Social media content analysis for nutraceuticals and glaucoma.

Aim: Google and various social media platforms have content on the therapeutic potential of nutritional supplements for glaucoma, but whether that information is evidence-based has not been analyzed. The current study explores such content for its quality.

Methodology: Criteria of search used were "glaucoma" and "vitamins" or "nutraceuticals" or "nutritional supplements".

Triglyceride-Fasting Glucose Index and Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance as Predictors of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in South Indians With Normal Body Mass Index.

 Early detection of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is imperative to prevent the complications associated with the disease. Current guidelines for diagnosis rely on the assessment of serum glucose (fasting and post-prandial) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Insulin resistance, a phenomenon associated with T2DM, has been observed before the changes in these metrics.

Epidemiology of healthcare-associated Pseudomonas aeruginosa in intensive care units: are sink drains to blame?

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a common cause of healthcare-associated infection (PA-HAI) in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Aim: To describe the epidemiology of PA-HAI in ICUs in Ontario, Canada, and to identify episodes of sink-to-patient PA transmission.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of patients in six ICUs from 2018 to 2019, with retrieval of PA clinical isolates, and PA-screening of antimicrobial-resistant organism surveillance rectal swabs, and of sink drain, air, and faucet samples.

Clinical proof of concept for anti-FGF2 therapy in exudative age-related macular degeneration (nAMD): phase 2 trials in treatment-naïve and anti-VEGF pretreated patients.

Background/objective: Intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are the first-line treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Due to the limitations of these standard therapies, targeting alternative mechanisms of action may be helpful for treatment of this very common disease. Here, we investigated an anti-fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) aptamer, umedaptanib pegol, a next generation therapeutic for the treatment of nAMD.

Exploiting nonlinearities through geometric engineering to enhance the auxetic behaviour in re-entrant honeycomb metamaterials.

Classical approaches to enhance auxeticity quite often involve exploring or designing newer architectures. In this work, simple geometrical features at the member level are engineered to exploit non-classical nonlinearities and improve the auxetic behaviour. The structural elements of the auxetic unit cell are here represented by thin strip-like beams, or thin-walled tubular beams.

On the application of additive manufacturing methods for auxetic structures: a review.

Auxetic structures are a special class of structural components that exhibit a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) because of their constituent materials, internal microstructure, or structural geometry. To realize such structures, specialized manufacturing processes are required to achieve a dimensional accuracy, reduction of material wastage, and a quicker fabrication. Hence, additive manufacturing (AM) techniques play a pivotal role in this context.

Reference Ranges of Different Lymphocyte Subsets in Indian Children: A Multi-Centric Study.

Objective: To determine the reference ranges of various lymphocyte subsets in healthy Indian children.

Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study.

Setting: Four centers in India representing four geographical regions.

ADID-UNET-a segmentation model for COVID-19 infection from lung CT scans.

Currently, the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is one of the biggest health crises threatening the world. Automatic detection from computed tomography (CT) scans is a classic method to detect lung infection, but it faces problems such as high variations in intensity, indistinct edges near lung infected region and noise due to data acquisition process. Therefore, this article proposes a new COVID-19 pulmonary infection segmentation depth network referred as the Attention Gate-Dense Network- Improved Dilation Convolution-UNET (ADID-UNET).

An integrated feature frame work for automated segmentation of COVID-19 infection from lung CT images.

The novel coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) is spreading across the world and is affecting public health and the world economy. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a key role in enhancing COVID-19 detection. However, lung infection by COVID-19 is not quantifiable due to a lack of studies and the difficulty involved in the collection of large datasets.

Nipple Localization in Automated Whole Breast Ultrasound Coronal Scans Using Ensemble Learning.

Nipple is a vital landmark in the breast lesion diagnosis. Although there are advanced computer-aided detection (CADe) systems for nipple detection in breast mediolateral oblique (MLO) views of mammogram images, few academic works address the coronal views of breast ultrasound (BUS) images. This paper addresses a novel CADe system to locate the Nipple Shadow Area (NSA) in ultrasound images.

Phenotypic variability in distal acidification defects associated with WDR72 mutations.

Background: Distal renal tubular acidosis (RTA) is typically caused by defects in ATP6V0A4, ATP6V1B1, and SLC4A1, accounting for 60-80% of patients. Genes recently implicated include FOXI1, ATP6V1C2, and WDR72, of which WDR72 is associated with dental enamel defects.

Methods: We describe 4 patients, from three unrelated consanguineous families, with RTA and amelogenesis imperfecta.

An RDAU-NET model for lesion segmentation in breast ultrasound images.

Breast cancer is a common gynecological disease that poses a great threat to women health due to its high malignant rate. Breast cancer screening tests are used to find any warning signs or symptoms for early detection and currently, Ultrasound screening is the preferred method for breast cancer diagnosis. The localization and segmentation of the lesions in breast ultrasound (BUS) images are helpful for clinical diagnosis of the disease.

A Multi-Sensor System for Silkworm Cocoon Gender Classification via Image Processing and Support Vector Machine.

Sericulture is traditionally a labor-intensive rural-based industry. In modern contexts, the development of process automation faces new challenges related to quality and efficiency. During the silkworm farming life cycle, a common issue is represented by the gender classification of the cocoons.

Factors affecting antiretroviral treatment adherence among people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: A prospective study.

Context: Antiretroviral adherence is the second strongest predictor of progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and death, after CD4 count. Adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has been strongly correlated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral suppression, reduced rates of resistance, an increase in survival, and improved quality of life.

Aims: To determine the adherence rates and factors affecting adherence to ART among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).

Active Surveillance for Influenza Reduces but Does Not Eliminate Hospital Exposure to Patients With Influenza.

OBJECTIVE To describe the frequency, characteristics, and exposure associated with influenza in hospitalized patients in a Toronto hospital DESIGN/METHOD Prospective data collected for consenting patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza and a retrospective review of infection control charts for roommates of cases over 3 influenza seasons RESULTS Of the 661 patients with influenza (age range: 1 week-103 years), 557 were placed on additional precautions upon admission. Of 104 with symptoms detected after admission, 57 cases were community onset and 47 were nosocomial (10 nosocomial were part of outbreaks). A total of 78 cases were detected after admission exposing 143 roommates.

Anisotropic diffusion filter based edge enhancement for the segmentation of carotid intima-media layer in ultrasound images using variational level set method without re-initialisation.

In this work an attempt has been made to enhance the edges and segment the boundary of intima-media layer of Common Carotid Artery (CCA) using anisotropic diffusion filter and level set method. Ultrasound B mode longitudinal images of normal and abnormal images of common carotid arteries are used in this study. The images are subjected to anisotropic diffusion filter to generate edge map.

Paraquat poisoning: A case report and review of literature.

Paraquat (1, r-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridium dichloride), a brown syrupy liquid is an effective herbicide that has low chronic toxicity because of its rapid deactivation on contact with soil. A high dose of paraquat or severe poisoning has a poor prognosis. At present there is no specific antidote to paraquat poisoning, hence the need to focus on prevention and in case of exposure or ingestion, aggressive decontamination to prevent further absorption.

Patient-controlled analgesia with inhaled methoxyflurane versus conventional endoscopist-provided sedation for colonoscopy: a randomized multicenter trial.

Objective: Inhaled methoxyflurane (Penthrox, Medical Device International, Melbourne, Australia) has been used extensively in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) to manage trauma-related pain. The aim is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and outcome of Penthrox for colonoscopy.

Design: Prospective randomized study.

Changing epidemiology of food bolus impaction: is eosinophilic esophagitis to blame?

Background And Aim: Data on the relationship between epidemiological changes in food bolus impaction (FBI) and its relationship to eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) are limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in the prevalence and etiology of FBI at the Royal Adelaide Hospital over 15 years.

Methods: Details of all patients who presented with FBI to Royal Adelaide Hospital (1996-2010) were reviewed from a prospective database.

Characterization, high-resolution mapping and differential expression of three homologous PAL genes in Coffea canephora Pierre (Rubiaceae).

Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) is the first entry enzyme of the phenylpropanoid pathway producing phenolics, widespread constituents of plant foods and beverages, including chlorogenic acids, polyphenols found at remarkably high levels in the coffee bean and long recognized as powerful antioxidants. To date, whereas PAL is generally encoded by a small gene family, only one gene has been characterized in Coffea canephora (CcPAL1), an economically important species of cultivated coffee. In this study, a molecular- and bioinformatic-based search for CcPAL1 paralogues resulted successfully in identifying two additional genes, CcPAL2 and CcPAL3, presenting similar genomic structures and encoding proteins with close sequences.

Synthesis and characterization of chitosan and grape polyphenols stabilized palladium nanoparticles and their antibacterial activity.

Based on enhanced effectiveness, the new age drugs are nanoparticles of polymers, metals or ceramics, which can combat conditions like cancer and fight human pathogens like bacteria. In this present study we aimed for a green approach to synthesize palladium nanoparticles by reducing palladium chloride salts with nontoxic and biodegradable polymeric chitosan and grape polyphenols and confirmed by FTIR, TEM, SEM and UV-spectroscopy. We also extended our study to show the efficacy of the grape and chitosan impregnated palladium nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli.