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Successfully balancing between work and family domains represents a major issue to both employees and employers, especially during COVID-19 pandemic times during which employees are often forced to work from a distance and turn to home-schooling. An occupational group particularly affected by work changes due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions is represented by schoolteachers. We aimed at examining the associations between some job-related and family-related antecedents on the one hand and, on the other, life satisfaction as an outcome, including work–family balance as a mediator. A total of 357 Italian teachers completed a questionnaire at two different times: job control, coworkers support, supervisor support, workload, family support, and family workload were assessed at Time 1; and work–family balance and life satisfaction were assessed at Time 2. Both data collections were performed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The hypothesized direct and indirect relationships were tested by utilizing structural equation modeling. Significant and positive indirect effects of focal predictors towards life satisfaction through work–family balance were found for job control, supervisor support, and family support. The paper contributed to the literature by testing Grzywacz and Carlson’s theoretical conceptualization of work–family balance and by attempting to delineate its repertoire of potential antecedents among schoolteachers. From a practical point of view, the present study emphasizes the crucial role that certain job antecedents and family antecedents play in promoting teachers’ work–family balance and life satisfaction.

The work-family interface is a compelling topic that calls into question labor market dynamics and work processes, together with important social and family composition changes. The present study aimed at examining the antecedents of Work-Family Balance (WFB) in Italy consistent with Greenhaus and Allen’s (2011) conceptual model in which the characteristics of work and family roles have an indirect impact on work-family balance through Work-Family Conflict (WFC) and Work-Family Enrichment (WFE), and where job and family satisfaction are considered as predictors of WFB. A total of 568 workers participated in a time-lagged correlational study, filling a questionnaire. The theoretical model was tested by assessing the mediating role of job and family satisfaction as well as related antecedents, conflict, and enrichment between the family and work contexts, through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results partially confirmed the theoretical model: work-to-family enrichment and work-to-family conflict predicted family satisfaction, which also mediated their association with WFB. The results in the family-to-work direction did not support the initial research hypotheses. The hypotheses about associations between demands and resources, conflict and enrichment in both directions, and of the moderating role of core self-evaluations were partially confirmed. The results highlighted that organizations need to carry out periodic assessments of WFC and WFE, in order to provide benefits and resources, to reduce conflict, and increase enrichment, through proper interventions (training activities, professional development, mentoring, and forms of flexibility).

In recent years, work-family balance, as a construct, has been increasingly attracting the scholarly attention alongside with more traditional ones as work-family conflict and enrichment. We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Work-Family Balance scale (Carlson et al. Human Relations, 20, 1–28, 2009) through two different studies. Study 1 (N = 152) was carried out to verify the construct validity of the scale, while Study 2 (N = 319) was carried out to verify its discriminant validity contrasting it with work-family conflict and enrichment. The results, in line with the hypothesized direction, confirmed the original one-factor structure of the scale via confirmatory factor analysis (Study 1), moreover the correlations with the other two examined constructs were in the hypothesized direction (Study 2): positive with work-family enrichment, and negative with work-family conflict. Practical implications, study limits, and avenues for future research are discussed.

With the aim of investigating the impact of gender-related personality characteristics on bullying perceptions and outcomes, a correlational study was designed with 114 individuals who had used a public health service aimed at harassed workers identifying themselves as victims of mobbing in central Italy. The study was conducted using the following questionnaires: the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ), a measure of workplace bullying; the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2), used to provide information to measure personality dimensions for workplace screening; the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BRIEF) which assesses four domains assumed to represent the quality of life construct; and the Suicidal Potential Scale (SPS) used to assess suicidal ideation. MMPI-2 profile results show a significant elevation of specific MMPI scales and gender differences. When compared to women, men who complain of being the victims of negative actions at work are more depressed, paranoid, introverted, anxious, and obsessive, and have higher anger levels and lower self-esteem. Many different MMPI-2 scales are also predictors of quality of life (QoL) perceptions and suicidal tendencies. The NAQ total score, however, predicts quality of life and suicide risk. Perceptions of negative actions have a serious effect on life outcomes. The results provide useful indications on personality profiles and gender differences, which can be understood as antecedents in the perception of negative events, and factors capable of modulating the effect of perceived bullying actions on outcomes.

PurposeBuilding on the spillover-crossover model (Bakker and Demerouti, 2013), this study aimed to examine the processes through which three forms of social support at work (i.e. from coworkers, from supervisor and organizational family-friendly) were positively associated with an individual's level of work-family balance (spillover effect), and through this latter, with one's partner's family life satisfaction (crossover effect), via the partner's perception of family social support as provided by the incumbent person.Design/methodology/approachThe authors sampled 369 heterosexual couples using a time-lagged design, surveying forms of social support at work and work-family balance at t1 and family social support and partner's family life satisfaction at t2. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results showed that coworkers’ support and organizational family-friendly support positively predicted work-family balance. Furthermore, work-family balance mediated the associations between organizational family-friendly support and coworkers’ support with instrumental family social support. Moreover, only emotional family social support positively predicted partner's family life satisfaction.Originality/valueThe authors simultaneously examined the direct and indirect associations of three concurrent forms of social support at work with one's work-family balance (spillover effect). Moreover, in line with the spillover-crossover model, the authors adopted a systemic approach and assessed how one's work-family balance is associated with emotional and instrumental family social support as perceived by one's partner and the latter's family life satisfaction (crossover effect).

Background Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) initiation and evolution is commonly framed by KIT/PDGFRA oncogenic activation, and in later stages by the polyclonal expansion of resistant subpopulations harboring KIT secondary mutations after the onset of imatinib resistance. Thus, circulating tumor (ct)DNA determination is expected to be an informative non-invasive dynamic biomarker in GIST patients. Methods We performed amplicon-based next-generation sequencing (NGS) across 60 clinically relevant genes in 37 plasma samples from 18 GIST patients collected prospectively. ctDNA alterations were compared with NGS of matched tumor tissue samples (obtained either simultaneously or at the time of diagnosis) and cross-validated with droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). Results We were able to identify cfDNA mutations in five out of 18 patients had detectable in at least one timepoint. Overall, NGS sensitivity for detection of cell-free (cf)DNA mutations in plasma was 28.6%, showing high concordance with ddPCR confirmation. We found that GIST had relatively low ctDNA shedding, and mutations were at low allele frequencies. ctDNA was detected only in GIST patients with advanced disease after imatinib failure, predicting tumor dynamics in serial monitoring. KIT secondary mutations were the only mechanism of resistance found across 10 imatinib-resistant GIST patients progressing to sunitinib or regorafenib. Conclusions ctDNA evaluation with amplicon-based NGS detects KIT primary and secondary mutations in metastatic GIST patients, particularly after imatinib progression. GIST exhibits low ctDNA shedding, but ctDNA monitoring, when positive, reflects tumor dynamics.

A simple approach was developed for the solvent-free regioselective functionalization of carbohydrate polyols with 4-toluesulfonyl (tosyl) group, allowing the easy and quick activation of a saccharide site with a tosylate leaving group. The method is based on the use of catalytic dibutyltin oxide and tetrabuylammonium bromide (TBAB), and a moderate excess of N,N-diisopropylethyl amine (DIPEA) and tosyl chloride (TsCl), leading to the selective functionalization at 75 °C of a secondary equatorial hydroxy function flanked by an axial one in a pyranoside. The procedure is endowed with several advantages, such as the use of cheap reagents, experimental simplicity, and the need for reduced reaction times in comparison with other known approaches.

Bladder cancer has a high incidence and is marked by high morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis is still challenging. The objective of this study was to create a metabolomics-based profile of bladder cancer in order to provide a novel approach for disease screening and stratification. Moreover, the study characterized the metabolic changes associated with the disease. Serum metabolomic profiles were obtained from 149 bladder cancer patients and 81 healthy controls. Different ensemble machine learning models were built in order to: (1) differentiate cancer patients from controls; (2) stratify cancer patients according to grading; (3) stratify patients according to cancer muscle invasiveness. Ensemble machine learning models were able to discriminate well between cancer patients and controls, between high grade (G3) and low grade (G1-2) cancers and between different degrees of muscle invasivity; ensemble model accuracies were ≥80%. Relevant metabolites, selected using the partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) algorithm, were included in a metabolite-set enrichment analysis, showing perturbations primarily associated with cell glucose metabolism. The metabolomic approach may be useful as a non-invasive screening tool for bladder cancer. Furthermore, metabolic pathway analysis can increase understanding of cancer pathophysiology. Studies conducted on larger cohorts, and including blind trials, are needed to validate results.

Objective. In the absence of national and European guidelines on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with interstitial lung disease (ILD), the Italian Society of Rheumatology decided to develop national clinical practice guidelines on the management of patients with RA-ILD in accordance with the requirements of the National Guideline System of the National Institute of Health. Methods. The development process included a systematic review of the available evidence and its adaptability to the Italian context, followed by a consultation with experts in rheumatology, respiratory diseases, radiology, and representatives of the health professions and patients. Results. The panel decided to develop recommendations in three main scenarios. The first section of recommendations is focused on drugs indicated for RA to assess their safety and efficacy in RA-ILD. The second set of recommendations covered the drugs indicated for the treatment of ILD in patients with RA-ILD (to assess their efficacy and safety in patients with RA). The third part of these guidelines dealt with drugs indicated for the treatment of RA-ILD upon first-line failure. Moreover, the lack or absence of scientific evidence in literature on certain topics, such as the value of a multidisciplinary treatment approach and lung transplantation, led to the decision to proceed through expert consensus to develop good clinical practice guidelines. Conclusions. These guidelines represent a fundamental step towards improving the health management of patients with rheumatological diseases in Italy by providing specific and evidence-based guidelines for the management of RA-ILD. Their use is intended to promote health and reduce the burden of morbidity and mortality in this vulnerable population.

The development of inhibitory antibodies to factor VIII (FVIII) is a major obstacle in using this clotting factor to treat individuals with hemophilia A. Patients with a congenital absence of FVIII do not develop central tolerance to FVIII, and therefore, any control of their FVIII-reactive lymphocytes relies upon peripheral tolerance mechanisms. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is a key regulatory enzyme that supports Treg function and peripheral tolerance in adult life. Here, we investigated the association between IDO1 competence and inhibitor status by evaluating hemophilia A patients harboring F8-null mutations that were either inhibitor negative (n = 50) or positive (n = 50). We analyzed IDO1 induction, expression, and function for any relationship with inhibitor occurrence by multivariable logistic regression and determined that defective TLR9-mediated activation of IDO1 induction is associated with an inhibitor-positive status. Evaluation of experimental hemophilic mouse models with or without functional IDO1 revealed that tryptophan metabolites, which result from IDO1 activity, prevent generation of anti-FVIII antibodies. Moreover, treatment of hemophilic animals with a TLR9 agonist suppressed FVIII-specific B cells by a mechanism that involves IDO1-dependent induction of Tregs. Together, these findings indicate that strategies aimed at improving IDO1 function should be further explored for preventing or eradicating inhibitors to therapeutically administered FVIII protein.