Cursive Eye-Writing With Smooth-Pursuit Eye-Movement Is Possible in Subjects With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder causing a progressive motor weakness of all voluntary muscles, whose progression challenges communication modalities such as handwriting or speech. The current study investigated whether ALS subjects can use Eye-On-Line (EOL), a novel eye-operated communication device allowing, after training, to voluntarily control smooth-pursuit eye-movements (SPEM) so as to eye-write in cursive. To that aim, ALS participants (n = 12) with preserved eye-movements but impaired handwriting were trained during six on-site visits. The primary outcome of the study was the recognition of eye-written digits (0–9) from ALS and healthy control subjects by naïve “readers.” Changes in oculomotor performance and the safety of EOL were also evaluated. At the end of the program, 69.4% of the eye-written digits from 11 ALS subjects were recognized by naïve readers, similar to the 67.3% found for eye-written digits from controls participants, with however, large inter-individual differences in both groups of “writers.” Training with EOL was associated with a transient fatigue leading one ALS subject to drop out the study at the fifth visit. Otherwise, itching eyes was the most common adverse event (3 subjects). This study shows that, despite the impact of ALS on the motor system, most ALS participants could improve their mastering of eye-movements, so as to produce recognizable eye-written digits, although the eye-traces sometimes needed smoothing to ease digit legibility from both ALS subjects and control participants. The capability to endogenously and voluntarily generate eye-traces using EOL brings a novel way to communicate for disabled individuals, allowing creative personal and emotional expression

HIV and the magnitude of pregnancy-related mortality in Pointe Noire, Congo

Objectives: The extent to which HIV affects pregnancy-related mortality in countries with high HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate the mortality of women of reproductive age by both HIV and pregnancy status, and quantify the excess mortality attributable to HIV during pregnancy in Pointe Noire, Congo. Design: Prospective mortuary investigation of all deaths in women aged 15–44 years, during 112 consecutive days. Methods: Mortality rates by HIV and pregnancy were computed. During the study period, 378 corpses were examined, blood was tested for HIV and pregnancy, relatives were interviewed and hospital files were reviewed. Denominators were obtained from a census with women-years assigned to pregnancy and/or HIV based on levels of fertility and HIV prevalence in the city. Results: The mortality rate was 32 times higher [95% confidence interval (CI), 25–39] among HIV-positive than among HIV-negative women. The relative increase in mortality associated with HIV was much higher in non-pregnant [rate ratio (RR), 41; 95% CI, 32–52] than in pregnant women (RR, 4; 95% CI, 2–9). Among HIV-positive women, pregnancy appeared to confer a survival benefit. Conclusion: These findings have important implications for the interpretation of trends in maternal mortality in the context of HIV. The apparent survival benefit of pregnant HIV-positive women is largely due to their low fertility in the latest stage of the disease. As the HIV epidemic matures and more women become severely ill, any potential adverse effects associated with HIV and pregnancy may be increasingly offset by selection effects, and maternal mortality may not increase further

HIV and the magnitude of pregnancy-related mortality in Pointe Noire, Congo

Objectives: The extent to which HIV affects pregnancy-related mortality in countries with high HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality is poorly understood. The objectives of this study were to investigate the mortality of women of reproductive age by both HIV and pregnancy status, and quantify the excess mortality attributable to HIV during pregnancy in Pointe Noire, Congo. Design: Prospective mortuary investigation of all deaths in women aged 15-44 years, during 112 consecutive days. Methods: Mortality rates by HIV and pregnancy were computed. During the study, period, 378 corpses were examined, blood was tested for HIV and pregnancy, relatives were interviewed and hospital files were reviewed. Denominators were obtained from a census with women-years assigned to pregnancy and/or HIV based on levels of fertility and HIV prevalence in the city. Results: The mortality rate was 32 times higher [95% confidence interval (CI), 25-39] among HIV-positive than among HIV-negative women. The relative increase in mortality associated with HIV was much higher in non-pregnant [rate ratio (RR), 41; 95% Cl, 32-52] than in pregnant women (RR, 4; 95% Cl, 2-9). Among HIV-positive women, pregnancy appeared to confer a survival benefit. Conclusion: These findings have important implications for the interpretation of trends in maternal mortality in the context of HIV. The apparent survival benefit of pregnant HIV-positive women is largely due to their low fertility in the latest stage of the disease. As the HIV epidemic matures and more women become severely ill, any potential adverse effects associated with HIV and pregnancy may be increasingly offset by selection effects, and maternal mortality may not increase further. (C) 2005 Lippincott Williams Wilkins

Nucleoside-Lipid-Based Nanocarriers for Sorafenib Delivery

Abstract Although the application of sorafenib, a small inhibitor of tyrosine protein kinases, to cancer treatments remains a worldwide option in chemotherapy, novel strategies are needed to address the low water solubility ( 80 μM) revealed a total cancer cell death in all cases. These results highlight the potential of nucleoside-lipid-based SLNs as drug delivery systems

Nucleoside-lipid-based nanocarriers for methylene blue delivery: potential application as anti-malarial drug

International audienc

Emotional feeling in patients suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

International audienceAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal and progressive neurodegenerative disorder involving motor neurons of the cerebral cortex, brain stem and spinal cord. Besides the motor signs, cognitive disorders and apathy may be present and may impact the survival time. These elements are therefore to be taken into consideration for medical care because they can influence the disease evolution. The literature shows low psychopathological disorders in this population despite its poor prognosis. The main objective of this study is to explore the emotional feeling in apathetic and non-apathetic patients in relation to their anxiety and depressive symptoms

Cursive Eye-Writing With Smooth-Pursuit Eye-Movement Is Possible in Subjects With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

International audienceAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder causing a progressive motor weakness of all voluntary muscles, whose progression challenges communication modalities such as handwriting or speech. The current study investigated whether ALS subjects can use Eye-On-Line (EOL), a novel eye-operated communication device allowing, after training, to voluntarily control smooth-pursuit eye-movements (SPEM) so as to eye-write in cursive. To that aim, ALS participants (n = 12) with preserved eye-movements but impaired handwriting were trained during six on-site visits. The primary outcome of the study was the recognition of eye-written digits (0-9) from ALS and healthy control subjects by naïve "readers." Changes in oculomotor performance and the safety of EOL were also evaluated. At the end of the program, 69.4% of the eye-written digits from 11 ALS subjects were recognized by naïve readers, similar to the 67.3% found for eye-written digits from controls participants, with however, large inter-individual differences in both groups of "writers." Training with EOL was associated with a transient fatigue leading one ALS subject to drop out the study at the fifth visit. Otherwise, itching eyes was the most common adverse event (3 subjects). This study shows that, despite the impact of ALS on the motor system, most ALS participants could improve their mastering of eye-movements, so as to produce recognizable eye-written digits, although the eye-traces sometimes needed smoothing to ease digit legibility from both ALS subjects and control participants. The capability to endogenously and voluntarily generate eye-traces using EOL brings a novel way to communicate for disabled individuals, allowing creative personal and emotional expression

Additional file 1: of Nucleoside-Lipid-Based Nanocarriers for Sorafenib Delivery

DLS data, zeta potentials, phase contrast microscopy, and TEM of SLNs synthetized in different experimental conditions, UHPLC dosages. (PDF 14710 kb

A large collection of integrated genomically characterized patient‐derived xenografts highlighting the heterogeneity of triple‐negative breast cancer

A large collection of integrated genomically characterized patient‐derived xenografts highlighting the heterogeneity of triple‐negative breast cance