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Aims: This study compared the effectiveness of solifenacin succinate (SS) versus percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) in women with overactive bladder syndrome (OABS). Methods: A randomized controlled crossover study of 40 women with OABS was performed. Patients were randomized into two groups. In group A, patients received SS and then PTNS. In group B, patients underwent PTNS and then SS. Voiding diaries, quality of life surveys and patient perception of intensity of urgency questionnaire were performed before and after each treatment. The global impression of improvement questionnaire was performed at the end of the study. Results: A reduction in the number of daily micturitions, episodes of nocturia and urge incontinence were found with both SS and PTNS in all groups, but PTNS showed a greater effectiveness than SS. There was an increase in voided volume in all groups with both SS and PTNS, but patients treated with PTNS had a greater increase. PTNS showed greater effectiveness in patient perception of urgency and quality of life. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of SS and PTNS In women with overactive bladder symptoms. However, greater improvements were found with PTNS.

Polyacrylamide hydrogel (Bulkamid®) is an effective treatment with low morbility in patients of 80 or more years.

This work aims at investigating the possibility of a wireless sensor network powered by an energy harvesting technology, such as a microbial fuel cell (MFC). An MFC is a bioreactor that transforms energy stored in chemical bonds of organic compounds into electrical energy. This process takes place through catalytic reactions of microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. An anode chamber together with a cathode chamber composes a conventional MFC reactor. The protons generated in the anode chamber are then transferred into the cathode chamber through a proton exchange membrane (PEM). A possible option is to use the soil itself as the membrane. In this case, we are referring to, more properly, a terrestrial microbial fuel cell (TMFC). This research examines the sustainability of a wireless sensor network powered by TMFC for land monitoring and precision agriculture. Acting on several factors, such as pH, temperature, humidity and type of soil used, we obtained minimum performance requirements in terms of the output power of the TMFC. In order to identify some of the different network node configurations and to compare the resulting performance, we investigated the energy consumption of the core components of a node, e.g., the transceiver and microcontroller, looking for the best performance. OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2014, 6 7264

The localization of people buried or trapped under snow or debris is an emerging field of application of ground penetrating radar (GPR). In the last years, technological solutions and processing approaches have been developed to improve detection accuracy, speed up localization, and reduce false alarms. As such, GPR can play an active role in cooperative approaches required to tackle such emergencies. In this work, we present and briefly analyze the evolution of research in this field of application of GPR technology. In doing so, we adopt a point of view that takes into account that avalanches and collapsed buildings are two scenarios that call for different GPR approaches, since the former can be tackled through image processing of radar data, while the latter rely on the detection of the Doppler frequency changes induced by physiological movements of survivors, such as breathing. © 2014 IEEE