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To address the need for brief, reliable, valid, and standardized quality of life (QOL) assessment applicable across neurologic conditions.

We evaluated the cross-sectional relationship of blood pressure (BP) components with cognitive impairment after adjusting for potential confounders.

Future generations of mobile phones, including advanced video and digital communication layers, represent a great challenge in terms of real-time embedded systems. Programmable multicomponent architectures can provide suitable target solutions combining flexibility and computation power. The aim of our work is to develop a fast and automatic prototyping methodology dedicated to signal processing application implementation on parallel heterogeneous architectures, two major features required by future systems. This paper presents the whole methodology based on the SynDEx CAD tool that directly generates a distributed implementation onto various platforms from a high-level application description, taking real-time aspects into account. It illustrates the methodology in the context of real-time distributed executives for multilayer applications based on an MPEG-4 video codec and a UMTS telecommunication link.

Radiotracer imaging (RTI) of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system is a widely used but controversial biomarker in Parkinson disease (PD). Here the authors review the concepts of biomarker development and the evidence to support the use of four radiotracers as biomarkers in PD: 18Ffluorodopa PET, ()-11Cdihydrotetrabenazine PET, 123I-CIT SPECT, and 18Ffluorodeoxyglucose PET. Biomarkers used to study disease biology and facilitate drug discovery and early human trials rely on evidence that they are measuring relevant biologic processes. The four tracers fulfill this criterion, although they do not measure the number or density of dopaminergic neurons. Biomarkers used as diagnostic tests, prognostic tools, or surrogate endpoints must not only have biologic relevance but also a strong linkage to the clinical outcome of interest. No radiotracers fulfill these criteria, and current evidence does not support the use of imaging as a diagnostic tool in clinical practice or as a surrogate endpoint in clinical trials. Mechanistic information added by RTI to clinical trials may be difficult to interpret because of uncertainty about the interaction between the interventions and the tracer.

The beneficial effect of physical activity in the general population is well known, but, to the authors' knowledge, has not been reported for persons with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. In a cohort of 548 diabetes patients followed as part of the Pittsburgh Insulin-dependent Diabetes Mellitus Morbidity and Mortality Study, physical activity was ascertained by survey in 1981, and mortality was ascertained through January 1, 1988. Cases were also compared with non-diabetic sibling controls. Activity level among cases varied inversely with the occurrence of diabetic complications. Overall activity level was inversely related to mortality risk. Sedentary males (< 1,000 kcal/week) were three times more likely to die than active males (> 2,000 kcal/week). A similar, but statistically nonsignificant, relation was seen in females. Cox proportional hazards analysis controlling for potential confounders (age, body mass index, insulin dose, reported diabetes complications, cigarette smoking, and current alcohol drinking) similarly revealed that activity level was inversely associated with mortality risk. Comparison of cases with non-diabetic sibling controls identified similar activity levels for the two groups. The results suggest that activity is not detrimental with regard to mortality, and may in fact provide a beneficial effect in terms of longevity in diabetes patients.

A retrospective, population-based registry was established in the Comunidad of Madrid, Spain (total population: 4,780,572; under age 15: 1,105,243) to investigate the epidemiology of Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Included were all cases diagnosed with diabetes between 1985 and 1988, with age onset less than 15 years, and using insulin at discharge from hospital. Using the capture-recapture method employing hospital records as the primary source and membership files of the Spanish Diabetic Association as the secondary source, the ascertainment was 90%. The overall annual incidence was estimated to be 11.3/100,000 (Poisson 95% confidence interval: 10.3–12.4). There was no temporal increase in incidence, nor was there a significant sex difference in incidence rates, either overall or by year. The seasonal onset pattern showed the highest incidence in winter (December–February) and lowest in summer (June–August) (r=7.36, p<0.05). The age-adjusted (world standard) incidence of 10.9/100,000 was inconsistent with the hypothesis of a north-south gradient in diabetes risk.

La capacité fonctionnelle est un critère d’évaluation indispensable au cours d’un programme de réhabilitation respiratoire (PR) : pour cela, le test de marche de 6minutes (T6) est un outil classiquement utilisé mais nécessitant un couloir de 30m. Le stepper testde six minutes (ST6) est une alternative qui a montré sa validité et sa reproductibilité chez les patents atteints de BPCO. L’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer la réponse du ST6 à l’évolution de la capacité fonctionnelle lors d’un PR chez des patients BPCO et d’examiner les relations entre le ST6 et le T6.

Le stepper-test de six minutes (ST6) est un test objectivant la capacité fonctionnelle, dont la validité, la reproductibilité et la sensibilité en réponse à une intervention ont été démontrées chez les patients atteints de BPCO. Néanmoins l’interprétation des changements du ST6 est délicate en l’absence de différence minimale importante (DMI) pour ce test. L’objectif de cette étude est de déterminer une DMI pour le ST6 chez des patients atteints de BPCO.