Διερεύνηση της βατότητας των νωτιαίων οδών μέσω προκλητών ηλεκτρικών δυναμικών σε άτομα με τραυματισμό του νωτιαίου μυελού

Το νευρικό σύστημα είναι ένα τέλειο δίκτυο, το οποίο διευκολύνει την κάθε λειτουργία του σώματος. Μόλις αυτό το δίκτυο διαταράσσεται, το ταξίδι ενός σήματος μέσω αυτού του συστήματος τίθεται σε κίνδυνο. Η εργασία αυτή διερευνά την τρέχουσα βιβλιογραφία σχετικά με νευρικά σήματα και αν η ανάκτηση της κινητικότητας των ατόμων που πάσχουν από κάκωση νωτιαίου μυελού είναι εφικτή. Μελετώντας την νευρωνική φυσιολογία, τα τμήματα του νευρικού συστήματος και την λειτουργία τους όταν τα μηνύματα μεταφέρονται από και προς τον εγκέφαλο φαίνεται να είναι σχετική. Δοκιμές χρησιμοποιώντας κινητικά και σωματοαισθητικά προκλητά δυναμικά κρίνονται αναγκαίες για την καταγραφή αυτών των σημάτων, έτσι ώστε οποιαδήποτε ζημία πιθανόν να αντιμετωπιστεί με ακρίβεια. Κατά τη διάρκεια των τελευταίων ετών, η κοινότητα της νευροεπιστήμης αντιμετωπίζει την πρόκληση της μερικής ή πλήρους ανάκτησης της λειτουργίας. Η πρώτη προτεινόμενη θεραπεία είναι η αναγέννηση των νευραξόνων και η συναπτική ανακατασκευή που προκαλείται από πρωτεΐνες. Αν και δεν έχουν γίνει κλινικές μελέτες σε ανθρώπους, η αρτεμίνη και η σεροτονίνη αξιώνονται για την προώθηση της αναγέννησης αισθητήριων νευρώνων και κινητικών νευρώνων, αντίστοιχα. Η δεύτερη θεραπεία είναι η διεπαφή εγκεφάλου-υπολογιστή που φαίνεται πιο ρεαλιστική αφού οι ασθενείς με βλάβη του νωτιαίου μυελού είναι πιο πιθανό να κινησούν τεχνητά μέλη, όπως τα χέρια και τα πόδια, αλλά λόγω της πολυπλοκότητάς της, είναι πολύ ακριβή. Η επαναληπτική διακρανιακή μαγνητική διέγερση (rTMS) είναι μια σχετικά νέα μορφή θεραπείας για την διέγερση του εγκεφάλου, η οποία θεωρείται κατάλληλη για την βελτίωση της κινητικότητας και τη μείωση της σπαστικότητας.The nervous system is a perfect network which facilitates every body function. Once this network is disrupted, a signal’s journey through this system is compromised. This paper investigates the current literature on neural signals and whether recovery of function of individuals suffering from a spinal cord injury is feasible. Studying neuronal physiology, the parts of the nervous system and their function when messages are carried to and from the brain seems to be relevant. Tests using Motor and Somatosensory Evoked Potentials deem necessary to record these signals so that any damage can be dealt with precision. Over the last years, the neuroscience community has been facing the challenge of partial or full recovery of function. The first proposed treatment is the axonal regeneration and synaptic reconstruction induced by proteins. Although clinical studies have not been made to humans, artemin and serotonin are claimed to promote regeneration of sensory neurons and motor neurons respectively. The second treatment is Brain-Computer Interface which appears more realistic, since patients with spinal cord injury are more likely to move artificial limbs such as hands and feet but given its complexity it is very expensive. The third treatment Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a relatively new form of brain stimulation therapy, which is found to improve mobility and decrease spasticity

The TripAnalyser: a wearable system to assess gait and potential tripping

A wearable Arduino system (ESP32s) is described that uses optical time of flight (VL6180X) and inertial measurement unit (SENtral EM7180) sensors to estimate the Minimum Foot Clearance (MFC) of participants during gait. It is envisaged that an affordable wearable device that can acquire kinematic data outside the laboratory over periods of several weeks may find application in falls risk assessment in those with ambulatory disorders including the elderly. A geometric model is presented, and a preliminary trial was conducted with able-bodied subjects to test the correlation and agreement of the device with a Vicon 3D motion capture system, consisting of 12 infrared cameras located at the University of Warwick. The correlation between the device and the gait laboratory data yielded a correlation coefficient of r = 0.88. Agreement was tested using the Bland-Altman plot where the line of equality was within the 95% confidence interval of the mean difference suggesting that the device can be used as an alternative to Vicon for estimating MFC

Parameter estimation of a model describing the human fingers

The goal of this paper is twofold: firstl, to provide a novel mathematical model thatdescribes the kinematic chain of motion of the human finers based on Lagrangianmechanics with four degrees of freedom and secondly, to estimate the model parametersusing data from able-bodied individuals. In the literature there are a variety of mathematicalmodels that have been developed to describe the motion of the human finer. These mod-els offer little to no information on the underlying mechanisms or corresponding equationsof motion. Furthermore, these models do not provide information as to how they scalewith different anthropometries. The data used here is generated using an experimentalprocedure that considers the free response motion of each fnger segment with data cap-tured via a motion capture system. The angular data collected are then filtere and fitteto a linear second-order differential approximation of the equations of motion. The resultsof the study show that the free response motion of the segments is underdamped acrossflexion/extensio and ad/abduction

Kosmopolis : digital content in Greek language

“Kosmopolis” is a digital collection of twenty (20) Greek periodicals from the mid-19th up to the beginning of the 20th century. Apart from their historical and cultural value all twenty journals are of vital importance for research and education purposes in Greek Literature. “Kosmopolis” is being implemented by the Library & Information Service, University of Patras (UoP), Greece, within the framework of project TELEPHAESSA, in a partnership with the Department of Greek Literature and the Hellenic Literary and Historical Archive (E.L.I.A.), Athens. The basic objectives of “Kosmopolis” are to extend public and scientific community access to rare and valuable content, to enrich the digital content in Greek language, to contribute to the preservation efforts of historical and valuable material and to create and promote new research challenges in Greek literature and history through the scientific processing of the digital content. This poster aims to present the results of the project, as well as all the important challenges raised before and during the implementation of it, such as: 1. Defining the criteria for the selection of the particular periodicals. 2. Setting a cooperation framework with the external partners for the digitization process. 3. Development of administration tools for the cataloguing of the material by subject expert, but information non-literate, personnel. 4. Development of a user centered design for the web interface in order to provide a usable digital library. Project TELEPHAESSA and “Kosmopolis” is funded jointly by the European Social Fund and the Greek Ministry of Education within the 3rd Community Support Framework

Primary Hepatic Burkitt Lymphoma in a Kidney Transplant Recipient

This is a case of a renal transplant recipient who developed a primary hepatic Burkitt lymphoma a few years after kidney transplantation. The past medical history of the patient was significant for anti-HCV positivity with liver histopathology showing minimal changes of grades 0 and 1, stage 0. She received a graft from a deceased donor, with rabbit antithymocyte globulin and methyl-prednisolone, as induction therapy, and was maintained on azathioprine, cyclosporine, and low dose methyl-prednisolone with normal renal function. Four years after KTx she presented with fatigue, hepatomegaly, and impaired liver function and the workup revealed multiple, variable-sized, low density nodules in the liver, due to diffuse monotonous infiltration of highly malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma of B-cells, which turned out to be a Burkitt lymphoma. Bone marrow biopsy and spinal fluid exam were free of lymphoma cells. At time of lymphoma diagnosis she was shown to be positive for Epstein-Barr virus polymerase chain reaction. She received aggressive chemotherapy but died due to sepsis, as a result of toxicity of therapy

Primary Hepatic Burkitt Lymphoma in a Kidney Transplant Recipient.

This is a case of a renal transplant recipient who developed a primary hepatic Burkitt lymphoma a few years after kidney transplantation. The past medical history of the patient was significant for anti-HCV positivity with liver histopathology showing minimal changes of grades 0 and 1, stage 0. She received a graft from a deceased donor, with rabbit antithymocyte globulin and methyl-prednisolone, as induction therapy, and was maintained on azathioprine, cyclosporine, and low dose methyl-prednisolone with normal renal function. Four years after KTx she presented with fatigue, hepatomegaly, and impaired liver function and the workup revealed multiple, variable-sized, low density nodules in the liver, due to diffuse monotonous infiltration of highly malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma of B-cells, which turned out to be a Burkitt lymphoma. Bone marrow biopsy and spinal fluid exam were free of lymphoma cells. At time of lymphoma diagnosis she was shown to be positive for Epstein-Barr virus polymerase chain reaction. She received aggressive chemotherapy but died due to sepsis, as a result of toxicity of therapy

Respiratory Diseases Diagnosis Using Audio Analysis and Artificial Intelligence: A Systematic Review

Respiratory diseases represent a significant global burden, necessitating efficient diagnostic methods for timely intervention. Digital biomarkers based on audio, acoustics, and sound from the upper and lower respiratory system, as well as the voice, have emerged as valuable indicators of respiratory functionality. Recent advancements in machine learning (ML) algorithms offer promising avenues for the identification and diagnosis of respiratory diseases through the analysis and processing of such audio-based biomarkers. An ever-increasing number of studies employ ML techniques to extract meaningful information from audio biomarkers. Beyond disease identification, these studies explore diverse aspects such as the recognition of cough sounds amidst environmental noise, the analysis of respiratory sounds to detect respiratory symptoms like wheezes and crackles, as well as the analysis of the voice/speech for the evaluation of human voice abnormalities. To provide a more in-depth analysis, this review examines 75 relevant audio analysis studies across three distinct areas of concern based on respiratory diseases’ symptoms: (a) cough detection, (b) lower respiratory symptoms identification, and (c) diagnostics from the voice and speech. Furthermore, publicly available datasets commonly utilized in this domain are presented. It is observed that research trends are influenced by the pandemic, with a surge in studies on COVID-19 diagnosis, mobile data acquisition, and remote diagnosis systems