Towards an integrated clinical framework for patient with shoulder pain

Background: Shoulder pain (SP) represents a common musculoskeletal condition that requires physical therapy care. Along the years, the usual evaluation strategies based on clinical tests and diagnostic imaging has been challenged. Clinical tests appear unable to clearly identify the structures that generated pain and interpretation of diagnostic imaging is still controversial. The current patho-anatomical diagnostic categories have demonstrated poor reliability and seem inadequate for the SP treatment. Objectives: The present paper aims to (1) describe the different proposals of clinical approach to SP currently available in the literature; to (2) integrate these proposals in a single framework in order to help the management of SP. Conclusion: The proposed clinical framework, based on a bio-psychosocial vision of health, integrates symptoms characteristics, pain mechanisms and expectations, preferences and psychosocial factors of patients that may guide physiotherapist to make a diagnostic triage and to choose the right treatment for the individual patient

Case Report: A Novel Activating FLT3 Mutation in Acute Myeloid Leukemia

FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is among the most common driver genes recurrently mutated in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), accounting for approximately 30% of cases. Activating mutations of the FLT3 receptor include internal tandem duplications (ITD) that map to the auto-inhibitory juxtamembrane (JM) domain or point mutations within the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD). Several FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors have been developed in the last few years, but midostaurin is currently the only one approved for the treatment of newly diagnosed patients harboring FLT3 mutations. Here we describe for the first time a novel in-frame deletion in exon 14 (JM domain) of the FLT3 gene, that we identified in a young woman with CBFb-MYH11-positive AML. We demonstrated that this novel FLT3 variant is pathogenic, since it is responsible for constitutive activation of FLT3 receptor. Finally, ex-vivo studies demonstrated that this novel mutation is sensitive to midostaurin

An Adaptive Data-transfer Protocol for Sensor Networks with Data Mules

Abstract In this paper we deal with energy-efficient data collection in sparse sensor networks with data mules. We analyze the problem of optimal data transfer from sensors to data mules, and derive an upper bound for the performance of ARQ-based data-transfer protocols. This analysis shows that protocols currently used have low performance, which results in unnecessary energy consumption. Based on these results we define and evaluate an Adaptive Data Transfer (ADT) protocol that is able to combine efficiency and adaptability to external conditions. Simulation results show that ADT not only reduces significantly the average data-transfer time in comparison with previous protocols, but also provides quasi-optimal performance. In addition, it is able to react quickly to variations in the external conditions and adapt to new conditions in a limited time

A Fuzzy Approach to Data Aggregation to Reduce Power Consumption in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we propose a novel distributed approach based on fuzzy numbers and weighted average operators to reduce power consumption in wireless sensor networks when we are interested in the estimation of an aggregated value such as maximum or minimum temperature measured in the network. The basic point of our approach is that each node maintains an estimate of the aggregated value. Based on this estimate, the node decides whether a new value measured by the sensor on board the node or received through a message has to be propagated along the network. We present the application of our approach to the monitoring of the maximum temperature in a two-hundred square meters flat and discuss how the lifetime of the network can be determined through the datasheet of the used mote and the number of received and sent message