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Activation has no real answer to the new challenges in the labour market after covid-19 and new efforts are to be foreseen.

Aim: The overall aim of the project is to improve the empowerment of the citizen in the progress of having a diabetic foot ulcer and ultimately minimize the delays between contact with healthcare professionals at clinics or at home. During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been an increased demand of home monitoring of various chronic conditions. As citizens with a diabetic foot ulcer are at increased risk of a serious COVID-19 cause, both citizens and the healthcare system have an interest in having a safe and supporting home monitoring device.Method: The Wound App (SårApp in Danish) has been developed as a part of the Danish HealthD360 project (www.healthd360.dk). The Wound App is for the citizen, co-designed and tested by citizens in collaboration with healthcare professionals, companies and researchers. The citizen can register a wound, take photos and report the wound size, pain, inflammation and wound fluid daily /weekly. The progress of the wound healing is visualized together with self-registered and collected data within the app. A data plugin collects numbers of steps, activity and other data from Apple Health and Google Fit. Data from municipalities and register are included as well in the data analysis of the project. The app (SårApp) is available in Google Play and App Store.Results / Conclusion: Results already show benefits for citizens when using the Wound App to collect and monitor information in relation to their diabetic foot ulcers on a daily basis.

This demo is the result of a two-day evaluation of a humanoid robot in a Danish citizens service centre. Due to COVID-19, the goal was to reduce the number of personal contacts between staff and visitors in the centre using verbal interaction with the robot. The robot was pre-programmed with a number of typical questions and answers related to the center. A total of 263 citizens attended the centre during the two days. Visitors would have to pass the robot to enter the center, and is was estimated that 5 percent of the visitors interacted with the robot. The most common interaction patterns were greetings and casual chatting, although questions about the facilities at the centre were also observed. However, most visitors ignored the robot and focused on their scheduled appointment. This demo is the result of a two-day evaluation of a humanoid robot in a Danish citizens service centre. Due to COVID-19, the goal was to reduce the number of personal contacts between staff and visitors in the centre using verbal interaction with the robot. The robot was pre-programmed with a number of typical questions and answers related to the center. A total of 263 citizens attended the centre during the two days. Visitors would have to pass the robot to enter the center, and is was estimated that 5 percent of the visitors interacted with the robot. The most common interaction patterns were greetings and casual chatting, although questions about the facilities at the centre were also observed. However, most visitors ignored the robot and focused on their scheduled appointment.

In this paper, we focus on the development and manufacturing of a vaccine to combat the COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccine has been considered by many specialists as the best strategy to face the pandemic. Developing a safe and effective vaccine to combat COVID-19 in a timely manner is as daunting as scaling-up manufacturing to produce billions of doses. To accomplish such a goal, pharmaceutical companies have to prepare themselves in terms of infrastructure to ramp-up production as quickly as possible. One potential alternative to do that is to build a network of manufacturing partners. We consider the question of how to speed up technology transfer to ramp-up production under time pressure. We explore the main factors that enact the execution of technology transfer, with particular focus on the managerial and strategic dimensions to support a swift vaccine technology transfer. We conduct an in-depth case study between a multinational pharmaceutical industry and a research and production institute, located in an emerging country. In spite of the present paper still being an ongoing research, we believe our results already shed light on how to prepare for the effective fight against pandemics that may arise in the future.

Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is utilized in an increasing array of medical fields, including thoracic medicine. However, the technique is still relatively new and only sporadically mentioned in current guidelines and recommendations. The aim of this systematic review is to provide a literature overview and to critically appraise the current clinical applications of contrast-enhanced thoracic ultrasound (CETUS). A systematic literature search using major electronic databases and in accordance with PRISMA guidelines was performed. Studies with a primary focus on CETUS of thoracic disorders compared to a standard reference test were included. The QUADAS-2 tool was used for quality assessment of the studies. The search identified 43 articles: 1 randomized controlled study, 6 non-randomized controlled studies, 16 non-randomized non-controlled studies, 5 case series, 10 single case reports, and 5 animal studies. The overall risk of bias was judged to be high. Diagnostic accuracy measurements of noninvasive applications of CETUS were only reported in a few studies and they were too dissimilar for meta-analysis. Six studies compared CETUS-guided versus ultrasound-guided transthoracic needle biopsy of thoracic masses. They individually reported a significant increase in diagnostic accuracy in favor of CETUS guidance but were too heterogeneous for meta-analysis. The current literature on CETUS is overall heterogeneous with a few high evidence level studies, small study populations and a high risk of bias. CETUS-guided biopsy is the most frequent clinical application and increases diagnostic accuracy compared to ultrasound guidance by an average of 14.6 percentage points. Der kontrastverstärkte Ultraschall wird in immer mehr medizinischen Bereichen eingesetzt, darunter auch in der Thoraxmedizin. Diese Technik ist jedoch noch relativ neu und wird in aktuellen Richtlinien und Empfehlungen nur sporadisch erwähnt. Ziel dieser systematischen Übersichtsarbeit ist es, einen Literaturüberblick zu geben und die aktuellen klinischen Anwendungen des kontrastverstärkten Thorax-Ultraschalls (CETUS) kritisch zu bewerten. Es wurde eine systematische Literaturrecherche unter Verwendung der wichtigsten elektronischen Datenbanken in Übereinstimmung mit den PRISMA-Richtlinien durchgeführt. Eingeschlossen wurden Studien mit dem primären Schwerpunkt auf CETUS bei Erkrankungen des Thorax im Vergleich zum Standard-Referenztest. Das QUADAS-2-Tool wurde angewandt, um die Qualität der Studien zu beurteilen. Die Suche ergab 43 Artikel, davon 1 randomisierte kontrollierte Studie, 6 nichtrandomisierte kontrollierte Studien, 16 nichtrandomisierte nichtkontrollierte Studien, 5 Fallserien, 10 Einzelfallberichte und 5 Tierstudien. Das Bias-Risiko (Risiko für systematische Fehler) wurde insgesamt als hoch bewertet. Über Messungen der diagnostischen Genauigkeit von nichtinvasiven CETUS-Anwendungen wurde nur in wenigen Studien berichtet und diese waren für eine Metaanalyse zu unterschiedlich. In 6 Studien wurde die CETUS-geführte mit der ultraschallgeführten transthorakalen Nadelbiopsie bei Raumforderungen des Thorax verglichen. Jede von ihnen berichtete von einem signifikanten Anstieg der diagnostischen Genauigkeit zugunsten der CETUS-geführten Nadelbiopsie; die Studien waren jedoch für eine Metaanalyse zu heterogen. Die aktuelle Literatur zu CETUS ist insgesamt heterogen bei wenigen Studien mit hoher Evidenz, kleinen Studienpopulationen und einem hohen Bias-Risiko. Die CETUS-gesteuerte Biopsie ist die häufigste klinische Anwendung und erhöht die diagnostische Genauigkeit im Vergleich zur Ultraschallführung im Durchschnitt um 14,6 Prozentpunkte.

Background: Approximately 60% of patients with COPD, between the age of 18-65, are outside the workforce. The existing information on workforce detachment predisposition in COPD patients is limited.Aim: To examine characteristics of patients with permanent detachment from the workforce after first hospitalization with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD).Method: This nationwide retrospective cohort study examined patients admitted to hospital between 1999 and 2014 with AECOPD. Included patients were between 35-59 year and follow-up was 3 years. Danish registries were combined to gather information on age, sex, public support, education, civil status, comorbidities and medication use. Cox regression model was used to determine covariates’ effect on patients’ early permanent detachment from the workforce.Results: The analysis included 3,245 patients’ with 438 events of early detachment from the workforce and 203 patients dying during the 3 year follow-up. Covariates significantly associated with detachment from the workforce include age, emphysema, use of inhaled medicine and living alone. Covariates protective of early detachment include lower age and longer education (see fig. 1).Conclusion: This study identify prognostic factors of early detachment from the workforce that might guide rehabilitation.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 423.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).