Tag: pubmed

Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2021 Jun 26;147:110819. doi: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2021.110819. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The assessment of the integrity of the neural responses with ABR, aims to assist in the differential diagnosis of retrocochlear alterations. The gold standard stimulus for this assessment is Click. However, the CE-Chirp® Level Specific was developed to optimize the triggering of neural responses.

OBJECTIVE: to compare neural responses obtained with CE-Chirp® LS stimulus to those obtained with Clicks at 70 dB nHL in hearing infants, in order to analyze advantages in using CE-Chirp® LS.

METHODS: Eighteen infants with normal hearing were evaluated with Eclipse EP25 ABR System. Clicks and CE-Chirp® LS stimuli were presented using ER-3A insert earphones at 70 dB nHL, rate 45.1/s, and alternating polarity. A 30 Hz high-pass and 1500 Hz low-pass filter was applied, and ±40 μV artifact rejection level. Absolute latency of waves I, III and V and their interpeak intervals I-III, III-V and I-V were measured, as well as interaural difference for wave V and interpeak I-V, and wave V amplitude.

RESULTS: Although 18 infants were included in the study, it was possible to collect data only in 30 ears for Click stimulus, and 33 ears for CE-Chirp® LS, according to exclusion criteria. It was possible to record waves I, III, and V for both stimuli at 70 dB nHL in all normal-hearing infants. CE-Chirp® LS stimulus evoked a higher wave V amplitude than Click (p < 0.001). Wave I absolute latency was statistically different between stimuli (p < 0.001), being delayed for CE-Chirp® LS. Wave III absolute latency was statistically different between stimuli only for the right ear (p = 0.021), and wave V absolute latency was similar in both stimuli (p = 0.210). Interpeak intervals I-III and I-V were statistically different between stimuli (p < 0.001), being reduced for CE-Chirp® LS. Interpeak interval III-V was different between the stimuli only for right ears (p = 0.006). There was no difference between stimuli for interaural difference wave V (p = 1.33) and interaural difference interpeak I-V (p = 0.409).

CONCLUSION: It is possible to use CE-Chirp® LS stimulus in order to analyze neural synchrony in infants at 70 dB nHL, since better morphology waveforms were observed, and higher wave V amplitudes could be recorded. We suggest that new studies with infants with neurological disabilities and various hearing status, to observe how CE-Chirp® LS stimulus evokes neural responses in these conditions.

PMID:34198155 | DOI:10.1016/j.ijporl.2021.110819

Comput Biol Med. 2021 Jun 20;135:104589. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104589. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Pupillometry, the measurement of eye pupil diameter, is a well-established and objective modality correlated with cognitive workload. In this paper, we analyse the pupillary response of ultrasound imaging operators to assess their cognitive workload, captured while they undertake routine fetal ultrasound examinations. Our experiments and analysis are performed on real-world datasets obtained using remote eye-tracking under natural clinical environmental conditions.

METHODS: Our analysis pipeline involves careful temporal sequence (time-series) extraction by retrospectively matching the pupil diameter data with tasks captured in the corresponding ultrasound scan video in a multi-modal data acquisition setup. This is followed by the pupil diameter pre-processing and the calculation of pupillary response sequences. Exploratory statistical analysis of the operator pupillary responses and comparisons of the distributions between ultrasonographic tasks (fetal heart versus fetal brain) and operator expertise (newly-qualified versus experienced operators) are performed. Machine learning is explored to automatically classify the temporal sequences into the corresponding ultrasonographic tasks and operator experience using temporal, spectral, and time-frequency features with classical (shallow) models, and convolutional neural networks as deep learning models.

RESULTS: Preliminary statistical analysis of the extracted pupillary response shows a significant variation for different ultrasonographic tasks and operator expertise, suggesting different extents of cognitive workload in each case, as measured by pupillometry. The best-performing machine learning models achieve receiver operating characteristic (ROC) area under curve (AUC) values of 0.98 and 0.80, for ultrasonographic task classification and operator experience classification, respectively.

CONCLUSION: We conclude that we can successfully assess cognitive workload from pupil diameter changes measured while ultrasound operators perform routine scans. The machine learning allows the discrimination of the undertaken ultrasonographic tasks and scanning expertise using the pupillary response sequences as an index of the operators’ cognitive workload. A high cognitive workload can reduce operator efficiency and constrain their decision-making, hence, the ability to objectively assess cognitive workload is a first step towards understanding these effects on operator performance in biomedical applications such as medical imaging.

PMID:34198044 | DOI:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104589

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14323. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To report the reproducibility and repeatability of periocular biometric measurements using Volk Eye Check Ocular measurement device.

METHODS: Prospective, single blind, comparative study. Two experts performed digital photography of 100 volunteers using the standard photography technique using Oculoplasty module of the Volk Eye Check ocular measurement device. Each expert photographed the volunteer twice, to obtain two sets of automated printouts of 13 periorbital biometrics that were measured automatically by the ocular measurement device. Bland Altman plot and Multiple comparisons of Means from Linear mixed-effects model fit by REML using simultaneous contrasts with p values reported by Bonferroni method were used as statistical tests to analyze following parameters: MRD-1 (margin reflex distance-1), MRD-2 (margin reflex distance-2), PFH (palpebral fissure height), HVID (horizontal visible iris diameter), ALL (aperture length at lateral limbus) and ALM (aperture length at medial limbus).

RESULTS: The mean inter-observer difference in measurement (mm) was as follows: MRD1 (0.04), MRD2 (0.02), HVID (0.01), PFH (0.03), ALL (0.05), ALM (0.08). The mean intra-observer difference in measurement (mm) was as follows: MRD1 (0.02), MRD2 (0.09), HVID (0.0), PFH (0.09), ALL (0.06), ALM (0.05).

CONCLUSION: Periorbital biometric measurements using Volk Eye Check ocular measurement device are highly reproducible and repeatable. The oculoplasty module of Volk Eye Check ocular measurement device can provide reliable periorbital measurements for routine clinical use, and for objective clinical studies.

PMID:34197683 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14323

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/jocd.14327. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: There are many endogenous and exogenous factors that cause acne formation. This study aimed to determine whether the acne severity in patients with various age ranges is associated with serum insulin-like growth factor, insulin, and glucose and to identify how much they affect the acne severity.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control prospective study, 44 patients with acne vulgaris and 44 age- and gender-matched control subjects without acne were evaluated. Patients and the control group were divided into two age groups as adolescence and post-adolescence. According to the Global Acne Scoring System (GASS) of the acne group, the acne score grades between 0-44 were calculated. The correlations between the IGF-1, insulin, glucose levels and acne grades were calculated in each group.

RESULTS: In our study, the acne scores and serum IGF-1 levels were found to be significantly higher in patients under the age of 21 than patients over the age of 21. There was a statistically significant difference in acne score between the two groups. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the serum IGF-1, insulin, and glucose levels of the acne group and the control group.

CONCLUSION: In this study, it has been revealed that IGF 1 is effective at the pathogenesis of acne in adolescence.

PMID:34197685 | DOI:10.1111/jocd.14327

Dermatol Ther. 2021 Jul 1:e15049. doi: 10.1111/dth.15049. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rosacea is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease, with a high prevalence among adults. Treatment of rosacea is difficult, with high rate of recurrence. Due to the strong anti- inflammatory and antibacterial effects of platelet rich plasma, it was used in the medicine for treating many inflammatory diseases. To evaluate the role of platelet rich plasma injection in treatment of rosacea. The study was carried on 40 patients with rosacea. They were treated by platelet rich plasma injection in right side of the face (group A) and platelet poor plasma injection in left side (group B). They underwent one session every 2 weeks for 3 months (6 sessions). The patients were assessed clinically before and after treatment by the Rosacea grading scale. Skin biopsies were taken to evaluate the clinical results. There was a statistically significant decrease in Rosacea grading scale after treatment with platelet rich plasma injection, 50% of the patients showed excellent improvement and 50% showed good improvement. The improvement was significantly better in group A than B. There was marked decrease in inflammatory cells by haematoxylin and eosin stain, and decrease in expression of nuclear factor kappa βeta after treatment with platelet rich plasma. PRP was effective and safe technique in treatment of rosacea and alternative to other systemic modalities, especially if they are contraindicated. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:34197656 | DOI:10.1111/dth.15049

Transpl Int. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1111/tri.13964. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The interplay between donor-specific anti-HLA antibodies (HLA-DSA), histology of active antibody-mediated rejection (aABMR_h ), transplant glomerulopathy (cg) and graft failure in kidney transplantation remains insufficiently understood. We performed a single-center cohort study (n=1000) including 2761 protocol and 833 indication biopsies. Patients with pre-transplant HLA-DSA were more prone to develop aABMRh (OR 22.7, 95% CI, 11.8 – 43.7, p<0.001), cg (OR 5.76, 95% CI, 1.67 – 19.8, p=0.006) and aABMRh/cg (OR 19.5, 95% CI, 10.6 – 35.9, p<0.001). The negative impact of pre-transplant HLA-DSA on graft survival (HR 2.12, 95% CI, 1.41 – 3.20, p<0.001) was partially mediated through aABMRh and cg occurrence. When adjusted for time-dependent HLA-DSA (HR 4.03, 95% CI, 2.21 – 7.15, p=0.002), graft failure was only affected by aABMR_h when cg was evident. In HLA-DSA negative patients, aABMR_h was associated with impaired graft outcome only when evolving to cg (HR 1.32, 95% CI, 1.07 – 1.61, p=0.008). We conclude that the kinetics of HLA-DSA are important to estimate the rate of graft failure, and that histological follow-up is necessary to discover, often subclinical, ABMR and cg. In the absence of HLA-DSA, patients experience similar histological lesions and the evolution to transplant glomerulopathy associates with impaired graft outcome.

PMID:34197662 | DOI:10.1111/tri.13964

Nucleic Acids Res. 2021 Jul 1:gkab547. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkab547. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

A growing amount of evidence in literature suggests that germline sequence variants and somatic mutations in non-coding distal regulatory elements may be crucial for defining disease risk and prognostic stratification of patients, in genetic disorders as well as in cancer. Their functional interpretation is challenging because genome-wide enhancer-target gene (ETG) pairing is an open problem in genomics. The solutions proposed so far do not account for the hierarchy of structural domains which define chromatin three-dimensional (3D) architecture. Here we introduce a change of perspective based on the definition of multi-scale structural chromatin domains, integrated in a statistical framework to define ETG pairs. In this work (i) we develop a computational and statistical framework to reconstruct a comprehensive map of ETG pairs leveraging functional genomics data; (ii) we demonstrate that the incorporation of chromatin 3D architecture information improves ETG pairing accuracy and (iii) we use multiple experimental datasets to extensively benchmark our method against previous solutions for the genome-wide reconstruction of ETG pairs. This solution will facilitate the annotation and interpretation of sequence variants in distal non-coding regulatory elements. We expect this to be especially helpful in clinically oriented applications of whole genome sequencing in cancer and undiagnosed genetic diseases research.

PMID:34197622 | DOI:10.1093/nar/gkab547

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13807. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To introduce a new handmade device, the double Foley catheter (DFC), and compare it to the Foley catheter (FC) and Cook catheter for its effectiveness in labor induction.

METHODS: This prospective randomised controlled trial included 222 patients with unfavourable cervices. The patients were randomly allocated to the DFC, FC, and Cook catheter groups (n = 74 patients per group). The outcomes were evaluated using IBM SPSS Statistics 23 program.

RESULTS: The Bishop scores successfully increased with all three methods (p = 0.000 for all groups), and the rates of vaginal delivery within 24 h and 48 h were similar (p = 0.101 and p = 0.390, respectively). The pain scores of the DFC and Cook catheter groups were similar, but were lower than those of the FC group (p = 0.011). The overall maternal satisfaction scores of the DFC and Cook group balloons were not significantly different but were higher than those of the FC group (p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION: The maternal safety and success rate of labor induction were comparable between groups. However, the FC group had a higher pain score during catheter insertion and a lower maternal satisfaction rate. Moreover, considering the high cost of the Cook catheter, the DFC has an advantage, especially in low-resource countries.

PMID:34197641 | DOI:10.1002/ijgo.13807

Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Jul 1. doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13810. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To describe the characteristics and peripartum outcomes of patients diagnosed with uterine rupture (UR) by an observational cohort retrospective study on 270 patients.

METHODS: Demographic information, surgical history, symptoms, and postoperative outcome of maternal and neonates after UR were collected in a large database. The statistical analysis searched for correlation between UR, previous uterine interventions, fibroids, and the successive perinatal outcomes in patients with previous UR.

RESULTS: UR was significantly associated with previous uterine surgery, occurring, on average, at 36,81 weeks of gestation in patients also without previous uterine surgery. UR did not rise exponentially with an increasing number of uterine operations. Fibroids were related to URs. The earliest UR occurred at 159 days after hysteroscopic myomectomy, followed by laparoscopic myomectomy (251 days) and laparotomic myomectomy (253 days). Fertility preservation was feasible in several patients. Gestational age and birth weight seemed not to be affected in the subsequent pregnancy.

CONCLUSION: data analysis showed that previous laparoscopic and abdominal myomectomy were associated with UR in pregnancy, and hysteroscopic myomectomy was associated at earlier gestational ages. UR did not increase exponentially with an increasing number of previous scars. UR should not be considered a contra-indication to future pregnancies.

PMID:34197642 | DOI:10.1002/ijgo.13810

PLoS One. 2021 Jul 1;16(7):e0253817. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253817. eCollection 2021.

ABSTRACT

Weight-loss is an integral part of Huntington’s disease (HD) that can start before the onset of motor symptoms. Investigating the underlying pathological processes may help in the understanding of this devastating disease as well as contribute to its management. However, the complex behavior and associations of multiple biological factors is impractical to be interpreted by the conventional statistics or human experts. For the first time, we combine a clinical dataset, expert knowledge and machine intelligence to model the multi-dimensional associations between the potentially relevant factors and weight-loss activity in HD, specifically at the premanifest stage. The HD dataset is standardized and transformed into required knowledge base with the help of clinical HD experts, which is then processed by the class rule mining and self-organising maps to identify the significant associations. Statistical results and experts’ report indicate a strong association between severe weight-loss in HD at the premanifest stage and measures of certain cognitive, psychiatric functional ability factors. These results suggest that the mechanism underlying weight-loss in HD is, at least partly related to dysfunction of certain areas of the brain, a finding that may have not been apparent otherwise. These associations will aid the understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease and its progression and may in turn help in HD treatment trials.

PMID:34197537 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0253817