Cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability study of the italian version of the back pain functional scale

SUMMARY Introduction. The Back Pain Functional Scale is a scale to assess disability in Low Back Pain patients. The purpose of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the BPFS from the original English language into Italian. Materials and methods. Translation and cultural adaptation have been performed following international guidelines. 170 italian-speaking subjects with low back pain were recruited; 58 of them also performed the re-test. Internal consistency was assessed by calculating Cronbach’s Alpha and test-retest reliability was assessed by calculat ing the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). Exploratory factor analysis and was performed to assess the construct validity and the correlation with other clinical scales was observed through Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Results. High internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.912) and very good test-re test reliability (ICC = 0.956) were found. Pearson’s correlation coefficient showed statistically significant correlations (p < 0.01) with the BPFS, FRI and ODI. Conclusions. The Italian version of the BPFS showed with good reliability and construct validity. This scale can be considered for the assessment of functional disabil ity in subjects with LBP: short, intuitive and easy to understand. It can certainly be used for both clinical practice and research

The evolutionary history of a mammal species with a highly fragmented range: the phylogeography of the European snow vole.

The European snow vole Chionomys nivalis has a patchy distribution restricted to rocky habitats across southern Europe and the Near and Middle East. We carried out a phylogeographic study to provide a biogeographic scenario, based on molecular data, outlining the major processes that determined the current distribution of the species. The samples include 26 snow voles from 14 different populations across the entire species range from Spain to Anatolia and Israel. Nearly complete sequences (1037 bp) of the mitochondrial gene for cytochrome b were sequenced. Relationships among haplotypes were inferred with neighbourjoining, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony analyses and minimum spanning network. An analysis of mismatch distribution was used to cast light on past demographic expansion. We found 22 different haplotypes that fall into six distinct lineages, all but one is supported by high bootstrap values with all methods. Four lineages are allopatric (Tatra Mts., Iberia, Balkans and Middle East) while divergent haplotypes from two lineages show sympatry in the Alps and the Apennines. The basal relationships of these lineages could not be established by any tree. The mean pairwise genetic distance between lineages ranges from 2.4 to 4.2%. The shape of the mismatch distribution indicated a past expansion event dating back to between 158 000 and 84 000 years ago. These data can be interpreted with the existence of southern glacial refugia (Iberia, Balkans, Middle East and Italy) and one additional northern glacial refugium. The lack of phylogenetic resolution among lineages and the shape of mismatch distribution are indicative of a simultaneous and rapid splitting due to a relatively fast initial expansion of populations. Moreover, the analysis supports the hypothesis of the European origin of C. nivalis and its subsequent eastward dispersion during the Middle Pleistocene

Dynamic reconfiguration of electrical connections for partially shaded PV modules: Technical and economical performances of an Arduino-based prototype

The partial shading phenomenon is a well known problem of photovoltaic plants. Partial shading leads to undesirable effects such the electrical mismatch, the generation of hot spots, and generally the decrease of production of electric energy. To mitigate the last effect, a dynamic reconfiguration of the electrical connections between modules was taken into account. In this paper, starting from an already developed system for a small-scale photovoltaic plant reconfiguration, the study of the economical benefits of the employment of a reconfigurator are traced. Five different incentive policies of diverse Countries have been considered to evaluate the increase of Net Present Value of system with and without a reconfigurator

RELAP5-3D thermal hydraulic analysis of the target cooling system in the SPES experimental facility

The SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) experimental facility, under construction at the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) Laboratories of Legnaro, Italy, is a second generation Isotope Separation On Line (ISOL) plant for advanced nuclear physic studies. The UCx target-ion source system works at temperature of about 2273 K, producing a high level of radiation (10^5 Sv/h), for this reason a careful risk analysis for the target chamber is among the major safety issues. In this paper, the obtained results of thermofluid-dynamics simulations of accidental transients in the SPES target cooling system are reported. The analysis, performed by using the RELAP5-3D 2.4.2 qualified thermal-hydraulic system code, proves good safety performance of this system during different accidental conditions

Preliminary studies on red palm weevil as potential risk for palm trees in mediterranean basin

The impacts of insect invasive species on human health and on agricutlture have attracted worldwide attention. However, researchers and policymakers rarely directly address the connection between invasive species and loss in natual and cultural heritages. Various attempts have been made to address the plants that are affected by invasive species but the links between these and loss in naturla biodiversity and heritage in botanical and historical gardens are largely lacking in the literature. We report a study on the Red Palm Weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorous ferrugineus (Oliv.) (Fig. 1) (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) which is the most important pest of the palm date trees in many countries. RPW is a large polyphagous insect native to southern Asia and Melanesia and one of the most important pests of several palm species. It reached Italy in 2004 and now is wide spread in Sicily but also in almost all Mediterranean, through Phoenix dactylifera and P. canariensis (Fig. 2). In Europe for the first time was established the RPW-P. canariensis interaction. As a result of RPW attack, the palm is destroyed and the tree collapses and dies. A high density of RPW, developed in P. canariensis, is now present despite to the control measures, in Sicily. Palm trees represent in Mediterranean area an important part of cultural heritage in cities, botanical and historical gardens, which conserve many different palm species. In addition Mediterranean flora is also characterized by the presence of the native palm specie Chamerops humilis. In order to understand if the C. humilis is a suitable host of RPW, we investigate the natural infestation of RPW on this native palm. Moreover we analysed the morphological and molecular characters of RPW populations collected from C. humilis and P. canariensis. The study highlights the necessity to correlate the degree of genetic differences in the population of invasive species, as RPW, to predict the impact on natural flora and on other hosts

Experimental study on B-spline-based modulation schemes applied in multilevel inverters for electric drive applications

This work presents the design, simulation, and experimental validation of new B-Spline-based modulation techniques applied to a Multilevel Power Inverter (MPI), particularly focusing the attention on the harmonic content of the output voltages of the inverter. Simulation and experimental results are proposed and discussed, mainly describing the potential benefits, such as the increase of the multi-level operation of the converter, and drawbacks (low-order harmonics) related to the adoption of B-Spline functions for multilevel inverters applied in the field of electrical drives

Effects of chemical processing and oxide ethylene sterilization on cortical and cancellous rat bone: a light and electron scanning microscopy study

OBJETIVO: Avaliar, sob o ponto de vista microscópico, modificações estruturais do osso esponjoso e cortical, após serem submetidos a processamento químico e esterilização em óxido de etileno. MÉTODOS: Amostras de osso esponjoso e cortical foram obtidas de fêmures de ratas albinas jovens (Wistar)e separadas em quatro grupos contendo osso cortical e esponjoso: I- Fragmentos secos em estufa; II- Fragmentos secos em estufa e esterilizados em óxido de etileno; III- Fragmentos processados quimicamente; IV- Fragmentos processados quimicamente e esterilizados em óxido de etileno. Metade desse material foi analisada em microscópio eletrônico de varredura e, a outra metade, em microscopia de luz convencional. RESULTADOS: Houve preservação da morfologia geral das amostras em todos os grupos. Nos grupos submetidos ao processamento químico houve melhor preservação do conteúdo celular, enquanto que naqueles submetido ao óxido de etileno houve amalgamação fibrilar. CONCLUSÃO: O tratamento com óxido de etileno causou amalgamação das fibrilas possivelmente em decorrência do efeito do calor e o tratamento químico contribuiu para melhor preservação da estrutura óssea.OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, under microscopic examination, the structural changes displayed by the trabecular and cortical bones after being processed chemically and sterilized by ethylene oxide. METHODS: Samples of cancellous and cortical bones obtained from young female albinus rats (Wistar) were assigned to four groups according to the type of treatment: Group I-drying; Group II-drying and ethylene oxide sterilization; III-chemical treatment; IV-chemical treatment and ethylene oxide sterilization. Half of this material was analyzed under ordinary light microscope and the other half using scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: In all the samples, regardless the group, there was good preservation of the general morphology. For samples submitted to the chemical processing there was better preservation of the cellular content, whereas there was amalgamation of the fibres when ethylene oxide was used. CONCLUSION: Treatment with ethylene oxide caused amalgamation of the fibers, possibly because of heating and the chemical treatment contributed to a better cellular preservation of the osseous structure

EGFR inhibition in NSCLC: New findings\u2026. and opened questions?

The targeted inhibition of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has represented a milestone in the treatment of lung cancer. Several studies convincingly and consistently demonstrated a significant superiority of EGFR-TKIs over standard platinum-chemotherapy in EGFR-mutated NSCLC patients, leading to the sequential approval of gefitinib, erlotinib and afatinib as new standard first-line clinical treatment. To date we are witnessing a second revolution in the management of EGFR-positive NSCLC thanks to the development of new treatment strategies aiming to overcome acquired resistance to TKIs and ultimately improve patients\u2019 outcomes. In this review we summarize the most important recent findings regarding EGFR-inhibition in NSCLC, highlighting the current unsolved questions on the selection of the best TKI in first-line, which therapy can be combined with upfront EGFR-TKIs, how to overcome acquired resistance, and which are the clinical applications of liquid biopsy