Development and Validation of the Facial Expression Recognition Test (FERT)

Detecting the emotional state of others from facial expressions is a key ability in emotional competence and several instruments have been developed to assess it. Typical emotion recognition tests are assumed to be unidimensional, use pictures or videos of emotional portrayals as stimuli, and ask the participant which emotion is depicted in each stimulus. However, using actor portrayals adds a layer of difficulty in developing such a test: the portrayals may fail to be convincing and may convey a different emotion than intended. For this reason, evaluating and selecting stimuli is of crucial importance. Existing tests typically base item evaluation on consensus or expert judgment, but these methods could favor items with high agreement over items that better differentiate ability levels and they could not formally test the item pool for unidimensionality. To address these issues, the authors propose a new test, named Facial Expression Recognition Test (FERT), developed using an item response theory two-parameter logistic model. Data from 1,002 online participants were analyzed using both a unidimensional and a bifactor model, and showed that the item pool could be considered unidimensional. The selection was based on the items' discrimination parameters, retaining only the most informative items to investigate the latent ability. The resulting 36-item test was reliable and quick to administer. The authors found both a gender difference in the ability to recognize emotions and a decline of such ability with age. The PsychoPy implementation of the test and the scoring script are available on a Github repository

COVID-19 Pandemic and Head and Neck Surgery Residency Program: Proposals for the "Phase 2"

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Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Otolaryngology Residency: A Real-Life Experience

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic as been rapidly spreading worldwide. In our country, the entire Italian Healthcare System has been forced to adapt to this unprecedented condition in this century. The Head and Neck Department clinical and surgical activity was substantially reduced. In this situation, the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) residents in University Hospitals find themselves in an uncertain position; we are physicians, facing a deadly disease about which much remains unknown, but we are also trainees, and there is a high risk for our residency training to be affected. With this Letter, we would like to give a testimony of our experience and give some advices to bridge the training gap

A modular phage vector platform for targeted photodynamic therapy of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens

: Growing antibiotic resistance has encouraged the revival of phage-inspired antimicrobial approaches. On the other hand, photodynamic therapy (PDT) is considered a very promising research domain for the protection against infectious diseases. Yet, very few efforts have been made to combine the advantages of both approaches in a modular, retargetable platform. Here, we foster the M13 bacteriophage as a multifunctional scaffold, enabling the selective photodynamic killing of bacteria. We took advantage of the well-defined molecular biology of M13 to functionalize its capsid with hundreds of photo-activable Rose Bengal sensitizers and contemporarily target this light-triggerable nanobot to specific bacterial species by phage display of peptide targeting moieties fused to the minor coat protein pIII of the phage. Upon light irradiation of the specimen, the targeted killing of diverse Gram(-) pathogens occurred at subnanomolar concentrations of the phage vector. Our findings contribute to the development of antimicrobials based on targeted and triggerable phage-based nanobiotherapeutics

Vivere Dio sulla terra. Le opere di misericordia corporale

La tradizione delle opere di misericordia corporale tratteggia il volto del Dio che si rivela in Ges\uf9 Cristo e mostra il suo modo di guardare all'uomo e alla terra. All'interno di tale cornice i due autori espongono la valenza delle sette pratiche caritative attraverso la rilettura di brani filosofici e letterari. Un affascinante ritratto dell'umano dal punto di vista di Dio

Management of arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the first week after traumatic brain injury: results from the CENTER-TBI study

Purpose To describe the management of arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) in severe traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients, and the optimal target of PaCO2 in patients with high intracranial pressure (ICP). Methods Secondary analysis of CENTER-TBI, a multicentre, prospective, observational, cohort study. The primary aim was to describe current practice in PaCO2 management during the first week of intensive care unit (ICU) after TBI, focusing on the lowest PaCO2 values. We also assessed PaCO2 management in patients with and without ICP monitoring (ICPm), and with and without intracranial hypertension. We evaluated the effect of profound hyperventilation (defined as PaCO2 < 30 mmHg) on long-term outcome. Results We included 1100 patients, with a total of 11,791 measurements of PaCO2 (5931 lowest and 5860 highest daily values). The mean (+/- SD) PaCO2 was 38.9 (+/- 5.2) mmHg, and the mean minimum PaCO2 was 35.2 (+/- 5.3) mmHg. Mean daily minimum PaCO2 values were significantly lower in the ICPm group (34.5 vs 36.7 mmHg, p < 0.001). Daily PaCO2 nadir was lower in patients with intracranial hypertension (33.8 vs 35.7 mmHg, p < 0.001). Considerable heterogeneity was observed between centers. Management in a centre using profound hyperventilation (HV) more frequently was not associated with increased 6 months mortality (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.77-1.45, p value = 0.7166), or unfavourable neurological outcome (OR 1.12, 95% CI = 0.90-1.38, p value = 0.3138). Conclusions Ventilation is manipulated differently among centers and in response to intracranial dynamics. PaCO2 tends to be lower in patients with ICP monitoring, especially if ICP is increased. Being in a centre which more frequently uses profound hyperventilation does not affect patient outcomes

Management of arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the first week after traumatic brain injury: results from the CENTER-TBI study.

PURPOSE: To describe the management of arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO(2)) in severe traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients, and the optimal target of PaCO(2) in patients with high intracranial pressure (ICP). METHODS: Secondary analysis of CENTER-TBI, a multicentre, prospective, observational, cohort study. The primary aim was to describe current practice in PaCO(2) management during the first week of intensive care unit (ICU) after TBI, focusing on the lowest PaCO(2) values. We also assessed PaCO(2) management in patients with and without ICP monitoring (ICP(m)), and with and without intracranial hypertension. We evaluated the effect of profound hyperventilation (defined as PaCO(2) < 30 mmHg) on long-term outcome. RESULTS: We included 1100 patients, with a total of 11,791 measurements of PaCO(2) (5931 lowest and 5860 highest daily values). The mean (± SD) PaCO(2) was 38.9 (± 5.2) mmHg, and the mean minimum PaCO(2) was 35.2 (± 5.3) mmHg. Mean daily minimum PaCO(2) values were significantly lower in the ICP(m) group (34.5 vs 36.7 mmHg, p < 0.001). Daily PaCO(2) nadir was lower in patients with intracranial hypertension (33.8 vs 35.7 mmHg, p < 0.001). Considerable heterogeneity was observed between centers. Management in a centre using profound hyperventilation (HV) more frequently was not associated with increased 6 months mortality (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.77-1.45, p value = 0.7166), or unfavourable neurological outcome (OR 1.12, 95% CI = 0.90-1.38, p value = 0.3138). CONCLUSIONS: Ventilation is manipulated differently among centers and in response to intracranial dynamics. PaCO(2) tends to be lower in patients with ICP monitoring, especially if ICP is increased. Being in a centre which more frequently uses profound hyperventilation does not affect patient outcomes