The effect of placebo and neurophysiological involvements

Placebo and placebo effect are important issues related to the drug therapy for clinical and scientific meanings. The rates of placebo may get as many as 50% for analgesic drugs in headache. The high answer to placebo brings questions on pathophysiology of headache. Answers may offer a new strategy in the implementation of trials and new insight in neurophysiology of headache. Current knowledge on placebo and placebo effect will be analysed and dicussed looking for new direction in headache field

Up to date on the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraine: “the state of the art”

The introduction of triptans, in the early 1990s, has improved the therapy for acute migraine attack, offering a new quality of life for those patients who suffer from this disabling neurological disorder. Epidemiological data point out that about 10% of school–age children suffer from migraine, with a progressive increase in incidence and prevalence up to the threshold of adulthood. The increase in extent and prevalence of migraine from the years of growth stresses the importance of the application and adjustment of ad hoc therapeutic (either pharmacological or not) and diagnostic measures. Indeed, the peculiar neurobiological and psychological aspects which are typical of an “evolving” organism preclude the use, by simple “transposition” or “proportion”, of the knowledge acquired from adult–targeted studies. That requires the implementation of studies to analyze the specific responses of children and adolescents to the triptans. To date, the studies on such issues are absolutely insufficient to draw definitive conclusions and indications for the use of triptans for child and adolescent migraineurs

RIPENING AND POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT OF PAWPAW FRUIT

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba (L.) Dunal) has significant potential as a new fruit crop. During ripening, loss of firmness is extremely rapid, and this trait may be the biggest obstacle to the development of a broader market as handling without injury is difficult. Cold storage of pawpaw seems limited to 4 weeks at 4 C. A study of several cultivars with commercial appeal showed that ripening traits such as ethylene production, respiration and loss of firmness were similar in all genotypes, and that no cultivar showed superior responses to cold storage. Cold storage for longer than 4 weeks caused the development of cold injury symptoms such as black discoloration, rapid loss of firmness, impaired respiration, tissue acidification, decrease in antioxidant content, decrease in volatile ester production and development of off-flavor volatile compounds. Overall cold storage injury symptoms observed in pawpaw may be due to oxidative damage linked to the failure of the two major antioxidant systems that could protect against such damage: phenolics and the ascorbateglutamate system. With the aim of enhancing pawpaw low temperature tolerance and prolonging cold storage length, different techniques such as hot air exposure and hot water dips of fruit prior to beginning cold storage, and intermittent warming periods during cold storage, were evaluated. Despite positive results with these techniques for other commodities, all the strategies failed to appreciably alter fruit ripening, loss of firmness or maintain fruit quality during and/or after cold storage

Headache disorders as risk factors for sleep disturbances in school aged children.

Several epidemiological studies have shown the presence of comorbidity between various types of sleep disorders and different headache subtypes. Migraine without aura is a sensitive risk factor for disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep (odds ratio (OR) 8.2500), and chronic tension-type headache for sleep breathing disorders (OR 15.231), but headache disorder is a cumulative risk factor for disorders of excessive somnolence (OR 15.061). This result has not been reported in the clinical literature. © Springer-Verlag Italia 2005

Prenatal exposure to tobacco and alcohol are associated with chronic daily headaches at childhood: a population-based study

The influence of prenatal events on the development of headaches at childhood has not been investigated and is the scope of our study. Of 2,173 children identified as the target sample, consents and analyzable data were provided by 1,440 (77%). Parents responded to a standardized questionnaire with a validated headache module and specific questions about prenatal exposures. Odds of chronic daily headache (CDH) were significantly higher when maternal tabagism was reported. When active and passive smoking were reported, odds ratio (OR) of CDH were 2.29 [95% confidence intervals (CI)=1.6 vs. 3.6)]; for active tabagism, OR=4.2 (95% CI=2.1-8.5). Alcohol use more than doubled the chance of CDH (24% vs. 11%, OR=2.3, 95% CI=1.2-4.7). In multivariate analyses, adjustments did not substantially change the smoking/CDH association. Prenatal exposure to tobacco and alcohol are associated with increased rates of CDH onset in preadolescent children

Modelling spillover effects in spatial stochastic frontier analysis

In the last two decades, authors have begun to expand classical stochastic frontier (SF) models in order to include also some spatial components. Indeed, firms tend to concentrate in clusters, taking advantage of positive agglomeration externalities due to cooperation, shared ideas and emulation, resulting in increased productivity levels. Until now scholars have introduced spatial dependence into SF models following two different paths: evaluating global and local spatial spillover effects related to the frontier or considering spatial cross-sectional correlation in the inefficiency and/or in the error term. In this thesis, we extend the current literature on spatial SF models introducing two novel specifications for panel data. First, besides considering productivity and input spillovers, we introduce the possibility to evaluate the specific spatial effects arising from each inefficiency determinant through their spatial lags aiming to capture also knowledge spillovers. Second, we develop a very comprehensive spatial SF model that includes both frontier and error-based spillovers in order to consider four different sources of spatial dependence (i.e. productivity and input spillovers related to the frontier function and behavioural and environmental correlation associated with the two error terms). Finally, we test the finite sample properties of the two proposed spatial SF models through simulations, and we provide two empirical applications to the Italian accommodation and agricultural sectors. From a practical perspective, policymakers, based on results from these models, can rely on precise, detailed and distinct insights on the spillover effects affecting the productive performance of neighbouring spatial units obtaining interesting and relevant suggestions for policy decisions

Medication overuse headache, addiction and personality pathology: a controlled study by SWAP-200

Background: Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) is a type of chronic headache, whose mechanisms are still unknown. Some empirical investigations examining the addiction-like behaviors and processes, as well as personality characteristics underlying MOH development, reached contrasting findings. This study aimed at detecting personality and its disorders (PDs) in MOH patients, with a specific attention to the features of addiction. Methods: Eighty-eight MOH patients have been compared with two clinical populations including 99 patients with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and 91 with PDs using the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure-200 (SWAP-200). MANCOVAs were performed to evaluate personality differences among MOH, SUD and PD groups, controlling for age and gender. Results: MOH patients showed lower traits of the SWAP-200’s clusters A and B disorders than SUD and PD patients, whom presented more severe levels of personality impairment. No differences in the SWAP-200’s cluster C have been found, indicating common personality features in these populations. At levels of specific PDs, MOH patients presented higher obsessive and dysphoric traits, as well as better overall psychological functioning than SUD and PD patients. Conclusions: The study supported the presence of a specific pattern of personality in MOH patients including obsessive (perfectionist) and dysphoric characteristics, as well as good enough psychological resources. No similarities with drug addicted and personality-disordered patients were found. Practitioners’ careful understanding of the personality of MOH patients may be useful to provide more effective treatment strategies and patient-tailored intervention programs

Editorial: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): The Mental Health, Resilience, and Communication Resources for the Short- and Long-term Challenges Faced by Healthcare Workers

During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world initially focused on measures to suppress COVID-19 transmission and protect their populations by developing vaccines and drug treatments for the most vulnerable and a host of social actions, including implementing social distancing, working from home, travel restrictions, lockdowns, and face coverings. Nearly 2 years after the initial outbreak, at the time of writing this editorial, and through research conducted as part of this Research Topic, it is clear that the mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers (HCW) are significant. There is an urgent need to understand and address these impacts (Greenberg et al., 2020). This is particularly true given the World Health Organisation has outlined a series of mental health and psychosocial considerations aimed explicitly at HCWs (World Health Organisation, 2020). The present Research Topic on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and HCWs has added to the scientific knowledge in several main areas, including barriers and enablers to healthcare delivery, understanding HCWs' mental health and well-being, resilience, coordination and communication within the workforce, and specific interventions to promote mental health and well-being

Spatial variations of conductivity of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol on Au/mica and Au/Si substrates

Determining the conductivity of molecular layers is a crucial step in advancing towards applications in molecular electronics. A common test bed for fundamental investigations on how to acquire this conductivity are alkanethiol layers on gold substrates. A widely used approach in measuring the conductivity of a molecular layer is conductive atomic force microscopy. Using this method, we investigate the influence of a rougher and a flatter gold substrate on the lateral variation of the conductivity. We find that the roughness of the substrate crucially defines this variation. We conclude that it is paramount to adequately choose a gold substrate for investigations on molecular layer conductivity

Editorial: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): The Mental Health, Resilience, and Communication Resources for the Short- and Long-term Challenges Faced by Healthcare Workers.

From Europe PMC via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: ppub 2022-01-01, epub 2022-04-18Publication status: Publishe