Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiovascular disease phenotypes.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is increasingly recognized as a major global health problem. Intertwined with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease embraces a spectrum of liver conditions spanning from steatosis to inflammation, fibrosis, and liver failure. Compared with the general population, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease is higher among nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients, in whom comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessment is highly desirable.

Intangible Assets and Performance in Nonprofit Organizations:A Systematic Literature Review.

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) promote citizens' participation in community life through several different kinds of organizations: some more informal (such as associations and volunteering groups), others more formal or public (such as charities and foundations). This heterogeneity, as well as the well-known peculiarities of NPOs when compared to profit and public ones, poses new challenges to their management. In the constant need to find balance between financial constraints and social value, a main resource for NPOs is the management of intangible assets, such as knowledge, positive relationships within the organization and with users, external image, loyalty and commitment, and so on.

Independent perceptual reversals for simultaneously presented ambiguous figures.

In two successive experiments using the divided visual field paradigm with vertical or horizontal division, two ambiguous figures, the Rubin's vase-face or the Necker cube, were projected to the right and left or to the upper and lower visual hemifields of 108 healthy volunteers. Stimulation time was 120 s. The main hypotheses were (a) that different percepts of the same ambiguous figure may be simultaneously experienced in the two hemifields and (b) that the type (vertical vs.

The Optical-Coenaesthetic Disproportion Hypothesis of Feeding and Eating Disorders in the Light of Neuroscience.

This article builds on and extends the 'optical-coenaesthetic disproportion' (OCDisp) hypothesis of feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) matching data obtained through clinical research with laboratory evidence from neuroscience and neuropsychological studies. The OCDisp hypothesis, developed through the assessment in clinical setting of bodily experience using the IDentity and EAting (IDEA) disorder questionnaire, argues that in persons with FED the internal perception of one's embodied self (i.e.

Cardiomyopathy Associated with Diabetes: The Central Role of the Cardiomyocyte.

The term diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) labels an abnormal cardiac structure and performance due to intrinsic heart muscle malfunction, independently of other vascular co-morbidity. DCM, accounting for 50%-80% of deaths in diabetic patients, represents a worldwide problem for human health and related economics. Optimal glycemic control is not sufficient to prevent DCM, which derives from heart remodeling and geometrical changes, with both consequences of critical events initially occurring at the cardiomyocyte level.

The influence of age on the rubber hand illusion.

The rubber hand illusion is a perceptual illusion whereby a model hand is embodied during tactile stimulation. The aim of the present study is to investigate the onset time of the illusion in relation to age. We used two sensors, made using Arduino NANO, in order to record the onset time in which the participants said to start perceiving the illusion.

Can Off-Training Physical Behaviors Influence Recovery in Athletes? A Scoping Review.

Recently, the attention on recovery in sport increased enormously although there is lack of scientific evidence on the role of lifestyle in terms of movement [i.e., physical behaviors (PBs)], apart from sleep.

Risk Factors for Surgical Site Infection in Neonates: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Meta-Analysis.

Surgical site infections (SSI) contribute to postoperative morbidity and mortality in children. Our aim was to evaluate the prevalence and identify risk factors for SSI in neonates. Using a defined strategy, three investigators searched articles on neonatal SSI published since 2000.

Evidence of a Right Ear Advantage in the absence of auditory targets.

The Right Ear Advantage effect (REA) was explored in a white noise speech illusion paradigm: binaural white noise (WN) could be presented i) in isolation (WN condition), ii) overlapped to a voice pronouncing the vowel /a/ presented in the left ear (LE condition), iii) overlapped to a voice pronouncing the vowel /a/ presented in the right ear (RE condition). Participants were asked to report in which ear the voice has been perceived. The voice could be female or male, and it could be presented at 4 different intensities.

Theta-burst stimulation causally affects side perception in the Deutsch's octave illusion.

Deutsch's octave illusion is produced by a sequence of two specular dichotic stimuli presented in alternation to the left and right ear causing an illusory segregation of pitch (frequency) and side (ear of origin). Previous studies have indicated that illusory perception of pitch takes place in temporo-frontal areas, whereas illusory perception of side is primarily associated to neural activity in parietal cortex and in particular in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). Here we investigated the causal role of left IPL in the perception of side (ear of origin) during the octave illusion by following its inhibition through continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), as compared to the left posterior intraparietal sulcus (pIPS), whose activity is thought to be unrelated to side perception during the illusion.

Split-brain patients: Visual biases for faces.

Split-brain patients constitute a small subpopulation of epileptic patients who have received the surgical resection of the callosal fibers in an attempt to reduce the spread of epileptic foci between the cerebral hemispheres. The study of callosotomy patients allowed neuropsychologists to investigate the effects of the hemispheric disconnection, shedding more light on the perceptual and cognitive abilities of each hemisphere in isolation. This view that callosotomy completely isolates the hemispheres has now been revised, in favor of the idea of a dynamic functional reorganization of the two sides of the brain; however, the evidence collected from split-brain patients is still a milestone in the neurosciences.

Hemispheric asymmetries in setticlavio reading.

Musical (literally, seven clefs) reading refers to the ability to read (i.e., to say aloud, without to sing) the musical note labels in the 7 musical clefs.

Involvement of ordinary what and where auditory cortical areas during illusory perception.

The focus of the present study is on the relationships between illusory and non-illusory auditory perception analyzed at a biological level. To this aim, we investigate neural mechanisms underlying the Deutsch's illusion, a condition in which both sound identity ("what") and origin ("where") are deceptively perceived. We recorded magnetoencephalogram from healthy subjects in three conditions: (a) listening to the acoustic sequence eliciting the illusion (ILL), (b) listening to a monaural acoustic sequence mimicking the illusory percept (MON), and (c) listening to an acoustic sequence similar to (a) but not eliciting the illusion (NIL).

Multimodal-3D imaging based on μMRI and μCT techniques bridges the gap with histology in visualization of the bone regeneration process.

Bone repair/regeneration is usually investigated through X-ray computed microtomography (μCT) supported by histology of extracted samples, to analyse biomaterial structure and new bone formation processes. Magnetic resonance imaging (μMRI) shows a richer tissue contrast than μCT, despite at lower resolution, and could be combined with μCT in the perspective of conducting non-destructive 3D investigations of bone. A pipeline designed to combine μMRI and μCT images of bone samples is here described and applied on samples of extracted human jawbone core following bone graft.

Two Spin-State Reactivity in the Activation and Cleavage of CO2 by [ReO2](.).

The rhenium dioxide anion [ReO2](-) reacts with carbon dioxide in a linear ion trap mass spectrometer to produce [ReO3](-) corresponding to activation and cleavage of a C-O bond. Isotope labeling experiments using [Re(18)O2](-) reveal that (18)O/(16)O scrambling does not occur prior to cleavage of the C-O bond. Density functional theory calculations were performed to examine the mechanism for this oxygen atom abstraction reaction.

Gas-phase reactions of the rhenium oxide anions, [ReOx]- (x = 2 - 4) with the neutral organic substrates methane, ethene, methanol and acetic acid.

The ion-molecule reactions of the rhenium oxide anions, [ReOx](-) (x = 2 - 4) with the organic substrates methane, ethene, methanol and acetic acid have been examined in a linear ion trap mass spectrometer. The only reactivity observed was between [ReO(2)](-) and acetic acid. Isotope labelled experiments and high-resolution mass spectrometry measurements were used to assign the formulas of the ionic products.

Cortical inhibition of laser pain and laser-evoked potentials by non-nociceptive somatosensory input.

Although the inhibitory action that tactile stimuli can have on pain is well documented, the precise timing of the interaction between the painful and non-painful stimuli in the central nervous system is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate this issue by measuring the timing of the amplitude modulation of laser evoked potentials (LEPs) due to conditioning non-painful stimuli. LEPs were recorded from 31 scalp electrodes in 10 healthy subjects after painful stimulation of the right arm (C6-C7 dermatomes).

Perceptual and motor laterality effects in pianists during music sight-reading.

Forty-six right-handed pianists were tested in a music sight-reading task in which they had to perform on a keyboard. Stimuli were single notes or single triads (chords) presented tachistoscopically in the left or right visual field in form of musical notation or verbal labels. Left-hand, right-hand or two-hands performance was required.

A frontal but not parietal neural correlate of auditory consciousness.

Hemodynamic correlates of consciousness were investigated in humans during the presentation of a dichotic sequence inducing illusory auditory percepts with features analogous to visual multistability. The sequence consisted of a variation of the original stimulation eliciting the Deutsch's octave illusion, created to maintain a stable illusory percept long enough to allow the detection of the underlying hemodynamic activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two specular 500 ms dichotic stimuli (400 and 800 Hz) presented in alternation by means of earphones cause an illusory segregation of pitch and ear of origin which can yield up to four different auditory percepts per dichotic stimulus.

Hemispheric asymmetries in bilinguals: tongue similarity affects lateralization of second language.

It is known that the left hemisphere of the human brain is critical in understanding and producing spoken language, but it remains a topic of great interest determining the cerebral lateralization of multiple languages. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of similarity between languages on hemispheric asymmetry of bilingual brains. The involvement degree of left and right hemisphere was examined during the processing of the first (L1) and second (L2) language in two different groups of bilinguals with English as L2.

Features of biopsy in diagnosis of metatypical basal cell carcinoma (Basosquamous Carcinoma) of head and neck.

Metatypical Basal Cell Carcinoma, also known as Basosquamous Carcinoma is a subtype of Basal Cell Carcinoma. It is similar to Basal Cell Carcinoma for the gross aspect and regional recurrences, but it has the capacity to spread and develop metastasis. This terrible characteristic endangers the life of the patient if it is not readily recognized by the physicians.

Asymmetric cortical adaptation effects during alternating auditory stimulation.

The present study investigates hemispheric asymmetries in the neural adaptation processes occurring during alternating auditory stimulation. Stimuli were two monaural pure tones having a frequency of 400 or 800 Hz and a duration of 500 ms. Electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded from 14 volunteers during the presentation of the following stimulus sequences, lasting 12 s each: 1) evoked potentials (EP condition, control), 2) alternation of frequency and ear (FE condition), 3) alternation of frequency (F condition), and 4) alternation of ear (E condition).

The sound of consciousness: neural underpinnings of auditory perception.

The neural correlates of consciousness (NCC), i.e., patterns of brain activity that specifically accompany a particular conscious experience, have been investigated mainly in the visual system using particularly suited paradigms, such as binocular rivalry and multistable percepts in combination with neural recordings or neuroimaging.