Alpha oscillations reflect similar mapping mechanisms for localizing touch on hands and tools.

It has been suggested that our brain re-uses body-based computations to localize touch on tools, but the neural implementation of this process remains unclear. Neural oscillations in the alpha and beta frequency bands are known to map touch on the body in external and skin-centered coordinates, respectively. Here, we pinpointed the role of these oscillations during tool-extended sensing by delivering tactile stimuli to either participants' hands or the tips of hand-held rods.

A Somatosensory Computation That Unifies Limbs and Tools.

It is often claimed that tools are embodied by their user, but whether the brain actually repurposes its body-based computations to perform similar tasks with tools is not known. A fundamental computation for localizing touch on the body is trilateration. Here, the location of touch on a limb is computed by integrating estimates of the distance between sensory input and its boundaries (e.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System: Lights and shadows in hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocellular carcinoma diagnosis.

Background: Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is considered a secondary examination compared to computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), due to the risk of misdiagnosing intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The introduction of CEUS Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (CEUS LI-RADS) might overcome this limitation. Even though data from the literature seems promising, its reliability in real-life context has not been well-established yet.

Feasibility and safety of renal artery closure with advanced bipolar energy device during nephrectomy.

Introduction: Many devices are available to control the renal pedicle during nephrectomy but the gold standard is still a matter of debate. Nanotechnology has evolved to include vessel-sealing systems; companies guarantee an efficacy for vessels until 7 mm. The aim of our study is to evaluate feasibility and safety of closure of the renal artery with radiofrequency energy during nephrectomy.

Prevalence of MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and TSPyV in Actinic Keratosis Biopsy Specimens.

To date, 14 human polyomaviruses (HPyVs) have been identified using high-throughput technologies. Among them, MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and TSPyV present a skin tropism, but a causal role in skin diseases has been established only for MCPyV as a causative agent of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) and TSPyV as an etiological agent of Trichodysplasia Spinulosa (TS). In the search for a possible role for cutaneous HPyVs in the development of skin malignant lesions, we investigated the prevalence of MCPyV, HPyV6, HPyV7 and TSPyV in actinic keratosis (AK), a premalignant skin lesion that has the potential to progress towards a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Alpha Oscillations Are Involved in Localizing Touch on Handheld Tools.

The sense of touch is not restricted to the body but can also extend to external objects. When we use a handheld tool to contact an object, we feel the touch on the tool and not in the hand holding the tool. The ability to perceive touch on a tool actually extends along its entire surface, allowing the user to accurately localize where it is touched similarly as they would on their body.

A neural surveyor to map touch on the body.

Perhaps the most recognizable sensory map in all of neuroscience is the somatosensory homunculus. Although it seems straightforward, this simple representation belies the complex link between an activation in a somatotopic map and the associated touch location on the body. Any isolated activation is spatially ambiguous without a neural decoder that can read its position within the entire map, but how this is computed by neural networks is unknown.

Adherence, Persistence, and Effectiveness in Real Life. Multicenter Long-Term Study on the Use of Pirfenidone and Nintedanib in the Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Background: In the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), nintedanib and pirfenidone, with their different mechanisms of action, lead to a reduction in the rate of progression of the fibrosis process measured by the reduction of functional decline, and, in particular, the decrease in forced vital capacity (FVC) and of the diffusion capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO). The objective of this study was to analyze real-life adherence, persistence and efficacy in the use of pirfenidone and nintedanib in the treatment of IPF.

Methods: A non-interventional multicenter retrospective observational pharmacological study in real-life treat-ment at 1 and 2 years was conducted.

Lung Ultrasound to Evaluate Invasive Fungal Diseases after Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Invasive fungal diseases (IFDs) are a leading cause of infection-related-mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In this prospective pilot study, we investigated the use of bedside lung ultrasound (US) in IFD management. Ten consecutive hematological patients, who developed pulmonary IFD after HSCT, were included in the study.

Persistence and adherence to androgen deprivation therapy in men with prostate cancer: an administrative database study.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess adherence to and persistence with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in a large cohort of prostate cancer (PCa) patients selected from an administrative database, with special attention to elderly patients.

Methods: Patients treated with LHRH analogues, LHRH antagonists, the novel androgen antagonist enzalutamide, and the CYP17 inhibitor abiraterone were included spanning the years 2011-2017. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze persistence and adherence in older patients stratified by age (46-55, 56-65, 66-75, 76-85, and >85 years).

Somatosensory Cortex Efficiently Processes Touch Located Beyond the Body.

The extent to which a tool is an extension of its user is a question that has fascinated writers and philosophers for centuries [1]. Despite two decades of research [2-7], it remains unknown how this could be instantiated at the neural level. To this aim, the present study combined behavior, electrophysiology and neuronal modeling to characterize how the human brain could treat a tool like an extended sensory "organ.

Sufentanil sublingual tablet system (Zalviso) as an effective analgesic option after thoracic surgery: An observational study.

Introduction: Sufentanil sublingual tablet system (SSTS) (Zalviso) is a sublingual system for patient controlled analgesia, demonstrated to be an effective strategy for pain control after major abdominal and orthopedic surgery. We present a prospective observational study on the use of SSTS for the management of postoperative pain after thoracic surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Zalviso in reducing pain scores and increasing respiratory ability during postoperative period.

Knee Osteoarthritis after Reconstruction of Isolated Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: A Systematic Literature Review.

 The aim of this review was to analyze the current literature on osteoarthritic evolution of knees without any combined meniscal or ligament lesions undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction.  A PubMed/MEDLINE research was performed using the following keywords: "Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction" [Mesh] AND "Osteoarthritis, Knee" [Mesh]. Only English language literature and articles published after 2005 were included.

Thoracic Unilateral Spinal Cord Injury After Spinal Anaesthesia for Total Hip Replacement: Fate or Mistake?

Spinal anaesthesia is the most preffered anesthesia technique for total hip replacement, and its complications range from low entity (insignificant) to life threatening. The incidence of neurologic complications after neuraxial anaesthesia is not perfectly clear, although there are several described cases of spinal cord ischaemia. We present a case of unilateral T8-T11 spinal cord ischaemia following L2-L3 spinal anaesthesia for total hip replacement.

Use of photodynamic therapy and chitosan for inactivacion of Candida albicans in a murine model.

Background: The wide use of topical and systemic antifungal agents as the conventional treatment for oral candidiasis has caused Candida albicans to develop resistance to these agents. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chitosan on buccal candidiasis and study the possible enhancive effect of chitosan on the photosensitizer methylene blue.

Methods: Thirty-five DBA/2 immunosuppressed mice were orally inoculated with a suspension of Candida albicans.

Effectiveness of a motivational-behavioural skills protocol for oral hygiene among patients with hyposalivation.

Background: The main objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a motivational-behavioural skills protocol for plaque control in patients with hyposalivation.

Patients And Methods: In a randomised, evaluator-blinded, controlled trial, 60 subjects with hyposalivation (12 men and 48 women) were randomly assigned to two groups: the control group received basic oral hygiene instruction, while for the study (intervention) group, oral hygiene instruction was based on cognitive behavioural principles and motivational interviewing (MI). Both groups were given oral hygiene instruction once every 15 days, with a total of four sessions over a 2-month period: plaque extension and community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN), frequency and duration of brushing, frequency of interdental cleaning and scores based on scale of 'self-efficacy for brushing of the teeth'.

Placental volume in twin and triplet pregnancies measured by three-dimensional ultrasound at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation.

Objective: To compare the placental volume at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks' gestation between singleton and multiple pregnancies and to examine the possible effect of chorionicity on placental volume.

Methods: The placental volume was measured by three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound using the Virtual Organ Computer-aided AnaLysis (VOCAL) technique in 290 consecutive twin and 37 triplet pregnancies at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation. For the comparison of twin, triplet and singleton placental volumes each measurement was expressed as a multiple of the median (MoM) for singletons, previously established from the study of 417 normal fetuses at 11 + 0 to 13 + 6 weeks of gestation.

Severe myocardial dysfunction and coronary revascularization.

Severe myocardial dysfunction, characterized by global hypokinesis, or akinetic areas with hypokinesis of the remaining wall, and a very low ejection fraction (EF), has been considered to be a contraindication for coronary revascularization (CABG). However, myocardial scintigraphy and echo-stress data have shown that hypo- or akinetic areas can regain their contractility. Therefore, we expanded the indications for CABG, and performed operations even upon patients who were waiting for a heart transplant.