Prosthetic joint infection. A relevant public health issue.

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a common complication of the knee and hip arthroplasty and represents a huge challenge for physicians. PJI raises serious social, economic and clinical concerns in the public health that need a comprehensive approach to better focus on proven strategies for disease prevention and treatment. History and clinical signs on joint site are useful means for suspecting PJI that need to be confirmed through major and minor diagnostic criteria. The pathogen isolation and the resulting antibiogram are crucial to guide the correct antibiotic strategy and together with surgical treatment (prosthesis revision and spacer implantation) represent the cornerstones to eradicate the infection before attempting a new arthroplasty. External fixator with removal of the spacer may be an option before performing a new arthroplasty when the infection does not heal. Arthrodesis may also be considered if the arthroplasty is contraindicated. Limb amputation is the last chance when pathogen eradication failed and might lead to life-threatening situations

A Sombra sobre Desterro: Desenvolvendo um estilo gráfico de terror inspirado na obra de Franklin Cascaes sob a narrativa de Lovecraft

PCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Design.O objetivo deste trabalho é traçar um paralelo entre o estilo narrativo presente nas obras do autor americano de terror, H. P. Lovecraft e o universo fantástico das obras de Franklin Cascaes, para elaboração de um style guide destinado a uma animação autoral 2D no gênero de terror, baseado na obra dos dois autores. A partir da identificação de padrões gráficos e definido um estilo dentro do gênero aplicado ao design dos personagens, a proposta do projeto visa à confecção do guia com o estilo de desenho para nortear a equipe de produção da animação intitulada “A Sombra sobre Desterro”.The objective of this work is to draw a parallel between the narrative style present in the works of the American horror author, HP Lovecraft and the fantastic universe in the works of Franklin Cascaes, to elaborate a style guide for a 2D authorial animation in the horror genre, based on the work of the two authors. From the identification of graphic patterns and defining a style within the genre applied to character design, the project proposal aims to make the guide with the drawing style to assist the animation production team of the animation entitled "The Shadow over Desterro"

H3 K27M-altered glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma:Semi-systematic review of treatment landscape and future directions

H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma is a recently identified brain tumor associated with poor prognosis. As of 2016, it is classified by the World Health Organization as a distinct form of grade IV glioma. Despite recognition as an important prognostic and diagnostic feature in diffuse glioma, radiation remains the sole standard of care and no effective systemic therapies are available for H3K27M mutant tumors. This review will detail treatment interventions applied to diffuse midline glioma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) prior to the identification of the H3 K27M mutation, the current standard-of-care for H3 K27M-mutant diffuse glioma treatment, and ongoing clinical trials listed on www.clinicaltrials.gov evaluating novel therapeutics in this population. Current clinical trials were identified using clinicaltrials.gov, and studies qualifying for this analysis were active or ongoing interventional trials that evaluated a therapy in at least 1 treatment arm or cohort comprised exclusively of patients with DIPG and H3 K27M-mutant glioma. Forty-one studies met these criteria, including trials evaluating H3 K27M vaccination, chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy, and small molecule inhibitors. Ongoing evaluation of novel therapeutics is necessary to identify safe and effective interventions in this underserved patient population.</p

A Comparative Study of Two Albanian Post-Byzantine Icons Attributed to Simoni i Ardenices

Aims: The present study is part of a project concerning the characterisation of a limited number of selected Albanian Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, through the identification of pigments, of painting technique and the state of conservation of the artworks. The Albanian iconographers produced an extraordinary amount of icons from the 14th till the 19th century, and over six thousand of them are kept in the Museum of Medieval Art of Korça (Albania). This paper refers to the results obtained in the study of two artworks, the first one by Simoni i Ardenices an important Albanian painter of XVII century, and the second one attributed to him. Study Design: The present work is part of a more general study concerning Albanian Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons. Place and Duration of Study: Museum of Medieval Art of Korça, Albania, between June 2008 and July 2009. Methodology: The work was conducted by non-destructive methods, X-ray fluorescence, visible light reflectance spectrophotometry and UV fluorescence analysis, according to a systematic procedure developed in the same Chemical Physical Laboratory for Cultural Heritage. A number of areas, for each painting, were chosen in order to carry out the measurements. With this procedure, we could identify the inorganic pigments from their characteristic features. Moreover, the study of the chemical physical properties of paintings is of fundamental importance for any accurate restoration intervention. Results and Conclusion: The present work, concerning the study of two icons of the second half of 17th century by Simoni i Ardenices, has allowed us to identify the painting technique and the palette used in these works of art. Moreover, the areas of the paintings in which old restorations have been made have also been identified

The longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly: a systematic review.

ABSTRACTObjective:Loneliness and the onset of depression in old age are growing problems related to the greater life expectancy nowadays. This review investigated the longitudinal association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in the elderly.Design:A comprehensive search was conducted using three databases (Scopus, PsycInfo, and PubMed) combing for empirical studies published up until July 2020. A total of 4.549 abstracts and 221 full-text articles were assessed. Three authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts; disagreements were resolved by consensus.Results:Ten studies were included in the final review. We identified two categories of studies based on the outcome considered in each article: 1) the longitudinal effect of loneliness on depressive symptoms and 2) the clinical course of depression and its association with loneliness. All the articles reported a significant and positive association between loneliness and depressive symptoms in their longitudinal design research, ranging from an odds ratio of 0.41 to 17.76. The heterogeneity regarding the effect size in the analyses can be explained by the multifactorial design implemented by most of the studies included.Conclusions:Future research should investigate the moderators' role and how it may influence the longitudinal association between loneliness and depression over the years

Metabolomic characterization of pigmented and non-pigmented potato cultivars using a joint and individual variation explained (JIVE)

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) are one of the most valuable agricultural crops, and the flesh of these tubers provides various classes of healthy compounds important for human nutrition. This work presents the results of a joint analysis of different chemical classes of compounds which provided insights on the metabolic characterization of pigmented and non-pigmented potato varieties collected from Italy. The identification of common or individual metabolic characteristics across the omic datasets (antioxidants, total polyphenolic content, polyphenols, and sugars) is conducted by Joint and Individual Variation Explained (JIVE), a data fusion multivariate approach. The common part of the multivariate model allowed the separation between non-pigmented and pigmented samples. Polyphenolic compounds were mainly responsible for the separation between purple-fleshed and red-skinned potatoes. An additional detailed analysis of the anthocyanin composition, including the acylated anthocyanins, allowed to pinpoint the diversities between the pigmented potato groups. Furthermore, the presence of an appreciable amount of hydroxycinnamic acids and anthocyanins in the purple-fleshed varieties, which are also characterized by a lower content of sugars, is found. Our results provide scientific evidence for the promotion of promising potato cultivars, which are characterized by a remarkable amount of various health benefit compound

Quick Look Data Analysis Of LFI PLM SIT Test @ KRU

This document has been issued in the frame of ASI contract that has been released for the activities of Planck-LFI Phase E2 Scope of this document is to give a first quick look analysis response of the functionality of the LFI instrument during the IST Test Campaign run at the Kourou CSG centre before launch. The objective of Planck IST is two fold: to verify the correct performance of the satellites and the compatibility between all the integrated electrical subsystems and instruments, to mimic the operation procedures which will be exercised during the different phases of the satellite mission. The document is divided in two sections. The first section is related to the description of the work done that is to say the description of the LFI Log Book and the description of the performed tests. The second section is the summary of the results of each test coming from both real time and offline data analysis

Radiomics in neuro-oncological clinical trials

The development of clinical trials has led to substantial improvements in the prevention and treatment of many diseases, including brain cancer. Advances in medicine, such as improved surgical techniques, the development of new drugs and devices, the use of statistical methods in research, and the development of codes of ethics, have considerably influenced the way clinical trials are conducted today. In addition, methods from the broad field of artificial intelligence, such as radiomics, have the potential to considerably affect clinical trials and clinical practice in the future. Radiomics is a method to extract undiscovered features from routinely acquired imaging data that can neither be captured by means of human perception nor conventional image analysis. In patients with brain cancer, radiomics has shown its potential for the non-invasive identification of prognostic biomarkers, automated response assessment, and differentiation between treatment-related changes from tumour progression. Despite promising results, radiomics is not yet established in routine clinical practice nor in clinical trials. In this Viewpoint, the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Brain Tumour Group summarises the current status of radiomics, discusses its potential and limitations, envisions its future role in clinical trials in neuro-oncology, and provides guidance on how to address the challenges in radiomics

DAS: a data management system for instrument tests and operations

The Data Access System (DAS) is a metadata and data management software system, providing a reusable solution for the storage of data acquired both from telescopes and auxiliary data sources during the instrument development phases and operations. It is part of the Customizable Instrument WorkStation system (CIWS-FW), a framework for the storage, processing and quick-look at the data acquired from scientific instruments. The DAS provides a data access layer mainly targeted to software applications: quick-look displays, pre-processing pipelines and scientific workflows. It is logically organized in three main components: an intuitive and compact Data Definition Language (DAS DDL) in XML format, aimed for user-defined data types; an Application Programming Interface (DAS API), automatically adding classes and methods supporting the DDL data types, and providing an object-oriented query language; a data management component, which maps the metadata of the DDL data types in a relational Data Base Management System (DBMS), and stores the data in a shared (network) file system. With the DAS DDL, developers define the data model for a particular project, specifying for each data type the metadata attributes, the data format and layout (if applicable), and named references to related or aggregated data types. Together with the DDL user-defined data types, the DAS API acts as the only interface to store, query and retrieve the metadata and data in the DAS system, providing both an abstract interface and a data model specific one in C, C++ and Python. The mapping of metadata in the back-end database is automatic and supports several relational DBMSs, including MySQL, Oracle and PostgreSQL.Comment: Accepted for pubblication on ADASS Conference Serie

Influence of Parental Health Locus of Control on Behavior, Self-Management and Metabolic Control, in Pediatric Patients with Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Precision medicine in type 1 diabetes (T1D) treatment considers context and environmental data to subclassify patients. Parental Health Locus of Control PHLOC) could influence behavior, self-management, and metabolic control of children with T1D. Methods: No. 135 pediatric patients with T1D (No. 57 with HbA1c ≤ 7.0%, “optimal” group, and No. 78 with &gt;7.0%, “sub-optimal” group) were enrolled in the study. History, anthropometric and diabetes management data were collected, as well as caregiver’s data about socioeconomic status (SES). The PHLOC scale questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were administered. Results: Access to technology was lower in the “sub-optimal” group and, in particular, in the ethnic minority subgroup, only 8% used them. In the “sub-optimal” group ethnic minority status was higher (24%), the caregiver had a lower SES and showed lower internal HLOC. Conclusions: New care models have to be implemented to ensure equity in diabetes care and precision treatment, particularly for ethnic minority groups, because SES and external PHLOC are still an important barrier to “optimal” diabetes control. In the “sub-optimal” group, we have to implement strategies aimed at increasing self-efficacy, while in the “optimal” one, a personalised approach should be considered to facilitate the shifting of responsibilities within the family, avoiding psychological distress