Using Building Information Modelling to map the composition of glass panes in a historic house

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is widely regarded to be potentially useful for the conservation and management of historic buildings. So far, research in this area has mostly concentrated in geometry: surveying, the parametric modelling of building features and the accurate modelling of complex building shapes. But in order to be fully integrated with conservation practice, Building Information Models need to include other types of data. This paper demonstrates a method to introduce and visualise spatially resolved data within a Building Information Model of a historic building. It focuses on the visualisation of the composition of historic glass and the metadata associated with this measurement. The conclusions are, however, extensible to any type of spatially-resolved material information that can inform building management, conservation and interpretation. The software Dynamo is used to add this functionality to a Revit 3D model. The modelling stage requires the creation of shape families for different types of window. This approach is compared with a similar visualisation produced with ArcGIS, a common Geographic Information System (GIS) software. The Dynamo algorithm successfully adds the visualisation capacity to the BIM model, but it is unlikely that this level of customisation is achievable by the average user. There is a need for further development of technological solutions that combine the visualisation capacity of GIS with ability of BIM to link 3D models and numerical data

MRI and Clinical Biomarkers Overlap between Glaucoma and Alzheimer’s Disease

glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. It is classically associated with structural and functional changes in the optic nerve head and retinal nerve fiber layer, but the damage is not limited to the eye. The involvement of the central visual pathways and disruption of brain network organization have been reported using advanced neuroimaging techniques. the brain structural changes at the level of the areas implied in processing visual information could justify the discrepancy between signs and symptoms and underlie the analogy of this disease with neurodegenerative dementias, such as alzheimer’s disease, and with the complex group of pathologies commonly referred to as “disconnection syndromes.” this review aims to summarize the current state of the art on the use of advanced neuroimaging techniques in glaucoma and alzheimer’s disease, highlighting the emerging biomarkers shared by both diseases

Symptom Burden in Long-Term Survivors of Head and Neck Cancer: Patient-Reported Versus Clinical Data

Introduction: The symptom burden faced by long-term head and neck cancer survivors is not well understood. In addition, the accuracy of clinical data sources for symptom ascertainment is not clear. Objective: To 1) describe the prevalence of symptoms in 5-year survivors of head and neck cancer, and 2) to evaluate agreement between symptoms obtained via self-report and symptoms obtained from clinical data sources. Methods: We recruited 5-year survivors of head and neck cancer enrolled at Kaiser Permanente Washington (n = 54). Symptoms were assessed using the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory head and neck cancer module. For each symptom, we assessed the agreement of the patient\u27s survey response ( gold standard ) with the 1) medical chart and 2) administrative health care claims data. We computed the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value, along with their 95 percent confidence intervals, for each clinical data source. Results: Eighty percent of patients responded. Nearly all participants (95 percent) reported experiencing at least one symptom from the MDASI-HN, and 93 percent reported two or more symptoms. Among patients reporting a given symptom, there was generally no evidence of the symptom from either clinical data source (i.e., sensitivity was generally no greater than 40 percent). The specificity and PPV of the clinical data sources were generally higher than the sensitivity. Conclusion: Relying only on medical chart review and/or administrative health data would substantially underestimate symptom burden in long-term head and neck cancer survivors

Location of residence associated with the likelihood of patient visit to the preoperative assessment clinic

BACKGROUND: Outpatient preoperative assessment clinics were developed to provide an efficient assessment of surgical patients prior to surgery, and have demonstrated benefits to patients and the health care system. However, the centralization of preoperative assessment clinics may introduce geographical barriers to utilization that are dependent on where a patient lives with respect to the location of the preoperative assessment clinic. METHODS: The association between geographical distance from a patient's place of residence to the preoperative assessment clinic, and the likelihood of a patient visit to the clinic prior to surgery, was assessed for all patients undergoing surgery at a tertiary health care centre in a major Canadian city. The odds of attending the preoperative clinic were adjusted for patient characteristics and clinical factors. RESULTS: Patients were less likely to visit the preoperative assessment clinic prior to surgery as distance from the patient's place of residence to the clinic increased (adjusted OR = 0.52, 95% CI 0.44–0.63 for distances between 50–100 km, and OR = 0.26, 95% CI 0.21–0.31 for distances greater than 250 km). This 'distance decay' effect was remarkable for all surgical specialties. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that the likelihood of a patient visiting the preoperative assessment clinic appears to depend on the geographical location of patients' residences. Patients who live closest to the clinic tend to be seen more often than patients who live in rural and remote areas. This observation may have implications for achieving the goals of equitable access, and optimal patient care and resource utilization in a single universal insurer health care system

A systematic review of the role of vitamin insufficiencies and supplementation in COPD

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pulmonary inflammation, oxidants-antioxidants imbalance, as well as innate and adaptive immunity have been proposed as playing a key role in the development of COPD. The role of vitamins, as assessed either by food frequency questionnaires or measured in serum levels, have been reported to improve pulmonary function, reduce exacerbations and improve symptoms. Vitamin supplements have therefore been proposed to be a potentially useful additive to COPD therapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature review was performed on the association of vitamins and COPD. The role of vitamin supplements in COPD was then evaluated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this review showed that various vitamins (vitamin C, D, E, A, beta and alpha carotene) are associated with improvement in features of COPD such as symptoms, exacerbations and pulmonary function. High vitamin intake would probably reduce the annual decline of FEV1. There were no studies that showed benefit from vitamin supplementation in improved symptoms, decreased hospitalization or pulmonary function.</p

Adherence issues related to sublingual immunotherapy as perceived by allergists

Objectives: Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is a viable alternative to subcutaneous immunotherapy to treat allergic rhinitis and asthma, and is widely used in clinical practice in many European countries. The clinical efficacy of SLIT has been established in a number of clinical trials and meta-analyses. However, because SLIT is self-administered by patients without medical supervision, the degree of patient adherence with treatment is still a concern. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception by allergists of issues related to SLIT adherence. Methods: We performed a questionnaire-based survey of 296 Italian allergists, based on the adherence issues known from previous studies. The perception of importance of each item was assessed by a VAS scale ranging from 0 to 10. Results: Patient perception of clinical efficacy was considered the most important factor (ranked 1 by 54% of allergists), followed by the possibility of reimbursement (ranked 1 by 34%), and by the absence of side effects (ranked 1 by 21%). Patient education, regular follow-up, and ease of use of SLIT were ranked first by less than 20% of allergists. Conclusion: These findings indicate that clinical efficacy, cost, and side effects are perceived as the major issues influencing patient adherence to SLIT, and that further improvement of adherence is likely to be achieved by improving the patient information provided by prescribers. © 2010 Scurati et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd