Virtualization

BACKGROUND: Depression significantly impacts quality of life, affecting approximately 280 million people worldwide. However, only 16.5% of those affected receive treatment, indicating a substantial treatment gap. Immersive technologies (IMTs) such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality offer new avenues for treating depression by creating immersive environments for therapeutic interventions. Despite their potential, significant gaps exist in the current evidence regarding the design, implementation, and use of IMTs for depression care...

Poor fluorescence recovery at low analyte dosages and slow ligand binding kinetics are critical challenges currently limiting the use of aptamer-functionalized hydrogels for sensing small molecules. In this paper, we report an adenosine-responsive hydrogel sensor that integrates FRET-signaling aptamer switches into in situ-gelling thin-film hydrogels. The hydrogel sensor is able to entrap a high proportion of the sensing probes (>70% following vigorous washing), delay nucleolytic degradation, stabilize weak aptamer complexes to improve hybridization affinity and suppress fluorescence background, and provide high sensitivity in biological fluids (i...

Conservative estimates by the World Health Organization suggest that at least a quarter of global cardiovascular diseases are attributable to environmental exposures. Associations between air pollution and cardiovascular risk have garnered the most headlines and are strong, but less attention has been paid to other omnipresent toxicants in our ecosystem. Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are man-made chemicals that are extensively used in industrial and consumer products worldwide and in aqueous film-forming foam utilized in firefighting...

Neurological monogenic loss-of-function diseases are hereditary disorders resulting from gene mutations that decrease or abolish the normal function of the encoded protein. These conditions pose significant therapeutic challenges, which may be resolved through the development of innovative therapeutic strategies. RNA-based technologies, such as mRNA replacement therapy, have emerged as promising and increasingly viable treatments. Notably, mRNA therapy exhibits significant potential as a mutation-agnostic approach that can address virtually any monogenic loss-of-function disease...

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity of equipping health professionals with knowledge and skills to effectively use digital technology for healthcare delivery. However, questions persist about the best approach to effectively educate future health professionals for this. A workshop at the 15th Nursing Informatics International Congress explored this issue. OBJECTIVE: To report findings from an international participatory workshop exploring pre-registration informatics implementation experiences...

Introduction: Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness. It is a prevalent disease worldwide, affecting ∼70 million people and expected to reach up to 112 million by 2040. Purpose: The aim of this study is to describe the implementation and initial experience of a telemedicine program to monitor glaucoma and glaucoma suspect patients in a large, integrated health care system during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective chart review of established glaucoma or glaucoma suspect patients who participated in a telemedicine evaluation at the ophthalmic center of a large, Colombian health care system between June 2020 and April 2023 was conducted...

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep breathing disorder and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and daytime sleepiness. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a treatment for OSA, which splints the airway open. The introduction of telemedicine in CPAP devices offers clinical staff an alternative method of reviewing patients, monitoring treatment, and reducing clinical time. Materials and Methods: A randomized control trial was conducted with patients randomized to one of three arms: Arm 1 (standard care), Arm 2 (modem and a virtual appointment), and Arm 3 (modem, smart device application DreamMapper ™, and a virtual appointment)...

BACKGROUND: Computer simulators of human metabolism are powerful tools to design and validate new diabetes treatments. However, these platforms are often limited in the diversity of behaviors and glycemic conditions they can reproduce. Replay methodologies leverage field-collected data to create ad-hoc simulation environments representative of real-life conditions. After formal validations of our method in prior publications, we demonstrate its capacity to reproduce a recent clinical trial...

INTRODUCTION: Low-sodium oxybate (LXB) is approved for treatment of narcolepsy in patients aged 7 years and older and treatment of idiopathic hypersomnia in adults. LXB contains the same active moiety with 92% less sodium than sodium oxybate (SXB). As the indication for oxybate treatment in patients with idiopathic hypersomnia is new and allows for individualized dosing optimization, guidance for beginning LXB treatment is needed. In particular, clinicians may benefit from guidance regarding treatment initiation, dosing/regimen options, potential challenges, and treatment expectations...

PURPOSE: This bibliometric analysis of the top 100 cited articles on extended reality (XR) in neurosurgery aimed to reveal trends in this research field. Gender differences in authorship and global distribution of the most-cited articles were also addressed. METHODS: A Web of Science electronic database search was conducted. The top 100 most-cited articles related to the scope of this review were retrieved and analyzed for trends in publications, journal characteristics, authorship, global distribution, study design, and focus areas...

Cathepsin K is a type of cysteine proteinase that is primarily expressed in osteoclasts and has a key role in the breakdown of bone matrix protein during bone resorption. Many studies suggest that the deficiency of cathepsin K is concomitant with a suppression of osteoclast functioning, therefore rendering the resorptive properties of cathepsin K the most prominent target for osteoporosis. This innovative work has identified a novel anti-osteoporotic agent against Cathepsin K by using a comparison of machine learning and deep learning-based virtual screening followed by their biological evaluation...

Patient education in atopic dermatitis (AD) has worked in parallel to the gold standard of pharmacological treatment as a foundational component of therapeutic regimens. In addition to improving patient education, past investigations of educational interventions have demonstrated profound reductions in disease severity for patients living with AD. However, prior meta-analytical work has focused mostly on comparing in-person interventions, and thus the need to determine the effectiveness of virtual methodologies in the current post-COVID era remains...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality are disproportionately high among rural residents and Medicaid enrollees. OBJECTIVES: To address disparities, we used a modified community engagement approach, Boot Camp Translation (BCT). Research partners, an advisory board, and the rural community informed messaging about CRC outreach and a mailed fecal immunochemical test program. METHODS: Eligible rural patients (English-speaking and ages 50-74) and clinic staff involved in patient outreach participated in a BCT conducted virtually over two months...

According to this study.

To improve our practices of today and to overcome the problems that confront us at present, the behavioral health field must anticipate what the future is likely to bring. Such foresight is particularly important right now because of the changes and disruptions that have occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past 3 years. We begin by recounting major developments in the mental health field since the founding of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) more than 70 years ago, including some firsthand experiences of the senior author...

With a primary objective to engage students in the process of science online, we transformed a long-standing laboratory course for first-year science students into a more accessible, immersive experience of current biological research using a narrow and focused set of primary literature and the Consider, Read, Elucidate a hypothesis, Analyze and interpret data, Think of the next Experiment (CREATE) pedagogy. The efficacy of the CREATE approach has been demonstrated in a diversity of higher education settings and courses...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Balance and walking capacity are often impaired in people with motor incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI), frequently resulting in reduced functional ambulation and participation. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of walking adaptability training compared to similarly dosed conventional locomotor and strength training for improving walking capacity, functional ambulation, balance confidence, and participation in ambulatory people with iSCI. METHODS: We conducted a 2-center, parallel-group, pragmatic randomized controlled trial...

OBJECTIVES: Adequate analytical quality of reported results is primarily ensured by performing internal quality control (iQC). Currently, several different iQC practices are in use. As a prelude to the revision of a Dutch guidance document on analytical QC, a questionnaire was sent out to gain insights in the applied practices and the need for guidance. METHODS: A questionnaire, containing 20 multiple-choice questions with possibilities for explanation and comment on iQC practices and aspects was distributed to all clinical chemistry laboratories within the Netherlands...

The androgen receptor (AR, Uniprot: P10275) signaling plays a key role in the progression of prostate cancer, various AR-related ligands have been reported to treat prostate cancer. However, some resistance mechanisms limited the treating effect of these ligands. Since DBD binding or the allosteric binding sites in LBD of AR may allow the circumvention of some drug resistance mechanisms, anti-resistance is expected especially through the NTD (N-terminal domain) targeting. What's more, studies have shown that compounds including EPI-001 and its derivatives which bind to the Tau-5 region on NTD could be promising molecules for AR-based therapeutics...

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the neurodevelopmental disorders in children, and there are currently no specific treatments, with the main interventions focusing on educational training and behavioral correction. Virtual reality, as an emerging technology, is a computer-based environmental simulation system that achieves interactive dynamics and immersive experiences by integrating information from multiple sources. In recent years, it has been gradually applied in intervention training for children with ASD...