116 research outputs found

    Psychological Well-Being Pada Orang Tua Terhadap Anak Penderita Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

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    Penelitian dilatar belakangi oleh orang tua yang memiliki anak berkebutuhan khusus salah satunya Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) yang sering merasa stres oleh apa yang dilakukan anak. Tujuan dari penelitian ini yaitu untuk mengetahui gambaran dimensi-dimensi kesejahteraan psikologis orang tua, faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi, dan upaya orang tua dalam membangun kesejahteraan psikologis. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kasus yang melibatkan orang tua dari Sekolah Luar Biasa sebagai informan. Dalam penelitian ini menggunakan data yang diambil melalui beberapa tahap yaitu, observasi, wawancara dan dokumentasi. Penelitian berlangsung pada bulan Februari sampai Juni ketika saat orang tua sedang menunggu anak di sekolah, di rumah, dan di gereja. Hasil penelitian ini dapat memberikan gambaran dimensi-dimensi dan faktor-faktor kesejahteraan psikologis orang tua terhadap anak ADHD. Beberapa orang tua sangat baik dalam aspek ini, dan juga mereka bisa membangun hubungan baik dengan tetangga sehingga hal yang paling penting dalam aspek ini ada yaitu, saling percaya dengan orang lain, memiliki hubungan yang hangat, dan juga dalam konsep sesama manusia yang terdapat di dalamnya konsep memberi dan menerima. Orang tua memberi kontribusi untuk tercapainya kesejahteraan psikologis, sehingga orang tua mampu memberikan arti dalam setiap kehidupannya dan mampu menerima keadaan anak. Orang tua bisa mampu memaknai apa yang diberikan Tuhan lewat anak yang dimiliki. Upaya orang tua dalam membangun kesejahteraan psikologis dalam diri mereka berbeda-beda cara

    ESG in the financial industry: What matters for rating analysts?

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    This paper examines ESG rating analysts' views from Sustainalytics in order to highlight the main ESG features discussed across 11 sectors. We perform a topic modeling and a sentiment analysis to identify the content of analysts' opinions on the companies' ESG performance and to uncover the embedded sentiment associated with each ESG feature. The results of the topic modeling consist of 13 topics with a sector driven distribution. The analysis suggests that the best ESG performing financial institutions show to be actively committed to the code of best practice in governance and disclosure transparency. Whereas penalized financial entities seem to manifest less attention to ethical conduct and mis-selling. Furthermore, data privacy and security attract analysts' attention and should be closely monitored by financial entities. Finally, it is important to actively disclose ESG activities as the more information is available the better ESG commitment is reflected in analysts' views

    Hambatan Perkembangan pada Anak TK

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    Tahun-tahun pertama kehidupan seseorang merupakan periode sensitif atau masa peka pada anak, yaitu suatu periode dimana suatu fungsi tertentu perlu distimulus, diarahkan sehingga tidak terhambat perkembangannya. Namun demikian kurangnya kesadaran dari pihak-pihak yang signifikan dalam perkembangan anak memunculkan masalah-masalah dalam perkembangan anak. Masalah yang sering timbul dalam perkembangan anak meliputi gangguan perkembangan motorik, bahasa, emosi, dan perilaku. Terdapat dua faktor yang mempengaruhi masalah perkembangan yakni faktor internal dan eksternal. Faktor eksternal digambarkan seperti keluarga yang dianggap sebagai pijakan dasar dari seorang anak yang memiliki andil besar dalam setiap perkembangan anak. Faktor keluarga berupa pola asuh yang diterapkan. Fokus dari penelitian ini adalah mengidentifikasi masalah perkembangan yang terjadi pada anak dan pengaruh pemberian intervensi berupa Flashcard, Writing Via Making Letter-Like Forms terhadap masalah perkembangan anak dan psikoedukasi terhadap pola asuh yang salah dari orangtua. Dalam penelitian ini teridentifikasi masalah perkembangan yang terjadi pada anak adalah kemampuan kognitif dan motorik halus dan pola asuh yang kurang tepat yang diterapkan oleh orangtua. Penerapan intervensi menunjukan perubahan yang signifikan pada subjek dan ibu subjek. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode single-case experiment. Sampel dari penelitian ini adalah seorang siswa yang mengalami hambatan perkembangan di salah satu TK di Tomohon

    Cognitive Impairment and Age-Related Vision Disorders: Their Possible Relationship and the Evaluation of the Use of Aspirin and Statins in a 65 Years-and-Over Sardinian Population

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    Neurological disorders (Alzheimer’s disease, vascular and mixed dementia) and visual loss (cataract, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy) are among the most common conditions that afflict people of at least 65 years of age. An increasing body of evidence is emerging, which demonstrates that memory and vision impairment are closely, significantly, and positively linked and that statins and aspirin may lessen the risk of developing age-related visual and neurological problems. However, clinical studies have produced contradictory results. Thus, the intent of the present study was to reliably establish whether a relationship exist between various types of dementia and age-related vision disorders, and to establish whether statins and aspirin may or may not have beneficial effects on these two types of disorders. We found that participants with dementia and/or vision problems were more likely to be depressed and displayed worse functional ability in basic and instrumental activities of daily living than controls. Mini mental state examination scores were significantly lower in patients with vision disorders compared to subjects without vision disorders. A closer association with macular degeneration was found in subjects with Alzheimer’s disease than in subjects without dementia or with vascular dementia, mixed dementia, or other types of age-related vision disorders. When we considered the associations between different types of dementia and vision disorders and the use of statins and aspirin, we found a significant positive association between Alzheimer’s disease and statins on their own or in combination with aspirin, indicating that these two drugs do not appear to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease or improve its clinical evolution and may, on the contrary, favor its development. No significant association in statin use alone, aspirin use alone, or the combination of these was found in subjects without vision disorders but with dementia, and, similarly, none in subjects with vision disorders but without dementia. Overall, these results confirm the general impression so far; namely, that macular degeneration may contribute to cognitive disorders (Alzheimer’s disease in particular). In addition, they also suggest that, while statin and aspirin use may undoubtedly have some protective effects, they do not appear to be magic pills against the development of cognitive impairment or vision disorders in the elderly

    Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment: Application and correlations in a real-life cross-sectional study

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    Background: The assessment process of elderly people considers all aspects of an individual's life, including physical, mental, and social aspects. Frailty refers to a decline in physiological functions or strengths leading to increased vulnerability to stressors and decreased ability to cope with them. Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is a validated and useful tool in this context to holistically study elderly people. The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of impaired health status in a large geriatric population turning to outpatient service, based on the components of the CGA, and thus to describe its usefulness in real-life clinical practice. The secondary aim of this study was the evaluation of the association between nutritional status, assessed with Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA)-within the CGA-and cognitive-affective and functional capacities, and multimorbidity. Materials and methods: This real-life, retrospective cross-sectional study included subjects consecutively evaluated from January 2009 to December 2020 at the Geriatric Outpatient Service, University Hospital of Monserrato, Cagliari, Italy. A sum of 3,260 patients were subjected to CGA. Results: Only a small proportion of the sample (2.24%) showed an absence of impairment in cognitive-affective, functional, and nutritional domains. Moderate correlations were found between MNA and several other CGA variables, namely, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; ϱ = -0.41, p < 0.0001), Barthel Index of Independence in Activities of Daily Living (ADL) (ϱ = 0.51, p < 0.0001), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) (ϱ = 0.43, p < 0.0001), and Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (ϱ = 0.44, p < 0.0001). A multiple regression also highlighted these variables as significant regressors of MNA. Finally, malnutrition showed a significant association with depression (odds ratio [OR]: 4.97), dependence on ADL (OR: 19.8) and IADL (OR: 7.04), and falling risk (OR: 5.16). Conclusion: This study has figured out the complex situation in which geriatric care finds itself the complexity and severe impairment of elderly people. The possibilities of intervention are often limited, but the literature confirms the benefits of good nutritional status on the general health status. The data that emerged from our study fit into this assumption, highlighting the close association between the nutritional domain and the other CGA domains

    In vitro synergistic anti-prion effect of cholesterol ester modulators in combination with chlorpromazine and quinacrine

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    Abstract Our studies on the role of cholesterol in prion infection/replication showed that brains and peripheral cells of sheep susceptible-to or suffering-from Scrapie were characterized by an altered cholesterol homeostasis, and that drugs affecting cholesterol ester pool were endowed with selective anti-prion activity in N2a cell lines infected with the 22L and RML prion strains. In these prion-infected N2a cell lines, we now report increased anti-prion activity of dual-drug combinations consisting of cholesterol ester modulators associated with prion inhibitors. Synergism was obtained with the cholesterol ester modulators everolimus, pioglitazone, progesterone, and verapamil associated with the anti-prion chlorpromazine, and with everolimus and pioglitazone associated with the anti-prion quinacrine. In addition, comparative lipid analyses in prion-infected vs. uninfected N2a cells, demonstrated a derangement of type and distribution of cholesterol ester, free cholesterol, and triglyceride pools in the infected cells. Single-drug treatments differently affected synthesis of the various lipid forms, whereas combined drug treatments appeared to restore a lipid profile similar to that of the untreated-uninfected cells. We conclude that the anti-prion synergistic effects of cholesterol ester modulators associated with the cholesterol-interfering anti-prion drugs chlorpromazine and quinacrine may arise from the ability of combined drugs to re-establish lipid homeostasis in the prion-infected cells. Overall, these data suggest that inhibition of prion replication can be readily potentiated by combinatorial drug treatments and that steps of cholesterol/cholesterol ester metabolism may represent suitable targets

    No impact of previous NRTIs resistance in HIV positive patients switched to DTG+2NRTIs under virological control: Time of viral suppression makes the difference

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    The accumulation of drug-resistance mutations on combined antiretroviral regimens (ART) backbone could affect the virological efficacy of the regimen. Our aim was to assess the impact of previous drug resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) on the probability of virological failure (VF) in patients, under virological control, who switched to dolutegravir (DTG)+2NRTIs regimens. All HIV-1 positive drug-experienced patients who started a regimen composed by DTG+2NRTIs [abacavir/lamivudine or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) or tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)/emtricitabine (FTC)] in the ARCA collaborative group with HIV-RNA <50 cp/mL were included in the analysis. Patients with a previous VF to integrase inhibitors were excluded. The impact of single and combined NRTIs mutations on the probability of VF (defined as 2 consecutive HIV-RNA >50 copies/mL or one HIV-RNA >1000 copies/mL) was assessed by Kaplan Meier curves. A multivariable Cox regression analysis was constructed to assess factors potentially related to VF. Five hundred and eighty-eight patients were included in the analysis with a median time of viral suppression before the switch of 37 months (IQR 12-78), of whom 148 (25.2%) had at least one previous NRTIs resistance mutation. In the multivariable model no association was observed between NRTIs mutations and VF. Conversely, the duration of viral suppression before switch resulted associated with a lower risk of VF (for 1 month increase, adjusted 0.98, 95%CI 0.96-0.99; p=0.024). Previous NRTIs mutations appeared to have no impact on the risk of VF in patients switched to DTG+2NRTIs, whereas a longer interval on a controlled viremia decreased significantly the risk of VF

    Accumulation of neutral lipids in peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a distinctive trait of Alzheimer patients and asymptomatic subjects at risk of disease

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alzheimer's disease is the most common progressive neurodegenerative disease. In recent years, numerous progresses in the discovery of novel Alzheimer's disease molecular biomarkers in brain as well as in biological fluids have been made. Among them, those involving lipid metabolism are emerging as potential candidates. In particular, an accumulation of neutral lipids was recently found by us in skin fibroblasts from Alzheimer's disease patients. Therefore, with the aim to assess whether peripheral alterations in cholesterol homeostasis might be relevant in Alzheimer's disease development and progression, in the present study we analyzed lipid metabolism in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Alzheimer's disease patients and from their first-degree relatives.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Blood samples were obtained from 93 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease and from 91 of their first-degree relatives. As controls we utilized 57, cognitively normal, over-65 year-old volunteers and 113 blood donors aged 21-66 years, respectively. Data are reported as mean ± standard error. Statistical calculations were performed using the statistical analysis software Origin 8.0 version. Data analysis was done using the Student t-test and the Pearson test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data reported here show high neutral lipid levels and increased ACAT-1 protein in about 85% of peripheral blood mononuclear cells freshly isolated (<it>ex vivo</it>) from patients with probable sporadic Alzheimer's disease compared to about 7% of cognitively normal age-matched controls. A significant reduction in high density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in plasma from Alzheimer's disease blood samples was also observed. Additionally, correlation analyses reveal a negative correlation between high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and cognitive capacity, as determined by Mini Mental State Examination, as well as between high density lipoprotein-cholesterol and neutral lipid accumulation. We observed great variability in the neutral lipid-peripheral blood mononuclear cells data and in plasma lipid analysis of the subjects enrolled as Alzheimer's disease-first-degree relatives. However, about 30% of them tend to display a peripheral metabolic cholesterol pattern similar to that exhibited by Alzheimer's disease patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We suggest that neutral lipid-peripheral blood mononuclear cells and plasma high density lipoprotein-cholesterol determinations might be of interest to outline a distinctive metabolic profile applying to both Alzheimer's disease patients and asymptomatic subjects at higher risk of disease.</p

    A Prognostic Model for Estimating the Time to Virologic Failure in HIV-1 Infected Patients Undergoing a New Combination Antiretroviral Therapy Regimen

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>HIV-1 genotypic susceptibility scores (GSSs) were proven to be significant prognostic factors of fixed time-point virologic outcomes after combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) switch/initiation. However, their relative-hazard for the time to virologic failure has not been thoroughly investigated, and an expert system that is able to predict how long a new cART regimen will remain effective has never been designed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed patients of the Italian ARCA cohort starting a new cART from 1999 onwards either after virologic failure or as treatment-naïve. The time to virologic failure was the endpoint, from the 90<sup>th </sup>day after treatment start, defined as the first HIV-1 RNA > 400 copies/ml, censoring at last available HIV-1 RNA before treatment discontinuation. We assessed the relative hazard/importance of GSSs according to distinct interpretation systems (Rega, ANRS and HIVdb) and other covariates by means of Cox regression and random survival forests (RSF). Prediction models were validated via the bootstrap and c-index measure.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The dataset included 2337 regimens from 2182 patients, of which 733 were previously treatment-naïve. We observed 1067 virologic failures over 2820 persons-years. Multivariable analysis revealed that low GSSs of cART were independently associated with the hazard of a virologic failure, along with several other covariates. Evaluation of predictive performance yielded a modest ability of the Cox regression to predict the virologic endpoint (c-index≈0.70), while RSF showed a better performance (c-index≈0.73, p < 0.0001 vs. Cox regression). Variable importance according to RSF was concordant with the Cox hazards.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>GSSs of cART and several other covariates were investigated using linear and non-linear survival analysis. RSF models are a promising approach for the development of a reliable system that predicts time to virologic failure better than Cox regression. Such models might represent a significant improvement over the current methods for monitoring and optimization of cART.</p

    Intracellular expression of Tat alters mitochondrial functions in T cells: a potential mechanism to understand mitochondrial damage during HIV-1 replication

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    HIV-1 replication results in mitochondrial damage that is enhanced during antiretroviral therapy (ART). The onset of HIV-1 replication is regulated by viral protein Tat, a 101-residue protein codified by two exons that elongates viral transcripts. Although the first exon of Tat (aa 1–72) forms itself an active protein, the presence of the second exon (aa 73–101) results in a more competent transcriptional protein with additional functions. Results: Mitochondrial overall functions were analyzed in Jurkat cells stably expressing full-length Tat (Tat101) or one-exon Tat (Tat72). Representative results were confirmed in PBLs transiently expressing Tat101 and in HIV-infected Jurkat cells. The intracellular expression of Tat101 induced the deregulation of metabolism and cytoskeletal proteins which remodeled the function and distribution of mitochondria. Tat101 reduced the transcription of the mtDNA, resulting in low ATP production. The total amount of mitochondria increased likely to counteract their functional impairment. These effects were enhanced when Tat second exon was expressed. Conclusions: Intracellular Tat altered mtDNA transcription, mitochondrial content and distribution in CD4+ T cells. The importance of Tat second exon in non-transcriptional functions was confirmed. Tat101 may be responsible for mitochondrial dysfunctions found in HIV-1 infected patients.We greatly appreciate the secretarial assistance of Mrs Olga Palao. This work was supported by FIPSE (360924/10), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF2010-18388), Spanish Ministry of Health (EC11- 285), AIDS Network ISCIII-RETIC (RD12/0017/0015), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (FIS PI12/00506). The work of Sara Rodríguez-Mora is supported by a fellowship of Sara Borrell from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (2013). The work of María Rosa López-Huertas is supported by a fellowship of the European Union Programme Health 2009 (CHAARM).S
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