Search results for " aid"
showing 10 items of 319 documents
Acute cholecystitis during COVID-19 pandemic: a multisocietary position statement
2020
AbstractFollowing the spread of the infection from the new SARS-CoV2 coronavirus in March 2020, several surgical societies have released their recommendations to manage the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the daily clinical practice. The recommendations on emergency surgery have fueled a debate among surgeons on an international level.We maintain that laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains the treatment of choice for acute cholecystitis, even in the COVID-19 era. Moreover, since laparoscopic cholecystectomy is not more likely to spread the COVID-19 infection than open cholecystectomy, it must be organized in such a way as to be carried out safely even in the present situation, to gu…
Long-term CD4+ T-cell count evolution after switching from regimens including HIV nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) plus protease in…
2011
Abstract Background Data regarding CD4+ recovery after switching from protease inhibitor (PI)-based regimens to regimens not containing PI are scarce. Methods Subjects with virological success on first-PI-regimens who switched to NNRTI therapy (NNRTI group) or to nucleoside reverse transcriptase (NRTI)-only (NRTI group) were studied. The effect of the switch on the ongoing CD4+ trend was assessed by two-phase linear regression (TPLR), allowing us to evaluate whether a change in the CD4+ trend (hinge) occurred and the time of its occurrence. Furthermore, we described the evolution of the frequencies in CD4-count classes across four relevant time-points (baseline, before and immediately after…
A new method for the placement of brachytherapy probes in paranasal sinus and nasopharynx neoplasms
1999
Abstract Purpose: In afterloading therapy, the exact placement of the applicator is crucial for the result of radiotherapy. A deviation of few millimeters from the target leads to a significant reduction of radiation energy to the tumor. Methods and Materials: We present a new method using a computer-assisted device for three-dimensional placing of afterloading probes based on CT scans that allows for the exact placement. Results: Target points have been reached with an accuracy of 0.6 mm. Since 1991 we have used this technique for 24 clinical applications in 11 patients with recurrent neoplasms in the region of the paranasal sinuses and nasopharynx for palliative treatment. Conclusions: Th…
Influence of contrast polarity on the accommodative response☆
2018
espanolObjetivo Evaluar los cambios de la respuesta acomodativa del ojo al leer un texto en diferentes condiciones de polaridad de contraste: letras negras sobre fondo blanco (condicion BoW) y letras blancas sobre fondo negro (condicion WoB). Metodos En este estudio experimental participaron dieciocho sujetos de edades comprendidas entre 21 y 41 anos. Se obtuvo objetivamente la respuesta acomodativa (AR) del ojo al leer un texto con polaridad de contraste BoW o WoB con un sistema de optica adaptativa que corregia todas las aberraciones salvo las propias del sujeto. Se estudiaron dos tamanos de letra diferentes (condiciones de agudeza visual), mostrados en una micropantalla. Se midio la AR d…
The Effect of Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression on Phoneme Perception
2017
Purpose This study implemented a fitting method, developed for use with frequency lowering hearing aids, across multiple testing sites, participants, and hearing aid conditions to evaluate speech perception with a novel type of frequency lowering. Method A total of 8 participants, including children and young adults, participated in real-world hearing aid trials. A blinded crossover design, including posttrial withdrawal testing, was used to assess aided phoneme perception. The hearing aid conditions included adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (NFC), static NFC, and conventional processing. Results Enabling either adaptive NFC or static NFC improved group-level detection and recognit…
Procalcitonin levels in candidemia versus bacteremia: a systematic review
2019
Background Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker used to assess systemic inflammation, infection, and sepsis and to optimize antimicrobial therapies. Its role in the in the differential diagnosis between candidemia and bacteremia is unclear. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the current evidence about PCT values for differentiating candidemia from bacteremia. Methods PubMed and EMBASE were searched for studies reporting data on the diagnostic performance of serum PCT levels in intensive care unit (ICU) or non-ICU adult patients with candidemia, in comparison to patients with bacteremia. Results We included 16 studies for a total of 45.079 patients and 785 cases of candidemia. …
Identifying associations between diabetes and acute respiratory distress syndrome in patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure: an analysis o…
2018
Background: Diabetes mellitus is a common co-existing disease in the critically ill. Diabetes mellitus may reduce the risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but data from previous studies are conflicting. The objective of this study was to evaluate associations between pre-existing diabetes mellitus and ARDS in critically ill patients with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure (AHRF). Methods: An ancillary analysis of a global, multi-centre prospective observational study (LUNG SAFE) was undertaken. LUNG SAFE evaluated all patients admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) over a 4-week period, that required mechanical ventilation and met AHRF criteria. Patients who had their AHRF…
Bystander trauma care—effect of the level of training
2003
Background: The bystander is often the first person present at the scene of an accident. Our aim was to determine how often and how well bystanders perform trauma care and whether trauma care is affected by the bystander’s level of training, relationship to the patient and numbers of bystanders present. Patients and methods:In a prospective 1-year study, the emergency medical service in two European cities collected data on trauma calls. Questionnaires were used to document the bystanders’ level of training (none, basic, advanced, professional), the bystander’s relationship to the patient, and the number of bystanders present, and to assess whether five separate measures of trauma care (ens…
A Passive-Marker-Based Optical System for Computer-Aided Surgery in Otorhinolaryngology: Development and First Clinical Experiences
1999
Objectives: To develop a new type of optical computer-aided surgery (CAS) device that overcomes some of the restrictions of common systems and to examine its accuracy and usability under laboratory and intraoperative conditions. Study Design: Prospective study using laboratory experiments and intraoperative data collection. Methods: An optical CAS system applying passive optical markers for coordinate determination was developed. Laboratory accuracy measurements were obtained on a Plexiglas model with known coordinates of fiducial markers, before and after predefined table movements. Intraoperative accuracy measurements were recorded from 24 patients undergoing endonasal surgery of the para…
Supporting Reporting: On the Positive Effects of Text- and Video-Based Awareness Material on Responsible Journalistic Suicide News Writing.
2016
Suicide is a global public health problem. Media impact on suicide is well confirmed and there are several recommendations on how media should and should not report on suicide to minimize the risk of copycat behavior. Those media guidelines have been developed to improve responsible reporting on suicide (RRS). Although such guidelines are used in several countries, we lack empirical evidence on their causal effect on actual journalistic news writing. We conducted an experiment with journalism students (N = 78) in Germany in which we tested whether exposure to awareness material promoting RRS influences news writing. As a supplement to the widely used text-based material, we tested the impac…