Evaluating the efficacy of psychodynamic treatment on a single case of autism. A qualitative research.

Autism spectrum disorder refers to a group of diseases determined by multiple conditions and primarily defined on the basis of behavioral patterns. The literature and guidelines provide indications regarding adequate treatments, underlying how psychologically and behaviorally structured interventions, should be considered the best programs. Anyway, there is still a scarcity of studies evidencing the effectiveness of therapeutic and developmental approaches situated in a psychodynamic framework and researches aimed to evaluate the quality of psychodynamic interventions on autism are rare. The present study illustrate a qualitative research on the single-case intervention with an autistic adolescent, admitted to the Educational - Rehabilitation Centre Antenna 112. The Centre bases its intervention on a specific psychodynamic approach, Lacanian Psychoanalysis, named Pratique \ue0 Plusieurs. The efficacy of the psychodynamic intervention is evaluated by monitoring the therapeutic process with the adolescent from his admission. The evaluation took place in three different stages of the intervention: at the beginning of the treatment, after 6 months and after 12 months. In particular, the level of adaptive behaviors (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale), Social Communication (Social Communication Questionnaire), and the seriousness of behavioral patterns, specific for the autism disorders (Childhood Autism Rating Scale) have been assessed. Results highlight that the psychodynamic setting of the Centre and the therapeutic intervention, which takes place in it, foster an improvement of adaptive behavior, such as life skills and socialization. Limitations of the present study and clinical implications regarding residential psychodynamic treatments in cases of autism disorders are discussed

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Five primary sources of organic aerosols in the urban atmosphere of Belgrade (Serbia)

Biomass burning and primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) represent important primary sources of organic compounds in the atmosphere. These particles and compounds are able to affect climate and human health. In the present work, using HPLC-orbitrapMS, we determined the atmospheric concentrations of molecular markers such as anhydrosugars and phenolic compounds that are specific for biomass burning, as well as the concentrations of sugars, alcohol sugars and D- and L-amino acids (D-AAs and L-AAs) for studying PBAPs in Belgrade (Serbia) aerosols collected in September-December 2008. In these samples, high levels of all these biomarkers were observed in October. Relative percentages of vanillic (V), syringic compounds (S) and p-coumaric acid (PA), as well as levoglucosan/mannosan (L/M) ratios, helped us discriminate between open fire events and wood combustion for domestic heating during the winter. L-AAs and D-AAs (1% of the total) were observed in Belgrade aerosols mainly in September-October. During open fire events, mean D-AA/L-AA (D/L) ratio values of aspartic acid, threonine, phenylalanine, alanine were significantly higher than mean D/L values of samples unaffected by open fire. High levels of AAs were observed for open biomass burning events.Thanks to four different statistical approaches, we demonstrated that Belgrade aerosols are affected by five sources: a natural source, a source related to fungi spores and degraded material and three other sources linked to biomass burning: biomass combustion in open fields, the combustion of grass and agricultural waste and the combustion of biomass in stoves and industrial plants. The approach employed in this work, involving the determination of specific organic tracers and statistical analysis, proved useful to discriminate among different types of biomass burning events. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Pratique \ue0 plusieurs: evaluating the efficacy of treatment in a group of children with autism spectrum disorders.

Background: Increasing literature shows that there is no univocal consensus over the best therapeutic process for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children, a group of diseases primarily defined on the base of behavioral patterns and determined by multiple conditions. Thus far, the most effective treatments reported are psychologically and behaviorally structured and focused on communication. Therapeutic Communities Antenna 112 and Antennina base their intervention on Lacanian Psychoanalysis, specifically adopting the Pratique \ue0 Plusieurs suggested by Di Ciaccia, aimed at gendering personal knowledge and learning through the enhancing of personal expression, social bond and multidisciplinary collaboration. Method: The present study aimed at evaluating the presence of improvements in communication, socialization, motor skills, stereotypes, sensorial behaviors, control of impulses and cognitive functioning in a group of five children (range: 10-16) affected by ASD attending a therapeutic program in the communities mentioned above. Within the first months after their entrance, the children were assessed with the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC), the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS), the Autism Diagnostic Interview \u2013 Revised (ADI-R). Assessments were carried for six months each, with a maximum of 2 assessments for each individual. Results: The results highlight, following admittance to TC, improvements in the abilities assessed. Specifically, VABS stress out how subjects significantly improve in the \u201cDaily Living Skills\u201d domain and in the subdomain of \u201cSocial Rules\u201d. The analysis of SCQ highlights the significant change for \u201cSocial Communication\u201d. Conclusion: These results seem to confirm the importance of an individual-driven practice giving importance to the subjective response of each child and allowing the implementation of a complex rehabilitative and educational program

Strutture, beneficiari, territorio: allargare il campo

Il testo descrive la ricerca-azione svolta per due anni all'interno del Laboratorio multidisciplinare sul diritto d'asilo (Università di Torino) presso alcuni CAS del Piemonte, con il sostegno della Regione Piemonte

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on functional capacity in a population of young athletes: should we expect long-time consequences?

Background: From 2020, most countries all over the world have implemented strategies aimed at limiting contagion of COVID-19. The pandemic caused a reduction in physical activity (PA) and sports at all levels. The aim of the present study was to analyze and quantify the related impact of imposed PA restrictions on functional capacity in young athletes. Methods: This observational cohort study evaluated annually the exercise capacity of a sample of young athletes (N.=344) referred for the pre-participation screening at our Sports and Exercise Medicine Division (2017-2021). Standardized maximal exercise testing was performed on treadmill and linear mixed models analyzed metabolic equivalent of tasks (METs) and exercise time as dependent variables. Results: METs and exercise time showed a reduction in the year 2020 and a subsequent increase in 2021, with males revealing a faster recovery in exercise capacity. Athletes who maintained >250 annual training hours were less affected by the pandemic. Conclusions: These data suggest a significant impact of forced physical inactivity on a cohort of apparently healthy young athletes. The COVID-19-related experience should lead to strategies to avoid negative effects and long-term consequences of containment measures

Machine and Deep Learning Techniques to Classify Arousal Judgments in Dynamic Virtual Experience of Architecture

The architectural space impacts the emotional state of its inhabitants. Nevertheless, no studies have investigated, to date, how it influences the perception of others' affective states, possibly impacting our social behavior. This paper analyzes the eye-gaze data collected during a social scenario recreated after a promenade within virtual architectures. Immersive and dynamic virtual architectures were characterized by decreasing or increasing sidewall distance, ceiling height, windows height, and different colors. At the end of such an experience, participants judged the arousal level expressed by a virtual avatar. For the first time, we apply machine and deep learning techniques to the behavioral, environmental, and eye-gaze features extracted during the dynamic experience of virtual architectures. In order to verify the feasibility of automated classification of the final arousal judgment on the avatar emotional expression, we have considered both interpretable, i.e., decision trees, and black-box models, i.e., dense neural networks. The decision tree reached an accuracy rate of 66%, showing the importance of eye-gaze parameters to classify the participants' arousal judgment. The black-box dense neural network increased the accuracy up to 80%. Overall, our findings demonstrate the capability of artificial intelligence methodologies to classify and possibly predict the arousal judgment of body expressions at the end of a virtual promenade. Such knowledge will serve the design and evaluation of future spaces by combining virtual reality and artificial intelligence within the experience of architecture. In such a way, it will be possible to predict the influence of the surrounding architecture on human social behavior

UI Dark Patterns and Where to Find Them A Study on Mobile Applications and User Perception

A Dark Pattern (DP) is an interface maliciously crafted to deceive users into performing actions they did not mean to do. In this work, we analyze Dark Patterns in 240 popular mobile apps and conduct an online experiment with 589 users on how they perceive Dark Patterns in such apps. The results of the analysis show that 95% of the analyzed apps contain one or more forms of Dark Patterns and, on average, popular applications include at least seven different types of deceiving interfaces. The online experiment shows that most users do not recognize Dark Patterns, but can perform better in recognizing malicious designs if informed on the issue. We discuss the impact of our work and what measures could be applied to alleviate the issue

Indicators of clinical performance in monitoring soft tissue sarcoma management: a population-based perspective

Background: Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare malignancies which prognosis varies significantly by primary site, histological subtype, and tumor stage. Their low incidence, and the complexity of their clinico-pathological characteristics demand standardized, cancer-tailored diagnostics and therapies managed at high-volume, multidisciplinary care centers. This study evaluates the quality of STS management in north-east Italy (Veneto Region) through a list of ad hoc defined clinical indicators. Methods: This population-based study concerns all incident cases of STS in 2018 (214 cases) recorded in the adult population censored by the Veneto's regional Cancer Registry. Based on the international literature, a multidisciplinary working group of experts identified a set of indicators for monitoring the quality of diagnostic, therapeutic, and end-of-life clinical interventions. The quality of care was assessed by comparing the reference thresholds with the indicators' values achieved in clinical practice. Results: Diagnostic procedures showed poor adherence to the thresholds, with a low percentage of histological diagnoses validated by a second opinion. The indicators relating to the surgical treatment of superficial, small, low-grade STS, or of medium, high-grade STS of the head-neck, trunk, or limbs were consistent with the thresholds, while for intermediate, high-grade (large-sized, deep) and retroperitoneal STS they fell significantly below the thresholds. Conclusion: A critical evaluation of the clinical indicators allowed to uncover the procedures needing corrective action. Monitoring clinical care indicators improves cancer care, confirms the importance of managing rare cancers at highly specialized, high-volume centers, and promotes the ethical sustainability of the healthcare system