Disinformation a problem for democracy: profiling and risks of consensus manipulation.

The aims of this article is to analyze in the post-pandemic era of technological wars how platformisation and the opacity that characterizes it can generate manipulative effects on the dynamics of consensus building. We are now in the era of the self-informative program; the hierarchical dimension of sources has vanished in parallel to the collapse of the authority, credibility, and trustworthiness of classical sources. Now, the user creates his own informative program, which gives rise to a new relationship between digital individuals.

Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of adolescents: the crucial role of technology.

Background: The year 2020 will be remembered as the "year of the COVID-19 pandemic". The world population had to familiarize themselves with words as swabs, personal protective equipment, pandemic. To curb the wave of the pandemic, almost all the countries imposed self-isolation and social distancing.

Quarantine Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic From the Perspective of Pediatric Patients With Type 1 Diabetes: A Web-Based Survey.

A crucial aspect of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was the psychological impact on the population. Most countries issued restrictive laws to reduce community-based viral spread. Children and adolescents were forced to experience physical and social distancing.

CSF N-glycoproteomics for early diagnosis in Alzheimer's disease.

This work aims at exploring the human CSF (Cerebrospinal fluid) N-glycome by MALDI MS techniques, in order to assess specific glycosylation pattern(s) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (n:24) and in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) (n:11), these last as potential AD patients at a pre-dementia stage. For comparison, 21 healthy controls were studied. We identified a group of AD and MCI subjects (about 40-50% of the studied sample) showing significant alteration of CSF N-glycome profiling, consisting of a decrease in the overall sialylation degree and an increase in species bearing bisecting GlcNAc.

Executive dysfunctions in migraine with and without aura: what is the role of white matter lesions?

Objective/background: Executive dysfunctions and white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging have been reported in migraine. The aim of this study was to determine whether any correlation between these 2 variables exists.

Materials And Methods: Forty-four subjects affected by migraine with or without aura were compared with 16 healthy subjects.

Physical and cognitive stimulation in Alzheimer Disease. the GAIA Project: a pilot study.

Several data suggest that physical activity and cognitive stimulation have a positive effect on the quality of life (QoL) of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), slowing the decline due to the disease. A pilot project was undertaken to assess the effect of cognitive stimulation, physical activity, and socialization on patients with AD and their informal caregiver's QoL and mood. Fourteen patients with AD were randomly divided into active treatment group and control group.

Lack of interaction between LRP1 and A2M polymorphisms for the risk of Alzheimer disease.

Alzheimer disease (AD) has a heterogeneous aetiology, involving genetic and environmental factors. Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1), alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M) and apolipoprotein E (APOE) are involved in molecular pathways leading to beta-amyloid deposition. Three polymorphic sites in these genes (APOE-epsilon 2/epsilon 3/epsilon 4, A2M-Ile/Val and LRP1-C/T) have been associated with AD, but the results were not univocal.

Cognitive findings after transient global amnesia: role of prefrontal cortex.

The aim of this study is to verify, after recovery, the presence of specific patterns of cognitive dysfunctions in Transient Global Amnesia (TGA). Fourteen patients with the diagnosis of TGA were submitted to a battery of neuropsychological tests and compared to a matched control group. We found significant qualitative and quantitative differences between TGA patients and controls in the California Verbal Learning Test (CLVT) and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test.

A possible spatial and temporal cluster of multiple sclerosis in the town of Linguaglossa, Sicily.

We carried out an epidemiological survey to determine prevalence and incidence of multiple sclerosis in the little town of Linguaglossa in the Province of Catania. We calculated prevalence rate as point prevalence at 1 January 2001 and incidence during 1991-2000. We studied the frequency of multiple sclerosis in the community of Linguaglossa in a population of 5,422 inhabitants in the 2001 census.

Gender-related effect of clinical and genetic variables on the cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cognitive impairment may occur at any time during the course of multiple sclerosis (MS), and it is often a major cause of disability in patients with the disease. The APOE-epsilon4 allele is the major known genetic risk factor for late onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD), and it seems to be implicated in cognitive decline in normal elderly persons.

Objective: To investigate the clinical and genetic variables that can be associated with the cognitive decline in patients with MS.

Relationship between clinical variables and cognitive performances in migraineurs with and without aura.

Conflicting data on cognitive defects in migraine could be explained by differences in the clinical variables of the populations studied. We investigated 21 patients with migraine with aura and 24 with migraine without aura, diagnosed according to the International Headache Society criteria. The patients were submitted to a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests and grouped according to attack frequency and side of pain.

Cortical silent period prolongation in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2).

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder mapped on chromosome 12. Different results have been reported in spinocerebellar ataxias following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS-induced cortical silent period (CSP) was prolonged in different cerebellar disorders.

A screening instrument for a Sicilian neuroepidemiological survey in the elderly.

We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of a screening instrument developed for use in a two-phase neuroepidemiological survey in Sicily. The Sicilian Epidemiological Dementia Study (SEDES) project will evaluate the prevalence and incidence of dementia, parkinsonisms and essential tremor in four Sicilian municipalities. It is a two-phase door-to-door survey.

Apolipoprotein E genotype does not influence the progression of multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate the association between apolipoprotein E (APOE) polymorphisms and the progression of MS.

Methods: We investigated 428 subjects affected by clinically defined MS, with a disease duration of at least three years. We collected data concerning the age at onset of MS, clinical type, disease duration and disability according to the expanded disability status scale (EDSS).

Cognitive findings in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2: relationship to genetic and clinical variables.

Several authors have recently reported a broad cognitive impairment in autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias (ADCAs) patients. However, only a few studies on neuropsychological features in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) patients are present in the current literature. The aim of this study is to evaluate the cognitive impairment in a wide sample of SCA2 patients and to verify the role of different disease-related factors (age of onset, disease duration, and clinical severity) on intellectual abilities.