Anxiety and stress among science students. Study of calcium and magnesium alterations.

Stress and anxiety of university science students (Chemistry) was evaluated in basal conditions and during exams using validated stress and anxiety questionnaires. The relations between the data obtained and various biochemical markers were established. Results showed that the evaluated students did not experience stress increase as a consequence of exams but suffered a significant increase in anxiety. The psychological findings agree with the urinary biomarkers studied. It is known that anxiety is related to partial magnesium reduction associated with a urinary magnesium excretion increase, as observed in the present data. Nevertheless, stress also correlates with a urinary calcium increase which was not detected in the present study.

[Alcohol consumption among students of the autonomous community of Extremadura]. / Consumo de alcohol en escolares de la comunidad autónoma de Extremadura.

OBJECTIVES: To find the number of drinkers, the relationship of their environment to the habit and attitudes to alcohol of Estremaduran children in the eighth year of EGB/second of ESO. DESIGN: Crossover descriptive study of a representative sample of the students in these school years. SETTING: All the schools in our autonomous community. PARTICIPANTS: 996 students belonging to various educational establishments. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We used a self-filled questionnaire with questions on the alcohol consumption of those being surveyed and their parents, siblings, friends and teachers. Other variables such as age, sex, parents' educational qualifications and other questions touching on the attitude to alcohol were included too. The subjects were 13-14 years old (54% boys and 46% girls). 15.50% were habitual drinkers and 54.43% occasional drinkers, with the number of boys predominating in the two groups (72.72 against 27.27% and 54.07 against 45.93%, respectively). Consumption was clearly higher in the father, siblings and friends of habitual drinkers (p < 0.05, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Parents of non-drinkers had higher educational qualifications. Habitual drinkers, and to a lesser degree occasional drinkers, displayed favourable attitudes to consumption and a positive association with alcohol consumption. CONCLUSION: Given their age, the percentage of drinkers is worrying and is linked to the presence of the habit in their closest social environment. The positive attitudes to alcohol consumption of our school students justify the introduction of prevention programmes.

[Tobacco consumption in school-children from the autonomous community of Extremadura]. / Consumo de tabaco en escolares de la Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura.

OBJECTIVES: To find the number of smokers among school-children in Extremadura in the eighth year of EGB/second of ESO, the relationship of their environment with the acquisition of the habit and their attitudes towards tobacco. DESIGN: Crossover study of a representative sample of the students doing these courses. SETTING: All the schools in our autonomous community. PARTICIPANTS: 1062 students from various schools. MEASUREMENTS: We used a self-administered questionnaire with questions on the tobacco consumption of the interviewees, their parents, siblings, friends and teachers. The study included other variables, such as age, sex, alcohol consumption, parents' educational qualifications and other questions pertinent to attitudes to tobacco. RESULTS: The age of those surveyed was 13-14 (54% boys), of whom 18.27% were habitual smokers (95% CI, 15.95-20.59). Tobacco consumption was higher in boys (20.48% against 15.24% in girls; p = 0.05). The habit is clearly higher in friends, siblings, fathers and mothers of smokers (p < 0.001; < 0.001; < 0.001, and < 0.01, respectively), but not in teachers. Parents of non-smokers had higher educational qualifications. Smokers showed favourable attitudes towards consumption and a positive association with alcohol intake. CONCLUSIONS: Given their age, the number of smokers is high and is associated with the presence of the habit in their most immediate social environment. Attitudes in our school-children which favour consumption justify the introduction of prevention programmes.

Endocarditis caused by Enterococcus avium.

Enterococcus avium has rarely been reported as a pathogen in humans. We describe a case of endocarditis caused by E. avium. It responded to ampicillin and gentamicin, although a valve replacement was necessary for severe aortic insufficiency. This microorganism should be regarded as significant in endocarditis.

Residual levels of free and total sulphite in fresh and cooked burgers.

Forty samples of fresh and fried burgers were analysed. A habitual use and often abuse of sulphites was detected. In the case of the uncooked samples, 62.5% contained residual levels of total SO2 above 450 micrograms/g. The frying process was found to lead to a mean reduction of 36.8 +/- 11.1% in the case of free sulphite and of 40.9 +/- 12.6% for total sulphite. This reduction was independent of the concentration of sulphite present and did not seem to be related to the type of meat used. Most burgers cooked in restaurants were found to contain sulphites, sometimes at elevated levels. The HPLC analytical method for the determination of sulphite contents in burgers, previously applied to fresh sausages, was compared with the optimized Monier-Williams method. The results obtained with both methods in the determination of total SO2 were found to have the same precision although there were significant differences in the contents of additive (p < 0.05).