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Percutaneous biopsy associated with little renal bulk: can easily analytical accuracy and reliability be affected by medical center quantity?
Spasticity is the velocity-dependent hypertonia frequently encountered in patients affected by Upper Motor Neuron Syndrome. It is due to a tonic stretch reflex, which is evoked in patients at rest. The aim of this study, performed using surface electromyography (EMG), was to investigate stretch reflex excitability in the hamstrings muscles of patients affected by progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and to correlate EMG results with clinical findings. Thirty patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls were investigated. EMG activity was recorded from biceps femoris muscle with the patient at rest. To stretch hamstrings muscles, the patient's leg was manually moved from maximal flexion to maximal extension at 3 different velocities to investigate both phasic and tonic stretch reflex. Only 7 patients were affected by hypertonia of the hamstrings; 4 of them showed muscle contracture. A tonic stretch reflex was present in the vast majority of the recruited patients, whether they presented hypertonia of the hamstrings or not. Tonic stretch reflex is often present in the hamstrings muscles of progressive MS patients without producing increased muscle tone. This "ghost spasticity" is likely to be, for its intrinsic features, an important risk factor for the development of contractures in the hamstrings muscles. Several investigators have suggested the presence of a link between Chronic Low Back Pain (CLBP) and lower limbs kinematics that can contribute to functional limitations and disability. Moreover, CLBP has been connected to postural and structural asymmetry. Understanding the movement pattern of lower extremities and its asymmetry during walking can provide a basis for examination and rehabilitation in people with CLBP. The present study focuses on lower limbs kinematics in individuals with CLBP during walking. Three-dimensional movements of the pelvic, hip, knee and ankle joints were tracked using a seven-camera Qualysis motion capture system. Functional dada analysis (FDA) was applied for the statistical analysis of pelvic and lower limbs motion patterns in 40 participants (20 CLBP and 20 controls). The CLBP group showed significantly different hip motion pattern in the transvers plane, altered knee and ankle motion pattern in the sagittal plane on the dominant side and different hip motion pattern in the transvers and frontal planes on the non-dominant side in comparison with the control group over the stance phase. In terms of symmetry, in the CLBP group, hip and knee moved through a significantly different motion patterns in the transvers plane on the dominant side in comparison with the non-dominant side. In the control group, knee moved through a significantly different motion pattern in the transvers plane on the dominant side in comparison with the non-dominant side. In conclusion, low back pain lead to altered movement patterns of the main joints of lower limbs especially on the dominant side during stance phase. Therefore, care should be taken to examine dominant lower limb movement pattern in CLBP to make a better clinical decision. GO-203 cost Characterizing antimicrobial use in animal populations is critical for purposes of antimicrobial stewardship. While dose-based metrics such as the animal daily dose (ADD) are typically used for such purposes, duration of therapy is emerging as a critical and more intuitive metric. In theory, the number of ADDs should approximate the number of days of therapy (DOTs), but no studies have examined whether this is the case. The objective of this study was to compare antimicrobial ADDs with antimicrobial DOTs in three populations canine patients, large animal hospital patients, and dairy herds. In the first two populations, dose-based metrics were calculated using administrative hospital records while duration-based metrics were ascertained from manual chart review of individual animals. In the dairy herds, both metrics were obtained via farmer self-report. We found that the correlation between the number of ADDs and DOTs was poor for hospital patients (Lin correlation coefficients of 0.16 and 0.18 for small and lable proxy for the duration of therapy. OBJECTIVE In the present study, we aimed at evaluating the steadiness of incisal bite force during isometric contractions of masticatory muscles. DESIGN Two separate experiments were carried out in 11 healthy young women. A first experiment was performed to test the reliability of our protocol for measurement of incisal bite force steadiness. The second experiment aimed to evaluate the steadiness of incisal bite force at four submaximal (i.e., percentage of maximum voluntary contraction, MVC) levels (5 %MVC, 10 %MVC, 15 %MVC, and 20 %MVC), along with the bilateral myoelectric activity of two masticatory muscles (temporalis and masseter). RESULTS The results from the first experiment showed that our protocol is substantially reliable (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC > 0.80) for estimating force variability and moderate reliable (0.60 less then ICC less then 0.80) for estimating spectral properties of force signals. In the second experiment, we found that force standard deviation (SD) increased proportionally to the power of mean force, and coefficient of variation (CoV) was higher at low-intensity contractions and maintained at an approximately constant level for high-intensity contractions. The force-EMG relationships were linear for both muscles at the contraction intensities evaluated in the study (5 %MVC to 20 %MVC), and the median frequency did not change with contraction intensity. CONCLUSION Therefore, we presented a reliable method to estimate the incisal bite force, along with additional data on force control and myoelectric activity of jaw elevator muscles during isometric steady contractions. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of xylitol chewing gums enriched with propolis, remineralizing softly demineralized dentin in vitro. DESIGN Four groups of chewing gum were developed; Group1 xylitol (1.8 %), Group2 xylitol + casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) (3%), Group3 xylitol+Hydroxyapatite (3%) and Group4 xylitol + propolis (5%). A control group was designed without chewing gum, but with artificial saliva. Sections of embedded crowns and cleaned roots of twenty five bovine incisors were demineralized in carbonated drink. Crown specimens were half-varnished. Remineralization process was run for all the dental specimens in the 4 groups with gum extracts and in the control group with artificial saliva for 20 min at 37 °C three times a day during 7 days. Mineral contents were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX-SEM). Surface morphology and roughness were analyzed using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Micro-hardness was measured using Vickers micro-hardness tester among varnished and unvarnished sides. RESULTS Calcium/Phosphate mean ratio showed a significant decrease between the control group, group1, group2 and group4. Control group and group3 were not significantly different. Micro-hardness increased significantly for all treated groups. AFM showed obstruction of dentinal tubules in all the groups and roughness decreased in the treated side of the dentin compared to the untreated side for tested groups. CONCLUSION Xylitol chewing gum enriched with propolis showed dentinal tubules occlusion, significant improvement of micro-hardness and slight decrease in roughness. Ca/P ratio analysis suggests that a mineral compound other than hydroxyapatite is responsible of tubules occlusion. Sarcocistys -associated menigoencephalitis is virtually an unrecognized cause of neurological disease in chickens. An undescribed species of Sarcocystis cause fatal infection in two backyard chickens in the Midwest of Brazil. Infected chickens presented anorexia, weight loss, incoordination, ataxia and opisthotonos. Yellow necrotic foci in the gray and white matter of the telencephalon were the main gross lesion. Microscopically, necrotizing granulomatous and heterophilic meningoencephalitis with intralesional Sarcocystis -like schizonts and mezoites were observed in the central nervous system. Molecular analysis of frozen brain samples of the two chickens was identical and the protozoan was named Sarcocystis sp. Chicken-2016-DF-BR. Complete nested PCR- sequence of Sarcocystis sp. Chicken-2016-DF-BR was equally similar to Sarcocystis anasi (EU553477) and Sarcocystis albifronsi (EU502868). This is the first report of Sarcocistys -associated meningoencephalitis with molecular characterization in backyard chickens. Miamiensis avidus causes scuticociliatosis in cultured olive flounders (Paralichthys olivaceus), leading to economic losses in aquaculture in Korea. Quantitative evaluation of the viability of M. avidus is important to develop an effective vaccine or chemotherapeutic agent against it. We used a colorimetric assay based on the reduction of 2-(4-Iodophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium (WST-1) to quantify the viability of M. avidus. Using this method, we investigated the effect of protease inhibitors on the viability of M. avidus. The assay showed a clear difference in the optical density (OD) of over 104 ciliates, and the metalloprotease inhibitors 1, 10-phenanthroline and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) reduced the viability of M. avidus by more than 90% when used at concentration of 5 mM and 100 μM, respectively. However, different morphological changes in the parasite were observed when exposed to these two inhibitors. These results indicate that the WST-1 assay is a simple and reliable method to quantify the viability of M. avidus, and metalloproteases are excellent targets for the development of agents and vaccines to control M. avidus infection. BACKGROUND Regulatory T-cells (Tregs) are increased in patients with HTLV-1/Strongyloides stercoralis co-infection, and they may modify otherwise protective antigen-specific cytokine production. We hypothesized that effective anti-helminthic treatment would decrease Tregs and restore antigen-specific cytokine responses. METHODS/RESULTS We enrolled 19 patients with Strongyloides larvae in their stool by Baerman's test. Six were positive and 13 negative for antibody to HTLV-1 by ELISA, with positive tests confirmed by immunoblot. Before treatment, co-infected subjects had higher Tregs percentages and lower antigen-stimulated IL-5 levels compared to subjects with Strongyloides without HTLV-1. All patients were treated with ivermectin. After effective treatment, Tregs percentages decreased in patients with HTLV-1; however, antigen-specific IL-5 production remained blunted in co-infected subjects. CONCLUSION These results suggest that treating strongyloidiasis infection decreases circulating Tregs, but antigen-specific cytokine remains altered. This may reflect blunting of sensitization by Tregs. BACKGROUND The clinical integration of chromosomal microarray testing promises improvements in diagnostic yields in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While the impact on clinical management is promising for some families, the utility perceived by families, including the majority for whom results are negative, is unclear. With next generation genomic sequencing technologies poised for integration, along with promising ASD biomarkers being developed, there is a need to understand the extent to which genomic and other biological testing would have utility for the target recipients of these tests and their families. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to examine the predictors of perceived utility of biological testing among parents of a child with ASD. METHODS The Perceived Utility of Biotesting (PUB) Questionnaire was developed based on literature review and integrating family review. Following their child's diagnosis, families participating in an ongoing prospective study completed the PUB questionnaire along with self-reported measures of parent stress, child and family functioning, and family-centered care prior to undergoing genetic testing for both clinical and research purposes.
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