Early detection of exposure to toxic chemicals using continuously recorded multi-sensor physiology

Early detection of exposure to a toxic chemical, e.g., in a military context, can be life-saving. We propose to use machine learning techniques and multiple continuously measured physiological signals to detect exposure, and to identify the chemical agent. Such detection and identification could be used to alert individuals to take appropriate...

Specific agreement on ordinal and multiple nominal outcomes can be calculated for more than two raters

Objective: The concept of specific agreement (SA) has been proposed for dichotomous outcomes for two or more raters. We aim to extend this concept for variables with more than two ordinal or nominal categories and more than two raters. Study Design and Setting: We used two data sets: four plastic surgeons classifying photographs after breast...

Pluis en 'niet-pluis' bij de jeugdarts : 2 Casussen [Gut feeling in youth health care: 2 cases]

Background Dutch Youth health care is an easily accessible service where parents can ask for support for the healthy development of their children. The majority of the screenings and medical examinations show no abnormalities. Sometimes there is doubt about the severity of symptoms: the line between healthy variation and diseases or...

A thrombin generation assay may reduce the need for compression ultrasonography for the exclusion of deep venous thrombosis in the elderly

Introduction. The exclusion of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) by pre-test probability (PTP) and D-dimer in the elderly is safe, but has a low specificity. There is increasing interest in the diagnostic role of thrombin generation in patients with thrombosis. We evaluated the value of thrombin generation in the exclusion of DVT, especially in...

Translational research in genomics of Alzheimer's disease: A review of current practice and future perspectives

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia and the number of cases is expected to increase exponentially worldwide. Three highly penetrant genes (AβPP, PSEN1, and PSEN2) explain only a small number of AD cases with a Mendelian transmission pattern. Many genes have been analyzed for association with non-Mendelian AD, but the...

Acute disseminerende encefalomyelitis (ADEM) en multiple sclerose (MS)

ADEM en het risico op het ontwikkelen van MS bij kinderen [ADEM and the risk of developing of MS with children]

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and multiple sclerosis (MS) in children are relatively rare and the exact incidence is still unknown. There is great variability in clinical presentation and disease course. It is yet unclear which clinical and biological parameters can predict a chronic disease course and progression to multiple...

Enhanced expression and activation of pro-inflammatory transcription factors distinguish aneurysmal from atherosclerotic aorta: IL-6- and IL-8-dominated inflammatory responses prevail in the human aneurysm

Inflammation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of an AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm); however, the nature of the inflammatory factors and cellular response(s) involved in AAA growth is controversial. In the present study, we set out to determine the aortic levels of inflammatory cytokines in relation to downstream inflammatory transcription...

Diagnosis and dosimetry of exposure to sulfur mustard: Development of a standard operating procedure for mass spectrometric analysis of haemoglobin adducts - Exploratory research on albumin and keratin adducts

Experiments were carried out to develop a standard operating procedure for analysis of sulfur mustard adducts to the N-terminal valine in haemoglobin and to explore adduct formation with albumin and keratin. In the first approach, gas chromatography-negative chemical ionization/mass spectrometry (GC-NCI/MS) of the thiohydantoin sample subsequent...

FreeCall, a system for emergency-call-handling support

This article describes a system for the optimization of the prehospital assessment of emergency, in cases involving thoraco-abdominal complaints and consciousness problems. This assessment is performed by nurses on the basis of a telephone interview at ambulance dispatch centers. The system has a body of biomedical and policy knowledge available...