TRAIETTORIA DI SVILUPPO DELL'ABILITÀ DI SET-SHIFTING DALL'INFANZIA ALL’ADOLESCENZA E NEI RAGAZZI CON DISLESSIA

Tra le funzioni esecutive (FE), la capacità di set-shifting è la capacità di programmare le risposte in modo rapido e flessibile durante il raggiungimento di un obiettivo (Best et al., 2009) ed è scarsamente indagata nell'età evolutiva. Ad oggi, non ci sono dati sull’abilità di set-shifting nei bambini in età scolare italiana. Inoltre, il ruolo delle funzioni esecutive (FE) nella dislessia non è ancora chiaro. Nella letteratura recente numerosi studi ritengono che la dislessia sia associata ad una compromissione della FE (Beneventi ad al. 2010; Willcutt et al., 2005), mentre altri autori non trovano alcuna associazione tra dislessia e difficoltà nei compiti di FE (Marzocchi et al., 2008). Inoltre, i principali studi che hanno valutato gli FE, sia durante l’età evolutivs che nei ragazzi con dislessia, si sono concentrati principalmente sulla pianificazione, sul problem solving e sulla memoria di lavoro (ad esempio, Best et al., 2009; Reiter et al., 2005) mentre solo pochi studi si sono concentrati set-shifting. Il set-shifting sembra avere un ruolo centrale nell'elaborazione linguistica, perché consente di passare rapidamente da un compito all'altro o da un set mentale all’altro (Best et al., 2009). Gli obiettivi del nostro studio sono stati quelli di somministrare il test di fluenza verbale alternata di Costa et al. (2014) ad un ampio campione (n = 879) di bambini e adolescenti (dagli otto ai diciotto anni) al fine di raccogliere dati normativi riferiti all'età dello sviluppo e di indagare l’abilità di set-shifting in 72 studenti con una diagnosi di dislessia dello sviluppo (DD). Sono state valutate tre abilità: flunza fonemica (FF), fluenza semantica (FS) e fluenza alternata (FA) (Costa, 2014). I risultati suggeriscono che la capacità di set-shifting in bambini e adolescenti migliora con l'età. I dati mostrano una differenza significativa tra due gruppi (DD e ST) in due delle tre fluenze verbali. Abbiamo trovato una prestazione inferiore nel gruppo DD rispetto al gruppo di controllo (FF, p = .039 e FA p <.001). Inoltre, entrambi i due gruppi, rispetto a quanto mostrato nell’età adulta (Costa et al., 2010), hanno mostrato maggiori difficoltà nel compito FF piuttosto che nei compiti FS e FA. In conclusione, questo studio supporta l'ipotesi di difficoltà nella componente esecutiva rappresentata dal set-shifting nei ragazzi con dislessia. Questi dati sostengono l’importanza del set-shifting nella valutazione clinica e nella descrizione del profilo cognitivo di questi ragazzi.Among the Executive Functions (FE), the capacity of set-shifting that is the ability to quickly and flexibly program responses changing during the course of work (Best et al., 2009), is poorly investigated in the developmental age. To date, there are no data about set-shifting skills in Italian school-age children. Moreover, the role of the Executive Functions (EFs) in dyslexia is still unclear. In the recent literature several studies find dyslexia to be associated with an EFs impairment (Beneventi at al. 2010; Willcutt et al., 2005), whereas other authors don’t find any association between dyslexia and difficulties in EFs tasks (Marzocchi et al., 2008). Moreover, the main studies evaluating EFs both in typically developing children and dyslexics have mainly focused on planning and problem solving, and working memory (e.g., Best et al., 2009; Reiter et al., 2005) while only few studies have focused on set-shifting. The set-shifting seems to have a central role in the linguistic elaboration, because it permits to rapidly switch between tasks or mental sets (Best et al., 2009). The aims of our study is to administer the alternate verbal fluency test of Costa et al. (2014) to a large sample (n=879) of children and adolescents (from eight to eighteen) in order to collect normative data referring to the developmental age and to investigate the ability of set-shifting in 72 students with a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia (DD). Three abilities were assessed: the Phonemic Fluency (PF), Semantic Fluency (SF) and Alternate Fluency (AF) (Costa, 2014). The results suggest that set-shifting ability of children and adolescents improves with age. Data show a significant difference between the two groups (DD and ST) in two of three tasks (PF and AF). We found a lower performance in DD with respect to controls (PF, p = .039 and AF, p < .001). Moreover, both the two groups, compared to what is shown in adulthood (Costa et al., 2010), showed more difficulties in the PF task rather then in the SF and AF tasks. In conclusion, this study supports the hypothesis of difficulties in the executive component represented by set-shifting in adolescents with dyslexia. These data underline the importance of considering this EF in the clinical evaluation and in the description of the cognitive profile of these children and adolescents

Chapter La rappresentazione del territorio peri-urbano tra city modelling, rilievo e fotografia

The 43rd UID conference, held in Genova, takes up the theme of ‘Dialogues’ as practice and debate on many fundamental topics in our social life, especially in these complex and not yet resolved times. The city of Genova offers the opportunity to ponder on the value of comparison and on the possibilities for the community, naturally focused on the aspects that concern us, as professors, researchers, disseminators of knowledge, or on all the possibile meanings of the discipline of representation and its dialogue with ‘others’, which we have broadly catalogued in three macro areas: History, Semiotics, Science / Technology. Therefore, “dialogue” as a profitable exchange based on a common language, without which it is impossible to comprehend and understand one another; and the graphic sign that connotes the conference is the precise transcription of this concept: the title ‘translated’ into signs, derived from the visual alphabet designed for the visual identity of the UID since 2017. There are many topics which refer to three macro sessions: - Witnessing (signs and history) - Communicating (signs and semiotics) - Experimenting (signs and sciences) Thanks to the different points of view, an exceptional resource of our disciplinary area, we want to try to outline the prevailing theoretical-operational synergies, the collaborative lines of an instrumental nature, the recent updates of the repertoires of images that attest and nourish the relations among representation, history, semiotics, sciences

Repeated successful use of eltrombopag in chronic primary immune thrombocytopenia: description of an intriguing case.

Thrombopoietin receptor agonists (TPO-RAs) are used as effective alternative treatments in ITP patients unresponsive to first-/second-line therapies. TPO- RAs can also be used to normalize platelet count to safely perform invasive pro- cedures and chemotherapy, in case of malignancies. In few responsive patients, TPO-RAs can be suspended maintaining a sustained respons

Gender Differences in Sleep Deprivation Effects on Risk and Inequality Aversion: Evidence from an Economic Experiment

Excessive working hours—even at night—are becoming increasingly common in our modern 24/7 society. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is particularly vulnerable to the effects of sleep loss and, consequently, the specific behaviors subserved by the functional integrity of the PFC, such as risk-taking and pro-social behavior, may be affected significantly. This paper seeks to assess the effects of one night of sleep deprivation on subjects’ risk and social preferences, which are probably the most explored behavioral domains in the tradition of Experimental Economics. This novel cross-over study employs thirty-two university students (gender-balanced) participating to 2 counterbalanced laboratory sessions in which they perform standard risk and social preference elicitation protocols. One session was after one night of undisturbed sleep at home, and the other was after one night of sleep deprivation in the laboratory. Sleep deprivation causes increased sleepiness and decreased alertness in all subjects. After sleep loss males make riskier decisions compared to the rested condition, while females do the opposite. Females likewise show decreased inequity aversion after sleep deprivation. As for the relationship between cognitive ability and economic decisions, sleep deprived individuals with higher cognitive reflection show lower risk aversion and more altruistic behavior. These results show that one night of sleep deprivation alters economic behavior in a gender-sensitive way. Females’ reaction to sleep deprivation, characterized by reduced risky choices and increased egoism compared to males, may be related to intrinsic psychological gender differences, such as in the way men and women weigh up probabilities in their decision-making, and/or to the different neurofunctional substrate of their decision-making.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economic Competititveness (ECO2012-34928), Italian Ministry of University and Research MIUR (PRIN 20103S5RN3_002), Generalitat Valenciana (Research Projects Gruposo3/086), the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas (IVIE), and the Ministero della Salute (RF-2009-1528677)

A genome-wide association search for type 2 diabetes genes in African Americans.

African Americans are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2DM) yet few studies have examined T2DM using genome-wide association approaches in this ethnicity. The aim of this study was to identify genes associated with T2DM in the African American population. We performed a Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) using the Affymetrix 6.0 array in 965 African-American cases with T2DM and end-stage renal disease (T2DM-ESRD) and 1029 population-based controls. The most significant SNPs (n = 550 independent loci) were genotyped in a replication cohort and 122 SNPs (n = 98 independent loci) were further tested through genotyping three additional validation cohorts followed by meta-analysis in all five cohorts totaling 3,132 cases and 3,317 controls. Twelve SNPs had evidence of association in the GWAS (P<0.0071), were directionally consistent in the Replication cohort and were associated with T2DM in subjects without nephropathy (P<0.05). Meta-analysis in all cases and controls revealed a single SNP reaching genome-wide significance (P<2.5×10(-8)). SNP rs7560163 (P = 7.0×10(-9), OR (95% CI) = 0.75 (0.67-0.84)) is located intergenically between RND3 and RBM43. Four additional loci (rs7542900, rs4659485, rs2722769 and rs7107217) were associated with T2DM (P<0.05) and reached more nominal levels of significance (P<2.5×10(-5)) in the overall analysis and may represent novel loci that contribute to T2DM. We have identified novel T2DM-susceptibility variants in the African-American population. Notably, T2DM risk was associated with the major allele and implies an interesting genetic architecture in this population. These results suggest that multiple loci underlie T2DM susceptibility in the African-American population and that these loci are distinct from those identified in other ethnic populations

Developmental trajectories of set-shifting ability from childhood trough adolescents

Among the Executive Functions (FE), the capacity of set-shifting, ie the ability to quickly and flexibly program responses that change during the course of work (Best et al., 2009), is poorly investigated in the developmental age. To date, there is no evidence that specifically assesses set-shifting skills in Italian school-age children. The objective of our study is to administer the alternate verbal fluency test of Costa et al. (2014) to a large sample of children and adolescents in order to collect normative data in the developmental age. The results suggest that set-shifting ability of children and adolescents improves with age in a linear and progressive way and that compared to what is shown in adulthood (Costa et al., 2010), in children and adolescents the set-shifting abilities appear more pronounced than those of FF

Set-shifting profile in students with Dyslexia

Aim. In the recent literature the role of the Executive Functions (EFs) in dyslexia has became a crucial field of interest. In several studies dyslexia has been associated with EFs impairments, whereas other authors didn’t describe any association between dyslexia and difficulties in EFs tasks. Moreover, the main studies evaluating EFs have focused on planning, problem solving, and working memory. Only few studies have investigated the ability of set-shifting, that seems to have a central role in the linguistic elaboration. This study analyzes the set-shifting ability in students with Developmental Dyslexia and in typically developing peers. Method. The sample included 30 students (aged 11 to 14) with a diagnosis of developmental dyslexia (DD) and 124 typically developing peers (TD). Three abilities were assessed: Phonemic Fluency (PF), Semantic Fluency (SF) and Alternate Fluency (AF) through a task already used and standardized for adults (Costa, 2014). Results. Data show a significant difference between the two groups in all the three tasks. We found a lower performance in DD with respect to controls (PF, p = .003; SF, p &lt; .001; AF, p = .005). Moreover both the two groups showed more difficulties in the PF task rather then in the SF and AF tasks. Conclusion. The study confirms the hypothesis of impairments in the executive component represented by set-shifting in adolescents with dyslexia. These findings underline the importance of evaluating this EFs in the clinical setting to better describe the cognitive profile