Although clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are increasingly emphasized as one of the possible levers for improving care, they are still not widely used due to different barriers, such as ...doubts about systems’ performance, their complexity and poor design, practitioners’ lack of time to use them, poor computer skills, reluctance to use them in front of patients, and deficient integration into existing workflows. While several studies on CDSS exist, there is a need for additional high-quality studies using large samples and examining the differences between outcomes following a decision based on CDSS support and those following decisions without this kind of information. Even less is known about the effectiveness of a CDSS that is delivered during a grand round routine and with the help of socially assistive humanoid robots (SAHRs). In this study, 200 patients will be randomized into a Control Group (i.e. standard care) and an Intervention Group (i.e. standard care and novel CDSS delivered via a SAHR). Health care quality and Quality of Life measures will be compared between the two groups. Additionally, approximately 22 clinicians, who are also active researchers at the University Clinical Center Maribor, will evaluate the acceptability and clinical usability of the system. The results of the proposed study will provide high-quality evidence on the effectiveness of CDSS systems and SAHR in the grand round routine.
Introduction
The workforce shortage in the healthcare context is a growing issue that exerts detrimental effects on employees (e.g., higher workload) and patients (e.g., suboptimal patient care). ...Since traditional approaches alone may not be enough to solve this problem, there is a need for complementary innovative digital health solutions, such as socially assistive robots. Hence, the proposed study aims to investigate the effects of gamified nursing education and physiotherapy delivered by a socially assistive robot on patient- (engagement, perceived quality of care) and employee-related outcomes (perceived self-efficacy, workload).
Methods and analysis
Approximately 90 vascular and thoracic surgery patients will receive either standard care or standard care with additional robot interactions over the course of 3–5 days. Additionally, approximately 34 nursing and physiotherapeutic employees will fill out self-report questionnaires after weeks of not using a social robot and weeks of using a social robot. The main hypotheses will be tested with mixed-design analyses of variance and paired-samples
t
-tests.
Discussion
While the proposed study has some limitations, the results will provide high-quality and comprehensive evidence on the effectiveness of socially assistive robots in healthcare.
Ethics and dissemination
The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Commission of the University Medical Center and registered in the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN96689284). The study findings will be summarized in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and meetings and communicated to relevant stakeholders.
Healthcare systems around the world are currently witnessing various challenges, including population aging and workforce shortages. As a result, the existing, overworked staff are struggling to meet ...the ever-increasing demands and provide the desired quality of care. One of the promising technological solutions that could complement the human workforce and alleviate some of their workload, are socially assistive humanoid robots. However, despite their potential, the implementation of socially assistive humanoid robots is often challenging due to low acceptance among key stakeholders, namely, patients and healthcare professionals. Hence, the present study first investigated the extent to which these stakeholders accept the use of socially assistive humanoid robots in nursing and care routine, and second, explored the characteristics that contribute to higher/lower acceptance within these groups, with a particular emphasis on demographic variables, technology expectations, ethical acceptability, and negative attitudes. In study 1, conducted on a sample of 490 healthcare professionals, the results of structural equation modeling showed that acceptance is driven primarily by aspects of ethical acceptability, although education and technology expectations also exert an indirect effect. In study 2, conducted on a sample of 371 patients, expectations regarding capabilities and attitudes towards the social influence of robots emerged as important predictors of acceptance. Moreover, although acceptance rates differed between tasks, both studies show a relatively high acceptance of socially assistive humanoid robots. Despite certain limitations, the study findings provide essential knowledge that enhances our understanding of stakeholders’ perceptions and acceptance of socially assistive humanoid robots in hospital environments, and may guide their deployment.
The plasticity of astrocytes is fundamental for their principal function, maintaining homeostasis of the central nervous system throughout life, and is associated with diverse exposomal challenges. ...Here, we used cultured astrocytes to investigate at subcellular level basic cell processes under controlled environmental conditions. We compared astroglial functional and signaling plasticity in standard serum-containing growth medium, a condition mimicking pathologic conditions, and in medium without serum, favoring the acquisition of arborized morphology. Using opto-/electrophysiologic techniques, we examined cell viability, expression of astroglial markers, vesicle dynamics, and cytosolic Ca
and cAMP signaling. The results revealed altered vesicle dynamics in arborized astrocytes that was associated with increased resting Ca
and increased subcellular heterogeneity in Ca
, whereas cAMP
subcellular dynamics remained stable in both cultures, indicating that cAMP signaling is less prone to plastic remodeling than Ca
signaling, possibly also in in vivo contexts.
Cover Illustration: Live arborized astrocyte in culture (NB+), containing numerous dextran‐laden endocytotic vesicles (green), revealed by confocal microscopy. Arborized astrocytes display increased ...resting levels of intracellular Ca
2+
concentration (Ca
2+
i
) and cAMP
i
, increased subcellular heterogeneity in Ca
2+
i
, but not in cAMP
i
, and attenuated vesicle mobility. (See Pirnat, S., et al,
https://doi.org/10.1002/glia.24076
.)
image
The plasticity of astrocytes is fundamental for their principal function, maintaining homeostasis of the central nervous system throughout life, and is associated with diverse exposomal challenges. ...Here, we used cultured astrocytes to investigate at subcellular level basic cell processes under controlled environmental conditions. We compared astroglial functional and signaling plasticity in standard serum‐containing growth medium, a condition mimicking pathologic conditions, and in medium without serum, favoring the acquisition of arborized morphology. Using opto−/electrophysiologic techniques, we examined cell viability, expression of astroglial markers, vesicle dynamics, and cytosolic Ca2+ and cAMP signaling. The results revealed altered vesicle dynamics in arborized astrocytes that was associated with increased resting Ca2+i and increased subcellular heterogeneity in Ca2+i, whereas cAMPi subcellular dynamics remained stable in both cultures, indicating that cAMP signaling is less prone to plastic remodeling than Ca2+ signaling, possibly also in in vivo contexts.
Main Points
In arborized astrocytes, resting levels of Ca2+i and cAMPi are increased, whereas vesicles exhibit altered mobility and interaction with the plasmalemma.
Subcellular heterogeneity in Ca2+i, but not in cAMPi is increased in resting arborized astrocytes.
Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 has an important role in immune activation processes and represents an emerging drug discovery target for the development of immunomodulators. Three-dimensional ...similarity-based virtual screening was performed using the Rapid Overlay of Chemical Structures software (vROCS version 3.1.1. OpenEye Scientific Software, Santa Fe, NM.
http://www.eyesopen.com
) to search for potential ligands of TLR7. Six new compounds with three new chemical scaffolds were discovered as initial hit antagonists of TLR7, with IC
50
values in the micromolar range, as determined by reporter assays. With only the imidazoquinolines described as small-molecule TLR7 antagonists to date, the new chemotypes described in this report represent an important starting point for the development of drug candidates for treatment of autoimmune diseases.
Importance of knowledge management lies in the fact that it could result in empowerment of individuals and organization itself to accomplish activities effectively through organizing knowledge. ...Knowledge management is a major issue for human resources management. Organization, culture and information technology play crucial enabler for various aspects of knowledge management. Aim of this paper is to present findings on knowledge management and factors that contribute to its development. In the empirical part, research on small IT companies is presented. Data was analyzed using PLS -SEM techniques. Findings show that that personal factors, culture and technical factors are substantial predictors of knowledge management, but informational factors do not directly predict knowledge management.
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