Is Individualized Diet Restriction Based on IgG Against Foods Effective for Reducing Migraine Frequency in Adults Who Suffer from Migraines?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not individualized diet restriction based on IgG against foods is effective as migraine prophylaxis in adults who suffer from migraines.Study Design: Systematic review of three English language primary studies, published between 2009-2011. DATA SOURCES: Two randomized controlled trials and one case report published after 1996 comparing migraine frequency before and after diet elimination based on IgG against foods were obtained using PubMed and Cochrane databases. OUTCOMES MEASURED: Migraine frequency, recorded by patients in a headache diary throughout the duration of the diet, was the primary outcome measured. Subjects reported baseline migraine frequency and characteristics through a baseline diet phase6 or through a focused questionnaire,8 and results were compared after the completion of the diet phase. RESULTS: None of the studies reported any intervention-related adverse events or side effects. Alpay and colleagues showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of headache days and migraine attacks,6 with a NNT of 34. Mitchell and colleagues showed a statistically significant reduction in migraine frequency at week 4 of the elimination diet, but after a full 12 weeks, the difference was not statistically significant.8 In a case report by Nelson-Dooley,9 the patient showed a subjective reduction of migraine frequency compared to baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Some reduction of migraine frequency was demonstrated by all three studies, however the evidence is inconclusive. This can be attributed to a statistically significant reduction in migraine frequency but a high NNT in the study by Alpay and colleagues, conflicting evidence (migraine frequency at 4 weeks vs. 12 weeks) in the study by Mitchell and colleagues, and the multiple simultaneous treatment interventions and subjective results in the case report by Nelson-Dooley. Larger studies with a longer intervention period (\u3e4 weeks), emphasizing more controlled diets/meal plans and elimination of confounding factors may clarify these inconsistent study results. Thus, future study is warranted to evaluate prophylactic diet elimination based on IgG against foods for migraine frequency reduction before routine use is recommended

Coming round: Autobiography and anesthesia in Brunella Gasperini’s cumulative self-construct

Brunella Gasperini (pseudonimo di Bianca Robecchi Gasperini) ha tenuto unarubrica di ‘piccola posta’ e ha scritto romanzi e novelle per due diffuse rivistefemminili dagli anni Cinquanta alla fine degli anni Settanta. Il macrotestoautobiografico costituito dal suo dialogo ventennale con le lettrici, da trevolumi di ‘cronache familiari’ e dai due testi autobiografici I fantasmi nelcassetto e Una donna e altri animali mostra una graduale evoluzionecaratterizzata dall’ammissione di conflitti e sofferenze, sia nel pubblico chenel privato, che nelle prime opere erano stati minimizzati (la definizione diGasperini è ‘anestetizzati’)

Il Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – 2 nel contesto forense: studio su coppie di genitori in fase di separazione e affidamento minori

Obiettivo di questo lavoro è analizzare i profili medi di genitori valutati in sede di consulenza tecnica per l'affidamento di figli minori attraverso il Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2), il questionario di personalità maggiormente utilizzato in ambito giuridico. Si tratta di uno studio iniziale ed esplorativo, condotto su un campione di 200 periziandi divisi equamente tra uomini e donne, che si propone in primis di rispondere all’esigenza dello psicodiagnosta forense di avere dati statistici specifici a cui far riferimento quando utilizza tale strumento. Il lavoro ha anche l'obiettivo di osservare la presenza di eventuali differenze significative tra i dati emersi dal campione peritale ed i valori normativi generali della popolazione italiana

Il Test di Rorschach nel contesto forense: uno studio sulla genitorialità condotto su coppie in ambito di separazione e affidamento minori

The Rorschach Test in the forensic context: a study on parenting conducted on couples in separation and child custody contextfont size  PrintE-mailby Roberto Cicioni, Tommaso Caravelli, Floriana Loggia, Maria Elisa Maiolo This work aims at setting Rorschach Test in a specific forensic context, such as that of the couples involved in separation and in entrustment of minors. Authors’ intent is to arrange the foundation for a future calibration of Rorschach Test, specific to the forensic context of couples undergoing separation and child custody. The study was conducted on 150 Rorschach protocols administered to a sample of Italian separated couples and evaluated in the field of child custody; this study also aims at meeting the demand of the Technical Consultant to make use of specific diagnostic elements to the participants that are involved personally in separation and custody. Data collection shows an average profile of the appraised participants different from the profile of those who do not live this deep state of transition and stress: this can be an objective starting point on which to base assessments on parenting.The comparison of the data obtained in this study with those ones of the “national reference sample” shows differences between protocols of those participants that do the test voluntarily, with those gathered in the investigation contexts who often are characterized by low motivation to the test and by fears and anxieties which are intrinsically related to the topic of evaluation. It is definitively important for the forensic Psychodiagnostics to possess specific statistical data on which to base inferences on the parenting ability of participants, reducing the risk of subjective judgments based on common sense or only on theoretical model, not necessarily shared between consultants, which are often the basis of the occurrence of irreconcilable disputes.The sample includes protocols administered in Italy between 2001 and 2009, equally divided between males and females with average age 40 years, collected and signed using the “Scuola Romana Rorschach” method.To ensure objectivity in the marking phase, that is to ensure that every answer given by an appraised subject matches one and only one score, we used a computer program, Siglaror (Parisi &Pes, 2006), a database of more than 23,000 Rorschach interpretations marked on a statistical system and on the degree of agreement achieved by a group of experts at national level.Lo scopo di questo lavoro è di descrivere le caratteristiche quantitative di alcuni indici del Test di Rorschach, strumento molto utilizzato in ambito peritale per la valutazione degli atteggiamenti genitoriali delle coppie coinvolte nei processi di separazione e di affidamento dei minori. Lo studio è stato condotto su protocolli Rorschach somministrati a un campione di 75 coppie italiane separate e si propone di rispondere all’esigenza del Consulente Tecnico di avvalersi di dati statistici ed elementi diagnostici contestuali, ottenuti da soggetti che vivono in prima persona la separazione e l’affidamento. Il campione considerato riguarda nello specifico protocolli somministrati in tutta Italia tra il 2001 e il 2009, a soggetti con età media di 40 anni, raccolti e siglati secondo il metodo “Scuola Romana Rorschach”.Per garantire l’oggettività e l’uniformità nella fase di siglatura, ci si è avvalsi dell’ausilio del sistema informaticoSiglaror (Parisi & Pes, 2006), un database di oltre 23.000 interpretazioni Rorschach, siglate sia su base statistica sia sul grado di accordo raggiunto da un gruppo di esperti a livello nazionale (Parisi & Pes, 2006). Dai dati raccolti emerge un profilo dei periziandi differente da quello di soggetti che non vivono tale condizione di transizione e profondo stress: tale profilo può costituire un quadro di riferimento riguardo alle valutazioni sulla genitorialità. Appare evidente l’utilità per lo Psicodiagnosta forense di poter accedere a dati statistici aggiornati e specifici dai quali desumere indicazioni attendibili sulla capacità genitoriale dei periziandi, limitando valutazioni soggettive basate sul senso comune o sul proprio modello teorico di riferimento, non necessariamente condiviso dai Consulenti di parte

A Ka-Band Receiver Front-End With Noise Injection Calibration Circuit for CubeSats Inter-Satellite Links

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Il ritorno a casa secondo Primo Levi

Primo Levi recounts two journeys: a real one in La Tregua, and a fictitious one in Se non ora, quando? In both cases he has to deal with the romance’s structure and its stereotypes, which tend to negate realism. For this reason the writer adopts proceedings to defuse romance and happy ending

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Speaking “as a” and Speaking “for”: Multiple Appartenenze in the Autobiographical Macrotexts of Aldo Zargani and Clara Sereni

Clara Sereni (Rome, 1946) and Aldo Zargani (Turin, 1933) share a number of appartenenze, the word used in contemporary Italian discourses on ‘identity’ to denote conscious belonging to one or more ethnic groups, religious faiths, regional origins, political allegiances. Both are non-practicing Jews and left-wing public intellectuals. Both have written autobiographical books, essays, articles, lectures and stories: cumulatively, they constitute two macrotexts, where each text positions itself against the background of the previous texts and is linked to them by numerous cross-references. Zargani, who lived through the Shoah as a child, writes mainly in order to explain to his – mostly non-Jewish – readers issues connected with the problmatic notion of ‘Jewish identity’. Sereni, whose formative years were the late Sixties and early Seventies, places herself at the intersection of four appartenenze: as a Jew, a woman, a ‘handicapped mother’ and a political utopian. Drawing on Nancy K. Miller’s distinction between ‘speaking as a ...’ (as an individual who identifies specifically as one thing in a specific context) and ‘speaking for’ (representing a group and speaking on its behalf), I examine aspects of both macrotexts with a particular focus on the connections between self-representation, public contexts and Jewishness. I also, drawing mainly on Linda Hutcheon (1994), look at the way Sereni and Zargani use irony – particularly self-deprecating irony – to emphasize their unfulfilled political expectations and their status as insiders or outsiders according to whom and in which public situations they speak ‘as’ and ‘for’