380 research outputs found
Chronic neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury patients: What relevant additional clinical exams should be performed?
AbstractObjectiveStudy the indications and level of evidence of clinical exams that might be relevant in exploring the causes of neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury patients.MethodLiterature review from three databases: PubMed, Embase, Pascal.ResultsDisparity and heterogeneity of the answers given by the attendees to the experts conference of the French Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (SOFMER) and the physicians surveyed via the SOFMER website. These results corroborate the shortage of available data on this topic in the literature. From this analysis, we can however validate spinal MRI imaging as a mandatory exam for the diagnosis of post-traumatic syringomyelia (cystic myelopathy) â this exam can even be considered a Gold Standard. Furthermore, we can also recommend using electrodiagnostic studies for compressive neuropathies. However, it is not possible to validate the relevance of additional clinical exams for radicular pain, segmental deafferentation pain, central deafferentation pain as well as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) type 1; for these types of pain we can only formulate experts recommendations in light of the dearth of available data on the subject.ConclusionFor the neuropathic pain of spinal cord injury patientsâ additional clinical exams should be used in the framework of an etiological diagnosis
Quality and Safety Aspects of Infant Nutrition
Quality and safety aspects of infant nutrition are of key importance for child health, but oftentimes they do not get much attention by health care professionals whose interest tends to focus on functional benefits of early nutrition. Unbalanced diets and harmful food components induce particularly high risks for untoward effects in infants because of their rapid growth, high nutrient needs, and their typical dependence on only one or few foods during the first months of life. The concepts, standards and practices that relate to infant food quality and safety were discussed at a scientific workshop organized by the Child Health Foundation and the Early Nutrition Academy jointly with the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and a summary is provided here. The participants reviewed past and current issues on quality and safety, the role of different stakeholders, and recommendations to avert future issues. It was concluded that a high level of quality and safety is currently achieved, but this is no reason for complacency. The food industry carries the primary responsibility for the safety and suitability of their products, including the quality of composition, raw materials and production processes. Introduction of new or modified products should be preceded by a thorough science based review of suitability and safety by an independent authority. Food safety events should be managed on an international basis. Global collaboration of food producers, food-safety authorities, paediatricians and scientists is needed to efficiently exchange information and to best protect public health. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base
I-HAZE: a dehazing benchmark with real hazy and haze-free indoor images
Image dehazing has become an important computational imaging topic in the
recent years. However, due to the lack of ground truth images, the comparison
of dehazing methods is not straightforward, nor objective. To overcome this
issue we introduce a new dataset -named I-HAZE- that contains 35 image pairs of
hazy and corresponding haze-free (ground-truth) indoor images. Different from
most of the existing dehazing databases, hazy images have been generated using
real haze produced by a professional haze machine. For easy color calibration
and improved assessment of dehazing algorithms, each scene include a MacBeth
color checker. Moreover, since the images are captured in a controlled
environment, both haze-free and hazy images are captured under the same
illumination conditions. This represents an important advantage of the I-HAZE
dataset that allows us to objectively compare the existing image dehazing
techniques using traditional image quality metrics such as PSNR and SSIM
Preparation, characterization and manipulation of conjugates between gold nanoparticles and DNA
Here we described the preparation and characterization by atomic force microscopy of dumbbell-shaped conjugates between 450 bp double-stranded DNA polymer, poly(dG)-poly(dC), and 5 nm gold nanoparticles (GNPs). We have demonstrated that the size of the nanoparticles in the conjugates can be increased in a controlled fashion. Application of the conjugates for measuring the electrical conductivity of DNA is discussed
Liposomes loaded with everolimus and coated with hyaluronic acid: A promising approach for lung fibrosis
Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) and interstitial lung disease associated with collagen tissue diseases (CTD-ILD) are two end-stage lung disorders in which different chronic triggers induce activation of myo-/fibroblasts (LFs). Everolimus, an mTOR inhibitor, can be adopted as a potential strategy for CLAD and CTD-ILD, however it exerts important side effects. This study aims to exploit nanomedicine to reduce everolimus side effects encapsulating it inside liposomes targeted against LFs, expressing a high rate of CD44. PEGylated liposomes were modified with high molecular weight hyaluronic acid and loaded with everolimus (PEG-LIP(ev)-HA400kDa). Liposomes were tested by in vitro experiments using LFs derived from broncholveolar lavage (BAL) of patients affected by CLAD and CTD-ILD, and on alveolar macrophages (AM) and lymphocytes isolated, respectively, from BAL and peripheral blood. PEG-LIP-HA400kDa demonstrated to be specific for LFs, but not for CD44-negative cells, and after loading everolimus, PEG-LIP(ev)-HA400kDa were able to arrest cell cycle arrest and to decrease phospho-mTOR level. PEG-LIP(ev)-HA400kDa showed anti-inflammatory effect on immune cells. This study opens the possibility to use everolimus in lung fibrotic diseases, demonstrating that our lipids-based vehicles can vehicle everolimus inside cells exerting the same drug molecular effect, not only in LFs, but also in immune cells
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