Intelligent Sensory Pen for Aiding in the Diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease from Dynamic Handwriting Analysis.

In this paper, we propose a pen device capable of detecting specific features from dynamic handwriting tests for aiding on automatic Parkinson's disease identification. The method used in this work uses machine learning to compare the raw signals from different sensors in the device coupled to a pen and extract relevant information such as tremors and hand acceleration to diagnose the patient clinically. Additionally, the datasets composed of raw signals from healthy and Parkinson's disease patients acquired here are made available to further contribute to research related to this topic.

Decompressive craniectomy versus conservative treatment: limits and possibilities in malignant stroke.

Background: Malignant infarction of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) occurs in a subgroup of patients with ischemic stroke and early decompressive craniectomy (DC) is one of its treatments.

Objective: To investigate the functional outcome of patients with malignant ischemic stroke treated with decompressive craniectomy at a neurological emergency center in Northeastern Brazil.

Methods: Prospective cohort study, in which 25 patients were divided into two groups: those undergoing surgical treatment with DC and those who continued to receive standard conservative treatment (CT).

Clinical Features and Inflammatory Markers in Autoimmune Encephalitis Associated With Antibodies Against Neuronal Surface in Brazilian Patients.

Acute encephalitis is a debilitating neurological disorder associated with brain inflammation and rapidly progressive encephalopathy. Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is increasingly recognized as one of the most frequent causes of encephalitis, however signs of inflammation are not always present at the onset which may delay the diagnosis. We retrospectively assessed patients with AE associated with antibodies against neuronal surface diagnosed in reference centers in Northeast of Brazil between 2014 to 2017.

THE OLD ONE TECHNIQUE IN A NEW STYLE: DEVELOPING PROCEDURAL SKILLS IN PARACENTESIS IN A LOW COST SIMULATOR MODEL.

Background: Paracentesis is a routine medical procedure quite relevant in clinical practice. There are risks of complications related to paracentesis, so it is essential a proper trainee for the younger practicer.

Objective: The article describes the construction and the application of a low cost paracentesis simulator for undergraduate medical students and it also describes the perception of students about the simulator as well.

Oxidative stress and plasma lipoproteins in cancer patients.

Objective: To evaluate the relation between oxidative stress and lipid profile in patients with different types of cancer.

Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional. A total of 58 subjects were evaluated, 33 males, divided into two groups of 29 patients each: Group 1, patients with cancer of the digestive tract and accessory organs; Group 2 patients with other types of cancers, all admitted to a public hospital.

Correlation of impaired subjective visual vertical and postural instability in Parkinson's disease.

Perception of verticality is essential for postural control. On the other hand, postural instability is one of the cardinal features in Parkinson's disease (PD). Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the vertical perception using the subjective visual vertical test in PD patients with different degrees of postural instability and in different stages of disease.

Anterior portion of the cingulate gyrus: A novel location for transient global amnesia?

Transient global amnesia (TGA) is characterized by abrupt transient loss of anterograde memory, lasting up to 24 hours, and no other focal neurological signs. We report the case of a right-handed 71-year-old female patient who presented temporal-spatial disorientation 5 minutes after ingestion of 1000 ml of iodinated contrast. The patient had mild temporal-spatial disorientation, with significant deficit in anterograde memory.

Limbic encephalitis as the presenting symptom of oesophageal adenocarcinoma: another cancer to search?

Limbic encephalitis is a syndrome characterised by irritability, depression, sleeping disturbance, convulsion, hallucination and short-period memory loss that is commonly associated with a malignancy even if there is no evidence of it by the time of presentation. Most reported cases of limbic encephalitis as a paraneoplastic syndrome are associated with small-cell lung cancer and lymphoma. This article is a case report of a patient with limbic encephalitis associated with an oesophageal adenocarcinoma.

Abnormal visual activation in Parkinson's disease patients.

Among nonmotor symptoms observed in Parkinson's disease (PD) dysfunction in the visual system, including hallucinations, has a significant impact in their quality of life. To further explore the visual system in PD patients we designed two fMRI experiments comparing 18 healthy volunteers with 16 PD patients without visual complaints in two visual fMRI paradigms: the flickering checkerboard task and a facial perception paradigm. PD patients displayed a decreased activity in the primary visual cortex (Broadmann area 17) bilaterally as compared to healthy volunteers during flickering checkerboard task and increased activity in fusiform gyrus (Broadmann area 37) during facial perception paradigm.

Clinical changes of cervical dystonia pattern in long-term botulinum toxin treated patients.

Cervical dystonia (CD) is a complex disorder but the response to long-term botulinum toxin (BTX) therapy is satisfactory in most cases. Bad results are attributed by some authors to changes in muscle activation. Our purpose is to verify if the change in head deviation affects negatively the response to BTX therapy in a long-term follow-up, and if there are any differences in clinical parameters of these patients in comparison to those with stable pattern.

Combination of chemical analyses and animal feeding trials as reliable procedures to assess the safety of heat processed soybean seeds.

This study assessed whether chemical analyses are sufficient to guarantee the safety of heat processing of soybeans (SB) for human/animal consumption. The effects of extrusion and dry-toasting were analyzed upon seed composition and performance of broiler chicks. None of these induced appreciable changes in protein content and amino acid composition.

Depression in Parkinson's disease: convergence from voxel-based morphometry and functional magnetic resonance imaging in the limbic thalamus.

Depression is the most frequent psychiatric disorder in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although evidence suggests that depression in PD is related to the degenerative process that underlies the disease, further studies are necessary to better understand the neural basis of depression in this population of patients. In order to investigate neuronal alterations underlying the depression in PD, we studied thirty-six patients with idiopathic PD.

[Subjective visual vertical evaluation in normal Brazilian subjects].

Otolith function can be evaluated by subjective visual vertical (SVV) that determine the capacity of a subject to judge if the objects are on vertical position with absence of any visual reference. The aim of this study was to evaluate the SVV in a sample of normal Brazilian subjects using a portable device. Measurements of SVV were performed in 160 normal subjects (aged from 16 to 85).

Pseudoathetosis: report of three patients.

We report on 3 patients with pseudoathetosis, which are involuntary, slow, writhing movements due to loss of proprioception.