Evaluation of severe insomnia in the general population: results of a European multinational survey.

The epidemiology of severe insomnia and its effect on quality of life and healthcare consumption was assessed in a survey of the general population of five northern European countries. Applying established consumer sampling techniques, insomnia sufferers were selected from the general population using a questionnaire, conducted by face-to-face interview, and severity of insomnia was ranked (severe, mild/moderate, no sleep complaint) using a specific algorithm. Population samples were matched according to case control methodology for age, gender and geographical region.

Efficacy of misoprostol in the prophylaxis of gastroduodenal lesions induced by short-term nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug therapy in elderly patients. A multicenter double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Advanced age is an established risk factor for gastrointestinal toxicity of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, and the duration of use of these agents in elderly patients should be kept as short as possible. A multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of misoprostol in preventing gastrointestinal toxicity in elderly patients (> or = 65 years) given nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents for no more than ten days. Patients who were to receive a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent for ten days to treat an acute rheumatic condition were randomly allocated to treatment with either a placebo or misoprostol in a dose of 200 micrograms bid.

Human locomotion analysis: determination of muscular forces and nervous orders.

This study gives a modelization of gait which connects the kinematic and mechanical parameters of the motion with the characteristic ones of the muscular contraction (F, l, i, y). The problem, formulated from the equations of the motion related to a standard human being, is solved in terms of a minimization problem, taking into account the anatomical, physiological and energetic constraints of this motion by means of numerical calculations on a computer I.B.