Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coil Embolization in Patients with Recurrent Cerebral Aneurysms Who Previously Underwent Surgical Clipping

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Surgical revision of recurrent cerebral aneurysms is technically difficult. Therefore, coil embolization has been used as an alternative in these cases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and angiographic outcomes of coil embolization in patients with recurrent cerebral aneurysms after microsurgical clipping. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between May 1999 and February 2016, nineteen patients with 19 recurrent aneurysms who previously underwent surgical clipping were treated by coil embolization. RESULTS: Nine patients presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage (47.4%). The interval between surgical clipping and coil embolization was 143.5 ± 66.1 months (range, 43–276 months). Single- or double-catheter coil embolization was performed in 16 patients. A balloon (n = 1) and stents (n = 2) were used to assist the coil embolization in 3 patients. Immediate radiologic findings after coil embolization showed complete occlusion in 10 patients, a residual neck in 8 patients, and a residual sac in 1 patient. Procedure-related permanent morbidity occurred in 1 patient. The mean clinical follow-up was 58.3 ± 38.8 months. Poor clinical outcomes (modified Rankin Scale score = ≥3) at the end of the clinical follow-up were reported in 5 patients (26.3%). Angiographic follow-up was available for 12 patients (63.2%). Major recurrence was detected in 5 patients (41.7%), and a tendency for aneurysm regrowth rather than coil compaction was noted in all cases. CONCLUSIONS: In our series, coil embolization for recurrent aneurysms after surgical clipping was feasible but had a high recurrence rate and tended to result in aneurysm regrowth rather than coil compaction.
Dietary patterns and Helicobacter pylori infection in a group of Chinese adults ages between 45 and 59 years old

Abstract Limited studies have reported the association between dietary patterns and the risk of Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) infection. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary patterns and H pylori infection in a Chinese population ages from 45 to 59 years. We performed a cross-sectional examination of the associations between dietary patterns and H pylori infection in 3014 Chinese adults ages between 45 and 59 years from Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China. Dietary intake was assessed through a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). H pylori infection was diagnosed using the 13C-urea breath test. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the associations between dietary patterns and the risk of H pylori infection. The prevalence of H pylori infection was 27.5%. Four major dietary patterns were identified by means of factor analysis: health-conscious, Western, grains-vegetables and high-salt patterns. After adjustment for the potential confounders, participants in the highest quartile of the “grains-vegetables” pattern scores had a lower odds ratio (OR) for H pylori infection (OR = 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.732–0.973; P = .04) than did those in the lowest quartile. Compared with those in the lowest quartile, participants in the highest quartile of the “high-salt” pattern scores had a greater OR for H pylori infection (OR = 1.13; 95%CI: 1.004–1.139; P = .048). Besides, no significant associations were found between the “health-conscious” and “Western” dietary patterns and the risk of H pylori infection. Our findings demonstrate that the “grains-vegetables” pattern is associated with a decreased risk, while “high-salt” pattern is associated with an increased risk of H pylori infection.
Evaluating Patient Brain and Behavior Pathways to Caregiver Health in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Background: Caregivers of patients with neurodegenerative diseases are at heightened risk for serious health problems, but health differences between individual caregivers abound. Aims: To determine whether atrophy in patient brains could be used to identify caregivers at heightened risk for health problems and which patient variables mediate this relationship. Methods: In 162 patient-caregiver dyads, we assessed patient atrophy using structural MRI, caregiver health, and patient behavior and cognitive symptoms. Results: Patient atrophy in the right insula and medial frontal gyrus was associated with worse caregiver health; this relationship was partially mediated by patient neuropsychiatric symptoms, and assessing atrophy in these regions improved predictions of poor caregiver health above and beyond patient behavioral symptoms. Conclusions: This study shows the value of patients’ brain data in identifying caregivers at risk for becoming sick themselves.
Prenatal and postnatal nutritional influences on leptin sensitivity and susceptibility to diet-induced obesity in the rat

The developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis suggests that exposure to adverse prenatal environmental influences can determine an individual’s susceptibility to obesity in adult life. However, the specific causal mechanisms which underlie this hypothesis have yet to be identified. Focusing on the potential mechanistic role of the leptin endocrine axis, the main objective of this thesis was to investigate the long term effects of prenatal undernutrition and different levels of postnatal nutrition on leptin sensitivity and the development of diet-induced obesity (DIO) in the Wistar rat. A well established animal model of maternal undernutrition during pregnancy was used to induce prenatal undernutrition in experimental offspring. To investigate the interaction between prenatal nutrition and postnatal diet, and its effects on obesity development, female offspring were placed on three different diets: standard chow, a high fat diet or a calorie restricted diet. The effects of prenatal undernutrition and postnatal diet on leptin sensitivity were investigated, in adult offspring, by measuring the response to 14 days of peripheral leptin treatment. Changes in gene expression in the liver, retroperitoneal adipose tissue and soleus muscle were then characterised by custom microarray and quantitative real-time RT-PCR (QPCR) analysis. Adult female offspring exposed to prenatal undernutrition (UN offspring) were found to exhibit leptin resistance in adulthood, independent of postnatal DIO. This result demonstrates for the first time that exposure to prenatal undernutrition has a long term effect on adult leptin sensitivity. In UN offspring fed on a high-fat diet, leptin resistance significantly accelerated the development of DIO while in contrast, offspring maintained on calorie restriction remained lean. These findings suggest that prenatal nutrition can shape future susceptibility to DIO by altering postnatal leptin sensitivity. An analysis of gene expression suggests that prenatal undernutrition causes the development of peripheral tissue-specific leptin resistance, and may also further enhance an offspring’s susceptibility to DIO by altering the regulation of peripheral
Mobilized peripheral blood stem cell apheresis via Hickman catheter in pediatric patients

Autologous stem cell transplantation remains an integral treatment tool for certain childhood malignancies. In children, a central venous catheter is typically necessary to provide adequate flow rates for preparative apheresis. In this study, the feasibility and efficiency of collecting CD34+ cells via an indwelling Hickman catheter, preimplanted for chemotherapy, instead of placing an additional temporary central venous catheter was evaluated.
WallSense: Device-Free Indoor Localization Using Wall-Mounted UHF RFID Tags

To achieve device-free indoor localization without the active participation of the users, this paper presents WallSense, a device-free indoor localization system based on off-the-shelf Radio RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) equipment. The system deploys two orthogonal tag arrays in adjoining walls and uses the RSSI and phase information measured by RFID readers to localize the target. By differentiating the backscattered signal between adjacent tag pairs, WallSense is able to eliminate most undesirable factors and extract information directly related to the location of the target. By applying Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) with a novel weighted fitness function and combining the localization result of two orthogonal tag arrays, the system is able to localize the target with high accuracy. Experiments show that the system is able to localize human target with 0.24 m median error. Also, WallSense has low deployment overhead and do not require the users to carry any devices.
Postnatal Ultrasound to Determine the Surgical Strategy for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia

To compare defect sizes in congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) measured by postnatal ultrasound (US) between neonates who underwent thoracoscopic surgery and neonates who underwent open surgery and between neonates who underwent primary repair and those who underwent patch repair; additionally, to compare the accuracy of US diagnosis with that of surgical diagnosis for the location of the diaphragmatic hernia and the hernial contents.
Classifying relations in clinical narratives using segment graph convolutional and recurrent neural networks (Seg-GCRNs)

We propose to use segment graph convolutional and recurrent neural networks (Seg-GCRNs), which use only word embedding and sentence syntactic dependencies, to classify relations from clinical notes without manual feature engineering. In this study, the relations between 2 medical concepts are classified by simultaneously learning representations of text segments in the context of sentence syntactic dependency: preceding, concept1, middle, concept2, and succeeding segments. Seg-GCRN was systematically evaluated on the i2b2/VA relation classification challenge datasets. Experiments show that Seg-GCRN attains state-of-the-art micro-averaged F-measure for all 3 relation categories: 0.692 for classifying medical treatment-problem relations, 0.827 for medical test-problem relations, and 0.741 for medical problem-medical problem relations. Comparison with the previous state-of-the-art segment convolutional neural network (Seg-CNN) suggests that adding syntactic dependency information helps refine medical word embedding and improves concept relation classification without manual feature engineering. Seg-GCRN can be trained efficiently for the i2b2/VA dataset on a GPU platform.
3D Affine: An Embedding of Local Image Features for Viewpoint Invariance Using RGB-D Sensor Data

Local image features are invariant to in-plane rotations and robust to minor viewpoint changes. However, the current detectors and descriptors for local image features fail to accommodate out-of-plane rotations larger than 25°–30°. Invariance to such viewpoint changes is essential for numerous applications, including wide baseline matching, 6D pose estimation, and object reconstruction. In this study, we present a general embedding that wraps a detector/descriptor pair in order to increase viewpoint invariance by exploiting input depth maps. The proposed embedding locates smooth surfaces within the input RGB-D images and projects them into a viewpoint invariant representation, enabling the detection and description of more viewpoint invariant features. Our embedding can be utilized with different combinations of descriptor/detector pairs, according to the desired application. Using synthetic and real-world objects, we evaluated the viewpoint invariance of various detectors and descriptors, for both standalone and embedded approaches. While standalone local image features fail to accommodate average viewpoint changes beyond 33.3°, our proposed embedding boosted the viewpoint invariance to different levels, depending on the scene geometry. Objects with distinct surface discontinuities were on average invariant up to 52.8°, and the overall average for all evaluated datasets was 45.4°. Similarly, out of a total of 140 combinations involving 20 local image features and various objects with distinct surface discontinuities, only a single standalone local image feature exceeded the goal of 60° viewpoint difference in just two combinations, as compared with 19 different local image features succeeding in 73 combinations when wrapped in the proposed embedding. Furthermore, the proposed approach operates robustly in the presence of input depth noise, even that of low-cost commodity depth sensors, and well beyond.
Hepatitis B virus in Mar del Plata, Argentina: Genomic characterization and evolutionary analysis of subgenotype F1b

The aim is to describe the molecular epidemiology and perform a genomic characterization of hepatitis B virus (HBV) circulating in Mar del Plata and to identify the origin and diversification patterns of the most prevalent genotype. The S gene and the region encompassing the X gene, basal core promoter (BCP), and precore (preC) was analyzed in 56 samples. They were genotyped as: 80% F1b, 9% A2, 7% D3, and 2% D1. A recombinant F4/D2 genome was detected. The double substitution G1764A/A1762T at the BCP (reduced HBeAg expression) was found in 20% F1b, 2% A2, 2% D1, and 2% D3 samples. A unique D3 presented the G1896A substitution at the preC (HBeAg negative phenotype). A 13% of the samples showed mutations at the HBsAg “a” immunodeterminant (escape from neutralizing antibodies). Mutations at the polymerase (antiviral resistance) were found in 52% of the samples. Coalescent analysis of subgenotype F1b, the most prevalent in the city, showed that viral diversification in Mar del Plata started by year 2000. F1b was the most prevalent genotype detected, being a characteristic of actual HBV infections in Mar del Plata. Local HBV exhibit clinically relevant mutations, but a minority of them was shown to be associated to potential vaccination escape or antiviral resistance. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to determine whether any of these mutants could pose a threat to prevention, diagnosis, or treatment.
Notes on the taxonomy of some European species of the genus Omphrale Meig. (Diptera, Omphralidae)

As yet extent of species w ithin the genus Omphrale Me i g . is an open question. This concerns not only rare but even common species. I t is very difficult to determine the limits of certain species, and the w ay in which this problem is solved in taxonom ic works is open to serious criticism. The object of this paper is a critical review of the ta x o ­ nom y of four European species of this genus: O. fenestralis (L.), 0. senilis (F a b r .) , О . glabrifrons (M eig.) and 0. vitripennis (M eig.) . 0. senilis (Fa b r .) was for a long tim e synonym ised with 0. fenestralis (L.) (L oew 1857, B ezzi 1903, E ngel 1932, K röber 1.925). In 1926, SÈGTJY separated these two species on the basis of differences in the coloration of the haltere capi­ tula. Some tim e later, K röber (1938) accepted his view with certain reservations. O. vitripennis (Me ig .) was initially w rongly treated as
Utility of machine learning algorithms in assessing patients with a systemic right ventricle.

Aims To investigate the utility of novel deep learning (DL) algorithms in recognizing transposition of the great arteries (TGA) after atrial switch procedure or congenitally corrected TGA (ccTGA) based on routine transthoracic echocardiograms. In addition, the ability of DL algorithms for delineation and segmentation of the systemic ventricle was evaluated. Methods and results In total, 132 patients (92 TGA and atrial switch and 40 with ccTGA; 60% male, age 38.3 ± 12.1 years) and 67 normal controls (57% male, age 48.5 ± 17.9 years) with routine transthoracic examinations were included. Convolutional neural networks were trained to classify patients by underlying diagnosis and a U-Net design was used to automatically segment the systemic ventricle. Convolutional networks were build based on over 100 000 frames of an apical four-chamber or parasternal short-axis view to detect underlying diagnoses. The DL algorithm had an overall accuracy of 98.0% in detecting the correct diagnosis. The U-Net architecture model correctly identified the systemic ventricle in all individuals and achieved a high performance in segmenting the systemic right or left ventricle (Dice metric between 0.79 and 0.88 depending on diagnosis) when compared with human experts. Conclusion Our study demonstrates the potential of machine learning algorithms, trained on routine echocardiographic datasets to detect underlying diagnosis in complex congenital heart disease. Automated delineation of the ventricular area was also feasible. These methods may in future allow for the longitudinal, objective, and automated assessment of ventricular function.
Effect of ivacaftor on mucociliary clearance and clinical outcomes in cystic fibrosis patients with G551D-CFTR.

BACKGROUND The ability to restore cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) function with effective small molecule modulators in patients with cystic fibrosis provides an opportunity to study relationships between CFTR ion channel function, organ level physiology, and clinical outcomes. METHODS We performed a multisite, prospective, observational study of ivacaftor, prescribed in patients with the G551D-CFTR mutation. Measurements of lung mucociliary clearance (MCC) were performed before and after treatment initiation (1 and 3 months), in parallel with clinical outcome measures. RESULTS Marked acceleration in whole lung, central lung, and peripheral lung MCC was observed 1 month after beginning ivacaftor and was sustained at 3 months. Improvements in MCC correlated with improvements in forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) but not sweat chloride or symptom scores. CONCLUSIONS Restoration of CFTR activity with ivacaftor led to significant improvements in MCC. This physiologic assessment provides a means to characterize future CFTR modulator therapies and may help to predict improvements in lung function. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicialTrials.gov, NCT01521338. FUNDING CFF Therapeutics (GOAL11K1).
Relationships between the social communication questionnaire and pragmatic language, socialization skills, and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) is one of the most widely used screening instruments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examined the relationships between the reciprocal social interaction, communication, and repetitive/stereotyped factors on the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and pragmatic, socialization, and behavioral problems in children with ASD and children with typical development (TD). Participants were seven- to 11-year-old children with ASD without intellectual disability (n = 52) and with TD (n = 37). The two groups were matched on age and intelligence quotient. Significant differences were found between the two groups on the SCQ domains and the outcome measures (pragmatic language, socialization skills, and behavioral problems). Furthermore, multiple regression analysis exploring the relationships between the SCQ and the criterion variables showed that reciprocal social interaction and repetitive/stereotyped behaviors had an important weight in the prediction of daily life social skills in typically developing children (34%). However, the model with the highest percentage of explained variance in children with ASD involved pragmatic language, with reciprocal social interaction as the best predictor, even reaching 41%. The findings highlight the suitability of routinely including the SCQ in the first stage of assessment protocols for ASD, and, in particular, they show its capacity to predict a valuable repertoire of behaviors.
The subthreshold micropulse laser treatment of the retina restores the oxidant/antioxidant balance and counteracts programmed forms of cell death in the mice eyes

Subthreshold micropulse laser (SMPL) has been increasingly used for the treatment of different retinal and choroidal macular disorders. However, the exact mechanisms of action have not yet been clearly defined. Therefore, we aimed to examine the role of SMPL treatment in the modulation of oxidant/antioxidant systems, apoptosis and autophagy in the mice eyes.
Comparison of Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections by a National Surveillance Program and by Institutional Audit.

BACKGROUND Reported incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) after colonic surgery varies widely. These variations depend not only on patient- and surgery-related parameters but are influenced by type and quality of follow-up. The aim of the study was to compare SSI assessed by two independent prospective surveillance systems, a national surveillance program based on recommendations of the National Healthcare Safety Network (Swissnoso) versus an international audit system, the ERAS® Interactive Audit System (EIAS; Encare, Stockholm, Sweden). METHODS Comparative study of a consecutive cohort of colonic resections at a single institution from September 2015 to March 2017. Independent prospective SSI monitoring was available from Swissnoso and EIAS. Inter-observer reliability was calculated using Cohen k. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of EIAS in assessing SSI was compared with Swissnoso, considered as gold standard. RESULTS The final sample included 143 patients. Of these, 136 (95.1%) were classified into the same category by both systems, identifying 17 patients (12.5%) with SSI and 119 patients (87.5%) without SSI, respectively. Discrepant results were found for the remaining seven patients (4.9%) with four SSI categorization according to Swissnoso but not EIAS, and three SSI categorization in EIAS but not in Swissnoso; all miscategorized patients presented superficial SSI. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of EIAS for SSI recording was 81%, 97.5%, and 95.1%, respectively. Inter-observer agreement was high (Cohen k value of 0.801, p < 0.001). Case-by-case analysis of discrepant findings revealed mainly discrepant interpretation of clinical symptoms and erroneous labeling of non-procedure-related infections. CONCLUSIONS Surgical site infection recording by two independent systems showed high concordance and good inter-rater reliability.
A content analysis of the views of genetics professionals on race, ancestry, and genetics

Abstract Over the past decade, the proliferation of genetic studies on human health and disease has reinvigorated debates about the appropriate role of race and ancestry in research and clinical care. Here we report on the responses of genetics professionals to a survey about their views on race, genetics, and ancestry across the domains of science, medicine, and society. Through a qualitative content analysis of free-text comments from 515 survey respondents, we identified key themes pertaining to multiple meanings of race, the use of race as a proxy for genetic ancestry, and the relevance of race and ancestry to health. Our findings suggest that for many genetics professionals the questions of what race is and what race means remain both professionally and personally contentious. Looking ahead as genomics is translated into the practice of precision medicine and as learning health care systems offer continued improvements in care through integrated research, we argue for nuanced considerations of both race and genetic ancestry across research and care settings.