Search results for "PROB"
showing 10 items of 8859 documents
Echogenicity of the substantia nigra in relatives of patients with sporadic Parkinson’s disease
2003
Increased echogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN) on ultrasound is a typical sonographic finding in Parkinson's disease (PD). Sonographic signal intensity of the SN is related to tissue iron content with higher iron level being associated with increased echogenicity. Recent findings indicate that hyperechogenicity of the SN represents an important susceptibility factor for nigrostriatal degeneration. In this study we determined the prevalence of a characteristic ultrasound sign of Parkinson's disease in first-degree relatives of PD patients. Fourteen patients with sporadic PD and 58 of their relatives underwent neurological, neuropsychological, and ultrasound examination. In addition, fou…
Impaired Health-Related Quality of Life in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Psychosocial Impact and Coping Styles in a National German Sample
2001
The purpose of this study is to give a detailed survey of the disease-specific and generic quality of life (HRQOL) of adult patients suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Germany.1322 patients suffering from IBD were examined in a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire assessing disease-specific and generic quality of life, coping, and hopelessness was sent to members of the German Crohn/Colitis association.Compared to the general population, the generic HRQOL in IBD patients is significantly reduced. Active coping has a negative influence on patients' generic physical HRQOL during an active phase (beta = -0.31), while this association is not present in the case of patients in …
Clinical efficacy of semiconductor laser application as an adjunct to conventional scaling and root planing.
2005
Background and Objectives: The aim of the in vitro study was to examine the clinical efficacy of semiconductor laser periodontal pocket irradiation as an adjunct to conventional scaling and root planing. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two healthy patients with a need of periodontal treatment (15 women, 7 men, mean age 45.0� 10.8 years) with at least four teeth in all quadrants, were included. All of them underwent a conventional periodontal treatment including scaling and root planing. Using a split mouth design, two randomly chosen quadrants (one upper and the corresponding lower one) were subsequently treated with an 809 nm GaAlAs laser operated at a power output of 1.0 Watt using a 0.6 mm…
Attitude and knowledge of pain management among Italian nurses in hospital settings
2015
Pain is multidimensional, and, as such, the chief reason patients seek urgent healthcare services. If inadequately assessed and untreated, pain may negatively impact on the quality of life of the patient. Treating pain is an important step in regaining control over quality of life. The objective of the present study is to examine the level of knowledge and types of approach among Italian nurses who deal with pain assessment and management. The Ferrell and McCaffery's Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain (KASRP) was distributed to 286 nurses employed in one of the biggest specialized hospitals in Rome, Italy. The interviewed staff work at three different settings, according to the h…
External Validation of Nomogram Predicting the Probability of Specimen-Confined Disease (pT2-3a, R0N0) in Patients Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy a…
2014
Introduction: Before radical prostatectomy (RP), a nomogram [Briganti et al., Eur Urol 2012;61:584-592] permits to measure the probability of specimen-confined (SC) disease (pT2-pT3a, node negative with negative margins) in high-risk prostate cancer (PCa). The aim of our study was to perform an external validation of this nomogram. Materials and Methods: Between 2007 and 2011, 623 patients with high-risk PCa (prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >20 ng/ml and/or biopsy Gleason score ≥8 and/or clinical stage T3) underwent RP and pelvic lymph node dissection at tertiary referral centers. Multivariable logistic regression models predicting the presence of SC disease were built in; we then used the …
Three-dimensional distribution of trabecular bone density and cortical thickness in the distal humerus
2008
One major barrier to osteosynthesis in distal humeral fractures is poor bone quality. This study was an attempt to measure the bone quality in the distal humerus.We measured the distribution of total bone mineral density (BMD), trabecular BMD (tBMD), and cortical thickness (CTh) in the distal humerus using peripheral quantitive computed tomography. Four slices in the infracondylar, supracondylar, and distal disphyseal regions of 25 human cadaver humeri were investigated.Total BMD decreased continuously from the distal diaphysis to the trochlea. Within the infracondylar region, the capitellum was the region of lowest tBMD and CTh (P.001). Measurements in anterior regions were higher than in …
Impulsivity and Stress Response in Pathological Gamblers During the Trier Social Stress Test
2017
Gambling has been associated with increased sympathetic nervous system output and stimulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. However it is unclear how these systems are affected in pathological gambling. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) on cortisol and on cardiac interbeat intervals in relation to impulsivity, in a sample of male pathological gamblers compared to healthy controls. In addition, we investigated the correlation between the TSST, duration of the disorder and impulsivity. A total of 35 pathological gamblers and 30 healthy controls, ranging from 19 to 58 years old and all male, participated in this study. Stress respon…
Cellular distribution of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit mRNAs in the human cerebral cortex as revealed by non-isotopic in situ hybridizatio…
1994
The pharmacology of telencephalic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has become an important issue in recent years. While in the human brain a direct pharmacological assessment is difficult to achieve the visualization of nAChRs has been enabled by histochemical techniques providing an ever increasing and improving resolution. Receptor autoradiography was used to visualize binding sites on the level of cortical layers whereas immunohistochemistry has allowed for the cell type-specific and ultrastructural localization of receptor protein. Further investigations have to elucidate the cellular sites of NAChR biosynthesis by visualizing subunit-specific transcripts. Using autopsy sample…
Instantaneous transfer entropy for the study of cardio-respiratory dynamics
2015
Measures of transfer entropy have been proposed to quantify the directional coupling and strength between two complex physiological variables. Particular attention has been given to nonlinear interactions within cardiovascular and respiratory dynamics as influenced by the autonomic nervous system. However, standard transfer entropy estimates have shown major limitations in dealing with issues concerning stochastic system modeling, limited observations in time, and the assumption of stationarity of the considered physiological variables. Moreover, standard estimates are unable to track time-varying changes in nonlinear coupling with high resolution in time. Here, we propose a novel definitio…
Instantaneous Transfer Entropy for the Study of Cardiovascular and Cardio-Respiratory Nonstationary Dynamics
2017
Objective: Measures of transfer entropy (TE) quantify the direction and strength of coupling between two complex systems. Standard approaches assume stationarity of the observations, and therefore are unable to track time-varying changes in nonlinear information transfer with high temporal resolution. In this study, we aim to define and validate novel instantaneous measures of TE to provide an improved assessment of complex nonstationary cardiorespiratory interactions. Methods: We here propose a novel instantaneous point-process TE (ipTE) and validate its assessment as applied to cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory dynamics. In particular, heartbeat and respiratory dynamics are characteriz…