Italian validation of the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale: a perspective to rheumatic diseases.

OBJECTIVES: Studying the characteristics of resilience may help to explain how, in the face of a chronic disease, people are able to cope in productive and effective ways. The Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS) is an appropriate instrument to study resilience and has already been translated from the original English version into several languages. The aim of this study was to validate the Italian version of the RS, a 25-item scale ranging from 25 to 175 where higher scores indicate stronger resilience. METHODS: The Minimal Translation Criteria were followed to translate the scale which was then filled out by 1090 students to assess the reliability, stability, internal consistency and concurrent validity. RESULTS: Time stability was assessed in a sample of 117 students (M age=20.18 yr, SD 1.25) by test-retest correlation (r=0.78). RS reliability was evaluated in a second sample of 973 students (M age=16.95 yr, SD 1.50) with RS mean of 126.6 (SD 17.4). Concurrent validity was assessed by correlation with General Health Questionnaire (r=-0.51), Ego-Resilience Scale (r=0.63) and Beck Depression Inventory (r=-0.45). Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach alpha (α=0.84). Principal component analysis was performed on 24 out of the 25 items and resulted in six components. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicated that the 24-item Italian version of the RS scale can be considered a useful instrument to measure resilience and can be used by healthcare staff to help patients cope effectively with stressful situations such as rheumatic and other chronic diseases.

Spatio-temporal diversity of free-living and particle-attached prokaryotes in the tropical lagoon of Ahe atoll (Tuamotu Archipelago) and its surrounding oceanic waters.

Spatio-temporal variability of prokaryotic water column communities inside and outside a Polynesian tropical lagoon subjected to pearl oysters farming was assessed in terms of abundance by quantitative PCR and diversity by DGGE. Communities and operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were analysed according to dry/rainy seasons and free-living/particle-attached state. Bacterial density was higher in the lagoon compared to ocean and a seasonal trend was observed. No influence of the localisation within lagoon or of the planktonic/attached states was noticed on bacterial abundance and diversity. The OTUs belonged to Cyanobacteria, to heterotrophic groups in Proteobacteria and Flavobacteria. Archaeal abundance showed seasonal tendency and particle-prevalence, but no effect of lagoon or oceanic location was observed. Lagoon and oceanic archaeal diversity were different and Euryarchaeota (MG-II, MBG, and Halobacteria) were detected. During the dry season, planktonic and particle-associated community differed, whereas at rainy season, both communities were similar and included members usually associated with coral.

Analyzing pharmacy charges using DRGs.

Pharmacy charges at a 316-bed community hospital were analyzed using diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). All patients admitted to the hospital between January 1, 1983, and August 31, 1983, were retrospectively categorized by DRG. For the 20 most expensive DRGs for the pharmacy department in terms of pharmacy charges, the following data were compiled: number of patients, total pharmacy charges, mean hospital and pharmacy charges per patient, mean length of stay, pharmacy charges as a percentage of hospital charges, and DRG distribution and total pharmacy charges by major diagnostic category ( MDC ). A total of 10,550 patients were assigned to 390 DRGs. For the 20 most expensive DRGs, the mean total pharmacy charges and number of patients per DRG were $83,457 and 140, respectively. DRG 107 (coronary bypass) and MDC 5 (diseases and disorders of the circulatory system) had the highest pharmacy charges in the respective DRG and MDC categories. Pharmacy charges as a percentage of hospital charges ranged from 4.1% to 32% for the 20 most expensive DRGs. While there appeared to be a direct relationship between high hospital charges and length of stay for the most expensive DRGs, there did not appear to be a direct relationship between these two measures and high pharmacy charges. Until hospitals have data on actual cost per case and on cost per DRG for each department, analysis of pharmacy charge data by DRG for establishing pharmacy priorities may be a reasonable approach.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of an extremophile cytochrome c4 from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.

Soluble periplasmic dihaemic cytochrome c(4), of 21 293 Da molecular mass, has been characterized from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans, an acidophilic bacteria. The native cytochrome has been purified from the bacteria using ion-exchange chromatography and crystallized using solution 27 of the Hampton Research Crystal Screen II. The crystals belong to the hexagonal space group P6(2)22 or P6(4)22, with unit-cell parameters a = 101.59, b = 101.59, c = 151.59 A. Frozen crystals diffract to 2.17 A resolution. The MAD method is currently being used (four Fe atoms per asymmetric unit) to solve the protein structure.

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic study of HIP/PAP, a human C-lectin overexpressed in primary liver cancers.

Human HIP/PAP is an adhesion protein expressed in normal pancreatic and Paneth cells and overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma. HIP/PAP was crystallized using the Hampton Research Crystal Screen and SAmBA software to define the optimal crystallization protocol. The crystals belong to the orthorhombic space group P2(1)2(1)2(1), with unit-cell parameters a = 30.73, b = 49.35, c = 92.15 A and one molecule in the asymmetric unit. Flash-frozen crystals diffract to 1. 78 A resolution using synchrotron radiation. A molecular-replacement solution was obtained using the human Reg/lithostathine structure and the AMoRe software.