"The people I grew up with": the role of sociodemographic factors in early memories in an Italian sample.

This within-culture study aimed to investigate the age and density of earliest memories in a sample of Italian young adults. The framework of this study is sociocultural, with an emphasis on family reminiscing as contributing to early memories. In this regard Italy is of interest due to the fact that it is a Western but familial oriented culture, where multi-generational family ties are still strong in comparison with other European counterparts, providing for the opportunity to investigate the offset of childhood amnesia as a function of growing up in an extended family structure. Consistent with Mullen (1994), 90 undergraduate students were interviewed about their earliest memory and about sociodemographic factors in their early childhood years: household composition, gender, birth order, presence of family moves, and significant early childhood experiences. Participants who grew up in an extended family situation reported earlier and denser memories in comparison with those from nuclear families. Results are discussed in light of other cross-cultural work on childhood amnesia and with respect to sociocultural theories of the importance of family reminiscing for one's early memories.

Predictors and prognostic value of myocardial injury following stent implantation.

BACKGROUND: Troponin I concentrations are frequently elevated following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) even in procedures without complications and are considered, by some, as predictive of long-term morbidity and mortality. We assessed whether post-PCI troponin I concentrations bore any relationship to clinical, angiographic and in-laboratory minor adverse events indicative of myocardial injury and evaluated, in follow-up, whether these levels are useful as a predictive markers of adverse events. METHODS: Patients (n=147) who were scheduled for PCI for stent placement were prospectively studied. In-laboratory events recorded were protracted chest pain, electrocardiographic changes, slow flows, dissections and lateral branch affectation. Troponin I and creatinine kinase MB fraction (CK-MB) mass were measured at baseline and post-procedure. Mean clinical follow-up was for 10.4+/-3.6 months. RESULTS: During PCI, at least one adverse event occurred in 34% of patients and, in 38% of them, there was an elevation of troponin I as compared to 5.1% of those patients without any adverse event (relative risk=7.4; P<0.001). Elevation of troponin I concentrations occurred in 16.3% of all patients, 79.2% associated with an AE. CK-MB was elevated in 15.6% of patients. On multivariate analysis, protracted chest pain, lateral branch involvement and slow flow remained statistically significant in relation to post-procedure elevations of troponin I concentrations. Clinical follow-up showed a poorer prognosis in patients who had had elevated troponin I concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: In-laboratory adverse event predict elevated post-procedure troponin I concentrations which are associated with myocardial injury. These elevations, in turn, predict poorer medium-term clinical outcomes.