An AI-empowered affect recognition model for healthcare and emotional well-being using physiological signals.

Affective Computing is one of the central studies for achieving advanced human-computer interaction and is a popular research direction in the field of artificial intelligence for smart healthcare frameworks. In recent years, the use of electroencephalograms (EEGs) to analyze human emotional states has become a hot spot in the field of emotion recognition. However, the EEG is a non-stationary, non-linear signal that is sensitive to interference from other physiological signals and external factors.

Efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of vonoprazan vs Proton Pump Inhibitors in reflux disorders and H. pylori eradication: A literature review.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is one of the most prevalent conditions worldwide and is conventionally treated by proton pump inhibitor therapy. However, around 40% of people have reported some form of resistance to this therapy. Vonoprazan has recently been approved for the treatment of GERD.

A Comprehensive Survey of Depth Completion Approaches.

Depth maps produced by LiDAR-based approaches are sparse. Even high-end LiDAR sensors produce highly sparse depth maps, which are also noisy around the object boundaries. Depth completion is the task of generating a dense depth map from a sparse depth map.

Contrastive Learning for 3D Point Clouds Classification and Shape Completion.

In this paper, we present the idea of Self Supervised learning on the shape completion and classification of point clouds. Most 3D shape completion pipelines utilize AutoEncoders to extract features from point clouds used in downstream tasks such as classification, segmentation, detection, and other related applications. Our idea is to add contrastive learning into AutoEncoders to encourage global feature learning of the point cloud classes.

A prospective study on quality of life in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis at a tertiary care hospital in Kashmir, Northern India.

Background: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) is a contagious, airborne infection that destroys when M. tuberculosis primarily attacks the lungs. PTB is curable with an early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment.

Monthly intra-individual variation in lipids over a 1-year period in 22 normal subjects.

Objectives: Previous reports on biological variation in lipids differ widely in the time interval between sampling, the number of samples analyzed per patient and the total study period. The present investigation was carried out to determine monthly intra-individual variation in lipids over 1 year and to establish whether there was a consistent change in lipid values over the summer months. The importance of taking this variation into consideration during the assessment of risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) was also examined.

An overview of quality control practices in Ontario with particular reference to cholesterol analysis.

Background: The Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program (LPTP) assesses the analytical performance of all licensed laboratories in Ontario. The LPTP Enzymes, Cardiac Markers, and Lipids Committee conducted a "Patterns of Practice" survey to assess the in-house quality control (QC) practices of laboratories in Ontario using cholesterol as the QC paradigm.

Design And Methods: The survey was questionnaire-based seeking information on statistical calculations, software rules, review process and data retention, and so on.

Blood lipid profiles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Background: Abnormal blood lipid profiles have been associated with cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency and clinical significance of altered lipid profiles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common form of malignant disease in this age group.

Methods: Fasting blood lipid profiles (cholesterol [C], triglycerides [TG], high density lipoprotein [HDL], low density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein, apolipoproteins A1 [apo A1] and B, and lipoprotein a [Lp(a)]) were obtained in 24 children with ALL at diagnosis, 16 children during consolidation therapy with L-asparaginase, and 18 children during maintenance therapy without L-asparaginase.

Proficiency testing of creatine kinase and creatine kinase-2: the experience of the Ontario Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program.

The Ontario Laboratory Proficiency Testing Program has regularly monitored the analytical performance of total creatine kinase (CK) (approximately 230 participants) and CK isoenzyme-2 (CK-MB) (approximately 160 participants) throughout the entire province. Consistently, a wide dispersion of results has been observed not only between different analyzer systems but also among identical analyzers. Accordingly, the results of the last three proficiency surveys for these analytes were examined statistically to establish both the extent of these variations and the range of values reported for the male upper reference ranges.

Mutations in cholesteryl ester transfer protein and hepatic lipase in a North American population.

Objective: To examine a North American population sample with increased HDL cholesterol for mutations in the genes coding for cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) and hepatic lipase (HL).

Design And Methods: Seventy individuals with increased HDL cholesterol at the time of initial presentation to the Lipid Clinic (males > 1.7 mmol/L, females > 1.

Monthly intra-individual variation in lipoprotein(a) in 22 normal subjects over 12 months.

Objectives: It is generally believe that lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) levels remain relatively constant in the same individual, but there is a paucity of data to substantiate this belief. This study was undertaken to determine the extent of intra-individual variation in Lp(a) over a 12-month period.

Design And Methods: Lp(a) was measured monthly in duplicate over a 12-month period in 11 females and 11 males who were healthy, free-living, normal subjects by the Incstar Immunoprecipitin method using a goat antibody which was monospecific for Lp(a).

A double-blind randomised controlled trial of the effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate on bone density of women taking oestrogen replacement therapy.

Objective: To assess the effects of medroxyprogesterone acetate on bone density in women who have had a hysterectomy.

Design: Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of medroxyprogesterone acetate 10 mg, 20 mg or placebo as an adjunct to oestrogen therapy.

Participants: One hundred and twenty-three women, aged 18 to 45 years and currently receiving daily oestrogen, who presented at a university-based rheumatology practice.

Ethanolamine and choline phospholipids in nascent very-low-density lipoprotein particles.

Objective: To establish methods to examine the polar lipids of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) and to examine postprandial changes in glycerophosphocholine (PC) and glycerophosphoethanolamine (PE) polar lipids and in the ratio of diacyl to alkenylacyl components. The membrane phospholipids of TRLs have received little attention. PC and PE constitute major fractions and both comprise diacyl- and alkenylacyl-phospholipids.

Evaluation of a turbidimetric procedure for apolipoproteins A1 and B on the Ciba Corning 550 EXPRESS.

We evaluated a turbidimetric method for the estimation of apo A1 and apo B on the Ciba Corning 550 EXPRESS using Ciba Corning reagents. Interference due to bilirubin, hemoglobin, lipemia, triglycerides, and uremia was minimal, with apolipoproteins (apo) A1 and B results usually within +/- 4% of expected values. Within-run and day-to-day imprecision (coefficients of variation) ranged from 1.

Variation in human blood high-density lipoprotein response to oral vitamin E megadosage.

In a preliminary attempt to distinguish random intrinsic and methodologic variations of blood lipid levels from any that have possibly been induced by ingestion of vitamin E, blood samples were analyzed in duplicate for lipids several times before and during oral vitamin E administration. Three of eight subjects showed temporally closely coordinated and maintained increases of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein-A, total apolipoprotein-A, and the ratio of high-density to low-density cholesterols. Changes of other lipids in these three subjects, and lipid changes in the other subjects, were much less dramatic, fell within the range of intrinsic random variation or statistical uncertainty, and showed no significant trends.

Role of lipoxygenase metabolism in platelet function: effect of aspirin and salicylate.

Aspirin inhibits thromboxane A2 (TxA2) production whereas its salicylate moiety inhibits 12-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE) production in the platelet. The significance of the latter effect on platelet function is unclear. We examined the effects of aspirin and salicylate on (i) platelet/collagen adhesion using 3H-adenine-labelled human platelets and collagen-coated discs, (ii) platelet aggregation induced by thrombin, collagen, ADP and arachidonic acid, and (iii) platelet TxA2 and 12-HETE synthesis as measured by radioimmunoassay and high pressure liquid chromatography respectively.

Endothelial cells produce a lipoxygenase derived chemo-repellent which influences platelet/endothelial cell interactions--effect of aspirin and salicylate.

We performed experiments to determine whether endothelial cells synthesize phospholipid metabolites via the lipoxygenase pathway and whether these metabolites influence platelet/vessel wall interactions. Monolayers of cultured human endothelial cells were incubated with 14C-arachidonic acid and their cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase metabolites were extracted and identified by radioimmunoassay, thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. We found that in addition to the membrane-associated production of PGI2, endothelial cells synthesized a cytosol-associated metabolite, LOX, which was presumably derived through the lipoxygenase pathway.

Lipoidal bladder concretion: an unusual autopsy finding in acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The occurrence of a large (2.3 gm.), wax-like, creamy white concretion in the bladder of a 7-year-old girl who died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia is reported.

Evaluation of an automated immunoassay procedure for apo-LDL for phenotyping type II hyperlipoproteinemia.

Apo-low density lipoproteins were determined by an automated immunoassay procedure on serum samples from 88 normolipidemic individuals and 84 hyperlipoproteinemic subjects, to establish whether this method was useful in the routine detection of type II hyperlipoproteinemia. The results obtained were compared with the cholesterol levels of the same specimens. In subjects with type II hyperlipoproteinemia, the apo low density lipoprotein levels, as well as the ratio of low density lipoprotein cholesterol/apo-low density lipoprotein were higher, as expected, than in normals or in subjects with other types of hyperlipoproteinemia.

Xanthoma disseminatum. Clinical, metabolic, pathologic, and radiologic aspects.

A 55-year-old man with the classical mucocutaneous lesions of xanthoma disseminatum has been followed up for a period of 13 years. The special features of this case, which make it unique, are as follows: (1) the availability of histologic data on multiple lesions for more than a ten-year period; (2) the progressive nature of the multiple osseous lesions; (3) the metabolic studies that show no evidence for accumulation of abnormal sterols in a xanthoma, the blood, or intestinal aspirate; (4) the development of hypothyroidism and symptoms or signs, or both, of an intracerebral and an intraspinal lesion; (5) the partial regression of the cutanous symptoms and lesions while receiving clofibrate, in spite of progression of the mucous membrane and osseous lesions, and (6) the failure to develop diabetes insipidus to date.