THE BIAS (BULLYING IN SICILIAN SCHOOL) PILOT STUDY: INVESTIGATING THE PREVALENCE OF BULLYING IN SCHOOL OF PALERMO CITY. A RESEARCH STUDY PROTOCOL

Being a serious threat to physical and emotional health of children and adolescents all over the world, bullying in school represents an important public health issue. Since 2007, in Italy, the Ministry of Education (MIUR) has promoted activities to face and prevent bullying in schools of all levels while at the same time national and local Health Authorities have implemented effective social-health strategies. To date, the lack of consistent data needed to properly describe the concerning increase of this Public Health phenomenon prevents both the ability to systematically survey and measure the effectiveness of the public health strategies against bullying. The Bullying In Sicilian Schools (BIAS) pilot study’s aims: i) to estimate the prevalence of bullying in a sample of secondary first-grade schools of Palermo, the largest city in Sicily, investigating its characteristics, and ii) to assess the feasibility of alternative methods for the detection of the prevalence of bullying in schools. Here we present the research protocol and the questionnaires that will be used

A Novel Rat Model of Vitamin D Deficiency: Safe and Rapid Induction of Vitamin D and Calcitriol Deficiency without Hyperparathyroidism

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a range of clinical disorders. To study the mechanisms involved and improve treatments, animal models are tremendously useful. Current vitamin D deficient rat models have important practical limitations, including time requirements when using, exclusively, a vitamin D deficient diet. More importantly, induction of hypovitaminosis D causes significant fluctuations in parathyroid hormone (PTH) and mineral levels, complicating the interpretation of study results. To overcome these shortcomings, we report the successful induction of vitamin D deficiency within three weeks, with stable serum PTH and minerals levels, in Wistar rats. We incorporated two additional manoeuvres compared to a conventional diet. Firstly, the vitamin D depleted diet is calcium (Ca) enriched, to attenuate the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Secondly, six intraperitoneal injections of paricalcitol during the first two weeks are given to induce the rapid degradation of circulating vitamin D metabolites. After three weeks, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 (25D) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25D) levels had dropped below detection limits, with unchanged serum PTH, Ca, and phosphate (P) levels. Therefore, this model provides a useful tool to examine the sole effect of hypovitaminosis D, in a wide range of research settings, without confounding changes in PTH, Ca, and P

Rilevazione della prevalenza del Bullismo in un campione di scuole di Palermo

Il bullismo è uno dei problemi sociali e sanitari più rilevanti in ambito scolastico per i bambini e gli adolescenti di tutto il mondo. Dal 2007, il Ministero Italiano della Pubblica Istruzione (D.M. n°16 del 5 febbraio 2007) promuove attività per il contrasto e la prevenzione del fenomeno in scuole di ogni ordine e grado, ed allo stesso tempo le aziende sanitarie locali o provinciali dovrebbero farsi carico di una risposta socio-sanitaria efficace al problema. Nella città di Palermo, negli ultimi anni, sia alcune scuole che alcuni distretti sanitari hanno messo in atto attività ed interventi per cercare di contrastare il fenomeno in questione. La mancanza di un dato rilevato in maniera uniforme a livello regionale e provinciale e la radicalizzazione del problema rendono necessaria ed urgente una risposta strutturata valutabile in termini di efficacia in linea con l'obiettivo 2.3 del Piano Regionale di Prevenzione 2014/2018 (PRP Regione Siciliana - D.A. n.351 del 08/03/2016) che prevede, anche in tal senso, azioni per promuovere il benessere mentale nei bambini, adolescenti e giovani. Tale impostazione, tra l'altro, è condivisa dal Protocollo d'Intesa interistituzionale "Una nuova alleanza per la Salute dei bambini e dei giovani" siglato tra l'USR-Sicilia e l'Assessorato della Salute-DASOE (Decreto Assessorato della Salute del 17/06/2016). Negli ultimi decenni la problematica del bullismo tra bambini e adolescenti ha guadagnato sempre più interesse in sanità pubblica, catalizzando molti sforzi sia di ricerca che di azione. Per bullismo si intende un abuso sistematico di potere che si manifesta con intimidazione/forme di persecuzione fisica, verbale o psicologica, ripetute nel tempo, concepite ed agite con l'intenzionalità di causare paura, angoscia o danni alla vittima; perpetuata da una persona o da un gruppo di persone più forti e potenti nella relazione con la vittima (Farrington et al. D. P. 1993, Gredler et al., G. R. 2003). Intenzionalità, durata nel tempo e asimmetria nella relazione sono, quindi, le parole chiave nella definizione di bullismo. Le vittime sono selezionate per la loro condizione di diversità, che può essere rappresentata dall'obesità, dalla timidezza, dalle scarse competenze sociali, dall'identità sessuale, dall'etnia, dallo stato socio-economico, da disturbi dello spettro autistico, dislessia e differenze di simile natura. Il bullismo coinvolge un'importante percentuale di bambini in età scolare: secondo i dati ISTAT 2014, 2 ragazzi su 10 tra gli 11-17 anni hanno subito atti di bullismo due o più volte al mese, con una prevalenza maggiore per le ragazze (Istat, 2014). In Sicilia, il fenomeno del bullismo è oggetto di particolare attenzione, tanto che l'Ufficio Scolastico Regionale per la Sicilia (USR) è stato tra i primi in Italia ad aver costituito un Osservatorio regionale,che ha prodotto strumenti operativi quali delle linee guida per la prevenzione del bullismo nelle scuole (Beckman L. et al. 2012). La prevalenza stimata di bambini tra gli 11 e i 15 anni che dichiara di aver subito almeno un atto di bullismo negli ultimi due mesi, in regione Sicilia, risulta essere del 14%, secondo gli ultimi dati disponibili della sorveglianza HBSC (2014) (Regione Sicilia. Osservatorio epidemiologico,2014). La letteratura scientifica dimostra una forte associazione tra l'essere stato vittima di bullismo e l'insorgenza di problematiche di salute mentale e fisica, sia a breve che a lungo termine ((Beckman L. et al. 2012 Gini, G. et al. 2009). Inoltre esiti di salute negativa si riscontrano anche per i bulli. Per questo, diversi programmi di prevenzione specifici, basati sul setting scolastico, sono stati creati ed attuati, a partire dal primo grande programma anti-bullismo su larga scala realizzato in Norvegia nel 1983 e perfezionato poi da Olweus nel 1991 (Olweus, D. 2001), che si dimostrò fin da subito di grande efficacia e che tuttora rappresenta il modello d'intervento di maggior successo. Una revisione sistematica (Ttofi, M. et al. 2011) di 44 programmi ha dimostrato come i programmi di prevenzione a scuola siano in grado di ridurre la prevalenza di bullismo, in media, del 20-23%. Obiettivo del progetto BIAS (Bullying In siciliAn School) vuole essere quello di valutare la prevalenza baseline dei fenomeni di bullismo nelle scuole siciliane, proporre un intervento preventivo evidence-based e adattato al contesto locale e infine di valutarne l'efficacia sul campo nel prevenire o ridurre i fenomeni di bullismo. Nel presente rapporto epidemiologico si riportano i risultati preliminari dello studio di prevalenza "pilota" in un campione di scuole nella città di Palermo, capoluogo di Regione e comune con il maggior numero di abitanti della Regione Siciliana. Obiettivi del lavoro sono per l'appunto la valutazione della prevalenza del bullismo in un campione di scuole nella città di Palermo, lo studio delle caratteristiche dei fenomeni di bullismo che si verificano in relazione alle differenti tipologie di scuola e la possibile applicabilità di metodi alternativi al "gold stardard" per la rilevazione della prevalenza del fenomeni di bullismo nelle scuole

A Novel Rat Model of Vitamin D Deficiency: Safe and Rapid Induction of Vitamin D and Calcitriol Deficiency without Hyperparathyroidism

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a range of clinical disorders. To study the mechanisms involved and improve treatments, animal models are tremendously useful. Current vitamin D deficient rat models have important practical limitations, including time requirements when using, exclusively, a vitamin D deficient diet. More importantly, induction of hypovitaminosis D causes significant fluctuations in parathyroid hormone (PTH) and mineral levels, complicating the interpretation of study results. To overcome these shortcomings, we report the successful induction of vitamin D deficiency within three weeks, with stable serum PTH and minerals levels, in Wistar rats. We incorporated two additional manoeuvres compared to a conventional diet. Firstly, the vitamin D depleted diet is calcium (Ca) enriched, to attenuate the development of secondary hyperparathyroidism. Secondly, six intraperitoneal injections of paricalcitol during the first two weeks are given to induce the rapid degradation of circulating vitamin D metabolites. After three weeks, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25D) and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25D) levels had dropped below detection limits, with unchanged serum PTH, Ca, and phosphate (P) levels. Therefore, this model provides a useful tool to examine the sole effect of hypovitaminosis D, in a wide range of research settings, without confounding changes in PTH, Ca, and P

Prevalence of the bullying phenomenon in a schools sample of Palermo, Sicily: A pre-post intervention observational study among teachers

Background and aim of the work: Bullying involves a significant percentage of school-age children. According to the latest available surveillance data, in Sicily, the estimated prevalence among 11-15 years old children is 14%. This study aimed to estimate a prevalence of the bullying phenomenon, observed by teachers, in a sample of secondary schools of Palermo, Sicily. Moreover, after the conduction of preventive interventions among teachers, aimed to evaluate any modification in bullying prevalence. Methods: A cluster sampling selection according to socio-economic level of the school neighborhood was carried out. Two anonymous online questionnaires, pre and post-intervention, were administered to the 63 teaching staff, belonging to second and third year classes of ten secondary schools enrolled. Preventive interventions were conducted among teachers by experienced researchers. Results: Prevalence of bullying reported decreased significantly from 44.4% to 19.0% (p-value 0.001), comparing pre and post-intervention questionnaires. A reduction in the prevalence of verbal and physical bullying and a concomitant slight increase of indirect bullying were also observed. All the characteristics, reported by the teaching staff, for describing bullies, victims and observers of bullying have been categorized under three different content domains (affective-relational discomfort, sociocultural context, and character/natural disposition). Conclusions: The present study estimated the prevalence and the characteristics of bullying phenomenon in a sample of secondary schools of Palermo, evaluating the reduction of bullying episodes among students, after a preventive interventions conducted among teaching staff. Data obtained confirmed the effectiveness of this approach and suggested an extension of the project at Regional Level

Search for heavy neutrinos in K+→μ+νμK^+ \rightarrow \mu^+ \nu_{\mu} decays

International audienceThe NA62 experiment recorded a large sample of K+→μ+νμ decays in 2007. A peak search has been performed in the reconstructed missing mass spectrum. In the absence of a signal, limits in the range 2×10−6 to 10−5 have been set on the squared mixing matrix element |Uμ4|2 between muon and heavy neutrino states, for heavy neutrino masses in the range 300–375 MeV/ c2 . The result extends the range of masses for which upper limits have been set on the value of |Uμ4|2 in previous production search experiments

Measurement of the form factors of charged kaon semileptonic decays

International audienceA measurement of the form factors of charged kaon semileptonic decays is presented, based on 4.4 × 10$^{6}$K$^{±}$ → π$^{0}$e$^{±}$ν$_{e}$ (K$_{e3}^{±}$ ) and 2.3 × 10$^{6}$K$^{±}$ → π$^{0}$μ±ν$_{μ}$ (K$_{μ3}^{±}$ ) decays collected in 2004 by the NA48/2 experiment. The results are obtained with improved precision as compared to earlier measurements. The combination of measurements in the K$_{e3}^{±}$ and K$_{μ3}^{±}$ modes is also presented

The beam and detector of the NA62 experiment at CERN

NA62 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS dedicated to measurements of rare kaon decays. Such measurements, like the branching fraction of the K(+) → π(+) ν bar nu decay, have the potential to bring significant insights into new physics processes when comparison is made with precise theoretical predictions. For this purpose, innovative techniques have been developed, in particular, in the domain of low-mass tracking devices. Detector construction spanned several years from 2009 to 2014. The collaboration started detector commissioning in 2014 and will collect data until the end of 2018. The beam line and detector components are described together with their early performance obtained from 2014 and 2015 data.NA62 is a fixed-target experiment at the CERN SPS dedicated to measurements of rare kaon decays. Such measurements, like the branching fraction of the $K^{+} \rightarrow \pi^{+} \nu \bar\nu$ decay, have the potential to bring significant insights into new physics processes when comparison is made with precise theoretical predictions. For this purpose, innovative techniques have been developed, in particular, in the domain of low-mass tracking devices. Detector construction spanned several years from 2009 to 2014. The collaboration started detector commissioning in 2014 and will collect data until the end of 2018. The beam line and detector components are described together with their early performance obtained from 2014 and 2015 data

Transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in pppp collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 7 TeV

Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 7$~TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity \dnchdeta|_{|\eta| < 0.5} = 5.78\pm 0.01\stat\pm 0.23\syst for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ to 7~TeV is 66.1\%\pm 1.0\%\stat\pm 4.2\%\syst. The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545\pm 0.005\stat\pm 0.015\syst\GeVc. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies.Charged-hadron transverse-momentum and pseudorapidity distributions in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV are measured with the inner tracking system of the CMS detector at the LHC. The charged-hadron yield is obtained by counting the number of reconstructed hits, hit-pairs, and fully reconstructed charged-particle tracks. The combination of the three methods gives a charged-particle multiplicity per unit of pseudorapidity, dN(charged)/d(eta), for |eta| < 0.5, of 5.78 +/- 0.01 (stat) +/- 0.23 (syst) for non-single-diffractive events, higher than predicted by commonly used models. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from sqrt(s) = 0.9 to 7 TeV is 66.1% +/- 1.0% (stat) +/- 4.2% (syst). The mean transverse momentum is measured to be 0.545 +/- 0.005 (stat) +/- 0.015 (syst) GeV/c. The results are compared with similar measurements at lower energies