La Pianificazione Comunale per il rischio incendi di interfaccia

Municipality planning for urban/forest interface fires risk Brush fires constantly torment Italy, especially during summer times. In this context the italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC) aims to coordinate the various entities implied on the field in order to safeguard and protect citizens and private-public real estates from this kind of dangers. To do that the DPC leans on new technologies like GIS and on a wide organizational structure that also comprises the municipalities

Is There a New Road to Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation? A Case Report about the Effects of Driving a Go-Kart on Muscle Spasticity

Background: Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a neurological disorder that causes a traumatic anatomical discontinuity of the spinal cord. SCI can lead to paraplegia, spastic, or motor impairments. Go-karting for people with SCI is an adapted sport that is becoming increasingly popular. The purpose of this case report is to shed light on the effects of driving a go-kart on a patient with SCI-related spasticity and to deepen understanding of the possible related role of whole-body vibration (WBV) and neuroendocrine reaction. Methods: The patient was a 50-year-old male with a spastic paraplegia due to traumatic SCI. He regularly practiced go-kart racing, reporting a transient reduction in spasticity. He was evaluated before (T0), immediately after (T1), 2 weeks after (T2), and 4 weeks after (T3) a go-kart driving session. On both sides, long adductor, femoral bicep, and medial and lateral gastrocnemius spasticity was assessed using the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), and tone and stiffness were assessed using MyotonPro. Results: It was observed that a go-kart driving session could reduce muscle spasticity, tone, and stiffness. Conclusions: Go-kart driving can be a valid tool to obtain results similar to those of WBV and hormone production in the reduction of spasticity

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome after intramuscular oxygen-ozone therapy

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Sleep and fatigue in multiple sclerosis: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional, cohort study

Introduction Fatigue and sleep disorders are frequently reported in patients affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) but the causes and the relationship are not yet fully understood. This study aimed at evaluating their prevalence, at determining the relationships between clinical findings of MS and the occurrence of sleep disorders and at investigating the relations between sleep disorders and fatigue. Methods One hundred and two MS patients were enrolled in the study. They were analyzed on both their clinical features (type of MS, disease duration, clinical severity, type of treatment, presence of spinal demyelinating lesions) and specific scales scores (Expanded Disability Status Scale, Modified Fatigue Impact Scale - MFIS, Self-Administered Anxiety Scale - SAS, Beck's Depression Inventory - BDI, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index - PSQI, Epworth Sleepiness Scale - ESS, and the Berlin's questionnaire for Obstruction Sleep Apnea Syndrome - OSAS). Results Patients with poor sleep quality are more frequently fatigued (p\ua0=\ua00.001), have higher MFIS global scores (p\ua0<\ua00.001), higher prevalence of RLS symptoms (p\ua0=\ua00.049), and show higher scores at BDI (p\ua0=\ua00.017) and SAS (p\ua0 64\ua00.001). Conversely patients with fatigue show older age (p\ua0=\ua00.005), higher prevalence of sleepiness (p\ua0=\ua00.021), higher prevalence of RLS symptoms (p\ua0=\ua00.030), higher prevalence of poor sleep quality (p\ua0<\ua00.001) with higher PSQI scores (p\ua0<\ua00.001), higher scores on the BDI (p\ua0<\ua00.001) and SAS (p\ua0 64\ua00.001). Conclusion This study shows that MS is associated with a high prevalence of sleep complaints, including subjectively poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, RLS and symptoms of OSAS. Further, it demonstrated a strict relation between fatigue and sleep disorders. Finally, it underlines their relationship with anxiety and depression in MS patients

Response to the letter to the Editor for the manuscript “Sleep and Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional, cohort study” by Tomoyuki Kawada

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