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Introduction: Inclusive physical activity games at school can be useful for teachers dealing with students with disabilities. The use of inclusive strategies and games can be directly linked to teachers' self-efficacy and familiarity with the inclusive strategies, while it could be indirectly influenced by their attitude toward inclusion and, in a smaller part, by social desirability in their response. Moreover, teachers' responses could be different among the different school grades. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to investigate the role of attitude toward inclusion, social desirability, self-efficacy, and familiarity in the use of physical activity games at school in teachers from all school grades. Methods: A sample of 1,583 schoolteachers was asked to fill out a questionnaire about their perceptions of governmental measures, self-efficacy, familiarity with inclusive strategies through physical activity, and two standardized questionnaires assessing attitudes toward inclusion and social desirability. Results: Teachers from primary school reported lower scores in attitude toward inclusion total score and dimensions, namely impact on teacher, impact on the environment, impact on the other children, and impact on the student with disability. Moreover, the path analysis model showed that the attitude toward inclusion indirectly influenced the use of inclusive strategy and had a small direct effect on familiarity with inclusive strategies and self-efficacy. Social desirability slightly influenced both familiarity and self-efficacy but not the use of inclusive strategies. Familiarity and self-efficacy had a direct effect on the use of inclusive physical activity games. Discussion: The results of the current study suggest that being familiar with and having a high self-efficacy in implementing inclusive strategies are well related to the use of inclusive strategies at school. In addition, more attention should be given to kindergarten and primary school teachers, who reported lower scores in the attitude toward inclusion and higher scores in social desirability.
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The red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is an invasive pest from southeastern Asia and Melanesia that has spread widely across the Middle East and the Mediterranean Basin over the last 30 years. Its endophagous larvae cause huge amounts of damage to several palm tree species from the Arecaceae family. Many of these palms are economically important for agricultural and ornamental purposes. Therefore, a lot of attention has recently been focused on studying this species with the aim of identifying sustainable and effective eradication strategies. Sterile insect techniques are biological control strategies that are currently being investigated for their potential to eradicate this pest in selected invasion areas. Mating system features (e.g., polyandry and related features) can affect the success and suitability of these approaches. The main goal of this research was to assess the performance of a previously developed microsatellite panel in terms of the paternity assignment of progeny from laboratory mating experiments. Using a simulation approach, we evaluated the reliability of the microsatellite markers in the paternity tests both in complex laboratory experiment scenarios and on the progeny of wild-caught gravid females to help future studies on the RPW mating system. As a case study of the simulation results, we performed two double-mating experiments, genotyped the progeny and estimated the P2 values to compare to the expected progeny genotypes according to the crossing scheme of each experiment. The results of our simulations on laboratory experiments showed that it was possible to carry out paternity assignments for all progeny with reliable statistical confidence using our 13 microsatellites set. On the contrary the low genetic variability measured in red palm weevil populations in invaded areas made the resolution power of our loci too low to carry out paternity analyses on natural populations. Results of laboratory crossing were completely congruent with the expectations from the Mendelian laws.
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OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to examine the role of different bio-psycho-social risk factors for the onset of depression among patients with Hepatitis C (HCV) treated with Interferon alpha (IFN). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with HCV were recruited and assessed prospectively at baseline and after 4, 8, and 24 weeks since the start of IFN treatment. Assessments included the Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Rating Scales (HAM-D and HAM-A), Toronto Alexithymia Scale, Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego, 110 item version (TEMPS-A), Young Mania Rating Scale and other assessment tools. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were entered as predictors in logistic regression models, with early-onset depression (4 weeks) or persistent depression (24 weeks) as the outcomes. RESULTS: Early-onset depression was predicted by preexisting depressive symptoms' severity (baseline HAM-D scores: OR=1.24; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.50; p=0.03) and by the presence of additional physical comorbidities (OR=3.74; 95% CI: 1.12, 12.5; p=0.03). Persistent depression was predicted by additional physical comorbidities (OR=7.75; 95% CI: 1.33, 45.0, p=0.02), depressive temperament (OR=8.95; 95% CI: 1.32, 60.6; p=0.03) and, at trend-level, by unknown mode of HCV contagion (OR=5.21; 95% CI: 0.89, 30.4; p=0.07). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of IFN-related depression is associated with factors related to patients' physical and temperamental characteristics. Further research should include comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments to improve the early detection and treatment of vulnerable patients in the real clinical world.
