Plos One
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Increased reaction times (RT) during choice-RT tasks stem from a requirement for additional processing as well as reduced motor-specific preparatory activation. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can modulate primary motor cortex excitability, increasing (anodal stimulation) or decreasing (cathodal stimulation) excitability in underlying cortical tissue. The present study investigated whether lateralized differences in choice-RT would result from the concurrent modulation of left and right motor cortices using bi-hemispheric tDCS. ⋯ Post-tDCS results showed faster RTs for both right and left responses irrespective of tDCS polarity during forced-choice trials, while sham tDCS had no effect. In contrast, no stimulation-related RT or response selection differences were observed in free-choice trials. The present study shows evidence of an effector-independent speeding of response initiation in a forced-choice RT task following bi-hemispheric tDCS and yields novel information regarding the functional effect of bi-hemispheric tDCS.
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Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy (LDP) is a safe and reliable treatment for tumors in the body and tail of the pancreas. Postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) is a common complication of pancreatic surgery. Despite improvement in mortality, the rate of POPF still remains high and unsolved. ⋯ Soft parenchymal texture was significantly associated with both overall (p-value = 0.012) and clinically significant POPF (p-value = 0.000). In multivariable analyses, parenchymal texture (OR, 2.933, P-value = 0.011) and operative time (OR, 1.008, P-value = 0.022) were risk factors for overall POPF. Parenchymal texture was an independent predictive factor for clinically significant POPF (OR, 7.400, P-value = 0.001).
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In Italy, at present, a well-known problem is inhomogeneous provision of rehabilitative services, as stressed by MoH, requiring appropriate criteria and parameters to plan rehabilitation actions. According to the Italian National Rehabilitation Plan, Comorbidity, Disability and Clinical Complexity should be assessed to define the patient's real needs. However, to date, clinical complexity is still difficult to measure with shared and validated tools. ⋯ The construct and concurrent validity of the RCS-E v13 was confirmed through its correlation to Barthel Index (disability) and Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (comorbidity) and appropriate admission criteria (not yet published), respectively. Furthermore, the factor analysis indicated two different components ("Basic Care or Risk-Equipment" and "Medical-Nursing Needs and Therapy Disciplines") of the RCS-E v13. In conclusion, the Italian RCS-E v13 appears to be a useful tool to assess clinical complexity in the Italian rehab scenario case-mix and its psychometric validation may have an important clinical rehabilitation impact allowing the assessment of the rehabilitation needs considering all three dimensions (disability, comorbidity and clinical complexity) as required by the Guidelines and the inhomogeneity could be reduced.
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Vasopressors are not recommended by current trauma guidelines, but recent reports indicate that they are commonly used. We aimed to describe the early hemodynamic management of trauma patients outside densely populated urban centers. ⋯ In this cohort, most trauma patients had suffered multiple blunt injuries. Patients were likely to receive vasopressors during the early phase of trauma care, particularly if they exhibited signs of neurologic injury. While these results may be context-specific, determining the risk-benefit trade-offs of fluid resuscitation, vasopressors and permissive hypotension in specific patients subgroups constitutes a priority for trauma research going forwards.
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One of the leading causes of death is out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) with an in-hospital mortality of about 70%. To identify predictors for the high mortality of OHCA patients and especially for women, that are considered at high risk for in-hospital mortality, we evaluated one specific setting of in-hospital treatment after OHCA: the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Patients with ROSC who died during ED care were predominantly women and older patients, as well as patients with non-shockable initial heart rhythm and long CPR durations. In patients with on-going CPR on admission, no clinical or demographic predictors for ED mortality were found. Higher lactate and lower pH were predictors in both OHCA groups.