Integrated Design and Prototyping of a Robotic Head for Ocular and Craniofacial Trauma Simulators.

Background: Medical simulation is relevant for training medical personnel in the delivery of medical and trauma care, with benefits including quantitative evaluation and increased patient safety through reduced need to train on patients.

Methods: This paper presents a prototype medical simulator focusing on ocular and craniofacial trauma (OCF), for training in management of facial and upper airway injuries. It consists of a physical, electromechanical representation of head and neck structures, including the mandible, maxillary region, neck, orbit and peri-orbital regions to replicate different craniofacial traumas.

Entropy of human leukocyte antigen and killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptor systems in immune-mediated disorders: A pilot study on multiple sclerosis.

Background: Entropy is a thermodynamic variable statistically correlated with the disorder of a system. The hypothesis that entropy can be used to identify potentially unhealthy conditions was first suggested by Schrödinger, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics. Shannon later defined entropy as the quantity of information stored in a system.

Assessing the burden of vascular risk factors on brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis: A case- control MRI study.

Background: Some studies have indicated the importance of considering the presence of vascular comorbidities as negative prognostic factors for MRI outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to evaluate the possible influence of the most frequent vascular risk factors on brain volume in MS, also exploring the burden of their combined effects.

Methods: MS patients with at least one vascular risk factor and a control group of MS patients were enrolled.

Autoimmune comorbidities in multiple sclerosis: what is the influence on brain volumes? A case-control MRI study.

Background: Several studies indicated that multiple sclerosis (MS) is frequently associated with other autoimmune diseases. However, it is little known if the coexistence of these conditions may influence the radiologic features of MS, and in particular the brain volumes.

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of autoimmune comorbidities on brain atrophy in a large case-control MS population.