Mild behavioral impairment in Parkinson's disease: Data from the Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment study (PACOS)

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) have been frequently described in Parkinson's disease (PD), even in the earliest stages of the disease. Recently the construct of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) has been proposed as an at-risk state for incident cognitive decline and dementia. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of MBI in PD. Cross-sectional data from 429 consecutive PD patients enrolled in the PArkinson's disease COgnitive impairment Study (PACOS) were included in the study. All subjects underwent neuropsychological assessment, according to the MDS Level II criteria. NPS were evaluated with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate clinical and behavioral characteristics, which are associated with PD-MBI. The latter was ascertained in 361 (84.1%) subjects of whom 155 (36.1%) were newly diagnosed patients (disease duration ≥1 year) and 206 (48.0%) had a disease duration <1 year. Furthermore, 68 (15.9%) out of 429 subjects were PDw (without MBI). Across the MBI domains, Impulse Dyscontrol was significantly more prevalent among PD-MBI with disease duration <1 year than newly diagnosed patients. The frequency of Social Inappropriateness and Abnormal Perception significantly increased throughout the entire PD-MBI sample with increasing Hoehn andYahr (H&Y) stages. PD-MBI in newly diagnosed PDwas significantly associated with H&Y stage (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.05-5.24) and marginally with antidepressant drug use (OR 2.94, 95% CI 0.91-9.47), while in patients with a disease duration >1 year was associated with UPDRS-ME (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.41-8.00). The overall MBI frequency in the PACOS sample was 84% and 36% among newly diagnosed patients. The presence of MBI mainly related to motor impairment and disability

Kinetic Study of the Thermal Dehydration of Fly Ash Filled Geopolymers

Metakaolin-based geopolymers at different percentage of fly ash (namely 25, 50, and 70% wt) are prepared by using recycled fly ash, aiming at reducing the amount of waste to be treated or disposed in landfills. The synthesized samples are subjected to the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to investigate the kinetics of dehydration process. To this purpose, TGA data are treated by the Kissinger method to calculate the apparent activation energy (Ea) of dehydration. The obtained kinetics parameters are discussed and compared with each other and with those obtained for the control geopolymer. A decrease in Ea values of the filled geopolymers is found, showing the effect of the fly ash in reducing the dehydration rate. A classification among the samples at different percentage of fly ash is also drawn up, showing the reaching of a plateau at percentage above the 50 wt%

Biocatalysis for biomass valorization: peptides and fatty acids from rice bran

Waste upgrading practises have attracted a significant attention in recent years with the aim of managing agrofood by-products in a gainful and sustainable way. We describe here how biocatalysis can assist rice bran valorization, according to the biorefinery concept. [1] Rice is the staple food for over half the world's population. Rice milling generates a massive amount of waste, namely rice bran (70 kg/ton of rice) and rice husk (200 kg/ton of rice). Rice bran (RB), containing fibers (7-11%), proteins (10-16%), lipids (15-22%), carbohydrates (34-52%), micronutrients, represents a second-generation biomass. [2] Rice bran proteins (RBP) have a high nutritional value and optimal digestibility and are gluten-free, hypoallergenic and rich in essential amino acids. However, the first hurdle to be overcome for RBP production and large scale application is their extraction. Structural complexity, poor solubility, and strong aggregation make RBP hardly available. The sequential treatment of RB with carbohydrases and proteases was used to prepare mixtures of water-soluble peptides (RBPHs, RBP Hydrolysates) to be tested as antibacterial, antioxidant and anticholesterol agents, as well as flavour enhancers. [3] Interestingly, sensory analysis revealed that the obtained RBPHs exert only sweet and umami taste. Rice bran oil (RBO) is one of the most underutilized agricultural commodities. We investigated the use of RBO as a feedstock for the production of FFA-derived chemicals (e.g. sugar fatty acid esters). [4] To this aim, RBO was submitted to a preparative lipase-catalyzed hydrolysis to obtain pure FFA. [5] The high acidity of RBO, so far considered as a bottleneck in the exploitation of RBO (i.e. biodiesel production) was here turned into an advantage, making available FFA mixtures as synthetic precursors for high added value products

Calf health from birth to weaning. II. Management of diarrhoea in pre-weaned calves

Calfhood diseases have a major impact on the economic viability of cattle operations. The second of this three part review series considers the management of diarrhoeic diseases in pre-weaned calves. In neonatal calf diarrhoea, oral rehydration therapy is the single most important therapeutic measure to be carried out by the farmer and is usually successful if instigated immediately after diarrhoea has developed. Continued feeding of milk or milk replacer to diarrhoeic calves is important, to prevent malnourishment and weight loss in affected calves. Indiscriminative antibiotic treatment of uncomplicated diarrhoea is discouraged, whereas systemically ill calves can benefit from systemic antibiotic treatment for the prevention of septicaemia or concurrent diseases. Ancillary treatments and specific preventive measures are discussed. Eimeriosis has a high economic impact on the farming industries due to direct cost of treatment and calf losses, but especially due to decreased performance of clinically as well as sub-clinically affected animals. Emphasis lies on prophylactic or metaphylactic treatment, since the degree of damage to the intestinal mucosa once diarrhoea has developed, makes therapeutic intervention unrewarding

Outlook for Tapis Fabric as Traditional Crafts Lampung Society in the Indication Geography Legal Protection

Tapis fabric as handicrafts depicting unique aspects of Lampung community life should receive other legal protection potential of more prospective and protect from the action claiming another country. Researchers assessed their registration tapis tradition of Lampung as a geographical indication products, be a potential for prevention as well as a norm that protects local names (geographical location), as a sign to recognize the quality or characteristic of the product

Interictal executive dysfunction in migraineurs without aura: relationship with duration and intensity of attacks.

Subjects with migraine are at increased risk of subcortical white matter lesions (WML). Reports of cognitive testing in adults with migraine have yielded inconsistent results. We performed a cross-sectional study to assess whether migraine without aura (MwA) is associated with impairment in executive functioning, a typical cognitive correlate of subcortical WML. Forty-five subjects with MwA and 90 controls, matched for age and education, underwent a cognitive battery of tests evaluating executive functions. The following migraine characteristics were collected: age at onset and length of migraine history, and frequency, duration and intensity of attacks. Subjects with MwA performed significantly lower than controls in tests evaluating complex, multifactorial executive functions. After multiple adjustments, the duration and intensity of migraine attacks significantly predicted cognitive disturbances. In the interictal phase of MwA there is evidence of mild executive dysfunction. The cumulative effects of repeated migraine attacks on prefronto-cerebellar loop probably account for our results

SURFACE ASPECTS OF METAL COMPLEXED POLYMERIC SCHIFF BASES AS STUDIED BY MEANS OF E. S. C. A

The surface aspects of some complexed polymeric Schiff bases have been studied by using electron spectroscopy for chemical applications (e. s. c. a. ). A comparison between the C//1//s, O//1//s and N//1//s levels of the uncomplexed and complexed samples as well as a direct study of the metal core levels is presented. A semi-quantitative analysis of surface composition based on the e. s. c. a. data reveals that the surface structure of the complexed polymers deviates significantly from that of the bulk, the main difference being a lower concentration of the metal