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Objective To assess the predictive value of hemoperitoneum for the outcome of methotrexate (MTX) treatment of ectopic pregnancy (EP). Methods This observational prospective single-center study included women presenting with EP treated with MTX from November 2007 to November 2009. The percentage of women with hemoperitoneum at the beginning of MTX treatment was compared between two groups: those whose treatment was successful and those whose treatment failed. The rate of hemoperitoneum in each group and its value in predicting the outcome of MTX treatment of EP were assessed. Results MTX treatment was successful in 69 of 93 (74%) cases. The percentage of women with hemoperitoneum at the beginning of treatment was significantly higher in women in whom MTX treatment failed as compared to those in whom it was successful (15/24 (62.5%) vs 17/69 (24.6%); P = 0.001). The likelihood of requiring surgery following treatment with MTX was higher in women with hemoperitoneum (odds ratio, 5.1; 95% CI, 1.74–15.14). Study of the diagnostic performance of hemoperitoneum in predicting the need for surgical treatment after MTX treatment revealed a sensitivity of 0.63, a specificity of 0.76, a positive predictive value of 0.47 and a negative predictive value of 0.85. Conclusions The presence of hemoperitoneum appears to be a risk factor for MTX treatment failure. It is important to inform women as fully as possible about the risk of such failure. Nonetheless, the predictive value of this sign is insufficient for either routinely excluding women with hemoperitoneum from MTX treatment or omitting post-treatment monitoring. Copyright © 2013 ISUOG. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Indexes of political interviewers’ neutrality, proposed in the face model, capture the treatment reserved in televised interviews for politicians or parties. This contribution proposes that they should be introduced in the official survey of political appearances on television and to be prescribed by law. The research compares questions of 2 Italian interviewers to the same 13 politicians (7 left-wing, 6 right-wing). In over 11 hr of interviews (7 months’ sampling), 804 questions were codified. Italian interviewers were less threatening than their Anglo Saxon colleagues, even if just as coercive. They treated less coercively the government rather than opposition, even if they were just as threatening; and they seemed sensitive to the prestige of politicians. Implications of the proposal are discussed. The present contribution proposes that the conversational indexes usually used to study political interviewers’ toughness and neutrality (a) are to be introduced and used in the official survey to monitor the political presence on television, led by accredited professional research agencies, in order to show the treatment reserved by the interviewers, the channels, and power grouprelated mass media to politicians, parties, or coalitions; and (b) are to be understood and taken in by the law system in order to monitor and regulate, and allegedly to correct and counterbalance, the imbalance among different political forces on TV, at least in pre-electoral periods. The use of these indexes should become a way of evaluating a principle of fairness in the ways the political entities are treated in mass-media communication. In order to show the fruitfulness of the application of the indexes, this research compares the performance of two political interviewers from two broadcasts on two different Italian TV channels while they interview the

Background. A sequential analysis of classroom discourse is needed to investigate the conditions under which the triadic initiation-response-feedback (IRF) pattern may host different teaching orientations. Aim. The purpose of the study is twofold: first, to describe the characteristics of classroom discourse and, second, to identify and explore the different interactive sequences that can be captured with a sequential statistical analysis. Method. Twelve whole-class activities were video recorded in three Italian primary schools. We observed classroom interaction as it occurs naturally on an everyday basis. In total, we collected 587 min of video recordings. Subsequently, 828 triadic IRF patterns were extracted from this material and analysed with the programme Generalized Sequential Query (GSEQ). Results. The results indicate that classroom discourse may unfold in different ways. In particular, we identified and described four types of sequences. Dialogic sequences were triggered by authentic questions, and continued through further relaunches. Monologic sequences were directed to fulfil the teachers' pre-determined didactic purposes. Co-constructive sequences fostered deduction, reasoning, and thinking. Scaffolding sequences helped and sustained children with difficulties. Conclusions. The application of sequential analyses allowed us to show that interactive sequences may account for a variety of meanings, thus making a significant contribution to the literature and research practice in classroom discourse.

The impact of Veracity, Suspicion (weak or strong) and Strategy (making up a story or using past experiences) on Reality Monitoring (RM) scores was examined. A total of 158 undergraduate students were interviewed twice about the possession of an object. In one interview they were asked to lie, and in the other to tell the truth (Veracity factor). In both conditions, suspicion was raised in the second half of the interview: Participants were accused of lying by the interviewer and asked to repeat their account (Raised Suspicion factor). At the end of the interview participants were asked whether their lies were totally made up or whether they described an event that they had experienced previously (Strategy factor). Results revealed that truth tellers and liars' speech differed from each other in accordance with RM theory, even when the interviewer was suspicious and even when liars fabricated a story by describing events that they had previously experienced. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en

Objective: Sexually transmitted infections (STI) among adolescents continue to be an important public health problem for many industrialized and developing countries. This study evaluated knowledge and behaviour in adolescents regarding prevention of STI. Methods: Informationwasobtainedbyusingself-reportedquestionnairefromarandomsampleof644undergraduatestudents at university and at public high schools aged 14–20 years in Catanzaro (Italy). Results: Only 14.2% of respondents knew about the main STI and that they can be transmitted through sexual intercourse with HIV seropositive partners; this knowledge was significantly higher among adolescents who had had a higher number of sexual partners in their lifetime and who had received information from physicians about STI. A total of 33.8% reported having had sexual intercourse at least once and the mean age at first intercourse was 16 years. Older males and adolescents with employed mothers were more likely to have reported having had a sexual experience. The prevalence of using condoms every time during sexual intercourse was 51.8% and such behaviour was more likely in younger adolescents and males. The prevalence of condom use on the last occasion of sex was 71.9%. Younger adolescents, those with a higher perception of the risk of contracting STI and those with lesser knowledge about STI were independent predictors for using condoms. The mean total score of the respondents’ perception of a risk of contracting STI was 5.8. Conclusions: Evidence to develop and implement strategies with the hope of improving adolescents’ level of knowledge and reducing unsafe sexual practices. Sexually transmitted infections (STI) among adolescents continue to be an important public health problem for many industrializedanddevelopingcountries.Thesehaveseriousconsequences for women, including pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, infertility and cervical cancer. International surveillance data indicate that 70% of those with STI are aged between 15 and 24 years and the World Health Organization estimates that one in every 20 ‘teenagers’ contracts an STI each year. In addition, roughly one in four adolescents between the ages 13 and 19 years who have sexual intercourse acquire an STI each year. In the USA, reported STI rates are the highest in the industrialized world. In Italy, the prevalence of several STI is unknown and of the 51172 cases of AIDS reported by 31 December 2002, approximately 200 were in the area of this study; whereas, of the 793 and 1363 cases for syphilis and hepatitis B respectively, zero and nine cases have been reported. However, reported disease rates grossly underestimate the true burden of infection, both because most STI are asymptomatic and because of underreporting. The understanding and prevention of STI among adolescents represent a critical aspect of minimizing the risk of sexual transmission and of reducing the frequency of STI. Information on the sexual practices of adolescents and, in particular, on knowledge and behaviour about the risk related to unprotected sexual intercourse would permit the spread of knowledge of these preventive measures. Compared to the extensive reports available on other epidemiological aspects of the STI, limited research has been devoted to studying these aspects over the last decade.

We screened a sample of 259 female students, aged 17–20 years old, by means of the Eating Disorder Inventory 2 (EDI 2) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). Those students identified to be at risk for an eating disorder underwent a semi-structured interview to provide a diagnosis according to DSM-IV criteria. We also considered the prevalence of “not full-blown diagnosis”. We found two cases of full-syndrome (0.77%), both bulimics, 9 partial-syndrome bulimia nervosa (3.47%) and 1 of partial-syndrome binge eating disorder (0.38%). Moreover, 18 (6.94%) girls met the criteria for subclinical-syndrome, of which the majority was subclinical anorexia (5.79%). We did not find statistically relevant differences between the anorexic and the bulimic samples on the psychological characteristics measured by the EDI 2 subscales. These findings suggest the hypothesis that anorexia and bulimia could have the same psychopathological core and bulimia could be considered as a “failed” anorexia.