7 research outputs found
The cortical responses to evoked clinical pain in patients with hip osteoarthritis.
No full textExperimental models have been used extensively to evaluate pain using e.g., visual analogue scales or electroencephalography (EEG). Stimulation using tonic pain has been shown to better mimic the unpleasantness of chronic pain, but has mainly been evoked by non-clinical stimuli. This study aims to, evaluate the EEG during clinical pain in patients scheduled for total hip replacement with control and resting conditions.The hip scheduled for replacement was moved by the examiner to evoke pain for 30 seconds while recording EEG. The control condition entailed movement of the opposite hip in a similar fashion and holding it for 30 seconds. In addition, EEG was recorded during the resting condition with open eyes. The relative spectral content was calculated from the EEG as well as functional connectivity using phase-lag index for frequency bands delta (1-4Hz), theta (4-8Hz), alpha (8-12Hz) and beta (12-32Hz). A mixed model was used for statistical comparison between the three recording conditions.Spectral content differed between conditions in all bands. Functional connectivity differed in delta and theta frequency bands. Post-hoc analysis revealed differences between the painful and control condition in delta, theta and beta for spectral content. Pain during the hip rotation was correlated to the theta (r = -0.24 P = 0.03) and beta (r = 0.25 P = 0.02) content in the EEG.EEG differences during hip movements in the affected and unaffected hip appeared in the spectral beta and theta content. This was correlated to the reported pain perceived, pointing towards pain specific brain activity related to clinical pain
Prediction of postoperative opioid analgesia using clinical-experimental parameters and electroencephalography
No full textBACKGROUND: Opioids are often used for pain treatment, but the response is often insufficient and dependent on e.g. the pain condition, genetic factors and drug class. Thus, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers to enable selection of the appropriate drug for the individual patient, a concept known as personalized medicine. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) and clinical parameters can provide some guidance for response, but better and more objective biomarkers are urgently warranted. Electroencephalography (EEG) may be suitable since it assesses the central nervous system where opioids mediate their effects.METHODS: Clinical parameters, QST and EEG (during rest and tonic pain) was recorded from patients the day prior to total hip replacement surgery. Postoperative pain treatment was performed using oxycodone and piritramide as patient-controlled analgesia. Patients were stratified into responders and non-responders based on pain ratings 24 h post-surgery. Parameters were analysed using conventional group-wise statistical methods. Furthermore, EEG was analysed by machine learning to predict individual response.RESULTS: Eighty-one patients were included, of which 51 responded to postoperative opioid treatment (30 non-responders). Conventional statistics showed that more severe pre-existing chronic pain was prevalent among non-responders to opioid treatment (p = 0.04). Preoperative EEG analysis was able to predict responders with an accuracy of 65% (p = 0.009), but only during tonic pain.CONCLUSIONS: Chronic pain grade before surgery is associated with the outcome of postoperative pain treatment. Furthermore, EEG shows potential as an objective biomarker and might be used to predict postoperative opioid analgesia.SIGNIFICANCE: The current clinical study demonstrates the viability of EEG as a biomarker and with results consistent with previous experimental results. The combined method of machine learning and electroencephalography offers promising results for future developments of personalized pain treatment.</p
Newspaper serials in Tanzania: the case of Eric James Shigongo (with an interview)
No full textNewspaper serials have a long history in Tanzania. Since the privatisation of media in the 1990s, the number of newspapers and tabloids has multiplied, and serials have become abundant. I would dare to say that they are the most popular form of fiction at the moment in terms of quantity of readers. They are especially prevalent in the tabloids, where there often are more than three stories being serialised at a time. Some authors publish serials only occasionally, while there are also established serial writers such as Sultan Tamba, Faki A. Faki and Hamees M. Suba.However, the most prominent writer specialising in newspaper serials is Eric James Shigongo, who probably is also the most prolific author of popular literature of the last decade in Tanzania altogether. In his case, novel writing has reached a new quality as a well organised, apparently successful, self-owned business
Swahili Literature into Italian: The Challenge of Translating Abdilatif Abdalla's Poems
No full textThe considerations on the translation of Swahili poetry which are developed in this article originate from a work (carried out with Roberto Gaudioso) devoted to the Italian translation of selected verses by two contemporary poets, Euphrase Kezilahabi and Abdilatif Abdalla. After providing further details about the publication project within the framework of which the translations of Abdilatif Abdalla’s poems were conceived of and accomplished, the focus will be on the textual challenges and the main translational strategies that were adopted in this work, which were based on some stylistic features of his poetry, i.e. the language variety and the prosody. Finally, by drawing from Umberto Eco’s semiotic and aesthetic reflections on translation (2003), the discourse will attempt to show that the stylistic choices adopted by an author intermingle indissolubly with other aspects of that author’s creative work in constructing the text’s whole as it is encountered by the reader/listener
Empfehlungen zum Umgang mit Religiosität und Spiritualität in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie : Positionspapier der DGPPN
No full textEmpfehlungen zum Umgang mit Religiosität und Spiritualität in Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
No full textInterview for Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia: construct and concurrent validity in patients with mild to moderate dementia
No full textItem does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to translate the Interview for Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia (IDDD) into German and to evaluate the construct and concurrent validity in people with mild to moderate dementia. METHODS: IDDD data of two pooled samples (n = 301) were analyzed regarding ceiling and bottom effects, internal consistency, factor reliability and correlations with corresponding scales on cognition and activities of daily living. RESULTS: We found minimal bottom ( 0.7) and moderate to good factor reliability (0.66-0.87). Low correlations with cognition (Pearson coefficient: < 0.17) confirmed the differences between cognitive testing and activities of daily living (ADL). Minor correlations with other ADL scores (r < 0.2) indicated that different scores cover a different range of ADLs. The original two factor model could not be confirmed. A suggested four factor model distinguishing initiative and performance of basic and instrumental ADL demonstrated better indices of fit and higher correlations with corresponding scales. CONCLUSION: A four factor model of the IDDD can be used in dementia research for assessing initiative in and performance of basic and household activities of daily living. The findings suggest that ADL scales correlate only poorly and that further development of the IDDD is needed to cover a broader range of ADLs.01 maart 201
