MetFinder: A Tool for Automated Quantitation of Metastatic Burden in Histological Sections From Preclinical Models.

As efforts to study the mechanisms of melanoma metastasis and novel therapeutic approaches multiply, researchers need accurate, high-throughput methods to evaluate the effects on tumor burden resulting from specific interventions. We show that automated quantification of tumor content from whole slide images is a compelling solution to assess in vivo experiments. In order to increase the outflow of data collection from preclinical studies, we assembled a large dataset with annotations and trained a deep neural network for the quantitative analysis of melanoma tumor content on histopathological sections of murine models.

Procalcitonin detection in human plasma specimens using a fast version of proximity extension assay.

An exciting trend in clinical diagnostics is the development of easy-to-use, minimally invasive assays for screening and prevention of disease at the point of care. Proximity Extension Assay (PEA), an homogeneous, dual-recognition immunoassay, has proven to be sensitive, specific and convenient for detection or quantitation of one or multiple analytes in human plasma. In this paper, the PEA principle was applied to the detection of procalcitonin (PCT), a widely used biomarker for the identification of bacterial infection.

Application of Baltic Pine () Needle Extract as a Gut Microbiota-Modulating Feed Supplement for Domestic Chickens ().

The valorization of wood industry residues is very desirable from a circular economy perspective. Pine needle extracts are known for their health-promoting properties and therefore can be used as herbal remedies and nutritional supplements. Since the withdrawal of antibiotics as growth promoters in the European Union, natural feed additives that improve poultry health and production are needed.

The Aetion Coalition to Advance Real-World Evidence through Randomized Controlled Trial Emulation Initiative: Oncology.

Legislative and technological advancements over the past decade have given rise to the proliferation of healthcare data generated from routine clinical practice, often referred to as real-world data (RWD). These data have piqued the interest of healthcare stakeholders due to their potential utility in generating evidence to support clinical and regulatory decision making. In the oncology setting, studies leveraging RWD offer distinct advantages that are complementary to randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Laser-cut paper-based device for the detection of dengue non-structural NS1 protein and specific IgM in human samples.

The incidence of flavivirus infections has increased dramatically in recent decades in tropical and sub-tropical areas worldwide, affecting hundreds of millions of people each year. Dengue viruses are typically transmitted by mosquitoes and can cause a wide range of symptoms from flu-like fever to organ impairment and death. Although conventional diagnostic tests can provide early diagnosis of acute dengue infections, access to these tests is often limited in developing countries.

Uniting the Pre-Health Humanities with the Introductory Composition Course.

Drawing on my experiences at a teaching-focused university, I show how locating the health humanities in first-year or introductory composition courses improves learning and offers an economical, flexible, and far-reaching approach to bringing a health humanities education to all baccalaureate-level learners, regardless of whether they aspire to careers in the health professions. In terms of improving learning, health humanities composition courses support the disciplinary aims of both fields. Accessible, relevant issues in the health humanities, such as interventions in health debates or representations of illness and healthcare settings, nourish the cognitive and social conditions needed to develop college-level writing skills.

Paper-based point-of-care testing for cost-effective diagnosis of acute flavivirus infections.

Flavivirus infections are a serious healthcare concern in tropical and subtropical countries. Although well-established laboratory tests can provide early diagnosis of acute dengue or Zika infections, access to these tests is limited in developing countries, presenting an urgent need to develop simple, rapid, and robust diagnostic tools. Microfluidic Paper-based Analytical Devices (μPAD), are typically rapid, cost-effective, user-friendly, and they can be used as diagnostic tools for the diagnosis of these infections at Point of Care settings.

Post-partum anaphylaxis: universal but successful management protocol should not deter appreciation of underlying etio-pathogenesis plethora.

Post-partum Anaphylaxis in mothers is extremely rare and has been reported secondary to initiation of the breast-feeding. However, we hereby report the occurrence of post-partum anaphylaxis in a post-partum patient in the absence of the initiated breast-feeding.

Contrasting the American College of Healthcare Executives' code of ethics with undergraduate health administration students' values and ethical decision choices.

Although administrative ethics are imbedded into the code of ethics of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), understanding the values and ethical decision-making practices of health administration students can help shape content and curriculum for health administration programs in the future. The study surveyed a sample of undergraduate health administration students to examine their sense of honesty and ethical decision-making practices. The sampled students completed the Comparative Emphasis Scale, which measured the student's sense of honesty, fairness, and integrity, and 10 short cases of administrative ethical issues derived from the ACHE Code of Ethics.

Hypertension in community-dwelling elders from a statewide study: implications for nonpharmacologic therapy.

This study used multivariate analysis to determine the sociodemographic variables that predict whether hypertensive elders who are aware of their disease deliberately make lifestyle modifications aimed at controlling their hypertension. The data are from the 1990 Panel Study of Older South Carolinians (n = 6,473). The researchers performed five separate logistic regressions, each to predict the odds that the elders made specific lifestyle changes to reduce their hypertension.

Heart rate variability and heart rate in healthy volunteers. Is the female autonomic nervous system cardioprotective?

Aims: Heart rate variability has been proposed as an indicator of cardiovascular health. Since women have a lower cardiovascular risk, we hypothesized that there are gender differences in autonomic modulation.

Methods And Results: In 276 healthy subjects (135 women, 141 men) between 18 and 71 years of age, 24 h heart rate and heart rate variability were determined.

Association between cardiac autonomic function and coping style in healthy subjects.

The link between personality and cardiac function is insufficiently characterized. We postulated that in a healthy population, cardiac autonomic function is linked to coping style. In 276 healthy volunteers, between the ages of 18 and 71, the Utrecht Coping List was used to evaluate different coping strategies.

Learning style preferences of public health students.

Objectives: The learning style preferences of public health students are investigated. Learning styles, as defined by Kolb, refer to the four distinct manners of processing information.

Methods: Students' learning styles are analyzed for associations by gender, occupation, and public health program.

Mentoring in healthcare organizations. Implications for female healthcare managers.

Although the already large number of women in the healthcare field and the demand for healthcare administrators are expected to grow into the next millennium, there are comparatively few women in healthcare management. Mentoring programs can help guide women into administrative positions in healthcare organizations.

Racial and ethnic differences in students' attitudes and behavior toward organ donation.

Donor authorizations tend to be especially low among African Americans and other minority and ethnic groups. This study assessed and compared the beliefs, attitudes, and rates of participation regarding organ donation among a sample of racially and ethnically mixed university students. A 64-item survey questionnaire regarding organ/tissue donation issues was administered to 683 undergraduate students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds at a state-assisted university in the Midwest.

Using interactive videodisc to test advanced airway management skills.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of the Actronics Interactive Learning System to teach the psychomotor skills of advanced airway management compared to the traditional method of lecture/demonstration.

Methods: The study was a nonrandomized, nonequivalent comparison group design of a convenience sample of 86 American Heart Association (AHA), advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) students, who obtained instruction in airway management by the interactive videodisc (IVD) learning system (n = 41), or by the traditional method of demonstration/return demonstration (n = 45). The evaluation criteria for the students were based on the number of attempts required to perform successfully endotracheal (ET) intubation and esophageal obturator airway (EOA) insertion.

Establishing guidelines for the identification of occupational injuries: a systematic appraisal.

The workplace is a significant contributor to injuries and injury fatalities in the United States. Unfortunately, the systems in place for collecting and coding injury data suffer from a number of limitations that make it difficult, if not impossible, to enumerate accurately the true scope and import of occupational injuries and injury fatalities. At present, there are no nationally agreed upon standards for defining, reporting, and recording occupational (and nonoccupational) injuries.

False recognition and misidentification of faces following right hemisphere damage.

We report two patients who, following massive damage to the right hemisphere, showed a striking tendency for false recognition and misidentification of faces. Neuropsychological investigations revealed that excessive reliance on a feature-based left hemisphere strategy in face processing, combined with an inability to evaluate critically the output generated by the dysfunctional face recognition system, played a major role in the recognition errors and misidentifications. Our findings suggest that the feature based left hemisphere face recognition system is potentially error-prone, presumably because component facial features are likely to be shared among several different individuals, and that reliable recognition and identification of faces is critically dependent upon the efficient processing of configurational facial information by the right hemisphere.

Classification of death in patients under antiarrhythmic treatment.

In the evaluation of antiarrhythmic treatment, total mortality and total cardiac mortality are the only endpoints difficult to misclassify. End-stage cardiac failure competes with "suddenness" in many instances of sudden arrhythmic death. This observational study reports on 23 deaths in a group of 129 patients under antiarrhythmic treatment.

Praxis and the right hemisphere.

We report our observations on praxis in a strongly right-handed man following a massive stroke that resulted in virtually complete destruction of the left cerebral hemisphere. Our patient was severely impaired in pantomiming transitive gestures with the left hand and in reproducing novel non-symbolic hand and arm movement sequences. However, overlearned habitual actions like actual object use and intransitive gestures were relatively spared.

Memory impairment and executive control in individuals with stroke-induced aphasia.

The purpose of this study was to examine memory abilities of aphasic individuals in relation to site of neurological lesion. Fourteen individuals with stroke-induced aphasia (7 with anterior lesions; 7 with posterior lesions) and 14 demographically matched control subjects were given selected tests of short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). Stroke patients were impaired relative to control subjects on tests of verbal memory, with greater impairment of LTM associated with anterior lesions and greater impairment of STM associated with posterior lesions.

Anomia for facial expressions: neuropsychological mechanisms and anatomical correlates.

We report a patient with a selective impairment in naming and pointing to emotional facial expressions following a circumscribed lesion of the right temporal lobe. Detailed investigation of this patient's deficit revealed that the neuropsychological mechanism underlying his anomia for facial expressions is best understood as a category-specific bidirectional visual-verbal disconnection between intact visual semantic and verbal semantic representations for facial emotions. Magnetic resonance imaging findings from this case and from another patient previously described with this unique syndrome (Rapcsak, Kaszniak, & Rubens, 1989), together with the results of cortical electrical stimulation studies and microelectrode recordings of cortical neuronal activity in epileptic patients, provide converging evidence that the inferotemporal visual association cortex of the right middle temporal gyrus plays an important functional role in the verbal labeling of emotional facial expressions.