Single-incision laparoscopic adnexectomy in an obese patient with previous laparotomies

No case of single-incision laparoscopic surgery in obese patients who had previously undergone multiple midline vertical laparotomies has been described in the literature to date. Hence we report the first case of single-port laparoscopic salpingo-oophorectomy in an obese patient who was affected by a left adnexal mass and who had previously undergone 3 midline vertical laparotomies

Neural representations underlying mental imagery as unveiled by representation similarity analysis

It is commonly acknowledged that visual imagery and perception rely on the same content-dependent brain areas in the high-level visual cortex (HVC). However, the way in which our brain processes and organizes previous acquired knowledge to allow the generation of mental images is still a matter of debate. Here, we performed a representation similarity analysis of three previous fMRI experiments conducted in our laboratory to characterize the neural representation underlying imagery and perception of objects, buildings and faces and to disclose possible dissimilarities in the neural structure of such representations. To this aim, we built representational dissimilarity matrices (RDMs) by computing multivariate distances between the activity patterns associated with each pair of stimuli in the content-dependent areas of the HVC and HC. We found that spatial information is widely coded in the HVC during perception (i.e. RSC, PPA and OPA) and imagery (OPA and PPA). Also, visual information seems to be coded in both preferred and non-preferred regions of the HVC, supporting a distributed view of encoding. Overall, the present results shed light upon the spatial coding of imagined and perceived exemplars in the HVC

One's own country and familiar places in the mind's eye:different topological representations for navigational and non-navigational contents

Visual mental imagery is a process that draws on different cognitive abilities and is affected by the contents of mental images. Several studies have demonstrated that different brain areas subtend the mental imagery of navigational and non-navigational contents. Here, we set out to determine whether there are distinct representations for navigational and geographical images. Specifically, we used a Spatial Compatibility Task (SCT) to assess the mental representation of a familiar navigational space (the campus), a familiar geographical space (the map of Italy) and familiar objects (the clock). Twenty-one participants judged whether the vertical or the horizontal arrangement of items was correct. We found that distinct representational strategies were preferred to solve different categories on the SCT, namely, the horizontal perspective for the campus and the vertical perspective for the clock and the map of Italy. Furthermore, we found significant effects due to individual differences in the vividness of mental images and in preferences for verbal versus visual strategies, which selectively affect the contents of mental images. Our results suggest that imagining a familiar navigational space is somewhat different from imagining a familiar geographical space

Canine degenerative joint disease: some aspect of this medical treatment. Are chondroprotectives an effective alternative?

La enfermedad articular degenerativa (EAD) de los caninos es una artropatía que reconoce diversas etiologías y afecta animales de todas la edades. La EAD de origen secundario, desarrollada a partir de displasia (coxo-femoral, húmero-radio-cubital), inestabilidad articular por ruptura ligamentosa y aquellas seniles, son las formas clínicas que prevalecen ampliamente en los caninos. Manifestada la enfermedad, el tratamiento médico se orienta fundamentalmente a mitigar el dolor, mejorar la amplitud de los movimientos articulares y retrasar la aparición de las lesiones degenerativas producidas durante la progresión de la artropatía, en procura de una mejor calidad de vida. Los analgésicos y anti inflamatorios esteroides y no esteroides son las drogas que tradicionalmente han constituido, junto con dieta y medidas fisioterápicas, el principal arsenal terapéutico disponible para actuar contra la EAD. En los últimos años se ha difundido la utilización de drogas que permitirían detener el curso y en algunos casos revertir las lesiones propias de la enfermedad. Agrupados bajo la denominaci ón general de "condroprotectores", su mecanismo de acción y efectividad son controversiales. Las características de la EAD y la falta de un modelo experimental que reproduzca fielmente a la enfermedad, hace difícil la tarea para determinar el valor terapéutico de estos agentes.Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) in canines is a multifactorial condition affecting dogs in all age groups. Secondary DJD as a result of elbow dysplasia, joint instability, rupture of ligaments are of frequent occurrence. Once the disease has been diagnosed, treatment is mainly directed to alleviate pain and discomfort, improve joint movement and delay its evolution. Analgesics, steroids and nonsteroids anti-inflammatories are the drugs of choice, together with diet and physiotherapy. Lately, chondroprotective agents have been reported as been able to stop and, in some cases reverse the articular lesions. The ways they act and their efficacy remain controversial. The characteristics of DJD and the lack of an experimental model to accurately reproduce it render the determination of their therapeutic value very difficult.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Canine degenerative joint disease: some aspect of this medical treatment. Are chondroprotectives an effective alternative?

La enfermedad articular degenerativa (EAD) de los caninos es una artropatía que reconoce diversas etiologías y afecta animales de todas la edades. La EAD de origen secundario, desarrollada a partir de displasia (coxo-femoral, húmero-radio-cubital), inestabilidad articular por ruptura ligamentosa y aquellas seniles, son las formas clínicas que prevalecen ampliamente en los caninos. Manifestada la enfermedad, el tratamiento médico se orienta fundamentalmente a mitigar el dolor, mejorar la amplitud de los movimientos articulares y retrasar la aparición de las lesiones degenerativas producidas durante la progresión de la artropatía, en procura de una mejor calidad de vida. Los analgésicos y anti inflamatorios esteroides y no esteroides son las drogas que tradicionalmente han constituido, junto con dieta y medidas fisioterápicas, el principal arsenal terapéutico disponible para actuar contra la EAD. En los últimos años se ha difundido la utilización de drogas que permitirían detener el curso y en algunos casos revertir las lesiones propias de la enfermedad. Agrupados bajo la denominaci ón general de "condroprotectores", su mecanismo de acción y efectividad son controversiales. Las características de la EAD y la falta de un modelo experimental que reproduzca fielmente a la enfermedad, hace difícil la tarea para determinar el valor terapéutico de estos agentes.Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD) in canines is a multifactorial condition affecting dogs in all age groups. Secondary DJD as a result of elbow dysplasia, joint instability, rupture of ligaments are of frequent occurrence. Once the disease has been diagnosed, treatment is mainly directed to alleviate pain and discomfort, improve joint movement and delay its evolution. Analgesics, steroids and nonsteroids anti-inflammatories are the drugs of choice, together with diet and physiotherapy. Lately, chondroprotective agents have been reported as been able to stop and, in some cases reverse the articular lesions. The ways they act and their efficacy remain controversial. The characteristics of DJD and the lack of an experimental model to accurately reproduce it render the determination of their therapeutic value very difficult.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

The beginning of senior career in team sport is affected by relative age effect

Many previous studies in national team sports did not report evidence about relative age effect (RAE) in senior categories. This study aimed for the first time to determine if the RAE may specifically affect the early, but not the late, phase of senior career in elite team sports. A total of 3,319 birthdates (basketball: n = 642; rugby: n = 572; soccer: n = 1318; volleyball: n = 337; water polo: n = 450) of elite senior players were analyzed. Senior players with an age lower or equal to the 25 percentile of age were considered as early phase players while the others as late phase players. Separate Poisson regression models were applied to investigate the RAE in each sport (overall, and for early phase and late phase subgroups). Considering the overall sample, players born close to the beginning of the year were 1.57, 1.34, 2.69, 1.48, and 1.45 times more likely to reach first and second Italian division of basketball, rugby, soccer, volleyball, and water polo respectively, than those born in the last part of the year. RAE was present in all early phase subgroups. Differently, in the late phase subgroups the RAE was present only in soccer. Data highlighted a bias in the selection of senior teams, which may limit the chance to identify talented players born late in the second part of the year. Italian sport federations should promote the talent development of relatively younger players by equally promoting the joining of young players to senior teams