Full-arch prostheses supported by implants with different macrostructures: A multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: This study evaluates the clinical performance of implants with hydrophilic surface and two different macrostructures: cylindrical with perforating triangular threads (CT) and cylindrical-tapered with the association of square and condensing and perforating triangular threads (TST).

Materials And Methods: This was a multicenter split-mouth, simple-blinded, randomized, and controlled trial. Thirty patients with edentulous mandible received two CT and two TST implants.

Sleep quality and video game playing: Effect of intensity of video game playing and mental health.

The aim of this study was to explore sleep quality in a video game population and to prospect the role of different factors such as sociodemographic data, video game duration, intensity of video game playing, and mental and physical health. Two hundred and seventeen participants (24.40 ± 6.

Chronic sleep loss and risk-taking behavior: Does the origin of sleep loss matter?

: Many adolescents and young adults get insufficient sleep. A link between sleep loss and risk-taking behavior has been consistently found in the literature, but surprisingly, the role played by the origin of sleep loss in this link has never been investigated. Sleep loss can be voluntary (instead of sleeping, a significant amount of time is devoted to other activities) or involuntary (caused by a sleep disorder, for example, insomnia).

Eveningness is associated with higher risk-taking in dangerous driving situations.

Inclination toward eveningness is often associated with risky behavior. But the existing studies are scarce, inconsistent and usually limited to self-reported measures. We sought to investigate in young adults whether morningness-eveningness is associated with risky behavior in dangerous driving situations, with self-reported drunk driving and with alcohol consumption.

Sleep-related Cognitions Mediate the Impact of Neuroticism on Insomnia.

Objectives: Our study aimed to explore how neuroticism and neuroticism-related traits as well as sleep-related cognitions (dysfunctional beliefs and subjective quality of sleep) influence the emergence of insomnia using a mediational model.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in which 159 insomniac patients paired with 159 normal sleepers in sex and age (N = 318) completed an online questionnaire.

Results: At the global level, dysfunctional beliefs and poor subjective quality of sleep mediated the neuroticism-insomnia path; at the trait-specific level, these variables mediated the anxiety-insomnia path and partially mediated the effects of vulnerability and self-consciousness on insomnia; some other relations were essentially indirect effects (between depression and insomnia).

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on short-term memory performance over 24 h of sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Background: Few studies have examined the impact of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on short-term memory (STM) over sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS). We have investigated if impaired STM can be reversed by CPAP treatment in a 24-h sustained wakefulness paradigm.

Methods: Our follow-up study was conducted with repeated-memory tasks within 12 OSAHS patients and 10 healthy controls who underwent three 32-h sessions, one before CPAP (T0) and the second (T3) and the third (T6), after 3 and 6 months of treatment, respectively, for OSAHS patients.

Acute versus chronic partial sleep deprivation in middle-aged people: differential effect on performance and sleepiness.

Study Objective: To evaluate the effects of acute sleep deprivation and chronic sleep restriction on vigilance, performance, and self-perception of sleepiness.

Design: Habitual night followed by 1 night of total sleep loss (acute sleep deprivation) or 5 consecutive nights of 4 hr of sleep (chronic sleep restriction) and recovery night.

Participants: Eighteen healthy middle-aged male participants (age [(± standard deviation] = 49.

Effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on daytime alertness and cognitive performance of healthy snorers and non-snorers.

Background: Respiratory events during sleep usually lead to micro arousals resulting in consecutive daytime sleepiness even in healthy snorers. The present study investigated the evolution of subjective and objective daytime sleepiness and reaction time in healthy snorers submitted to acute and chronic sleep deprivation.

Methods: Objective sleepiness was measured by the MSLT, subjective sleepiness by the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and reaction time (RT) by the Psychomotor Vigilance Test.

Short-term memory performances during sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Both working and immediate memories were assessed every 4h by specific short-term memory tasks over sustained wakefulness in 12 patients with obstructive sleep apnea and hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and 10 healthy controls. Results indicated that OSAHS patients exhibited lower working memory performances than controls on both backward digit span and complex Sternberg tasks. Speed and accuracy on Sternberg tasks were affected by memory load in both groups.

Effect of continuous positive airway pressure treatment on the subsequent EEG spectral power and sleepiness over sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome.

Objective: To determine whether sleepiness and its evolution over sustained wakefulness could be reversed by nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

Methods: Twelve OSAHS patients underwent three 32-h sessions of study: one before CPAP therapy (T0), the second (T3) and the third (T6), respectively, after 3 and 6 months of therapy. Each session included one night of sleep followed by 24 h of sustained wakefulness, during which EEG recordings and subjective ratings were performed every hour.

Living alongside railway tracks: Long-term effects of nocturnal noise on sleep and cardiovascular reactivity as a function of age.

Very few studies were devoted to permanent effects of nocturnal railway noise on sleep and cardiovascular reactivity. We investigated the effects of nocturnal railway noise on sleep and cardiovascular response in young and middle-aged adults living for many years either near a railway track or in a quiet area. Forty subjects (50% males) divided into two age groups (juniors: 26.

Cardiovascular responses to railway noise during sleep in young and middle-aged adults.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nocturnal railway noise on cardiovascular reactivity in young (25.8 +/- 2.6 years) and middle-aged (52.

Combined effects of noise and shift work on fatigue as a function of age.

The study was conducted to analyse possible interactions between noise and shift work, and fatigue as a function of age. In a large questionnaire survey, we assessed personal and environmental risk factors related to fatigue. Noise exposure at work (L(Aeq, 8hr)) was measured with personal noise dosimetry.

Effects of nocturnal railway noise on sleep fragmentation in young and middle-aged subjects as a function of type of train and sound level.

Due to undisputable effects of noise on sleep structure, especially in terms of sleep fragmentation, the expected development of railway transportation in the next few years might represent a potential risk factor for people living alongside the rail tracks. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of different types of train (freight, automotive, passenger) on arousal from sleep and to determine any differential impact as a function of sound level and age. Twenty young (16 women, 4 men; 25.

Severity of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome and subsequent waking EEG spectral power.

It is well known that most patients with obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) suffer sleepiness, although the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear. The present study examined the relationship between nocturnal variables and the subsequent waking electroencephalogram (EEG), in order to determine if sleepiness was related to OSAHS severity and due to sleep fragmentation or to nocturnal hypoxaemia. In total, 12 moderate-to-severe OSAHS patients underwent a total sleep night followed by a 24-h period of sustained wakefulness where the waking EEG was measured every hour.

Are OSAS patients impaired in their driving ability on a circuit with medium traffic density?

Objectives: Many studies have demonstrated that patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS), a very common sleep-related breathing disorder, are usually impaired in their driving ability because of decreased sleep quality. However, most of the simulation procedures in laboratories are designed to create monotonic conditions with low traffic density, if any, thereby leading to a dramatic decrease in performance in OSAS patients because of the lack of stimulation. The aim of this study was therefore to evaluate driving abilities in OSAS patients involved in a driving simulation task with medium traffic density, in order to replicate as far as possible real world conditions.

Toxoplasma gondii infection in horses. A review.

This review updates those written by Dubey and Beattie in 1988 (1988a) and by Tenter et al in 2000, on pathological and epidemiological aspects of Toxoplasma infection in horses. Under natural conditions, seroprevalence may variate from 0% up to 90%. This wide variation may be due to the sensitivity of the serological methods, to the age of animals, to the geographical area, and even to the hygienic condition of the farms and farm management.

Seroprevalence and isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from free-range chickens in Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, and Vietnam.

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in free-ranging chickens (Gallus domesticus) is a good indicator of the prevalence of the parasite's oocysts in soil because chicken feed from the ground. The prevalence of T. gondii in free-range chickens from Ghana, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, and Vietnam was determined using the modified agglutination test (MAT).

EEG spectral power and sleepiness during 24 h of sustained wakefulness in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Objective: This study investigated if obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) may be associated with higher activity in different frequency bands of the EEG during a sustained wakefulness paradigm.

Methods: Twelve OSA patients and 8 healthy controls were studied with the Karolinska Drowsiness Test (KDT) and subjective ratings of sleepiness (VAS and KSS) conducted every hour during 24 h of sustained wakefulness.

Results: The waking EEG activity, mainly in the low (0.

EEG spectral power and cognitive performance during sleep inertia: the effect of normal sleep duration and partial sleep deprivation.

Sleep inertia (SI) is a transient period occurring immediately after awakening, usually characterized by performance decrement. When sleep is sufficient, SI is moderate, and produces few or no deficit. When it is associated with prior sleep deprivation, SI shows dose-dependent negative effects on cognitive performance, especially when subjects have been awaken in slow wave sleep (SWS).

A critical review of techniques aiming at enhancing and sustaining worker's alertness during the night shift.

Two types of methods based on a particular principle allow enhancing and sustaining workers' alertness all along their night work. The first one rather consists in arousing workers by exposing them to stimulant environment conditions (light or noise..

Interaction of age with time of day and mental load in different cognitive tasks.

Extensive research has demonstrated that shiftwork produces deleterious effects on health because of the desynchrony it induces in the biological clock. The problem is even more crucial for older workers who present, in addition, various decrements in their cognitive functioning, particularly on attention and memory. The present study assessed whether age was related to task complexity as a function of time of day and time-on-task in a rapid rotating work-rest schedule.

Sleep inertia.

Sleep inertia is a transitional state of lowered arousal occurring immediately after awakening from sleep and producing a temporary decrement in subsequent performance. Many factors are involved in the characteristics of sleep inertia. The duration of prior sleep can influence the severity of subsequent sleep inertia.

Tick-borne diseases (TBDs) of dairy cows in a Mediterranean environment: a clinical, serological, and hematological study.

A longitudinal study of tick-borne diseases (TBDs) in Southern Italy was carried out by monitoring two dairy farms (A and B) located in the Apulia Region. On each farm ten calves and ten heifers were observed monthly from May 1999 to February 2001 for clinical signs and blood parameters; antibodies against Babesia bigemina and Anaplasma marginale using an ELISA test were also monitored for the first eight months of the study. Totals of 28 and 14 cases of TBDs were observed in the complete herds of Farms A and B, respectively.

Defining the states of consciousness.

Consciousness remains an elusive concept due to the difficulty to define what has been regarded for many years as a subjective experience, therefore irrelevant for scientific study. Recent development in this field of research has allowed to provide some new insight to a possible way to define consciousness. Going through the extensive literature in this domain, several perspectives are proposed to define this concept.