1,720,962 research outputs found
Frequency-dependent habituation deficit of the nociceptive blink reflex in aura with migraine headache. Can migraine aura play a modulating role?
Full text linkObjective
To study the influence of the migraine aura on the trigeminal nociception, we investigated the habituation of the nociceptive blink reflex (nBR) R2 responses in aura with migraine headache (AwMH) and comparatively in migraine without aura (MWoA) and healthy (HS) subjects.
Methods
Seventeen AwMH, 29 MWoA and 30 HS were studied. We delivered a series of 26 electrical stimuli, at different stimulation frequencies (SF) (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 1Hz), subsequently subdivided in five blocks of five responses for each SF. Habituation was measured as the percentage decrease of the R2 area across the blocks.
Results
A significant frequency-dependent habituation deficit of the nBR R2 responses was found from 1 to 0.2 Hz SF in both MWoA and AwMH when compared to HS. AwMH did not shown habituation deficit at the higher 1 Hz SF and showed a less consistent deficit at 0.5 and 0.3 Hz SF.
Conclusions
We demonstrated in AwMH a deficit of habituation, although less pronounced than that observed in MWoA of comparable clinical severity.
Significance
We hypothesize that AwMH and MWoA share some pathogenetic aspects and that migraine aura physiopathology may play a modulating role on the excitability of the nociceptive trigeminal pathways
Modulation of temporal summation threshold of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex by transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation in humans
No full textObjective: Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) modulates spinal cord pain pathways. The study is aimed to clarify the neurophysiology of the tsDCS-induced modulation of the spinal cord pain processing by evaluating the effect of the tsDCS on temporal summation threshold (TST) of the nociceptive withdrawal reflex (NWR).
Methods: In a randomized, double-blind, crossover study the effects of anodal, cathodal and sham tsDCS (2 mA, 15 min) applied on the skin overlying the thoracic spinal cord were investigated in 10 healthy subjects.
Results: Anodal tsDCS induced a long-lasting (up to 60 min) increase in TST of the NWR as well as a parallel decrease in related psychophysical temporal summation of pain, while cathodal and sham tsDCS resulted ineffective.
Conclusions: Anodal tsDCS represents a non-invasive tool able to induce an early and long-lasting depression of the transitory facilitation of the wide dynamic range neurons activity at the basis of both the temporal summation of the NWR and the related temporal summation of pain sensation.
Significance: The modulation of the temporal processing of nociceptive stimuli could be effective in treating clinical pain conditions in which pain is generated by spinal cord structures. (C) 2015 International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved
Benign acute childhood myositis: a case report.
No full textLa miosite acuta benigna del bambino è una rara complicanza dell’infezione del virus influenzale. Descritta per la prima volta nel 1957 da Lundeberg si manifesta con debolezza e dolore agli arti inferiori, tali da indurre significative difficoltà nella deambulazione. I valori di CPK risultano elevati. Si riporta qui il caso di un bambino di 9 anni: l’esame EMG risultava positivo per danno miogeno; la CPK era elevata. Dieci giorni dopo la prima osservazione il paziente risultò asintomatico ed i valori di CPK erano ritornati nella norma. L’esame EMG si normalizzò dopo circa 40 giorni ed il paziente recuperò completamente il deficit motorio
A Novel ATP1A2 Gene Variant Associated With Pure Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine Improved After Patent Foramen Ovale Closure: A Case Report
Full text linkWe describe the case of one patient with pure sporadic hemiplegic migraine (SHM) with a novel ATP1A2 gene variant and a large patent foramen ovale (PFO) with atrial septal aneurysm. In hemiplegic migraine (HM), the relationship between incomplete penetrance, environmental triggers, and phenotypic expression is underdetermined. A genetic evaluation of the proband was requested for the HM associated genes and extended to the members of his family. Genetic analysis revealed a never described before ATP1A2 gene mutation, inherited by his father, who never experienced motor aura but only typical visual aura. The proband—but not his father—was also affected by a large PFO with atrial septal aneurysm. SHM patient showed a marked reduction in motor aura episodes per year in the 12 months following the PFO percutaneous closure, followed by a complete remission from attacks at least in the following 24 months. We speculated that as well as incomplete penetrance of the novel mutation and natural history of the disease, an additional pathological condition such as the PFO could contribute to the phenotypical expression in this case of HM
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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