Fatigue Assessment from Facial Videos using Deep Neural Networks and Engineered Features Informed by Domain Knowledge.

Fatigue impairs cognitive and motor function, potentially leading to mishaps in high-pressure occupations such as aviation and emergency medical services. The current approach is primarily based on self-assessment, which is subjective and error-prone. An objective method is needed to detect severe and likely dangerous levels of fatigue quickly and accurately.

Laryngeal cancer treatment decision making: A conjoint analysis of general public attitudes and priorities.

Objective: Patients with advanced laryngeal cancer are typically presented with divergent treatment options, namely chemoradiation versus total laryngectomy. This study aims to understand general perspectives of the factors involved in this decision-making process.

Methods: Surveys were constructed using specialized conjoint analysis software.

Comparing carotid endarterectomies with or without shunting in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Background: Recent research shows that placement of an intraluminal shunt during a carotid endarterectomy (CEA) can be associated with postoperative complications. Therefore, we compared CEA operations with or without shunting to further analyze their clinical outcomes.

Methods: From the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database, 13,736 cases between 2016 and 2019 were analyzed to compare adult symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis patients who underwent a CEA operation, with or without shunt placement.

Proximalization through one incision of a wrist arteriovenous fistula and distal revascularization with interval ligation.

In the setting of ischemic steal syndrome with tissue loss, patients with radiocephalic fistulas have limited options to preserve their conduit and treat their ischemic symptoms. To address this, we have proposed the technique of proximalization through one incision of a wrist arteriovenous fistula (POWR) with distal revascularization with interval ligation (DRIL) procedure. In the present retrospective, single-center, case series, we evaluated the outcomes of three patients with radiocephalic fistulas who had undergone POWR DRIL from 2017 to 2021.

Effect of Inpatient Integrative Medicine Consultation on 30-Day Readmission Rates: A Retrospective Observational Study at a Major U.S. Academic Hospital.

The prevalence of inpatient integrative medicine (IM) consult services is increasing among academic health care institutions. The diversity of services between institutions, as well as the novel nature of such interventions, makes it challenging for health care administrators to determine the cost/benefit of adding such a program to their institution. The main purpose of this study was to examine the performance of the new University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) East-West (EW) consult service as measured by 30-day readmission rates and lengths of stay.

An investigation of health insurance policy and behavior in a virtual environment.

We introduce a new experimental approach to measuring the effects of health insurance policy alternatives on behavior and health outcomes over the life course. In a virtual environment with multi-period lives, subjects earn virtual income and allocate spending, to maximize utility, which is converted into cash payment. We compare behavior across age, income and insurance plans-one priced according to an individual's expected cost and the other uniformly priced through employer-implemented cost sharing.

Implications of sagittal alignment and complication profile with stand-alone anterior lumbar interbody fusion versus anterior posterior lumbar fusion.

Background: Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) is commonly utilized in lumbar degenerative pathologies. Standalone ALIF (ST-ALIF) systems were developed to avoid added morbidity, surgical time, and cost of anterior and posterior fusion (APF). Controversy exists in the literature about which of these two techniques yields superior clinical and radiographic outcomes, and few studies have directly compared them.

Differential functional roles of fibroblasts and pericytes in the formation of tissue-engineered microvascular networks in vitro.

Formation of a perfusable microvascular network (μVN) is critical for tissue engineering of solid organs. Stromal cells can support endothelial cell (EC) self-assembly into a μVN, but distinct stromal cell populations may play different roles in this process. Here we describe the differential effects that two widely used stromal cell populations, fibroblasts (FBs) and pericytes (PCs), have on μVN formation.

Iliohepatic artery bypass for hepatic ischemia after repair of mycotic celiac artery aneurysm.

An 81-year-old woman presented to our institution with a contained ruptured mycotic aortic aneurysm involving the takeoff of the celiac artery that required ligation of the celiac trunk, resulting in foregut ischemia and the need for revascularization. The technique of aortic reconstruction with delayed hepatic artery revascularization by a common iliac artery to hepatic artery bypass is described.

Modified Staple Aneurysmorrhaphy for Treating Arteriovenous Fistula-Related Venous Aneurysms.

Autogenous arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are the preferred access for hemodialysis. AVF occasionally develop venous aneurysms, and we report a modified staple aneurysmorrhaphy technique for treatment. Briefly, the lateral wall of the venous aneurysm is dissected and a longitudinal staple resection performed.

Novel High-throughput Approach for Purification of Infectious Virions.

Viruses are extensively studied as pathogens and exploited as molecular tools and therapeutic agents. Existing methods to purify viruses such as gradient ultracentrifugation or chromatography have limitations, for example demand for technical expertise or specialized equipment, high time consumption, and restricted capacity. Our laboratory explores mutations in oncolytic reovirus that could improve oncolytic activity, and makes routine use of numerous virus variants, genome reassortants, and reverse engineered mutants.

Elucidation of the mass fragmentation pathways of tomatidine and β1-hydroxytomatine using orbitrap mass spectrometry.

Tomatoes, members of the Solanaceae plant family, produce biologically active secondary metabolites, including glycoalkaloids, which may have both adverse and beneficial biological effects. Using the linear ion trap (LIT) mass spectrometry, multi-stage collision induced dissociation (CID) experiments (MSn) were performed to elucidate characteristic fragmentation pathways of the glycoalkaloid, tomatidine and of β1-hydroxytomatine. High resolution with high accuracy mass analysis using an Orbitrap fourier transform MS with higher-energy collisional induced dissociation (HCD) was used to produce mass spectra data across a wide spectral range for confirmation of proposed ion structures and formulae.

Development and validation of a high-resolution LTQ Orbitrap MS method for the quantification of isoflavones in wastewater effluent.

Isoflavones and coumestranes are the most important classes of compounds among phytoestrogens; by binding to estrogen receptors, they mimic or modulate the effect on the endogenous receptors. Little information can be found in literature about the presence of isoflavones and coumestrol in the environment, even if it is known that this may have significance, being these substances classified as endocrine disrupting compounds. In this research, we aim to explore the capabilities of the LTQ Orbitrap Discovery hybrid MS in full-scan acquisition mode, with high resolution, to validate an analytical method for the quantification of nine isoflavones (genistein, genistin, glycitein, daidzein, daidzin, (R,S)-equol, biochanin A, formononetin and coumestrol) in wastewater samples.

Confirmation of extensive natural distribution of azaspiracids in the tissue compartments of mussels (Mytilus edulis).

Liquid chromatography multiple tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been applied to demonstrate that azaspiracid (AZA1), its isomer, AZA6, and its methyl- and demethyl-analogues, AZA2 and AZA3 respectively, are distributed throughout mussel (Mytilus edulis) tissue compartments. Large differences in both the toxin content and the toxin profiles were observed in 20 individual mussels from the same batch. The toxin levels found in the hepatopancreas of mussels were, AZA1 (0.

Structure-based network analysis of activation mechanisms in the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases: the regulatory spine residues are global mediators of structural stability and allosteric interactions.

The ErbB protein tyrosine kinases are among the most important cell signaling families and mutation-induced modulation of their activity is associated with diverse functions in biological networks and human disease. We have combined molecular dynamics simulations of the ErbB kinases with the protein structure network modeling to characterize the reorganization of the residue interaction networks during conformational equilibrium changes in the normal and oncogenic forms. Structural stability and network analyses have identified local communities integrated around high centrality sites that correspond to the regulatory spine residues.

High-performance liquid chromatography LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometry method for tomatidine and non-target metabolites quantification in organic and normal tomatoes.

Tomatoes, members of the Solanaceae plant family, produce biologically active secondary metabolites, including glycoalkaloids and aglycons, which may have both adverse and beneficial biological effects. A new liquid chromatography method that utilized LTQ-Orbitrap MS was developed for the analysis of tomatidine, the main aglycon in tomatoes. Recoveries of tomatidine were >98.

A critical evaluation of liquid chromatography with hybrid linear ion trap-Orbitrap mass spectrometry for the determination of acidic contaminants in wastewater effluents.

Acidic pesticide and pharmaceutical contaminants were pre-concentrated and extracted from wastewater samples (500 mL) using solid-phase extraction. Analyte recoveries were 79-96%, with % RSD values in the range, 1.7-7.

Elucidation of the mass fragmentation pathways of the polyether marine toxins, dinophysistoxins, and identification of isomer discrimination processes.

Rationale: Most of the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) methods that have been developed for the analysis of Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) toxins in shellfish and algae samples have been unable to differentiate the isomers okadaic acid (OA) and dinophysistoxin-2 (DTX2), unless separated by chromatography. Since there are many bioconversion products of these compounds it is imperative to determine characteristic product ions, which can provide unequivocal identification of OA and DTX2 and their analogs.

Methods: Using electrospray ionization, the fragmentation processes for two types of precursor ions, [M+Na](+) and [M-H](-), of the polyether marine toxins, dinophysistoxins (DTXs), were studied using a hybrid linear ion trap Orbitrap mass spectrometer which provided high mass accuracy data in combination with multiple tandem mass (MS(n)) spectra.

Study of mycotoxin calibration approaches on the example of trichothecenes analysis from flour.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of different calibration approaches in trichothecenes analysis from wheat flour. Concretely eight trichothecenes (five type B trichothecenes and three type A trichothecenes) were analyzed by matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In the first set of experiments the presence of matrix effects was evaluated; values ranged between 59% and 79%.

Applicability of hybrid linear ion trap-high resolution mass spectrometry and quadrupole-linear ion trap-mass spectrometry for mycotoxin analysis in baby food.

Recent developments in mass spectrometers have created a paradoxical situation; different mass spectrometers are available, each of them with their specific strengths and drawbacks. Hybrid instruments try to unify several advantages in one instrument. In this study two of wide-used hybrid instruments were compared: hybrid quadrupole-linear ion trap-mass spectrometry (QTRAP®) and the hybrid linear ion trap-high resolution mass spectrometry (LTQ-Orbitrap®).

Mussels increase xenobiotic (azaspiracid) toxicity using a unique bioconversion mechanism.

Azaspiracid Poisoning (AZP) is a human toxic syndrome which is associated with the consumption of bivalve shellfish. Unlike other shellfish, mussels contain a large array of azaspiracid analogs, many of which are suspected bioconversion products. These studies were conducted to elucidate the metabolic pathways of azaspiracid (AZA1) in the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and revealed that the main biotransformation product was the more toxic demethyl analog, AZA3.

Pekeris waveguide comparisons of methods for predicting acoustic field amplitude uncertainty caused by a spatially uniform environmental uncertainty (L).

Acoustic field calculations in underwater environments are often uncertain because the environmental parameters required for such calculations are uncertain. This letter compares the accuracy of direct simulations, the field shifting approximation, and polynomial chaos expansions for predicting acoustic amplitude uncertainty in 100-m-deep Pekeris waveguides having spatially uniform uncertain water-column sound speed. When this sound speed is Gaussian-distributed with a standard deviation of 1 m/s, direct simulations and polynomial chaos expansions, based on 21 field calculations, are more accurate than the field shifting approximation, based on two field calculations.

Semi-automated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for basic pesticides in wastewater effluents.

Effluent from wastewater treatment plants have been identified as an important source of micro-organic contaminants in the environment. An online high-performance liquid chromatography-heated electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometric method was developed and validated for the determination of basic pesticides in effluent wastewaters. Most available methods for pesticide analysis of wastewater samples are time-consuming, require complex clean-up steps and are difficult to automate.

Food contaminant analysis at ultra-high mass resolution: application of hybrid linear ion trap - orbitrap mass spectrometry for the determination of the polyether toxins, azaspiracids, in shellfish.

The biotoxins, azaspiracids (AZAs), from marine phytoplankton accumulate in shellfish and affect human health by causing severe gastrointestinal disturbance, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Specific and sensitive methods have been developed and validated for the determination of the most commonly occurring azaspiracid analogs. An LTQ Orbitrap mass spectrometer is a hybrid instrument that combines linear ion trap (LIT) mass spectrometry (MS) with high-resolution Fourier transform (FT) MS and this was exploited to perform simultaneous ultra-high-resolution full-scan MS analysis and collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS).