Evaluation of mobile health applications

Mūsdienu tehnoloģijas veselības nozarē ir nesušas lielas pārmaiņas, termins “digitālā veselība” paliek ar vien atpazīstamāks. Šī pētījuma mērķis bija novērtēt ar veselību saistīto mobilo aplikāciju popularitāti un noderīgumu speciālistu ikdienā. Pētījumā tika veikta aptauja un kvalitatīva aplikāciju novērtēšana. Iegūtie dati liecina, ka galvenie šķēršļi aplikāciju nepielietošanai darba pienākumu veikšanai ir valodas barjera, gados vecāki cilvēki un maksas saturs. Lielākā daļa speciālisti darba vajadzībām neizmanto mobilās veselības aplikācijas, 51% uzskata, ka Latvijā nemaz nav pieejamas pietiekami daudz medicīnisko mobilo aplikāciju. Tikai 33% respondentu lieto medicīniskās aplikācijas darba vajadzībām.Modern technologies in the health industry have changed a lot, and the term 'digital health' is becoming more and more recognizable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the popularity and usefulness of health-related mobile applications in the daily lives of health professionals. The study included a survey and a qualitative evaluation of the applications. The obtained data show that the main barriers to not using applications for work duties are the language barrier, the elderly and applications cost. Most specialists do not use mobile health applications for work purposes, 51% believe that not enough medical mobile applications are available in Latvia. Only 33% of respondents use medical applications for work

Investigation of the biological effects of a combined natural and synthetic substance senolytic formula in a gerontology intervention study

Antioksidantu līmenim organismā un ar novecošanos saistītām slimībām ir savstarpēja saistība, tāpēc antioksidantu papildināšana uzturā ir potenciāli efektīva, profilaktiska un terapeitiska iejaukšanās ar novecošanos saistītās patoloģijās (1). Darba mērķis bija noskaidrot kombinētā preparāta intervences ietekmi uz geriatrijas pacientiem, izvērtējot ar novecošanos saistītos asins bioķīmiskos marķierus. Rezultāti liecina, ka pēc 4 nedēļu kombinētā preparāta kapsulu lietošanas pa 1 kapsulai 2 reizes dienā (1 kapsula satur: 300 mg priežu skuju ekstrakta, kā arī citas aktīvās vielas un augu ekstraktus) ir droša geriatrijas pacientiem un uzrāda statistiski ticamu DPD, glutationa peroksidāzes, kopējo antioksidantu un kopējo P1NP asins bioloģisko marķieru vidējās koncentrācijas paaugstināšanos asinīs, kā arī ALAT, glikētā hemoglobīna, zema blīvuma holesterīna, interleikīna-6 un triglicerīdu asins bioloģisko marķieru vidējās koncentrācijas pazemināšanos asinīs.There is a correlation between antioxidant levels and aging-related diseases, thus dietary supplementation of antioxidants has potential to be an effective preventive and therapeutic intervention in age-related pathologies (1). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a food supplement combined product intervention on geriatric patients by evaluating age-related blood biochemical markers. The results show that after 4 weeks of administration of 1 capsule twice daily (1 capsule contains: 300 mg of pine needle extract as well as other active substancesand plant extracts), the combination is safe for geriatric patients and shows a statistically significant increase in DPD, glutathione peroxidase, total antioxidants and total P1NP increase in the average concentration of biological markers in the blood, as well as ALAT, glycated haemoglobin, low density cholesterol ,interleukin 6 and triglyceride decrease in the average concentration of biological markers in the blood

COVID-19 Vaccine for Children: Vaccination Willingness of Parents and Its Associated Factors—A Network Analysis

Different COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for underage children, so parents and caregivers currently face the decision of whether to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 or not. Due to the rather moderate vaccine acceptance among parents across different countries, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between different psychological, demographic, and behavioral factors related to the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine for underage children among parents. In particular, vaccination attitudes, whether parents have been vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves, COVID-19 fear, attitude towards COVID-19 policy measures, governmental trust, subjective level of information, perceived risk of disease progression, and perceived risk of vaccine side effects were the variables of interest. The study adopted a cross-sectional study design, and the sample consisted of 2405 participants. A network analysis was conducted to investigate the associations and interconnection among these variables. The results showed that, in particular, compliance, confidence in the safety of vaccines, whether parents have been vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves, trust in the governmental system, fear of COVID-19, and the parents’ age were directly related to the acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine for children. To increase compliance and confidence in the vaccines’ safety among parents, promotion campaigns should provide more information concerning the vaccines’ safety, particularly for younger parents who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 themselves

STAT5 does not drive steroid resistance in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia despite the activation of BCL2 and BCLXL following glucocorticoid treatment

Physiological and pathogenic interleukin-7-receptor (IL7R)-induced signaling provokes glucocorticoid resistance in a subset of patients with pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). Activation of downstream STAT5 has been suggested to cause steroid resistance through upregulation of anti-apoptotic BCL2, one of its downstream target genes. Here we demonstrate that isolated STAT5 signaling in various T-ALL cell models is insufficient to raise cellular steroid resistance despite upregulation of BCL2 and BCL-XL. Upregulation of anti-apoptotic BCL2 and BCLXL in STAT5-activated T-ALL cells requires steroid-induced activation of NR3C1. For the BCLXL locus, this is facilitated by a concerted action of NR3C1 and activated STAT5 molecules at two STAT5 regulatory sites, whereas for the BCL2 locus this is facilitated by binding of NR3C1 at a STAT5 binding motif. In contrast, STAT5 occupancy at glucocorticoid response elements does not affect the expression of NR3C1 target genes. Strong upregulation of BIM, a NR3C1 pro-apoptotic target gene, upon prednisolone treatment can counterbalance NR3C1/STAT5-induced BCL2 and BCL-XL expression downstream of IL7-induced or pathogenic IL7R signaling. This explains why isolated STAT5 activation does not directly impair the steroid response. Our study suggests that STAT5 activation only contributes to steroid resistance in combination with cellular defects or alternative signaling routes that disable the pro-apoptotic and steroid-induced BIM response