Perception of changes in marine benthic habitats: The relevance of taxonomic and ecological memory

Having a reliable ecological reference baseline is pivotal to understanding the current status of benthic assemblages. Ecological awareness of our perception of environmental changes could be better described based on historical data. Otherwise, we meet with the shifting baseline syndrome (SBS). Facing SBS harmful consequences on environmental and cultural heritage, as well as on conservation strategies, requires combining historical data with contemporary biomonitoring. In the present “era of biodiversity”, we advocate for (1) the crucial role of taxonomy as a study of life diversity and (2) the robust, informative value of museum collections as memories of past ecosystem conditions. This scenario requires taxonomist skills to understand community composition and diversity, as well as to determine ecosystem change trends and rates. In this paper, we focus on six Mediterranean benthic habitats to track biological and structural changes that have occurred in the last few decades. We highlight the perception of biological changes when historical records make possible effective comparisons between past reference situations and current data. We conclude that the better we know the past, the more we understand present (and will understand future) ecosystem functioning. Achieving this goal is intrinsically linked to investing in training new taxonomists who are able to assure intergeneration connectivity to transmit cultural and environmental heritage, a key aspect to understanding and managing our changing ecosystems

Dual-source computed tomography coronary artery imaging in children

Computed tomography (CT) has a well-established diagnostic role in the assessment of coronary arteries in adults. However, its application in a pediatric setting is still limited and often impaired by several technical issues, such as high heart rates, poor patient cooperation, and radiation dose exposure. Nonetheless, CT is becoming crucial in the noninvasive approach of children affected by coronary abnormalities and congenital heart disease. In some circumstances, CT might be preferred to other noninvasive techniques such as echocardiography and MRI for its lack of acoustic window influence, shorter acquisition time, and high spatial resolution. The introduction of dual-source CT has expanded the role of CT in the evaluation of pediatric cardiovascular anatomy and pathology. Furthermore, technical advances in the optimization of low-dose protocols represent an attractive innovation. Dual-source CT can play a key role in several clinical settings in children, namely in the evaluation of children with suspected congenital coronary artery anomalies, both isolated and in association with congenital heart disease. Moreover, it can be used to assess acquired coronary artery abnormalities, as in children with Kawasaki disease and after surgical manipulation, especially in case of transposition of the great arteries treated with arterial switch operation and in case of coronary re-implantation

The Role of Attitudes Toward Medication and Treatment Adherence in the Clinical Response to LAIs: Findings From the STAR Network Depot Study

Background: Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are efficacious in managing psychotic symptoms in people affected by severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The present study aimed to investigate whether attitude toward treatment and treatment adherence represent predictors of symptoms changes over time. Methods: The STAR Network \u201cDepot Study\u201d was a naturalistic, multicenter, observational, prospective study that enrolled people initiating a LAI without restrictions on diagnosis, clinical severity or setting. Participants from 32 Italian centers were assessed at three time points: baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Psychopathological symptoms, attitude toward medication and treatment adherence were measured using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-10) and the Kemp's 7-point scale, respectively. Linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate whether attitude toward medication and treatment adherence independently predicted symptoms changes over time. Analyses were conducted on the overall sample and then stratified according to the baseline severity (BPRS < 41 or BPRS 65 41). Results: We included 461 participants of which 276 were males. The majority of participants had received a primary diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder (71.80%) and initiated a treatment with a second-generation LAI (69.63%). BPRS, DAI-10, and Kemp's scale scores improved over time. Six linear regressions\u2014conducted considering the outcome and predictors at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up independently\u2014showed that both DAI-10 and Kemp's scale negatively associated with BPRS scores at the three considered time points. Linear mixed-effects models conducted on the overall sample did not show any significant association between attitude toward medication or treatment adherence and changes in psychiatric symptoms over time. However, after stratification according to baseline severity, we found that both DAI-10 and Kemp's scale negatively predicted changes in BPRS scores at 12-month follow-up regardless of baseline severity. The association at 6-month follow-up was confirmed only in the group with moderate or severe symptoms at baseline. Conclusion: Our findings corroborate the importance of improving the quality of relationship between clinicians and patients. Shared decision making and thorough discussions about benefits and side effects may improve the outcome in patients with severe mental disorders

On Intergenerational Transmission of Reading Habits in Italy: Is a Good Example the Best Sermon?

The intergenerational transmission of preference and attitudes has been less investigated in the literature than the intergenerational transmission of education and income. Using the Italian Time Use Survey (2002-2003) conducted by ISTAT, we analyse the intergenerational transmission of reading habits: are children more likely to allocate time to studying and reading when they observe their parents doing the same activity? The intergeneration transmission of attitudes towards studying and reading can be explained by both cultural and educational transmission from parents to children and by imitating behaviours. The latter channel is of particular interest, since it entails a direct influence parents may have on child's preference formation through their role model, and it opens the scope for active policies aimed at promoting good parents' behaviours. We follow two fundamental approaches to estimation: a long run model, consisting of OLS intergenerational type regressions for the reading habit, and short run household fixed effect models, where we aim at identifying the impact of the role model exerted by parents, exploiting different exposure of sibling to parents' example within the same household. Our long run results show that children are more likely to read and study when they live with parents that are used to read. Mothers seem to be more important than fathers in this type of intergenerational transmission. Moreover, the short run analysis shows that there is an imitation effect: in the day of the survey children are more likely to read after they saw either the mother or the father reading

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Valorizzare le donne conviene

Le donne italiane hanno le stesse “capacità” degli uomini, per livello di istruzione e capitale umano, ma non utilizzano le loro potenzialità pienamente: partecipano poco alla vita politica ed economica del Paese e spesso sono segregate in ruoli marginali. Il cammino di quella rivoluzione silenziosa che ha trasformato la vita delle donne in molti paesi sviluppati attraverso cambiamenti, rivoluzionari appunto, nell’istruzione, nel mondo del lavoro e nella famiglia, per le italiane non solo è largamente incompleto, ma anzi sembra essersi bloccato negli ultimi anni. Complice la congiuntura economica, il tasso di attività femminile in Italia è fermo al 46%. Meno pagate e con maggiori difficoltà nell’ingresso nel mercato del lavoro dei coetanei uomini, le donne si trovano poi di fronte alla difficile conciliazione tra ruoli familiari e lavorativi, per la scarsità dei servizi di cura da una parte e, d’altra, per il perdurare dell’’ineguaglianza dei ruoli di genere all’interno della famiglia. Eppure, proprio di fronte alla crisi economica, occorrerebbe incentivare di più l’offerta di lavoro femminile. All’affermazione di principio per cui bisogna favorire la partecipazione femminile al mercato del lavoro per rispondere a principi di pari opportunità e di eguaglianza tra i generi, si aggiunge un’argomentazione ulteriore, decisiva alla causa della valorizzazione femminile: il lavoro delle donne fa crescere l’economia. Se le politiche per l’occupazione femminile fossero accompagnate da politiche di conciliazione che agevolassero le donne nel loro doppio ruolo di lavoratrici e madri, le entrate fiscali e previdenziali aumenterebbero contribuendo alla sostenibilità del sistema pensionistico, il lavoro femminile farebbe crescere il reddito delle famiglie, riducendone il rischio di povertà, produrrebbe nuovi posti di lavoro nei servizi, con il conseguente incremento dei consumi e di crescita dell’economia. L’esempio di altri paesi europei è chiaro: dove gli squilibri di genere nei tassi di occupazione e nei salari sono minori, la crescita economica è maggiore e la fecondità in aumento. In un momento di tagli e di crisi, proprio per aiutare l’Italia a risalire la china, occorre più che mai investire nelle donne mettendo in moto un vero e proprio circolo virtuoso, un’opportunità che il nostro Paese non dovrebbe farsi sfuggire. Troppi pregiudizi, però, perdurano in Italia sui possibili effetti del lavoro femminile. C’è ancora da compiere una vera e propria rivoluzione culturale, se è vero che resistono comunemente idee del tipo che le donne che lavorano sono madri peggiori, che i loro figli vanno peggio a scuola, che le stesse, schiacciate dal doppio ruolo, sono infelici. Tutti smentiti, dati alla mano. Nel libro, con abbondanza di dati statistici, l’attuale situazione delle donne italiane viene confrontata non solo con quella degli uomini, ma soprattutto con quella delle altre donne europee. Le analogie e le differenze con gli altri paesi servono a individuare percorsi di crescita e di sviluppo per le donne, attraverso la promozione del lavoro femminile per il mercato e la posizione delle donne nella vita politica ed economica del Paese. Ne consegue un decalogo di misure concrete non solo realistico, ma indispensabile investimento per il futuro del Paese – perché valorizzare le donne conviene a tutti –: dall'indirizzare le donne verso studi scientifici all'incentivare l'offerta di lavoro femminile, a cancellare la norma sulle dimissioni bianco (che colpisce soprattutto le mamme) a trasformare il part time e la flessibilità in un'occasione per tutti, dipendenti e aziende; dallo studiare politiche di conciliazione aziendale all'investire - e non tagliare - nei servizi di cura per i bambini. E ancora: introdurre un credito di imposta per le retribuzioni più basse (che sono quasi sempre quelle delle donne); far comprendere alle imprese che la maternità è un costo irrisorio e che quindi non c'è da averne paura; prevedere sgravi fiscali per chi assume personale femminile, concedere incentivi all'imprenditoria in rosa, prevedere le quote di genere ai vertici delle aziende, far diventare obbligatorio il congedo di paternità. Agire, insomma, sulle leve fiscali, sulle quote riservate e sulla cultura