Coming out

Implantable Motor Cortex Stimulation (iMCS) has been performed for over 25 years to treat various intractable pain syndromes. Its effectiveness shows to be highly variable and although various studies revealed predictive variables, none of these were found repeatedly. This study uses neural network analysis (NNA) to identify predictive factors of iMCS treatment of intractable pain. A systematic review provided a database of patient data on an individual level of patients who underwent iMCS to treat refractory pain between 1991 and 2017...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the incidence, heritability, and neuropathology of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in a large Australian cohort. METHODS: A total of 130 patients with a primary nonfluent variant of PPA (nfvPPA) or semantic variant of PPA (svPPA) were assessed for concomitant ALS and a strong family history of neurodegenerative diseases (Goldman score ≤3). Neuropathologic examination was carried out in 28% (n = 36) of these PPA and PPA-ALS cases that had come to autopsy...

Rhombohedral potassium-zinc hexacyanoferrate K1.88 Zn2.88 [Fe(CN)6 ]2 (H2 O)5 (KZnHCF) synthesized using a precipitation method is demonstrated as a high-voltage cathode material for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), exhibiting an initial discharge capacity of 55.6 mAh g-1 with a discharge voltage of 3.9 V versus K/K+ and a capacity retention of ∼95% after 100 cycles in a nonaqueous electrolyte. All K ions are extracted from the structure upon the initial charge process. However, only 1.61 out of 1.88 K ions per formula unit are inserted back into the structure upon discharge, and it becomes the reversible ion of the second cycle onward...

OBJECTIVE: To examine educational practices in type 2 diabetes among health professionals. METHODS: A cross-sectional study took place from June to September 2012 in Bamako and Ouagadougou. The study population consisted of all health professionals responsible for diabetes care in secondary and tertiary public health facilities. RESULTS: A total of 78 participants were interviewed. Doctors and nurses accounted for 77% and 23% respectively...

When it comes to the political iceberg of drug prices, there is more below the surface. Policies that reduce prices but do not lower consumers' out-of-pocket costs will not address the main challenge facing most Americans.

With an annual incidence of 1-2 in a million, Ph*(+) chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal hematopoietic stem cell disease that makes myeloid neoplastic cells breed out of control. This BCR-ABL(+) myeloproliferative disease makes up about 15%-20% of all leukemia cases in adults. CML is seen more in males than females, with a rate of three to two. However, it does not show differences in prevalence in terms of age. CML consists of three clinical phases. The first one is the chronic phase, defined by rising white blood cell levels and also by myeloid proliferation and bone marrow maturation...

This study aims to estimate the control law employed by the central nervous system (CNS) to keep a person in balance after a sudden disturbance. For this aim, several experiments were carried out, in which the subjects were perturbed sagittally by using a single-axis tilt-platform and their motions were recorded with appropriate sensors. The analysis of the experimental results leads to the contribution of this paper as a conjecture that the CNS commands the muscular actuators of the joints according to an adaptive proportional-derivative (PD) control law such that its gains and set points are updated continuously...

The article presents results of analysis of physicians' personnel of the Tver region according the data of official reports. In the Tver region, at January 1, 2015 there were 40 physicians per 10 000 of population. The staffing made up to 85% in average. The study established certain feminization of personnel and prevalence of individuals of pre-retirement and retirement age. The number of vacancies in state medical organizations of the Tver region made up to 540 physicians (11%). This data factually complies with results of calculation of need in medical personnel in the Tver oblast carried out according technology approved by Ministry of Health of Russia and according which deficiency of medical personnel comes to 557 physicians...

BACKGROUND: As part of the preparatory work for the elaboration of a strategic plan for the development of scientific research in Mauritania, an overview of national biomedical research was recommended by the supervisory authorities. AIM: Describe the bibliometric profile of biomedical scientific publications in Mauritania, indexed in Medline database, over the past 25 years. METHODS: A bibliometric study was carried out on Medline Database covering the period from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 2016...

BACKGROUND: Abernethy malformation is an extremely rare congenital malformation characterised by an extrahepatic portosystemic shunt. Children with Abernathy malformation can develop hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) with pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas (PAVF) or pulmonary hypertension. PAVF manifests as central cyanosis with effort intolerance. We report a case of PAVF in a Ten-year-old Boy. Persistent symptoms identified Abernathy malformation as the cause of progressive symptoms and current understanding of this rare malformation is reviewed...

The article presents a rare case of uterine rupture at the 19th week of gestation, in the presence of a scar after a caesarean section practiced two years earlier. The fetus was pulled out alive, but given the gestational age, died within a few minutes. The uterus was preserved, but the woman was advised to proceed with tubal ligation and, in any case, to absolutely avoid a new pregnancy. The literature on uterine rupture is examined focusing on the problem of uterine rupture resulting after a caesarean section, analyzing the possibility of monitoring the risk of rupture through ultrasound evaluation...

The aim of this article is to visually demonstrate the utilization of an interferometric method for encoding complex fields associated with coherent laser radiation. The method is based on the coherent sum of two uniform waves, previously encoded into a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) by spatial multiplexing of their phases. Here, the interference process is carried out by spatial filtering of light frequencies at the Fourier plane of certain imaging system. The correct implementation of this method allows arbitrary phase and amplitude information to be retrieved at the output of the optical system...

In recent years the usability of health information systems has come to the fore as a major issue, with many reported examples of problems with the usability of systems such as electronic health records and other health information technologies (HIT). In response a range of usability engineering methods have emerged to help in the design and evaluation of HIT. Many studies have shown the importance of usability testing methods that include full video recording of user interactions, such as the method known as low-cost rapid usability testing...

Background: Due to its wide range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical fields, microbial synthesis of succinic acid is receiving growing attention, generating already relevant industrial results, as well as fueling constant research for improvements. In order to develop a sustainable process, a special focus is now set on the exploitation and conversion of lignocellulosic biomasses into platform chemicals. Results: In the present work we used Basfia succiniciproducens BPP7 in separated hydrolysis and fermentation experiments with Arundo donax as starting material...

Nowadays city environment shows the presence of a mixed variety of elements, as natural, semi natural and anthropic components that build up both structure and connections of the urban context. This specific structure shapes and directs space and its functions strictly connected with their sustainable potential uses and sustainable development opportunities. The lack of rules and proper planning methods produces inefficient use conditions by resident citizens, entropy, functions' reduction of ecological networks and deep environmental impacts...

BACKGROUND: In scanned proton beam therapy systematic deviations in spot size at iso-center can occur as a result of changes in the beam-line optics. There is currently no general guideline of the spot size accuracy required clinically. In this work we quantify treatment plan robustness to systematic spot size variations as a function of spot size and spot spacing, and we suggest guidelines for tolerance levels for spot size variations. METHODS: Through perturbation of spot size in treatment plans for 7 patients and a phantom, we evaluated the dose impact of systematic spot size variations of 5% up to 50%...

Organ transplantation is a crucial medical procedure, as it is often the only treatment for patients suffering from end-stage organ failure. Unfortunately, the shortage of donor organs limits the number of patients whose lives can be saved. Carrying out research on xenotransplantation with the aim of eventually replacing human organ transplants with those of animals is very promising, as it could effectively bridge the shortfall in donor organs. Thanks to the success of cloned pigs and to the emergence of gene-editing techniques, genetically modified pigs have come to be considered ideal animal donors for human xenotransplantation and have been widely used in basic research...

To the Editor, Nasotracheal intubation is a widely used technique in anaesthesia management for procedures including oropharyngeal, dental, and maxillofacial surgeries[1-3]. It provides an uninhibited access to the mouth and plays an important role when dealing with difficult airways[4-6]. It is also used in patients with cervical spine instability owing to injury[7] or in patients with a cervical spine fixation owing to a disease or previous operation[8]. Moreover, it is selected for patients who require prolonged intubation for intensive care[9]...

INTRODUCTION: The optimal minimal invasive treatment for Dupuytren's contractures (DC) remains debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Clostridium histo-lyticum collagenase after 1-4 years of follow-up. The out-comes of this study were 1) overall improvements in degrees from baseline to follow-up; 2) contraction recurrence defined as an extension deficit above 20°, and 3) Hurst endpoint defined as an extension deficit below 5°. METHODS: All patients treated with C...

First passage under restart with branching is proposed as a generalization of first passage under restart. Strong motivation to study this generalization comes from the observation that restart with branching can expedite the completion of processes that cannot be expedited with simple restart; yet a sharp and quantitative formulation of this statement is still lacking. We develop a comprehensive theory of first passage under restart with branching. This reveals that two widely applied measures of statistical dispersion-the coefficient of variation and the Gini index-come together to determine how restart with branching affects the mean completion time of an arbitrary stochastic process...