The European Institute for Innovation through Health Data

The European Institute for Innovation through Health Data (i~HD, www.i-hd.eu) has been formed as one of the key sustainable entities arising from the Electronic Health Records for Clinical Research (IMI-JU-115189) and SemanticHealthNet (FP7-288408) projects, in collaboration with several other European projects and initiatives supported by the European Commission. i~HD is a European not-for-profit body, registered in Belgium through Royal Assent. i~HD has been established to tackle areas of challenge in the successful scaling up of innovations that critically rely on high-quality and interoperable health data. It will specifically address obstacles and opportunities to using health data by collating, developing, and promoting best practices in information governance and in semantic interoperability. It will help to sustain and propagate the results of health information and communication technology (ICT) research that enables better use of health data, assessing and optimizing their novel value wherever possible. i~HD has been formed after wide consultation and engagement of many stakeholders to develop methods, solutions, and services that can help to maximize the value obtained by all stakeholders from health data. It will support innovations in health maintenance, health care delivery, and knowledge discovery while ensuring compliance with all legal prerequisites, especially regarding the insurance of patient's privacy protection. It is bringing multiple stakeholder groups together so as to ensure that future solutions serve their collective needs and can be readily adopted affordably and at scale

Bonding mechanism in the nitrides Ti2AlN and TiN: an experimental and theoretical investigation

The electronic structure of nanolaminate Ti2AlN and TiN thin films has been investigated by bulk-sensitive soft x-ray emission spectroscopy. The measured Ti L, N K, Al L1 and Al L2,3 emission spectra are compared with calculated spectra using ab initio density-functional theory including dipole transition matrix elements. Three different types of bond regions are identified; a relatively weak Ti 3d - Al 3p bonding between -1 and -2 eV below the Fermi level, and Ti 3d - N 2p and Ti 3d - N 2s bonding which are deeper in energy observed at -4.8 eV and -15 eV below the Fermi level, respectively. A strongly modified spectral shape of 3s states of Al L2,3 emission from Ti2AlN in comparison to pure Al metal is found, which reflects the Ti 3d - Al 3p hybridization observed in the Al L1 emission. The differences between the electronic and crystal structures of Ti2AlN and TiN are discussed in relation to the intercalated Al layers of the former compound and the change of the materials properties in comparison to the isostructural carbides.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures; http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.19512

Ethical issues related to the use of gerontechnology in older people care: A scoping review

Background:Demographic trends indicate growth of population aged 65 and older in Western countries. One of the greatest challenges is to provide high-quality care for all. Technological solutions designed for older people, gerontechnology, can somewhat balance the gap between resources and the increasing demand of healthcare services. However, there are also ethical issues in the use of gerontechnology that need to be pointed out.Purpose:To describe what ethical issues are related to the use of gerontechnology in the care of community-dwelling older people.Methods:A scoping review was performed to identify and analyse studies concerning ethical issues when using gerontechnology in the home care of older people. The literature search was limited to studies published after 1990 and addressed to the electronic databases CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane, Medic, IEEE Explore and Web of Science. The search was performed in July−August 2018. Data from empirical studies were analysed using thematic analysis.Ethical considerations:This scoping review was conducted in accordance with good scientific practice. The work of other researchers was respected and cited appropriately.Results:A total of 17 studies were identified. Two main themes were found. ‘Balancing between the benefits of using gerontechnology and the basic rights of older people’, consisted of the subthemes safety, privacy and autonomy. The other main theme, ‘Gerontechnology as a risk of insecurity for older people’, included the subthemes fear of losing human contact and concern and fear. Surveillance and monitoring technologies were mainly studied.Conclusion:These results suggest that there may be ethical issues related to the use of gerontechnology and they must therefore be taken into consideration when implementing technology in the care of community-dwelling older people.</div

Comparison of voxel-wise and histogram analyses of glioma ADC maps for prediction of early therapeutic change

Noninvasive imaging methods are sought to objectively predict early response to therapy for high-grade glioma tumors. Quantitative metrics derived from diffusion-weighted imaging, such as apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), have previously shown promise when used in combination with voxel-based analysis reflecting regional changes. The functional diffusion mapping (fDM) metric is hypothesized to be associated with volume of tumor exhibiting an increasing ADC owing to effective therapeutic action. In this work, the reference fDM-predicted survival (from previous study) for 3 weeks from treatment initiation (midtreatment) is compared to multiple histogram-based metrics using Kaplan-Meier estimator for 80 glioma patients stratified to responders and nonresponders based on the population median value for the given metric. The ADC histogram metric reflecting reduction in midtreatment volume of solid tumor (ADC 8% population-median with respect to pretreatment is found to have the same predictive power as the reference fDM of increasing midtreatment ADC volume above 4%. This study establishes the level of correlation between fDM increase and low-ADC tumor volume shrinkage for prediction of early response to radiation therapy in patients with glioma malignancies

MR spectroscopy in the evaluation of recurrent contrast-enhancing lesions in the posterior fossa after tumor treatment

Recurrent contrast-enhancing lesions arising within foci of prior brain neoplasms treated with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy pose a significant diagnostic dilemma, as they may represent recurrent or residual tumor, treatment-related changes, or a combination of both. Those lesions specifically in the posterior fossa are even more difficult to assess, given the technical limitations of 2D CSI in the infratentorial compartment. We explored the feasibility of 2D-CSI MR spectroscopy in the evaluation of recurrent contrast-enhancing lesions in eight consecutive patients who had undergone treatment for posterior fossa or brainstem tumors. Mean Cho/Cr (choline/creatine) ratios obtained by 2D-CSI in recurrent tumor, treatment-related changes, and normal white matter were 2.93, 1.62, and 0.97, respectively, mean Cho/NAA (choline/N-Acetyl aspartate) ratios were 4.34, 1.74, and 0.93, and mean NAA/Cr (N-acetyl aspartate/creatine) ratios were 0.74, 0.92, and 1.26, respectively. In conclusion, also in the posterior fossa, MR spectroscopy is likely to be useful as an adjunct to conventional imaging characteristics in distinguishing recurrent tumor from treatment-related changes, irrespectively of the MRS technique used. In most cases spectra of diagnostic quality can be obtained using 2D-CSI to include coverage of both the lesion and its vicinity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46664/1/234_2004_Article_1195.pd

Sonographically Guided Lumbar Puncture in Pediatric Patients

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135581/1/jum201332122191.pd

Osteonecrosis following resurfacing arthroplasty: A clinical positron emission tomography study of 14 cases

Background and purpose One of the main concerns regarding resurfacing arthroplasty is the viability of the remaining part of the femoral head, and the postoperative risk of a femoral neck fracture or collapse. In contrast to radiographic methods, positron emission tomography using the radiotracer [18F]-fluoride (Fluoride-PET) enables us to visualize the viability of bone in the remaining part of the head, despite the presence of the covering metal component

Do Binucleate Cardiomyocytes Have A Role in Myocardial Repair? Insights Using Isolated Rodent Myocytes and Cell Culture

Neonatal and adult cardiomyocytes were isolated from rat hearts. Some of the adult myocytes were cultured to allow for cell dedifferentiation, a phenomenon thought to mimic cell changes that occur in stressed myocardium, with myocytes regressing to a fetal pattern of metabolism and stellate neonatal shape