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Topic Review
Personalised Ageing
Given the growing number of older people, society as a whole should ideally provide a higher quality of life (QoL) for its ageing citizens through the concept of personalised ageing. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are subject to constant and rapid development, and can contribute to the goal of an improved QoL for older adults. In order to utilise future ICT solutions as a part of an age-friendly smart environment that helps achieve personalised ageing with an increased QoL, one must first determine whether the existing ICT solutions are satisfying the needs of older people. In order to accomplish that, this study contributes in three ways. First, it proposes a framework for the QoL of older adults, in order to provide a systematic review of the state-of-the-art literature and patents in this field. The second contribution is the finding that selected ICT solutions covered by articles and patents are intended for older adults and are validated by them.The third contribution of the study are the six recommendations that are derived from the review of the literature and the patents which would help move the agenda concerning the QoL of older people and personalised ageing with the use of ICT solutions forward.
  • 698
  • 29 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Potential Seaweed-Derived Bioactive Compounds for Pharmaceutical Applications
Seaweeds have been consumed as whole food since ancient times and used to treat several diseases. Nowadays, seaweeds are widely involved in biotechnological applications. Due to the variety of bioactive compounds in their composition, species of phylum Ochrophyta, class Phaeophyceae, phylum Rhodophyta and Chlorophyta are valuable for the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Research has demonstrated that those unique compounds express beneficial properties for human health. Each compound has peculiar properties (e.g., antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiviral activities, etc.) that can be exploited to enhance human health. Seaweed’s extracted polysaccharides are already involved in the pharmaceutical industry, with the aim of replacing synthetic compounds with components of natural origin. 
  • 698
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Apoptosis and (in) Pain—Potential Clinical Implications
The deregulation of apoptosis is involved in the development of several pathologies, and recent evidence suggests that apoptosis may be involved in chronic pain, namely in neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain state caused by primary damage or dysfunction of the nervous system. Recently, it was found that nerve endings contain transient receptor potential (TRP) channels that sense and detect signals released by injured tissues and respond to these damage signals. TRP channels are similar to the voltage-gated potassium channels or nucleotide-gated channels that participate in calcium and magnesium homeostasis. TRP channels allowing calcium to penetrate into nerve terminals can activate apoptosis, leading to nerve terminal destruction. Further, some TRPs are activated by acid and reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are mainly produced in the mitochondrial respiratory chain, and an increase in ROS production and/or a decrease in the antioxidant network may induce oxidative stress (OS). Depending on the OS levels, they can promote cellular proliferation and/or cell degeneration or death. Previous studies have indicated that proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), play an important role in the peripheral mediation of neuropathic pain. 
  • 695
  • 29 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Thrombosis
Thrombosis (from Ancient Greek θρόμβωσις thrómbōsis "clotting") is the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, obstructing the flow of blood through the circulatory system. When a blood vessel (a vein or an artery) is injured, the body uses platelets (thrombocytes) and fibrin to form a blood clot to prevent blood loss. Even when a blood vessel is not injured, blood clots may form in the body under certain conditions. A clot, or a piece of the clot, that breaks free and begins to travel around the body is known as an embolus. Thrombosis may occur in veins (venous thrombosis) or in arteries (arterial thrombosis). Venous thrombosis (sometimes called DVT) leads to a blood clot in the affected part of the body, while arterial thrombosis (and, rarely, severe venous thrombosis) affects the blood supply and leads to damage of the tissue supplied by that artery (ischemia and necrosis). A piece of either an arterial or a venous thrombus can break off as an embolus, which could then travel through the circulation and lodge somewhere else as an embolism. This type of embolism is known as a thromboembolism. Complications can arise when a venous thromboembolism (commonly called a VTE) lodges in the lung as a pulmonary embolism. An arterial embolus may travel further down the affected blood vessel, where it can lodge as an embolism.
  • 698
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
The Selected Rare B-Cell Lymphoproliferative Disorders
The updated 4th edition WHO classification of lymphoid malignancies and certain lymphoproliferative disorders (LPD), released in 2016, contains pivotal new terminology and information that is important for both radiologists and oncologists to understand. In spite of these updates, some LPDs included within this update have been rarely discussed in radiology literature. Many of these disorders have distinct clinical and imaging features, overlapping with more common disorders. The purpose of this entry is provide an overview for radiologists regarding certain rare LPDs.
  • 697
  • 03 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Prognostic of Acute/Hyperacute Stroke
Clinical manifestation of stroke is characterized by great diversity, ranging from minor disability to considerable neurological impairment interfering with activities of daily living and even death. Prognostic ambiguity has stimulated the interest for implementing stroke recovery biomarkers, including those provided by structural neuroimaging techniques, i.e., diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tractography for the study of white matter (WM) integrity. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an extension of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for in vivo mapping of white matter (WM) directionality and organization, allowing the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of major WM tracts and their microstructural integrity. DTI is based on the random diffusion of water molecules. Research on DTI metrics as stroke outcome biomarker is not limited to the acute and subacute phases, as it is also implemented on chronic stroke patients. Direct visualization of long tracts and their potential disruption provides insight into pathogenesis of functional deficits in stroke survivors as well as compensatory mechanisms on a microstructural level. Such knowledge may elucidate which group of patients is most likely to benefit from rehabilitation, and even help personalize treatment plans after the acute stroke phase according to each individual’s needs. 
  • 697
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Mycotoxin Exposure and Children’s Health
The first 1000 days of life are very sensitive to any event that alters health programming, and they represent a window for intervention to improve population health. Pregnant women, fetuses, and infants are particularly vulnerable to exposure to food contaminated with mycotoxins. 
  • 698
  • 29 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Brain processing: sugar and sweeteners
This entry aimed to reveal the differential brain processing of sugars and sweeteners in humans. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies published up to 2019 were retrieved from two databases and were included into the review if they evaluated the effects of both sugars and sweeteners on the subjects’ brain responses, during tasting and right after ingestion. Twenty studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The number of participants per study ranged from 5 to 42, with a total number of study participants at 396. Seven studies recruited both males and females, 7 were all-female and 6 were all-male. There was no consistent pattern showing that sugar or sweeteners elicited larger brain responses. Commonly involved brain regions were insula/operculum, cingulate and striatum, brainstem, hypothalamus and the ventral tegmental area. Future studies, therefore, should recruit a larger sample size, adopt a standardized fasting duration (preferably 12 h overnight, which is the most common practice and brain responses are larger in the state of hunger), and reported results with familywise-error rate (FWE)-corrected statistics. Every study should report the differential brain activation between sugar and non-nutritive sweetener conditions regardless of the complexity of their experiment design. These measures would enable a meta-analysis, pooling data across studies in a meaningful manner.
  • 699
  • 19 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Steroid-Resistant Nephrotic Syndrome
The genetic landscape of steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) is dramatically changing. Extended genetic testing is a key tool in understanding the pathophysiology of the disease and in identifying a precise etiology, with important implications in the clinical management of patients. However, forward genetics (i.e. moving from phenotype to genotype) is frequently insufficient. In this view, advancing and finishing diagnostic strategies, including reverse genetics and phenocopies identification, is pivotal in improving the approach to patients with SRNS. 
  • 701
  • 26 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Antioxidants supplementation in cardiovascular diseases
Oxidative stress may be defined as an imbalance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the antioxidant system to counteract or detoxify these potentially damaging molecules. This phenomenon is a common feature of many human disorders such as cardiovascular disease. Many of the risk factors, including smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and obesity are associated with an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease involving an elevated oxidative stress burden, either due to enhanced ROS production or decreased antioxidant protection. There is a number of therapeutic options to treat oxidative stress-associated cardiovascular diseases. Numerous studies have focused on the utility of antioxidant supplementation. However, whether antioxidant supplementation has any preventive and/or therapeutic value in cardiovascular pathology is still a matter of debate. 
  • 697
  • 08 Mar 2021
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