Revision of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) for Use with Italian Students

Background: This multistudy report was aimed at examining the psychometric properties in the Italian context of the Student Adaptation College Questionnaire (SACQ) that represents the most important self-report measure for assessing how students adjust to university. Methods: Three studies were conducted in order to revise and improve the instrument for being more efficient in measuring adjustment to university. Results: The final result was the SACQ-SF consisting in 12 item assessing three dimensions: a) student’s perception of one’s study skills (Studying); b) student’s sense of satisfaction with courses and programs (Satisfaction with curriculum); c) student’s evaluation of the degree to which he has social skills and is making new friends (Social adjustment). Conclusions: Convergent and construct validity may be considered also adequate. In sum, the SACQSF can be considered a promising valuable and efficient instrument in measuring adjustment to university in the Italian context, and probably in the European one too. Further, as a brief instrument, it can be easily administered and used as a quick screening tool

A virtual customer assistant for the wealth management domain in the UWMP project

The Universal Wealth Management Platform (UWMP) project has the objective of creating a new service model in the financial domain. An integral part of this service model is the creation of a new Virtual Customer Assistant, that is able to assist customers via natural language dialogues. This paper is a report of the activities performed to develop this assistant. It illustrates a general architecture of the system, and describes the most important decisions made for its implementation. It also describes the main financial operations that it is able to assist customers with. Finally, it delineates some avenues for future work

Healthy orthorexia vs. orthorexia nervosa: Italian validation of the Teruel Orthorexia Scale (TOS)

Purpose: Orthorexia nervosa (OrNe) is a potentially pathological condition characterized by a fixation on healthy diet. An increasing number of studies have been conducted on this mental preoccupation, but the validity and reliability of some of the psychometric instruments employed in its assessment are still under debate. Among these measures, the Teruel Orthorexia Scale (TOS) seems to be promising, given that it allows to differentiate between OrNe and other non-problematic forms of interest with healthy eating, named as healthy orthorexia (HeOr). The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the TOS, by testing its factorial structure, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and validity. Method: Through an online survey, we recruited 782 participants from different regions of Italy, asking them to complete the following self-report instruments: TOS, EHQ, EDI-3, OCI-R, and BSI-18. From the initial sample, 144 participants agreed to complete a second TOS administration 2 weeks later. Results: Data confirmed the validity of the 2-correlated factors structure of the TOS. The questionnaire also showed good reliability, both in terms of internal consistency and temporal stability. With regard to the TOS validity, results showed that OrNe was significantly and positively associated with measures of psychopathology and psychological distress, while HeOr showed no correlations or negative associations with the above-mentioned measures. Conclusion: Based on these results, the TOS can be considered a promising measure for the assessment of both pathological and non-problematic forms of orthorexic eating behavior also in Italian population. Level of evidence: Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study

Healthy Orthorexia vs. Orthorexia Nervosa: Italian validation of the Teruel Orthorexia Scale (TOS).

Purpose Orthorexia nervosa (OrNe) is a potentially pathological condition characterized by a fixation on healthy diet. An increasing number of studies have been conducted on this mental preoccupation, but the validity and reliability of some of the psychometric instruments employed in its assessment are still under debate. Among these measures, the Teruel Orthorexia Scale (TOS) seems to be promising, given that it allows to differentiate between OrNe and other non-problematic forms of interest with healthy eating, named as healthy orthorexia (HeOr). The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the TOS, by testing its factorial structure, internal consistency, test–retest reliability, and validity. Method Through an online survey, we recruited 782 participants from different regions of Italy, asking them to complete the following self-report instruments: TOS, EHQ, EDI-3, OCI-R, and BSI-18. From the initial sample, 144 participants agreed to complete a second TOS administration 2 weeks later. Results Data confirmed the validity of the 2-correlated factors structure of the TOS. The questionnaire also showed good reliability, both in terms of internal consistency and temporal stability. With regard to the TOS validity, results showed that OrNe was significantly and positively associated with measures of psychopathology and psychological distress, while HeOr showed no correlations or negative associations with the above-mentioned measures. Conclusion Based on these results, the TOS can be considered a promising measure for the assessment of both pathological and non-problematic forms of orthorexic eating behavior also in Italian population. Level of evidence Level V, descriptive cross-sectional study

Ventilator-associated pneumonia in patients with covid-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled occurrence of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) among patients admitted to an intensive care unit with COVID-19 and mortality of those who developed VAP. We performed a systematic search on PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science from inception to 2nd March 2021 for nonrandomized studies specifically addressing VAP in adult patients with COVID-19 and reporting data on at least one primary outcome of interest. Random effect single-arm meta-analysis was performed for the occurrence of VAP and mortality (at the longest follow up) and ICU length of stay. Twenty studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, for a total of 2611 patients with at least one episode of VAP. The pooled estimated occurrence of VAP was of 45.4% (95% C.I. 37.8–53.2%; 2611/5593 patients; I2 = 96%). The pooled estimated occurrence of mortality was 42.7% (95% C.I. 34–51.7%; 371/946 patients; I2 = 82%). The estimated summary estimated metric mean ICU LOS was 28.58 days (95% C.I. 21.4–35.8; I2 = 98%). Sensitivity analysis showed that patients with COVID-19 may have a higher risk of developing VAP than patients without COVID-19 (OR 3.24; 95% C.I. 2.2–4.7; P = 0.015; I2 = 67.7%; five studies with a comparison group)

Ceftazidime‐avibactam combination therapy compared to ceftazidime‐avibactam monotherapy for the treatment of severe infections due to carbapenem‐resistant pathogens: A systematic review and network meta‐analysis

Ceftazidime‐avibactam (CZA) is a novel beta‐lactam beta‐lactamase inhibitor combination approved for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections, complicated intra‐abdominal infections, and for hospital‐acquired/ventilator‐associated pneumonia. The aim of this systematic review (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019128927) was to evaluate the effectiveness of CZA combination therapy versus CZA monotherapy in the treatment of severe infections. The databases included in the search, until February 12th, 2020, were MEDLINE by PubMed, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We included both randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and non‐randomized studies published in peer‐reviewed journals and in the English language. The primary outcome was all‐cause mortality (longest follow‐up) evaluated in patients with the diagnosis of infection with at least one pathogen; secondary outcomes were clinical and microbiological improvement/cure. Thirteen studies were included in the qualitative synthesis: 7 RCTs and 6 retrospective studies All the six retrospective studies identified carbapenamaseproducing Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) as the cause of infection and for this reason were included in the network meta‐analysis (NMA); the quality of the studies, assessed using the New Castle‐Ottawa Scale, was moderate‐high. In all the six retrospective studies included in the NMA, CZA was used in large part for off‐label indications (mostly blood stream infections: 80–100% of patients included). No difference in mortality rate was observed in patients undergoing CZA combination therapy compared to CZA monotherapy [n = 503 patients, direct evidence OR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.65–1.41]

AMICO galaxy clusters in KiDS-DR3: Constraints on ΛCDM from extreme value statistics

We constrain the ΛCDM cosmological parameter s(8) by applying the extreme value statistics for galaxy cluster mass on the AMICO KiDS-DR3 catalogue. We sample the posterior distribution of the parameters by considering the likelihood of observing the largest cluster mass value in a sample of N-obs = 3644 clusters with intrinsic richness λ(*) > 20 in the redshift range z ∈ [0.10, 0.60]. We obtain s(8) = 0 . 90( + 0 .20) (-0.18), consistent within 1s with the measurements obtained by the Planck collaboration and with previous results from cluster cosmology exploiting AMICO KiDS-DR3. The constraints could improve by applying this method to forthcoming missions, such as Euclid and LSST, which are expected to deliver thousands of distant and massive clusters

Uridine Metabolism in the Goldfish Retina During Optic Nerve Regeneration: Whole Retina Studies

Accumulation of radioactivity from [ 3 H]uridine in incubations of whole goldfish retinas is increased in the ipsilateral retina during a period of regeneration that follows unilateral optic nerve crush. Brief incubations to investigate the nature of enhanced labeling of the acid-soluble fraction showed a peak uptake 4 days following crush, with a gradual decrease to control levels by 21 days following crush. That nucleoside uptake may not mediate the effect is supported by the observation that the rate of uptake of 5′-deoxyadenosine, a nonmetabolizable nucleoside analog, is the same in post-crush (PC) and normal (N) retinal incubations. Following brief incubations of PC and N retinas with [ 3 H]uridine, there is enhanced labeling in PC retinas relative to N retinas of recovered UMP, UDP, UTP, and uridine nucleotide sugars, whereas recovery of labeled uridine itself is slightly decreased. The results suggest that the increased accumulation of radioactivity in PC retinas following incubation with uridine reflects an increase in the activities of retinal uridine kinase and uridine nucleotide kinases.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65630/1/j.1471-4159.1981.tb01713.x.pd

AMICO galaxy clusters in KiDS-DR3: Cosmological constraints from angular power spectrum and correlation function

We study the tomographic clustering properties of the photometric cluster catalogue derived from the Third Data Release of the Kilo Degree Survey, focusing on the angular correlation function and its spherical harmonic counterpart, the angular power spectrum. We measure the angular correlation function and power spectrum from a sample of 5162 clusters, with an intrinsic richness $\lambda^*\geq 15$, in the photometric redshift range $z\in [0.1, 0.6]$, comparing our measurements with theoretical models, in the framework of the $\Lambda$-Cold Dark Matter cosmology. We perform a Monte Carlo Markov Chain analysis to constrain the cosmological parameters $\Omega_{\mathrm{m}}$, $\sigma_8$ and the structure growth parameter $S_8\equiv\sigma_8 \sqrt{\Omega_{\mathrm{m}}/0.3}$. We adopt Gaussian priors on the parameters of the mass-richness relation, based on the posterior distributions derived from a previous joint analysis of cluster counts and weak lensing mass measurements carried out with the same catalogue. From the angular correlation function, we obtain $\Omega_{\mathrm{m}}=0.32^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, $\sigma_8=0.77^{+0.13}_{-0.09}$ and $S_8=0.80^{+0.08}_{-0.06}$, in agreement, within $1\sigma$, with 3D clustering result based on the same cluster sample and with existing complementary studies on other datasets. For the angular power spectrum, we derive statistically consistent results, in particular $\Omega_{\mathrm{m}}=0.24^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$ and $S_8=0.93^{+0.11}_{-0.12}$, while the constraint on $\sigma_8$ alone is weaker with respect to the one provided by the angular correlation function, $\sigma_8=1.01^{+0.25}_{-0.17}$. Our results show that the 2D clustering from photometric cluster surveys can provide competitive cosmological constraints with respect to the full 3D clustering statistics, and can be successfully applied to ongoing and forthcoming spectro/photometric surveys.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A

Emotional Competence in Primary School Children: Examining the Effect of a Psycho-Educational Group Intervention: A Pilot Prospective Study

Emotional competence (EC) is a key component of children's psychological, cognitive, and social development, and it is a central element of learning. The primary goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of implementing a psycho-educational group intervention aimed at improving children's emotional competence (EC), quality of integration and scholastic skills. A total of 229 children (123 females; M Age = 7.22 years; SD = 0.97 years) completed the Pictures of Facial Affect (POFA), the Drawn Stories Technique, the Classroom Drawing, and the Colored Progressive Matrices. The total sample was randomly divided into an intervention group (N = 116) who took part in psycho-educational activities and a control (no-intervention) group (N = 84). Both groups were tested at baseline, before the intervention started, and at the end of the intervention (4 months from baseline). Results from mixed-model ANOVA revealed a significant main effect for POFA score over time (F = 6.24, p = 0.01) and an interaction effect between POFA and group (F = 4.82, p = 0.03). No significant main effect was found for classroom drawing over time (F = 0.81, p > 0.05) or for quality of integration and group intervention. These findings support the importance of developing psycho-educational programmes in school for promotion of emotional health for preventing not only the onset of problematic behaviours at school such as bullying but also the development of clinical conditions linked to difficulties in emotional recognition, expression, and regulation such as alexithymia