Search results for "Natural history"
showing 10 items of 124 documents
The palaeontological virtual collection of the University of Valencia’s Natural History Museum: a new tool for palaeontological heritage outreach
2019
The rise of new digitalization technologies is changing the way to access to the fossil collections for palaeontology outreach, providing new tools to preserve our important palaeontological heritage. In this sense, museums and palaeontological institutions,aware of the advantages of applying these new technologies for the accomplishment of their functions, have started to develop their own online repositories to facilitate the access to the most representative fossil of their collections. Following this trend, the aim of this work is to present the creation of the new “Virtual 3D Collection” of the University of Valencia’s Natural History Museum, showing, as an example, the “Ichnofossil Co…
Review article: future research on coeliac disease - a position report from the European multistakeholder platform on coeliac disease (CDEUSSA)
2008
BACKGROUND: CDEUSSA is a Specific Support Action project from the Sixth Framework Programme Priority of the European Union (EU). Its aim is to bring together basic and applied research in the area of coeliac disease (CD). This paper reviews the main issues that are a result of the CDEUSSA initiative. AIM: To identify the major issues in need of investigation in the areas of clinical aspects, treatment, prevention and public health. METHODS: Key stakeholders, representing a wide range of knowledge with crucial importance for CD research and practice, have participated in two workshops aimed at identifying and proposing to the EU, as high priority research, topics in the areas of clinical asp…
Migraine in Children Under 7 Years of Age: a Review
2020
Purpose of review: Despite the accumulation of a significant amount of data on pediatric headache, few studies have been conducted on its occurrence in children under 7 years of age. Within primary headaches in this age, migraine especially, turns out to be a disorder affecting up to 4% of the general population. An underestimate of its true prevalence can be due to lack of specific diagnostic markers, the frequent difficulty of describing pain in childhood, and the necessity of reliable parents’ reports. Thus, migraine in children under 7 years of age represents an important challenge for clinicians. The objective of this manuscript is to provide a comprehensive review of epidemiologic, cl…
Multiple sclerosis survival: a population-based study in Sicily
2009
Background and purpose: There are few population-based surveys on multiple sclerosis (MS) survival. To investigate MS survival in MS patients recruited during surveys conducted in Sicily. Methods: Multiple sclerosis patients identified during previous surveys were randomly matched to two referent subjects by residence, year of birth, and gender. Living status was obtained by municipality records (end of follow-up June, 30th 2007) and, for the deceased, date and causes of death were searched. Kaplan-Meier plots were used to calculate differences in mortality between MS patients and referent subjects. MS risks for mortality with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were also calculated. Results: …
Classification, epidemiology, risk factors, and natural history of peripheral arterial disease.
2002
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a clinical condition that has often been neglected. The clinical diagnosis of PAD may be made on the basis of an accurate history by using the WHO/Rose Questionnaire or the Edinburgh Questionnaire. From a clinical point of view, PAD may be classified into four stages. The PARTNERS Programme (PAD Awareness, Risk and Treatment: NEw Resources for Survival) is a recent study based on a partnership to improve PAD care. In this population, the prevalence of patients who were PAD+/CVD- was approximately 12% in males and 15% in females; PAD+/CVD+ approximately 18% in males and 14% in females; PAD-/CVD+ 28% in males and 17% in females; and finally, patients witho…
Placebo Therapy in Crohn's disease
2009
The knowledge of the outcome among patients receiving placebo is important for evaluating the response to therapy, for evaluating the natural history of a disease and for calculating the sample size for future clinical trials. In Crohn's disease placebo has been used in therapeutic trials in every relevant setting: active disease, prevention of relapse after induced medical remission and after surgery and fistulising disease. The analysis of the placebo response shows that in every setting there is a high heterogeneity demonstrating mainly that the selection of patients is not often homogeneous and that the outcome criteria used in the trials is not highly reliable. Better selection of pati…
New horizons in early stage COPD--improving knowledge, detection and treatment.
2011
SummaryEarly stage COPD carries a significant healthcare burden that is currently underrecognised, underdiagnosed and undertreated. Furthermore, patients at this stage can rapidly decline to advanced disease, especially if they continue to smoke. The natural history of the disease in early stages remains largely unknown, and emerging evidence indicates that we are able to reduce lung function decline and exacerbations, and improve quality of life, in early stage COPD, mainly through smoking cessation. But new evidence from randomised clinical trials also suggests an impact of pharmacotherapy on clinical outcomes in early disease. Guidelines need to be updated to reflect this greater underst…
Protocol for the EARCO Registry
2020
Rationale and objectives Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a genetic condition that leads to an increased risk of emphysema and liver disease. Despite extensive investigation, there remain unanswered questions concerning the natural history, pathophysiology, genetics and the prognosis of the lung disease in association with AATD. The European Alpha-1 Clinical Research Collaboration (EARCO) is designed to bring together researchers from European countries and to create a standardised database for the follow-up of patients with AATD. Study design and population The EARCO Registry is a non-interventional, multicentre, pan-European, longitudinal observational cohort study enrolling patie…
Obstructive sleep apnea and cancer: a complex relationship
2020
Purpose of review Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been recognized as a risk factor for cancer mainly through hypoxia, based on studies that did not distinguish among cancer types. The purpose of this review is to discuss the most recent data on epidemiology and pathophysiology of the OSA-cancer association. Recent findings According to epidemiological studies, OSA may have different influences on each type of cancer, either increasing or decreasing its incidence and aggressiveness. Time spent with oxygen saturation below 90% appears the polysomnographic variable most strongly associated with unfavorable effects on cancer. Experimental studies support the role of hypoxia as an important ri…
Biological Plausibility of the Pace of Creation Written in the Genesis
2012
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the biological plausibility of the pace of creation written in the genesis. A fascinating hypothesis is made on the central role of serotonin as a guide, as the director of the phenomena that enable the best use of light by the plant world, the growth, the regulation of mood in the complex molecular interactions that characterize the varying levels of consciousness. This hypothesis provides biological interpretations of the correspondence of creative steps, from light to man, passing through the vegetable and animal world.