Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca- Università del Piemonte Orientale
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Characteristics, Antecedents, and Consequences of Non-Nursing Tasks: A Scoping Review Protocol
No full textPsychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 in an Italian Coronary Heart Disease Population
No full textBackground: Depression is common in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The 9-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) is an instrument for screening depression. However, evidence on the psychometric properties of the PHQ-9 in Italian populations with CHD is still lacking.
Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of the PHQ-9 in a large CHD sample.
Methods: This is a secondary analysis of 3-month follow-up data collected from a multicenter longitudinal study. Patients completed a battery of self-reported instruments that included the PHQ-9 and the generalized anxiety disorder scale-7 (GAD-7). Factorial validity was assessed with confirmatory factor analysis. Convergent validity was tested by inspecting the correlations between the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores, and other sociodemographic factors. Internal consistency was investigated with the model-based internal consistency reliability index. Measurement invariance was tested across sex and age (≥65 vs <65 years) with confirmatory multigroup factor analysis.
Results: We enrolled 427 patients (mean age, 64.41 years; 78.9% male; 66.7% married). The confirmatory factor analysis supported a bi-dimensional factor structure with the factors measuring somatic and cognitive symptoms. Convergent validity testing showed significant positive correlations of the PHQ-9 scores with the GAD-7 scores, gender, and perceived financial status. The model-based internal consistency reliability index was adequate at 0.80. Measurement invariance across age was confirmed at the scalar level, whereas invariance across sex was achieved at the metric level.
Conclusion: The PHQ-9 shows adequate psychometric and invariance properties across age groups in patients with CHD. Hence, this instrument can be used in clinical practice and research to assess the severity of depression in patients with CHD and to compare depression scores between younger and older individuals
Sorgono dubbi di costituzionalità sulla estensione del giudicato penale al processo tributario in attesa delle Sezioni Unite
Full text linkIl saggio esamina la questione della rilevanza del giudicato penale di assoluzione (ex
art. 21-bis D.Lgs. n. 74/2000) nel processo tributario, in particolare quando il fatto
non sussiste o l'imputato non lo ha commesso. La sentenza commentata evidenzia
come tale automatismo possa pregiudicare il diritto di difesa dell'Amministrazione
finanziaria (art. 24 Cost.) e l'interesse alla riscossione delle imposte, non potendo
l'Agenzia delle Entrate intervenire nel processo penale per tutelare la pretesa fiscale.
Stante l’evidente contrasto giurisprudenziale sorto in sede di legittimità si sottolinea
la necessità di un intervento chiarificatore per armonizzare i rapporti tra processo
penale e tributario e garantire la tutela degli interessi coinvolti
Stakeholder theory and sustainability disclosure: A comparative analysis of different approaches
Full text linkSustainability strategies require management systems aimed at risk and performance enhancement. By engaging stakeholders and monitoring sentiments, organizations can identify and prioritize environmental and social issues that need to be addressed, as well as develop solutions that cater to their needs. Stakeholder engagement extends beyond merely maintaining a dialogue; it involves integrating diverse perspectives into the company’s sustainability strategy. The relevance of this study is represented by the research focus that aims at investigating how the most widespread reporting frameworks lead to effective stakeholder engagement. Even if sustainability accounting should integrate the goal of mitigating unsustainability issues or contributing to sustainable development, the discourse surrounding sustainability accounting is largely uninformed by stakeholder theory. This paper aims to explore how to operationalize stakeholder selection and engagement, referencing various initiatives in the field of sustainability reporting, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), while considering both voluntary and mandatory provisions. The paper’s contribution is to enhance the discussion on sustainability disclosure by analysing the aforementioned frameworks; the research seeks to highlight whether the proposed operating rules and practices align with the main literature on stakeholders
FlowSeries: flow analysis on financial networks
Full text linkThe digitalization and automation of anti-financial crime (AFC) investigations has made significant progress in recent years. However, key challenges remain—in particular, the need for interpretability in the output of AI models and the limited availability of labeled data for training. Criminal activity in transaction networks often involves complex, evolving patterns specifically designed to evade detection. We introduce FlowSeries, a top-down flow analysis methodology to explore transaction data and analyze complex interaction patterns over time. Rather than relying on pre-defined patterns or labeled training data, our approach scales to large transaction volumes and provides interpretable insights into anomalous behaviors, aiding AFC analysts in their investigations. We evaluate the effectiveness of this method using a dataset provided by the bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP), comprising 80 million cross-border transactions over a 15-month period. In collaboration with ISP’s AFC experts, our analysis focuses on detecting anomalous transactions and identifying suspicious actors in the context of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022
Future acceptance of automated insulin delivery systems in youths with type 1 diabetes: validation of the Italian artificial pancreas-acceptance measure
Full text linkAimThe purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire to examine the future acceptance of Automatic insulin delivery systems (AIDs), their perceived usefulness, ease of use, and trust in the device in subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1D).MethodsA questionnaire in Italian, based on the Technology Acceptance Model, was developed to examine intention to use AIDs, considered as a measure of future acceptance, and its determinants to use the system. A total of 43 questions for children and 46 for parents were included, and a 5-point Likert scale was used.Results239 subjects with T1D using multiple daily injections (MDI) or sensor-augmented pump (SAP) and their parents completed the questionnaire. The completion rate was excellent, with almost 100% of items answered. The overall Cronbach's coefficient for children and adolescents was 0.92 and 0.93 for parents, indicating excellent internal consistency in both groups. Parent-youth agreement was 0.699 (95% confidence interval: 0.689-0.709), indicating a good agreement between the two evaluations. Factor analysis identified measurement factors for the "artificial pancreas (AP)-acceptance labeled benefits and hassles of AIDs, and the internal consistency of the total scale was alpha = 0.94 for subjects with T1D and 0.95 for parents. The level of AP acceptance was more than neutral: 3.91 +/- 0.47 and 3.99 +/- 0.43 (p = 0.07) for youths and parents, respectively (possible score range 1 to 5, neutral score is 3.0). Parents reported higher scores in the benefit items than children-adolescents (p = 0.04).ConclusionsWe developed a new questionnaire based on the items available in the literature, and we demonstrated that the "AP-acceptance" reveals a meaningful factor structure, good internal reliability, and agreement between parent-young people evaluations. This measure could be a valuable resource for clinicians and researchers to assess AP acceptance in pediatric patients with T1D and their parents. This patient profiling approach could help to enroll candidates for AIDs with proper expectations and who most likely will benefit from the system
Impact of an Essential-Oil-Based Oral Rinse on Oral and Gut Microbiota Diversity: A Pilot Study
Full text linkPeriodontitis is a multifactorial disease that is primarily driven by bacterial biofilm and
oral dysbiosis. Listerine® is a widely used essential-oil-based mouthwash that is well estab-
lished for its safety and anti-plaque efficacy. However, limited evidence exists regarding its
impact on oral microbial composition or its potential effects on gut microbiota. This pilot
study aimed to investigate changes in subgingival microbiota and periodontal indices after
Listerine® use and to explore modulation of the gut microbiota. Twelve healthy adults
were enrolled, and oral plaque and stool samples were collected at baseline and after a
28-day treatment period. Microbial profiling was performed using next-generation se-
quencing (NGS) to assess shifts in oral and gut microbiota. The α-diversity and β-diversity
indices were computed, and differential abundance analyses were conducted to identify
taxa modulated by treatment. NGS-based profiling revealed that oral microbial α-diversity
and β-diversity remained stable. Several oral taxa were significantly modulated, including
reductions in Gemella haemolysans, Streptococcus oralis and Granulicatella sp., along with
increases in Actinomyces viscosus. In the gut microbiota, a modest trend toward reduced
Shannon and Simpson diversity indices was observed. Taxonomic shifts included enrich-
ment of the Bacteroides, Phocaeicola and Alistipes species, and decreases in Lachnospiraceae,
Intestinibacter sp. and Blautia luti. Despite the limited cohort size and short observation
period, these findings suggest that essential-oil-based mouthwash use can transiently
modulate both oral and intestinal microbial ecosystems
Letter: Beyond the Metrics: Translating Time in Range Gains into Global Health Equity. The Economic Case for Universal and Early Access to Diabetes Technology
No full textNovel FAP-Targeted Heptamethine Cyanines for NIRF Imaging Applications
Full text linkFibroblast activation protein (FAP) is a pan-cancer target that is useful for imaging, ideally all epithelial cancers. This work aimed to develop, characterize, and validate two novel FAP-targeted probes for optical imaging, both in vitro and in vivo. IRDye800CW and FNIRTag heptamethine cyanines were conjugated to the NH precursor of the well-known FAP inhibitor FAPI-46, which is widely employed in nuclear medicine. In addition to synthesis, the dyes were characterized in terms of physicochemical properties, biodistribution, and imaging performances in a breast cancer tumor model. FAPI-FNIRTag showed a stronger fluorescence and higher photostability compared to FAPI-IRDye800CW. Notably, both compounds exhibited strong tumor accumulation in TUBO breast cancer-bearing mice 24 h postadministration, suggesting potential for further investigation as fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) agents