70 research outputs found
Aspects of Pacemakers
Outstanding steps forward were made in the last decades in terms of identification of endogenous pacemakers and the exploration of their controllability. New "artifical" devices were developed and are now able to do much more than solely pacemaking of the heart. In this book different aspects of pacemaker - functions and interactions, in various organ systems were examined. In addition, various areas of application and the potential side effects and complications of the devices were discussed
Improving Access and Mental Health for Youth Through Virtual Models of Care
The overall objective of this research is to evaluate the use of a mobile health smartphone application (app) to improve the mental health of youth between the ages of 14–25 years, with symptoms of anxiety/depression. This project includes 115 youth who are accessing outpatient mental health services at one of three hospitals and two community agencies. The youth and care providers are using eHealth technology to enhance care. The technology uses mobile questionnaires to help promote self-assessment and track changes to support the plan of care. The technology also allows secure virtual treatment visits that youth can participate in through mobile devices. This longitudinal study uses participatory action research with mixed methods. The majority of participants identified themselves as Caucasian (66.9%). Expectedly, the demographics revealed that Anxiety Disorders and Mood Disorders were highly prevalent within the sample (71.9% and 67.5% respectively). Findings from the qualitative summary established that both staff and youth found the software and platform beneficial
The Impact of Digital Technologies on Public Health in Developed and Developing Countries
This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on String Processing and Information Retrieval, ICOST 2020, held in Hammamet, Tunisia, in June 2020.* The 17 full papers and 23 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They cover topics such as: IoT and AI solutions for e-health; biomedical and health informatics; behavior and activity monitoring; behavior and activity monitoring; and wellbeing technology. *This conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic
From Mouse Models to Patients: A Comparative Bioinformatic Analysis of HFpEF and HFrEF
Heart failure (HF) represents an immense health burden with currently no curative
therapeutic strategies. Study of HF patient heterogeneity has led to the recognition of
HF with preserved (HFpEF) and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as distinct syndromes
regarding molecular characteristics and clinical presentation. Until the recent past,
HFrEF represented the focus of research, reflected in the development of a number of
therapeutic strategies. However, the pathophysiological concepts applicable to HFrEF
may not be necessarily applicable to HFpEF. HF induces a series of ventricular
modeling processes that involve, among others, hallmarks of hypertrophy, fibrosis,
inflammation, all of which can be observed to some extent in HFpEF and HFrEF. Thus,
by direct comparative analysis between HFpEF and HFrEF, distinctive features can be
uncovered, possibly leading to improved pathophysiological understanding and
opportunities
for
therapeutic
intervention.
Moreover,
recent
advances
in
biotechnologies, animal models, and digital infrastructure have enabled large-scale
collection of molecular and clinical data, making it possible to conduct a bioinformatic
comparative analysis of HFpEF and HFrEF.
Here, I first evaluated the field of HF transcriptome research by revisiting published
studies and data sets to provide a consensus gene expression reference. I discussed the
patient clientele that was captured, revealing that HFpEF patients were not represented.
Thus, I applied alternative approaches to study HFpEF. I utilized a mouse surrogate
model of HFpEF and analyzed single cell transcriptomics to gain insights into the
interstitial tissue remodeling. I contrasted this analysis by comparison of fibroblast
activation patterns found in mouse models resembling HFrEF. The human reference
was used to further demonstrate similarities between models and patients and a novel
possible biomarker for HFpEF was introduced.
Mouse models only capture selected aspects of HFpEF but largely fail to imitate the
complex multi-factor and multi-organ syndrome present in humans. To account for
this complexity, I performed a top-down analysis in HF patients by analyzing
phenome-wide comorbidity patterns. I derived clinical insights by contrasting HFpEF
and HFrEF patients and their comorbidity profiles. These profiles were then used to
predict associated genetic profiles, which could be also recovered in the HFpEF mouse
model, providing hypotheses about the molecular links of comorbidity profiles.
My work provided novel insights into HFpEF and HFrEF syndromes and exemplified an
interdisciplinary bioinformatic approach for a comparative analysis of both syndromes
using different data modalities
The Impact of Digital Technologies on Public Health in Developed and Developing Countries
This open access book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 18th International Conference on String Processing and Information Retrieval, ICOST 2020, held in Hammamet, Tunisia, in June 2020.* The 17 full papers and 23 short papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected from 49 submissions. They cover topics such as: IoT and AI solutions for e-health; biomedical and health informatics; behavior and activity monitoring; behavior and activity monitoring; and wellbeing technology. *This conference was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The Application of Computer Techniques to ECG Interpretation
This book presents some of the latest available information on automated ECG analysis written by many of the leading researchers in the field. It contains a historical introduction, an outline of the latest international standards for signal processing and communications and then an exciting variety of studies on electrophysiological modelling, ECG Imaging, artificial intelligence applied to resting and ambulatory ECGs, body surface mapping, big data in ECG based prediction, enhanced reliability of patient monitoring, and atrial abnormalities on the ECG. It provides an extremely valuable contribution to the field
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