The Effects of Hospital-Based School Lessons on Children's Emotions, Distress and Pain.

Lessons conducted in hospitals ensure school continuity for hospitalized children unable to attend regular school. Hospital-based school (HS) provides a tailored experience that ensures normality for children through education. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of the proposed lessons in reducing negative emotions, distress, and pain in children, as well as fostering positive affects.

The power of art and the powers of adolescents with cancer: Age-specific projects at Italian pediatric oncology centers.

This article describes the oncology programs developed in Italy for adolescents and young adults with cancer, with a specific focus on the local projects created in pediatric oncology centers. A common feature of such projects is the emphasis on creative and artistic activities and laboratories (involving music, photography, novel writing, fashion design, and so on) designed to give young patients innovative means of expression.This article highlights the amazing powers of adolescents involved in these projects: the power to produce beautiful things in a place that is not normally associated with the idea of beauty; the power to make their doctors smile and grasp the profound sense of life; the power to make hospitals become places for producing culture.

Amateur dubbing as a healthcare activity in the pediatric hospital setting: a pilot project.

Background: Dubbing is a mode of audiovisual translation (AVT) usually performed by experienced dubbing actors for professional purposes. Nowadays, thanks to advances in technology, everybody can create personal dubbed versions of audiovisual content for humorous and parodic as well as therapeutic and pedagogical purposes. The aim of this pilot project was to investigate the potential and applicability of amateur dubbing within the hospital setting, targeting children and adolescents.

3D-Printed Patient-Specific Casts for the Distal Radius in Children: Outcome and Pre-Market Survey.

Background: Orthopaedic and Trauma surgery is expected to undergo profound transformation as a result of the adoption of 3D technology. Among the various applications, patient specific manufacturing of splints and casts would appear to be, particularly in children, an interesting implementation. This study aims to assess the safety of patient specific 3D casts obtained with a newly developed 3D-scanning devise in a small case series.

Subterranean Campodeidae fauna from Sicily (Diplura): its biogeographical interest with the description of a new species of Plusiocampa.

A description is given of a biogeographically interesting new species of Campodeidae (Diplura), Plusiocampa (Plusiocampa) tinoamorei sp. nov., a troglobiotic species found in the Sicilian Villasmundo and Scrivilleri caves.

A new troglobitic Tychobythinus from Sicily (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Pselaphinae).

A new troglobitic Pselaphinae, Tychobythinus villasmundi sp. nov., is described from Villasmundo Cave (Melilli, Syracuse province, Sicily).

Relaxation-guided imagery reduces perioperative anxiety and pain in children: a randomized study.

Several studies have shown the efficacy of psychological interventions in reducing preoperative anxiety in children undergoing surgery. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a specific non-pharmacological technique, the relaxation-guided imagery, in reducing both preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain in a sample of 60 children (6-12 years old) undergoing minor surgery who were randomly assigned to the experimental group (N = 30) or the control group (N = 30). The first group received the relaxation-guided imagery, before the induction of general anesthesia; the second group received standard care.

Acceptability and feasibility of a therapeutic board game for children and adolescents with cancer: the Italian version of Shop Talk.

Purpose: Shop Talk is a therapeutic board game for children and adolescents with cancer, aimed at helping them talk about their disease, life, and emotions in a creative way and in a secure setting. The scope of this study was to translate Shop Talk into Italian, evaluating its acceptability, feasibility, and emotional impact.

Methods: The game board, question cards, and game instructions were translated into Italian from the original English-Spanish version.

Occupational exposure to nitrous oxide during procedural pain control in children: a comparison of different inhalation techniques and scavenging systems.

Background: Nitrous oxide (N2 O 50% in oxygen) is commonly used for painful procedures in children. Potential negative health effects associated with chronic workplace exposure limit its use. Safe occupational N2 O exposure concentrations are below 25 ppm environmental concentration as a time-weighted average (TWA) and below 200 ppm as a short-time exposure level (STEL) of 15 min.