Digital citizenship and disability in the covid era

The covid-19 crisis has accelerated automation and digitalization in many aspects of social life. Social distancing and lockdowns, combined with the imperative to preserve economic activity, have seen much work and education move online, while the digitalization of government services has intensified. These developments slowed the spread of covid-19 but their broader effects, both positive and negative, have been unevenly distributed. One group for whom covid-driven digitalization has been especially ambivalent is people with a disability. While remote forms of communication and work have afforded physical health protections to many disabled people, these same forms have had exclusionary effects that magnify pre-existing disadvantages and diminish citizenship rights. This article analyses this ambivalent dialectic and the politics of neoliberal digital citizenship with which it is enmeshed. We argue that digital citizenship needs to be decoupled from a constraining neoliberal rationality prioritizing ableist individual competition, techno-entrepreneurship and government cost-cutting

Unveiling algorithmic power: exploring the impact of automated systems on disabled people’s engagement with social services

This article examines the impact of algorithmic systems on disabled people’s interactions with social services, focusing on a case study of algorithmic decision-making in Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Through interviews and document analysis, we explore future visions and concerns related to increased automation in NDIS planning and eligibility determinations. We show that while individuals may not fully comprehend the inner workings of algorithmic systems, they develop their own understandings and judgments, shedding light on how power operates through the datafication of disability. The article highlights the significance of addressing epistemic justice concerns, urging a reevaluation of dominant modes of understanding and assessing disability through algorithmic categorisation, while advocating for more nuanced approaches that acknowledge disability’s embeddedness in social relations. The findings have implications for the future use of algorithmic decision-making in the NDIS and disability welfare provision more broadly

Can AMP induce sputum eosinophils, even in subjects with complete asthma remission?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The definition of <b>"</b>clinical asthma remission" is based on absence of symptoms and use of medication. However, in the majority of these subjects airway inflammation is still present when measured. In the present study we investigated whether "complete asthma remission", additionally defined by the absence of bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) and the presence of a normal lung function, is associated with the absence of airway inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with a former diagnosis of asthma and a positive histamine provocation test were re-examined to identify subjects with complete asthma remission (no asthma symptoms or medication, PC₂₀histamine > 32 mg/ml, FEV₁> 90% predicted). Patients with PC₂₀histamine ≤ 32 mg/ml were defined as current asthmatics and were divided in two groups, i.e. asthmatics with and without BHR to adenosine 5'monophoshate (AMP). Sputum induction was performed 1 week before and 1 hour after AMP provocation. Sputum induction and AMP provocation were previously shown to be sensitive markers of airway inflammation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Seven patients met criteria for complete asthma remission. Twenty-three were current asthmatics, including twelve without hyperresponsiveness to AMP. Subjects with complete asthma remission showed no AMP-induced sputum eosinophilia (median (range) 0.2 (0 - 4.6)% at baseline and 0.2 (0 - 2.6)% after AMP). After AMP, current asthmatics had a significant increase in sputum eosinophils (0.5 (0 - 26.0)% at baseline and 2.6 (0 - 32.0) % after AMP), as had the subgroup of current asthmatics without hyperresponsiveness to AMP (0.2 (0 - 1.8)% at baseline and 1.3 (0 - 6.3)% after AMP).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Subjects with complete asthma remission, in contrast to subjects with current asthma, do not respond with eosinophilic inflammation in sputum after AMP provocations. These data lend support to the usefulness of the definition of complete asthma remission.</p

Рідке мило на основі соапстоків після нейтралізації олій та жирів в нейтралізуючому розчині, що містить етанол

Development and application of statistical models for medical scientific researc

Standardized methods for enhanced quality and comparability of tuberculous meningitis studies

Tuberculous meningitis remains a major cause of death and disability in tuberculosis endemic areas, especially in young children and immunocompromised adults. Research aimed at improving outcomes is hampered by poor standardization, which limits study comparison and the generalizability of results. We propose standardized methods for the conduct of tuberculous meningitis clinical research that were drafted at an international tuberculous meningitis research meeting organized by the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam. We propose a core dataset including demographic and clinical information to be collected at study enrolment, important aspects related to patient management and monitoring, and standardized reporting of patient outcomes. The criteria proposed for the conduct of observational and intervention tuberculous meningitis studies should improve the quality of future research outputs, facilitate multi-centre studies and meta-analyses of pooled data, and could provide the foundation for a global tuberculous meningitis data repository

Host directed therapies for tuberculous meningitis [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 1 approved with reservations]

A dysregulated host immune response significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Effective host directed therapies (HDTs) are critical to improve survival and clinical outcomes. Currently only one HDT, dexamethasone, is proven to improve mortality. However, there is no evidence dexamethasone reduces morbidity, how it reduces mortality is uncertain, and it has no proven benefit in HIV co-infected individuals. Further research on these aspects of its use, as well as alternative HDTs such as aspirin, thalidomide and other immunomodulatory drugs is needed. Based on new knowledge from pathogenesis studies, repurposed therapeutics which act upon small molecule drug targets may also have a role in TBM. Here we review existing literature investigating HDTs in TBM, and propose new rationale for the use of novel and repurposed drugs. We also discuss host variable responses and evidence to support a personalised approach to HDTs in TBM.</ns3:p

Magnetic resonance imaging of local and remote vascular remodelling after experimental stroke.

The pattern of vascular remodelling in relation to recovery after stroke remains largely unclear. We used steady-state contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging to assess the development of cerebral blood volume and microvascular density in perilesional and exofocal areas from (sub)acutely to chronically after transient stroke in rats. Microvascular density was verified histologically after infusion with Evans Blue dye. At day 1, microvascular cerebral blood volume and microvascular density were reduced in and around the ischemic lesion (intralesional borderzone: microvascular cerebral blood volume = 72 ± 8%; microvascular density = 76 ± 8%) (P < 0.05), while total cerebral blood volume remained relatively unchanged. Perilesional microvascular cerebral blood volume and microvascular density subsequently normalized (day 7) and remained relatively stable (day 70). In remote ipsilateral areas in the thalamus and substantia nigra - not part of the ischemic lesion - microvascular density gradually increased between days 1 and 70 (thalamic ventral posterior nucleus: microvascular density = 119 ± 9%; substantia nigra: microvascular density = 122 ± 8% (P < 0.05)), which was confirmed histologically. Our data indicate that initial microvascular collapse, with maintained collateral flow in larger vessels, is followed by dynamic revascularization in perilesional tissue. Furthermore, progressive neovascularization in non-ischemic connected areas may offset secondary neuronal degeneration and/or contribute to non-neuronal tissue remodelling. The complex spatiotemporal pattern of vascular remodelling, involving regions outside the lesion territory, may be a critical endogenous process to promote post-stroke brain reorganization.FSW – Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide

The PRoteomics IDEntification (PRIDE) Converter 2 Framework: An Improved Suite of Tools to Facilitate Data Submission to the PRIDE Database and the ProteomeXchange Consortium

The original PRIDE Converter tool greatly simplified the process of submitting mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics data to the PRIDE database. However, after much user feedback, it was noted that the tool had some limitations and could not handle several user requirements that were now becoming commonplace. This prompted us to design and implement a whole new suite of tools that would build on the successes of the original PRIDE Converter and allow users to generate submission-ready, well-annotated PRIDE XML files. The PRIDE Converter 2 tool suite allows users to convert search result files into PRIDE XML (the format needed for performing submissions to the PRIDE database), generate mzTab skeleton files that can be used as a basis to submit quantitative and gel-based MS data, and post-process PRIDE XML files by filtering out contaminants and empty spectra, or by merging several PRIDE XML files together. All the tools have both a graphical user interface that provides a dialog-based, user-friendly way to convert and prepare files for submission, as well as a command-line interface that can be used to integrate the tools into existing or novel pipelines, for batch processing and power users. The PRIDE Converter 2 tool suite will thus become a cornerstone in the submission process to PRIDE and, by extension, to the ProteomeXchange consortium of MS-proteomics data repositories.publishedVersio