78 research outputs found
Classroom Management
Throughout centuries, classroom management has been an issue in all classrooms. The first few minutes, days and weeks are in fact, crucial in setting the tone for an effective classroom. This historical fact is out in practical experience and grounded into scientific evidence. There are many strategies to choose from when thinking about how to manage your own classroom. Some may work for you, and some may not. It is crucial as a teacher to find what is best for you and your students
[Integrated Procurement Model: A new approach to Tissue and Organ Procurement]
Introduction: Literature has shown that the process of procurement of organs and tissues is fundamental in determining the number of donations. Starting from these assumptions, an integrated procurement model of organs and tissues has been designed and tested, where nurse specialists in organ donation coordinate the team and the entire process. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Integrated Procurement Models in terms of identifying potential donors and the number of donations. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted before and after the introduction of the new procurement model in a large University Hospital in Rome. The data of potential donors identified, the number of donations made and the efficiency indicators of the donation process were compared. Results: 692 potential donors were identified. The introduction of the integrated model increased the number of actual donors (from 31 to 51), brain death assessments (from 69 to 99), and the efficiency indicators of the donation process (from 0.25 to 0.29). From the comparison between the activities before and after the introduction of the integrated procurement model, statistically significant differences emerged regarding the number of donors and the amount of corneal tissue extracted. Conclusions: The adoption of the standardized Integrated Procurement Model would increase the number of potential donors and actual donations, thanks also to the key role assumed by the nurse specializing in organ donation as team and process coordinator
Patterns of grey matter loss associated with motor subscores in early Parkinson's disease
Classical motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) such as tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial symptoms are graded in the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) III. It is yet to be ascertained whether parkinsonian motor symptoms are associated with different anatomical patterns of neurodegeneration as reflected by brain grey matter (GM) alteration. This study aimed to investigate associations between motor subscores and brain GM at voxel level. High resolution structural MRI T1 scans from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) repository were employed to estimate brain GM intensity of PD subjects. Correlations between GM intensity and total MDS-UPDRS III and its four subscores were computed. The total MDS-UPDRS III score was significantly negatively correlated bilaterally with putamen and caudate GM density. Lower anterior striatal GM intensity was significantly associated with higher rigidity subscores, whereas left-sided anterior striatal and precentral cortical GM reduction were correlated with severity of axial symptoms. No significant morphometric associations were demonstrated for tremor subscores. In conclusion, we provide evidence for neuroanatomical patterns underpinning motor symptoms in early PD
Collaborative patch-based super-resolution for diffusion-weighted images
In this paper, a new single image acquisition super-resolution method is proposed to increase image resolution of
diffusion weighted (DW) images. Based on a nonlocal patch-based strategy, the proposed method uses a
non-diffusion image (b0) to constrain the reconstruction of DW images. An extensive validation is presented
with a
gold standard
built on averaging 10 high-resolution DW acquis
itions. A comparison with classical interpo-
lation methods such as trilinear and B-spline demonstrates the competitive results of our proposed approach in
termsofimprovementsonimagereconstruction,fractiona
lanisotropy(FA)estimation,generalizedFAandangular
reconstruction for tensor and high angular resolut
ion diffusion imaging (HARDI) models. Besides,
fi
rst results of
reconstructed ultra high resolution DW
images are presented at 0.6 Ă— 0.6 Ă— 0.6 mm
3
and0.4Ă—0.4Ă—0.4mm
3
using our
gold standard
based on the average of 10 acquisitions, and on a single acquisition. Finally,
fi
ber tracking
results show the potential of the proposed super-resolution approach to accurately analyze white matter brain architecture.We thank the reviewers for their useful comments that helped improve the paper. We also want to thank the Pr Louis Collins for proofreading this paper and his fruitful comments. Finally, we want to thank Martine Bordessoules for her help during image acquisition of DWI used to build the phantom. This work has been supported by the French grant "HR-DTI" ANR-10-LABX-57 funded by the TRAIL from the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche within the context of the Investments for the Future program. This work has been also partially supported by the French National Agency for Research (Project MultImAD; ANR-09-MNPS-015-01) and by the Spanish grant TIN2011-26727 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion. This work benefited from the use of FSL (http://fsl.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/fsl/fslwiki/), FiberNavigator (code.google.com/p/fibernavigator/), MRtrix software (http://www. brain.org.au/software/mrtrix/) and ITKsnap (www.itk.org).Coupé, P.; Manjón Herrera, JV.; Chamberland, M.; Descoteaux, M.; Hiba, B. (2013). Collaborative patch-based super-resolution for diffusion-weighted images. NeuroImage. 83:245-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.06.030S2452618
Deep Brain Stimulation and L-DOPA Therapy: Concepts of Action and Clinical Applications in Parkinson's Disease
L-DOPA is still the most effective pharmacological therapy for the treatment of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) almost four decades after it was first used. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a safe and highly effective treatment option in patients with PD. Even though a clear understanding of the mechanisms of both treatment methods is yet to be obtained, the combination of both treatments is the most effective standard evidenced-based therapy to date. Recent studies have demonstrated that DBS is a therapy option even in the early course of the disease, when first complications arise despite a rigorous adjustment of the pharmacological treatment. The unique feature of this therapeutic approach is the ability to preferentially modulate specific brain networks through the choice of stimulation site. The clinical effects have been unequivocally confirmed in recent studies; however, the impact of DBS and the supplementary effect of L-DOPA on the neuronal network are not yet fully understood. In this review, we present emerging data on the presumable mechanisms of DBS in patients with PD and discuss the pathophysiological similarities and differences in the effects of DBS in comparison to dopaminergic medication. Targeted, selective modulation of brain networks by DBS and pharmacodynamic effects of L-DOPA therapy on the central nervous system are presented. Moreover, we outline the perioperative algorithms for PD patients before and directly after the implantation of DBS electrodes and strategies for the reduction of side effects and optimization of motor and non-motor symptoms
La ricerca dei comportamenti non aderenti nei soggetti sottoposti a trapianto di organi solido
La ricerca dei comportamenti non aderenti nei soggetti sottoposti a trapianto di organi solido
La ricerca dei comportamenti non aderenti nei soggetti sottoposti a trapianto di organi solido
Researching a differential impairment of frontal functions and explicit memory in early Parkinson's disease
An impairment at tasks sensitive to frontal lobe damage has been repeatedly reported in Parkinson's disease, but the exact nature of these deficits has not yet been clarified. Similarly, deficits of visuo-spatial functions have been frequently observed, but it is still debated whether verbal and visuo-spatial memory can be differentially affected. In this study we have compared the performance of 20 mild Parkinson's disease patients (I-II Hoehn and Yahr stage) and 18 matched normal controls, at tasks assessing frontal functions and explicit memory. We detected a selective deficit in set shifting and maintaining, without impairment in categorization and set formation. The lack of a selective increase in perseverative errors might indicate that perseverations either measure something different from set shifting or that they do not represent an index sensitive enough to set shifting impairment. Parkinson's disease patients were also significantly impaired at Raven's Progressive Matrices, a task assessing both frontal and visuo-spatial aspects. However, they did not show any differential impairment of visuo-spatial memory. Indeed, despite a trend of lower performance in visuo-spatial learning, memory performance of Parkinson's disease patients was significantly different from that of controls only at a free recall test which involved both verbal and visuo-spatial memory. We suggest the exploration of set shifting and maintaining to detect 'frontal' deficits in mild Parkinson's disease. We argue that Raven's Progressive Matrices is a valuable task for detecting subclinical cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease, even if it does not show a specific profile of impairment in these patients. According to our results, a differential evaluation of verbal vs. visuo-spatial memory is not necessary in clinical practice, whilst free recall confirms its usefulness to detect subclinical impairments of memory functions
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