Does interpreter-mediated CBT with traumatized refugee people work? A comparison of patient outcomes in East London

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Stratigraphic and taxonomic considerations on the late Cretaceous rudist fauna of Aksai Chin (Western Tibet, China) from the De Filippi collection

The rudist fauna collected in western Tibet in the Aksai Chin area by the DE FILIPPI expedition in 1914 has been reprised and redescribed. This fauna is composed of Radiolites cf. lusitanicus, Radiolites sp., Gorjanovicia cf. endrissi, ? Sauvagesia sp., Sphaerulites sp., Durania sp., and Gyropleu-ra sp. The rudist-bearing beds belong to the Tielongtan Group of the Tianshuihai terrane. The Turo-nian-? Coniacian Xiloqzung Formation (Fm.) bear the older rudists (Radiolites cf. lusitanicus, Radiolites sp., Sphaerulites sp., Durania sp.), whereas younger ages have been determined through microfossil analysis which, compared with the western Neotethys records, suggests an early-mid Campanian age. This allowed to ascribe the younger rudists of the collection (Gorjanovicia cf. endrissi, ? Sauvagesia sp., Gyropleura sp., Radiolites sp.) to the Dongloqzung Formation. Our data confirm that rudist-bea-ring facies in the Tielongtan Group extend at least up to the middle Campanian. The Aksai Chin rudist assemblage should belong to the Southwestern Asian assemblage of the Eastern Mediterranean Sub-province

Current status of local penile therapy

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Critical exponents of the disorder-driven superfluid-insulator transition in one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates

We investigate the nature of the superfluid-insulator quantum phase transition driven by disorder for non-interacting ultracold atoms on one-dimensional lattices. We consider two different cases: Anderson-type disorder, with local energies randomly distributed, and pseudo-disorder due to a potential incommensurate with the lattice, which is usually called the Aubry-Andr\'e model. A scaling analysis of numerical data for the superfluid fraction for different lattice sizes allows us to determine quantum critical exponents characterizing the disorder-driven superfluid-insulator transition. We also briefly discuss the effect of interactions close to the non-interacting quantum critical point of the Aubry-Andr\'e model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Ivar, an interpretation‐oriented tool to manage the update and revision of variant annotation and classification

The rapid evolution of Next Generation Sequencing in clinical settings, and the resulting challenge of variant reinterpretation given the constantly updated information, require robust data management systems and organized approaches. In this paper, we present iVar: a freely available and highly customizable tool with a user‐friendly web interface. It represents a platform for the unified management of variants identified by different sequencing technologies. iVar accepts variant call format (VCF) files and text annotation files and elaborates them, optimizing data organization and avoiding redundancies. Updated annotations can be periodically re‐uploaded and associated with variants as historically tracked attributes, i.e., modifications can be recorded whenever an updated value is imported, thus keeping track of all changes. Data can be visualized through variant‐centered and sample‐centered interfaces. A customizable search function can be exploited to periodically check if pathogenicity‐related data of a variant has changed over time. Patient recontacting ensuing from variant reinterpretation is made easier by iVar through the effective identification of all patients present in the database carrying a specific variant. We tested iVar by uploading 4171 VCF files and 1463 annotation files, obtaining a database of 4166 samples and 22,569 unique variants. iVar has proven to be a useful tool with good performance in terms of collecting and managing data from a medium‐throughput laboratory

Critical analysis of autoregressive and fast Fourier transform markers of cardiovascular variability in rats and humans

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in physiological and pathological conditions, and has been extensively evaluated by parametric and non-parametric spectral analysis. To compare the results obtained with fast Fourier transform (FFT) and the autoregressive (AR) method, we performed a comprehensive comparative study using data from humans and rats during pharmacological blockade (in rats), a postural test (in humans), and in the hypertensive state (in both humans and rats). Although postural hypotension in humans induced an increase in normalized low-frequency (LFnu) of systolic blood pressure, the increase in the ratio was detected only by AR. In rats, AR and FFT analysis did not agree for LFnu and high frequency (HFnu) under basal conditions and after vagal blockade. The increase in the LF/HF ratio of the pulse interval, induced by methylatropine, was detected only by FFT. In hypertensive patients, changes in LF and HF for systolic blood pressure were observed only by AR; FFT was able to detect the reduction in both blood pressure variance and total power. In hypertensive rats, AR presented different values of variance and total power for systolic blood pressure. Moreover, AR and FFT presented discordant results for LF, LFnu, HF, LF/HF ratio, and total power for pulse interval. We provide evidence for disagreement in 23% of the indices of blood pressure and heart rate variability in humans and 67% discordance in rats when these variables are evaluated by AR and FFT under physiological and pathological conditions. The overall disagreement between AR and FFT in this study was 43%.FINEPFAPESPZerbini Foundatio

Reduced pancreatic β-cell mass is associated with decreased FoxO1 and Erk1/2 protein phosphorylation in low-protein malnourished rats

A low-protein diet leads to functional and structural pancreatic islet alterations, including islet hypotrophy. Insulin-signaling pathways are involved in several adaptive responses by pancreatic islets. We determined the levels of some insulin-signaling proteins related to pancreatic islet function and growth in malnourished rats. Adult male Wistar rats (N = 20 per group) were fed a 17% protein (normal-protein diet; NP) or 6% protein (low-protein diet; LP), for 8 weeks. At the end of this period, blood glucose and serum insulin and albumin levels were measured. The morphometric parameters of the endocrine pancreas and the content of some proteins in islet lysates were determined. The β-cell mass was significantly reduced (≅65%) in normoglycemic but hypoinsulinemic LP rats compared to NP rats. Associated with these alterations, a significant 30% reduction in insulin receptor substrate-1 and a 70% increase in insulin receptor substrate-2 protein content were observed in LP islets compared to NP islets. The phosphorylated serine-threonine protein kinase (pAkt)/Akt protein ratio was similar in LP and NP islets. The phosphorylated forkhead-O1 (pFoxO1)/FoxO1 protein ratio was decreased by 43% in LP islets compared to NP islets (P < 0.05). Finally, the ratio of phosphorylated-extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 (pErk1/2) to total Erk1/2 protein levels was decreased by 71% in LP islets compared to NP islets (P < 0.05). Therefore, the reduced β-cell mass observed in LP rats is associated with the reduction of phosphorylation in mitogenic-related signals, FoxO1 and Erk proteins. The cause/effect basis of this association remains to be determined4210935941FUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP2/04310-4; 04/11684-9; 03/10829-

Il minore vittima di abusi sessuali e le garanzie del giusto processo penale

Criminal proceedings concerning the assessment of sexual abusive behaviour affecting minors includes, among its most delicate stages, the collection of the young victim’s statements, especially if the victims are in their earliest years.The collection of a minor’s testimony must follow rules and procedures whose main goal is to safeguard the minor.Up to now, Italian Criminal Justice System does not provide an organic system for the Young victim’s protection; on the part of the legislator, there is a lack of specific rules and regolations for the minor’s testimony.According to Article 196, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Italian Code of Criminal Procedures, “every person is competent to testify,” but “in order to evaluate the witness’ statement, the judge can order appropriate verifications using all lawful means, even ex officio.”More effectively, Article 10 of the Carta of Noto recommend, for children under 12 and apart from exceptional cases, “that a valuation must always occur in order to verify the victim’s fitness to testify about the matters,” unless the judge can evaluate the reliability of the testimony.Therefore, is it possible for the judge to establish the truthfulness of the minor’s testimony apart from a technical advice of an expert, that is without making a psychological evaluation of the child first?” The prevailing jurisprudential orientation in recent years confirms the prevalence of the so-called principle of the all-encompassing evaluation, whereby “on the subject of sexual offenses against young children, it is illegal, for violation of the principle of the formation of evidence in contradictory, the refusal of judge to arrange a psychological examination, in order to ascertain the adherence to the reality or not of the narration of the facts, depending on possible fanciful elaborations of the age or of the personological structure of the minor2”.Nei procedimenti penali aventi ad oggetto l’accertamento della condotta di abuso sessuale a danno di minore, fra le fasi più delicate, vi è quella inerente l’acquisizione delle dichiarazioni della giovane vittima specie se in tenera età.E’ pacifico che l’assunzione della testimonianza di un minore, perché tale, deve avvenire con criteri e modalità che abbiano quale obiettivo principale, quello della tutela del minore stesso. Il sistema penale italiano a tutt’oggi rileva l’assenza di un organico sistema di protezione del minore vittima di abusi; manca una specifica disciplina da parte del legislatore, della testimonianza del soggetto minore di età.Secondo quanto disposto dall’art. 196, comma 1 e 2 c.p.p.“Ogni persona ha la capacità di testimoniare” tuttavia “qualora, al fine di valutare le dichiarazioni del testimone, sia necessario verificarne l’idoneità física o mentale a rendere testimonianza, il giudice anche di ufficio può ordinare gli accertamenti opportuni con i mezzi consentiti dalla legge”.Più efficacemente la Carta di Noto all’art. 10 raccomanda per i minori di anni dodici e salvo casi eccezionali “che sia sempre disposta perizia al fine di verificarne la idoneità a testimoniare sui fatti oggetto d’indagine”, salvo al giudice valutare l’attendibilità della testimonianza resa.E’ possibile allora per il decidente, accertare la veridicità della condotta abusante dal racconto del minore, prescindendo dall’ausilio del parere tecnico di un perito, ovvero senza aver prima disposto una perizia psicologica sul bambino?L’orientamento giurisprudenziale prevalente negli ultimi anni, conferma il prevalere del principio cosiddetto della valutazione onnicomprensiva, per cui “in tema di reati sessuali su minori in tenera età, è illegittimo, per violazione del principio della formazione della prova in contraddittorio, il rifiu to dei giudice di disporre una perizia psicologica, al fine di accertare l’aderenza alla realtà o meno della narrazione dei fatti, in dipendenza di eventuali elaborazioni fantasiose proprie dell’età o della struttura personologica del minore”1