Vulnerable personality and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy consequent to emotional stressful events: a clinical case report

Introduction: Although the onset of Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) can be triggered by an acute, intense emotional stress, the exact pathogenic mechanisms still remain undefined. Presentation: A 58-year-old female was sent by ambulance to the Emergency Department (ED) for chest pain and ST elevations on ECG. Her chest pain began 3 hours before on admission after a domestic argument. Transthoracic echocardiogram showed severe systolic dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 20%. Cardiac catheterization revealed no significant coronary artery disease. The left ventriculogram showed apical ballooning with hyperdynamic proximal segments. A diagnosis of Takotsubo Cardiomyophaty (TTC) was made according to the Mayo Clinic 2008 criteria. The patient evolved with improvement of her condition and, therefore, was discharged from the hospital. Follow-up echocardiogram seven days later showed normal LV size and function with ejection fraction (EF) of 43%. Paykel Life Stress Event Scale identified as emotional trigger a domestic argument occurred 3 hours before symptom onset. History showed a major life stress event, death of a loved one, six months before symptoms. The patient underwent psychological assessment after hospital discharge by Emotional Regulation Questionnaire and BDI showing high suppression/ low reappraisal profile and moderate depression. Conclusion: This case highlights the hypothesis of a possible link between cognitive emotional processing and vulnerability to Takotsubo syndrome

Weight loss and clinical characteristics of young adults patients seeking treatment at medical centers: Data from the QUOVADIS Study

OBJECTIVE: To compare clinical characteristics, attrition, weight loss, and psychological changes of obese young adults and obese adults seeking treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 1530 individuals seeking treatment in 18 Italian medical centers were evaluated. 382 cases (25%) were classified as young adults (age≤35 years), 1148 (75%) as adults (>35 years). Psychological distress, binge eating, body uneasiness, and attitude towards eating were evaluated, at baseline and after a 12-month weight-loss program, together with BMI changes. Weight-loss expectations and primary motivation for seeking treatment were also recorded. RESULTS: At baseline, young adults reported significantly higher BMI at age 20, weight loss expectations and body uneasiness scores than adults. A significantly higher percentage of young adults also reported improving appearance as primary reason for seeking treatment. The attrition rate was significantly larger in young adults. Among completers, the mean percent weight loss at 12 months and improvement of psychosocial variables were significantly higher in young adults than in adults. By intention to treat, BMI changes were no longer significant between groups. DISCUSSION: Obese young adults lose more weight and considerably improve psychological distress, but show a higher attrition rate after 12 months of continuous care in a real world medical setting

Automating Integration of Heterogeneous COTS Components

Abstract. Mismatches make COTS components difficult to be incorporated. In this paper, an approach is presented to eliminate mismatches among COTS components, which can truly consider COTS components as black boxes. In the approach, only the assembly description of components is required, based on which adaptors for resolving mismatches can be generated automatically. This paper also described an agent-based GUI implementation of the approach.

Cognition-Enhancing Drugs: Can We Say No?

Normative analysis of cognition-enhancing drugs frequently weighs the liberty interests of drug users against egalitarian commitments to a level playing field. Yet those who would refuse to engage in neuroenhancement may well find their liberty to do so limited in a society where such drugs are widespread. To the extent that unvarnished emotional responses are world-disclosive, neurocosmetic practices also threaten to provide a form of faulty data to their users. This essay examines underappreciated liberty-based and epistemic rationales for regulating cognition-enhancing drugs

A Functional NQO1 609C>T Polymorphism and Risk of Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Meta-Analysis

Background: The functional polymorphism (rs1800566) in the NQO1 gene, a 609C.T substitution, leading to proline-toserine amino-acid and enzyme activity changes, has been implicated in cancer risk, but individually published studies showed inconclusive results. Methodology/Principal Findings: We performed a meta-analysis of 20 publications with a total of 5,491 cases and 5,917 controls, mainly on gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. We summarized the data on the association between the NQO1 609C.T polymorphism and risk of GI cancers and performed subgroup analyses by ethnicity, cancer site, and study quality. We found that the variant CT heterozygous and CT/TT genotypes of the NQO1 609 C.T polymorphism were associated with a modestly increased risk of GI cancers (CT vs. CC: OR = 1.10, 95 % CI = 1.01 – 1.19, P heterogeneity = 0.27, I 2 = 0.15; CT/TT vs. CC: OR = 1.11, 95%CI = 1.02 – 1.20, Pheterogeneity = 0.14; I 2 = 0.27). Following further stratified analyses, the increased risk was only observed in subgroups of Caucasians, colorectal cancer in Caucasians, and high quality studies. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that the NQO1 609T allele is a low-penetrance risk factor for GI cancers. Although the effect on GI cancers may be modified by ethnicity and cancer sites, small sample seizes of the subgroup analyse