Search results for "Infant"
showing 10 items of 3339 documents
Towards a unified analysis of cerebellum maturation and aging across the entire lifespan: A MRI analysis
2021
[EN] Previous literature about the structural characterization of the human cerebellum is related to the context of a specific pathology or focused in a restricted age range. In fact, studies about the cerebellum maturation across the lifespan are scarce and most of them considered the cerebellum as a whole without investigating each lobule. This lack of study can be explained by the lack of both accurate segmentation methods and data availability. Fortunately, during the last years, several cerebellum segmenta- tion methods have been developed and many databases comprising subjects of dif- ferent ages have been made publically available. This fact opens an opportunity window to obtain a mo…
Diet supplementation during early lactation with non-alcoholic beer increases the antioxidant properties of breastmilk and decreases the oxidative da…
2013
After delivery and birth, mothers and neonates are exposed to oxidative stress. We tested whether supplementing the diet of breastfeeding mothers with non-alcoholic beer, a product rich in antioxidants, could improve their oxidative status and the antioxidant content of their milk. A prospective trial begun on Day 2 postpartum was conducted in mother-infant dyads.Sixty breastfeeding mothers and their infants were allocated to either a control group (n=30) on a free diet or a study group (n=30) on a free diet supplemented with 660 mL of non-alcoholic beer/day. The oxidative status of the mothers' breastmilk, plasma, and urine and the infant's urine was analyzed on Days 2 and 30 postpartum. T…
Mitral and aortic regurgitation in 84 patients with mucopolysaccharidoses
1995
In echocardiographic and necropsy studies nodular thickening of the mitral valve and, less frequently, of the aortic valve has been found in 60%-90% of patients with mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS). Little is known about the haemodynamic consequences of these morphological changes. In this study 84 unselected patients with different enzymatically proven MPS and 84 age and sex matched, healthy persons were studied prospectively by colour Doppler flow mapping. The patients' age ranged from 1 to 47 years (median 8.1 years). Mitral and aortic regurgitation were defined as a holosystolic or holodiastolic jet originating from the valve into the left atrium or the left ventricular outflow tract, respe…
Apolipoprotein E Genotypic Frequencies Among Down Syndrome Patients Imply Early Unsuccessful Aging for ApoE4 Carriers
2007
Down syndrome (DS) might be considered a model for unsuccessful and early aging, possibly accelerated for those who carry the APOE4 allele associated with common age-related diseases, e.g., Alzheimer's disease and a poor prognosis after acute myocardial infarction, causing lower ApoE4 frequencies among the very old in general populations. We compared ApoE genotypic frequencies found for healthy adults (n = 211, age 90) to those found for DS patients (n = 106, mean age 9 years), all living in western Sicily. We found that the frequency of the ApoE23 genotype increased with age among the healthy adults (8.5%, 6.4%, 19.7%; p = 0.024) while ApoE34 frequency decreased (16.1%, 12.6%, 4.1%; p = 0.…
Learning-induced neural plasticity of speech processing before birth
2013
Learning, the foundation of adaptive and intelligent behavior, is based on plastic changes in neural assemblies, reflected by the modulation of electric brain responses. In infancy, auditory learning implicates the formation and strengthening of neural long-term memory traces, improving discrimination skills, in particular those forming the prerequisites for speech perception and understanding. Although previous behavioral observations show that newborns react differentially to unfamiliar sounds vs. familiar sound material that they were exposed to as fetuses, the neural basis of fetal learning has not thus far been investigated. Here we demonstrate direct neural correlates of human fetal l…
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:…
Association of Low Birth Weight With Altered Corneal Geometry and Axial Length in Adulthood in the German Gutenberg Health Study
2019
IMPORTANCE: Low birth weight is associated with altered ocular organ development in childhood, including the morphology of the eye. However, no population-based data exist about this association in adulthood. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether low birth weight has a long-term association with anterior segment anatomy and axial length in adulthood. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The Gutenberg Health Study is a population-based, observational cohort study in Germany. All participants underwent ocular biometry. Among the participants with follow-up and self-reported birth weight available, associations were assessed between low birth weight and anterior segment anatomy and axial length using m…
Asymptomatic Leishmania infantum/chagasi infection in blood donors of western Sicily.
2007
The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether the risk of transfusion-transmitted visceral leishmaniasis was present in an area of western Sicily where the incidence of the disease is higher than the regional average. From May to December 2005, 1449 blood donors from Agrigento district (Sicily, Italy) were screened for the presence of anti-Leishmania antibodies by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT). Blood samples from IFAT-positive donors were examined by PCR to detect Leishmania DNA. Anti-Leishmania antibodies were found in 11 (0.75%) cases, among which Leishmania DNA was detected from four (36.4%). Particular techniques to inactivate different pathogens would be consid…
Soil-transmitted helminth infections at very high altitude in Bolivia
2001
A cross-sectional study of soil-transmitted helminthiases in the Northern Bolivian Altiplano was carried out over the 6-year period 1992-97. Prevalences, intensities and associations were analysed from coprological results obtained in 31 surveys (28 in schools and 3 in individuals of all age-groups) performed in 24 Aymara communities located between the city of La Paz and Lake Titicaca, at an altitude of 3800-4200 m. Ascaris lumbricoides and Trichuris trichiura were detected, with local prevalences in the range 1.2-28.0% and 0.0-24.0%, respectively. Significant differences in prevalence rates of trichuriasis were detected, with highest prevalences in male schoolchildren and in subjects aged…
Burden of disease assessment with summary measures of population health for the Region of Valencia, Spain: a population-based study
2011
Abstract Background and objective An important input to decision-making and health planning is a consistent and comparative description of the population health status. The purpose of this study was to describe the burden of disease in the Region of Valencia (Spain). Material and methods Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were calculated and divided into years of life lost (YLLs) and years lived with disability (YLDs). Using death registry data and Valencian population estimates in 2008, we calculated the number of deaths and YLLs. YLDs were based on age- and sex-specific data for countries of the EURO-A subregional level (which includes the Region of Valencia) from the Global Burden of…