Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Segmentation and Classification of Heart Angiographic Images Using Machine Learning Techniques

Heart angiography is a test in which the concerned medical specialist identifies the abnormality in heart vessels. This type of diagnosis takes a lot of time by the concerned physician. In our proposed method, we segmented the interested regions of heart vessels and then classified. Segmentation and classification of heart angiography provides significant information for the physician as well as patient. Contradictorily, in the mention domain of heart angiography, the charge is prone to error, phase overwhelming, and thought-provoking task for the physician (heart specialist). An automatic segmentation and classification of heart blood vessels descriptions can improve the truthfulness and speed up the finding of heart illnesses. In this work, we recommend a computer-assisted conclusion arrangement for the localization of human heart blood vessels within heart angiographic imageries by using multiclass ensemble classification mechanism. In the proposed work, the heart blood vessels will be first segmented, and the various features according to accuracy have been extracted. Low-level features such as texture, statistical, and geometrical features were extracted in human heart blood vessels. At last, in the proposed framework, heart blood vessels have been categorized in their four respective classes including normal, block, narrow, and blood flow-reduced vessels. The proposed approach has achieved best result which provides very useful, easy, accurate, and time-saving environment to cardiologists for the diagnosis of heart-related diseases.
Ethnopharmacology, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacological Properties of Thymus satureioides Coss.

Thymus satureioides Coss. (Lamiaceae) is a Moroccan medicinal plant locally known as “Azkouni” or “Zaitra. ” It is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments, including hypertension, diabetes, cold, fever, dermatological and circulatory disorders, immune problems, bronchitis, nociception, cooling, pharyngitis, cough, and influenza. The current review aims to critically summarize the literature on ethnopharmacological uses, chemical profile, and pharmacological investigations of T. satureioides in order to provide data support and scientific evidences for further investigations. Electronic databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, SciFinder, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and Medline were used to gather data on T. satureioides. Chemical characterization of T. satureioides essential oils (EOs) and extracts allowed to identify a total of 139 bioactive compounds, mainly belonging to the terpenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids classes. T. satureioides especially its essential oils exhibited numerous biological activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anticancer, antiparasitic, and hypolipedemic activities. In light of these findings, further studies to transmute the traditional application of T. satureioides into scientific-based information are strongly required. Additional in vivo pharmacological studies are recommended to validate the results of the in vitro studies. Moreover, comprehensive preclinical and clinical trials on the pharmacological mechanisms of action of this plant and its bioactive compounds on molecular targets should be performed. Finally, more efforts must be focused on toxicological assessments and pharmacokinetic studies, in order to ensure the safety and the efficiency of T. satureioides.
Inflammatory Markers in Severity of Intracerebral Hemorrhage II: A Follow Up Study

Introduction Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) results in significant morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of brain injury after ICH is thought to be due to mechanical damage followed by ischemic, cytotoxic, and inflammatory changes in the underlying and surrounding tissue. Various inflammatory and non-inflammatory biomarkers have been studied as predictors and potential therapeutic targets for intracerebral hemorrhage. Our prior study showed an association with low vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels and increased mortality. This current study looks to expand on our prior results and will look at the relationship between tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), C-reactive protein (CRP), VEGF, Homocysteine (Hcy), and CRP to albumin ratio (CAR) in predicting outcomes and severity in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage with TNFα, CRP, VEGF, Hcy levels drawn on admission. Albumin and CRP levels on admission were used to calculate CAR. Ninety-nine patients were included in the study. Primary outcomes included death, early neurologic decline (END), and hemorrhage size. Secondary outcomes included late neurologic decline (LND), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) on admission, GCS on discharge, ICH score, change in hemorrhage size, need for surgical intervention, and length of ICU stay. Results A total of 99 patients were included in this study, with 42% requiring surgical intervention and an overall mortality of 16%. Basal ganglia hemorrhage was seen in 41% of patients. Hcy and CAR were significantly correlated with ICH size in basal ganglia patients (r-=0.36, p=0.03; r=0.43, p=0.03, respectively). CAR was significantly correlated with ICH score (r=0.33, p=0.007874). Admission VEGF levels less than 45 pg/ml had 8.4-fold increase in mortality (odds ratio [OR] 8.4545, p=0.0488). Patients with TNFα levels greater than 1.40 pg/ml had a 4.1-fold increase in mortality (OR 4.1, p=0.04) Conclusion Our study demonstrated that low levels (<45 pg/ml) of VEGF were associated with an 8.4-fold increase in mortality, supporting the neuroprotective effect of this protein. Elevated Hcy and CAR levels were associated with an increase in hemorrhage size in patients with basal ganglia hemorrhages. TNFα levels greater than 1.40 pg/ml were associated with a 4.1-fold increase in mortality, and this together with CAR being correlated with increased hemorrhage size and ICH score further demonstrate the inflammatory consequences after intracerebral hemorrhage. Future studies directed at lowering CRP, TNFα, and Hcy and/or increasing VEGF in intracerebral hemorrhage patients are needed and may be beneficial.
A Case of Fatal Rhino-Orbital Mucormycosis Associated With New Onset Diabetic Ketoacidosis and COVID-19

Mucormycosis is an invasive fungal infection, often acute and extremely severe, occurring in patients with an underlying condition. Coinfection in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported, often bacterial. A 24-year-old female is presented with acute fatal rhino-orbital mucormycosis and COVID-19. We report one of the first cases of rhino-orbital mucormycosis and COVID-19. With this case, we highlight the importance of considering mycotic coinfection in COVID-19 patients with diabetes.
Serum Cytokine Profiles of Melanoma Patients and Their Association with Tumor Progression and Metastasis

Purpose Previous studies have shown that melanoma cells produce excessive levels of cytokines, which have various biological roles during melanoma development. The aim of this study was to expand the profile of serum cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, and angiogenic factors that are associated with melanoma, to find more cytokines with abnormal concentrations in melanoma patients, to identify whether the level of cytokines correlated with prognostic variants, such as Breslow thickness and BRAF mutation, and, finally, to find out the cytokines that play important roles during melanoma development. Materials and Methods Multiplex immunobead assay technology and 45-plex immunoassays ProcartaPlex™ kits were used to simultaneously compare the levels of cytokines, growth factors, angiogenic factors, and chemokines between the serum of healthy patients (n = 30) and those with melanoma (n = 72). Data were analyzed according to the clinical characteristics of the designated patient subgroups. Results Compared to the control group, melanoma patients had higher levels of VEGF-A, PDGF-BB, IL-1RA, PIGF-1, IFN-γ, TNF-α, MIP-1α, and SCF, but lower levels of BDNF, SDF-1α, MCP-1, Eotaxin, EGF, and IL-7. Furthermore, the levels of TNF-α (P=0.320, r = 0.019), IFN-γ (P=0.311, r = 0.023), VEGF-A (P=0.014, r = 0.337), and BDNF (0.004, r = −0.391) showed a significant correlation with Breslow thickness. IL-7 was of lower levels in patients harboring BRAF mutants. Melanoma patients with high levels of MIP-1α and MCP-1 showed the poorest overall survival. Conclusions We found that the levels of VEGF-A and PDGF-BB in the serum of both primary and metastatic melanoma patients are elevated. TNF-α, IFN-γ, and VEGF-A presented a positive correlation with Breslow thickness, whereas BDNF showed a negative association. MIP-1α and MCP-1 correlated negatively with survival. In addition, lower levels of IL-7 were found in patients harboring BRAF mutants. These findings indicate that these cytokines may play critical roles in the progression of melanoma.
Optimization of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced rat epithelial ovarian tumors

Ovarian carcinoma is the second most common malignant tumor of the female reproductive system and an notable cause of cancer death. The detection and diagnosis of early ovarian carcinomas are still clinical challenges, which calls for imaging studies using early ovarian carcinoma animal models. The present study aimed to optimize the 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-induced model of rat ovarian tumors by investigating the delivery methods, induction dose and time of DMBA exposure, and explored the morphological features of tumors using MRI. Three schemes were performed. In scheme one the ovary was covered with absorbable hemostatic gauze loaded with a high concentration of liquid DMBA. For this scheme, 150 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups depending on the DMBA dose (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg). In scheme two DMBA solution was injected under the ovarian capsule. For this scheme, 159 rats were divided into 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 mg DMBA groups. In scheme three the ovary was covered with absorbable gauze loaded with a high concentration of solid DMBA. For this scheme 161 rats were divided into 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mg DMBA groups. Each group of the three schemes was further subdivided into 60-, 90-, 120-, 150- and 180-day groups. In scheme two, the tumor formation rate was 75.6% (99/131), which was the highest in the 1.5 mg group (86.4%, 38/44) and reached 100% (10/10) on day 120. The induced tumors were serous in 93.9% (93/99) of tumors. Borderline ovarian tumors accounted for 19.2% (19/99) of all tumors, and ovarian cancer accounted for 46.5% (46/99). The mean maximum diameter (MMD) of borderline ovarian tumors was 10.29±3.41 mm, and that of ovarian cancer was 15.19±7.10 mm. MMD of the solid components increased with increasing malignancy. Cystic, cystic-solid and solid tumors were observed. The ovarian subcapsular injection of 1.5 mg DMBA was the best scheme for the rat ovarian tumor model. The present model is ideal for investigating the occurrence, development and imaging of ovarian tumors.
Role of Helicobacter pylori Eradication in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis

Objective To investigate the role of Helicobacter pylori (HP) eradication in chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) treatment. Methods Retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 522 patients with CSU who underwent a HP breath test in Hangzhou Third People’s Hospital between January 2018 and December 2019. The CSU-HP(+) group consisted of patients with CSU and HP infection, who were treated with antihistamines combined with HP eradication therapy. The CSU-HP(-) group consisted of patients with CSU alone, who were treated with antihistamines. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis, using the nearest neighbor matching method on a 1:1 basis, was performed to ensure the characteristics of the CSU-HP(+) and CSU-HP(-) groups were similar. Factors, including age, gender, white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, alanine transaminase, creatinine, immunoglobulin E, and pre-treatment urticaria activity score (UAS), were matched to obtain a balanced cohort of patients in each group. Therapeutic effects were compared after matching. t-tests, Χ2 test, and McNemar’s test were used for comparison between the two groups before and after matching. Results Patients in the CSU-HP(+) group reported significantly more gastrointestinal symptoms than those in the CSU-HP(-) group. UAS scores in the second week of treatment were significantly different between the two groups. After 3 months, the recurrence rate in the CSU-HP(+) group was lower than in the CSU-HP(-) group. Conclusion Eradication of HP infection in patients with CSU helps relieve gastrointestinal symptoms, improves the therapeutic effect of CSU within 2 weeks, and reduces the recurrence rate 3 months after treatment.
Feedback Training Improves Compliance with Sternal Precaution Guidelines during Functional Mobility: Implications for Optimizing Recovery in Older Patients after Median Sternotomy

Patients often need to use their arms to assist with functional activities, but after open heart surgery, pushing with the arms is limited to <10 lb (4.5 kg) to help minimize force across the healing sternum. The main purposes of this study were to determine if older patients (>60 years old) (1) accurately estimated upper extremity (UE) weight bearing force of 10 lb or less and (2) if feedback training improved their ability to limit UE force and pectoralis major muscle contraction during functional activities. An instrumented walker was used to measure UE weight bearing force, and electromyography was used to measure pectoralis major muscle activity simultaneously during 4 functional mobility tasks. After baseline testing, healthy older subjects (n = 30) completed a brief session of visual and auditory concurrent feedback training. Results showed that the self-selected UE force was >10 lb for all tasks (20.0-39.7 lb [9.1-18.0 kg]), but after feedback training, it was significantly reduced (10.6-21.3 lb [4.8-9.7 kg]). During most trials (92%), study participants used >12 lb (5.5 kg) of arm weight bearing force. Pectoralis major muscle peak electromyography activity was <23% of maximal voluntary isometric contraction and was reduced (9.8-14.9%) after feedback training. Older patients may not be able to accurately estimate UE arm force used during weight bearing activities, and visual and auditory feedback improves accuracy and also modulation of pectoralis major muscle activation. Results suggest that an instrumented walker and feedback training could be clinically useful for older patients recovering from open heart surgery.
Involvement of Machine Learning Tools in Healthcare Decision Making

In the present day, there are many diseases which need to be identified at their early stages to start relevant treatments. If not, they could be uncurable and deadly. Due to this reason, there is a need of analysing complex medical data, medical reports, and medical images at a lesser time but with greater accuracy. There are even some instances where certain abnormalities cannot be directly recognized by humans. In healthcare for computational decision making, machine learning approaches are being used in these types of situations where a crucial data analysis needs to be performed on medical data to reveal hidden relationships or abnormalities which are not visible to humans. Implementing algorithms to perform such tasks itself is difficult, but what makes it even more challenging is to increase the accuracy of the algorithm while decreasing the required time for the algorithm to execute. In the early days, processing of large amount of medical data was an important task which resulted in machine learning being adapted in the biological domain. Since this happened, the biology and biomedical fields have been reaching higher levels by exploring more knowledge and identifying relationships which were never observed before. Reaching to its peak now the concern is being diverted towards treating patients not only based on the type of disease but also their genetics, which is known as precision medicine. Modifications in machine learning algorithms are being performed and tested daily to improve the performance of the algorithms in analysing and presenting more accurate information. In the healthcare field, starting from information extraction from medical documents until the prediction or diagnosis of a disease, machine learning has been involved. Medical imaging is a section that was greatly improved with the integration of machine learning algorithms to the field of computational biology. Nowadays, many disease diagnoses are being performed by medical image processing using machine learning algorithms. In addition, patient care, resource allocation, and research on treatments for various diseases are also being performed using machine learning-based computational decision making. Throughout this paper, various machine learning algorithms and approaches that are being used for decision making in the healthcare sector will be discussed along with the involvement of machine learning in healthcare applications in the current context. With the explored knowledge, it was evident that neural network-based deep learning methods have performed extremely well in the field of computational biology with the support of the high processing power of modern sophisticated computers and are being extensively applied because of their high predicting accuracy and reliability. When giving concern towards the big picture by combining the observations, it is noticeable that computational biology and biomedicine-based decision making in healthcare have now become dependent on machine learning algorithms, and thus they cannot be separated from the field of artificial intelligence.
The Neutralizing Antibody Response against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 and the Cytokine/Chemokine Release in Patients with Different Levels of Coronavirus Diseases 2019 Severity: Cytokine Storm Still Persists Despite Viral Disappearance in Critical Patients

Patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exhibit a wide clinical spectrum ranging from mild respiratory symptoms to critical and fatal diseases, and older individuals are known to be more severely affected. The underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is unknown. A neutralizing antibody against viruses is known to be important to eliminate the virus. In addition, this antibody is induced at high levels in patients with severe COVID-19, followed by a termination of virus replication. Severe COVID-19 patients exhibit high levels of cytokines/chemokines, even after the disappearance of the virus. This indicates that cytokines/chemokines play significant roles in disease severity. These findings also suggest that antiviral therapy (monoclonal antibody and/or convalescent plasma therapy) should be administered early to eliminate the virus, followed by steroid treatment after viral genome disappearance, especially in patients with severe symptoms.
Exploring the impacts of COVID-19 related social distancing on loneliness, psychological needs and symptomatology

Loneliness may be a consequence of social distancing, a measure imposed by several governments to try to reduce the contagion of severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite being necessary, this measure may have thus caused a rise in mental health issues, leading to higher psychological distress and symptomatology. Thus, it is also important to explore how loneliness relates to the regulation of psychological needs. This study aims to explore the relationships between loneliness, symptomatology, and the regulation of psychological needs. 142 individuals (M age=32.7, SD=10.9), answered self-report questionnaires in a cross-sectional design. Results show that loneliness is positively correlated with symptomatology and difficulties in the regulation of psychological needs, with these relationships being mediated by psychological distress and psychological well-being. We discuss our results with a focus on loneliness and related psychopathological symptomatology, as they seem to be core factors in the regulation of psychological needs.
Healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices on coronavirus disease in Western Uttar Pradesh

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The ongoing coronavirus disease pandemic caused by a novel genetically-mutated strain of coronavirus has posed a tremendous challenge to healthcare professionals, worldwide. This study aimed to explore the healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to coronavirus disease in Western Uttar Pradesh and provide data to improve awareness about this disease and remove the knowledge gap, if any, by disseminating the updated information to the corona warriors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in the form of a structured 28-item online questionnaire using SurveyMonkey software. The qualitative data were coded numerically, and the KAP score was calculated. Pearson Chi-square test was used to study the association, among variables. RESULTS: Of 509 respondents, 296 (58.19%) were males and 213 (41.81%) were females. The median age bracket of the sample was 20–40 years. By profession, 255 (50.10%) were doctors, 167 (32.74%) were medical students, 80 (15.78%) were other healthcare workers, and a minority 7 (1.38%) were the nursing staff. Educational status covered a range from secondary (2.01%) to senior secondary (17.51%) to bachelors and equivalent (29.18%) to masters and equivalent (51.31%). The average KAP scores were 54%, and the score was highest among doctors as compared to other healthcare professionals (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In light of these study findings, we conclude that healthcare professionals are aware of coronavirus disease. However, the overall KAP score regarding its clinical course, preventive strategies, and judicious use of personal protective equipment was less than expected. There is a need to address all misconceptions and empower the corona warriors with the right information through effective mass media communication and reinforcement through seminars and workshops in the medical institutes and hospitals. The healthcare professionals are a cornerstone to prevent the nosocomial and community spread of this pandemic.
Publication Characteristics of Foot and Ankle Trauma Publications: A Review of Articles From 1997 to 2017

Background The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare publishing characteristics in foot and ankle trauma articles published in two subspecialty journals and two general orthopedic journals. Methods All trauma articles related to foot and ankle surgery published from five different time intervals over a 20-year period were collected and the following was analyzed: authorship, level of evidence, type of study, citations, and geographic region. Results Foot and Ankle International (FAI) had the highest percentage of last and corresponding authors that were fellowship-trained in foot and ankle. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery American and British volumes (JBJS(A) and JBJS(B), respectively) and the Journal of Orthopaedic Trauma (JOT) articles had a higher percentage of last and corresponding authors that were fellowship-trained in trauma. Conclusion Foot and ankle-trained authors are currently under-represented in foot and ankle trauma literature. As the field of foot and ankle continues to grow, it is important that the experts in the field are well represented in the literature.