Use of quality control indices in moderately hypocaloric Mediterranean diet for treatment of obesity.

A large number of studies have been published on very-low calorie diets and markedly hypocaloric dietary regimens for treatment of obesity. However, scanty data are available on moderately hypocaloric diets based on the Mediterranean diet model. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of a moderately hypocaloric Mediterranean diet (MHMD) by assessing changes in body composition and in metabolic profile in 19 obese women, aged 32+/-4 years, body weight 84.

Analysis of pointing errors reveals properties of data representations and coordinate transformations within the central nervous system.

The execution of a simple pointing task invokes a chain of processing that includes visual acquisition of the target, coordination of multimodal proprioceptive signals, and ultimately the generation of a motor command that will drive the finger to the desired target location. These processes in the sensorimotor chain can be described in terms of internal representations of the target or limb positions and coordinate transformations between different internal reference frames. In this article we first describe how different types of error analysis can be used to identify properties of the internal representations and coordinate transformations within the central nervous system.

Acrodysplasia, severe ossification abnormalities with short stature, and fibular hypoplasia.

We present a girl with short stature, growth hormone neurosecretory dysfunction, severe hypoplastic/aplastic changes of the bones of the hands and feet with dysharmonic ossification, severely delayed bone age, microcrania, and fibular hypoplasia. Parental consanguinity suggests autosomal recessive inheritance. An additional three cases [Eiken et al.

Eye-head coordination for the steering of locomotion in humans: an anticipatory synergy.

We investigated head and gaze orientation in six healthy volunteers walking along 90 degrees corner trajectories, both at light and with eyes closed. We found that head and eyes systematically deviated toward the future direction of the curved trajectory. Anticipation lead was about 1 s.

Individual characteristics of human walking mechanics.

Twenty-four subjects walked at different speeds (V) from 0.4 to 2.6 m s-1, while motion and ground reaction forces were recorded in 3-D space.

Kinematic coordination in human gait: relation to mechanical energy cost.

Twenty-four subjects walked at different, freely chosen speeds (V) ranging from 0.4 to 2.6 m s-1, while the motion and the ground reaction forces were recorded in three-dimensional space.

Spondylo-mesomelic-acrodysplasia with joint dislocations and severe combined immunodeficiency: a newly recognised immuno-osseous dysplasia.

A newborn girl is described with an association of spondylo-acrodysplasia, mild short limbed dwarfism without significant metaphyseal changes, joint dislocations, and severe immune system dysfunction. This association is distinct from other known immuno-osseous dysplasias, including Schimke dysplasia, ADA deficiency with osseous changes, and Omenn phenotype with short limbed dwarfism.

Agranulocytosis, arthritis and systemic vasculitis in a patient receiving the oral iron chelator L1 (deferiprone).

A thalassaemic girl presented with agranulocytosis, arthritis of both ankles and clinical and laboratory features consistent with the diagnosis of systemic vasculitis, during oral iron chelator L1 (deferiprone) treatment. Changes in the humoral and cell-mediated immune function. including antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti-DNA and extractable-nuclear antigens (ENA) antibodies positivity, increased immunoglobulin values, decreased T suppressor and the presence of circulating immune complexes, suggest a cause-and-effect relationship with the observed clinical manifestations.

Precision of sonographic measurement of articular cartilage: inter- and intraobserver analysis.

Objective: To establish the precision of sonographic measurement of the thickness of the articular cartilage of the hip and knee in children.

Design: The precision was assessed by evaluating the intra- and interobserver variations in sonographic measurements.

Patients: A total of 65 healthy children were in the study.