874 research outputs found
Prosthetic joint infection. A relevant public health issue.
Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a common complication of the knee and hip arthroplasty and represents a huge challenge for physicians. PJI raises serious social, economic and clinical concerns in the public health that need a comprehensive approach to better focus on proven strategies for disease prevention and treatment. History and clinical signs on joint site are useful means for suspecting PJI that need to be confirmed through major and minor diagnostic criteria. The pathogen isolation and the resulting antibiogram are crucial to guide the correct antibiotic strategy and together with surgical treatment (prosthesis revision and spacer implantation) represent the cornerstones to eradicate the infection before attempting a new arthroplasty. External fixator with removal of the spacer may be an option before performing a new arthroplasty when the infection does not heal. Arthrodesis may also be considered if the arthroplasty is contraindicated. Limb amputation is the last chance when pathogen eradication failed and might lead to life-threatening situations
A Sombra sobre Desterro: Desenvolvendo um estilo gráfico de terror inspirado na obra de Franklin Cascaes sob a narrativa de Lovecraft
PCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Design.O objetivo deste trabalho é traçar um paralelo entre o estilo narrativo presente nas obras do
autor americano de terror, H. P. Lovecraft e o universo fantástico das obras de Franklin
Cascaes, para elaboração de um style guide destinado a uma animação autoral 2D no
gênero de terror, baseado na obra dos dois autores. A partir da identificação de padrões
gráficos e definido um estilo dentro do gênero aplicado ao design dos personagens, a
proposta do projeto visa à confecção do guia com o estilo de desenho para nortear a equipe
de produção da animação intitulada “A Sombra sobre Desterro”.The objective of this work is to draw a parallel between the narrative style present in the
works of the American horror author, HP Lovecraft and the fantastic universe in the works
of Franklin Cascaes, to elaborate a style guide for a 2D authorial animation in the horror
genre, based on the work of the two authors. From the identification of graphic patterns
and defining a style within the genre applied to character design, the project proposal
aims to make the guide with the drawing style to assist the animation production team of
the animation entitled "The Shadow over Desterro"
H3 K27M-altered glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma:Semi-systematic review of treatment landscape and future directions
H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma is a recently identified brain tumor associated with poor prognosis. As of 2016, it is classified by the World Health Organization as a distinct form of grade IV glioma. Despite recognition as an important prognostic and diagnostic feature in diffuse glioma, radiation remains the sole standard of care and no effective systemic therapies are available for H3K27M mutant tumors. This review will detail treatment interventions applied to diffuse midline glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) prior to the identification of the H3 K27M mutation, the current standard-of-care for H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma treatment, and ongoing clinical trials listed on www.clinicaltrials.gov evaluating novel therapeutics in this population. Current clinical trials were identified using clinicaltrials.gov, and studies qualifying for this analysis were active or ongoing interventional trials that evaluated a therapy in at least 1 treatment arm or cohort comprised exclusively of patients with DIPG and H3 K27M-mutant glioma. Forty-one studies met these criteria, including trials evaluating H3 K27M vaccination, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and small molecule inhibitors. Ongoing evaluation of novel therapeutics is necessary to identify safe and effective interventions in this underserved patient population.</p
The longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a systematic review.
ABSTRACTObjective:Loneliness and the onset of depression in old age are growing problems related to the greater life expectancy nowadays. This review investigated the longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly.Design:A comprehensive search was conducted using three databases (Scopus, PsycInfo, and PubMed) combing for empirical studies published up until July 2020. A total of 4.549 abstracts and 221 full-text articles were assessed. Three authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts; disagreements were resolved by consensus.Results:Ten studies were included in the final review. We identified two categories of studies based on the outcome considered in each article: 1) the longitudinal effect of loneliness on depressive symptoms and 2) the clinical course of depression and its association with loneliness. All the articles reported a significant and positive association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in their longitudinal design research, ranging from an odds ratio of 0.41 to 17.76. The heterogeneity regarding the effect size in the analyses can be explained by the multifactorial design implemented by most of the studies included.Conclusions:Future research should investigate the moderators' role and how it may influence the longitudinal association between loneliness and depression over the years
Metabolomic characterization of pigmented and non-pigmented potato cultivars using a joint and individual variation explained (JIVE)
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) are one of the most valuable agricultural crops, and the flesh of these tubers provides various classes of healthy compounds important for human nutrition. This work presents the results of a joint analysis of different chemical classes of compounds which provided insights on the metabolic characterization of pigmented and non-pigmented potato varieties collected from Italy. The identification of common or individual metabolic characteristics across the omic datasets (antioxidants, total polyphenolic content, polyphenols, and sugars) is conducted by Joint and Individual Variation Explained (JIVE), a data fusion multivariate approach. The common part of the multivariate model allowed the separation between non-pigmented and pigmented samples. Polyphenolic compounds were mainly responsible for the separation between purple-fleshed and red-skinned potatoes. An additional detailed analysis of the anthocyanin composition, including the acylated anthocyanins, allowed to pinpoint the diversities between the pigmented potato groups. Furthermore, the presence of an appreciable amount of hydroxycinnamic acids and anthocyanins in the purple-fleshed varieties, which are also characterized by a lower content of sugars, is found. Our results provide scientific evidence for the promotion of promising potato cultivars, which are characterized by a remarkable amount of various health benefit compound
DAS: a data management system for instrument tests and operations
The Data Access System (DAS) is a metadata and data management software
system, providing a reusable solution for the storage of data acquired both
from telescopes and auxiliary data sources during the instrument development
phases and operations. It is part of the Customizable Instrument WorkStation
system (CIWS-FW), a framework for the storage, processing and quick-look at the
data acquired from scientific instruments. The DAS provides a data access layer
mainly targeted to software applications: quick-look displays, pre-processing
pipelines and scientific workflows. It is logically organized in three main
components: an intuitive and compact Data Definition Language (DAS DDL) in XML
format, aimed for user-defined data types; an Application Programming Interface
(DAS API), automatically adding classes and methods supporting the DDL data
types, and providing an object-oriented query language; a data management
component, which maps the metadata of the DDL data types in a relational Data
Base Management System (DBMS), and stores the data in a shared (network) file
system. With the DAS DDL, developers define the data model for a particular
project, specifying for each data type the metadata attributes, the data format
and layout (if applicable), and named references to related or aggregated data
types. Together with the DDL user-defined data types, the DAS API acts as the
only interface to store, query and retrieve the metadata and data in the DAS
system, providing both an abstract interface and a data model specific one in
C, C++ and Python. The mapping of metadata in the back-end database is
automatic and supports several relational DBMSs, including MySQL, Oracle and
PostgreSQL.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on ADASS Conference Serie
Radiomics in neuro-oncological clinical trials
The development of clinical trials has led to substantial improvements in the prevention and treatment of many diseases, including brain cancer. Advances in medicine, such as improved surgical techniques, the development of new drugs and devices, the use of statistical methods in research, and the development of codes of ethics, have considerably influenced the way clinical trials are conducted today. In addition, methods from the broad field of artificial intelligence, such as radiomics, have the potential to considerably affect clinical trials and clinical practice in the future. Radiomics is a method to extract undiscovered features from routinely acquired imaging data that can neither be captured by means of human perception nor conventional image analysis. In patients with brain cancer, radiomics has shown its potential for the non-invasive identification of prognostic biomarkers, automated response assessment, and differentiation between treatment-related changes from tumour progression. Despite promising results, radiomics is not yet established in routine clinical practice nor in clinical trials. In this Viewpoint, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Brain Tumour Group summarises the current status of radiomics, discusses its potential and limitations, envisions its future role in clinical trials in neuro-oncology, and provides guidance on how to address the challenges in radiomics
Influence of Parental Health Locus of Control on Behavior, Self-Management and Metabolic Control, in Pediatric Patients with Type 1 Diabetes
Background: Precision medicine in type 1 diabetes (T1D) treatment considers context and environmental data to subclassify patients. Parental Health Locus of Control PHLOC) could influence behavior, self-management, and metabolic control of children with T1D. Methods: No. 135 pediatric patients with T1D (No. 57 with HbA1c ≤ 7.0%, “optimal” group, and No. 78 with >7.0%, “sub-optimal” group) were enrolled in the study. History, anthropometric and diabetes management data were collected, as well as caregiver’s data about socioeconomic status (SES). The PHLOC scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were administered. Results: Access to technology was lower in the “sub-optimal” group and, in particular, in the ethnic minority subgroup, only 8% used them. In the “sub-optimal” group ethnic minority status was higher (24%), the caregiver had a lower SES and showed lower internal HLOC. Conclusions: New care models have to be implemented to ensure equity in diabetes care and precision treatment, particularly for ethnic minority groups, because SES and external PHLOC are still an important barrier to “optimal” diabetes control. In the “sub-optimal” group, we have to implement strategies aimed at increasing self-efficacy, while in the “optimal” one, a personalised approach should be considered to facilitate the shifting of responsibilities within the family, avoiding psychological distress
CIWS-FW: a Customizable InstrumentWorkstation Software Framework for instrument-independent data handling
The CIWS-FW is aimed at providing a common and standard solution for the
storage, processing and quick look at the data acquired from scientific
instruments for astrophysics. The target system is the instrument workstation
either in the context of the Electrical Ground Support Equipment for
space-borne experiments, or in the context of the data acquisition system for
instrumentation. The CIWS-FW core includes software developed by team members
for previous experiments and provides new components and tools that improve the
software reusability, configurability and extensibility attributes. The CIWS-FW
mainly consists of two packages: the data processing system and the data access
system. The former provides the software components and libraries to support
the data acquisition, transformation, display and storage in near real time of
either a data packet stream and/or a sequence of data files generated by the
instrument. The latter is a meta-data and data management system, providing a
reusable solution for the archiving and retrieval of the acquired data. A
built-in operator GUI allows to control and configure the IW. In addition, the
framework provides mechanisms for system error and logging handling. A web
portal provides the access to the CIWS-FW documentation, software repository
and bug tracking tools for CIWS-FW developers. We will describe the CIWS-FW
architecture and summarize the project status.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on ADASS Conference Serie
Adult Medulloblastoma: Updates on Current Management and Future Perspectives
Simple Summary Adult medulloblastoma is an extremely rare tumor of the central nervous system. Standard multimodal treatment, comprising maximal safe surgical resection followed by craniospinal radiotherapy and multi-agent chemotherapy, can improve the prognosis of this disease, producing, however, important acute and long-term toxicities. Herein, we review the state of the art for adult medulloblastoma diagnosis and treatment, presenting novel molecular advances and their therapeutic implications and discussing the central role of hub centers to guarantee the highest quality of care and a better overall outcome for this rare tumor. Medulloblastoma (MB) is a malignant embryonal tumor of the posterior fossa belonging to the family of primitive neuro-ectodermic tumors (PNET). MB generally occurs in pediatric age, but in 14-30% of cases, it affects the adults, mostly below the age of 40, with an incidence of 0.6 per million per year, representing about 0.4-1% of tumors of the nervous system in adults. Unlike pediatric MB, robust prospective trials are scarce for the post-puberal population, due to the low incidence of MB in adolescent and young adults. Thus, current MB treatments for older patients are largely extrapolated from the pediatric experience, but the transferability and applicability of these paradigms to adults remain an open question. Adult MB is distinct from MB in children from a molecular and clinical perspective. Here, we review the management of adult MB, reporting the recent published literature focusing on the effectiveness of upfront chemotherapy, the development of targeted therapies, and the potential role of a reduced dose of radiotherapy in treating this disease
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