Search results for "LTER"
showing 10 items of 3539 documents
The Penile Plication Procedure: An Alternative Method for Straightening Penile Deviation
1991
AbstractThe number of reported cases of congenital and acquired penile deviation is evidently increasing. We describe our experience with the penile plication procedure, which we used to treat 40 patients with penile deviation. Postoperatively, all patients regained the ability for sexual intercourse, with potency remaining unimpaired. Of the patients 96% were completely satisfied with the result of the operation. Sustained complications have not been observed. To avoid major trauma the surgical intervention should not include removal of ellipsoids from the penile tunica albuginea as proposed by Nesbit. Since the penile plication method produces equally good results in terms of performance …
Hypnosis Attitudes: Treatment Effects and Associations With Symptoms in Individuals With Cancer.
2017
Attitudes about hypnosis are associated with hypnotic responsiveness. However, little is known about how hypnosis attitudes change with treatment and if those changes are associated with better outcomes. This study examined whether an intervention based on the Valencia Model of Waking Hypnosis combined with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy changed attitudes about hypnosis in a sample of patients with a history of cancer. The results indicated that the intervention improved attitudes toward hypnosis, relative to a control intervention, and the improvements remained stable at 3-month follow-up. Analyses also showed that changes in some attitudes were associated with treatment-related improvements…
Sleep phenotypes of intellectual disability: a polysomnographic evaluation in subjects with Down syndrome and Fragile X syndrome
2008
Abstract Objective To analyze sleep architecture and NREM sleep alterations by means of the Cyclic Alternating Pattern (CAP) in children with Down syndrome (DS) and Fragile-X syndrome (fraX), the two most common causes of inherited mental retardation, in order to find out eventual alterations of their sleep microstructure related to their mental retardation phenotypes. Methods Fourteen patients affected by fraX (mean age 13.1 years) and 9 affected by Down syndrome (mean age 13.8 years) and 26 age-matched normal controls were included. All subjects underwent overnight polysomnography in the sleep laboratory, after one adaptation night and their sleep architecture and CAP were visually scored…
Cordycepin is an immunoregulatory active ingredient of Cordyceps sinensis.
2008
We have reported that cordycepin, an adenosine derivative from the fungus Cordyceps, increased interleukin (IL)-10 expression, decreased IL-2 expression and suppressed T lymphocyte activity. In the present study, we further characterized the regulatory effects of cordycepin on human immune cells. Moreover, a traditional Chinese drug, Cordyceps sinensis (CS) that contains cordycepin, was also investigated. Cytometric Bead Array (CBA) was used to determine the concentrations of IL-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma in culture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The results showed that both cordycepin and CS up-regulated IL-10, IL-1beta, IL-6,…
Dynamical properties of the sleep EEG in different frequency bands.
1993
The information concerning the dynamic behavior of the sleep process gained by the usual evaluation of sleep EEGs according to the criteria of Rechtschaffen and Kales is limited. Therefore a new methodical approach is presented, which is a special case of spectral analyzed data processing. After digital band-pass filtering of the sleep EEG the root-mean-square (RMS) value of successive 20 s EEG epochs is calculated in defined frequency ranges. This procedure ensures to take into account the influence of the phase relation between different frequency components. The temporal course of these RMS values during the night reveals smooth curves with continuous transitions between different sleep …
Dimension reduction: additional benefit of an optimal filter for independent component analysis to extract event-related potentials.
2011
The present study addresses benefits of a linear optimal filter (OF) for independent component analysis (ICA) in extracting brain event-related potentials (ERPs). A filter such as the digital filter is usually considered as a denoising tool. Actually, in filtering ERP recordings by an OF, the ERP' topography should not be changed by the filter, and the output should also be able to be modeled by the linear transformation. Moreover, an OF designed for a specific ERP source or component may remove noise, as well as reduce the overlap of sources and even reject some non-targeted sources in the ERP recordings. The OF can thus accomplish both the denoising and dimension reduction (reducing the n…
MEK inhibitors combined with programmed cell death-1 blockade immunotherapy for metastatic uveal melanoma: is it warranted?
2020
In the setting of metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM), prognosis is dismal and treatment options are limited. MEK inhibition using selumetinib has led to promising results with improved progression-free survival. While immune checkpoint inhibitors such as programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) blockade therapy (anti-PD-1) has shown discrete efficacy in mUM, combining MEK inhibitors (MEKi) to anti-PD-1 might be an option as such combinations have shown synergistic efficacy in metastatic cutaneous melanoma. We report here and discuss our experience in three patients who received this combination in the absence of suitable alternative treatment. The efficacy was difficult to assess due to early severe tox…
Excitability of subcortical motor circuits in Go/noGo and forced choice reaction time tasks
2006
The size of the response to a startling auditory stimulus (SAS) may reflect the excitability of the reticulospinal tract. In this study, we examined whether there was any excitability change in the reticulospinal tract during preparation for execution of two types of choice reaction time task: a forced choice reaction time task (fCRT) and a Go/no-Go task (GnG). In 13 healthy volunteers we used three types of trials: control trials in which subjects were requested to perform ballistic wrist movements during fCRT or GnG tasks; test trials in which a SAS was presented with the visual cue, and baseline trials in which SAS was presented alone. Latency and area of the responses to SAS were measur…
What motivates arrangements of dog visits in nursing homes? Experiences by dog handlers and nurses
2017
Abstract Introduction Dog visits to nursing homes are used as a structured approach for enhancing residents' well-being. Few studies have emphasized the perspectives of the organizers. The purpose of the present study was to gain insight into the experiences of volunteer dog handlers and nurses involved in dog visits to nursing homes, focusing on what motivated them to contribute and identifying possible factors to successful dog visits. Methods Individual, in-depth interviews with eight dog handlers and group interviews with 10 nurses from four nursing homes. Results Feelings of meaningfulness and joy motivated both the dog handlers and nurses to arrange dog visits to nursing homes. Succes…
Ethical assessment of hepatitis C virus treatment: The lesson from first generation protease inhibitors
2015
Abstract Since chronic hepatitis C has mostly become curable, issues concerning choice and allocation of treatment are of major concern. We assessed the foremost ethical issues in hepatitis C virus therapy with 1st generation protease inhibitors using the personalist ethical framework within the health technology assessment methodology. Our aim was to identify values at stake/in conflict and to support both the physicians’ choices in hepatitis C therapy and social (macro-) allocation decision-making. The ethical assessment indicates that: (1) safety/effectiveness profile of treatment is guaranteed if its use is restricted to the patients subgroups who may benefit from it; (2) patients shoul…