From the emotional integration to the cognitive construction: the developmental approach of Turtle Project in children with autism spectrum disorder

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder show a deficit in neurobiological processes. This deficit hinders the development of intentional behavior and appropriate problem-solving, leading the child to implement repetitive and stereotyped behaviors and to have difficulties in reciprocal interactions, empathy and in the development of a theory of mind. The objective of this research is to verify the effectiveness of a relationship-based approach on the positive evolution of autistic symptoms. Method: A sample of 80 children with autism spectrum disorder was monitored during the first four years of therapy, through a clinical diagnostic assessment at the time of intake and then in two follow-up. Results: The results showed that through the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule it is possible to assess the socio-relational key elements on which the therapy is based. There was evidence, in fact, of significant improvements after two and four years of therapy, both for children with severe autistic symptoms and for those in autistic spectrum. Conclusions: Socio-relational aspects represent the primary element on which work in therapy with autistic children and can be considered as indicators of a positive evolution and prognosis that will produce improvements even in the cognitive are

Migraine and Cranial Autonomic Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Clinical Study

The frequency of cranial autonomic symptoms in children affected by primary headaches is uncertain. The aim of our study was to estimate the frequency of symptoms in pediatric headaches and correlate it with main migraine characteristics. A questionnaire investigating the presence of cranial autonomic symptoms was administered to all children with primary headache for 2 years. A total of 230 children with primary headache (105 males, 125 females) were included. Two hundred two children were affected by migraine and 28 (12.2%) by other primary headaches. Cranial autonomic symptoms were significantly complained by migraineurs (55% vs 17.8%) (P < .001) and by children with higher frequency of migraine attacks (odds ratio = 2.6, confidence interval = 1.4-4.7, P = .001). Our findings show that cranial autonomic symptoms are rather common during pediatric migraine attacks. The association between cranial autonomic symptoms and higher frequency of attacks might suggest the role of the trigeminal-autonomic reflex in migraine pathophysiolog

Safety and tolerability of antipsychotic drugs in pediatric patients: data from a 1-year naturalistic study

Background: Antipsychotic drugs (APs) are increasingly used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. However, their safety and tolerability profiles, when used in a developmental age context, show different characteristics from the ones observed in adult patients. Treatment with APs in pediatric patients is often long-term. However, the tolerability data regarding these patients mostly derive from short-term studies. Methods: Starting from April 2017, for a 1-year period, patients between 4 and 18 years of age followed by five units of developmental age neuropsychiatry, who initiated a treatment with at least an AP (ATC class N05A) were included into the study. Patient-related data have been collected at baseline and regularly thereafter, as allowed by the clinical routine. Changes to continuous variables over time have been analyzed using a linear mixed model in subsamples of our population treated with risperidone or aripiprazole. Results: During the observation period, 158 patients were initially enrolled, but only 116 completed 12 months of therapy with an AP. Risperidone was the most used AP (n = 52) followed by aripiprazole (n = 44) and olanzapine (n = 7). For both the aripiprazole and risperidone groups, the mean body mass index (BMI) (P < 0.001 for both groups) and heart rate (P = 0.026 for aripiprazole group and P < 0.001 for the risperidone one) values significantly increased over time. The mean prolactin concentration value significantly increased over time only in the risperidone group (P = 0.04). Eighty-six patients experienced at least one adverse drug reaction (ADR), accounting for a total of 238 specific reactions, with the most frequent being weight gain (n = 34), increased serum prolactin levels (n = 21), hyperphagia (n = 20), and hypercholesterolemia (n = 14). Among these, only 24 ADRs were classifiable as serious. Conclusions: The results of this study confirm that risperidone and aripiprazole are relatively well-tolerated therapeutic options for the treatment of a variety of psychiatric disorders in pediatric patients. However, in findings such as statistically significant increments of BMI and heart rate mean values, the variations over time in prolactin levels observed with risperidone and the differences between the two drugs remark the necessity of systematic monitoring

One year after on Tyrrhenian coasts: The ban of cotton buds does not reduce their dominance in beach litter composition

In January 2019, Italy banned the sale of plastic cotton buds, which is one of the most abundant litter items entering the sea and then washing ashore. However, since the ban came into force, no studies have been carried out to assess whether the measure has actually led to the reduction of plastic cotton buds accumulating on Italian coasts. Here we aim at evaluating the effectiveness of the ban in reducing the amount of cotton buds reaching sandy beaches of the Tyrrhenian coast. Specifically, we monitored the accumulation of beach litter for one year since the ban came into force. By surveying eight coastal sites from winter 2019 to winter 2020, we collected a total of 52,824 items mostly constituted by plastic debris (97.6%). We found that cotton buds were the most abundant item (42.3% of total litter), followed by plastic (28.5%) and polystyrene (5.43%) fragments. Our preliminary assessment suggests that the ban has so far not led to a sensible reduction in the amount of cotton buds entering the marine ecosystem. This was to be expected since implementation strategies are still lacking (i.e. no economic sanctions can be imposed in case of non-compliance) and bans are differently implemented among countries facing the Mediterranean Sea, calling for law enforcement and implementation at the national and international levels

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Search for squarks and gluinos in events with isolated leptons, jets and missing transverse momentum at s√=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The results of a search for supersymmetry in final states containing at least one isolated lepton (electron or muon), jets and large missing transverse momentum with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider are reported. The search is based on proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy s√=8 TeV collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20 fb−1. No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. Limits are set on supersymmetric particle masses for various supersymmetric models. Depending on the model, the search excludes gluino masses up to 1.32 TeV and squark masses up to 840 GeV. Limits are also set on the parameters of a minimal universal extra dimension model, excluding a compactification radius of 1/R c = 950 GeV for a cut-off scale times radius (ΛR c) of approximately 30

Search for direct stau production in events with two hadronic tau-leptons in root s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of the supersymmetric partners ofτ-leptons (staus) in final stateswith two hadronically decayingτ-leptons is presented. The analysis uses a dataset of pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of139fb−1, recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LargeHadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No significant deviation from the expected StandardModel background is observed. Limits are derived in scenarios of direct production of stau pairs with eachstau decaying into the stable lightest neutralino and oneτ-lepton in simplified models where the two staumass eigenstates are degenerate. Stau masses from 120 GeV to 390 GeV are excluded at 95% confidencelevel for a massless lightest neutralino

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model