Diagnostics Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Ischemic colitis represents the most frequent form of intestinal ischemia occurring when there is an acute impairment or chronic reduction in the colonic blood supply, resulting in mucosal ulceration, inflammation, hemorrhage and ischemic... more

Ischemic colitis represents the most frequent form of intestinal ischemia occurring when there is an acute impairment or chronic reduction in the colonic blood supply, resulting in mucosal ulceration, inflammation, hemorrhage and ischemic necrosis of variable severity. The clinical presentation is variable and nonspecific, so it is often misdiagnosed. The most common etiology is hypoperfusion, almost always associated with generalized atherosclerotic disease. The severity ranges from localized and transient ischemia to transmural necrosis of the bowel wall, becoming a surgical emergency, with significant associated morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis is based on clinical, laboratory suspicion and radiological, endoscopic and histopathological findings. Among the radiological tests, enhanced-CT is the diagnostic investigation of choice. It allows us to make the diagnosis in an appropriate clinical setting, and to define the entity of the ischemia. MR may be adopted in the follow-u...

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted volume, management strategies and patient outcomes of acute appendicitis. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate whether the COVID-19... more

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted volume, management strategies and patient outcomes of acute appendicitis. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate whether the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in higher incidence of complicated appendicitis in children presenting with acute appendicitis compared to the pre-COVID-19 period. The secondary aim was to investigate the proportion of the patients treated by non-operative management (NOM). Methods: A systematic search of four scientific databases was performed. The search terms used were (coronavirus OR SARS-CoV-2 OR COVID-19 OR novel coronavirus) AND (appendicitis). The inclusion criteria were all patients aged <18 years and diagnosed with acute appendicitis during the COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 periods. The proportion of children presenting with complicated appendicitis and the proportion of children managed by NOM was compared between the two groups. The Downs and Black scal...

Objective: To evaluate spectrum and resistance rates to antibacterial agents in causative pathogens of bacterial prostatitis in patients from Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Materials: 1027 isolates from cultures of urine or... more

Objective: To evaluate spectrum and resistance rates to antibacterial agents in causative pathogens of bacterial prostatitis in patients from Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Materials: 1027 isolates from cultures of urine or expressed prostatic secretion, post-massage urine or seminal fluid, or urethral samples were considered. Results: Escherichia coli (32%) and Enterococcus spp. (21%) were the most common isolates. Other Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and atypical pathogens accounted for 22%, 20%, and 5%, respectively. Resistance was <15% for piperacillin/tazobactam and carbapenems (both Gram-negative and -positive pathogens); <5% for glycopeptides against Gram-positive; 7%, 14%, and 20% for aminoglycosides, fosfomycin, and macrolides against Gram-negative pathogens, respectively; 10% for amoxicillin/clavulanate against Gram-positive pathogens; <20% for cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones against to Gram-negative pathogens (higher against Gram-positive pathog...

2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has an established clinical value in the diagnosis and initial staging of multiple myeloma (MM). In the last ten years, a vast body of... more

2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG PET/CT) has an established clinical value in the diagnosis and initial staging of multiple myeloma (MM). In the last ten years, a vast body of literature has shown that this tool can also be of high relevance for monitoring therapy responses, making it the recommended imaging approach in this field. Starting from the strengths and weaknesses of radiological imaging in MM, the present review aims to analyze FDG PET/CT’s current clinical value focusing on therapy response assessment and objective interpretation criteria for therapy monitoring. Given the potential occurrence of patients with MM showing non-FDG-avid bone disease, new opportunities can be provided by non-FDG PET tracers. Accordingly, the potential role of non-FDG PET tracers in this setting has also been discussed.

This chapter presents a system for classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on fuzzy rules and a trained neural network. Fuzzy rules and neural network parameters are defined according to Global Initiative for... more

This chapter presents a system for classification of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) based on fuzzy rules and a trained neural network. Fuzzy rules and neural network parameters are defined according to Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines. For neural

Thyroid hormones are important factors that regulate metabolism and cell differentiation throughout the human body. A complication of thyroid pathology is represented by an alteration of the bone metabolism which can lead to osteoporosis... more

Thyroid hormones are important factors that regulate metabolism and cell differentiation throughout the human body. A complication of thyroid pathology is represented by an alteration of the bone metabolism which can lead to osteoporosis and fragility fractures, known to have a high mortality rate. Although there is a consensus on the negative impact of hyperthyroidism on bone metabolism, when referring to hypothyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, or subclinical hyperthyroidism, there is no general agreement. The aim of our review was to update clinicians and researchers about the current data regarding the bone health in hypothyroidism, subclinical hypothyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism patients. Thyroid disorders have an important impact on bone metabolism and fracture risk, such that hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, and subclinical hyperthyroidism are associated with a decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and increased risk of fracture. Subclinical hypothyroidism, on t...

Objective: The objective of the present study was to selectively evaluate the long-term impact of posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytomas, which are known to be among the most benign forms of paediatric brain tumours on neurocognitive and... more

Objective: The objective of the present study was to selectively evaluate the long-term impact of posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytomas, which are known to be among the most benign forms of paediatric brain tumours on neurocognitive and behavioural functions. Methods: Children that were operated on for a posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytoma in the Pediatric Neurosurgery Department of the Catholic University Medical School were selected according to the following criteria: (a) age > 5 years (in order to have a complete set of neurocognitive evaluations data), (b) ability to perform a complete set of tests before and after surgery, and (c) children that had a regular follow-up up to 10 years from the surgical treatment. Results: Forty-three percent of the children selected for the present study showed a borderline IQ before surgery, which is a result corresponding to those previously reported in the literature for children affected by posterior fossa pilocytic astrocytomas; praxi...

Accurate localization and analyses of functional liver segments are crucial in devising various surgical procedures, including hepatectomy. To this end, they require the extraction of a liver from computed tomography, and then the... more

Accurate localization and analyses of functional liver segments are crucial in devising various surgical procedures, including hepatectomy. To this end, they require the extraction of a liver from computed tomography, and then the identification of resection correspondence between individuals. The first part is usually impeded by inherent deficiencies, as present in medical images, and vast anatomical variations across subjects. While the model-based approach is found viable to tackle both issues, it is often undermined by an inadequate number of labeled samples, to capture all plausible variations. To address segmentation problems by balancing between accuracy, resource consumption, and data availability, this paper presents an efficient method for liver segmentation based on a graph-cut algorithm. One of its main novelties is the incorporation of a feature preserving a metric for boundary separation. Intuitive anatomical constraints are imposed to ensure valid extraction. The seco...

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is a promising technology that fuses sensor data and historical state-of-health information of components and subsystems to provide actionable information and enable intelligent decision-making... more

Integrated System Health Management (ISHM) is a promising technology that fuses sensor data and historical state-of-health information of components and subsystems to provide actionable information and enable intelligent decision-making regarding the operation and maintenance of aerospace systems. ISHM fundamentally relies on assessments and predictions of system health, including the early detection of failures and estimation of Remaining Useful Life (RUL). Model-based, data-driven or hybrid reasoning techniques can be utilized to maximise the timeliness and reliability of diagnosis and prognosis information. The benefits of ISHM include enhancing the maintainability, reliability, safety and performance of systems. The next evolution of the ISHM concept, Intelligent Health and Mission Management (IHMM), delves deeper into the utilization of on-line system health predictions to modify mission profiles to ensure safety and reliability, as well as efficiency through predictive integ...

Respiratory syncytial virus rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) are used widely. RADT exhibited high specificity (97%) and moderate sensitivity (80%) compared with reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in 720 hospitalized... more

Respiratory syncytial virus rapid antigen detection tests (RADT) are used widely. RADT exhibited high specificity (97%) and moderate sensitivity (80%) compared with reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in 720 hospitalized children <3 years old. Older age, prolonged symptoms, and respiratory syncytial virus genotype-B infection were significantly associated with false-negative results of RADT.

The global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), could be due to limited access to diagnostic tests and equipment. Currently, most diagnoses use the reverse... more

The global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), could be due to limited access to diagnostic tests and equipment. Currently, most diagnoses use the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and chest computed tomography (CT). However, challenges exist with CT use due to infection control, lack of CT availability in low- and middle-income countries, and low RT-PCR sensitivity. Passive microwave radiometry (MWR), a cheap, non-radioactive, and portable technology, has been used for cancer and other diseases’ diagnoses. Here, we tested MWR use first time for the early diagnosis of pulmonary COVID-19 complications in a cross-sectional controlled trial in order to evaluate MWR use in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and healthy individuals. We measured the skin and internal temperature using 30 points identified on the body, for both lungs. Pneumonia and lung damage were diagnosed by both C...

དཔྱད་རྩོམའདིའི་ནང་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་ཞེས་པའི་ནད་རིགས་དེ་བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་འབྲས་ནད་དང་། སུརྱ། མེ་དབལ། སྐྲན་རིགས་གང་ལ་སྦྱར་འོས་མིན་ཐད་དྭོགས་སློང་དང་དཔྱད་ཞིབ་གང་ཐུབ་བྱས་ཡོད།... more

དཔྱད་རྩོམའདིའི་ནང་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་ཞེས་པའི་ནད་རིགས་དེ་བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་འབྲས་ནད་དང་། སུརྱ། མེ་དབལ། སྐྲན་རིགས་གང་ལ་སྦྱར་འོས་མིན་ཐད་དྭོགས་སློང་དང་དཔྱད་ཞིབ་གང་ཐུབ་བྱས་ཡོད། བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་ནང་གི་ནད་རིགས་འགའ་བལྟས་ཚོད་ཀྱིས་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གིས་བཤད་ཀྱིན་པའི་ནད་རིགས་དང་འདྲ་བོ་ཡོད་ནའང་། ནད་སོ་སོའི་རྒྱུ་རྐྱེན་དང་འགྱུར་ཚུལ། ནད་རྟགས་ལ་སོགས་པར་ཞིབ་མོར་བལྟས་ཚེ་ནད་རིགས་དེ་དག་གི་ངོ་བོ་དང་ཁྱད་ཆོས། ཚད་གཞི་སོགས་མི་འདྲ་བ་ཡིན་པ་རྟོགས་ཐུབ། ནད་གཞི་འདིའི་རིགས་ངོས་འཛིན་བྱེད་སྐབས་ང་ཚོས་ངེས་པར་དུ་དབྱེ་འབྱེད་གང་གཟབ་ཀྱིས་གཞི་མ་འཁྲུལ་བ་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ནི་ཤིན་ཏུ་ནས་གལ། བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་འབྲས་ནད་དང་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་ཅུང་འདྲ་བོ་ཡོད་པ་དང་། དེ་མིན་བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་སུརྱ་དང་སྐྲན་རིགས་འགའ་ཞིག་ཀྱང་དྭངས་མ་མ་ཞུ་བ་དང་ངན་ཁྲག་རྒྱས་ལ་རླུང་གིས་བསྒྲིལ་བའི་འབྲེལ་བའི་དབང་གིས་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་ཁྲོད་ཀྱི་ཀན་སར་དང་འདྲ་ཡང་ནད་རིགས་དེ་གཉིས་ངོ་བོའི་ཆ་ནས་མི་གཅིག དེ་བས་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་དང་འདྲ་བའི་བོད་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་ནང་གི་འབྲས་ནད་དང་། སུརྱ། སྐྲན་ལ་སོགས་པ་རྣམས་བོད་རང་གཞུང་དུ་འཁོད་པའི་མན་ངག་རྣམས་སྤྱད་དེ་ངོས་འཛིན་བྱེད་རྒྱུ་ལས་ནད་རིགས་དེ་གསུམ་གང་རུང་ཡིན་ན་ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་ཡིན་པའི་ཁྱབ་པ་དང་། ཕྱི་ལུགས་གསོ་རིག་གི་ཀན་སར་ཡིན་ནའང་ནད་རིགས་དེ་གསུམ་གང་རུང་ཡིན་དགོས་པའི་ཁྱབ་པ་མེད་པ་མཁྱེན་རྟོགས་གསལ་པོ་དགོས་པ་གལ་ཆེན་ཏུ་མཐོང་།

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is caused by the deficiency of α-l-iduronidase, leading to the storage of dermatan and heparan sulfate. There is a broad phenotypical spectrum with the presence or absence of neurological impairment.... more

Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I) is caused by the deficiency of α-l-iduronidase, leading to the storage of dermatan and heparan sulfate. There is a broad phenotypical spectrum with the presence or absence of neurological impairment. The classical form is known as Hurler syndrome, the intermediate form as Hurler–Scheie, and the most attenuated form is known as Scheie syndrome. Phenotype seems to be largely influenced by genotype. Patients usually develop several somatic symptoms such as abdominal hernias, extensive dermal melanocytosis, thoracolumbar kyphosis odontoid dysplasia, arthropathy, coxa valga and genu valgum, coarse facial features, respiratory and cardiac impairment. The diagnosis is based on the quantification of α-l-iduronidase coupled with glycosaminoglycan analysis and gene sequencing. Guidelines for treatment recommend hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for young Hurler patients (usually at less than 30 months of age). Intravenous enzyme replacement is approv...

Isolated sphenoid sinus disease (ISSD) is where there is a group of pathologies characterized by inflammation in one or both sphenoid sinuses. Although computer tomography (CT)-based 3D reconstruction remains the gold standard among... more

Isolated sphenoid sinus disease (ISSD) is where there is a group of pathologies characterized by inflammation in one or both sphenoid sinuses. Although computer tomography (CT)-based 3D reconstruction remains the gold standard among noninvasive approaches to ISSD diagnostics, no standardized techniques for direct intraoperative measurements of the sphenoid sinus volume in ISSD patients have been documented. We suggest a novel technique for the intraoperative measurement of the sphenoid sinus volume. Our technique is based on filling the sinus with 0.01% methylene blue solution after an endoscopic endonasal sphenoidotomy. The proposed technique was applied to 40 ISSD patients during surgery. Obtained intraoperative measurements were compared to noninvasive measurements from 3D reconstructions based on preoperative CT scans. Our results demonstrated that the obtained measurements did not exhibit significant differences exceeding 0.4 cm3, with CT-scan-based measurements in 39 out of 40...

Background: To evaluate the prevalence of Müllerian anomalies (MAs) in a cohort of infertile Mexican women candidates for infertility treatments (intrauterine insemination or IVF (In vitro fertilization) cycles). Methods: We performed a... more

Background: To evaluate the prevalence of Müllerian anomalies (MAs) in a cohort of infertile Mexican women candidates for infertility treatments (intrauterine insemination or IVF (In vitro fertilization) cycles). Methods: We performed a retrospective observational study on a cohort of consecutive women, who underwent hysteroscopy and laparoscopy as part of the basic infertility workup from 2002 to 2014, at our center. Our aim was to calculate the prevalence of MAs and each subtype. Results: A total of 4005 women were included in the study. The MA prevalence was 4.4% (95% CI; 3.8–5.1; n = 177). Among women with MAs, the prevalence of different MA types was: septate uterus 54.2% (n = 96), arcuate uterus 15.8% (n = 28), bicornuate uterus 10.7% (n = 19), unicornuate uterus 8.5% (n = 15), didelphys uterus 6.2% (n = 11) and hypoplasia/agenesis 3.4% (n = 6), unclassifiable 1.1% (n = 2). Women with MAs who achieved pregnancy were: 33.3% (n = 59). The MA associated with the highest pregnancy...

Bien que le diagnostic de trouble de santé mentale (TSM) puisse être étudié de nombreuses façons (à travers ses fonctions clinique, administrative, d’outil de communication entre professionnels, etc.), le diagnostic de TSM peut également... more

Bien que le diagnostic de trouble de santé mentale (TSM) puisse être étudié de nombreuses façons (à travers ses fonctions clinique, administrative, d’outil de communication entre professionnels, etc.), le diagnostic de TSM peut également être étudié en tant qu’événement qui influence symboliquement le parcours des individus. En se basant sur une réflexion portant sur la sociologie et les régimes de réalité de Danilo Martuccelli, opposant les limites effectives et imaginaires de la contrainte sociale (Martuccelli, 2015), le présent mémoire expose les formes de négociation du rapport des individus au discours dominant sur la folie qui en fixe les limites imaginaires. Dans les sociétés occidentales actuelles, le discours dominant sur la folie la dépeint comme étant une « vraie maladie ». Pourtant, le rapport des individus à ces limites imaginaires laisse entrevoir différentes formes d’agirs illustrant une réalité beaucoup plus complexe : les individus, dans une constante opposition entre le « mental pathologique » et le « social problématique » (Otero. 2012), ne se définissent pas systématiquement comme « malades ». Dans le cadre de ce mémoire, nous avons choisi d’étudier les effets de l’auto-identification au diagnostic de TSM sur le parcours de rétablissement des personnes qui doivent au quotidien reconstruire un rapport à elles-mêmes et à leur expérience en tenant compte de cette nouvelle définition de soi. L’étude nous a permis de mettre en lumière l’articulation entre les types d’auto-identification au diagnostic (« je suis malade », « j’ai un trouble », « j’ai un (des) problème(s) », « je doute », « je ne suis pas malade! » et « que suis-je? »), les manières de lire les dimensions du problème énoncé et les modes d’adaptation à l’expérience vécue (buts et moyens visés) qui y sont associés. Pour ce faire, le corpus analysé fut constitué à partir de messages publiés sur un forum de discussion accessible sur le site Internet de l’organisme Revivre. Cet organisme offre une plateforme d'échange aux individus concernés par un ou plusieurs diagnostics correspondant aux troubles dépressifs, bipolaires ou anxieux. L’articulation des résultats nous a amenée à construire une typologie de l’appropriation du diagnostic de TSM exposant six figures : le résigné, l’expert, le résilient, le client, le souffrant et le distancié. La typologie nous amènera à discuter de la notion d’identité en sociologie.

Introduction: n volume 3, number 2, pages 48-49, we explained some screening characteristics of a diagnostic test in an educational manuscript entitled " Simple definition and calculation of accuracy, sensitivity and specific-ity" (1).... more

Introduction: n volume 3, number 2, pages 48-49, we explained some screening characteristics of a diagnostic test in an educational manuscript entitled " Simple definition and calculation of accuracy, sensitivity and specific-ity" (1). The present article was aimed to review other screening performance characteristics including positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV). PPV and NPV are true positive and true negative results of a diagnostic test, respectively (2). In other words, if a subject receives a certain diagnosis by a test, predictive values describe how likely it is for the diagnosis to be correct Definitions: Patient: positive for disease Healthy: negative for disease True positive (TP)= the number of cases correctly identified as patient False positive (FP) = the number of cases incorrectly identified as patient True negative (TN) = the number of cases correctly identified as healthy False negative (FN) = the number of cases incorrectly identified as healthy Positive predictive value: Positive predictive value is the proportion of cases giving positive test results who are already patients (3). It is the ratio of patients truly diagnosed as positive to all those who had positive test results (including healthy subjects who were incorrectly diagnosed as patient). This characteristic can predict how likely it is for someone to truly be patient, in case of a positive test result.

The increasing resistance of many microbial strains to antibiotics, delayed laboratory results, and side effects of many chemotherapeutics has raised the need to search for sensitive diagnostics and new pro-phylactic strategies especially... more

The increasing resistance of many microbial strains to antibiotics, delayed laboratory results, and side effects of many chemotherapeutics has raised the need to search for sensitive diagnostics and new pro-phylactic strategies especially prevention by vaccination. Understanding the epitope/antibody interaction is the key to constructing potent vaccines and effective diagnostics. B-cell epitope mapping is a promising approach to identifying the main antigenic determinants of microorganisms, in special concern the discontinuous conformational ones. Epitope-based vaccines have remarkable privilege over the conventional ones since they are specific, able to avoid undesirable immune responses, generate long lasting immunity, and are reasonably cheaper. This up-to-date review discusses and compares the different physical, computational, and molecular methods that have been used in epitope mapping. The role of each method in the identification of potent epitopes in viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, as well as human diseases are tagged and documented. Simultaneously, frequent combinatorial methods are highlighted. The article aims to assist researchers to design the most suitable protocol for mapping their B-cell epitopes.

Objective: This study was done to assess the accuracy of Accutrend GCT meter in determining blood cholesterol levels in our setup, with an aim to recommend its use in clinical practice Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on... more

Objective: This study was done to assess the accuracy of Accutrend GCT meter in determining blood cholesterol levels in our setup, with an aim to recommend its use in clinical practice
Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 251 healthy volunteers from April to May 2013. Capillary whole blood samples were obtained using sterile lancets and cholesterol levels were measured using Accutrend GCT meter (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany) using the standard technique. Three ml whole blood was also collected in plain tubes by the same operator without applying a tourniquet. Serum cholesterol levels were determined using Merck Microlab 300 Automated Clinical Chemistry Analyser the same day. The laboratory technician performing this test was blinded to results obtained with Accutrend GCT meter. The seven patients with readings beyond the analytic range of the Accutrend GCT meter were excluded, meaning that data analysis was performed on 244 results only.
Results: Results of 182 males and 62 females having a mean age of 38.54± 15.25 years were analysed. There was a significant difference in mean cholesterol levels measured by Accutrend GCT and Microlab-300 (4.73± 0.74mmol/l and 4.67± 0.86 mmol/l; p=0.021), producing a measurement bias of 1.43% with Accutrend GCT meter. A strong positive correlation was found between the results of the two techniques (r=0.852 ,p<0.001).
Conclusions: Accutrend GCT meter provides accurate measurement of blood cholesterol levels and its use should be encouraged for point-of-care measurements.

The need for time and attention, given by the doctor to the patient, due to the increased volume of medical data to be interpreted and filtered for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes has encouraged the development of the option to... more

The need for time and attention, given by the doctor to the patient, due to the increased volume of medical data to be interpreted and filtered for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes has encouraged the development of the option to support, constructively and effectively, deep learning models. Deep learning (DL) has experienced an exponential development in recent years, with a major impact on interpretations of the medical image. This has influenced the development, diversification and increase of the quality of scientific data, the development of knowledge construction methods and the improvement of DL models used in medical applications. All research papers focus on description, highlighting, classification of one of the constituent elements of deep learning models (DL), used in the interpretation of medical images and do not provide a unified picture of the importance and impact of each constituent in the performance of DL models. The novelty in our paper consists primarily in t...

Ankle/foot pain is a common complaint encountered in clinical practice. Currently, due to the complex anatomy, the diagnosis and management of the underlying musculoskeletal disorders are extremely challenging. Nowadays, high-resolution... more

Ankle/foot pain is a common complaint encountered in clinical practice. Currently, due to the complex anatomy, the diagnosis and management of the underlying musculoskeletal disorders are extremely challenging. Nowadays, high-resolution ultrasound has emerged as the first-line tool to evaluate musculoskeletal disorders. There have been several existing protocols describing the fundamental sonoanatomy of ankle/foot joints. However, there are certain anatomic structures (e.g., Lisfranc ligament complex or Baxter nerve) which are also clinically important. As they are rarely elaborated in the available literature, a comprehensive review is necessary. In this regard, the present article aims to brief the regional anatomy, illustrate the scanning techniques, and emphasize the clinical relevance of the ankle/foot region.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease inherited by an autosomal recessive mechanism and characterized by a progressive and severe multi-organ failure. Mutations in Cystic Fibrosis Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein cause duct... more

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease inherited by an autosomal recessive mechanism and characterized by a progressive and severe multi-organ failure. Mutations in Cystic Fibrosis Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein cause duct obstructions from dense mucus secretions and chronic inflammation related to organ damage. The progression of the disease is characterized by a decline of lung function associated with metabolic disorders and malnutrition, musculoskeletal disorders and thoracic deformities, leading to a progressive decrement of the individual’s quality of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) qualifies Physical Activity (PA) as a structured activity produced by skeletal muscles’ movements that requires energy consumption. In the last decade, the number of studies on PA increased considerably, including those investigating the effects of exercise on cognitive and brain health and mental performance. PA is recommended in CF management guidelines, since it improves clini...

There is a growing interest in the study development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially regarding the support vector machine pattern classification method. This study proposes an enhanced implementation of the... more

There is a growing interest in the study development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially regarding the support vector machine pattern classification method. This study proposes an enhanced implementation of the well-known whale optimisation algorithm, which combines chaotic and opposition-based learning strategies, which is adopted for hyper-parameter optimisation and feature selection machine learning challenges. The whale optimisation algorithm is a relatively recent addition to the group of swarm intelligence algorithms commonly used for optimisation. The Proposed improved whale optimisation algorithm was first tested for standard unconstrained CEC2017 benchmark suite and it was later adapted for simultaneous feature selection and support vector machine hyper-parameter tuning and validated for medical diagnostics by using breast cancer, diabetes, and erythemato-squamous dataset. The performance of the proposed model is compared with multiple competitive support vector machine models boosted with other metaheuristics, including another improved whale optimisation approach, particle swarm optimisation algorithm, bacterial foraging optimisation algorithms, and genetic algorithms. Results of the simulation show that the proposed model outperforms other competitors concerning the performance of classification and the selected subset feature size.

Nowadays, surgical innovations incorporate new technological conquests and must be validated by evidence-based medicine. The use of augmented reality-assisted indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence has generated a myriad of intraoperative... more

Nowadays, surgical innovations incorporate new technological conquests and must be validated by evidence-based medicine. The use of augmented reality-assisted indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence has generated a myriad of intraoperative applications such as demonstration of key anatomical landmarks, sentinel lymph nodes, and real-time assessment of local blood flow. This paper presents a systematic review of the clinical evidence regarding the applications of ICG near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence in colorectal surgery. After we removed duplicate publications and screened for eligibility, a total of 36 articles were evaluated: 23 on perfusion assessment, 10 on lymph node mapping, and 3 on intraoperative identification of ureters. Lack of homogenous studies, low statistical power, and confounding evidence were found to be common amongst publications supporting the use of ICG in colorectal surgery, raising concerns over this seductive technique′s cost efficiency and redundancy. The comp...

The incidence of stroke in the Czech Republic is increasing. Approximately one-third of people after stroke develop aphasia, manifesting various symptoms in speech production, understanding , reading and writing. In acute stage of... more

The incidence of stroke in the Czech Republic is increasing. Approximately one-third of people after stroke develop aphasia, manifesting various symptoms in speech production, understanding , reading and writing. In acute stage of disease, screening tools are used to detect aphasia. The aim of this article is to present and describe Afaziologický screeningový test (ASTcz) to determine the presence or absence of aphasia. This Czech version is an adaptation of the original German Aphasie-Schnell-Test. In the process of validating the adapted instrument, persons without aphasia and persons with aphasia in acute and chronic stages of the disease were tested. The results of testing the psychometric properties of the test (i.e. validity, reliability and discriminatory ability) are described and commented on. They indicate a very good applicability for clinical practice.

Science-based approaches to agricultural and environmental management are needed to accelerate development progress in the world's poorest countries. We present a diagnostic surveillance framework modelled on medical diagnostic approaches... more

Science-based approaches to agricultural and environmental management are needed to accelerate development progress in the world's poorest countries. We present a diagnostic surveillance framework modelled on medical diagnostic approaches for evidencebased management of agriculture and environment in developing countries. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy can play a pivotal role in making the surveillance framework operational, by providing a rapid, low cost and highly reproducible diagnostic screening tool.

Spatial navigation offers a fresh approach to the identification and early diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease in the pre-clinical phase. The Sea Hero Quest game has been developed to detect subtle impairments in... more

Spatial navigation offers a fresh approach to the identification and early diagnosis of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease in the pre-clinical phase. The Sea Hero Quest game has been developed to detect subtle impairments in navigational performance at a very early stage. It has been found to perform better than traditional dementia screening tools and memory assessment scales currently used for identifying persons genetically at-risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Sieci neuronowe są narzędziem o potencjalnie bardzo szerokim zakresie zastosowań. Jednak z praktyki wynika, są one przede wszystkim wykorzystywane w zagadnieniach klasyfikacji sygnałów i obrazów. Z uwagi na swą uniwersalność mogą być też... more

Sieci neuronowe są narzędziem o potencjalnie bardzo szerokim zakresie zastosowań. Jednak z praktyki wynika, są one przede wszystkim wykorzystywane w zagadnieniach klasyfikacji sygnałów i obrazów. Z uwagi na swą uniwersalność mogą być też użyte w obszarze diagnostyki. Cechą charakterystyczną tych zastosowań jest to, że te same struktury sieci i podobna metodyka ich uczenia mogą być stosowane do tak odległych na pozór zagadnień jak diagnostyka techniczna i diagnostyka medyczna. Niniejsza praca stanowi próbę opisu jednolitego podejścia do rozwiązywania problemów w zakresie diagnostyki technicznej i diagnostyki medycznej stosowanego przez autorów przy korzystaniu z możliwości stwarzanych przez sztuczne sieci neuronowe.

Diagnosing the health of turbine aircraft engines is a form of preventive activity which is aimed at, among others, for the early detection of safety hazards in aircraft operation. The subject literature presents several methods and... more

Diagnosing the health of turbine aircraft engines is a form of preventive activity which is aimed at, among others, for the early detection of safety hazards in aircraft operation.
The subject literature presents several methods and techniques of performing diagnostic research, including measurement signal analysis algorithms and automated diagnostic reasoning. Only some of these methods have been implemented into operation, demonstrating a sufficient detection sensitivity of diagnostic symptoms encountered in actual service conditions, as well as demonstrating a sufficient resistance to the scatter of structural properties, and also to the influence of human error. These aspects are frequently neglected in theoretical considerations.
Most of the implemented diagnostic methods are focused only on the detection of a problem narrow in scope, most often related to the actual technical condition of critical components. Such manner of action, typical for the Non Destructive Inspection methods, is a form of “passive” anticipation of the effects of the monitored fatigue process, without recognizing its underlying causes. Such a diagnostic approach reduces the risk of an air accident, but also increases the costs borne by the operator.
In order to simultaneously reduce the risk of material fatigue, as well as the costs of preventive testing and research, author has proposed a new diagnostic approach. Its essence is the detection of causes of accelerated fatigue, as well as the active control of material fatigue. Author has shown that material fatigue is an anthropotechnical process, therefore it is possible to control the intensity of adverse dynamic phenomena - still at the stage of reversible changes.
The novel concept of fatigue control has been presented and based on the example of steel and titanium compressor blades of the SO-3 and TW3-117 engines and utilizing the author’s over 15 year-long experience gained in cooperating with the military operator of aircraft engines and with the repair facilities. In analyzing the problem, the author took into account the existing aircraft engine maintenance systems, and has showcased typical fatigue cases, observed in military as well as civil aviation.
In his theoretical considerations the author included the bimodal description of the fatigue curve, as well as the phenomenon of gigacycle fatigue (Very High Cycle Fatigue
- VHCF). In the paper, author described the idea of an innovative approach to the problem of fatigue, identified the research requirements, and also defined three research tasks, which include early detection of fatigue risks in compressor blades during operation and overhaul, as well as a complex engine diagnostics system based on a single state observer. Author has selected and verified three research methods needed for carrying out these tasks: Metal Magnetic Memory (MPM), Experimental Modal Analysis (EMA) and rotating blades-based engine monitoring (TTM), for which methods he provided a theoretical description, and also presented the accompanying physical phenomena. Based on a number of passive and active experiments performed on statistically reliable population of engines, the author has presented a practical ability of implementing the concept of active fatigue control.
The EMA and TTM methods have been introduced in Poland for the overhaul and maintenance technology of aircraft engines.

L’étude produite a pour but d’affiner et d’objectiver les besoins en santé mentale de première ligne de la population bruxelloise et de tirer des recommandations en partant d’une étude de terrain approfondie auprès de professionnels... more

L’étude produite a pour but d’affiner et d’objectiver les besoins en santé mentale de première ligne
de la population bruxelloise et de tirer des recommandations en partant d’une étude de terrain
approfondie auprès de professionnels établis à Anderlecht. Ce rapport opte pour une logique de
territorialisation de la santé mentale, une optique qui s’inscrit dans la continuité de la
désinstitutionalisation portée par la Réforme 107. Par rapport à cette réforme, il s’agit d’assurer une
meilleure implémentation des fonctions mobiles 2A et 2B de la réforme 107 et leur articulation avec
la fonction 1. Au-delà du renforcement de soins de santé mentale en ambulatoire, le rapport met l’accent sur la collaboration entre les différentes lignes (en ce compris les professionnels non spécialisés en santé mentale), entre différents types de structures (pratiques libérales, administrations publiques et parapubliques, associations) et entre métiers (du secteur social comme celui de la santé). Il s’agit de proposer des pistes où les autorités locales sont réinvesties politiquement alors qu’elles le sont déjà en pratique au quotidien : simplement, elles ne savent pas toujours comment agir, si elles peuvent ou doivent agir et surtout, avec quels moyens.

В работе представлена актуальность ранней диагностики проблемы онихомикозов. Раскрыты преимущества эпилюминесцентной диагностики перед стандартной визуальной оценкой, разработаны основные клинические критерии поражения грибком ногтевых... more

В работе представлена актуальность ранней диагностики проблемы онихомикозов. Раскрыты преимущества эпилюминесцентной диагностики перед стандартной визуальной оценкой, разработаны основные клинические критерии поражения грибком ногтевых пластин. С помощью дерматоскопического исследования расчитан индекс поражения ногтя и представлены его количественные значения. Использование Индекса оправдано для оценки степени тяжести поражения ногтевых пластин в ранней диагностике онихомикозов.

Abdominalne ozljede često nastaju kao posljedica traume, te ukoliko nisu prepoznate i liječene, dovode do visoke smrtnosti. Pacijenti mogu imati životno ugrožavajuće ozlijede bez očitih znakova ili početno vidljivih kliničkih simptoma. Ta... more

Abdominalne ozljede često nastaju kao posljedica traume, te ukoliko nisu prepoznate i liječene, dovode do visoke smrtnosti. Pacijenti mogu imati životno ugrožavajuće ozlijede bez očitih znakova ili početno vidljivih kliničkih simptoma. Ta činjenica izražava nužnost korištenja tehnika poput FAST procjene i CT-a tijekom dijagnostike suspektne traume abdomena. Poznavanje mehanizma nastanka ozljede također je od izuzetnog značaja.

Jelen tanulmány a művészettel nevelés szolgálatában álló művészetdiagnosztikai eszközök bemutatásáról szól, melyek alkalmasak lehetnek a tanulói képességek pedagógiai, pszichológiai kontextusban végzett felmérésére. A tanulmány rövid... more

La psychiatrie comme toute autre discipline médicale repose sur deux formes de démarche, nosologique et pathologique. La première décrit et classe des catégories de troubles, la seconde étudie les variations du normal au pathologique. La... more

La psychiatrie comme toute autre discipline médicale repose sur deux formes de démarche, nosologique et pathologique. La première décrit et classe des catégories de troubles, la seconde étudie les variations du normal au pathologique. La méthode nosographique recherche les causes et les facteurs pathogènes, la seconde les mécanismes
pathogènes. Les deux démarches sont complémentaires même si l’articulation entre les deux n’est pas toujours facile à établir et si les débats n’ont pas manqué à propos de leur usage.
Depuis une cinquantaine d’années des échelles d’évaluation à des fins classificatoires se sont développées à la mesure d’une mondialisation des pratiques et de l’importance des études épidémiologiques. Ce développement dont il serait absurde de contester l’intérêt pratique et théorique n’est pas sans avoir été accompagné de difficultés d’élaboration et
d’utilisation qui ont alimenté une réflexion critique qui porte sur les excès et les insuffisances des échelles d’évaluation actuelles, excès dans les usages, insuffisance dans la construction du corpus.
C’est dans cette perspective critique qu’un certain nombre d’associations scientifiques américaines ont décidé de créer un groupe de travail chargé de préparer un complément aux
démarches classificatoires actuelles en prenant en compte certains apports fondamentaux de la psychopathologie contemporaine, en particulier des données recueillies à partir de l’étude des processus psycho dynamiques qui interviennent dans la construction des troubles médicaux.

Recent research indicates that Photoplethysmography (PPG) signals carry more information than oxygen saturation level (SpO2) and can be utilized for affordable, fast, and noninvasive healthcare applications. All these encourage the... more

Recent research indicates that Photoplethysmography (PPG) signals carry more information than oxygen saturation level (SpO2) and can be utilized for affordable, fast, and noninvasive healthcare applications. All these encourage the researchers to estimate its feasibility as an alternative to many expansive, time-wasting, and invasive methods. This systematic review discusses the current literature on diagnostic features of PPG signal and their applications that might present a potential venue to be adapted into many health and fitness aspects of human life. The research methodology is based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines 2020. To this aim, papers from 1981 to date are reviewed and categorized in terms of the healthcare application domain. Along with consolidated research areas, recent topics that are growing in popularity are also discovered. We also highlight the potential impact of using PPG signals on an individual's quality of life and public health. The state-of-the-art studies suggest that in the years to come PPG wearables will become pervasive in many fields of medical practices, and the main domains include cardiology, respiratory, neurology, and fitness. Main operation challenges, including performance and robustness obstacles, are identified.