1,308 research outputs found
Italian translation and cross cultural comparison with the Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS)
Background: The Childhood Attachment and Relational Trauma Screen (CARTS) is a computer-administered survey designed to assess retrospectively the socio-ecological context in which instances of child abuse may have occurred. To date, studies supporting the validity
of the CARTS have only been undertaken in English-speaking North American populations.
Validation projects in other countries and cross-cultural comparisons are therefore warranted.
Objective: Develop and preliminarily evaluate the psychometric properties of an Italian version of the CARTS on college students and compare such observations to data acquired from Canadian students.
Method: Seventy-nine undergraduate students from the University of Padua (Italy) completed an Italian translation of the CARTS as well as measures of childhood experiences, mental health and attachment, responses to which were compared to those obtained in 288 Canadian students who completed the CARTS in English.
Results: Internal consistency and convergent validity with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and Parental Bonding Instrument were found to be acceptable for the Italian translation. Within the Italian sample, correlation analyses suggested that CARTS Mother ratings referring to attachment and abuse were associated with romantic attachment, whereas CARTS Father ratings were significantly correlated to PTSD symptoms and other symptoms of psychopathology-distress. Significant differences between Italian and Canadian students across the relationship types for the CARTS abuse and attachment scales were found, indicating that Italian students rated their mothers and fathers as simultaneously less abusive, but also less as a source of secure attachment.
Conclusions: The results of this preliminary study seem to suggest convergent validity of the Italian CARTS and the association between childhood attachment-related experiences and romantic attachment. Cultural variations were identified between Canadian and Italian
students in both attachment and abuse scales. Future studies to investigate cross-cultural variations in the relational context of childhood abuse and in order to boost Italian CARTS psychometric features are warranted
Mothers and fathers with Binge Eating Disorder and their 18-36 months old children: a longitudinal study on parent-infant interactions and offspring\u2019s emotional-behavioral profiles
Maternal Binge Eating Disorder (BED) has been suggested to be associated with poor parent\u2013infant interactions during feeding and with children\u2019s emotional and behavioral problems during infancy (Blissett and Haycraft, 2011). The role of fathers has received increasing consideration in recent years, yet the research has not focused on interactional patterns between fathers with BED and their children. The present study aimed to longitudinally investigate the in\ufb02uence of BED diagnosis, in one or both parents, on parent\u2013infant feeding interactions and on children\u2019s emotional\u2013behavioral functioning. 612 subjects (408 parents; 204 children), recruited in mental health services and pre-schools in Central Italy, were divided into four groups: Group 1 included families with both parents diagnosed with BED, Group 2 and 3 included families with one parent diagnosed with BED, Group 0 was a healthy control. The assessment took place at T1 (18 months of age of children) and T2 (36 months of age of children):
feeding interactions were assessed through the Scale for the Assessment of Feeding Interactions (SVIA) while child emotional\u2013behavioral functioning was evaluated with the Child Behavior Check-List (CBCL). When compared to healthy controls, the groups with one or both parents diagnosed with BED showed higher scores on the SVIA and on the CBCL internalizing and externalizing scales, indicating poorer adult\u2013child feeding interactions and higher emotional\u2013behavioral dif\ufb01culties. A direct in\ufb02uence of parental psychiatric diagnosis on the quality of mother\u2013infant and father\u2013infant interactions was also found, both at T1 and T2. Moreover, dyadic feeding interactions mediated the in\ufb02uence of parental diagnosis on children\u2019s psychological functioning. The presence of BED diagnosis in one or both parents seems to in\ufb02uence the severity of maladaptive
parent\u2013infant exchanges during feeding and offspring\u2019s emotional\u2013behavioral problems over time, consequently affecting different areas of children\u2019s psychological functioning. This is the \ufb01rst study to demonstrate the speci\ufb01c effects of maternal and paternal BED on infant development. These results could inform prevention and intervention programs in families with one or both parents diagnosed with BED
Effect of Ru susbstitution on atomic displacements in the layered SmFe_{1-x}Ru_xAsO_{0.85}F_{0.15} superconductor
The effect of Ru substitution on the local structure of layered
SmFeRuAsOF superconductor has been studied by As
- and Sm - edges x-ray-absorption spectroscopy. The extended
x-ray-absorption fine-structure measurements reveal distinct Fe-As and Ru-As
bondlengths in the Ru substituted samples with the latter being 0.03 \AA\
longer. Local disorder induced by the Ru substitution is mainly confined to the
FeAs layer while the SmO spacer layer sustains a relative order, consistent
with the x-ray-absorption near-edge structure spectra. The results suggest
that, in addition to the order/disorder in the active active iron-arsenide
layer, its coupling to the rare-earth\textminus oxygen spacer layer needs to be
considered for describing the electronic properties of these layered
superconductors
Role of Ligand Conformation on Nanoparticle-Protein Interactions
Engineered biomedical nanoparticles (NPs) administered via intravenous routes are prone to associate to serum proteins. The protein corona can mask the NP surface functionalization and hamper the delivery of the NP to its biological target. The design of corona-free NPs relies on our understanding of the chemical-physical features of the NP surface driving the interaction with serum proteins. Here, we address, by computational means, the interaction between human serum albumin (HSA) and a prototypical monolayer-protected Au nanoparticle. We show that both the chemical composition (charge, hydrophobicity) and the conformational preferences of the ligands decorating the NP surface affect the NP propensity to bind HSA
De-excitation spectroscopy of strongly interacting Rydberg gases
We present experimental results on the controlled de-excitation of Rydberg
states in a cold gas of Rb atoms. The effect of the van der Waals interactions
between the Rydberg atoms is clearly seen in the de-excitation spectrum and
dynamics. Our observations are confirmed by numerical simulations. In
particular, for off-resonant (facilitated) excitation we find that the
de-excitation spectrum reflects the spatial arrangement of the atoms in the
quasi one-dimensional geometry of our experiment. We discuss future
applications of this technique and implications for detection and controlled
dissipation schemes.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Temperature dependence of iron local magnetic moment in phase-separated superconducting chalcogenide
We have studied local magnetic moment and electronic phase separation in
superconducting KFeSe by x-ray emission and absorption
spectroscopy. Detailed temperature dependent measurements at the Fe K-edge have
revealed coexisting electronic phases and their correlation with the transport
properties. By cooling down, the local magnetic moment of Fe shows a sharp drop
across the superconducting transition temperature (T) and the coexisting
phases exchange spectral weights with the low spin state gaining intensity at
the expense of the higher spin state. After annealing the sample across the
iron-vacancy order temperature, the system does not recover the initial state
and the spectral weight anomaly at T as well as superconductivity
disappear. The results clearly underline that the coexistence of the low spin
and high spin phases and the transitions between them provide unusual magnetic
fluctuations and have a fundamental role in the superconducting mechanism of
electronically inhomogeneous KFeSe system.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
5d-5f Electric-multipole Transitions in Uranium Dioxide Probed by Non-resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering
Non-resonant inelastic x ray scattering (NIXS) experiments have been
performed to probe the 5d-5f electronic transitions at the uranium O(4,5)
absorption edges in uranium dioxide. For small values of the scattering vector
q, the spectra are dominated by dipole-allowed transitions encapsulated within
the giant resonance, whereas for higher values of q the multipolar transitions
of rank 3 and 5 give rise to strong and well-defined multiplet structure in the
pre-edge region. The origin of the observed non-dipole multiplet structures is
explained on the basis of many-electron atomic spectral calculations. The
results obtained demonstrate the high potential of NIXS as a bulk-sensitive
technique for the characterization of the electronic properties of actinide
materials.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letters on 31 December 200
Local structure of REFeAsO (RE=La, Pr, Nd, Sm) oxypnictides studied by Fe K-edge EXAFS
Local structure of REOFeAs (RE=La, Pr, Nd, Sm) system has been studied as a
function of chemical pressure varied due to different rare-earth size. Fe
K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements in the
fluorescence mode has permitted to compare systematically the inter-atomic
distances and their mean square relative displacements (MSRD). We find that the
Fe-As bond length and the corresponding MSRD hardly show any change, suggesting
the strongly covalent nature of this bond, while the Fe-Fe and Fe-RE bond
lengths decrease with decreasing rare earth size. The results provide important
information on the atomic correlations that could have direct implication on
the superconductivity and magnetism of REOFeAs system, with the chemical
pressure being a key ingredient
Isotope effect on the E2g phonon and mesoscopic phase separation near the electronic topological transition in Mg1-xAlxB2
We report the boron isotope effect on the E2g phonon mode by micro-Raman
spectroscopy on the ternary Mg1-xAlxB2 system, synthesized with pure isotopes
10B and 11B. The isotope coefficient on the phonon frequency is near 0.5 in the
full range decreasing near x = 0. The intraband electron-phonon (e-ph)
coupling, for the electrons in the sigma band, has been extracted from the E2g
line-width and frequency softening. Tuning the Fermi energy near the electronic
topological transition (ETT), where the sigma Fermi surface changes from 2D to
3D topology the E2g mode, shows the known Kohn anomaly on the 2D side of the
ETT and a splitting of the E2g phonon frequency into a hard and soft component
from x = 0 to x = 0.28. The results suggest a minor role of the intraband
phonon mediated pairing in the control of the high critical temperature in
Mg1-xAlxB2. The common physical features of diborides with the novel multigap
FeAs-based superconductors and cuprates is discussed.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
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