Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome: A Study of the 2022 Outbreak in Turkey.

BACKGROUND Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) causes serious bacterial illnesses from consuming undercooked meat and foods contaminated with feces. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of an STEC outbreak associated with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that emerged in Turkey and affected 21 adults. MATERIAL AND METHODS The medical records of 21 adult patients who were admitted to Ankara Bilkent City Hospital Internal Medicine Intensive Care Department with the diagnosis of HUS between July and September 2022 were retrospectively evaluated through the system.

Validating Joint Acoustic Emissions Models as a Generalizable Predictor of Joint Health.

Joint acoustic emissions (JAEs) have been used as a non-invasive sensing modality of joint health for different conditions such as acute injuries, osteoarthritis (OA), and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recent hardware improvements for sensing JAEs have made at-home sensing to supplement clinical visits a possibility. To complement these advances, models must be improved for JAEs to function as generalizable predictors of joint health.

Classifying Pre-Radiographic Osteoarthritis of the Knee Using Wearable Acoustics Sensing at the Point of Care.

This study was undertaken to determine if knee acoustic emissions (KAE) measured at the point of care with a wearable device can classify knees with pre-radiographic osteoarthritis (pre-OA) from healthy knees. We performed a single-center cross-sectional observational study comparing KAE in healthy knees to knees with clinical symptoms compatible with knee OA that did not meet classification criteria for radiographic knee OA. KAE were measured during scripted maneuvers performed in clinic exam rooms or similarly noisy medical center locations in healthy (n=20), pre-OA (n=11), and, for comparison, OA (n=12) knees.

A new score predicting renal replacement therapy in patients with crush injuries: Analysis of a major earthquake.

Background: It is important to predict which patients may require renal replacement therapy (RRT) at the time of initial presentation after crush injuries. There is limited data in the literature examining the predictors of RRT.

Methods: This study was conducted by evaluating 2232 patients who presented to our hospital following two major earthquakes of magnitudes 7.

Active Vibrational Achilles Tendon Sensing for Identifying and Characterizing Inflammatory Symptomatology in Enthesitis Related Arthritis.

Objective: This study explores the potential of active vibrational sensing as a digital biomarker to identify and characterize inflammatory symptomatology in the Achilles tendon and its entheses in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), particularly enthesitis related arthritis (ERA), a subcategory of JIA.

Methods: Active vibrational data were non-invasively recorded using a miniature coin vibration motor and accelerometer. Twenty active vibration recordings from children diagnosed with JIA were used in the analysis.

A Synthetic Multi-Modal Variable to Capture Cardiovascular Responses to Acute Mental Stress and Transcutaneous Median Nerve Stimulation.

Objective: To develop a novel synthetic multi-modal variable capable of capturing cardiovascular responses to acute mental stress and the stress-mitigating effect of transcutaneous median nerve stimulation (TMNS), as an initial step toward the overarching goal of enabling closed-loop controlled mitigation of the physiological response to acute mental stress.

Methods: Using data collected from 40 experiments in 20 participants involving acute mental stress and TMNS, we examined the ability of six plausibly explainable physio-markers to capture cardiovascular responses to acute mental stress and TMNS. Then, we developed a novel synthetic multi-modal variable by fusing the six physio-markers based on numerical optimization and compared its ability to capture cardiovascular responses to acute mental stress and TMNS against the six physio-markers in isolation.

Building Digital Twins for Cardiovascular Health: From Principles to Clinical Impact.

The past several decades have seen rapid advances in diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, enabled by technological breakthroughs in imaging, genomics, and physiological monitoring, coupled with therapeutic interventions. We now face the challenge of how to (1) rapidly process large, complex multimodal and multiscale medical measurements; (2) map all available data streams to the trajectories of disease states over the patient's lifetime; and (3) apply this information for optimal clinical interventions and outcomes. Here we review new advances that may address these challenges using digital twin technology to fulfill the promise of personalized cardiovascular medical practice.

Improving Reliability of Magnetic Localization Using Input Space Transformation.

Body motion tracking for medical applications has the potential to improve quality of life for people with physical or speech motor disorders. Current solutions available in the market are either inaccurate, not affordable, or are impractical for a medical setting or at home. Magnetic localization can address these issues thanks to its high accuracy, simplicity of use, wearability, and use of inexpensive sensors such as magnetometers.

Analysis of peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion in SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Introduction: : Immune responses against Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) may be highly complex. It has been suggested that T-cell fatigue develops due to continuous stimulation of T-cells by SARS-CoV-2 in Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). It was aimed to assess peripheral lymphocyte subsets and T-cell exhaustion in various clinical courses of the disease in patients diagnosed with COVID-19.

Correlation between clinical disease activity and sacroiliac magnetic resonance imaging detection in axial spondyloarthropathy.

Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the correlation between the clinical disease activity of axial spondyloarthropathy (axSpA) and magnetic resonance imaging findings of the sacroiliac joint.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-two patients (21 males, 11 females; mean age: 39.3±9.

Improved outcomes in patients with non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding while undergoing antithrombotic therapy: A propensity score matching analysis.

Background: This study sought to examine the effect of antithrombotic use on clinical outcomes in non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB).

Methods: Patients consecutively diagnosed with non-variceal UGIB between February 2019 and September 2020 were divided into two groups based on their antithrombotic use: users and non-users. Using propensity score matching (PSM) and multivariable regression analyses, the impact of antithrombotic use prior to UGIB presentation on clinical outcomes was examined.

Quantifying Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms During Traumatic Memories Using Interpretable Markers of Respiratory Variability.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) causes heightened fight-or-flight responses to traumatic memories (i.e., hyperarousal).

Improving Biological Joint Moment Estimation During Real-World Tasks With EMG and Instrumented Insoles.

Objective: Real-time measurement of biological joint moment could enhance clinical assessments and generalize exoskeleton control. Accessing joint moments outside clinical and laboratory settings requires harnessing non-invasive wearable sensor data for indirect estimation. Previous approaches have been primarily validated during cyclic tasks, such as walking, but these methods are likely limited when translating to non-cyclic tasks where the mapping from kinematics to moments is not unique.

Analysis of Satisfaction Levels in Completely Edentulous Patients Treated with Different Configurations of Implant- Supported Prostheses.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare patient satisfaction levels in edentulous patients treated with different configurations of implant-supported prostheses as well as previous prosthesis experiences before implant treatment.

Materials And Methods: A study population of 142 patients was identified and separated into four treatment groups: group 1 comprised 43 patients treated with an implant-supported overdenture in the mandible and conventional complete denture in the maxilla; group 2 comprised 32 patients treated with implant-supported overdentures in the maxilla and mandible; group 3 comprised 26 patients treated with an implant-supported overdenture in the mandible and a fixed prosthesis in the maxilla; and group 4 comprised 41 patients treated with implant-supported maxillomandibular fixed restorations. Questionnaires asking about masticatory performance, pronunciation, comfort, and social ability were used to evaluate treatment outcomes.

Parsimonious Waveform-derived Features consisting of Pulse Arrival Time and Heart Rate Variability Predicts the Onset of Septic Shock.

Sepsis is a major public health emergency and one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. For each hour treatment is delayed, shock-related mortality increases, so early diagnosis and intervention is of utmost importance. However, earlier recognition of shock requires active monitoring, which may be delayed due to subclinical manifestations of the disease at the early phase of onset.

A Comparison of Normalization Techniques for Individual Baseline-Free Estimation of Absolute Hypovolemic Status Using a Porcine Model.

Hypovolemic shock is one of the leading causes of death in the military. The current methods of assessing hypovolemia in field settings rely on a clinician assessment of vital signs, which is an unreliable assessment of hypovolemia severity. These methods often detect hypovolemia when interventional methods are ineffective.

A human lower-limb biomechanics and wearable sensors dataset during cyclic and non-cyclic activities.

Tasks of daily living are often sporadic, highly variable, and asymmetric. Analyzing these real-world non-cyclic activities is integral for expanding the applicability of exoskeletons, protheses, wearable sensing, and activity classification to real life, and could provide new insights into human biomechanics. Yet, currently available biomechanics datasets focus on either highly consistent, continuous, and symmetric activities, such as walking and running, or only a single specific non-cyclic task.

Leveraging Physiological Markers to Quantify the Transient Effects of Traumatic Stress and Non-Invasive Neuromodulation.

Millions around the world suffer from traumatic stress (stress caused by traumatic memories). Transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation (tcVNS) has been shown to counteract physiological changes associated with traumatic stress. However, little is known regarding the approximate timecourse of tcVNS effects.

Noninvasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Opioid Use Disorder.

Background: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is an escalating public health problem with over 100,000 drug overdose-related deaths last year most of them related to opioid overdose, yet treatment options remain limited. Non-invasive Vagal Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) can be delivered via the ear or the neck and is a non-medication alternative to treatment of opioid withdrawal and OUD with potentially widespread applications.

Methods: This paper reviews the neurobiology of opioid withdrawal and OUD and the emerging literature of nVNS for the application of OUD.

Impedance cardiogram based exploration of cardiac mechanisms in post-traumatic stress disorder during trauma recall.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an independent risk factor for developing heart failure; however, the underlying cardiac mechanisms are still elusive. This study aims to evaluate the real-time effects of experimentally induced PTSD symptom activation on various cardiac contractility and autonomic measures. We recorded synchronized electrocardiogram and impedance cardiogram from 137 male veterans (17 PTSD, 120 non-PTSD; 48 twin pairs, 41 unpaired singles) during a laboratory-based traumatic reminder stressor.