scholarly journals Spinning straw into gold: description of a disruptive rheumatology research platform inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Boekel ◽  
F. Hooijberg ◽  
E. H. Vogelzang ◽  
P. L. Klarenbeek ◽  
W. H. Bos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Care ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Blood Collection ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Rheumatology Research ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Research Platform ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Tailored Information

AbstractClinical research projects often use traditional methods in which data collection and signing informed consent forms rely on patients’ visits to the research institutes. However, during challenging times when the medical community is in dire need of information, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes more urgent to use digital platforms that can rapidly collect data on large numbers of patients. In the current manuscript, we describe a novel digital rheumatology research platform, consisting of almost 5000 patients with autoimmune diseases and healthy controls, that was set up rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but which is sustainable for the future. Using this platform, uniform patient data can be collected via questionnaires and stored in a single database readily available for analysis. In addition, the platform facilitates two-way communication between patients and researchers, so patients become true research partners. Furthermore, blood collection via a finger prick for routine and specific laboratory measurements has been implemented in this large cohort of patients, which may not only be applicable for research settings but also for clinical care. Finally, we discuss the challenges and potential future applications of our platform, including supplying tailored information to selected patient groups and facilitation of patient recruitment for clinical trials.

Telemedicine in pediatric and perinatal cardiology: Economic evaluation of a service in English hospitals

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Dowie ◽  
Hema Mistry ◽  
Tracey A. Young ◽  
Gwyn C. Weatherburn ◽  
Helena M. Gardiner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Children ◽  
Telemedicine Service ◽  
Clinical Events ◽  
District Hospitals ◽  
Nonsignificant Difference ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Mean Cost

Objectives:Pediatric cardiology has an expanding role in fetal and pediatric screening. The aims of this study were to observe how district hospitals use a pediatric telecardiology service, and to compare the costs and outcomes of patients referred to specialists by means of this service or conventionally.Methods:A telemedicine service was set up between a pediatric cardiac center in London and four district hospitals for referrals of second trimester women, newborn babies, and older children. Clinicians in each hospital decided on the role for their service. Clinical events were audited prospectively and costed, and patient surveys were conducted.Results:The hospitals differed in their selection of patient groups for the service. In all, 117 telemedicine patients were compared with 387 patients seen in London or in outreach clinics. Patients selected for telemedicine were generally healthier. For all patients, the mean cost for the initial consultation was £411 for tele-referrals and £277 for conventional referrals, a nonsignificant difference. Teleconsultations for women and children were significantly more expensive because of technology costs, whereas for babies, ambulance transfers were much more costly. After 6-months follow-up, the difference between referral methods for all patients was nonsignificant (telemedicine, £3,350; conventional referrals, £2,172), and nonsignificant within the patient groups.Conclusions:Telemedicine was perceived by cardiologists, district clinicians, and families as reliable and efficient. The equivocal 6-month cost results indicate that investment in the technology is warranted to enhance pediatric and perinatal cardiology services.

scholarly journals Iberian pig adaptation to acorn consumption: I. Net portal appearance of metabolites

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ignacio Fernández-Fígares ◽  
Jose Miguel Rodríguez-López ◽  
Lucrecia González-Valero ◽  
Manuel Lachica
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Period ◽  
Metabolic Energy ◽  
Blood Collection ◽  
Standard Diet ◽  
Deficient Diet ◽  
Protein Energy ◽  
Sampling Session ◽  
Protein Deficient Diet ◽  
Portal Plasma ◽  
Set Up

Most valuable cured products from Iberian pigs come from pure bred animals raised for a final grazing-fattening period where pigs eat mainly acorns, a low protein energy rich fruit. This is a nutritional challenge for animals fed equilibrated diets from weaning. The aim of the study was to determine net portal appearance (NPA) of metabolites in gilts fed acorns and evaluate adaptational changes after one week of feeding. Two sampling periods were carried out (after one day and after one week of acorn feeding) with six gilts (34 kg average BW) set up with three catheters: in carotid artery and portal vein for blood sampling, and ileal vein for para-aminohippuric acid (PAH) infusion to measure portal plasma flow (PPF). Pigs were fed at 2.5 × ME for maintenance a standard diet in two portions, at 09:00 (0.25) and 15:00 h (the remaining 0.75). On the day prior to the first sampling period, pigs were fed 2.4 kg of oak acorns. After feeding 0.25 of ration a 6 h serial blood collection was initiated. Following an identical protocol, a second sampling session was performed 1 week later. Adaptation to acorn consumption decreased NPA of ammonia (47%,P < 0.001). Although there was a transfer of urea from the gastrointestinal tract to the circulation in both sampling periods, no differences in NPA of urea was found (P > 0.05). NPA of glucose was not influenced by sampling period (P > 0.05), but NPA of lactate was greatly increased (231%,P < 0.001). There was a negative NPA of albumin although adaptation to acorn feeding did not alter it. Although NPA of triglycerides and cholesterol were unchanged, a subtle increase in arterial and portal cholesterol was noticed (9.6%,P < 0.01). Pigs fed a protein deficient diet for one week adapted decreasing NPA of ammonia for saving metabolic energy as less ammonia would become available for conversion to urea.

scholarly journals PLATFORM COOPS NOW!: A team entrepreneurship capacity building program to create platform coops

2021 ◽  
pp. 135-156
Author(s):  
Liher Pillado Arbide ◽  
Ander Etxeberria Aranburu ◽  
Giovanni Tokarski
Keyword(s):  
Capacity Building ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
New School ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The World ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The One ◽  
Building Program ◽  
Capacity Building Program

Traditional labour relationships have been disrupted due to the digital platforms based businesses. This article aims on the one hand to share the consequences the sharing economy has generated for workers, and how MONDRAGON’s principles as one of the best examples of worker owned business group in the world, can be applied within the new digital era. On the other hand, this paper provides a literature review on how digital platforms can operate with fairer principles based on the framework that platform coops consist of. Last but not least, Mondragon University and The New School have set up a capacity building program on team entrepreneurship and an online incubation program that aims to support the creation of platform coops, whose results after two editions and future opportunities for research are shared.

scholarly journals Effects of Malaise trap spacing on species richness and composition of terrestrial arthropod bulk samples

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Steinke ◽  
TWA Braukmann ◽  
L Manerus ◽  
A Woodhouse ◽  
V Elbrecht
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
Collection Efficiency ◽  
Malaise Trap ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
A Site ◽  
Malaise Traps

AbstractThe Malaise trap has gained popularity for assessing diverse terrestrial arthropod communities because it collects large samples with modest effort. A number of factors that influence collection efficiency, placement being one of them. For instance, when designing larger biotic surveys using arrays of Malaise traps we need to know the optimal distance between individual traps that maximises observable species richness and community composition. We examined the influence of spacing between Malaise traps by metabarcoding samples from two field experiments at a site in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. For one experiment, we used two trap pairs deployed at weekly increasing distance (3m increments from 3 to 27 m). The second experiment involved a total of 10 traps set up in a row at 3m distance intervals for three consecutive weeks.Results show that community similarity of samples decreases over distance between traps. The amount of species shared between trap pairs shows drops considerably at about 15m trap-to-trap distance. This change can be observed across all major taxonomic groups and for two different habitat types (grassland and forest). Large numbers of OTUs found only once within samples cause rather large dissimilarity between distance pairs even at close proximity. This could be caused by a large number of transient species from adjacent habitat which arrive at the trap through passive transport, as well as capture of rare taxa, which end up in different traps by chance.

Small-Scale Gradients in Big River: Implications for a State-of-the-Art Research Platform in the Elbe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sina Bold ◽  
Justus E.E. van Beusekom ◽  
Yoana G. Voynova ◽  
Marius Cysewski ◽  
Bryce Van Dam ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Ammonium Phosphate ◽  
Total Alkalinity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Suspended Particulate ◽  
Research Platform ◽  
Biogeochemical Parameters ◽  
Art Research ◽  
Set Up

&lt;p&gt;Estuaries are crucial in transforming matter fluxes from land to sea. To better understand and quantify these processes and respective fluxes, it is important to determine the input into an estuary accurately. To allow for such studies in the Elbe estuary in Germany, a state-of-the-art research platform is currently being set-up just upstream of the weir in Geesthacht at the entrance of the estuary. Here, we report on small-scale spatial dynamics of organic matter and associated processes from several cross and longitudinal profiles around the planned location and the implications for the set-up of the aforementioned research platform.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Based on preliminary data obtained in August 2020 during a period of relatively low discharge, we present the following results: (1) In three cross profiles along a 10 km transect of the Elbe upstream of the weir, we observed considerable small-scale gradients regarding currents and various biogeochemical parameters. In comparison to the fairway, water from the riverbanks was depleted in suspended particulate matter, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen, and nitrate, and enhanced in ammonium, phosphate and silicate, as well as total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon paralleled by decreasing pH. This suggests that in the summer, organic matter is deposited and remineralised at the riverbanks, resulting in the release of ammonium, phosphate and silicate, and in the removal of nitrate, presumably by denitrification. (2) Along the 10 km transect towards the weir, we observed that concentrations of suspended particulate matter, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and pH were decreasing. In contrast, we found that ammonium, phosphate and silicate, total alkalinity and dissolved inorganic carbon increased towards the weir. This suggests an increased sedimentation and subsequent remineralisation due to the reduced flow velocities in front of the weir. (3) An analysis of a 10-year time series from the weir supports this by showing higher ammonium concentrations when discharges were relatively low. The implications of these findings for the set-up of the research platform in this area, as well as for optimising estimates of budgets are discussed. The research platform will contribute to understand further such variations in biogeochemical parameters at the entrance of the Elbe estuary over time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The research platform is set-up in cooperation with the Helmholtz initiative MOSES (&amp;#8220;Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems&amp;#8220;) and will be incorporated in the Elbe-North Sea Supersite of DANUBIUS-RI (&amp;#8220;International Centre for Advanced Studies on River-Sea Systems&amp;#8220;). Funding is provided by European Regional Development Funds, the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, the Helmholtz Association and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht. The research platform, planned to be operational in autumn 2021, will also be open for users e.g. to develop and test new methods and technologies. Data will be made available through the &amp;#8220;Helmholtz Coastal Data Centre&amp;#8221; (HCDC).&lt;/p&gt;

Digital Platforms

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-43 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Business Model ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Research Platform ◽  
Key Aspects

This chapter reviews the following key aspects of platform research: platform strategy, dynamic capabilities, and business models. The main platform typologies and basic definitions are described first. It provides a brief summary of the literature relating to arguing platform strategy, platform life cycle, platform building blocks, and business models. A platform strategy categorization taxonomy and platform practical strategies of preventing platform disintermediation are developed. The main types of platform business models are introduced. The multi-sided platform business model pattern (MSP BMP) is designed. MSP BMP is used as a basic conceptual framework and knowledge management tool for describing, analyzing, and interpreting non-price instruments used by digital platforms, especially platform intermediaries.

Cooperative strategies in the platform economy

2019 ◽  
pp. 123-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Child ◽  
David Faulkner ◽  
Stephen Tallman ◽  
Linda Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Platform Governance ◽  
Cooperative Strategies ◽  
Asymmetric Growth ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Platform System ◽  
Innovation Platform

Chapter 6 analyzes a new form of economy, enabled by ICTs, digital platforms, and smart devices to connect transactors (sharers or buyers and sellers) who may not have been able to cooperate otherwise. It provides an overview of the phenomenon of “the platform revolution” (from classic value chain logic to platform business logic). It goes on to explain different types of platform (innovation platform, transaction platform, integration platform), the principles of platform business (network effects, the distribution power law, asymmetric growth and competition) and the tacit cooperative strategies of suppliers, platform providers, and customers. Cooperation is tacit—providers do not interact and customers do not interact, except through ratings. The platform system is set up to maintain this condition. The chapter concludes with an overview of platform governance.

European biologics registers

2020 ◽  
pp. 535-544
Author(s):  
Angela Zink ◽  
Anja Strangfeld
Keyword(s):  
Tumour Necrosis ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Clinical Effectiveness ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Biologic Agents ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Biologic Therapies ◽  
Serious Infections ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
Necrosis Factor

Over the last 15 years, the European biologics registers have greatly increased our knowledge of the safety and effectiveness of biologic therapies in daily practice. They have convincingly shown that tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors do not increase the overall risk of solid or lymphoproliferative tumours. However, a slight increase in the risk of skin cancer cannot be ruled out. A higher risk of serious infections compared to csDMARDs has been identified which has to be taken into account in clinical care. The registers have identified the great impact of uncontrolled high disease activity on the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and overall mortality which underlines the importance of tight disease control. By their clinical effectiveness, the biologic agents therefore have the potential to prevent adverse outcomes. Overall, a favourable benefit-risk profile of TNFi and other biological agents has been observed, with some specific precautions in defined patient groups.

scholarly journals How to design and set up a clinical trial part 1: the research question

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Amarpreet Atwal ◽  
Philip E Benson
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Clinical Relevance ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Relevant Information ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Set Up

Data from clinical trials involving human participants are essential in establishing an evidence base about the safety and effectiveness of our treatments. This first article describes the steps involved in designing and setting up a clinical trial, from establishing the research question(s) to searching the literature. Acquiring some knowledge about how to set up a clinical trial will allow the conscientious clinician to use the most relevant information to provide the highest possible standards of clinical care for his/her patients. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Even if a clinician is not, has never been, nor is ever planning to be involved in research, he/she should understand and be able to interpret the data from clinical trials.

Rapid Photon-Excited Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis for Solid and Liquid Mineralogical Samples

1975 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 267-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Ratyński ◽  
J. Parus ◽  
J. Tys ◽  
A. Ciszek
Keyword(s):  
Fluorescence Analysis ◽  
Semiconductor Detectors ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Copper Ore ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Important Benefit ◽  
Versatile Tool ◽  
On Line ◽  
Set Up

X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy is new becoming a tool in research and. industry. Semiconductor detectors are proving valuable in measuring fluorescent X rays, and so are providing a versatile tool for rapid multielement analysis of many types of samples. This paper will mainly be concerned with, different types of copper ore. An experimental setup has been designed to determine Cu, Fe and Pb of concentration ranging from 0.1 to 20, to 5, and to 4 percent, respectively, with analytical precision of 20% relative at 0.1% Cu, and 3% relative at 20% Cu. For excitation a 100 mCi Pu-238 source and/or a low power air-cooled X-ray tube were used. Data acquisition and “on-line” evaluation for each sample takes about 100 seconds. Electronics blocks and sub-systems used In the set-up are available commercially. The most important benefit to be obtained from the setup is the ability to provide precise, reproducible determinations of large numbers of samples day after day.

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