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- Caravita, Simona C. S., et al.
(author)
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When the bullied peer is native-born vs. immigrant: A mixed-method study with a sample of native-born and immigrant adolescents
- 2020
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. - : WILEY. - 0036-5564 .- 1467-9450. ; 61:1, s. 97-107
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An increasing number of immigrant students attend Italian schools, with the possibility of being involved in bullying episodes. A few studies have investigated this phenomenon, providing some evidence that immigrant students may face an increased risk of being bullied compared to native-born students. The present study adopted a mixed-method design, which may better detect the dynamics of bullying towards immigrant peers. Participants were 692 native-born and immigrant students (20.5% with immigrant background; 54.8% females) who filled in self-report measures about their bullying experiences, popularity, acceptance of diversity at school, and prejudice. Thirty-five pupils (54% with immigrant background) were also interviewed. Two hypothetical bullying scenarios were presented: one depicting a native-born victim and one depicting an immigrant victim. After each scenario, adolescents were encouraged to reason about the motives for bullying. Quantitative data showed that general bullying was associated with perceived popularity status among peers, while racial bullying was associated with prejudice but not peer status. The relevance of anti-immigrant prejudices in driving racial bullying emerged also from adolescents interviews. The qualitative data indicated that among the reasons for bullying, adolescents mentioned a desire for dominance and popularity, in particular when the victim was non-immigrant. Findings suggest that, in addition to individual and peer group-related risk factors, prejudice also needs to be addressed in anti-bullying interventions aimed to counteract racial bullying.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Hong, Eva, et al.
(author)
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Target Gene Sequencing To Define the Susceptibility of Neisseria meningitidis to Ciprofloxacin
- 2013
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In: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. - 0066-4804 .- 1098-6596. ; 57:4, s. 1961-1964
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Meningococcal gyrA gene sequence data, MICs, and mouse infection were used to define the ciprofloxacin breakpoint for Neisseria meningitidis. Residue T91 or D95 of GyrA was altered in all meningococcal isolates with MICs of >= 0.064 mu g/ml but not among isolates with MICs of <= 0.032 mu g/ml. Experimental infection of ciprofloxacin-treated mice showed slower bacterial clearance when GyrA was altered. These data suggest a MIC of >= 0.064 mu g/ml as the ciprofloxacin breakpoint for meningococci and argue for the molecular detection of ciprofloxacin resistance.
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| 4. |
- Mazzone, Angela, et al.
(author)
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“Judging by the cover” : A grounded theory study of bullying towards same-country and immigrant peers
- 2018
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In: Children and youth services review. - : Pergamon Press. - 0190-7409 .- 1873-7765. ; 91, s. 403-412
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study investigated students perspectives about bullying towards same-country and immigrant peers. Thirty-five Italian and immigrant students (age range: 11-15) took part to the study. Participants were probed with two bullying scenarios, depicting respectively a new classmate from another Italian city and from a foreign country. A Grounded Theory approach was adopted to examine participants perspectives about the motives for bullying. Findings showed that a process of socializing deviance is at the core of both forms of bullying. This social process refers to a series of shared beliefs within the peer group about the victims deviant features. Three sub-categories related to both forms of bullying emerged from the core concept: (a) Rejecting the newcomer deviance, (b) Rejecting physical deviance, (c) and Rejecting personality deviance. These sub-categories were related to the sub-categories of bullying towards immigrant peers: (d) Rejecting cultural deviance, (e) and Learned racism. Findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical relevance.
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| 6. |
- Pilotto, Andrea, et al.
(author)
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SARS-CoV-2 encephalitis is a cytokine release syndrome: evidences from cerebrospinal fluid analyses.
- 2021
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In: Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1537-6591. ; 73:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Recent findings indicated that SARS-CoV-2 related neurological manifestations involve cytokine release syndrome along with endothelial activation, blood brain barrier dysfunction, and immune-mediated mechanisms. Very few studies have fully investigated the CSF correlates of SARS-CoV-2 encephalitis.Patients with PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection and encephalitis (COV-Enc), encephalitis without SARS-CoV-2 infection (ENC) and healthy controls (HC) underwent an extended panel of CSF neuronal (NfL, T-tau), glial (GFAP, TREM2, YKL-40) and inflammatory biomarkers (IL-1β, IL-6, Il-8, TNF- α, CXCL-13 and β2-microglobulin).Thirteen COV-Enc, 21 ENC and 18 HC entered the study. In COV-Enc cases, CSF was negative for SARS-CoV-2 real-time PCR but exhibited increased IL-8 levels independently from presence of pleocytosis/hyperproteinorracchia. COV-Enc patients showed increased IL-6, TNF- α, and β2-microglobulin and glial markers (GFAP, sTREM-2, YKL-40) levels similar to ENC but normal CXCL13 levels. Neuronal markers NfL and T-Tau were abnormal only in severe cases.SARS-CoV-2-related encephalitis were associated with prominent glial activation and neuroinflammatory markers, whereas neuronal markers were increased in severe cases only. The pattern of CSF alterations suggested a cytokine-release syndrome as the main inflammatory mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 related encephalitis.
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| 7. |
- Taha, Muhamed-Kheir, et al.
(author)
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Defining the breakpoint for resistance to rifampicin in Neisseria meningitidis by rpoB sequencing
- 2009
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Clinical isolates of Neisseria meningitidis resistant to rifampicin are important to identify asthey lead to failure of chemoprophylaxis of meningococcal disease. However, theidentification of these isolates is hindered by the absence of a harmonized breakpoint despiteefforts of standardization. In the present study, a large number (n=352) of clinical N.meningitidis isolates from 12 mainly European countries and spanning over 25 years (1984 to2009) were examined. The collection comprised all clinical isolates with MIC 0.25 mg/lreceived by the national reference laboratories for meningococci in the participating countries(n=161). In addition, representative isolates displaying MIC of rifampicin <0.25 mg/l wereexamined (n=191). Phenotyping and genotyping of isolates were performed and a 660 bpDNA fragment of the rpoB gene was sequenced in all the included isolates. Sequencesdiffering by at least one nucleotide were defined as a unique rpoB allele (n=55). Geometricmeans of MIC were calculated for isolates displaying the same allele. All the clinical isolatesdisplaying MIC >1 mg/l of rifampicin possessed rpoB alleles with critical mutations (in total21 alleles), resulting in substitutions at the codon H552 and less frequently at nearby codons(S548 and S557). These alterations were absent in the alleles (n=34) found in all isolates withMIC 1 mg/l. Based on these findings, rifampicin susceptible isolates could be defined asthose with MIC 1 mg/l. A new web site was created based on the data from this work (http://neisseria.org/nm/typing/rpoB). The rifampicin resistant isolates belonged to diversegenetic lineages and provoked lower bacteremia levels in mice. This biological cost mayexplain the non-expansion of the rifampicin resistant isolates.
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