Using Transfer Learning to Refine Object Detection Models for Blind and Low Vision Users.

Object detection models available on smartphones such as YOLOv8 can potentially help identify and locate objects of interest to people who are blind or low vision (pBLV). However, current models may miss crucial objects for pBLV. Here, we compared 5 transfer learning methods for adding new classes of interest to pBLV navigation that are absent from the Common Objects in Context (COCO) training dataset.

Conservative medical therapy for a macroprolactinoma presenting with obstructive hydrocephalus.

Obstructive hydrocephalus is a rare complication of pituitary prolactinomas, especially in women, where symptoms of amenorrhoea rarely go unnoticed. In this study, a case of a female in her 20s with a 2-month history of frontotemporal headache, acutely worsening over 3 days, is presented. Cranial imaging showed a sellar-suprasellar mass (2.

Stimulus-driven cerebrospinal fluid dynamics is impaired in glaucoma patients.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics, driven by sensory stimulation-induced neuronal activity, is crucial for maintaining homeostasis and clearing metabolic waste. However, it remains unclear whether such CSF flow is impaired in age-related neurodegenerative diseases of the visual system. This study addresses this gap by examining CSF flow during visual stimulation in glaucoma patients and healthy older adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Functional genomics of primary congenital glaucoma by pathway analysis and functional characterization of CYP1B1 mutations.

CYP1B1 is the most common gene implicated in primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) - the most common form of childhood glaucoma. How CYP1B1 mutations cause PCG is not known. Understanding the mechanism of PCG caused by CYP1B1 mutations is crucial for disease management, therapeutics development, and potential prevention.

Understanding the effects of hand dorsum coordinate systems on thumb metacarpal angle outcomes.

As an essential contributor to thumb and hand function, it is necessary to establish metacarpal (MC) kinematics to track thumb health and determine the efficacy of treatments. In the literature, several hand dorsum coordinate systems (CSs) have been utilized for MC angle calculations. These systems were determined using varied motion capture marker setups.

Virtual Hospitals and Patient Experience: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Observational Study.

Background: Virtual care is increasingly incorporated within routine health care settings to improve patient experience and access to care. A patient's experience encompasses all the interactions an individual has with the health care system. This includes a greater emphasis on actively involving carers in the decisions and activities surrounding a patient's health care.

NOise Reduction with DIstribution Corrected (NORDIC) principal component analysis improves brain activity detection across rodent and human functional MRI contexts.

NOise Reduction with DIstribution Corrected (NORDIC) principal component analysis (PCA) has been shown to selectively suppress thermal noise and improve the temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) in human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the feasibility to improve data quality for rodent fMRI using NORDIC PCA remains uncertain. NORDIC PCA may also be particularly beneficial for improving topological brain mapping, as conventional mapping requires precise spatiotemporal signals from large datasets (ideally ~1 hour acquisition) for individual representations.

Long-term oncologic outcomes and complications of robot-assisted radical cystectomy for the treatment of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder.

Introduction: To report the long-term outcomes of robot-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) for the treatment of muscle invasive and high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer.

Methods: We reviewed a single tertiary center database of RARC from 2004 to 2020. Concomitant extended pelvic lymph node dissection and extracorporeal urinary diversion were performed.

Impact of tacrolimus vs cyclosporine on chronic lung allograft dysfunction incidence and allograft survival in the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation registry.

Background: The ScanCLAD study reported a lower incidence of chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) with the use of once-daily tacrolimus vs twice-daily cyclosporine. Using the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) Thoracic Organ Transplant (TTX) Registry data, we evaluated the hypothesis that tacrolimus is superior to cyclosporine in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: This study is a retrospective cohort study of adult lung transplant recipients in the ISHLT registry from January 1, 2000, to June 30, 2018, with known CLAD status.

The economic burden of ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion and its complications: findings from a cohort in the Philippines.

Purpose: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) insertion is the gold standard treatment for congenital hydrocephalus, but there is little data about the cost of this procedure in developing countries. We aimed to determine the in-hospitalization cost of initial VPS insertion and its complications (malfunction and infection) and identify predictors of increased cost.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study by reviewing the medical and financial records of pediatric patients with congenital hydrocephalus and underwent shunt surgery at our institution between 2015 and 2019.

Comparing Isolated Thumb Force Generation, Wrist Rotation, and Clinical Measurements in Healthy and Osteoarthritic Individuals before and after Surgery.

Thumb carpometacarpal (CMC) osteoarthritis (OA) is caused by the degeneration of joint surfaces at the base of the thumb. If conservative treatments have failed, surgery may be needed to improve symptoms. Typically, standard clinical tools, such as the pinch gauge, are used to measure thumb force.

Temporary treatment cessation compared with continuation of tyrosine kinase inhibitors for adults with renal cancer: the STAR non-inferiority RCT.

Background: There is interest in using treatment breaks in oncology, to reduce toxicity without compromising efficacy.

Trial Design: A Phase II/III multicentre, open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled non-inferiority trial assessing treatment breaks in patients with renal cell carcinoma.

Methods: Patients with locally advanced or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, starting tyrosine kinase inhibitor as first-line treatment at United Kingdom National Health Service hospitals.

Opioid Prescriptions for US Patients Undergoing Long-Term Dialysis or with Kidney Transplant from 2011 to 2020.

Key Points: The rate of prescription of opioid medication decreased between 2011 and 2020 for patients with ESRD. The risk of death for dialysis and kidney transplant patients increased as morphine milligram equivalents in prescriptions increased.

Background: Pain is important for patients with kidney failure, but opioid medication prescriptions are associated with morbidity and mortality.

Age-related effects of optineurin deficiency in the mouse eye.

Optineurin (OPTN) is a gene associated with familial normal tension glaucoma (NTG). While NTG involves intraocular pressure (IOP)-independent neurodegeneration of the visual pathway that progresses with age, how OPTN dysfunction leads to NTG remains unclear. Here, we generated an OPTN knockout mouse (Optn) model to test the hypothesis that a loss-of-function mechanism induces structural and functional eye deterioration with aging.

Neurosurgery in the elderly: Findings from a cohort in the Philippines.

Background: Better living conditions and health care advancements have improved life expectancy worldwide, increasing the number of older patients who require neurosurgery. We would like to report our experience with geriatric neurosurgical patients at our institution.

Methods: This is a retrospective study on geriatric patients (aged ≥ 65 years) who underwent neurosurgery at our center between 2015 and 2022.

Establishing and developing a magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound program in a resource-limited setting: the Philippine experience.

Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) is a non-invasive lesioning technique used to treat movement disorders such as essential tremor (ET), Parkinson's disease (PD), and X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP). We would like to report our experience in establishing and developing our MRgFUS program and preliminary results. Adult patients with tremor-dominant PD (TDPD), ET, and XDP were considered for initial screening (neurologic evaluation, skull density ratio [SDR] determination).

Contributions of Brain Microstructures and Metabolism to Visual Field Loss Patterns in Glaucoma Using Archetypal and Information Gain Analyses.

Purpose: To investigate the contributions of the microstructural and metabolic brain environment to glaucoma and their association with visual field (VF) loss patterns by using advanced diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI), proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), and clinical ophthalmic measures.

Methods: Sixty-nine glaucoma and healthy subjects underwent dMRI and/or MRS at 3 Tesla. Ophthalmic data were collected from VF perimetry and optical coherence tomography.

External ventricular drain migration into the cisterna magna: A case report.

Background: External ventricular drain (EVD) insertion is a common neurosurgical procedure used to treat acute hydrocephalus. In this report, we present a rare case of an EVD that was initially correctly placed within the frontal horn but subsequently migrated to the cisterna magna, the first to be reported in the literature.

Case Description: A 46-year-old man with postoperative meningitis and hydrocephalus underwent EVD insertion using an improvised EVD system.

Pragmatic Trial of Hospitalization Rate in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Background: Despite the availability of effective therapies for patients with chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension (the kidney-dysfunction triad), the results of large-scale trials examining the implementation of guideline-directed therapy to reduce the risk of death and complications in this population are lacking.

Methods: In this open-label, cluster-randomized trial, we assigned 11,182 patients with the kidney-dysfunction triad who were being treated at 141 primary care clinics either to receive an intervention that used a personalized algorithm (based on the patient's electronic health record [EHR]) to identify patients and practice facilitators to assist providers in delivering guideline-based interventions or to receive usual care. The primary outcome was hospitalization for any cause at 1 year.

In silico design of high-affinity antigenic peptides for HLA-B44.

Cancer cell-killing by CD8+ T cells demands effective tumor antigen presentation by human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA-I) molecules. Screening and designing highly immunogenic neoantigens require quantitative computations to reliably predict HLA-peptide binding affinities. Here, with all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and free energy perturbation (FEP) methods, we design a collection of antigenic peptide candidates through in silico mutagenesis studies on immunogenic neoantigens, yielding enhanced binding affinities to HLA-B*44:02.