Electroencephalographic evoked pain response is suppressed by spinal cord stimulation in complex regional pain syndrome: a case report

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is considered as an option for the management of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Hyperalgesia, an increased pain response to a mechanical or thermal stimulus at normal or increased threshold is a common feature of CRPS. Animal studies have demonstrated that SCS significantly reduces mechanical hyperalgesia. These studies suggest that SCS mechanisms may involve reduction of glial activation at spinal cord level and/or activation of μ-opioid and δ-opioid receptors. However, in humans it has been observed that SCS had no effect on experimental pain thresholds and did not produce decreased sensitivity for pressure, warmth, and cold induced pain in CRPS patients. The majority of currently available studies on the effectiveness of SCS, including those using quantitative sensory testing (QST) rely on patient reported outcomes such as visual analogue or numerical rating scales. The current case report investigates the effectiveness of SCS based on electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis of contact heat evoked potentials following experimental induction of thermal stimuli

An overview of treatment approaches for chronic pain management

Pain which persists after healing is expected to have taken place, or which exists in the absence of tissue damage, is termed chronic pain. By definition chronic pain cannot be treated and cured in the conventional biomedical sense; rather, the patient who is suffering from the pain must be given the tools with which their long-term pain can be managed to an acceptable level. This article will provide an overview of treatment approaches available for the management of persistent non-malignant pain. As well as attempting to provide relief from the physical aspects of pain through the judicious use of analgesics, interventions, stimulations, and irritations, it is important to pay equal attention to the psychosocial complaints which almost always accompany long-term pain. The pain clinic offers a biopsychosocial approach to treatment with the multidisciplinary pain management programme; encouraging patients to take control of their pain problem and lead a fulfilling life in spite of the pain. © 2016 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelber

The Tycho User Interface System

Tycho is the next-generation user-interface system we are building for the Ptolemy project. It is a complete [incr Tcl] application structured as an extensible class library. Our goal is to make it easy to extend this basic application with functionality and a user interface for specialized applications such as electronic design and simulation. The Tycho library includes a selection of general-purpose widgets, syntax-sensitive text editors, and graphical editing support. It incorporates architectural features that make it easy for di erent editors and viewers to share data and screen space. Finally, structured support for incorporating C and Java packages into this framework allows us to use those languages to complement the scripting and user-interface features of Tcl/Tk

Antibacterial and antioxidant cassane diterpenoids from Caesalpinia benthamiana

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the light petroleum extract of Caesalpinia benthamiana (=Mezoneuron benthamianum) root bark has led to the isolation of two cassane diterpenoids, designated as benthaminin 1 and 2. A third compound, a deoxy form of caesaidekarin C (also referred to as methyl vouacapenate) which has previously been isolated from Caesalpinia major, C. bonducella, Vouacapoua americana and V. macropetala, was also isolated, together with P-sitosterol and stigmastenone. The antibacterial and antioxidant activities of these cassane diterpenoids have been assessed using the microdilution assay method and DPPH spectrophotometric and TBA lipid peroxidation assays. Benthaminin 1 was the more active antibacterial compound with MIC values of 47.8 mu M for both Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus flavus. Benthaminin 2 was the more active antioxidant compound and showed IC50 values of 42.7 mu M and 74.2 mu M for the DPPH and TBA assays, respectively. Deoxycaesaldekarin C possessed both antibacterial and antioxidant activities. The presence of methyl ester and methyl functional groups as well as an unsaturated furan ring appears to confer antibacterial activity. On the other hand, the relatively stronger antioxidant activity of benthaminin 2 may be associated with the presence of an exocyclic methylene function. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserve

Antimicrobial, resistance-modifying effects, antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities of Mezoneuron benthamianum Baill., Securinega virosa Roxb. & Wlld. and Microglossa pyrifolia Lam

Mezoneuron benthamianum , Securinega virosa and Microglossa pyrifolia are used in folk medicine in Ghana for the treatment of dermal infections and wounds. Petroleum spirit, chloroform and ethanol extracts of the plants were tested for antimicrobial activity against a battery of organisms using the agar well diffusion technique and a serial dilution microassay. The resistance modifying activities of these extracts on standard antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus possessing efflux mechanisms of resistance have also been assessed. A 4‐fold potentiation of the activity of norfloxacin was observed for ethanol and chloroform extracts of M. benthamianum and S. virosa , respectively, whilst the petroleum spirit extract resulted in a 2‐fold potentiation with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values in the range 8–16 µg/mL. Ethanol extracts of all three species, the petroleum spirit extract of M. benthamianum and the chloroform extracts of M. benthamianum and S. virosa , showed interesting antimicrobial activities. Antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities using DPPH spectrophotometric and TBA lipid peroxidation assays were also conducted. Of the five extracts that showed antioxidant activities, the petroleum spirit and chloroform extracts of M. benthamianum rated most highly by displaying strong free radical scavenging activity with IC50 values of 15.33 and 19.72 µg/mL, respectively. Lipid peroxidation inhibition provided by the same two extracts also produced the lowest IC50 values for all the extracts tested, of 23.15 and 30.36 µg/mL. These findings therefore give some support to the ethnopharmacological use of the plants in the treatment of various skin diseases and wounds, as well as demonstrating the potential of some of the plants as sources of compounds possessing the ability to modulate bacterial multidrug resistance

The quest for modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an integral part of mainstream medicine in China. Due to its worldwide use, potential impact on healthcare and opportunities for new drug development, TCM is also of great international interest. Recently, a new era for modernisation of TCM was launched with the successful completion of the Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine Research in the Post-genomic Era (GP-TCM) project, the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) coordination action on TCM research. This 3.5-year project that involved inputs from over 200 scientists resulted in the production of 20 editorials and in-depth reviews on different aspects of TCM that were published in a special issue of Journal of Ethnopharmacology (2012; volume 140, issue 3). In this narrative review, we aim to summarise the findings of the FP7 GP-TCM project and highlight the relevance of TCM to modern medicine within a historical and international context. Advances in TCM research since the 1950s can be characterised into three phases: Phase I (1950s-1970s) was fundamental for developing TCM higher education, research and hospital networks in China; Phase II (1980s-2000s) was critical for developing legal, economic and scientific foundations and international networks for TCM; and Phase III (2011 onwards) is concentrating on consolidating the scientific basis and clinical practice of TCM through interdisciplinary, interregional and intersectoral collaborations. Taking into account the quality and safety requirements newly imposed by a globalised market, we especially highlight the scientific evidence behind TCM, update the most important milestones and pitfalls, and propose integrity, integration and innovation as key principles for further modernisation of TCM. These principles will serve as foundations for further research and development of TCM, and for its future integration into tomorrow's medicine. © 2013 Xu et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd