Articles: function.
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Journal of neurotrauma · May 2014
Novel multi-system functional gains via task specific training in spinal cord injured male rats.
Locomotor training (LT) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a rehabilitative therapy used to enhance locomotor recovery. There is evidence, primarily anecdotal, also associating LT with improvements in bladder function and reduction in some types of SCI-related pain. In the present study, we determined if a step training paradigm could improve outcome measures of locomotion, bladder function, and pain/allodynia. ⋯ Bladder NGF mRNA levels were inversely related to bladder function in the trained group. Monitoring of overground locomotion and neuropathic pain throughout the study revealed significant improvements, beginning after 3 weeks of training, which in both cases remained consistent for the study duration. These novel findings, improving non-locomotor in addition to locomotor functions, demonstrate that step training post-SCI could contribute to multiple quality of life gains, targeting patient-centered high priority deficits.
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The newly emerging human pathogen influenza A H7N9 represents a potentially major threat to human health. The virus was first shown to be pathogenic in humans in 2013, and outbreaks continue to occur in China to the present time. ⋯ In the absence of an effective vaccine, targeted regulation of the host immune response by immune modulators might be considered. Readily available, approved drugs with immune-modulating activities might prove to be a treatment option in combination with existing antiviral agents and supportive care.
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The predisposition, infection, response and organ dysfunction (PIRO) staging system was designed as a stratification tool to deal with the inherent heterogeneity of septic patients. The present study was conducted to assess the performance of PIRO in predicting multiple organ dysfunction (MOD), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and 28-day mortality in septic patients in the emergency department (ED), and to compare this scoring system with the Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) scores. ⋯ The study indicates that PIRO is helpful for risk stratification and prognostic determinations in septic patients in the ED.
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Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. · Apr 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyInhaled Colistin in Patients with Bronchiectasis and Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Infection.
Chronic infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is associated with an increased exacerbation frequency, a more rapid decline in lung function, and increased mortality in patients with bronchiectasis. ⋯ Although the primary endpoint was not reached, this study shows that inhaled colistin is a safe and effective treatment in adherent patients with bronchiectasis and chronic P. aeruginosa infection. Clinical trial registered with http://www.isrctn.org/ (ISRCTN49790596).