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| 2. |
- Memedi, Mevludin, et al.
(author)
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Validity and responsiveness of at-home touch-screen assessments in advanced Parkinson's disease
- 2015
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In: IEEE journal of biomedical and health informatics. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 2168-2194 .- 2168-2208. ; 19:6, s. 1829-1834
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this study was to investigate if a telemetry test battery can be used to measure effects of Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatment intervention and disease progression in patients with fluctuations. Sixty-five patients diagnosed with advanced PD were recruited in an open longitudinal 36-month study; 35 treated with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) and 30 were candidates for switching from oral PD treatment to LCIG. They utilized a test battery, consisting of self-assessments of symptoms and fine motor tests (tapping and spiral drawings), four times per day in their homes during week-long test periods. The repeated measurements were summarized into an overall test score (OTS) to represent the global condition of the patient during a test period. Clinical assessments included ratings on Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and 39-item PD Questionnaire (PDQ-39) scales. In LCIG-naïve patients, mean OTS compared to baseline was significantly improved from the first test period on LCIG treatment until month 24. In LCIG-non-naïve patients, there were no significant changes in mean OTS until month 36. The OTS correlated adequately with total UPDRS (rho = 0.59) and total PDQ-39 (0.59). Responsiveness measured as effect size was 0.696 and 0.536 for OTS and UPDRS respectively. The trends of the test scores were similar to the trends of clinical rating scores but dropout rate was high. Correlations between OTS and clinical rating scales were adequate indicating that the test battery contains important elements of the information of well-established scales. The responsiveness and reproducibility were better for OTS than for total UPDRS.
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| 3. |
- Lagging, Martin, 1965, et al.
(author)
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Treatment of hepatitis C virus infection in adults and children: Updated Swedish consensus recommendations
- 2012
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5548 .- 1651-1980. ; 44:7, s. 502-521
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Swedish recommendations for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection were updated at a recent expert meeting. Therapy for acute HCV infection should be initiated if spontaneous resolution does not occur within 12 weeks. The recommended standard-of-care therapy for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection is an HCV protease inhibitor in combination with peginterferon (peg-IFN) and ribavirin. Treatment is strongly recommended in patients with bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis, whereas in patients with less advanced fibrosis, deferring therapy may be preferential in light of likely therapeutic improvements in the near future. Patients with chronic genotype 2/3 infection should generally be treated with peg-IFN and ribavirin for 24 weeks. In patients with a very rapid viral response (i.e. HCV RNA below 1000 IU/ml on day 7), or favourable baseline characteristics and undetectable HCV RNA week 4, treatment can be shortened to 12 - 16 weeks, provided that no dose reductions are needed.
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| 4. |
- Andersson, Sören, 1957-, et al.
(author)
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Chimeric MOMP antigen
- 2014
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Patent (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- The present invention regards polypeptides capable of eliciting an immunological response that is protective against Chlamydia trachomatis. The polypeptide comprises a first amino acid sequence which has at least 90% homology with the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 1 and a second amino acid sequence which has at least 90% homology with the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 2. Furthermore, production of these polypeptides and pharmaceutical compositions comprising them are also provided.
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| 5. |
- Mastinu, Enzo, 1987, et al.
(author)
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An Alternative Myoelectric Pattern Recognition Approach for the Control of Hand Prostheses : A Case Study of Use in Daily Life by a Dysmelia Subject
- 2018
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In: IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 2168-2372. ; 6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The functionality of upper limb prostheses can be improved by intuitive control strategies that use bioelectric signals measured at the stump level. One such strategy is the decoding of motor volition via myoelectric pattern recognition (MPR), which has shown promising results in controlled environments and more recently in clinical practice. Moreover, not much has been reported about daily life implementation and real-time accuracy of these decoding algorithms. This paper introduces an alternative approach in which MPR allows intuitive control of four different grips and open/close in a multifunctional prosthetic hand. We conducted a clinical proof-of-concept in activities of daily life by constructing a self-contained, MPR-controlled, transradial prosthetic system provided with a novel user interface meant to log errors during real-time operation. The system was used for five days by a unilateral dysmelia subject whose hand had never developed, and who nevertheless learned to generate patterns of myoelectric activity, reported as intuitive, for multi-functional prosthetic control. The subject was instructed to manually log errors when they occurred via the user interface mounted on the prosthesis. This allowed the collection of information about prosthesis usage and real-time classification accuracy. The assessment of capacity for myoelectric control test was used to compare the proposed approach to the conventional prosthetic control approach, direct control. Regarding the MPR approach, the subject reported a more intuitive control when selecting the different grips, but also a higher uncertainty during proportional continuous movements. This paper represents an alternative to the conventional use of MPR, and this alternative may be particularly suitable for a certain type of amputee patients. Moreover, it represents a further validation of MPR with dysmelia cases.
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| 6. |
- Ren, Mengying, et al.
(author)
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Concentration-Response Relationship between PM2.5 and Daily Respiratory Deaths in China : A Systematic Review and Metaregression Analysis of Time-Series Studies
- 2017
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In: BioMed Research International. - : Hindawi Publishing Corporation. - 2314-6133 .- 2314-6141.
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The association between the particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter <= 2.5.mu m (PM2.5) and daily respiratory deaths, particularly the concentration-response pattern, has not been fully examined and established in China. We conducted a systematic review of time-series studies to compile information on the associations between PM2.5 concentration and respiratory deaths and used metaregression to assess the concentration-response relationship. Out of 1,957 studies screened, eleven articles in English and two articles in Chinese met the eligibility criteria. For single-day lags, per 10 mu g/m(3) increase in PM2.5 concentration was associated with 0.30 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.10, 0.50] percent increase in daily respiratory deaths; for multiday lags, the corresponding increase in respiratory deaths was 0.69 (95% CI: 0.55, 0.83) percent. Difference in the effects was observed between the northern cities and the south cities in China. No statistically significant concentration-response relationship between PM2.5 concentrations and their effects was found. With increasingly wider location coverage for PM2.5 data, it is crucial to further investigate the concentration-response pattern of PM2.5 effects on respiratory and other cause-specific mortality for the refinement and adaptation of global and national air quality guidelines and targets.
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| 7. |
- Saxami, Georgia, et al.
(author)
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Fermentation Supernatants of Pleurotus eryngii Mushroom Ameliorate Intestinal Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction in Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Caco-2 Cells via Upregulation of Tight Junctions
- 2021
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In: Microorganisms. - : MDPI. - 2076-2607. ; 9:10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In recent years, modulation of gut microbiota through prebiotics has garnered interest as a potential to ameliorate intestinal barrier dysfunction. The aim of the study was to examine the in vitro effect of fermentation supernatants (FSs) from rich in β-glucan Pleurotus eryngii mushrooms on the expression levels of tight junctions (TJs) genes in Caco-2 cells stimulated by bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Mushrooms were fermented using fecal inocula in an in vitro batch culture model. Caco-2 cells were subjected to LPS and FS treatment under three different conditions: pre-incubation with FS, co- and post-incubation. Reverse transcription PCR was applied to measure the expression levels of zonulin-1, occludin and claudin-1 genes. FSs from P. eryngii mushrooms led to a significant upregulation of the TJs gene expression in pre-incubation state, indicating potential preventive action. Down-regulation of all TJs gene expression levels was observed when the cells were challenged with LPS. The FS negative control (gut microbiota of each donor with no carbohydrate source) exhibited a significant upregulation of TJs expression levels compared to the cells that were challenged with LPS, for all three conditions. Overall, our data highlighted the positive and potential protective effects of P. eryngii mushrooms in upregulation of TJs’ genes.
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| 9. |
- Chen, Rong, et al.
(author)
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Julius : a template based supplementary electronic health record system
- 2007
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In: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. - London, United Kingdom : BioMed Central. - 1472-6947. ; 7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: EHR systems are widely used in hospitals and primary care centres but it is usually difficult to share information and to collect patient data for clinical research. This is partly due to the different proprietary information models and inconsistent data quality. Our objective was to provide a more flexible solution enabling the clinicians to define which data to be recorded and shared for both routine documentation and clinical studies. The data should be possible to reuse through a common set of variable definitions providing a consistent nomenclature and validation of data. Another objective was that the templates used for the data entry and presentation should be possible to use in combination with the existing EHR systems.Methods: We have designed and developed a template based system (called Julius) that was integrated with existing EHR systems. The system is driven by the medical domain knowledge defined by clinicians in the form of templates and variable definitions stored in a common data repository. The system architecture consists of three layers. The presentation layer is purely web-based, which facilitates integration with existing EHR products. The domain layer consists of the template design system, a variable/clinical concept definition system, the transformation and validation logic all implemented in Java. The data source layer utilizes an object relational mapping tool and a relational database.Results: The Julius system has been implemented, tested and deployed to three health care units in Stockholm, Sweden. The initial responses from the pilot users were positive. The template system facilitates patient data collection in many ways. The experience of using the template system suggests that enabling the clinicians to be in control of the system, is a good way to add supplementary functionality to the present EHR systems.Conclusion: The approach of the template system in combination with various local EHR systems can facilitate the sharing and reuse of validated clinical information from different health care units. However, future system developments for these purposes should consider using the openEHR/CEN models with shareable archetypes.
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| 10. |
- Lard, Mercy, et al.
(author)
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Detection of Single Actin Filaments at Fluorescence Interference Contrast Checkpoints
- 2012
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In: Biophysical Journal. - : Biophysical Society. - 0006-3495 .- 1542-0086. ; 102:3 Suppl. 1, s. 727A-727A
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- A number of emerging concepts for on-chip biotechnologies replace micro-fluidic flow by active, molecular-motor driven transport of filaments. Examples include applications in bio-simulation, diagnostics, and drug screening. Here we employ actomyosin molecular motors, embedded in nanostructures, as a platform for bio-simulation of the time evolution of motile objects in complex networks. A specific need for this type of application is detection of filaments at specific checkpoints in the device with high signal-to-noise ratio, for example to record the number and speed of filaments at a certain location in the device. To serve this need, we make use of fluorescence interference contrast (FLIC) at thin gold lines running perpendicular to nano-sized polymer resist channels that guide filament motion. We have demonstrated that it is possible to track single or multiple filaments passing over these gold lines, using either an enhanced or quenched fluorescence signal. We will discuss the fine-tuning of the device design, development of an algorithm for analyzing the optical readout signal from these detectors, and explo-ration of the error limits of detection. The results will help establish the viability of active, motor-driven on-chip applications which, among other advantages, offer substantial potential for miniaturization due to the absence of a need for pumps. The results also open for automatic read-out of velocity inhigh-throughput motility assays e.g. for drug discovery or fundamental bio-physical investigations. This work is supported by MONAD, an EU-FP7 collaborative effort.
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