Multicomponent physical training in patients with Parkinson disease Background: Multicomponent physical training in patients with Parkinson disease may improve their functional independence, especially in terms of gait speed and coordination. Aim: To assess the effects of an eight weeks multicomponent physical training program in patients with Parkinson disease. Material and Methods: Fourteen patients with Parkinson disease participated in a physical training program that lasted eight weeks. Three sessions lasting 60 minutes per week were carried out. Patients were assessed using the six minutes walk, timed up and go and the unipodal stance test. Results: After the training period, significant improvements in the six minute walk test and timed up and go were observed. No significant changes were observed in the unipodal stance test. Conclusions: The eight weeks training program improved gait speed and functional status in these patients with Parkinson disease.

Nose to brain delivery of neurotherapeutics have been tried by several researchers to explore the virtues of this route viz. circumvention of BBB, avoidance of hepatic metabolism,
practicality, safety, ease of administration and non-invasiveness. Nanoparticle (NP) therapeutics is an emerging modality for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) as it offers targeted delivery and enhances the therapeutic efficacy and/or bioavailability of neurotherapeutics. This review presents a concise incursion into the nanomedicines suitable for PD therapy delivered via naso-brain transport. Clinical signs of PD, its pathophysiology, specific genetic determinants,
diagnosis and therapy involved have been hashed out. Properties of brain-targeting NPs, transport efficacy and various nanocarriers developed so far also been furnished. In our opinion, nanotechnology-enabled naso-brain drug delivery is an excellent means of delivering neurotherapeutics and is a promising avenue for researchers to develop new formulations
for the effective management of PD.

We investigate the correlation between wrist movement and freezing of the gait in Parkinsons disease. Detecting such freezes allows real-time monitoring to reduce the risk of falls in subjects with Parkinson’s. While most of research focuses on placing inertial sensors on lower limb, i.e., foot, ankle, thigh, lower back, we focus on the wrist as an alternative placement. Commonly worn accessories at the wrist such as watches or wristbands are easier to be accepted and worn by elderly users, in special subjects with motor problems. Experiments on data from 11 subjects show that freezing of gait episodes can be detected using the wrist movements, with a freeze hit-rate of 90% and 83% specificity in a subject-dependent evaluation scheme. This suggests that wrist sensors can be a feasible alternative to the cumbersome placement on the legs.

The Parkinson´s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects the control of motor skills including: tremors, rigidity, imbalance and Freezing of Gait (FOG). FOG events begin suddenly and consist of a brief episodic absence or marked reduction of gait, despite the intention to walk. This occurs when the patient walks through narrow places or over obstacles, affecting the way of how the patient walks and even causing fractures and falls. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of an electronic peripheral stimulation device that through vibrations during walking could help patients to significantly reduce FOG episodes and improve their cadence. Additionally, the system measures parameters such as acceleration in the horizontal and vertical axes, and pressure distribution in four specific points on the soles. Useful data for a posteriori analysis of the physiology of gait. This device was tested in seven patients with PD, two of them had FOG episodes. The data analysis of time series and frequency showed to be an effective therapy in the freezing of gait treatment, reducing up to 75% FOG episodes and significantly improving the homogeneity of gait.

There are twelve major acupuncture meridians. Each one is associated with a color, an element and so much more. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, each acupuncture / acupressure meridian is associated with sensations and other aspects of health and healing.

IN PRESS

Every seventy-two seconds someone in America develops Alzheimer’s disease (AD). And it has been said that almost everyone living long enough will eventually show evidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Thus far its cause has remained elusive.
Nevertheless, recently, study after study, in which scientists have injected human Alzheimer diseased brain tissue into mice and other laboratory animals that later developed the disease have left little doubt that Alzheimer’s arises from an infectious process, the focus of debate seeming to be which particular disease. But clearly, it must be a disease that is not only statistically widespread in the world today, but that was also prevalent at the time of Dr. Alois Alzheimer.
To be sure, it was German neuropathologist Oskar Fischer of the Prague school of neuropathology, Alzheimer’s great rival, who was the first to suggest that infection might be causative for Alzheimer’s. Fischer’s credentials: he was the co-discoverer of Alzheimer’s disease and tirelessly did autopsies on the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s.
Fischer’s infectious view never gained immediate popularity, although today, more than a century later, a volume of data supporting such an approach has begun to accumulate. But was Fischer’s specific microbe on the right track to discovering the cause of Alzheimer’s to begin with? The evidence uncovered in this book seems to suggest that he was considerably closer than anyone else—either then or since.
In this volume, doctor and medical researcher Lawrence Broxmeyer presents a stunning hypothesis about the bacterial nature of Alzheimer’s disease, forgotten long ago. Immensely readable and enormously well-researched, this work of medical history should change the way we think about, diagnose, and treat this debilitating condition.

KIRKUS REVIEWS: "The author is an internist and a medical researcher, and his double mastery of both the scientific minutiae and historical nuances of his subject matter is breathtaking. This is more than an account of a scientific debate--it's also an examination of the sometimes--unempirical way that such debate proceeds, as it's conducted by human beings with agendas of their own. Although it's a relatively short book--less than 200 pages of text--it is by no means a quick read. Nevertheless, readers with strong science backgrounds will be impressed by the author's undeniable competence, as well as his journalistic approach to chartering the evolution of thought regarding one of our era's most challenging diseases."

La camptocormia e la sindrome di Pisa sono alterazioni posturali estremamente invalidanti che possono manifestarsi all'interno del corteo sintomatologico della malattia di Parkinson. L'eziologia di queste condizioni è sconosciuta e le opzioni di trattamento sono limitate e spesso non risolutive. In un recente studio è stato descritto come l'inoculazione di lidocaina nei muscoli obliqui esterni associata a fisiochinesiterapia porti ad un miglioramento della suddetta alterazione posturale con conseguente riduzione dell'atteggiamento in flessione in condizioni statiche.
L'obiettivo del nostro studio è stato quello di verificare l'efficacia clinica di un nuovo approccio riabilitativo, composto da iniezioni giornaliere di lidocaina (nel muscolo obliquo esterno, uni\bi-lateralmente) associate ad un protocollo standardizzato di fisiochinesiterapia, nei disturbi posturali della malattia di Parkinson e di quantificare le eventuali modificazioni del pattern deambulatorio tramite l'utilizzo della GaitAnalysis.
A questo scopo abbiamo reclutato 7 pazienti (5 maschi, 2 femmine; età media 71,4) affetti da MP, 3 dei quali con camptocormia e 4 con sindrome di Pisa, che presentavano attività aberrante della muscolatura addominale, in particolare dei muscoli obliqui esterni mono\bilateralmente, documentata tramite elettromiografia. I pazienti sono stati valutati all'inizio e a termine del trattamento tramite test funzionali quali: 6 Minutes Walking Test (6MWT), 10 Meter Walk Test (10MWT), Time Up & Go test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Hanno inoltre effettuato Gait Analysis con registrazione di parametri spazio-temporali, cinematici ed elettromiografici di superficie. E' stato poi somministrato il Camptocormia Questionnaire (CQ), un questionario che comprende la misurazione dell'angolo di flessione del tronco, il dolore lombare e l'impatto del disturbo posturale sulle ADL. Il trattamento è
consistito in inoculazioni di 50mg di lidocaina nei muscoli interessati per 5 giorni consecutivi seguite da un protocollo standardizzato di esercizi fisioterapici (della durata di 1 ora) per la prima settimana. In seguito i pazienti hanno continuato ad effettuare il solo protocollo di esercizi per i 5 giorni successivi. I risultati hanno evidenziato un miglioramento in tutti i test effettuati, in particolare un miglioramento statisticamente significativo nella BBS e nel 6MWT. La Gait Analysis ha evidenziato un aumento statisticamente significativo del ROM dell'anca sul piano sagittale al
termine del trattamento. Questo si traduce in un miglioramento dell'equilibrio, della resistenza allo sforzo e del pattern deambulatorio.
L'approccio terapeutico proposto si è dimostrato efficace dal punto di vista
soggettivo, funzionale e strumentale. Appare dunque applicabile in questa tipologia di pazienti previa un'accurata valutazione clinico-strumentale che individui i soggetti idonei al trattamento.
Al fine di ottenere un effetto a lungo termine è possibile pensare ad un blocco neuromuscolare prolungato con farmaci differenti dalla lidocaina, come ad esempio, la tossina botulinica.

Within this dissertation the community dance practices aimed at the Progressive Neurological Disorders of Parkinson’s disease and Dementia: the English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s outreach and Circle Dance in Dementia, will be discussed. Chosen due to prior experience within these areas, investigations into whether Dance for Parkinson’s and Dementia invite questions as to the boundaries of Dance Movement Therapy’s application will be explored: can a community dance practice, that has therapeutic results, be considered as therapy if it follows the denotation of this term, or does it have to follow the ideologies of Dance Movement Therapy? This will be explored by comparing the methods used in the stated case studies with the methods practiced by Dance Movement Therapists to see whether parallels can be drawn, and if this affects the classification of therapy within the community dance industry.

The Parkinson´s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects the control of motor skills including: tremors, rigidity, imbalance and Freezing of Gait (FOG). FOG events begin suddenly and consist of a brief episodic absence or marked reduction of gait, despite the intention to walk. This occurs when the patient walks through narrow places or over obstacles, affecting the way of how the patient walks and even causing fractures and falls. This paper describes the design, implementation and evaluation of an electronic peripheral stimulation device that through vibrations during walking could help patients to significantly reduce FOG episodes and improve their cadence. Additionally, the system measures parameters such as acceleration in the horizontal and vertical axes, and pressure distribution in four specific points on the soles. Useful data for a posteriori analysis of the physiology of gait. This device was tested in seven patients with PD, two of them had FOG episodes. The data analysis of time series and frequency showed to be an effective therapy in the freezing of gait treatment, reducing up to 75% FOG episodes and significantly improving the homogeneity of gait.

Despite being the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, Parkinson’s disease (PD) has received little attention in the phenomenological literature. This study aims to contribute to this limited body of research by exploring the questions of what it is like to be a Parkinson’s patient and what meanings can be ascribed to their experience. To answer these questions the study thematically analyzed seven accounts of PD through a hermeneutic, phenomenological lens using a combination of Wertz’s Phenomenological Psychological method (2011) and McCracken’s The Long Interview method (1988). The participants of this study consisted of 6 men and 1 woman, ranging in ages 58 to 71, who have been diagnosed with PD for between 3 and 10 years. Three of these accounts were gathered via in-person interviews and the other four accounts were obtained through published, autobiographical writings. The phenomenological analysis identified four themes that appear to be characteristic of the experience of PD: (1) Denial, (2) Emotion and symptom expression, (3) Alteration of temporal perspective, and (4) Volitional and spontaneous action. The themes are reflected upon by using concepts in existential philosophy to clarify their psychological significance and to synthesize them into an account of the subjective experience of PD. The findings of the study were compared to other findings in the phenomenological literature. Limitations of the current study were discussed and suggestions for further research were posed.

—Today, wearable internet-of-things (wIoT) devices continuously flood the cloud data centers at an enormous rate. This increases a demand to deploy an edge infrastructure for computing, intelligence, and storage close to the users. The emerging paradigm of fog computing could play an important role to make wIoT more efficient and affordable. Fog computing is known as the cloud on the ground. This paper presents an end-to-end architecture that performs data conditioning and intelligent filtering for generating smart analytics from wearable data. In wIoT, wearable sensor devices serve on one end while the cloud backend offers services on the other end. We developed a prototype of smart fog gateway (a middle layer) using Intel Edison and Raspberry Pi. We discussed the role of the smart fog gateway in orchestrating the process of data conditioning, intelligent filtering, smart analytics, and selective transfer to the cloud for long-term storage and temporal variability monitoring. We benchmarked the performance of developed prototypes on real-world data from smart e-textile gloves. Results demonstrated the usability and potential of proposed architecture for converting the real-world data into useful analytics while making use of knowledge-based models. In this way, the smart fog gateway enhances the end-to-end interaction between wearables (sensor devices) and the cloud.

Glyphosate, a synthetic amino acid and analogue of glycine, is the most widely used biocide
on the planet. Its presence in food for human consumption and animal feed is ubiquitous.
Epidemiological studies have revealed a strong correlation between the increasing incidence
in the United States of a large number of chronic diseases and the increased use of
glyphosate herbicide on corn, soy and wheat crops. Glyphosate, acting as a glycine
analogue, may be mistakenly incorporated into peptides during protein synthesis. A deep
search of the research literature has revealed a number of protein classes that depend on
conserved glycine residues for proper function. Glycine, the smallest amino acid, has unique
properties that support flexibility and the ability to anchor to the plasma membrane or the
cytoskeleton. Glyphosate substitution for conserved glycines can easily explain a link with
diabetes, obesity, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary
edema, adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, prion diseases, lupus, mitochondrial disease, non-
Hodgkin’s lymphoma, neural tube defects, infertility, hypertension, glaucoma, osteoporosis,
fatty liver disease and kidney failure. The correlation data together with the direct biological
evidence make a compelling case for glyphosate action as a glycine analogue to account for
much of glyphosate’s toxicity. Glufosinate, an analogue of glutamate, likely exhibits an
analogous toxicity mechanism. There is an urgent need to find an effective and economical
way to grow crops without the use of glyphosate and glufosinate as herbicides.

Esta investigación cualitativa con abordaje etnográfico, tuvo como objetivo describir, analizar y comprender el rol del familiar cuidador principal de la persona con la enfermedad de Parkinson.  Existe un incremento significativo de personas que padecen la enfermedad del Parkinson afectando su calidad y de aquellos que lo rodean. La base teórica según Bustamante para familia y rol, Leininger para cuidado cultural, López para cuidador familiar y Chávez para Parkinson. El escenario fue el hogar de cada familiar cuidador. Los sujetos de estudio fueron 11 familiares cuidadores, muestra determinada con la técnica de saturación; los datos se recolectaron mediante la observación participante y entrevista etnográfica, y se procesaron según el análisis temático de Spradley, obteniendo como temas culturales: Con creatividad e inteligencia cuidan de la persona con Parkinson. Nutrición, selección y preparación de alimentos en base a la experiencia adquirida del cuidador y las necesidades de la persona con Parkinson. En toda la investigación se tuvo en cuenta los criterios de rigor científico según Hernández y los de rigor ético según Sgreccia. Se concluye que los familiares cuidan en base a las necesidades de higiene, alimentación que surgen debido a la sintomatología progresiva de la enfermedad, haciendo uso de su inteligencia, creatividad y de los conocimientos adquiridos por su cultura. Desconocen las interacciones que ocasionan algunos alimentos con el medicamento; por lo tanto es necesario implementar estrategias orientadas a mejorar su calidad de vida educando a sus familiares cuidadores.
Palabras clave: Rol/ Cuidador/ Enfermedad de Parkinson/ Cultura.

Narrative therapy (story telling) and expressive poetry (sensory words) can be used to engage the mirror neurons and motor neurons in the brain and decrease the symptoms in Parkinson's disease. The kind of stories we listen to and whether we identify with the narrator or not influence what parts of our brain "lights up," get more blood flow, more nutrients, and more stimulation causing it to better develop or heal. This means the kind of stories we tell in our families and communities, the kind of speakers we hear, the kind of music we listen to influences the ability of our cortex to function. Story telling provides another doorway to greater brain health. Mirror neurons cause us to feel the actions of others in our own body. Motor neurons can be engaged through seeing another person move or through guided visualizations. An engaging story about someone walking is a brisk and balanced way and can create an image in the mind of someone with Parkinson's disease. That image is then translated into a subtle contracting of the muscles needed to walk in that particular way. This stimulates the brain and nerve pathways to the muscles that are needed in order to do these actions. Research has also shown that injured athletes who visualize themselves doing their sport come back to the game with better skills than an athlete who doesn't do any visualization. 

Burnham, K. (2016). Narrative therapy, visualization, and brain neurons in Parkinson's disease. 2nd International Conference on Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders. December 05-07, 2016 Phoenix, AZ, USA, J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism 2016, 6:6(Suppl) http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2161-0460.C1.025.

In 1972, world leaders realized that dumping millions of tons of sewage sludge into the oceans killed entire underwater ecosystems. Some nations stopped the dumping immediately, while others did not.
The U.S., for example, finally passed the Ocean Dumping Ban Act of 1988. It required dumping all municipal sewage sludge and industrial waste on land. That meant dumping it into landfills or dumping it openly on land, including farms, ranches, national forests, city parks, golf courses, playgrounds, sport fields and beyond. The Act went into effect in 1992 and it sparked a public health disaster. The practice is spreading pathogens to people, livestock, wildlife and beyond every day.

These days, a basic appraisal effort in clinical affiliations biometrics is finding careful biomarkers that permit settling on clinical choice assistance instruments. Parkinson ’s disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive illness that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Although it is quite easy to identify someone affected by PD when the illness shows itself (e.g. tremors, slowness of movement and freezing-of-gait).Most works have focused on studying the working mechanism and detection of the disease in its very early stages. In such cases, drugs can be administered in order to increase the quality of life of the patients. Since the beginning, it is well-known that PD patients feature the micrography, which is related to muscle rigidity and tremors. As such, most of the approaches to detect Parkinson’s Disease make use of handwritten assessment tools, where the individual is asked to perform some predefined tasks, such as drawing spirals and meanders on a template paper. Later, an expert analyses the drawings in order to classify the progressive of the disease. In this work, we are interested into aiding physicians in such task by means of machine learning techniques, which can learn proper information from digitized versions of the exams, and them recommending a probability of a given individual being affected by PD depending on its handwritten skills. Particularly, we are interested in deep learning techniques (i.e. Convolutional Neural Networks) due to their ability into learning features without human interaction.

In May, 2017, a Norwegian study done by Berstad and Berstad threw its support behind revitalizing of the hypothesis that with regard to Parkinson's disease (PD), the preponderance of convincing evidence points to a chronic infectious cause – not viral and most likely of the family Actinomycetales of which tuberculosis and the mycobacteria are premier members. The Berstads concluded that in accordance with such thoughts and despite the diagnostic challenges ahead, that further studies in human brain tissue from PD patients to detect such an underlying infectious cause were warranted. Such thoughts are really nothing new, and have been in circulation since James Parkinson mentioned this same infectious cause in An Essay on the Shaking Palsy in which he was the first to describe " paralysis agitans " , a condition that would later be renamed Parkinson's disease by Jean-Martin Charcot. Here we review further evidence in support for this particular infectious cause of Parkinson's.

Una certa dose fissa di Vitamina B1 aggiunta alle vecchie terapie da un ulteriore miglioramento importante ai pazienti ammalati di Parkinson. Questo il risultato di ulteriori esperienze condotte da ricercatori italiani che da tempo stanno utilizzando la Thiamina, la Vitamina B1, appunto, per contrastare e bloccare l’avanzamento di una delle più terribili malattie neurodegenerative.

La notizia viene dalla rivista scientifica cinese Neural Regeneration Research su cui è stato recentemente pubblicato uno studio pilota dei neurologi italiani Antonio Costantini, della clinica villa Immacolata di Soriano al Cimino nei pressi di Viterbo, e Roberto Fancellu dell’ospedale San Martino di Genova sulla somministrazione di alte dosi di Vitamina B1 nella cura del Parkinson .

Macroautophagy (hereafter referred to as
autophagy) is an evolutionary conserved degradation pathway
that targets cytoplasmic substrates, including long-lived
proteins, protein aggregates and damaged organelles, and
leads to their degradation in lysosomes. Beyond its role in
adaptation to cellular stresses, such as nutrient deprivation,
hypoxia and toxins, recent studies attributed a central role to
autophagy in aging and life span determination. Moreover,
alterations and abnormalities of autophagy may contribute to
a number of important health problems, including cancer,
myopathies, metabolic disorders and, the focus of this
review, aging-related neurodegenerative diseases. Some
disease-related, mutant and aggregation-prone proteins may
be cleared by autophagy; on the other hand, disregulation
of the autophagy pathways may also contribute to neurotoxicity
observed in degenerative pathologies. microRNAs
(miRNAs) are endogenous regulators of gene expression,
and their deregulation was reported in several aging-related
conditions. Studies in the last few years introduced miRNAs
as novel and potent regulators of autophagy. In this review
article, we will summarize the connection between autophagy,
aging and Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s
diseases, and discuss the role of autophagy-related miRNAs
in this context.

Dopamine (DA) is one of the most important catecholamine neurotransmitters of the human central nervous system, and is involved in many behavioral responses and brain functions. Below normal DA levels in biological fluids can lead to different neurodegenerative conditions. For excess DA levels, a failure in energy metabolism is indicated. In this study, a facile room-temperature phosphorescence sensor is developed to detect DA based on L-cysteine capped Mn doped ZnS quantum dots (L-cys ZnS:Mn QDs). The QDs display a prominent orange emission band peaking at $598 nm, which is strongly quenched upon addition of DA in alkaline medium. The sensor exhibits a linear working range of $ 0.15– 3.00 μM, and a limit of detection of $ 7.80 nM. These results are explained in terms of a pH-dependent electron transfer process, in which the oxidized dopamine quinone functions as an efficient electron acceptor. The QDs-based sensor shows a high selectivity to DA over common interfering biomolecules (including some amino acids, ascorbic acid, chloride and glucose). The sensor has been successfully applied for the detection of DA in urine samples, yielding recoveries as high as 93%. Our findings indicate that our developed sensor exhibits high sensitivity and reproducibility to determine DA even in biological fluids where DA is at low levels, e.g., in the central nervous system, which is the usual clinical profile of a neurodegenerative disorder associated to the Parkinson's disease.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the extent of the clinical efficacy of intermittent subcutaneous apomorphine in addition to oral treatment in patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease experiencing serious, refractory tremor despite the use of optimal oral dopaminergic medication. Treatment response was assessed with the motor section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease rating scale (UPDRS). Tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia were scored by using specific items of the UPDRS. Material and Method: The study group included 13 consecutive patients with Parkinson's disease who have refractory tremor. Increasing doses of 1 mg, 2 mg, 4 mg subcutaneous apomorphine were used; peak improvement dose and UPDRS scores were determined after 30 minutes. The patients have used oral dopaminergic treatment plus subcutaneous apomorhine and they have been followed on weekly phone calls. The completion of the study was defined as the end of the 1 st month. Finally, the UPDRS motor scores of the patients were compared to the basal scores.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a relatively common disorder of the Central Nervous System (CNS), whose etiology is characterized by a selective and progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons, and the presence of Lewy bodies in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra, and gaping dopamine depletion in the striatum. Patients with this disease suffer from tremors, slowness of movements, gait instability, and rigidity. These patients may also present functional disability, reduced quality of life, and rapid cognitive decline. It has been shown that nicotine exerts beneficial effects in patients with PD and in in-vitro and in-vivo models of this disease. Astrocytes are an important component in the immune response associated with PD, and that nicotine might be able to inhibit the inflammation-related apoptosis of these cells, being this a potential strategy for PD treatment. This action of nicotine could be due mainly to activation of 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (7-nAChRs) expressed in glial cells. However, nicotine administration can protect dopaminergic neurons against degeneration by inhibiting astrocytes activation in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and therefore reduce inflammation. Owing to the toxicity and capacity of nicotine to induce addiction, analogues of this substance have been designed and tested in various experimental paradigms , and targeting 7-nAChRs expressed in glial cells may be a novel therapeutic strategy for PD treatment.

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative affliction to which researchers have long striven to find a cure. The human embryo is a source of vital cells used in regenerative medicine, as well as a powerful symbol of life. Using foetal cells from aborted embryos for transplantation to the brains of Parkinson patients is an avenue that has been explored by neuroscientists on and off for the last thirty years. This ethnological compilation thesis follows a national branch of a foetal cell transplantation trial through successes as well as challenges in processing foetal material into an effective, transplantable cell suspension. The cell suspension is conceptualized as a bio-object, and explored as something that produces new knowledge, emotions and logistical and ethical negotiations. These products are beyond the scope of trial and biomedical research in general, but they do nonetheless interact with and affect society at large.
New biomedical inventions and forms of therapies transgress the limits of life and death and the boundaries of individuals, as well as between species. Such cultural reordering challenges researchers, health care professionals as well patients on a daily basis. Exploring the intersection between instruction and practice, nature and culture as well as between science and ritual, this thesis contributes to a broader understanding of cultural and material conditions of knowledge production. It also offers a methodological elaboration of how a diffractive approach may be fruitful in ethnographic research, when trying to reconcile epistemological differences in cross-disciplinary endeavours.

Background: While walking difficulties are common in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), little is known about factors that independently contribute to their perceived walking difficulties. Objective: To identify factors that independently contribute to perceived walking difficulties in people with PD. Methods: This study involved 243 (62% men) participants; their mean (min-max) age and PD duration were 70 (45–93) and 8 (1–43) years, respectively. A postal survey preceded a home visit that included observations, clinical tests, questions and questionnaires that were administered as a structured interview. Perceived walking difficulties (dependent variable) were assessed with the self-administered generic Walk-12 (Walk-12G, scored 0–42, higher = worse). Independent variables included personal (e.g., age and general self-efficacy) and social environmental factors (e.g., social support and living situation) as well as disease-related factors including motor (e.g., freezing of gait (FOG) and postural instability) and non-motor symptoms (e.g., fatigue and orthostatic hypotension). Linear multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors that independently contributed to perceived walking difficulties. Results: Eight significant independent variables explained 56.3% of the variance in perceived walking difficulties. FOG was the strongest significant contributing factor to perceived walking difficulties, followed by general self-efficacy, fatigue, PD duration, lower extremity function, orthostatic hypotension, bradykinesia and postural instability. Conclusion: Motor and non-motor symptoms as well as personal factors (i.e., general self-efficacy) seem to be of importance for perceived walking difficulties in PD. These findings might nurture future interventions that address modifiable factors in order to enhance walking ability in people with PD.

Herbs may possess an advantage in longer term management of Parkinson’s disease over the common drugs, Levodopa and Carbidopa, and more economic (Kavitha & Thangamani, 2014). As the disease progresses, higher prescriptions of Levodopa are inevitable. But unfortunately, higher doses cause motor complication and compromise medical treatment (Gandhi & Vaidya, 2016). Levodopa chronic treatment can cause drug induced dyskinesia and dystonia whereas herb Mucuna pruriens does not (Lieu et al., 2012; Gandhi & Vaidya, 2016). In a 2012 study, oral administration of Mucuna pruriens endocarp powder, containing natural L-dopa concentrations, ameliorated Parkinson’s symptoms without causing drug-inducing dyskinesia (Lieu et al., 2012). Unlike allopathic treatment, Mucuna pruriens restored endogenous dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin content and restored the degenerating dopaminergic neurons (Manyam, Dhanasekaran, & Hare, 2004). Working on the basal ganglia and ameliorating Parkinson symptoms without causing dyskinesia attests to Mucuna pruriens action over conventional treatment (Lieu et al., 2012).

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) may develop various non-motor symptoms (NMS) during the course of the illness and psychosis is one of the common NMS of PD. Visual hallucinations (VH) are the most common manifestation of psychosis in PD. The exact pathogenesis of VH in patients with PD is not clearly understood. Presence of VH has been described to be associated with rapid cognitive decline and increased nursing home placements in PD patients. A large number of structural and functional neuroimaging studies have been conducted to understand the cerebral basis of VH in PD. Structural imaging
studies (Voxel Based Morphometry) have reported grey matter atrophy in multiple regions of the brain such as primary visual cortex, visual association cortex, limbic regions, cholinergic structures such as pedunculopontine nucleus and substantia innominata, which conclude possible alterations of brain regions
associated with functions such as visuospatial-perception, attention control and memory. Most functional neuroimaging studies (functional MRI, positron emission tomography and single photon emission computerized tomography) have reported altered activation, blood flow, or reduced metabolism
in both dorsal and ventral visual pathways, which probably indicates an alteration in the normal bottom-top visual processing and the presence of an aberrant top-down visual processing. This review critically analyzes the published studies on the structural and functional neuroimaging in PD patients with VH.

Numerous studies have highlighted the potential of aluminium as an aetiological factor for some neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Our previous studies have shown that aluminium can cause oxidative stress, reduce the activity of some antioxidant enzymes, and enhance the dopaminergic neurodegeneration induced by 6-hydroxydopamine in an experimental model of Parkinson's disease in rats. We now report a study on the effects caused by aluminium on mitochondrial bioenergetics following aluminium addition and after its chronic administration to rats. To develop our study, we used a high-resolution respirometry to test the mitochondrial respiratory capacities under the conditions of coupling, uncoupling, and non-coupling. Our study showed alterations in leakiness, a reduction in the maximum capacity of complex II-linked respiratory pathway, a decline in the respiration efficiency, and a decrease in the activities of complexes III and V in both models studied. The observed effects also included both an alteration in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and a decrease in oxidative phosphorylation capacity when relatively high concentrations of aluminium were added to the isolated mitochondria. These findings contribute to explain both the ability of aluminium to generate oxidative stress and its suggested potential to act as an etiological factor by promoting the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

Resumo: A Doença de Parkinson é uma doença neurodegenerativa que usualmente acarreta incapacidade severa após 10 a 15 anos e representa impactos social e financeiro elevados, particularmente na população mais idosa. Poucos estudos contemplam a sua complexidade farmacoepidemiológica. Assim, esse artigo tem o objetivo de descrever o perfil farmacoepidemiológico dos indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson, visando subsidiar a implantação de um serviço clínico farmacêutico. Trata-se de um estudo transversal feito com 70 indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson cadastrados no Componente Especializado da Assistência Farmacêutica do município de Florianópolis, que iniciaram Seguimento Farmacoterapêutico em outubro de 2012. A coleta de dados foi realizada na primeira consulta farmacêutica. Os dados foram coletados num formulário próprio mesclando os métodos Pharmacotherapy Workup e Dáder. Analisaram-se dados sociodemográfico, clínico e medicamentoso. Dos 70 pacientes, 64,3% eram homens, com idade média de 69,4 anos (desvio padrão = 11 anos), com déficit cognitivo, 37,1% necessitavam de cuidador e apenas 22,9% possuíam todas as demandas em saúde contempladas pelo Sistema Único de Saúde. A qualidade de vida apresentou-se afetada pelos sintomas motores e pelas disautonomias. Todos eram polimedicados, com uma média de 6,8 medicamentos por paciente (desvio padrão = 3,1 medicamentos), sendo que 60% e 53% dos pacientes eram não aderentes ao tratamento, segundo Moriski e consulta farmacêutica, respectivamente. Com base no perfil farmacoepidemiológico percebe-se a importância de um serviço farmacêutico clínico direcionado a esses pacientes que abranja todas as suas necessidades relacionadas à farmacoterapia, contribuindo para melhorar a qualidade de vida, com resultados clínicos e humanísticos mais satisfatórios. Palavras chaves: Atenção Farmacêutica, Doença de Parkinson, Sistema Único de Saúde. Abstract (Pharmacoepidemiological Characterization of Individuals with Parkinson's Disease for Implementing a Clinical Pharmacy Service): Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disease that usually leads to severe disability after 10 to 15 years and represents high social and financial impacts, particularly in the older population. Few studies contemplate its pharmacoepidemiologic complexity. Thus, the aim of this article was to describe the pharmacoepidemiological profile of the patients, aiming to support the proposition of a clinical pharmacist service. This is a cross-sectional study with 70 Parkinson Disease patients registered in the Specialized Component of Pharmaceutical Assistance in Florianópolis, which began pharmacotherapeutic follow-up on October 2012. Data collection was performed in the first pharmaceutical consultation. Data were collected in Data were collected in a specific form mixing the Pharmacotherapy Workup and Dáder. Sociodemographic, clinical and pharmacological data were analysed. Of the 70 patients, 64.3 % were men, with a middle age of 69.4 years (standard deviation =11 years), with cognitive deficit, 37.1 % needed a caregiver and only 22.9 % had all the health care needs covered by the SUS. The quality of life presented affected by motor symptoms and dysautonomias. All patients were polymedicated with an average of 6.8 medicines for patients (standard deviation = 3.1 medicines), and 60% and 53% of patients were not adherent to treatment, according Moriski and pharmaceutical consultation, respectively. Based on pharmacoepidemiological profile it is possible to realize the importance of a clinical pharmacy service directed to these patients covering all their needs related to pharmacotherapy, contributing to improve the quality of life, with clinical and humanistic outcomes more satisfactory.

Syncope is usually addressed in the Emergency Department (ED) by the doctor in charge of the clinical picture, i.e. the patient's risk is stratified, a diagnostic work-up is done and a prognosis is set. Patients are ultimately admitted to hospital or discharged. However, other aspects related to syncope may deeply affect their daily lives. These include how and when to return to work and to driving, the feelings about a recent loss of consciousness, and the potential relapse of syncope. This is particularly significant if the work setting is intrinsically hazardous. These patients need adequate clinical and psychological support. For patients with syncope, two main parameters should be considered regarding returning to work and to driving. The first is to evaluate the risk of syncope recurrence and the second is to consider the expected harm if syncope does indeed occur during these activities. In the present paper we detail the problem of driving (including professional driving) and work after syncope. We propose a new quantitative model that will guide the physician in stratifying the risk for patients who have had a previous syncope event. The new model considers the syncope recurrence risk, the job task duration, and features that facilitate a syncope during work. On the basis of these variables, the global risk index for a worker is calculated. Following appropriate validation, this method might help ED and occupational physicians in their decision-making process with the goal of safely readmitting syncope patients to the workplace.

Numerous studies have highlighted the potential of aluminium as an aetiological factor for some neurodegenerative disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Our previous studies have shown that aluminium can cause oxidative stress, reduce the activity of some antioxidant enzymes, and enhance the dopaminergic neurodegeneration induced by 6-hydroxydopamine in an experimental model of Parkinson’s disease in rats. We now report a study on the effects caused by aluminium on mitochondrial bioenergetics following aluminium addition and after its chronic administration to rats. To develop our study, we used a high-resolution respirometry to test the mitochondrial respiratory capacities under the conditions of coupling, uncoupling, and non-coupling. Our study showed alterations in leakiness, a reduction in the maximum capacity of complex II-linked respiratory pathway, a decline in the respiration efficiency, and a decrease in the activities of complexes III and V in both models studied. The observed effects also included both an alteration in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and a decrease in oxidative phosphorylation capacity when relatively high concentrations of aluminium were added to the isolated mitochondria. These findings contribute to explain both the ability of aluminium to generate oxidative stress and its suggested potential to act as an etiological factor by promoting the progression of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

Diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) is commonly based on medical observations and assessment of clinical signs, including the characterization of a variety of motor symptoms. However, traditional diagnostic approaches may suffer from subjectivity as they rely on the evaluation of movements that are sometimes subtle to human eyes and therefore difficult to classify, leading to possible misclassification. In the meantime, early non-motor symptoms of PD may be mild and can be caused by many other conditions. Therefore, these symptoms are often overlooked, making diagnosis of PD at an early stage challenging. To address these difficulties and to refine the diagnosis and assessment procedures of PD, machine learning methods have been implemented for the classification of PD and healthy controls or patients with similar clinical presentations. I.

We studied group-I metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors in Pah (ENU2) mice, which mimic the genetics and neurobiology of human phenylketonuria (PKU), a metabolic disorder characterized, if untreated, by autism, and intellectual disability (ID). Male ENU2 mice showed increased mGlu5 receptor protein levels in the hippocampus and corpus striatum (but not in the prefrontal cortex) whereas the transcript of the mGlu5 receptor was unchanged. No changes in mGlu1 receptor mRNA and protein levels were found in any of the three brain regions of ENU2 mice. We extended the analysis to Homer proteins, which act as scaffolds by linking mGlu1 and mGlu5 receptors to effector proteins. Expression of the long isoforms of Homer was significantly reduced in the hippocampus of ENU2 mice, whereas levels of the short Homer isoform (Homer 1a) were unchanged. mGlu5 receptors were less associated to immunoprecipitated Homer in the hippocampus of ENU2 mice. The lack of mGlu5 receptor-mediated long-term de...

Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder and affects more than 7 million people globally. In this work, we classify subjects with Parkinson’s disease using data from finger-tapping on a keyboard. We use a free database by Physionet with more than 9 million records, preprocessed to delete atypical data. In the feature extraction stage, we obtained 48 features. We use Google Colaboratory to train, validate, and test nine supervised learning algorithms that detect the disease. As a result, we achieve a degree of accuracy higher than 98%.