Chronic kidney disease after liver, cardiac, lung, heart–lung, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant

Patient survival after cardiac, liver, and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) is improving; however, this survival is limited by substantial pretransplant and treatment-related toxicities. A major cause of morbidity and mortality after transplant is chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although the majority of CKD after transplant is attributed to the use of calcineurin inhibitors, various other conditions such as thrombotic microangiopathy, nephrotic syndrome, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis have been described. Though the immunosuppression used for each of the transplant types, cardiac, liver and HSCT is similar, the risk factors for developing CKD and the CKD severity described in patients after transplant vary. As the indications for transplant and the long-term survival improves for these children, so will the burden of CKD. Nephrologists should be involved early in the pretransplant workup of these patients. Transplant physicians and nephrologists will need to work together to identify those patients at risk of developing CKD early to prevent its development and progression to end-stage renal disease

Motor imagery during action observation: A brief review of evidence, theory and future research opportunities

Motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO) have traditionally been viewed as two separate techniques, which can both be used alongside physical practice to enhance motor learning and rehabilitation. Their independent use has been shown to be effective, and there is clear evidence that the two processes can elicit similar activity in the motor system. Building on these well-established findings, research has now turned to investigate the effects of their combined use. In this article, we first review the available neurophysiological and behavioral evidence for the effects of combined action observation and motor imagery (‘AO+MI’) on motor processes. We next describe a conceptual framework for their combined use, and then discuss several areas for future research into AO+MI processes. In this review, we advocate a more integrated approach to AO+MI techniques than has previously been adopted by movement scientists and practitioners alike. We hope this early review of an emergent body of research, along with a related set of research questions, can inspire new work in this area. We are optimistic that future research will further confirm if, how, and when this combined approach to AO+MI can be more effective in motor learning and rehabilitation settings, relative to the more traditional application of AO or MI independently

Resonance Frequency Drift in Electrostatically-Driven Single-Crystal Silicon Micro-Electro-Mechanical Resonators (Stabiliteitsstudie van de resonantiefrequentie van elektrostatisch aangedreven monokristallijn-silicium micro-elektromechanische resonatoren)

One of the major trends in today s microelectronic industry is adding more andmore functionality into electronic devices without compromising their size, perfor-mance and manufacturing costs. Usually, this is done by merging various compo-nents into one single chip. A very good example of such integration are oscillatorsbased on micro-electro-mechanical (MEM) resonators. These devices are very likelyto replace oscillators based on bulky quartz crystal resonators. However, to beata mature quartz crystal technology it is necessary to manufacture silicon MEMresonators of the performance and frequency stability similar to these achievableusing quartz crystals, which is a very challenging task. This is related to the factthat in most of MEMS-CMOS integration technologies such as MEMS-CMOS in-terleaved or MEMS-last the MEMS packaging step is realized after the creationof CMOS electronics, and therefore, relatively low temperatures are allowed forthe subsequent encapsulation processes. Such low temperature treatments may beinsufficient to remove all traces of residual particles from the resonator and thesurfaces inside the package vacuum cavity. Consequently, the adsorption and des-orption processes under vacuum may be a cause of significant device performancedegradation in terms of the resonance frequency drift. In addition, apart from theabove-mentioned effects such devices may suffer from some adverse effects relatedto a DC bias voltage required for device operation. Therefore, understanding of allthe drift mechanisms is crucial for the assessment of the resonance frequency driftin MEM resonator based oscillators.This thesis investigates selected aspects of the resonance frequency drift phe-nomenon in electrostatically-driven single-crystal silicon MEM resonators includingthe drift behavior during storage under high vacuum conditions and the influenceof DC bias conditions. The results of this study show that the resonance frequencydrift in the studied devices can be related not only to the mechanical resonancefrequency changes caused, for instance, by the adsorption-desorption processes, butalso to the electrical phenomena associated with the behavior of electrical chargesin such devices under the influence of externally applied DC bias voltages.nrpages: 302status: publishe

Curiosity, attention and displays : How to use an interactive public display to spark people's interest in continuing to interact with a service

Många saker i människans vardag konkurrerar om att fånga våran uppmärksamhet. På grund av detta kan det tillkomma svårigheter i att upprätthålla både den medvetna samt omedvetna uppmärksamheten. Uppmärksamheten är dock nära sammankopplad till känslan av intresse och kan öka när människan upplever något som intressant. Det har inom flertalet studier undersökts hur människors intresse ska väckas för att vilja interagera med en interaktiv offentlig display. Dock finns det en brist inom vetenskapliga litteraturundersökningar som behandlar hur interaktiva offentliga displayer kan locka människor till att interagera vidare med exempelvis en tjänst eller organisation. Detta arbete har därför undersökt hur interaktiva offentliga displayer kan väcka intresse och uppmärksamhet hos människor för att sedan få dem att börja interagera med en tjänst. För att uppnå detta utfördes en litteraturgenomgång följt av en enkätstudie och intervjuer baserade på en fallstudie där deltagarna fick möjlighet att dela med sig av sina åsikter och tankar. Resultatet från både intervjuerna och enkätstudien visade på att majoriteten hellre skulle gå vidare för att nyttja en tjänst om de precis innan interagerat med en interaktiv offentlig display, än om de inte hade interagerat med en display i samband med tjänsten. För att visualisera resultatet från datainsamlingen skapades därefter en Customer Journey Map och två storyboards. Baserat på dessa designartefakter samt resultatet av datainsamlingen togs fyra designriktlinjer fram för hur en interaktiv offentlig display ska designas för att väcka intresset till att vilja interagera vidare med en tjänst: 1) Närhet, 2) Valmöjlighet, 3) Relevans, 4) Utseende. Slutresultatet visar bland annat på att en interaktiv offentlig display kommer väcka människors nyfikenhet om den har ett relevant och informativt innehåll samt ett uppseendeväckande utseende och tydligt syfte.There are many things in everyday life that compete to gain our attention. Due to this, there may be difficulties in maintaining both the conscious and the unconscious attention. Although, attention is closely linked to the feeling of interest and can increase when people experience something as interesting. Several studies have examined how people's interest could be aroused in order to want to interact with an interactive public display. However, there is a lack of research in the scientific literature that deals with how interactive public displays can attract people to interact further with, for example, a service or organization. This study has therefore investigated how interactive public displays can arouse people’s interest and attention and then make them start interacting with a service. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted followed by a questionnaire study and interviews based on a case study where the participants were given the opportunity to share their opinions and thoughts. The results from both the interviews and the survey showed that the majority would rather begin using a service if they had just interacted with an interactive public display, than if they had not interacted with a display in connection with the service. To visualize the results from the data collection, a Customer Journey Map and two storyboards were created. Based on these design artifacts and the results of the data collection, four design guidelines were developed for how an interactive public display should be designed to arouse interest in wanting to interact further with a service: 1) Proximity, 2) Option, 3) Relevance, 4) Appearance. The result shows, among other things, that an interactive public display will arouse people's curiosity if it has relevant and informative content as well as a startling appearance and clear purpose

Curiosity, attention and displays : How to use an interactive public display to spark people's interest in continuing to interact with a service

Många saker i människans vardag konkurrerar om att fånga våran uppmärksamhet. På grund av detta kan det tillkomma svårigheter i att upprätthålla både den medvetna samt omedvetna uppmärksamheten. Uppmärksamheten är dock nära sammankopplad till känslan av intresse och kan öka när människan upplever något som intressant. Det har inom flertalet studier undersökts hur människors intresse ska väckas för att vilja interagera med en interaktiv offentlig display. Dock finns det en brist inom vetenskapliga litteraturundersökningar som behandlar hur interaktiva offentliga displayer kan locka människor till att interagera vidare med exempelvis en tjänst eller organisation. Detta arbete har därför undersökt hur interaktiva offentliga displayer kan väcka intresse och uppmärksamhet hos människor för att sedan få dem att börja interagera med en tjänst. För att uppnå detta utfördes en litteraturgenomgång följt av en enkätstudie och intervjuer baserade på en fallstudie där deltagarna fick möjlighet att dela med sig av sina åsikter och tankar. Resultatet från både intervjuerna och enkätstudien visade på att majoriteten hellre skulle gå vidare för att nyttja en tjänst om de precis innan interagerat med en interaktiv offentlig display, än om de inte hade interagerat med en display i samband med tjänsten. För att visualisera resultatet från datainsamlingen skapades därefter en Customer Journey Map och två storyboards. Baserat på dessa designartefakter samt resultatet av datainsamlingen togs fyra designriktlinjer fram för hur en interaktiv offentlig display ska designas för att väcka intresset till att vilja interagera vidare med en tjänst: 1) Närhet, 2) Valmöjlighet, 3) Relevans, 4) Utseende. Slutresultatet visar bland annat på att en interaktiv offentlig display kommer väcka människors nyfikenhet om den har ett relevant och informativt innehåll samt ett uppseendeväckande utseende och tydligt syfte.There are many things in everyday life that compete to gain our attention. Due to this, there may be difficulties in maintaining both the conscious and the unconscious attention. Although, attention is closely linked to the feeling of interest and can increase when people experience something as interesting. Several studies have examined how people's interest could be aroused in order to want to interact with an interactive public display. However, there is a lack of research in the scientific literature that deals with how interactive public displays can attract people to interact further with, for example, a service or organization. This study has therefore investigated how interactive public displays can arouse people’s interest and attention and then make them start interacting with a service. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted followed by a questionnaire study and interviews based on a case study where the participants were given the opportunity to share their opinions and thoughts. The results from both the interviews and the survey showed that the majority would rather begin using a service if they had just interacted with an interactive public display, than if they had not interacted with a display in connection with the service. To visualize the results from the data collection, a Customer Journey Map and two storyboards were created. Based on these design artifacts and the results of the data collection, four design guidelines were developed for how an interactive public display should be designed to arouse interest in wanting to interact further with a service: 1) Proximity, 2) Option, 3) Relevance, 4) Appearance. The result shows, among other things, that an interactive public display will arouse people's curiosity if it has relevant and informative content as well as a startling appearance and clear purpose

NATURALISTIC ASSESSMENT OF EVERYDAY MEMORY PERFORMANCE AMONG OLDER ADULTS

Background/Study Context: Memory performance in everyday life (EDL) and its change through aging is still unclear because laboratory results are often not transferable to real-life situations. Therefore, a naturalistic memory task was designed to investigate memory performance in older adults in a representative task design.Methods: The memory performance of 23 older (70.28 4.65 years) and 20 younger adults (24.89 3.16 years) was assessed by using four established tasks of short-term and working memory (Digit Simple Span, Digit Complex Span, Grid Simple Span, and Grid Complex Span) that differed in difficulty and domain (verbal vs. visual-spatial). To simulate an EDL context, a Supermarket was constructed within the laboratory.Results: The results showed that memory performance presents alterations in older adults. This was especially true for the Supermarket task, in which the younger adults showed benefits in the common environment as opposed to older adults. A factor analysis showed that the four memory laboratory tasks measured different memory processes as compared with the EDL task.Conclusion: These findings suggest that memory performance in EDL is a different construct than when it is measured in the laboratory and that memory alterations in older adults are especially pronounced in EDL tasks. Following these findings, the authors recommend an EDL approach to measure memory performance further to the well-established laboratory approaches