How big a problem is inhaler technique and how important is it? In this issue of the European Respiratory Journal we are presented with a “real-life” study exploring the inhaler technique of almost 3000 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the relationship between inhaler device handling and disease control. This observational, cross-sectional study, conducted by MOLIM...

Mobile devices can now handle a great deal of information thanks to the convergence of diverse functionalities. Mobile environments have already shown great potential in terms of providing customized services to users because they can record meaningful and private information continually for long periods of time. Most of this information has been generally ignored because of the limitations of ...

Needle visualization is important for safe and successful ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve block. Howev accurate and consistent visualization of the needle tip can be difficult to achieve. This review article desc many of the challenges affecting needle visualization, summarizes the relevant literature on ultrasound imag of needles, and offers practical strategies for improving needle tip vis...

This position paper states our new approach of implementing low-level OS components, especially device drivers. We introduce the notion of concurrent objects into low-level system programming. A device driver for every hardware device is implemented as independent concurrent objects. A device driver object has a single thread of control, so that mutual exclusion operations such as spl and semap...

We describe a rotating sample holder with two degrees of freedom for galvanomagnetic measurements at low temperatures which allows positioning within 0.5 degrees with a reproducibility of better than 0.5 degrees . The main advantages of our device over other constructions are simple and accurate device adjustment, simple and convenient handling, and simple and quick sample changing.

Most visual screens based on fluorescent markers are currently limited in throughput and accuracy. Here we present the first genetic screen of a mutagenized population of C. elegans in a microfluidic device. Animal handling streamlined by a microfluidic device and intuitive control software enabled the identification of novel mutants and a large screening speed.