Adiabatic invariants drive rhythmic human motion in variable gravity

Natural human movements are stereotyped. They minimise cost functions that include energy, a natural candidate from mechanical and physiological points of view. In time-changing environments, however, motor strategies are modified since energy is no longer conserved. Adiabatic invariants are relevant observables in such cases, although they have not been investigated in human motor control so far. We fill this gap and show that the theory of adiabatic invariants explains how humans move when gravity varies

Cybertools improve reaction time in open heart surgery

Objective: Head-up displays allow the surgeons to simultaneously view the patient and the patient's vital parameters (ECG, blood pressure, etc.) using vision-through over a wireless net, potentially enhancing the speed, accuracy and safety of surgical decisions. The aim was to assess surgical reaction time to AFIB, bigeminy, trigeminy, VTACH, and VFIB and concentration during a surgical intervention comparing standard and cyber tools monitoring. Methods: Using a patient simulator for beating heart surgery able to emulate heart signals and motion (arrhythmias) a group of surgeons performed coronary bypass procedures. Measurements of reaction time, efficiency of the surgeon, time elapsed to display a coronary angiography in a realistic surgical environment were taken. Results: The duration to accomplish the experiment is not different between groups (cyber vs. standard) reaction times, however, are significantly decreased for cyber by a mean of 33%. There is also a measured time difference for displaying a coronary angiography within the head-up display as compared to a remote console. Conclusions: During surgery, modern cyber tools allow for significant improvements of reaction time and concentration due to real time access to vital informatio

Personalized medication adherence management in asthma and COPD:a review of effective interventions and development of a practical adherence toolkit

BACKGROUND: Medication non-adherence management of patients with asthma/COPD remains challenging. Given the multitude of underlying causes, a personalized approach is required. The Test of Adherence to Inhalers (TAI) can identify reasons for non-adherence, but does not provide guidance on how to effectively act on results. OBJECTIVE: To develop a practical, evidence-based decision support toolkit for healthcare professionals managing adult patients with asthma and/or COPD, by matching TAI-identified adherence barriers to proven effective adherence enhancing interventions. METHODS: A literature review in PubMed and Embase was performed identifying interventions that enhanced medication adherence in adult patients with asthma and/or COPD. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published in English with full-texts available were included. Effective interventions were assessed by the Cochrane risk of bias tool, categorized, matched with specific TAI responses and developed into a practical TAI Toolkit. The Toolkit was assessed on content and usability (System Usability Scale, SUS) by a multidisciplinary group of healthcare professionals. RESULTS: Forty RCTs were included in the review. In total, seven effective interventions catergories were identified, informing the TAI Toolkit: reminders, educational interventions, motivational strategies, feedback on medication use, shared decision making, simplifying medication regimen and multiple component interventions. Healthcare professionals rated the TAI Toolkit with a mean SUS score of 71.4 (range: 57.5-80.0). CONCLUSION: Adherence can be improved using different interventions that the TAI Toolkit helps selecting. The TAI Toolkit was well received by healthcare professionals. Further research is required to test its validity, practicality and effectiveness in practice

Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Belgian wildlife

De Craeye, S., Speybroeck, N., Baert, K., Ajzenberg, D., Dardé, M.L., Collinet, F., Tavernier, P., Van Gucht, S., Dorny, P., Dierick, K

Cognivitra, a digital solution to support dual-task rehabilitation training

This article focuses on an eHealth application, CogniViTra, to support cognitive and physical training (i.e., dual-task training), which can be done at home with supervision of a health care provider. CogniViTra was designed and implemented to take advantage of an existing Platform of Services supporting a Cognitive Health Ecosystem and comprises several components, including the CogniViTra Box (i.e., the patient terminal equipment), the Virtual Coach to provide assistance, the Game Presentation for the rehabilitation exercises, and the Pose and Gesture Recognition to quantify responses during dual-task training. In terms of validation, a functional prototype was exposed in a highly specialized event related to healthy and active ageing, and key stakeholders were invited to test it and share their insights. Fifty-seven specialists in information-technology-based applications to support healthy and active ageing were involved and the results and indicated that the functional prototype presents good performance in recognizing poses and gestures such as moving the trunk to the left or to the right, and that most of the participants would use or suggest the utilization of CogniViTra. In general, participants considered that CogniViTra is a useful tool and may represent an added value for remote dual-task training.This study has received funding from the European Union under the AAL programme through project CogniViTra (Grant No. AAL-2018-5-115-CP), with national funding support from FCT, ISCIII, and FNR. This presentation reflects the authors’ views, and neither AAL nor the National Funding Agencies are responsible for any use that may be made of the information

Ultrasound stimulus to enhance the bone regeneration capability of gelatin cryogels

In the present study, gelatin-based cryogels have been seeded with human SAOS-2 osteoblasts. In order to overcome the drawbacks associated with in vitro culture systems, such as limited diffusion and inhomogeneous cell-matrix distribution, this work describes the application of ultrasounds (average power, 149 mW; frequency, 1.5 MHz) to physically enhance the cell culture in vitro. The results indicate that the physical stimulation of cell-seeded gelatin-based cryogels upregulates the bone matrix production

Burden and socioeconomics of asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis and food allergy

INTRODUCTION: Asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy affect approximately 20% of the global population. Few studies describe the burden of the totality of these diseases and only a handful studies provide a comprehensive overview of the socioeconomic impact of these diseases. AREAS COVERED: For this narrative review, we searched Pubmed using selected keywords and inspected relevant references using a snowballing process. We provide an overview of the socioeconomic burden of allergic diseases (in particular, asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis, and food allergy). The focus of this review is on their epidemiology (incidence, prevalence), burden (disability-adjusted life years, quality of life), and direct and indirect costs (absenteeism and presenteeism). We have put special emphasis on differences between countries. EXPERT COMMENTARY: Both the prevalence and the burden of allergic diseases are considerable with prevalence varying between 1% and 20%. We identified a plethora of studies on asthma, but studies were generally difficult to compare due to the heterogeneity in measures used. There were only few studies on the burden of food allergy; therefore, more studies on this allergy are required. For future studies, we recommend standardizing epidemiologic, socioeconomic impact, and quality of life measures of allergic diseases