scholarly journals Identification of the Prodromal Symptoms and Pre-Ataxic Stage in Cerebellar Disorders: The Next Challenge

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 10057
Author(s):  
Mario Manto ◽  
Aasef G. Shaikh ◽  
Hiroshi Mitoma
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Prodromal Phase ◽  
Prodromal Symptoms ◽  
Cerebellar Ataxias ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Anatomical Restoration ◽  
Cerebellar Disorders ◽  
Neuroprotective Therapies

Cerebellar ataxias (CAs) manifest with a combination of motor incoordination, cognitive, affective and recently identified social symptoms. Novel therapies aim to stop the progression of the subgroup of the degenerative ataxias, or even to cure the disease with a functional and anatomical restoration of the cerebellar circuitry in the near future. The goal of stopping the progression of the disease is particularly relevant if applied at a very early stage of the disease, when the cerebellar reserve is only slightly impaired. Therefore, the search of the prodromal phase or pre-ataxic stage of CAs represents a very important challenge for the scientific community. The identification of pre-manifest individuals and the recruitment of individuals at risk has become a key-challenge to address neuroprotective therapies. The feasibility is high due to the recent progress in the biological and morphological biomarkers of CAs.

Prodromal Symptoms in Depression: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Giada Benasi ◽  
Giovanni A. Fava ◽  
Jenny Guidi
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Unipolar Depression ◽  
Prodromal Phase ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Prodromal Symptoms ◽  
Clinical Issue ◽  
Residual Symptoms ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Staging Model ◽  
Depressive Episodes

<b><i>Introduction</i></b>: Appraisal of prodromal symptoms of unipolar depression may complement the traditional cross-sectional approach and provide a longitudinal perspective, according to a staging model of the illness. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> To provide an updated systematic review of clinical studies concerned with prodromal symptoms of unipolar depression, according to PRISMA guidelines. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Keyword searches were conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Longitudinal studies on prodromal symptoms and signs in adult patients primarily diagnosed with unipolar depression were selected. Findings were examined separately according to study design (i.e., retrospective or prospective). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Twenty-five studies met the criteria for inclusion in this systematic review. Findings indicate that a distinct prodromal symptomatology – commonly characterized by anxiety, tension, irritability, and somatic complaints – exists before the onset of unipolar depression. The duration of the prodromal phase was highly variable across studies, ranging from less than a month to several years. Prodromal symptoms profile and duration were consistent within individuals across depressive episodes. There was a close relationship between prodromal and residual symptoms of the same depressive episode. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The present systematic review addresses an important, and yet relatively neglected, clinical issue that deserves further investigation and may be of immediate practical value. The findings provide challenging insights into the pathogenesis and course of unipolar depression, which may result in more timely and effective treatment of recurrences. The definition of a prodromal phase in depression would benefit from the joint use of symptom identification, biomarkers, and neuroimaging.

scholarly journals Experts’ opinion on the detection and management of prediabetes in Lebanon

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 003685042110294
Author(s):  
Emile Andari ◽  
Paola Atallah ◽  
Sami Azar ◽  
Akram Echtay ◽  
Selim Jambart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Preliminary Report ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Lifestyle Modifications ◽  
Multiple Tests ◽  
Lebanese Population ◽  
To Come ◽  
Near Future

Given that the complications of type 2 diabetes can start at an early stage, early detection and appropriate management of prediabetes are essential. We aimed to develop an expert opinion on prediabetes in Lebanon to pave the way for national guidelines tailored for the Lebanese population in the near future. A panel of seven diabetes experts conducted a thorough literature review and discussed their opinions and experiences before coming up with a set of preliminary recommendations for the detection and management of prediabetes in Lebanon. Lebanese physicians employ multiple tests for the diagnosis of prediabetes and no national cut-off values exist. The panel agreed that prediabetes screening should be focused on patients exceeding 45 years of age with otherwise no risk factors and on adults with risk factors. The panel reached that fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and HbA1c should be used for prediabetes diagnosis in Lebanon. FPG values of 100–125 mg/dL or HbA1c values of 5.7%–6.4% were agreed upon as indicative of prediabetes. For the management of prediabetes, a three-step approach constituting lifestyle modifications, pharmacological treatment and bariatric surgery is recommended. There should be more focus on research on prediabetes in Lebanon. This preliminary report will be further discussed with the Lebanese Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Lipids in 2021 in order to come up with the first Lebanese national guidelines for the detection and management of prediabetes in Lebanon.

scholarly journals Blockchain Applications in Agribusiness: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
Geneci da Silva Ribeiro Rocha ◽  
Letícia de Oliveira ◽  
Edson Talamini
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Economic Sectors ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Near Future

Blockchain is a technology that can be applied in different sectors to solve various problems. As a complex system, agribusiness presents many possibilities to take advantage of blockchain technology. The main goal of this paper is to identify the purposes for which blockchain has been applied in the agribusiness sector, for which a PRISMA-based systematic review was carried out. The scientific literature corpus was accessed and selected from Elsevier’s Scopus and ISI of Knowledge’s Web of Science (WoS) platforms, using the PRISMA protocol procedures. Seventy-one articles were selected for analysis. Blockchain application in agribusiness is a novel topic, with the first publication dating from 2016. The technological development prevails more than blockchain applications since it has been addressed mainly in the Computer Sciences and Engineering. Blockchain applications for agribusiness management of financial, energy, logistical, environmental, agricultural, livestock, and industrial purposes have been reported in the literature. The findings suggest that blockchain brings many benefits when used in agribusiness supply chains. We concluded that the research on blockchain applications in agribusiness is only at an early stage, as many prototypes are being developed and tested in the laboratory. In the near future, blockchain will be increasingly applied across all economic sectors, including agribusiness, promoting greater reliability and agility in information with a reduced cost. Several gaps for future studies were observed, with significant value for science, industry, and society.

scholarly journals ORi™: a new indicator of oxygenation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Ishida ◽  
Toshio Okada ◽  
Takayuki Kobayashi ◽  
Hiroyuki Uchino
Keyword(s):  
Respiratory Function ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Anesthetic Management ◽  
Perioperative Period ◽  
Arterial Oxygen ◽  
Reserve Capacity ◽  
Monitoring Method ◽  
Unit Scale ◽  
Noninvasive Monitor ◽  
Near Future

AbstractIn the perioperative period, hypoxemia and hyperoxia are crucial factors that require attention, because they greatly affect patient prognoses. The pulse oximeter has been the only noninvasive monitor that can be used as a reference of oxygenation in current anesthetic management; however, in recent years, a new monitoring method that uses the oxygen reserve index (ORi™) has been developed by Masimo Corp. ORi is an index that reflects the state of moderate hyperoxia (partial pressure of arterial oxygen [PaO2] between 100 and 200 mmHg) using a non-unit scale between 0.00 and 1.00. ORi monitoring performed together with percutaneous oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurements may become an important technique in the field of anesthetic management, for measuring oxygenation reserve capacity. By measuring ORi, it is possible to predict hypoxemia and to detect hyperoxia at an early stage. In this review, we summarize the method of ORi, cautions for its use, and suitable cases for its use. In the near future, the monitoring of oxygen concentrations using ORi may become increasingly common for the management of respiratory function before, after, and during surgery.

scholarly journals Slow Motion Analysis of Repetitive Tapping (SMART) Test: Measuring Bradykinesia in Recently Diagnosed Parkinson’s Disease and Idiopathic Anosmia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Cristina Simonet ◽  
Miquel A. Galmes ◽  
Christian Lambert ◽  
Richard N. Rees ◽  
Tahrina Haque ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Rating Scales ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Motor Dysfunction ◽  
Prodromal Phase ◽  
Floor Effect ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Early Stages

Background: Bradykinesia is the defining motor feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD). There are limitations to its assessment using standard clinical rating scales, especially in the early stages of PD when a floor effect may be observed. Objective: To develop a quantitative method to track repetitive tapping movements and to compare people in the early stages of PD, healthy controls, and individuals with idiopathic anosmia. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 99 participants (early-stage PD = 26, controls = 64, idiopathic anosmia = 9). For each participant, repetitive finger tapping was recorded over 20 seconds using a smartphone at 240 frames per second. From each video, amplitude between fingers, frequency (number of taps per second), and velocity (distance travelled per second) was extracted. Clinical assessment was based on the motor section of the MDS-UPDRS. Results: People in the early stage of PD performed the task with slower velocity (p <  0.001) and with greater frequency slope than controls (p = 0.003). The combination of reduced velocity and greater frequency slope obtained the best accuracy to separate early-stage PD from controls based on metric thresholds alone (AUC = 0.88). Individuals with anosmia exhibited slower velocity (p = 0.001) and smaller amplitude (p <  0.001) compared with controls. Conclusion: We present a simple, proof-of-concept method to detect early motor dysfunction in PD. Mean tap velocity appeared to be the best parameter to differentiate patients with PD from controls. Patients with anosmia also showed detectable differences in motor performance compared with controls which may suggest that some are in the prodromal phase of PD.

scholarly journals Editorial. Yes, Please - Both Crafts and Digital Tools in Basic Education

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Merete Nielsen ◽  
Janne Beate Reitan
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Compulsory Education ◽  
Arts And Crafts ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
Hands On ◽  
The Future ◽  
Important Challenge ◽  
Near Future

The Ludvigsen Committee (Ludvigsen-utvalget), which aims to assess primary and secondary educational subjects in terms of the competence Norwegian society and its working life will need in the future, has published an interim report entitled Pupils’ Learning in the School of the Future – A Knowledge Foundation (Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2014). The committee wrote the following about arts and crafts: “That subject will contribute to personal development and simultaneously strengthen opportunities to participate in a democratic society, which can be seen as a desire to protect both individual-oriented and community-oriented training. The breadth of the subject can restrict the ability to delve into individual topics” (NOU 2014: 7, 2014, p. 89, our translation from Norwegian). This will be an important challenge for the team in the near future. The committee shall submit their principal report by June 2015.Practical work with materials must not be removed from primary school. It should be required that qualified teachers are employed on the lower grades. Practical/hands-on work can give the trades a boost, encourage students to choose vocations and prevent dropouts in vocational education programmes. We need skilled craftsmen in the future, and good teaching in Arts & Crafts in compulsory education could provide an important basis for both future craftsmen and customers of good craftsmen.

scholarly journals IT Governance Analysis and Design of Microfinance Institution Using COBIT 5 Framework Evaluate, Direct, Monitor (EDM) and Align, Plan, and Organize (APO) Domains (Case Study: PT Sarana Jabar Ventura)

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Fernaldi Jonathan ◽  
Rahmat Mulyana ◽  
Yuli Adam Prasetyo
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
It Governance ◽  
Financial Service Authority ◽  
Analysis And Design ◽  
Governance Analysis ◽  
Microfinance Institution ◽  
Small Medium Enterprises ◽  
Medium Enterprises ◽  
Near Future ◽  
A Company

A microfinance institute (LKM/ Lembaga Keuangan Mikro) is a company that focuses in providing funds to small, early-stage, and emerging firms or small medium enterprises. A company that is engaged in financial sector and works under the surveillance of OJK/ FSA (Financial Service Authority) always has some questions whether this company really needs to implement IT Governance best practices or to what extent it does. The research in PT Sarana Jabar Ventura as one of the microfinance institutes using COBIT 5 framework for the domain of EDM (Evaluate-Direct-Monitor) & APO (Align-Plan-Organize) has shown that the existing practice is not adequate enough to align the business to IT and to manage its risk optimally so the IT solution will be beneficial for the business. Therefore, it is necessary to design the IT governance practice here, based on the seven enablers of COBIT 5 which are categorized into 3 aspects: process, people, and technology. The results of this research are design recommendations as follows: IT policy, procedures, organization structure, job description and the supporting tools and technology. It is expected that the company will implement the results in the near future. Keywords—COBIT 5, IT governance, microfinance institution

scholarly journals Climate change in the recent geological past and the near future. Predicting its impacts: a Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 260
Author(s):  
Constantinos Perisoratis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Geological Past ◽  
Near Future

The climate changes are necessarily related to the increase of the Earth’s temperature, resulting in a sea level rise. Such continuous events, were taking place with minor and greater intensity, during the alternation of warm and cool periods in the Earth during the Late Quaternary and the Holocene periods. However, a particularly significant awareness has taken place in the scientific community, and consequently in the greater public, in the last decades: that a climatic change will take place soon, or it is on-going, and that therefore it is important to undertake drastic actions. However, such a climatic change has not been recorded yet, and hence the necessary actions are not required, for the time being.

scholarly journals Evolution of Nucleotide Composition in the SARS-CoV-2 Lineage: Implications for Vaccine Design

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sankar Subramanian
Keyword(s):  
Base Composition ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Significant Positive Correlation ◽  
Gc Content ◽  
Nucleotide Composition ◽  
Reverse Direction ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Systematic Reduction ◽  
Gc Contents

The worldwide outbreak of a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2 has caused a pandemic of respiratory disease. Due to this emergency, researchers around the globe have been investigating the evolution of the genome of SARS-CoV-2 in order to design vaccines. Here I examined the evolution of GC content of SARS-CoV-2 by comparing the genomes of the members of the group Betacoronavirus. The results of this investigation revealed a highly significant positive correlation between the GC contents of betacoronaviruses and their divergence from SARS-CoV-2. The betacoronaviruses that are distantly related to SARS-CoV-2 have much higher GC contents than the latter. Conversely, the closely related ones have low GC contents, which are only slightly higher than that of SARS-CoV-2. This suggests a systematic reduction in the GC content in the SARS-CoV-2 lineage over time. The declining trend in this lineage predicts a much-reduced GC content in the coronaviruses that will descend/evolve from SARS-CoV-2 in the future. Due to the three consecutive outbreaks (MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) caused by the members of the SARS-CoV-2, the scientific community is emphasizing the need for universal vaccines that are effective across many strains including those, that will inevitably emerge in the near future. The reduction in GC contents implies an increase in the rate of GC&rarr;AT mutations than that the mutational changes in the reverse direction. Therefore, understanding the evolution of base composition and mutational patterns of SARS-CoV-2 could be useful in designing broad-spectrum vaccines that could identify and neutralize the present and future strains of this virus.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document