Gait Symmetry Assessment with a Low Back 3D Accelerometer in Post-Stroke Patients

Gait asymmetry is an important marker of mobility impairment post stroke. This study proposes a new gait symmetry index (GSI) to quantify gait symmetry with one 3D accelerometer at L3 (GSIL3). GSIL3 was evaluated with 16 post stroke patients and nine healthy controls in the Six-Minute-Walk-Test (6-MWT). Discriminative power was evaluated with Wilcoxon test and the effect size (ES) was computed with Cliff’s Delta. GSIL3 estimated during the entire 6-MWT and during a short segment straight walk (GSIL3straight) have comparable effect size to one another (ES = 0.89, p < 0.001) and to the symmetry indices derived from feet sensors (|ES| = [0.22, 0.89]). Furthermore, while none of the indices derived from feet sensors showed significant differences between post stroke patients walking with a cane compared to those able to walk without, GSIL3 was able to discriminate between these two groups with a significantly lower value in the group using a cane (ES = 0.70, p = 0.02). In addition, GSIL3 was strongly associated with several symmetry indices measured by feet sensors during the straight walking cycles (Spearman correlation: |ρ| = [0.82, 0.88], p < 0.05). The proposed index can be a reliable and cost-efficient post stroke gait symmetry assessment with implications for research and clinical practice

Associated dental anomalies: case report Múltiplas anomalias dentárias associadas: caso clínico

Certain human dental anomalies frequently occur together, supporting the accumulated evidence of the shared genetic control of dental developmental disturbances. The present study reports a rare and interesting case of a 12-year-old girl with an association of multiple dental abnormalities, including agenesis, tooth malposition and delayed development. The etiology and treatment planning are discussed with reference to the literature. The clinical implications of genetically controlled patterns of dental anomalies are important in the establishment of early diagnosis and appropriate orthodontic intervention.<br>Certas anomalias dentárias humanas freqüentemente ocorrem concomitantemente, contribuindo para validar as evidências do controle genético nos distúrbios de desenvolvimento. O presente estudo relata um caso raro e interessante de uma jovem de 12 anos de idade, com associação de anormalidades dentárias múltiplas, incluindo agenesia, ectopia e atraso no desenvolvimento dentário. A etiologia e tratamento planejados são discutidos com referência à literatura. As implicações clínicas do padrão de anomalias dentárias geneticamente controladas são importantes no estabelecimento do diagnóstico precoce e de adequada intervenção ortodôntica

Toxoplasmosis seroprevalence in urban rodents: a survey in Niamey, Niger.

A serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii was conducted on 766 domestic and peridomestic rodents from 46 trapping sites throughout the city of Niamey, Niger. A low seroprevalence was found over the whole town with only 1.96% of the rodents found seropositive. However, differences between species were important, ranging from less than 2% in truly commensal Mastomys natalensis, Rattus rattus and Mus musculus, while garden-associated Arvicanthis niloticus displayed 9.1% of seropositive individuals. This is in line with previous studies on tropical rodents--that we reviewed here--which altogether show that Toxoplasma seroprevalence in rodent is highly variable, depending on many factors such as locality and/or species. Moreover, although we were not able to decipher statistically between habitat or species effect, such a contrast between Nile grass rats and the other rodent species points towards a potentially important role of environmental toxoplasmic infection. This would deserve to be further scrutinised since intra-city irrigated cultures are extending in Niamey, thus potentially increasing Toxoplasma circulation in this yet semi-arid region. As far as we are aware of, our study is one of the rare surveys of its kind performed in Sub-Saharan Africa and the first one ever conducted in the Sahel

Association between brown adipose tissue and bone mineral density in humans

Background Brown adipose tissue (BAT) seems to play a role in bone morphogenesis. A negative association has been reported between BAT and bone mineral density (BMD) in women, but not in men. A panel of experts has recently published a set of recommendations for BAT assessment, and thus, to re-address previously reported associations is needed. This study aimed to investigate the association between cold-induced BAT (18) F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18-FDG) uptake and BMD in young healthy adults.Methods Ninety-eight healthy adults (68 women; 22 +/- 2.2 years old; 24.3 +/- 4.5 kg/m(2)) cold-induced BAT was assessed by means of an F-18-FDG positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) scan preceded by a personalized cold stimulation. The cold exposure consisted in 2 h in a mild cold room at 19.5-20 degrees C wearing a water perfused cooling vest set 4 degrees C above the individual shivering threshold. Total body and lumbar spine BMD were assessed by a whole-body DXA scan.Results We found no association between BMD and cold-induced BAT volume, mean, and maximal activity (all P>0.1) in neither young and healthy men nor women. These results remained unchanged when adjusting by height, by body composition, and by objectively assessed physical activity. Sensitivity analyses using the criteria to quantify cold-induced BAT-related parameters applied in previous studies did not change the results.Conclusions In summary, our study shows that there is no association between cold-induced BAT and BMD in young healthy adults. Moreover, our data support the notion that previously shown associations between BAT and BMD in healthy non-calorically restricted individuals, could be driven by methodological issues related to BAT assessment and/or sample size limitations.Diabetes mellitus: pathophysiological changes and therap