Alterations of cardiovascular complexity during acute exposure to high altitude: A multiscale entropy approach

Stays at high altitude induce alterations in cardiovascular control and are a model of specific pathological cardiovascular derangements at sea level. However, high-altitude alterations of the complex cardiovascular dynamics remain an almost unexplored issue. Therefore, our aim is to describe the altered cardiovascular complexity at high altitude with a multiscale entropy (MSE) approach. We recorded the beat-by-beat series of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate in 20 participants for 15 min twice, at sea level and after arrival at 4554 m a.s.l. We estimated Sample Entropy and MSE at scales of up to 64 beats, deriving average MSE values over the scales corresponding to the high-frequency (MSEHF) and low-frequency (MSELF) bands of heart-rate variability. We found a significant loss of complexity at heart-rate and blood-pressure scales complementary to each other, with the decrease with high altitude being concentrated at Sample Entropy and at MSEHF for heart rate and at MSELF for blood pressure. These changes can be ascribed to the acutely increased chemoreflex sensitivity in hypoxia that causes sympathetic activation and hyperventilation. Considering high altitude as a model of pathological states like heart failure, our results suggest new ways for monitoring treatments and rehabilitation protocols

L'éducation à l'environnement en Italie dans le cadre des initiatives extra-scolaires des administrations locales et des associations

L'éducation à l'environnement dans les écoles italiennes se fait de plus en plus en interaction avec des initiatives extra-scolaires prises par les administrations locales et les associations nationales pour la sauvegarde de l'environnement. Ces associations et ces administrations deviennent souvent commanditaires, assurent l'organisation et fournissent le matériel. Le modèle traditionnel d'enseignement se transforme nécessairement et profondément. Les auteurs présentent une documentation sur ces initiative

Social Anxiety and Bullying Victimization in Children and Early Adolescents: The Role of Developmental Period and Immigrant Status

Research reveals that social anxiety may be predictive of bullying victimization, but it is not clear whether this relation stands for different groups of youth. The present study examines this association by employing a longitudinal design over 1 year and including the moderating role of developmental period (childhood vs. early adolescence) and students’ immigrant status (native vs. non-native). T1 sample included 506 children (46.44% girls, mean age M = 8.55 years, SD = 0.55) and 310 early adolescents (50% girls, mean age = 12.54 years, SD = 0.59) recruited in schools in Northern Italy. Due to missing cases and drop-outs from T1 to T2, the final sample comprised 443 and 203 students from primary and middle school, respectively. Social anxiety and peer victimization were assessed through self-reported questionnaires. Results indicated that victimization at T2 was predicted by a 3-way interaction between T1 social anxiety, immigrant status, and developmental period. In particular, socially anxious early adolescents with an immigrant background were the most victimized. The results are discussed in terms of group dynamics and intergroup processes. The findings highlight the importance of personal variables in the cumulation of risks: social anxiety is more predictive of bullying victimization for immigrant early adolescents than for children or native early adolescents

The warm glow of kindness: Developmental insight into children's moral pride across cultures and its associations with prosocial behavior

Moral pride is a key component of virtue development. This study provides developmental insight into children's moral pride across cultures, and the potential for moral pride to underlie prosocial behavior. Participants included children and adolescents ages 6, 9, and 12 years from Canada (n = 186; 50% girls; ethnically diverse sample), Japan (n = 180; 48% girls), and a subsample from Italy (n = 86; 54% girls), as well as their primary caregivers or teachers. Moral pride was measured using a vignette procedure wherein children reported their emotions, emotion intensities, and reasoning following moral actions (harm omission and prosocial contexts). Global prosocial behavior was assessed via caregiver reports. Results revealed that moral pride increased from 6 to 9 years of age in Japanese and Canadian children (some similar trends were found in the Italian subsample) and that Canadian children reported stronger feelings of moral pride than Japanese children (Italian children's moral pride intensities were akin to those of Canadian children). Moral pride was positively associated with global prosocial behavior in Japanese children (and marginally in Italian children) but not in the Canadian children. These novel findings showcase the role of culture in shaping children's moral pride, and the potential for this moral emotion to reinforce children's commitment to prosocial action in childhood and early adolescence

Development of a position-sensitive detector for positronium inertial sensing measurements

In the last twenty years, both free fall and interferometry/deflectometry experiments have been proposed for the measurement of the gravitational acceleration on positronium, which is a purely leptonic matter-antimatter atom formed by an electron and its antiparticle (positron). Among the several challenges posed by these experiments is the development of position-sensitive detectors to measure the deflection of positronium in the Earth's gravitational field. In this work, we describe our recent progress in the development of position-sensitive detectors. Two different detection schemes are considered. The first is based on Ps ionization in a strong homogeneous magnetic field and imaging of the freed positron with a microchannel plate. The second scheme is based on scanning the positronium atom distribution on a plane by moving the slit or a material grating with sub-nm accuracy, and counting the atoms crossing the obstacle and those annihilating on it. The possibility of reaching a spatial resolution of around 15 μm using the former detection scheme is shown, and preliminary steps towards the development of a detector following the latter scheme (with potential position sensitivity in the sub-nm range) are described

An Italian Study

The literature provides some evidence that the use of violent video games increases the risk for young people to develop aggressive cognitions and even behaviors. We aimed to verify whether exposure to violent video games is linked to problems of aggression in a sample of Italian children. Four questionnaires were administered to 346 children between 7 and 14 years of age, attending primary and secondary schools in Northern Italy. Variables measured were externalization, quality of interpersonal relationships, aggression, quality of coping strategies, and parental stress. Participants who preferred violent games showed higher scores for externalization and aggression. The use of violent video games and age were linked to higher levels of aggression, coping strategies, and the habitual video game weekly consumption of participants. Our data confirm the role of violent video games as risk factors for problems of aggressive behavior and of externalization in childhood and early adolescence

Co-design and evaluation of the feasibility and the efficacy of a multiple-targeted adapted physical activity intervention to promote quality of life, well-being and physical activity levels in pregnant women: The “well-done!” study protocol

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) practice during pregnancy offers health and fitness benefits for both mother and baby. Therefore, healthy pregnant women with no contraindi-cations to exercise should be encouraged to perform PA. Nevertheless, their levels of PA are gener-ally low. The aim of the WELL-DONE! Study is to co-design an adapted physical activity intervention (APAI) for pregnant women to include in childbirth preparation classes (CPCs) evaluating its feasibility and efficacy on quality of life (QoL), PA levels and other outcomes. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was divided in two progressive stages. First, APAI was developed in collabo-ration with pregnant women and midwives using focus groups; second, APAI’s efficacy was evaluated comparing two groups: the experimental group engaged in the CPCs integrated with 1 h/week of the APAI administered by midwives and the control group participating in the standard CPCs. Pre-post evaluation was carried out in three stages through questionnaires and tests. Data analysis involved the combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Discussion: Find-ings from the WELL-DONE! Study will help to assess the feasibility, sustainability, and efficacy of incorporating APAI inside CPCs as a new public health strategy oriented to QoL, well-being, and PA level improvements