Interpersonal similarity of autistic traits predicts friendship quality.

Autistic traits are known to be associated with social interaction difficulties. Yet, somewhat paradoxically, relevant research has been typically restricted to studying individuals. In line with the 'dialectical misattunement hypothesis' and clinical insights of intact social interactions among autistic individuals, we hypothesized that friendship quality varies as a function of interpersonal similarity and more concretely the difference value of autistic traits in a dyad, above and beyond autistic traits per se. Therefore, in this study, we used self-report questionnaires to investigate these measures in a sample of 67 neurotypical dyads across a broad range of autistic traits. Our results demonstrate that the more similar two persons are in autistic traits, the higher is the perceived quality of their friendship, irrespective of friendship duration, age, sex and, importantly, the (average of) autistic traits in a given dyad. More specifically, higher interpersonal similarity of autistic traits was associated with higher measures of closeness, acceptance and help. These results, therefore, lend support to the idea of an interactive turn in the study of social abilities across the autism spectrum and pave the way for future studies on the multiscale dynamics of social interactions.

Prurigo por picaduras de insectos: estudio epidemiológico / Prurigo by insect stings: epidemiologic study

Introducción: El prurigo es una reacción cutánea de hipersensibilidad a la picadura de insectos. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar la incidencia y características clínicas de los pacientes afectados por prurigo en el servicio de Dermatología Pediátrica del Hospital de Clínicas de Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil. Materiales y métodos: Estudio descriptivo y retrospectivo en el que se evalúan los datos de la primera consulta de pacientes entre 0 y 14 años de edad, con diagnóstico clínico de prurigo, atendidos entre 1978 y 2005. En el mismo se analiza la distribución de esta entidad por sexo, raza, edad de inicio del cuadro, procedencia del paciente y estación del año al momento de la consulta. Resultados: Entre 19.410 primeras consultas, el 9% de ellas tuvo diagnóstico de prurigo. El 50% de los pacientes provenía de Curitiba y 38% del área metropolitana circundante. La mitad eran de sexo masculino y el 80% eran caucásicos. Hubo predominio de consulta en los meses de primavera y verano. La edad media fue de 12 meses, siendo el 63% de los pacientes menores de 2 añoDiscusión: En estos 27 años de experiencia, el diagnóstico de prurigo fue frecuente. La incidencia en la literatura es variable y nuestros hallazgos coinciden con los de algunas series de casos previamente publicadas. La proporción de caucásicos afectados en este estudio es semejante a la observada en la población general de Curitiba, de lo que se desprende que no hubo predominio racial. Los síntomas se iniciaron tempranamente en nuestros pacientes, probablemente por las condiciones climáticas y el ambiente doméstico que predisponen a la proliferación de los insectos. Concluimos que el prurigo es prevalente en nuestro medio y su inicio es precoz.

Introduction: Prurigo or papular urticaria is a cutaneous reaction from hypersensitivity to insect bites. The purpose of this work is to determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of patients with papular urticaria at the Pediatric Dermatology Division of the Hospital de Clínicas outpatient unit, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. Materials and methods: This descriptive and retrospective study evaluates data from first consultation of patients between 0 to 14 years of age, with clinically diagnosed papular urticaria, seen between 1978 and 2005. Data of disease distribution considering gender, race, age at beginning of symptoms, place of origin and season in which the consultation occurred, is herein analyzed. Results: There were 19,410 first consultations and 9% were diagnosed as papular urticaria. Fifty percent of patients came from Curitiba and 38% from surrounding cities. Half of the affected children were male and 80% were Caucasians. Most of the consultations were seen during spring and summer. Median age was 12 months and 63% patients were younger than two years. Discussion: In our 27 years of experience, the diagnosis of papular urticaria was frequent. The incidence in literature is variable, but we have found similar data with previously reported serious of cases. The proportion of affected Caucasians in this study correlates with the racial distribution of Curitiba’s general population, so we can address that there was no racial prevalence. The early beginning of symptoms in our patients may be explained by the fact that weather and environmental conditions predispose to insect proliferation. We can conclude that papular urticaria is a common diagnosis in our environment and its beginning is usually early in life.

Impact of rosiglitazone on beta-cell function, insulin resistance, and adiponectin concentrations: results from a double-blind oral combination study with glimepiride.

Addition of rosiglitazone to sulfonylurea has been shown to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes previously treated with sulfonylurea monotherapy alone. This investigation was performed to assess the specific impact of rosiglitazone on insulin resistance, beta-cell function, cardiovascular risk markers, and adiponectin secretion in this treatment concept. One hundred two patients from a double-blind, 3-arm comparator trial (group 0, glimepiride + placebo, n = 30; group 4, glimepiride + 4 mg rosiglitazone, n = 31; group 8, glimepiride + 8 mg rosiglitazone, n = 41; 48 women, 54 men; age [mean +/- SD], 62.8 +/- 9.1 years; body mass index, 28.7 +/- 4.5 kg/m2; diabetes duration, 6.4 +/- 4.8 years; HbA1c, 8.1% +/- 1.5%) were analyzed after 0 and 16 weeks of treatment. Observation parameters were HbA1c, glucose, homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance score, insulin, intact proinsulin, and adiponectin. Insulin resistance was defined by elevated intact proinsulin values or homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance score of more than 2. All parameters were comparable in the 3 groups at baseline. Substantial and significant dose-dependent improvements were observed after addition of rosiglitazone for fasting glucose (group 0, -9 +/- 48 mg/dL; group 4, -38 +/- 47 mg/dL; group 8, -46 +/- 53 mg/dL), HbA1c (-0.1% +/- 0.7%, -1.1% +/- 1.2%, -1.3% +/- 1.2%), insulin (1.4 +/- 6.2, -1.2 +/- 5.3, -3.7 +/- 9.9 microU/mL), intact proinsulin (1.6 +/- 7.1, -2.0 +/- 4.6, -3.1 +/- 6.1 pmol/L), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (0.2 +/- 2.6, -1.7 +/- 3.5, -2.1 +/- 3.5 mg/L). After adjustment for changes in body weight, significant increases in adiponectin were detected with rosiglitazone, whereas glimepiride alone did not induce a comparable effect (-0.5 +/- 5.8, 8.8 +/- 22.9, 14.3 +/- 19.9 mg/L). The number of insulin-resistant patients decreased in both rosiglitazone treatment groups, whereas no change was seen with glimepiride alone. Next to the reported effects on glucose control, rosiglitazone provided an additional beneficial effect on insulin resistance, beta-cell function, and cardiovascular risk markers. In conclusion, our short-term investigation of rosiglitazone action provides further experimental support for the rationale of combining rosiglitazone with sulfonylurea drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Mordedura canina: 140 casos em 6 meses / Dog bites: 140 cases in 6 months

O presente estudo é do tipo série prospectiva de casos e compreendeu 140 pacientes consecutivos atendidos inicialmente na emergência do Hospital do Trabalhador no período de maio a novembro de 2001. Oitenta e quatro por cento dos pacientes procediam da cidade de Curitiba; 65 por cento eram homens. A idade mais atingida foi entre 0 e 10 anos (25,7 por cento), sendo a mediana de 23 anos. Trinta e um por cento dos cäes tinham história anterior de ataque a outras pessoas. A face doi atingida em 31 pacientes (22,1 por cento) sendo 22 (71 por cento) destes, menores de 10 anos.Os membros superiores foram atingidos 102 vezes e o inferior 51. As crianças foram as mais atingidas, sendo o membro superior, membro inferior e face respectivamente os mais afetados. Quinze pacientes (10,7 por cento) necessitaram de internamento para tratamento cirúrgico, demonstrnado maior gravidade em nossa casuística do que o visto na literatura (4 por cento)