title: Resilient Distributed Collection Through Information Speed Thresholds

text: One of the key coordination problems in physically-deployed distributed systems, such as mobile robots, wireless sensor networks, and IoT systems in general, is to provide notions of “distributed sensing” achieved by the strict, continuous cooperation and interaction among individual devices. An archetypal operation of distributed sensing is data summarisation over a region of space, by which several higher-level problems can be addressed: counting items, measuring space, averaging environmental values, and so on. A typical coordination strategy to perform data summarisation in a peer-to-peer scenario, where devices can communicate only with a neighbourhood, is to progressively accumulate information towards one or more collector devices, though this typically exhibits problems of reactivity and fragility, especially in scenarios featuring high mobility. In this paper, we propose coordination strategies for data summarisation involving both idempotent and arithmetic aggregation operators, with the idea of controlling the minimum information propagation speed, so as to improve the reactivity to input changes. Given suitable assumptions on the network model, and under the restriction of no data loss, these algorithms achieve optimal reactivity. By empirical evaluation via simulation, accounting for various sources of volatility, and comparing to other existing implementations of data summarisation algorithms, we show that our algorithms are able to retain adequate accuracy even in high-variability scenarios where all other algorithms are significantly diverging from correct estimations.


title: Towards a Formally Verified EVM in Production Environment

text: Among dozens of decentralized computing platforms, Ethereum attracts widespread attention for its native support of smart contracts by means of a virtual machine called Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Programs can be developed in various front-end languages. For example, Solidity can be deployed to the blockchain in the form of compiled EVM opcodes. However, such flexibility leads to critical safety challenges. In this paper, we formally define the behavior of EVM in Why3, a platform for deductive program verification, which facilitates the verification of different properties. The extracted implementation in OCaml can be directly integrated into the production environment and tested against the standard test suite. The combination of proofs and testing in our framework serves as a powerful analysis basis for EVM and smart contracts.


title: Weighted PCL over Product Valuation Monoids

text: We introduce a weighted propositional configuration logic over a product valuation monoid. Our logic is intended to serve as a specification language for software architectures with quantitative features such as the average of all interactions’ costs of the architecture and the maximum cost among all costs occurring most frequently within a specific number of components in an architecture. We provide formulas of our logic which describe well-known architectures equipped with quantitative characteristics. Moreover, we prove an efficient construction of a full normal form which leads to decidability of equivalence of formulas in this logic.


title: SFJ: An Implementation of Semantic Featherweight Java

text: There are two approaches to defining subtyping relations: the syntactic and the semantic approach. In semantic subtyping, one defines a model of the language and an interpretation of types as subsets of this model. Subtyping is defined as inclusion of subsets denoting types. An orthogonal subtyping question, typical of object-oriented languages, is the nominal versus the structural subtyping. Dardha et al. [11, 12] defined boolean types and semantic subtyping for Featherweight Java (FJ) and integrated both nominal and structural subtyping, thus exploiting the benefits of both approaches. However, these benefits were illustrated only at a theoretical level, but not exploited practically. We present SFJ—Semantic Featherweight Java, an implementation of FJ which features boolean types, semantic subtyping and integrates nominal as well as structural subtyping. The benefits of SFJ, illustrated in the paper and the accompanying video (with audio/subtitles) [27], show how static type-checking of boolean types and semantic subtyping gives higher guarantees of program correctness, more flexibility and compactness of program writing.


docid: aduhvcms

title: GoPi: Compiling Linear and Static Channels in Go

text: We identify two important features to enhance the design of communication protocols specified in the pi-calculus, that are linear and static channels, and present a compiler, named GoPi, that maps high level specifications into executable Go programs. Channels declared as linear are deadlock-free, while the scope of static channels, which are bound by a hide declaration, does not enlarge at runtime; this is enforced statically by means of type inference, while specifications do not include annotations. Well-behaved processes are transformed into Go code that supports non-deterministic synchronizations and race-freedom. We sketch two main examples involving protection against message forwarding, and forward secrecy, and discuss the features of the tool, and the generated code. We argue that GoPi can support academic activities involving process algebras and formal models, which range from the analysis and testing of concurrent processes for research purposes to teaching formal languages and concurrent systems.


title: Quality of Service Ranking by Quantifying Partial Compliance of Requirements

text: While there is not much discussion on the importance of formally describing and analysing quantitative requirements in the process of software construction; in the paradigm of API-based software systems it could be vital. Quantitative attributes can be thought as attributes determining the Quality of Service – QoS provided by a software component published as a service. In this sense, they play a determinant role in classifying software artifacts according to specific needs stated as requirements. In previous works we presented an efficient, and fully automatic, analysis technique for establishing Service Level Agreements – SLA. Such a proposal relays on describing QoS contracts as convex specifications, and compliance checking is performed by the application of an analysis algorithm based on state of the art techniques used in hybrid system verification. Such a technique succeeds in offering a procedure for determining SLA but fails in the more realistic scenario where, potentially, no service fully satisfies the requirements. In this scenario the running application may still prefer to invoke the service that offers the best chances of successfully executing with values for QoS attributes meeting the requirements satisfactorily. In this work we propose and implement a metric for automatically quantifying partial satisfaction of QoS requirements, leading to a way of ranking services according to such notion of partial compliance.


title: Refined Mean Field Analysis: The Gossip Shuffle Protocol Revisited

text: Gossip protocols form the basis of many smart collective adaptive systems. They are a class of fully decentralised, simple but robust protocols for the distribution of information throughout large scale networks with hundreds or thousands of nodes. Mean field analysis methods have made it possible to approximate and analyse performance aspects of such large scale protocols in an efficient way that is independent of the number of nodes in the network. Taking the gossip shuffle protocol as a benchmark, we evaluate a recently developed refined mean field approach. We illustrate the gain in accuracy this can provide for the analysis of medium size models analysing two key performance measures: replication and coverage. We also show that refined mean field analysis requires special attention to correctly capture the coordination aspects of the gossip shuffle protocol.


title: Combining SLiVER with CADP to Analyze Multi-agent Systems

text: We present an automated workflow for the analysis of multi-agent systems described in a simple specification language. The procedure is based on a structural encoding of the input system and the property of interest into an LNT program, and relies on the CADP software toolbox to either verify the given property or simulate the encoded system. Counterexamples to properties under verification, as well as simulation traces, are translated into a syntax similar to that of the input language: therefore, no knowledge of CADP is required. The workflow is implemented as a module of the verification tool SLiVER. We present the input specification language, describe the analysis workflow, and show how to invoke SLiVER to verify or simulate two example systems. Then, we provide details on the LNT encoding and the verification procedure.


title: Architecture Modelling of Parametric Component-Based Systems

text: We study formal modelling of architectures applied on parametric component-based systems consisting of an unknown number of instances of each component. Architecture modelling is achieved by means of logics. We introduce an extended propositional interaction logic and investigate its first-order level which serves as a formal language for the interactions of parametric systems. Our logic effectively describes the execution order of interactions which is a main feature in several important architectures. We state the decidability of equivalence, satisfiability, and validity of first-order extended interaction logic formulas, and provide several examples of formulas describing well-known architectures.


title: Implementing Multiparty Session Types in Rust

text: Multiparty Session Types (MPST) is a typing discipline for distributed protocols, which ensures communication safety and deadlock-freedom for more than two participants. This paper reports on our research project, implementing multiparty session types in Rust. Current Rust implementations of session types are limited to binary (two-party communications). We extend an existing library for binary session types to MPST. We have implemented a simplified Amazon Prime Video Streaming protocol using our library for both shared and distributed communication transports.


title: Operational Representation of Dependencies in Context-Dependent Event Structures

text: The execution of an event in a complex and distributed system where the dependencies vary during the evolution of the system can be represented in many ways, and one of them is to use Context-Dependent Event structures. Many kinds of event structures are related to various kind of Petri nets. The aim of this paper is to find the appropriate kind of Petri net that can be used to give an operational flavour to the dependencies represented in a Context/Dependent Event structure.


title: Time-Fluid Field-Based Coordination

text: Emerging application scenarios, such as cyber-physical systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things (IoT), and edge computing, call for coordination approaches addressing openness, self-adaptation, heterogeneity, and deployment agnosticism. Field-based coordination is one such approach, promoting the idea of programming system coordination declaratively from a global perspective, in terms of functional manipulation and evolution in “space and time” of distributed data structures, called fields. More specifically, regarding time, in field-based coordination it is assumed that local activities in each device, called computational rounds, are regulated by a fixed clock, typically, a fair and unsynchronized distributed scheduler. In this work, we challenge this assumption, and propose an alternative approach where the round execution scheduling is naturally programmed along with the usual coordination specification, namely, in terms of a field of causal relations dictating what is the notion of causality (why and when a round has to be locally scheduled) and how it should change across time and space. This abstraction over the traditional view on global time allows us to express what we call “time-fluid” coordination, where causality can be finely tuned to select the event triggers to react to, up to to achieve improved balance between performance (system reactivity) and cost (usage of computational resources). We propose an implementation in the aggregate computing framework, and evaluate via simulation on a case study.


title: On Implementing Symbolic Controllability

text: Runtime Monitors observe the execution of a system with the aim of reaching a verdict about it. One property that is expected of monitors is consistent verdict detections; this property was characterised in prior work via a symbolic analysis called symbolic controllability. This paper explores whether the proposed symbolic analysis lends itself well to the construction of a tool that checks monitors for this deterministic behaviour. We implement a prototype that automates this symbolic analysis, and establish complexity upper bounds for the algorithm used. We also consider a number of optimisations for the implemented prototype, and assess the potential gains against benchmark monitors.


title: Choreography Automata

text: Automata models are well-established in many areas of computer science and are supported by a wealth of theoretical results including a wide range of algorithms and techniques to specify and analyse systems. We introduce choreography automata for the choreographic modelling of communicating systems. The projection of a choreography automaton yields a system of communicating finite-state machines. We consider both the standard asynchronous semantics of communicating systems and a synchronous variant of it. For both, the projections of well-formed automata are proved to be live as well as lock- and deadlock-free.


title: ARx: Reactive Programming for Synchronous Connectors

text: Reactive programming (RP) languages and Synchronous Coordination (SC) languages share the goal of orchestrating the execution of computational tasks, by imposing dependencies on their execution order and controlling how they share data. RP is often implemented as libraries for existing programming languages, lifting operations over values to operations over streams of values, and providing efficient solutions to manage how updates to such streams trigger reactions, i.e., the execution of dependent tasks. SC is often implemented as a standalone formalism to specify existing component-based architectures, used to analyse, verify, transform, or generate code. These two approaches target different audiences, and it is non-trivial to combine the programming style of RP with the expressive power of synchronous languages. This paper proposes a lightweight programming language to describe component-based Architectures for Reactive systems, dubbed ARx, which blends concepts from RP and SC, mainly inspired to the Reo coordination language and its composition operation, and with tailored constructs for reactive programs such as the ones found in ReScala. ARx is enriched with a type system and with algebraic data types, and has a reactive semantics inspired in RP. We provide typical examples from both the RP and SC literature, illustrate how these can be captured by the proposed language, and describe a web-based prototype tool to edit, parse, and type check programs, and to animate their semantics.


title: Choreographic Development of Message-Passing Applications: A Tutorial

text: Choreographic development envisages distributed coordination as determined by interactions that allow peer components to harmoniously realise a given task. Unlike in orchestration-based coordination, there is no special component directing the execution. Recently, choreographic approaches have become popular in industrial contexts where reliability and scalability are crucial factors. This tutorial reviews some recent ideas to harness choreographic development of message-passing software. The key features of the approach are showcased within [Image: see text] , a toolchain which allows software architects to identify defects of message-passing applications at early stages of development.


title: A Choreography-Driven Approach to APIs: The OpenDXL Case Study

text: We propose a model-driven approach based on formal data-driven choreographies to model message-passing applications. We apply our approach to the threat intelligence exchange (TIE) services provided by McAfee through the OpenDXL industrial platform. We advocate a chain of model transformations that (i) devises a visual presentation of communication protocols, (ii) formalises a global specification from the visual presentation that captures the data flow among services, (iii) enables the automatic derivation of specifications for the single components, and (iv) enables the analysis of software implementations.


"Immer bereit sein, die Extrameile zu gehen"


title: Renegotiation and Recursion in Bitcoin Contracts

text: BitML is a process calculus to express smart contracts that can be run on Bitcoin. One of its current limitations is that, once a contract has been stipulated, the participants cannot renegotiate its terms: this prevents expressing common financial contracts, where funds have to be added by participants at run-time. In this paper, we extend BitML with a new primitive for contract renegotiation. At the same time, the new primitive can be used to write recursive contracts, which was not possible in the original BitML. We show that, despite the increased expressiveness, it is still possible to execute BitML on standard Bitcoin, preserving the security guarantees of BitML.


title: A True Concurrent Model of Smart Contracts Executions

text: The development of blockchain technologies has enabled the trustless execution of so-called smart contracts, i.e. programs that regulate the exchange of assets (e.g., cryptocurrency) between users. In a decentralized blockchain, the state of smart contracts is collaboratively maintained by a peer-to-peer network of mutually untrusted nodes, which collect from users a set of transactions (representing the required actions on contracts), and execute them in some order. Once this sequence of transactions is appended to the blockchain, the other nodes validate it, re-executing the transactions in the same order. The serial execution of transactions does not take advantage of the multi-core architecture of modern processors, so contributing to limit the throughput. In this paper we propose a true concurrent model of smart contracts execution. Based on this, we show how static analysis of smart contracts can be exploited to parallelize the execution of transactions.


title: Not Quite Right: Representations of Eastern Europeans in ECJ Discourse

text: Although the increasing responsiveness of the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘ECJ’) jurisprudence to western Member States’ concerns regarding Central and Eastern European (‘CEE’) nationals’ mobility has garnered academic attention, ECJ discourse has not been scrutinised for how it approaches the CEE region or CEE movers. Applying postcolonial theory, this article seeks to fill this gap and to explore whether there are any indications that ECJ discourse is in line with the historical western-centric inferiorisation of the CEE region. A critical discourse analysis of a set of ECJ judgments and corresponding Advocate General opinions pertaining to CEE nationals illustrates not only how the ECJ adopts numerous discursive strategies to maintain its authority, but also how it tends to prioritise values of the western Member States, while overlooking interests of CEE movers. Its one-sided approach is further reinforced by referring to irrelevant facts and negative assumptions to create an image of CEE nationals as socially and economically inferior to westerners, as not belonging to the proper EU polity and as not quite deserving of EU law’s protections. By silencing CEE nationals’ voices, while disregarding the background of east/west socio-economic and political power differentials and precariousness experienced by many CEE workers in the west, such racialising discourse normalises ethnicity- and class-based stereotypes. These findings also help to contextualise both EU and western policies targeting CEE movers and evidence of their unequal outcomes in the west, and are in line with today’s nuanced expressions of racisms. By illustrating the ECJ’s role in addressing values pertinent to mobile CEE individuals, this study facilitates a fuller appreciation of the ECJ’s power in shaping and reflecting western-centric EU identity and policies. Engaging with such issues will not only allow us to better appreciate—and question—the ECJ’s legitimacy, but might also facilitate a better understanding of power dynamics within the EU. This study also makes significant theoretical and methodological contributions. It expands (and complicates) the application of postcolonial theory to contemporary intra-EU processes, while illustrating the usefulness of applying critical discourse analysis to exploring differentiation, exclusion, subordination and power within legal language.


title: Documento de consenso de la Sociedad Española de Medicina Intensiva, Crítica, y Unidades Coronarias (SEMICYUC), la Sociedad Española de Otorrinolaringología y Cirugía de Cabeza y Cuello (SEORL-CCC) y la Sociedad Española de Anestesiología y Reanimación (SEDAR) sobre la traqueotomía en pacientes con COVID-19()

text: The current COVID-19 pandemic has rendered up to 15% of patients under mechanical ventilation. Because the subsequent tracheotomy is a frequent procedure, the three societies mostly involved (SEMICYUC, SEDAR and SEORL-CCC) have setup a consensus paper that offers an overview about indications and contraindications of tracheotomy, be it by puncture or open, clarifying its respective advantages and enumerating the ideal conditions under which they should be performed, as well as the necessary steps. Regular and emergency situations are displayed together with the postoperative measures.


Editorial: Bridging the Gap in Neuroelectronic Interfaces


title: A Review of the Existing and Emerging Topics in the Supply Chain Risk Management Literature

text: This review examines supply chain risk publications across nine prestigious management, operations, and supply chain journals with respect to exploring trends and emerging topics. Using a refined set of keywords, we extract and filter the most relevant supply chain risk management (SCRM) articles from Scopus between 2001 and 2019. Unlike previous reviews of the SCRM literature, our methodology utilizes both bibliometric and co‐citation analyses of publications in selective management and operations and supply chain management journals. In addition to analyzing the current state of the SCRM literature via bibliometric analysis, we delve deeply into the clusters of literature informing SCRM studies through a co‐citation analysis. By conducting a text analysis on these clusters, we identify the main themes and provide insights regarding article relevance, theoretical frameworks, and methodologies for each cluster. In addition, we categorize the themes within each cluster into three main groups of Matured, Developing, and Emerging. Based on the identified Emerging categories, we provide detailed discussions on the promising avenues for research and practice in three main areas of Sustainable SCRM, Behavioral SCRM, and nascent methodologies and theories in SCRM studies. Finally, we dedicate a section in our review to discussing the direction of SCRM research during and after the COVID‐19 era. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved


The Corona Crisis: What Can We Learn from Earlier Studies in Applied Psychology?


title: New metal‐free route towards imidazole substituted uridine

text: Nucleosides with a bi(hetero)aryl nucleobase have unique potential applications as antiviral drugs and molecular probes. The need for transition metal catalysis to synthetize these nucleosides from pre‐functionalized building blocks and the use of nucleobase protection groups results in expensive and tedious syntheses. Herein we report that 5‐imidazolyl‐uracil can be obtained by scalable Van Leusen imidazole synthesis and regioselectively introduced on ribose to obtain the desired nucleoside in a 5 step synthesis (total yield 55%). The 5‐imidazolyl moiety leads to improved fluorescence properties. The only side‐product formed was characterized by 2D‐NMR and X‐ray crystallography and could be suppressed during synthesis in favor of the desired product.


Issue Information


title: In Case You Haven't Heard…

text: Should therapists have a therapist? Science says yes, according to Valentina Stoycheva, Ph.D., founder of Stress & Trauma Evaluation and Psychological Services, in the May 24 issue of Psychology Today. “The longer the current COVID‐19 pandemic lasts and the higher its death toll, the more prominent the need for mental health services will become,” Stoycheva wrote. “In turn, this may create a situation in which the demands on mental health professionals' time are at their peak, while their exposure to secondary traumatic stress is increased.” Stoycheva wrote that the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention warns that suicide risk for physicians (including psychiatrists) prior to COVID‐19 was 1.5 to 2.25 times higher than the general population. “… A combination of several factors, including exposure to traumatic stress, the mental health needs of society as a whole, and the unwritten code of ethics of healthcare workers, may compromise therapists' own mental health and ability to seek help. It may be time, then, for therapists who have not yet done so, to consider therapy.”


title: Interrogating Technology‐led Experiments in Sustainability Governance

text: Solutions to global sustainability challenges are increasingly technology‐intensive. Yet, technologies are neither developed nor applied to governance problems in a socio‐political vacuum. Despite aspirations to provide novel solutions to current sustainability governance challenges, many technology‐centred projects, pilots and plans remain implicated in longer‐standing global governance trends shaping the possibilities for success in often under‐recognized ways. This article identifies three overlapping contexts within which technology‐led efforts to address sustainability challenges are evolving, highlighting the growing roles of: (1) private actors; (2) experimentalism; and (3) informality. The confluence of these interconnected trends illuminates an important yet often under‐recognized paradox: that the use of technology in multi‐stakeholder initiatives tends to reduce rather than expand the set of actors, enhancing instead of reducing challenges to participation and transparency, and reinforcing rather than transforming existing forms of power relations. Without recognizing and attempting to address these limits, technology‐led multi‐stakeholder initiatives will remain less effective in addressing the complexity and uncertainty surrounding global sustainability governance. We provide pathways for interrogating the ways that novel technologies are being harnessed to address long‐standing global sustainability issues in manners that foreground key ethical, social and political considerations and the contexts in which they are evolving.


title: In Case You Haven't Heard…

text: Among the many breathtaking changes the federal government is making because of COVID‐19 (more methadone take‐homes, video‐only buprenorphine induction) is the recent announcement by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services that Medicare beneficiaries be provided more information about methadone, buprenorphine and naloxone, in a harm‐reduction‐style approach to reducing overdoses among the older population. In a data brief released last month, the OIG notes that people with opioid use disorder (OUD) could be particularly hard hit by COVID‐19, because of increased risk of respiratory disease, and that most Medicare beneficiaries at serious risk of opioid misuse or overdose in 2017 received high amounts of opioids the following year. However, only a quarter received a prescription for naloxone, which reverses opioid overdoses. In addition, only 7% of beneficiaries who were at serious risk in 2017 who were diagnosed with an OUD received a medication‐assisted treatment drug, “possibly because of challenges that beneficiaries have in accessing prescribers.” For the policy brief, go to https://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei‐02‐19‐00130.asp.


docid: bidrbjzx

title: Protective Mechanisms of Suxiao Jiuxin Pills (速效救心丸) on Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in vivo and in vitro

text: OBJECTIVE: To study the protective mechanism of Chinese medicine Suxiao Jiuxin Pills (速效救心丸, SXJ) on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. METHODS: Mouse myocardial I/R injury model was created by 30-min coronary artery occlusion followed by 24-h reperfusion, the mice were then divided into the sham group (n=7), the I/R group (n=13), the tirofiban group (TIR, positive drug treatment, n=9), and the SXJ group (n=11). Infarct size (IS), risk region (RR), and left ventricle (LV) were analyzed with double staining methods. In addition, H9C2 rat cardiomyocytes were cultured with Na(2)S(2)O(4) to simulate I/R in vitro. The phosphorylation of extracellular regulated protein kinases1/2 (ERK1/2), protein kinase B (AKT), glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β), and protein expression of GATA4 in nucleus were detected with Western blot assay. RESULTS: The ratio of IS/RR in SXJ and TIR groups were lower than that in I/R group (SXJ, 22.4% ±6.6%; TIR, 20.8%±3.3%; vs. I/R, 35.4%±3.7%, P<0.05, respectively). In vitro experiments showed that SXJ increased the Na(2)S(2)O(4)-enhanced phosphorylation of AKT/GSK3β and nuclear expression of GATA4. CONCLUSION: SXJ prevents myocardial I/R injury in mice by activating AKT/GSK3β and GATA4 signaling pathways. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: Supplementary materials (Appendixes) are available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s11655-020-2726-2.


title: The utility of MALDI-TOF MS for outbreak investigation in the neonatal intensive care unit

text: Our aim was to evaluate the performance of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), routinely used in the microbiology laboratory for bacterial identification, for bacterial typing in the setting of extended spectrum beta-lactamase producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-KP) outbreak in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Isolates from a 2011 outbreak in the NICU were retrieved from frozen stocks and analyzed by MALDI-TOF. The MALDI typing was compared with core genome multilocus sequence typing (cg-MLST). MALDI typing divided the 33 outbreak isolates into 2 clones: sequence type (ST)-290 and 405. These results were in complete agreement with cg-MLST results. The differentiation of the outbreak isolates into two clones correlated with the patients’ location in the NICU, but also with their place of residence. Conclusion: Here, we show that MALDI-TOF MS, which has been integrated into the microbiology laboratory workflow for microbial species identification, can be secondarily used for epidemiological typing at no added cost. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00431-020-03696-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


title: Improving the Effectiveness of the Consumer Product Safety System: Australian Law Reform in Asia-Pacific Context

text: The Australian government is undertaking public consultations over possible improvements to the 2010 Australian Consumer Law (ACL) regime, including again the idea of adding a European-style general safety provision (GSP). To bolster the case for such reform, Part 2 of this paper analyses 2017–2019 data trends from the OECD Global Recalls Portal for Australia compared with several comparable economies, especially in the Asia-Pacific region where Australia now has most of its trade and investment links. The analysis finds a persistently high per capita recall rate for Australia, compared with several jurisdictions including Korea, Japan, and especially the USA. However, the analysis identifies various legal and other factors across the jurisdictions that impact on interpreting such data. Part 3 therefore begins by highlighting some more specific patterns uncovered from an ongoing joint research project comparing child product safety trends particularly in Australia and the USA. It highlights various concerns regarding recalls in Australia, as well as weaknesses in Australia’s ACL regime (in addition to the lack of a GSP), in coordinating with sector-specific regulation, and in private law mechanisms that could more indirectly promote consumer product safety. Some estimated economic costs from current levels of reported injuries, as well as of many recalls, further reinforce the case for adding a GSP. Part 4 concludes that this improvement to the ACL could be combined with some of the other reform options outlined by the Australian government’s Consultation Regulatory Impact Statement, as well as the introduction of a novel “product safety substantiation order” power. The conclusions and analysis should be helpful for other jurisdictions considering product safety law reforms in an increasingly globalized and digital economy, and draw already on comparisons with regulatory regimes and issues particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.


title: HAMS: An Integrated Hospital Management System to Improve Information Exchange

text: Effective management of hospitals and health care facilities is based on the knowledge of the available resources (e.g. staff, beds, services). Furthermore, during emergencies, a reliable exchange information system is a crucial factor in providing a timely response. This paper describes the Hospital Availability Management System (HAMS), a software developed in the framework of the EU-funded SAFECARE project. The main goal of HAMS is to provide the current status of a hospital (or health-care facility) to the internal staff, but also to first responders (paramedics, firefighters, civil protection, etc.) in order to manage the flow of patients correctly. Beyond the data coming from the normal operations of a hospital, the HAMS is able to integrate inputs from incident detection systems deployed in the hospital, to automatically update availability data after cyber and/or physical incidents, also taking into account the propagation of impacts among interconnected assets. Finally, HAMS implements the OASIS EDXL-HAVE standard, to allow the exchange of information in a open and interoperable format.


COVID-19: A pandemic of values()


Impfpflicht in Europa: Derzeit in aller Munde - aber gibt es wissenschaftliche Evidenz?


docid: kxqcvssi

title: Standort-Info


Ausbildung: COVID-19-Leitlinien des European Resuscitation Council


Einführung: COVID-19-Leitlinien des European Resuscitation Council


Durchfall bei Kindern und Jugendlichen – Tipps für die Praxis: Gespräch mit Prim. MedR. Ass.-Prof. DDr. Peter Voitl, MBA, Kindergesundheitszentrum Donaustadt, Wien.


Sicherheit und Erfolg für alle bei der Wiederbelebung – und dabei 10.000 Menschenleben zusätzlich retten


Sag mir, wo ist die Evidenz geblieben?


Corona-Schutz durch Immunsuppressiva?


Mitteilungsseiten DGINA


title: What Do the Dental Students Know about Infection Control? A Cross-Sectional Study in a Teaching Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

text: BACKGROUND: Dental students are exposed to various infections and infective sources during their training, and on this aspect, their level of knowledge is suboptimal and practices are risky. Therefore, improving their knowledge and practices would contribute significantly to infection control. OBJECTIVE: To ascertain the level of understanding of senior dental students regarding the infection control in the dental practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among dental students (3rd year and 4th year) of the Foundation University Dental College, Pakistan. The sample consisted of 100 third year dental students and 88 fourth year students. A self-administrated questionnaire was used for data collection which consisted of fourteen close-ended items. Frequencies of knowledge, attitudes, and practice were calculated separately by using SPSS 21.0 software. RESULTS: Almost half of the students would not use any antiseptic for sterilizing their hands, and only two-third would ask their patient to use an oral mouth rinse before starting the treatment. Many students did not the optimal temperature of the autoclave for sterilization of the instruments. Only one-third would wear the personal protective equipment during a procedure. Around one-third of the study participants reported that ineffective sterilization during clinical practice can transmit infection from one patient to another. CONCLUSION: Knowledge on infection control among the dental students is though weak, practices are not as per standards but attitudes are positive and encouraging for taking steps and complying with measures on infection control.


title: Measuring Well-Being: Trial of the Neighbourhood Thriving Scale for Social Well-Being Among Pro-Social Individuals

text: We report on a trial of the neighbourhood thriving framework (NTF), a conceptual framework from psychology and social science for measuring collective subjective social well-being. It combines the notions of feeling good and functioning effectively in a neighbourhood social environment in an indicator set of 15 conceptual dimensions. An online questionnaire was used to measure neighbourhood thriving (NT) among 212 pro-social volunteers involved in revitalising neighbourhoods in the UK city of Stoke-on-Trent between May and October 2018. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 11 factors that made conceptual sense including three social epidemiological pathways to well-being, networks, participation and pro-social behaviours, and four criteria for flourishing societies, autonomous citizenship, safety, cohesive communities and resilience. The 11 sub-scales of NT showed satisfactory internal consistency reliability and preliminary evidence of construct validity. The sub-scales were used tentatively to examine NT among the volunteer sample, which showed the highest sub-scale score for Positive Regard and the lowest score for Celebration. Different levels of NT were observed among the community, with age and income positively associated with higher levels of NT. Further validation work is needed before the NT scales can be used with confidence. Validated scales offer potential benefits including: measuring NT pre- and -post project implementation; establishing which dimensions of NT are, and are not, working well in a community and need strengthening through further initiatives, and establishing which specific groups of people are experiencing lower levels of NT and designing projects that meet their needs. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s42413-020-00067-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


title: Ocrelizumab zur Behandlung der Multiplen Sklerose

text: Ocrelizumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against the differentiation antigen CD20, which leads to an effective long-term depletion of lymphocytes, in particular B cells. Recently published phase 3 studies confirmed that ocrelizumab is effective in the treatment of both relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Based on these results, ocrelizumab was the first drug to be approved for primary chronic progressive MS. To place this therapeutic breakthrough in the context of the current MS therapeutic landscape, it is worthwhile taking a look back at the development of antibody-mediated CD20 depletion, the studies underlying the approval of ocrelizumab and their open extension phases. This review article discusses the available data on the efficacy and safety of long-term B‑cell depletion in MS patients and reviews current knowledge on the role of B‑lymphocytes in the immunopathogenesis of MS.


Sustaining Bioethical Contributions in Times of Crisis and Change


title: Genomic analysis of Escherichia coli strains isolated from diseased chicken in the Czech Republic

text: BACKGROUND: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) can cause various extraintestinal infections in poultry, resulting in massive economic losses in poultry industry. In addition, some avian E. coli strains may have zoonotic potential, making poultry a possible source of infection for humans. Due to its extreme genetic diversity, this pathotype remains poorly defined. This study aimed to investigate the diversity of colibacillosis-associated E. coli isolates from Central European countries with a focus on the Czech Republic. RESULTS: Of 95 clinical isolates subjected to preliminary characterization, 32 were selected for whole-genome sequencing. A multi resistant phenotype was detected in a majority of the sequenced strains with the predominant resistance to β-lactams and quinolones being associated with TEM-type beta-lactamase genes and chromosomal gyrA mutations respectively. The phylogenetic analysis confirmed a great diversity of isolates, that were derived from nearly all phylogenetic groups, with predominace of B2, B1 and C phylogroups. Clusters of closely related isolates within ST23 (phylogroup C) and ST429 (phylogroup B2) indicated a possible local spread of these clones. Besides, the ST429 cluster carried bla(CMY-2, − 59) genes for AmpC beta-lactamase and isolates of both clusters were generally well-equipped with virulence-associated genes, with considerable differences in distribution of certain virulence-associated genes between phylogenetically distant lineages. Other important and potentially zoonotic APEC STs were detected, incl. ST117, ST354 and ST95, showing several molecular features typical for human ExPEC. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the concept of local spread of virulent APEC clones, as well as of zoonotic potential of specific poultry-associated lineages, and highlight the need to investigate the possible source of these pathogenic strains.


Le BulletinduCancer ouvre ses colonnes à l’AERIO


docid: vaysusrc

title: Hommage au docteur Luc Sensébé


“Is really the cancer population at risk for more severe COVID-19? Some hints from the cytokine profile”


Telemedicine: Providing Access to Care in Pediatric Neurosurgery to Underserved Communities


title: Trend to Equilibrium for the Kinetic Fokker-Planck Equation via the Neural Network Approach

text: The issue of the relaxation to equilibrium has been at the core of the kinetic theory of rarefied gas dynamics. In the paper, we introduce the Deep Neural Network (DNN) approximated solutions to the kinetic Fokker-Planck equation in a bounded interval and study the large-time asymptotic behavior of the solutions and other physically relevant macroscopic quantities. We impose the varied types of boundary conditions including the inflow-type and the reflection-type boundaries as well as the varied diffusion and friction coefficients and study the boundary effects on the asymptotic behaviors. These include the predictions on the large-time behaviors of the pointwise values of the particle distribution and the macroscopic physical quantities including the total kinetic energy, the entropy, and the free energy. We also provide the theoretical supports for the pointwise convergence of the neural network solutions to the a priori analytic solutions. We use the library PyTorch, the activation function tanh between layers, and the Adam optimizer for the Deep Learning algorithm.


Verschwörungstheorien und Wahninhalte


„Die Branche schwankt zwischen vollkommen überlastet und beschäftigungslos“: Logistik und Mobilität seit Corona. Im Gespräch: Professor Tobias Bernecker, Hochschullehrer für Verkehrswirtschaft und Verkehrspolitik an der Hochschule Heilbronn im Studiengang Verkehrsbetriebswirtschaft und Logistik


title: Research Design

text: To write this book I inhabited design cultures in the music industries and followed the flows and connections and moved within these industries as a curious traveller. In doing so, I have attempted to provide a more extended and embedded understanding of the music industries. This chapter therefore outlines the research methods used, including the method of participant observation. I used this method to immerse myself in the production of music videos, album art, gig posters and stage designs by Jefferton James. This chapter also outlines the selection of participants for the semi-structured interviews that were conducted and the rationale for the case studies, as well as the visual method and the digital ethnographic and sensory ethnographic methods that were used.


title: Conclusions: Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality

text: This chapter concludes the book and addresses XR design. It features a case study of Icelandic musician and visual artist Björk’s release of her full VR album Vulnicura (Björk 2019c). A case study of Florida-based company Magic Leap’s work with Icelandic band Sigur Rós is also provided. Sigur Rós (2020) and Magic Leap collaborated to develop an interactive music and mixed reality experience called Tónandi. This chapter then traces the declining cost of XR production and the role companies such as Facebook, and platform economics generally, have to play in this. Design culture has agency here for changing practice norms for the visual creators/designers and artists interviewed for this book, particularly in relation to intellectual property policies, and therefore design culture has an instrumental role to play in changing the deal making around visual representative media in this business; the music business can be changed through a new kind of design culture.


title: Apnea Testing for the Determination of Brain Death: A Systematic Scoping Review

text: Apnea is one of the three cardinal findings in brain death (BD). Apnea testing (AT) is physiologically and practically complex. We sought to review described modifications of AT, safety and complication rates, monitoring techniques, performance of AT on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), and other relevant considerations regarding AT. We conducted a systematic scoping review to answer these questions by searching the literature on AT in English language available in PubMed or EMBASE since 1980. Pediatric or animal studies were excluded. A total of 87 articles matched our inclusion criteria and were qualitatively synthesized in this review. A large body of the literature on AT since its inception addresses a variety of modifications, monitoring techniques, complication rates, ways to perform AT on ECMO, and other considerations such as variability in protocols, lack of uniform awareness, and legal considerations. Only some modifications are widely used, especially methods to maintain oxygenation, and most are not standardized or endorsed by brain death guidelines. Future updates to AT protocols and strive for unification of such protocols are desirable. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s12028-020-01015-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


New society new norm


Acute necrotizing encephalopathy and myocarditis in a young patient with COVID-19


title: Geospatial and hot spot analysis of paediatric tuberculosis infection in Bohol, Philippines

text: Tuberculosis (TB) in children is a critical public health issue. In Bohol, Philippines, we found a high tuberculin skin test (TST)-positive prevalence (weighted prevalence = 6.4%) among 5476 children (<15 years) from 184 villages, with geographically isolated communities having prevalence as high as 29%. Therefore, we conducted a geospatial and hot spot analysis to examine the association between villages with high TST-positive prevalence (⩾6.5%) and access to medical care (distance (in kilometres and minutes of travel time) to the municipal Rural Health Units (RHU)), access to healthcare resources (distance to Provincial Health Office (PHO)) and socioeconomic determinants of health. Hot spot analysis revealed significant clusters of TST-positive prevalence in villages farthest from the PHO. Based on univariate analysis, the following variables associated with high prevalence were included in the multivariate model: minutes of travel time to the PHO, distance to the PHO, island villages and total deprivation based on socioeconomic indicators. In the final model, only distance to PHO in minutes was significant (P = 0.005). When evaluated further, greater than 1-hour drive significantly increased risk for TST-positivity (P = 0.003). Distance to healthcare resources likely increases the risk of TB transmission within the community. Expanding TB control efforts to geographically isolated areas is critical.


title: 5-year efficacy of all surface laser ablation with cross-linking (ASLA-XTRA) for the treatment of myopia

text: BACKGROUND: The purpose of our study is to examine the long (5-year) efficacy of the all surface laser ablation (ASLA) combined with accelerated cross-linking (CXL) for the treatment of myopia without the use of mitomycin-C (MMC). METHODS: This retrospective study consisted of 202 eyes of 118 myopic (SD: 2.41, range: − 1.50 to − 12.75 D) patients (44 males, 74 females). Mean age was 28.50 years (SD: 6.45, range: 18 to 51 years) that underwent ASLA with accelerated CXL for the treatment of their myopia. RESULTS: The patients underwent routine postoperative assessment on the 1st, 3rd, 7th day and in the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 12th month, 30th month (±6 months), 4th and 5th year. The mean spherical equivalent (SEq) refractive error changed from − 6.41 ± 2.41 D preoperatively to − 0.02 ± 0.53 D at 5 years postoperatively. The haze score was 0.18, 0.25 and 0.28 at 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. At 12 months after the treatment, no eyes had significant corneal haze and in all the following postoperative time intervals the haze traces were gone. CONCLUSION: ASLA combined with accelerated CXL (ASLA-XTRA) appears to be safe, efficacious and offering very good refractive results. The potential additional benefits of this modality are the stabilizing effect of the refraction and its sterilization effect on the treated cornea without the potential side effects of MMC.


Vergeet die andere epidemie niet…


title: Sticky Policies, Dysfunctional Systems: Path Dependency and the Problems of Government Funding for Science in the United States

text: Leaders of the scientific community have declared that American science is in a crisis due to inadequate federal funding. They misconstrue the problem; its roots lie instead in the institutional interactions between federal funding agencies and higher education. After World War II, science policy elites advocated for a system of funding that addressed what they perceived at the time as their most pressing problems of science-government relations: the need for greater federal funding for science, especially to universities, while maintaining scientific autonomy in the distribution and use of those funds. The agencies that fund university research developed institutional rules, norms, and procedures that created unintended consequences when they interacted with those of American higher education. The project system for funding, justified by peer-review and coupled with rapidly increasing R&D budgets, created incentives for universities to expand their research programs massively, which led to unsustainable growth in the demand for federal research money. That system produced spectacular successes but also created the unintended longer-term problem that demand for science funding has grown more quickly than government funding ever could. Most analysts neglect potentially painful reforms that might address these problems. This case demonstrates that successful political coalitions can create intractable long-term problems for themselves.


nieuws


H1N1 Infection Presenting as Acute Liver Failure in an Infant


van de verenigingen


Reply: The many benefits of a multidisciplinary evaluation of lung nodules


title: Interconnected Histories: Locating Women’s Lives in Time and Space

text: The lives of the women we discuss in this book have been shaped by differing social circumstances in separate locales on the opposite side of the world from each other. The older generation, the mothers, were born in the decades following the Asia-Pacific War and Second World War, from the late 1940s to the middle of the 1960s. The younger generation, their daughters, were born from the late 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s and came to adulthood in the twenty-first century.


title: Concluding Reflections

text: We began this book by reflecting on the theoretical hegemony of western scholarship, especially western social theory, and in the hope of making a small contribution to unsettling western knowledge claims and to internationalising feminist sociological scholarship. Our starting-point was a particular set of debates around the consequences of recent social change, of living in the era of late modernity, for personal life. We positioned ourselves among those, such as Lynn Jamieson.


title: Introduction: The Genesis of a Transnational Collaborative Project

text: This book derives from a comparative study of the personal lives of young adult women and their mothers in Hong Kong and Britain (England and Wales) against a backdrop of social change in both societies.


Dissecting the Niche for Alveolar Type II Cells With Alveolar Organoids


Kurzarbeitergeld: Bundesagentur für Arbeit rudert zurück


COVID-19 - Durchbruch für Telemedizin, Homeoffice und digitale Anwendungen?


Erhöhter Hygieneaufwand: GOÄ-Anpassung greift zu kurz


Wie essenziell ist die Dermatologie?


Teledermatologe werden - natürlich online!


Recht: Aus den Gerichten: Aktuelle Urteile kurz erläutert


FÄ: Corona entzaubert Telemedizin


Handekzeme auf dem Vormarsch: BVDD-Mitgliederbefragung zeigt Folgen der COVID-19-Pandemie


Die neue Normalität mit COVID-19: Corona-Taskforce stellt Informationen für die Fachgruppe zusammen


Läsionen bei jedem fünften Patienten: COVID-19 und Haut


Schutzschirme für Arztpraxen: KVen arbeiten Details zur finanziellen Hilfe aus


docid: zfumpmbk

title: WHO-Corona-App unterstützt Gesundheitspersonal


title: Voices of the new generation: being a junior PI in a developing country

text: Starting a research group in a developing country can be economically, intellectually and personally challenging, but funding and other opportunities may be broader than they may seem from afar.


docid: rkgqqasr

title: HHV8-positive, EBV-positive Hodgkin lymphoma-like large B cell lymphoma: expanding the spectrum of HHV8 and EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorders

text: Human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV8) is a gamma herpesvirus known for its role in lymphoid neoplasms, especially in immunosuppressed patients. We describe the case of a 64-year-old male, without known immunodeficiency, with 1-year-long clinical history of mediastinal and abdominal lymphadenopathies and recurrent pulmonary infections. Histopathological evaluation of a mediastinal lymph node revealed the presence of scattered atypical large cells with Hodgkin and Reed–Sternberg morphology in a background of lymphocytes and extensive areas of fibrosis. The large cells were positive for HHV8 and Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), with a clonal pattern of IGH gene rearrangement. A descriptive diagnosis of “HHV8-positive, EBV-positive Hodgkin lymphoma-like large B-cell lymphoma” was rendered. Interestingly, the retrospective evaluation of a previous biopsy, diagnosed as reactive lymphadenitis, revealed the presence of HHV8- and EBV-positive cells, with a polyclonal pattern and a small peak corresponding to that of the most recent biopsy. This case presents diagnostic challenges due to the presence of particular features not clearly related to current HHV8-associated entities, and also suggests the possibility for disease progression in the spectrum of HHV8- and EBV-associated lymphoproliferative disorders.


Jacques F. Acar (1931 –2020)


Beyond the operating room: the roles of anaesthesiologists in pandemics


docid: lddjskss

title: Perniosis Del Confinamiento, Una Vieja Conocida En El Contexto Del Covid-19


COVID-19 y trombosis simultánea en dos arterias coronarias


title: From threat to cure: understanding of virus-induced cell death leads to highly immunogenic oncolytic influenza viruses

text: Oncolytic viruses constitute an emerging strategy in immunomodulatory cancer treatment. The first oncolytic virus, Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), based on herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) in 2015. The field of oncolytic virotherapy is still in its beginnings, since many promising viruses remain only superficially explored. Influenza A virus causes a highly immunogenic acute infection but never leads to a chronic disease. While oncolytic influenza A viruses are in preclinical development, they have not made the transition into clinical practice yet. Recent insights into different types of cell death caused by influenza A virus infection illuminate novel possibilities of enhancing its therapeutic effect. Genetic engineering and experience in influenza A virus vaccine development allow safe application of the virus in patients. In this review we give a summary of efforts undertaken to develop oncolytic influenza A viruses. We discuss strategies for targeting viral replication to cancerous lesions and arming them with immunogenic transgenes. We furthermore describe which modes of cell death are induced by influenza A virus infection and how these insights may be utilized to optimize influenza A virus-based oncolytic virus design.


title: Roadmap for Restarting Elective Surgery During/After COVID-19 Pandemic

text: The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in complete stoppage of elective surgery in most countries, which has created a huge backlog of waiting patients. This invited editorial comments on the current challenge of restarting elective surgery during/after COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Back to the Future

text: This chapter reflects on the status of gangs and organised crime in Scotland, drawing on key findings from the book, with implications for research and practice.


Editorial. COVID-19 – A New York City Intern’s Perspective


The role of scientific journal editors during the COVID-19 pandemic()


Risk of hospital-acquired COVID-19 infection during admission for semi-urgent neurosurgical procedures


title: Protection of Abused Children, the Mentally and Physically Challenged, and the Elderly

text: It is expected that families will take care of their children until such time as they can care for themselves, and then families will also care for their aging relatives when these elders can no longer do so. However, when no one can or does care for vulnerable populations such as children, the mentally and physically disabled, and the elderly, the responsibility falls on the state to protect its citizens. Maltreatment falls into four categories: physical abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, psychological abuse, and neglect. When an instance of maltreatment is confirmed and other interventions are unsuccessful, the state may assume care and responsibility of children or other vulnerable members. This leads to placement in foster homes or group homes for the children, or assisted living facilities for the adults. Each state has a department focused on family services to oversee these placements and services for the vulnerable individual, as well as to provide services to help the family regain custody and care. Although resources do not ever seem to be entirely sufficient, treatment programs for substance-abusing parents, parent education programs, and guardianship programs for the elderly are all among various interventions across the states in some form or another.


Jacob Plange-Rhule


Racism, the public health crisis we can no longer ignore


Vaccinating against mosquitoes: anticipating the unexpected


Political casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic


Medicine and medical science: Black lives must matter more


Die Allergologie stellt sich auf Covid-19 ein


AeDA-Broschüre: Allergen-Immuntherapie in der Covid-19-Pandemie


title: Hypersensitivity reactions to biologics (part I): allergy as an important differential diagnosis in complex immune-derived adverse events*

text: Purpose: Biotechnological substances (BSs) are strongly relied upon to prevent rejection of transplanted organs, and to treat oncological, allergological, and other inflammatory diseases. Allergic reactions to partly foreign biologics can occur due to their potential immunogenicity. The severity of an immune response to a biological drug may range from no clinical significance to a severe, life-threatening anaphylactic reaction. Methods: Detailed searches were performed on Pubmed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar to include all available publications. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, and British Columbia Cancer Agency Drug Manual databases were screened for hypersensitivity reaction (HSR), infusion reaction, injection site reaction, urticaria, and anaphylaxis for individual BSs. Results: Treatment with BSs can cause various types of HSR. These are mentioned in the literature with definitions such as allergic reactions, anaphylactoid reactions, anaphylaxis, HSR, infusion reactions, injection site reactions, cytokine release syndrome, and urticaria. Due to the overlap in signs and symptoms in the reported descriptions, it is not always possible to differentiate these reactions properly according to their pathomechanism. Similarly, many data reported as anaphylaxis actually describe severe anaphylactic reactions (grades III or IV). Conclusion: There is an urgent need for a simpler symptom- or system-based classification and scoring system to create an awareness for HSRs to BSs. A better understanding of the pathophysiology of HSRs and increased clinical experience in the treatment of side effects will provide timely control of unexpected reactions. As a result, immunotherapy with BSs will become safer in the future. Cite this as Gülsen A, Wedi B, Jappe U. Hypersensitivity reactions to biologics (part I): allergy as an important differential diagnosis in complex immune-derived adverse events. Allergo J Int 2020; 29:97-125 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40629-020-00126-6


Schulterschluss zwischen Wissenschaft und Praxis


docid: zpnccsol

title: Treatment outcomes after splenectomy with gastric devascularization or balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration for gastric varices: a propensity score-weighted analysis from a single institution

text: BACKGROUND: Although balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) is often selected to treat gastric varices caused by portal hypertension, data comparing BRTO and splenectomy with gastric devascularization (Sp + Dev) are limited. METHODS: From January 2009 to February 2018, 100 patients with gastric varices caused by portal hypertension who underwent Sp + Dev (n = 45) or BRTO (n = 55) were included. Overall survival (OS) and the rebleeding rate were calculated using the inverse probability of a treatment weighting-adjusted log-rank test. Independent risk factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. Changes in liver function and adverse events after the procedures were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients in the Sp + Dev group tended to have lower platelet counts than those in the BRTO group, but liver function did not differ between these groups. The 5-year OS rates for the Sp + Dev and BRTO groups were 73.4 and 50.0% (p = 0.005), respectively. There were no significant differences in rebleeding rates between the two groups. Multivariate analysis showed that serum albumin level ≤3.6 g/dL, prothrombin time% activity (PT%) ≤80%, and serum creatinine level ≥0.84 mg/dL were poor prognostic factors. Although the Sp + Dev group had more short-term complications after procedures, Sp + Dev tended to be more effective in improving liver function than BRTO. CONCLUSIONS: Sp + Dev showed better OS and improvement of liver function compared with BRTO for the treatment of gastric varices caused by portal hypertension. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00535-020-01693-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


Die TI ist so gut wie ihr schwächstes Glied!


Telefonberatung nach GOÄ jetzt mehrfach möglich


"Viele Dinge bleiben zu bedenken"


title: A comparison of nasogastric tube insertion by SORT maneuver (sniffing position, NGT orientation, contralateral rotation, and twisting movement) versus neck flexion lateral pressure in critically ill patients admitted to ICU: a prospective randomized clinical trial

text: BACKGROUND: Although many techniques have been introduced to facilitate nasogastric tube (NGT) insertion using anatomic landmarks and a group of devices, there is a lack of general consensus regarding a standard method. The current study purposed to investigate if SORT maneuver (sniffing position, NGT orientation, contralateral rotation, and twisting movement) increases the success rate of NGT correct placement versus neck flexion lateral pressure (NFLP) method. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial study was conducted in two university affiliated intensive care units (tertiary referral center). Three hundred and ninety-six critically ill patients older than 18 years of age were randomly divided into SORT (n = 200) and NFLP (n = 196) groups. The technique was classified as “failed” after the third unsuccessful attempt. Patient characteristics, success rate for the first attempt, time required for the successful first attempt and overall successful insertion time, various complications including kinking, coiling and bleeding and ease of insertion were noted as main outcomes measured. RESULTS: Ease of insertion was significantly better in the SORT group compared to the NFLP group (P < 0.001). The number of failed attempts was significantly higher in the NFLP group (7.5%) vs the SORT group (3.0%) (P = 0.046). The pattern of complications was not different between two study groups (P = 0.242). The odds of stage II (odds ratio (OR) = 49.9; 95% confidence interval (CI) 25.2 to 98.6), stage III (OR = 67.1; 95% CI 14.9 to 302.8)) and stage IV (OR = 11.8; 95% CI 3.4 to 41.2) ease of insertion were much higher in NFLP compared to SORT group, after adjusting for age and body mass index (BMI). The odds of failure was not significantly different in NFLP group compared to SORT group (OR = 2.3; 95% CI 0.85 to 6.3), after adjusting for age and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: SORT technique may be considered as a promising method for successful NGT insertions in critically ill patients. However, more trials are needed to confirm the results of this study. The decision must account for individual patient and clinical factors and the operator’s experience and preference. Trial registration: The study was registered at government registry of clinical trials in Iran (http://www.IRCT.ir) (number: IRCT20091012002582N18, 13 March 2018)


title: Is leishmaniasis adequately notified in Sri Lanka? A survey among doctors from an endemic district, Sri Lanka

text: BACKGROUND: Leishmaniasis is a notifiable disease in Sri Lanka since 2008. Previous studies show a gap in the notification of leishmaniasis. The purpose of the present study was to determine the Knowledge, attitudes and practice of medical officers regarding leishmaniasis. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Anuradhapura district which reported the highest case load of leishmaniasis. Medical officers from public and private health care institutes in the area filled a self-administered questionnaire in the presence of the investigators. RESULTS: One hundred and eighty-eight (188) medical officers completed the questionnaire. Of them, 95.7% were aware of leishmaniasis as a parasitic infection and 84.7% correctly identified Leishmania donovani as the causative organism in Sri Lanka. From the respondents, 181 (96.8%) knew that the vector of leishmaniasis is sand fly. Cutaneous leishmaniasis was reported as the most prevalent form of leishmaniasis in the country by 176 (94.1%). Nearly half of the respondents (98, 54.1%) were aware of the fact that the Anuradhapura district has the highest disease burden. Many of them had the idea that leishmaniasis is an emerging disease (155, 84.3%,) and early diagnosis is important in controlling the disease (163, 89.1%). Although about three fourth (123, 73.7%,) of the participants mentioned that leishmaniasis should be notified at first clinical suspicion, only 74 (42.5%) were aware that it is a legal requirement. Some medical officers (39, 22%) believed that the current notification system in the country is not effective. Unavailability of notification forms (60, 36.8%) heavy workload (85, 50.3%) and inadequate supportive staff (55, 35.1%) were reported as barriers for timely notification. Even though 105 (58.0%) of medical officers had suspected leishmaniasis during the last 8 years period only 35 (19.4%) had notified. CONCLUSIONS: Even though more than 90% of the participants had good theoretical knowledge about leishmaniasis; notification of leishmaniasis is considerably inadequate. This study emphasizes the need for greater efforts to improve the notification of leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka.


Business as usual? Welche Veränderungen setzen sich auch nach der Krise im Arbeitsalltag durch?


QT interval prolongation with hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin


Benefit-risk assessment for remdesivir in COVID-19


docid: odunflah

title: The interaction between arterial oxygenation and carbon dioxide and hospital mortality following out of hospital cardiac arrest: a cohort study

text: BACKGROUND: Outcomes following out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) are poor. The optimal arterial oxygen and carbon dioxide (PaCO(2)) levels for managing patients following OHCA are unknown. We hypothesized that abnormalities in arterial oxygenation (PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio or PaO(2)) and PaCO(2) would be associated with hospital mortality following OHCA. We hypothesized that PaCO(2) would significantly modify the oxygenation–mortality relationship. METHODS: This was an observational cohort study using data from OHCA survivors admitted to adult critical care units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2011 to 2018. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between hospital mortality and oxygenation and PaCO(2). RESULTS: The analysis included 23,625 patients. In comparison with patients with a PaO(2)/FiO(2) > 300 mmHg, those with a PaO(2)/FiO(2) ≤ 100 mmHg had higher mortality (adjusted OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.48 to 2.15; P < 0.001). In comparison to hyperoxemia (PaO(2) > 100 mmHg), patients with hypoxemia (PaO(2) < 60 mmHg) had higher mortality (adjusted OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.65; P = 0.004). In comparison with normocapnia, hypercapnia was associated with lower mortality. Hypocapnia (PaCO2 ≤ 35 mmHg) was associated with higher mortality (adjusted OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.63 to 2.24; P < 0.001). PaCO(2) modified the PaO(2)/FiO(2)–mortality and PaO(2)–mortality relationships, though these relationships were complex. Patients who were both hyperoxic and hypercapnic had the lowest mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Low PaO(2)/FiO(2) ratio, hypoxemia and hypocapnia are associated with higher mortality following OHCA. PaCO(2) modifies the relationship between oxygenation and mortality following OHCA; future studies examining this interaction are required.


Immunosuppressants/oseltamivir: Coronavirus HKU1 infection and development of resistance: case report


title: Effects of endotoxin adsorber hemoperfusion on sublingual microcirculation in patients with septic shock: a randomized controlled trial

text: BACKGROUND: Endotoxins can induce an excessive inflammatory response and result in microcirculatory dysfunction. Polymyxin-B hemoperfusion (PMX-HP) has been recognized to effectively remove endotoxins in patients with sepsis and septic shock, and a rat sepsis model revealed that PMX-HP treatment can maintain a better microcirculation. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effect of PMX-HP on microcirculation in patients with septic shock. METHODS: Patients with septic shock were enrolled and randomized to control and PMX-HP groups. In the PMX-HP group, patients received the first session of PMX-HP in addition to conventional septic shock management within 24 h after the onset of septic shock; the second session of PMX-HP was provided after another 24 h as needed. RESULTS: Overall, 28 patients finished the trial and were analyzed. The mean arterial pressure and norepinephrine infusion dose did not differ significantly between the control and PMX-HP groups after PMX-HP treatment. At 48 h after enrollment, total vessel density (TVD) and perfused vessel density (PVD) were higher in the PMX-HP group than in the control group [TVD 24.2 (22.1–24.9) vs. 21.1 (19.9–22.9) mm/mm(2); p = 0.007; PVD 22.9 (20.9–24.9) vs. 20.0 (18.9–21.6) mm/mm(2), p = 0.008]. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study observed that PMX-HP treatment improved microcirculation but not clinical outcomes in patients with septic shock at a low risk of mortality. Nevertheless, larger multicenter trials are needed to confirm the effect of PMX-HP treatment on microcirculation in patients with septic shock at intermediate- and high-risk of mortality. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov protocol registration ID: NCT01756755. Date of registration: December 27, 2012. First enrollment: October 6, 2013. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01756755


Lopinavir/ritonavir: Diarrhoea, liver damage and loss of appetite during off-label treatment: case report


Drug interaction between hydroxychloroquine and metformin


Risks of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine use for COVID-19


Medsafe: potentially fatal adverse effects with Miracle Mineral Solution


title: Efficacy and mechanisms of a single-session behavioral medicine class among patients with chronic pain taking prescription opioids: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

text: BACKGROUND: Independent of pain intensity, pain-specific distress is highly predictive of pain treatment needs, including the need for prescription opioids. Given the inherently distressing nature of chronic pain, there is a need to equip individuals with pain education and self-regulatory skills that are shown to improve adaptation and improve their response to medical treatments. Brief, targeted behavioral medicine interventions may efficiently address the key individual factors, improve self-regulation in the context of pain, and reduce the need for opioid therapy. This highlights the critical need for targeted, cost-effective interventions that efficiently address the key psychological factors that can amplify the need for opioids and increased risk for misuse. In this trial, the primary goal is to test the comparative efficacy of a single-session skills-based pain management class to a health education active control group among patients with chronic pain who are taking opioids. METHODS/DESIGN: Our study is a randomized, double-blind clinical trial testing the superiority of our 2-h, single-session skills-based pain management class against a 2-h health education class. We will enroll 136 adult patients with mixed-etiology chronic pain who are taking opioid prescription medication and randomize 1:1 to one of the two treatment arms. We hypothesize superiority for the skills-based pain class for pain control, self-regulation of pain-specific distress, and reduced opioid use measured by daily morphine equivalent. Team researchers masked to treatment assignment will assess outcomes up to 12 months post treatment. DISCUSSION: This study aims to test the utility of a single-session, 2-h skills-based pain management class to improve self-regulation of pain and reduce opioid use. Findings from our project have the potential to shift current research and clinical paradigms by testing a brief and scalable intervention that could reduce the need for opioids and prevent misuse effectively, efficiently, and economically. Further, elucidation of the mechanisms of opioid use can facilitate refinement of more targeted future treatments. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03950791. Registered on 10 May 2019.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS - August 2020


Skin findings in the COVID-19 pandemic in the Region of Murcia()


Addressing a Need


Análisis discursivo de la pandemia COVID-19 desde la oftalmología


Cutaneous manifestations of COVID infection 19. About a case()


title: Bike helmets prevent pediatric head injury in serious bicycle crashes with motor vehicles

text: BACKGROUND: Approximately 75% of all bicycle-related mortality is secondary to head injuries, 85% of which could have been prevented by wearing a bicycle helmet. Younger children appear to be at greater risk than adults, yet helmet use is low despite this risk and legislation and ordinances requiring helmet use among younger riders. We sought to determine whether bicycle helmets are associated with the incidence and severity of head injury among pediatric bicyclists involved in a bicycle crash involving a motor vehicle. METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients age ≤ 18 years hospitalized at a level I pediatric trauma center between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2018. Data were abstracted from the institutional trauma registry and electronic medical record. International Classification of Diseases 9th and 10th editions and external causes of injury codes were used to identify MV related bicycle crashes and determine the abbreviated injury severity (AIS) for head injury severity. Injury narratives were reviewed to determine helmet use. We calculated the incidence of head injury from bicycle vs. MV crashes utilizing descriptive statistics. We analyzed the risk and severity of injury utilizing univariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, 226 bicyclists were treated for injuries from being struck by a MV. The median age was 11 (interquartile range (IQR): 8 to 13) years. Helmeted bicyclists (n = 26, 27%) were younger (9.4 years versus 10.8 years, p = 0.04), and were less likely (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.49) to be diagnosed with a head injury compared to unhelmeted bicyclists (n = 199). Of those with a head injury, helmeted bicyclists were less likely (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.11–2.82) to sustain severe or higher injury using AIS. When adjusting for demographics (age, sex, race) and injury severity, helmet use predicted a reduction in head injury (OR 6.02, 95% CI 2.4–15.2). CONCLUSIONS: Bicycle helmet use was associated with reduced odds of head injury and severity of injury.. These results support the use of strategies to increase the uptake of bicycle helmets wearing as part of a comprehensive youth bicycling injury prevention program.


docid: ksacxsdk

title: Resveratrol attenuates angiotensin II-induced cellular hypertrophy through the inhibition of CYP1B1 and the cardiotoxic mid-chain HETE metabolites

text: Several reports demonstrated the direct contribution of cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) enzyme and its associated cardiotoxic mid-chain, hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (HETEs) metabolites in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Resveratrol is commercially available polyphenol that exerts beneficial effects in wide array of cardiovascular diseases including cardiac hypertrophy, myocardial infarction and heart failure. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms responsible for these effects are not fully elucidated. Since resveratrol is a well-known CYP1B1 inhibitor, the purpose of this study is to test whether resveratrol attenuates angiotensin II (Ang II)-induced cellular hypertrophy through inhibition of CYP1B1/mid-chain HETEs mechanism. RL-14 and H9c2 cells were treated with vehicle or 10 μM Ang II in the absence and presence of 2, 10 or 50 μM resveratrol for 24 h. Thereafter, the level of mid-chain HETEs was determined using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Hypertrophic markers and CYP1B1 gene expression and protein levels were measured using real-time PCR and Western blot analysis, respectively. Our results demonstrated that resveratrol, at concentrations of 10 and 50 μM, was able to attenuate Ang-II-induced cellular hypertrophy as evidenced by substantial inhibition of hypertrophic markers, β-myosin heavy chain (MHC)/α-MHC and atrial natriuretic peptide. Ang II significantly induced the protein expression of CYP1B1 and increased the metabolite formation rate of its associated mid-chain HETEs. Interestingly, the protective effect of resveratrol was associated with a significant decrease of CYP1B1 protein expression and mid-chain HETEs. Our results provided the first evidence that resveratrol protects against Ang II-induced cellular hypertrophy, at least in part, through CYP1B1/mid-chain HETEs-dependent mechanism.


title: “Le Grand absent Européen”: solidarity in the politics of European integration

text: The appeal for more solidarity is a recurring pattern in political discussions of how to cope with the crises the European Union (EU) confronts. This became most palpable in two major challenges—the Eurozone crisis and the refugee and migrant crisis. However, there is a yawning gap between the rhetorical commitment to solidarity and member states’ practices of solidarity: Even though the EU and its members regularly refer to solidarity as one of their fundamental values, the concept regularly fails to translate into concrete and common action. This lack of solidarity when it comes to problem resolution not only renders solidarity a weak principle within the EU’s political framework; it also precludes more effective crisis management. Drawing on the works of Ludwig Wittgenstein as well as (neo)pragmatism, this paper argues that a language- and practice-based reading can offer a new perspective on solidarity as one of the EU’s fundamental values. It can also explain why solidarity does not play a more vital role in the EU today, especially in times of crisis, when it is most needed.


docid: mxkbgtyd

title: High level of vaccination and protection against hepatitis B with low rate of HCV infection markers among hospital health care personnel in north of Iran: a cross-sectional study

text: BACKGROUND: hepatitis B virus (HBV) and C virus (HCV) are among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Health care personnel (HCP) are subjected to increased risk of these infections. Therefore, HBV vaccination and post-vaccination serologic testing (PVST) are recommended for them. Our objectives in this study were investigate how well the vaccination guidelines for hospital HCP(s) were implemented. Moreover, the prevalence rates of HBV and HCV infections were calculated. To determine the presence of immunological memory, vaccinated personnel negative to antibody against HB surface antigen with one dose of HB vaccine were boosted. METHODS: From 1 July to 30 November 2017, a cross-sectional study among HCPs working in public hospitals were conducted. All HCPs from various professional categories potentially at risk of exposure to contaminated sources were included. The information was gathered via interview and self-administered questionnaire. The questions were focused on the demographic characteristics, HB vaccination and immunity status and time elapsed since initial vaccination series, and frequency of needelstick injuries during the past 12 months of their work. Moreover, the prevalence rate of HBV and HCV infections were calculated. To determine the presence of immunological memory, subjects negative to HBV seromarkers received a booster dose of the vaccine. RESULTS: A total of 186 out of 766 participants were male and nurses comprised 71% of personnel. Although all HCP were vaccinated, 84% of them completed the course and less than 5% of them received PVST. According to the results, 0.78, 4.6, and 83% were serologically positive to HBV surface antigen, antibodies against HBV core, and S antigens, respectively. Approximately, 91% of seronegative participants responded to a booster dose and only 0.91% of the personnel was anti-HCV positive. CONCLUSION: Most HCP received full HBV vaccination course. Although a minority did PVST, the HBV vaccine-induced long-term protection and HB vaccine booster were not required. Therefore, policies should be made to increase the rate PVST after immunization. According to the results, the HCV infection rate was low and thus pre-recruitment screening was not necessary.


docid: ljljmmnn

title: "Videosprechstunden sind nicht für alle die Lösung"


Lopinavir-Ritonavir-Kombination nicht wirksam


Wegen Befreiung von den Verboten einer Landschaftsschutzverordnung u.a. für den Neubau und die Modernisierung der Freianlagen auf der Insel Grafenwerth hier: Regelung der Vollziehung


Komorbiditäten und ACE-Hemmer-Therapie


Blick über den Tellerrand


COVID-19 und evidenzbasierte Medizin


Remdesivir wohl wirksam bei COVID-19


Triple ist wirksamer als dual


Murphy, Kim: Government communications in a digital age. A comparative study of online government communications in Germany and Great Britain: Baden-Baden: Nomos 2019. 276 Seiten. Preis: € 54


Erhöhtes Schlaganfallrisiko bei COVID-19


COVID-19 and coronaviral hepatitis: evidence of collateral damage


title: Transmission and clinical characteristics of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection

text: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease, SARS-CoV-2, is now spreading globally and is characterized by person-to-person transmission. However, it has recently been found that individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 can be asymptomatic, and simultaneously a source of infection in others. The viral load detected in nasopharyngeal swabs of asymptomatic carriers is relatively high, with a great potential for transmission. More attention should be paid to the insidious spread of disease and harm contributed by asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers. To provide a theoretical basis for the accurate and early clinical identification of asymptomatic patients, this review objectively summarizes the epidemic status, transmission characteristics and clinical features of asymptomatic patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.


title: A decade of advances in transposon-insertion sequencing

text: It has been 10 years since the introduction of modern transposon-insertion sequencing (TIS) methods, which combine genome-wide transposon mutagenesis with high-throughput sequencing to estimate the fitness contribution or essentiality of each genetic component in a bacterial genome. Four TIS variations were published in 2009: transposon sequencing (Tn-Seq), transposon-directed insertion site sequencing (TraDIS), insertion sequencing (INSeq) and high-throughput insertion tracking by deep sequencing (HITS). TIS has since become an important tool for molecular microbiologists, being one of the few genome-wide techniques that directly links phenotype to genotype and ultimately can assign gene function. In this Review, we discuss the recent applications of TIS to answer overarching biological questions. We explore emerging and multidisciplinary methods that build on TIS, with an eye towards future applications.


Mitteilungen der DGPPN 6/2020


Pause Ventilation Tracheostomy


Letter to Editor in response to "COVID-19: From bench to bedside " by Singh et al


Leveraging Scarcity to Optimize Value and Clinical Operations


title: Prognostic Value of Serially Estimated Serum Procalcitonin Levels in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients With or Without Extra Cranial Injury on Early In-hospital Mortality: A Longitudinal Observational Study

text: BACKGROUND: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with majority of trauma deaths, and objective tools are required to understand the severity of injury. The application of a biomarker like procalcitonin (PCT) in TBI may allow for assessment of severity and thus aid in prognostication and correlation with mortality and outcome. AIMS: The primary objective is to determine the correlation between PCT concentrations with TBI outcomes (mainly in terms of mortality) at intensive care unit (ICU)/hospital discharge. Secondary objectives are to evaluate correlation with associated extra cranial injuries and complications during hospital stay. METHODS: In total, 186 TBI patients aged > 18 years with minimum survival for at least 12 h admitted to the ICU at the level 1 trauma center were prospectively included in the study and divided into two groups: TBI with and without extra cranial injuries. All admitted patients were treated according to the standard institutional protocol. The PCT levels were obtained on admission, on day 2, and 5. Clinical, laboratory, diagnostic, and therapeutic data were also collected. Primary mortality is defined as death related to central nervous system (CNS) injury, while secondary mortality defined as death related to sepsis or extracranial cause. RESULTS: Median PCT levels at admission, day 2, and day 5 in TBI patients with extracranial injuries were 3.0, 0.83, and 0.69 ng/ml. In total, primary mortality was observed in 18 (9.7%) patients, while secondary causes were attributable in 20 (12.3%) patients. Regression analysis for primarily CNS cause of mortality showed PCT cutoff level at admission more than 5.5 ng/ml carried sensitivity and specificity of 75%, but for secondary cause (sepsis) of mortality, PCT cutoff values on day 2 > 1.15 ng/ml were derived significant with sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 66%. No significant association of parameters like length of ICU stay, Glasgow outcome scale (GOS), and primary/secondary mortality with the presence of extracranial injuries in TBI patients as compared with TBI alone was noted. CONCLUSION: This observational study demonstrates the poor correlation between PCT concentrations with outcome at days 1, 2, and 5 post-injury. The predicted relationship between PCT levels and outcome was not confirmed, and that these results do not support the prognostic utility of PCT biomarker in this population for outcome (mortality) assessment in TBI patients with or without extracranial injuries.


title: A semantic network approach to measuring sentiment

text: Sentiment research is dominated by studies that assign texts to positive and negative categories. This classification is often based on a bag-of-words approach that counts the frequencies of sentiment terms from a predefined vocabulary, ignoring the contexts for these words. We test an aspect-based network analysis model that computes sentiment about an entity from the shortest paths between the sentiment words and the target word across a corpus. Two ground-truth datasets in which human annotators judged whether tweets were positive or negative enabled testing the internal and external validity of the automated network-based method, evaluating the extent to which this approach’s scoring corresponds to the annotations. We found that tweets annotated as negative had an automated negativity score that was nearly twice as strong than positivity, while positively annotated tweets were six times stronger in positivity than negativity. To assess the predictive validity of the approach, we analyzed sentiment associated with coronavirus coverage in television news from January 1 to March 25, 2020. Support was found for the four hypotheses tested, demonstrating the utility of the approach. H1: broadcast news expresses less sentiment about coronavirus, panic, and social distancing than non-broadcast news outlets. H2: there is a negative bias in the news across channels. H3: sentiment increases are associated with an increased volume of news stories. H4: sentiment is associated with uncertainty in news coverage of coronavirus over time. We also found that as the type of channel moved from broadcast network news to 24-h business, general, and foreign news sentiment increased for coronavirus, panic, and social distancing.


title: A critical review of initial 3D printed products responding to COVID-19 health and supply chain challenges

text: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased demand for medical and protective equipment by frontline health workers, as well as the general community, causing the supply chain to stretch beyond capacity, an issue further heightened by geographical and political lockdowns. Various 3D printing technologies were quickly utilised by businesses, institutions and individuals to manufacture a range of products on-demand, close to where they were needed. This study gathered data about 91 3D printed projects initiated prior to April 1, 2020, as the virus spread globally. It found that 60% of products were for personal protective equipment, of which 62% were 3D printed face shields. Fused filament fabrication was the most common 3D print technology used, and websites were the most popular means of centralising project information. The project data provides objective, quantitative insight balanced with qualitative critical review of the broad trends, opportunities and challenges that could be used by governments, health and medical bodies, manufacturing organisations and the 3D printing community to streamline the current response, as well as plan for future crises using a distributed, flexible manufacturing approach.


title: HCV and HEV: two players in an Egyptian village, a study of prevalence, incidence, and co-infection

text: The highest recorded hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence worldwide is in Egypt. A high prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in chronic liver disease has been reported. The aim of this study was to study prevalence, incidence, and outcome of HCV infection in an Egyptian Nile Delta village and the relation between HEV infection and HCV-related chronic hepatic affection. This prospective cohort study included 2085 Nagreej village residents. Mass HCV screening was conducted and testing for HEV antibodies among HCV-infected patients performed. The annual incidence of HCV was recorded. Five hundred five (24.22%) of the tested villagers were positive for HCV RNA. Prevalence escalated with age and male sex. The main recorded risk factors were a history of surgery, dental procedures, hospitalization, blood transfusion, and antischistosomal treatment. HEV IgG antibody was positive in 71.4% of individuals with chronic HCV and 96.1% with advanced liver disease (cirrhosis ± hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)). After 1 year, 29 of the 1390 HCV Ab negative villagers had a positive HCV PCR, placing an annual incidence of new HCV infections at 2.09%. The Egyptian HCV prevalence remains high with infection particularly among the elderly. The annual incidence in a small Nile Delta village is 2.086%. HCV-HEV co-infection may lead to a worse prognosis among Egyptians with chronic liver disease. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11356-020-09591-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


Mesures spéciales Covid-19


Recommandations EMA sur l’usage compassionnel du remdesivir


Covid-19 : les LBM de ville montent en première ligne


Alerte ANSM : Plaquenil® et Kaletra® ne doivent être utilisés qu’à l’hôpital


Déconfinement : l’âge n’est pas (toujours) un facteur de risque


Chloroquine-hydroxychloroquine, restons rigoureux : l’EMA calme le jeu


Racism, discrimination, and the practice of oncology


Coronavirus : quels impacts sur le cerveau ?


What we need is a sustainable politics of life


Brèves : En savoir plus sur le remdesivir


Bonne question : HAS, parlez-moi des tests !


Progress in the Quest to Improve Patient Safety through Simulation


docid: yvtmnjhe

title: Immune audit of COVID-19 at the department of ophthalmology of a tertiary hospital before deconfinement()


Covid-19 et difficultés d’accès à l’IVG


Tragic choices and the reallocation of ventilators


Brèves : 6-10 juillet 2020


Connaissez-vous l’Institut international des vaccins ?


docid: luyupuqm

title: Quand les Français redécouvrent la sérothérapie


Erratum to “The effectiveness of quarantine and isolation determine the trend of the COVID-19 epidemics in the final phase of the current outbreak in China” [Int J Infect Dis (2020) 288–293/4290]


Dental World [Image: see text]: Pierre Fauchard Academy


title: Effects of TLR agonists on immune responses in Trichinella spiralis infected mice

text: Human trichinellosis is acquired by eating raw or undercooked meats carrying muscle larvae of Trichinella spp. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are essential components of the innate immune system. However, little is known about the potential application of TLR agonists for immunotherapy against Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis) infection. Here, we evaluated the effects of four TLR agonists (i.e., TLR3, TLR4, TLR8, and TLR9 agonists) on T. spiralis infection in mice. The reduction rate of worm burden showed that TLR3 agonist poly(I:C) significantly reduced T. spiralis infection rather than TLR4, TLR8, and TLR9 agonists (p < 0.05). Moreover, TLR3 showed a continuous high-level of expression during 6–35 days post infection (dpi). The levels of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interleukin (IL)-2, and IL-6 increased significantly in mice serum compared with control group after treatment with TLR3 agonist at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 28, and 35 dpi (p < 0.05). A significant decreasing trend was also detected in levels of IL-10 and IL-4 after treatment with TLR3 agonist compared with control group at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 28, and 35 dpi (p < 0.05). Overall, this study suggested that TLR3-targeted therapies might be effective on worm burden reduction by regulation of the cytokine levels in the mice infected with T. spiralis.


title: The Russia–China entente and its future

text: The ‘strategic partnership’ between Moscow and Beijing is already more than two decades old and continues to evolve toward more consolidation, a trend which the coronavirus pandemic will only serve to accelerate. Its current state can be characterized as a quasi-alliance, or entente. The article first examines the Russia–China cooperation in the two most crucial areas—geo-economic and military. Then, it asks the question whether Moscow and Beijing could be on the verge of forming an alliance. The article proceeds to analyze the Russian–Chinese interaction in the areas of Eurasia where both of them have significant stakes and intersecting interests: East Asia, the post-Soviet space (with the focus on Central Asia), and the Arctic. Finally, the author draws up several scenarios envisioning the future of the Sino-Russian relationship.


docid: gbbsujiv

title: Het nieuwe normaal