Screening for significant chronic liver disease by using three simple ultrasound parameters

Objectives Chronic liver diseases remain asymptomatic for many years. Consequently, patients are diagnosed belatedly, when cirrhosis is unmasked by lifethreatening complications. We aimed to identify simple ultrasound parameters for the screening of patients with unknown significant chronic liver disease. Methods Three hundred and twenty seven patients with chronic liver disease, liver biopsy, and ultrasound examination were included in the derivation set. 283 consecutive patients referred for ultrasound examination were included in the validation set; those selected according to the ultrasound parameters identified in the derivation set were then referred for specialized consultation including non-invasive fibrosis tests and ultimately liver biopsy if liver fibrosis was suspected. Results In the derivation set, three ultrasound parameters were independent predictors of severe fibrosis: liver surface irregularity, spleen length (>110 mm), and demodulation of hepatic veins. The association of ≥2 of the three above parameters provided 49.1% sensitivity and 86.9% specificity. In the validation set, at ≥2 of the three parameters were present in 23 (8%) of the patients. Among these patients, 8 had liver fibrosis (F ≥ 1), 5 had significant fibrosis (F  ≥2) and two cirrhosis. Conclusion The generalized search of three simple ultrasound signs in patients referred for abdominal ultrasound examination may be an easy way to detect those with silent but significant chronic liver disease

The effect of video-guidance on passive movement in patients with cerebral palsy: fMRI study

In patients with cerebral palsy (CP), neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that passive movement and action–observation tasks have in common to share neuronal activation in all or part of areas involved in motor system. Action observation with simultaneous congruent passive movements may have additional effects in the recruitment of brain motor areas. The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to examine brain activation in patients with unilateral CP during passive movement with and without simultaneous observation of simple hand movement. Eighteen patients with unilateral CP (fourteen male, mean age 14 years and 2 months) participated in the study. Using fMRI block design, brain activation following passive simple opening–closing hand movement of either the paretic or nonparetic hand with and without simultaneous observation of a similar movement performed by either the left or right hand of an actor was compared. Passive movement of the paretic hand performed simultaneously to the observation of congruent movement activated more “higher motor areas” including contralesional pre-supplementary motor area, superior frontal gyrus (extending to premotor cortex), and superior and inferior parietal regions than nonvideo-guided passive movement of the paretic hand. Passive movement of the paretic hand recruited more ipsilesional sensorimotor areas compared to passive movement of the nonparetic hand. Our study showed that the combination of observation of congruent hand movement simultaneously to passive movement of the paretic hand recruits more motor areas, giving neuronal substrate to propose video-guided passive movement of paretic hand in CP rehabilitation

Controle de nematodeos gastrintestinais em matrizes suinas e sua influencia sobre as leitegadas.

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Ação do levamisol sobre infecções por Oesophagostomum dentatum em suínos.

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Prevalência e aspectos do controle de nematodeos gastrintestinais em suínos.

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Effect of observation of simple hand movement on brain activations in patients with unilateral cerebral palsy: an fMRI study

The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was to examine and compare brain activation in patients with unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) during observation of simple hand movement performed by the paretic and nonparetic hand. Nineteen patients with clinical unilateral CP (14 male, mean age 14 years, 7–21 years) participated in the study. Hand motor impairment was assessed using the sequential finger opposition task. Using fMRI block design, brain activation was examined following observation at rest of a simple opening-closing hand movement, performed by either the left or right hand of an actor. Eighteen fMRI dataset were analyzed. Observing hand movement produced large bilateral activations in temporo-parieto-fronto-occipital network, comprising most of the nodes of the well described action-observation network. For either side, observing hand movements recruits the primary motor cortex (M1), contralateral to the viewed hand, as would be expected in healthy persons. Viewing movement performed by an actor\u27s hand representing the paretic side of patients activated more strongly ipsilesional M1 than viewing movement performed by an actor\u27s hand representing the nonparetic side of patients. Observation of hand movement in patients with CP engaged the motor execution network regardless of the degree of motor impairment

Effect of motor imagery in children with unilateral cerebral palsy: fMRI study

Background Motor imagery is considered as a promising therapeutic tool for rehabilitation of motor planning problems in patients with cerebral palsy. However motor planning problems may lead to poor motor imagery ability. Aim The aim of this functional magnetic resonance imaging study was to examine and compare brain activation following motor imagery tasks in patients with hemiplegic cerebral palsy with left or right early brain lesions. We tested also the influence of the side of imagined hand movement. Method Twenty patients with clinical hemiplegic cerebral palsy (sixteen males, mean age 12 years and 10 months, aged 6 years 10 months to 20 years 10 months) participated in this study. Using block design, brain activations following motor imagery of a simple opening-closing hand movement performed by either the paretic or nonparetic hand was examined. Results During motor imagery tasks, patients with early right brain damages activated bilateral fronto-parietal network that comprise most of the nodes of the network well described in healthy subjects. Inversely, in patients with left early brain lesion brain activation following motor imagery tasks was reduced, compared to patients with right brain lesions. We found also a weak influence of the side of imagined hand movement. Conclusion Decreased activations following motor imagery in patients with right unilateral cerebral palsy highlight the dominance of the left hemisphere during motor imagery tasks. This study gives neuronal substrate to propose motor imagery tasks in unilateral cerebral palsy rehabilitation at least for patients with right brain lesions

Stability analysis and \mu-synthesis control of brake systems

The concept of friction-induced brake vibrations, commonly known as judder, is investigated. Judder vibration is based on the class of geometrically induced or kinematic constraint instability. After presenting the modal coupling mechanism and the associated dynamic model, a stability analysis as well as a sensitivity analysis have been conducted in order to identify physical parameters for a brake design avoiding friction-induced judder instability. Next, in order to reduce the size of the instability regions in relation to possible system parameter combinations, robust stability via \mu-synthesis is applied. By comparing the unstable regions between the initial and controlled brake system, some general indications emerge and it appears that robust stability via \mu-synthesis has some effect on the instability of the brake system