1,720,969 research outputs found
Benefits of an intensive task-oriented circuit training in Multiple Sclerosis patients with mild disability
No full textBACKGROUND: Exercise is well tolerated and induces relevant improvements in physical and mental functioning of persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Unfortunately, due to the wide variety of symptoms and the broad range of exercise interventions, it is not possible to make unified exercise recommendation as to what type of exercise is safe and effective for persons with MS.OBJECTIVE: The aim was to test the impact of an intensive task-oriented training on motor function and quality of life in 17 MS patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) between 4 and 5.5.METHODS: Patients underwent a two-week intensive, task-oriented rehabilitation program. Outcome measures were: Berg Balance Scale, Gait Dynamic Index, 6 Minute Walking Test, Physiological Cost Index, Fatigue Severity Scale, 10 metres Walking Test, Timed Up and Go test, Short form 36, Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire. RESULTS: All outcome measures showed a significant improvement after the treatment except for the 6 Minute Walking test and the Short form 36 that showed a trend of improvement although not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: An intensive task-oriented rehabilitation protocol is effective in improving motor function and has a positive impact on quality of life in MS patients with moderate disability
Clinical evidences of brain plasticity in stroke patients
No full textEmerging findings deriving from neuromodulation and neuroradiology are providing us new insights about plasticity and functional reorganization of the brain after stroke, but the direct clinical assessment of motor function should still be considered an indispensable tool for the evaluation of the effects of plasticity in stroke patients. Recovery of motor function can be spontaneous or guided by training. Substantial functional recovery can occur spontaneously especially in the first month post-stroke. Instead, the guided recovery may take more time and may rely on a number of rehabilitation techniques which proved to be capable of stimulating cerebral plasticity. Even the time course of these processes is a decisive element. First, it is important to correlate the trends of plasticity after stroke, from the enhancement of earlier periods to the later stages, to the behavioral changes observed. Furthermore, it is crucial to distinguish recovery of function occurring through improvement of motor deficit from compensatory mechanisms, distinction that has also an effect on timing of recovery. Another relevant question is the maintenance over time of the improvements reached with the treatment, feature on which various clinical studies have been conducted in acute and chronic stroke patients. Further studies are needed to allow us to get a more precise definition of the potentiality of functional recovery and of the mechanisms underlying the recovery depending on its levels and timing. Understanding the mechanisms, the effects and the limits of neural plasticity may eventually help enhancing the recovery process in stroke patients, significantly improving the quality of life of these patients. Then, a greater attention towards the clinical implications of the changes related to plasticity can be a crucial element to further improve the therapeutic options used in neurorehabilitation
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
NIBS-driven brain plasticity
No full textThrough plasticity the brain is able to change its function and to rearrange following injury or environmental changes. In recent years, it was shown that non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, especially transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can contribute to understand how these plastic changes occur. Additionally, the literature suggests that TMS and tDCS may be used as interventional strategies to improve neurorehabilitation efforts and arguably recovery of motor function after brain lesions. This review focuses on the use of NIBS in experimental protocols for evaluation and modulation of brain plasticity, the factors contributing to the inter-individual variability of response, proposed mechanisms and difficulties in translating findings from small proof of principle studies through the pipeline to clinical practice
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
Bilateral cortical representation of tactile roughness
No full textRoughness is the most important feature for texture discrimination. Here we investigate how the bilateral cortical representation of touch is modulated by tactile roughness by analyzing the neural responses elicited by stimuli with various coarseness levels ranging from fine to medium. A prolonged stimulation was delivered to 10 healthy subjects by passively sliding tactile stimuli under the fingertip while recording the EEG to study the modulation of Somatosensory Evoked Potentials (SEPs) as well as activity in the theta and alpha bands. Elicited long-latency SEPs, namely bilateral P100-N140 and frontal P240 were consistent across stimuli. On the contrary, the temporal lag N140 – P240 was nonlinearly modulated both in contralateral and ipsilateral sides, in agreement with literature. Using a time-frequency analysis approach, we identified a theta band power increase in the [0 0.5]s interval and a partially overlapped power decrease in the alpha band which lasted throughout the stimulation. The estimated time these two phenomena were overlapped was comparable across stimuli, whereas a linear decrease in alpha band amplitude was reported when increasing the stimulus roughness in both contralateral and ipsilateral sides. This study showed that the selected tactile stimuli generated physiological bilateral responses that were modulated in a diversified way according to the stimulus roughness and side. Specifically, we identified sensory processing features (i.e., theta and alpha time overlap) invariant to the stimulus roughness (i.e., associated to a basic cortical mechanism of touch) and roughness-dependent cortical outputs comparable in the contralateral and ipsilateral sides that confirm a bilateral processing of tactile information
The role of psychological well-being in multiple sclerosis rehabilitation
No full textBACKGROUND: In patients affected by multiple sclerosis (MS) the disabilities increase during the progression of the disease, with a negative impact on quality of life. Rehabilitation improves motor performances, but remains unclear the role of psychological variables on motor recovery. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of the psychological well-being during a rehabilitation care in MS patients with moderate to severe disability. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. SETTING: Outpatients in a Neurorehabilitation Unit of Pisa and Ferrara University Hospital. POPULATION: 93 subjects affected by MS with moderate to severe degree of impairment were recruited (43 male, 50 female; mean age 53±11.19 years). In relation to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score the sample was divided in two group: Group 1 with moderate impairment (EDSS 4-5.5) and Group 2 with severe impairment (EDSS 6-7). METHODS: Psychological and functional status was assessed before and after a motor rehabilitative treatment, appropriate to their clinical needs. Parameters collected were: Short Form 36, Patient Health Questionnaire, Fatigue Severity Scale, 6-minute walking test and 10-meter walking test. RESULTS: Mood disorders, low quality of life (QoL) and high perceived fatigue are characteristic symptoms in our sample. Results do not show a direct correlation with motor impairment. Mood improves in both groups, while walking endurance and speed ability recovers only in Group 1, on the contrary QoL improves only in Group 2. Regression analysis show that in Group 1 a better QoL predicts a higher motor recovery, whereas in Group 2 the improvement of walking endurance influences the subjective well-being at the discharge. CONCLUSIONS: Subjective well-being is related with the perception of the new condition of life. In less impaired patients psychological status can influence the liability toward rehabilitation treatment, while in more impaired patients motor recovery affect well-being. Therefore, the psychological counselling should be provided during the rehabilitation treatment in order to achieve a successful patients' care. CLINICAL REHABILITATION IMPACT: Our approach contributes to bring out the role of subjective factors on motor rehabilitation outcome and the functional recovery effect on the psychological well-being. The knowledge of subjective needs related to disability degree should be used to customize an appropriate care in MS patients
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