Stress-related hormonal and psychological changes to official youth Taekwondo competitions.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of an official Taekwondo competition on the heart rate (HR), salivary α-amylase (sA-A), salivary free cortisol (sC), and Profile of Mood States (POMS) in 10 young male (14±0 years) and six female (13±1 years) athletes. POMS and hormones were measured 15 min before and directly after the competition. During the recovery phase (30 and 90 min), sA-A and sC were also measured. HR measured during the competition was expressed as a percentage of individual's maximal heart rate (%HR(max) ) to evaluate the intensity of exercise. During the competition, athletes spent 65% of the time working at HR>90% of individuals HR(max). A significant increase (P<0.0001) in sA-A (115%) was observed at the end of the match. At 30 min of recovery, sA-A returned to the pre-competition level. The peak sC values were observed at 30 min of recovery (P<0.001), returning to the pre-competition level at 90 min of recovery. A gender difference (P=0.01) emerged only for sC, although a similar trend was observed for female and male athletes. Significantly higher post-match scores emerged for Anger-hostility (pre: 6.1±1.1, post: 11.2±1.9; P=0.03) and Depression-dejection (pre: 4.5±0.5, post: 10.2±1.9; P=0.006), whereas the reverse picture was observed for Vigour-activity (pre: 23.2±1.2, post: 16.3±1.7; P=0.0006). Taekwondo competition results in temporary changes in the stress-related parameters measured in this study. The present findings suggest that this experimental paradigm can represent a useful model for further research on the effects of various stressors (i.e., training and competition) in Taekwondo athletes of different levels (i.e., novice, international).

Trastornos de personalidad en la adolescencia: características clínicas y vías asistenciales desde la infancia a la adultez / Personality disorders in adolescence: Clinical characteristics and therapeutic paths from infancy to adulthood

El trastorno de la personalidad en la infancia representa una realidad clínica presente y, a menudo, dramáticamente relevante en la adolescencia, mientras que desde el punto de vista nosográfico la codificación de la OMS (ICD-10) no prevé su utilización hasta después de los 16-17 años. La primera parte del trabajo presenta el concepto de trastorno de la personalidad haciendo hincapié en su uso en la infancia. En la parte experimental se analiza una muestra de pacientes con trastornos de la personalidad (TP) ingresados en nuestro servicio. Se comenta, básicamente, la evolución clínico-nosográfica, el recorrido asistencial incluso después de su mayoría de edad, el peso de los factores de riesgo (AU)

This paper studies the concept of personality disorders paying special attention to its use in childhood and adolescence. Personality disorders in childhood constitute a clinical reality that often becomes dramatically relevant in adolescence. However, from a nosological point of view, the World Health Organization’s diagnostic classification (ICD-10) does not consider its usage until after 16 or 17 years of age. The paper presents a sample of patients with personality disorders attended in our Center and analyses their clinical and diagnostic development, their treatment history into adulthood and the weight of risk factors (AU)

Autolesión como señal transcultural entre malestar y comunicación: comparación de una muestra italiana y una extracomunitaria / Self-aggression as a trans-cultural signal, between mental suffering and communication: A comparison between italian and immigrant patients

Se presenta una muestra de 13 pacientes (6 varones y 7 mujeres, edad media 16 años) agrupados por actos de autolisis sin tentativa de suicidio en urgencias psiquiátricas infantiles un de hospital de día. El análisis estadístico diferencia dos poblaciones clínicas con distinta composición de género, en las cuales el acto de autolesión tiene funciones diferentes.: una población “clásica”, de tipo occidental, con prevalencia femenina para la cual cortarse provoca alivio, y una población constituida sobre todo por varones, extracomunitarios, para la cual “ el corte” tiene la función de expresas rabia y protesta (AU)

The clinical population (13 patients: 7 females and 6 males) addressed to the Day Hospital of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Unit after self-aggressive acting (cutting, in the majority of the cases) without suicidal intention, is presented. Statistical analysis allowed us to detect two different subgroups: self-aggressive acting prevailed amongst girls in the Italian group, whilst this type of patients where nearly all male in the immigrant group. The mental suffering is both in the Italian and the immigrant group the basis for the self-aggressive acting, but it assumes a different meaning from a simbolic viewpoint. In the Ialian group this kind of acting can be read as a reassuring manoeuvre against anxiety or depressive feelings, whilst in the immigrant group theses acts are often a an expression of rage and protest against adults (AU)

On the Catalytic Role of Ge(+) and Se(+) in the Oxygen Transport Activation of N2O by CO.

The different reactivity of two first row cations selenium and germanium, in activating the reduction of nitrous oxide by carbon monoxide, was theoretically investigated at the density functional level using large basis sets and pseudopotential for metal atoms. In the two examined cases, the reaction mechanisms appeared to be quite different. Germanium shows a very good performance as far as thermodynamic and kinetic aspects are concerned. Selenium, experimentally recognized as an inactive catalyst, was instead found potentially able to catalyze the process through a mechanism of spin orbit coupling involving species with doublet multiplicity.

LANL2DZ basis sets recontracted in the framework of density functional theory.

In this paper we report recontracted LANL2DZ basis sets for first-row transition metals. The valence-electron shell basis functions were recontracted using the PWP86 generalized gradient approximation functional and the hybrid B3LYP one. Starting from the original LANL2DZ basis sets a cyclic method was used in order to optimize variationally the contraction coefficients, while the contraction scheme was held fixed at the original one of the LANL2DZ basis functions. The performance of the recontracted basis sets was analyzed by direct comparison between calculated and experimental excitation and ionization energies. Results reported here compared with those obtained using the original basis sets show clearly an improvement in the reproduction of the corresponding experimental gaps.

Newly developed basis sets for density functional calculations.

Optimized contracted Gaussian basis sets of double-zeta valence polarized (DZVP) quality for first-row transition metals are presented. The DZVP functions were optimized using the PWP86 generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functional and the B3LYP hybrid functional. For a careful analysis of the basis sets performance the transition metal atoms and cations excitation energies were calculated and compared with the experimental ones. The calculated values were also compared with those obtained using the previously available DZVP basis sets developed at the local-density functional level. Because the new basis sets work better than the previous ones, possible reasons of this behavior are analyzed. The newly developed basis sets also provide a good estimation of other atomic properties such as ionization energies.

Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS): long-term follow-up and links with electrical status epilepticus during sleep (ESES).

We describe 11 patients affected by Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) with a mean follow-up of 9 years and 8 months. EEG recordings during wakefulness, NREM and REM sleep showed a bitemporal electrical status epilepticus during sleep (BTESES) in all cases; four of them presented a shift from a BTESES towards an 'intercalated electrical status epilepticus during sleep' (IESES) accompanied by a global regression of cognitive and behavioural functions in 3/4 of cases. At the last observation, only 18.2% of cases presented a complete language recovery and mental retardation was evident in 63.6%. The prognosis of LKS in our cases may depend on the interaction of different negative factors such as onset of aphasia before 4 years, its duration for longer than 1 year, long-lasting duration and continuity without fluctuations of BTESES/IESES, probably preexisting mild speech delay. It is important for the prognosis to utilize antiepileptic treatment and possibly neurosurgical techniques to eliminate EEG paroxysmal abnormalities. At present, no similar cases with clinical-EEG evolution from LKS to electrical status epilepticus during sleep (ESES) have ever been described. Our observation demonstrates that LKS and ESES classified as different clinical-EEG syndromes represent two aspects of the same brain dysfunction and they may exist separately or pass one into the other with a change in the clinical-EEG picture. The common origin of the two syndromes is confirmed by recent functional brain imaging, neurophysiological and neurosurgical techniques.

Posterior fossa malformations and epilepsy.

The association between posterior fossa malformations and epilepsy is rarely reported in the literature. We describe 54 cases with posterior fossa malformations, according to embryogenesis classification, divided into two groups on the basis of presence or absence of epilepsy. Epilepsy occurred in 22 cases (40.7%) and was not related to the type of posterior fossa malformation or to supratentorial cerebral lesions associated with the malformation. Familial antecedents for epilepsy and/or febrile convulsions influenced the presence of epilepsy in patients with posterior fossa malformations (P < .01). Epilepsy was mainly partial (77.3%); benign partial/generalized epilepsies and febrile convulsions occurred in 27.3% of cases. Seizures disappeared for 2 or more years at the end of follow-up in 36.4% of patients. Good epilepsy prognosis was not related to the age at onset of seizures, familial antecedents for epilepsy and/or febrile convulsions, supratentorial associated lesions, or age of patients at the last observation. Profound mental retardation prevailed in patients with epilepsy (P < .01), as did pathologic electroencephalograms (EEG) (P < .0001), with paroxysmal abnormalities (P < .001) and asymmetry (P < .01). In our 54 cases of posterior fossa malformation, we identified two risk factors for epilepsy: familial antecedents for epilepsy and/or febrile convulsions and the involvement of the cerebellum in the malformation.

Elevation of the hemoglobin A1 fraction in alcoholism.

The proportion of hemoglobin A1 was measured in 43 normoglycemic men and women admitted consecutively to an alcohol treatment center and in 41 healthy volunteers. On the average, the size of the fraction was significantly greater in the alcoholic patients than in the healthy subjects. The results of hemoglobin A1c determinations added independent evidence that this difference was not due to formation of any of the known glycosylated hemoglobins despite the fact that the alcohol-related hemoglobin was found to cochromatograph with hemoglobin A1c. The size of the hemoglobin A1 fraction was unrelated to the presence or absence of alcoholic hepatitis, although most patients having abnormally high serum hepatic enzyme activities were also found to have abnormal elevations of the A1 fraction. However, some patients with normal serum enzyme activities were among those having the highest values of the A1 fraction, indicating that the latter was a more sensitive indicator of excessive alcohol intake than were hepatic enzyme activities. The proportion of hemoglobin A1 in a patient followed over a period of 9 months rose to a maximum as the patient continued to drink. In a patient who abstained from drinking while under hospital care, the A1 fraction decreased towards normal with a half-time of 11 days. These observations are interpreted as evidence that alcohol-related hemoglobin is a product of a readily reversible reaction occurring at a maximal rate of 0.038 mM day-1, about 4 times as rapid as is the formation of hemoglobin A1c.