Corrigendum to a new neurocognitive interpretation of shoulder position sense during reaching:unexpected competence in the measurement of extracorporeal space

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/9065495.

A new neurocognitive interpretation of shoulder position sense during reaching: unexpected competence in the measurement of extracorporeal space

Background.The position sense of the shoulder joint is important during reaching. Objective. To examine the existence of additional competence of the shoulder with regard to the ability to measure extracorporeal space, through a novel approach, using the shoulder proprioceptive rehabilitation tool (SPRT), during reaching. Design. Observational case-control study. Methods. We examined 50 subjects: 25 healthy and 25 with impingement syndrome with a mean age [years] of 64.52 +/− 6.98 and 68.36 +/− 6.54, respectively. Two parameters were evaluated using the SPRT: the integration of visual information and the proprioceptive afferents of the shoulder (Test 1) and the discriminative proprioceptive capacity of the shoulder, with the subject blindfolded (Test 2). These tasks assessed the spatial error (in centimeters) by the shoulder joint in reaching movements on the sagittal plane. Results. The shoulder had proprioceptive features that allowed it to memorize a reaching position and reproduce it (error of 1.22 cm to 1.55 cm in healthy subjects). This ability was lower in the impingement group, with a statistically significant difference compared to the healthy group ( < 0.05 by Mann–Whitney test). Conclusions. The shoulder has specific expertise in the measurement of the extracorporeal space during reaching movements that gradually decreases in impingement syndrome

Outcomes and indications for Emergency Thoracotomy after adoption of a more liberal policy in a western European level 1 Trauma Center: 8-years experience.

Background: The role of Emergency Thoracotomy (ET) in blunt trauma is still a matter of debate and in Europe only small studies have been published. We report our experience about ET both in penetrating and blunt trauma, discussing indications, outcomes and proposing an algorithm for patient selection. Materials and methods: We retrospectively analysed patients who underwent ET at Maggiore Hospital Trauma Center over two periods: from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2012, and from January 1st, 2013 to May 31st, 2017. Demographic and clinical data, mechanism of injury, Injury Severity Score, site of injury, time of witnessed cardiac arrest, presence/absence of signs of life, length of stay, were considered, as well as survival rate and neurological outcome. Results: 27 ETs were performed; 21 after blunt trauma and six after penetrating trauma. Motor vehicle accident was the main mechanism of injury, followed by fall from height. The mean age was 40,5 years and the median Injury Severity Score was of 40. The most frequent injury was cardiac tamponade. The overall survival rate was 10% during the first period and 23.5% during the second period, after the adoption of a more liberal policy. No long term neurological sequelae were reported. Conclusions: The outcomes of ET in trauma patient, either after penetrating or blunt trauma, are poor but not negligible. To date, only small series of ET from European trauma centers have been published, although larger series are available from USA and South Africa. However, in selected patients, all efforts must be made for the patient's survival; the possibility of organ donation should be taken into consideration as well

Nanogap structures for molecular nanoelectronics

This study is focused on the realization of nanodevices for nano and molecular electronics, based on molecular interactions in a metal-molecule-metal (M-M-M) structure. In an M-M-M system, the electronic function is a property of the structure and can be characterized through I/V measurements. The contact between the metals and the molecule was obtained by gold nanogaps (with a dimension of less than 10 nm), produced with the electromigration technique. The nanogap fabrication was controlled by a custom hardware and the related software system. The studies were carried out through experiments and simulations of organic molecules, in particular oligothiophenes

Measurement of χ c1 and χ c2 production with s√ = 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

The prompt and non-prompt production cross-sections for the χ c1 and χ c2 charmonium states are measured in pp collisions at s√ = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using 4.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. The χ c states are reconstructed through the radiative decay χ c → J/ψγ (with J/ψ → μ + μ −) where photons are reconstructed from γ → e + e − conversions. The production rate of the χ c2 state relative to the χ c1 state is measured for prompt and non-prompt χ c as a function of J/ψ transverse momentum. The prompt χ c cross-sections are combined with existing measurements of prompt J/ψ production to derive the fraction of prompt J/ψ produced in feed-down from χ c decays. The fractions of χ c1 and χ c2 produced in b-hadron decays are also measured

&quot;Delirium Day&quot;: A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 ± 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Measurement of the inclusive jet cross-section in proton-proton collisions at √s=7 TeV using 4.5 fb−1 of data with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive jet cross-section is measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−1 collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. Jets are identified using the anti-kt algorithm with radius parameter values of 0.4 and 0.6. The double-differential cross-sections are presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum and the jet rapidity, covering jet transverse momenta from 100 GeV to 2 TeV. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative effects and electroweak effects, as well as Monte Carlo simulations with next-to-leading-order matrix elements interfaced to parton showering, are compared to the measured cross-sections. A quantitative comparison of the measured cross-sections to the QCD calculations using several sets of parton distribution functions is performed

WSES Jerusalem guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of acute appendicitis

Acute appendicitis (AA) is among the most common cause of acute abdominal pain. Diagnosis of AA is challenging; a variable combination of clinical signs and symptoms has been used together with laboratory findings in several scoring systems proposed for suggesting the probability of AA and the possible subsequent management pathway. The role of imaging in the diagnosis of AA is still debated, with variable use of US, CT and MRI in different settings worldwide. Up to date, comprehensive clinical guidelines for diagnosis and management of AA have never been issued. In July 2015, during the 3rd World Congress of the WSES, held in Jerusalem (Israel), a panel of experts including an Organizational Committee and Scientific Committee and Scientific Secretariat, participated to a Consensus Conference where eight panelists presented a number of statements developed for each of the eight main questions about diagnosis and management of AA. The statements were then voted, eventually modified and finally approved by the participants to The Consensus Conference and lately by the board of co-authors. The current paper is reporting the definitive Guidelines Statements on each of the following topics: 1) Diagnostic efficiency of clinical scoring systems, 2) Role of Imaging, 3) Non-operative treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis, 4) Timing of appendectomy and in-hospital delay, 5) Surgical treatment 6) Scoring systems for intra-operative grading of appendicitis and their clinical usefulness 7) Non-surgical treatment for complicated appendicitis: abscess or phlegmon 8) Pre-operative and post-operative antibiotics.Peer reviewe

In-solution and interface study on biological model membranes and their interaction with Prohibitin

Prohibitins (PHB) play a crucial role in premature cellular ageing, tumour suppression, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis, and their deregulation is involved in viral infections, neurological and cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Despite the essential role of this complex, little is known regarding its structure. PHB are highly conserved heterodimeric proteins composed of two subunits, PHB1 and PHB2, which are known to self-organize as a multimeric (16-20 individual proteins) ring at the inner mitochondrial membrane. Each PHB subunit has an N-terminal region that anchors the prohibitin complex to the membrane. This thesis aims to characterize the interaction between the N-terminal portion of PHB with the membrane and investigate a possible synergy between the two PHB homologues. Furthermore, this thesis aims to understand the role of cardiolipin in the interaction of PHB with the membrane. This is supported by several studies that report cardiolipin interacting with Prohibitin to maintain the asymmetric lipid distribution of the mitochondrial membrane. Using interface techniques such as Quartz-Crystal-Microbalance with dissipation monitoring, neutron, and X-ray reflectometry and bulk techniques on liposomes such as small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering, we investigated synthetic prohibitin peptides of the length of 20 (PHB1) and 24 (PHB2) amino acids in model membranes. Our results revealed that the N-terminal PHB peptides disrupt the membrane microstructure, demonstrating a degree of synergism, but did not show a strong membrane affinity. The presence of cardiolipin and/or phosphatidylethanolamine enhances the effect of the peptides on membranes and induces a modification of the membrane microstructure. We show that the effect of cardiolipin on the membrane is dependent on both cardiolipin content as well as the overall membrane composition. In addition, we conducted a lipidomic study on the thermophile fungus, C. thermophilum, to investigate the membrane composition in mitochondria versus total lipid extract, which may give clues as to the temperature resistance of thermophilic organisms. Our preliminary results are in line with published literature, however, phosphatidylserine was detected in total lipid extract only. In this thesis, we examined in detail the role of membrane composition with regard to membrane microstructure, vesicle morphology, peptide insertion and potential temperature resistance. These are important aspects with respect to organellespecific membrane composition and targeted protein interactions in membranes