The health determinants in young children: Testing a new surveillance system in Italy

In recent years, the scientific community has stressed the need to invest in the first 1,000 days of life - the time spanning between conception and the 2nd birthday - because it is during this period that the foundations of health are laid and whose effects will be present throughout the life and may influence the next generation. Taking this into account, in 2013 the National Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CCM) of the Italian Ministry of Health promoted and financed a project to test a surveillance system of the main determinants of health concerning the child between the conception period and the 2nd years of life which are included in the National Programme “GenitoriPiù”: folic acid before and during pregnancy, abstention from tobacco and alcohol during pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding, infant sleep position, vaccination attitude, and early reading. The Project, started in January 2014 and ended in August 2016, has piloted the design, testing, and evaluation of the surveillance system with the view to national extension and the repeatability over time. The surveillance system has been designed to collect data through a questionnaire compiled by mothers in vaccination centres, in order to produce indicators which will enable territorial and intertempo-ral comparisons to be made. The project has shown the feasibility of this system, identifying favourable conditions and possible difficulties, and its ability to collect important information on children's health

The PRIAMO study: age- and sex-related relationship between prodromal constipation and disease phenotype in early Parkinson's disease.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the impact of sex and age on relationship between prodromal constipation and disease phenotype in Parkinson's disease at early stages. METHODS: A total of 385 Parkinson's disease patients from the PRIAMO study were classified according to the presence of prodromal constipation and followed for 24 months. Multivariable mixed-effect models were applied. All analyses were performed separately for sex (64.1% men) and median age (different by sex: 67 years-old in men and 68 years-old in women). RESULTS: As for sex, prodromal constipation was associated with greater odds of attention/memory complaints and apathy symptoms in women only. As for age, prodromal constipation was associated with lower cognitive and higher apathy scores in older patients only. CONCLUSIONS: Prodromal constipation anticipates lower cognitive performances and more severe apathy since the earliest stages in women and older patients. Sex- and age-related heterogeneity of prodromal markers of Parkinson's disease may impact disease phenotype

Computer adaptive test per la valutazione dell'apprendimento nell'e-learning

Valutazione e misura dell’apprendimento sono due parole chiave nel contesto dell’e- learning, che negli ultimi anni è diventato un fenomeno di massa. Il pubblico che ac- cede alle risorse didattiche dei MOOC non è più classificabile per la natura “massi- ve” dei corsi online. E’ necessario, quindi, che la ricerca nel campo dell’informatica proponga nuovi modelli e strumenti utili alla valutazione di ampie popolazioni. Una soluzione promettente è l’uso della Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) come possibile ap- proccio alla creazione di test che si adattano alle abilità riconosciute al soggetto. In questo contesto, il contributo presenta la realizzazione di un gioco-quiz riguardante argomenti di cultura generale che utilizza i modelli della Item Response Theory per creare un test adattivo. Il quiz-gioco è stato sottoposto ad un test con gli utenti che hanno condiviso il risultato fornito dal test

Dashboard per il monitoraggio delle attività in ambienti di e-learning

Nei processi di formazione a distanza il monitoraggio delle attività è fondamentale sia per gli studenti che per i docenti ai fini della valutazione formativa. E' indispensabile, quindi, predisporre strumenti che, partendo dai dati raccolti dalle piattaforme di e-learning, possano aiutare nel processo decisionale il docente e stimolare la conoscenza di sé e l’autovalutazione dello studente. Tali strumenti, comunemente chiamati dashboard, per essere funzionali agli obiettivi valutativi devono rispondere a specifici principi di progettazione. Partendo dai principi definiti in letteratura, il contributo descrive due dashboard realizzate per la piattaforma Moodle che forniscono una rappresentazione chiara agli attori coinvolti dell'evoluzione del processo formativo

Second and Third Pandemic Waves in Apulia: How COVID-19 Affected Orthopedic and Trauma Care—A Single-Center Study

Purpose: In orthopedics and traumatology, as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 first wave, there was a massive reorganization and a stop to all elective activities, which were postponed. In this study, we aimed to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on orthopedic surgery in Apulia during the second wave, from March to June 2021 (when Apulia was under social distancing restrictions), and during the third wave, from September to December 2021 (when Apulia was under no restrictions). We compared these months to the same periods in 2019 for an evaluation of the surgical decrease during the pandemic period. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of major orthopedic procedures, day-surgery procedures and urgent procedures (trauma and non-traumatic amputation) performed during the second and third waves of the pandemic in our clinic, and we compared these data with the same procedures performed in the corresponding periods of 2019, before the pandemic. Results: Surgical activity was significantly decreased during both periods; the only increase in surgical activity in 2021 compared to 2019 was in total hip, knee and shoulder arthroplasty, with a surge of +7.69% registered in the period September–December 2021. Conclusions: Longer waiting lists and limited healthcare resources were the big challenges for the orthopedic community, and they still represent a substantial issue to confront today

Simulations of Clinical Cases for Learning in e-Health.

Over the years, the effectiveness of the learning by doing and the game based learning have been documented by several experimental evidences. In the latest years, the gamification approach has revealed the value of game-based mechanics to create meaningful learning experiences in non gaming systems. For these reasons in the UBICARE (UBIquitous knowledge-oriented HealthCARE) project, aimed at developing an advanced web system that offers different kinds of services to support the management of patients with chronic diseases, the learning component has been realised using both the simulation and the gamification approaches. In particular, the e-learning component starting from real medical records builds on the basis of the user profile a realistic problem, in order to allow specific skills about treatment protocols and diagnostic procedure to be acquired

Sexual well being in parkinsonian patients after deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus

Objectives: To evaluate changes in sexual well being in a group of patients with Parkinson's disease following deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN). Methods: 31 consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease (21 men and 10 women), bilaterally implanted for DBS of STN, were evaluated one month before and 9–12 months after surgery. Sexual functioning was assessed using a reduced form of the Gollombok Rust inventory of sexual satisfaction (GRISS). Depression (Beck depression inventory) and anxiety (STAI-X1/X2) were also evaluated. Relations between sexual functioning and modifications in the severity of disease (Hoehn and Yahr stage), reduction in levodopa equivalent daily dosage (LEDD), age, and duration of disease were analysed. Results: While no modifications were found in female patients, male patients reported slightly but significantly more satisfaction with their sexual life after DBS of STN. When only male patients under 60 years old were considered, a greater improvement in sexual functioning was found, though still small. Modifications in depressive symptoms and anxiety, as well as duration of the disease, reduction in LEDD, and improvement in the severity of disease, showed no relation with changes in sexual functioning after DBS of STN. Conclusions: DBS of STN appears to affect sexual functioning in a small but positive way. Male patients with Parkinson's disease, especially when under 60, appeared more satisfied with their sexual well being over a short term follow up period