Gambling Disorders Among Young Women Regular Gamblers: The Unique and Common Contribution of Executive Thinking Style and Mindfulness

The aim of this study is to investigate the role played by mindfulness in the relationship between cognitive styles and gambling disorders in a sample of female young adults. Participants in this study (125 women; Mage = 18.64 years; SD = 1.7) were recruited in betting or bingo halls. They completed the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, and Sternberg's questionnaire on thinking styles. The results from the mediation analyses revealed that the executive thinking style increases gambling and that the deficit in mindfulness ability mediates this relationship. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed

Poly(trimethylene carbonate) and biphasic calcium phosphate composites for orbital floor reconstruction: A feasibility study in sheep

In the treatment of orbital floor fractures, bone is ideally regenerated. The materials currently used for orbital floor reconstruction do not lead to the regeneration of bone. Our objective was to render polymeric materials based on poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) osteoinductive, and to evaluate their suitability for use in orbital floor reconstruction. For this purpose, osteoinductive biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) particles were introduced into a polymeric PTMC matrix. Composite sheets containing 50 wt% BCP particles were prepared. Also laminates with poly(D,L-lactide) (PDLLA) were prepared by compression moulding PDLLA films onto the composite sheets. After sterilisation by gamma irradiation, the sheets were used to reconstruct surgically-created orbital floor defects in sheep. The bone inducing potential of the different implants was assessed upon intramuscular implantation.\ud The performance of the implants in orbital floor reconstruction was assessed by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). Histological evaluation revealed that in the orbital and intramuscular implantations of BCP containing specimens, bone formation could be seen after 3 and 9 months. Analysis of the CBCT scans showed that the composite PTMC sheets and the laminated composite sheets performed well in orbital floor reconstruction. It is concluded that PTMC/BCP composites and PTMC/BCP composites laminated with PDLLA have osteoinductive properties and seem suitable for use in orbital floor reconstruction

Characteristics of regular gamblers in Italy: The role of control and emotion regulation

Objective: the main purpose of this study is to investigate the emotional and temperamental characteristics associated with gambling in Italy and to compare different groups of people on the basis of their risk of gambling: low-risk gamblers, problem gamblers, and pathological gamblers. Particularly, we examined the possible discriminant functions of perception of control, locus of control (whether internal or chance-based; that is, devoted to fate), and emotion-regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression). Method: a total of 251 adult regular gamblers (142 males and 109 females) recruited from different betting and bingo halls completed self-report questionnaires on gambling behaviors, lack of control as temperamental dimension, locus of control and emotional regulation strategies. Results: pathological gamblers, in comparison to low-risk gamblers, had lower levels of internal locus of control and cognitive reappraisal and higher levels of chance locus of control. Results from a discriminant function analysis have underlined the presence of two distinct functions: the former, named \u201cunmanageable and stressful fate,\u201d describes an egosyntonic position to gambling; the latter, named \u201cI\u2019d like to resist,\u201d describes the egodystonic position to gambling. Conclusions: findings suggest considering regular gamblers as a heterogeneous group with respect to their attitudes towards their addiction. This can have important implications for their treatment

Endoscopic follow up after elective variceal sclerotherapy: results of two different surveillance shedules

Entre mars 1983 et mai 1989, 61 patients ont été traités pour un ou plusieurs épisodes hémorragiques sur varices œsophagiennes, et suivis pendant au moins douze mois. Le groupe A comporte 33 malades soumis à une S.E. jusqu'en mai 1986; après éradication des varices, ils ont subi des contrôles endoscopiques trimestriels au cours de la première année et ensuite semestriels. Le groupe B comporte 28 malades, soumis après éradication des varices, à un contrôle endoscopique précoce (un mois) et ensuite assujettis au même schéma de contrôle que les malades du groupe

The Transition from Middle School to High School: The Mediating Role of Perceived Peer Support in the Relationship between Family Functioning and School Satisfaction

The study focused on the transition from middle school to high school and aimed to verify the mediating role that perceived peer support may play in the relationship between family functioning in middle school and school satisfaction in high school. In middle school (Wave 1), participants were 208 adolescents (106 boys and 102 girls) aged 12–13 years (M=12.56; SD =.61), attending the last classes of two middle public schools located in Italy. One year later (Wave 2), 155 adolescents (76 boys and 79 girls) participated again in the study when they attended the first classes of high school (M=13.91; SD=.75). Participants completed the Italian Version of Family Assessment Device and the Social Support Questionnaire (short from) in Wave 1 and the Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale in Wave 2. Results showed that among family functioning dimensions, only affective involvement positively predicted perceived peer support and school satisfaction. The mediation models showed that perceived peer support in middle school mediated the relationship between affective involvement in middle school and school satisfaction in high school. Our results confirm the role of subjective perception of peer support in contributing to the prediction of school satisfaction beyond good parental affective involvement

Anticancer activity of Salvia officinalis essential oil and its principal constituents against hormone-dependent tumour cells

Objective: To investigate the in vitro antiproliferative action of essential oil from Salvia officinalis L. (S. officinalis) grown in Sicily (Italy), and its main components on hormone-dependent cancer cell lines. Methods: S. officinalis essential oil was prepared by hydrodistillation. The actions of the S. officinalis essential oil and its three principal components ( α -thujone, 1,8-cineole and camphor) were evaluated in LNCaP cells (prostate carcinoma), MCF7 cells (breast carcinoma) and HeLa cells (cervical carcinoma) at various dosages and diverse time points. Cell viability and proliferation were estimated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Results: S. officinalis essential oil at doses of 100 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL induced a significant reduction of cell viability in MCF7, LNCaP and HeLa cell lines after a 48-hour incubation. The same cell lines also showed decreased cell viability when they were treated with a mixture of three major components of the essential oil, at doses of 100 μg/mL and 200 μg/mL, after a 48-hour incubation. Conclusions: These preliminary results could shed light on the formulation of new therapeutic agents with antiproliferative activity. Thus supplementary investigations are fundamental to examine the molecular mechanisms of the anticancer effects of this species of Salvia in cancer cells and to achieve confirmation of its in vivo anticancer activity

Muscle Dysmorphia in Adolescence: The Role of Parental Psychological Control on a Potential Behavioral Addiction

Objective The study investigated the relationship between psychological parental control and muscle dysmorphia in adolescence, as form of exercise dependence, focusing also on the role of pathological worry. Methods Participants were 312 adolescents (140 boys and 172 girls) aged 16 to 18 years (M= 17.05; SD = 0.85) and completed the Muscle Dysmorphia Disorder Inventory, the Dependency-oriented and Achievement-oriented Parental Psychological Control, and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Results The results highlighted that boys showed higher level than girls in dependency-oriented and achievement-oriented parental psychological control and muscle dysmorphia. Furthermore, girls showed higher levels of pathological worry than boys. Pathological worry partially mediated the relationship between dependency-oriented parental psychological control and muscle dysmorphia as well as between achievement-oriented parental psychological and muscle dysmorphia. Psychological parental control predicted muscle dysmorphia, and pathological worry seemed to act as a partial mediator in this relationship. Conclusions Psychology parental control and pathological worry are linked to muscle dysmorphia, but psychological parental control seems to frustrate the need for autonomy of adolescents and, therefore, muscle dysmorphia may become the maladaptive answer to react to the excessive control of their parents. It seems that body of adolescents may become the scenario towards which they play a sort of power of control to counteract anxiety deriving from the excessive psychological control played by parents