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Aim: The Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB) is frequently used to estimate cognitive function in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS), while it has been included in few studies on young MS, also because of the absence of normative values. We aim to evaluate the impact of age, gender, and education on BRB scores in a young adolescent population.Methods: We administered the BRB to 76, 14-to-17-year-old, healthy subjects. Linear regression models were used to assess the impact of age, gender, and education on sub-test scores. When statistically significant (p < 0.05), we used the regression coefficient to correct the raw scores.Results: Younger age was associated with better performance on SPART (β = - 2.54; p < 0.05) and SPART-D (β = - 1.06; p < 0.05). Male gender was associated with better performance on SPART (β = 3.40; p < 0.05), SPART-D (β = 1.41; p < 0.05), PASAT-3 (β = 5.58; p < 0.05), and PASAT-2 (β = 5.07; p < 0.05). Educational attainments were associated with better performance on SPART (β = 3.23; p < 0.05) and SPART-D (β = 1.28; p < 0.05). Cut-off points were suggested at the 5th lowest percentile.Interpretation: Age, gender, and education must be accounted for when applying the BRB to young population. Present results can prove useful for future clinical and research applications in adolescent MS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An application of the innovative city planning method, developed within the EU FP7 project InSMART, is applied to the municipality of Cesena (Italy). A multi-model approach is used to explore and rank alternative plans (combinations of actions and measures) towards the sustainable development of the municipality, with a particular focus on the residential and transport sectors. On the basis of the possible space of decisions of the municipality (which can be seen as “urban planner”, as “regulator”, as “provider of support and information”, as “consumer” and as “supplier” of energy), alternative planning hypotheses have been prepared and tested making use of a city-energy system model and scenario analysis. Scenarios are built around different themes with the aim of exploring the potential benefits (or drawbacks) of the combination of specific “competitive” projects, actions, standards, targets. A reference development of the local system is assumed to be modified through six combinations of actions and measures aiming at representing six pillars of alternative pathways towards the sustainability. Figures below report the key themes and hypotheses taken into consideration in the planning exercise. Once the dynamic pictures of the urban system are produced (one per each alternative), a multi-criteria method is used to determine the ranking of the options, evaluated against a set of elements (technological, social, environmental, economic). This stage is still ongoing and will generate the whole dataset (weights, preference functions) required to rank the alternatives in the next few months. All these alternative strategies are designed with the involvement of the municipality of Cesena, to directly respond their needs of knowledge about potential impacts of different action plans. Compared to the existing city strategic energy action plans, the advantage of the outputs of this approach is the fact that multiple future energy scenarios are analysed and cross-compared and “integrated” strategies ranked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may experience sexual dysfunction throughout the disease course. Validated scales to assess sexual dysfunction in MS for Italian patients are lacking. Hence, we aimed at validating Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-19) for Italian MS patients., Methods: We included both male and female MS patients. Each patient completed the Italian translation of the MSISQ-19. Construct validity was explored by the exploratory factor analysis and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Test-retest stability and concurrent internal and external validity were examined by Pearson' correlation coefficients., Results: We enrolled 369 MS patients (323 female and 46 male). Italian MSISQ-19 showed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92. MSISQ-19 test and retest total scores correlated between each other (r = 0.48, p = 0.01). MSISQ-19 total score also correlated with primary, secondary and tertiary subscales (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: The Italian Version of the MSISQ-19 showed satisfactory internal consistency and reliability with moderately adequate test-retest reproducibility, suggesting that it may be used as a valuable measure of sexual dysfunction in the Italian population.