Quality of Life and Personality Traits in Patients with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma and Their First-Degree Caregivers.

Asbestos exposure causes significant pleural diseases, including malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Taking into account the impact of MPM on emotional functioning and wellbeing, this study aimed to evaluate the quality of life and personality traits in patients with MPM and their first-degree caregivers through the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF). The sample was composed of 27 MPM patients, 55 first-degree relatives enrolled in Casale Monferrato and Monfalcone (Italy), and 40 healthy controls (HC). Patients and relatives reported poorer physical health than the HC. Patients had a higher overall sense of physical debilitation and poorer health than relatives and the HC, more numerous complaints of memory problems and difficulties in concentrating, and a greater belief that goals cannot be reached or problems solved, while often claiming that they were more indecisive and inefficacious than the HC. First-degree relatives reported lower opinions of others, a greater belief that goals cannot be reached or problems solved, support for the notion that they are indecisive and inefficacious, and were more likely to suffer from fear that significantly inhibited normal activities than were HC. In multinomial regression analyses, partial models indicated that sex, physical comorbidities, and the True Response Inconsistency (TRIN-r), Malaise (MLS), and Behavior-Restricting Fears (BRF) dimensions of the MMPI-2-RF had significant effects on group differences. In conclusion, health care providers should assess the ongoing adjustment and emotional wellbeing of people with MPM and their relatives, and provide support to reduce emotional distress

Impact of polarisation mode dispersion infield demonstration of 40Gbit/s solitontransmission over 500 km

40Gbitis single-wavelength altemate-polarisation soliton transmission over 5 0 0 h has been successfully demonstrated in a field trial using dispersion-shifted fibre. Comparisons with an equivalent laboratory trial and numerial simulations show that the main source of impairment is polarisation mode dispersion

L'impatto psicologico dell'amianto, killer invisibile del corpo e della mente.

Introduction: Exposure to asbestos causes the onset of various diseases, including lung plaques, asbestosis and malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM). Living in a Contaminated Site can therefore represent for the entire community a real cumulative trauma that brings into the field disease and death due to a kind of "invisible killer": asbestos. In such circumstances, it is necessary to implement multidisciplinary protocols that can offer an integrated approach to care for both patients and their caregivers. Methodology: There is now a large body of scientific evidence in the literature substantiating the importance of the role that clinical psychology can play in oncology. The objective of this work is to describe specifically the situation in Casale Monferrato, the research carried out in the area and to outline the psychological-clinical intervention proposed there to respond to the quality of needs highlighted in patients suffering from asbestos-related diseases, including mainly MPM, and their caregivers. Results: The results of the research carried out in Casale Monferrato highlight what emerges in the international literature, namely that patients with asbestocorrelated diseases frequently manifest anxiety, depression, somatic disorders and a certain tendency to social withdrawal. The psychological-clinical work within the intervention of short-term group psychotherapy offers them a setting in which they can historicize the disease and process the many facets of pain that an inauspicious diagnosis brings to the field: from the one more related to the body, to the more purely psychic. Conclusion: The role of clinical psychology in oncology is of fundamental importance both for the patient and for his family, as it can facilitate the processing of suffering and anger related to the diagnosis of cancer disease or having to take care of a loved one who has been given an inauspicious diagnosis. Psychological intervention also allows to give name and meaning to the fear related to exposure to asbestos: a silent and invisible killer, which otherwise risks remaining unthought of and unthinkable