Caracterizacion del perfil clinico-epidemiologicos de los pacientes con diagnostico de Epilepsia registrados en la consulta externa del Hospital Infantil Manuel de Jesus Rivera en el periodo 1° de Enero 2013-31 de Diciembre 2014

La epilepsia es un trastorno neurológico crónico que afecta a personas de todas las edades, aún en nuestros días sigue siendo una enfermedad poco entendida aunque no por eso sea infrecuente como motivo de consulta, por lo que siempre ha sido necesario remarcarla como una de las prioridades a conocer. En Nicaragua existen pocos estudios relacionados con este tema, que describa el comportamiento clínico epidemiológico por lo que se desarrolló el presente estudio Descriptivo, retrospectivo, de corte transversal. El universo estuvo conformado por 1,366 niños y niñas con diagnóstico de epilepsia registrados en la consulta externa en el Hospital infantil Manuel de Jesús en el periodo Enero-Diciembre 2014-2015, obteniendo una muestra probabilística, para un total de 193 casos. El presente estudio reporta que la edad más frecuente fue el grupo de 1- 5 años, al igual que el sexo masculino, con residencia principalmente en el departamento de Managua, y presentando su primera crisis entre 1- 5 años de vida, en su mayoría sin ningún trastorno asociado. En general no se registraron antecedentes patológicos personales, y en el grupo que presentó, la asfixia perinatal fue el principal. Los antecedentes de epilepsia en la familia fueron negados. Las Epilepsias parciales fueron las más frecuentes, y dentro la subclasificación de ellas las complejas predominaron. El incumplimiento del tratamiento es el más relacionado a las crisis de Epilepsia. El cuanto al abordaje diagnóstico, el EEG es el principal medio diagnostico utilizado. En lo que respecta al manejo terapéutico, en la mayoría de los pacientes se utiliza la monoterapia, siendo el ácido valproico el principal fármaco. Se recomienda mejorar la descripción en los expedientes clínicos de las crisis de Epilepsia según la clasificación actual de la ILAE, crear conciencia de la necesidad de un manejo integral de las personas con epilepsia y desarrollar más estudios que nos permitan conocer mejor la evolución clínica de estos paciente

Why reintroducing military conscription in Europe would be counterproductive

The reintroduction of military conscription has frequently been proposed as a way to instil national values in younger citizens. These arguments have gained added significance in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Drawing on new research, Vincenzo Bove, Riccardo Di Leo and Marco Giani argue that many of the proposed benefits of conscription are difficult to identify empirically. Indeed, far from fostering cohesion among citizens, conscription appears to be linked to a decline in institutional trust

School Infrastructure Spending and Educational Outcomes in Northern Italy

We explore whether investment in public school infrastructure affects students' achievement. We use data on extra funding to public high schools after the 2012 Northern Italy earthquake and apply a quasi-experimental design and an instrumental variable strategy. We find that spending on school infrastructure increases standardized test scores in mathematics and Italian language, and the effect is stronger for lower-achieving students and in mathematics. These results provide evidence in favor of a positive impact of capital spending in improving the learning environment and performances of high school students

Generalized scaling-up approach based on Buckingham theorem for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells impedance simulation

Abstract The present paper describes a generalized scaling-up methodology applied to Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells. The use of proper scaling-up algorithms can reduce testing costs within fuel cell manufacturing process by evaluating full stack performance (i.e., impedance behavior) from a single cell/short stack measurement. The algorithm here described relies on a former approach developed by the authors and consists in a generalized methodology combining information measured on single cell and simple physical models (e.g., charge transfer resistance expressed through Tafel equation). A robust technique for the identification of cell reference operational state, such as membrane hydration, from non-scaled data is also introduced. Connection between charge transfer resistance and limiting current is established through diffusion losses modelling. Single cell internal states are estimated by means of inverse models function of numerical intercepts of measured cell spectrum. Stack impedance estimation is then performed through stack internal states assumptions. To prove the consistency and robustness of the proposed methodology, literature data used to design and test the former algorithm version are here considered for algorithm testing and verification

Bimanual coupling effect during a proprioceptive stimulation

Circle-line drawing paradigm is used to study bimanual coupling. In the standard paradigm, subjects are asked to draw circles with one hand and lines with the other hand; the influence of the concomitant tasks results in two "elliptical" figures. Here we tested whether proprioceptive information evoked by muscle vibration inducing a proprioceptive illusion (PI) of movement at central level, was able to affect the contralateral hand drawing circles or lines. A multisite 80 Hz-muscle vibration paradigm was used to induce the illusion of circle- and line-drawing on the right hand of 15 healthy participants. During muscle vibration, subjects had to draw a congruent or an incongruent figure with the left hand. The ovalization induced by PI was compared with Real and Motor Imagery conditions, which already have proved to induce bimanual coupling. We showed that the ovalization of a perceived circle over a line drawing during PI was comparable to that observed in Real and Motor Imagery condition. This finding indicates that PI can induce bimanual coupling, and proprioceptive information can influence the motor programs of the contralateral hand

Wearing a Mask Shapes Interpersonal Space during COVID-19 Pandemic

Social distancing norms have been promoted after the COVID-19 pandemic. In this work, we tested interpersonal space (IPS) in 107 subjects through a reaching-comfort distance estimation task. In the main experiment, subjects had to estimate the comfort and reach space between an avatar wearing or not wearing a face mask. We found that IPS was greater between avatars not wearing a mask with respect to stimuli with the mask on, while reaching space was not modulated. IPS increment in the NoMask condition with respect to the Mask condition correlated with anxiety traits, as shown with the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, rather than with transient aspects related to the pandemic situation. In the control experiment, the avatars with a mask were removed to further explore the conditioning effect provided by the presence of the facial protection in the main experiment. We found a significant difference comparing this condition with the same condition of the main experiment, namely, the distances kept between avatars not wearing a mask in the main experiment were greater than those between the same stimuli in the control experiment. This showed a contextual adaptation of IPS when elements related to the actual pandemic situation were relevant. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the control experiment and the Mask condition of the main experiment, suggesting that participants had internalized social distancing norms and wearing a mask has become the new normal. Our results highlight the tendency of people in underestimating the risk of contagion when in the presence of someone wearing a mask

Spontaneous movement tempo can be influenced by combining action observation and somatosensory stimulation

Spontaneous movement tempo (SMT) was a popular field of study of the Gestalt psychologists It can be determined from subjects freely tapping out a rhythm with their finger, and it has been found to average about 2 Hz. A previous study showed that SMT changed after the observation of rhythmical movements performed at frequency different from the SMT. This effect was long-lasting only when movement execution immediately followed action observation (AO). We recently demonstrated that only when AO was combined with peripheral nerve stimulation (AO-PNS) was it possible to induce plastic changes in the excitability of the motor cortex, whereas AO and PNS alone did not evoke any changes. Here we investigated whether the observation of rhythmical actions at a frequency higher than the SMT combined with PNS induced lasting changes in SMT even in absence of immediate movement execution. Forty-eight participants were assigned to four groups. In AO-PNS group they observed a video showing a right hand performing a finger opposition movement sequence at 3 Hz and contemporarily received an electrical stimulation at the median nerve; in AO group and PNS group participants either observed the same video or received the same electrical stimulation of the AO-PNS group, respectively; in LANDSCAPE group subjects observed a neutral video. Participants performed a finger opposition movement sequence at spontaneous movement rate before and 30 min after the conditioning protocols. Results showed that SMT significantly changed only after AO-PNS. This result suggested that the AO-PNS protocol was able to induce lasting changes in SMT due to neuroplasticity mechanisms, indicating possible application of AO-PNS in rehabilitative treatments