Spirulina in Clinical Practice: Evidence-Based Human Applications

Spirulina or Arthrospira is a blue-green alga that became famous after it was successfully used by NASA as a dietary supplement for astronauts on space missions. It has the ability to modulate immune functions and exhibits anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting the release of histamine by mast cells. Multiple studies investigating the efficacy and the potential clinical applications of Spirulina in treating several diseases have been performed and a few randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews suggest that this alga may improve several symptoms and may even have an anticancer, antiviral and antiallergic effects. Current and potential clinical applications, issues of safety, indications, side-effects and levels of evidence are addressed in this review. Areas of ongoing and future research are also discussed

Subtrochanteric fractures. A review of treatment options.

Subtrochanteric fractures of the femur were originally grouped with comminuted intertrochanteric fractures. However, they pose their own distinct management problems mainly due to biomechanical differences in stability and are now considered separately. There are several classification systems but the most widely accepted is the one proposed by Seinsheimer in 1978. Many different methods have been employed in the management of this group of fractures with varying rates of success. The management has altered as new implants have been developed to try to overcome the shortfalls of the existing implants. This study is a review of the literature and was carried out using Medline and the Cochrane Library to look at the management methods employed in the past and today. Most of the published articles are retrospective uncontrolled reports of the results of management and it is difficult to suggest management principles from them. The other main shortcoming is that, although there are several devices available on the market for the management of these fractures, most of the literature concerns one or two of them. The results reported examine union rates and failure of implants leading to reoperation. This is a crude outcome measure, and there is very little in the literature regarding patient function. In order to provide evidence-based advice on the best management options for these difficult fractures, future studies should be designed as randomized controlled trials and place more emphasis on studying patients' outcomes

Crystallization and biochemical characterization of an archaeal lectin from Methanococcus voltae A3

A lectin from Methanococcus voltae A3 has been cloned, expressed, purified and characterized. The lectin appears to be specific for complex sugars. The protein crystallized in a tetragonal space group, with around 16 subunits in the asymmetric unit. Sequence comparisons indicate the lectin to have a beta-prism I fold, with poor homology to lectins of known three-dimensional structure

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasal septum

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a malignant tumour frequently described arising from seromucinous salivary tissue in the major and minor salivary glands. Within the nasal cavity, it is uncommon and usually involves the lateral wall. A rare case of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasal septum is presented along with a review of the literature. The presentation and management of this uncommon condition is discussed

“Organized UX professionalism”:an empirical study and conceptual tool for scrutinizing UX work of the future

Abstract This paper proposes the notion of ‘Organized User Experience (UX) Professionalism’ to describe the nature of the UX work in organizations and support the development of the UX profession. The conceptual model of Organized UX Professionalism is observed in practice and evaluated using data from a survey of 422 UX professionals in five countries. The model recognizes that the UX profession and work are guided not only by the principles of user experience and usability, but also by organization and management issues. The empirical evidence shows that indeed Organized UX Professionalism consists of a management-minded work orientation, innovative tool use, highly social best practices, organizational user centeredness, community participation, and the maturity of the UX and usability concepts in the local society. The study also shows that UX professionals largely adopt system-oriented definitions of usability and UX, rather than changing their conceptions towards organizational and human-oriented definitions. We discuss implications of the findings and possible actions of returning to ‘certified usability professionalism’ versus ‘going beyond the idea of the UX professionalism’ towards organization specific UX only. From the human work interaction design perspective, we believe that the notion of Organized UX Professionalism helps conceptualize, measure, develop, and manage the work of UX professionals in different social contexts as well as understand the outcomes and role of this work in the organization. Further, we propose a few concrete research directions to continue this research

Organized UX professionalism on individual, organizational, and society levels

Abstract The notion of user experience (UX) has, for a long time, guided both research and practice in the design of user-centric information technology (IT). Today, organizing and managing are increasingly considered as issues for UX professionals to deal with. We propose the term ‘Organized UX professionalism’ to help reveal the unique nature of organized professionalism for UX and support the further development of the profession. In this study, we examined the phenomenon of Organized UX Professionalism through a survey eliciting the views of 422 UX professionals across five countries. The results showed that Organized UX Professionalism consists of a management-minded work orientation, innovative tool use, highly social best practices, organizational user centeredness, community participation, and the maturity of the UX and usability concepts in the local society. Surprisingly, UX professionals resist changing their definition of usability and UX toward organizational and human-oriented definitions. We discuss possible actions of returning to ‘certified usability professionalism’ versus ‘going beyond the idea of the UX professionalism’ towards organization specific UX only. The notion of Organized UX Professionalism can help conceptualize, measure, develop, and manage the work of UX professionals