1,549 research outputs found
The developmental pathways of preschool children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: communicative and social sequelae one year after treatment
Early childhood is considered to be a period of rapid development, with the acquisition
of abilities predicting future positive school competences. Motor, cognitive, and social diculties
related to cancer therapies heavily impact the development of children with cancer. This study
focused on two main aims: To assess the developmental pathways of preschool children with
acute lymphoblastic leukemia one year post-treatment and to compare these abilities both with
those of a control group of healthy peers and with Italian norms. Forty-four children and their
families, recruited through the Hematology-Oncologic Clinic of the Department of Child andWoman
Health (University of Padua), agreed to participate in this study. The children\u2019s mean age was
4.52 years (SD = 0.94, range = 2.5\u20136 years), equally distributed by gender, all diagnosed with acute
lymphoblastic leukemia. Matched healthy peers were recruited through pediatricians\u2019 ambulatories.
Each family was interviewed adopting the Vineland adaptive behavior scales. Paired sampleWilcoxon
tests revealed that children were reported to have significantly more developmental diculties than
their healthy peers. When compared with Italian norms, they scored particularly low in verbal
competence, social, and coping skills. No significant association was found between treatment
variables and developmental abilities. These findings suggest that the creation of specialized
interventions, both for parents and children, may fill the possible delays in children\u2019s development
probably due to stress, lack of adequate stimulation, or dicult adaptation
Neutron spectrometer for fast nuclear reactors
In this paper we describe the development and first tests of a neutron
spectrometer designed for high flux environments, such as the ones found in
fast nuclear reactors. The spectrometer is based on the conversion of neutrons
impinging on Li into and whose total energy comprises the
initial neutron energy and the reaction -value. The LiF layer is
sandwiched between two CVD diamond detectors, which measure the two reaction
products in coincidence. The spectrometer was calibrated at two neutron
energies in well known thermal and 3 MeV neutron fluxes. The measured neutron
detection efficiency varies from 4.2 to 3.5 for
thermal and 3 MeV neutrons, respectively. These values are in agreement with
Geant4 simulations and close to simple estimates based on the knowledge of the
Li(n,) cross section. The energy resolution of the spectrometer
was found to be better than 100 keV when using 5 m cables between the detector
and the preamplifiers.Comment: submitted to NI
Health-related quality of life in AYA cancer survivors who underwent HSCT compared with healthy peers
This\ue002study\ue002was\ue002aimed\ue002at\ue002comparing\ue002adolescent\ue002and\ue002young\ue002adult\ue002(AYA)\ue002Hematopoietic\ue002
Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) paediatric cancer survivors and a control group of
healthy peers in terms of Health- Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and frequency of
posttraumatic\ue002stress\ue002symptoms\ue002(PTSS).\ue002The\ue002participants\ue002were\ue00232\ue002AYA\ue002HSCT\ue002survi-
vors and 28 matched healthy peers. The survivors were, on average, 19.4 years old
(SD = 3.8), with an average age of 8.1 years (SD = 4.3) at diagnosis, and with a mean
time, since treatment was completed, of 8.5 years (SD = 3.2). The majority of survi-
vors (78.1%) did not show clinical PTSS, with intrusion symptoms most frequently
reported in those who had undergone autologous HSCT (F = 3.3; df = 2; p = 0.05) and
relapse presence in their treatment associated with more PTSS avoidance symptoms
(r = 0.4; p\ue002=\ue0020.002).\ue002Women\ue002reported\ue002more\ue002problems\ue002in\ue002the\ue002SF-\ue00236\ue002pain\ue002scale\ue002(t = 2.1;
df = 31; p\ue002=\ue0020.04)\ue002than\ue002men.\ue002Additionally,\ue00287.5%\ue002of\ue002survivors\ue002fell\ue002below\ue002the\ue00225th\ue002per-
centile\ue002in\ue002the\ue002SF-\ue00236\ue002general\ue002well-\ue002being\ue002scale,\ue002and\ue00270.8%\ue002had\ue002the\ue002same\ue002trend\ue002for\ue002the\ue002
SF-\ue00236\ue002fatigue\ue002scale.\ue002Survivors\ue002reported\ue002better\ue002emotional\ue002well-\ue002being\ue002(t\ue002=\ue0022.6,\ue002df = 27,
p = 0.01) and fewer limitations than their healthy peers (t = 2.5, df = 27, p = 0.02),
while they perceived a lower life satisfaction referring to the past (t\ue002=\ue002 122.8,\ue002df = 27,
p = 0.009)
Search for Neutron Flux Generation in a Plasma Discharge Electrolytic Cell
Following some recent unexpected hints of neutron production in setups like
high-voltage atmospheric discharges and plasma discharges in electrolytic
cells, we present a measurement of the neutron flux in a configuration similar
to the latter. We use two different types of neutron detectors,
poly-allyl-diglicol-carbonate (PADC, aka CR-39) tracers and Indium disks. At
95% C.L. we provide an upper limit of 1.5 neutrons cm^-2 s^-1 for the thermal
neutron flux at ~5 cm from the center of the cell. Allowing for a higher energy
neutron component the largest allowed flux is 64 neutrons cm^-2 s^-1. This
upper limit is two orders of magnitude smaller than what previously claimed in
an electrolytic cell plasma discharge experiment. Furthermore the behavior of
the CR-39 is discussed to point our possible sources of spurious signals.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Quantifying transgressive coastal changes using UAVs: dune migration, overwash recovery, and barrier flooding assessment and interferences with human and natural assets
The advantages derived from the use of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are well-established: they are cost-effective and easy to use. There are numerous environmental applications, particularly when monitoring contexts characterized by rapid morphological changes and high rates of sediment transport, such as coastal areas. In this paper, three different case studies of survey and monitoring with high resolution and accuracy obtained through the use of UAVs are presented; these concern transgressive coastal sites. Results allow for the definition and quantification of coastal landforms and processes, including: (i) The anatomy of a parabolic dune and the rate of landward migration that could interfere with a tourist settlement; (ii) The mode and timing of morphological recovery and realignment of a barrier island overwashed by storm surge episodes; and (iii) The potential flood risk of a progradational spit that is a nesting site of a species of migratory breeding birds of conservation concern. The results demonstrate and confirm that, through a good coupling of drone-sensed quality data and accurate topographic control, quantitative estimates that are useful in assessing the impacts of natural processes involving both human and natural assets can be obtained
Quality of Life and psychopathology in adults who underwent Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) in childhood: a qualitative and quantitative analysis.
Background: Patients who undergo pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) may experience long-term psychological sequelae and poor Quality of Life (QoL) in adulthood. This study aimed to investigate subjective illness experience, QoL, and psychopathology in young adults who have survived pediatric HSCT.
Method: The study involved patients treated with HSCT in the Hematology-Oncology Department between 1984 and 2007. Psychopathology and QoL were investigated using the SCL-90-R and SF-36. Socio-demographic and medical information was also collected. Finally, participants were asked to write a brief composition about their experiences of illness and care. Qualitative analysis of the texts was performed using T-LAB, an instrument for text analysis that allows the user to highlight the occurrences and co-occurrences of lemma. Quantitative analyses were performed using non-parametric tests (Spearman correlations, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests).
Results: Twenty-one patients (9 males) participated in the study. No significant distress was found on the SCL-90 Global Severity Index, but it was found on specific scales. On the SF-36, lower scores were reported on scales referring to bodily pain, general health, and physical and social functioning. All the measures were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with specific socio-demographic and medical variables (gender, type of pathology, type of HSCT, time elapsed between communication of the need to transplant and effective transplantation, and days of hospitalization). With regard to the narrative analyses, males focused on expressions related to the body and medical therapies, while females focused on people they met during treatment, family members, and donors. Low general health and treatment with autologous HSCT were associated with memories about chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and the body parts involved, while high general health was associated with expressions focused on gratitude (V-Test \ub1 1.96).
Conclusion: Pediatric HSCT survivors are more likely to experience psychological distress and low QoL in adulthood compared with the general population. These aspects, along with survivors' subjective illness experience, show differences according to specific medical and socio-demographic variables. Studies are needed in order to improve the care and long-term follow-up of these families
ALCOHOL- AND DRUG-RELATED CONTENTS IN THE NURSING PROGRAM AT ESPÍRITO SANTO FEDERAL UNIVERSITY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The study was based on the project sponsored by the Organization of American States which wasdeveloped by São Paulo Federal University College of Nursing aiming at analyzing the alcohol- and drug-relatedcourse contents taught in undergraduate nursing programs in Brazil. Its purpose was to evaluate teachingconditions concerning this theme in the undergraduate nursing program at Espírito Santo Federal Universitythrough a descriptive survey applied to 86 nursing students. To 95% of the students, the problem related to theconsumption of alcohol and drugs is a theme of great interest. The inclusion of these themes in nursing programsis a facilitating condition for the education of nurses in this area
Systematics of Xanthorrhoeaceae Sensu Lato, with an Emphasis on Bulbine
We provide here results of a combined analysis of plastid genes rbcL, matK, and ndhF for Xanthorrhoeaceae s.l., the Asphodelaceae/Xanthorrhoeaceae/Hemerocallidaceae clade, which are well supported by the DNA data. Xanthorrhoea (often treated as the sole member of Xanthorrhoeaceae) is sister to the hemerocallid clade (former Hemerocallidaceae); and the asphodelid clade (formerly Asphodelaceae) is sister to them both. For additional species of Bulbine and Jodrellia (both Asphodeloideae), we also collected rps16 intron and ITS nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences to better assess their relationships. Bulbine, with Jodrellia, embedded are sister to the collective genera of subfamily Alooideae in which all species are characterized by strongly bimodal and nearly identical karyotypes, whereas that of Bulbine is much more variable. Cytological studies have previously shown Bulbine to possess a range of karyotypes from graduated to clearly bimodal (although never exactly like the aloid genera) and point toward a lower level of bimodality in the Australian members, all of which are autotetraploid, than in the African members, all of which are diploid. Therefore, there have been two events of particular interest within Bulbine, a change in ploidy and a long-range dispersal event
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