A nation-wide survey on emotional and psychological impacts of COVID-19 social distancing.

OBJECTIVE: Social distancing is crucial in order to flatten the curve of COVID-19 virus spreading. Isolation, scarcity of resources and the lack of social contacts may have produced a negative impact on people's emotions and psychological well-being. This study aims to explore the reasons and the ways through which social distancing generates negative emotions in individuals who experienced the lockdown. To a larger extent, the objective is to check the existence of relations between negative emotions and the satisfaction of basic needs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In Italy 140,656 online interviews were collected from March 22 to April 2, 2020. Data analysis was carried out using mono and bivariate statistical analysis, K-means clustering and the Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The parameters for the identification of six clusters were: the intensity of the respondent's basic emotions and the layers of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. RESULTS: The majority of people involved in an emergency situation, implying a collapse of social contacts, experience some kind of emotional reactions. In our study, we found a correlation between basic emotions and Maslow's hierarchy of needs. In times of crisis, the most basic needs are the physiological ones. Fear, anger and sadness are predominant in all population groups; anger and disgust mainly appear when people are exposed to the risk of not being able to meet subsistence needs, thus perceiving a lack of economic security. CONCLUSIONS: The well-known Maslow's theory of human needs seems to fit well with the outbreak of negative emotions in the context of COVID-19. This study demonstrates the existence of links between negative emotions and primary needs that mainly refer to the first three levels of Maslow's pyramid. As a result of COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, many people have been sucked into the bottom layers of the pyramid. This change in individual basic needs has triggered a relevant transformation in individual emotional status and a shift towards negative emotions.

Prospective comparison of radial and linear endoscopic ultrasound for diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Linear endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is currently favored by many endosonographers for the evaluation of pancreatic pathology. However, radial EUS was used in early studies validating EUS for chronic pancreatitis. Radial and linear EUS have never been compared for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to compare radial and linear EUS for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis using the secretin-stimulated endoscopic pancreatic function test (ePFT) as the reference standard. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred consecutive patients evaluated for pain of possible pancreatic origin underwent combined radial EUS, linear EUS, and secretin ePFT during a single endoscopic session. EUS images were acquired on videotape and blindly scored by three reviewers. The main outcome measure was diagnostic accuracy. RESULTS: The accuracy of radial EUS and linear EUS (cutpoint > or = 4 criteria) was 84 % and 74 %, respectively. The statistical test for noninferiority was significant ( P < 0.001) suggesting that the accuracy of radial EUS is as good as or superior to linear EUS. The ratio of accuracy (pi (radial)/pi (linear)) was 1.14 (95 % confidence interval [CI] 0.99 to 1.28). No statistically significant differences were found between radial and linear EUS in terms of sensitivity, specificity, or overall discriminative ability (area under receiver operating characteristic curve 0.84 vs. 0.76, P = 0.10). Interobserver variability was similar for radial (Fleiss' kappa = 0.61, 95 %CI 0.43 to 0.79) and linear EUS (kappa = 0.50, 95 %CI 0.28 to 0.72). CONCLUSIONS: The accuracy of radial EUS is as good as linear EUS for the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

The utility of the 13C-galactose breath test as a measure of liver function.

BACKGROUND: The 13C-galactose breath test has been reported to be an accurate, non-invasive method for the assessment of liver function. AIMS: To determine the optimal doses of labelled and unlabelled carrier galactose necessary to perform the 13C-galactose breath test, to assess the utility of the 13C-galactose breath test in distinguishing between normal subjects and those with liver cirrhosis and to determine whether the 13C-galactose breath test can stratify patients with cirrhosis based on their Child-Pugh score. METHODS: Twenty-three control subjects and 30 patients with liver cirrhosis received fixed doses of unlabelled carrier galactose and labelled 13C-galactose. Breath samples were collected just before and at 30-min intervals up to 4 h after the ingestion of unlabelled carrier galactose and labelled 13C-galactose. Each sample was analysed for its 13CO2 content. RESULTS: Doses of 25 g/m2 of unlabelled carrier galactose and 100 mg of 13C-galactose had the greatest sensitivity (93%; 95% confidence interval, 76-99%) and specificity (87%; 95% confidence interval, 65-97%) for distinguishing between normal subjects and cirrhotics when the test was performed 2 h after ingestion. The 13C-galactose breath test was also able to distinguish between class A and class B or C cirrhotics. CONCLUSION: The 13C-galactose breath test is a useful non-invasive tool for distinguishing between healthy subjects and patients with liver cirrhosis and between cirrhotics with well-compensated liver disease and those with decompensated liver disease.

[A world tailored for children and the young. The children and the young around us and the child and the adolescent within each of us]. / Un mondo a misura dei ragazzi e dei giovani. Dei ragazzi e dei giovani intorno a noi e del bambino e dell'adolescente interiore dentro di noi.

UNLABELLED: Towards the end of the nineteenth century in America, a court that normally dealt with animal abuse found itself facing a very special problem: it had to discuss for the very first time a case of child abuse. It might seem a paradox to many that a matter of this nature should be discussed in a court set up for a quite different purpose, but it was not an error arising out of the lack of room in the civil court nor an error of competency: it happened to be the only place judged to be appropriate to discuss the rights of a child, mistreatment of whom was handled on a par with abuse of animals. In spite of the section expressly dedicated to children in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1789, the world had to wait for the Geneva Convention of 1924 before the first declaration of children's rights was promulgated. There were five main principles: the right to a healthy psychophysical development, the right to be nourished, cared for, returned to a normal life if demoralised, looked after and aided in the case of orphans. But only with the international Convention of children's rights of New York in 1989 was it possible to draft a text for the full, more comprehensive protection of infancy, two centuries after the first pronouncement on the occasion of the universal declaration of human rights. Two centuries of struggles and growing awareness of the problem of children (and at the same time of women and mothers) in the world, two centuries that have produced all over the world the complete idea of the child as having rights and being an active part of contemporary society. But the examination of the current situation brings us to the main problem: if a virtuous circle is not established between rights, infant culture and duties of adults, then the declarations of this century will have to wait many years more before becoming a practical part of our society. What then should be done to make sure that the declarations and conventions on rights do not remain a mere expression of principles? There can be no evolution in children's living conditions, nor protection of their rights, if we do not create a culture of infancy based on two premises: the rights of children and the duties of adults with respect to children. Today an exact and comprehensive knowledge of the rights of children is necessary above all starting with their right to freedom, experience, opinion, equal opportunity for development and education, defence against all types of abuse, and their right to a family. But at the same time it is necessary to act in the area of the duties of parents and adults: the question is one of building up a cultural system that includes the rights whereby the prerogatives of children are matched with corresponding duties of adults, a culture of values that responsibilises adults by way of a process of personal awareness and parent training. The adult must find himself personally in harmony in his relationship with life so as not to compromise on child training: the idea of a vulnerable future must be avoided; a future that is insecure and defenceless for children and adolescents who are future adults. A third factor must cater for this, namely modern society whose task it is to build structures (interconnected by means of an interdisciplinary project and through the possibility that modern technology also offers them) to supply opportunities and laws that favour and protect the personality of both child and adult. In this case considerable value would be taken on by the drafting of a "Charter of Duties of adults with respect to children and adolescents" that favours the birth of new standards and national and international conventions aimed at a new conception of society understood as a set of several parts, children, adolescents, adults, each subject of rights. By this approach the commitment of individual associations, organisations and institutions would start a process of social development which as of today is the last and on]y real revolution possible to improve the conditions of life of the person as such, and not the person as such, and not only of the person as a citizen of one nation or another. IN CONCLUSION: no development is possible if we do not take steps as an international community to protect the first citizens of the world who are and always will bc children. 1n this sense, psychoanimation, which is a psychopedagogic-cultural intervention methodology based on a holistic approach and employs cognitive, creative, corporeal techniques to foster, in the individual and in the group, that ''growth'', that "awareness'', that "responsibility'' which have their "roots'' in self-awareness and in the possibility of acquiring cultural instruments that are scientifically and humanistically suitable to ''act'' individually and collectively, the "change'' in human societies sets itself the diffusion of a Culture of Infancy and of Adolescence as an objective. In fact for Psychoanimation that means: (''give soul to the soul'' employing all languages in interdisciplinary fashion for communication and social integration) in order to authentically permit knowledge, communication and exchange among human beings) the last ''possible revolution" is that connected with the success, all over the world, of a Culture of Infancy and of Adolescence. What is the possibility that this converts into: ''a world made to the measure of children'': the children around us and the chi]d within us!

Virulence-related DNA sequences and adherence patterns in strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

The presence of the genes for Escherichia coli adherence factor (EAF), attaching and effacing lesion (eae) and bundle-forming pili (bfp) in 72 strains identified as enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) by slide agglutination was evaluated using hybridization and PCR. The adherence property of these strains was assayed using 3h HeLa cells adherence assay. The results obtained indicated that virulence-associated genes were present in 65% of the strains but only ten (13.9%) isolates were positive for all the three markers (typical EPEC), 37 (51.4%) isolates carried either one or two of these determinants (atypical EPEC) and the remaining 25 (34.7%) were negative for all these genes. In vitro adherence assay showed that 44 (61.1%) strains adhered to HeLa cells with a defined pattern, 13 (18.1%) isolates adhered loosely with no definite pattern and the remaining 15 (20.8%) were non-adherent. Analysis of the results showed a statistically significant association between the presence of the virulence-related genes with adherence of the strains with a defined pattern (P

Premarital sexual, child rearing, and family attitudes of Iranian men and women in the United States and in Iran.

Sexual, child rearing, and family attitudes of 160 Iranian immigrants in the United States (61 men, 99 women) and 97 Iranians (55 men, 42 women) in Iran were compared. Iranians in the United States in general, and women in particular, compared with their counterparts in Iran, expressed more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex and sex education, more tolerance toward homosexuality, and a greater acceptance of marital dissolution. Iranians in both countries assigned a high value to the maternal role and to family loyalty but did not endorse unrestricted freedom for youngsters. Influences of attitudinal disparity on interpersonal and family relationships are discussed, and implications for marriage counseling and family therapy are suggested.

Adherence of non-enteropathogenic Escherichia coli to HeLa cells.

Three hundred and nine strains of Escherichia coli isolated from infants and children with diarrhoea but not belonging to any recognised classes of diarrhoeagenic E. coli were investigated for their ability to adhere to HeLa cells in the presence of D-mannose. An enteroadherent-aggregative pattern (EAgg) was observed in 32.03%, localised adherence (LA) in 4.5%, diffuse adherence (DA) in 5.8%, and LA/DA and EAgg/LA in 1.9% and 1.2% of the isolates respectively. The results obtained with 100 control isolates were: EAgg 17%, LA 2%, DA 2%, LA/DA 2%, EAgg/LA 6% and DA/EAgg 1%. No adherence was manifested by 168 (54.36%) of 309 diarrhoeal isolates and 70% of the 100 control isolates. The results of this study showed that amongst non-enteropathogenic E. coli, strains exhibiting the EAgg pattern are significantly associated with diarrhoea (p < 0.005). Most of these strains showed a pattern of multiple drug resistance.

In vitro adhesion and invasion of Salmonella enterica serovar Havana.

A total of 132 isolates of the Havana serovar of Salmonela enterica were studied for their adhesion to and invasion of Hela cells in the presence of D-mannose. A total of 124 (93.9%) isolates were adherent, and 51% of these were invasive. Of these 124 strains 82 (66%) adhered to HeLa cells with a pattern typical for enteroaggregative (EAgg) Escherichia coli whereas the remaining 34% adhered in a non-aggregative (non-EAgg) pattern. Of the 82 strains showing the EAgg pattern 60% were invasive whereas only 33% of the 49 non-EAgg isolates invaded HeLa cells (P < 0.01). The action of mannose-sensitive type 1 pili was inhibited by the addition of D-mannose. Therefore we conclude that type 1 pili are not important in adhesion and invasion of Havana.

Antimicrobial drug resistance and resistance factor transfer among clinical isolates of salmonellae in Iran.

508 salmonella strains isolated during 1983-1986 in Tehran, Iran from cases of diarrhoea in children less than 5 were tested for sensitivity to 10 antimicrobial drugs and their ability to transfer the resistance determinants. Salmonella typhimurium and S. havana were most common (45.7% and 30.9%, respectively) followed by S. typhi (2.9%) and S. larochelle (2.4%). The antimicrobial agents used were chloramphenicol (C), gentamicin (G), tetracycline (T), ampicillin (A), cephalothin (Cf), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT), kanamycin (K), nalidixic acid (Na), streptomycin (S), and furoxone (F). 91% of the salmonellae isolates contained resistance determinants, of which 89.6% were resistant to more than one agent. Strains resistant to 4-7 drugs comprised 85.6% of the total isolates. Ampicillin resistance was found in 85.4% and nalidixic acid in 2.7%. 58 different patterns of resistance to the antimicrobial agents used were observed, of which C/T/A/SXT/K/S and C/T/A/SXT/K/S/Cf were the most frequently encountered. 71.9% of the resistant strains contained transferable resistance factors and S. typhimurium had the highest rate of transfer (80.8%). Resistance to chloramphenicol had the highest rate of transfer among the agents used (77.4%) and streptomycin the lowest (20.0%). The pattern most frequently transferred was C/T/A/SXT/K (41.9%).

Histiocytic lymphoma presenting with portal hypertension and bleeding esophageal varices: a case report.

An unusual case of histiocytic lymphoma presenting with portal hypertension and bleeding esophageal varices is reported. Laparotomy revealed bulky nodal disease in the portahepatis compressing the portal vein, common bile duct, hepatic artery, and cystic duct. Liver was free of tumor, and there was no evidence of extra-abdominal disease. Radiation therapy to the right upper quadrant of the abdomen produced a transient remission for one month, followed by relapse in mediastinum and both lung hilae.