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A quince tree showing severe symptoms of a previously undescribed viral disease occurring in northern Apulia (Italy) was analysed using high-throughput sequencing of small RNA libraries, leading to the identification of a new strain of apple green crinkle associated virus (isolate AGCaV-CYD) showing peculiar traits. RT-PCR with specific primers detected AGCaV-CYD in consistent association with symptoms in the surveyed orchards. Molecular characterization of the reconstructed genome, together with phylogenetic analysis, showed it to be closely related to an AGCaV strain causing green crinkle disease in apple (AGCaV-AUR) and divergent from the type strain of apple stem pitting virus (ASPV-PA66).

The study aimed to explore the differences in the role of specific personal and interpersonal risk factors in predicting fear of childbirth (FOC) and to examine whether FOC predicts postnatal maternal adaptation in nulliparous and parous women. A prospective correlational design with two time periods (pre- and postnatal) was carried out with 158 women, 85 nulliparous and 73 parous. Women at Week 32 of gestation completed a demographic questionnaire, the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire (K.Wijma, B. Wijma, & M. Zar, 1998), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (C.D. Spielberger, R.L. Gorsuch, & R.E. Lushene, 1970), the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (L.R. Derogatis, 1983), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G.B. Spanier, 1976), and the Reciprocal Attachment Questionnaire (M. West, A. Sheldon, & L. Reiffer, 1987). Three months after delivery, the women completed the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (J.L. Cox, J.M. Holden, & R. Sagovsky, 1987) and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (R. Abidin, 1986). Pearson's correlations and a series of multiple regressions were conducted. The results indicated that in the prenatal period, higher state anxiety, β = .35, p < .001, lower dyadic adjustment, β = -.26, p = .03, and higher insecurity in attachment relationships, β = .39, p < .001, predicted FOC in first-time mothers only. In the postnatal period, FOC predicted postnatal maternal risk for depression, β = .39, p = .02, and parenting stress, β = .42, p = .02, for nulliparous women only. The specific antecedents and consequences of FOC in nulliparous and parous women should be taken into consideration when developing specific interventions., (© 2014 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.)

The Circle of Security Parenting (COS-P) is an early attachment based intervention that can be used with groups, dyads, and individuals. Created in the USA and now used in many countries, COS-P is a visually based approach that demonstrates its central principles through videos of parent/child interactions. The core purpose of the COS-P is to provide an opportunity for caregivers to reflect on their child's needs and on the challenges each parent faces in meeting those needs. Even though there is a wide range of clinical settings in which child/parent attachment is an important component of assessment there is limited empirical data on when and how attachment based interventions are appropriate for specific clinical profiles and contexts. The aim of this paper is to present a clinical application of COS-P in order to explore and reflect on some specific therapeutic tasks where it works and on some clinical indicators and contexts appropriate for its application. A single case study of a father, "M." (43 years old) in conflict for the custody of his 5 years old daughter is reported. The Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP), the Parenting Stress Index, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Parental Alliance Measure, were administered pre- and post-intervention. The clinical significance analysis method revealed that numerous changes occurred in the father. The AAP showed improvements in the level of agency of self. M. made gains in his capacity to use internal resources and to increase his agency of self. M. was classified as recovered in his perception of the child's functioning and as improved in his parenting stress and parenting alliance with the mother. Considerations on specific contexts and clinical indicators for the application of COS-P are proposed.

Within the research area on the determinants of childhood obesity, a relatively new approach is the use of attachment theory to explore the mechanisms underlying children's obesity risk, especially considered as emotion regulation strategies in parent-child relationship. Few are the empirical researches that have addressed this issue. The empirical investigations have used self-report measures to assess adult attachment. In attachment studies, the use of interview methods and/or performance-based instruments is advised to evaluate the entire range of possible adult attachment patterns and comprehensively explain the emotional strategies, correlates, and consequences of individual differences in attachment system functioning. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which both parents' attachment patterns serve as self-regulative mechanisms related to childhood overweight/obesity by the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) in a sample of 44 mothers and fathers of children referred for obesity. Insecure attachment was found as a risk factor both for mothers and fathers. Also unresolved/disorganization was found to play a significant role in childhood obesity. The role of father's attachment was explored and findings suggested considering it in etiology and treatment of childhood obesity.

The present paper describes the Epode Umbria Region Obesity Prevention Study (EUROBIS) and aims to implement the C.U.R.I.A.MO. model through the EPODE methodology. The main goal of the EUROBIS is to change the pendency of slope of the actual trend towards the increase in the yearly rates of childhood overweight and obesity in Umbria and to improve healthy lifestyles of children and their parents. The project is the first EPODE program to be performed in Italy. The aims of the Italian EUROBIS study are: (1) a community-based intervention program (CBP) carrying out activities in all primary schools of the Umbria Region and family settings as first step, to reverse the current obesity trend on a long-term basis, and (2) a clinical care program for childhood and adolescent by C.U.R.I.A.MO. model. C.U.R.I.A.MO. model is a multidisciplinary approach to improve three key aspects of healthy lifestyles: nutrition, exercise, and psychological aspects with the strategy of a family-based approach. The community-based intervention and clinical trial provide an innovative valuable model to address the childhood obesity prevention and treatment in Italy.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the maternal and paternal specific contributions on the associations between family socioeconomic status, parental anthropometric factors, parental alliance, and family functioning. These were assessed separately for mothers and fathers, by means of a case-control study with families of Italian youths with and without overweight/obesity., Methods: Ninety families with children aged 11 to 16 years (mean = 13.27 years; SD = 1.5) participated in the study. Half of the families included children with overweight/obesity (n = 45). The body mass indices (BMIs) of youths and parents were measured and the former transformed in BMI z-scores. The parents completed the Parenting Alliance Measure and the Family Assessment Measure Version III, General Scale., Results: Higher levels of dysfunction in parental alliance and family functioning of the mothers and fathers of the overweight/obese group were found. Socioeconomic status did not contribute significantly to the prediction of overweight and obesity in youth. Both maternal and paternal BMIs were positively associated with youth overweight/obesity. The degrees of parental alliance perceived by both mothers (odds ratio [OR], 81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72-0.90) and fathers (OR, 89; 95% CI, 0.81-0.98) predicted child's weight status. The perception of poor parental and familial functioning by both parents contributed to the prediction of overweight and obesity in youth (mother: OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.10; father: OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 1.01-1.11)., Conclusion: The results support a strong effect of parental and family functioning on a youth's overweight/obesity also from the father's perspective. The importance of considering the father's perspective is discussed.

The current study investigates the effects of a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention for obesity on Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). In this study, 92 adults with obesity were weighed and completed the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at the baseline and at the end of a 3-month intervention. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), a series of hierarchical regressions, and the statistical mediation analysis of Baron and Kenny were conducted. (a) Over 3 months, changes in weight and the mental and physical scales of the SF-36 and depression were all significant. (b) The results indicate a significant mediation of changes in depression scores for the association between weight loss and enhancement on the General Health scale of the SF-36. Improvements to HRQoL from a multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention seem to affect both the physical and mental components of the SF-36 score and to reduce depression, contributing to enhanced self-perceptions of well-being.

Although community samples have been used for comparison with at-risk and disturbed children, very few studies have examined parental Expressed Emotion in family members of typically developing children. This descriptive study reports Expressed Emotion for a community-based Italian sample of mothers and fathers of children without clinical mental health problems (N=101) ages 6 to 11 years (M = 8.2, SD = 1.4). Children were drawn from regular elementary schools in Italy. Expressed Emotion was measured using the Five-minute Speech Sample. Mothers', fathers', and families' Expressed Emotion frequencies and percents were calculated, as well as frequencies and percents of Expressed Emotion subcomponents of Criticism and Emotional Over-involvement. As expected, low rates were found. There were no significant differences between fathers' and mothers' Expressed Emotion categories.

(1) The 2-(p-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid (CPP) modulates in a stereoselective manner the macroscopic chloride conductance (gCl), the electrical parameter sustained by the CLC-1 channel, of skeletal muscle. In order to determine the structural requirements for modulating native gCl and to identify high-affinity ligands, the effects of newly synthesised CPP analogues have been evaluated on gCl of rat EDL muscle fibres by means of the two-microelectrode current-clamp technique. (2) Each type of the following independent modification of CPP structure led to a three- to 10-fold decrease or to a complete lack of gCl-blocking activity: replacement of the electron-attractive chlorine atom of the aromatic ring, substitution of the oxygen atom of the phenoxy group, modification at the chiral centre and substitution of the carboxylic function with a phosphonate one. (3) The analogues bearing a second chlorophenoxy group on the asymmetric carbon atom showed a significant gCl-blocking activity. Similar to racemate CPP, the analogue with this group, spaced by an alkyl chain formed by three methylenic groups, blocked gCl by 45% at 100 micro M. (4) These latter derivatives were tested on heterelogously expressed CLC-1 performing inside-out patch-clamp recordings to further define how interaction between drug and channel protein could take place. Depending on the exact chemical nature of modification, these derivatives strongly blocked CLC-1 with K(D) values at -140 mV ranging from about 4 to 180 micro M. (5) In conclusion, we identified four molecular determinants pivotal for the interaction with the binding site on muscle CLC-1 channels: (a) the carboxylic group that confers the optimal acidity and the negative charge; (b) the chlorophenoxy moiety that might interact with a hydrophobic pocket; (c) the chiral centre that allows the proper spatial disposition of the molecule; (d) an additional phenoxy group that remarkably stabilises the binding by interacting with a second hydrophobic pocket.

1 New 2H-1,4-benzoxazine derivatives were synthesized and tested for their agonist properties on the ATP-sensitive K(+) channels (K(ATP)) of native rat skeletal muscle fibres by using the patch-clamp technique. The novel modifications involved the introduction at position 2 of the benzoxazine ring of alkyl substituents such as methyl (-CH(3)), ethyl (-C(2)H(5)) or propyl (-C(3)H(7)) groups, while maintaining pharmacophore groups critical for conferring agonist properties. 2 The effects of these molecules were compared with those of cromakalim in the presence or absence of internal ATP (10(-4) M). In the presence of internal ATP, all the compounds increased the macropatch K(ATP) currents. The order of potency of the molecules as agonists was -C(3)H(7) (DE(50)=1.63 x 10(-8) M) >-C(2)H(5) (DE(50)=1.11 x 10(-7) M)>-CH(3) (DE(50)=2.81 x 10(-7) M)>cromak-slim (DE(50)= 1.42 x 10(-5) M). Bell-shaped dose-response curves were observed for these compounds and cromakalim indicating a downturn in response when a certain dose was exceeded. 3 In contrast, in the absence of internal ATP, all molecules including cromakalim inhibited the K(ATP) currents. The order of increasing potency as antagonists was cromakalim (IC(50)=1.15 x 10(-8) M)> or =-CH(3) (IC(50)=2.6 x 10(-8) M)>-C(2)H(5) (IC(50)=4.4 x 10(-8) M)>-C(3)H(7) (IC(50)=1.68 x 10(-7) M) derivatives. 4 These results suggest that the newly synthesized molecules and cromakalim act on muscle K(ATP) channel by binding on two receptor sites that have opposite actions. Alternatively, a more simple explanation is to consider the existence of a single site for potassium channel openers regulated by ATP which favours the transduction of the channel opening. The alkyl chains at position 2 of the 2H-1,4-benzoxazine nucleus is pivotal in determining the potency of benzoxazine derivatives as agonists or antagonists.