Background Invasive fungal disease (IFD) is common in solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients and contributes to high morbidity and mortality.  https://www.selleckchem.com/GSK-3.html  Although kidney transplantation (KT) is a commonly performed SOT, data on the risk factors for IFD-related mortality are limited. Methods A 12 retrospective case-control study was performed in an experienced single center in the Republic of Korea. We reviewed the electronic medical records of patients with IFD after KT between February 1995 and March 2015. Results Of 1963 kidney transplant recipients, 48 (2.5%) were diagnosed with IFD. The median interval from KT to IFD diagnosis was 172 days. Invasive aspergillosis (IA) was the most common, followed by invasive candidiasis (IC). Diabetes mellitus (DM) (odds ratio (OR) 3.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34-10.31, p = 0.011) and acute rejection (OR 3.41, 95% CI 1.41-8.21, p = 0.006) were associated with IFD development. In the subgroup analyses, concomitant bacterial infection was associated with IC development (OR 20d concomitant bacterial infection are risk factors for IFD-related mortality, efforts for its early diagnosis and appropriate treatment are required.This paper describes the possibility of using an Electrically Programmable Analog Device (EPAD) as a gamma radiation sensor. Zero-biased EPAD has the lowest fading and the highest sensitivity in the 300 Gy dose range. Dynamic bias of the control gate during irradiation was presented for the first time; this method achieved higher sensitivity compared to static-biased EPADs and better linear dependence. Due to the degradation of the transfer characteristics of EPAD during irradiation, a function of the safe operation area has been found that determines the maximum voltage at the control gate for the desired dose, which will not lead to degradation of the transistor. Using an energy band diagram, it was explained why the zero-biased EPAD has higher sensitivity than the static-biased EPAD.Patient engagement has been recognized as a key priority in chronic care. However, scholars agree that guidelines are needed to ensure effective patient engagement strategies. To this end, a Consensus Conference process was promoted with the following methodological steps (1) extensive literature review about patient engagement initiatives in chronic care; (2) a stakeholders survey to collect best practices and (3) workshops with experts. On the basis of the information collected, a consensus statement was drafted, revised, and finalized by a panel of select renowned experts. These experts agreed in defining engagement as an eco-systemic concept involving multiple actors all of which contribute to influence patients' willingness and ability to engage in chronic care. Moreover, experts recommended, whenever possible, to adopt standardized instruments to assess engagement levels and related unmet needs. Then, experts strongly advised appropriate trainings for healthcare professionals about patient engagement strategies. Furthermore, the importance of promoting healthcare professionals' wellbeing has been advocated. Family caregivers, as well as patients' organizations - should be trained and engaged to increase the effectiveness of interventions dedicated to patients. Finally, experts agreed that digital technologies should be considered as a crucial enhancer for patient engagement in chronic care.Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) devices have evolved significantly in the last years, providing immersive AR/MR experiences that allow users to interact with virtual elements placed on the real-world. However, to make AR/MR devices reach their full potential, it is necessary to go further and let them collaborate with the physical elements around them, including the objects that belong to the Internet of Things (IoT). Unfortunately, AR/MR and IoT devices usually make use of heterogeneous technologies that complicate their intercommunication. Moreover, the implementation of the intercommunication mechanisms requires involving specialized developers with have experience on the necessary technologies. To tackle such problems, this article proposes the use of a framework that makes it easy to integrate AR/MR and IoT devices, allowing them to communicate dynamically and in real time. The presented AR/MR-IoT framework makes use of standard and open-source protocols and tools like MQTT, HTTPS or Node-RED. After detailing the inner workings of the framework, it is illustrated its potential through a practical use case a smart power socket that can be monitored and controlled through Microsoft HoloLens AR/MR glasses. The performance of such a practical use case is evaluated and it is demonstrated that the proposed framework, under normal operation conditions, enables to respond in less than 100 ms to interaction and data update requests.Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) bear a lot of weight in public health. By studying the properties of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and its fundamental interactions with the central nervous system (CNS), it is possible to improve the understanding of the pathological mechanisms behind these disorders and create new and better strategies to improve bioavailability and therapeutic efficiency, such as nanocarriers. Microfluidics is an intersectional field with many applications. Microfluidic systems can be an invaluable tool to accurately simulate the BBB microenvironment, as well as develop, in a reproducible manner, drug delivery systems with well-defined physicochemical characteristics. This review provides an overview of the most recent advances on microfluidic devices for CNS-targeted studies. Firstly, the importance of the BBB will be addressed, and different experimental BBB models will be briefly discussed. Subsequently, microfluidic-integrated BBB models (BBB/brain-on-a-chip) are introduced and the state of the art reviewed, with special emphasis on their use to study NDs. Additionally, the microfluidic preparation of nanocarriers and other compounds for CNS delivery has been covered. The last section focuses on current challenges and future perspectives of microfluidic experimentation.