Prefrontal oxygenation during executive tasks in children with developmental coordination disorder

We examined activation of the prefrontal cortex in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) (ages 8 to 12 years) using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Seven children with DCD and 7 typically developing children were tested for blood oxygenation levels in the prefrontal cortex during completion of the Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sort Tasks and Go/Nogo tasks. The hypothesis that the groups would perform with similar accuracy, but show differential brain activation was supported in the Stroop and Wisconsin Card Sort, but not the Go/No Go task. The typically developing children showed trends toward increased right hemisphere activation during the Stroop and Go/ Nogo tasks and significant right hemisphere activation during the simple reaction time task, while DCD activation exhibited similar activation between hemispheres. This suggests that children with DCD use different neural circuitry to accomplish tasks regardless of the type of processing necessary

The Need for American Ethnic Studies at Predominantly White Institutions (I): African American and Native American Studies

This session will provide a straightforward account of what ethnic studies is and the current state of ethnic studies

Chronic pain treatment strategies in Parkinson’s disease

Neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), have increased in prevalence and are expected to further increase in the coming decades. In this regard, PD affects around 3% of the population by age 65 and up to 5% of people over the age of 85. PD is a widely described, physically and mentally disabling neurodegenerative disorder. One symptom often poorly recognized and under-treated by health care providers despite being reported as the most common non-motor symptom is the finding of chronic pain. Compared to the general population of similar age, PD patients suffer from a significantly higher level and prevalence of pain. The most common form of pain reported by Parkinson’s patients is of musculoskeletal origin. One of the most used combination drugs for PD is Levodopa-Carbidopa, a dopamine precursor that is converted to dopamine by the action of a naturally occurring enzyme called DOPA decarboxylase. Pramipexole, a D2 dopamine agonist, and apomorphine, a dopamine agonist, and Rotigotine, a dopamine receptor agonist, have showed efficacy on PD-associated pain. Other treatments that have shown efficacy in treating pain of diverse etiologies are acetaminophen, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. Opioids and opioid-like medications such as oxycodone, morphine, tramadol, and codeine are also commonly employed in treatment of chronic pain in PD. Other opioid related medications such as Tapentadol, a central-acting oral analgesic with combined opioid and noradrenergic properties, and Targinact, a combination of the opioid agonist oxycodone and the opioid antagonist naloxone have shown improvement in pain. Anticonvulsants such as gabapentin, pregabalin, lamotrigine, carbamazepine and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) can be trialed when attempting to manage chronic pain in PD. The selective serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) also possess pain relieving and antidepressant properties, but carry less of the risk of anticholinergic side effects seen in TCAs. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown in multiple studies to be effective against various types of PD associated pain symptoms. Massage therapy (MT) is one of the most common forms of complementary and alternative medicine. Studies have shown that pressure applied during MT may stimulate vagal activity, promoting reduced anxiety and pain, as well as increasing levels of serotonin. In a survey study of PD patients, rehabilitative therapy and physical therapy were rated as the most effective for pain reduction, though with only temporary relief but these studies were uncontrolled. Yoga has been studied for patients with a wide array of neurological disorders. In summary, PD pathology is thought to have a modulating effect on pain sensation, which could amplify pain. This could help explain a portion of the higher incidence of chronic pain felt by PD patients. A treatment plan can be devised that may include dopaminergic agents, acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, antidepressants, physical therapies, DBS and other options discussed in this review. A thorough assessment of patient history and physical examination should be made in patients with PD so chronic pain may be managed effectively

Chronic pain treatment strategies in Parkinson’s disease

Neurological disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), have increased in prevalence and are expected to further increase in the coming decades. In this regard, PD affects around 3% of the population by age 65 and up to 5% of people over the age of 85. PD is a widely described, physically and mentally disabling neurodegenerative disorder. One symptom often poorly recognized and under-treated by health care providers despite being reported as the most common non-motor symptom is the finding of chronic pain. Compared to the general population of similar age, PD patients suffer from a significantly higher level and prevalence of pain. The most common form of pain reported by Parkinson’s patients is of musculoskeletal origin. One of the most used combination drugs for PD is Levodopa-Carbidopa, a dopamine precursor that is converted to dopamine by the action of a naturally occurring enzyme called DOPA decarboxylase. Pramipexole, a D2 dopamine agonist, and apomorphine, a dopamine agonist, and Rotigotine, a dopamine receptor agonist, have showed efficacy on PD-associated pain. Other treatments that have shown efficacy in treating pain of diverse etiologies are acetaminophen, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. Opioids and opioid-like medications such as oxycodone, morphine, tramadol, and codeine are also commonly employed in treatment of chronic pain in PD. Other opioid related medications such as Tapentadol, a central-acting oral analgesic with combined opioid and noradrenergic properties, and Targinact, a combination of the opioid agonist oxycodone and the opioid antagonist naloxone have shown improvement in pain. Anticonvulsants such as gabapentin, pregabalin, lamotrigine, carbamazepine and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) can be trialed when attempting to manage chronic pain in PD. The selective serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) also possess pain relieving and antidepressant properties, but carry less of the risk of anticholinergic side effects seen in TCAs. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown in multiple studies to be effective against various types of PD associated pain symptoms. Massage therapy (MT) is one of the most common forms of complementary and alternative medicine. Studies have shown that pressure applied during MT may stimulate vagal activity, promoting reduced anxiety and pain, as well as increasing levels of serotonin. In a survey study of PD patients, rehabilitative therapy and physical therapy were rated as the most effective for pain reduction, though with only temporary relief but these studies were uncontrolled. Yoga has been studied for patients with a wide array of neurological disorders. In summary, PD pathology is thought to have a modulating effect on pain sensation, which could amplify pain. This could help explain a portion of the higher incidence of chronic pain felt by PD patients. A treatment plan can be devised that may include dopaminergic agents, acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, antidepressants, physical therapies, DBS and other options discussed in this review. A thorough assessment of patient history and physical examination should be made in patients with PD so chronic pain may be managed effectively

Ultrasonic study of the gelation of gelatin: phase diagram, hysteresis and kinetics

We map the ultrasonic (8 MHz) speed and attenuation of edible-grade gelatin in water, exploring the key dependencies on temperature, concentration and time. The ultrasonic signatures of the sol-gel transition, confirmed by rheological measurements, and incomplete gel formation at low concentrations, enable a phase diagram of the system to be constructed. Sensitivity is also demonstrated to the kinetics of gel formation and melting, and associated hysteresis effects upon cyclic temperature sweeps. Furthermore, simple acoustic models of the sol and gel state enable estimation of the speed of sound and compressibility of gelatin. Our results demonstrate the potential of ultrasonic measurements to characterise the structure and visco-elasticity of gelatin hydrogels.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Including all voices in international data-sharing governance

Background Governments, funding bodies, institutions, and publishers have developed a number of strategies to encourage researchers to facilitate access to datasets. The rationale behind this approach is that this will bring a number of benefits and enable advances in healthcare and medicine by allowing the maximum returns from the investment in research, as well as reducing waste and promoting transparency. As this approach gains momentum, these data-sharing practices have implications for many kinds of research as they become standard practice across the world. Main text The governance frameworks that have been developed to support biomedical research are not well equipped to deal with the complexities of international data sharing. This system is nationally based and is dependent upon expert committees for oversight and compliance, which has often led to piece-meal decisionmaking. This system tends to perpetuate inequalities by obscuring the contributions and the important role of different data providers along the data stream, whether they be low- or middle-income country researchers, patients, research participants, groups, or communities. As research and data-sharing activities are largely publicly funded, there is a strong moral argument for including the people who provide the data in decision-making and to develop governance systems for their continued participation. Conclusions We recommend that governance of science becomes more transparent, representative, and responsive to the voices of many constituencies by conducting public consultations about data-sharing addressing issues of access and use; including all data providers in decision-making about the use and sharing of data along the whole of the data stream; and using digital technologies to encourage accessibility, transparency, and accountability. We anticipate that this approach could enhance the legitimacy of the research process, generate insights that may otherwise be overlooked or ignored, and help to bring valuable perspectives into the decision-making around international data sharing.</p

Transatlantic collection of health informatics competencies

The electronic collection, processing and management of information is becoming increasingly important in healthcare. Because of the nature of the healthcare provision and delivery process, where the health, safety and quality of human lives are impacted on a daily basis, it is critical that those who work in the field are competent and able to perform all clinical, administrative, research and technology-impacted facets of their roles.The United States and the European Union have been working to encourage broader and more effective use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) within healthcare. The development, use and governance of ICT within healthcare, often called health informatics, requires a number of competences which need to be identified and integrated into relevant skills assessment, education and training. Ultimately, this will help produce a more proficient and a more confident mobile health informatics-empowered workforce.A structured set of health information technology and eHealth implementation competences was collected in a co-operation project by voluntary experts in USA and European Union. The project took a deliberately broad starting point, seeking and reviewing an extensive range of related competencies. The skills cover the following domains of professions working with health information technology: direct patient care; administrative; engineering/information, communication, and technology (ICT); informatics; and research and biomedicine. The aggregation of over one thousand competencies was classified to a baseline set of skills and four levels of expertise in 33 focus areas according to Bloom’s taxonomy. The data set also contains definitions of 268 ‘typical’ professional roles. The use of the collection of competencies is supported by an open access web tool through which all the competencies can be searched through a query mechanism.The limitation of this work is that only the Acute Care segment of roles and competencies impacted by ICT was evaluated within the scope of this project, however, this subset of other care settings such as ambulatory, rehabilitative care, surgery, and others serves as a representative set of roles and competencies within the health care field as well as a being an important proof of concept for future usefulness of the work if extended beyond its current span. This project has made a contribution to the potential improvement of workforce mobility internationally

Valid Consent for Genomic Epidemiology in Developing Countries

Drawing on experience gained from ongoing research in Mali, this paper describes practical ethical challenges relating to the achievement of valid consent in genomic epidemiology