Search results for "Italian"
showing 10 items of 2433 documents
Genuair® Usability Test: Results of a National Public Survey of the Elderly
2016
Proper use of inhaler devices may be problematic in elderly patients due to age-related difficulties. A survey was administered to elderly patients to investigate the usability of the Genuair® device and patients' subjective viewpoint on the device. A representative sample of the Italian population aged ≥ 65 years was completed with a pre-defined sample of 89 patients with hand arthritis/arthrosis. Of 526 respondents, 88 were not self-sufficient. Only the replies of the 438 self-sufficient respondents were analyzed. A total of 107 participants (24%) reported having respiratory diseases, and 81 of these (76%) were users of inhaler devices. After the first test, the device was considered “pra…
Low bone mineral density in HIV-positive young Italians and migrants.
2020
Background Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected individuals may have osteoporosis. We aimed to evaluate the bone mineral density (BMD) in naïve antiretroviral (ARV) treated HIV positive patients comparing native Italian group (ItG) to a Migrants group (MiG) upon arrival in Italy. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on 83 HIV patients less than 50 years old. We used the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) within six months from the HIV diagnosis. Participants were categorized as having low BMD if the femoral neck or total lumbar spine Z-score was– 2 or less. Results MiG showed low BMD more often than ItG (37.5% vs.13.6%), especially for the female gender (16.7% vs. 0.0%). …
Measuring Psychobiosocial States in Sport: Initial Validation of a Trait Measure
2016
We examined the item characteristics, the factor structure, and the concurrent validity of a trait measure of psychobiosocial states. In Study 1, Italian athletes (N = 342, 228 men, 114 women, Mage = 23.93, SD = 6.64) rated the intensity, the frequency, and the perceived impact dimensions of a psychobiosocial states scale, trait version (PBS-ST), which is composed of 20 items (10 functional and 10 dysfunctional) referring to how they usually felt before an important competition. In Study 2, the scale was cross validated in an independent sample (N = 251, 181 men, 70 women, Mage = 24.35, SD = 7.25). The concurrent validity of the PBS-ST scale scores were also examined in comparison with two …
Immunoproteasome LMP2 60HH Variant Alters MBP Epitope Generation and Reduces the Risk to Develop Multiple Sclerosis in Italian Female Population
2010
BackgroundAlbeit several studies pointed out the pivotal role that CD4+T cells have in Multiple Sclerosis, the CD8+ T cells involvement in the pathology is still in its early phases of investigation. Proteasome degradation is the key step in the production of MHC class I-restricted epitopes and therefore its activity could be an important element in the activation and regulation of autoreactive CD8+ T cells in Multiple Sclerosis.Methodology/principal findingsImmunoproteasomes and PA28-alphabeta regulator are present in MS affected brain area and accumulated in plaques. They are expressed in cell types supposed to be involved in MS development such as neurons, endothelial cells, oligodendroc…
Absolute Memory for Tempo in Musicians and Non-Musicians
2016
The ability to remember tempo (the perceived frequency of musical pulse) without external references may be defined, by analogy with the notion of absolute pitch, as absolute tempo (AT). Anecdotal reports and sparse empirical evidence suggest that at least some individuals possess AT. However, to our knowledge, no systematic assessments of AT have been performed using laboratory tasks comparable to those assessing absolute pitch. In the present study, we operationalize AT as the ability to identify and reproduce tempo in the absence of rhythmic or melodic frames of reference and assess these abilities in musically trained and untrained participants. We asked 15 musicians and 15 non-musician…
The instruments used by the Italian centres for cognitive disorders and dementia to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
2018
Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the tools used in Italy to diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: In collaboration with the Luigi Amaducci Research Consortium, the Italian Network of Alzheimer Evaluation Units prepared a questionnaire to describe how MCI is diagnosed in the Italian Centres for cognitive disorders and dementia (CCDD). Results: Most of the ninety-two CCDDs participating in the survey were located in hospitals (54.7%); large percentages were coordinated by neurologists (50.8%) and geriatricians (44.6%). Almost all (98.5%) used the Mini Mental State Examination to diagnose MCI; the Clock Drawing Test was also frequently used (83.9%). Other neuropsycho…
Incidence and costs of hip fractures compared to acute myocardial infarction in the Italian population: a 4-year survey
2007
Introduction Few data are available about the incidence and costs of hip fractures in Italy. We aimed to determine the impact of hip fractures vs. acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods We studied the national hospitalization database to calculate their incidence and costs in adults aged ≥45 between 1999 and 2002. Results In 2002, there were 86,719 hip fractures with a 10.0% increase over 4 years. We observed a predominance of women (77.1%) and a strong age effect: 92.7% of patients were ≥65 years old and 80% of fractures occurred in women aged ≥75, showing a clear relationship with the incidence of osteoporosis. Hospitalizations due to AMI after 45 years of age in 1999 were only 9% hig…
Costs and Benefits of Orthographic Inconsistency in Reading: Evidence from a Cross-Linguistic Comparison.
2016
We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade). However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, …
A micro-founded approach to regional innovation in Italy
2022
Recent regional studies have taken a micro-founded perspective to uncover the influence of the external environment on the firm-level innovative performance. Despite the marked spatial disparities, there is a general lack of recent evidence on Italian regional innovation from a micro perspective. This paper fills this gap in the evidence base by estimating regional Knowledge Production Functions using Italian micro-data collected in the Community Innovation Survey. In particular, here we focus on the regional differences in the relationship between innovative inputs and outputs and on the ability of firms to absorb external knowledge. This analysis allows us to outline different regional in…