Cardiopulmonary exercise testing for personalized job reintegration after acute cardiovascular attacks: a pilot cross-sectional study.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), particularly the ischemic heart disease, are a growing public health issue. In addition, the return to work after an acute cardiovascular attack represents a complex challenge.

Objectives: To evaluate utility and safety of cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET), particularly performed "on site", to promote a return to work in line with the residual working capacity.

Preoperative localization of parathyroid adenoma in video-assisted era: is cervical ultrasound or 99mTc Sesta MIBI scintigraphy better?

Background: Endocrine surgeon localizes solitary adenoma (SA) in preoperative time by cervical ultrasound (c-US) and/or 99mTc Sesta MIBI scintigraphy (MIBI-S), but in clinical practice they often show discordant results. The aim of our study is to verify if c-US and MIBI-S have different sensitivity in preoperative localization of SA, depending on its localization, in planning minimally invasive video-assisted parathyroidectomy (MIVAP).

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of data (demographics data, preoperative localization of SA by US and MIBI-S, presence of associated thyroid disease, preoperative calcemia, preoperative serum PTH, surgical time, intraoperative PTH values, day 1 postoperative calcemia, definitive histological report) about patients consecutively submitted to MIVAP because of SA between January 2011 and January 2014 in the department of endocrine and general surgery of the University Hospital of Parma (Italy).

Behavioral and physiological responses of guide dogs to a situation of emotional distress.

The aim of this study was to analyze the behavioral and physiological reactions of guide dogs in a distressing situation which promotes attachment behaviors towards their blind owners, and to compare such reactions with those of untrained or trainee dogs. The subjects were 57 adult Labrador and Golden retriever dogs (14 males, 43 females) belonging to four different groups: 19 Custody dogs, 13 Apprentice dogs, 10 Guide dogs and 15 Pet dogs. Dogs were tested using the Strange Situation Test, consisting in seven 3-minute episodes in which the dogs were placed in an unfamiliar environment, introduced to an unfamiliar woman and subjected to separation from their human companion.