Diagnosis in PANDAS: An Update

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-247
Author(s):  
Brenda Cabrera-Mendoza ◽  
Alma Delia Genis-Mendoza ◽  
Humberto Nicolini

Background: The last twenty years have seen major advancements in unraveling the etiology and the identification of biological markers of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococci (PANDAS). However, this body of evidence has not yet been translated into a clinical setting. Objective: We will review the most important studies to date on PANDAS, emphasizing those whose advances could improve the diagnosis of these disorders. We also suggest the need for updated diagnosis criteria integrating the recent findings from the hereby included studies. Methods: Consulting the PubMed database, a literature review of the last twenty-one years (between 1998 and 2019) was carried out using the terms “PANDAS” and “pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders” in combination with “diagnosis” and “markers”. The search resulted in 175 hits from which we selected clinical cases, original investigations, and clinical reviews. Results: This review offers a compilation of the most important studies performed to date regarding the clinical presentation and potential biological markers of PANDAS. Moreover, we suggest the refinement of some aspects in the current diagnosis criteria, such as focusing on specific symptoms and the inclusion of neuroimaging and peripheral markers. Conclusion: The identification of specific biological markers in PANDAS is crucial for its diagnosis and opportune treatment. Future research will determine whether PANDAS require separated diagnostic and therapeutic measures or if it should be included in recently proposed categories such as Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) or Childhood Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (CANS).

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 3112-3120
Author(s):  
Austin J. Ramme ◽  
Brennan J. Rourke ◽  
Christopher M. Larson ◽  
Asheesh Bedi

Background: The competitive environment of athletics has promoted the exploration of any technology application that may offer an edge with performance and recovery from injury. Ischemic therapy is one such technology that has rapidly been incorporated into training rooms and physical therapy clinics worldwide. This therapy modality is reported to increase an athlete’s ability to improve muscle mass, strength, and endurance. Purpose: To provide the sports medicine physician with an understanding of the current state of ischemic therapy technology, including treatment specifications, known physiological effects, hypothesized mechanisms, biochemical effects, athletic applications, medical applications, animal models, and future research recommendations. Study Design: Literature review. Methods: A computer-based search of the PubMed database was used to perform a comprehensive literature review on musculoskeletal ischemic therapy. Results: The current research on ischemic therapy is largely composed of case series with varying equipment, methods, and therapy specifications. The publication of case series has value in identifying this technology for future research, but the results of these studies should not be justification for application to athletes without validation of safety and effectiveness. Conclusion: To date, ischemic therapy remains unvalidated, and the mechanism by which it improves muscle performance is not clear.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Yousaf ◽  
Petr Bris

A systematic literature review (SLR) from 1991 to 2019 is carried out about EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) excellence model in this paper. The aim of the paper is to present state of the art in quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model that will guide future research lines in this field. The articles were searched with the help of six strings and these six strings were executed in three popular databases i.e. Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct. Around 584 peer-reviewed articles examined, which are directly linked with the subject of quantitative research on the EFQM excellence model. About 108 papers were chosen finally, then the purpose, data collection, conclusion, contributions, and type of quantitative of the selected papers are discussed and analyzed briefly in this study. Thus, this study identifies the focus areas of the researchers and knowledge gaps in empirical quantitative literature on the EFQM excellence model. This article also presents the lines of future research.


2009 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-69
Author(s):  
Shamas-Ur-Rehman Toor

Management from Islamic Perspectives (MIP) is an emerging field that has begun to attract scholarly attention. However, the research undertaken so far has been rather fragmented and lack a clear agenda. This paper presents a literature review of the field and the areas of current focus. Although the field has a huge growth potential, I argue that it faces several challenges and problems as it develops further. I outline these potential pitfalls, suggest how to develop MIP as a formal discipline, and explain how to integrate it within real-life business practices. The article closes with a call for research to be conducted in a more organized fashion through an international consortium of researchers as well as recommendations for future research directions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masood Ghori ◽  
Nadya O. Al Matrooshi ◽  
Samir Al Jabbari ◽  
Ahmed Bafadel ◽  
Gopal Bhatnagar

: Infective Endocarditis (IE), a known complication of hemodialysis (HD), has recently been categorized as Healthcare-Associated Infective Endocarditis (HAIE). Single pathogen bacteremia is common, polymicrobial endocardial infection is rare in this cohort of the patients. We report a case of endocarditis caused by Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) and Burkholderia cepacia (B. cepacia), a first ever reported combination of a usual and an unusual organism, respectively, in a patient on HD. Clinical presentation of the patient, its complicated course ,medical and surgical management ,along with microbial and echocardiographic findings is presented herein. The authors believe that presentation of this case of HAIE may benefit and contribute positively to cardiac science owing to the rare encounter of this organism as a pathogen in infective endocarditis and the difficulties in treating it.


Author(s):  
P. Bhavani ◽  
T. G. Amuthavally

The research for the review of literature is one of the first and foremost important steps in the research process. The search for related literature is a time consuming but fruitful phase of any research programme. In this article, the researcher was made an attempt to present findings from the collected related literature on parenting styles and emotional intelligence of adolescents. The main motto behind this article is to review of related literature from 1990 to till date. The paper also summarizes the findings of the studies on Emotional Intelligence and Parenting Styles giving a direction for future research.


Author(s):  
James C.  Root ◽  
Elizabeth Ryan ◽  
Tim A. Ahles

As the population of cancer survivors has grown into the millions, there is increasing emphasis on understanding how late effects of treatment impact survivors’ ability return to work/school, ability to function and live independently, and overall quality of life. Cognitive changes are one of the most feared problems among cancer survivors. This chapter describes the growing literature examining cognitive changes associated with non-central nervous system cancer and cancer treatment. Typical elements of cancer treatment are discussed, followed by a description of clinical presentation, self-reported and objectively assessed cognitive findings, and results of structural and functional neuroimaging research. Genetic and other risk factors for cognitive decline following treatment are identified and discussed, together with biomarkers and animal models of treatment-related effects. This is followed by a discussion of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments. Finally, challenges and recommendations for future research are provided to help guide subsequent research and theoretical models.


Author(s):  
Mariek Vanden Abeele

Recent empirical work suggests that phubbing, a term used to describe the practice of snubbing someone with a phone during a face-to-face social interaction, harms the quality of social relationships. Based on a comprehensive literature review, this chapter presents a framework that integrates three concurrent mechanisms that explain the relational impact of phubbing: expectancy violations, ostracism, and attentional conflict. Based on this framework, theoretically grounded propositions are formulated that may serve as guidelines for future research on these mechanisms, the conditions under which they operate, and a number of potential issues that need to be considered to further validate and extend the framework.


Author(s):  
Anuj Dixit ◽  
Srikanta Routroy ◽  
Sunil Kumar Dubey

Purpose This paper aims to review the healthcare supply chain (HSC) literature along various areas and to find out the gap in it. Design/methodology/approach In total, 143 research papers were reviewed during 1996-2017. A critical review was carried out in various dimensions such as research methodologies/data collection method (empirical, case study and literature review) and inquiry mode of research methodology (qualitative, quantitative and mixed), country-specific, targeted area, research aim and year of publication. Findings Supply chain (SC) operations, performance measurement, inventory management, lean and agile operation, and use of information technology were well studied and analyzed, however, employee and customer training, tracking and visibility of medicines, cold chain management, human resource practices, risk management and waste management are felt to be important areas but not much attention were made in this direction. Research limitations/implications Mainly drug and vaccine SC were considered in current study of HSC while SC along healthcare equipment and machine, hospitality and drug manufacturing related papers were excluded in this study. Practical implications This literature review has recognized and analyzed various issues relevant to HSC and shows the direction for future research to develop an efficient and effective HSC. Originality/value The insight of various aspects of HSC was explored in general for better and deeper understanding of it for designing of an efficient and competent HSC. The outcomes of the study may form a basis to decide direction of future research.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 250
Author(s):  
Louise Witteman ◽  
Herman A. van Wietmarschen ◽  
Esther T. van der Werf

Due to the excessive use of antibiotic and antimycotic treatments, the risk of resistant microbes and fungi is rapidly emerging. Previous studies have demonstrated that many women with (recurrent) urinary tract infection (UTI) and/or vaginal infections (VIs) welcome alternative management approaches to reduce the use of antibiotics and antifungals and avoid short- and long-term adverse effects. This study aims to determine which complementary medicine (CM) and self-care strategies are being used by women suffering from (recurrent) UTI and VI in The Netherlands and how they perceive their effectiveness in order to define directions for future research on safety, cost-effectiveness, and implementation of best practices. A cross-sectional online survey was performed among women, ≥18 years old, with a history of UTIs; 162 respondents were included in the data analysis, with most participants aged between 50 and 64 years (36.4%). The women reported having consulted a CM practitioner for UTI-specific symptoms (23.5%) and VI-specific symptoms (13.6%). Consultations of homeopaths, acupuncturists, and herbal physicians are most often reported. Overall, 81.7% of the women suffering from UTI used complementary or self-care strategies besides regular treatment, and 68.7% reported using CM/self-care strategies to treat vaginal symptoms. UTI- related use of cranberries (51.9%), vitamin C (43.8%), and D-mannose (32.7%) were most reported. Perceived effectiveness was mostly reported for homeopathic remedies and D-mannose. The results showed a substantial burden of UTI and VI on daily and sexual activities. Besides the frequency of use, the indication of perceived effectiveness seems to be an important parameter for further and rigorously designed research to encourage nonantibiotic/antifungal treatment implementation into daily clinical practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 563
Author(s):  
Bing Ran ◽  
Scott Weller

Despite the growing utility and prevalence of social entrepreneurship, an accepted definition remains elusive and infeasible. Yet, it is imperative that the principles guiding social entrepreneurship are identified so that common ground is established to facilitate future research. On the basis of a systematic literature review, this conceptual paper proposes a theoretical framework outlining social entrepreneurship as a three-dimensional framework as a function of continua of “social” and “business” logics, “beneficial” and “detrimental” social change logics, and “innovation” and “mundane” logics. The framework accommodates the fuzziness and ambiguity associated with social entrepreneurship whilst remaining a workable, identifiable construct. By accounting for the shifting logics practiced by social entrepreneurship that both influence and are influenced by the organizational environment, this framework provides an exit strategy for the definitional elusiveness of social entrepreneurship. The resultant structures and functions of social entrepreneurship are shaped by these constraints as reflected by the fluidity and flexibility endorsed by the framework. Four avenues for future research regarding social entrepreneurship are recommended on the basis of the framework proposed in this article.


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