Conspiring under threats! An investigation of associations between COVID-19 health and economic threats and conspiracy beliefs in Italy and Argentina.

Theory and research suggest that threats aroused by a given crisis lead to conspiracy beliefs. Although crises involve the arise of multiple threats (e.g., economic, safety, etc.) diversely affecting various needs and outcomes (i.e., cognition, emotion and behaviour), no research has yet focused on specific relations that different threats may have with the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs. In this study, we distinguished between health and economic threats aroused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we tested their associations with conspiracy beliefs. Findings from two correlational studies conducted in Italy and Argentina showed that while COVID-19's economic threat was positively and consistently related to conspiracy beliefs, the relationship between COVID-19's health threat and conspiracy beliefs was negative and significant in the Italian sample and non-significant in the Argentinian sample. Results are discussed within the context of the effects of multiple threats elicited by crises on conspiracy beliefs.

Imagine Being Humble: Integrating Imagined Intergroup Contact and Cultural Humility to Foster Inclusive Intergroup Relations.

To reduce prejudice and to promote intergroup harmony and equality, the imagined intergroup contact technique, based on the mental simulation of an encounter with an outgroup member, has been proposed. Though a substantial body of research has provided support for the efficacy of imagined intergroup contact in prejudice reduction, an alternative strand of research has raised questions about its effectiveness. In this experiment, we combined imagined intergroup contact with cultural humility, that is, an other-oriented, humble approach toward people with different cultural backgrounds, recognizing status and power imbalances and privileges. Specifically, we tested whether instructions aimed at eliciting cultural humility during imagined contact boosted its effectiveness in reducing prejudice and promoting future contact intentions, compared to a standard imagined contact condition and to a control imagination task. Intergroup anxiety was tested as a mediator of the effects of culturally humble imagined contact on reduced prejudice and on future contact intentions. We found that culturally humble imagined contact, compared to the two other conditions, reduced intergroup anxiety and yielded indirect effects on reduced prejudice and increased future contact intentions. The findings will be discussed by focusing on the integration of cultural humility in prejudice reduction techniques based on intergroup contact.

A Lack of Focus, Not Task Avoidance, Makes the Difference: Work Routines in Procrastinators and Non-Procrastinators.

Procrastination may be seen as the outcome of a learning history of delaying the onset of task execution and its completion, both in terms of time and effort. In this study, we examined the performance of 55 university students who carried out two writing tasks consisting of summarizing two academic papers, each within a different time slot (i.e., five vs. three days to complete). The two assignments were part of the class activity and were perceived by participants as homogeneous in terms of text appreciation and difficulty, therefore making the two conditions comparable. The Pure Procrastination Scale was used to categorize subjects as high and low procrastinators, and to compare their performances. Results show that students who report more procrastination behaviors tend to increase their productivity as the deadline approaches, while low procrastinators are more productive throughout the time at their disposal, with peak activity during the intermediate day. Such a strategy was consistent across two deadlines (five vs. three days), and the difference between the two subgroups can be ascribed to the task-oriented coping style, which seems to be lacking in high-procrastinators.

Protective ileostomy creation after anterior resection of the rectum: Shared decision-making or still subjective?

AIM: The choice of whether to perform protective ileostomy (PI) after anterior resection (AR) is mainly guided by risk factors (RFs) responsible for the development of anastomotic leakage (AL). However, clear guidelines about PI creation are still lacking in the literature and this is often decided according to the surgeon's preferences, experiences or feelings. This qualitative study aims to investigate, by an open-ended question survey, the individual surgeon's decision-making process regarding PI creation after elective AR. METHOD: Fifty four colorectal surgeons took part in an electronic survey to answer the questions and describe what usually led their decision to perform PI. A content analysis was used to code the answers. To classify answers, five dichotomous categories (In favour/Against PI, Listed/Unlisted RFs, Typical/Atypical, Emotions/Non-emotions, Personal experience/No personal experience) have been developed. RESULTS: Overall, 76% of surgeons were in favour of PI creation and 88% considered listed RFs in the question of whether to perform PI. Atypical answers were reported in 10% of cases. Emotions and personal experience influenced surgeons' decision-making process in 22% and 49% of cases, respectively. The most frequently considered RFs were the distance of the anastomosis from the anal verge (96%), neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (88%), a positive intraoperative leak test (65%), blood loss (37%) and immunosuppression therapy (35%). CONCLUSION: The indications to perform PI following rectal cancer surgery lack standardization and evidence-based guidelines are required to inform practice. Until then, expert opinion can be helpful to assist the decision-making process in patients who have undergone AR for adenocarcinoma.

Delayed surgery in neurologically intact patients affected by thoraco-lumbar junction burst fractures: to reduce pain and improve quality of life.

BACKGROUND: This is a retrospective study on 18 patients affected by thoraco-lumbar junction burst fractures (TLJBF) A3 or A4 at computed tomography (CT) scan who referred to our hospital. To assess the surgical results in terms of pain and quality of life in a series of neurologically intact patients affected by TLJBF who underwent surgery after 3-4 months from the injury. In literature there is controversy if pain could be an indication for surgery in TLJBF and series of patients conservatively managed with success have been reported. METHODS: A retrospective study on 18 patients is reported. Patients included in this series were neurologically intact and affected by a TLJBF A3 or A4 at CT scan, the height of the burst vertebral body was >50%, spinal canal invasion was <30% and kyphosis deformity <30 degrees. Pain and quality of life were evaluated using graphic rating scale (GRS) and EuroQol (EQ-5D) scores on admission, at the clinical follow-up and in post-surgical period. RESULTS: Comparing pre- and post-operative EQ-5D, the scores had a statistically significant decrease after the operation (P<0.001) [pre-surgery EQ-5D was 2.60 (SD =0.67), post-surgery EQ-5D was 1.37 (SD =0.41)]. Also analyzing the EQ5D-VAS scores, the t-test revealed that surgery (P<0.01) improved the quality of life with statistically significance (EQ5D-VAS pre =43.89, SD =12.43 and EQ5D-VAS post =73.33, SD =10.84). Analyzing pre- and post-surgical GRS scores, the pain decreased significantly with the maximum mean difference among the 2nd and 3rd month before surgery and at 12 months after surgery (respectively D =5.444, P<0.001 and D =5.167, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Conservatively managed patients affected by TLJBF require a strict clinical follow-up since pain sometimes is present in the following months and it affects the quality of life. Surgery should be considered for these cases.

Motivated Shield From Chronic Noise Environment: Moderation of the Relationship Between Noise Sensitivity and Work Wellbeing by Need for Closure.

Several studies have underlined how chronic exposure to environmental noise may have negative effects on performance, wellbeing, and social relations. The present study (N = 90 employees of a motor factory who are chronically exposed to environmental noise) investigated whether the negative effects of chronic exposure of noise-sensitive individuals to noise in the workplace may be moderated by the need for cognitive closure (i.e., an epistemic tendency to reduce uncertainty; NFCC, Kruglanski, 2004). As NFCC has been shown to enhance protection of the focal goal by reducing interference (Kossowska, 2007; Pica et al., 2013), we hypothesized that people with high NFCC should be able to manage the interference coming from environmental noise and concentrate on their tasks more than their low-NFCC counterparts. The results confirm that the negative effects of noise sensitivity on job satisfaction, state anxiety, and turnover intent were higher among low (vs. high)-NFCC individuals.

Is Social Categorization Spatially Organized in a "Mental Line"? Empirical Evidences for Spatial Bias in Intergroup Differentiation.

Social categorization is the differentiation between the self and others and between one's own group and other groups and it is such a natural and spontaneous process that often we are not aware of it. The way in which the brain organizes social categorization remains an unresolved issue. We present three experiments investigating the hypothesis that social categories are mentally ordered from left to right on an ingroup-outgroup continuum when membership is salient. To substantiate our hypothesis, we consider empirical evidence from two areas of psychology: research on differences in processing of ingroups and outgroups and research on the effects of spatial biases on processing of quantitative information (e.g., time; numbers) which appears to be arranged from left to right on a small-large continuum, an effect known as the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNARC). In Experiments 1 and 2 we tested the hypothesis that when membership of a social category is activated, people implicitly locate ingroup categories to the left of a mental line whereas outgroup categories are located on the far right of the same mental line. This spatial organization persists even when stimuli are presented on one of the two sides of the screen and their (explicit) position is spatially incompatible with the implicit mental spatial organization of social categories (Experiment 3). Overall the results indicate that ingroups and outgroups are processed differently. The results are discussed with respect to social categorization theory, spatial agency bias, i.e., the effect observed in Western cultures whereby the agent of an action is mentally represented on the left and the recipient on the right, and the SNARC effect.

The rocky road to prosocial behavior at work: The role of positivity and organizational socialization in preventing interpersonal strain.

Among relevant consequences of organizational socialization, a key factor is the promotion of organizational citizenship behaviors toward individuals (i.e. OCBI). However, the relation between organizational socialization and OCBI has received little attention. This study tests the validity of a moderated mediation model in which we examine the mediating effect of a decreased interpersonal strain on the relationship between organizational socialization and OCBI, and the moderation role of a positive personal resource in reducing interpersonal strain when an unsuccessful socialization subsists. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 765 new recruits of the Guardia di Finanza-a military Police Force reporting to the Italian Minister of Economy. Findings confirm our hypothesis that interpersonal strain mediates the relationship between organizational socialization and OCBI. The index of moderated mediation results significant, showing that this effect exists at different levels of positivity. Theoretical and practical implications for promoting pro-organizational behaviors are discussed.

Surgery for vertebral involvement in multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the results of surgery for vertebral involvement in multiple myeloma (MM) following the introduction of the new chemotherapy in 2006. METHODS: Retrospective cohort study evaluating the patients with MM vertebral lesions from January 2006 to January 2014. Outcomes were based upon participation in ODI and EQ-5D. Statistical interpretation of the data was performed with SPSS version 19 software (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: One hundred twenty patients affected by MM were potentially eligible for recruitment. About 1/3 patients needed an operation for vertebral involvement. The disability was mainly related to the number of vertebrae affected by MM. No difference in disability and quality of life was observed between operated and non-operated patients, according to age, levels, and follow-up. The operated patients with a Thoracic location reported lower disability and higher quality of life than non-operated patients. Non-operated patients with one or two vertebrae affected reported lower levels of quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: When a spinal column involvement occurs, the probability of undergoing surgery is about 40%. Operated patients show a moderate disability and the increased tendency is related to the number of vertebrae involved. The quality of life is middle in average and middle-high in patients operated for thoracic lesions. Nowadays the spinal surgeon must have a perspective view about MM vertebral lesions, evaluating the stability of the spine, the presence of deformity, the risk of vertebral fractures and the presence of drug resistant pain, that deteriorate the disability and the quality of life related to the underlying disease.

Static and dynamic cervical MRI: two useful exams in cervical myelopathy.

BACKGROUND: Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the gold standard exam in the assessment of patients affected by cervical myelopathy and is very useful in planning the operation. Herein we present a series of patients affected by long tract symptoms who underwent dynamic MRI in addition to the static exam. METHODS: In the period between March 2010 and March 2012, three-hundred-ten patients referred to our department since affected by neck/arm pain or symptoms related to cervical myelopathy. Thirty-eight patients complained "long-tract symptoms" related to cervical myelopathy. This series of patients was enrolled in the study. All patients underwent clinical and neurological exam. In all the cases, a static and dynamic cervical MRI was executed using a 3.0-T superconducting MR unit (Intera, Philips, Eindhoven, Netherlands). The dynamic exam was performed with as much neck flexion and extension the patient could achieve alone. On T2-weigthed MRI each level was assessed independently by two neuroradiologists and Muhle scale was applied. RESULTS: According to Muhle's classification of spinal cord compressions, static MRI demonstrated 156 findings: 96 (61.54%) anterior and 60 (38.46%) posterior. Dynamic MRI showed 186 spinal cord compressions: 81 (43.5%) anterior and 105 (56.5%) posterior. The anterior compressions were: grade 1 in 23 cases (28.4%), grade 2 in 52 cases (64.2%), grade 3 in 6 cases (7.4%). The posterior compressions were: 32 (30.48%) of grade 1, 60 (57.14%) of grade 2, 13 (12.38%) of grade 3. CONCLUSIONS: The dynamic MRI demonstrated a major number of findings and spinal cord compressions compared to the static exam. Finally, we consider the dynamic exam able to provide useful information in these patients, but we suggest a careful evaluation of the findings in the extension exam since they are probably over-expressed.

Cervical reconstruction techniques. After adequate selection of the patient report of a series of 34 patients treated with winged expandable cages.

After single or multilevel cervical corpectomy for the treatment of different diseases, many surgical options have been proposed over the years. As a single device, a winged expandable titanium cage (WETC) has been developed. We report the use of this device and our clinical results at 24 months of follow-up in a prospective series of 34 patients who underwent single or multilevel corpectomy for the treatment of cervical spondylosis. Thirty-four consecutive patients underwent single or multilevel cervical corpectomy followed by the insertion of a WETC for the treatment of cervical spondylosis at Department of Neurology and Psychiatry "Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy, from May 2011 to May 2013. Patients affected by cervical spondylosis with cervical lordosis >0° were included. Patients affected by cervical lordosis <0°, osteoporosis, or other cervical diseases were excluded. The mean postsurgical Nurick's grade was significantly lower than the mean presurgical Nurick's grade (mean = 0.98 for postsurgical Nurick's grade and mean = 2.42 for presurgical Nurick's grade). Four patients (11.7 %) presented subsidence respectively of 1, 2, 2, and 3 mm at 24 months of radiological follow-up. Postoperative complications occurred in five patients (14.7 %). Our case series at 24 months of follow-up demonstrates that the use of a WETC obtains good clinical results after single or multiple corpectomy in patients not affected by osteoporosis who do not require cervical lordosis correction. During the insertion of the device, an adequate preparation of the end plates is suggested and their over distraction should be avoided.

Decompression versus decompression and fusion for degenerative lumbar stenosis: analysis of the factors influencing the outcome of back pain and disability.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to evaluate the factors influencing the outcome of back pain and disability in patients operated for lumbar stenosis without instability and deformity using two classical surgical techniques: decompression alone and decompression plus fusion. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent lumbar surgery with standard posterior decompression or standard posterior decompression plus pedicle screw fixation for degenerative lumbar stenosis without deformity, spondylolisthesis or instability at our department from June 2010 to January 2014. They were divided into two groups: decompression group (D) and decompression-fusion group (F). We analyzed the following factors: age, gender, levels of stenosis, pre-surgical "micro-instability", and post-surgical "micro-instability". RESULTS: A total of 174 patients were enrolled in the study. Both Graphic Rating Scale (GRS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores were significantly decreased after surgery (P<0.001). Female patients appeared to have lesser improvements from surgery, for both D and F groups. An analysis of variance using the decrease of pain (GRS pre-post) as dependent variable and type of surgery, age, gender and their interaction as factors showed that the main effects of type of surgery and gender were significant. The analysis of variance for the decrease of pain (GRS) and disability (ODI) according to the levels of stenosis showed a significant interaction for GRS scores. Female patients that underwent fixation surgery reported the least improvement in disability. A significant interaction was found on the one-way analysis of variance for the D group without pre-surgical micro-instability using post-surgical micro-instability as factor. CONCLUSIONS: Our study supports posterior decompression alone as the gold standard option as treatment for lumbar stenosis without instability and deformity. Additional fusion should be considered only to prevent post-surgical instability. The "micro-instability" is a radiological finding that has its clinical surrogate but is not able to guide the choice of the type of surgery. Moreover the significance of "micro-instability" is still unclear. We suggest a prospective study following patients with asymptomatic micro-instability to definitively understand the clinical history.

Reactions to ingroup and outgroup deviants: an experimental group paradigm for black sheep effect.

In the classic black sheep effect (BSE) an ingroup deviant member is usually evaluated more negatively than the corresponding outgroup deviant. This effect is usually obtained by using scenarios and asking people to imagine the situation as vividly as possible. The present study proposes a new method to investigate the BSE by considering the behavioral and physiological reactions to unfair behavior (aggressive game behavior) in a realistic experimental group-setting. The study involved 52 university students in a minimal group setting who performed a modified version of the competitive reaction time (CRT) task adapted to be played in groups of four people. The classic BSE was replicated for evaluation but not for the behavioral reactions (retaliate to aggression) to deviants. More interestingly, a negative relationship emerged in the ingroup deviant condition between the level of behavioral derogation and the systolic blood pressure level.

Posterolateral arthrodesis in lumbar spine surgery using autologous platelet-rich plasma and cancellous bone substitute: an osteoinductive and osteoconductive effect.

Study Design Prospective cohort study. Objectives To analyze the effectiveness and practicality of using cancellous bone substitute with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in posterolateral arthrodesis. Methods Twenty consecutive patients underwent posterolateral arthrodesis with implantation of cancellous bone substitute soaked with PRP obtained directly in the operating theater on the right hemifield and cancellous bone substitute soaked with saline solution on the right. Results Computed tomography scans at 6 and 12 months after surgery were performed in all patients. Bone density was investigated by comparative analysis of region of interest. The data were analyzed with repeated-measures variance analyses with value of density after 6 months and value of density after 12 months, using age, levels of arthrodesis, and platelet count as covariates. The data demonstrated increased bone density using PRP and heterologous cancellous block resulting in an enhanced fusion rate during the first 6 months after surgery. Conclusions PRP used with cancellous bone substitute increases the rate of fusion and bone density joining osteoinductive and osteoconductive effect.

Surgery of intradural extramedullary tumors: retrospective analysis of 107 cases.

BACKGROUND: Intradural extramedullary tumors (IDEMTs) are uncommon lesions that cause pain and neurological deficits. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of surgery for IDEMTs. METHODS: This cohort study recruited all patients operated on for IDEMTs at the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry of Sapienza University of Rome from January 2003 to January 2013. The analysis was conducted on clinical records evaluation over a 1-year follow-up. The Graphic Rating Scale was used to assess pain. Neurological deficits were detected through neurological examination. Quality of life was evaluated with the EuroQol (EQ-5D). Statistical interpretation of the data was performed with SPSS version 19 software. RESULTS: One hundred seven patients were recruited. Three were lost to follow-up. Patients reported lower level of pain 1 year after surgery (before surgery, 6.05; after surgery, 3.65). Mean comparison showed a significant decrease of -2.400 (P < .001). Ninety-two patients (88.5%) were neurologically asymptomatic 1 year after surgery. Only 12 patients (11.5%) presented with a deficit, with a global decrease of 39% (χ(2) = 27.6; P < .005). The quality of life in patients was middle to high (mean rating of EQ-5D visual analog score, 61.78%). The lowest levels of quality of life were found in patients with sphincter dysfunctions (mean, 33.4). CONCLUSION: Surgery for IDEMTs has a good outcome. Patients reported lower levels of pain and a drastic reduction in neurological symptoms 1 year after surgery. The quality of life is middle to high. It is influenced mainly by the neurological outcome.