The Rorschach test and Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome: a pilot case-control study

Abstract Background: To date only three studies, all lacking a control group, have investigated the personality style underlying tic disorders or Tourette's syndrome (TS), using the projective Rorschach test. Despite the recent controversy about its proper use in clinical practice and research, the Rorschach test may be useful to explore personality organization in TS. The research hypothesis under investigation in this exploratory study was that young TS patients exhibit a peculiar personality organization, with significantly increased indicators of poor emotional control, aggression, anxiety and depression, on the Rorschach test, compared to healthy controls. Methods: We analyed the Rorschach protocols of 17 newly diagnosed paediatric TS patients and 17 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Results: Compared with the controls young TS patients recorded significantly lower mean percentages of F and F+ responses and a significantly higher number of FM and FC responses, thus showing reduced control of emotions and difficulty in integrating aggressivity. Furthermore, associations emerged between comorbidity with ADHD and increased emotional instability and between severity of tics and of OCD and a pattern of emotional hyper-control and application of rigid defensive mechanisms. Conclusions: These results seem to confirm the existence of a peculiar personality style in young TS patients and may have important implications, both pathogenetic and therapeutic

Endometrial stromal cells from women with endometriosis reveal peculiar migratory behavior in response to ovarian steroids

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate differences in endometrial stromal cell (ESC) migration between patients with and without endometriosis. DESIGN: Differences in ESC migration, cellular morphology, and cytoskeletal-actin dynamics were evaluated in response to platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and steroid hormones (17beta-estradiol and progesterone). SETTING: Medical school research laboratory. PATIENT(S): Endometrial biopsy samples obtained from 43 women: 23 as controls (endometriosis excluded by laparoscopy), 20 with severe or moderate endometriosis (diagnosed by laparoscopy). INTERVENTION(S): ESCs were treated with and without PDGF-BB, 17beta-estradiol, and progesterone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Cellular migration was evaluated by means of chemotaxis experiments in a Boyden chamber. Cellular morphology and cytoskeletal-actin dynamics were evaluated by immunofluorescence. RESULT(S): Progesterone stimulated the migratory behavior of ESCs derived from women with endometriosis, while 17beta-estradiol could stimulate motility of ESCs derived from both controls and women with endometriosis, with a greater effect observed in the latter group. No difference in ESC migratory behavior after PDGF-BB treatment was observed between women with and without the disease. Also, PDGF-BB and steroid hormones could modify the organization of actin cytoskeletal structures. CONCLUSION(S): Ovarian steroids differently affect the migration of ESCs derived from women with and without endometriosis. This effect is likely to involve cytoskeletal reorganization. Nongenomic signaling pathways induced by steroid hormones might have a role in this phenomenon

Pulmonary endoarterectomy in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension: short-term functional assessment in a longitudinal study.

Abstract AIM: Presently, the surgical treatment choice in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) consists in a pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA). The aim of the present study is the functional assessment of patients submitted to PEA both preoperatively and shortly after the intervention. A longitudinal study was developed to study the quality and quantity of functional performance possible in these subjects. METHODS: Twenty-two subjects were assessed immediately prior to PEA and 3 months later in order to obtain quantitative measurements of short-term functional recovery. The functional assessment included the 6-min walk test (6mWT), the measurement of the oxygen percent saturation (HbS%O(2)) and the degree of dyspnea subjectively perceived by each patient. RESULTS: Three months after the surgical intervention, there was a definite increase in the number of meters walked during the 6mWT with respect to preintervention; the difference between the distances walked in the 6mWT (6mWD) in the pre and post-PEA was statistically significant (Paired t-test P<0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study the 6mWT resulted to be a useful tool in the functional evaluation of patients affected by CTEPH and submitted to PEA. The average 6mWD significantly improved already at 3 months after the intervention, thus reaching the minimum limit of the range predicted for the healthy control, but remains lower than the average theoretical value predicted (about 75% of the same)

Solidarietà sociale e impegno educativo. Promuovere il successo scolastico per il successo formativo

La prospettiva del successo formativo implica un orizzonte di impegno che travalica la mera riuscita scolastica integrandola nel percorso di maturazione complessiva del minore: il successo formativo è un obiettivo e un bene per l’intera società, congiuntamente responsabile del suo raggiungimento. In tale quadro attenzione particolare va rivolta al terzo settore che, in diverse forme, pone in atto azioni concrete di supporto allo studio e di accompagnamento alla crescita dei ragazzi caratterizzate dalla gratuità. La specificità di questi servizi porta infatti i ragazzi a interrogarsi sul senso dell’impegno dei volontari e questa domanda può essere l'inizio di un sorprendente percorso personale di cambiamento nella concezione di sè e del proprio futuro. Il volume propone una lettura integrata del tema del successo formativo ed offre un approfondimento sui temi del sostegno scolastico e del volontariato prendendo le mosse da una recente indagine svolta dal Centro Studi e Ricerche sulle Politiche della Formazione dell’Università Cattolica (CeRiForm) in collaborazione con l’Associazione Portofranco Milano. Dalla ricerca emergono prospettive e piste di sviluppo per il miglioramento delle azioni integrate fra scuola, famiglia ed extrascuola vòlte al conseguimento del successo formativo da parte di tutti gli studenti