Lactase non-persistent genotype distribution in Italy.

Background: Adult-type hypolactasia is a frequent condition of lactose malabsorption; in Europe the distribution of adult-type hypolactasia have been shown to display a North-South gradient. Genotyping for LCT-13910 C>T polymorphism has been proposed as a useful diagnostic marker of adult-type hypolactasia. Data concerning lactase non-persistent genotype distribution in Italy are confused and not well characterized.

Effect of obesity onset on pendular energy transduction at spontaneous walking speed: Prader-Willi versus nonsyndromal obese individuals.

Objective: To compare the mechanical external work (Wext ) and pendular energy transduction (Rstep ) at spontaneous walking speed (Ss ) in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) versus subjects with nonsyndromal obesity (OB) to investigate whether the early onset of obesity allows PWS subjects to adopt energy conserving gait mechanics.

Design And Methods: Wext and Rstep were computed using kinematic data acquired by an optoelectronic system and compared in 15 PWS (BMI = 39.5 ± 1.

Osteopathic manipulative treatment in obese patients with chronic low back pain: a pilot study.

Background: Obesity is frequently associated with various musculoskeletal disorders including chronic low back pain (cLBP). Osteopathy is a discipline emphasizing the conservative treatment of the disease in an olistic vision. We designed a randomized controlled study to investigate whether Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) combined with specific exercises (SE) is more effective than SE alone in obese patients with cLBP.

Effects of tiotropium and formoterol on quiet breathing pattern assessed by optoelectronic plethysmography in COPD patients: a pilot study.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterized by an airflow limitation that is not fully reversible. β(2)-agonists and anticholinergics represent the most effective therapeutic options. Optoelectronic plethysmography (OEP) is a novel technology, which provides noninvasive steady-state measurements of chest wall kinematics, together with the assessment of the relative contribution of all different thoracic and abdominal compartments to tidal volume.

Gait pattern in myotonic dystrophy (Steinert disease): a kinematic, kinetic and EMG evaluation using 3D gait analysis.

We investigated the gait pattern of 10 patients with myotonic dystrophy (Steinert disease; 4 females, 6 males; age: 41.5+7.6 years), compared to 20 healthy controls, through manual muscle test and gait analysis, in terms of kinematic, kinetic and EMG data.

Mechanisms underlying center of pressure displacements in obese subjects during quiet stance.

Objective: the aim of this study was to assess whether reduced balance capacity in obese subjects is secondary to altered sensory information.

Design: cross sectional study.

Subjects: 44 obese (BMI = 40.

Characterisation of balance capacity in Prader-Willi patients.

Being severely overweight is a distinctive clinical feature of Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). This explorative study aims to characterise balance capacity in PWS as compared to non-genetically obese patients (O) and to a group of normal-weight individuals (CG). We enrolled 14 PWS patients: 8 females and 6 males (BMI = 41.

Effect of obesity and low back pain on spinal mobility: a cross sectional study in women.

Background: obesity is nowadays a pandemic condition. Obese subjects are commonly characterized by musculoskeletal disorders and particularly by non-specific chronic low back pain (cLBP). However, the relationship between obesity and cLBP remains to date unsupported by an objective measurement of the mechanical behaviour of the spine and its morphology in obese subjects.

Virtual reality for the upper limb motor training in stroke: a case report.

In this report we describe the effects of a virtual reality (VR) training addressed to the upper limb of a stroke patient. After 20 days of rehabilitation sessions consisting of physical therapy and VR rehabilitation, the subject was evaluated by means of kinematics and clinical scales. Results showed the improvement of paretic arm mobility, in terms of quantitative parameters and clinical scales, suggesting that VR training could represent a valuable tool to supplement the traditional rehabilitation provided by the physical therapist.

Behaviour of motor disabilities and appearance of visual hallucinations in patients with Parkinson's disease in a virtual environment.

We studied 23 Parkinson's disease (PD) non-demented patients and 15 controls in Virtual Reality (VR) environments reproducing usual daily living situations. In VR sessions, PD patients performed their actions worse than controls, in terms of time of execution in exploration and pointing, precision as objects avoiding, and in semantic incidental memory task. We observed clear differences of performances between on and off status medication, with a global worsening during off phase.

Walking in an immersive virtual reality.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects on gait induced by a completely immersive Virtual Reality (VR) with and without perturbation. Ten healthy subjects were analyzed during over-ground walking in different conditions: standard gait, VR gait and perturbed VR gait. Results showed that subjects immersed in the virtual environment walked slowly, with decreased cadence (-13%) and stride length (-28%) as well as increased base of support in terms of step width (+20%).

Strength characterization of knee flexor and extensor muscles in Prader-Willi and obese patients.

Background: despite evidence of an obesity-related disability, there is a lack of objective muscle functional data in overweight subjects. Only few studies provide instrumental strength measurements in non-syndromal obesity, whereas no data about Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are reported. The aim of our study was to characterize the lower limb muscle function of patients affected by PWS as compared to non-syndromal obesity and normal-weight subjects.

Gender-specific effect of obesity on balance.

Obesity modifies the body geometry by adding mass to different regions and it influences the biomechanics of activities of daily living. Weight influences postural stability, but there is no consensus as to whether the different fat distribution in males and females produces gender-related effects on balance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of body weight increases on postural performance in males and females.

Mechanical external work and recovery at preferred walking speed in obese subjects.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical external work (per kg) and pendular energy transduction at preferred walking speed (PWS) in obese versus normal body mass subjects to investigate whether obese adults adopt energy conserving gait mechanics.

Methods: The mechanical external work (Wext) and the fraction of mechanical energy recovered by the pendular mechanism (Rstep) were computed using kinematic data acquired by an optoelectronic system and were compared in 30 obese (OG; body mass index [BMI] = 39.6 +/- 0.

A web management service applied to a comprehensive characterization of Visible Human Dataset colour images.

Visible Human Dataset (VHD) is a remarkable piece of raw digital anatomical knowledge still to be fully exploited. Colours of VHD anatomic images are the natural targets of different algorithmic approaches devoted to understanding the content of the complex digital medical images, but they have never been analysed exhaustively. A full colorimetric characterization of all 9000 VHD colour images may help to take advantage of implicit available information in raw data.

A 3D interactive multimodal viewer as data mining tool for the Visible Human Dataset color image histograms.

An on-line virtual three-dimensional immersive environment to navigate through colorimetric characterization of the Visible Human Dataset (VHD) cryosectional cross-section color images is introduced. Real-time analysis of color component characteristics of a user defined set of VHD images is now possible. This is a potentially useful resource to many developers working on the VHD raw data, however it could be used in medical education.

A colorimetric characterization of the raw digital data of the Visible Human Dataset images.

A colorimetric characterization of the all about 9 thousand Visible Human Dataset (VHD) cryosectioned color images of the male and female body is described here. Such characterization is performed keeping limited the computational time besides the high resolution of the considered VHD images. The about 27 thousand distinct histograms obtained are downloadable from the VHD Milano Mirror Site ftp server.