Psychobiological evidence of the stress resilience fostering properties of a cosmetic routine

Everyday life psychosocial stressors contribute to poor health and disease vulnerabilty. Means alternative to pharmacotherapy that are able to foster stress resilience are more and more under the magnifying glass of biomedical research. The aim of this study was to test stress resilience fostering properties of the self-administration of a cosmetic product enriched with essential oils. On day 0, fourty women, 25-50 years old, self-administered both the enriched cosmetic product (ECP) and a placebo one (PCP). Then, women were randomized for daily self-administration (from day 1 to 28) of either ECP

La gestione dello stress in madri di bambini con Disturbo dello Spettro Autistico: caratteristiche psicologiche, strategie di coping e correlati biologici

Un figlio con un Disturbo dello Spettro Autistico, caratterizzato da gravi difficoltà nelle relazioni, nei comportamenti e nella comunicazione, costringe tutto il sistema familiare a gestire un notevole stress dovuto alla gestione quotidiana di una patologia così complessa. Per questi motivi, i genitori necessitano di un sostegno il più possibile personalizzato rispetto alle caratteristiche del loro contesto familiare. Per fare questo sarebbe importante individuare quali siano i parametri correlati ai livelli di stress nei familiari di pazienti con autismo e che potrebbero avere un’influenza sul benessere familiare. Lo scopo di questo studio è quello di valutare quali caratteristiche di personalità, stili di coping e capacità di gestire le emozioni possano essere in relazione con la reattività individuale alle situazioni di stress, valutata attraverso alcuni correlati biologici, quali il livello di cortisolo (l’ormone dello stress) e la variabilità della frequenza cardiaca. L’ottica di ricerca applicata fa sì che gli obiettivi ultimi di questo lavoro siano anche quelli di diminuire l’accesso ai servizi per questi soggetti, considerando il fatto che progetti individualizzati di sostegno genitoriale costituiscono un fattore protettivo rispetto a conseguenze fisiche e psicologiche di disagio se implementati tenendo conto della variabilità individuale rispetto alle caratteristiche sopra citate.A child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is characterized by severe difficulties in relationships, behavior and communication, forces the whole family system to handle a lot of stress due to the daily management of such a complex disease. For these reasons, parents need support that should be preferably tailored to the characteristics of their family background. To do this, it would be important to identify parameters related to the levels of stress in family members of patients with autism. The purpose of this study is to assess personality traits, coping styles and the ability to manage emotions in mothers of autistic children, and how these personal characteristics can be related to the individual reactivity to stressful situations, evaluated through biological correlates, such as cortisol levels and the heart rate variability. The aim of this work is also to reduce access to services for these subjects. Indeed, individual projects of parental support are a protective factor against the physical and psychological discomfort when implemented taking into account the individual variability in the above mentioned characteristics. We approached this research with the dual personality of researchers and clinicians with the ultimate goal of ameliorating the type of support that is provided to parents of autistic children and also improving the well-being of the whole family context. This has an obvious and essential beneficial effect on their children as well, with and without disabilities

Effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on autonomic and neuroendocrine responses to psychosocial stress in healthy humans

Prolonged or repeated activation of the stress response can have negative psychological and physical consequences. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is thought to exert an inhibitory influence on the activity of autonomic and neuroendocrine stress response systems. In this study, we further investigated this hypothesis by increasing PFC excitability using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Healthy male participants were randomized to receive either anodal (excitatory) tDCS (n¼15) or sham stimulation (n¼15) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) immediately before and during the exposure to a psychosocial stress test. Autonomic (heart rate (HR) and its variability) and neuroendocrine (salivary cortisol) parameters were assessed. One single session of excitatory tDCS over the left DLPFC (i) reduced HR and favored a larger vagal prevalence prior to stress exposure, (ii) moderated stress-induced HR acceleration and sympathetic activation/vagal withdrawal, but (iii) had no effect on stress-induced cortisol release. However, anodal tDCS over the left DLPFC prevented stress-induced changes in the cortisol awakening response. Finally, participants receiving excitatory tDCS reported a reduction in their levels of state anxiety upon completion of the psychosocial stress test. In conclusion, this study provides first insights into the efficacy of one single session of excitatory tDCS over the left DLPFC in attenuating autonomic and neuroendocrine effects of psychosocial stress exposure. These findings might be indicative of the important role of the left DLPFC, which is a cortical target for noninvasive brain stimulation treatment of depression, for successful coping with stressful stimuli

Information Modelling Management and Green Public Procurement for Waste Management and Environmental Renovation of Brownfields

Information Modelling and Management (IMM) methods for Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) can promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. Despite the wide regulatory framework and existing drivers, Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) trends are still growing. The literature review analyzed IMM and CDW management implementation during design phases although few studies focused on Green Public Procurement (GPP) and CDW management integration from the Public Client’s point of view. This research aims at investigating the integration and efficiency of MEAT and IMM to promote the application of sustainable strategies focused on waste reduction and resource valorization. The study investigates the Public Client’s role in promoting sustainable practices, introducing digital material inventory and BIM during the design phases, and including environmental award criteria in the call for tender documents. A Design Build (DB) procurement model was considered in the case study of a brownfield renovation and the construction of a new school in northern Italy. The methodology provided the Public Client and included a method to evaluate the environmental impact of the bids, allowing for proper selective demolition planning, CDW decrease, and organization while promoting their integration in companies’ expertise and procedures. The replicability of the methodology is demonstrated by positive results of present and previous case studies

Funzionamento familiare e relazioni simboliche in Hospice: Esperienza di uno studio pilota presso l'Unit\ue0 di Cure Palliative del Pio Albergo Trivulzio

The article presents a research project done with the aim of studying the problems connected to teh tumoral illness of an expriring step old member

Funzionamento familiare, malattia terminale e cure palliative. Parte seconda: una ricerca qualitativa in un?ottica relazionale-simbolica

Il contributo illustra l'approccio relazionale-simbolico e la sua pplicabilit\ue0 in familgie con un congiunto malato terminale. Attraverso una ricerca di tipo quantitativo vengono illustrate le dinamiche familairi in queste circostanze e l'incontro tra le famiglia ed i serviz