Introduzione. Nonostante il dolore sia un’esperienza comune a tutti gli esseri umani, è molto difficile darne una definizione esauriente sia esso fisico che psicologico. A tutt’oggi il dolore mentale è stato poco indagato. L’obiettivo principale del seguente progetto di ricerca è di delineare una più accurata definizione del costrutto di dolore mentale, verificare l’applicabilità dell’Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) nella valutazione psicologica e la validazione della versione italiana di tale strumento. Metodologia. Sono stati condotti tre studi: il primo, su un campione di 15 soggetti, per verificare e confermare la validità di facciata dell’OMMP; il secondo, realizzato su un campione di 442 soggetti, oltre ad indagare le caratteristiche sociodemografiche associate con la dimensione del dolore mentale, si concentra sulla valutazione delle proprietà psicometriche dello strumento; il terzo è stato eseguito allo scopo di verificarne la struttura fattoriale ed indagare la relazione che intercorre tra dolore mentale e gli altri costrutti psicologici (n = 728). Risultati. Dai dati ottenuti è possibile delineare il profilo sociodemografico dei soggetti della popolazione generale con un maggior livello di dolore mentale: l’essere giovani, nubili/celibi e avere un livello di istruzione inferiore. L’analisi fattoriale esplorativa, non ha confermato la struttura a otto dimensioni descritta dagli autori, rivelandone una a quattro (19 item), e gli indici dell’analisi fattoriale confermativa lo supportano. Infine, le dimensioni del dolore si mostrano correlate con il distress psicologico. Discussioni e conclusioni. Il presente lavoro ha confermato la multidimensionalità del costrutto di dolore mentale nella popolazione italiana ed ha confermato la validità e l’attendibilità del OMMP_19_ITA. All’interno di diversi quadri psicopatologici è stata rilevata la presenza di un maggior livello di dolore mentale. / Introduction. Despite the pain is a common experience to all human beings, it is still very difficult to give a comprehensive definition both physical and psychological. Up till now, mental pain has been understudied The main objective of the following research project is to outline a more accurate definition of the mental pain construct, to verify the applicability of the Orbach and Mikulincer Mental Pain Scale (OMMP) in the psychological evaluation and validation of the Italian version of such tool. Methodology. Three studies were conducted: the first one, on a sample of 15 subjects, to verify and confirm the validity of the OMMP face; the second, conducted on a sample of 442 subjects, as well as investigate the socio-demographic characteristics associated with the mental pain dimension, focuses on the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the instrument; the third instead, was performed in order to verify the factorial structure and investigate the relation between mental pain and other psychological constructs (n = 728). Results. From the data obtained it is possible to outline the socio-demographic profile of the subjects of the general population with a higher level of mental pain: being young, maiden / celibate and have a lower level of education. The factorial explorative analysis, has not confirmed the eight-dimensional structure described by the authors, revealing a four one (19 item), and indexes of the confirmatory factorial analysis support it. Finally, the dimensions of the pain are shown correlated with the psychological distress. Discussions and conclusions. This work confirmed the multidimensionality of mental pain construct in the Italian population and also confirmed the validity and reliability of the OMMP_19_ITA. Within different psychopathological was detected the presence of a higher level of mental pain.

Il quadro tematico della tesi è la storia politica e culturale delle relazioni tra il cattolicesimo democratico di origine «popolare» e la tradizione del liberalismo italiano, in un arco cronologico compreso tra l’antifascismo dell’Aventino e la fondazione della Democrazia Cristiana. L’ipotesi della ricerca è che proprio in questo «lungo viaggio» la classe dirigente del cattolicesimo politico (a cominciare dalla leadership di Alcide De Gasperi) abbia completato quel processo di acculturazione in senso «liberale» che le avrebbe consentito di guidare consensualmente l’uscita dal fascismo nel secondo dopoguerra. / The framework of the thesis deals with the political and cultural history of the relationship between the democratic Chatolicism stemming from the Italian Popular Party and the tradition of the Italian Liberalism, from the antifascist coalition of the «Aventino» to the establishment of Christian Democracy. The assumption of the research is that in its «long way» the political membership of the political Catholicism (starting with De Gasperi leadership) had go through with a process of «liberal» acculturation, that would allow it to lead the exit-strategy from Fascism in the Second post-World War.

Questa tesi consiste nell'analisi socio-antropologica delle risposte al sisma che il 20 e il 29 maggio ha colpito l'area nord della pianura padano-emiliana, in Italia. La zona precisa di ricerca è stata quella compresa tra i comuni di Mirandola, Cavezzo, Concordia sul Secchia e San Possidonio, della provincia di Modena. Il soggetto specifico è stato Sisma.12, un comitato di terremotati, apartitico e trasversale, che porta avanti specifiche rivendicazioni, elaborando e ponendo in essere politiche “dal basso”, che nascono dalle esperienze dei suoi membri, differenti ma partecipate, come alternative alle scelte messe in atto dalle istituzioni. / This is a contribution to the analysis of the socio-cultural responses to the earthquake that hit the area north of the Po Valley, in Emilia (Italy) on the 20 and 29 of May, 2012. The exact area of research is located in the cities of Mirandola, Cavezzo, Concordia sul Secchia and San Possidonio, all of them situated in the Modena district. The subject of the survey is Sisma.12, a committee founded by some earthquake victims, "not-partisan and ideologically cross" claiming for specific rights. Also offering solutions to such a disaster, starting from the individual experience of its members, though different but participated, as alternative to the choices made by the institutions.

No description available.

No description available.

Music has been employed in numerous different therapeutic settings throughout history. However, there are few empirical studies and inadequate research guidelines in relation to investigating the process and outcomes of this intervention in a modern context. Anecdotal and descriptive accounts of improvements in psychological adjustment as a result of a music intervention exist but the need for empirical evaluation is paramount. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effect of structured music workshops on the musical ability, communication skills, self-esteem, self-perception, disruptive behaviour and short term memory of adults with learning difficulties. This series of studies employs previously validated assessments materials in addition to materials specifically designed and validated for use in this project. The first study utilises a two group design with 20 individuals in an experimental group and 20 individuals in a non-intervention control group. After all participants were assessed for communication skills, musical ability, disruptive behaviour and self-esteem the experimental group received 10 weekly, one hour music workshops focused on the playing of a Javanese Gamelan. After completion of the workshops individuals in both the experimental and control group were post-tested on the dependent variables. Results indicate significant improvements for the experimental group in musical ability and one measure of communication. No significant improvements in disruptive behaviour or self-esteem were obtained. The second study employs a similar design to study 1 in addition to controlling for experimenter effects and investigating cognitive developments and self-perception changes.

La sintomatologia ansiosa materna nel periodo prenatale risulta influire negativamente non sullo stato materno ma anche sul successivo sviluppo infantile, Tuttavia, sono limitati gli studi che hanno considerato lo specifico contributo dei disturbi d’ansia nel periodo prenatale. L’obiettivo generale dello studio è quello di indagare nel primo periodo post partum la relazione tra psicopatologia ansiosa materna e: temperamento e sviluppo neonatale, qualità del caregiving materno e dei pattern interattivi madre-bambino. 138 donne sono state intervistate utilizzando SCID-I (First et al., 1997) durante il terzo trimestre di gravidanza. 31 donne (22,5%) presentano disturbo d’ansia nel periodo prenatale. A 1 mese post partum il comportamento del neonato è stato valutato mediante NBAS (Brazelton, Nugent, 1995), mentre le madri hanno compilato MBAS (Brazelton, Nugent, 1995). A 3 mesi postpartum, una sequenza interattiva madre-bambino è stata videoregistrata e codificata utilizzando GRS (Murray et al., 1996). La procedura dello Stranger Episode (Murray et al., 2007) è stata utilizzata per osservare i pattern interattivi materni e infantili nell’interazione con una persona estranea. I neonati di madri con disturbo d’ansia manifestano alle NBAS minori capacità a livello di organizzazione di stati comportamentali, minori capacità attentive e di autoregolazione. Le madri ansiose si percepiscono significativamente meno sicure nell’occuparsi di loro, valutando i propri figli maggiormente instabili e irregolari. Nell’interazione face to face, esse mostrano comportamenti significativamente meno sensibilI, risultando meno coinvolte attivamente con il proprio bambino. Durante lo Stranger Episode, le madri con fobia sociale presentano maggiori livelli di ansia e incoraggiando in modo significativamente inferiore l’interazione del bambino con l’estraneo. I risultati sottolineano l’importanza di valutare in epoca prenatale la psicopatologia ansiosa materna. Le evidenze confermano la rilevanza che può assumere un modello multifattoriale di rischio in cui i disturbi d’ansia prenatali e la qualità del caregiving materno possono agire in modo sinergico nell’influire sugli esiti infantili. / Maternal antenatal anxiety has been shown to be associated with adverse consequences for the mother and the child. However, studies considering the effect of DSM-IV anxiety disorders during pregnancy are lacking. The general aim was to investigate, in the early postpartum, the relationship between maternal prenatal anxiety psychopathology and: neonatal behavioral development, quality of caregiving, maternal and infant’s interactive behaviors. 138 women completed the clinical interview SCID-I for DSM-IV (First et al., 1997) during the third trimester of pregnancy to assess anxiety disorders. 31 women (21,5%) showed an anxiety disorders during antenatal period. At one month postpartum, the neonatal development was assessed using NBAS (Brazelton, Nugent, 1995) and the mothers completed the MBAS (Brazelton, Nugent, 1995). At 3 months postpartum, mother-infant interactions were video-recorded and coded using GRS (Murray et al., 1996). Stranger Episode procedure (Murray et al., 2007) was used to assess maternal and infant’s interactive pattern with an unfamiliar person. Anxious mothers’ babies had poorer performances on NBAS regarding attention, self-quieting, examiner facilitation, state regulation (p<0.05). Anxious mothers perceived themselves as having a greater lack of confidence in caretaking and they consider their babies as more unsettled-irregular (p<0.05). Mothers with anxiety disorder showed less sensitive interactive behavior, resulting more withdrawal and less engaged with their infants than controls. During Stranger Episode, mothers with social phobia appeared more anxious, engaged less with the stranger themselves, and were less encouraging of the infant’s interaction with an unfamiliar person. Results underline the importance of assessing and monitoring maternal antenatal anxiety. These findings are consistent with a cumulative risk model suggesting that maternal prenatal anxiety and quality of maternal caregiving could act in concert to shape infant outcomes.

Introduction: In this decade, the CTX-M family of enzymes are considered to be the most common type of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). The production of these Class A β-lactamases are noted to be most prevalent in the Enterobacteriaceaeae family. Many global reports indicated that CTX-M-15, of the CTX-M-1 group, is a growing concern, causing resistance to different classes of antibiotics. Worrisome trends of the spread of this enzyme have been indicated in nosocomial and community settings worldwide. Moreover, the same predicament is faced along the Middle East area, especially in the absence of restricted antibiotic usage policies. Many reports from Kuwait indicated the spread of a multi-drug resistant (MDR) blaCTX-M-15 gene in different hospitals. blaCTX-M-15 genes are often known to be carried on large transferable plasmids. Usually, the mobilization of these plasmid-encoded enzymes is carried out by insertion sequence like ISEcp1. Aims: This work aims to investigate the distribution of blaCTX-M genes in five major hospitals in Kuwait and to study and analyse the genetic environment of the described blaCTX-M genes. Materials and methods: One hundred and seven isolates of E. coli (84) (78.50%) and K. pneumoniae (23) (21.49%) were collected between 2006 and 2010 from five distantly located hospitals in Kuwait. All of the collected isolates were identified as ESBL-producers using Vitek 2 system. The production of cefotaximases was detected using disc diffusion with cefotaxime and clavulanic acid according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria. Conformation of CTX-M production was maintained by PCR amplification and further sequencing. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the collected isolates were determined by the double dilutions agar method described by the CLSI. Four different classes of antibiotics were used (aminoglycosides, different generations of cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, and 3 different carbapenems). The genotypic relatedness of the collected strains was assessed by the use of an enhanced Pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method. Further amplifications with primer walking and simplex PCR were done to seek the genetic context of the MDR strains. S1 nuclease was used to size plasmids carrying the described blaCTX-M genes and conjugation studies were implemented to detect the transferability of the plasmids carrying the reported blaCTX-M genes. Results: All of the collected strains showed to be ESBL-producers and in particular cefotaximases-producers. Upon amplification, CTX-M-1 group was the only CTX-Mgroup present in the collected strains. When sequenced, blaCTX-M-15 was found to be the most prevalent. In addition, strains carrying the blaCTX-M-3 gene were identified, these have previously been found in the Middle East; however, this thesis has the first descriptions of blaCTX-M-28, blaCTX-M-55, and blaCTX-M-117 in this region. After the determination of the MICs of the collected strains, 94 (87.85%) were resistant to cefepime, 107 (100%) to cefotaxime, 48 (44.85%) to cefoxitin, 78 (72.89%) ciprofloxacin, and 71 (66.35%) to gentamicin. All of the strains were susceptible to carbapenems. Twenty-eight strains (26.2%) showed MDR pattern. With the enhanced PFGE method, only 22 isolates exhibited banding patterns that allowed grouping them into 10 distinct PFGE clusters. Notably, strains sharing ≥85% were from the same hospitals (isolates 1 with 2, 21 with 22, and 91 with 92 from the maternity hospital (M), 52 with 53 from Kuwait Oil Company hospital (KOC), 78 with 79 and 83 with 84 from Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH), 97 with 98 and 95 with 96 from Al-Amiri hospital(A) ). Primer walking and simplex PCR experiments used for the genetic environment studies yielded 7 different genetic constructions for the described blaCTX-M genes. All of the described blaCTX-M genes were carried on plasmids ranging in size from 60 – 271 kb. Only 3 of the selected strains were of IncFII and the rest wereindeterminate. Possibly, two blaCTX-M-15 genes are likely to be carried on the chromosome. All of the described blaCTX-M genes are considered to be transferable except for blaCTX-M-28. The sizes of the conjugative plasmids and incompatibility groups are the same as their parental plasmids. Conclusion: In conclusion, blaCTX-M-15 is the most common ESBL gene found in Kuwaiti hospitals. It is also causing a MDR pattern with resistance to 3 different generations of cephalosporins and to two other classes (aminoglycosides and gentamicin), but sensitive to carbapenems. This led to restricting the treatment option into carbapenems. Antibiotic selective pressure could have played a major role in the development of blaCTX-M-15 derivatives such as blaCTX-M-28, blaCTX-M-55, and blaCTX-M-117. The probable explanation of the spread of blaCTX-M-15 is horizontal gene transfer carried by ISEcp1 and the conjugative properties of the plasmids carrying blaCTX-M-15. Variability of the genetic environments obtained explains the nonconditional existence of ISEcp1 to the ‘’W’’ region. Absence of the ISEcp1 in one of the reported structures of blaCTX-M-15 genetic contexts is noted. Therefore, the existence of blaCTX-M-15 could be due to the presence of another insertion sequences downstream or as a part of a larger gene cassette.

The aim of this investigation was to explore the nature and the severity of circadian abnormalities and attentional deficit in type 1 narcolepsy. In three studies, narcolepsy patients were compared with patients suffering from other central disorders of hypersomnolence and healthy controls on attentional functions and circadian rhythms. Study 1 evaluated the sensibility of actigraphic monitoring in distinguishing the features of daytime and nighttime sleep between adult patients with type 1 Narcolepsy, Idiopathic Hypersomnia and healthy controls. Actigraphy provides a reliable assessment of sleep quality and daytime napping behavior able to distinguish central disorders of hypersomnolence and identify Narcolepsy Type 1 patients. Study 2 describes the features of circadian activity rhythm of narcolepsy type 1 children with recent disease onset. Type 1 narcolepsy children and healthy children were monitored for seven days during the school week, circadian activity rhythms were analyzed through functional linear modeling. Children with type 1 narcolepsy present an altered rest-activity rhythm characterized by enhanced motor activity throughout the night and blunted activity in the first afternoon. The observation of a discrete circadian profile provides new insight on the nature of diurnal variations and suggested that the quantitative assessment of motor activity is a promising behavioral biomarker of Type 1 narcolepsy. The aim of Study 3 was to explore the nature and the severity of attentional Deficits of Narcoleptic patients. This study examined whether narcoleptic patients would exhibit impairments in alerting, orienting, and executive control of attention relative to healthy controls. Narcoleptic patients present a deficit in alerting network, while orienting and executive control networks resulted preserved. Moreover the alerting network efficiency significantly correlate with levels of subjective sleepiness. Results indicates that in narcolepsy the unstable tonic component of alerting process make necessary monitoring and compensation strategies.

La vicenda personale di Michele Sindona è utile per ricostruire l'economia italiana degli anni sessanta e settanta. Divenuto uno dei massimi esperti in Italia nell'evasione del fisco e nell'esportazione di capitali all'estero, il banchiere si insinua nel capitale di Banca unione e Banca privata finanziaria acquisendo le partecipazioni della famiglia Feltrinelli. Il tentativo di scalare la Bastogi viene bloccato dal governatore di Bankitalia. Il banchiere cerca l'apoggio negli States della comunità italo americana e della P2 di Licio Gelli. La sua competenza in materia finanziaria e i suoi legami lo rendono il punto di contatto ideale tra ideali dei circoli repubblicani atlantici e la sponda anticomunista facente capo alla Dc e alla P2 in Italia. / The aim of the present thesis is to describe the Italian economic context in which Michele Sindona worked. He soon became the most famous italian expertice in financial advisory and tax; at that time he also come into contact with Moizzi which gave him its personal shares in” financial Private Bank” and, thanks to the good relation with Cesare Merzagora, he catched the stock of the Feltrinelli family so granting himself the access to the “Union Bank's capital” ; Sindona seems to transfer his activities to the States. After the OPA defeat in '72 the group's activities begin to operate outside of any legal ; Infact By Fasco Ag, a Lichtenstein brokerage , Sindona export capital on deposit at foreign sited branch banks ;this way of doing allows him to act outside of any legal constraint, virtually masking financial activities. The creation of Moneyrex, the first Italian agency broker, made the Sindona group began to expose too heavily in the foreign exchange market. The economic crisis of '74 leads to the collapse of the Franklin Bank and other institutions of the group.
Clashing with the Industrial Italian financial establishment Sindona preclude himself at the end any attempt to reform the Italian financial system ,so strictly connected to the Statal Industry and to the Italian political party system. The banker was involved in the defeat of the referendum on divorce in 1974 that he had generously funded. Not any more able to count on the Dc his fate is always more tied up to P2; the banker is so used by that organization to finance its economic activities. Sindona is finally crushed by the Italian economy and political system tied to opposing blocs of the Cold War.