Memory-Guided Saccades in Subacute and Chronic Stroke: Secondary Data Analysis of the N-PEP-12 Clinical Study.

Background: Ischemic stroke (IS) often leads to cognitive and motor impairments. This study aimed to investigate whether Memory-Guided Saccade Tasks (MGSTs) could be used to assess cognitive function in stroke patients.

Methods: A secondary data analysis was conducted on 62 individuals with supratentorial IS.

Antibiotic Prescription and In-Hospital Mortality in COVID-19: A Prospective Multicentre Cohort Study.

Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, empiric antibiotics (ATBs) have been prescribed on a large scale in both in- and outpatients. We aimed to assess the impact of antibiotic treatment on the outcomes of hospitalised patients with moderate and severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: We conducted a prospective multicentre cohort study in six clinical hospitals, between January 2021 and May 2021.

N-Pep-12 supplementation after ischemic stroke positively impacts frequency domain QEEG.

Background: N-Pep-12 is a dietary supplement with neuroprotective and pro-cognitive effects, as shown in experimental models and clinical studies on patients after ischemic stroke. We tested the hypothesis that N-Pep-12 influences quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) parameters in patients with subacute to chronic supratentorial ischemic lesions.

Methods: We performed secondary data analysis on an exploratory clinical trial (ISRCTN10702895), assessing the efficacy and safety of 90 days of once-daily treatment with 90 mg N-Pep-12 on neurocognitive function and neurorecovery outcome in patients with post-stroke cognitive impairment against a control group.

Cognitive function: holarchy or holacracy?

Cognition is the most complex function of the brain. When exploring the inner workings of cognitive processes, it is crucial to understand the complexity of the brain's dynamics. This paper aims to describe the integrated framework of the cognitive function, seen as the result of organization and interactions between several systems and subsystems.

Anticoagulant protein S in COVID-19: low activity, and associated with outcome.

COVID-19 disease was associated with both thrombo-embolic events and in-situ thrombi formation in small vessels. Antiphospholipidic antibodies were found in some studies. Assessment of protein S activity in patients with COVID-19 as a cause of this prothrombotic state, and of the association of protein S activity with worse outcome.

Cerebrolysin and Aquaporin 4 Inhibition Improve Pathological and Motor Recovery after Ischemic Stroke.

Background: Edema represents one of the earliest negative markers of survival and consecutive neurological deficit following stroke. The mixture of cellular and vasogenic edema makes treating this condition complicated, and to date, there is no pathogenically oriented drug treatment for edema, which leaves parenteral administration of a hypertonic solution as the only non-surgical alternative.

Objective: New insights into water metabolism in the brain have opened the way for molecular targeted treatment, with aquaporin 4 channels (AQP4) taking center stage.

VaD - An Integrated Framework for Cognitive Rehabilitation.

Background & Objective: Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, with clinical features that depend on neural substrates affected by the vascular lesions. Like most neurological disorders, it involves alterations that range from the molecular level to neuronal networks. Such alterations begin as compensatory mechanisms that reshape every subsystem involved in the brain's homeostasis.

Macrophage activation syndrome at the onset of glucocorticoid-resistant systemic lupus erythematosus: a case report.

Introduction: Macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) is a life-threatening hyperinflammatory state mediated by uncontrolled cytokine storm and haemophagocytosis. Although rarely reported, MAS might occur in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), notably as an inaugural manifestation. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are the cornerstone of SLE therapy.

Deceleration and Acceleration Capacities in Risk Stratification for Arrhythmias in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk for both supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias. Autonomic dysregulation may be responsible for the development of arrhythmias in these patients, and its analysis could be useful for identifying those at high risk for arrhythmias.

Study Question: Our purpose is to analyze the role of acceleration capacity (AC) and deceleration capacity (DC), novel markers of the autonomic balance, as potential arrhythmic risk predictors in patients with COPD.

TERT rs2736100 A>C SNP and JAK2 46/1 haplotype significantly contribute to the occurrence of JAK2 V617F and CALR mutated myeloproliferative neoplasms - a multicentric study on 529 patients.

Polycythaemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythaemia (ET) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) represent typical myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN), usually characterized by specific somatic driver mutations (JAK2 V617F, CALR and MPL). JAK2 46/1 haplotype and telomerase reverse transcriptase gene (TERT) rs2736100 A>C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) could represent a large fraction of the genetic predisposition seen in MPN. The rs10974944 C>G SNP, tagging the JAK2 46/1 haplotype, and the TERT rs2736100 A>C SNP were genotyped in 529 MPN patients with known JAK2 V617F, CALR and MPL status, and 433 controls.

The ubiquitin proteasomal system: a potential target for the management of Alzheimer's disease.

The cellular quality control system degrades abnormal or misfolded proteins and consists of three different mechanisms: the ubiquitin proteasomal system (UPS), autophagy and molecular chaperones. Any disturbance in this system causes proteins to accumulate, resulting in neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease and prion or polyglutamine diseases. Alzheimer's disease is currently one of the most common age-related neurodegenerative diseases.

P Wave Signal-Averaged Electrocardiography in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with higher incidence of supraventricular arrhythmias. Atrial late potentials (ALP) detected by P-wave signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) could be useful in detecting the patients at risk for supraventricular arrhythmias. Our objective was to assess the role of P-wave SAECG and ALP detection for arrhythmic risk evaluation of the patients with exacerbated COPD.

Acute Bilateral Phrenic Neuropathy: from Diabetes Mellitus to Focal Guillain-Barré Syndrome.

Bilateral phrenic neuropathy is a rare cause of acute ventilatory failure posing both diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties. We report the case of a 55-years-old diabetic male presenting with acute onset orthopnea. Clinical and radioscopic evaluations suggested bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis, electroneuromyographic studies revealed bilateral acute phrenic neuropathy, and cerebrospinal fluid examination found albuminocytologic dissociation.

Role of signal-averaged electrocardiography and ventricular late potentials in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have an increased risk for cardiac arrhythmias. Ventricular late potentials (VLP) on signal-averaged electrocardiography (SAECG) are associated with an increased risk for malignant ventricular arrhythmias. Our aim is to investigate the modifications of SAECG parameters and the presence of VLP as possible indicators of proarrhythmic substrate in patients with COPD.

Multiple Intestinal Lymphoma.

Gastrointestinal tract is the most common location for extralymphonodular lymphomas. The small intestine is affected only in 9% of the cases. Intestinal lymphoma may have single or multiple location.

Reading beyond the glance: eye tracking in neurosciences.

From an interdisciplinary approach, the neurosciences (NSs) represent the junction of many fields (biology, chemistry, medicine, computer science, and psychology) and aim to explore the structural and functional aspects of the nervous system. Among modern neurophysiological methods that "measure" different processes of the human brain to salience stimuli, a special place belongs to eye tracking (ET). By detecting eye position, gaze direction, sequence of eye movement and visual adaptation during cognitive activities, ET is an effective tool for experimental psychology and neurological research.

Prevalence and Characteristics of Pulmonary Hypertension Associated with COPD - A Pilot Study in Patients Referred to a Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program Clinic.

Objectives: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a common complication of chronic obstructive pulmo-nary disease (COPD); its prevalence is currently unknown. The objectives of the study were: (a) to provide data on the prevalence of PH among the COPD patients referred to a pulmonary rehabilitation program; (b) to evaluate possible correlations of PH with the severity of COPD, the presence of hypoxemia and polycythemia.

Material And Methods: We retrospectively studied 31 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of COPD hospitalised in our clinic in which echocardiography was performed.

Acute intermittent porphyria--diagnostic and treatment traps.

Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) is a rare metabolic disease defined by mutations coding the deaminaze enzyme of porphobilinogen (PBGD). Porphyrias are somewhat misdiagnosed as a consequence of light symptoms in patients. Acute forms of porphyria can be life-threatening, so a correct diagnosis and an accurate treatment are highly important.

Airway responses during desflurane versus sevoflurane administration via a laryngeal mask airway in smokers.

Cigarette smokers have a greater risk of respiratory complications during anesthesia compared with nonsmokers. It is not known whether the relative pungency of an inhaled anesthetic further contributes to the smokers' increased rate of such complications. In the present study, we tested whether the use of a more pungent anesthetic (desflurane) would result in a higher rate of coughing, breath holding, laryngospasm, or desaturation among patients who smoke.

Airway reflexes return more rapidly after desflurane anesthesia than after sevoflurane anesthesia.

Patients given a more soluble inhaled anesthetic usually take longer to awaken from anesthesia than do patients given a less soluble anesthetic. In the present study, we tested whether such a delay in awakening was also associated with a delay in restoration of protective airway reflexes. Patients were randomly assigned to receive desflurane (n = 31) or sevoflurane (n = 33) via a laryngeal mask airway.

Reversal of direct thrombin inhibition after cardiopulmonary bypass in a patient with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Unlabelled: We treated persistent hemorrhage after cardiopulmonary bypass in a heart transplant recipient who had received anticoagulation with the direct thrombin inhibitor bivalirudin by a combination therapy aimed at reducing the plasma concentration of the thrombin antagonist (hemodialysis and modified ultrafiltration), increasing the concentration of thrombin at bleeding sites (recombinant factor VIIa), and increasing the plasma concentration of other coagulation factors (fresh frozen plasma and cryoprecipitate). The bleeding was controlled, and there was no thrombotic complication.

Implications: A combination of modified ultrafiltration, hemodialysis, and the administration of recombinant factor VIIa, fresh frozen plasma, and cryoprecipitate may reverse the anticoagulant effect of bivalirudin.

The safety and efficacy of sevoflurane anesthesia in infants and children with congenital heart disease.

Unlabelled: We tested the hypothesis that sevoflurane is a safer and more effective anesthetic than halothane during the induction and maintenance of anesthesia for infants and children with congenital heart disease undergoing cardiac surgery. With a background of fentanyl (5 microg/kg bolus, then 5 microg. kg(-1).

The effects of inhaled nitric oxide on postoperative pulmonary hypertension in infants and children undergoing surgical repair of congenital heart disease.

Unlabelled: The role of inhaled nitric oxide in the immediate post-bypass period after surgical repair of congenital heart disease is uncertain. In a controlled, randomized, double-blind study, we tested the hypothesis that inhaled nitric oxide (NO) would reduce pulmonary hypertension immediately after surgical repair of congenital heart disease in 40 patients with preoperative evidence of pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary arterial pressure [MPAP] exceeding 50% of mean systemic arterial pressure [MSAP]). Patients were then followed in the intensive care unit (ICU) to document the incidence of severe pulmonary hypertension.