La Gestion Research Articles

Finanziamento della Santa Sede, trasparenza della destinazione e amministrazione patrimoniale

Financing of the Holy See, transparency of destination and patrimonial administration
 ABSTRACT: The essay analyzes the topic of the economic and financial management of the Holy See’s patrimony and in particular the reforms implemented during the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis which ensure greater transparency of financial operations. In carrying out its universal mission, the Church relies on transparent and efficient asset management. All those who manage the Church’s patrimony must administer it wisely, avoiding the performance of speculative operations in order to preserve the economic value of the assets, which are instrumental to all Church activities. Because of this, the Vatican judicial system has also been strengthened to prevent and eventually repress abuses in the management of ecclesiastical patrimony. It must be stressed, however, that, excessive garantism in the management of Vatican finances could risk hindering the Holy See’s activities. In this sense, the essay also reflects on the advisability of bypassing the ordinary system of financial transparency in peculiar circumstances in order to guarantee the Holy See’s evangelization activities.
 SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La gestione finanziaria - 3. Le norme di gestione patrimoniale della Santa Sede: dalla Pastor Bonus alla Praedicate Evangelium - 4. Riflessioni conclusive.

English

Soil degradation is increasingly becoming a problem for agricultural production due to poor production practices. The search for solutions to this phenomenon has led producers to adopt sustainable land management (SLM) strategies proposed by projects and programs. This study aims to evaluate the effect of SLM measures on the economic efficiency of maize producers who are beneficiaries of the Projet de Résiliences aux effets des ChangementsClimatiquespar la Gestion Durable des Terres au Nord Bénin (Project of Climate Change Resilience through Sustainable Land Management in Northern Benin PRCC-GDT). Economic efficiency was estimated using stochastic frontier models and dual cost function with the Cobb-Douglas specification, respectively. Socio-economic data were collected through a survey of a random sample of 152 producers, including 73 beneficiaries and 79 non-beneficiaries in the communes of Kouandé and Malanville. The results obtained show that pigeon pea, mucuna, soil fertility management, crop association, crop rotation, direct seeding, perpendicular plowing, the use of improved plants, and the use of drought-tolerant seeds are the measures most applied in maize production. The technical, allocative, and economic efficiencies are respectively on average 0.4419; 0.9887 and 0.4369 for the PRCC-GDT beneficiaries and 0.4110; 0.9887 and 0.4059 for the non-beneficiaries. Pigeon pea, crop rotation, mucuna, and the use of drought-tolerant seeds are the measures that ensure the economic efficiency of beneficiaries. Agricultural policies must be put in place to promote the adoption of SLM measures that are most effective in ensuring sustainable agriculture. Key words: Efficiency, sustainable management, maize production, Benin.

Le scelte tragiche durante l’emergenza sanitaria: quando le risorse sono scarse, chi curare? Una riflessione comparatistica

The Tragic Choices during the Covid Health Emergency: When the Resources are Limited, Who Should be Cured First among Several Patients? A Comparative Law Analysis
 SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. L’approccio italiano: le raccomandazioni di etica clinica della SIAARTI e le linee guida SIAARTI-SIMLA - 3. La gestione della scarsità di risorse sanitarie a livello comparato - 4. Considerazioni (finali) comparatistiche - 5. Uno sguardo verso il futuro.
 ABSTRACT: During the Covid-19 health emergency, a situation of scarcity of resources of different nature, albeit all somehow connected with the “medical world” (e.g. nurses and doctors), dramatically unfolded. This organisational “catch-22” induced the SIAARTI (the Italian Medical Society) to issue some recommendations of clinical ethics. The last ones turn out to be the subject matter of multiple criticisms: given the potential criteria of allocation of resources, one of those adopted the chronological one. Starting from this reflection, the paper discusses and analyses, from a comparative perspective, the approach taken by further countries: in this respect the demarcation lines existing between the Italian responses to the pandemic and those coming from other European - but not EU, namely Switzerland and the United Kingdom - countries will be highlighted.

Automatically detecting Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis from endoscopic imaging

BackgroundThe SI-CURA project (Soluzioni Innovative per la gestione del paziente e il follow up terapeutico della Colite UlceRosA) is an Italian initiative aimed at the development of artificial intelligence solutions to discriminate pathologies of different nature, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), namely Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), based on endoscopic imaging of patients (P) and healthy controls (N).MethodsIn this study we develop a deep learning (DL) prototype to identify disease patterns through three binary classification tasks, namely (1) discriminating positive (pathological) samples from negative (healthy) samples (P vs N); (2) discrimination between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease samples (UC vs CD) and, (3) discrimination between Ulcerative Colitis and negative (healthy) samples (UC vs N).ResultsThe model derived from our approach achieves a high performance of Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) > 0.9 on the test set for P versus N and UC versus N, and MCC > 0.6 on the test set for UC versus CD.ConclusionOur DL model effectively discriminates between pathological and negative samples, as well as between IBD subgroups, providing further evidence of its potential as a decision support tool for endoscopy-based diagnosis.

“Out of Cuba” – The Additional Botanical Expeditions of Brother Marie-Victorin Across the Caribbean (1940–1942)

Brother Marie-Victorin was the founder of the Montreal Botanical Garden, and one of the most important figures in the botanical history of Canada. Between 1938 and 1944, he undertook seven major plant exploration expeditions to Cuba that resulted in the discovery of several new Cuban endemics. Archival research carried out in the Division de la Gestion de Documents et des Archives (University of Montreal) revealed that during his voyages to Cuba, he made three major side-trips in 1940, 1941, and 1942 to other regions of the Caribbean. Specifically to Barranquilla (Colombia), Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Yucatan (Mexico). We could not find any of his written accounts of his 1940 voyage to the Yucatan; however, we were able to find a collection of photographic slides. An unpublished 33-page travelogue of his 1941 trip to Colombia, Jamaica, and Trinidad was discovered, studied, and translated into English, with annotations. Furthermore, we examined and interpreted two of his published papers that described the 1942 visits to Haiti and Puerto Rico. During these three “out-of-Cuba” voyages, no plant material was collected; however, Brother Marie-Victorin's written accounts and the 502 photos that he took provide unique insights into Caribbean society of the 1940s, as well as on the naturalists and botanists working in the region, and the plants and habitats they encountered. Brother Marie-Victorin's records highlight racial discrimination against those of African descent in Jamaica and Trinidad. It appears that these trips did not lead to major botanical research initiatives. Furthermore, the few collections that he made for potential propagation in botanic gardens or botanical institutes are not currently being grown any longer. The trips had clear leisure aims and they were centered on learning about the society, the flora, and plant science research activities of the visited areas.

Un nuovo paradigma per la gestione forestale sostenibile: la selvicoltura “più” prossima alla natura

Closer-to-Nature Forest Management is a new concept proposed both in the EU Forest Strategy for 2030 and in the EU Biodiversity strategy for 2030. Closer-to-Nature Forest Management aims to improve the conservation values and climate resilience of multifunctional, managed forests in Europe. We present the concept based on a set of seven guiding principles and discuss main problems and opportunities of its application at continental scale and in Italy.

A general model for competency repositories and its instantiation to the information systems domain

Competency repositories have been developed for several years with various objectives: helping to establish competency assessments, helping with recruitment, helping to build training. A repository can bring together the descriptions of several hundred competencies. However, few studies have focused on the structuring of a competency repository. In this paper, the authors propose a general model for a competency repository based on 5 principles. Two of them consist in using a composition relationship to define competencies at several levels of abstraction and a prerequisite relationship to establish prerequisites between competencies. To illustrate the model, an application in the domain of information systems design and implementation is fully developed. The proposed repository, in addition to a new structure, incorporates new competencies compared to existing IS repositories, in particular with regard to strategic management of the IS, development methodologies and techniques, interpersonal competencies, prerequisites coming from basic disciplines. This repository aims primarily to help the organization of academic and professional training and to allow the assessment of personal competencies. This initiative comes from the French network of MIAGE (Méthodes Informatiques Appliquées à la Gestion des Entreprises) masters.

Nutritional Regimes Enriched with Antioxidants as an Efficient Adjuvant for IBD Patients under Infliximab Administration, a Pilot Study.

Antioxidants are privileged candidates for the development of adjuvants able to improve the efficiency of pharmacological therapies, particularly for chronic inflammatory syndromes. During the last 20 years, anti-TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha) monoclonal antibodies infusion has been the biological therapy most frequently administered but there is still large space for improvement in disease remission rates and maintenance. In this context, nutritional bioactive compounds contained in dietary patterns or included as supplements, may act as adjuvants for the induction and maintenance of IBD (inflammatory bowel diseases) remission. To verify this possibility, a single-center preliminary study (SI-CURA, Soluzioni Innovative per la gestione del paziente e il follow up terapeutico della Colite UlceRosA) was designed and carried out to evaluate whether a daily administration of purple corn supplement could improve the response to Infliximab (IFX) infusion of IBD patients with both Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). A cohort of 47 patients was enrolled in the study. Biological samples were collected before the first and the third IFX infusion. All patients received nutritional guidelines, 27 of them received commercial red fruit tea with low anthocyanins content, while 20 received a purple corn supplement with a high anthocyanin content. Results show that the administration of an antioxidant-enriched purple corn supplement could improve IFX-mediated disease remission in terms of circulating inflammatory markers. Comparison between CD and UC patients revealed that, at this anthocyanin dosage, the purple corn extract administration improved the IFX response in CD but not in UC patients. Our results may pave the way for a new metacentric study of CD patients, recruiting a wider cohort and followed-up over a longer observational time.

Discovering pesticides and their TPs in Luxembourg waters using open cheminformatics approaches

The diversity of hundreds of thousands of potential organic pollutants and the lack of (publicly available) information about many of them is a huge challenge for environmental sciences, engineering, and regulation. Suspect screening based on high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) has enormous potential to help characterize the presence of these chemicals in our environment, enabling the detection of known and newly emerging pollutants, as well as their potential transformation products (TPs). Here, suspect list creation (focusing on pesticides relevant for Luxembourg, incorporating data sources in 4 languages) was coupled to an automated retrieval of related TPs from PubChem based on high confidence suspect hits, to screen for pesticides and their TPs in Luxembourgish river samples. A computational workflow was established to combine LC-HRMS analysis and pre-screening of the suspects (including automated quality control steps), with spectral annotation to determine which pesticides and, in a second step, their related TPs may be present in the samples. The data analysis with Shinyscreen (https://gitlab.lcsb.uni.lu/eci/shinyscreen/), an open source software developed in house, coupled with custom-made scripts, revealed the presence of 162 potential pesticide masses and 96 potential TP masses in the samples. Further identification of these mass matches was performed using the open source approach MetFrag (https://msbi.ipb-halle.de/MetFrag/). Eventual target analysis of 36 suspects resulted in 31 pesticides and TPs confirmed at Level-1 (highest confidence), and five pesticides and TPs not confirmed due to different retention times. Spatio-temporal analysis of the results showed that TPs and pesticides followed similar trends, with a maximum number of potential detections in July. The highest detections were in the rivers Alzette and Mess and the lowest in the Sûre and Eisch. This study (a) added pesticides, classification information and related TPs into the open domain, (b) developed automated open source retrieval methods - both enhancing FAIRness (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) of the data and methods; and (c) will directly support “L’Administration de la Gestion de l’Eau” on further monitoring steps in Luxembourg.

Bacteriophage therapy for challenging bacterial infections: achievements, limitations and prospects for future clinical use by veterinary dermatologists.

Bacteriophages were discovered just over 100 years ago and have been used to treat bacterial infections in animals since the 1920s. The antimicrobial resistance crisis has led to a new surge of interest in the use of bacteriophage therapy as an alternative or supplement to antimicrobial therapy in humans and other animals. To describe the nature of bacteriophages and provide a critical review and update on the clinical use of bacteriophages in the treatment of challenging bacterial infections, with an emphasis on companion animal veterinary applications. The scientific literature on the subject was critically evaluated. Findings from the most pertinent papers have been presented in summary form and critiqued. Over the last 20 years there has been a considerable increase in the volume and quality of publications dealing with bacteriophage therapy. Some recent papers build on excellent work published in the 1980s and describe promising veterinary applications. Challenges related particularly to the registration and approval of phage remedies will need to be overcome before phage therapy can become a mainstream tool for use in veterinary settings. Considerably more research, particularly controlled clinical trials, needs to be done. Bacteriophage therapy is one of the most promising approaches to tackling the looming antimicrobial resistance crisis, yet substantial regulatory challenges will need to be overcome before it enters widespread use. Phage therapy also may, in the future, improve the management of challenging bacterial infections that are not necessarily multidrug-resistant.

Partial Discharge Activity Diagnosis in Electrical Cable Terminations Using Neural Networks

The electrical cable is an essential equipment in electricity transportation and distribution which are generally carried out using its types consisting in overhead lines or underground cables. The terminations are among the primordial accessories in electrical cable, they are intended to cover and protect the ends presenting the weak point of failure of an electrical cable because in these zones the electrical stress increases so much. Consequently, partial discharge activity will eventually occur and develop into arcing (Elaggoune et al. in Deuxieme Conference Internationale Sur La Maintenance, La Gestion, La Logistique Et L’electrotechnique, Enset D’oran, Algeria pp 1–5, 2012; Elaggoune in Localisation des sources potentielles des decharges parasites creees, par un dispositif experimental de detection des Decharges Partielles dans un câble de l’energie electrique.memoire de magister, Universite de Laghouat, Algerie, 2012; Goyal in Ind Eng Lett 4:15–20, 2014). Therefore, the terminations must be diagnosed periodically in order to avoid an insulation system breakdown, which causes a power outage and consequently excessive economic losses. The objective of this work is to assess the health of electrical cable terminations usingthedissolved gas analysis which is an effective chemical method toguarantee a detection of partial discharges in cable terminations (Samsudin et al. in Incipient fault detection in 33/11kV power transformers by using combined dissolved gas analysis technique and acoustic partial discharge measurement and validated through untanking, Modern Electric Power Systems (MEPS), Wroclaw, Poland, pp 1–6, 2010; Faisal et al. in Int J Electr Eng Inform 4: 186–201, 2012; Kumpulainen in Aspects and directions of internal arc protection, Doctoral Thesis, University Of Vaasa, Finland 2016; Vahamaki in Arc protection as integrated part of line protection relays, See http://www.cigaproject.ch/wp/docs/Arc%20protection%20integrated%20in%20protection%20relays.pdf , 2020). However, this method failed to identify this phenomenon in some cases. To remedy with this problem, Radial Basic Functions neural network is applied as simulation tool. Therefore, the Radial Basic Functions neural network, based on dissolved gas analysis, can be used successfully in monitoring electrical cable terminations against partial discharges phenomenon.

Gamification: a new key for enhancing engagement in MOOCs on energy?

Gamification is an innovative educational strategy that uses elements of games for educational purposes, including the completion of appealing challenges to increase student levels of engagement and learning. The objective of this research is to assess the effects of gamification as a teaching method used in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) about clean and conventional energy. This research is part of the project “Laboratorio Binacional para la Gestion Inteligente de la Sustentabilidad Energetica y la Formacion Tecnologica” [Binational Laboratory for the Intelligent Management of Sustainable Energy and Technological Formation]. A total of 4819 participants enrolled in the course, 621 passed the course, and 647 completed the gamified challenge. Results show the impact of gamification on the cognitive, social, and emotional dimensions, where more than 90% of the participants agreed about feeling more motivated and challenged than when using traditional teaching methods. Therefore, the use of this methodology in online teaching could be very impactful in personalizing and enhancing the learning opportunities of massive, open online courses.

Las dinámicas fronterizas en el siglo XX-XXI: un espejo de la evolución del orden mundial

El artículo analiza las dinámicas fronterizas desde el comienzo del siglo XX a través de una revisión bibliográfica apoyada en el análisis de datos cuantitativos y dos casos de estudio.La tesis central es que existe un conflicto entre las fronteras culturales y las político-territoriales, desafiando los límites geográficos reconocidos oficialmente. La frontera político-territorial es un fenómeno jurídico, una demarcación lineal que establece los límites espaciales dentro de los cuales el estado nación ejerce la soberanía de forma exclusiva, eficaz, autónoma respecto al exterior y bajo el reconocimiento de la legislación internacional. La frontera cultural es un fenómeno histórico que responde a hechos vitales y no a una construcción jurídica ni política ni intelectual. Podemos definirla como un área sociocultural habitada por una población que comparte una serie de elementos simbólicos, costumbres y valores. La gestión del conflicto entre los dos tipos de frontera depende de los desarrollos históricos que tienen lugar en el ámbito de las relaciones internacionalesNuestra tesis muestra que dichas dinámicas pueden articularse en torno a tres ejes. El primero está guiado por el auge del proceso globalizador y la consecuente apertura de fronteras. La apertura de fronteras puede definirse como el aumento en la porosidad de los símbolos, costumbres y valores compartidos en un área sociocultural respecto a los del exterior y/o la disminución de barreras al tránsito físico. Se le contrapone otro eje que lleva al cierre de fronteras, espoleado por los procesos de descolonización, la disolución de la URSS y el resurgir del nacionalismo. El cierre de fronteras se define como la disminución de la porosidad fronteriza o el aumento de las barreras al tránsito físico. El tercer eje está marcado por las disputas territoriales, fundadas sobre diferencias culturales, que llevan a intentar modificar las fronteras oficiales. La modificación de fronteras se da bien cuando un estado nación busca alargar la línea fronteriza que delimita el área bajo su soberanía o un grupo sociocultural trata de delimitar un territorio soberano frente al exterior, bien cuando un área sociocultural definida se expande o retrae sea por el auge o decline de su cultura sea por el del grupo humano que la representa.Los acontecimientos históricos para el análisis de los tres ejes citados provienen de fuentes bibliográficas, periodísticas y de bases de datos. Además, mostramos como la teoría se plasma en dos casos de estudio actuales, el independentismo catalán y el intento venezolano de crear un nuevo poder regional en el Caribe.

Gestión del conocimiento en la universidad: cuestionario para la evaluación institucional

La gestión del conocimiento (GC) en las universidades es un proceso cotidiano. Es importante detectar las características de la GC que se realiza en ellas. En este trabajo se platea validar un cuestionario para evaluar la gestión de conocimiento de la universidad (CEGCU) por medio del juicio de expertos. La indagación es descriptiva, no experimental, transversal, se examinan los datos con alfa de Cronbach y análisis factorial exploratorio, se demuestra lo pertinente y comprensible del CEGCU. Se considera que éste es un instrumento que puede aportar el análisis del rendimiento organizacional de las universidades.

Multidisciplinary integrated approach for older adults with symptomatic osteoarthritis: SIMFER and SI-GUIDA Joint Position Statement.

Multidisciplinary approach to osteoarthritis (OA) in older patients, whose functional decline is multifactorial and who present with multiple symptoms, has been long advocated, but it is still seldom implemented in daily practice. Therefore, further indications for the management of OA are eagerly awaited and should consider the specific clinical features of this population, including the presence of frailty and comorbidities. This clinical approach should be based both on well-grounded evidence and practical experience of experts in OA management. This manuscript comments the multidisciplinary integrated approach for OA management in the older population, according to the opinion of a multidisciplinary Panel of Experts. This project was developed by a Steering Committee, which consisted of three experts that were identified by the Italian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (Società Italiana di Medicina Fisica e Riabilitativa, SIMFER) and the Italian Society for Unified and Interdisciplinary Management of Musculoskeletal Pain and Algodystrophy (Società Italiana per la Gestione Unificata e Interdisciplinare del Dolore muscolo-scheletrico e dell'Algodistrofia, SI-GUIDA). The Steering Committee identified key evidence on the management of OA in the older through systematic research in MEDLINE and EMBASE, selected the most relevant paper among those identified, and defined some questions concerning current unmet needs in the management of symptomatic OA in the older accordingly. The Panel discussed the identified evidence and questions during two meetings. The discussion was used to generate seven statements with relevance to clinical practice. In conclusion, older adults with symptomatic OA present multiple concomitant issues, including other diseases, marked pain, poly-pharmacy, and often poor psychological and/or socioeconomical status. According to the above-described evidence, it is crucial that the approach to those patients is multidisciplinary and based on the use of dedicated tools. A combination of exercise, mechanical support and properly selected analgesic treatment will greatly help the management of the OA patient, improving at the same time his/her quality of life.

Espacio de coyuntura: la ética periodística aplicada a la comunicación y a la gestión cultural

El presente trabajo expone los procesos de análisis y la consecuente apropiación de los principios teóricos de los alumnos del quinto ciclo del Programa Educativo de Comunicación y Gestión Cultural, al verse incitados a confrontar su óptica de las redes sociales como Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin y Tumbrl con los principios deontológicos aplicables al ejercicio de su futura profesión; esto como parte de los ejercicios propuestos en la materia: La Ética Periodística Aplicada a la Comunicación y a la Gestión Cultural.

Soil moisture from remote sensing to forecast desert locust presence

Abstract Preventive control of desert locusts is based on monitoring recession areas to detect outbreaks. Remote sensing has been increasingly used in the preventive control strategy. Soil moisture is a major ecological driver of desert locust populations but is still missing in the current imagery toolkit for preventive management. By means of statistical analyses, combining field observations of locust presence/absence and soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution from a disaggregation algorithm, we assess the potential of soil moisture to help preventive management of desert locust. We observe that a soil moisture dynamics increase of above 0.09 cm3/cm3 for 20 days followed by a decrease of soil moisture may increase the chance to observe locusts 70 days later. We estimate the gains in early warning timing compared to using imagery from vegetation to be 3 weeks. We demonstrate that forecasting errors may be reduced by the combination of several types of indicators such as soil moisture and vegetation index in a common statistical model forecasting locust presence. Policy implications. Soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution should be used to plan desert locust surveys in preventive management. When soil moisture increases in a dry area of potential habitat for the desert locust, field surveys should be conducted two months later to evaluate the need of further preventive actions. Remote sensing estimates of soil moisture could also be used for other applications of integrated pest management.

Dynamic and geomorphic characterizations of the Mocoa debris flow (March 31, 2017, Putumayo Department, southern Colombia)

On the night of March 31, 2017, a rainfall-induced landslide event with more than 600 shallow landslides was triggered in Mocoa (Putumayo Department, southern Colombia). These landslides and the subsequent Mocoa Debris Flow (MDF) event caused, according to data published from the Unidad Nacional para la Gestion del Riesgo de Desastres (UNGRD, disaster risk management government agency), a catastrophic aftermath where 333 people were killed (including at least 118 children), 398 people were injured, and 76 people are still missing. In order to unravel the kinematic aspects of the MDF formation and the geomorphic setting which conditioned debris flow and landslide formation, high-resolution drone and satellite imagery, geomorphic indices, landslide inventory, and rainfall data from the event were analyzed. Flow discharge and velocity calculations associated to the MDF were calculated using three different methodologies which showed that the flow acquired a volume of ~ 2.6 × 106 m3 and an average velocity of 8–12 m/s, while the landslides developed in the Taruca, Taruquita, Mulato, and Sangoyaco basins contributed an estimated volume of about 298,000 m3. A landslide volume of about 3.44 × 106 m3 of material was calculated, from which less than 10% feed the MDF. Heavy rainfall and antecedent rainfalls were the triggering factors associated to shallow landslides developed on granitic rocks from the Mocoa monzogranite. Mass movements developed in residual soils from sedimentary rocks are more related to poor vegetation cover and intense anthropic activity such as extensive farming and deforestation. The recent activity of La Tebaida–Mocoa Fault and exhumation of the Mocoa monzogranite are considered as the main contributors to hillslope instability and landslide susceptibility. An active tectonic mountain front, steep slopes, and high drainage gradients are common at the study basins and are the key features controlling erosion and sedimentation rates. In this document, a brief introduction to the climatic, geological, and geomorphological characteristics of the involved basins and kinematic behavior of the MDF are presented.

La gestione forestale sostenibile non può prescindere dalla conoscenza ecologica e conservazionistica attuale

Abstract: In this note, the new Italian law for active forestry is discussed in relation to sustainable forest management criteria. In particular, we discuss how the law has serious flaws concerning the aim of “Maintenance, conservation and appropriate enhancement of biological diversity in forest ecosystems”. We ask for an inclusion of conservation biology principles following the “Half of the Earth Paradigm” stated by Edward Wilson to ensure forest biodiversity conservation for future generation. A sustainable forest policy should also consider adequate criteria for the preservation of existing old growth forests and the rewilding of remote or strategic environments at regional level through the ecological planning of strict reserves in the different ecoregions.

Développement et validation de la version canadienne-française de l’échelle de Satisfaction des Adolescents de la gestion de la Douleur postopératoire – Scoliose idiopathique (SAD-S)

ABSTRACTBackground: Spinal fusion for scoliosis generates moderate to severe pain intensity. There are currently no instruments available to measure adolescents’ satisfaction regarding post-spinal fusion pain management.Aims: To develop and validate a scale on satisfaction of adolescents regarding pain management following spinal fusion for scoliosis.Methods: A methodological design was used to develop and validate the French-Canadian scale “Satisfaction des Adolescents de la gestion de la Douleur postopératoire – Scoliose idiopathique (SAD-S)”. A modified Delphi method, with seven healthcare professionals and 10 adolescents, was used to establish content validity of the SAD-S. A pre-test of the scale was conducted with 10 adolescents post-spinal fusion. The final version of the scale was validated through a pilot study with 98 adolescents following their surgery.Results: The SAD-S scale includes a total of 13 items. Principal component analysis yielded a two-factor structure (2 subscales): 1) Pain management education and 2) Education regarding medication. These two factors explained 47,8% of the total variance for satisfaction. A Cronbach’s alpha of 0,84 was obtained for internal consistency.Conclusion: Validation of the SAD-S scale showed that it has good psychometric properties with this population. Further validation is required with a larger sample to pursue its validation.