Technical Innovations in Pneumology: E-Health, Screening, Diagnostics, and Therapy

Respiration ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Simon Dominik Herkenrath ◽  
Michael Dreher ◽  
Daniela Gompelmann ◽  
Matthias Held ◽  
Andreas Rembert Koczulla ◽  
...  

At the 2020 “Luftschlösser” (castles in the air) conference, experts from a wide range of pneumological fields discussed technical innovations in pneumology, which can be seen in many different areas of the field, including e-health, screening, diagnostics, and therapy. They contribute to substantial advancements ranging from the innovative use of diagnostic tools to novel treatments for chronic lung diseases. Artificial intelligence enables broader screening, which can be expected to have beneficial effects on disease progression and overall prognosis. There is still a high demand for clinical trials to investigate the usefulness and risk-benefit ratio. Open questions remain especially about the quality and utility of medical apps in an inadequately regulated market. This article weighs the pros and cons of technical innovations in specific subspecialties of pneumology based on the lively exchange of ideas among various pneumological experts.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Colasante ◽  
Lauren Lin ◽  
Kalee DeFrance ◽  
Tom Hollenstein

In the current digital age, emotional support is increasingly received through digital devices. However, virtually all studies assessing the benefits of emotional support have focused on in-person support. Using an experience sampling methodology, we assessed participants’ negative emotions, digital and in-person support for those emotions, and success in regulating them three times per day for 14 days, thus covering a wide range of digital support scenarios (N = 164 participants with 6,530 collective measurement occasions). We also considered whether participants were alone versus with others at the time of their negative emotion and higher versus lower in social avoidance as plausible moderators of when digital support was utilized and effective. We expected more pronounced use and efficacy of digital support when participants were alone and higher in trait social avoidance. However, digital support was used and perceived as effective for regulating negative emotions regardless of these factors and its beneficial effects were on par with those of traditional in-person support. The unique benefits of digital support may not be restricted to socially isolated or socially avoidant users. These findings are timely given the widespread anxiety and isolation under the current COVID-19 pandemic. If transcending time and space with digital emotional support is the new norm, the good news is that it seems to be working.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (09) ◽  

For the month of September 2020, APBN dives into the world of 3D printing and its wide range of real-world applications. Keeping our focus on the topic of the year, the COVID-19 pandemic, we explore the environmental impact of the global outbreak as well as gain insight to the top 5 vaccine platforms used in vaccine development. Discover more about technological advancements and how it is assisting innovation in geriatric health screening.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Poggi ◽  
Carlo Dani

Preterm newborns are challenged by an excessive oxidative burden, as a result of several perinatal stimuli, as intrauterine infections, resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and postnatal complications, in the presence of immature antioxidant capacities. “Oxygen radical disease of neonatology” comprises a wide range of conditions sharing a common pathway of pathogenesis and includes bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and other main complications of prematurity. Antioxidant strategies may be beneficial in the prevention and treatment of oxidative stress- (OS-) related lung disease of the preterm newborn. Endotracheal supplementation or lung-targeted overexpression of superoxide dismutase was proved to reduce lung damage in several models; however, the supplementation in preterm newborn failed to reduce the risk of BPD, although long-term respiratory outcomes were improved. Also melatonin administration to small cohorts of preterm newborns suggested beneficial effects on lung OS. The possibility to identify single nucleotide polymorphism affecting the risk of BPD may help to identify specific populations with particularly high risk of OS-related diseases and may pose the basis for individually targeted treatments. Finally, surfactant replacement may lead to local anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, thanks to specific enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants naturally present in animal surfactants.


2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazar M Abdalla

Objective: This study aimed to identify cases of leishmaniasis in the Nuba Mountain area, which is situated in a unique geographical site located in the centre of Sudanese leishmania belt. Wide range of investigations are available for detection of leishmania cases, but still the most reliable and easy test used as screening and epidemiological tool in field studies needs to be evaluated. The most commonly used conventional diagnostic methods direct microscopy and culture have some drawbacks in diagnosing subclinical cases of leishmaniasis. Materials and methods: In this study, comparative properties of various immune-diagnostic tools with Polymerase Chain Reaction used in sub-clinical leishmaniasis isolates were explored. The immune-diagnostic tools involved in this study include- Leishmanin Skin Test (LST), Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Direct Agglutination Test (DAT). The study was conducted in the Green Valley village (Rashad Province, South Kordofan State) with a population of 332. Most of the villagers presented with sub-clinical form of leishmaniasis with minor symptoms and signs without the features found in clinical form of visceral leishmaniasis such as fever, diarrhoea, epistaxis, enlarged lymph nodes, spleen and liver. In this study we collected demographic, clinical and epidemiological data using special questionnaire. Leishmanin skin test (LST), ELISA, DAT and PCR for parasite DNA detection were used. Result: The final positive cases detected by PCR were 32 out of 332 belong to L. donovani species. The final positive cases detected by LST were 51.2% of the total population under study, while 11 out of the 37 tested samples were positive by ELISA. All of the 332 villagers showed negative readings by DAT with exception of three individuals who were positive with very high titers. Conclusion: DNA etxtraction and amplification with primers can be a good screening tool in subclinical leishmaniasis isolates. Keyword: Sub-clinical; Leishmaniasis; Leishmanin Skin Test; ELISA; DAT; PCR. DOI: 10.3329/jom.v12i1.5422J Medicine 2011; 12 : 34-39


Author(s):  
Tess Grynoch

Objective: To examine how Canadian academic medical libraries are supporting mobile apps, what apps are currently being provided by these libraries, and what types of promotion are being used. Methods: A survey of the library websites for the 17 medical schools in Canada was completed. For each library website surveyed, the medical apps listed on the website, any services mentioned through this medium, and any type of app promotion events were noted. When Facebook and Twitter accounts were evident, the tweets were searched and the past two years of Facebook posts scanned for mention of medical apps or mobile services/events. Results: All seventeen academic medical libraries had lists of mobile medical apps with a large range in the number of medical relevant apps (average=31, median= 23). A total of 275 different apps were noted and the apps covered a wide range of subjects. Five of the 14 Facebook accounts scanned had posts about medical apps in the past two years while 11 of the 15 Twitter accounts had tweets about medical apps. Social media was only one of the many promotional methods noted. Outside of the app lists and mobile resources guides, Canadian academic medical libraries are providing workshops, presentations, and drop-in sessions for mobile medical apps. Conclusion: While librarians cannot simply compare mobile services and resources between academic medical libraries without factoring in a number of other circumstances, librarians can learn from mobile resources strategies employed at other libraries, such as using research guides to increase medical app literacy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinjian Li ◽  
Fei Xie ◽  
Yang Yi ◽  
Pengxiang Zhao ◽  
Xin Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractSince Ohsawa et al. reported a biological antioxidant function of hydrogen in 2007, researchers have now shown it to exert protective effects in a wide range of human and animal disease models. Clinical observations and scientific arguments suggest that a selective scavenging property of H2 cannot adequately explain the beneficial effects of hydrogen. However, there is no experiment challenging the original published data, which suggested that molecular hydrogen dissolved in solution reacts with hydroxyl radicals in cell-free systems. Here we report that a hydrogen-saturated solution (0.6 mM) did not significantly reduce hydroxyl radicals in the Fenton system using 1 mM H2O2. We replicated the same condition as Ohsawa’s study (i.e. 5 μM H2O2), and observed a decrease in •OH radicals in both the H2-rich and N2-rich solutions, which may be caused by a decreased dissolved oxygen concentration. Finally, we determined the effect of hydrogen on a high-valence iron enzyme, horseradish peroxidase (HRP), and found that hydrogen could directly increase HRP activity in a dose-dependent manner. Overall, these results indicate that although H2 and •OH can react, the reaction rate is too low to have physiological function. The target of hydrogen is more complex, and its interaction with enzymes or other macro-molecules deserve more attention and in-depth study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-383
Author(s):  
Ju. V. Nosova ◽  
A. E. Solopova ◽  
G. N. Khabas ◽  
A. V. Asaturova

Introduction. Most pelvic tumors originate from reproductive organs. Even using the up-to-date imaging techniques, radiologists experience difficulties in determining the source of the lesion since a wide range of tumors look similar to each other on the distorted backdrop of pelvic anatomy, large invasive formations, and an active inflammatory reaction of the pelvic peritoneum.Aim: to evaluate “pitfalls” in the preoperative noninvasive diagnosis of female pelvic tumors by applying the clinical diagnostic tools.Materials and methods. Four rare clinical cases were analyzed; all of them posed difficulties in interpreting the diagnostic examination due to their atypical characteristics. There were 2 cases of ovarian cancer, initially identified by an experienced team of radiologists as benign pelvic pathology. Also, there were fibroids with degeneration, marked proliferative activity, and a massive inflammatory reaction of the peritoneum – that was diagnosed as a malignant ovarian tumor. Tumor biopsies were examined using morphological and immunohistochemical methods (with the р16, Ki-67, p53, CD 117, S 100, CD 34 markers). Immunohistochemical (IHC) studies were performed with formalin-fixed paraffin materials using the avidin-biotin-peroxidase method. Antibodies to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), cytokeratin 7 (CK7), cytokeratin 20 (CK20) and Wilms tumor protein 1 (WT1) were also used.Results. A thorough analysis of the clinical picture and a joint multidisciplinary discussion (gynecologist, oncologist, radiologist, etc.) made it possible to avoid diagnostic errors.Conclusion. These observations demonstrate the difficulties of differential diagnosis between ovarian metastases of uterine cancer and primary multiple ovarian and uterine cancer, as well between leiomyosarcoma and uterine myoma with high mitotic activity. Obviously, the change in diagnosis calls for a change in the treatment strategy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soumen Dey ◽  
Richard Bischof ◽  
Pierre P. A. Dupont ◽  
Cyril Milleret

AbstractSpatial capture-recapture (SCR) is now used widely to estimate wildlife densities. At the core of SCR models lies the detection function, linking individual detection probability to the distance from its latent activity center. The most common function (half-normal) assumes a bivariate normal space use and consequently detection pattern. This is likely an oversimplification and misrepresentation of real-life animal space use patterns, but studies have reported that density estimates are relatively robust to misspecified detection functions. However, information about consequences of such misspecification on space use parameters (e.g. home range area), as well as diagnostic tools to reveal it are lacking.We simulated SCR data under six different detection functions, including the half-normal, to represent a wide range of space use patterns. We then fit three different SCR models, with the three simplest detection functions (half-normal, exponential and half-normal plateau) to each simulated data set. We evaluated the consequences of misspecification in terms of bias, precision and coverage probability of density and home range area estimates. We also calculated Bayesian p-values with respect to different discrepancy metrics to assess whether these can help identify misspecifications of the detection function.We corroborate previous findings that density estimates are robust to misspecifications of the detection function. However, estimates of home range area are prone to bias when the detection function is misspecified. When fitted with the half-normal model, average relative bias of 95% kernel home range area estimates ranged between −25% and 26% depending on the misspecification. In contrast, the half-normal plateau model (an extension of the half-normal) returned average relative bias that ranged between −26% and −4%. Additionally, we found useful heuristic patterns in Bayesian p-values to diagnose the misspecification in detection function.Our analytical framework and diagnostic tools may help users select a detection function when analyzing empirical data, especially when space use parameters (such as home range area) are of interest. We urge development of additional custom goodness of fit diagnostics for Bayesian SCR models to help practitioners identify a wider range of model misspecifications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Anna Rogacka-Łukasik

ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution), as a non-judicial resolution of disputes, is a wide range of mechanisms that aim to put an end to a conflict without the need of conducting a trial before the court. On the other hand, the modern form of ADR is ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) – an online dispute resolution system that is the expression of the newest means of communication and technical innovations in order to help in non-judicial dispute resolving. The goal of this publication is to present the ODR platform and, in particular, to describe the process of filing a complaint by the consumer by means of it.


Author(s):  
Fernando Bessone ◽  
Nidia Hernández ◽  
Mario Tanno ◽  
Marcelo G. Roma

AbstractThe most concerned issue in the context of drug/herb-induced chronic cholestasis is vanishing bile duct syndrome. The progressive destruction of intrahepatic bile ducts leading to ductopenia is usually not dose dependent, and has a delayed onset that should be suspected when abnormal serum cholestasis enzyme levels persist despite drug withdrawal. Immune-mediated cholangiocyte injury, direct cholangiocyte damage by drugs or their metabolites once in bile, and sustained exposure to toxic bile salts when biliary epithelium protective defenses are impaired are the main mechanisms of cholangiolar damage. Current therapeutic alternatives are scarce and have not shown consistent beneficial effects so far. This review will summarize the current literature on the main diagnostic tools of ductopenia and its histological features, and the differential diagnostic with other ductopenic diseases. In addition, pathomechanisms will be addressed, as well as the connection between them and the supportive and curative strategies for ductopenia management.


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