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The authors used multiple ovulation induction by CC+hMG+hCG and intrauterine insemination with capacitized sperm in 63 women, aged between 22 and 43 (mean age 32.474 +/- 5.364) with primary or secondary infertility of various origins (tubal problems being excluded) to enhance the chances of pregnancy and evaluate the pregnancy rate. Partners were aged between 26 and 47 (mean age 36.571 +/- 6.709). The following parameters were considered in all patients: mean age of the partners of the couple, parity, seminal fluid characteristics, duration of infertility, dose of each drug administered, mean number of ampuls per patient and mean 17 beta-estradiol level at the time of administration of hCG. There were 189 cycles induced and 26 suspended (13.75%) including 7 (3.70%) because of protocol drop-out, 13 (6.87%) because of the development of slight hyperstimulation and 6 (3.17%) because of marked hyperstimulation. There were 27 pregnancies (42.85%), 4 of which ended in miscarriage between 7 and 10 weeks. There were 4 twin pregnancies, i.e. 14.81%. Of the 27 pregnancies, 13 (48.14%) were obtained during the first cycle, 9 (33.33%) during the second cycle and 5 (18.51%) during the 3rd cycle. The rate of pregnancies per cycle was 14.89%. With regard to 17 beta-estradiol levels at the time of administration of hCG, 18 pregnancies (69.23%) were obtained in patients with a 17 beta-estradiol levelor = to 1300, 7 (25.92%) in patients with a 17 beta-estradiol levelor = to 1000 andor = to 1300 pg/ml and 3 (11.11%) in those with a 17 beta-estradiol levelor = to 900 pg/ml.

The application of innovative technologies in psychiatry is promising, but the debate about its feasibility is not settled. Our aim was to investigate and compare adherence to and usability of 7-day monitoring with an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) and Actigraphy among a sample of individuals with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (SSD) and paired healthy controls. Twenty-two patients living in residential facilities (RFs), 20 outpatients and 26 controls were enrolled in this study as part of the DiAPAson project. Participants wore an actigraph and were evaluated for daily time use and mood with a smartphone-based ESM. Then, they completed questionnaires to assess the usability of the devices and were interviewed. Adherence was assessed as the percentage of time spent wearing actigraph and answering ESM notifications. Residential patients, compared to controls, showed significantly higher usability of the actigraph and lower adherence to both the actigraph and ESM. From the qualitative interviews, four high-order themes emerged: effects of monitoring, adherence and usability, emotions and mental states, and advice. Findings are promising for the application of these methodologies in such populations. The role of multidisciplinary staff in RFs is crucial for guaranteeing the realization of such projects.

The autobiographical IAT (aIAT) is an implicit behavioral instrument that can detect autobiographical memories encoded in an individual’s mind by measuring how quickly this person can categorize and associate sentences related to a specific event with the logical dimensions true and false. Faster categorization when an event (e.g., I went to Paris) is associated with the dimension true than false indicates that that specific event is encoded as true in the individual’s mind. The aim of this study is to investigate the electrophysiological correlates of the aIAT, used as a memory-detection technique (i.e., to identify which of two events is true). To this end, we recorded ERPs while participants performed an aIAT assessing which of two playing cards they had previously selected. We found an increased N200 and a decreased LPC (or P300) at the fronto-central sites when participants associated the selected playing card with the dimension false than true. Notably, both components have been previously and consistently reported in studies investigating deception. These results suggest that associating a true autobiographical event with the concept of false may involve the same cognitive processes associated with deception.

Il saggio compie un'analisi delle problematiche connesse alla riforma degli enti intermedi nell'ordinamento regionale siciliano, evidenziando le lacune e le contraddittorietà della legge.

Si ricorda anzitutto che il diritto all’esistenza libera e dignitosa previsto dalla Costituzione italiana, dalla Carta sociale europea e dalla Carta dei diritti fondamentali dell’UE comporta il diritto all’assistenza nelle situazioni di bisogno che ognuno può vivere durante la propria esperienza di vita. Si approfondisce anche la distinzione tra i contenuti minimi del diritto all’assistenza sociale ricavabili da tali norme e i livelli essenziali delle prestazioni dell’assistenza sociale che devono essere assicurati su tutto il territorio nazionale, anche con finanziamenti statali. Nella situazione italiana in cui i bisogni cre- scono e i fondi scarseggiano tale diritto non è assicurato a tutti, né dallo Stato, né dalle Regioni e dai Comuni, né da enti del privato sociale agevolati dai pubblici poteri, sia perché le agevolazioni fiscali e i trasferimenti monetari sono insufficienti a garantire livelli minimi di sussistenza, tali da far uscire dalle situazioni di povertà e di indigenza cronica, sia perché i livelli essenziali delle prestazioni concernenti l’assistenza sociale non sono stati ancora determinati per tutti i settori, sia per la loro complessa o scarsa prevedibilità (in cui però scelte tecniche e scelte politiche sono strettamente collegate), sia per la loro indubbia ricaduta finanziaria ritenuta incompatibile con le necessità finanziarie statali collegate alla crisi economica, o sono stabiliti da leggi statali troppo vaghe o poco attuate. A tale mancata determinazione generale tentano di sopperire misure legislative assistenziali disposte con leggi statali di dubbia legittimità costituzionale, sia altri strumenti politico-tecnici, tra cui il nuovo ISEE, il nomenclatore nazionale dei servizi, la determinazione dei fabbisogni standard delle funzioni fondamentali dei Comuni in materia di gestione dei servizi sociali a livello locale, che potrebbe finalmente costituire il presupposto per un sistema nazionale omogeneo dell’assistenza sociale

Memory is prone to illusions. When people are presented with lists of words associated with a non-presented critical lure, they produce a high level of false recognitions (false memories) for non-presented related stimuli indistinguishable, at the explicit level, from presented words (DRM paradigm). We assessed whether true and false DRM memories can be distinguished at the implicit level by using the autobiographical IAT (aIAT), a novel method based on indirect measures that permits to detect true autobiographical events encoded in the respondent's mind/brain. In our experiment, after a DRM task participants performed two aIATs: the first aimed at testing implicit memory for presented words (true-memories aIAT) and the second aimed at evaluating implicit memory for critical lures (false-memories aIAT). Specifically, the two aIATs assessed the association of presented words and critical lures with the logical dimension "true." Results showed that the aIAT detected a greater association of presented words than critical lures with the logical dimension "true." This result indicates that although true and false DRM memories are indistinguishable at the explicit level a different association of the true and false DRM memories with the logical dimension "true" can be detected at the implicit level, and suggests that the aIAT may be a sensitive instrument to detect differences between true and false DRM memories.

Autobiographical memories might be identified using a variant of the implicit association test (IAT), or the autobiographical IAT (aIAT). The aIAT provides a measure of association between true sentences and sentences describing an autobiographical event. This tool might be used to evaluate whether specific autobiographical information is encoded within the respondent's mind/brain. This paper examines possible problems arising when the aIAT is used as a lie-detector technique. The results indicate that, when given previous instruction or training with an aIAT, examinees can alter their results and beat the ‘memory-detector’. However, we have been able to detect successful fakers of aIAT on the basis of their specific response patterns. Our algorithm has the ability to spot the faker in a satisfactory manner. If, as demonstrated here, faking can be detected, then the real autobiographical event might also be identified when the examinee attempts to alter their results. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

We describe a new method, based on indirect measures of implicit autobiographical memory, that allows evaluation of which of two contrasting autobiographical events (e.g., crimes) is true for a given individual. Participants were requested to classify sentences describing possible autobiographical events by pressing one of two response keys. Responses were faster when sentences related to truly autobiographical events shared the same response key with other sentences reporting true events and slower when sentences related to truly autobiographical events shared the same response key with sentences reporting false events. This method has possible application in forensic settings and as a lie-detection technique.