Italian Individuals Research Articles

Effects of work status changes and perceived stress on glycaemic control in individuals with type 1 diabetes during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy

AimsTo evaluate the effects of COVID-19 lockdown on blood glucose control in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and to explore determinants of glucose variability. MethodsFifty T1D patients undergoing continuous/flash glucose monitoring were recruited. The study’s primary outcome was the change of time in range (TIR) from before to lockdown period. Three time-point comparisons of TIR, mean glucose levels (MG), estimated (e)HbA1c, time above (TAR) and below range (TBR), moderate/severe hypoglycemic events between pre-lockdown, lockdown and post-lockdown period were also performed. Information on lockdown-associated perceived stress, changes of work status and physical activity were recorded. ResultsTIR significantly decreased (75(63–84)% vs.69(50–76)%,p < 0.001) whereas MG (154 ± 15 mg/dl vs.165 ± 25 mg/dl, p = 0.027) and eHbA1c (7.3(6.6–7.8)%vs.7.5(6.7–8.2)%,p = 0.031) increased from pre- to lockdown period; overall glucose control significantly improved when restriction ended. Lockdown-associated work loss/suspension independently predicted impaired TIR after adjustment for potential confounders (Standardizedβ: −0.29; 95%CΙ: −18.7 to −2.25;p = 0.01). Greater TAR, TBR and hypoglycemic events were also reported during the lockdown. ConclusionIn T1D Italian individuals, blood glucose control significantly worsened during the COVID-19 lockdown; work instability and related issues represented the main determinant of impaired glucose variability in this population.

Health anxiety and attentional bias toward virus-related stimuli during the COVID-19 pandemic

After the COVID-19 worldwide spread, evidence suggested a vast diffusion of negative consequences on people's mental health. Together with depression and sleep difficulties, anxiety symptoms seem to be the most diffused clinical outcome. The current contribution aimed to examine attentional bias for virus-related stimuli in people varying in their degree of health anxiety (HA). Consistent with previous literature, it was hypothesized that higher HA would predict attentional bias, tested using a visual dot-probe task, to virus-related stimuli. Participants were 132 Italian individuals that participated in the study during the lockdown phase in Italy. Results indicated that the HA level predicts attentional bias toward virus-related objects. This relationship is double mediated by the belief of contagion and by the consequences of contagion as assessed through a recent questionnaire developed to measure the fear for COVID-19. These findings are discussed in the context of cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of anxiety suggesting a risk for a loop effect. Future research directions are outlined.

Italian Normative Data for the Original Version of the Tower of London Test: A Bivariate Analysis on Speed and Accuracy Scores

The Tower of London (ToL) test is traditionally used to assess strategical reasoning, problem-solving, and mental planning in clinical populations. Here, we provide the Italian standardization norms for the original, 12-problem version of the ToL test. The performance of 216 Italian individuals ranging 18 to 89 in age was scored in terms of both Time (Speed) and Accuracy-the time, and the number of attempts, necessary to find a solution. We performed univariate analyses on separate Time and Accuracy scores, using Age in years, Education in years, and Sex (male vs. female) as predictors. z scores and equivalent scores were provided. Moreover, we performed a bivariate analysis for the assessment of individuals' performance in terms of Time and Accuracy simultaneously. This standardization allows clinicians to use the original, most widespread version of ToL with the Italian population, thus optimizing comparability with other clinical and experimental research worldwide. Critically, this article offers a new statistical perspective on how Time and Accuracy scores, which are typically related to each other, can be combined to obtain a single, consistent clinical categorization that captures most of the information contained in the patient's performance.

Detection and Recognition of Fearful Facial Expressions During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic in an Italian Sample: An Online Experiment.

In this observational study, the psychological ability to recognize the others’ fearful expressions in Italian individuals during the pandemic COVID-19 lockdown was explored through a behavioral task performed online. An implicit version of the traditional facial emotion recognition task, grounded on the attentional and unconscious mechanism of the redundant target effect, was used. The experiment was scripted through the free software OpenSesame (Mathôt et al., 2012) and published on the Internet through the free software Jatos (Lange et al., 2015). The Reaction Time and level of Accuracy in detecting fearful expressions were computed. Overall, the data of 86 Italian individuals were collected. When their performance was scored in terms of Reaction Time, the redundant target effect did not emerge; instead, the expected effect was observed when the level of Accuracy was considered. Overall, the performance registered in this Italian sample in terms of accuracy was in line with previous results reported in Scarpina et al. (2018), in which a long extended version of the same behavioral task was used in a traditional experimental setting. This study might offer some considerations regarding the adoption of online experiments – together with self-report surveys – to assess the psychological and behavioral functioning during social restriction measures.

Analysis of ACE2 genetic variants in 131 Italian SARS-CoV-2-positive patients

BackgroundCoronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that are common in humans and many animal species. Animal coronaviruses rarely infect humans with the exceptions of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS-CoV), the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV), and now SARS-CoV-2, which is the cause of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several studies suggested that genetic variants in the ACE2 gene may influence the host susceptibility or resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection according to the functional role of ACE2 in human pathophysiology. However, many of these studies have been conducted in silico based on epidemiological and population data. We therefore investigated the occurrence of ACE2 variants in a cohort of 131 Italian unrelated individuals clinically diagnosed with COVID-19 and in an Italian control population, to evaluate a possible allelic association with COVID-19, by direct DNA analysis.MethodsAs a pilot study, we analyzed, by whole-exome sequencing, genetic variants of ACE2 gene in 131 DNA samples of COVID-19 patients hospitalized at Tor Vergata University Hospital and at Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Rome. We used a large control group consisting of 1000 individuals (500 males and 500 females).ResultsWe identified three different germline variants: one intronic c.439+4G>A and two missense c.1888G>C p.(Asp630His) and c.2158A>G p.(Asn720Asp) in a total of 131 patients with a similar frequency in male and female. Thus far, only the c.1888G>C p.(Asp630His) variant shows a statistically different frequency compared to the ethnically matched populations. Therefore, further studies are needed in larger cohorts, since it was found only in one heterozygous COVID-19 patient.ConclusionsOur results suggest that there is no strong evidence, in our cohort, of consistent association of ACE2 variants with COVID-19 severity. We might speculate that rare susceptibility/resistant alleles could be located in the non-coding regions of the ACE2 gene, known to play a role in regulation of the gene activity.

HLA allele frequencies and susceptibility to COVID-19 in a group of 99 Italian patients.

With the aim to individuate alleles that may reflect a higher susceptibility to the disease, in the present study we analyzed the HLA allele frequency distribution in a group of 99 Italian patients affected by a severe or extremely severe form of COVID‐19. After the application of Bonferroni's correction for multiple tests, a significant association was found for HLA‐DRB1*15:01, ‐DQB1*06:02 and ‐B*27:07, after comparing the results to a reference group of 1017 Italian individuals, previously typed in our laboratory. The increased frequencies observed may contribute to identify potential markers of susceptibility to the disease, although controversial results on the role of single HLA alleles in COVID‐19 patients have been recently reported.

Determination of the Upper Reference Limit of Human Epididymis Secretory Protein 4 (HE4) in Healthy Male Individuals and Correlation with Renal and Fertility Markers

Elevated human epididymis secretory protein 4 (HE4) serum levels have been widely investigated in patients with ovarian cancer. However, high levels of HE4 can be also found in other tumors and in renal fibrosis. To date, the HE4 assay manufacturer features the reference value only for the female pre- and post-menopausal population. The aim of this study was to determine the upper reference limit (URL) of HE4 in a well-defined and large cohort of healthy male individuals and investigate potential factors influencing HE4 levels in healthy subjects. The study included 307 Italian healthy male individuals. HE4 was measured using a chemiluminescent assay (Abbott Laboratories, Wiesbaden, Germany). The URL was calculated using the non-parametric percentile method. Differences in HE4 concentrations according to age, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), free and bioavailable testosterone were also evaluated. The 97.5th percentile URL of serum HE4 in our study population was 57 pmol/L (90% CI). After stratifying subjects according to age, we found that the URL of HE4 was higher in older (&gt; 50 years) than in younger subjects (18-30 years old), and overlapping with the URL in males from 31 to 50 years old (P=4.769e-16, r=0.44). A strong negative correlation between HE4 and eGFR was observed (P=8.412e-12, r=-0.38). Moreover, a statistically significant negative correlation was also found between HE4 and free and bioavailable testosterone. This study determined the URL of HE4 in a large cohort of healthy male subjects. Our findings indicate that the HE4 age-dependent differences in males need to be taken into account. The definition of the HE4 URL in males and the correlation observed with eGFR and testosterone should foster the clinical use of HE4 beyond gynecologic cancer.

Translation, cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the anterior cruciate ligament-return to sport after injury (ACL-RSI) scale.

To translate and culturally adapt the anterior cruciate ligament-return to sport after injury (ACL-RSI) scale into Italian (ACL-RSI(IT)) and examine and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version in individuals who have undergone anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. The ACL-RSI was forward and back translated, culturally adapted and validated one hundred and twenty nine Italian individuals who had undergone ACL reconstruction (94 males, 35 females; age 28 ± 9 years). All patients completed the translated ACL-RSI, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), International Knee Documentation Committee subjective knee form (IKDC), Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) and the 12-item short form health survey (SF-12). We then analysed the internal consistency, reliability and validity of the newly formed ACLRSI (IT). The ACL- RSI(IT) showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.94) and was significantly correlated with the KOOS 'quality of life' (r = 0.61, p < 0.00001), 'symptoms' (r = 0.34, p < 0.00001), 'pain' (r = 0.44, p < 0.00001), and 'sports' (r = 0.40, p < 0.00001) subscales. The ACL-RSI(IT) also correlated significantly with the IKDC (r = 0.34, p < 0.001), TSK (r = - 0.48, p < 0.00001) and SF-12 (r = - 0.40, p < 0.0001) scores. The Italian version of the ACL-RSI scale was valid, discriminant, consistent and reliable in patients who had undergone ACL reconstruction. This score could be useful to evaluate the effect of psychological factors on return to sport following ACL surgery. II.

Italian Adaptation and Psychometric Properties of the Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS): Assessment of Validity, Reliability, and Measure Invariance.

The aim of the current study was to adapt and validate the Prejudice Against Immigrants Scale (PAIS) in the Italian context, based on the Prejudice Against Asylum Seekers Scale by Anderson (2018). The validity, reliability, and measurement invariance across gender, age, and educational levels of the scale were assessed through three sources, which involved 306 Italian individuals (Nmen = 151, 49.3%) between 18 and 60 years old. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) confirmed the two-factor solution of the original instrument by excluding two items, which were present in the previous validation study. The first factor is classical prejudice against immigrants, which maps onto theoretical derivations of classical and old-fashioned prejudices, whereas the second factor is conditional prejudice against immigrants, which maps onto theoretical derivations of subtle and modern prejudices. Findings of the multigroup CFAs demonstrated full configural and metric invariance and partial scalar invariance of the scale across gender, age, and educational level. The analyses confirmed that PAIS has high levels of reliability and criterion and construct validity, showing findings that are comparable to those of Anderson (2018). These results suggest that PAIS presents very good psychometric properties and could be considered a valid and reliable instrument to measure prejudice against immigrants, by enabling Italian researchers to detect both covert and more subtle forms of prejudice against immigrants. Limitations and further directions are discussed.

ACE2 gene variants may underlie interindividual variability and susceptibility to COVID-19 in the Italian population

In December 2019, an initial cluster of interstitial bilateral pneumonia emerged in Wuhan, China. A human-to-human transmission was assumed and a previously unrecognized entity, termed coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) due to a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was described. The infection has rapidly spread out all over the world and Italy has been the first European country experiencing the endemic wave with unexpected clinical severity in comparison with Asian countries. It has been shown that SARS-CoV-2 utilizes angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as host receptor and host proteases for cell surface binding and internalization. Thus, a predisposing genetic background can give reason for interindividual disease susceptibility and/or severity. Taking advantage of the Network of Italian Genomes (NIG), here we mined whole-exome sequencing data of 6930 Italian control individuals from five different centers looking for ACE2 variants. A number of variants with a potential impact on protein stability were identified. Among these, three more common missense changes, p.(Asn720Asp), p.(Lys26Arg), and p.(Gly211Arg) were predicted to interfere with protein structure and stabilization. Rare variants likely interfering with the internalization process, namely p.(Leu351Val) and p.(Pro389His), predicted to interfere with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein binding, were also observed. Comparison of ACE2 WES data between a cohort of 131 patients and 258 controls allowed identifying a statistically significant (P value < 0.029) higher allelic variability in controls compared with patients. These findings suggest that a predisposing genetic background may contribute to the observed interindividual clinical variability associated with COVID-19, allowing an evidence-based risk assessment leading to personalized preventive measures and therapeutic options.

Comparison of trace element chemistry in human bones interred in two private chapels attached to Franciscan friaries in Italy and Denmark: an investigation of social stratification in two medieval and post-medieval societies

Individuals buried in two 17th–18th Century private chapels, each attached to a Franciscan Friary—one in Italy the other in Denmark—have been studied and sampled for trace element analysis. This selection of individuals allows a comparison of the trace element inventory of members of noble families against friars and townspeople, as well as a comparison between two very similar situations in Denmark and Italy. The relevance of this study is to see if and how differences in social status, and therefore likely differences in dietary habits, are reflected in the trace element chemistry of the bones. Samples of cortical and trabecular tissues have been procured from a long bone, preferentially the femur. The samples have been thoroughly decontaminated. 87 samples from 69 individuals have been analysed for Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Sr, Ba, and Pb by ICP-MS and Hg by CV-AAS. Sex and age at death have been established by anthropological analysis for all members of the two noble families. We find systematic differences between the noble family members and the friars (or townspeople) in both Italy and Denmark. The noble families are in both cases low in Sr and Ba compared to the friars and townspeople, which is interpreted as a dietary signal resulting from higher meat consumption than in the comparative groups. Lead concentrations are found to be higher in the noble family members than in the comparative groups, and the Pb concentration seems to increase with age in the Italian noble family, where both young and middle-aged individuals were investigated. Mercury concentrations are higher in some of the Italian noble family members compared to friars and townspeople; whereas in Denmark it seems that Hg was equally available to the noble family members and the friars alike. This is the first comprehensive and comparative study of post-medieval noble families in Denmark and Italy. The results show that there are distinct similarities in the trace element distribution patterns in the noble family members irrespective of country, which is tentatively suggested to be due to their higher social status.

Corrigendum: In the Wake of the Ongoing Mass Mortality Events: Co-occurrence of Mycobacterium, Haplosporidium and Other Pathogens in Pinna nobilis Collected in Italy and Spain (Mediterranean Sea)

Following the Mass Mortality Events (MMEs) of the pen shell P. nobilis in Campania region and Sicily, a survey of moribund P. nobilis specimens was also conducted in other Italian regions (Campania, Tuscany, Sardinia and Apulia) and Spain (Catalunya). Histopathological and molecular examination of 27 specimens of P. nobils revealed different types of pathogens associated with tissue lesions, morbidity and mortality. Presence of Mycobacterium, Vibrio species, Haplosporidium pinnae and Perkinsus sp. were detected, differently distributed into the areas. The Mycobacterium sp., previously reported in Campania and Sicily samples, was observed in all the analysed areas and individuals, associated to systemic inflammatory lesions. In Spain, H. pinnae was observed in 36% of cases, always associated to the Mycobacterium sp.. Molecular study using hsp65 genes and Internal Transcriber Spacer ITS support that a new species of Mycobacteria is infecting P. nobilis, close to M. triplex and belonging to the group of M. simiae complex with M. sherrisi. Presence of Perkinsus spp. resembling P. mediterraneus was observed in 2 out of 13 Italian individuals whose presence should be addressed as potential risk for shellfish aquaculture of the area. Vibrio spp. were also detected in some case. The preliminary results of this study suggest that Mycobacterium sp., Vibrio spp., H. pinnae and Perkinsus sp. cooperate to disease pathogenesis, being Mycobacterium and Haplosporidium most of the time involved. Vigilant inspection of those areas where MME is now starting, along with continuous systematic surveys, are crucial to define the spatiotemporal progress of mortality and the role of every single pathogen in the disease outcome.

Lesbian and Gay Individual Parenting Desires in Heteronormative Contexts.

The cultural, social and institutional barriers that LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) individuals have to face play crucial roles in their desires and intentions to have children. However, unlike the many studies on the decision-making process in the transition to parenthood, few studies have analysed the origins of parenting desires and intentions among LGBT individuals. This study explores the desires and intentions to have children amongst a sample of childless lesbian and gay Italian individuals. A sample of 285 participants (127 women and 158 men) completed a research protocol composed of items evaluating the strength of their desire to have children, their intentions about having children and their general attitudes towards parenting. The findings revealed how, despite the persisting depth of heteronormativity in the country and the absence of legal protection for lesbian and gay parents, a large percentage of participants expressed the desire and intention to have a child. These parenting intentions would seem to be positively influenced mainly by the negative attitudes towards childlessness and by the value attributed to parenthood.

Minority Stress and Mental Health in Italian Bisexual People

Bisexual people are a strongly stigmatized population experiencing health disparities caused by social stigmatization. The predominant framework helping to understand these health disparities and the impact of stigma on mental health of social groups belonging to a sexual minority identity constitutes the minority stress theory. In Italy, studies assessing this model in bisexual populations are very limited. Within this framework, the current study aimed at assessing in 381 Italian bisexual individuals (62 men and 319 women) the effects of anti-bisexual discrimination, proximal stressors (i.e., anticipated binegativity, internalized binegativity, and outness), and resilience on psychological distress. The results suggested that only anti-bisexual discrimination and internalized binegativity were positively associated with psychological distress, and that resilience was negatively associated with mental health issues. Furthermore, the results suggested that internalized binegativity mediated the relationship between anti-bisexual discrimination and mental health problems. No moderating effect of resilience was found. This is the first study to have thoroughly applied minority stress in Italian bisexual people, providing Italian clinicians and researchers with an outline of the associations between minority stress, stigma, resilience, and psychological distress within this population.

Prevalence of the age-related diseases in older patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

BackgroundThe prevalence of older patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is increasing. There is scarce information on the prevalence of multimorbidity, polypharmacy and age-related diseases in aging TTP patients. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy in a population of acquired TTP patients aged 65 years or more compared with a group of age-matched controls. MethodsAcquired TTP patients enrolled in the Milan TTP registry from December 1st 1999 to March 31th 2018 and aged 65 years or more at the date of last follow-up were evaluated. Controls were Italian healthy individuals recruited from 2006 to March 31th 2018 among friends and non-consanguineous relatives of patients tested for thrombophilia screening at the Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center of Milan. Results36 TTP patients and 127 age-matched controls were included. Compared with controls, TTP patients had a higher prevalence of multimorbidity and polypharmacy. They also showed a higher prevalence of autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis and arterial hypertension and were more chronically treated with corticosteroids and antiplatelets for primary cardiovascular prevention. All these results were confirmed after adjusting for sex. Compared with the general elderly population, TTP patients showed a higher prevalence of ischemic heart disease and stroke. ConclusionsOur findings suggest that a careful comprehensive geriatric assessment of acquired TTP patients is necessary. It is important to look for other autoimmune diseases and such age-related comorbidities as osteoporosis, arterial hypertension, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease.

Are mobile and fixed broadband substitutes or complements? New empirical evidence from Italy and implications for the digital divide policies

The literature on broadband policies has been focusing on the possible role of mobile broadband as a means for addressing geographical digital divide in areas with no or inadequate fixed broadband infrastructure coverage. Broadband plans designed by most of the industrialized countries take the substitutability between fixed and mobile technologies for granted, with restrictions essentially relating only to bandwidth performance. We explore the determinants of individuals' private access (away from work) to the Internet with the smartphone through a mobile broadband connection, focusing on the role played by Internet uses and taking into account the availability of a fixed broadband connection at home. The results of our econometric exercise, carried out on microdata referred to Italian individuals, provide original and interesting evidence: a complementarity effect between mobile and fixed broadband is found for browsing, video streaming, gaming and cloud services; a substitution effect emerges for social networking and music streaming. Such increasing complexity of individuals’ broadband usage patterns should be acknowledged in the way broadband coverage is mapped and policies designed, adopting a more ecosystem-oriented approach which integrates supply- and demand-side features. A first step in this direction is the inclusion of some, so far neglected, key-attributes of the demand (data traffic allowance, latency, ease of interconnection with Internet capable devices) among the relevant dimensions of policy design.

The assessment of severe lexical disorders in Italian individuals with aphasia.

Tests and batteries used in the evaluation of language impairments are overly complex and often ineffective (too difficult) in the assessment of post-stroke patients affected by severe aphasia (global aphasia). The present study reports details on the construction and standardization of a new Italian battery of tasks, specifically designed to assess severe lexical disorders in acquired aphasia (Battery for the Assessment of Severe Acquired Lexical Damage in Italian, BASALDI). The battery is composed of a common set of 64 stimuli (concrete nouns), belonging to both living and non-living categories, and consists of four lexical tasks assessing picture naming, repetition, reading aloud, and oral comprehension. The item selection was based on word frequency, word length, and phonological-articulatory complexity, namely the presence of continuant vs. plosive phones, a variable that may interact with word production in case of severe language damage. Standardization (naming agreement) of a new set of 64 colored images and normative data on Italian healthy subjects pooled across homogenous subgroups for age, gender, and education are reported. Finally, for the four tasks, percentile ranks and z-scores were calculated from a pool of 92 left brain-damaged patients affected by aphasia of different types and severity. The battery allows a fine investigation of lexical disorders, being suitable for diagnostic assessment of mild-to-moderate and severe aphasic lexical deficits, detection of changes over time, and possible dissociations between tasks.

Psychometric Properties of the Italian Versions of the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ)

Gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy beliefs play a major role in the development and maintenance of problem gambling. This study aimed to translate the Gambling Urge Scale (GUS) and the Gambling Refusal Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (GRSEQ) from English to Italian (GUS-I, GRSEQ-I) and to test their factor structure, internal consistency, construct validity, concurrent validity, and gender differences in 513 individuals from the Italian community. Factor structure and construct validity were tested through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, internal consistency through Cronbach’s alpha, concurrent validity through correlations with gambling-related cognitions (GRCS-I), probable pathological gambling (SOGS-I), and gambling functioning (GFA-R-I). Results confirmed that the 6 items of the GUS-I load highly on one dimension of Gambling Urge, and each of the 26 items of the GRSEQ-I load highly on their relevant sub-dimension, among the following: situations/thoughts, drugs, positive emotions, negative emotions. Both scales are internally consistent and show concurrent validity with gambling-related cognitions, probable pathological gambling, and gambling functioning. Males score higher than females at the GUS-I; females score higher than males at the GRSEQ-I. The findings from the present study suggest that the GUS-I and the GRSEQ-I are internally consistent and valid scales for the assessment of gambling urges and gambling refusal self-efficacy in Italian individuals from the community, with significant repercussions in terms of assessment, prevention, and intervention.

Enthusiastic Acts of Evil: The Assessment of Sadistic Personality in Polish and Italian Populations

Subclinical sadism has received substantial attention in recent research as a trait that predicts a variety of malevolent behaviors. The objective of this study was to assess the ‘psychometric robustness and portability’ of the Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP). We examined the convergent and discriminant validity, and invariance of translated versions of the ASP within community samples of Polish and Italian individuals. The study included 568 individuals (340 women and 228 men) residing in Italy (Mage = 23.57, SDage = 2.55) and 556 individuals (411 women, 144 men, 1 other) residing in Poland (Mage = 23.48, SDage = 4.60). For cultural invariance purposes, data from a Canadian sample comprising 638 students were used. To establish convergent and discriminant validity, participants completed measures of sadism, the Dark Triad, the Big Five, interpersonal reactivity, and maladaptive traits described in the DSM-5. Across both samples, convergent and discriminant validity were supported. Configural and partial metric invariance were satisfied, and following implementation of alignment optimization, latent mean differences were evaluated between countries. Results of the study supported the psychometric qualities of the ASP across different cultures and languages, and the utility of the ASP as a valid measure extending beyond university samples.

Early evaluation of five age-correlated DNA methylation markers in an Italian population sample

Age prediction helps investigation to narrowing down the number of potential suspects and give more reliable predicted appearance.However, since it is not known if some of the widely used methylation markers (ELOVL2, C1orf132, TRIM59, KLF14 and FHL2) are applicable as age predictors in the Italian population, in this study we collected and analyzed a set of saliva samples from 96 Italian individuals aged 19–67 years.All DNA samples were quantified, bisulfite-converted, amplified with monoplex and analyzed using PyroMark Q48 Autoprep (Qiagen).The age prediction was performed according to reference (Zbieć-Piekarska et al. [1]).Preliminary results shown a linear correlation between the methylation markers studied and age in the Italian samples, with a Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) of 0.75 and the value of median absolute deviation (MAD) of 5.4.The MAD value observed with group 1 (age 20 s or less) was 2.8, with group 2 (30 s) was 4.5, with group 3 (40 s) was 4.7 and with group 4 (50 s or more) was 5.4.If we take the assumption that age prediction is correct when predicted age is in the range of max ±5 years of the actual age, the number of correct prediction decrease with increasing of the age group. Moreover, in contrast of what expected, our data set has shown a bias in the underestimating of predicted age at the increasing of chronological age (20% group 1, 60% group 2, 79% group 3 and 88% group 4). This experiment suggest to increase the number of different population sampled since DNA methylation could be affected by genetic variation, environmental and lifestyle variation.