Imbalance and Falls in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: Causes and Recent Developments in Training and Sensor-Based Assessment.

Imbalance and falls in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) do not only reduce their quality of life but also their life expectancy. Aging-related symptoms as well as disease-specific motor and non-motor symptoms contribute to these conditions and should be treated when appropriate. In addition to an active lifestyle, advanced exercise training is useful and effective, especially for less medically responsive symptoms such as freezing of gait and postural instability at advanced stages.

Exploring the Impact of Mining on Community Health and Health Service Delivery: Perceptions of Key Informants Involved in Gold Mining Communities in Burkina Faso.

Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in natural resources but also faces widespread poverty. The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals brought increased attention to resource extraction projects, emphasizing their development potential in extraction regions. While mining companies are required to conduct environmental impact assessments, their effect on the project-affected communities' health mostly lacks systematic management, and their consideration of community perspectives is insufficient.

Deep Brain Stimulation Improves Parkinson's Disease-Associated Pain by Decreasing Spinal Nociception.

Dopamine exerts antinociceptive effects on pain in PD at cortical and spinal levels, whereas only cortical effects have been described for DBS, so far. By assessing the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) threshold at medication on, and DBS ON and OFF in two patients, we showed that DBS additionally decreases spinal nociception.

Evaluation of the Rotational Stability of Directional Deep Brain Stimulation Leads: A Case Series and Systematic Review.

Background: The rotational stability of directional deep brain stimulation leads is a major prerequisite for sustained clinical effects. Data on directional lead stability are limited and controversial.

Methods:  We aimed to evaluate the long-term rotational stability of directional leads and define confounding factors in our own population and the current literature.

Metabolic Syndrome in Affective Disorders: Associations with Dark Triad Personality Traits.

Previous research has focused on the relationship between affective disorders (AD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Aside from biological and lifestyle factors, personality traits were identified as influencing aspects. In particular, the Dark Triad personality traits (DT; Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) were connected to both AD and worse somatic health, thus possibly resulting in MetS.

Development and Validation of the Dystonia-Pain Classification System: A Multicenter Study.

Background: Dystonia is associated with disabling nonmotor symptoms like chronic pain (CP), which is prevalent in dystonia and significantly impacts the quality of life (QoL). There is no validated tool for assessing CP in dystonia, which substantially hampers pain management.

Objective: The aim was to develop a CP classification and scoring system for dystonia.

Dual-Task Treadmill Training for the Prevention of Falls in Parkinson's Disease: Rationale and Study Design.

Various factors, such as fear of falling, postural instability, and altered executive function, contribute to the high risk of falling in Parkinson's disease (PD). Dual-task training is an established method to reduce this risk. Motor-perceptual task combinations typically require a patient to walk while simultaneously engaging in a perceptual task.

Early Switch From Intravenous to Oral Antibiotics in Skin and Soft Tissue Infections: An Algorithm-Based Prospective Multicenter Pilot Trial.

Background: In hospitalized patients with skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), intravenous (IV) empiric antibiotic treatment is initiated. The best time point for switching from IV to oral treatment is unknown. We used an algorithm-based decision tree for the switch from IV to oral antibiotics within 48 hours and aimed to investigate the treatment outcome of this concept.

Central Retinal Artery Occlusion: Current Practice, Awareness and Prehospital Delays in Switzerland.

Background And Purpose: Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) often leads to permanent monocular blindness. Hence, early recognition and rapid re-perfusion is of paramount importance. This study aims to describe prehospital pathways in CRAO compared to stroke and study the knowledge about CRAO.

[The new Parkinson's disease pain classification system (PD-PCS)].

Background: Chronic pain is a common non-motor symptom in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Aim: To facilitate the diagnosis of pain in PD, we developed a new classification system the Parkinson's disease pain classification system (PD-PCS) and translated the corresponding validated questionnaire into German.

Methods: A causal relationship of the respective pain syndrome with PD can be determined by four questions before assigning it hierarchically into one of three pain categories (neuropathic, nociceptive and nociplastic).

Parkinson's Disease and Deep Brain Stimulation Have an Impact on My Life: A Multimodal Study on the Experiences of Patients and Family Caregivers.

Parkinson's disease (PD) has a large impact on patients' physical and mental health, which also greatly affects their family caregivers. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as an effective treatment for PD, but different authors have expressed their concerns about the potential impact of DBS on personality and identity. Our study aims at better understanding how patients and family caregivers experience life with PD and DBS, the impact of both on their personal and social lives, and their perception of the changes that have occurred as a result of the disease and the treatment.

Self-worth and bonding emotions are related to well-being in health-care providers: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Interacting with patients can elicit a myriad of emotions in health-care providers. This may result in satisfaction or put providers at risk for stress-related conditions such as burnout. The present study attempted to identify emotions that promote provider well-being.

Water and health in mining settings in sub-Saharan Africa: A mixed methods geospatial visualization.

Industrial mining transforms local landscapes, including important health determinants like clean water and sanitation. In this paper, we combined macro-level quantitative and micro-level qualitative data to show how mining projects affect water infrastructures and ultimately the health of affected communities. Although we observed a positive trend of water infrastructure in mining settings, surrounding communities are also characterized by water scarcity and degradation of water quality.

Facilitatory rTMS over the Supplementary Motor Cortex Impedes Gait Performance in Parkinson Patients with Freezing of Gait.

Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) occurs frequently in situations with high environmental complexity. The supplementary motor cortex (SMC) is regarded as a major network node that exerts cortical input for motor control in these situations. We aimed at assessing the impact of single-session (excitatory) intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) of the SMC on established walking during FOG provoking situations such as passing through narrow spaces and turning for directional changes.

How to bring research evidence into policy? Synthesizing strategies of five research projects in low-and middle-income countries.

Background: Addressing the uptake of research findings into policy-making is increasingly important for researchers who ultimately seek to contribute to improved health outcomes. The aims of the Swiss Programme for Research on Global Issues for Development (r4d Programme) initiated by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation are to create and disseminate knowledge that supports policy changes in the context of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This paper reports on five r4d research projects and shows how researchers engage with various stakeholders, including policy-makers, in order to assure uptake of the research results.

Decreased grey matter in the postural control network is associated with lateral flexion of the trunk in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Disruption of central networks, particularly of those responsible for integrating multimodal afferents in a spatial reference frame, were proposed in the pathophysiology of lateral trunk flexion in Parkinson's disease (PD). Knowledge about the underlying neuroanatomical structures is limited.

Objective: To investigate if decreased focal grey matter (GM) is associated with trunk flexion to the side and if the revealed GM clusters correlate with a disturbed perception of verticality in PD.

The Parkinson disease pain classification system: results from an international mechanism-based classification approach.

Pain is a common nonmotor symptom in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) but the correct diagnosis of the respective cause remains difficult because suitable tools are lacking, so far. We developed a framework to differentiate PD- from non-PD-related pain and classify PD-related pain into 3 groups based on validated mechanistic pain descriptors (nociceptive, neuropathic, or nociplastic), which encompass all the previously described PD pain types. Severity of PD-related pain syndromes was scored by ratings of intensity, frequency, and interference with daily living activities.

Evaluation of Automatic Segmentation of Thalamic Nuclei through Clinical Effects Using Directional Deep Brain Stimulation Leads: A Technical Note.

Automatic anatomical segmentation of patients' anatomical structures and modeling of the volume of tissue activated (VTA) can potentially facilitate trajectory planning and post-operative programming in deep brain stimulation (DBS). We demonstrate an approach to evaluate the accuracy of such software for the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) using directional leads. In an essential tremor patient with asymmetrical brain anatomy, lead placement was adjusted according to the suggested segmentation made by the software (Brainlab).

Do directional deep brain stimulation leads rotate after implantation?

Background: The two middle contacts of directional leads (d-leads) for deep brain stimulation are split into three segments, allowing current steering toward desired axial directions. To facilitate programming, their final orientation needs to be reliably determined. However, it is currently unclear whether d-leads rotate after implantation.

Altered activation and connectivity of the supplementary motor cortex at motor initiation in Parkinson's disease patients with freezing.

Objective: Motor initiation failure is a key feature of freezing of gait (FOG) due to Parkinson's disease (PD). The supplementary motor cortex (SMC) plays a central role in its pathophysiology. We aimed at investigating SMC activation, connectivity and plasticity with regard to motor initiation in FOG.

Inclusion of Health in Impact Assessment: A Review of Current Practice in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Natural resource extraction projects, including those in the mining sector, have various effects on human health and wellbeing, with communities in resource-rich areas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) being particularly vulnerable. While impact assessments (IA) can predict and mitigate negative effects, it is unclear whether and to what extent health aspects are included in current IA practice in SSA. For collecting IA reports, we contacted 569 mining projects and 35 ministries regulating the mining sector.

Investigating Health Impacts of Natural Resource Extraction Projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mozambique, and Tanzania: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study.

Background: Natural resource extraction projects offer both opportunities and risks for sustainable development and health in host communities. Often, however, the health of the community suffers. Health impact assessment (HIA) can mitigate the risks and promote the benefits of development but is not routinely done in the developing regions that could benefit the most.

Temporal discrimination is altered in patients with isolated asymmetric and jerky upper limb tremor.

Background: Unilateral or very asymmetric upper limb tremors with a jerky appearance are poorly investigated. Their clinical classification is an unsolved problem because their classification as essential tremor versus dystonic tremor is uncertain. To avoid misclassification as essential tremor or premature classification as dystonic tremor, the term indeterminate tremor was suggested.