Telemedicine in Palliative Care: Implementation of New Technologies to Overcome Structural Challenges in the Care of Neurological Patients

Telemedicine provides a possibility to deal with the scarcity of resources and money in the health care system. Palliative care has been suggested to be appropriate for an increasing number of patients with neurodegenerative disorders, but these patients often lack care from either palliative care or neurology. Since palliative care means a multidisciplinary approach it is meaningful to use palliative care structures as a basis. There exists no systematic access to neurological expertise in an outpatient setting. A successful link of two existing resources is shown in this project connecting the Department of Neurology of an University Hospital with specialized outpatient palliative care (SPC) teams. A videocounselling system is used to provide expert care for neurological outpatients in a palliative setting.Methods: A prospective explorative single arm pilot trial was implemented to provide a mobile telesystem for 5 SPC teams. The opportunity was given to consult an expert in neuropalliative care at the specialized center in the hospital (24/7). Semistructured interviews were conducted with the physicians of the SPC teams after a trial duration of 9 months.Results: Our data provides strong evidence that the technical structure applied in this project allows a reasonable neurological examination at distance. Qualitative interviews indicate a major impact on the quality of work for the SPC teams and on the quality of care for neurological patients.Conclusion: The system proves to be useful and is well accepted by the SPC teams. It supplies a structure that can be transported to other disciplines

Analysis of epigenetic changes in survivors of preterm birth reveals the effect of gestational age and evidence for a long term legacy

BACKGROUND: Preterm birth confers a high risk of adverse long term health outcomes for survivors, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms are unclear. We hypothesized that effects of preterm birth can be mediated through measurable epigenomic changes throughout development. We therefore used a longitudinal birth cohort to measure the epigenetic mark of DNA methylation at birth and 18 years comparing survivors of extremely preterm birth with infants born at term. METHODS: Using 12 extreme preterm birth cases and 12 matched, term controls, we extracted DNA from archived neonatal blood spots and blood collected in a similar way at 18 years of age. DNA methylation was measured at 347,789 autosomal locations throughout the genome using Infinium HM450 arrays. Representative methylation differences were confirmed by Sequenom MassArray EpiTYPER. RESULTS: At birth we found 1,555 sites with significant differences in methylation between term and preterm babies. At 18 years of age, these differences had largely resolved, suggesting that DNA methylation differences at birth are mainly driven by factors relating to gestational age, such as cell composition and/or maturity. Using matched longitudinal samples, we found evidence for an epigenetic legacy associated with preterm birth, identifying persistent methylation differences at ten genomic loci. Longitudinal comparisons of DNA methylation at birth and 18 years uncovered a significant overlap between sites that were differentially-methylated at birth and those that changed with age. However, we note that overlapping sites may either differ in the same (300/1,555) or opposite (431/1,555) direction during gestation and aging respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We present evidence for widespread methylation differences between extreme preterm and term infants at birth that are largely resolved by 18 years of age. These results are consistent with methylation changes associated with blood cell development, cellular composition, immune induction and age at these time points. Finally, we identified ten probes significantly associated with preterm individuals and with greater than 5% methylation discordance at birth and 18 years that may reflect a long term epigenetic legacy of preterm birth

European Respiratory Society clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis of asthma in children aged 5-16 years.

Diagnosing asthma in children represents an important clinical challenge. There is no single gold standard test to confirm the diagnosis. Consequently, both over-, and under-diagnosis of asthma are frequent in children.A Task Force (TF) supported by the European Respiratory Society has developed these evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis of asthma in children aged 5-16 years using nine PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparator and Outcome) questions. The TF conducted systematic literature searches for all PICO questions and screened the outputs from these, including relevant full text articles. All TF members approved the final decision for inclusion of research papers. The TF assessed the quality of the evidence using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach.The TF then developed a diagnostic algorithm based on the critical appraisal of the PICO questions, preferences expressed by lay members and test availability. Proposed cut-offs were determined based on the best available evidence. The TF formulated recommendations using the GRADE Evidence to Decision framework.Based on the critical appraisal of the evidence and the Evidence to Decision Framework the TF recommends spirometry, bronchodilator reversibility testing and FeNO as first line diagnostic tests in children under investigation for asthma. The TF recommends against diagnosing asthma in children based on clinical history alone or following a single abnormal objective test. Finally, this guideline also proposes a set of research priorities to improve asthma diagnosis in children in the future

Development of a candidate reference material for adventitious virus detection in vaccine and biologicals manufacturing by deep sequencing.

Unbiased deep sequencing offers the potential for improved adventitious virus screening in vaccines and biotherapeutics. Successful implementation of such assays will require appropriate control materials to confirm assay performance and sensitivity. A common reference material containing 25 target viruses was produced and 16 laboratories were invited to process it using their preferred adventitious virus detection assay. Fifteen laboratories returned results, obtained using a wide range of wet-lab and informatics methods. Six of 25 target viruses were detected by all laboratories, with the remaining viruses detected by 4-14 laboratories. Six non-target viruses were detected by three or more laboratories. The study demonstrated that a wide range of methods are currently used for adventitious virus detection screening in biological products by deep sequencing and that they can yield significantly different results. This underscores the need for common reference materials to ensure satisfactory assay performance and enable comparisons between laboratories

An epigenetic clock for gestational age at birth based on blood methylation data

BACKGROUND: Gestational age is often used as a proxy for developmental maturity by clinicians and researchers alike. DNA methylation has previously been shown to be associated with age and has been used to accurately estimate chronological age in children and adults. In the current study, we examine whether DNA methylation in cord blood can be used to estimate gestational age at birth. RESULTS: We find that gestational age can be accurately estimated from DNA methylation of neonatal cord blood and blood spot samples. We calculate a DNA methylation gestational age using 148 CpG sites selected through elastic net regression in six training datasets. We evaluate predictive accuracy in nine testing datasets and find that the accuracy of the DNA methylation gestational age is consistent with that of gestational age estimates based on established methods, such as ultrasound. We also find that an increased DNA methylation gestational age relative to clinical gestational age is associated with birthweight independent of gestational age, sex, and ancestry. CONCLUSIONS: DNA methylation can be used to accurately estimate gestational age at or near birth and may provide additional information relevant to developmental stage. Further studies of this predictor are warranted to determine its utility in clinical settings and for research purposes. When clinical estimates are available this measure may increase accuracy in the testing of hypotheses related to developmental age and other early life circumstances

‘Everyone thought I was a very very bad person… no one want to know you like the nurses and doctors’:using focus groups to elicit the views of adults with learning disability who use challenging behaviour services

and Tables S1–S3. (PDF 3090 kb

An epigenetic clock for gestational age at birth based on blood methylation data

Background: Gestational age is often used as a proxy for developmental maturity by clinicians and researchers alike. DNA methylation has previously been shown to be associated with age and has been used to accurately estimate chronological age in children and adults. In the current study, we examine whether DNA methylation in cord blood can be used to estimate gestational age at birth. Results: We find that gestational age can be accurately estimated from DNA methylation of neonatal cord blood and blood spot samples. We calculate a DNA methylation gestational age using 148 CpG sites selected through elastic net regression in six training datasets. We evaluate predictive accuracy in nine testing datasets and find that the accuracy of the DNA methylation gestational age is consistent with that of gestational age estimates based on established methods, such as ultrasound. We also find that an increased DNA methylation gestational age relative to clinical gestational age is associated with birthweight independent of gestational age, sex, and ancestry. Conclusions: DNA methylation can be used to accurately estimate gestational age at or near birth and may provide additional information relevant to developmental stage. Further studies of this predictor are warranted to determine its utility in clinical settings and for research purposes. When clinical estimates are available this measure may increase accuracy in the testing of hypotheses related to developmental age and other early life circumstances.Peer reviewe

Erosion behaviour of the micro abrasion paste Opalustre® as a function of the application duration - an in-vitro-investigation -

In Deutschland und weltweit, werden mehr und mehr, neben einem makellosen Körper und Gesicht, auch makellose Zähne als Schönheits- und Statussymbol betont. Sogar können die kleinste Verfärbungen oder Füllungen Grund zur Besorgnis für Erwachsene, Kinder und Eltern sein. Als Therapie in der Zahnheilkunde ist verbreitet, diese Verfärbungen bzw. Flecken mit Kompositfüllungen, Veneers, Kronen oder mit abrasiven Schleifkörpern invasiv beseitigen zu können. Weniger angewendet, doch erste Wahl der Therapie sollte die minimal invasive Mikroabrasionsbehandlung sein. Dabei werden mit abrasiven und säurehaltigen Pasten die innerhalb der Oberfläche liegenden Verfärbungen beseitigt. Über die Größe des Schmelzabtrages in der zahnärztlichen Literatur findet man nur geringe metrische Angaben. Deshalb ist Ziel dieser vorliegenden Studie die Untersuchung des Schmelzsubstanzabtrages durch Mikroabrasion mit der Mikroabrasionspaste Opalustre® in den Bearbeitungszeiten von 5, 50 und 100 Sekunden, mit gleich bleibendem Anpressdruck und Umdrehungszahl und so herauszufinden, ob bei konstantem Druck und Umdrehungszahl die Größe des Abriebs mit der Behandlungszeit korreliert. Humane extrahierte Zähne dienten dabei als In-vitro-Testsystem. Die Analyse des Schmelzabtrages erfolgte an Dünnschnitten der behandelten humanen Zähne unter einem Lichtmikroskop bei 50 facher Vergrößerung. Auf die Labialflächen von 21 extrahierten und in 0,1 %-iger Thymollösung gelegten Zähnen wurde eine eingefärbte Bondingschicht mittig als Referenzfläche aufgetragen. Die in drei Versuchsgruppen aufgeteilten Zähne wurden dann mit der Mikroabrasionspaste Opalustre® für 5, 50 und 100 Sekunden bei einem Druck von etwa 200 g, bei etwa 135 U/min (Kavo-Reduzierwinkelstück, Doppelring grün 7,4:1 bei 1000 U/min) mit der Paste und dem dazugehörigen Polierkelch (Opal Cups-Bristle™) mikroabradiert. Nach Einbetten der Zahnkronen in Kunststoffblöcke wurden sie in ca. 0,7 mm (± 0,1mm) dicke Scheiben (Proben) geschnitten und unter dem Lichtmikroskop quantitativ nach dem Schmelzabtrag untersucht. Der Mittelwert des Substanzabtrages bei 5 Sekunden Bearbeitungszeit lag bei 14,80 µm, bei 50 Sekunden bei 20,86 µm und bei 100 Sekunden bei 23,74 µm. Die Ergebnisse sind signifikant. Damit wurde gezeigt, daß eine Anwendungszeit von 50 oder 100 Sekunden nicht effektiver ist als 5 Sekunden. Ein häufiger 5 Sekunden Wechsel mit wiederholt neuem Auftragen frischer Mikroabrasionspaste, entgegen der Herstellerangaben, zeigt einen effizienteren Abtrag als eine Zeitverlängerung. Für Fluorose bedingte Verfärbungen 2. Grades könnte somit in ca. 30 Sekunden mit Opalustre® (bei einer Umdrehungszahl von 135 rpm und einem Druck von 200 g) ein genügend tiefer Abtrag des betroffenen Schmelzareals (ca. 100 µm) mit dem gelieferten Kelch (OpalCups-Bristle™) stattfinden, wenn alle 5 Sekunden die Paste neu aufgetragen wird.In Germany and throughout the world dental esthetics is as important to perception of beauty as an immaculate body and face. Even the smallest discoloration or filling can be cause for concern for adults, children and parents. When dental therapy is needed common methods to treat these discolorations and/or marks include composite-fillings, veneers, or use of abrasive grinding wheels. Less applied, but first choice of the therapy should be the minimum invasive micro abrasion treatment. With abrasion and acid pastes the discolorations lying within the surface are eliminated. The present study investigates the fusion substance erosion by micro abrasion with the micro abrasion paste Opalustre®. Varying operation times of 5, 50 and 100 seconds to determine how contact pressure and number of revolutions effects the size of the abrasion and how this correlates with the treatment time. Human extracted teeth served as the in-vitro-test system. The analysis of the fusion erosion was performed on thin sections of the human teeth treated under an optical microscope with 50 times magnification. On the labial surface of 21 extracted and in 0,1% Thymol teeth were laid on a dyed bonding layer centrically as reference surface. The teeth were divided into three experimental groups and were then microabraded with the micro abrasion paste Opalustre® for 5, 50 and 100 seconds with a pressure by approximately 200 g, with approximately 135 rpm (Kavo gear reduction handpiece double ring green 7,4:1 with 1000 rpm) with the paste and the pertinent polishing cup (Opal Cups Bristle™). After embedding the tooth crowns into plastic blocks they were cut in approx. 0.7 mm (± 0,1mm) thick disks (samples) and examined under the optical microscope quantitatively after the fusion erosion. The average value of the substance erosion at 5 seconds of operating time was with 14,80 µm, at 50 seconds with 20,86 µm and at 100 seconds with 23,74 µm. The results are significant. For Fluorose would know conditioned discolorations of 2nd degree thus in approx. 30 seconds with Opalustre® (at a number of revolutions of the concerned of the fusion area by 135 rpm and a pressure of 200 g) a sufficient a deep erosion (approx. 100 µm) with the supplied cup (Opal Cups Bristle™) to take place, if every 5 seconds the paste is again laid on