Search results for "Control"
showing 10 items of 13168 documents
A metabolomic approach to dry eye disorders. The role of oral supplements with antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids.
2014
Purpose We used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of hydrogen-1 nuclei (1H NMR S) to analyze the metabolic profile of reflex tears from patients with dry eye disorders. Methods We performed a prospective case-control study involving 90 participants: 55 patients diagnosed with dry eye syndrome (DESG) and 35 healthy subjects (control group, CG). From the DESG, two subgroups were formed: mild DES (n=22) and moderate DES (n=33). Participants were prescribed an oral nutraceutic supplementation containing antioxidants and essential polyunsaturated fatty acids to be taken as three capsules per day for 3 months. Reflex tears (20–30 µl) were collected from the tear meniscus of both eyes of eac…
A combined treatment regimen for chronic desquamative gingivitis in patients with oral lichen planus
2007
Background: Chronic desquamative gingivitis (DG) is a condition characterized by erythema, ulceration, and desquamation of the free and attached gingiva, usually expression of a district-systemic disease, such as oral lichen planus (OLP). Methods: A combined protocol of oral hygiene and topic corticosteroid therapy was applied in 30 patients with DG associated with OLP. Plaque index (PI) and bleeding on probing (BoP) were evaluated at baseline and after 3 months. Results: PI scoring was significantly lower after treatment in anterior, posterior, and all sites (P < 0.0001) as well as in vestibular and lingual ones (P < 0.0001 and P = 0.0001, respectively). BoP measures were found to be reduc…
TLR2 and age-related diseases: potential effects of Arg753Gln and Arg677Trp polymorphisms in acute myocardial infarction.
2008
ABSTRACT Inflammation is a key component of immune system. It is involved in both defense and pathophysiological events maintaining the dynamic homeostasis of host organism. Its function is controlled by innate immunity genes. Both their polymorphisms and environmental conditions give rise to different phenotypes in human population. Proinflammatory genotype may be beneficial in early life but not in old people. With advancing age, indeed, it increases the vulnerability and the intensity to inflammatory reactions responsible for the chronic inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction (MI). Several studies have looked for detecting a genetic risk profile that mig…
Association of Klotho Polymorphisms with Healthy Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2013
Today it is clearly evident that genetic background constitutes an integral part of aging and longevity. Many studies on long-lived people have been conducted emphasizing the role of certain genes in long life. Classic case-control studies, genome-wide association studies, and high-throughput sequencing have permitted identification of a variety of genetic variants seemingly associated with longevity. Over the years, aging research has focused on the insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway because of its evolutionarily conserved correlation with life-span extension in model animals. Indeed, many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with longevity were ide…
Does Preoperative Treatment with a Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Agonist Improve the Outcome of Endometrial Resection?
1998
Abstract Study Objective. To verify if more favorable long-term results of endometrial resection can be obtained with preoperative gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist treatment. Design. Multicenter, randomized, controlled trial (Canadian Task Force classification I). Setting. Tertiary care academic department. Patients. Sixty-three premenopausal women with established menorrhagia. Intervention. Eight weeks of goserelin depot treatment before endometrial resection or immediate surgery in the early proliferative phase of the cycle. Measurements and Main Results. Variations in menstrual patterns and bleeding scores as well as overall degree of satisfaction with treatment were determi…
Flexible switching of feedback control mechanisms allows for learning of different task dynamics.
2013
To produce skilled movements, the brain flexibly adapts to different task requirements and movement contexts. Two core abilities underlie this flexibility. First, depending on the task, the motor system must rapidly switch the way it produces motor commands and how it corrects movements online, i.e. it switches between different (feedback) control policies. Second, it must also adapt to environmental changes for different tasks separately. Here we show these two abilities are related. In a bimanual movement task, we show that participants can switch on a movement-by-movement basis between two feedback control policies, depending only on a static visual cue. When this cue indicates that the …
Dosage individualization of erythropoietin using a profile-dependent support vector regression
2003
The external administration of recombinant human erythropoietin is the chosen treatment for those patients with secondary anemia due to chronic renal failure in periodic hemodialysis. The objective of this paper is to carry out an individualized prediction of the EPO dosage to be administered to those patients. The high cost of this medication, its side-effects and the phenomenon of potential resistance which some individuals suffer all justify the need for a model which is capable of optimizing dosage individualization. A group of 110 patients and several patient factors were used to develop the models. The support vector regressor (SVR) is benchmarked with the classical multilayer percept…
Are individuals with an eating disorder less sensitive to aesthetic flaws than healthy controls?
2008
Abstract Objective This study aimed to investigate whether the positive evaluation of other people's bodies is due to difficulties in the recognition of flaws in attractive features of others. Method Thirty female individuals with an eating disorder (IEDs) and 30 normal controls (NCs) rated pictures of a woman's face in relation to various manipulated facial features. Accuracy rates, discrepancy scores, and response times were assessed. Participants also answered questionnaires relating to social comparison, internalization of the slender ideal, and eating disorder symptoms. Results NCs were significantly more accurate at detecting flaws and recognized the degree of manipulation better than…
Increased anti-Mullerian hormone levels and ovarian size in a subgroup of women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhea: further identification of th…
2016
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea is a disorder characterized by cessation of menstrual cycles in the absence of organic disease. In most patients, it occurs in adult life after a stressful event and may be related to a condition of mild chronic energy deprivation. The endocrine pattern is characterized by low estrogen levels with an absent response to a progestogen challenge test and low-normal gonadotropin levels. A few studies have shown that some of these women may have some features of polycystic ovary syndrome; these features include an increased androgen response to gonadotropins, increased anti-Mullerian hormone levels, and altered ovarian morphology or increased ovarian size. Thes…
AMH MEASUREMENT VERSUS OVARIAN ULTRASOUND IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME IN DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES.
2015
This study was designed to assess the value of serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) in the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in various phenotypes and to assess ovarian ultrasound parameters.We performed a retrospective matched controlled study of 113 females with various PCOS phenotypes and 47 matched controls. The diagnostic utility of AMH measurement and ovarian ultrasound were compared. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses, the threshold for AMH (4.7 ng/mL) and ultrasound parameters (follicle number per ovary [FNPO]22 and ovarian volume [OV]8 cc) were established.In the entire cohort, AMH had a low sensitivity of 79%; while FNPO and OV were 93% and 68%,…