Dynamic balance assessment during gait in children with Down and Prader-Willi syndromes using inertial sensors.

Down (DS) and Prader-Willi (PWS) syndromes are chromosomal disorders both characterized by obesity, ligament laxity, and hypotonia, the latter associated with gait instability. Although these shared features may justify a common rehabilitation approach, evidence exists that adults with DS and PWS adopt different postural and walking strategies. The development of an instrumented protocol able to describe these strategies and quantify patients' gait stability in the current clinical routine would be of great benefit for health professionals, allowing them to design personalized rehabilitation programs.

The risk of injuries among CrossFit athletes: an Italian observational retrospective survey.

Background: CrossFit is a strength and conditioning training program, that begin very popular in the last ten years. One of the most concerned characteristics of model is the high intensity activity performed under fatigue conditions that was proposed as potential risk of injuries; current literature on this topic was not conclusive. The purpose of this research was to examine injury epidemiology and risk factors for injury in CrossFit.

Hepatitis E in hemodialysis and kidney transplant patients in south-east Italy.

Aim: To investigate the serovirological prevalence and clinical features of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in end-stage renal failure patients and in the healthy population.

Methods: HEV infection is a viral disease that can cause sporadic and epidemic hepatitis. Previous studies unexpectedly showed a high prevalence of HEV antibodies in immunosuppressed subjects, including hemodialysis (HD) patients and patients who had undergone kidney transplant.

The C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene mutation does not influence cardiovascular risk in the dialysis population: results of a multicentre prospective study.

Background: Although the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T gene polymorphism has been identified as an independent cardiovascular risk factor (CRF) in the general population and among uraemic subjects, the validity of this association remains controversial.

Methods: To verify this hypothesis, we enrolled all subjects on maintenance dialysis treatment from a specific Italian district. We also enrolled, from the same area, 1307 subject to serve as controls.

PAI-1 4G/5G and ACE I/D gene polymorphisms and the occurrence of myocardial infarction in patients on intermittent dialysis.

Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of death, particularly in high-risk settings such as uraemia, in which it is not yet known to what extent genetic factors contribute to the overall risk of MI. We have prospectively evaluated the effect of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) 4G/5G and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphisms on the occurrence of MI in uraemics.

Methods: All patients undergoing intermittent dialysis in an Italian district were enrolled as subjects.