Recommendations on the use of the flash continuous glucose monitoring system in hospitalized patients with diabetes in Latin America.

Background: Continuous glucose monitoring can improve glycemic control for hospitalized patients with diabetes, according to current evidence. However, there is a lack of consensus-established recommendations for the management of hospitalized patients with diabetes using flash continuous glucose monitoring system (fCGM) in Latin America. Therefore, this expert consensus exercise aimed to establish guidelines on the implementation of fCGM in the management of hospitalized patients with diabetes in Latin America.

7T Epilepsy Task Force Consensus Recommendations on the Use of 7T MRI in Clinical Practice.

Identifying a structural brain lesion on MRI has important implications in epilepsy and is the most important factor that correlates with seizure freedom after surgery in patients with drug-resistant focal onset epilepsy. However, at conventional magnetic field strengths (1.5 and 3T), only approximately 60%-85% of MRI examinations reveal such lesions.

Diffusion Imaging in the Post HCP Era.

Diffusion imaging is a critical component in the pursuit of developing a better understanding of the human brain. Recent technical advances promise enabling the advancement in the quality of data that can be obtained. In this review the context for different approaches relative to the Human Connectome Project are compared.

Atlas-based GABA mapping with 3D MEGA-MRSI: Cross-correlation to single-voxel MRS.

The purpose of this work is to develop and validate a new atlas-based metabolite quantification pipeline for edited magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MEGA-MRSI) that enables group comparisons of brain structure-specific GABA levels. By using brain structure masks segmented from high-resolution MPRAGE images and coregistering these to MEGA-LASER 3D MRSI data, an automated regional quantification of neurochemical levels is demonstrated for the example of the thalamus. Thalamic gamma-aminobutyric acid + coedited macromolecules (GABA+) levels from 21 healthy subjects scanned at 3 T were cross-validated both against a single-voxel MEGA-PRESS acquisition in the same subjects and same scan sessions, as well as alternative MRSI processing techniques (ROI approach, four-voxel approach) using Pearson correlation analysis.

Reversibility of Neuroimaging Markers Influenced by Lifetime Occupational Manganese Exposure.

Manganese (Mn) is a neurotoxicant that many workers are exposed to daily. There is limited knowledge about how changes in exposure levels impact measures in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We hypothesized that changes in Mn exposure would be reflected by changes in the MRI relaxation rate R1 and thalamic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABAThal).

In Vivo Dentate Nucleus Gamma-aminobutyric Acid Concentration in Essential Tremor vs. Controls.

Unlabelled: Despite its high prevalence, essential tremor (ET) is among the most poorly understood neurological diseases. The presence and extent of Purkinje cell (PC) loss in ET is the subject of controversy. PCs are a major storehouse of central nervous system gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), releasing GABA at the level of the dentate nucleus.

Thalamic GABA levels and occupational manganese neurotoxicity: Association with exposure levels and brain MRI.

Excessive occupational exposure to Manganese (Mn) has been associated with clinical symptoms resembling idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD), impairing cognitive and motor functions. Several studies point towards an involvement of the brain neurotransmitter system in Mn intoxication, which is hypothesized to be disturbed prior to onset of symptoms. Edited Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) offers the unique possibility to measure γ-amminobutyric acid (GABA) and other neurometabolites in vivo non-invasively in workers exposed to Mn.

Association of MRI T1 relaxation time with neuropsychological test performance in manganese- exposed welders.

This study examines the results of neuropsychological testing of 26 active welders and 17 similar controls and their relationship to welders' shortened MRI T1 relaxation time, indicative of increased brain manganese (Mn) accumulation. Welders were exposed to Mn for an average duration of 12.25 years to average levels of Mn in air of 0.

Generalization of entropy based divergence measures for symbolic sequence analysis.

Entropy based measures have been frequently used in symbolic sequence analysis. A symmetrized and smoothed form of Kullback-Leibler divergence or relative entropy, the Jensen-Shannon divergence (JSD), is of particular interest because of its sharing properties with families of other divergence measures and its interpretability in different domains including statistical physics, information theory and mathematical statistics. The uniqueness and versatility of this measure arise because of a number of attributes including generalization to any number of probability distributions and association of weights to the distributions.

Blood pressure control and treatment adherence in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome: protocol of a randomized controlled study based on home blood pressure telemonitoring vs. conventional management and assessment of psychological determinants of adherence (TELEBPMET Study).

Background: Inadequate blood pressure control and poor adherence to treatment remain among the major limitations in the management of hypertensive patients, particularly of those at high risk of cardiovascular events. Preliminary evidence suggests that home blood pressure telemonitoring (HBPT) might help increasing the chance of achieving blood pressure targets and improve patient's therapeutic adherence. However, all these potential advantages of HBPT have not yet been fully investigated.

Lack of association between GSTM1, GSTP1, and GSTT1 gene polymorphisms and asthma in adult patients from Rome, central Italy.

Background: Asthma is a complex multifactorial disease that is not yet fully understood. Oxidative stress due to an imbalance between the oxidative forces and the antioxidant defense systems has been implicated in asthma pathogenesis. However, much debate still surrounds the key genetic factors involved in the development of this disease.

A systematic method for the targeted discovery of chemical attribution signatures: application to isopropyl bicyclophosphate production.

Potential attribution signatures for the synthesis of a highly toxic bicyclophosphate, 4-isopropyl-2,6,7-trioxa-1-phosphabicyclo[2.2.2]octane 1-oxide (Isopropyl Bicyclophosphate or IPBCP) were discovered using a trilateral synthetic, analytical, and statistical approach.

Glutathione S-transferase genes and the risk of recurrent miscarriage in Italian women.

Objective: To investigate the role of glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) in the pathogenesis of recurrent miscarriage (RM).

Design: Genetic association study.

Setting: University of Rome, Tor Vergata and San Giovanni Calibita, Fatebenefratelli Hospital.

Lack of association between essential hypertension and GSTO1 uncommon genetic variants in Italian patients.

Background And Objective: Essential hypertension (EH) is a complex phenotype that is affected by multiple genetic and environmental factors. Some authors have explored the role of genetic variability of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzymes in EH risk with contrasting results. In particular, our previous study investigated two GSTO common polymorphisms, but we did not find a significant outcome.

Glutathione S-transferase variants as risk factor for essential hypertension in Italian patients.

Involvement of genetic polymorphisms in arterial hypertension has already been reported, including GST genes, with contrasting results. The present research evaluates the possible association between GST gene polymorphisms and essential hypertension (EH) in an Italian population sample. 193 hypertensive subjects and 210 healthy controls were recruited.

Glutathione S-transferase gene polymorphisms and air pollution as interactive risk factors for asthma in a multicentre Italian field study: A preliminary study.

Background: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases. Several studies have indicated that oxidative stress impairs pulmonary function. Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are believed to be critical in the protection of cells from reactive oxygen species.

Diffusion-mediated reactions with a time-dependent absorption rate.

Diffusion-mediated reactions models are particularly useful for the characterization of physical, chemical, and biological problems. In this paper we present a theoretical study of the absorption probability density, survival probability, and reaction rate for diffusion-mediated reactions models with a time-dependent finite absorption rate (an extension of a model usually referred to as the "imperfect trap model"). The results are obtained by means of the formalism of continuous time random walk on a lattice and considering a general reaction dynamics upon encounter of the reactives.

Esophageal dysmotility and gastroesophageal reflux in intrinsic asthma.

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of esophageal motor abnormalities, the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux, and the coexistence of gastroesophageal reflux with esophageal dysmotility in patients with intrinsic asthma. Based on clinical criteria, 34 consecutive asthmatics, 15 patients with gastroesophageal reflux, and 10 subjects with upper gastrointestinal symptoms with normal results of esophageal manometry and 24-hr esophageal pH test (controls) were studied. Esophageal motor disorders were noted in 23 of 34 asthmatics, and in 10 of 15 patients with acid reflux but in none of the subjects of the control group.

Quality of life of COPD patients treated by long-term oxygen.

The three main dimensions of quality of life (physical function, social activities, and psychological status) were evaluated by a questionnaire in 41 COPD patients with severe respiratory failure treated by long-term oxygen. The results were compared with those obtained in patients suffering from COPD without chronic respiratory failure and in patients suffering from severe diabetes and/or atherosclerosis. A relevant impairment of the indexes of quality of life was found in the group of subjects with chronic respiratory failure.