ABSTRACT
Background and aims: COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need of telemedicine and digital technologies, especially for the vulnerable elderly population with chronic conditions including dementia, in order to improve their accessibility to healthcare services and facilitate their living. As a part of the European SI4CARE Project, the aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which telemedicine and new technologies are currently used for the elderly with dementia in the Adrion Region. Methods: Data were collected through e-questionnaires regarding the use of telemedicine and digital technologies for the elderly with dementia, which were anonymously administered during 02/2021-05/2021 to elderly and healthcare stakeholder providers (hospitals, dementia associations, institutions, policy makers) in Italy (Calabria), Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Greece and Serbia. Rating was from not at all to extremely. Results: The number of the interviewees was 495 elderly people and 183 stakeholders. The majority of all stakeholders (46-100%) and elderly (60-100%) indicated that it was not at all easy for an elderly person with dementia to be examined via telemedicine, especially in Serbia and Italy. Most participants revealed that digital technologies were not at all being used to facilitate the living of the elderly with dementia in all countries. Conclusion: Telemedicine and digital technologies have not been adequately incorporated in healthcare services for the elderly with dementia in the Adrion Region. Major attempts are needed for their successful integration especially in remote areas, in order to facilitate daily living and improve the accessibility to healthcare services of these patients. (Figure Presented).
ABSTRACT
TRIPBAM pioneered automated clustered rate monitoring in the hotel industry. As the technology startup prepared for a successful exit that would reward founders, employees, and investors for their success, the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic hit. The case chronicles TRIPBAM's leadership's fast reaction and discusses the strategic initiatives the firm put in place to set itself up for a return to growth after the crisis.
ABSTRACT
Objective: NA Background: There has been increasing recognition of neurologic symptoms in coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients. Pathophysiology underlying the encephalopathy induced by SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be elucidated, but immune system seems involved. Design/Methods: We analysed well characterised human Neurocovid samples (CSF and serum) for the presence of neurologically relevant auto-antibodies and pro-inflammatory cytokines. In addition, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying Covid19-related neurophysiological dysfunctions in disease-relevant neuronal models, such as rodent primary neuronal cultures and human neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells. Results: We gathered cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 13 COVID-19 patients showing central and peripheral neurological involvement. We collected CSF also from two patients affected by normal pressure hydrocephalus as controls. All CSF samples resulted negative for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. We stained with CSF samples a human immortalized cell line, HEK293, over-expressing cleaved SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in not permeabilizing condition. We detected a strong immunoreactivity in specimens. We monitored the reactivity against spike along the time. To this aim, we collected CSF from one patient two months after the acute phase. We still observed a strong immuno-reactivity towards Spike-expressing HEK293 cells Having observed such an immunoreactivity profile, we aimed to identify the potential target(s) recognized by IgG present in the Neurocovid CSFs. We immobilized 50 ul of 2 CSF on agarose beads. Then we incubated the beads with different protein samples, lysate obtained from murine adult brain tissue, mouse cortical culture, membrane fraction prepared from cortical culture, and HEK293 cells. We eluted bound proteins and we analysed the samples by SDS-PAGE followed by silver staining. We excised and measured by MS/MS the protein bands appearing only in Neurocovid samples. Conclusions: Based on our findings we demonstrated that upon SARS-CoV-2 infection, the immune system generates anti-spike antibodies. These antibodies may recognize and attack neurological autoantigens due to molecular mimicry.