Webpages of Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory Library: Tools for Users and for Librarians

The present poster has a double aim. First, it wants to illustrate the organization of information resources on the new library webpage. Second,it wants to show a software utility which has simplified the librarian’s job in the maintenance of the website.The great demand for services and for information resources from userswas the main reason for changing the webpage. We analyze the development of the new home page to make it user friendly. Then, we present a practical tool. The library website has been developed using a templating tool, called the Perl Template Toolkit

EFFECTIVENESS OF SEROTONERGIC DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PROBLEM BEHAVIORS IN PATIENTS WITH NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

Neurodevelopmental disorders often result in disabilities associated with auto- and / or hetero-aggressive behaviors, that can be defined as "problem behaviors" (Lacy 2007). Therapeutic interventions are mainly directed towards the use of neuroleptic drugs or benzodiazepines, to ensure a rapid and significant sedation in most of cases. These pharmacological devices exposes the patient to clinical risks and/or long-term management difficulties. The main problem of the chronic use of benzodiazepines is the development of tolerance and dependence; furthermore benzodiazepine withdrawal or their abrupt reduction may lead to rebound effect. Regarding the long-term effects of neuroleptics, it is necessary to focus on extrapyramidal effects, motor restlessness and akathisia, anticholinergic effects, as well as endocrine and metabolic alterations. Several studies have shown that the reduction of serotonergic receptor activity is associated with the appearance of aggressive behavior (Farnam et al. 2017), especially impulsive behaviors (Manchia et al. 2017, Takahashi et al. 2012). The dynamics that subtend these data are still not fully clarified, however there are evidences that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) is helpful in the treatment of aggressive behavior in mental disabilities (Sterke et al. 2012, Janowsky et al. 2015). In this study we observe the behavioral response to sertraline, for minors, and to vortioxetine, for adults, considering that the literature shows significant evidence of modulation of synaptic neuroplasticity (Waller et al. 2017). To support the observation we used behavioural scales to collect the data, before the administration of the drug, during the course of treatment, at 3 months from the start of the administration. We detected the improve of behavioral disorders with the less use neuroleptic drugs and benzodiazepines

EFFECTIVENESS OF SEROTONERGIC DRUGS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PROBLEM BEHAVIORS IN PATIENTS WITH NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

Neurodevelopmental disorders often result in disabilities associated with auto- and / or hetero-aggressive behaviors, that can be defined as "problem behaviors" (Lacy 2007). Therapeutic interventions are mainly directed towards the use of neuroleptic drugs or benzodiazepines, to ensure a rapid and significant sedation in most of cases. These pharmacological devices exposes the patient to clinical risks and/or long-term management difficulties. The main problem of the chronic use of benzodiazepines is the development of tolerance and dependence; furthermore benzodiazepine withdrawal or their abrupt reduction may lead to rebound effect. Regarding the long-term effects of neuroleptics, it is necessary to focus on extrapyramidal effects, motor restlessness and akathisia, anticholinergic effects, as well as endocrine and metabolic alterations. Several studies have shown that the reduction of serotonergic receptor activity is associated with the appearance of aggressive behavior (Farnam et al. 2017), especially impulsive behaviors (Manchia et al. 2017, Takahashi et al. 2012). The dynamics that subtend these data are still not fully clarified, however there are evidences that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) is helpful in the treatment of aggressive behavior in mental disabilities (Sterke et al. 2012, Janowsky et al. 2015). In this study we observe the behavioral response to sertraline, for minors, and to vortioxetine, for adults, considering that the literature shows significant evidence of modulation of synaptic neuroplasticity (Waller et al. 2017). To support the observation we used behavioural scales to collect the data, before the administration of the drug, during the course of treatment, at 3 months from the start of the administration. We detected the improve of behavioral disorders with the less use neuroleptic drugs and benzodiazepines

EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON SEIZURE FREQUENCY IN INSTITUTIONALIZED SUBJECTS WITH SEVERE/PROFOUND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY AND DRUG-RESISTANT EPILEPSY

Background: Approximately one-third of patients with epilepsy continue to experience seizures despite adequate therapy with antiepileptic drugs. Drug-resistant epilepsy is even more frequent in subjects with intellectual disability. As a result, several nonpharmacological interventions have been proposed to improve quality of life in patients with intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy. A number of studies have demonstrated that music can be effective at reducing seizures and epileptiform discharges. In particular, Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major, K448, has been shown to decrease interictal EEG discharges and recurrence of clinical seizures in patients with intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy as well. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of Mozart\u27s music on seizure frequency in institutionalized epileptic subjects with profound/severe intellectual disability. Subjects and methods: Twelve patients (10 males and 2 females) with a mean age of 21.6 years were randomly assigned to two groups in a cross-over design; they listened to Mozart K448 once a day for six months. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed between the listening period and both baseline and control periods. During the music period, none of the patients worsened in seizure frequency; one patient was seizure-free, five had a greater than 50% reduction in seizure frequency and the remaining showed minimal (N=2) or no difference (N=4). The average seizure reduction compared to the baseline was 20.5%. Our results are discussed in relation to data in the literature considering differences in protocol investigation. Conclusions: Music may be considered a useful approach as add-on therapy in some subjects with profound intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy and can provide a new option for clinicians to consider, but further large sample, multicenter studies are needed to better understand the characteristics of responders and non-responders to this type of non-pharmacological intervention

FAMA: An automatic code for stellar parameter and abundance determination

The large amount of spectra obtained during the epoch of extensive spectroscopic surveys of Galactic stars needs the development of automatic procedures to derive their atmospheric parameters and individual element abundances. Starting from the widely-used code MOOG by C. Sneden, we have developed a new procedure to determine atmospheric parameters and abundances in a fully automatic way. The code FAMA (Fast Automatic MOOG Analysis) is presented describing its approach to derive atmospheric stellar parameters and element abundances. The code, freely distributed, is written in Perl and can be used on different platforms. The aim of FAMA is to render the computation of the atmospheric parameters and abundances of a large number of stars using measurements of equivalent widths as automatic and as independent of any subjective approach as possible. It is based on the simultaneous search for three equilibria: excitation equilibrium, ionization balance, and the relationship between \fei\ and the reduced equivalent widths. FAMA also evaluates the statistical errors on individual element abundances and errors due to the uncertainties in the stellar parameters. The convergence criteria are not fixed 'a priori' but are based on the quality of the spectra. In this paper we present tests performed on the Solar spectrum EWs which tests the dependency on the initial parameters, and the analysis of a sample of stars observed in Galactic open and globular clusters.Comment: A&A accepted, 12 pages, 6 figures, 3 table

MOZART\u27S MUSIC AND MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT EPILEPSY: A POTENTIAL EEG INDEX OF THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS

Multidrug-resistant epilepsy is a pathological condition that affects approximately one-third of patients with epilepsy, especially those with associated intellectual disabilities. Several non-pharmacological interventions have been proposed to improve quality of life of these patients. In particular, Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major, K448, has been shown to decrease interictal electroencephalography (EEG) discharges and recurrence of clinical seizures in these patients. In a previous study we observed that in institutionalized subjects with severe/profound intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy, a systematic music listening protocol reduced the frequency of seizures in about 50% of cases. This study aims to assess electroencephalography as a quantitative (qEEG) predictive biomarker of effectiveness of listening to music on the frequency of epileptic discharges and on background rhythm frequency (BRF)

MOZART\u27S MUSIC AND MULTIDRUG-RESISTANT EPILEPSY: A POTENTIAL EEG INDEX OF THERAPEUTIC EFFECTIVENESS

Multidrug-resistant epilepsy is a pathological condition that affects approximately one-third of patients with epilepsy, especially those with associated intellectual disabilities. Several non-pharmacological interventions have been proposed to improve quality of life of these patients. In particular, Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major, K448, has been shown to decrease interictal electroencephalography (EEG) discharges and recurrence of clinical seizures in these patients. In a previous study we observed that in institutionalized subjects with severe/profound intellectual disability and drug-resistant epilepsy, a systematic music listening protocol reduced the frequency of seizures in about 50% of cases. This study aims to assess electroencephalography as a quantitative (qEEG) predictive biomarker of effectiveness of listening to music on the frequency of epileptic discharges and on background rhythm frequency (BRF)

AFFECTIVE DISORDERS IN COMPLEX DISABILITIES: STRATEGIES EMPOWERMENT FOR IMPROVING THE LIFESTYLE OF THE DISABLED PERSON

The concept of physical and intellectual disability has experienced a series of changes and evolutions over time with regard to approach, classification and rehabilitation-therapeutic programs, since it contemplates a heterogeneous clinical phenomenology in terms of severity, complexity, pervasiveness and severity of the diagnosis. The significant repercussions on the quality of life mean that a comprehensive approach is required with attention to the physical, social, emotional, sensory and cognitive profile, and that there is a need for the adoption of classification systems and assessment tools that are different and in some ways pioneering, so as to guarantee the surpassing of the concept of disability as a "mere defect" physical and/or impairment and/or loss of psychological, physiological or anatomical function (Holden & Gitlesen 2003, Linden 2017, WHO 2001). It is exactly in contemplation of a biopsycho- social model, that the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) arises, which possesses a neutral position with respect to etiology and a complementarity with the ICD-10 classification (WHO 2001), since it allows the functional diagnosis (i.e. a specialized analytical description of the potential and deficits in relation to the pathology) proposing a detailed analysis of the possible social consequences of disability by evaluating the residual capacities and measuring the "social skills" (WHO 2001)

AFFECTIVE DISORDERS IN COMPLEX DISABILITIES: STRATEGIES EMPOWERMENT FOR IMPROVING THE LIFESTYLE OF THE DISABLED PERSON

The concept of physical and intellectual disability has experienced a series of changes and evolutions over time with regard to approach, classification and rehabilitation-therapeutic programs, since it contemplates a heterogeneous clinical phenomenology in terms of severity, complexity, pervasiveness and severity of the diagnosis. The significant repercussions on the quality of life mean that a comprehensive approach is required with attention to the physical, social, emotional, sensory and cognitive profile, and that there is a need for the adoption of classification systems and assessment tools that are different and in some ways pioneering, so as to guarantee the surpassing of the concept of disability as a "mere defect" physical and/or impairment and/or loss of psychological, physiological or anatomical function (Holden & Gitlesen 2003, Linden 2017, WHO 2001). It is exactly in contemplation of a biopsycho- social model, that the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) arises, which possesses a neutral position with respect to etiology and a complementarity with the ICD-10 classification (WHO 2001), since it allows the functional diagnosis (i.e. a specialized analytical description of the potential and deficits in relation to the pathology) proposing a detailed analysis of the possible social consequences of disability by evaluating the residual capacities and measuring the "social skills" (WHO 2001)