Psychometric comparison of students in medicine and other faculties: social factors and psychologic symptoms.

Few studies have investigated personality and psychopathological profiles associated to the choice of university education. Our study examined students from four faculties of Turin University, in Turin, Italy (Medicine, Engineering, Education, Law), comparing sociodemographic features, personality characteristics and psychiatric symptoms. A heterogeneous group of 1,323 students were assessed using a semistructured interview, the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised (PDQ-R), and the Symptoms Checklist 90 (SCL-90). Statistical analysis included four logistic regression models, each fitted for one faculty, considering the other three as a control group. Associations were found in Medical and Engineering students concerning type of high school, school final score, and father?s socioeducational level. Factors associated with students of Law and Education included socioeducational characteristics, but stronger correlations were seen with PDQ-R personality scales and SCL-90 symptom clusters. In conclusion, four different profiles were identified. Medicine was not significantly related to personality and psychiatric factors. Engineering was related to male gender, choice of technical high school and father?s social level. Law was related to female gender and narcissistic personality profile. These data may be useful for counseling activities addressed to high school and university students.

Brain excitatory/inhibitory circuits cross-talking with chromogranin A during hypertensive and hibernating states.

To date, many scientific attempts have been directed towards the development of experimental models for the identification of neuronal mechanisms evoking cardiovascular and hemodynamic dysfunctions. The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR), a genetic model of essential hypertension, has become a valuable rodent for the characterization of molecular markers in hypertensive-related diseases. Recently, growing interests have also been directed to a new experimental paradigm i.e. hibernation, a physiological state consenting the hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) to activate protective mechanisms against ischemic-like complications during the arousal phase. With this intention, the present review will focus attention on specific neurosignaling systems involved with the preservation of hemodynamic conditions in those brain areas that play a pivotal role on such a feature. It is widely known that healthy neurons conserve their structural and responsiveness properties in presence of a constant blood supply, which is assured by their coupling to microvessels and perivascular astrocytes as well as by secretory proteins such as chromogranin A (CgA). So, it will be interesting to establish if this protein alone or with the participation of excitatory/inhibitory neurosignals is capable of influencing some brain areas controlling cardiovascular conditions in both SHRs and hibernating hamsters. In this context, the present work will deliver the most important findings regarding neuronal CgA and its cross-talking ability with major inhibitory (GABA/adenosine) and/or excitatory (glutamate) neuroreceptor systems in relation to hypertensive/hypotensive states of both animal models. Indications deriving from such approaches may provide clinically useful insights regarding their role as protective factors of hemodynamic and neurological disorders.

[The psychological aspects of asthma in childhood]. / Aspetti psicologici dell'asma in età evolutiva.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The hypothesis of an emotional component in asthma has been put forward since antiquity. It is currently explored using a psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural and systemic-relational approach. This study, carried out using a psychodynamic approach, aimed to identify the psychological aspects of recurrent asthmatic attacks in childhood. METHODS: The study examined 20 subjects, aged between 9 months and 7 years and 11 months, attending the Pneumological Division of the Ospedale Infantile in Turin. The study consisted of the collection of social and personal data regarding the family and clinical and medical history; a semi-structured interview with the mothers, discussed as part of individual supervision regarding the mother-child relationship and the emotive reactions to an asthma attack. RESULTS: Although all subjects had an early onset of manifest asthma, ascertained allergic pathogenesis was only revealed in 30% of children. All cases revealed a lacking and/or conflictual quality in the mother-child relationship, as well as the young patient's difficulty in growing up, implying the acquisition of gradual autonomy. CONCLUSIONS: The authors emphasise the need to focus greater attention on the emotive situation of the child and its parents, in particular those aspects regarding the quality of life under the influence of disease.