As environmental requirements on automotive vehicle emissions have steadily increased over the last decades, embedded control technology to perform real-time management of the driver’s requests has appeared as a key technology and has become ubiquitous. Today, every subsystem that is found under the hood is controlled, most often in closed-loop mode. A key factor in the development of a new eng...

INTRODUCTION Intraoral devices have increasingly assumed a key role in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, but there are limitations to their indication and side effects that result from their continuous use, as well as the use of the continuous positive airway pressure device. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the changes in dental positioning caused by the continuous use of mandibular a...

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) represents a socio-economic burden and requires regular and ongoing treatment. Inhalation therapy is recommended at all stages of the disease and allows the delivery of active molecules directly to the target site of action, whilst minimising adverse side-effects. Inhalers therefore play a crucial role in the effective management of patients with COP...

Mental disorders can have a significant, negative impact on sufferers’ lives, as well as on their friends and family, healthcare systems and other parts of society. Approximately 25% of all people in Europe and the USA experience a mental disorder at least once in their lifetime. Currently monitoring mental disorders relies on subjective clinical self reporting rating scales, which were develop...

Cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infection, according to current trends, appears to be an increasing problem. It can be indolent and its diagnosis challenging. Cardiac implantable electronic device infections are potentially lethal, and timely diagnosis and early initiation of correct treatment are of highest importance for patient prognosis. For reducing CIED infections, careful pa...

The development of implantable devices for the treatment of tachyarrhythmias has resulted in additional therapeutic choices for the affected patients. Technologic advances now permit one to choose from a wide variety of devices capable of intervening automatically in the presence of supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias. Although all methods remain in the investigational stage at this tim...

Corticosteroids have been the mainstay of uveitis therapy. When intraocular inflammation is unresponsive to steroids, or steroid related side effects become a concern, steroid-sparing medications may be administered which can be classified into immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents. Uveitis treatment can be delivered systemically, topically, periocularly or intraocularly. All of the abo...

Successful treatment of inflammatory airway disease (IAD) requires environmental management to minimize exposure to irritants and combination drug therapy to reduce pulmonary inflammation and prevent bronchoconstriction. Aerosolized drug therapy is an efficient means of treatment for most horses with IAD. Aerosolized drug therapy has been standard treatment for human patients with non-infectiou...

STUDY QUESTIONS What are the symptoms of uterine perforation caused by modern copper intrauterine devices (Cu-IUDs) and the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS); how is perforation detected and what are the findings in abdominal surgery? SUMMARY ANSWER Symptoms are mostly mild and ∼30% of women are asymptomatic. Surgical findings are mainly minimal; no visceral complications...