The behavioral parenting interventions (BPT) for support and mandatory integrative therapy for children and adolescents affected by disruptive behavioural disorders: A brief review

The behavioral parenting interventions (BPT), commonly abbreviated as parent training, is a program conducted by an expert with the specific purpose of improving or modifying parental practices in order to promote the child's well-being, increasing parenting skills in the daily management of the child, problem solving and reducing the level of parenting and family stress. BPT presents many positive effects on children or adolescents affected by neurodevelopmental disorder such as ADHD, autism and cognitive dysfunction but BPT appears to improve also other proximal outcomes such as parenting competence and parenting stress

VINCI / VLTI observations of Main Sequence stars

Main Sequence (MS) stars are by far the most numerous class in the Universe. They are often somewhat neglected as they are relatively quiet objects (but exceptions exist), though they bear testimony of the past and future of our Sun. An important characteristic of the MS stars, particularly the solar-type ones, is that they host the large majority of the known extrasolar planets. Moreover, at the bottom of the MS, the red M dwarfs pave the way to understanding the physics of brown dwarfs and giant planets. We have measured very precise angular diameters from recent VINCI/VLTI interferometric observations of a number of MS stars in the K band, with spectral types between A1V and M5.5V. They already cover a wide range of effective temperatures and radii. Combined with precise Hipparcos parallaxes, photometry, spectroscopy as well as the asteroseismic information available for some of these stars, the angular diameters put strong constraints on the detailed models of these stars, and therefore on the physical processes at play.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 219, "Stars as Suns", Editors A. Benz & A. Dupree, Astronomical Society of the Pacifi

Executive functioning in preschool children affected by autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a complex set of neurological dysfunction and development characterized by deficits in social and non-verbal interaction. Few studies have explored the executive functioning in ASD preschoolers. The aim of this pilot study is the assessment of executive functioning in preschool children with ASD. Material and methods: 8 ASD children (7 males, 1 female) mean age 3.09 (SD \ub1 0.83 years) were enrolled in the study and compared with a control group of 15 typically developing children (12 males, 3 females) (mean age 24.3 \ub1 0.61). All subjects underwent assessment of executive functioning with the BRIEF-P test. Results: The two groups were matched for age (p = 0.625) and gender (p = 0.900). Table 1 shows the comparison between the two groups at the BRIEF-P, with significantly higher scores on all subscales of ASD children compared with controls. Conclusions: Despite the small sample examined the results of this study agree with what is already known in the literature confirm the presence of a significant deficit in executive functions of subjects with ASD emphasizing for the first time the emergence of such problems at an early stage of development, but demanding further studies to confirm this

Solar-like oscillations in the G8 V star tau Ceti

We used HARPS to measure oscillations in the low-mass star tau Cet. Although the data were compromised by instrumental noise, we have been able to extract the main features of the oscillations. We found tau Cet to oscillate with an amplitude that is about half that of the Sun, and with a mode lifetime that is slightly shorter than solar. The large frequency separation is 169 muHz, and we have identified modes with degrees 0, 1, 2, and 3. We used the frequencies to estimate the mean density of the star to an accuracy of 0.45% which, combined with the interferometric radius, gives a mass of 0.783 +/- 0.012 M_sun (1.6%).Comment: accepted for publication in A&

THE PSYCHOTERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH BEHAVIOURAL DISORDERS: THE INCREDIBLE YEARS TREATMENT PROGRAM

The psychotherapeutic interventions disposable and considered the key role in behavioral therapy are the Incredible Years, the evidence-based parenting suppor

Sleep habits in children affected by autism spectrum disorders: A preliminary case-control study

Introduction: The core of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) consists of alterations of neurological functions that affect the typical developmental trajectory leading to deficits in social interaction and non-verbal behaviors. In general, ASD is diagnosed at age three and many other frequent neurological signs may be present, such as sleep disorders. The aim of study is evaluating sleep habits in a sample of ASD children. Material and methods: The study population consists of 65 ASD children (43 males and 22 females), aged between 2 and 11 years (mean 5.73 \ub1 2.39 years). The control group consists of 114 children with typical development (68 males and 46 females), aged between 3 and 10 years (mean 5.91 \ub1 2.23 years). The diagnosis of ASD was confirmed by the evaluation ADOS -2, while the evaluation of sleep habits with the SDSC tests. Results: The two groups were matched for age (p = 0.633) and sex distribution (p = 0.483). The ASD subjects show a significantly higher rate of sleep disorders in all categories explored by SDSC tests (Table 1). Discussion: The sleep of people with ASD is compromised at any age and regardless of the severity of social impairment and communication, but not the level of development. Still, ASD is a very important risk factor for the development of sleep disorders, although the report could also be interpreted in the opposite manner

Eating and feeding disorders in pediatric age

Eating and feeding disorders are common in pediatric age and may be important to discover and recover the early symptoms in order to optimize the treatment and management

Forensic considerations on violent parasomnias during lifespan

Nocturnal parasomnias are a group of sleep complex manifestation that don't alter the sleep macrostructure, but when persistent during adulthood may be assume violent aspects with relevant forensic implications about the guiltiness

Motor skills in children with primary headache: A pilot case-control study

Background: Headache is the most common painful manifestation in the developmental age, often accompanied by severe disability such as scholastic absenteeism, low quality of academic performance and compromised emotional functioning. The aim of the study is to evaluate praxic abilities in a population of children without aural migraine. Materials and methods: The test population consists of 10 subjects without migraine without aura (MwA), (8 Males) (mean age 8.40, SD ± 1.17) and 11 healthy children (7 Males) (mean age 8.27; SD ± 1.10; p = 0.800). All subjects underwent evaluation of motor coordination skills through the Battery for Children Movement Assessment (M-ABC). Results: The two groups (10 MwA vs 11 Controls) were similar for age (8.40 ± 1.17 vs 8.27 ± 1.10; p = 0.800), sex (p = 0.730), and BMI (p = 0.204). The migraine subjects show an average worse performance than the Movement ABC; specifically, migraineurs show significantly higher total score values (31.00 ± 23.65 vs 4.72 ± 2.61; p = 0.001), manual dexterity (12.10 ± 11.20 vs 2.04 ± 2.65; p = 0.009) and balance (14.85 ± 10.08 vs. 1.04 ± 1.05; p <0.001). The mean percentile of migraine performance is significantly reduced compared to controls (9.00 ± 3.82 vs 51.00 ± 24.34, p <0.001) (Table 1). Conclusion: Migraine can alter many cognitive and executive functions such as motor skills in developmental age

Neuropsychomotricity in water: A new rehabilitative tool for neruodevelop-mental disorders

Neuropsychomotricity in water is a rehabilitative practice that avails itself just of the liquid element, as a mediator of relationships: in water yes they upset all dynamics, be they relational, of equilibrium, of movement and perception, due to the fact that proprioceptive sensations, created by bodily contact with water, they are different than those generated by contact with air