Telerehabilitation proposal of mind-body technique for physical and psychological outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome is characterized by the close correlation of chronic widespread pain and other non-pain related symptoms. Aim of this study was to investigate whether telerehabilitation that provides physical and psychological support services of the mind-body techniques can affect the clinical profile and pain relief of FM patients. The study included twenty-eight female FM patients, mean aged 56.61 +/- 8.56 years. All patients underwent a rehabilitation treatment (8 sessions, 1/week, 1 h/each) through Zoom platform, with the following principles of rehabilitation treatment: Anchoring to a positive emotion; listen and perceive your own body; conscious breathing; improve interoceptive awareness; relax. All patients then underwent clinical assessment of the physical distress and fear of movement for the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS); the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS); the Fear Avoidance Belief Questionnaire (FABQ); with measures of physical and mental disability for the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ); the 12-Items Short Form Survey; the Resilience Scale for Adults and the Coping Strategies Questionnaire-Revised. The evaluations were performed at T0 (baseline), T1 (after 8 weeks of treatment), and T2 (after 1 month of follow-up). The main finding was that telerehabilitation reduced physical and mental distress, fear, and disability (p < 0.001). Resilience and coping ability were less affected by the rehabilitative treatment. Our attempt of mind-body technique telerehabilitation has shown good results in the improvement of painful symptoms and quality of life for the FM patients but showed fewer positive impacts for the resilience and coping abilities aspects

Sarcopenic Dysphagia, Malnutrition, and Oral Frailty in Elderly: A Comprehensive Review.

Frailty is a highly prevalent condition in the elderly that has been increasingly considered as a crucial public health issue, due to the strict correlation with a higher risk of fragility fractures, hospitalization, and mortality. Among the age-related diseases, sarcopenia and dysphagia are two common pathological conditions in frail older people and could coexist leading to dehydration and malnutrition in these subjects. "Sarcopenic dysphagia" is a complex condition characterized by deglutition impairment due to the loss of mass and strength of swallowing muscles and might be also related to poor oral health status. Moreover, the aging process is strictly related to poor oral health status due to direct impairment of the immune system and wound healing and physical and cognitive impairment might indirectly influence older people's ability to carry out adequate oral hygiene. Therefore, poor oral health might affect nutrient intake, leading to malnutrition and, consequently, to frailty. In this scenario, sarcopenia, dysphagia, and oral health are closely linked sharing common pathophysiological pathways, disabling sequelae, and frailty. Thus, the aim of the present comprehensive review is to describe the correlation among sarcopenic dysphagia, malnutrition, and oral frailty, characterizing their phenotypically overlapping features, to propose a comprehensive and effective management of elderly frail subjects

New generation offline software for the LHCb upgrade I

In preparation for Run 3 of the LHC, the LHCb experiment extensively upgrades its detector to meet the quest for higher luminosity and physics yield. The corresponding increase in the data volume and the use of fast simulation pose a challenge to the data storage resource strategy and computing model. The newly built Data Processing & Analysis Tools (DPA) project aims at coordinating the efforts in the development of the experiment software offline tools to ensure efficient and full exploitation of the LHCb physics potential. This work presents an overview of the main aspects of the new generation software developed within the DPA: the offline data processing strategy; the mechanisms for user data-structures production; the offline user analysis tools

Temporomandibular Disorders: Current and Future Concepts in Diagnosis and Management

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are musculoskeletal and/or neuromuscular conditions relating to muscles, joints, and the associated structures of the stomatognathic system [...

NEW GENERATION OFFLINE SOFTWARE FOR THE LHCb UPGRADE I

The LHCb detector is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade for data taking in the LHC's Run 3, which is scheduled to begin in 2022. The increased data rate in Run 3 poses significant data-processing and handling challenges for the LHCb experiment. The offline computing and dataflow model is consequently also being upgraded to cope with the factor 30 increase in data volume and associated demands of user-data samples of ever-increasing size. Coordinating these efforts is the charge of the newly created Data Processing and Analysis (DPA) project. The DPA project is responsible for ensuring the LHCb experiment can efficiently exploit the Run 3 data, dealing with the data from the online system with central skimming/slimming (a process known as "Sprucing") and subsequently producing analyst-level ntuples with a centrally managed production system (known as "Analysis Productions") utilising improved analysis tools and infrastructure for continuous integration and validation.It is a multi-disciplinary project involving collaboration between computing experts, trigger experts and physics analysis experts. This talk will present the evolution of the data processing model, followed by a review of the various activities of the DPA project. The associated computing, storage and network requirements are also discussed

NEW GENERATION OFFLINE SOFTWARE FOR THE LHCb UPGRADE I

The LHCb detector is undergoing a comprehensive upgrade for data taking in the LHC's Run 3, which is scheduled to begin in 2022. The increased data rate in Run 3 poses significant data-processing and handling challenges for the LHCb experiment. The offline computing and dataflow model is consequently also being upgraded to cope with the factor 30 increase in data volume and associated demands of user-data samples of ever-increasing size. Coordinating these efforts is the charge of the newly created Data Processing and Analysis (DPA) project. The DPA project is responsible for ensuring the LHCb experiment can efficiently exploit the Run 3 data, dealing with the data from the online system with central skimming/slimming (a process known as "Sprucing") and subsequently producing analyst-level ntuples with a centrally managed production system (known as "Analysis Productions") utilising improved analysis tools and infrastructure for continuous integration and validation.It is a multi-disciplinary project involving collaboration between computing experts, trigger experts and physics analysis experts. This talk will present the evolution of the data processing model, followed by a review of the various activities of the DPA project. The associated computing, storage and network requirements are also discussed

Oral–Gut Microbiota, Periodontal Diseases, and Arthritis: Literature Overview on the Role of Probiotics

Periodontal diseases are oral inflammatory diseases affecting the tissues supporting and surrounding the teeth and include gingivitis and periodontitis. Oral pathogens may lead to microbial products spreading into the systemic circulation and reaching distant organs, while periodontal diseases have been related to low-grade systemic inflammation. Gut and oral microbiota alterations might play a role in the pathogenesis of several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases including arthritis, considering the role of the gut–joint axis in the regulation of molecular pathways involved in the pathogenesis of these conditions. In this scenario, it is hypothesized that probiotics might contribute to the oral and intestinal micro-ecological balance and could reduce low-grade inflammation typical of periodontal diseases and arthritis. This literature overview aims to summarize state-of-the-art ideas about linkages among oral–gut microbiota, periodontal diseases, and arthritis, while investigating the role of probiotics as a potential therapeutic intervention for the management of both oral diseases and musculoskeletal disorders

Reliability of cervical vertebral maturation compared to hand-wrist for skeletal maturation assessment in growing subjects: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND Radiographic methods to assess skeletal maturity (SM) have a key role in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) management, allowing to predict risk of spinal curve progression. Cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) has been recently introduced as an alternative tool to assess skeletal maturity; however, its clinical role is still debated. OBJECTIVE This systematic review aimed to investigate the reliability of CVM in the SM assessment of growing subjects, comparing it to hand wrist maturation (HVM). METHODS PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were systematically searched from inception until 31st December 2020 to identify observational studies presenting: growing subjects as participants; CVM methods as intervention; HVM methods as comparator; reliability for SM assessment as outcome. A 10-item quality tool has been used to assess study quality. RESULTS Out of 205 papers, 12 papers were included in the data synthesis. We classified 10 studies (83.3%) as medium-quality studies and 2 studies (16.7%) as high-quality studies. Eight studies reported a significant correlation between CVM Baccetti and different HWM methods. CONCLUSION Taken together, these findings suggested that CVM might be considered as reliable SM assessment method compared to HWM in growing subjects. However, further studies are warranted to confirm these findings

Reliability of cervical vertebral maturation compared to hand-wrist for skeletal maturation assessment in growing subjects: A systematic review

Radiographic methods to assess skeletal maturity (SM) have a key role in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) management, allowing to predict risk of spinal curve progression. Cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) has been recently introduced as an alternative tool to assess skeletal maturity; however, its clinical role is still debated