236 research outputs found
Myoelectric manifestations of muscle changes in stroke patients
No full textAbstract: Objective: To evaluate the development of myoelectric fatigue in paretic and healthy tibialis anterior muscles of stroke patients.
Design: Case series.
Setting: Occupational therapy and clinical neurophysiology unit.
Participants: Eight patients with hemiparesis or hemiplegia 9 months to 10 years poststroke.
Main Outcome Measures: Current pulses of 0.1-ms width and 40-Hz repetition rate were applied for 10 seconds with a monopolar technique; myoelectric signals (M waves) were detected with surface electrodes.
Results: Mean values and initial values of the median frequency (MDF) between paretic and healthy side were statistically different, with the values on the healthy side much higher than the paretic side. Changes of MDF showed a decreasing pattern for both the paretic and the healthy sides, with the downslope of the curve of the healthy side more evident.
Conclusions: In paretic muscles of stroke patients, the tendency toward atrophy of type II fibers appears to be frequent. Our study suggests this muscle rearrangement uses techniques much less invasive than muscle biopsy, and gives useful information about muscle function. This kind of information can help identify rehabilitation strategies, particularly for chronic stroke survivors
Effects of conventional and high-intensity light-curing on enamel shear bond strength of composite resin and resin-modified glass-ionomer
No full textThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the shear bond strengths of a composite resin (Transbond XT; 3M/Unitek, Monrovia, Calif) and a resin-modified glass ionomer (Fuji Ortho LC; GC America Inc, Alsip, Ill) cured with 2 different light-curing units: a conventional visible light unit (Ortholux XT; 3M Dental Products, St Paul, Minn) and a xenon arc light unit (Plasma Arc Curing [PAC] System; American Dental Technologies, Corpus Christi, Texas). One hundred twenty freshly extracted bovine permanent mandibular incisors were randomly divided into
1 of 8 groups; each group consisted of 15 specimens. Two groups (1 group for each type of adhesive) were exposed to the visible light for 20 seconds (Transbond XT) and 40 seconds (Fuji Ortho LC), respectively, and used as control groups. The remaining 6 groups (3 for each adhesive) were cured with the xenon arc light for 2, 5, and 10 seconds. After bonding, all samples were stored in distilled water at room temperature for 24 hours and subsequently tested in a shear mode on an Instron universal testing machine (Instron Corp, Canton, Mass). For the groups bonded with Transbond XT, no statistically significant differences (P = .868) were found between the shear bond strength of the control group cured with Ortholux XT and those of the groups cured with the PAC System for 2, 5, or 10 seconds. When the shear bond strengths of the groups bonded with Fuji Ortho LC were evaluated, no statistically significant differences (P = .087) were found between the control group that was cured with Ortholux XT and those cured with the PAC System. The bond strength of the composite resin was significantly higher than that of the resin-modified glass ionomer in all the groups tested (P < .0001). The present findings indicate that, compared with visible light-curing, the xenon arc light enables the clinician to significantly reduce the curing time of both bonding agents, without affecting their shear bond strengths. Therefore, xenon arc
light sources can be recommended as an advantageous alternative for curing both composite resins and resinmodified
glass ionomers
ControL'Asma Project: new insights
No full textThe Italian Society of Paediatric Allergy and Immunology has developed the project “ControL’Asma," a nationwide study involved ten third-level pediatric allergy clinics across Italy. The first findings of the “ControL’Asma” project showed that asthma was more frequent in males, had an early onset and allergic phenotype with very frequent rhinitis comorbidity, uncontrolled, and partly controlled asthma affected about the half of subjects, and the assessment of asthma symptom perception by VAS could be a reliable tool in the asthma management
Preliminary diagnostic guidelines for macrophage activation syndrome complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
No full textPRELIMINARY DIAGNOSTIC GUIDELINES FOR MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION SYNDROME COMPLICATING SYSTEMIC JUVENILE IDIOPATHIC ARTHRITIS
ANGELO RAVELLI, SILVIA MAGNI-MANZONI, ANGELA PISTORIO, CRISTINA BESANA, TIZIANA FOTI, NICOLINO RUPERTO, STEFANIA VIOLA, ALBERTO MARTINI
Objective To develop diagnostic guidelines for macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) complicating systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (S-JIA).
Study design We followed the classification criteria approach that is based on the comparison of patients with the index disease with patients with a ‘‘confusable’’ disease. The former group included 74 patients with S-JIA-associated MAS reported in the literature or seen by the authors; the latter group included 37 patients with S-JIA who had 51 instances of ‘‘high disease activity’’ seen by the authors. The relative power of clinical, laboratory, and histopathologic variables in discriminating patients
with MAS from patients with high disease activity was evaluated by calculating the sensitivity rate, specificity rate, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR). The combinations of variables that led to best separation between patients and control subjects were identified through ‘‘the number of criteria present’’ method.
Results The strongest clinical discriminators were hemorrhages (DOR = 67) and central nervous system dysfunction (DOR = 63); the strongest laboratory discriminators were decreased platelet count (DOR = 1092), increased aspartate aminotransferase (DOR = 247), leukopenia (DOR = 70), and hypofibrinogenemia (DOR = 165). The best separation between patients and control subjects occurred when any 2 or more laboratory criteria (DOR = 1309) were simultaneously present; the second best performance was provided by the presence of any 2, 3, or more clinical and/or laboratory criteria (DOR = 765 and 743, respectively).
Conclusion We identified preliminary diagnostic guidelines for MAS complicating S-JIA. These guidelines deserve prospective validation.
J Pediatr 2005;146:598-60
Pectus Bar Dislocation: Comparison Between Three Different Stabilization Techniques Adopted in a Single Centre
No full textBackground: Bar dislocation has always been considered a fearsome complication of Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum (MIRPE), therefore multiple techniques and types of stabilization have been introduced. The aim of the study is to compare different stabilization techniques in a cohort of patients operated by the same first operator. Methods: MIRPE was adopted at our institution in 2005. Data on MIRPE patients from January 2013 to December 2022 were collected prospectively and reviewed. Patients with a follow-up of at least 12 months were included. Throughout the years different ways of stabilization were used. Patients were divided in 3 groups according to the stabilization strategy adopted- Group A: no stabilizer; Group B: single bar fixation; Group C: bridge fixation. Dislocation was diagnosed if a bar rotated more than 30° or displaced laterally for more than 1.5 cm. We compared bar dislocation percentage of each group. Results: We positioned 733 bars in 468 patients. Group A included 113 bars (15.4%), Group B 415 bars (56.6%), Group C 205 bars (28%). No patients were lost at follow-up. Total dislocation rate was 4.1% (30 bars). Dislocation was observed in 10 bars of group A (8.8%), 20 bars of group B (4.8 %), 0 bars of group C (0%). Differences between groups were statistically significant. Conclusions: The use of stabilizers reduced dislocation percentage. In particular, bridge fixation technique reduced to zero bar dislocation and is now our preferred technique of stabilization. Level of evidence: III
Fruit Juices as Alternative to Dairy Products for Probiotics’ Intake
No full textIn the context of functional foods and beverages, probiotic fruit juices offer a unique opportunity to combine probiotics’ health benefits with fruit juices’ nutritious properties. Since most probiotic food products are dairy products, fruit juices could be a viable alternative to dairy foods. Moreover, the variety of tastes with which these juices can be produced can expand the market for these products to consumers of all ages. Important challenges for the probiotic juice manufacturing industry are stability and sensory properties, which can be altered by probiotics or their metabolites. Any functional food must be healthy but still acceptable to consumers’ tastes. To evaluate the safety of these products, and improve the efficacy of probiotics in fruit juices, innovative technologies have been proposed, such as microencapsulation and the contemporary use of antioxidants
Prevenzione della caduta - Elaborazione del test di Tinetti - Metodica strumentale per l'oggettivazione delle misure e definizione di standard di riferimento
No full textViene descritto un nuovo apparecchio per la misura dei movimenti del tronco del soggetto durante l'esecuzione degli item del test di Tinetti, e la relativa elaborazione delle misure, al fine di oggettivare la valutazione del test
Enterostomy-related complications in Hirschsprung's disease in a single cohort
No full textHirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is a frequent cause of intestinal obstruction in children and may require an enterostomy. The study aims to describe the most common enterostomy-related complications in a series of patients treated in a single Center
Predictive Value of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis in Clinical Remission
No full textObjective To define the prevalence of subclinical synovitis on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in clinical remission and to evaluate its predictive value in terms of disease flare and joint deterioration. Methods Ninety patients with clinically inactive JIA who underwent a contrast-enhanced (CE)-MRI of a previously affected joint were retrospectively included. Each joint was evaluated for synovitis, tenosynovitis, and bone marrow edema. Baseline and follow-up radiographs were assessed to evaluate structural damage progression. Results CE-MRI was acquired in 45 wrists, 30 hips, 13 ankles, and 2 knees. Subclinical synovitis was detected in 59 (65.5%) of 90 patients and bone marrow edema in 42 (46.7%) of 90 patients. Fifty-seven of 90 (63.3%) patients experienced a disease flare during follow-up. Forty-four of 59 (74.6%) patients with subclinical synovitis experienced a disease flare versus 13 (41.9%) of 31 patients with no residual synovitis on MRI (P = 0.002). The presence of subclinical synovitis was the best predictor of disease flare on multivariable regression analysis (hazard ratio [HR] 2.45, P = 0.003). Baseline and follow-up radiographs were available for 54 patients, and 17 (31.5%) of 54 patients experienced radiographic damage progression. The presence of bone marrow edema (HR 4.40, P = 0.045) and being >17 years old (HR 3.51, P = 0.04) were strong predictors of joint damage progression in the multivariable analysis. Conclusion MRI-detected subclinical inflammation was present in a large proportion of patients with JIA despite clinical remission. Subclinical synovitis and bone marrow edema have been shown to play a role in predicting the risk of disease relapse and joint deterioration, with potential implications for patients' management of the disease
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