The Impact of Stress and Depression on the Outcome of Human Gestation.

Many researchers have reported on the high prevalence of anxiety and depression during pregnancy as well as the influence on delivery outcomes during the past decade. Preterm birth and premature labor, bleeding, higher frequency of cesarean section (CS), low birth weight, preeclampsia, stillbirth, miscarriage, NICU hospitalization, and a low Apgar score are the most commonly referenced outcomes assessed. Clarifying the relationship between exposure and result may help us to understand the risk factors and guide us to future clinical and research practices. The purpose of this narrative review is to search the following databases: PubMed, Research Gate, Scopus, Medline Plus, and present the most recent, comprehensive literature on the effects of stress and anxiety on pregnancy outcomes. Articles published from 01/01/2000 to 26/11/2022 were obtained from the previous databases. Anxiety and depression-related disorders are common nowadays, and they are frequently correlated with poor pregnancy outcomes. These problems are caused by a number of factors, including health social determinants, the individual obstetric situation, access to healthcare facilities, etc. The effects of each of these factors on birth outcomes range from major, such as preterm labor, congenital deformities, and low birth weight, to minor, such as mutations in the fetal epigenome. Both direct and indirect pathways of substantial interactions between depression, anxiety and stress, risk variables, and delivery problems were identified. Women's health practitioners and mental physicians must provide adequate support to these women in order to improve outcomes for both mothers and infants.

GENDER EQUALITY AND THE GENDER GAP IN MATHEMATICS.

A gender gap has been found in mathematics (boys outperform girls) that has prevailed across countries for many decades. Whether this gap results from nature or nurture has been hotly debated. Using the evidence of PISA 2003 and the gender equality index of 2003, some researchers have argued that an improvement in gender equality reduces the gender gap in mathematics. This study used five waves of country-level PISA data and, controlling for country fixed effects, found no evidence to support this argument. Furthermore, individual data for PISA 2012 and the multilevel data model were used. The conclusion drawn also does not support the argument. In fact, the relationship between gender equality and the gender gap in mathematics vanished after PISA 2003.

The role of Helicobacter pylori infection in hematological disorders.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram-negative spiral bacterium, classified as a carcinogen of class I, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The infection is a major cause of gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer disease and increases the risk of gastric cancer. It has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several gastrointestinal, systemic or hematological diseases. The present review aims in deciphering the role of the bacterium in hematological disorders, increasing the awareness of gastroenterologists, hematologists and internal medicine practitioners, regarding the bacterium-associated hematological diseases. The efficacy of H. pylori eradication in increasing the platelet count in adult patients with primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) has been confirmed, linking the infection with the disease. Moreover, as the bacterium causes iron deficiency anemia (IDA) by several mechanisms, recent guidelines indicate H. pylori infection (Hp-I) to be sought in IDA patients if histology is negative and to be eradicated if present. Furthermore, it has been widely recognized that anti-H. pylori treatment causes regression of the low-grade B-cell gastric MALT lymphomas. Despite the well established associations of Hp-I with the aforementioned hematological disorders, we highlight the possible role of the infection to other hematological diseases or conditions such as non-Hodgkin lymphomas of the stomach, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, megaloblastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. We finally underline the elevated risk of childhood leukemia and of hemorrhage in patients with coagulation disorders, due to the infection.