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Internet-delivered psychological treatments (IDPT) are seen as an effective and scalable pathway to improving the accessibility of mental healthcare. Within this context, treatment adherence is an especially pertinent challenge to address due to the reduced interaction between healthcare professionals and patients. In parallel, the increase in regulations surrounding the use of personal data, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), makes data minimization a core consideration for real-world implementation of IDPTs. Consequently, this work proposes a Self-Attention-based deep learning approach to perform automatic adherence forecasting, while only relying on minimally sensitive login/logout-timestamp data. This approach was tested on a dataset containing 342 patients undergoing Guided Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (G-ICBT) treatment. Of these 342 patients, 101 (~30%) were considered non-adherent (dropout) based on the adherence definition used in this work (i.e. at least eight connections to the platform lasting more than a minute over 56 days). The proposed model achieved over 70% average balanced accuracy, after only 20 out of the 56 days (~1/3) of the treatment had elapsed. This study demonstrates that automatic adherence forecasting for G-ICBT, is achievable using only minimally sensitive data, thus facilitating the implementation of such tools within real-world IDPT platforms., Comment: Ulysse C\^ot\'e-Allard and Minh H. Pham share first authorship. Accepted for publication IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (IEEE JBHI). 12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. The dataset and code used in this work are available here: https://github.com/UlysseCoteAllard/AdherenceForecastingG-ICBT

This paper summarizes the information technology-related research findings after 5 years with the INTROducing Mental health through Adaptive Technology project. The aim was to improve mental healthcare by introducing new technologies for adaptive interventions in mental healthcare through interdisciplinary research and development. We focus on the challenges related to internet-delivered psychological treatments, emphasising artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, and software engineering. We present the main research findings, the developed artefacts, and lessons learned from the project before outlining directions for future research. The main findings from this project are encapsulated in a reference architecture that is used for establishing an infrastructure for adaptive internet-delivered psychological treatment systems in clinical contexts. The infrastructure is developed by introducing an interdisciplinary design and development process inspired by domain-driven design, user-centred design, and the person based approach for intervention design. The process aligns the software development with the intervention design and illustrates their mutual dependencies. Finally, we present software artefacts produced within the project and discuss how they are related to the proposed reference architecture. Our results indicate that the proposed development process, the reference architecture and the produced software can be practical means of designing adaptive mental health care treatments in correspondence with the patients’ needs and preferences. In summary, we have created the initial version of an information technology infrastructure to support the development and deployment of Internet-delivered mental health interventions with inherent support for data sharing, data analysis, reusability of treatment content, and adaptation of intervention based on user needs and preferences.

Background The aim of this study was to identify in asymptomatic patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot the prevalence and determinants of impaired left‐sided cardiac function and adverse ventricular remodeling and the relation of left ventricular (LV) dysfunction and remodeling with cardiopulmonary exercise capacity. Methods and Results In a cross‐sectional study, 103 patients with tetralogy of Fallot (median age, 16.3 years) in New York Heart Association class 1, with surgical repair at a median age of 1.1 years, and 63 age‐matched controls were studied. LV, right ventricular function and geometry, LV myocardial extracellular volume (n=57), and left atrial function were quantified with cardiac magnetic resonance. Peak oxygen consumption was measured by a standardized cardiopulmonary exercise test (n=70). Patients with tetralogy of Fallot had lower LV ejection fraction ( P =0.001; 49% below age‐adjusted fifth percentile for controls), lower LV mass index ( P =0.003), lower LV mass/volume ratio ( P P P =0.037). A peak oxygen consumption below the third percentile reference level was more likely with decreasing LV ejection fraction ( P =0.008), and lower LV mass index ( P =0.024), but independent of right ventricular ejection fraction. Conclusions In New York Heart Association class 1 patients with tetralogy of Fallot, frequent impaired systolic and diastolic LV function, LV adverse remodeling with LV atrophy, a decreased mass/volume ratio, and extracellular matrix expansion suggest cardiomyopathic changes. The best predictor for LV systolic dysfunction was the right ventricular mass/volume ratio. The subnormal peak oxygen consumption indicates that monitoring of LV status may be important for long‐term prognosis.

Copyright: © 2017 Pham, Elshehabi, Haertner, Heger, Hobert, Faber, Salkovic, Ferreira, Berg, Sanchez-Ferro, van Dieën and Maetzler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms., Introduction: Aging and age-associated disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) are often associated with turning difficulties, which can lead to falls and fractures. Valid assessment of turning and turning deficits specifically in non-standardized environments may foster specific treatment and prevention of consequences. Methods: Relative orientation, obtained from 3D-accelerometer and 3D-gyroscope data of a sensor worn at the lower back, was used to develop an algorithm for turning detection and qualitative analysis in PD patients and controls in non-standardized environments. The algorithm was validated with a total of 2,304 turns ≥90° extracted from an independent dataset of 20 PD patients during medication ON- and OFF-conditions and 13 older adults. Video observation by two independent clinical observers served as gold standard. Results: In PD patients under medication OFF, the algorithm detected turns with a sensitivity of 0.92, a specificity of 0.89, and an accuracy of 0.92. During medication ON, values were 0.92, 0.78, and 0.83. In older adults, the algorithm reached validation values of 0.94, 0.89, and 0.92. Turning magnitude (difference, 0.06°; SEM, 0.14°) and duration (difference, 0.004 s; SEM, 0.005 s) yielded high correlation values with gold standard. Overall accuracy for direction of turning was 0.995. Intra class correlation of the clinical observers was 0.92. Conclusion: This wearable sensor- and relative orientation-based algorithm yields very high agreement with clinical observation for the detection and evaluation of ≥90° turns under non-standardized conditions in PD patients and older adults. It can be suggested for the assessment of turning in daily life., The study was supported by the EU project SENSE-PARK, funded under the Seventh Framework Programme, Cooperation-ICT, #288557 and by Lundbeck.

Background— The elastic function of the aorta in patients with transposition of the great arteries after arterial switch operation (ASO) is suspected to be important for long-term prognosis. Methods and Results— Fifty-one patients and 34 controls were studied at 3.0 Tesla with MRI. Forty-three patients (12.8±6.9 years) underwent 1-stage ASO, 8 patients (23.8±6.9 years) had prior pulmonary artery banding (2-stage ASO). Aortic dimensions, distensibility, pulse wave velocity, aortic arch angle, left ventricular (LV) mass, LV systolic function and left atrial (LA) volumes, and LA passive emptying function as marker of LV diastolic function were assessed. Compared with controls, patients had increased aortic root areas (602.6±240.5 versus 356.8±113.4 mm 2 /m; P −3 mm Hg −1 ; P P P P =0.04 to P =0.02). LA volumes correlated negatively with aortic root and ascending aortic distensibility and positively with pulse wave velocity ( P P P =0.004). Conclusions— Reduced aortic bioelasticity and aortic root dilatation are present in transposition of the great artery patients post ASO and are likely to contribute to LV diastolic dysfunction. Impaired aortic bioelasticity was strongly associated with age, suggesting the usefulness of follow-up studies for early onset of degenerative cardiovascular disease.

Purpose The determination of right ventricular volumes and function is of increasing interest for the postoperative care of patients with congenital heart defects. The presentation of volumetry data in terms of volume-time curves allows a comprehensive functional assessment. By using manual contour tracing, the generation of volume–time curves is exceedingly time-consuming. Methods This study describes a fast and precise method for determining volume–time curves for the right ventricle and for the right ventricular outflow tract. The method applies contour detection and includes a feature for identifying the right ventricular outflow tract volume. The segregation of the outflow tract is performed by four-dimensional curved smooth boundary surfaces defined by prespecified anatomical landmarks. Results The comparison with manual contour tracing demonstrates that the method is accurate and improves the precision of the measurement. Compared to manual contour tracing the bias is

Background The increased cardiovascular morbidity of adults with late repair of aortic coarctation (CoA) has been well documented. In contrast, successful CoA repair in early childhood has a generally good prognosis, though adverse vascular and ventricular characteristics may be abnormal, which could increase long-term risk. This study sought to perform a comprehensive analysis of aortic elasticity and left ventricular (LV) function in patients with aortic coarctation (CoA) using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR). In a subgroup of patients, we assessed structure and function of the common carotid arteries to probe for signs of systemic vascular remodeling. Methods Fifty-one patients (median age 17.3 years), 13.9 ± 7.5 years after CoA repair, and 54 controls (median age 19.8 years) underwent CMR. We determined distensibility and pulse wave velocity (PWV) at different aortic locations. In a subgroup, common carotid artery distensibility, PWV, wall thickness and wall area were measured. LV ejection fraction (EF), volumes, and mass were measured from short axis views. Left atrial (LA) volumes and functional parameters (LAEFPassive, LAEFContractile, LAEFReservoir) were assessed from axial cine images. Results In patients distensibility of the whole thoracic aorta was reduced (p

Methods As a part of comprehensive CMR examination myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) was calculated from pre-and postgadolinium contrast T1 measurements of blood and myocardium (Look-Locker technique) in 25 asymptomatic patients (age:18.9±7.6) with aortic coarctation after surgical repair and 10 agematched controls. Parameters of ventricular volumes were obtained from cine CMR. All patients had normal parameters of systolic and diastolic function by echocardiography.

Citation Voges, Inga, Michael Jerosch-Herold, Christopher Hart, Dominik Daniel Gabbert, Philip Wegner, Ana C Andrade, Minh H Pham, Ines Kristo, Hans-Heiner Kramer, and Carsten Rickers. 2015. “Evidence for aortopathy of the native descending aorta in children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.” Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 17 (1): Q79. doi:10.1186/1532-429X-17-S1-Q79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1532-429X-17-S1-Q79.

We thank Drs Kharabish and Fratz for their comment on and question about whether the observed difference in aortic distensibility truly reflects a difference in bioelastic properties rather than being confounded by the larger lumen area near the aortic root. We would like to point out several aspects that run counter to such a line of thought: 1. The suggestion that distensibility generally decreases with increasing cross-sectional area when stroke volume and bioelastic properties remain unchanged is incorrect. The physical quantity that causes the area change for a vessel with given bioelastic properties is the pulse amplitude. Vessel distensibility is commonly defined as the …

Background Evaluation of blood flow characteristics in total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC) with CMR remains difficult due to its strong modulation by respiration, and is not yet entirely understood. New approaches using 4D phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (4D PC MRI) are promising and can contribute to the understanding of hemodynamics in the Fontan Circulation. Our objective was to compare flow, velocities, wall shear stress (WSS) and circulation in the TCPC using respiratory- and ECG triggered 4D PC MRI. Methods 10 children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome were evaluated after surgical completion of the Fontan circulation (TCPC with lateral intra-atrial tunnel) in a single center. In all patients one respiratory- (80 -100 phases) and one ECG-triggered (30 phases) 4D PC MRI covering the whole thorax, voxel size ranging from isotropic 1.5 to 2.0 mm were acquired during a single CMR examination with a custom-made electronic respiratory triggering compatible with our scanner. Dedicated commercial and custom software was used for further analysis of flow, velocity, WSS and circulation. Results

Chitosan is a polysaccharide scaffold used to enhance cartilage repair during treatments involving bone marrow stimulation, and it is reported to increase angiogenesis and osteogenesis in vivo. Here, we tested the hypotheses that addition of chitosan particles to the media of human bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) cultures stimulates osteogenesis by promoting osteoblastic differentiation and by favoring the release of angiogenic factors in vitro. Confluent BMSCs were cultured for 3 weeks with 16% fetal bovine serum, ascorbate-2-phosphate and disodium beta-glycerol phosphate, in the absence or presence of dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid commonly used as an inducer of BMSC osteoblast differentiation in vitro. As expected, dexamethasone slowed cell division, stimulated alkaline phosphatase activity and enhanced matrix mineralization. Added chitosan particles accumulated intra- and extracellularly and, while not affecting most osteogenic features, they inhibited osteocalcin release to the media at day 14 and interfered with mineralized matrix deposition. Interestingly, dexamethasone promoted cell attachment and suppressed the release and activation of matrix metalloprotease-2 (MMP-2). While chitosan particles had no effect on the release of angiogenic factors, dexamethasone significantly inhibited (p

Methods Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed at 3.0 Tesla in 109 asymptomatic ToF patients, (age 19.3 ±12.8 years) after surgical correction (16.6±10.0 years post operation), and 64 age-matched controls. Parameters of LV and left atrial (LA) function and aortic distensibility were obtained from cine CMR. In a subgroup (n=50), T1 mapping was used to determine the myocardial extracellular volume fraction (ECV) as an index of diffuse myocardial fibrosis.

Background Coronary artery reimplantation is crucial step during the arterial switch (ASO) and Ross operation. Mortality and long-term outcome after the operation mainly depend on the patency and function of the reimplanted coronary arteries due to risk of stenosis, stretching, or occlusion. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging has emerged as a promising diagnostic tool for the evaluation of children heart. We utilized advanced CMR methods to perform a noninvasive assessment of myocardial blood flow, viability, function and diffuse fibrosis in patients after ASO and Ross operation to guide further therapy and for a better understanding of the microcirculation. Methods MRI first-pass perfusion imaging (0.03 mmol/kg GdDTPA; TR/TE/a=2.6/1.1/20°) was performed in 36 patients (age, 15.75±10.94 yrs; transposition of the great arteries post arterial switch operation n=25, post Ross operation for the treatment of aortic valve disease n= 11) and in 10 age matched healthy controls. Myocardial blood flow (ml/g/min) was calculated in 6 LV segments per slice (2-3 slices/pt). Quantitative blood flow at rest and stress (Adenosin 140 µg/kg/min) was derived from signal intensity curves by model independent deconvolution. Late enhancement studies (Gd 0.1 mmol/kg) using T1 weighted inversion recovery sequences were performed to detect myocardial scar. A Look-Locker technique (temporal resolution, 40 ms; slice thickness, 8 mm; repetition time, 3 R-R intervals) for measurements of T1 was used for detecting of LV diffuse fibrosis. Furthermore, cine MRI and 3 D coronary artery imaging were performed to assess ventricular function and coronary anatomy. Results