obstetrician, followed by friends or relatives

  5. The effect of morphology on spelling and reading accuracy: a study on Italian children

    PubMed Central

    Angelelli, Paola; Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Burani, Cristina

    2014-01-01

    In opaque orthographies knowledge of morphological information helps in achieving reading and spelling accuracy. In transparent orthographies with regular print-to-sound correspondences, such as Italian, the mappings of orthography onto phonology and phonology onto orthography are in principle sufficient to read and spell most words. The present study aimed to investigate the role of morphology in the reading and spelling accuracy of Italian children as a function of school experience to determine whether morphological facilitation was present in children learning a transparent orthography. The reading and spelling performances of 15 third-grade and 15 fifth-grade typically developing children were analyzed. Children read aloud and spelled both low-frequency words and pseudowords. Low-frequency words were manipulated for the presence of morphological structure (morphemic words vs. non-derived words). Morphemic words could also vary for the frequency (high vs. low) of roots and suffixes. Pseudo-words were made up of either a real root and a real derivational suffix in a combination that does not exist in the Italian language or had no morphological constituents. Results showed that, in Italian, morphological information is a useful resource for both reading and spelling. Typically developing children benefitted from the presence of morphological structure when they read and spelled pseudowords; however, in processing low-frequency words, morphology facilitated reading but not spelling. These findings are discussed in terms of morpho-lexical access and successful cooperation between lexical and sublexical processes in reading and spelling. PMID:25477855

  6. The effect of morphology on spelling and reading accuracy: a study on Italian children.

    PubMed

    Angelelli, Paola; Marinelli, Chiara Valeria; Burani, Cristina

    2014-01-01

    In opaque orthographies knowledge of morphological information helps in achieving reading and spelling accuracy. In transparent orthographies with regular print-to-sound correspondences, such as Italian, the mappings of orthography onto phonology and phonology onto orthography are in principle sufficient to read and spell most words. The present study aimed to investigate the role of morphology in the reading and spelling accuracy of Italian children as a function of school experience to determine whether morphological facilitation was present in children learning a transparent orthography. The reading and spelling performances of 15 third-grade and 15 fifth-grade typically developing children were analyzed. Children read aloud and spelled both low-frequency words and pseudowords. Low-frequency words were manipulated for the presence of morphological structure (morphemic words vs. non-derived words). Morphemic words could also vary for the frequency (high vs. low) of roots and suffixes. Pseudo-words were made up of either a real root and a real derivational suffix in a combination that does not exist in the Italian language or had no morphological constituents. Results showed that, in Italian, morphological information is a useful resource for both reading and spelling. Typically developing children benefitted from the presence of morphological structure when they read and spelled pseudowords; however, in processing low-frequency words, morphology facilitated reading but not spelling. These findings are discussed in terms of morpho-lexical access and successful cooperation between lexical and sublexical processes in reading and spelling.

  7. Development of an Italian RM Y-STR haplotype database: Results of the 2013 GEFI collaborative exercise.

    PubMed

    Robino, C; Ralf, A; Pasino, S; De Marchi, M R; Ballantyne, K N; Barbaro, A; Bini, C; Carnevali, E; Casarino, L; Di Gaetano, C; Fabbri, M; Ferri, G; Giardina, E; Gonzalez, A; Matullo, G; Nutini, A L; Onofri, V; Piccinini, A; Piglionica, M; Ponzano, E; Previderè, C; Resta, N; Scarnicci, F; Seidita, G; Sorçaburu-Cigliero, S; Turrina, S; Verzeletti, A; Kayser, M

    2015-03-01

    Recently introduced rapidly mutating Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (RM Y-STR) loci, displaying a multiple-fold higher mutation rate relative to any other Y-STRs, including those conventionally used in forensic casework, have been demonstrated to improve the resolution of male lineage differentiation and to allow male relative separation usually impossible with standard Y-STRs. However, large and geographically-detailed frequency haplotype databases are required to estimate the statistical weight of RM Y-STR haplotype matches if observed in forensic casework. With this in mind, the Italian Working Group (GEFI) of the International Society for Forensic Genetics launched a collaborative exercise aimed at generating an Italian quality controlled forensic RM Y-STR haplotype database. Overall 1509 male individuals from 13 regional populations covering northern, central and southern areas of the Italian peninsula plus Sicily were collected, including both "rural" and "urban" samples classified according to population density in the sampling area. A subset of individuals was additionally genotyped for Y-STR loci included in the Yfiler and PowerPlex Y23 (PPY23) systems (75% and 62%, respectively), allowing the comparison of RM and conventional Y-STRs. Considering the whole set of 13 RM Y-STRs, 1501 unique haplotypes were observed among the 1509 sampled Italian men with a haplotype diversity of 0.999996, largely superior to Yfiler and PPY23 with 0.999914 and 0.999950, respectively. AMOVA indicated that 99.996% of the haplotype variation was within populations, confirming that genetic-geographic structure is almost undetected by RM Y-STRs. Haplotype sharing among regional Italian populations was not observed at all with the complete set of 13 RM Y-STRs. Haplotype sharing within Italian populations was very rare (0.27% non-unique haplotypes), and lower in urban (0.22%) than rural (0.29%) areas. Additionally, 422 father-son pairs were investigated, and 20.1% of them could

  8. Influenza vaccination coverage among medical residents: an Italian multicenter survey.

    PubMed

    Costantino, Claudio; Mazzucco, Walter; Azzolini, Elena; Baldini, Cesare; Bergomi, Margherita; Biafiore, Alessio Daniele; Bianco, Manuela; Borsari, Lucia; Cacciari, Paolo; Cadeddu, Chiara; Camia, Paola; Carluccio, Eugenia; Conti, Andrea; De Waure, Chiara; Di Gregori, Valentina; Fabiani, Leila; Fallico, Roberto; Filisetti, Barbara; Flacco, Maria E; Franco, Elisabetta; Furnari, Roberto; Galis, Veronica; Gallea, Maria R; Gallone, Maria F; Gallone, Serena; Gelatti, Umberto; Gilardi, Francesco; Giuliani, Anna R; Grillo, Orazio C; Lanati, Niccolò; Mascaretti, Silvia; Mattei, Antonella; Micò, Rocco; Morciano, Laura; Nante, Nicola; Napoli, Giuseppe; Nobile, Carmelo Giuseppe; Palladino, Raffaele; Parisi, Salvatore; Passaro, Maria; Pelissero, Gabriele; Quarto, Michele; Ricciardi, Walter; Romano, Gabriele; Rustico, Ennio; Saponari, Anita; Schioppa, Francesco S; Signorelli, Carlo; Siliquini, Roberta; Trabacchi, Valeria; Triassi, Maria; Varetta, Alessia; Ziglio, Andrea; Zoccali, Angela; Vitale, Francesco; Amodio, Emanuele

    2014-01-01

    Although influenza vaccination is recognized to be safe and effective, recent studies have confirmed that immunization coverage among health care workers remain generally low, especially among medical residents (MRs). Aim of the present multicenter study was to investigate attitudes and determinants associated with acceptance of influenza vaccination among Italian MRs. A survey was performed in 2012 on MRs attending post-graduate schools of 18 Italian Universities. Each participant was interviewed via an anonymous, self-administered, web-based questionnaire including questions on attitudes regarding influenza vaccination. A total of 2506 MRs were recruited in the survey and 299 (11.9%) of these stated they had accepted influenza vaccination in 2011-2012 season. Vaccinated MRs were older (P = 0.006), working in clinical settings (P = 0.048), and vaccinated in the 2 previous seasons (P<0.001 in both seasons). Moreover, MRs who had recommended influenza vaccination to their patients were significantly more compliant with influenza vaccination uptake in 2011-2012 season (P<0.001). "To avoid spreading influenza among patients" was recognized as the main reason for accepting vaccination by less than 15% of vaccinated MRs. Italian MRs seem to have a very low compliance with influenza vaccination and they seem to accept influenza vaccination as a habit that is unrelated to professional and ethical responsibility. Otherwise, residents who refuse vaccination in the previous seasons usually maintain their behaviors. Promoting correct attitudes and good practice in order to improve the influenza immunization rates of MRs could represent a decisive goal for increasing immunization coverage among health care workers of the future.

  9. From simplicity towards complexity: the Italian multidimensional approach to obesity.

    PubMed

    Donini, Lorenzo M; Dalle Grave, Riccardo; Caretto, Antonio; Lucchin, Lucio; Melchionda, Nazario; Nisoli, Enzo; Sbraccia, Paolo; Lenzi, Andrea; Cuzzolaro, Massimo

    2014-01-01

    Obesity is the result of a complex interplay among several factors leading to medical, functional and psychosocial consequences that markedly reduce life expectancy and impair quality of life. Is obesity itself a disease? Is obesity a brain disease? Who should treat obesity? This paper is a narrative review aimed to describe and to argue the prevalent position of some major Italian scientific and academic institutions dealing with obesity. According to the recent statements and recommendations published by the Italian Society for Obesity (SIO) and the Italian Society for the Study of Eating Disorders (SISDCA), the management of obese patients should include five main levels of care: (1) primary care, (2) outpatient treatment, (3) intensive outpatient treatment, (4) residential rehabilitative treatment, and (5) hospitalization. Ideally, patients suffering from obesity need a multidimensional evaluation intended to design an individualized treatment plan applying different procedures and therapeutic strategies (diet, physical activity and functional rehabilitation, educational therapy, cognitive-behavior therapy, drug therapy, and bariatric surgery). This thorough approach should address not only weight loss but also quality of weight loss, medical and psychiatric comorbidity, psychosocial problems, and physical disability. Such management of obesity requires an effective multiprofessional team, while health services have to overcome a number of administrative and organizational barriers that do not account for diseases requiring resources and professionals from different areas of medicine. Integrating several competences in a team-based approach demands specific education, skills and expertise. As for other diseases, the principles of complexity theory may offer a model useful to implement both teamwork and care delivery for patients with obesity.

  10. Focus on the Finger, Overlook the Moon: The Introduction of Performance Management in the Administration of Italian Universities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Busetti, Simone; Dente, Bruno

    2014-01-01

    This article investigates management systems in higher education organisations by analysing the 2009 Italian reform of performance management and its implementation within Italian universities. The research is based on a survey that covered about half of Italy's public universities. Survey results provide an account of the state of management…

  11. Northerners versus southerners: Italian anthropology and psychology faced with the "southern question".

    PubMed

    Cimino, Guido; Foschi, Renato

    2014-11-01

    Following the Unification of Italy (1861), when confronted with the underdevelopment problems of the south that had given rise to the so-called "southern question," some Italian anthropologists and psychologists began to study the populations of the south from the psycho-anthropological point of view. These scientists, at times subject to preconceived ideas toward the southerners, conveyed observations and descriptions of the southern character traits that, in general, were considered different, in a negative sense, with respect to those of the northern peoples. To explain such diversity in the "psychological" characteristics between the north and south of the country (presumed cause also of the south's backwardness), various hypotheses were advanced related to the kind of heredity theory adopted, which could be of, more or less, an "innatist" or "transformist" or "environmentalist" kind. The distinction proposed in this article between at least 2 different "hereditarian" theories formulated by the Italian scientists, and the confrontation of these theories with the hypotheses expressed by the "southernist" sociologists, contrary to the idea of "racial varieties" present in the Italian population, allows one to understand in what way and in what sense, at the threshold of the 20th century, there arose the ideology of "Nordicism" and the roots of racism were planted.

  12. Normative Data for the Hayling and Brixton Tests in an Italian Population.

    PubMed

    Spitoni, Grazia Fernanda; Bevacqua, Sara; Cerini, Claudia; Ciurli, Paola; Piccardi, Laura; Guariglia, Paola; Pezzuti, Lina; Antonucci, Gabriella

    2018-06-01

    The Hayling and Brixton tests constitute a short test battery that quickly assesses verbal and spatial inhibition and flexibility. This battery has shown high construct validity and strong reliability in clinical and experimental settings. The aim of this study was to develop an Italian version of the Hayling and Brixton tests and obtain normative values. We collected normative data from 301 healthy Italian participants aged between 16 and 94 years, taking into account all demographics. To maximize the sample size, we used the overlapping interval strategy. Adjusted scores for demographics were obtained by linear regression analysis. The performance on the Hayling and Brixton tests was influenced by age and education. In particular, age affected verbal accuracy and response time on the Hayling Sentence Completion Test, whereas education only affected the former. Differently, the spatial component, as measured by the Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test, was shaped only by age, which decreased the number of correct responses. Our study provides normative data that have been adjusted for relevant demographics and percentile grids in an Italian population. Our data support the use of the Hayling and Brixton tests as a valid instrument for performing neuropsychological evaluations and longitudinal analyses of executive functions in clinical practice and for research purposes.

  13. Volatile nitrosamines in foods and beverages: preliminary survey of the Italian market

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gavinelli, M.; Fanelli, R.; Bonfanti, M.

    The question whether humans suffer from cancer as a result of exposure to N-nitroso compounds has not been yet answered. Food is one of the sources of human exposure to these compounds, and during the past decade considerable attention has in fact been paid to the identification and quantitative determination of N-nitroso compounds in food, volatile N-nitrosamines being those studied most extensively. Many studies have been made in different countries to establish the degree of contamination of foodstuffs typical for each country and to identify the efforts needed to remove or at least reduce their presence in the environment. Somore » far, there are only a few reports of nitrosamines in Italian cheese and beers, but no extensive studies have been made in Italy. The authors present here a preliminary survey on volatile nitrosamine content in foods and beverages on the Italian market, including canned beef, pork, poultry, cured meat, milk products, domestic Italian canned wines and beers. A recently developed methods used for measuring nitrosamines in solid food matrices by simultaneous distillation-extraction followed by high resolution gas chromatography-thermal energy analysis (HRGC-TEA). Liquid food matrices and beverages were screened for nitrosamine content after column extraction and HRGC-TEA.« less

  14. Beyond One Hundred: A Cohort Analysis of Italian Centenarians and Semi-supercentenarians.

    PubMed

    Caselli, Graziella; Battaglini, Marco; Capacci, Giorgia

    2018-03-26

    Although the increase in the number of centenarians is well documented today in countries with advanced demographic data, the same is not true for those aged 105 and over. The first aim of this paper, was to analyze the demographic characteristics of the 4,626 validated semi-super and 102 supercentenarians for the cohorts born between 1896 and 1910, referring to Italian Semi-Supercentenarians Survey (SSC). Then, starting from this data and from the survival  histories  in old ages - reconstructed by Vincent's Extinct - Cohort Method - for the cohorts born between 1870 and 1904, the most important aim was to analyze longevity history and the trend of gender gap of the Italian oldest cohorts beyond 100 years old.  The Italian centenarians and semi-supercentenarians increase from the first to the last cohort is due to the survival rise in old ages and the increase in the gender gap at extreme ages depends on the higher survival of women than men after 60 years old. Around 110-112 for both genders (for women in particular) a kind of resistance to further progress seems to appear in our analysis as in more recent studies on supercentenarians.

  15. Italian medical students quality of life: years 2005-2015.

    PubMed

    Messina, G; Quercioli, C; Troiano, G; Russo, C; Barbini3, E; Nisticò, F; Nante, N

    2016-01-01

    Quality of Life (QoL) is a concept used to indicate the general wellness of persons or societies. University students report a low quality of life and a worse perception of their health status, because of a situation of greater discomfort in which they live during the course of the study, especially in faculties with an important emotional burden, such as medical schools. The aim of the study was to evaluate the perceived health status of first year medical students. We conducted a cross sectional study in the time span 2005-2015, administering the questionnaire Short Form 36 (SF-36) to first-year students of the School of Medicine of the University of Siena, Italy. In addition to demographic information such as gender and the age we investigated the region of residence, marital status, employment status, and smoking habits; height and weight were required to calculate the body mass index (BMI) to evaluate a possible physical discomfort connected with the perception of health status. The data from the questionnaires were organized and processed by software Stata® SE, version 12.1. 1,104 questionnaires were collected. Medical students reported lower SF-36 scores, compared to the Italian population of the same age. Female gender and smoking habits influence negatively the score of several scales. Body Mass Index is positively correlated with the Physical Activity, while Age is negatively correlated with Social Activities. The perceived quality of life of the Italian medical students is lower when compared to the general population. This confirms that the condition of student implies additional problems, as other studies reports. It would be better to improve it, developing students' resilience. It would be interesting to extend this research to students of other years, from other faculties and other locations, to gain a broader view about the QoL of the Italian students.

  16. Perceived neighborhood social resources as determinants of prosocial behavior in early adolescence.

    PubMed

    Lenzi, Michela; Vieno, Alessio; Perkins, Douglas D; Pastore, Massimiliano; Santinello, Massimo; Mazzardis, Sonia

    2012-09-01

    The present study aims to develop an integrative model that links neighborhood behavioral opportunities and social resources (neighborhood cohesion, neighborhood friendship and neighborhood attachment) to prosocial (sharing, helping, empathic) behavior in early adolescence, taking into account the potential mediating role of perceived support of friends. Path analysis was used to test the proposed theoretical model in a sample of 1,145 Italian early adolescents (6th through 8th graders). More perceived opportunities and social resources in the neighborhood are related to higher levels of adolescent prosocial behavior, and this relationship is partially mediated by perceived social support from friends. The results offer promising implications for future research and intervention programs that aim to modify social systems to improve child and adolescent social competencies.

  17. Signatures of selection in five Italian cattle breeds detected by a 54K SNP panel.

    PubMed

    Mancini, Giordano; Gargani, Maria; Chillemi, Giovanni; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel Luis; Marsan, Paolo Ajmone; Valentini, Alessio; Pariset, Lorraine

    2014-02-01

    In this study we used a medium density panel of SNP markers to perform population genetic analysis in five Italian cattle breeds. The BovineSNP50 BeadChip was used to genotype a total of 2,935 bulls of Piedmontese, Marchigiana, Italian Holstein, Italian Brown and Italian Pezzata Rossa breeds. To determine a genome-wide pattern of positive selection we mapped the F st values against genome location. The highest F st peaks were obtained on BTA6 and BTA13 where some candidate genes are located. We identified selection signatures peculiar of each breed which suggest selection for genes involved in milk or meat traits. The genetic structure was investigated by using a multidimensional scaling of the genetic distance matrix and a Bayesian approach implemented in the STRUCTURE software. The genotyping data showed a clear partitioning of the cattle genetic diversity into distinct breeds if a number of clusters equal to the number of populations were given. Assuming a lower number of clusters beef breeds group together. Both methods showed all five breeds separated in well defined clusters and the Bayesian approach assigned individuals to the breed of origin. The work is of interest not only because it enriches the knowledge on the process of evolution but also because the results generated could have implications for selective breeding programs.

  18. Third molars and dental crowding: different opinions of orthodontists and oral surgeons among Italian practitioners.

    PubMed

    Gavazzi, Michela; De Angelis, Donato; Blasi, Sergio; Pesce, Paolo; Lanteri, Valentina

    2014-11-22

    The role of third molars as a cause of incisor crowding, especially in the lower arch, continues to be controversial. The aim of this work is to compare opinions of Italian oral surgeons and orthodontists on this topic. One hundred ninety-three Italian practitioners of the Society of Orthodontics (SIDO) and the Italian Society of Oral Surgery (SICOI) were asked to fill out an online questionnaire made up of six questions. Practitioners were asked to express their opinion on the relation between upper and lower third molar eruption and anterior crowding. One hundred sixty-six members of both societies completed the online research survey; response rate (RR) was 86%. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.005). Both agree not to believe that third molars create a force responsible for anterior crowding in the upper (82.5% orthodontists, 83.8% surgeons) and in the lower arch (52.6% orthodontists, 63.8% surgeons). Both agree also not to consider the upper (89.7% orthodontists, 82.1% surgeons) and lower (58.8% orthodontists, 63.2% surgeons) third molar extraction useful to prevent crowding. Italian orthodontists and oral surgeons have the same opinion on the role of the third molar in causing anterior crowding. The majority of both groups of clinicians do not consider their preventive extraction useful in order to prevent anterior crowding.

  19. French Alps, Mont Blanc, French/Italian Border

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1992-04-02

    In this southeast looking view, Mont Blanc, on the French/Italian border, (48.0N, 4.5E) the highest mountain peak in all of Europe, is just below and right of center (below the end of the prominent valley of the Aosta River, in the center of the photo. The rivers flow out of the Alps into Italy toward Turin. Chamonix, the famous resort town and center of Alpine mountain climbing, lies in the valley just below Mont Blanc.

  20. Cross-cultural adaptation and measurement properties of the italian version of the Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) questionnaire.

    PubMed

    Cacchio, Angelo; Necozione, Stefano; MacDermid, Joy C; Rompe, Jan Dirk; Maffulli, Nicola; di Orio, Ferdinando; Santilli, Valter; Paoloni, Marco

    2012-08-01

    The Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation (PRTEE) questionnaire is a tool designed for self-assessment of forearm pain and disability in patients with lateral elbow tendinopathy (LET). However, an Italian version of this questionnaire has not been available. The aims of this study were: (1) to translate and cross-culturally adapt the PRTEE questionnaire into Italian and (2) to evaluate its measurement properties. This was a longitudinal, observational measurement study. The PRTEE questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted to Italian according to established guidelines. Ninety-five individuals (41 women, 54 men) with unilateral, imaging-confirmed, chronic LET were selected consecutively to assess the measurement properties of the PRTEE questionnaire. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness were estimated. The Italian version of the PRTEE displayed a high degree of internal consistency, with a Cronbach alpha of .95. The test-retest reliability was high for both short-term and medium-term, with intraclass correlation coefficients (2,1) of .95 and .93, respectively. The PRTEE exhibited a strong correlation (r=.77-.91, P<.0001) with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) at the baseline and a moderate correlation (r=.58-.74, P<.0001) at discharge. The responsiveness was higher for the PRTEE than for the DASH. Limitations A methodological limitation of the study is that due to the small sample size, a factor analysis was not performed to assess convergent validity. The Italian version of the PRTEE questionnaire is internally consistent, demonstrates expected correlations with other measures, and is more responsive than the DASH in Italian patients with chronic LET.

  1. The Management of Patients With Diverticulosis and Diverticular Disease in Primary Care: An Online Survey Among Italian General Pratictioners.

    PubMed

    De Bastiani, Rudi; Sanna, Guido; Fracasso, Pierluigi; D'Urso, Maurizio; Benedetto, Edoardo; Tursi, Antonio

    2016-10-01

    To investigate the current opinion of Italian general practitioners (GPs) on the management of patients with diverticular disease (DD) of the colon. The management of DD remains a point of debate, and guidelines are not uniform in their advice. A web-based survey was conducted among Italian GPs. Twelve questions were aimed at the diagnosis, treatment, and management options for diverticulosis and symptomatic DD. In total, 245 surveys were filled out. A high-fiber diet was prescribed widely in diverticulosis (44%), together with advice to allow seeds (30%). Rifaximin (26%) and probiotics (25%) were the most frequently prescribed drugs in this population. Colonoscopy was the most prescribed instrumental tool in the diagnosis (77%) and follow-up (21%) of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease patients. Rifaximin, probiotics, and mesalazine were the most frequently prescribed drugs in symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease patients (82.8, 59.5%, and 36.3%, respectively). Finally, 77% of the Italian GPs prescribed laboratory exams in the follow-up of these patients. The vast majority of the Italian GPs (83%) managed suspected acute diverticulitis at home, and did not consider two episodes of acute diverticulitis as a strict surgical indication (86%). Rifaximin, probiotics, and mesalazine were the most frequently prescribed drugs to prevent recurrence of the disease (42.5%, 28.2%, and 12.4%, respectively). Finally, 87% of the Italian GPs prescribed laboratory examinations in the follow-up of these patients. This survey shows that the current management of DD in primary care by Italian GPs is not fully in line with current guidelines and more recent literature data.

  2. New Languages and New Consumers: Changing Italian "Media-Scapes"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milic, Enrico Maria

    2006-01-01

    This research aims to point out some of the behavior, interests, and relationships within the public sphere of young Italian users of the Internet. The topics of analysis were the motivations of the users in expressing themselves through their blogs, their online and offline behavior towards what is offered by the ruling class for consumption,…

  3. Visual Creativity across Cultures: A Comparison between Italians and Japanese

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Palmiero, Massimiliano; Nakatani, Chie; van Leeuwen, Cees

    2017-01-01

    Culture-related differences in visual creativity were investigated, comparing Italian and Japanese participants in terms of divergent (figural completion task) and product-oriented thinking (figural combination task). Visual restructuring ability was measured as the ability to reinterpret ambiguous figures and was included as a covariate. Results…

  4. RST-FIRES, an exportable algorithm for early/small fires detection: field validation and algorithm inter-comparison by using MSG-SEVIRI data over Italian Regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lisi, M.; Paciello, R.; Filizzola, C.; Corrado, R.; Marchese, F.; Mazzeo, G.; Pergola, N.; Tramutoli, V.

    2016-12-01

    Fire detection by sensors on-board polar orbiting platforms, due to their relatively low temporal resolution (hours), could results decidedly not adequate to detect short-living events or fires characterized by a strong diurnal cycle and rapid evolution times. The challenge is therefore to try to exploit the very high temporal resolution offered by the geostationary sensors (from 30 to 2,5 minutes) to guarantee a continuous monitoring. Over the last years, many algorithms have been adapted from polar to (or have been specifically designed for) geostationary sensors. Most of them are based on fixed thresholds tests which, to avoid false alarm proliferation, are generally set up in the most conservative way. The result is a low algorithm sensitivity (i.e. only large and/or extremely intense events are generally detected) which could drastically affect Global Fire Emission (GFE) estimate: small fires were recognized to contribute for more than 35% to the global biomass burning carbon emissions. This work describes the multi-temporal change-detection technique named RST-FIRES (Robust Satellite Techniques for FIRES detection and monitoring) which, try to overcome the above mentioned issues being, moreover, immediately exportable on different geographic area and sensors. Its performance in terms of reliability and sensitivity was verified by more than 20,000 SEVIRI images collected throughout the day during a four-year-collaboration with the Regional Civil Protection Departments and Local Authorities of two Italian regions which provided about 950 near real-time ground and aerial checks of the RST-FIRES detections. This study fully demonstrates the added value of the RST-FIRES technique for the detection of early/small fires and a sensitivity from 3 to 70 times higher than any other similar SEVIRI-based products.

  5. Italian psychology under protection: Agostino Gemelli between Catholicism and fascism.

    PubMed

    Foschi, Renato; Giannone, Anna; Giuliani, Alessia

    2013-05-01

    Between the 1930s and 1940s, Agostino Gemelli (1878-1959) was the main Italian psychologist; he accepted and promoted an empirical conception of psychology influenced by neo-Thomism. The views of Gemelli were a landmark for many psychologists and psychological models in Catholic universities. Gemelli, moreover, throughout his scientific activity, continued ongoing work of expertise in matters concerning science, morality, and psychology. He was a Franciscan monk but also an officer of the Italian air force, a psychologist, and a rector. During the period of fascist rule in Italy, Gemelli sought compromise solutions to foster the survival of psychological institutions. Around his story, contrasting interpretations have emerged. The aim of this article is to look at Agostino Gemelli as an important historical subject to understand the ways in which scientific enterprises and institutions are likely to be influenced by political regimes and by the dogmatic and intolerant milieu. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

  6. The Linguistic Experience of Italians in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1890-1914: Language Shift as Seen through Social Spaces

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Italiano-McGreevy, Maria

    2013-01-01

    From 1890-1914, Argentina received a large influx of Italian immigrants who wanted to "hacer la América," or live the American dream of economic prosperity. With Italian immigrants representing nearly half of all immigrants entering Argentina, the government strived to create a new sense of Argentine pride and nationalism. The objective…

  7. Psychometric properties of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale in a sample of Italian adolescents.

    PubMed

    Schimmenti, Adriano

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Adolescent Dissociative Experiences Scale (A-DES). A sample of 1,806 high-school students between the ages of 13 and 18 years, recruited in 6 Italian cities, completed the A-DES. The A-DES showed high internal consistency, excellent item-to-scale homogeneity, good split-half reliability, and a single-factor structure. The scores of the Italian adolescents were comparable to those found in previous research with the measure. No gender differences were found in mean A-DES scores, but boys and girls showed different patterns of responses on A-DES items. Age differences were also found, with 13- and 18-year-old students scoring higher on the measure than the other participants. A cluster analysis showed that participants could be consistently grouped into 2 clusters of low- and high-dissociative adolescents. This study supports the A-DES as a reliable and valid screening measure for dissociative symptoms in adolescents.

  8. 2016 Update of the Italian Pediatric Society Guidelines for Management of Fever in Children.

    PubMed

    Chiappini, Elena; Venturini, Elisabetta; Remaschi, Giulia; Principi, Nicola; Longhi, Riccardo; Tovo, Pier-Angelo; Becherucci, Paolo; Bonsignori, Francesca; Esposito, Susanna; Festini, Filippo; Galli, Luisa; Lucchesi, Bice; Mugelli, Alessandro; Marseglia, Gian Luigi; de Martino, Maurizio

    2017-01-01

    To review new scientific evidence to update the Italian guidelines for managing fever in children as drafted by the panel of the Italian Pediatric Society. Relevant publications in English and Italian were identified through search of MEDLINE and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews from May 2012 to November 2015. Previous recommendations are substantially reaffirmed. Antipyretics should be administered with the purpose to control the child's discomfort. Antipyretics should be administered orally; rectal administration is discouraged except in the setting of vomiting. Combined use of paracetamol and ibuprofen is discouraged, considering risk and benefit. Antipyretics are not recommended preemptively to reduce the incidence of fever and local reactions in children undergoing vaccination, or in attempt to prevent febrile convulsions in children. Ibuprofen and paracetamol are not contraindicated in children who are febrile with asthma, with the exception of known cases of paracetamol- or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced asthma. Recent medical literature leads to reaffirmation of previous recommendations for use of antipyretics in children who are febrile. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Validation of the Italian translation of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire.

    PubMed

    Ciccocioppo, Rachele; Klersy, Catherine; Russo, Maria Luisa; Valli, Monica; Boccaccio, Vincenzo; Imbesi, Venerina; Ardizzone, Sandro; Porro, Gabriele Bianchi; Corazza, Gino Roberto

    2011-07-01

    Health-related quality of life is an important measure of treatment outcome; its evaluation requires the use of internationally validated ad hoc questionnaires. The McMaster Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (IBDQ) is the most used specific instrument. To assess the validity and reliability of the Italian translation of the IBDQ. The IBDQ underwent forward and backward translation; 13 patients were enrolled for cognitive testing of the Italian version to increase clarity. For field testing, 113 patients (65 with Crohn's disease and 48 with ulcerative colitis) completed both the IBDQ and the generic instrument 36-item Short Form Health Survey scale (SF-36). Data quality was optimal with high completeness and low floor and ceiling effect. Item internal consistency was satisfied for 100% of patients, while discriminant validity showed a few items with higher correlations with other scales. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.96. Test-retest correlations indicated good reliability (Pearson R 0.81). Exploratory factor analysis indicated that the original grouping of the item was suboptimal. The score proved sensitive to disease activity, gender and quality of life as measured by the SF-36. The Italian translation of the McMaster Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire sounds natural and is easy to understand. A field test gave results comparable to other international validations, supporting its use in cross-national surveys. Copyright © 2011 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. [Online information supplied by Italian Hospitals and Local Healthcare Units: a descriptive research on their compliance with the guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Health].

    PubMed

    Vanzetta, M; Vellone, E; De Marinis, M G; Cavicchi, I; Alvaro, R

    2012-01-01

    In most countries where Internet is widely used the number of people surfing the web for healthcare information equals (and in some countries is more than) the number of people looking for healthcare assistance. More and more often, all over the world, Internet is integrated by advanced healthcare systems as a cornerstone of their e-health infrastructure, to meet citizens' needs for health information. Therefore, information plays a key role in the relationship between healthcare providers and citizenship. In 2010 the Italian Ministry of Health has worked out a set of guidelines to improve online communication, within the framework of health promotion. To analyze if the web sites of the Italian public hospitals (PH) and the local healthcare units (LHU) comply with the guidelines of the Italian Ministry of Health (IMH) on the improvement of online communication within the framework of healthcare promotion. All Italian PH and LHU web sites have been analyzed using the self evaluation tool of the IMH. The total number of web sites analyzed was 245. Their compliance with the IMH guidelines was low. Web sites linking to other professional sites, such as the College of Physicians, the College of Pharmacists, or the College of Nurses, were 32 (13%). One hundred and forty-two (58%) were the sites that did not offer any kind of health information, such as pathophysiology of diseases, the most relevant pathologic conditions, risky behaviors, primary and secondary prevention's interventions. A web navigation menu organized according to the most relevant life events or according to categories of users (I am ... /dedicated to...) was available only in 53 web sites (22%). The IMH's guidelines on online communication -- with reference to the aspects here analyzed -- have been in some ways disregarded and the criteria suggested by them have not been fully adopted by PHs and LHUs. Overall, communication is globally meant (and directed) "towards" citizenship and not "together with

  11. Short-term effects of the 2008 Great Recession on the health of the Italian population: an ecological study.

    PubMed

    Mattei, Giorgio; Ferrari, Silvia; Pingani, Luca; Rigatelli, Marco

    2014-06-01

    To report on the effects on health that the 2008 Great Recession is producing in Italy, by comparing the consistency of Italian data with general observations reported in the scientific literature, and by pointing out consequences on the rates of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, male suicidal behaviours, daytime alcohol drinking and traffic fatalities. This is an ecological study in which MEDLINE, PsycINFO and PubMed were searched for the literature with combinations of the following keywords: economic recession, financial crisis, unemployment, health, suicide and mental health. Data from two Italian government agencies (Italian Institute of Statistics, ISTAT, and Italian Agency of Drugs, AIFA) in the years from 2000 to 2010 were obtained and analysed, by producing models of multiple linear regressions. After the recession onset, all-cause mortality remained stable, and was not associated with the economic fluctuations. Differently, cardiovascular mortality was associated with the rate of unemployment, and showed a significant increase in 2010. Alcohol consumption increased in 2009, the year with the worst real GDP decrease (-5.1 %). Though the total rate of suicide was not associated with the economic situation, male completed and attempted suicides due to financial crisis were significantly associated with the rate of unemployment and the real GDP. The increasing diffusion of antidepressants was not associated with a lowering of the rate of suicide. The data on the Italian situation here discussed are sufficiently reliable to conclude that a link exists between the ongoing economic recession and health and mental health of Italians. Further research is needed to understand more in detail and with stronger reliability such link, to support primary and secondary preventive interventions and orient the development of effective sociopolitical interventions.

  12. The New Italian Agency for the Evaluation of the University System (ANVUR): A Need for Governance or Legitimacy?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turri, Matteo

    2014-01-01

    After nearly 20 years of evaluation in Italian higher education, a new national agency for the evaluation of the university system (ANVUR) came into being in 2011. This article traces the history of evaluation in Italian universities, discussing the tasks assigned to the national evaluation bodies and their functions within the university system.…

  13. Pragmatic Language Development in 18- to 47-Month-Old Italian Children: A Study with the Language Use Inventory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Longobardi, Emiddia; Lonigro, Antonia; Laghi, Fiorenzo; O'Neill, Daniela K.

    2017-01-01

    The study was designed to investigate pragmatic development and the ability to make comments/questions on social and non-social topics in Italian-speaking children aged 18-47 months. Parents of 190 children completed an adaptation of the Language Use Inventory into Italian. Overall, the children's performance on the subscales of the LUI-Italian…

  14. Teaching Interactive Practices and Burnout: A Study on Italian Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mameli, Consuelo; Molinari, Luisa

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to analyse the role played by teaching interactive practices (measured through a self-report Likert scale) in predicting teacher burnout, after controlling for school grade (primary vs. secondary school) and teaching experience. Participants were 282 Italian teachers equally distributed between primary and…

  15. English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese? Code Choice and Austrian Export

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lavric, Eva; Back, Bernhard

    2009-01-01

    This article deals with how "export oriented Austrian companies effect code choice in their business relationships with customers from Romance language speaking countries". The focus lies on the most widespread Romance languages, therefore on French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese speaking customers.The question of code choice in export…

  16. Spanish Cultural Adaptation of the Questionnaire Early Arthritis for Psoriatic Patients.

    PubMed

    García-Gavín, J; Pérez-Pérez, L; Tinazzi, I; Vidal, D; McGonagle, D

    2017-12-01

    The Early Arthritis for Psoriatic patients (EARP) questionnaire is a screening tool for psoriatic arthritis. The original Italian version has good measurement properties but the EARP required translation and adaptation for use in Spain. This article describes the cultural adaptation process as a step prior to validation. We used the principles of good practice for the cross-cultural adaptation of patient-reported outcomes measurement established by the International Society Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research. The steps in this process were preparation, forward translation, reconciliation, back-translation and review, harmonization, cognitive debriefing and review, and proofreading. During preparation the developers of the original questionnaire were asked for their permission to adapt the EARP for use in Spain and to act as consultants during the process. The original questionnaire was translated into Spanish by native Spanish translators, who made slight changes that were approved by the questionnaire's developers. The Spanish version was then back-translated into Italian; that version was reviewed to confirm equivalence with the original Italian text. The reconciled Spanish EARP was then tested for comprehensibility and interpretation in a group of 35 patients. All the patients answered all items without making additional comments. This cultural adaptation of the EARP questionnaire for Spanish populations is the first step towards its later use in routine clinical practice. The application of a cross-cultural adaptation method ensured equivalence between the original and Spanish versions of the EARP. The Spanish questionnaire will be validated in a second stage. Copyright © 2017 AEDV. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  17. The perception of food quality. Profiling Italian consumers.

    PubMed

    Mascarello, Giulia; Pinto, Anna; Parise, Nicoletta; Crovato, Stefania; Ravarotto, Licia

    2015-06-01

    This study aims to analyse the elements which, according to Italian consumers, contribute most to defining the quality of a food product. A sample of 1000 consumers, in charge of purchases for the household, was interviewed by telephone. The data analysis has made it possible to categorise Italian consumers into two main groups: on the one hand those who mainly use criteria associated with organoleptic elements, and, on the other, those who make their choice based on place and methods of production. Both categories were studied with a view to identifying their distinctive socio-demographic and behavioural features. Geographical provenance, age, propensity to read the label on products, scientific knowledge and self-assessment of knowledge on food safety-related issues emerged as the main differences between the two groups. The perception of quality appears to affect purchase decisions and dietary patterns. The description of the consumer groups who use the same elements to define quality provided a useful insight into consumer choices and potential risk-exposure behaviours. The study of these aspects is therefore relevant for the purpose of designing effective and targeted communication actions, not only for companies but also for public institutions in charge of safeguarding public health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. [Validation of the Italian version of the GHAA-9 m questionnaire on patient satisfaction in digestive Endoscopy].

    PubMed

    Petitti, Tommasangelo; Candela, Maria Luigia; Ianni, Andrea; de Belvis, Antonio Giulio; Ricciardi, Walter; De Marinis, Maria Grazia

    2015-01-01

    There isn't a validated questionnaire in Italian language to evaluate the quality perceived by the patient in Digestive Endoscopy. validation of the translation of a questionnaire from English to Italian language to measure the level of patient satisfaction. we conducted a prospective study on validation in Italian of a short questionnaire adapted for Endoscopy by the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the GHAA-9m. It's been tested with the technique of the questionnaire/interview on 80 outpatients who underwent in the month of September 2014 to endoscopic examinations of the gastrointestinal tract. The patients were divided into 2 groups of 40 patients: group 1 was administered before the questionnaire and subsequently the interview was conducted, on the contrary on the group 2 was administered before the interview and subsequently the questionnaire. The results of the two groups were compared using the inter-rater agreement. It was also evaluated the internal consistency of the questions. The results show that the instrument is experienced as simple and quick to use for patients. Data analysis allowed us to conclude that the Italian translation is valid and consistent. In the phase of the interview there were some aspects that suggest, in a development of this tool, some changes that could increase the accuracy and informational content. The Italian version of the questionnaire GHAA-9m has good validity, reliability, and shows property valuation comparable to those of the American version and can therefore be used in daily practice Digestive Endoscopy.

  19. Long term attenuation statistics at 11.6 GHz in the three Italian Main Stations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carassa, Francesco; Mauri, Mario; Paraboni, Aldo

    1987-04-01

    Results are presented from the 5-year attenuation-measurement campaign conducted with the SIRIO satellite at 11.6 and 17.8, which used near-continuous measurements at the lower frequency from the Italian ground stations at Fucino, Lario, and Spino d'Adda, and fewer measurements at the higher frequency from Fucino and Lario. The long-term statistics thus obtained have been applied in the design of the Italian domestic satellite system Italsat, which is to begin operating in 1989. Attention is presently given to annual worst month, time-of-day dependence, rain rate attenuation correlation, and frequency scaling statistics.

  20. SASS: a bi-spectral panoramic IRST - results from measurement campaigns with the Italian Navy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Ceglie, S. U.; Lo Moro, M.; Vita, R.; Neri, A.; Barani, G.; Cavallini, M.; Quaranta, C.; Colombi, G.

    2010-04-01

    Modern naval warfare asks for alerting system able to detect classical & asymmetric threats in support to radar in environment in which radar has reduced performance (on or near the sea surface). More, capability to offer high resolution images helps in ship identification, coastal & harbor surveillance as well as night navigation and rescue. All these tasks can be performed by an infrared search and track (IRST) system. This paper describes the IRST named Silent Acquisition and Surveillance System (SASS), developed for the Italian Navy and the tests jointly carried out by SELEX GALILEO and Italian Navy to characterize the system.

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