scholarly journals ID Learning Unit: Understanding and Interpreting Testing for Clostridium difficile

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Solomon ◽  
Danny A. Milner

Abstract Understanding and interpreting the molecular tests for Clostridium difficile is challenging because there are several different types of assays and most laboratories combine multiple tests in order to assess for presence of disease. This learning unit demonstrates the basic principles of each test along with its strengths and weaknesses, and illustrates how the tests are used in clinical practice.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 118-120
Author(s):  
W. Wölwer ◽  
W. Gaebel ◽  
V. Toeller

Summary Background: The provision of mental healthcare for patients with schizophrenia is still characterized both by knowledge gaps and by treatment gaps in everyday clinical practice. Aim: This article discusses the different types of treatment gaps in schizophrenia and describes actions taken to overcome these gaps especially in Europe.


Author(s):  
Б.И. Гельцер ◽  
Э.В. Слабенко ◽  
Ю.В. Заяц ◽  
В.Н. Котельников

Одним из основных требований к разработке экспериментальных моделей цереброваскулярных заболеваний является их максимальная приближенность к реальной клинической практике. В работе систематизированы данные по основным методам моделирования острой ишемии головного мозга (ОИГМ), представлена их классификация, анализируются данные о преимуществах и недостатках той или иной модели. Обсуждаются результаты экспериментальных исследований по изучению патогенеза ОИГМ с использованием различных моделей (полной и неполной глобальной, локальной и мультифокальной ишемии) и способов их реализации (перевязка артерий, клипирование, коагуляция, эмболизация и др.). Особое внимание уделяется «стабильности» последствий острого нарушения мозгового кровообращения: необратимых ишемических повреждений головного мозга или обратимых с реперфузией заданной продолжительности. Отмечается, что важное значение в этих исследованиях должно принадлежать современным методам прижизненной визуализации очагов острого ишемического повреждения, что позволяет оценивать динамику патологического процесса. Предлагаемый метод отвечает требованиям гуманного обращения с животными. Подчеркивается, что выбор релевантной модели ОИГМ определяется задачами предстоящего исследования и технологическими ресурсами научной лаборатории. Development of experimental models for acute forms of cerebrovascular diseases is essential for implementation of methods for their prevention and treatment. One of the principal requirements to such models is their maximum approximation to actual clinical practice. This review systematized major models of acute cerebral ischemia (ACI), their classification, and presented information about their advantages and shortcomings. Also, the review presented results of experimental studies on pathophysiological mechanisms of different types of modeled ACI (complete and incomplete global, local, and multifocal ischemia) and methods for creating these models (arterial ligation, clipping, coagulation, embolization, etc.). Particular attention was paid to “stability” of the consequences of acutely impaired cerebral circulation - an irreversible ischemic brain injury or a reversible injury with reperfusion of a given duration. The authors emphasized that in such studies, a special significance should be given to intravital imaging of acute ischemic damage foci using modern methods, which allow assessing the dynamics of the pathological process and meet the requirements to humane treatment of animals. The choice of a relevant ACI model is determined by objectives of the planned study and the technological resources available at the research laboratory.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 587-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Santangelo ◽  
Alessandro Dell'Edera ◽  
Arianna Sala ◽  
Giordano Cecchetti ◽  
Federico Masserini ◽  
...  

Background: The incoming disease-modifying therapies against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) require reliable diagnostic markers to correctly enroll patients all over the world. CSF AD biomarkers, namely amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42), total tau (t-tau), and tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (p-tau181), showed good diagnostic accuracy in detecting AD pathology, but their real usefulness in daily clinical practice is still a matter of debate. Therefore, further validation in complex clinical settings, that is patients with different types of dementia, is needed to uphold their future worldwide adoption. Methods: We measured CSF AD biomarkers’ concentrations in a sample of 526 patients with a clinical diagnosis of dementia (277 with AD and 249 with Other Type of Dementia, OTD). Brain FDG-PET was also considered in a subsample of 54 patients with a mismatch between the clinical diagnosis and the CSF findings. Results: A p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio higher than 0.13 showed the best diagnostic performance in differentiating AD from OTD (86% accuracy index, 74% sensitivity, 81% specificity). In cases with a mismatch between clinical diagnosis and CSF findings, brain FDG-PET partially agreed with the p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio, thus determining an increase in CSF accuracy. Conclusions: The p-tau181/Aβ42 ratio alone might reliably detect AD pathology in heterogeneous samples of patients suffering from different types of dementia. It might constitute a simple, cost-effective and reproducible in vivo proxy of AD suitable to be adopted worldwide not only in daily clinical practice but also in future experimental trials, to avoid the enrolment of misdiagnosed AD patients.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 380-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Guglielmelli ◽  
Giada Rotunno ◽  
Annalisa Pacilli ◽  
Alessandro Maria Vannucchi

Author(s):  
Raseen Tariq ◽  
Renee M. Weatherly ◽  
Patricia P. Kammer ◽  
Darrell S. Pardi ◽  
Sahil Khanna

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1960 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 887-890

POSTGRADUATE COURSE A continuous course of 2 weeks duration is being offered by the Departments of Allergy and Applied Immunology of the Temple University Medical Center and the Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Sessions will be held daily at the Temple University Medical Center from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from February 27 to March 10, 1961. Tuition Fee—$175.00. Enrollment limited. An outstanding faculty has been assembled to review the basic principles of immunology and allergy as applied to clinical practice.


Author(s):  
Ilaria Teobaldi ◽  
Vincenzo Stoico ◽  
Fabrizia Perrone ◽  
Massimiliano Bruti ◽  
Enzo Bonora ◽  
...  

Summary Honey has been used as a wound dressing for hundreds of years by ancient civilizations, but only recently it has acquired scientific interest because of its relevant biological properties. In the last decade, indeed, several trials and observational studies have reported that, compared to conventional treatment (e.g. antiseptics, polyurethane film, paraffin gauze, soframycin-impregnated gauze), honey dressings seem to be better in healing time of different types of wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers. However, to date, information about a potential favorable biological effect of honey dressings on diabetic ulcers with exposed tendon are still scarce. Notably, foot or leg ulcers with exposed tendon are serious complications in patients with type 2 diabetes, as they are associated with an increased risk of adverse outcome. Therefore, the use of effective and safe treatments to bring these lesions to timely healing is very important in clinical practice. We herein report the case of a Caucasian adult patient with type 2 diabetes presenting a chronic right posterior lower limb ulcer (Texas University Classification (TUC) 2D) with tendon exposure that was successfully treated with honey dressings (glucose oxidase (GOX) positive with peroxide activity) in addition to systemic antibiotic therapy, surgical toilette and skin graft. In our case, the use of honey dressing for treating exposed tendon tissue probably allowed the timely wound healing. Although further studies are required, such treatment may constitute part of the comprehensive management of diabetic wounds, including those with tendon exposure, and should be considered by clinicians in clinical practice. Learning points: Honey has been used as a wound dressing for hundreds of years, but only recently it has acquired scientific interest for its biological properties. Several studies have documented that, compared to conventional dressings, honey seems to be better in healing time of different types of wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers. Our case report is the first to highlight the importance to use honey dressings also for the treatment of ulcers with tendon exposure in patients with type 2 diabetes, suggesting that this kind of dressing should be considered by clinicians in clinical practice.


2019 ◽  
pp. 409-422
Author(s):  
Xiu-Min Li ◽  
Henry Ehrlich ◽  
Paul Ehrlich ◽  
Anne Maitland ◽  
Erin Thanik ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-29
Author(s):  
L. Samarska ◽  
◽  
N.M. Sas ◽  

The choice of the article’s topic is conditioned by the necessity to develop happiness management (such as knowledge management, time management, etc.). With considerable attention to the definition of “happiness”, the analysis of recent publications reveals that it is crucial to understand the deep foundations of happiness, create a typology, reveal the basic principles of different types of understanding of happiness, which was chosen as the topic research. Theoretical approaches to the definition of “happiness” are chosen sociology of imagination of G. Durand, the theory of archetypes of C. Jung, and the theory of images and dreams of G. Bachelard. In the context of this system of views, the idea of happiness is the result of a free play of the imagination, which, while being on the path from past to future, is transformed, revealed, comes accurate as a result of previous collective and individual intermediate ideas, and is enriched and concretised by individual people, social groups, individuals. The mythos of happiness across nations and people differs in the way, method, and tools of individuation, the discovery of the Self. The anthropological tract of happiness has an end to its existence. It is determined by the cessation of existence, the life of nations and individuals. The desire to experience pleasure (according to Freud), the desire to rise (according to Durand) are reflexive, which determines the physiological basis of happiness. Representations of happiness determine priorities, coordinate the direction of thinking, actions, reactions to external circumstances, and choose ways to achieve happiness. This is done through the transcendental function (according to Jung) – a psychological function that arises from the connection of the content of the unconscious with the content of consciousness. Achieving happiness allows one to strengthen the subjectivity and reveal their uniqueness, which allows them to identify typological features (archetypes) of behavioural reactions of people based on individual and group ideas about happiness. The authors reveal the basic foundations of such archetypes of happiness as hedonism, eudemonia, “rat racing”, nihilism, subjective well-being.


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