Headache prevalence in the population of L’Aquila (Italy) after the 2009 earthquake

Stress induced by the events of daily life is considered a major factor in pathogenesis of primary tension-type headache. Little is known about the impact that could have a more stressful event, like a natural disaster, both in patients with chronic headache, both in people that do not had headache previously. The aim of the present study was to observe the prevalence of headache in the population following the devastating earthquake that affected the province of L’Aquila on April 6, 2009. The study population was conducted in four tent cities (Onna, Bazzano, Tempera-St. Biagio, Paganica). Sanitary access is recorded in the registers of medical triage, in the first 5 weeks, after the April 6, 2009. The prevalence of primary headache presentation was 5.53% (95% CI 4.2–7.1), secondary headache was 2.82% (95% CI 1.9–4.9). Pain intensity, assessed by Numerical Rating Scale score showed a mean value of 7 ± 1.1 (range 4–10). The drugs most used were the NSAIDs (46%) and paracetamol (36%), for impossibility of finding causal drugs. This study shows how more stressful events not only have an important role in determining acute exacerbation of chronic headache, but probably also play a pathogenic role in the emergence of primary headache. Also underlines the lack of diagnostic guidelines or operating protocols to early identify and treat headache in the emergency settings

The prevalence of triggers in paediatric migraine: a questionnaire study in 102 children and adolescents

The prevalence and characterization of migraine triggers have not been rigorously studied in children and adolescents. Using a questionnaire, we retrospectively studied the prevalence of 15 predefined trigger factors in a clinic-based population. In 102 children and adolescents fulfilling the Second Edition of The International Headache Classification criteria for paediatric migraine, at least one migraine trigger was reported by the patient and/or was the parents’ interpretation in 100% of patients. The mean number of migraine triggers reported per subject was 7. Mean time elapsed between exposure to a trigger factor and attack onset was comprised between 0 and 3 h in 88 patients (86%). The most common individual trigger was stress (75.5% of patients), followed by lack of sleep (69.6%), warm climate (68.6%) and video games (64.7%). Stress was also the most frequently reported migraine trigger always associated with attacks (24.5%). In conclusion, trigger factors were frequently reported by children and adolescents with migraine and stress was the most frequent

Cardiovascular responses to cognitive stress in patients with migraine and tension-type headache

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The purpose of this study was to investigate the temporal relationship between autonomic changes and pain activation in migraine and tension-type headache induced by stress in a model relevant for everyday office-work.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We measured pain, blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and skin blood flow (BF) during and after controlled low-grade cognitive stress in 22 migraineurs during headache-free periods, 18 patients with tension-type headache (TTH) and 44 healthy controls. The stress lasted for one hour and was followed by 30 minutes of relaxation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cardiovascular responses to cognitive stress in migraine did not differ from those in control subjects. In TTH patients HR was maintained during stress, whereas it decreased for migraineurs and controls. A trend towards a delayed systolic BP response during stress was also observed in TTH. Finger BF recovery was delayed after stress and stress-induced pain was associated with less vasoconstriction in TTH during recovery.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It is hypothesized that TTH patients have different stress adaptive mechanisms than controls and migraineurs, involving delayed cardiovascular adaptation and reduced pain control system inhibition.</p

TESS Delivers Five New Hot Giant Planets Orbiting Bright Stars from the Full-frame Images

We present the discovery and characterization of five hot and warm Jupiters—TOI-628 b (TIC 281408474; HD 288842), TOI-640 b (TIC 147977348), TOI-1333 b (TIC 395171208, BD+47 3521A), TOI-1478 b (TIC 409794137), and TOI-1601 b (TIC 139375960)—based on data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The five planets were identified from the full-frame images and were confirmed through a series of photometric and spectroscopic follow-up observations by the TESS Follow-up Observing Program Working Group. The planets are all Jovian size (RP = 1.01–1.77 RJ) and have masses that range from 0.85 to 6.33 MJ. The host stars of these systems have F and G spectral types (5595 ≤ Teff ≤ 6460 K) and are all relatively bright (9.5 1.7 RJ, possibly a result of its host star's evolution) and resides on an orbit with a period longer than 5 days. TOI-628 b is the most massive, hot Jupiter discovered to date by TESS with a measured mass of ${6.31}_{-0.30}^{+0.28}$ MJ and a statistically significant, nonzero orbital eccentricity of e = ${0.074}_{-0.022}^{+0.021}$. This planet would not have had enough time to circularize through tidal forces from our analysis, suggesting that it might be remnant eccentricity from its migration. The longest-period planet in this sample, TOI-1478 b (P = 10.18 days), is a warm Jupiter in a circular orbit around a near-solar analog. NASA's TESS mission is continuing to increase the sample of well-characterized hot and warm Jupiters, complementing its primary mission goals

Bimoloacular Reactions of Activated Species: An Analysis of Problematic HC(O)C(O) chemistry

Experimental studies have demonstrated the importance of non-thermal bimolecular association chemistry. Recently a fully reversible method for incorporating any number of such non-thermal reactions into a single master equation has been developed (Green and Robertson, 2014) [10]. Using this methodology experimental results for the system: (1) (CHO)2 + OH → HC(O)C(O) + H2O, (2) HC(O)C(O) → HCO + CO, (3) HC(O)C(O) + O2 → OH + CO + CO2, are modeled, reproducing the temperature and pressure dependence of the OH yield. An issue remains as to how to model energy partition into HC(O)C(O)