Search results for "Adolescent"
showing 10 items of 6718 documents
Instability training, assessing the impact of level of difficulty on balance: A randomized clinical trial
2018
Background: Most human movements are executed while in a state of postural instability. For this reason, instability training is a highly-specific method that is intended to improve balance and postural control. This research aimed to determine the effect of instability training on the balance of individuals with similar baseline abilities, who initiated training within different stability conditions. Research question: Does the level of difficulty with which instability training is performed determine improvements in balance? Method: A two-arm randomized trial was undertaken, for which 22 and 21 participants were included in the experimental and control groups, respectively. The experiment…
Learning by heart : cardiac cycle reveals an effective time window for learning
2018
Cardiac cycle phase is known to modulate processing of simple sensory information. This effect of the heartbeat on brain function is likely exerted via baroreceptors, the neurons sensitive for changes in blood pressure. From baroreceptors, the signal is conveyed all the way to the forebrain and the medial prefrontal cortex. In the two experiments reported, we examined whether learning, as a more complex form of cognition, can be modulated by the cardiac cycle phase. Human participants ( experiment 1) and rabbits ( experiment 2) were trained in trace eyeblink conditioning while neural activity was recorded. The conditioned stimulus was presented contingently with either the systolic or dias…
PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES ANTI-BARTONELLA HENSELAEIN WESTERN SICILY: CHILDREN, BLOOD DONORS, AND CATS
2011
To evaluate seroprevalence of B. henselae infection both in Sicilian children and healthy blood donors. Furthermore, circulation of Bartonella in the natural reservoir was also studied. Two hundred forty-three children, living in Sicily (Palermo), affected by various diseases, without clinical features suggesting B. henselae infection, together with 122 healthy blood donors were serologically investigated for IgG and IgM antibodies by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). One hundred twenty stray and 62 pet cats were also analyzed only for IgG. Among children 25.1% had IgG antibodies to B. henselae; 18.5% showed a titer 1:64, 2.4% 1:128, 2.4% 1:256, 0.8% 1:512, 0.4% 1:1024, and 0.4% 1:…
Treatment of malar and midfacial fractures with osteoconductive forged unsintered hydroxyapatite and poly-L-lactide composite internal fixation devic…
2013
Purpose To evaluate the internal fixation of malar and midfacial fractures, long-term results, and biocompatibility of osteoconductive internal fixation devices composed of a forged composite of unsintered hydroxyapatite and poly-L-lactide (F-u-HA/PLLA). Materials and Methods From January 2006 to June 2010, 29 patients (24 males and 5 females; age 33 ± 15 years) were included in the present prospective study. The fracture type was malar in 24 patients, midfacial in 5, isolated orbital floor blowout in 2, and frontal sinus, cranial base in 2 patients. The fractures were fixed with internal fixation devices; these were plates and screws composed of F-u-HA/PLLA. The 24 patients with malar frac…
Impact of Biomedical and Biopsychosocial Training Sessions on the Attitudes, Beliefs and Recommendations of Health Care Providers about Low Back Pain…
2011
The beliefs and attitudes of health care providers may contribute to chronic low back pain (LBP) disability, influencing the recommendations that they provide to their patients. An excessively biomedical style of undergraduate training can increase negative beliefs and attitudes about LBP, whereas instruction following a biopsychosocial model could possibly lessen these negative beliefs in health care professionals. The objectives of this study were to determine the effectiveness of 2 brief educational modules with different orientations (biomedical or biopsychosocial) on changing the beliefs and attitudes of physical therapy students and the recommendations that they give to patients. The …
Sensitivity and specificity of the mood disorder questionnaire and the bipolar spectrum diagnostic scale in Argentinean patients with mood disorders
2010
Abstract Objective To assess the sensitivity and specificity of two self-report instruments for detection of bipolarity in a sample of Argentinean patients. Method Spanish versions of the MDQ and the BSDS were administered over four months at 11 sites in Argentina. Diagnoses were made using DSM-IV criteria and the MINI. The study sample consisted of patients diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder (BD) Types I, II, or NOS. BDNOS diagnoses were made using extended guidelines for bipolar spectrum symptoms. Unipolar patients were used as a control group. Of 493 patients screened, 354 completed evaluation by MDQ and MINI, and 363 by BSDS and MINI. Results Specificity of MDQ was 0.97 and BSDS was 0.81. …
Shape analysis of the cingulum, uncinate and arcuate fasciculi in patients with bipolar disorder
2016
Background: Abnormal maturation of brain connectivity is supposed to underlie the dysfunctional emotion regulation in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). To test this hypothesis, white matter integrity is usually investigated using measures of water diffusivity provided by MRI. Here we consider a more intuitive aspect of the morphometry of the white matter tracts: the shape of the fibre bundles, which is associated with neurodevelopment. We analyzed the shape of 3 tracts involved in BD: the cingulum (CG), uncinate fasciculus (UF) and arcuate fasciculus (AF). Methods: We analyzed diffusion MRI data in patients with BD and healthy controls. The fibre bundles were reconstructed using Q-ball–b…
Prevalence and genomic variability of transfusion transmitted virus in Italian cryptogenic chronic liver disease and healthy blood donors
2002
Abstract Background. Infection with transfusion transmitted virus, a new member of the Parvoviridae family, has been found in patients both with chronic and fulminant post-transfusion cryptogenic hepatitis. Aim. To evaluate the prevalence and clinical impact of transfusion transmitted virus infection in Italy. Patients and Methods. Studies were carried out on 256 patients and control subjects from three centres from Northern, Central and Southern Italy (92 nonA-nonC chronic hepatitis, 10 acute non fulminant cryptogenic hepatitis, 41 hepatitis C virus-related chronic hepatitis and 113 blood donors). Serum transfusion transmitted virus was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction using tw…
Balantidiasis in Aymara children from the northern Bolivian Altiplano.
1998
Balantidium coli infection was coprologically studied in 2,124 Aymara children 5-19 years of age from the schools of 22 communities of the northern Bolivian Altiplano over a five-year period. Infection with B. coli was found in 11 of the communities surveyed, with prevalences of 1.0-5.3% (overall prevalence=1.2%). The prevalences observed are some of the highest reported and did not differ significantly among the various age groups or between boys and girls. These prevalences, the apparent absence of symptoms or signs of illness due to this parasite in the schoolchildren surveyed at the time of stool sampling, and the consistency of stool samples of the infected students suggest that they a…
A population-based coprological study of human fascioliasis in a hyperendemic area of the Bolivian Altiplano
1997
The community of Chijipata Alta, at an altitude of 3850 m, near the southern coast of Lake Titicaca in the Northern Altiplano of Bolivia, was surveyed for human fascioliasis. The global prevalence (66.7 %) and intensity (eggs per gram of faeces - epg: range: 24-4440; arithmetic mean: IooI; geometric mean: 390) proved to be the highest known in the world by means of coprological techniques. These results suggest the existence of highly hyperendemic subzones among the large human fascioliasis-endemic zone of the Bolivian Northern Altiplano. Despite the decrease in prevalence and intensity from children (75.0%, 24-4440 epg) to adults (41.7%, 144-864 epg), our findings show that in an hyperende…