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Martins A, Scotto M, Deus R, Monteiro A, Gouveia S. Association between respiratory hospital admissions and air quality in Portugal: A count time series approach. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253455. [PMID: 34242247 PMCID: PMC8270143 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Although regulatory improvements for air quality in the European Union have been made, air pollution is still a pressing problem and, its impact on health, both mortality and morbidity, is a topic of intense research nowadays. The main goal of this work is to assess the impact of the exposure to air pollutants on the number of daily hospital admissions due to respiratory causes in 58 spatial locations of Portugal mainland, during the period 2005-2017. To this end, INteger Generalised AutoRegressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (INGARCH)-based models are extensively used. This family of models has proven to be very useful in the analysis of serially dependent count data. Such models include information on the past history of the time series, as well as the effect of external covariates. In particular, daily hospitalisation counts, air quality and temperature data are endowed within INGARCH models of optimal orders, where the automatic inclusion of the most significant covariates is carried out through a new block-forward procedure. The INGARCH approach is adequate to model the outcome variable (respiratory hospital admissions) and the covariates, which advocates for the use of count time series approaches in this setting. Results show that the past history of the count process carries very relevant information and that temperature is the most determinant covariate, among the analysed, for daily hospital respiratory admissions. It is important to stress that, despite the small variability explained by air quality, all models include on average, approximately two air pollutants covariates besides temperature. Further analysis shows that the one-step-ahead forecasts distributions are well separated into two clusters: one cluster includes locations exclusively in the Lisbon area (exhibiting higher number of one-step-ahead hospital admissions forecasts), while the other contains the remaining locations. This results highlights that special attention must be given to air quality in Lisbon metropolitan area in order to decrease the number of hospital admissions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Martins
- Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) and Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Manuel Scotto
- Center for Computational and Stochastic Mathematics (CEMAT), Department of Mathematics, IST, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Ricardo Deus
- Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, I.P. (IPMA, I.P.), Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Alexandra Monteiro
- CESAM, Department of Environment and Planning, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Sónia Gouveia
- Institute of Electronics and Informatics Engineering of Aveiro (IEETA) and Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
- Center for R&D in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Bouvet J, Lemaitre L, Cariou C, Scotto M, Blain C, Oberli F, Cupillard L, Guigal PM. A canine vaccine against Leptospira serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae, Canicola and Grippotyphosa provides cross protection against Leptospira serovar Copenhageni. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 2019; 219:109985. [PMID: 31759261 DOI: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2019.109985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2018] [Revised: 11/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Efficacy of the Leptospira components of multivalent vaccine DAPPi-L was previously demonstrated against virulent challenge with three serovars of Leptospira interrogans (Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae and Grippotyphosa) carried out 14 days after primary vaccination. In this study we demonstrate that this vaccine provides, two weeks after vaccination, an additional protection (prevention of mortality, clinical signs, renal infection, bacterial excretion, renal carriage and renal lesions) against fatal leptospirosis due to Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni (serovar of major medical importance).
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Affiliation(s)
- J Bouvet
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Centre de Recherche de Saint-Vulbas, Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, 805 Allée des Cyprès, 01150 Saint-Vulbas, France.
| | - L Lemaitre
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Centre de Recherche de Saint-Vulbas, Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, 805 Allée des Cyprès, 01150 Saint-Vulbas, France
| | - C Cariou
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Lyon Porte des Alpes, rue de l'aviation, 69800 Saint-Priest, France
| | - M Scotto
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Centre de Recherche de Saint-Vulbas, Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, 805 Allée des Cyprès, 01150 Saint-Vulbas, France
| | - C Blain
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Lyon Porte des Alpes, rue de l'aviation, 69800 Saint-Priest, France
| | - F Oberli
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Centre de Recherche de Saint-Vulbas, Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, 805 Allée des Cyprès, 01150 Saint-Vulbas, France
| | - L Cupillard
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Lyon Porte des Alpes, rue de l'aviation, 69800 Saint-Priest, France
| | - P M Guigal
- Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, Centre de Recherche de Saint-Vulbas, Parc Industriel de la Plaine de l'Ain, 805 Allée des Cyprès, 01150 Saint-Vulbas, France
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Macedo P, Scotto M, Silva E. Regularization with Maximum Entropy and Quantum Electrodynamics: The Merg(E) Estimators. COMMUN STAT-SIMUL C 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/03610918.2014.957838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Macedo
- Department of Mathematics, CIDMA - Center for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Manuel Scotto
- Department of Mathematics, CIDMA - Center for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
| | - Elvira Silva
- CEF.UP, Faculty of Economics, University of Porto Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-464 Porto, Portugal
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Carzino R, Pignatelli F, Farina D, Torre B, Scotto M, Marini L, Bertoni G, Caputo G, Cozzoli PD, Diaspro A, Athanassiou A. Laser-induced disaggregation of TiO₂ nanofillers for uniform nanocomposites. Nanotechnology 2014; 25:125702. [PMID: 24572071 DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/25/12/125702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Exploiting the intrinsic photosensitivity of TiO₂ nanoparticles, we demonstrated how ultraviolet (UV) pulsed laser irradiation of acrylate polymer nanocomposite solutions can separate the initial clusters of these colloidal semiconductor nanorods into clearly distinct units. From the irradiated solutions, optically clear nanocomposite films are obtained which exhibit enhanced optical properties with respect to the nanocomposites obtained without previous UV treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Carzino
- Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Via Morego 30, I-16163 Genova, Italy
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Almeida V, de Carvalho M, Scotto M, Pinto S, Pinto A, Ohana B, Swash M. Primary lateral sclerosis: Predicting functional outcome. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Frontotemporal Degener 2012; 14:141-5. [DOI: 10.3109/17482968.2012.719237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Scotto M, Afonso G, Larger E, Raverdy C, Lemonnier F, Carel J, Dubois-Laforgue D, Baz B, Levy D, Gautier J, Launey O, Bruno G, Boitard C, Sechi L, Hutton J, Davidson H, Mallone R. Zinc transporter (ZnT)8(186-194) is an immunodominant CD8+ T cell epitope in HLA-A2+ type 1 diabetic patients. Diabetologia 2012; 55:2026-31. [PMID: 22526607 PMCID: PMC3740540 DOI: 10.1007/s00125-012-2543-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2012] [Accepted: 03/06/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
AIMS/HYPOTHESIS Anti-zinc transporter (ZnT)8 autoantibodies are commonly detected in type 1 diabetic patients. We hypothesised that ZnT8 is also recognised by CD8(+) T cells and aimed to identify HLA-A2 (A*02:01)-restricted epitope targets. METHODS Candidate epitopes were selected by ZnT8 plasmid DNA immunisation of HLA-A2/DQ8 transgenic mice and tested for T cell recognition in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of type 1 diabetic, type 2 diabetic and healthy participants by IFN-γ enzyme-linked immunospot. RESULTS White HLA-A2(+) adults (83%) and children (60%) with type 1 diabetes displayed ZnT8-reactive CD8(+) T cells that recognised a single ZnT8(186-194) (VAANIVLTV) epitope. This ZnT8(186-194)-reactive fraction accounted for 50% to 53% of total ZnT8-specific CD8(+) T cells. Another sequence, ZnT8(153-161) (VVTGVLVYL), was recognised in 20% and 25% of type 1 diabetic adults and children, respectively. Both epitopes were type 1 diabetes-specific, being marginally recognised by type 2 diabetic and healthy participants (7-12% for ZnT8(186-194), 0% for ZnT8(153-161)). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION ZnT8-reactive CD8(+) T cells are predominantly directed against the ZnT8(186-194) epitope and are detected in a majority of type 1 diabetic patients. The exceptional immunodominance of ZnT8(186-194) may point to common environmental triggers precipitating beta cell autoimmunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Scotto
- INSERM, U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
| | - G. Afonso
- INSERM, U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
| | - E. Larger
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - C. Raverdy
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Robert Debré Hospital, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Paris, France
- Paris 7 Denis Diderot University, Paris, France
| | - F.A. Lemonnier
- INSERM, U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
| | - J.C. Carel
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Robert Debré Hospital, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, Paris, France
- Paris 7 Denis Diderot University, Paris, France
| | - D. Dubois-Laforgue
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - B. Baz
- Paris 7 Denis Diderot University, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Saint Louis Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - D. Levy
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - J.F. Gautier
- Paris 7 Denis Diderot University, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Saint Louis Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - O. Launey
- INSERM CIC BT505, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Centre d’Investigation Clinique de Vaccinologie Cochin Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - G. Bruno
- University of Turin, Departement of Internal Medicine, Turin, Italy
| | - C. Boitard
- INSERM, U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
| | - L.A. Sechi
- Università degli Studi di Sassari, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Section of Microbiology and Virology, Sassari, Italy
| | - J.C. Hutton
- Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - H.W. Davidson
- Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO, USA
| | - R. Mallone
- INSERM, U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Cochin-Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, Paris, France
- Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Faculté de Médecine, Paris, France
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, Cochin-Hôtel Dieu Hospital, Department of Diabetology, Paris, France
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Brooks-Worrell B, Tree T, Mannering SI, Durinovic-Bello I, James E, Gottlieb P, Wong S, Zhou Z, Yang L, Cilio CM, Reichow J, Menart B, Rutter R, Schreiner R, Pham M, Petrich de Marquesini L, Lou O, Scotto M, Mallone R, Schloot NC. Comparison of cryopreservation methods on T-cell responses to islet and control antigens from type 1 diabetic patients and controls. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2011; 27:737-45. [PMID: 22069253 DOI: 10.1002/dmrr.1245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of the pancreatic islet cells. The use of cryopreserved cells is preferable to the use of freshly isolated cells to monitor clinical trials to decrease assay and laboratory variability. METHODS The T-Cell Workshop Committee of the Immunology of Diabetes Society compared two widely accepted T-cell freezing protocols (warm and cold) to freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with T1D and controls in terms of recovery, viability, cell subset composition, and performance in functional assays currently in use in T1D-related research. Nine laboratories participated in the study with four different functional assays included. RESULTS The cold freezing method yielded higher recovery and viability compared with the warm freezing method. Irrespective of freezing protocol, B cells and CD8+ T cells were enriched, monocyte fraction decreased, and islet antigen-reactive responses were lower in frozen versus fresh cells. However, these results need to take in to account that the overall response to islet autoantigens was low in some assays. CONCLUSIONS In the current study, none of the tested T-cell functional assays performed well using frozen samples. More research is required to identify a freezing method and a T-cell functional assay that will produce responses in patients with T1D comparable to responses using fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Brooks-Worrell
- University of Washington, Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98108, USA.
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Mallone R, Scotto M, Janicki CN, James EA, Fitzgerald-Miller L, Wagner R, Gottlieb P, Thorpe J, Jospe N, Durinovic-Bellò I, Boitard C, Lou O, Dayan CM, Wong FS. Immunology of Diabetes Society T-Cell Workshop: HLA class I tetramer-directed epitope validation initiative T-Cell Workshop Report-HLA Class I Tetramer Validation Initiative. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 2011; 27:720-6. [PMID: 22069251 DOI: 10.1002/dmrr.1243] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identification of T-cell reactivity to β-cell antigen epitopes is an important goal for studying pathogenesis and for designing and monitoring of immunotherapeutic interventions in type 1 diabetes (T1D). METHODS We performed a multicentre validation of known human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I CD8+ T-cell epitopes. To this end, peripheral blood T-cell responses were measured in 35 recently (<2 years) diagnosed HLA-A*02:01+ T1D patients using blind-coded HLA-A2 tetramers (TMrs) and pentamers (PMrs), encompassing two epitopes of preproinsulin (PPI; PPIA12-20 and PPIB10-18) and two epitopes of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD; GAD114-122 and GAD536-545). We also compared the readout of TMrs and PMrs with a CD8+ T-cell interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay. RESULTS Despite the minute frequencies of autoreactive cells detected by TMrs/PMrs, most (73-77%) T1D patients had responses to one or more of the epitopes used. All four epitopes were recognized by T1D patients, with a prevalence ranging from 5 to 25%. TMrs and PMrs detected more positive responses to the β-cell epitopes than CD8+ T-cell interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot. However, concordance between positive responses to TMrs and PMrs was limited. CONCLUSIONS Using a multicentre blind-coded setup and three different T-cell assays, we have validated PPI and GAD epitopes as commonly recognized CD8+ T-cell targets in recently diagnosed T1D patients. Both TMrs and PMrs showed higher detection sensitivity than the CD8+ T-cell interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay. However, there are some important methodological issues that need to be addressed in using these sensitive techniques for detecting low frequency responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Mallone
- INSERM U986, DeAR Lab Avenir, Saint Vincent de Paul Hospital, and Paris Descartes University, Paris, France.
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Macedo P, Scotto M, Silva E. A General Class of Estimators for the Linear Regression Model Affected by Collinearity and Outliers. COMMUN STAT-SIMUL C 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/03610911003695719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Abstract
Progressive muscular atrophy (PMA) is a form of motor neuron disease, but its outcome is not well defined, and the aim was to study the pattern of clinical progression in PMA. We studied 10 patients prospectively for 12 months. None showed clinical signs of upper motor neuron involvement at presentation or during follow-up, and all had normal transcranial magnetic stimulation studies. Four had upper limb onset, four lower limb onset and two axial onset. We used neurophysiological and strength measurements and a clinical rating scale (ALS-FRS). Seven other patients presenting with a PMA syndrome developed upper motor neuron signs during a one-year period of observation and were excluded from the study. The rate of progression was variable. At six months, only motor unit number estimation (MUNE) and ALS-FRS had decreased significantly. The Neurophysiological Index (NI) and M-wave amplitude measurements decreased at 12 months. Two patients with axial-onset disease progressed rapidly to respiratory failure. Overall the pattern of change resembled that of ALS, although some patients progressed very slowly. Axial onset, however, predicts the early onset of respiratory failure, and a poor prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mamede de Carvalho
- Department of Neurology, Hospital de Santa Maria, Neuromuscular Unit of Institute of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine in Lisbon, Portugal
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Conceição IM, Castro JF, Scotto M, de Carvalho M. Neurophysiological markers in familial amyloid polyneuropathy patients: Early changes. Clin Neurophysiol 2008; 119:1082-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2008.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2007] [Revised: 12/22/2007] [Accepted: 01/10/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Rossi B, Scotto M, Sillitti A, Succi G. An Empirical Study on the Migration to OpenOffice.org in a Public Administration. International Journal of Information Technology and Web Engineering 2006. [DOI: 10.4018/jitwe.2006070105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- B. Rossi
- Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy
| | - M. Scotto
- Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy
| | | | - G. Succi
- Free University of Bolzano-Bozen, Italy
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Abstract
The authors prospectively studied the value of clinical and neurophysiologic measurements in assessing progression in ALS. Motor unit number estimation (MUNE) and the neurophysiologic index (NI) were significantly correlated with ADM strength (maximal voluntary isometric contraction force in the abductor digiti minimi muscle [MVIC-ADM]). MUNE and the NI were reliable, but the NI showed a lower variation. On assessing progression at 3, 6, and 12 months, MUNE, NI, and MVIC-ADM showed the highest rate of change. The NI is a potentially useful new neurophysiologic measurement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mamede de Carvalho
- Department of Neurology, Hospital de Santa Maria, Laboratory of Electromyography, Centro de Estudos Egas Moniz, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon, Portugal.
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Abstract
There is a need for a sensitive neurophysiological measure of disease progression in following the course of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We studied two groups of nine ALS patients, one with slow progression (Group A) and the other with rapid progression (Group B). We evaluated muscle strength scores using the Medical Research Council (MRC) scale in limb and trunk muscles, forced vital capacity (FVC), and ALS functional rating scale (ALS-FRS) scores. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of the abductor digiti minimi muscle (ADM) was measured, using a digital device. We also measured M-wave amplitude and area in the ADM, and the distal motor latency and F-wave frequency in the ulnar nerve; from these data, the neurophysiological index (NI) was calculated, as described previously. In both groups, the NI was the most sensitive measure of change, with the smallest coefficient of variation. We conclude that the NI, which requires no special technology and no new clinical or technical skills to use, is sensitive to change, and therefore may be useful in clinical trials, as well as in a clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mamede de Carvalho
- Department of Neurology, Hospital de Santa Maria, EMG Laboratory, Centro de Estudos Egas Moniz, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for Molecular Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
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de Carvalho M, Scotto M, Lopes A, Swash M. F-Waves and the corticospinal lesion in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Amyotroph Lateral Scler Other Motor Neuron Disord 2002; 3:131-6. [PMID: 12495574 DOI: 10.1080/146608202760834139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION In upper motor neuron (UMN) syndromes, F-waves are of higher amplitude, increased duration, and increased latency. Increased F-wave frequency in UMN syndromes is not well documented. We have studied the effect of corticospinal lesion on F-wave frequency, M-wave amplitude, distal motor latency and on the Neurophysiological Index (CMAP amplitude/DML x % F-wave frequency) which we have described previously in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHOD We studied 145 abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscles in 75 patients with ALS. Six groups of hands were defined, based on strength of the ADM, as assessed clinically by the MRC scale, and the presence or absence of UMN signs in the same upper limb. RESULTS CMAP amplitude and area were decreased, and DML increased, in weaker muscles (MRC < 3) causing a change in the ALS Neurophysiological Index. In general, UMN signs were not correlated with increased F-wave frequency. In five weak hands F-responses were studied in individual motor units. A larger number of responding motor units in these weak limbs with UMN signs was observed. CONCLUSION F-wave excitability is largely dependent on the size of the lower motor neuron pool.
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de Carvalho M, Lopes A, Scotto M, Swash M. Reproducibility of neurophysiological and myometric measurement in the ulnar nerve-abductor digiti minimi system. Muscle Nerve 2001; 24:1391-5. [PMID: 11562922 DOI: 10.1002/mus.1161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Reliability in strength and neurophysiological measurements is important in evaluating progression of neuromuscular diseases. No data are available on the variability of neurophysiological parameters as compared with maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) in the same muscles, in healthy subjects. A control population of 26 healthy subjects was studied twice on different days. We evaluated the reliability of neurophysiological parameters obtained from bilateral ulnar nerve stimulation, recording the response over the abductor digiti minimi (ADM) muscle, including distal motor latency, compound muscle potential amplitude and area, F-wave frequency and mean F-wave latency, and the derived neurophysiological index that we have described previously. MVIC force was measured in each session in both ADM muscles. The variances between the grouped data obtained in the two recording sessions were identical, indicating a low intrinsic variability with this experimental methodology. Comparison of the mean values obtained in the two sessions revealed no statistically significant differences. The reliability of these neurophysiological and strength measurements in the same nerve/muscle system suggests they may be useful in comparing the dynamics of weakness and neurophysiological change in neuromuscular disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- M de Carvalho
- Department of Neurology, Hospital de Santa Maria, EMG Laboratory of Centro de Estudos Egas Moniz, Lisbon, Portugal
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Weber P, Scotto M, Plaisance JJ, Mancy C, Chouteau J, Chef F, Labia R. Activités in vitro de l'amoxicilline et de l'association amoxicilline-acide clavulanique vis-à-vis d'Escherichia coli en médecine de ville. Med Mal Infect 1995. [DOI: 10.1016/s0399-077x(05)81032-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Abstract
An unusual case of sundown syndrome is here reported, in which a bilingual patient would involuntarily change languages at sunset. Numerous theories have been advanced in attempting to account for sundowning. Cameron has suggested that nocturnal delirium was based on an inability to maintain a spatial image without the assistance of repeated visualization. Kral and Wolanin and Phillips have argued for a more psychogenic account, by stating that psychosocial stressors may, in concert with impaired cognitive functioning, account for sundowning. The present case concerns a 42-year-old white male who in January 1989 suffered a closed head injury. A thorough personal history as well as a detailed examination of the patient's daily activities allowed us to account for the unusual manner in which the sundowning manifested itself. The uniqueness of this case allows us to underscore both the psychological as well as environmental and neurological factors involved in sundowning. Thus, we have as a consequence been able to synthesize the seemingly disparate accounts of both Cameron and more recent published literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Duckett
- Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, Malvern, PA 19355
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Abstract
The reversal signals and eye movements of three subjects looking at a Necker cube that moved sinusoidally in the subject's field of view were recorded. The aim of the experiment was to provide evidence of possible synchronisation of perceptual alternation with smooth periodic eye movements. The occurrence of synchronisation was demonstrated for a proper choice of the eye oscillation period by both a sharp reduction in the fluctuations of the reversal time and a change in the mean value of this parameter. Such variations resulted in a close match of the mean reversal time to a multiple of the eye oscillation period. Further, inversions of the direction of eye movements elicited pattern reversals in a systematic way, characteristic for each subject. The described phenomenon, which is a typical example of nonlinear-resonant behaviour, stresses a new important aspect of the complex interaction pattern relating pursuit eye movements to visual perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Scotto
- Istituto di Cibernetica e Biofisica del C.N.R., Genova, Italia
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Abstract
The altered feedback technique is very suited to display nonlinearities of the human smooth pursuit system. In fact, when the gain of the retinal feedback path is raised, for the horizontal channel, above its normal unitary negative value, a threshold is met beyond which sustained horizontal self-excited smooth oscillations of the eye can be observed, which point out the existence of a stable limit cycle. Furthermore, the characterizing features of both the transient and steady state show a well defined dependence on the total feedback factor K. In particular, the analytical dependence on K of the amplitude and frequency of limit cycle oscillations can be derived. Implications of the experiment with respect to the mathematical modelling of the system are discussed.
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Palmieri G, Scotto M, Oliva GA. Image-converter pattern tracker for variable retinal feedback experiments. Kybernetik 1974; 15:193-202. [PMID: 4845820 DOI: 10.1007/bf00277495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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Scotto M, Paoli G, Wataghin A. On the production of proton-rich heavy shielded elements froms-elements in systems at high temperature. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1967. [DOI: 10.1007/bf02712443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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