Robot-mediated therapy for paretic upper limb of chronic patients following neurological injury

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of robot-mediated therapy targeted at the motor recovery of the upper limb in chronic patients following neurological injury

Upper Limb Spasticity Reduction Following Active Training: A Robot-Mediated Study In Patients With Chronic Hemiparesis

sion of the arm. A 3-month follow-up was performed. Results: Statistically significant improvements were found in both groups after treatment. Some differences were found in elbow motor improvement between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Comparison between groups confirms that active movement training does not result in increased hypertonia, but results in spasticity reduction in antagonist muscles by activating the reciprocal inhibition mechanism. Furthermore, robot-mediated therapy contributes to a decrease in motor impairment of the upper limbs in subjects with chronic hemiparesis, resulting in a reduction in shoulder pain

Different detection capabilities by mycological media for Candida isolates from mono- or dual-species cultures

The aim of this study was to compare the Candida bromcresol green (BCG) medium with the chromogenic (CHROM) Brilliance Candida agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) media in regard to their capability of detecting Candida isolates from mono- or dual-species cultures. We prepared Candida isolates' suspensions to obtain mono-species (n = 18) or dual-species (n = 153) culture plates per each medium, and three readers independently observed 513 plates at 24-h, 48-h and 72-h incubation time. We scored reading results as correct, over or under detection compared to the expected species number(s). BCG showed significantly higher correct-detection and lower under-detection rates for all Candida species when observed by at least one reader. At 24-h reading, 12 mono-species cultures had correct (or over) detections in all media, whereas 106, 60 and 78 dual-species cultures had correct (or over) detections in BCG, CHROM or SDA, respectively. BCG provides the basis for an accurate laboratory diagnosis of Candida infections

Detection of human papillomavirus DNA in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by polymerase chain reaction

Although human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have been found in many, but not all, tumours of the oral cavity, nose, pharynx and larynx, the true role of HPV in malignant tumours of the head and neck is still unclear. The presence of HPV DNA was investigated in 45 fresh squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) specimens and in 29 normal mucosa specimens collected from 45 primary laryngeal SCC patients. HPV DNA was detected using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with consensus primers that detect HPV types 6, 11, 16 and 18.9 of the 45 patients (20%) were HPV positive; the presence of HPV was also detected in the corresponding normal laryngeal mucosa of four of the 29 specimens (14%). No statistically significant differences were found between the presence of HPV DNA in normal specimens and in neoplastic mucosa specimens. No correlation was found between HPV DNA positive tumours and size, T classification, lymph node involvement and histological grading. This study adds further evidence suggesting a possible role of HPV DNA infection in laryngeal carcinogenesis

Systematic review of outcome measures of walking training using electromechanical and robotic devices in patients with stroke

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Evaluating the newly developed BioFire COVID-19 test for SARS-CoV-2 molecular detection

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Risk Factors and Outcomes of Candidemia Caused by Biofilm-Forming Isolates in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Very few data exist on risk factors for developing biofilm-forming Candida bloodstream infection (CBSI) or on variables associated with the outcome of patients treated for this infection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We identified 207 patients with CBSI, from whom 84 biofilm-forming and 123 non biofilm-forming Candida isolates were recovered. A case-case-control study to identify risk factors and a cohort study to analyze outcomes were conducted. In addition, two sub-groups of case patients were analyzed after matching for age, sex, APACHE III score, and receipt of adequate antifungal therapy. Independent predictors of biofilm-forming CBSI were presence of central venous catheter (odds ratio [OR], 6.44; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 3.21-12.92) or urinary catheter (OR, 2.40; 95% CI, 1.18-4.91), use of total parenteral nutrition (OR, 5.21; 95% CI, 2.59-10.48), and diabetes mellitus (OR, 4.47; 95% CI, 2.03-9.83). Hospital mortality, post-CBSI hospital length of stay (LOS) (calculated only among survivors), and costs of antifungal therapy were significantly greater among patients infected by biofilm-forming isolates than those infected by non-biofilm-forming isolates. Among biofilm-forming CBSI patients receiving adequate antifungal therapy, those treated with highly active anti-biofilm (HAAB) agents (e.g., caspofungin) had significantly shorter post-CBSI hospital LOS than those treated with non-HAAB antifungal agents (e.g., fluconazole); this difference was confirmed when this analysis was conducted only among survivors. After matching, all the outcomes were still favorable for patients with non-biofilm-forming CBSI. Furthermore, the biofilm-forming CBSI was significantly associated with a matched excess risk for hospital death of 1.77 compared to non-biofilm-forming CBSI. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that biofilm growth by Candida has an adverse impact on clinical and economic outcomes of CBSI. Of note, better outcomes were seen for those CBSI patients who received HAAB antifungal therapy

Nasopharyngeal Microbiota Profiling of SARS-CoV-2 Infected Patients

We analyzed the bacterial communities of the nasopharynx in 40 SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected patients. All infected patients had a mild COVID-19 disease. We did not find statistically significant differences in either bacterial richness and diversity or composition. These findings suggest a nasopharyngeal microbiota at least early resilient to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Development of a Multiplex PCR Platform for the Rapid Detection of Bacteria, Antibiotic Resistance, and Candida in Human Blood Samples

The diagnosis of bloodstream infections (BSIs) still relies on blood culture (BC), but low turnaround times may hinder the early initiation of an appropriate antimicrobial therapy, thus increasing the risk of infection-related death. We describe a direct and rapid multiplex PCR-based assay capable of detecting and identifying 16 bacterial and four Candida species, as well as three antibiotic-resistance determinants, in uncultured samples. Using whole-blood samples spiked with microorganisms at low densities, we found that the MicrobScan assay had a mean limit of detection of 15.1 \ub1 3.3 CFU of bacteria/Candida per ml of blood. When applied to positive BC samples, the assay allowed the sensitive and specific detection of BSI pathogens, including blaKPC-, mecA-, or vanA/vanB-positive bacteria. We evaluated the assay using prospectively collected blood samples from patients with suspected BSI. The sensitivity and specificity were 86.4 and 97.0%, respectively, among patients with positive BCs for the microorganisms targeted by the assay or patients fulfilling the criteria for infection. The mean times to positive or negative assay results were 5.3 \ub1 0.2 and 5.1 \ub1 0.1 h, respectively. Fifteen of 20 patients with MicrobScan assay-positive/BC-negative samples were receiving antimicrobial therapy. In conclusion, the MicrobScan assay is well suited to complement current diagnostic methods for BSIs