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

On the Cauchy-Dirichlet problem for fully nonlinear equations with fractional time derivative

We consider quite general fully nonlinear mixed Cauchy-Dirichlet problems with a Caputo derivative D-alpha with respect to the time variable and a in (0, 2). Under natural conditions, we show the existence of a local solution u such that D(alpha)u and the second order space derivatives D-xi,D-x j u belong to the class C-alpha theta/2,C-theta ([0, T] x (Omega) over bar), for some T positive, with theta is an element of(0, 1). Moreover, we show the uniqueness of global solutions in the same class of functions

Metacognition and headache: which Is the role in childhood and adolescence?

Headache, in particular migraine, is one of the most frequent neurological symptoms in children and adolescents and it affects about 60% of children and adolescents all over the world. Headache can affect several areas of child’s functioning, such as school, physical activities, peer, and family relationship. The global and severe burden of this disease requires a multidisciplinary strategy and an effective treatment addressed all of the patient’s needs and based on cutting-edge scientific research. In recent years, research has focused on cognitive factors specifically in functions called metacognitive processes. Metacognition can be defined as the knowledge, beliefs, and cognitive processes involved in monitoring, control, and assessment of cognition. Metacognition seems to be closely related to the ability of theory of mind, the ability to infer, and reason about the mental states of other people in order to predict and explain own behavior. Recent studies found a relationship between metacognitive skills and anxiety, depression, motivation, academic performance, human social interactions, and stress symptoms. This relationship is very interesting for headache treatment, because these factors are the most commonly reported triggers in this disorder and there is a high comorbidity with anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with headache. So, headache and these comorbidities, in particular anxiety and depression, may have in common persistent and maladaptive patterns of thinking which are related to maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Further research should assess metacognitive processes of children and adolescents with headache in order to increase their ability to control their own cognitive processes and consequently monitor factors which may trigger the attacks

Headache and alexithymia in children and adolescents: what Is the connection?

Background: Headache is one of the most common complaints in children and adolescents and comorbidity rates are very high and the major associated diseases are depression, anxiety, atopic disorders, sleep, and behavioral disorders. In recent years, it has been highlighted that difficulties regulating emotions such as alexithymia have also been associated with diagnosis of somatization. Methods: We carried out a mini review analyzing the relation between alexithymia and primary headache (e.g., migraine and tension type headache) in children and adolescents by synthesizing the relevant studies in the literature on PubMed, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Search terms were "alexithymia" combined with the "primary headache," "migraine," "tension type headache," "children," and "adolescents." Results: All analyzed studies found higher levels of alexithymia in children and adolescents with headache than control groups but there are different opinions about the relationship between headache and alexithymia. For example, some studies suggest that the association between headache and alexithymia in children may be due to an incomplete development of emotive competency or a general immature cognitive development, instead other studies found a correlation between headache symptoms, insecure attachment, and alexithymia. There seems to be also differences between children with migraine compared to those with tension type headache (TTH). Conclusion: There are some studies on adults suffering from headache or migraine and alexithymia, but there is only a moderate amount of research on pediatric age with different opinions and theories about this relationship. Further studies on children and adolescents are necessary to effectively understand this relationship and to help children to reduce headache and improve emotional consciousness

Structure of the magnetoionic medium around the FR Class I radio galaxy 3C 449

The goal of this work is to constrain the strength and structure of the magnetic field associated with the environment of the radio source 3C 449, using observations of Faraday rotation, which we model with a structure function technique and by comparison with numerical simulations. We assume that the magnetic field is a Gaussian, isotropic random variable and that it is embedded in the hot intra-group plasma surrounding the radio source. For this purpose, we present detailed rotation measure images for the polarized radio source 3C 449, previously observed with the Very Large Array at seven frequencies between 1.365 and 8.385 GHz. We quantify the statistics of the magnetic-field fluctuations by deriving rotation measure structure functions, which we fit using models derived from theoretical power spectra. We quantify the errors due to sampling by making multiple two-dimensional realizations of the best-fitting power spectrum.We also use depolarization measurements to estimate the minimum scale of the field variations. We then make three-dimensional models with a gas density distribution derived from X-ray observations and a random magnetic field with this power spectrum. Under these assumptions we find that both rotation measure and depolarization data are consistent with a broken power-law magnetic-field power spectrum, with a break at about 11 kpc and slopes of 2.98 and 2.07 at smaller and larger scales respectively. The maximum and minimum scales of the fluctuations are around 65 and 0.2 kpc, respectively. The average magnetic field strength at the cluster centre is 3.5 +/-1.2 micro-G, decreasing linearly with the gas density within about 16 kpc of the nucleus.Comment: 19 pages; 14 figures; accepted for publication on A&A. For a high quality version use ftp://ftp.eso.org/pub/general/guidetti

The magnetized medium around the radio galaxy B2 0755+37: an interaction with the intra-group gas

We explore the magneto-ionic environment of the isolated radio galaxy B2 0755+37 using detailed imaging of the distributions of Faraday rotation and depolarization over the radio source from Very Large Array observations at 1385,1465 and 4860 MHz and new X-ray data from XMM-Newton. The Rotation Measure (RM) distribution is complex, with evidence for anisotropic fluctuations in two regions. The approaching lobe shows low and uniform RM in an unusual `stripe' along an extension of the jet axis and a linear gradient transverse to this axis over its Northern half. The leading edge of the receding lobe shows arc-like RM structures with sign reversals. Elsewhere, the RM structures are reasonably isotropic. The RM power spectra are well described by cut-off power laws with slopes ranging from 2.1 to 3.2 in different sub-regions. The corresponding magnetic-field autocorrelation lengths, where well-determined, range from 0.25 to 1.4 kpc. It is likely that the fluctuations are mostly produced by compressed gas and field around the leading edges of the lobes. We identify areas of high depolarization around the jets and inner lobes. These could be produced by dense gas immediately surrounding the radio emission containing a magnetic field which is tangled on small scales. We also identify four ways in which the well known depolarization (Faraday depth) asymmetry between jetted and counter-jetted lobes of extended radio sources can be modified by interactions with the surrounding medium.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Full resolution paper available at: ftp://ftp.ira.inaf.it/pub/outgoing/guidetti/ Subjects: Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO

Fostering work ability among menopausal women. Does any work-related psychosocial factor help?

Introduction: Due to the aging workforce, it will become even more common for organizations to count, among their employees, women who are dealing with menopause. To date, no knowledge is available regarding the work ability among menopausal women. With this view, the aim of the present study was to identify work-related psychosocial factors associated with work ability in a sample of menopausal working women. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was administered to 1069 menopausal women employed as administrative officers in the Italian public sector. The study design was cross-sectional. Results: Work ability was found to be negatively associated with family–work conflict (β = − 0.21, p = 0.0001) and positively associated with health-oriented organizational climate (β = 0.12, p = 0.0001), job autonomy (β = 0.08, p= 0.006), and skill discretion (β = 0.08, p= 0.048). Conversely, work ability did not show significant associations with job demands, flexible working hours, and social support. Discussion: From a practical point of view, our study identifies various areas of intervention that could foster job sustainability during menopause. In particular, our findings suggest that, to improve women’s job sustainability across their entire work-life span, it may be crucial to develop organizational policies, training, and activities specifically dedicated to sustaining menopausal women's well-being

Heat-shock protein in encysted and anhydrobiotic eutardigrades

The Heat shock proteins (Hsps) can help organisms to survive environmental stresses. Tardigrades are aquatic metazoans able to colonize unpredictable, or “hostile to life”, terrestrial habitats entering resting stages such as cysts and anhydrobiotic tuns. In this paper we compared the Hsp70 and Hsp90 expression between resting stages (tuns or cysts) and active hydrated specimens of two eutardigrade species, namely Bertolanius volubilis and Ramazzottius oberhaeuseri. The two species partly differ in the kind of dormant stages utilized and in habitats colonized. In both species desiccation stress did not induce an up-regulation of either Hsps. Our data, together with those from literature, suggest that in tardigrades Hsps are involved in repairing molecular damages after anhydrobiosis, rather than in the stabilization of molecules during the dry state. Finally, the first demonstration of the presence of Hsps in diapausing cysts of B. volubilis are reported and discussed

Effects of add-on ultramicronized n-palmitol ethanol amide in patients suffering of migraine with aura. a pilot study

Background: Palmitoyl ethanol amide (PEA) is an endogenously produced substance showing anti-nociceptive effect through both receptor and non-receptor mediated effects at the level of different cellular and tissue sites. This study showed the results of a single blind study that was conducted to evaluate both the safety and the efficacy of ultramicronized PEA (umPEA; 1,200 mg/day) for up 90 days in patients suffering of Migraine with Aura (MA) treated with NSAIDs. Methods: A total of 20 patients, 8 male (33-56-years, average 41.4 ± 7.8) and 12 female (19-61-years, average 38.5 ± 11.9) with MA were admitted to our observation and diagnosed according to ICHD-3 criteria, they received umPEA (1,200 mg/day) in combination with NSAIDs for up to 90 days. They were revaluated at 30, 60, and 90 days after treatment. Results: umPEA administration induced a statistically significant and time dependent pain relief. In particular, these effects were evident at 60 days (male P = 0.01189; female P = < 0.01) and they lasted until the end of the study (male P = 0.0066; female P = 0.01473). Conclusion: Although further studies are needed, our findings indicate that in patients suffering of MA treatment with umPEA had good efficacy and safety which candidate this compound as a therapeutic tool in pain migraine management