Psychological and adjustment problems due to acquired brain lesions in childhood: a comparison between post-traumatic patients and brain tumour survivors.

OBJECTIVE: To define and differentiate psychological and adjustment problems due to brain injury or brain tumour in children and adolescents. METHODS: Two groups of patients with acquired brain lesions (24 post-traumatic patients and 22 brain tumour survivors), ranging in age between 8-15 years, received a psychological evaluation, including the Child Behaviour Checklist for Ages 4-18 (CBCL) and the Vineland Behaviour Adaptive Scales (VABS). RESULTS: Both groups showed psychological and social adjustment problems. Post-traumatic patients were more impaired than brain tumour survivors. Social adjustment problems were associated to externalizing problems in post-traumatic patients and internalizing problems in brain tumour surviving patients. CONCLUSIONS: These differences in psychological and behavioural disorders between the two groups must necessarily be considered when developing psychological treatment, rehabilitation plan and social re-entry.

Polynuclear polypyridine complexes incorporating Ru(II), Os(II), and Pt(II): decanuclear dendrimeric antennas.

The "complexes as metal/complexes as ligand" strategy has been used to prepare new polynuclear heterometallic complexes containing two, 3, 4, and ten metal units. The metal ions employed are Ru(2+), Os(2+), and Pt(2+); the bridging ligands are 2,3- and 2,5-dpp (dpp = bis(2-pyridyl)pyrazine), and the terminal ligands are Cl(-) and bpy (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine). [Os(bpy)(2)(mu-2,3-dpp)Ru[(mu-2,3-dpp)PtCl(2)](2)](PF(6))(4) (OsRuPt(2)) and [Os[(mu-2,3-dpp)Ru[(mu-2,3-dpp)PtCl(2)](2)](3)](PF(6))(8) (OsRu(3)Pt(6)), which have a dendritic structure, are the first examples of polynuclear complexes based on the dpp bridging ligand simultaneously containing three different metals. All of the new compounds feature absorption spectra with intense ligand-centered transitions in the UV region and metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) bands in the visible region. The complexes are luminescent both at room temperature in acetonitrile solution and at 77 K in butyronitrile rigid matrix. OsRuPt(2) and OsRu(3)Pt(6) luminesce in the near-infrared spectral region at 975 and 875 nm, respectively, at room temperature. This indicates that the emitting state is a (formally triplet) MLCT involving Os(2+) and the bridging ligand mu-2,3-dpp and that all the absorbed energy is efficiently channeled to the single Os-based unit. OsRu(3)Pt(6) appears to be the first decanuclear species displaying such efficient antenna effect.