Search results for "dire"
showing 10 items of 3084 documents
Motor cortex tRNS improves pain, affective and cognitive impairment in patients with fibromyalgia: Preliminary results of a randomised sham-controlle…
2017
Objective. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a clinical syndrome characterised by widespread musculoskeletal pain, chronic fatigue, cognitive deficits, and sleep and mood disorders. The effectiveness of most pharmacological treatments is limited, and there is a need for new, effective and well-tolerated therapies. It has recently been shown that transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) of the motor cortex reduces pain, and that tDCS of the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) improves anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment in FM patients. The new technique of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) using randomly changing alternating currents has very recently been shown to improve w…
Biomechanical properties of oesophagus wall under loading
2003
In this investigation, firstly, the biomechanical properties of different parts of oesophagus were determined. Oesophagus stress and strain are the greatest in the cervical part for all age groups. The human oesophagus deforms unevenly, depending on the direction of load in relation to the organ's axis, it exhibits anisotropical behaviour. With the age the values of mechanical parameters of the oesophagus wall reduce, in particular beginning from 45 years of age, but the modulus of elasticity increases. Biomechanical properties of the oesophagus depend on the architecture of its structure. By loading the organ in the circumferential direction, microfibrilae rupture and deformation of the mu…
The representation of gravitational force during drawing movements of the arm
1998
The purpose of the present experiment was to study the way in which the central nervous system (CNS) represents gravitational force (GF) during vertical drawing movements of the arm. Movements in four different directions: (a) upward vertical (0 degrees), (b) upward oblique (45 degrees), (c) downward vertical (180 degrees) and (d) downward oblique (135 degrees), and at two different speeds, normal and fast, were executed by nine subjects. Data analysis focused upon arm movement kinematics in the frontal plane and gravitational torques (GTs) exerted around the shoulder joint. Regardless of movement direction, subjects showed straight-line paths for both speed conditions. In addition, movemen…
Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation on semantic discrimination eyeblink conditioning
2015
Abstract Background Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation method that has been used to modulate learning. We tested whether anodal tDCS targeted at the left DLPFC could enhance learning in a semantic variant of discrimination eyeblink conditioning, i.e., whether the stimulation would have a specific effect on the discrimination ability, rate of acquisition, amplitude of the conditioned response (CR), or all of these. Methods Immediately prior to the eyeblink conditioning, the participants received either active stimulation of 1 mA for 10 min or sham stimulation. The anode was placed over F3 and the cathode over the right supraorbital area. The conditioned stimu…
Increasing the default interletter spacing of words can help drivers to read traffic signs at longer distances
2018
Would an increase in the default interletter spacing improve the legibility of words in traffic signs? Previous evidence on traffic sign design and recent studies on the cognitive processes involved in visual word recognition have provided conflicting results. The present work examined whether an increase in the default interletter spacing would improve the search of a word in direction traffic signs. To achieve this objective, twenty-two drivers participated in a driving simulation experiment. They followed a highway route and indicated whether a target place name was present among a set of distractors shown on direction traffic signs along the route. We compared the default interletter sp…
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:…
Screening for Autoantibodies to Tissue Transglutaminase Reveals a Low Prevalence of Celiac Disease in Blood Donors with Cryptogenic Hypertransaminase…
2001
Patients with chronic cryptogenic hypertransaminasemia are at high risk of developing celiac disease (CD). In fact, among the various serological disorders, CD patients at onset frequently present hypertransaminasemia. In this study, we evaluated usefulness and reliability of the new test for antitissue transglutaminase (tTG) in screening for CD as well as in estimating the prevalence of CD in a population of blood donors presenting unexplained hypertransaminasemia at donation. Controls were 180 consecutive healthy donors without hypertransaminasemia and 20 CD patients with known antiendomysial antibody (EmA) positivity. Out of 22,204 blood donors over a period of 2 years, we found 258 subj…
Actin is a target antigen of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in autoimmune hepatitis type-1.
1997
Abstract Background/Aim: Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) are a group of autoantibodies first associated with Wegener's granulomatosis and microscopic polyangiitis. The signifiance of ANCA in autoimmune hepatitis remains uncertain; the nature of the antigen or antigens has not been defined yet. The purpose of this study was to identify the target antigen of ANCA in patients with autoimmune hepatitis. Method/Results: Sera from 32 type-1 autoimmune hepatitis patients were used in the present study. ANCA were detected in 24 of 32 sera (75%). A diffuse cytoplasmic staining pattern (C-ANCA) was detected in 14 patients; the P-ANCA pattern was observed in 10 patients. An extract of hu…
The Temporal Structure of Vertical Arm Movements
2011
Import JabRef | WosArea Life Sciences and Biomedicine - Other Topics; International audience; The present study investigates how the CNS deals with the omnipresent force of gravity during arm motor planning. Previous studies have reported direction-dependent kinematic differences in the vertical plane; notably, acceleration duration was greater during a downward than an upward arm movement. Although the analysis of acceleration and deceleration phases has permitted to explore the integration of gravity force, further investigation is necessary to conclude whether feedforward or feedback control processes are at the origin of this incorporation. We considered that a more detailed analysis of…
Cerebellar, but not Motor or Parietal, High-Density Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Facilitates Motor Adaptation.
2016
AbstractObjectives: Although motor adaptation is a highly relevant process for both everyday life as well as rehabilitation many details of this process are still unresolved. To evaluate the contribution of primary motor (M1), parietal and cerebellar areas to motor adaptation processes transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been applied. We hypothesized that anodal stimulation of the cerebellum and the M1 improves the learning process in mirror drawing, a task involving fine grained and spatially well-organized hand movements. Methods: High definition tDCS (HD-tDCS) allows a focal stimulation to modulate brain processes. In a single-session double-blind study, we compared the ef…