Racial/Ethnic Socialization Messages, Social Support, and Personal Efficacy among Adolescents

Associations between ethnic socialization and a sense of personal efficacy were explored among African- American, Hispanic, and Caucasian adolescents. We found that those who reported greater intimacy with their mothers were more likely to perceive them as sources of race-related socialization messages. Consisting of primarily African-American and Latino youths, members of this group were encouraged by their mothers to demonstrate greater racial and ethnic pride. In contrast, Caucasian youths were more likely to see their mothers as purveyors of tolerance and cooperation between diverse populations. A separate analysis involving the African-American subset revealed that adolescents who received messages imparting strong cultural and racial pride were related to reporting a greater sense of personal efficacy

Geomatica e Multimedia per la documentazione del Patrimonio paesaggistico e culturale: nuove tecnologie integrate per il miglioramento dei processi di rilevamento, gestione e diffusione delle conoscenze tramite Web. Il ruolo delle immagini e della rappresentazione.

Modern solutions today available in Geomatics and Information Technology offer great potential in the field of cultural heritage and landscape documenation in every step of recording, visualization, dissemination and communication. In this way the research aims to examine issues related to the integrated application of these technologies to improve knowledge on cultural heritage and landscape and the dissemination through web. The first part explores the themes of landscape and his representation, defining the theoretical principles of the study. Two cases are presented based on the experience gained during the PhD: The first one was carried out at the laboratories of CGT (Centro di Geotecnologie - University of Siena) within the project 'Portale dei Geopaesaggi della Regione Toscana', a scientific cooperation with Regione Toscana and Consorzio LaMMa. The project involves the integrated application of new technologies for the development of a Geographic Information System and a related web portal. In particular are discussed methodologies for landscape documentation such as digital photography to create virtual immersive panoramas and programming application to create a dedicated web site. The second one was carried out during a staying at GIFLE, Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Research Group. It presents the use of a terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) as a valuable tool for 3D documentation of large outdoor cultural heritage sculptures such as the ones existing in the open-air museum, ‘Museo al Aire Libre’, inside the Campus de Vera of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. Both case followed the same methodological approach from the object's registration, with a special attention for data quality and reliability, through the representation and visualization to promote the latter stages of communication and public dissemination through the web optimizing the cultural flow and knowledge of the landscape

Primary intra and extradural solitary fibrous tumor/hemangiopericytoma of thoracic spine with paravertebral intrathoracic spread: Case report and review of the literature

Solitary fibrous tumors/hemangiopericytomas (SFTs/HPCs), constitute 1% of all CNS tumors. Spinal SFTs/HPCs are extremely rare. To date, few retrospective studies and case reports of primary spinal SFTs/HPCs have been published in the literature. We report clinical and radiological presentation, surgical treatment, and post-operative outcome at three years follow-up of a rare case of primary spinal intra and extradural SFT/HPC of thoracic spine with dumbbell shaped paravertebral intrathoracic spread and multidirectional erosion of the bone. A 73-year-old female presented with progressive lower limbs weakness and hypoesthesia below the rib cage. MRI showed an irregular isointense T5-T7 dumbbell shaped tumor. Tumor resection was successfully carried out through posterior and antero-lateral approach. Histological examination showed a grade II SFT/HPC. No local recurrence nor systemic metastases were observed at three years follow-up. A literature review has been performed to describe epidemiology, radiographic features, treatment, recurrence rate and mean disease-free survival of primary spinal SFTs/HPCs. No radiographic pathognomonic findings have been reported for these tumors. Differential diagnosis must be made with meningioma, schwannoma, chordoma, aggressive hemangioma, metastases, angiosarcoma. Surgical resection is the first choice of treatment, and total resection should be attempted whenever possible in all cases. Postsurgical radiotherapy does not change significantly recurrence rate after GTR, nonetheless it increases mean disease-free survival, especially in patients with extradural SFTs/HPCs. After subtotal resection, adjuvant radiotherapy is necessary to reduce progression of disease. The efficacy of chemotherapy has yet to be determined. Pathological degree and total surgical resection are the most important predictive factors of recurrence

Invadolysin, a conserved lipid-droplet-associated metalloproteinase, is required for mitochondrial function in Drosophila

Mitochondria are the main producers of ATP, the principal energy source of the cell, and reactive oxygen species (ROS), important signaling molecules. Mitochondrial morphogenesis and function depend on a hierarchical network of mechanisms in which proteases appear to be center stage. The invadolysin gene encodes an essential conserved metalloproteinase of the M8 family that is necessary for mitosis and cell migration during Drosophila development. We previously demonstrated that invadolysin is found associated with lipid droplets in cells. Here, we present data demonstrating that invadolysin interacts physically with three mitochondrial ATP synthase subunits. Our studies have focused on the genetic phenotypes of invadolysin and bellwether, the Drosophila homolog of ATP synthase a, mutants. The invadolysin mutation presents defects in mitochondrial physiology similar to those observed in bellwether mutants. The invadolysin and bellwether mutants have parallel phenotypes that affect lipid storage and mitochondrial electron transport chain activity, which result in a reduction in ATP production and an accumulation of ROS. As a consequence, invadolysin mutant larvae show lower energetic status and higher oxidative stress. Our data demonstrate an essential role for invadolysin in mitochondrial function that is crucial for normal development and survival.peer-reviewe

Parental origin and somatic mosaicism of PHOX2B mutations in Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome.

Heterozygous polyalanine repeat expansions of PHOX2B have been associated with Congenital Central Hypoventilation Syndrome, a rare neurocristopathy characterized by absence of adequate control of respiration during sleep. Here we report a PHOX2B mutational screening in 63 CCHS patients, 58 of whom presenting with poly-A expansions or frameshift, missense and nonsense mutations. To assess a somatic or germline occurrence of poly-A length variations, the relative amounts of mutant and wild type alleles have been quantified in 20 selected CCHS patients presenting with an expansion, and in their parents. Somatic mosaicism was shown in four parents, while no mosaic was found among CCHS patients. Moreover, while co-segregation analysis of the PHOX2B poly-A expansions with selected marker alleles in the same 20 CCHS trios has not demonstrated any parent-of-origin effect of the mutations, it has provided further clues to clarify the molecular mechanism underlying the expansion occurrence. Finally, the segregation of PHOX2B poly-A anomalous tracts within family members has allowed us to exclude tendency of polymorphic variations towards expansion. This strengthens the notion that expanded polyalanine tracts, identified as frequent disease-causing mutations also in other human diseases, are mitotically and meiotically stable

Rehabilitation of Communicative Abilities in Patients with a History of TBI: Behavioral Improvements and Cerebral Changes in Resting-State Activity

A targeted training program for the rehabilitation of communicative abilities—Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT)—has been developed and previously tested on a sample of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), whose performance was found to have improved. Since cortical plasticity has been recognized as the main mechanism of functional recovery, we investigated whether and how behavioral improvements following the training program are accompanied by brain modifications. Eight TBI patients took part in the training program and were behaviorally assessed pre- and post-treatment; six of these patients were also evaluated with pre- and post-treatment resting state (rs) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). At the end of the rehabilitation program patients showed improvement in overall communicative performance, in both comprehension and production tasks. A follow-up retest revealed the stability of these results 3 months after completing the training program. At the brain level, we found significant increases in the amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) index in the bilateral precentral gyrus, in the right middle and superior temporal gyri, in the right cingulate gyrus, and in the left inferior parietal lobule. We discuss these differences of brain activity in terms of their possible contribution to promoting recovery

Ethnic Identity Among Arab Americans: An Examination of Contextual Influences and Psychological Well-Being

Existing theories and research have indicated that ethnic identity is crucial for ethnic minority young adults because ethnicity is an important component of their personal identity that is likely to influence various aspects of their development. Given the centrality of this construct, the overarching aim of the present study was to examine ethnic identity and psychological well-being among members of an ethnic group that have long been ignored in the psychological literature: Arab Americans. Specifically, the goals of the study were threefold. The first goal was to examine the association between multiple contextual factors (such as students’ perceptions of their parents’ style of parenting, family ethnic socialization, perceived discrimination, and generational status) and ethnic identity. The second goal was to explore the potential role of ethnic identity to promote psychological adjustment and well-being: self-esteem and depressive symptoms are indices of psychological functioning that were examined in the study. The final goal of the study was to examine whether ethnic identity can serve as a protective factor, mitigating the negative effects of discrimination on psychological well-being. Methods: Participants (N= 323) were recruited through advertisements and flyers placed on bulletin boards across the Wayne State University (WSU) campus and through announcements placed on WSU pipeline and on the Arab American Student Association as well as the Egyptian Student Association Facebook pages. All flyers included the online study website (surveymonkey.com) to allow students to access the survey and complete it. Inclusion criteria for participants were: being between the ages of 18 and 25 years, of Arab or Middle Eastern descent, living in the United States, and registered as a full-time or part-time student at Wayne State University. The survey consisted of a package of 7 batteries: Demographic Questionnaire, Familial Ethnic Socialization Measure (FESM), Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ), Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire (PEDQ), Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale (CES-D Scale). Results: Pearson correlation analyses revealed that higher family ethnic socialization, authoritative parenting, authoritarian parenting, and lower generational status were all significantly associated with higher ethnic identity (r= .55, r=.51, r= .16, r=-.19, respectively). Further mediation analyses revealed that the relation between generational status and ethnic identity was fully mediated by family ethnic socialization. With respect to the relation between ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, and psychological well-being, results from the correlational analyses revealed that higher ethnic identity was associated with higher self-esteem (r = .45, p \u3c .01) and lower depressive symptoms (r = -.23, p \u3c .01) whereas perceived discrimination was associated with lower self-esteem (r = -.33, p \u3c .01) and higher depressive symptoms (r = .49, p \u3c .01). Finally, with respect to the potential protective role of ethnic identity, hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and psychological well-being. Specifically, perceived ethnic discrimination was negatively associated with self-esteem among participants with high ethnic identity; however, this relationship was even stronger among participants with low ethnic identity. Similarly, perceived ethnic discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms among participants with high ethnic identity; however, this relationship was even stronger among participants with low ethnic identity. Discussion: Our findings suggest that ethnic discrimination takes a toll on Arab American young adults, but, for this population, having a salient ethnic identity may have profound mental health benefits as ethnic identity may serve as valuable resource to help them deal with negative discriminatory experiences

Lesions mimicking melanoma at dermoscopy confirmed basal cell carcinomas: evaluation with reflectance confocal microscopy

Background: Atypical basal cell carcinoma (BCC), characterized by equivocal dermoscopic features typical of malignant melanoma (MM), can be difficult to diagnose. Reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) enables in vivo imaging at nearly histological resolution. Objectives: To evaluate BCCs mimicking melanoma at dermoscopy according to well-known RCM criteria for typical BCCs, and identify discriminate RCM parameters for superficial (sBCCs) and nonsuperficial BCCs (nsBCCs). Material and Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive patients, evaluated with RCM, selecting excised lesions classified at dermoscopy with ≥1 score from the revisited seven-point checklist, mimicking melanoma, registered between 2010 - 2016. Lesions without RCM melanocytic parameters, were investigated by operators blinded to histopathology diagnoses. Cluster analysis identified BCC sub-classifications. Results: Of 178 atypical lesions, 34 lesions were diagnosed BCC with RCM, and diagnoses were confirmed with histopathology. Dermoscopic features observed atypical network (55.9%), and regressions structures (35.5%) associated with sBCCs, and atypical vascular pattern (58.8%) and irregular blotches (58.8%) with nsBCC. Hierarchical cluster analysis identified 2 clusters: cluster 1 (100% sBCCs) was characterized by the presence of cords connected to the epidermis (90%, p<0.001), tumor islands located in the epidermis (100%, p<0.001), smaller vascular diameter (100%, p<0.001) and solar elastosis (90%, p=0.017) and cluster 2 (nsBCCs 85%) by the dermic location of tumor islands (87.5%, p<0.001) with branch-like structures (70.8%, p= 0.007) and surrounding collagen (83.3%, p=0.012), peripheral palisading (83.3%, p=0.012), and coiled vascular morphology (79.2%, p<0.001) with larger vascular diameter (50%, p<0.001). Conclusions: RCM is able to diagnose BCCs mimicking melanoma at dermoscopy and seems able to identify sBCCs and nsBCCs. Therefore, the use of RCM may assist in optimizing therapeutic management of these equivocal lesions