Scar Assessment Tools: How Do They Compare?
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Choo AMH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8260845 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundScar assessment plays a key role during burns aftercare, to monitor scar remodelling and patients' psychosocial well-being. To aid assessment, subjective scar assessment scales are available that use health-care professionals' and patients' opinions to score scar characteristics. The subjective scales are more widely used in clinical practice over objective scar measures. To date, there is no research that considers patients' views on scar assessment and the role of subjective and objective assessment tools. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to explore patients' perspectives on scar assessment and the utility of scar assessment tools during burns rehabilitation.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 adult burn patients who were being reviewed in clinic for scarring. Participants were recruited via their clinical care team and research nurses at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Topics covered during interview included patient experience of scar assessment, the use of scar assessment tools and discussion surrounding important factors to be addressed when assessing scars. A thematic analysis using the Framework Method was conducted.ResultsParticipants identified key subthemes that contribute towards the overarching theme of patient-centred scar assessment. These are: patient-led care; continuity in care; learning how to self-manage scarring; and psychological assessment. Links were demonstrated between these subthemes and the remaining themes that describe scar assessment strategies, indicating their potential patient-centred contributions. The subjective opinions of clinicians were found to be valued above the use of subjective or objective scar assessment tools. Scar assessment scales were perceived to be a beneficial method for self-reflection in relation to psychosocial functioning. However, minimal feedback and review of completed assessment scales led to uncertainty regarding their purpose. Patients perceived objective tools to be of primary use for health-care professionals, though the measures may aid patients' understanding of scar properties.ConclusionsScar assessment tools should be used to support, rather than replace, health-care professionals' subjective judgements of scarring. Adapting the way in which clinicians introduce and use scar assessment tools, according to patient needs, can support a patient-centred approach to scar assessment.
| S-EPMC8240530 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
2016-04-26 | GSE75139 | GEO
Project description:This study uses spiked-in transcript in order to compare various bioinformatics approaches and tools to assemble, quantify abundance and detect differentially expressed transcripts using RNA-Seq data. Mouse total RNA seq was extracted from embryonic stem cells (ES) before (designated as day 0) and four days after the addition of retinoic acid. 48 spikes were made in vitro from plasmid constructs and added to the total RNA in different concentrations (each mix has a set of different spike concentrations, see paper's method). We found that detection of differential expression at the gene level is acceptable, yet on the transcript-isofom level all tools tested were lacking accuracy and precision. This set of microarrays was performed for the purpose of selecting unexpressed loci, to which spikes can be added
2016-04-26 | GSE75138 | GEO
Project description:This study uses spiked-in transcript in order to compares various bioinformatics approaches and tools to assemble, quantify abundance and detect differentially expressed transcripts using RNA-Seq data. Mouse total RNA seq was extracted from embryonic stem cells (ES) before (designated as day 0) and four days after the addition of retinoic acid. 48 spikes were made in vitro from plasmid constructs and added to the total RNA in different concentrations (each mix has a set of different spike concentrations, see paper's method). We found that detection of differential expression at the gene level is acceptable, yet on the transcript-isofom level all tools tested were lacking accuracy and precision.
2016-04-26 | GSE71802 | GEO
Project description:Psychologists typically rely on self-report data when quantifying mobile phone usage, despite little evidence of its validity. In this paper we explore the accuracy of using self-reported estimates when compared with actual smartphone use. We also include source code to process and visualise these data. We compared 23 participants' actual smartphone use over a two-week period with self-reported estimates and the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. Our results indicate that estimated time spent using a smartphone may be an adequate measure of use, unless a greater resolution of data are required. Estimates concerning the number of times an individual used their phone across a typical day did not correlate with actual smartphone use. Neither estimated duration nor number of uses correlated with the Mobile Phone Problem Use Scale. We conclude that estimated smartphone use should be interpreted with caution in psychological research.
| S-EPMC4625000 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Antibody gold nanoparticle conjugates as recognition elements are essential for the overall performance of lateral flow assays. When immobilizing antibodies on gold nanoparticles, the challenge is to prevent aggregation and to ensure that the antibodies are correctly oriented so that they remain functional and their paratopes remain accessible. There are many methods available, and it is difficult to decide which one to use. To help selecting the most appropriate conjugate production method, different synthetic routes of binding antibodies to gold nanoparticles are systematically investigated for the purpose of a quantitative lateral flow test for small molecules. The direct comparison of different conjugate syntheses shows how to select a suitable conjugate for a lateral flow assay. The syntheses examined are direct adsorption of antibody, direct adsorption of reduced antibody, covalent binding to polyethylene glycol linker, and binding via biotin-streptavidin interaction. The conjugates are characterized using UV-Vis spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering to determine their stability. Their performance on structured lateral flow test strips is examined using calibrations for different amitriptyline concentrations. It was shown that the best conjugate for quantification of amitriptyline was realized by direct adsorption of an UV-light irradiated antibody to gold nanoparticles. The methods employed can serve as a guide for selecting the most appropriate conjugate for an application and enhance the performance of lateral flow assays.
| S-EPMC9859872 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Unpredictable hypertrophic scarring (HS) occurs after approximately 35% of all surgical procedures and causes significant physical and psychological complaints. Parallel to the need to understanding the mechanisms underlying HS formation, a prognostic tool is needed. The objective was to determine whether (systemic) immunological differences exist between patients who develop HS and those who develop normotrophic scars (NS) and to assess whether those differences can be used to identify patients prone to developing HS. A prospective cohort study with NS and HS groups in which (a) cytokine release by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and (b) the irritation threshold (IT) after an irritant (sodium lauryl sulphate) patch test was evaluated. Univariate regression analysis of PBMC cytokine secretion showed that low MCP-1, IL-8, IL-18 and IL-23 levels have a strong correlation with HS (P < .010-0.004; AUC = 0.790-0.883). Notably, combinations of two or three cytokines (TNF-a, MCP-1 and IL-23; AUC: 0.942, Nagelkerke R2 : 0.727) showed an improved AUC indicating a better correlation with HS than single cytokine analysis. These combination models produce good prognostic results over a broad probability range (sensitivity: 93.8%, specificity 86.7%, accuracy 90,25% between probability 0.3 and 0.7). Furthermore, the HS group had a lower IT than the NS group and an accuracy of 68%. In conclusion, very fundamental immunological differences exist between individuals who develop HS and those who do not, whereas the cytokine assay forms the basis of a predictive prognostic test for HS formation, the less invasive, easily performed irritant skin patch test is more accessible for daily practice.
| S-EPMC7818462 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Transcription Activator-Like (TAL) effectors from Xanthomonas plant pathogenic bacteria can bind to the promoter region of plant genes and induce their expression. DNA-binding specificity is governed by a central domain made of nearly identical repeats, each determining the recognition of one base pair via two amino acid residues (a.k.a. Repeat Variable Di-residue, or RVD). Knowing how TAL effectors differ from each other within and between strains would be useful to infer functional and evolutionary relationships, but their repetitive nature precludes reliable use of traditional alignment methods. The suite QueTAL was therefore developed to offer tailored tools for comparison of TAL effector genes. The program DisTAL considers each repeat as a unit, transforms a TAL effector sequence into a sequence of coded repeats and makes pair-wise alignments between these coded sequences to construct trees. The program FuncTAL is aimed at finding TAL effectors with similar DNA-binding capabilities. It calculates correlations between position weight matrices of potential target DNA sequence predicted from the RVD sequence, and builds trees based on these correlations. The programs accurately represented phylogenetic and functional relationships between TAL effectors using either simulated or literature-curated data. When using the programs on a large set of TAL effector sequences, the DisTAL tree largely reflected the expected species phylogeny. In contrast, FuncTAL showed that TAL effectors with similar binding capabilities can be found between phylogenetically distant taxa. This suite will help users to rapidly analyse any TAL effector genes of interest and compare them to other available TAL genes and should improve our understanding of TAL effectors evolution. It is available at http://bioinfo-web.mpl.ird.fr/cgi-bin2/quetal/quetal.cgi.
| S-EPMC4522561 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This paper details the research and development of the PC Vision system, a unique calibration and monitoring subsystem that will enable use of personal computers as accurately calibrated and controlled vision test instruments. The need for such a system is evident. Display intensity and chromaticity, test distance, room illumination, and a number of other variables must be controlled to avoid unexplained discrepancies in test outcomes, within and between individuals and test locations. Modern displays (CRT-, LCD-, or projector-based) have sufficient resolution, gamut, and stability to allow high-quality stimulus presentation. The PC Vision system consists of two categorical functions - one to calibrate screen properties, the other to monitor room and test setup conditions - packaged into a fully integrated hardware prototype.
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Project description:Single-image super resolution is a process of obtaining a high-resolution image from a set of low-resolution observations by signal processing. While super resolution has been demonstrated to improve image quality in scaled down images in the image domain, its effects on the Fourier-based image acquisition technique, such as MRI, remains unknown.We performed high-resolution ex vivo late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) magnetic resonance imaging (0.4 × 0.4 × 0.4 mm3) in postinfarction swine hearts (n = 24). The swine hearts were divided into the training set (n = 14) and the test set (n = 10), and in all hearts, low-resolution images were simulated from the high-resolution images. In the training set, super-resolution dictionaries with pairs of small matching patches of the high- and low-resolution images were created. In the test set, super resolution recovered high-resolution images from low-resolution images using the dictionaries. The same algorithm was also applied to patient LGE (n = 4) to assess its effects. Compared with interpolated images, super resolution significantly improved basic image quality indices (P < 0.001). Super resolution using Fourier-based zero padding achieved the best image quality. However, the magnitude of improvement was small in images with zero padding. Super resolution substantially improved the spatial resolution of the patient LGE images by sharpening the edges of the heart and the scar. In conclusion, single-image super resolution significantly improves image errors. However, the magnitude of improvement was relatively small in images with Fourier-based zero padding. These findings provide evidence to support its potential use in myocardial scar imaging.
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