Right hemisphere involvement in non-fluent primary progressive aphasia

We described a 56-years-old man with a diagnosis of "non-fluent primary progressive aphasia" (NfPPA). An accurate neuropsychological, neurological and neuroimaging evaluation was performed in order to assess clinical and behavioural features of the patient. From a neuropsychological point of view, the patient showed a typical cognitive profile of subjects affected by NfPPA: a prominent language deficit, associated with impairments in several cognitive domains after three years from the onset of the symptomatology. The most intriguing feature is that SPECT revealed hypoperfusion in the right frontal cortex, albeit the patient is right-handed. This unexpected finding shows that NfPPA may arise not only from cortical abnormalities in the language-dominant left hemisphere, but also from right hemisphere involvement in a right hander (crossed aphasia).     

Referral to group psychotherapy: a retrospective study on patients' personality features associated with clinicians' judgments

This study was designed to explore selected personality features of patients that are associated with clinicians' judgments about whom to refer to dynamic group psychotherapy versus individual therapy. Results suggested that an aspect of patients' adult attachment style, namely level of confidence and level of hostility, may have influenced the clinicians' judgments and decision making about treatment referrals.     

What can make the difference? Premature birth and maternal sensitivity at 3 months of age: the role of attachment organization, traumatic reaction and baby's medical risk

The influence of prematurity and maternal attachment organization on sensitivity was investigated in 40 mother–infant dyads. Results show a main effect of attachment and an interaction between attachment and prematurity. Sensitivity was differently associated with medical risk and mothers’ traumatic reaction, depending on the quality of attachment.     

Technology and Intimacy in the Philosophy of Georges Bataille

The goal of this article is to examine the nature of technology in view of Georges Bataille’s notion of intimacy. After providing a summary of Bataille’s critique of technology, I offer my response and show that a technological device can reach such a degree of familiarity that it becomes indistinguishable from our psychophysical personality. In this sense, we experience technology not as instrumentation, but in intimacy. The old theory of technology as organ-projection is, therefore, reinterpreted to produce a theory of technology that includes the technological process in its entirety, from the moment of invention and innovation, involving a movement of transcendence and objectification, to the moment of intimacy.

Anxiety and body satisfaction before and six months after mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery

As breast reconstruction is an important adjunct after mastectomy to regain physical integrity and also to improve affect, the present aim was to evaluate patients' subjective perceptions of body image during the whole breast reconstruction period and to assess the importance of their psychological reaction in terms of negative affectivity. Participants were 62 women, 43 women (M age = 46.4, SD = 9.8) who had had mastectomies and 19 healthy women (M age = 39.9, SD = 13.99). Patients were admitted for surgery at the Hospital S. Orsola in Bologna. Healthy subjects were relatives of the women and students, all with no history of breast pathology. The Body Satisfaction Scale and the State Anxiety Inventory-Y were administered to the two groups before, post, and 6 mo. after surgery. Analysis of scores indicated that during the period of the study, the women with mastectomies reported higher anxiety and also greater dissatisfaction with their body image than the healthy group, even when the breast had been reconstructed. This unexpected finding suggests patients' unrealistic expectations of the breast reconstruction and the surgical outcome.     

The use of health technology and information: e-learning technological approach.

The Internet is becoming the preferred place for finding information. Millions of people go online in search of health and medical information. Likewise, health care professionals must be able to retrieve and manage information in an efficient, effective manner. The development of health technology and informatics (HTI) has been rapid, yet little is known about the knowledge and attitudes of nursing students with regard to using HTI. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to explore nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes toward using HTI and to use an e-learning workshop to enhance the effective use of HTI. In Phase I, 115 first-year full-time nursing students were invited to complete a 13-item questionnaire regarding knowledge of and attitudes toward computer and Internet use, knowledge of HTI, and attitudes toward the future development of HTI. Participants perceived themselves to be knowledgeable in computer and Internet use, while knowledge of HTI was perceived to be low and attitudes toward the future development of HTI were generally positive. Phase II was an e-learning HTI workshop; topics included an introduction to HTI, examples of HTI in use, and the application and implementation of various HTI projects. There were 30 participants in the E-learning workshop, and their feedback was positive. Nurses and all health care professionals must be prepared to participate in the development of health technology and informatics. Teaching and learning activities should be geared toward mastery of HTI in the nursing education curriculum in order to enhance health care quality and safety.     

How to know and choose online games: differences between current and potential players.

This study investigated how different adolescent players acquire game information and the criteria they use in choosing online games and found that (1) current players generally use comprehensive information sources more than potential players do; (2) current players rely on free trials and smooth display of motion graphics as choice criteria more than potential players do; (3) potential players rely on the look of advertisements more than current players do; (4) both current and potential players most likely use word-of-mouth and gaming programs on TV as information sources; and (5) endorser attractiveness is ranked the least important among six choice criteria by both current and potential players.     

An Investigation of Sound-Symbolism in the Context of Tactile Feeling

Sound symbolism suggests a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and the concepts to which those sounds refer (Hinton, Nichols, &; Ohala, 2006 Hinton, L., Nichols, J., &; Ohala, J. J. (2006). Sound symbolism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]). Supporting evidence comes primarily from studies investigating how speech sounds relate to semantically compatible visual concepts. The present study therefore attempted to examine sound symbolism in the context of tactile perception. Contrary to the propositions of sound symbolism, participants in Experiment 1 did not consistently assign names with plosive consonant to objects with curved frames. Experiment 2, however, found that names with fricative consonants were more likely to be applied to materials with rough surfaces. The results suggested the existence of a direct relationship between speech sounds and their referent concepts that could be crucial in revealing the phenomenon of sound symbolism. A future study was also proposed to study the contributions of mouth shape and airflow to associations between speech sounds and tactile feelings. (161 words)     

The Italian version of the Empathy Questionnaire for 18- to 36-months-old children: psychometric properties and measurement invariance across gender of the EmQue-I13

Empathy is the basic ability to respond affectively to the emotions of others and is observed early in human development. This study (N = 304) tested the Italian version of the Empathy Questionnaire (EmQue), which is a parent scale assessing empathy-related behaviors in toddlers. For this study, it was completed by participants’ mothers only. The EmQue measurement model and its factorial invariance across children’s gender were tested via confirmatory factor analysis. Highly satisfactory goodness-of-fit indexes were found for a three factor-structure (contagion, attention to the feelings of others and prosocial actions) with 13 loading items. Furthermore, the data supported invariance of measurement across gender groups. These results suggest that the EmQue-I13 is a reliable instrument for investigating empathy and prosocial behavior in 18- to 36-month-old children in the Italian context.