Evaluating the utility of daily speech assessments for monitoring depression symptoms.

Objective: Depression is a common mental health disorder and a major public health concern, significantly interfering with the lives of those affected. The complex clinical presentation of depression complicates symptom assessments. Day-to-day fluctuations of depression symptoms within an individual bring an additional barrier, since infrequent testing may not reveal symptom fluctuation.

OViTAD: Optimized Vision Transformer to Predict Various Stages of Alzheimer's Disease Using Resting-State fMRI and Structural MRI Data.

Advances in applied machine learning techniques for neuroimaging have encouraged scientists to implement models to diagnose brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease at early stages. Predicting the exact stage of Alzheimer's disease is challenging; however, complex deep learning techniques can precisely manage this. While successful, these complex architectures are difficult to interrogate and computationally expensive.

Screening for Generalized Anxiety Disorder From Acoustic and Linguistic Features of Impromptu Speech: Prediction Model Evaluation Study.

Background: Frequent interaction with mental health professionals is required to screen, diagnose, and track mental health disorders. However, high costs and insufficient access can make frequent interactions difficult. The ability to assess a mental health disorder passively and at frequent intervals could be a useful complement to the conventional treatment.

Financial Viability and Environmental Sustainability of Fecal Sludge Treatment with Pyrolysis Omni Processors.

Omni Processors (OPs) are community-scale systems for non-sewered fecal sludge treatment. These systems have demonstrated their capacity to treat excreta from tens of thousands of people using thermal treatment processes (e.g.

Who does what to whom? graph representations of action-predication in speech relate to psychopathological dimensions of psychosis.

Graphical representations of speech generate powerful computational measures related to psychosis. Previous studies have mostly relied on structural relations between words as the basis of graph formation, i.e.

Acoustic and Linguistic Features of Impromptu Speech and Their Association With Anxiety: Validation Study.

Background: The measurement and monitoring of generalized anxiety disorder requires frequent interaction with psychiatrists or psychologists. Access to mental health professionals is often difficult because of high costs or insufficient availability. The ability to assess generalized anxiety disorder passively and at frequent intervals could be a useful complement to conventional treatment and help with relapse monitoring.

Three Dimensions of Association Link Migraine Symptoms and Functional Connectivity.

Migraine is a heterogeneous disorder with variable symptoms and responsiveness to therapy. Because of previous analytic shortcomings, variance in migraine symptoms has been inconsistently related to brain function. In the current analysis, we used data from two sites ( = 143, male and female humans), and performed canonical correlation analysis, relating resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) with a broad range of migraine symptoms, ranging from headache characteristics to sleep abnormalities.

Nutritional state assessed by ultrasonography, but not by bioelectric impedance, predicts 28-day mortality in critically ill patients. Prospective cohort study.

Background & Aims: Malnutrition is a disease associated with unfavorable outcomes and high prevalence among critically ill patients. The primary aim of the study was to correlate the nutritional status of patients recently admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with the 28-day mortality rate. The secondary aim was to establish cut-off values for the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and ultrasonography (USG) methods for the classification of the nutritional status of critically ill patients.

Natural Language Processing as an Emerging Tool to Detect Late-Life Depression.

Late-life depression (LLD) is a major public health concern. Despite the availability of effective treatments for depression, barriers to screening and diagnosis still exist. The use of current standardized depression assessments can lead to underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis due to subjective symptom reporting and the distinct cognitive, psychomotor, and somatic features of LLD.

Shared Language Erosion: Rethinking Immigrant Family Communication and Impacts on Youth Development.

In this paper we make the case for Shared Language Erosion as a potential explanation for the negative outcomes described in the immigrant paradox for second- and third- generation immigrants (e.g., declines in physical, mental, and behavioral health).

Brain and Physiological Markers of Autonomic Function Are Associated With Treatment-Related Improvements in Self-Reported Autonomic Dysfunction in Veterans With Gulf War Illness: An Exploratory Pilot Study.

Background: Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a poorly understood condition characterized by a constellation of mood, cognitive, and physical symptoms. A growing body of evidence demonstrates autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. Few published treatment studies exist for GWI.

Association between Anterior Cingulate Neurochemical Concentration and Individual Differences in Hypnotizability.

Hypnosis is the oldest form of Western psychotherapy and a powerful evidence-based treatment for numerous disorders. Hypnotizability is variable between individuals; however, it is a stable trait throughout adulthood, suggesting that neurophysiological factors may underlie hypnotic responsiveness. One brain region of particular interest in functional neuroimaging studies of hypnotizability is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

MCADNNet: Recognizing Stages of Cognitive Impairment through Efficient Convolutional fMRI and MRI Neural Network Topology Models.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) represents the intermediate stage between normal cerebral aging and dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Early diagnosis of MCI and AD through artificial intelligence has captured considerable scholarly interest; researchers hope to develop therapies capable of slowing or halting these processes. We developed a state-of-the-art deep learning algorithm based on an optimized convolutional neural network (CNN) topology called MCADNNet that simultaneously recognizes MCI, AD, and normally aging brains in adults over the age of 75 years, using structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.

Altered structural brain network topology in chronic migraine.

Despite its prevalence and high disease burden, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying chronic migraine (CM) are not well understood. As CM is a complex disorder associated with a range of sensory, cognitive, and affective comorbidities, examining structural network disruption may provide additional insights into CM symptomology beyond studies of focal brain regions. Here, we compared structural interconnections in patients with CM (n = 52) and healthy controls (HC) (n = 48) using MRI measures of cortical thickness and subcortical volume combined with graph theoretical network analyses.

Serological and PCR-based markers of ocular Chlamydia trachomatis transmission in northern Ghana after elimination of trachoma as a public health problem.

Background: Validation of elimination of trachoma as a public health problem is based on clinical indicators, using the WHO simplified grading system. Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) infection and anti-Ct antibody responses (anti-Pgp3) have both been evaluated as alternative indicators in settings with varying levels of trachoma. There is a need to evaluate the feasibility of using tests for Ct infection and anti-Pgp3 antibodies at scale in a trachoma-endemic country and to establish the added value of the data generated for understanding transmission dynamics in the peri-elimination setting.

Clinical Features Contributing to Cortical Thickness Changes in Chronic Migraine - A Pilot Study.

Objectives: The objectives of this cross-sectional pilot study were threefold: to identify regions of cortical thickness that differentiate chronic migraine (CM) from controls, to assess group differences in interregional cortical thickness covariance, and to determine group differences in associations between clinical variables and cortical thickness.

Background: Cortical thickness alterations in relation to clinical features have not been adequately explored in CM. Assessment of this relationship can be useful to describe cortical substrates for disease progression in migraine and to identify clinical variables that warrant management emphasis.

Dietary intake, body composition and metabolic parameters in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Background & Aims: Overweight polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients present exacerbation of clinical symptoms and increased risk for chronic diseases. The effects of inadequate dietary intake have been investigated in body weight gain in PCOS women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dietary pattern and to analyze possible associations with the metabolism and body composition in PCOS women.

Comparison of Diffusion-Weighted MRI Reconstruction Methods for Visualization of Cranial Nerves in Posterior Fossa Surgery.

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-based tractography has gained increasing popularity as a method for detailed visualization of white matter (WM) tracts. Different imaging techniques, and more novel, advanced imaging methods provide significant WM structural detail. While there has been greater focus on improving tract visualization for larger WM pathways, the relative value of each method for cranial nerve reconstruction and how this methodology can assist surgical decision-making is still understudied.

The Non-Innoculous Hilar Calcification: Recurrent Pneumonia Secondary to Broncholith-Associated Actinomyces.

Dystrophic calcification of hilar lymph nodes is a common response to chronic inflammation related to several etiologies and rarely is associated with any clinical findings. A clinical scenario related to these calcified lymph nodes can thus be delayed by the low clinical suspicion associated with such a presumably innocuous finding. Normal respiratory movements however, can cause erosion into adjacent bronchi leading to a broncholith, complications of which can result in morbidity.