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Le collezioni bolognesi di storia naturale agli inizi del XIX secolo. La direzione "dimenticata" di Camillo Ranzani
No full textDuring his almost forty years of activity (1803-1841), Camillo Ranzani's direction of the Natural History Museum in Bologna played an important role in the development of natural history collections. His contribution to natural history is multifaceted: he enhanced the teaching of the discipline; he ensured continuity in the management of the collections; he brought the layout of the rooms up to date; he increased the collections, especially in the less represented areas of natural history; and finally, he favored a series of studies dedicated to the specimens in the collection. The aim of this paper is therefore to emphasise Ranzani's direction, especially in terms of how he managed the natural history collections in Bologna, in the light of a rich archival documentation that is still almost unexplored today
A more accurate assessment of circadian typology is achieved by asking persons to indicate their preferred times rather than comparing themselves with most people
Full text linkThe aim of the present work was to compare two circadian questionnaires: the Preference Scale (PS) and the reduced version of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ). A sample of 849 (35.10% men) university students, 421 of whom were Spanish (27.55% men; mean age 21.07 + 2.31) and 428 Italian (42.52% men; mean age 23.26 + 3.01), were administered both questionnaires. Gender (higher morningness in women) and nationality (higher eveningness in Spaniards) differences were replicated with rMEQ but not with PS, in which an inverse association between nationality and circadian preference was observed (i.e. higher morningness in Spaniards). Taking into account that the formulation of the rMEQ items, with its specific times, makes the answers less influenced by socio-cultural bias, we conclude that rMEQ is preferable to PS when evaluating circadian preference in young adults
Season of birth and personality in health young adults
No full textThe purpose of this study was to explore a possible season of birth effect on big five personality traits,
taking into account also gender and circadian typology variables. A sample of 419 healthy young adults
(249 females and 170 males) was administered the self-report version of the Big Five Observer (BFO)
and the Morningness–Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) to determine, respectively, personality features
and circadian preference. Participants were subdivided into four season groups, according to their birth
date. No significant season of birth effectwas observed as regards personality traits even if summer-born
participants tended to score lower on the conscientiousness dimension. In regard to the conscientiousness
domain, there was a significant interaction between gender and season of birth. Males presented greater
conscientiousness variation with summer born participants scoring lower. On the basis of a multiple
regression analysis, MEQ score proved to be a better predictor of conscientiousness than gender, age, and
season of birth. The results provide no clear evidence for a season of birth effect on the big five personality
traits. It is possible that circadian preference may modulate the season of birth effect on personality traits
Sex difference in sleep-time preference and sleep need: a cross-sectional survey among italian pre-adolscents, adolescents, and adults
No full textThe aim of this study was to examine sex differences in sleep-time preference by age
among Italian pre-adolescents, adolescents, and adults. The final sample consisted
of 8,972 participants (5,367 females and 3,605 males) from 10 to 87 yrs of age. To
assess preferred sleep habits, we considered the answers to the open-ended questions
of the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). In agreement with previous
studies, we found that sleep-time preference started to shift toward eveningness
from the age of 13 yrs. Females reached their peak in eveningness earlier (about 17
yrs of age) than males (about 21 yrs of age). Thereafter, the ideal sleep-time preference
advanced in men and women with increasing age. Females presented a more significant
advanced sleep phase than males only during the years when sexual hormones
are typically active. Moreover, females reported a longer ideal sleep duration than
males across all age groups examined, except in over 55 yrs one
Relationship between circadian typology and Big Five personality domains
No full textWe explored the relationship between personality, based on the five-factor model,
and circadian preference. To this end, 503 participants (280 females, 223 males)
were administered the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) and the selfreport
version of the Big Five Observer (BFO) to determine circadian preference
and personality features, respectively. Morning types scored significantly higher
than evening and intermediate types on the conscientiousness factor. Evening types
were found to be more neurotic than morning types. With reference to the big five personality
model, our data, together with those of all the previous studies, indicate that
the conscientiousness domain is the one that best discriminates among the three circadian
types. Results are discussed with reference to neurobiological models of personality
The mechanisms of space-time association: comparing motor and perceptual contributions in time reproduction
No full textThe spatial-temporal association indicates that time is represented spatially along a left-to-right line. It is unclear whether the spatial-temporal association is mainly related to a perceptual or a motor component. In addition, the spatial-temporal association is not consistently found using a time reproduction task. Our rationale for this finding is that, classically, a non-lateralized button for performing the task has been used. Using two lateralized response buttons, the aim of the study was to find a spatial-temporal association in a time reproduction task. To account for the perceptual component, reference and target stimuli were presented in different spaces through four experiments. In all experiments, a Spatial-Temporal Association of Response Codes (STEARC) effect was found and this effect was not modulated by the spatial position of both reference and target stimuli. The results suggested that the spatial-temporal association was mainly derived from the spatial information provided by response buttons, reflecting a motor but not visuospatial influence
Time course of sleep inertia dissipation in memory tasks
Full text linkSleep inertia (SI) refers to a complex psychophysiological phenomenon, observed after awakening, that can be described as the gradual recovery of waking-like status. The time course of cognitive performance dissipation in an everyday life condition is still unclear, especially in terms of the sleep stage at awakening (REM or NREM-stage 2) and the relative effects on perfor-mance. The present study aimed to investigate the SI dissipation in different memory performances upon spontaneous morning awakening after uninterrupted nighttime sleep. Eighteen young adults (7 females; mean age 24.9 ± 3.14 years) spent seven non-consecutive nights (one baseline, three REM awakenings and three St2 awakenings) in the laboratory under standard polysomnographic (PSG) control. Participants were tested after three REM awakenings and three St2 awakenings, and three times at 11:00 a.m. as a control condition. In each testing session, participants filled in the Global Vigor and Affect Scale and carried out one memory task (episodic, semantic, or procedural task). For each condition, participants were tested every 10 min within a time window of 80 min. In ac-cordance with previous studies, SI affected subjective alertness throughout the entire time window assessed. Moreover, SI significantly affected performance speed but not accuracy in the semantic task. With reference to this task, the SI effect dissipated within 30 min of awakening from REM, and within 20 min of awakening from St2. No significant SI effect was observed on episodic or procedural memory tasks
Psychometric goodness of the Mini Sleep Questionnaire
No full textAim The current study was conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties and analyze the convergent validity of the Italian version of the Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ). In addition, it was aimed to put forward cut-off values to be used in screening protocols. Methods The MSQ was administered to 1830 participants (age range 18-87 years), of whom 1208 also completed the Sleep Disorder Questionnaire (age range 18-87 years). A subgroup of 187 (age range 18-71 years) participants was randomly chosen to test the test-retest reliability. A complete psychometric evaluation was performed on the MSQ. To study the validity of the tool, the Sleep Disorder Questionnaire was used as an external criterion to validate the MSQ. Using the Youden index, we calculated the cut-off values that performed best. Finally, we created receiver-operator curves to test the accuracy of each cut-off value identified. Results For the MSQ, Cronbach's alpha score was 0.77 while homogeneity was 0.26. Factorial analyses confirmed the presence of two dimensions: sleep (Cronbach's alpha 0.75; homogeneity 0.37) and wake (Cronbach's alpha 0.75; homogeneity 0.44). For each dimension, a cut-off value was identified (>16 and >14, respectively). Both cut-off values obtained an area under the curve higher than 0.80. Conclusions Psychometric evaluation of the MSQ was satisfactory. The cut-off values analyzed in the present study showed good performance. On the whole, the results of this study suggest that the MSQ can be a useful screening tool
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