University of Bari Aldo Moro
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Organ damage is a major determinant of work productivity impairment in Behçet's syndrome: a post hoc analysis of the BODI validation study
No full textObjectives: To evaluate the prevalence, magnitude and potential determinants of work productivity impairment in patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS), focusing on the role of irreversible organ damage. Methods: A post hoc analysis of the BS Overall Damage Index (BODI) prospective validation study was performed. Demographics and clinical features were recorded in all patients. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment: General Health (WPAI:GH) questionnaire was administered to assess the work limitation and the BODI to measure organ damage. The independent effect of BS features on WPAI:GH outcomes was evaluated by regression analysis. Results: Of 148 patients, 34.5% were unemployed, with age [odds ratio (OR) 1.035] and BODI score (OR 1.313 for a 1-unit increase) as the only factors significantly (P < 0.05) associated with the unemployment state. Overall work impairment was reported in ≈64.2% of the employed patients. Indeed, 22.7% reported missing work hours due to their health (absenteeism), with a mean time loss of 34.4%, whereas 60.2% declared reduced performance at work because of their health (presenteeism), with a mean productivity impairment of 45.4%. Ocular damage was associated with absenteeism (β = 0.225); female sex (β = 0.260), physician global assessment of disease activity (β = 0.502) and an increased BODI score (β = 0.166 for 1-point increase) with presenteeism; and fibromyalgia (β = 0.246), Physician Global Assessment (β = 0.469) and musculoskeletal damage (β = 0.325) with overall work impairment. Conclusions: Disease activity and organ damage accrual remarkably affect work productivity in BS patients. Achieving remission and preventing damage accrual are crucial and complementary objectives
Sustainability and Quality in Wine Pricing: Insights from the Primitivo E-Commerce Market
No full textThe wine sector faces urgent challenges related to climate change, resource constraints, rising energy costs, and shifting consumption patterns. In this context, sustainability represents a lever of competitiveness and resilience, enabling producers to differentiate themselves through their connection with the territory and the preservation of artisanal practices. This is particularly evident for native varieties, such as the Apulian Primitivo, whose market repositioning is based on production choices that combine sustainability and craftsmanship, generating wines with distinctive organoleptic characteristics while also contributing to the environmental, economic, and social protection of the production areas. At the same time, the spread of e-commerce offers new opportunities to enhance these characteristics: online descriptions enrich the communication of details compared to the physical label, reducing information asymmetries and making signs of quality and sustainability more visible. Therefore, this study applies a hedonic model to estimate the implicit price of such practices, analyzing 656 Primitivo labels through simultaneous quantile regressions. The results show that sensory characteristics, such as alcohol content and ageing, determine the price throughout distribution, while identity and sustainable attributes have heterogeneous effects: ecological practices and Geographical Indications affect the lower quantiles, while indigenous yeasts and sapling vines are configured as premium signals in the upper segments
Altered effective connectivity in patients with drug-naïve first-episode, recurrent, and medicated major depressive disorder: A multi-site fMRI study
No full textBackground: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been diagnosed through subjective and inconsistent clinical assessments. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with connectivity analysis has been valuable for identifying neural correlates of patients with MDD, yet most studies rely on single-site and small sample sizes. Methods: This study utilized large-scale, multi-site rs-fMRI data from the Rest-meta-MDD consortium to assess effective connectivity in patients with MDD and its subtypes, i.e., drug-naïve first-episode (FEDN), recurrent (RMDD), and medicated MDD (MMDD) subtypes. To mitigate site-related variability, the ComBat algorithm was applied, and multivariate linear regression was used to control for age and gender effects. A random forest classification model was developed to identify the most predictive features. Nested five-fold cross-validation was used to assess model performance. Results: The model effectively distinguished FEDN subtype from healthy controls (HC) group, achieving 90.13 % accuracy and 96.41 % AUC. However, classification performance for RMDD vs. FEDN and MMDD vs. FEDN was lower, suggesting that differences between the subtypes were less pronounced than differences between the patients with MDD and the HC group. Patients with RMDD exhibited more extensive connectivity abnormalities in the frontal-limbic system and default mode network than the patients with FEDN, implying heightened rumination. Additionally, treatment with medication appeared to partially modulate the aberrant connectivity, steering it toward normalization. Conclusion: This study showed altered brain connectivity in patients with MDD and its subtypes, which could be classified with machine learning models with robust performance. Abnormal connectivity could be the potential neural correlates for the presenting symptoms of patients with MDD. These findings provide novel insights into the neural pathogenesis of patients with MDD
Test of Lepton Flavor Universality with B+ →k+π+π-l+l- Decays
No full textThe first test of lepton flavor universality between muons and electrons using B+→K+π+π-l+l- (l=e, μ) decays is presented. The measurement is performed with data from proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb-1. The ratio of branching fractions between B+→K+π+π-e+e- and B+→K+π+π-μ+μ- decays is measured in the dilepton invariant-mass-squared range 1.1<7.0 GeV2/c4 and is found to be RKππ-1=1.31-0.17+0.18(stat) -0.09+0.12(syst), in agreement with the standard model prediction. The first observation of the B+→K+π+π-e+e- decay is also reported
The Elderly Mobility and Sustainable Development Goals: Composite Indicators for European Countries
No full textScientific literature and policymakers have been focusing for some time on sustainability tools that allow the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In this article, the focus will be on the sustainable mobility of the elderly population, both active and passive, with reference to the European area. The approach will be distinctly methodological and will consider sustainability as a key priority for European governments. For these purposes, specific composite indicators will be developed and compared. They take into account the key mobility variables in terms of infrastructures dedicated to the mobility of the elderly and the consequent services that this population cluster can benefit from. More precisely, elderly mobility will be explained by climate changes, transport infrastructures and services, the social impact of transport, and health conditions. The idea is to be able to develop an initial comparison of different realities and to arrive at a representation of the geographical area that puts sustainable development in terms of equity at the center. This approach provides the basis for monitoring the sustainability of mobility relating to the European countries in the light of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Definitional Aspects and Issues Concerning Homeless Individuals: A Brief Narrative Review of the Evolution of the Homelessness Phenomenon.
No full textThe scientific literature and forensic research on homeless
individuals are not well-developed, either in qualitative or quantitative
terms. This population belongs to a complex, elusive, and difficult-to-study
marginalized category, even for the most seasoned researchers. One of the
most prevalent issues, which has direct implications for social studies and
publications, is the challenge of defining homelessness. The difficulty in
establishing unified and coherent definitions that garner consensus among
researchers has immediate negative effects on studies and research, which are significantly hindered by the heterogeneity of these definitions. Given the
significance of this issue, the authors have chosen to provide a reflective
contribution, presenting a repertoire of definitions in the work we introduce
here
Synthesis and characterization of succinylated pectin hydrogels with enhanced swelling performances
No full textA novel polymeric material was obtained through succinylation of pectin (S-Pec), resulting in greater stability, film-forming ability, transparency, swelling, and water retention capacity compared to native pectin (Pec). Spectroscopic techniques confirmed the success of the succinylation reaction performed on pectin, employing the reaction of galacturonic acid with succinic anhydride as a model reaction under similar experimental conditions. Moreover, fluorinated succinic anhydride was used to gain insight into the succinylation degree by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, and a different thermal behavior of S-Pec compared to Pec was confirmed through thermoanalytical characterization. Additionally, the effect of cross-linking either Pec or S-Pec in the presence of divalent cations (i.e., calcium or magnesium ions) on water retention capacity and stability was tested. A significant improvement in the ability to absorb and retain water or saline solution was found for magnesiumcrosslinked succinylated pectin, while the in vitro hydrogel stability was higher for the calcium-crosslinked one. The obtained polymer represents a promising substrate for the development of natural-based superabsorbent polymers
Prevalence of Capillaria spp. and other endoparasites of hunting dogs from southern Italy
No full textGastrointestinal and cardiopulmonary nematodes are frequently detected in dogs worldwide, posing a potential zoonotic risk. Some parasites, such as Capillaria aerophila and Capillaria boehmi, are often less considered being misdiagnosed with other trichurids. Here, we evaluated the occurrence of Capillaria spp. as well as of other endoparasites in hunting dogs from Basilicata region, Southern Italy. Individual faecal samples were collected from hunting dogs (n = 443) and examined by Mini-FLOTAC® flotation method. Additionally, 49 of the above samples were evaluated by the Baermann-Wetzel technique, and 90 sera samples were subjected to the Angio DetectTM test (IDEXX Laboratories Inc., Westbrook, Maine, USA). Out of 443 faecal samples, 251 (i.e., 56.6 %) scored positive for at least one parasite species, with hookworms being the most prevalent nematodes (i.e., 39.3 %), followed by C. aerophila (i.e., 20.5 %), Trichuris vulpis (i.e., 12.6 %) and Toxocara canis (i.e., 11.3 %). At the Baermann-Wetzel technique, 8.2 % (n = 4/49) of the faecal samples scored positive for Angiostrongylus vasorum, 4.1 % for Ancylostomatidae (n = 2/49) and 2.0 % for Strongyloides spp. (n = 1/49). A single serum sample scored positive for A. vasorum at the Angio DetectTM test. The results indicate that hunting dogs may harbour a high diversity of endoparasites, including those of zoonotic concern. Moreover, it is hypothesized that the occurrence of C. aerophila and C. boehmi may compromise the overall hunting performance due to the respiratory distress and impairment of scenting abilities. Therefore, control measures should be implemented to protect both dogs as well as humans living in close contact with them
Per una storia dell’associazionismo giovanile in Italia dal Novecento a oggi
No full textFin dagli anni ’90 il lavoro socioeducativo con i giovani svolto in contesti diversi da quello della scuola è stato progressivamente messo al centro delle iniziative di politica giovanile dell’Unione Europea. Il trattato istitutivo dell’Unione, infatti, riconosce anche
a questo segmento del lavoro educativo un ruolo significativo per promuovere la cooperazione tra gli Stati membri in materia di istruzione e formazione. Dopo più di trent’anni di progetti europei volti a sviluppare capacità, pratiche e politiche di youth work, in Italia manca ancora un riconoscimento istituzionale di questa sfera specifica del
lavoro socioeducativo e una legislazione organica sulle sue finalità, le forme che può assumere in termini di approcci e metodi, la formazione di chi vi opera e, non ultimo, la creazione di una base deontologica comune alle diverse culture che lo animano. Il debole riconoscimento istituzionale e professionale che caratterizza questo ambito, tuttavia, rischia di portare a trascurare la presenza storica in Italia di una pluralità di attività socioeducative e culturali praticate al di fuori del sistema scolastico e sviluppate prevalentemente nel terzo settore in forma associativa. Il saggio si propone di offrire una conoscenza utile al dibattito (in corso e possibile) sul riconoscimento dell’educazione non formale giovanile in quanto settore e in quanto lavoro professionale con una sua specifica base normativa e deontologica. Infatti, la sfida di costruire una rappresentazione condivisa dell’identità specifica dell’animazione socioeducativa giovanile e di comprenderne la complessità, non può che passare anche dalla conoscenza e dalla riflessione critica su come il ruolo dell’associazionismo nel settore giovanile si sia intrecciato con i principali cambiamenti politici, sociali e culturali
del passato, segnando il passo verso l’impegnativo percorso di affermazione dei principi di pluralismo, cooperazione nel rispetto delle differenze, educazione alla libera scelta,
universalismo e inclusione sociale come argini all’autoreferenzialità e alla selettività su base ideologica
Dal sexy-web ai conflitti nelle piattaforme di guerre e indifferenza
No full textIl sexy-web e i conflitti in corso mostra una degenerazione della storia dell'uomo e della sua qualità di partecipazione alla salvezza del mond