Neuropsychiatric or behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) represent a heterogeneous group of non-cognitive symptoms that are virtually present in all patients during the course of their disease. The aim of this study is to examine the prevalence and natural history of BPSD in a large cohort of patients with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in three stages: (i) pre-T0 (before the onset of the disease); (ii) T0 or manifested disease (from the onset to 5 years); (iii) T1 or advanced (from 5 years onwards). Six hundred seventy-four clinical records of patients with bvFTD and 1925 with AD, from 2006 to 2018, were studied. Symptoms have been extracted from Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and from a checklist of BPSD for all periods observed. In our population, BPSD affect up to 90% of all dementia subjects over the course of their illness. BPSD profiles of the two dementia groups were similar but not identical. The most represented symptoms were apathy, irritability/affective lability, and agitation/aggression. Considering the order of appearance of neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD and bvFTD, mood disorders (depression, anxiety) come first than the other BPSD, with the same prevalence. This means that they could be an important “red flag” in detection of dementia. With the increase of disease severity, aberrant motor behavior and wandering were significantly more present in both groups. Differences between BPSD in AD and bvFTD resulted only in prevalence: Systematically, in bvFTD, all the symptoms were more represented than in AD, except for hallucinations, depression, anxiety, and irritability. Given their high frequency and impact on management and overall health care resources, BPSD should not be underestimated and considered as an additional important diagnostic and therapeutic target both in patients with AD and bvFTD.

Background: Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) have a large impact on the quality of life of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Few studies have compared BPSD between early-onset (EOAD) and late-onset (LOAD) patients, finding conflicting results. Objective: The aims of this study were to: 1) characterize the presence, overall prevalence, and time of occurrence of BPSD in EOAD versus LOAD; 2) estimate the prevalence over time and severity of each BPSD in EOAD versus LOAD in three stages: pre-T0 (before the onset of the disease), T0 (from onset to 5 years), and T1 (from 5 years onwards); 3) track the manifestation of BPSD sub-syndromes (i.e., hyperactivity, psychosis, affective, and apathy) in EOAD versus LOAD at T0 and T1. Methods: The sample includes 1,538 LOAD and 387 EOAD diagnosed from 1996 to 2018. Comprehensive assessment batteries, including the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), were administered at the first medical assessment and at different follow-up period. Results: The overall prevalence for the most of BPSD was significantly higher in EOAD compared to LOAD whereas most BPSD appeared significantly later in EOAD patients. Between the two groups, from pre-T0 to T1 we recorded a different pattern of BPSD prevalence over time as well as for BPSD sub-syndromes at T0 and T1. Results on severity of BPSD did not show significant differences. Conclusion: EOAD and LOAD represent two different forms of a single entity not only from a neuropathological, cognitive, and functional level but also from a psychiatric point of view.

Background: The advent of new technologies has had a profound impact on the labor market, transforming the way we work and interact with each other. With the rise of digital tools and platforms, gamification has emerged as a powerful technique for enhancing productivity and engagement in various fields, including human resource management. In particular, gamification has been found to be effective in developing and assessing soft skills, which play a critical role in determining the success of individuals, teams, and organizations. Objective: We present a serious game that identifies the most sought-after skills in the job market and offers feedback, and we provide a set of guidelines for the creation of serious games. Methods: We present the serious game Among the Office Criticality (AOC). The AOC game structure involves a set of sequence analysis techniques, which is known as process mining. Results: The pilot study findings indicate that the game is both engaging and beneficial to subjects, suggesting that the results align with current theoretical perspectives. Furthermore, the study suggests that the obtained data can be extended to the broader population. Conclusions: This study illustrates a serious game structured according to the needs of the labor market and developed to put the user at the center, using evaluation techniques consistent with the literature, with the aim of constituting an interdisciplinary approach suitable for adequately assessing users and creating value for them.

Background: Delirium is a multifactorial geriatric syndrome and often occurs in patients with cognitive impairment. It also remains under-recognized, specifically in elderly outpatients, because signs of delirium might overlap with symptoms of dement

Soft Skills are a set of skills of fundamental importance in the performance of work activities; they are not technical or specific skills but are strongly related to personal qualities and attitudes and social and management skills. Due to their intangibility, some of them are difficult to recognize, quantify, evaluate and develop. The acquisition of such skills for teachers is indispensable to successfully address different contextual situations (Schulz, 2008). Soft Skills are necessary to interpret and understand complex situations, also in order to design training courses that enhance the personal qualities of the students. (Ngang, Yie, & Shahid, 2015). Our study aims to develop a tool capable of measuring the Soft Skills needed to effectively carry out the teaching profession, in order to promote activities aimed at strengthening them in the training courses: initial and in itinere. This paper presents the structure of the instrument, the sample to which it was administered, the descriptive statistics and indices of normality relating to the subdimensions of the questionnaire and, therefore, the analysis of the items and reliability.

Physical distancing due to the COVID-19 Pandemic has limited the opportunities for family members, friends, and significant others to show physical affection (i.e., hugs, kisses, caresses, holding hands) during social interactions. The present study investigated the effects of positive touch and psychological distress in 991 Italian participants (M_age = 34.43, SD = 14.27). Results showed the frequency of hugs with the cohabiting partner significantly decreased the symptoms of depression (β = −1.187, p = 0.018, e^β = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.11–0.82), whereas the frequency of caresses with cohabiting relatives predicted the symptoms of anxiety (β = 0.575, p = 0.034, e^β = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.04–3.03). The frequency of hugs (β = −0.609, p = 0.049, e^β = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.30–1.00), and kisses (β = 0.663, p = 0.045, e^β = 1.94, 95% CI = 1.01–3.71) with non-cohabiting relatives predicted the symptoms of anxiety (χ² = 1.35, df = 5, p = 0.93). These results suggest the importance of positive touch on psychological well-being in the social context.