Motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease: A unified framework

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by a range of motor symptoms. Besides the cardinal symptoms (akinesia and bradykinesia, tremor and rigidity), PD patients show additional motor deficits, including: gait disturbance, impaired handwriting, grip force and speech deficits, among others. Some of these motor symptoms (e.g., deficits of gait, speech, and handwriting) have similar clinical profiles, neural substrates, and respond similarly to dopaminergic medication and deep brain stimulation (DBS). Here, we provide an extensive review of the clinical characteristics and neural substrates of each of these motor symptoms, to highlight precisely how PD and its medical and surgical treatments impact motor symptoms. In conclusion, we offer a unified framework for understanding the range of motor symptoms in PD. We argue that various motor symptoms in PD reflect dysfunction of neural structures responsible for action selection, motor sequencing, and coordination and execution of movement

Fighting Corruption on the Transdnistrian Border: Lessons from Failed and Successful Anti-Corruption Programmes

In 2007, both Moldovan and Ukrainian authorities took firm steps to reduce corruption along the Transdnistrian border. This paper - aimed mainly at anti-corruption practitioners and scholars in public administration - discusses the background and underlying principles guiding the anti-corruption work being adopted by both governments in order to facilitate discussion about optimal anti-corruption programme design. This paper presents a set of tools used during the planning phase of the anti-corruption programme - outlining the methodology used to assess the extent of corruption on the Transdnistrian Border, the problems of legislative transplants, a "contract test" for defining corruption offenses, a method of risk analysis, and a model of optional anti-corruption programme organizational design

Qualidade de Vida: comparação entre diálise peritoneal automatizada e hemodiálise Calidad de vida: comparación entre diálisis peritoneal automatizada y hemodiálisis Quality of Life: comparison between patients on automated peritoneal dialysis and patients on hemodialysis

OBJETIVO: Avaliar a Qualidade de Vida relacionada à saúde em pacientes submetidos à Diálise Peritoneal Automatizada (DPA) e Hemodiálise em um centro de diálise satélite no Município de São Paulo. MÉTODOS: Este estudo observacional transversal, incluiu 101 pacientes com idade entre 18-75 anos, em terapia há mais de 90 dias e que compreenderam o questionário. RESULTADOS: O grupo em Hemodiálise (n=79) estava em terapia há mais tempo (p=0.001) e tinha albumina sérica maior (p<0.001) comparado ao grupo em DPA (n=22). Os escores do SF-36 foram semelhantes em várias dimensões, exceto pelo escore de Aspectos Físicos que foi maior nos pacientes em Hemodiálise (p=0.03). Não houveram interações significativas entre SF-36 e as demais variáveis que explicassem esta diferença. CONCLUSÃO: A Qualidade de Vida foi semelhante entre as modalidades, porém o escore de Aspectos Físicos foi menor para pacientes em Diálise Peritoneal Automatizada.<br>OBJETIVO: Evaluar la Calidad de Vida relacionada a la salud de pacientes sometidos a Diálisis Peritoneal Automatizada (DPA) y Hemodiálisis en un centro de diálisis del Municipio de Sao Paulo. MÉTODOS: Este estudio observacional transversal, incluyó a 101 pacientes con edades comprendidas entre los 18 y 75 años, que se encontraban en terapia hace más de 90 días y que comprendieran el cuestionario. RESULTADOS: El grupo en Hemodiálisis (n=79) estaba en terapia hace más de un tiempo (p=0.001) y tenía albúmina sérica mayor (p<0.001) comparado al grupo en DPA (n=22). Los escores del SF-36 fueron semejantes en varias dimensiones, excepto para el escore de Aspectos Físicos que fue mayor en los pacientes en Hemodiálisis (p=0.03). No hubo interacciones significativas entre SF-36 y las demás variables que explicaran esta diferencia. CONCLUSIÓN: La calidad de Vida fue semejante entre las modalidades, no obstante el escore de Aspectos Físicos fue menor para pacientes en Diálisis Peritoneal Automatizada.<br>OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health-related quality of life in patients from a satellite dialysis center in São Paulo city undergoing Automated Peritoneal Dialysis (APD) or Hemodialysis. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study included 101 patients with ages ranging from 18 to 75 years-old, who were in dialysis treatment over 90 days and able to understand the items of the SF-36 questionnaire in Portuguese. RESULTS: The Hemodialysis group (n=79) had been in dialysis treatment longer (p=0.001) and had higher serum albumin level (p<0.001) than the APD group (n=22). The SF-36 scores of the two groups were similar in all dimensions, except for the physical functioning dimension, on which the hemodialysis group had higher scores than the APD group (p=0.03). There were no statistically significant interactions between the SF-36 score and the other variables of the study. CONCLUSION: There were no differences in quality of life between patients on APD and patients on hemodialysis, except for the physical functioning dimension