Adapting to Cancer with Body, Mind, and Heart: Psychological,Psychophysiological Assessment and Management in Sample of Ovarian Cancer Survivors

Objective: Ovarian cancer survivors often develop severe psychological disorders and impairments in social, familial, and sexual functioning. They experience a withdrawal from intimate relationship, fear and body shame, and a condition of unrelenting distress. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological parameter that, when reduced, is index of higher distress. The quantitative observational study aimed at understanding the relationship between psychological adjustment, distress, and quality of life. Methods: 44 women, consecutively recruited at the Oncological service of the Gynecological Dept., filled questionnaires investigating social support, body image, coping strategies and quality of life and recorded short-term HRV. Results: significant correlations appeared between: quality of life functioning scales and body image, perceived social support and coping strategies; perceived support from the significant other and HRV (r=339 p <05), role functioning and HRV (r=479 p<001). Simple regressions on HRV showed the effect of the significant other’s support (F=4.27 p<05) and of role functioning (F=9.810 p<001), while body image showed its effect on quality of life (F=4.18 p<05). Multiple regression on HRV showed the effect of body image (β=453), support from friends (β=-435) and avoidance (β=-391) while fatalism showed an effect on quality of life (β=364, p<05). Conclusion: Higher concerns on body image seem linked to a worsened day-to-day life. Reporting these concerns contributes to raise HRV, while better emotive disclosure reduces emotional distress. Social support positively influences quality of life and HRV. Fatalism facilitates cancer acceptance process. Proper emotive disclosure may have a positive impact on life quality

Gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative): Clinical psychological variables and symptomatology pertaining to perioperative period

Objective: After considering great inter-individual variability of subjective experience and clinical course in reference to conservative and non-conservative gynecological surgical interventions, an attempt was made to evaluate potential role of several clinical and psychological variables with respect to perioperative symptomatology course and illness behaviour. Materials and methods: The sample consists of 58 women (mean age 41.4 ± 8.7) undergoing gynecological surgical interventions (conservative and non-conservative ones) for benign pathologies. The anamnestic and clinical data (psychological anamnesis, clinical history, indications, methods and typology of the intervention) were collected using a specifically designed summary form. For the evaluation of pre-and post-operative symptomatology course and illness behaviour, the following psychological tests were respectively used: The Symptom Questionnaire (SQ), with 3 planned administrations (respectively 15 days before the intervention, a day before the intervention and at discharge) and the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), completed before discharge. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis) were used to compare performances on independent samples. Results: Results show that perioperative course and illness behaviour in the cases of gynecological surgical interventions for benign pathologies depend on clinical variables, that is, typology and methods of the intervention, clinical history, psychopathological anamnesis. Conclusion: Findings suggest the importance of clinical-anamnestic inquiry oriented towards the evaluation of variables that emerged as risk factors, with the goal of planning personalized support interventions for preventing and/or reducing distress and impact on psychophysical wellbeing arising after gynaecological surgical interventions

Subclinical Hypothyroidism: behavioral and psychophysiological characteristics.A pilot study

Background: Clinical hypothyroidism affects various aspects of cognitive and affective brain function. The most severe hypothyroidism may also mimic a picture of melancholic depression and dementia. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SHT) is characterized by elevated TSH levels despite normal thyroid hormone concentrations. The aim of this research is to verify the presence of a typical psychophysiological pattern in SHT patients. Methods: Since 1998 fifty patients who underwent surgeries at the Department of Endocrinology, University of Pisa, diagnosed with SHT, were subsequently recruited. Subjects underwent an inspection of the reported symptoms using the Crown & Crisp Experiential Index, and a psychophysiological assessment with a simultaneous recording of the parameters Skin Conductance Level/ Response (SCL/SCR), Surface Frontal Electromyogram (EMG), Peripheral Temperature (PT), Heart Rate (HR). As a control group, fifty subjects without endocrine disorders were subsequently recruited. Results: Data shows little difference in levels in hormonal assays except for TSH. There is also a significant elevation of some of the CCEI subscales: Anxiety, Depression, and Somatic Complaints. At the autonomic level, there is a general pattern of excessive arousal with significant differences in SCL/SCR, HR, and PT. Conclusions: A first data interpretation is that in sub-clinical hypothyroidism, the body tries to support and integrate the general lack of energy with an acceleration of the autonomic activity. This condition of initial arousal could be a useful indicator in order to monitor the treatment course and its effectiveness on the pathological evolution

Claimed Effects, Outcome Variables and Methods of Measurement for Health Claims on Foods Related to Vision Proposed Under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006

Adequate visual function has a strong impact on the quality of life of people. Several foods and food components have been hypothesized to play a role in the maintenance of normal visual function and in the prevention of eye diseases. Some of these foods/food components have been the object of a request of authorization for use of health claims under Articles 13(5) or 14 of the Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Most of these requests have received a negative opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) due to the choice of inappropriate outcome variables (OVs) and/or methods of measurement (MMs) applied in the studies used to substantiate the claims. This manuscript refers to the collection, collation and critical analysis of OVs and MMs related to vision. Guidance document and requests for authorization of health claims were used to collect OVs and MMs related to vision. A literature review was performed to critically analyse OVs and MMs, with the aim of defining their appropriateness in the context of a specific claimed effect related to vision. The results highlight the importance of adequate choices of OVs and MMs for an effective substantiation of claims related to visual function

Claimed Effects, Outcome Variables and Methods of Measurement for Health Claims on Foods Related to Vision Proposed Under Regulation (EC) 1924/2006

Adequate visual function has a strong impact on the quality of life of people. Several foods and food components have been hypothesized to play a role in the maintenance of normal visual function and in the prevention of eye diseases. Some of these foods/food components have been the object of a request of authorization for use of health claims under Articles 13(5) or 14 of the Regulation (EC) 1924/2006. Most of these requests have received a negative opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) due to the choice of inappropriate outcome variables (OVs) and/or methods of measurement (MMs) applied in the studies used to substantiate the claims. This manuscript refers to the collection, collation and critical analysis of OVs and MMs related to vision. Guidance document and requests for authorization of health claims were used to collect OVs and MMs related to vision. A literature review was performed to critically analyse OVs and MMs, with the aim of defining their appropriateness in the context of a specific claimed effect related to vision. The results highlight the importance of adequate choices of OVs and MMs for an effective substantiation of claims related to visual function

Gas Distribution and Monitoring for the Drift Chamber of the MEG-II Experiment

The reconstruction of the positron trajectory in the MEG-II experiment searching for the $\mu^+ \to e^+ \gamma$ decay uses a cylindrical drift chamber operated with a helium-isobutane gas mixture. A stable performance of the detector in terms of its electron drift properties, avalanche multiplication, and with a gas mixture of controlled composition and purity has to be provided and continuously monitored. In this paper we describe the strategies adopted to meet the requirements imposed by the target sensitivity of MEG-II, including the construction and commissioning of a small chamber for an online monitoring of the gas quality.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Journal of Instrumentatio