A home monitoring program including real-time wireless home spirometry in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

In idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), home monitoring experiences are limited, not yet real-time available nor implemented in daily care. We evaluated feasibility and potential barriers of a new home monitoring program with real-time wireless home spirometry in IPF. Ten patients with IPF were asked to test this home monitoring program, including daily home spirometry, for four weeks. Measurements of home and hospital spirometry showed good agreement. All patients considered real-time wireless spirometry useful and highly feasible. Both patients and researchers suggested relatively easy solutions for the identified potential barriers regarding real-time home monitoring in IPF

Attachment and social functioning in psychosis

Individuals who experience psychosis typically have diminished social networks and difficulties with social and interpersonal functioning. Therefore, factors underlying social functioning are an intensively studied topic. As attachment theory is by its very nature a theory about interpersonal relationships, it provides insight into these difficulties experienced in psychosis and helps to further develop existing models and conceptualisations of psychosis. Another factor closely related to social dysfunction is social cognition, referring to skill sets or mental processes which help an individual to understand and to accurately interpret the social world. Secure attachment bonds provide optimal conditions for the development of these skills and can be disrupted by negative interpersonal experiences, including difficulties in early attachment relationships. In this chapter, we discuss state of the art research on the link between social cognition, interpersonal difficulties and attachment style in psychosis

Learning to trust: trust and attachment in early psychosis

Background Distrust and social dysfunction are characteristic in psychosis and may arise from attachment insecurity, which is elevated in the disorder. The relationship between trust and attachment in the early stages of psychosis is unknown, yet could help to understand interpersonal difficulties and disease progression. This study aimed to investigate whether trust is reduced in patients with early psychosis and whether this is accounted for by attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. Method We used two trust games with a cooperative and unfair partner in a sample of 39 adolescents with early psychosis and 100 healthy controls. Results Patients had higher levels of attachment anxiety, but the groups did not differ in attachment avoidance. Basic trust was lower in patients than controls, as indicated by lower initial investments. During cooperation patients increased their trust towards levels of controls, i.e. they were able to learn and to override initial suspiciousness. Patients decreased their trust less than controls during unfair interactions. Anxious attachment was associated with higher basic trust and higher trust during unfair interactions and predicted trust independent of group status. Discussion Patients showed decreased basic trust but were able to learn from the trustworthy behaviour of their counterpart. Worries about the acceptance by others and low self-esteem are associated with psychosis and attachment anxiety and may explain behaviour that is focused on conciliation, rather than self-protection

Toepassing GPS en GIS in de akkerbouw : nut en rendement van toepassingen op het gebied van geolandbouw

Het beschikbaar komen van systemen voor satelliet plaatsbepaling en navigatie, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) kan grote invloed hebben op de bedrijfsvoering en rendement van het akkerbouwbedrijf. Voor landbouwkundige toepassingen worden in snel tempo aan GNSS gerelateerde toepassingen en diensten ontwikkeld en aangeboden. Landbouw is in Nederland een grote en intensieve gebruiker van de open ruimte en kan daarmee profiteren van de mogelijkheden die GNSS biedt. Vaak is niet duidelijke welke waarde en betekenis deze toepassingen hebben voor de bedrijfsvoering. Een actueel overzicht van beschikbare toepassingen en diensten met een indicatie van de gevolgen voor het rendement wordt in dit rapport gegeve

A monoclonal antibody to Siglec-8 suppresses non-allergic airway inflammation and inhibits IgE-independent mast cell activation.

In addition to their well characterized role in mediating IgE-dependent allergic diseases, aberrant accumulation and activation of mast cells (MCs) is associated with many non-allergic inflammatory diseases, whereby their activation is likely triggered by non-IgE stimuli (e.g., IL-33). Siglec-8 is an inhibitory receptor expressed on MCs and eosinophils that has been shown to inhibit IgE-mediated MC responses and reduce allergic inflammation upon ligation with a monoclonal antibody (mAb). Herein, we evaluated the effects of an anti-Siglec-8 mAb (anti-S8) in non-allergic disease models of experimental cigarette-smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bleomycin-induced lung injury in Siglec-8 transgenic mice. Therapeutic treatment with anti-S8 inhibited MC activation and reduced recruitment of immune cells, airway inflammation, and lung fibrosis. Similarly, using a model of MC-dependent, IL-33-induced inflammation, anti-S8 treatment suppressed neutrophil influx, and cytokine production through MC inhibition. Transcriptomic profiling of MCs further demonstrated anti-S8-mediated downregulation of MC signaling pathways induced by IL-33, including TNF signaling via NF-κB. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that ligating Siglec-8 with an antibody reduces non-allergic inflammation and inhibits IgE-independent MC activation, supporting the evaluation of an anti-Siglec-8 mAb as a therapeutic approach in both allergic and non-allergic inflammatory diseases in which MCs play a role