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Biomedical subjects

P Sockeel

Publications and source records attributed to P Sockeel.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

[Ruptured mesenteric aneurysm from Listeria monocytogenes].

Infections due to Listeria monocytogenes usually occur in pregnant women, in elderly or immunocompromised patients. We report the case of an immunosuppressed woman who had been hospitalized for a meningoencephalitis due to L. monocytogenes. She was operated on for an abdominal hemorrhagic shock due to a ruptured mycotic aneurysm of the inferior mesenteric artery. Arterial aneurysms due to this germ are rare and occur on large arteries. Only 17 cases have been previously described in the literature and just one concerning a mesenteric artery.

Aortic Dissection↗
PubMed2006

The Lille apathy rating scale (LARS), a new instrument for detecting and quantifying apathy: validation in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Apathy is usually defined as reduced interest and participation in various activities. It is a frequent consequence of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Although various scoring methods have been proposed, there is a lack of validated, standardised instruments for detecting apathy and assessing its severity. OBJECTIVE: To develop an apathy rating scale using a structured standardised interview capable of distinguishing between the condition's various features. METHODS: The Lille Apathy Rating Scale (LARS) is based on a structured interview. It includes 33 items, divided into nine domains. Responses are scored on a dichotomous scale. The participants used to validate the scale consisted of 159 patients with probable Parkinson's disease and 58 healthy control subjects. The Marin Apathy Scale, the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale, and the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale were also administered. RESULTS: Principal component analysis showed that the LARS probed a single construct which forms the root of an oblique factor structure reflecting four dimensions: intellectual curiosity, self awareness, emotion, and action initiation. The main psychometric properties of the LARS (internal consistency, inter-rater and test-retest reliability) were satisfactory. Concurrent validity was evaluated by reference to the Marin scale and to judgements provided by expert clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: Standard validity indices showed that the LARS is sensitive and capable of distinguishing between apathy and depression. As a screening tool, the scale is able to support dichotomous judgements accurately and, when greater measurement sensitivity is required, also determine the severity of apathy within a four category classification.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

[BCcogSEP: a French test battery evaluating cognitive functions in multiple sclerosis].

In French language, there is no standardized procedure to assess cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Such an assessment is however very useful to determine the consequences of the disease on cognitive function, to evaluate the disease progression and the consequences of usual treatments on cognition. This study aimed to develop and validate a French language battery based on "the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests for Multiple Sclerosis" (BRB-N) often used in other countries. In an initial phase, the battery was composed of the French version of the 5 BRB-N tests to which were added 4 tests assessing immediate and working memory as well as executive function. 52 healthy control subjects (20-50 years) participated in the study. A principal component analysis (PCA) of their data examined the contribution of each test into the battery. 93 other healthy subjects participated in a second phase where analyses of variance were carried out to investigate the effect of the main demographical variables. Finally, the performance of two patient groups (20 with a EDSS score 3) was compared to the healthy controls in order to investigate the ability of our battery to detect cognitive impairment in MS patients. The PCA showed that each test, except one, had a specific contribution to the battery. The final battery (BCcogSEP) was thus comprised of 8 tests. MANOVA and ANOVA showed significant effects of age, sex and educational level on performance. In consequence, a procedure allowing to take into account these factors was developed. The battery was able to detect cognitive impairment in MS patients, even when the disease is not severe. In this case, deficits were observed in tests assessing executive function, information processing speed, immediate and working memory. This short battery with reliable psychometric qualities allows the interpretation of a MS patient's performance considering his/her demographical characteristics and is able to detect cognitive abnormalities even in case of mild physical handicap.

Cognition↗
PubMed2000

[Inguinal hernia in Africa and laparoscopy: utopia or realism?].

Inguinal hernia is a common indication for surgery in Africa. Most cases involve men and are treated in advanced stages often with complications. Until now the benchmark technique for surgical management has been the well-defined herniorrhaphy technique. Use of prosthetic implants has been rare because of high cost. Recently there has been a growing interest in video-assisted surgery throughout developing countries. However this enthusiasm should not obscure the fact that the technique is still in the developing stage and thus is more costly for the local economy. Indications for video-assisted surgery should be carefully selected in function of local conditions as well as problems specific to developing countries.

Africa↗
PubMed1998

Activity modelling for assessing the usability of telematics applications in healthcare.

With the development of Telematics Applications in Healthcare, it becomes obvious that the success of these services is tightly linked with their usability and their acceptance by users. That is why Users Requirements Analysis appears as an essential step before implementation of new computer services. In many cases, particularly when doctors are directly involved in the management of information, there is a strong interaction between their usual activity and the new tasks implied by the computer. In those cases, Activity Modelling can be useful to describe the way people are working, the motivations that underlie this activity, the place of information management in this activity. Moreover, these models can help to forecast possible difficulties or reasons for failure of the data management when computerised. Obviously, these models are highly depending on the healthcare organisation but some basic lines can be transferable. In this paper we illustrate the Activity Modelling Methodology by examples from Telematics exchanges between GPs and Hospitals.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1989

Enhancement of memory by auditory stimulation during postlearning REM sleep in humans.

REM sleep involvement in memory processes was demonstrated in animals and humans: 1) REM sleep deprivation impairs the memory fixation, 2) learning sessions are followed by modifications of REM sleep characteristics. Moreover, sleep patterns can be modified by applying auditory stimulations during REM sleep. We show that REM actual auditory stimulations significantly improve the retention of a Morse code learning task. These results are discussed in terms of brain activation.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1989

REM sleep modifications following a Morse code learning session in humans.

Various experimental data indicate that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is involved in learning processes. In animals, any complex task in a learning environment leads to an increase of the consecutive total REM sleep time, especially just before learning completion. In humans, the oculomotor activity during REM sleep seems to constitute an interesting marker of learning performance. In this work, we focus on the qualitative analysis of REM sleep characteristics after a Morse code learning session. Eight male subjects were polygraphically recorded during three consecutive nights. A computer aided teaching session was performed just before bedrest onset of the experimental night. The learning performance (percentage of saving) was checked on awakening. The Morse code learning led to some modifications in REM sleep components, particularly increases of REM sleep time and number of REM episodes. We did not observe any significant modification in the total number of REMs in the experimental night. However, the correlative analysis between learning performance and sleep parameters indicates a superior r for the oculomotor activity than for the tonic components. This is consistent with the information processing hypothesis in which the temporal distribution of REMs reflects the subject's ability to increase the signal-noise ratio from environmental information intake.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

[Memory facilitation by auditory stimulation during paradoxal sleep in man].

REM sleep involvement in memory processes was demonstrated in animals and humans. Learning sessions are followed by modifications of REM sleep patterns. Furthermore, one can modify sleep patterns by applying auditory stimulation during REM sleep oculomotor activity. We show that such a procedure facilitates the retention of Morse code learning.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1987

Modification of EEG asymmetry induced by auditory biofeedback loop during REM sleep in man.

Several studies have emphasized the relationship between (1) rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep) and learning, and (2) between REM sleep and asymmetry in EEG activity. Since we have shown that obtaining operant conditioned responses via auditory biofeedback during REM sleep is feasible, we demonstrate here that REM contingent auditory stimulations (white noise stimulation or interruption of a continuous white noise stimulation) lead to differential changes in phasic and tonic components of REM sleep. Whereas during baseline nights a relative right activation is found in the medium bands of EEG frequencies, our procedure seems to induce a systematic interhemispheric change during experimental nights. A new approach to the information processing hypothesis during REM sleep is proposed in terms of functional lateralized modifications of the EEG.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed1986

Modification of REM sleep behavior by REMs contingent auditory stimulation in man.

Following studies about supposed relationship between rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep) and learning, a new approach, based on operant conditioning is introduced. We demonstrate that rapid eye movements (REMs) contingent auditory stimulation in man leads to some consistent (quantitative and qualitative) modifications of REM sleep behavior. Stimulating REMs in the frame of a continuous reinforcement schedule increases total REM sleep duration but decreases REMs density, and modifies hemispheric EEG symmetry. The contrasting effects of such sensory stimulations and results related to information processing hypothesis are discussed.

Acoustic Stimulation↗