Gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative): Clinical psychological variables and symptomatology pertaining to perioperative period

Objective: After considering great inter-individual variability of subjective experience and clinical course in reference to conservative and non-conservative gynecological surgical interventions, an attempt was made to evaluate potential role of several clinical and psychological variables with respect to perioperative symptomatology course and illness behaviour. Materials and methods: The sample consists of 58 women (mean age 41.4 ± 8.7) undergoing gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative ones) for benign pathologies. The anamnestic and clinical data (psychological anamnesis, clinical history, indications, methods and typology of the intervention) were collected using a specifically designed summary form. For the evaluation of pre-and post-operative symptomatology course and illness behaviour, the following psychological tests were respectively used: The Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), with 3 planned administrations (respectively 15 days before the intervention, a day before the intervention and at discharge) and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), completed before discharge. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis) were used to compare performances on independent samples. Results: Results show that perioperative course and illness behaviour in the cases of gynecological surgical interventions for benign pathologies depend on clinical variables, that is, typology and methods of the intervention, clinical history, psychopathological anamnesis. Conclusion: Findings suggest the importance of clinical-anamnestic inquiry oriented towards the evaluation of variables that emerged as risk factors, with the goal of planning personalized support interventions for preventing and/or reducing distress and impact on psychophysical wellbeing arising after gynaecological surgical interventions

Gas Distribution and Monitoring for the Drift Chamber of the MEG-II Experiment

The reconstruction of the positron trajectory in the MEG-II experiment searching for the $\mu^+ \to e^+ \gamma$ decay uses a cylindrical drift chamber operated with a helium-isobutane gas mixture. A stable performance of the detector in terms of its electron drift properties, avalanche multiplication, and with a gas mixture of controlled composition and purity has to be provided and continuously monitored. In this paper we describe the strategies adopted to meet the requirements imposed by the target sensitivity of MEG-II, including the construction and commissioning of a small chamber for an online monitoring of the gas quality.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Journal of Instrumentatio

Unmasking selective path integration deficits inAlzheimer’s disease risk carriers

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) manifests with progressive memory loss and spatial disorientation. Neuropathological studies suggest early AD pathology in the entorhinal cortex (EC) of young adults at genetic risk for AD (APOE4-carriers). Because the EC harbors grid cells, a likely neural substrate of path integration (PI), we examined PI performance in APOE4-carriers during a virtual navigation task. We report a selective impairment in APOE4-carriers specifically when recruitment of compensatory navigational strategies via supportive spatial cues was disabled. A separate fMRI study revealed that PI performance was associated with the strength of entorhinal grid-like representations when no compensatory strategies were available, suggesting grid cell dysfunction as a mechanistic explanation for PI deficits in APOE4-carriers. Furthermore, posterior cingulate/retrosplenial cortex was involved in the recruitment of compensatory navigational strategies via supportive spatial cues. Our results provide evidence for selective PI deficits in AD risk carriers, decades before potential disease onset

A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity

The aim of this study is to examine the increasing phenomenon of obesity, not yet considered as an alimentary behaviour disease, but only as a somatic condition. The treatment of obesity is nowadays largely based on psychological approaches directed to produce modifications in lifestyle and not only in alimentary behaviour. Some strategies for prevention are discussed, considering that all the examined studies emphasize four factors as the determinants for the increase of overweight: excessive caloric supply, lack of physical activity, difficulty in recognizing consequences of ponder excess, difficulty in modifying consolidated behavioural habits. For this reason, a substantial change in the perception of the phenomenon, and of cultural and psycho educational politics are needed

Effects of physical activity and cognitive-recreational exercise to improve quality of life in the elderly

BACKGROUND: To date, few studies have compared effects of different levels of physical activity (PA) whereas no study has been performed to directly evaluate cognitive-recreational activity like playing cards upon cognition in the elderly. Our study aimed at evaluating the effects of PA and cognitive-recreational activity on QoL of elderly people with different habits. METHODS: Participants (75 healthy males, mean age: 72.1±4.1 years) were divided into four subgroups, according to PA levels (moderate vs. high intensity) and free time spending (cognitive recreational activity like playing cards vs no hobbies). They were administered the 36-item Short-Form Survey (SF-36). The Mediterranean Adequacy Index (MAI) was calculated, too. A multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of moderate and high-intensity PA and cognitive-recreational activity on SF-36 dimensions. RESULTS: The four groups did not show any significant difference on MAI. Both moderate and high-intensity PA influenced all the SF-36 dimensions, except for limitations about physical and emotional role. Among the sedentary subjects, those playing cards showed a positive influence of their activity on some SF-36 dimensions but lesser than groups practicing PA at different levels. CONCLUSIONS: PA is one of the most cost-effective ways to maintain health for elderly people. A moderate-intensity PA is sufficient in itself for improving some QoL dimensions. Interventions should be developed in order to assist elderly people, especially female, to comply with the WHO Recommendations on PA