Pediatric neuroimaging at a university hospital in Rwanda: a pictorial essay.

Rwanda is a country of 12 million people with 41% of its population under the age of 14 years. Despite major improvements in health care since the 1994 genocide, pediatric neuroimaging in Rwanda remains challenging. Prenatal and advanced imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are not widespread.

Functional neurological disorders in Parkinson disease.

Objective: To ascertain demographic and clinical features of Parkinson disease (PD) associated with functional neurological features.

Methods: A standardised form was used to extract data from electronic records of 53 PD patients with associated functional neurological disorders (PD-FND) across eight movement disorders centres in the USA, Canada and Europe. These subjects were matched for age, gender and disease duration to PD patients without functional features (PD-only).

Tablet-Based Application for Objective Measurement of Motor Fluctuations in Parkinson Disease.

Background: The motor subscale of the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS-III) has limited applicability for the assessment of motor fluctuations in the home setting.

Methods: To assess whether a self-administered, tablet-based application can reliably quantify differences in motor performance using two-target finger tapping and forearm pronation-supination tasks in the ON (maximal dopaminergic medication efficacy) and OFF (reemergence of parkinsonian deficits) medication states, we recruited 11 Parkinson disease (PD) patients (age, 60.6 ± 9.

Orthostatic hypotension in Parkinson disease: Impact on health care utilization.

Introduction: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) represents a frequent yet overlooked source of disability in Parkinson disease (PD). In particular, its impact on health care utilization has been insufficiently examined. We sought to determine the differential health care utilization in PD patients with (PDOH+) and without OH (PDOH-).

Deconstructing normal pressure hydrocephalus: Ventriculomegaly as early sign of neurodegeneration.

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) remains both oversuspected on clinical grounds and underconfirmed when based on immediate and sustained response to cerebrospinal fluid diversion. Poor long-term postshunt benefits and findings of neurodegenerative pathology in most patients with adequate follow-up suggest that hydrocephalic disorders appearing in late adulthood may often result from initially unapparent parenchymal abnormalities. We critically review the NPH literature, highlighting the near universal lack of blinding and controls, absence of specific clinical, imaging, or pathological features, and ongoing dependence for diagnostic confirmation on variable cutoffs of gait response to bedside fluid-drainage testing.

Bone marrow aspirate microscopy v. bone marrow trephine biopsy microscopy for detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health problem. According to the 2013 Global Report on Tuberculosis, 8.6 million people developed TB in 2012 and 1.

MFN2 deletion of exons 7 and 8: founder mutation in the UK population.

Mitofusin 2 (MFN2) mutations are the most common cause of axonal Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT2). The majority are inherited in an autosomal dominant manner but recessive and semi-dominant kindreds have also been described. We previously reported a deletion of exons 7 and 8 resulting in nonsense-mediated decay, segregating with disease when present in trans with another pathogenic MFN2 mutation.

Gone exercising: mental contrasting promotes physical activity among overweight, middle-aged, low-SES fishermen.

Objective: Fantasy realization theory (Oettingen, 2012) proposes that fantasizing about a desired future or dwelling upon negative reality rarely changes behavior whereas mentally contrasting fantasy with reality can be an effective behavior change technique. This is because mental contrasting energizes people to overcome obstacles that stand in the way of their desired future. The present study tested whether mental contrasting promotes rates of physical activity among overweight, middle-aged, and low-SES men.

Differential response of speed, amplitude, and rhythm to dopaminergic medications in Parkinson's disease.

Although movement impairment in Parkinson's disease includes slowness (bradykinesia), decreased amplitude (hypokinesia), and dysrhythmia, clinicians are instructed to rate them in a combined 0-4 severity scale using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor subscale. The objective was to evaluate whether bradykinesia, hypokinesia, and dysrhythmia are associated with differential motor impairment and response to dopaminergic medications in patients with Parkinson's disease. Eighty five Parkinson's disease patients performed finger-tapping (item 23), hand-grasping (item 24), and pronation-supination (item 25) tasks OFF and ON medication while wearing motion sensors on the most affected hand.

Early versus delayed bilateral subthalamic deep brain stimulation for parkinson's disease: a decision analysis.

The long-term benefits of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) applied earlier in the disease course, before significant disability accumulates, remain to be determined. We developed a Markov state transition decision analytic model to compare effectiveness in quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) of STN DBS applied to patients with PD at an "early" ("off time" 10-20%) versus "delayed" stage ("off time" >40%). A lifelong time horizon and societal perspective were assumed.

Growth and body composition of human milk-fed premature infants provided with extra energy and nutrients early after hospital discharge: 1-year follow-up.

Objectives: Human milk (HM) is the optimal source of nutrition for premature infants; however, it is unclear whether HM alone is sufficient to meet their elevated nutritional requirements early after hospital discharge. We previously reported that premature infants (750-1800 g birth weight) fed HM containing extra nutrients for 12 weeks after discharge had dietary intakes closer to recommended levels and grew more rapidly than those fed HM alone. The objectives of the present article are to examine the impact of this intervention on bone mineralization, body composition, and HM use up to 1 year.

TRPV6 is not required for 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-induced intestinal calcium absorption in vivo.

The requirement for TRPV6 for vitamin D-dependent intestinal calcium absorption in vivo has been examined by using vitamin D-deficient TRPV6 null mice and littermate wild-type mice. Each of the vitamin D-deficient animals received each day for 4 days 50 ng of 1,25-dihydroyvitamin D(3) in 0.1 ml of 95% propylene glycol:5% ethanol vehicle or vehicle only.

Growth outcomes and complications after radiologic gastrostomy in 120 children.

Background: Enteral feeding is ideal for children with low caloric intake. It can be provided through different methods, including nasogastric, nasojejunal, gastrostomy, or gastrojejunostomy tubes.

Objective: To assess growth outcomes of pediatric patients following retrograde percutaneous gastrostomy (RPG) and compare complications with those following other gastrostomy methods.

Growth and nutrient intakes of human milk-fed preterm infants provided with extra energy and nutrients after hospital discharge.

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether mixing a multinutrient fortifier to approximately one half of the human milk fed each day for a finite period after discharge improves the nutrient intake and growth of predominantly human milk-fed low birth weight infants. We also assessed the impact of this intervention on the exclusivity of human milk feeding.

Methods: Human milk-fed (> or = 80% feeding per day) low birth weight (750-1800 g) infants (n = 39) were randomly assigned at hospital discharge to either a control or an intervention group.

Influence of paper color and a monetary incentive on response rate.

This study examined whether survey response rate differed based on the color of the paper the survey was printed on (blue vs green) and presence of a monetary incentive. A 4-page survey on eating disorders was mailed to Division 1A and 1AA college head athletic trainers (N=223) with half of the surveys on blue paper and half on green paper. Half of the athletic trainers (n = 111) received a $1.

Collegiate Athletic Trainers' Confidence in Helping Female Athletes With Eating Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To examine college athletic trainers' confidence in helping female athletes who have eating disorders. DESIGN AND SETTING: We mailed a 4-page, 53-item survey to head certified athletic trainers at all National Collegiate Athletic Association Division IA and IAA institutions (N = 236). A 2- wave mailing design was used to increase response rate.