Using Smartphone Data to Frequently Measure Atopic Dermatitis Severity and Understand Triggers: A Decentralized 12-Week Observational Study.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) severity is traditionally evaluated during in-office consultations; however, this does not provide continuous monitoring and any intermittent flare/remission cycles are usually not recorded. The aim was to apply smartphone technology to evaluate AD severity, to explore if severity based on highly frequent sampling of photographs is associated with patient reported outcomes, and to investigate disease fluctuations and trigger associations based on passively collected environmental data.

Methods: In this 12-week decentralized observational study, adult patients with AD were recruited online and used a tailored remote clinical trial platform app to perform all study tasks including capturing photographs and completing the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) weekly.

Identification of an osteopontin-derived peptide that binds neuropilin-1 and activates vascular repair responses and angiogenesis.

The osteopontin-derived peptide FOL-005 stimulates hair growth. Using ligand-receptor glyco-capture technology we identified neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), a known co-receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptors, as the most probable receptor for FOL-005 and the more stable analogue FOL-026. X-ray diffraction and microscale thermophoresis analysis revealed that FOL-026 shares binding site with VEGF in the NRP-1 b1-subdomain.

Mobile health technologies in an interventional hybrid study on actinic keratosis: Results from an early phase randomized controlled trial investigating the safety and efficacy of a cytosolic phospholipase A2 inhibitor gel in photodamaged skin.

Hybrid trials are a new trend in dermatological research that leverage mobile health technologies to decentralize a subset of clinical trial elements and thereby reduce the number of in-clinic visits. In a Phase I/IIa randomized controlled hybrid trial, the safety and efficacy of an anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory drug inhibiting cytosolic phospholipase A2 (AVX001) was tested using 1%, 3% or vehicle gel in 60 patients with actinic keratosis (AK) and assessed in-clinic as well as remotely. Over the course of 12 weeks, patients were assessed in-clinic at baseline, end of treatment (EOT) and end of study (EOS), as well as 9 times remotely on a weekly to biweekly basis.

Improved early risk stratification of deep sternal wound infection risk after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) following open heart surgery is associated with excessive morbidity and mortality. Contemporary DSWI risk prediction models aim at identifying high-risk patients with varying complexity and performance characteristics. We aimed to optimize the DSWI risk factor set and to identify additional risk factors for early postoperative detection of patients prone to DSWI.

Accelerating patient recruitment using social media: Early adopter experience from a good clinical practice-monitored randomized controlled phase I/IIa clinical trial on actinic keratosis.

Background: Patient recruitment is a major cause of delays in randomized controlled trials (RCT). Online recruitment is evolving into an alternative to conventional in-clinic recruitment for RCT. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of online patient recruitment for an RCT on actinic keratosis (AK).

Rapid Web-Based Recruitment of Patients With Psoriasis: Multinational Cohort Study.

Background: Wide-ranging patient recruitment not restricted to the location of the investigator will provide a better representation of the patient population in clinical studies.

Objective: Our goal was to assess the feasibility of a broad web-based recruitment strategy in an 8-week observational study of 500 study participants with psoriasis and healthy controls from locations remote from the investigator and to assess the cost associated with each participant.

Methods: A decentralized team in Denmark recruited patients with psoriasis and healthy controls using Google and Facebook advertisements and posts to Facebook groups.

Predictive performance of multi-model ensemble forecasts of COVID-19 across European nations.

Background: Short-term forecasts of infectious disease burden can contribute to situational awareness and aid capacity planning. Based on best practice in other fields and recent insights in infectious disease epidemiology, one can maximise the predictive performance of such forecasts if multiple models are combined into an ensemble. Here, we report on the performance of ensembles in predicting COVID-19 cases and deaths across Europe between 08 March 2021 and 07 March 2022.

The impact of subjective image quality evaluation in mammography.

Introduction: According to the guidelines, the mammograms obtained in a screening program must be evaluated to ensure that the quality of the images obtained is above 75% of score 1 (perfect and good) and less than 3% of score 3 (inadequate). This is performed by a person (usually a radiographer), so subjectivity may influence the final evaluation of the images. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of subjectivity on breast positioning assessments on resultant screening mammograms.

Final adult height in children with central precocious puberty - a retrospective study.

Background/aims: Central precocious puberty (CPP) is due to premature activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. It predominantly affects girls. CPP leads to lower final height (FH), yet the treatment benefit in girls between 6 and 8 years is equivocal.

Investigating the efficacy and safety of calcipotriol/betamethasone dipropionate foam and laser microporation for psoriatic nail disease-A hybrid trial using a smartphone application, optical coherence tomography, and patient-reported outcome measures.

There is a lack of efficacious topical treatments for patients suffering from psoriatic nail disease (PND). We investigated the efficacy of Calcipotriol-Betamethasone Dipropionate (Cal/BD) foam with and without ablative fractional laser (AFL) in patients with PND. A total of 144 nails from 11 patients were treated in a 24-week long, open-label, randomized, intra-patient controlled proof-of-concept hybrid trial.

Extended compartmental model for modeling COVID-19 epidemic in Slovenia.

In the absence of a systematic approach to epidemiological modeling in Slovenia, various isolated mathematical epidemiological models emerged shortly after the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic. We present an epidemiological model adapted to the COVID-19 situation in Slovenia. The standard SEIR model was extended to distinguish between age groups, symptomatic or asymptomatic disease progression, and vaccinated or unvaccinated populations.

The Copenhagen Actinic Keratosis Study (COAKS). A decentralised clinical trial to evaluate tolerability, safety and efficacy of daily field-directed topical treatment with cytosolic phospholipase A inhibitor, AVX001, in participants with actinic keratosis: protocol for a randomised controlled phase I/IIa trial.

Introduction: Actinic keratosis (AK) is the most common precancerous skin condition caused by long-term UV exposure. Given the high recurrence rate of 15%-53%, identifying safe and effective treatment options is warranted. AVX001, a cytosolic phospholipase Aα (cPLAα) enzyme inhibitor, is a novel anti-inflammatory drug for field-directed, self-administered, topical therapy of AK.

Automatic detection of Gibbs artefact in MR images with transfer learning approach.

Background: Quality control of magnetic resonance imaging includes image validation, which covers also artefact detection. The daily manual review of magnetic resonance images for possible artefacts can be time-consuming, so automated methods for computer-assisted quality assessment of magnetic resonance imaging need to be developed.

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop automatic detection of Gibbs artefacts in magnetic resonance imaging using a deep learning method called transfer learning, and to demonstrate the potential of this approach for the development of an automatic quality control tool for the detection of such artefacts in magnetic resonance imaging.

Single-Centre Retrospective Evaluation of Intraoperative Hemoadsorption in Left-Sided Acute Infective Endocarditis.

Background: Cardiac surgery in patients with infective endocarditis (IE) is still associated with high mortality and morbidity; an already present inflammation might further be aggravated due to a cardiopulmonary bypass-induced dysregulated immune response. Intraoperative hemoadsorption therapy may attenuate this septic response. Our objective was therefore to assess the efficacy of intraoperative hemoadsorption in active left-sided native- and prosthetic infective endocarditis.

Changes in key recruitment performance metrics from 2008-2019 in industry-sponsored phase III clinical trials registered at ClinicalTrials.gov.

Background: Increasing costs and complexity in clinical trials requires recruitment of more narrowly defined patient populations. However, recruitment for clinical trials remains a considerable challenge.

Aim: Our overall aim was to quantify recruitment performance in industry-sponsored phase III clinical trials conducted globally during 2008-2019 with primary aim to examine development of overall clinical trial measures (number of trials completed, number of participants enrolled, trial duration in months) and key recruitment metrics (recruitment rate, number of sites, number of patients enrolled per site).

Enhanced Detection of Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury by a Composite Biomarker Panel in Patients with Normal Preoperative Kidney Function.

We have recently shown that minor subclinical creatinine dynamic changes enable the excellent detection of acute kidney injury (AKI) within 6-12 h after cardiac surgery. The aim of the present study was to examine a combination of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), cystatin C (CysC) and creatinine for enhanced AKI detection early after cardiac surgery. Elective patients with normal renal function undergoing cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass were enrolled.

Left Atrial Appendage Amputation for Atrial Fibrillation during Aortic Valve Replacement.

Background: Occluding the left atrial appendage (LAA) during cardiac surgery reduces the risk of ischemic stroke; nonetheless, it is currently only softly recommended with "may be considered" by the current guidelines. We aimed to assess thromboembolic risk after LAA amputation in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and aortic stenosis undergoing biological aortic valve replacement (AVR) as primary cardiac surgery.

Methods: Two cohorts were generated retrospectively: patients with AF undergoing AVR alone or combined with revascularization either with LAA amputation or without.

Artificial intelligence-based early detection of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery.

Objectives: This study aims to improve the early detection of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury using artificial intelligence-based algorithms.

Methods: Data from consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery between 2008 and 2018 in our institution served as the source for artificial intelligence-based modelling. Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury was defined according to the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria.

Nonlinear Heart Rate Variability in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Changes after 4-week Comprehensive Inpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

Cardiovascular disease is among the leading causes of mortality in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nonlinear heart rate variability (NHRV) measures are markers and predictors of cardiovascular disease, particularly arrhythmias. Our aim was to investigate NHRV in patients with COPD and changes after pulmonary rehabilitation.

Mild to moderate atopic dermatitis severity can be reliably assessed using smartphone-photographs taken by the patient at home: A validation study.

Background: The use of photographs to diagnose and monitor skin diseases is gaining ground.

Objectives: To investigate the validity and reliability of photographic assessments of atopic dermatitis (AD) severity.

Methods: AD severity was evaluated in the clinic by two assessors using the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), SCOring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA).