Levetiracetam in clinical practice: efficacy and tolerability in epilepsy.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and tolerability of levetiracetam (LEV) in patients with different epilepsy syndromes. METHODS: We evaluated epileptic patients seen in the previous 18 months, including all patients with present or past exposure to LEV. Tolerability of LEV therapy was evaluated in all patients; efficacy was evaluated only in patients who had received LEV for at least six months. Two hundred and two patients were included in the study. Patients were considered responsive when showing a > 50% reduction in seizures frequency and non-responders when seizure frequency was unchanged, worsened or showed a reduction < 50%. RESULTS: Thirty patients did not complete six months of LEV treatment and dropped out. 57.4% of the patients with uncontrolled seizures treated for at least six months were responders, with 27.7% seizure free. Adverse effects were observed in 46 patients (23%) and were responsible for early drop out in 26. Adverse effects occurred significantly more often in females than in males (30.6% vs 13.2%); moreover, nearly 30% of women with adverse effects complained of more than one adverse effect, while this was never observed in male patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows LEV as a well tolerated and effective treatment, both in monotherapy and as an add-on. Further investigations on larges samples are needed to investigate the issue of gender-related tolerability

Discrete-time dynamic modeling for software and services composition as an extension of the Markov chain approach

Discrete Time Markov Chains (DTMCs) and Continuous Time Markov Chains (CTMCs) are often used to model various types of phenomena, such as, for example, the behavior of software products. In that case, Markov chains are widely used to describe possible time-varying behavior of “self-adaptive” software systems, where the transition from one state to another represents alternative choices at the software code level, taken according to a certain probability distribution. From a control-theoretical standpoint, some of these probabilities can be interpreted as control signals and others can just be observed. However, the translation between a DTMC or CTMC model and a corresponding first principle model, that can be used to design a control system is not immediate. This paper investigates a possible solution for translating a CTMC model into a dynamic system, with focus on the control of computing systems components. Notice that DTMC models can be translated as well, providing additional information

Innovative protocol for " ex vitro rooting" on olive micropropagation

Abstract The commercial micropropagation of olive trees is currently limited by the production cost. An ex vitro method for olive microshoot rooting could reduce both the production cost per plant and the propagation time. In this study a successful ex vitro rooting protocol tested on seven olive cultivars is reported. The explants of cv. Maurino were collected from fifth, sixth, and seventh proliferative subcultures carried out on MSM medium, while for the other cultivars the explants were collected from only seventh proliferative subculture. Continuous light during the rooting phase was a prerequisite for the success of the ex vitro protocol. The best source of microshoots for a high rooting percentage was the seventh proliferative subculture. Cvs. Coratina, Maremmano, Maurino, Picholine, and S. Francesco showed high rooting percentages with a range of 62–76%; whereas for cvs. Correggiolo and Frantoio the experimental conditions need to be optimised. Up to 90% of the rooted microplants survived, and continuous growth of shoots was subsequently observed. The proposed protocol can be easily applied to several different olive cultivars to produce microplants by commercial laboratories. The approach makes olive micropropagation in the nursery industry both possible and profitable

Les sessions de recherche comme contexte des requêtes

National audienceLa tâche d'identification des sessions des utilisateurs d'un moteur de recherche a suscité la construction de plusieurs collections de référence et l'élaboration de multiples méthodes de détection automatique. Cette tâche constitue en effet le point de départ de nombreuses études s'intéressant au contexte de la recherche et aux besoins d'information des utilisateurs. Nous détaillons dans cette étude la construction d'une collection de référence à partir d'un journal de requêtes issu du portail OpenEdition, et nous présentons une évaluation des annotations manuelles constituant cette collection. La référence obtenue contient 947 requêtes pour 406 sessions, avec un taux d'accord (Kappa de Cohen) entre les annotateurs allant de 0, 47 à 0, 61. Cette collection servira à l'évaluation de méthodes de détection automatique des sessions ainsi qu'à des études portant sur les reformulations de requêtes

A Low Energy FPGA Platform for Real-Time Event-Based Control

We present a wireless sensor node suitable for event-based real-time control networks. The node achieves low-power operation thanks to tight clock synchronisation with the network master (at present we refer to a star network but extensions are envisaged). Also, the node does not employ any programmable device but rather an FPGA, thus being inherently immune to attacks based on code tampering. Experimental results on a simple laboratory apparatus are presented

The Genetic and Environmental Factors of Childhood Obesity and Determining its Overall Effect on Wellbeing

The purpose of this paper is to provide a complete list of the factors which contribute to childhood obesity and use that knowledge to determine ways in which the disease affects an individual’s health, can be prevented, and those with the disease can become healthy

Feature Papers of Forecasting 2021

Articles in this book are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. The book as a whole is distributed by MDPI under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND

Girls' Schooling Experience in Frankadua, Ghana: A Case Study

For the last three decades, girls education has been at the forefront of international development discourse on education. Despite all the available evidence that underscores the gains that accrue to society from women's education, gender disparities in education still persist. Using a critical feminist lens, my research project explores qualitatively the elements that pose as barriers to gender equality for girls in the formal schooling system of Frankadua. My research project seeks to understand the causes of gender inequality and to engage in and with the literature to identify strategies that may be effective in reducing or eliminating them. By examining factors such as spatial dimensions, culture, and institutions in general and curriculum development, school structure and classroom practices in particular, my research emphasizes the need for initiatives to move beyond measuring parity to adequately address the issue of gender equality in primary schools throughout Ghana