Gait and heart rate: do they measure trait or state physical fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis?

Background: Trait and state physical fatigue (trait-PF and state-PF) negatively impact many people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) but are challenging symptoms to measure. In this observational study, we explored the role of specific gait and autonomic nervous system (ANS) measures (i.e.

Association Between Frailty and Free-Living Walking Performance in People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between frailty and the quantity and quality of free-living walking and the mediating effect of frailty on the relationship between disability and walking performance in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Ninety-nine people with relapsing-remitting MS (mean age = 49.3 [SD = 9.

Treadmill training with virtual reality to enhance gait and cognitive function among people with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Motor and cognitive impairments impact the everyday functioning of people with MS (pwMS). The present randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluated the benefits of a combined motor-cognitive virtual reality training program on key motor and cognitive symptoms and related outcomes in pwMS.

Methods: In a single-blinded, two-arm RCT, 124 pwMS were randomized into a treadmill training with virtual reality (TT + VR) group or a treadmill training alone (TT) (active-control) group.

Fragmentation, circadian amplitude, and fractal pattern of daily-living physical activity in people with multiple sclerosis: Is there relevant information beyond the total amount of physical activity?

Background: Physical activity is lower in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) compared to healthy controls. Previous work focused on studying activity levels or activity volume, but studies of daily-living rest-activity fragmentation patterns, circadian rhythms, and fractal regulation in pwMS are limited. Based on findings in other cohorts, one could suggest that these aspects of daily-living physical activity will provide additional information about the health and well-being of pwMS.

Disease severity and prefrontal cortex activation during obstacle negotiation among patients with Parkinson's disease: Is it all as expected?

Background: Previous reports indicate that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) activate the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during complex activities such as obstacle negotiation to compensate for impaired motor function. However, the influence of disease severity on PFC activation has not been systematically evaluated. Here, we examined the effects of disease severity on PFC activation during obstacle negotiation.

Neural Variability in the Prefrontal Cortex as a Reflection of Neural Flexibility and Stability in Patients With Parkinson Disease.

Background And Objectives: Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) studies provide direct evidence of the important role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) during walking in aging and Parkinson disease (PD). Most studies explored mean hemoglobin (HbO2) levels, while moment-to-moment variability measures have rarely been investigated. Variability measures can inform on flexibility, which is imperative for adaptive function.

Frailty and Falls in People Living With Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: To explore the association between frailty and history of falls in people living with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Design: Secondary analysis.

Setting: University research laboratories in the United States and Israel.

Activation of Cilia-Independent Hedgehog/GLI1 Signaling as a Novel Concept for Neuroblastoma Therapy.

Although being rare in absolute numbers, neuroblastoma (NB) represents the most frequent solid tumor in infants and young children. Therapy options and prognosis are comparably good for NB patients except for the high risk stage 4 class. Particularly in adolescent patients with certain genetic alterations, 5-year survival rates can drop below 30%, necessitating the development of novel therapy approaches.

Immunohistochemical ALK Expression in Granular Cell Atypical Fibroxanthoma: A Diagnostic Pitfall for ALK-Rearranged Non-neural Granular Cell Tumor.

Atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a neoplasm that most commonly occurs on sun-damaged skin of the head and neck in elderly patients and that usually exhibits indolent clinical behavior with complete excision. The granular cell variant of AFX demonstrates overlapping histopathologic features with dermal non-neural granular cell tumor (NNGCT), which typically arises on the extremities of young to middle aged adults with rare reports of regional metastasis. A subset of NNGCT harbors ALK rearrangements and expresses ALK by immunohistochemistry.

In defence of extrapolation but not improvisation in SARS-CoV-2 lung disease.

Recently, the struggle against COVID-19 by respiratory and intensive care clinicians worldwide was punctuated by the sound of calls from a number of influential publications for an end to, as it were, improvisation and a return to principles of evidence-based medicine. The message was that management of SARS-CoV-2 lung disease needed to be guided strictly according to established dogma in acute respiratory distress syndrome unless supplanted by clinical trials specific to COVID-19. This position is predicated on the assumptions that knowledge about acute respiratory distress syndrome, and only about that entity, is directly translatable to SARS-CoV-2 lung disease, and that clinical trials enrolling COVID-19 patients will be completed in a sufficiently timely and rigorous fashion to influence empirical practice during the current pandemic.

Sensor-Based and Patient-Based Assessment of Daily-Living Physical Activity in People with Parkinson's Disease: Do Motor Subtypes Play a Role?

The benefits of daily-living physical activity are clear. Nonetheless, the relationship between physical activity levels and motor subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD), i.e.

Which obstacle attributes place additional demands on higher-level cognitive function in patients with Parkinson's disease?

Background: Previous reports show that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) rely on prefrontal activation to compensate for impaired motor function during complex activities such as obstacle negotiation. However, the influence of the properties of the obstacles on prefrontal activation has not been systematically evaluated. Here, we examined the effects of obstacle height and anticipation time on prefrontal activation in patients with PD and older adults.

A multi-modal virtual reality treadmill intervention for enhancing mobility and cognitive function in people with multiple sclerosis: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Gait and cognitive impairments are common in individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and can interfere with everyday function. Those with MS have difficulties executing cognitive tasks and walking simultaneously, a reflection of dual-task interference. Therefore, dual-task training may improve functional ambulation.

Inhibiting Hedgehog: An Update on Pharmacological Compounds and Targeting Strategies.

Important steps in embryonic development are governed by the Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, an evolutionary conserved signal transduction cascade. However, Hh activity not only is crucial during embryo formation but also is involved in adult tissue repair and in several malignancies. Particularly due to its link to cancer, small molecule Hh pathway inhibitors have been developed and the first compounds have been approved for use in Hh-driven basal cell carcinoma.

Associations between daily-living physical activity and laboratory-based assessments of motor severity in patients with falls and Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Recent work suggests that wearables can augment conventional measures of Parkinson's disease (PD). We evaluated the relationship between conventional measures of disease and motor severity (e.g.

Home return following invasive mechanical ventilation for the oldest-old patients in medical intensive care units from two US hospitals.

Background: The aging of the US population has been associated with an increase in intensive care unit (ICU) utilization and correspondingly, invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) among the oldest-old (age ≥80 years). While previous studies have examined ICU and IMV outcomes in the elderly, very few have focused on patient-centered outcomes, specifically home return, in the oldest-old. We investigated the rate of immediate home return following IMV in the medical ICU in previously home-dwelling oldest-old patients relative to that of a comparison group of 50-70-year olds.

Unusual Patterns of Thoracic Metastasis of Urinary Bladder Carcinoma.

Urinary bladder carcinoma (UBC) is the ninth most common malignancy and the second most common urological malignancy after prostate cancer in men. Thoracic metastases occur in more than half of those with muscle-invasive disease, and these generally assume the form of multiple solid parenchymal lesions characteristic of hematogenous seeding of the lung. Unusual patterns of thoracic spread of UBC have also been described albeit sporadically in the form of case reports and series.

An aryl-alcohol oxidase of Pleurotus sapidus: heterologous expression, characterization, and application in a 2-enzyme system.

Aryl-alcohol oxidases (AAOs) are enzymes supporting the degradation of lignin by fungal derived class II peroxidases produced by white-rot fungi. AAOs are able to generate H2O2 as a by-product via oxidation of an aryl-alcohol into its correspondent aldehyde. In this study, an AAO was heterologously expressed in a basidiomycete host for the first time.

Valuation, categories and attributes.

Existing research on categories has only examined indirectly the value associated with being a member of a category relative to the value of the set of attributes that determine membership in that category. This study uses survey data to analyze consumers' preferences for the "organic" label versus for the attributes underlying that label. We found that consumers generally preferred products with the category label to those with the attributes required for the organic label but without the label.

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus in elderly a possible diagnostic pitfall.

Introduction: Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is characterized by behavioral and vegetative abnormalities without classical major convulsive movements. A broad variability in clinical presentation makes this condition difficult to recognize and therefore NCSE is often overlooked especially in elderly.

Aim: To evaluate the prevalence, clinical features, therapeutic approach and outcomes of NCSE.

Influence of enteric nutrition on blood urea nitrogen (BUN) in very old patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The purpose was to check the influence of enteric nutrition on BUN in very elderly patients. Clinical data on patients in whom enteral feeding was initiated after a period of poor oral intake are presented. Patients with evidence of volume depletion, signs of gastrointestinal bleeding or medicines that might increase BUN were excluded.

Severe hyponatraemia in elderly hospitalized patients: prevalence, aetiology and outcome.

Background: Hyponatraemia is the commonest electrolyte disorder in the elderly. Data on severe hyponatraemia and the prevalence of cerebral salt wasting syndrome (CSWS) in elderly hospitalized patients are lacking. We studied the incidence, frequency of various aetiologies, outcome and the possible role of CSWS in severe hyponatraemia in elderly medical patients.

Characterization of D-cyclin proteins in hematolymphoid neoplasms: lack of specificity of cyclin-D2 and D3 expression in lymphoma subtypes.

D-cyclin proteins play a central role in cell-cycle regulation and are involved in the pathogenesis of lymphomas. In mantle-cell lymphoma, the t(11;14) translocation leads to overexpression of cyclin-D1, in addition to which cyclin-D1-negative mantle-cell lymphoma that overexpress cyclin-D2 or D3 have also been described. Although cyclin-D2 and D3 have been implicated in the prognosis of specific lymphoma subtypes, a thorough characterization of D-cyclin protein expression in human hematolymphoid neoplasia has not been reported.