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Riccardo Russo

Publications and source records attributed to Riccardo Russo.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Development and evaluation of the electromagnetic hypersensitivity questionnaire.

Electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS) syndrome is usually defined as a condition where an individual experiences adverse health effects that he or she believes is due to exposure to objects that emit electromagnetic fields. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire that would identify the key symptoms associated with EHS and determine how often these symptoms occur in the general population of the United Kingdom. In the pilot study, an EHS questionnaire was developed and tested. In Study 1 the EHS questionnaire was revised and sent to a randomly selected sample of 20,000 people. Principal components analysis of the symptoms resulted in eight subscales: neurovegetative, skin, auditory, headache, cardiorespiratory, cold related, locomotor, and allergy related symptoms. Study 2 established the validity of the questionnaire in that EHS individuals showed a higher severity of symptoms on all subscales compared to the control group. The two key results of this study were the development of a scale that provides an index of the type and intensity of symptoms commonly experienced by people believing themselves to be EHS and a screening tool that researchers can use to pre-select the most sensitive individuals to take part in their research.

Electromagnetic Fields↗
PubMed2006

Does acute exposure to mobile phones affect human attention?

Recent studies have indicated that acute exposure to low level radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones affects human cognition. However, the relatively small samples used, in addition to methodological problems, make the outcomes of these studies difficult to interpret. In our study we tested a large sample of volunteers (168) using a series of cognitive tasks apparently sensitive to RF exposure (a simple reaction task, a vigilance task, and a subtraction task). Participants performed those tasks twice, in two different sessions. In one session they were exposed to RFs, with half of subjects exposed to GSM signals and the other half exposed to CW signals, while in the other session they were exposed to sham signals. No significant effects of RF exposure on performance for either GSM or CW were found, independent of whether the phone was positioned on the left or on the right side.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals is not a consequence of response bias.

The status of mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals was evaluated following incidental encoding of target words. Individuals with high and low levels of trait anxiety completed a modified Stroop task, which revealed an attentional bias for threat-related stimuli in anxious individuals. This group was significantly slower in naming the colour in which threat-related words were displayed compared to neutral words. In a subsequent free recall test for the words used in the modified Stroop task, anxious individuals recalled more threat-related words compared to low-anxious people. This difference was significant even when controlling for the false recall of items that had not been presented during study. These results support the view put forward by Russo, Fox, Bellinger, and Nguyen-Van-Tam (2001) that mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals can be observed if the target material is encoded at a relatively shallow level. Moreover, contrary to Dowens and Calvo (2003), the current results show that the memory advantage for threat-related information in anxious individuals is not a consequence of response bias.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Anxiety modulates the degree of attentive resources required to process emotional faces.

The present study contributes to the ongoing debate over the extent to which attentive resources are required for emotion perception. Although fearful facial expressions are strong competitors for attention, we predict that the magnitude of this effect may be modulated by anxiety. To test this hypothesis, healthy volunteers who varied in their self-reported levels of trait and state anxiety underwent an attentional blink task. Both fearful and happy facial expressions were subject to a strong attentional blink effect for low-anxious individuals. For those reporting high anxiety, a blink occurred for both fearful and happy facial expressions, but the magnitude of the attentional blink was significantly reduced for the fearful expressions. This supports the proposals that emotion perception is not fully automatic and that anxiety is related to a reduced ability to inhibit the processing of threat-related stimuli. Thus, individual differences in self-reported anxiety are an important determinant of the attentional control of emotional processing.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Cryptobia iubilans infection in juvenile discus.

Four commercial producers of discus (Symphysodon aequifasciatus) were found to have fish infested with the flagellate Cryptobia iubilans. Affected fish had granulomatous gastritis, and many also had granulomatous disease of other organs. The parasite had to be differentiated from the related flagellates Spironucleus spp, which induce different lesions. Transmission electron microscopy was found to be useful in detecting and identifying the parasite. Morbidity and mortality rates in the various fish populations appeared to be linked to a number of variables, including water quality, presence of other parasites and bacteria, diet, species, size, and age of the fish, and optimization of husbandry appeared to be important in alleviating the severity of disease. Metronidazole was not effective for treatment of C iubilans, but bath treatments with dimetridazole (80 mg/L for 24 hours, repeated daily for 3 days) or 2-amino-5-nitrothiazol (10 mg/L for 24 hours, repeated daily for 3 days) may be useful in decreasing the prevalence of infestation.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

One process is not enough! A speed-accuracy tradeoff study of recognition memory.

Speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) methods have been used to contrast single- and dual-process accounts of recognition memory. In these procedures, subjects are presented with individual test items and are required to make recognition decisions under various time constraints. In this experiment, we presented word lists under incidental learning conditions, varying the modality of presentation and level of processing. At test, we manipulated the interval between each visually presented test item and a response signal, thus controlling the amount of time available to retrieve target information. Study-test modality match had a beneficial effect on recognition accuracy at short response-signal delays (< or =300 msec). Conversely, recognition accuracy benefited more from deep than from shallow processing at study only at relatively long response-signal delays (> or =300 msec). The results are congruent with views suggesting that both fast familiarity and slower recollection processes contribute to recognition memory.

Auditory Perception↗
PubMed2004

Our experience in the treatment of penile curvature.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the authors' results achieved using corporoplasty in patients treated for penile curvature from 1/1/1993 to 31/12/2002. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 26 patients underwent corporoplasty to correct penile curvature: congenital curvature without hypospadias or epispadias in 22 patients (aged 17 to 42) and curvature due to La Peyronie's disease in 4 patients (aged 48 to 65). In the latter 4 cases corporoplasty was chosen, instead of plaque excision or incision, since the plaque was quite small-sized and well stabilized, causing an overall limited curvature in a proportionately long penis with perfectly preserved erectile functions. The Ebbehoj-Metz technique (plication of the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa using introflecting double cross-over stitch of 2/0 Prolene, grasping deep into the tunica in 4 positions) was used in 24 patients and the Yachia procedure (longitudinal incision of the tunica albuginea of the corpora cavernosa followed by transverse suture using 2/0 PDS) in 2 patients, both affected by congenital curvature. RESULTS: Penile straightening was completely satisfactory in 24 patients, while 2 with congenital curvature, who had undergone the Ebbehoj-Metz technique corporoplasty, had recurring penile curvature. One of these last 2 patients, aged 17, required further corporoplasty, using the same procedure again, obtaining penile straightening. The other patient, aged 42, refused further operation. Although the 2 patients treated using the Yachia technique had a satisfactory curvature correction, for some months they reported feeling a bothersome bump on the corpus cavernosum in the cut and sutured area of the tunica albuginea, with moderate pain during erections. For this reason this technique was not used in other patients. The only complication reported by 1 patient was the formation of a redundant balanopreputial scar due to suture dehiscence, later removed under local anaesthesia. CONCLUSIONS: Considering their results, the authors consider corporoplasty a reliable and easy to perform procedure in the treatment of both congenital penile curvature and in well selected cases of penile curvature due to induratio penis plastica.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Metanephric adenoma: case report and review of the literature.

Metanephric adenomas are benign tumors frequently found post-mortem (from 7% to 22% of autopsies) which originate from distal tubules; they are generally small in dimensions (smaller than 1 cm) and located in the renal cortex. Etiology is unknown, even though they could be associated with smoke, tubular nephrosclerosis, dialysis. An endocrinal relationship was proposed, because of its more frequent incidence in female (2:1). Metanephric adenoma is an uncommon kind of renal adenoma with no malignant potentiality: from the clinical and diagnostic viewpoint its own greater importance depends on the probability of diagnostic misunderstanding with Wilms' tumor; furthermore its echographic, tomographic and arteriographic characteristics are often similar to small renal adenocarcinoma ones (100). Polycytemia is frequently associated to metanephric adenoma as paraneoplastic syndrome and, more rarely, abdominal mass, abdominal pain, hematuria and hypertension (140). The most important study on metanephric adenoma is the one realized by E.K. Mostofi, including 50 cases from the Department of Genitourinary Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C., published in 1995; in this study half of findings was incidental; mean dimension of tumor about 5,5 cm and in 50% it could be seen a distinct capsule sourrounding the tumor (in the remaining cases the capsule was discontinuos or absent) (210). An important radiological characteristic is that metanephric adenomas are more frequent calcificated than other histotypes and, from the pathological viewpoint, the most important differential element seems to be the smaller dimensions of its cells with hyperchromatic nuclei in the absence or lack in mitotic activity and in the absence of chromosome aberrations. In the case of difficult histological diagnosis, cytogenetic and immunohistochemical analysis can be useful. In conclusion, because it is impossible to distinguish in the preoperatory between the metaneprhic adenomas and the other tumoral types on the bases of the symptoms, dimensions or radiographic appearance, it is mandatory to treat it as malignant eteroformations in a therapeutical strategy, when it is possible.

Adenoma↗
PubMed2003

Word length and articulatory suppression affect short-term and long-term recall tasks.

In six experiments, subjects were required to recall (either serially or freely) lists of short and long words either immediately or after a study-test filled delay ranging from 30 to 60 sec. In three of these experiments, we investigated the effect that articulatory suppression had in modulating the word length effect in both immediate and delayed free recall. The results suggested that the effects of word length and articulatory suppression were comparable in the immediate and delayed recall tasks. The theoretical relevance of these findings is discussed.

Humans↗
PubMed2002

Age differences and the identity negative priming effect: an updated meta-analysis.

A recent meta-analysis (P. Verhaeghen & L. De Meersman, 1998a) revealed that older adults show a reliable but significantly reduced negative priming effect compared with young adults. The present study provides an updated quantitative review on the effect of aging on the magnitude of the negative priming effect in identity tasks. This analysis demonstrated that the negative priming effect was not significantly different between young and old adults. This result differs from P. Verhaeghen and L. De Meersman's study. The implications of this finding for inhibitory-based theories of cognitive aging are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar faces and nonwords.

Memory for repeated items improves as the interval between repetitions in a list increases (the spacing effect). This study investigated the spacing effect in recognition memory and in a frequency judgment task for unfamiliar target faces that were repeated in the same or in a different pose during incidental learning. Changing the pose between prime and probe trials reduced perceptual repetition priming in a structural discrimination task and also reduced the spacing effect in a subsequent unexpected recognition memory task. Three further experiments confirmed that the spacing effect inrecognition memory (Experiments 2 and 4) or frequency judgment (Experiment 3) was reduced when the pose was changed between repeated presentations at study. Similarly, with nonwords as targets (Experiment 5), changing the font between repeated occurrences of targets at study removed the spacing effect in a subsequent unexpected recognition memory test. These results are interpreted to support the view that short-term perceptual repetition priming underlies the spacing effect in explicit cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar nonsense material.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Toward a unified account of spacing effects in explicit cued-memory tasks.

Memory for repeated items improves when presentations are spaced during study. This effect is found in memory tasks using different types of material, paradigms, and participant populations. Although several explanations have been proposed, none explains the presence of spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli. Two experiments assessed the spacing effect on a yes-no recognition-memory task using nonwords and words as targets. The main results showed that changing the font between repeated occurrences of targets at study removed the spacing effect for nonwords only. A 3rd experiment using lexical decision showed that the font manipulation reduced repetition priming of nonwords when items were repeated at Lag 0. These results suggest that short-term perceptual priming supports spacing effects in cued-memory tasks for unfamiliar stimuli.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Evidence for age-related equivalence in the directed forgetting paradigm.

The directed forgetting paradigm involves, under particular experimental circumstances, inhibitory mechanisms, which operate to the successful forgetting of irrelevant words. The item-by-item cueing method (e.g., Basden & Basden, 1996) was used to investigate the directed forgetting effect in young and old adults. Processing of the experimental words was manipulated between subjects by asking participants to perform either a deep or a shallow orienting task on each word of the study list before the occurrence of the cue (to remember of to forget). Results indicated that the instruction to process deeply both to-be-remembered and to-be-forgotten words led to equivalent directed forgetting effects in young and old adults. These results are discussed with respect to the implications they have for the Inhibitory Deficit theory (e.g., Hasher & Zacks, 1988), which suggests that cognitive aging is mainly characterized by a reduction in the efficiency of inhibitory processes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Analysis of quality in a first level trauma center in Milan, Italy].

BACKGROUND: In Italy there isn't a State Trauma System. Many attempts have been done to increase the quality of trauma care in prehospital and hospital phases, but only by local resources. In Mila (Italy)o Emergency Medical System is organized by Regional rules and five Hospitals warrant high level of care for trauma patients. There isn't an official registry for trauma. Creating a Trauma Registry is the prerogative to analyse the quality of assistance and to propose new solutions. OBJECTIVES: To analyse major trauma patients admitted to Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico IRCCS; to evaluate diagnostic and therapeutic protocols in order to identify preventable deaths. PATIENTS: We have observed trauma patients admitted to Ospedale Maggiore from January to December 2004. We collected demographic data, informations about the traumatic event and prehospital rescue, emergency room examination, diagnostic exams, surgical operations and results of treatment. We selected patients admitted among 6917 trauma patients observed in this period. We have calculated RTS, ISS and TRISS. Patients were followed during their staying at the hospital to record length of staying, lenght of ICU and mortality rate. We collected the autopsy of the all death patients. RESULTS: We selected 299 patients, 207 males and 92 females. Mean age was 42.4 +/- 19.5 for males (range 15 - 99) and 57.7 +/- 22.5 for female (range 7 - 101). Motorvehicle and road incident were the main cause of trauma (55.5%). A penetrating injury was observed only in 5% of cases. Mean RTS was 7.5 +/- 1. ISS and TRISS were (mean +/- SD) 13 +/- 9 and 94.9% +/- 11.5, respectively. Patients with ISS = 16 were 109 (36.4%). Forty five patients (15%) required a surgical treatment during the first 48 hours. Total length of staying was 8.9 +/- 11.2 (mean +/- SD) days (median of 5.5 days) and the length of ICU was (mean +/- SD) 11.7 +/- 10.3 days (median 9 days). 12 patients died (mortality rate 4.08%), 11 at Policlinico (2 in the emergency room, 3 in the operative room, 5 in ICU. One patient died in surgical ward), 1 at Ospedale Niguarda. Autopsy was available for 8 patients. In 2 cases the cause of death was established by clinical examination and in 1 case police are still investigating for poisons or other letal drugs. The main cause of death was the cerebral injury. Only for 1 patient it was impossibile to determine the cause of death so he was considered a potentially preventable death. His clinical RTS in the emergency room was 12 (7,4808 in the statistical analysis) and no severe lesions were observed during primary and secondary survey. CONCLUSIONS: Our data are typical of an urban area of a western country. Penetrating injury are very rare, 5% of incidence. Diagnostic and therapeutic protocols are similar to countries where a Trauma Center is active. The 4% of overall mortality rate is similar to Trauma Centers in USA. This result is better than other hospitals in Milan. The high number of ATLS providers in the trauma team could be one of causes of good results. Quality audit can't consider only RTS, ISS and TRISS. Scores are very practical and useful but they aren't enough. We must analyse every single case of death and Trauma Registry is the first tool to evaluate trauma care in a modern EMS.

Abdominal Injuries↗