Smartphone-Based Evaluation of Postural Stability in Parkinson’s Disease Patients During Quiet Stance

Background: Postural instability is one of the most troublesome motor symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease(PD).It impairs patients’quality of life and results in high risk of falls. The aim of this study is to provide a reliable tool for the automated assessment of postural instability. Methods: Data acquisition was performed on 42 PD patients and 7 young healthy subjects. They were asked to keep a quiet stance position for at least 30 s while wearing a waist-mounted smartphone. A total number of 414 features was extracted from both time and frequency domain, selected based on Pearson’s correlation, and fed to an optimized Support Vector Machine. Results: The implemented model was able to differentiate patients with mild postural instability from those with severe postural instability and from healthy controls, with 100% accuracy. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of using inertial sensors embedded in commercial smartphones and proposed a simple protocol for accurate postural instability scoring. This tool can be used for early detection of PD motor signs, disease follow-up and fall prevention

Barriers and opportunities of soil knowledge to address soil challenges: Stakeholders? perspectives across Europe

Climate-smart sustainable management of agricultural soil is critical to improve soil health, enhance food and water security, contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity preservation, and improve human health and wellbeing. The European Joint Programme for Soil (EJP SOIL) started in 2020 with the aim to significantly improve soil management knowledge and create a sustainable and integrated European soil research system. EJP SOIL involves more than 350 scientists across 24 Countries and has been addressing multiple aspects associated with soil management across different European agroecosystems. This study summarizes the key findings of stakeholder consultations conducted at the national level across 20 countries with the aim to identify important barriers and challenges currently affecting soil knowledge but also assess opportunities to overcome these obstacles. Our findings demonstrate that there is significant room for improvement in terms of knowledge production, dissemination and adoption. Among the most important barriers identified by consulted stakeholders are technical, political, social and economic obstacles, which strongly limit the development and full exploitation of the outcomes of soil research. The main soil challenge across consulted member states remains to improve soil organic matter and peat soil conservation while soil water storage capacity is a key challenge in Southern Europe. Findings from this study clearly suggest that going forward climate-smart sustainable soil management will benefit from (1) increases in research funding, (2) the maintenance and valorisation of long-term (field) ex-periments, (3) the creation of knowledge sharing networks and interlinked national and European in-frastructures, and (4) the development of regionally-tailored soil management strategies. All the above -mentioned interventions can contribute to the creation of healthy, resilient and sustainable soil ecosystems across Europe

Patient-reported outcome measures in patients with familial cerebral cavernous malformations: results from the Treat_CCM trial

BackgroundThe Phase 1/2 Treat_CCM randomized controlled trial for people with familial cerebral cavernous malformations (FCCMs) confirmed the safety of propranolol and suggested beneficial effects on intracerebral hemorrhage or new focal neurological deficits, but the effects on patient-reported outcome measures have not been reported.MethodsParticipants completed self-reported questionnaires at baseline, 1 and 2 years. Depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-2); Anxiety with the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory X1 and X2 (STAI X-1 and STAI X-2); and Quality of Life with the Short Form 36 (SF-36), split into the physical and mental component scales (PCS and MCS). Differences between treatment groups and the general population were assessed. Change over time by treatment was assessed by means of mixed models.ResultsIn total, 71 participants (48 propranolol and 23 standard care) were enrolled, of whom 61 (73%) completed questionnaires at baseline and 2-year FU. At baseline, no differences between treatment groups for any of the questionnaires were present. Twenty (31.7%) patients were considered depressed at baseline, while this proportion was lower in the propranolol group after 2 years (28.6% vs. 55.5%, p = 0.047). The STAI X-1 and X-2 scores were stable over time. PCS was lower in FCCM patients as compared with the general Italian population, while the MCS was similar to the general population. No effect of propranolol was found for both PCS and MCS.ConclusionDepression is common among patients with FCCM. Patients randomized to propranolol had a lower proportion of participants with depression after 2 years.Clinical trial registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier (NCT03589014)

Didattica dell'italiano come lingua prima

Su quali principi si regge oggi la didattica dell’italiano come lingua prima? Quali sono i contenuti imprescindibili della disciplina? Come si differenzia l’insegnamento linguistico a seconda dell’età degli allievi? E quali sono i nodi dell’italiano di oggi cui prestare maggiore attenzione in classe? A queste e ad altre domande il volume fornisce risposte puntuali, affrontando in modo mirato le modalità di insegnamento delle diverse abilità linguistiche (leggere, scrivere, ascoltare e parlare), della riflessione sulla lingua, della testualità e del lessico, in una prospettiva che contempla tutti gli ordini di scolarità e sempre tesa a coniugare la dimensione teorica generale con la pratica applicativa. I singoli argomenti sono approfonditi con costante riferimento alle esigenze dell’insegnante di italiano: i contenuti linguistici che deve conoscere, le modalità di programmazione, le strategie di insegnamento in aula e la valutazione dei risultati ottenuti

Perceived Residential Environment Quality Indicators (PREQIs) relevance for UN-HABITAT City Prosperity Index (CPI)

This paper presents some relevant tools for UN-HABITAT CPI, addressing the relationship between residential neighbourhood assessment, neighbourhood attachment and overall residential satisfaction of residents in the Iranian the city of Tabriz. The first aim of the study is to validate some cross-cultural tools e focusing on the Quality of Life (QOL) spoke of the CPI's wheel of urban prosperity e for use in an urban residential context (Fornara et al., 2010); specifically an abbreviated version of the Perceived Residential Environment Quality Indicators (PREQIs) and the Neighbourhood Attachment Scale (NAS), as well as items for measurement of Residential Satisfaction (RS). The instruments consist of 11 scales measuring PREQIs, one scale measuring Neighbourhood Attachment and three items about RS. The second aim is to test a model of the links among the constructs measured by these tools that deal with different features of QOL. For example, if some global PREQIs (i.e., pace of life) mediate the relationship between other, more specific PREQIs and Neighbourhood Attachment; and then if they ultimately predict RS, they may be considered as final outcome criteria. PREQIs, NAS and RS items are included in a selfreport questionnaire, (translated from English into Farsi language) and then administered to 239 residents of Tabriz, Iran. Multivariate statistical analyses of the survey results extends the cross-cultural validity of the tools, as well as testing relationship models going from specific to global PREQIs, to NAS, finally predicting RS. The discussion argues for the relevance of PREQIs, NAS and RS constructs and tools in deepening the knowledge on the QOL spoke within the UN-HABITAT CP

Targeted knockout of the gene OsHOL1 removes methyl iodide emissions from rice plants

Abstract Iodine deficiency represents a public health problem worldwide. To increase the amount of iodine in the diet, biofortification strategies of plants have been tried. They rely on the exogenous administration of iodine to increase its absorption and accumulation. However, iodine is not stable in plants and can be volatilized as methyl iodide through the action of specific methyltransferases encoded by the HARMLESS TO OZONE LAYER (HOL) genes. The release of methyl iodide in the atmosphere represents a threat for the environment due to its ozone depletion potential. Rice paddies are among the strongest producers of methyl iodide. Thus, the agronomic approach of iodine biofortification is not appropriate for this crop, leading to further increases of iodine emissions. In this work, we used the genome editing CRISPR/Cas9 technology to knockout the rice HOL genes and investigate their function. OsHOL1 resulted a major player in methyl iodide production, since its knockout abolished the process. Moreover, its overexpression reinforced it. Conversely, knockout of OsHOL2 did not produce effects. Our experiments helped elucidating the function of the rice HOL genes, providing tools to develop new rice varieties with reduced iodine emissions and thus more suitable for biofortification programs without further impacting on the environment

City Reputation Indicators (CRIs): measuring inhabitants’ city representation / Indicadores de Reputación Urbana: midiendo la representación de una ciudad en sus habitantes

Reputation is a socially mediated form of knowledge. In social psychology it has been studied with reference to different social actors (individuals, brands, cities, etc). However, the social-psychological conceptualization of city reputation lacks a consensual definition. This research aims to operationally define city reputation, via the construction and validation of the City Reputation Indicators (CRIs). The first and preliminary study (N = 62) defines the underlying dimensions via six focus groups held in two Italian cities that differ in terms of their political/administrative and socio-demographic features. The second study (N = 362) tests the properties of CRIs via a survey administered in Rome. Results show a first validation of the 12 CRIs’ scales, which represent a basic tool for the assessment of people’s perception of a city. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed, as well as development perspectives for improvement