Healthcare service evolution towards the Internet of Things: an end-user perspective

For the last two decades the Internet of Things (IoT) has been a subject of growing global interest. Particularly dynamic industries such as the healthcare service sector have just begun to understand the benefits of the IoT for the provision of a new, more advanced type of services. However, whilst the healthcare service industry is yet to fully grasp the benefits of information systems for its practitioners and managers, and for patients and families, there is a need for a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated to IoT-based healthcare systems as another disruptive wave of technologies. In particular, research on the relevance of users’ skills for adoption of IoT-based healthcare services has been limited. Using the current Internet-based healthcare service landscape as a platform for the formulation and testing of its hypotheses, this paper explores the relationship between patients’ capabilities for effective use of information and communication technologies and the success of IoT-based healthcare services. The resulting theoretical model for effective use of information and communication technologies and the success of IoT-based healthcare services was then validated. The validation was based on data collected from a randomly selected sample of 256 users of Internet-based healthcare services provided by the public healthcare system of the Region of Murcia in Spain. The findings of this research inform future strategies for the implementation of new generations of health and well-being services based on IoT technologies

Evaluating the Effects of Vanadyl Sulfate on Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Renal Tissue of Rats with Diabetes Type 2

Vanadyl Sulfate (VS) is an ingredient in some food supplements and experimental drugs. This study was designed to assay the effects of VS on biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in renal tissue of rats with diabetes type 2. 30 male Wistar rats were divided into three equal groups as follow: non-diabetics, non-treated diabetics and VS-treated diabetics. Diabetes type 2 has been induced through high fat diet and fructose in the animals. Diabetic rats were treated with 25 mg/kgBW of VS in water for 12 weeks. At the end of study, glucose and insulin were measured using commercially available kits in serum and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in renal homogenates of animals were measured by related methods. Compared to controls, glucose and insulin were increased significantly in non-treated diabetic rats (p-value <0.05) that showed the induction of diabetes type 2 in rats. The results showed that in VS-treated diabetic rats compared to the non-treated diabetic group, vanadyl sulfate significantly reduced the glucose and insulin secretion and changed renal inflammatory and oxidative markers, except protein carbonyl so that we couldn’t find any significant changes. Our study showed that vanadyl supplementation had positive effects on oxidative stress and inflammation biomarkers in kidney of diabetic rats

Molecular characterization of hepatitis D virus genotypes circulating in Iran

Aim: To determine the molecular epidemiology and characterization of hepatitis D virus (HDV) genotypes circulating in different provinces of Iran. Patients &amp; methods: In this study, the presence of HDV RNA was tested in sera that were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and HDV antibody by nested-PCR. HDV genotypes were subsequently analyzed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay and then confirmed by sequencing. Results: 86.5% of positive PCR patients had genotype I and 8.1% had genotype II while the genotype of 5.4% of the patients remained undetermined by RFLP. Sequencing followed by phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all the Iranian isolates were from genotype I. Conclusion: Although analyzing the RFLP of RT-PCR is a simpler method, the gold standard of genotyping of HDV is the phylogenetic analysis based on sequencing. </jats:p