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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting about 10 million people worldwide with a prevalence of about 2% in the over-80 population. The disease brings in also a huge annual economic burden, recently estimated by the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to be USD 52 billion in the United States alone. Currently, no effective cure exists, but available PD medical treatments are based on symptomatic prescriptions that include drugs, surgical approaches and rehabilitation treatment. Due to the complex biology of a PD brain, the design of clinical trials and the personalization of treatment strategies require the identification of accessible and measurable biomarkers to monitor the events induced by treatment and disease progression and to predict patients' responsiveness. In the present review, we strive to briefly summarize current knowledge about PD biomarkers, focusing on the role of extracellular vesicles as active or involuntary carriers of disease-associated proteins, with particular attention to those research works that envision possible clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focus group data from 92 youths from Italy and the U.S.A. indicate that Italians and Americans differ in perceived threshold of acceptability of drinking to excess. Youth from the U.S.A. were more accepting of intoxication than Italian youth, reflecting features of each respective dominant drinking culture. Alcohol gender double standards existed in both countries and were conceptually connected to sexuality. However, the social construction behind such connections differed across the two groups: focusing on harms to the woman in the U.S.A. and the respectability of her social group in Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary objectives were to describe weight changes following initiation of lurasidone versus other antipsychotics and estimate the risk of clinically relevant (≥ 7%) weight changes. Patients and Methods: This retrospective, longitudinal comparative cohort study was based on electronic medical records (EMRs) of United States (US) adult patients with schizophrenia who were prescribed lurasidone or other antipsychotics as monotherapy between 1 April 2013 and 30 June 2019. Results: Overall, the study included 15,323 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia; 6.1% of patients received lurasidone, 60.4% received antipsychotics associated with a medium-high risk of weight gain (clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, paliperidone) and 33.5% received antipsychotics with a low risk of weight gain (aripiprazole, first-generation antipsychotics, ziprasidone). Lurasidone was associated with the smallest proportion of patients experiencing clinically relevant weight gain and the greatest proportion of patients with clinically relevant weight loss. The risk of clinically relevant weight gain was numerically higher with all antipsychotics versus lurasidone and was statistically significant for olanzapine (hazard ratio [HR]=1.541; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.121; 2.119; p=0.0078) versus lurasidone. The likelihood of ≥ 7% weight loss was significantly greater with lurasidone versus all antipsychotics (p< 0.05), except ziprasidone. Conclusion: This real-world study suggests that lurasidone has a lower risk of clinically relevant weight gain and a higher likelihood of clinically relevant weight loss than other commonly used antipsychotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article discusses the American feminist historian Donna R. Gabaccia's scholarship on global history and immigration to the U.S., and her mentorship as a feminist. An overview of Gabaccia's work on the history of Italian immigrants to the U.S. from the late 19th century through the 20th century, including Italians' transnational relations, is provided.

The Power of Programming conference 2016 at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich brought together about 600 researchers and other stakeholders from around the world who reviewed the recent evidence on the lasting health impact of environment and nutrition during early life, from pre-pregnancy to early childhood. The conference was hosted by the Early Nutrition Project, a multidisciplinary research collaboration funded by the European Commission with collaborating researchers from 35 institutions in 15 countries in Europe, the United States and Australia. The project explores the early origins of obesity, adiposity and associated non-communicable diseases, underlying mechanisms and opportunities for prevention. The project also proactively supports translational application of research findings. In fact, some existing evidence has already been rapidly adopted into policy, regulatory standards and practice. Further, broad dissemination of findings is achieved through the established digital eLearning platform of the Early Nutrition eAcademy, video clip-based learning and graphically supported messaging to consumers. The project demonstrated powerful effects of early metabolic programming on later health. Compared to other common prevention strategies, modifying risk trajectories in early life can achieve a much larger risk reduction and be more cost-effective. While some effective prevention strategies have been promptly implemented in policy and guidelines, legislation and practice, in other areas, the uptake is limited by a paucity of quality human intervention trials and insufficient evaluation of the feasibility of implementation and econometric impact. This needs to be strengthened by future collaborative research work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A survey in the United States revealed that an alarmingly large percentage of university psychologists admitted having used questionable research practices that can contaminate the research literature with false positive and biased findings. We conducted a replication of this study among Italian research psychologists to investigate whether these findings generalize to other countries. All the original materials were translated into Italian, and members of the Italian Association of Psychology were invited to participate via an online survey. The percentages of Italian psychologists who admitted to having used ten questionable research practices were similar to the results obtained in the United States although there were small but significant differences in self-admission rates for some QRPs. Nearly all researchers (88%) admitted using at least one of the practices, and researchers generally considered a practice possibly defensible if they admitted using it, but Italian researchers were much less likely than US researchers to consider a practice defensible. Participants’ estimates of the percentage of researchers who have used these practices were greater than the self-admission rates, and participants estimated that researchers would be unlikely to admit it. In written responses, participants argued that some of these practices are not questionable and they have used some practices because reviewers and journals demand it. The similarity of results obtained in the United States, this study, and a related study conducted in Germany suggest that adoption of these practices is an international phenomenon and is likely due to systemic features of the international research and publication processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Normative misperceptions have been widely documented for alcohol use among U.S. college students. There is less research on other substances or European cultural contexts. This study explores which factors are associated with alcohol, tobacco and cannabis use misperceptions among French college students, focusing on substance use.Methods: 12 classes of second-year college students (n = 731) in sociology, medicine, nursing or foreign language estimated the proportion of tobacco, cannabis, alcohol use and heavy episodic drinking among their peers and reported their own use.Results: Peer substance use overestimation frequency was 84% for tobacco, 55% for cannabis, 37% for alcohol and 56% for heavy episodic drinking. Cannabis users (p = 0.006), alcohol (p = 0.003) and heavy episodic drinkers (p = 0.002), are more likely to overestimate the prevalence of use of these consumptions. Tobacco users are less likely to overestimate peer prevalence of smoking (p = 0.044). Women are more likely to overestimate tobacco (p < 0.001) and heavy episodic drinking (p = 0.007) prevalence. Students having already completed another substance use questionnaire were more likely to overestimate alcohol use prevalence (p = 0.012). Students exposed to cannabis prevention campaigns were more likely to overestimate cannabis (p = 0.018) and tobacco use (p = 0.022) prevalence. Other identified factors are class-level use prevalences and academic discipline.Conclusions: Local interventions that focus on creating realistic perceptions of substance use prevalence could be considered for cannabis and alcohol prevention in French campuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A contribution to histories of women in the interwar transnational antifascist movement, particularly radical exiles, we focus on Virgilia D'Andrea, a noted Italian anarchist exile from fascist Italy who spent her final exile in New York, 1928--33. An intellectual, writer-poet, and orator belonging to a small but influential group of Italian radical subversives, her New York speeches and lecture tours across the United States helped rejuvenate the depleted ranks of Italian American radical circles in an era of state repression. She also connected emotionally with her working-class audiences. An analysis of her speeches and lectures reveals that the concept of betrayal, and the pain but also political consciousness it aroused, and the belief that adherence to anarchist ideals and humanist internationalism offered a way out of the crippling effects of capitalism, imperialism, and dictatorship, framed D'Andrea's life narrative and antifascist politics. An analysis of their historical, cultural, and political themes is also offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shipping materials via a library courier service is much cheaper than shipping via the U.S. Postal Service. Most library delivery services are regional or state-based. This article illustrates how two separate services combined to develop the multi-state courier system COKAMO. COKAMO is moving tens of thousands of items between three states at a fraction of U.S. Postal Service rates. Within one year of implementing the system, over 57,000 items have been shipped, creating savings of over $215,000 for participating libraries. Significant changes in the behavior of interlibrary loan staff throughout the region are evidenced in statistics which show an increase in borrowing between participating states and a decline in interlibrary loan to adjacent states not in COKAMO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circles of Support & Accountability (COSA) started 15 years ago in Ontario, Canada, as an alternate means of social support to high-risk sexual offenders released at the end of their sentences without any community supervision. The pilot project in South-Central Ontario has since assisted almost 200 offenders. Projects based on this model are now in place in the United Kingdom, several jurisdictions in the United States, and throughout Canada. Initial research into the efficacy of the COSA pilot project showed that participation reduced sexual recidivism by 70% or more in comparison with both matched controls and actuarial norms. The current study sought to replicate these findings using an independent Canadian national sample. A total of 44 high-risk sexual offenders, released at sentence completion and involved in COSA across Canada, were matched to a group of 44 similar offenders not involved in COSA. The average follow-up time was 35 months. Recidivism was defined as having a charge or conviction for a new offense. Results show that offenders in COSA had an 83% reduction in sexual recidivism, a 73% reduction in all types of violent recidivism, and an overall reduction of 71% in all types of recidivism in comparison to the matched offenders. These findings suggest that participation in COSA is not site-specific and provide further evidence for the position that trained and guided community volunteers can and do assist in markedly improving offenders' chances for successful reintegration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to summarize and provide commentary on the US Department of Treasury's Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure, issued on March 31, 2008. Design/methodology/approach - The paper summarizes and comments on the short-, intermediate-, and long-term recommendations laid out in the Blueprint. The short-term recommendations are to modernize the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, principally by broadening its focus to include the entire financial sector, to address gaps in mortgage origination oversight, principally though creating a federal Mortgage Origination Commission; and to enhance the Federal Reserve Board's current temporary liquidity provisioning process. The Treasury's intermediate-term recommendations are intended to modernize the regulatory structure and to eliminate duplication. They are to phase out and transition the thrift charter to the national banking charter; to merge the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); to establish a uniform, comprehensive regulatory system for, and create a federal charter for, "systemically important" payment and settlement systems; and to create an optional federal charter for insurers. The Blueprint's long-term optimal regulatory structure envisions an "objectives-based" regulatory approach in which three primary regulators would be established to focus individually on market stability regulation, prudential financial regulation and business conduct; three types of charters for financial institutions: federal insured depository institutions, federal insurance institutions, and federal financial services providers; the Federal Reserve Board assuming the role of market stability regulator; a prudential federal regulatory agency to regulate financial institutions with some type of explicit government guarantee associated with their business operations; and a conduct-of-business regulatory agency to regulate the business conduct of all financial institutions. In addition to the three objectives-based regulators, the Blueprint recommends establishing two other regulatory entities: a federal insurance guarantee corporation and a corporate finance regulator. Findings - The Blueprint finds that substantial regulatory reform is necessary to respond to significant developments including globalization of the capital markets, innovative and sophisticated new financial products and trading strategies, growing institutionalization of the capital markets, and convergence of financial service providers and financial products. Among the areas where one may see action and debate in the near future are: broadening the scope and membership of the President's Working Group on Capital Markets, adoption of uniform minimum licensing standards and the creation of a mortgage origination commission, further discussion of the terms and conditions attached to non-depository institutions' access to the Federal Reserve discount window, continuing debate around the possible merger of the SEC and the CFTC, and updating by the SEC of the self-regulatory organization (SRO) rule-making process. Originality/value - The paper is a clear and concise summary with commentary from expert securities lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses significant risks to societies worldwide, yet governmental responses differ greatly on either side of the North Atlantic. Risk perception studies have shown that citizens in the United States and Great Britain have similar risk perceptions of climate change: it is considered a distant threat, of limited personal importance. Engaging the public on this issue is thus challenging. Affect, the positive or negative evaluation of an object, idea, or mental image, has been shown to powerfully influence individual processing of information and decision‐making. This paper explores the affective images underlying public risk perceptions of climate change through comparative findings from national surveys in the USA and in Great Britain. American and British respondents predominantly referred to generic manifestations and impacts of climate change or to a different environmental problem (ozone depletion). The terms “global warming” and “climate change”, and their associated images, evoked negative affective responses from most respondents. Personally relevant impacts, causes, and solutions to climate change, were rarely mentioned, indicating that climate change is psychologically distant for most individuals in both nations. The role of affective images in risk judgements and individual decision‐making deserves greater study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which determined the crystal structure and M-site populations of micas from miarolitic pegmatites in granitic rocks of Pikes Peak batholith in central Colorado using single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. Information on micas; Experimental methods; Results of the study.

Asserts that the problem of psychiatric illness and its institutions developed in our society primarily as a question of public order, and it is by reconstructing the complex nature of the total needs of the individual and the provision of solutions in an equally comprehensive manner that effective action is possible. Policies protecting mental health must begin with analysis of environmental, ecological, social and subjective interactions; The Italian situation; More.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue including one by Fiona McCartan, Heather Law, Maeve Murphy and Susan Bailey on young females who exhibit sexually abusive behavior, one by Miriam Wijkman, Catrien Bijleveld and Jan Hendriks on convicted adult female sexual offenders and one on the differences between male and female sexual offenders by Maarteen Muskens, Stefan Bogaerts, Marjolijn van Casteren and Sybille Labrijn.