Pancreatic cystosis in cystic fibrosis. Sometimes a bike ride can help you decide

Pancreatic cystosis (PC) is an uncommon manifestation of pancreas involvement in cystic fibrosis (CF), characterized by the presence of multiple macrocysts partially or completely replacing pancreas. Only few reports are available from literature and management (surgery vs follow up) is commonly based on the presence of symptoms or complications due to local mass effect, although evidence-based recommendations are still not available. We here report the case of a young adult CF patient with PC, in which cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) provided important information to be integrated to the radiological finding of inferior vena cava compression by the multicystic pancreas complex. Through the analysis of oxygen kinetic cardiodynamic phase pattern, CPET may be helpful to safely exclude significant mass effects on blood venous return and to improve the decision-making process on whether to consider surgery or not in patients with PC

A pilot study on aesthetic treatments performed by qualified aesthetic practitioners: efficacy on health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients

Purpose: Cancer treatments often produce undesirable side-effects, such as skin toxicity, impacting on everyday functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This experimental study sought to determine whether aesthetic products and treatments could significantly decrease perceived skin symptoms, psychological distress and improve skin-related QoL (SRQoL). Methods: An experimental group composed of 100 breast patients was enrolled for specialized aesthetic treatments at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) and compared to a control group of 70 breast patients who did not receive any aesthetic treatment. A measure of SRQoL (i.e., Skindex-16) and a distress thermometer were administered longitudinally at three time points: at baseline (T0), at 7 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T1) and at 28 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T2). Results: Results demonstrated the efficacy of aesthetic treatment in reducing distress and improving SRQoL: while the experimental group showed significant improvements in all HRQoL areas, the control group worsened. Specifically, at T1 and T2 there were significant improvements on distress and Skindex subscales in the experimental group, with an almost complete remission of perceived symptoms at T2. Moreover, all reported cutaneous reactions significantly improved after the specialized treatments, with no differences in SRQoL in skin reaction type. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that aesthetic treatments for side-effects of cancer therapies can alleviate perceived distress and improve skin symptoms and HRQoL

Synergic use of botulinum toxin injection and radial extracorporeal shockwave therapy in multiple sclerosis spasticity

Background and aim: In Multiple Sclerosis (MS) spasticity worsens the patient’s quality of life. Botulinum NeuroToxin TypeA (BoNT-A) is extensively used in focal spasticity, frequently combined with physical therapies. Radial extracorporeal shock waves (rESW) were already used in association with BoNTA. Considering that loss of efficacy and adverse events are determinants of BoNT-A treatment interruption, this study aimed to evaluate the possibility to prolong BoNT-A’s effect by using rESW in MS focal spasticity. Methods: Sixteen MS patients with spasticity of triceps surae muscles were first subjected to BoNT-A therapy and, four months later, to 4 sections of rESWT. Patients were evaluated before, 30, 90 days after the end of the treatments, by using Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Modified Tardieu Scale (MTS), and kinematic analysis of passive and active ankle ROM. Results: BoNT-A determined a significant reduction of spasticity evaluated by MAS with a reduction of positive effects after 4months (p<0.05); MTS highlighted the efficacy only 90 days after injection (p<0.05). rESWT decreased MAS values at the end and 30 days later the treatment (p<0.01); MTS values showed instead a prolonged effect (p<0.01). BoNT-A determined a gain of passive and active ankle ROM, persisting along with treatment and peaking the maximum value after rESWT (p<0.05). Conclusions: rESWT can prolong BoNT-A effect inducing a significant reduction of spasticity and improvement in passive and active ankle ROM in MS patients. The use of rESWT following BoNT-A injection is useful to avoid some limitations and to prolong the therapeutic effects of BoNT-A therapy. (www.actabiomedica.it)

A pilot study on aesthetic treatments performed by qualified aesthetic practitioners: efficacy on health-related quality of life in breast cancer patients

Purpose Cancer treatments often produce undesirable side-effects, such as skin toxicity, impacting on everyday functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This experimental study sought to determine whether aesthetic products and treatments could significantly decrease perceived skin symptoms, psychological distress and improve skin-related QoL (SRQoL). Methods An experimental group composed of 100 breast patients was enrolled for specialized aesthetic treatments at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO) and compared to a control group of 70 breast patients who did not receive any aesthetic treatment. A measure of SRQoL (i.e., Skindex-16) and a distress thermometer were administered longitudinally at three time points: at baseline (T0), at 7 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T1) and at 28 days from beginning of aesthetic treatment (T2). Results Results demonstrated the efficacy of aesthetic treatment in reducing distress and improving SRQoL: while the experimental group showed significant improvements in all HRQoL areas, the control group worsened. Specifically, at T1 and T2 there were significant improvements on distress and Skindex subscales in the experimental group, with an almost complete remission of perceived symptoms at T2. Moreover, all reported cutaneous reactions significantly improved after the specialized treatments, with no differences in SRQoL in skin reaction type. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that aesthetic treatments for side-effects of cancer therapies can alleviate perceived distress and improve skin symptoms and HRQoL

Die subjektive Interferenz von Zeit und Raum. Entwicklungspsychologische Studien zum Tau- und Kappa-Effekt

Fragen nach Raum und Zeit sind für den Menschen zentral, denn sein Leben vollzieht sich in diesen Dimensionen, so dass sich auch sein Denken in Begriffen vollzieht, die von Raum und Zeit geprägt sind. Nachdem aber dahingehende Fragen seit jeher ausschliesslich der Philosophie vorbehalten waren, konnte Vittorio Benussi Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts erste empirische Belege für die Interferenz von Raum und Zeit erbringen. Was später unter dem Begriff Tau-Effekt bekannt wurde, umschreibt den Einfluss einer Zeitinformation auf einen räumlichen Abstand. Der vermeintlich gegenteilige Kappa-Effekt entspricht wiederum dem Einfluss einer Rauminformation auf ein zeitliches Intervall. In den unzähligen Untersuchungen zu beiden Effekten wurde oft die Hypothese aufgestellt, dass beiden Phänomenen die Wahrnehmung einer Scheinbewegung zu Grunde liege – bis heute blieb diese Vermutung aber unbestätigt. Um die vermeintliche Rolle von Bewegung, als Brücke zwischen der Raum- und der Zeitdimension, zu erforschen, wurden insgesamt 500 Versuchspersonen verschiedener Altersklassen untersucht. Mittels variierenden visuellen und akustischen Reizen wurden verschiedenste Bedingungen mit unterschiedlichem Grad an Bewegungsinduzierung geschaffen, um so die Modellierbarkeit der Effekte zu quantifizieren. Hierfür wurde beispielsweise das Wissen der Probanden über Schwerkraft nutzbar gemacht oder durch akustische Signale geschwindigkeitsbezogene Assoziationen evoziert, wobei das Ausmass an Bewegungsinduzierung in den Instruktionen durch verschiedene Metaphern zusätzlich beeinflusst wurde. Ebenso sollte die zusätzliche Variation der Antwortformate Rückschlüsse auf den altersabhängigen Einfluss methodischer Versuchsparameter erlauben. Die Ergebnisse liefern einen facettenreichen Einblick in die gegenseitige Interferenz von Raum und Zeit, wenn auch der vermeintliche Einfluss von Scheinbewegungen noch nicht vollends belegt respektive widerlegt werden konnte. Nichtsdestotrotz ergaben sich entwicklungspsychologische Befunde im Bereich des vermeintlichen Primates visueller Signale, im Kontext so genannter Aufgabendissoziationen oder bezüglich der gegenseitigen Transferierbarkeit beider Dimensionen, die weitere Forschung auf diesem Gebiet lohnenswert machen

From features to dimensions: cognitive and motor development in pop-out search in children and young adults

In an experiment involving a total of 124 participants, divided into eight age groups (6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, 14-, 16-, 18-, and 20-year-olds) the development of the processing components underlying visual search for pop-out targets was tracked. Participants indicated the presence or absence of color or orientation feature singleton targets. Observers also solved a detection task, in which they responded to the onset of search arrays. There were two main results. First, analyses of inter-trial effects revealed differences in the search strategies of the 6-year-old participants compared to older age groups. Participants older than 8 years based target detection on feature-less dimensional salience signals (indicated by cross-trial RT costs in target dimension change relative to repetition trials), the 6-year-olds accessed the target feature to make a target present or absent decision (cross-trial RT costs in target feature change relative to feature repetition trials). The result agrees with predictions derived from the Dimension Weighting account and previous investigations of inter-trial effects in adult observers (Müller et al., 1995; Found and Müller, 1996). The results are also in line with theories of cognitive development suggesting that the ability to abstract specific visual features into feature categories is developed after the age of 7 years. Second, overall search RTs decreased with increasing age in a decelerated fashion. RT differences between consecutive age groups can be explained by sensory-motor maturation up to the age of 10 years (as indicated by RTs in the onset detection task). Expedited RTs in older age groups (10-, vs. 12-year-olds; 14- vs. 16-year-olds), but also in the 6- vs. 8-year-olds, are due to the development of search-related (cognitive) processes. Overall, the results suggest that the level of adult performance in visual search for pop-out targets is achieved by the age of 16