A protocol for Italian validation of DEMQoL-Proxy Scale: assessing the Quality of Life of people with moderate or mild dementia

In this paper, we propose an adaptation of a protocol for a tool's validation. We have utilized this phases-theory to validate in Italian language an instrument to assess Quality of Life for people with moderate or mild dementia. We will explain the example of our Italian validation of DEMQoL-Proxy considering each De Vellis's phase. We will explain our application of De Vellis's model to Italian example described. For the first three phases, we reproduced the original validating study in which authors (Smith et al., 2005) defined what to measure, how generate a set of items and the structure of the scale. Indeed, for the last five phases we explained the adaptation of De Vellis's model to Italian validation. We hope that this model could be effective to validating goals, for researchers and in particular for all professionals who deal with caregivers and patients with moderate and mild dementia. Furthermore, the measurement of the Quality of Life makes the scale widely useful within the various professional specialties and setting. Finally, thanks to the methodological assumptions adopted following the De Vellis's eight-phase model, we can affirm that this first Italian pre-validation of the DEMQoL-Proxy seems to be an excellent forerunner for its effective validation in the Italian context

L\u2019economia dei due angoli. Agricoltura dinamica nel Nord-Ovest e nel Sud-Est della Sicilia

Due porzioni del territorio siciliano - i due angoli del Nord-Ovest e del Sud-Est - si caratterizzano per la presenza diffusa di attivit\ue0 economiche (le filiere del vitivinicolo e dell\u2019orticolo), che hanno avuto nel passato recente un certo successo di mercato. Questa ricerca ha cercato di comprendere le motivazioni di questo dinamismo, evidenziare similitudini e differenze, combinando dati statistici ed evidenze dirette. Si \ue8 cercato di interpretare e incarnare le statistiche alla luce delle testimonianze e del racconto diretto dei protagonisti, di indagare il peso della dotazione di vantaggi competitivi naturali e di lungo saper fare e quello dell\u2019innovazione intenzionale, di ricostruire le relazioni tra gli attori e la loro capacit\ue0 di interagire con il mercato di riferimento

Are peripheral biomarkers determinants of eating styles in childhood and adolescence obesity? A cross-sectional study

Disturbances in eating behaviors have been widely related to obesity. However, little is known about the role of obesity-related biomarkers in shaping habitual patterns of eating behaviors (i.e., eating styles) in childhood. The objective of the present study was to explore the relationships between several biomarkers crucially involved in obesity (ghrelin, insulin resistance, and leptin/adiponectin ratio) and eating styles in children and adolescents with obesity. Seventy participants aged between 8 and 16 (56.2% men) fulfilled the Spanish version of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire for Children to measure external, emotional, and restrained eating styles. In addition, concentrations of ghrelin, leptin, adiponectin, insulin, and glucose were obtained through a blood test. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses controlling for age and sex were computed for each eating style. Results indicated that individuals with higher ghrelin concentration levels showed lower scores in restrained eating (beta = -0.61, p < 0.001). The total model explained 32% of the variance of the restrained pattern. No other relationships between obesity-related biomarkers and eating behaviors were found. This study highlights that one of the obesity-risk factors, namely lower plasma ghrelin levels, is substantially involved in a well-known maladaptive eating style, restraint eating, in childhood obesity

Endemic and epidemic human alphavirus infections in eastern Panama: An analysis of population-based cross-sectional surveys

Madariaga virus (MADV) has recently been associated with severe human disease in Panama, where the closely related Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) also circulates. In June 2017, a fatal MADV infection was confirmed in a community of Darien Province. We conducted a cross-sectional outbreak investigation with human and mosquito collections in July 2017, where sera were tested for alphavirus antibodies and viral RNA. In addition, by applying a catalytic, force-of-infection (FOI) statistical model to two serosurveys from Darien Province in 2012 and 2017, we investigated whether endemic or epidemic alphavirus transmission occurred historically. In 2017, MADV and VEEV IgM seroprevalences were 1.6% and 4.4%, respectively; IgG antibody prevalences were MADV: 13.2%, VEEV: 16.8%, Una virus (UNAV): 16.0%, and Mayaro virus: 1.1%. Active viral circulation was not detected. Evidence of MADV and UNAV infection was found near households, raising questions about its vectors and enzootic transmission cycles. Insomnia was associated withMADVand VEEV infections, depression symptoms were associated with MADV, and dizziness with VEEV and UNAV. Force-of-infection analyses suggest endemic alphavirus transmission historically, with recent increased human exposure to MADV and VEEV in Aruza and Mercadeo, respectively. The lack of additional neurological cases suggests that severe MADV and VEEV infections occur only rarely. Our results indicate that over the past five decades, alphavirus infections have occurred at low levels in eastern Panama, but that MADV and VEEV infections have recently increased-potentially during the past decade. Endemic infections and outbreaks of MADV and VEEV appear to differ spatially in some locations of eastern Panama.National Institute for Health ResearchRevisión por pare