This paper proposes a KC Score to measure feature importance in clustering analysis of high-dimensional data. The KC Score evaluates the contribution of features based on the correlation between the original features and the reconstructed features in the low dimensional latent space. A KC Score-based feature selection strategy is further developed for clustering analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe plank is a common core-stability exercise. Developing a wearable inertial sensor system for distinguishing between acceptable and aberrant plank techniques and detecting specific deviations from acceptable plank techniques can enhance performance and prevent injury. The purpose of this study was to develop an inertial measurement unit (IMU)-based plank technique quantification system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, a network autoregressive model with GARCH effects, denoted by NAR-GARCH, is proposed to depict the return dynamics of stock market indices. A GARCH filter is employed to marginally remove the GARCH effects of each index, and the NAR model with the Granger causality test and Pearson's correlation test with sharp price movements is used to capture the joint effects caused by other indices with the most updated market information. The NAR-GARCH model is designed to depict the joint effects of nonsynchronous multiple time series in an easy-to-implement and effective way.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Foreign body granuloma is a rare surgery-related complication that can masquerade as cancer recurrence during postoperative surveillance. It may therefore deceive clinicians and lead to unnecessary interventions. The case presented herein demonstrates how a foreign body granuloma can be misleading in preoperative radiological studies and why this condition should not be ignored in differential diagnoses during surveillance of patients with previous history of abdominal surgery of any kind.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrimary cutaneous diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, leg type, accounts for only 4% of all cutaneous lymphomas and bears a worse prognosis than other cutaneous B-cell lymphomas. Diagnosis at an early stage may be difficult due to its nonspecific manifestations. We report an 88-year-old female who was brought to our emergency department due to two rapidly growing painful skin lesions with local redness and swelling on her right lower leg.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata (LPD) is a rare clinical condition that can be challenging to diagnose because its clinical features mimic other conditions. We present a case of LPD mimicking peritoneal carcinomatosis 13 years after laparoscopic uterine myomectomy using a power morcellator. The aim of this paper is to report a rare case which surgeons can learn from and to provide more clinical information for further studies to investigate LPD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Metabolic acidosis is a major complication of critical illness. However, its current epidemiology and its treatment with sodium bicarbonate given to correct metabolic acidosis in the ICU are poorly understood.
Method: This was an international retrospective observational study in 18 ICUs in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan.
This study proposes a shape approximation approach to portray the regions of interest (ROI) from medical imaging data. An effective algorithm to achieve an optimal approximation is proposed based on the framework of Particle Swarm Optimization. The convergence of the proposed algorithm is derived under mild assumptions on the selected family of shape equations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn COPD, pulmonary hyperinflation causes decreased stroke volume thereby decreased oxygen pulse (OP). While OP flattening is related to myocardial ischemia in cardiac patients, OP patterns have seldom been explored in COPD. The aims of the study were to investigate OP-curve patterns and associated factors in COPD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Endotracheal intubation and prolonged immobilization of patients receiving mechanical ventilation may reduce expectoration function. High-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) may ameliorate airway secretion movement; however, the instantaneous changes in patients' cardiopulmonary responses are unknown. Moreover, HFCWO may influence ventilator settings by the vigorous oscillation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMost reports regarding unplanned extubation (UE) are case-control studies with matching age and disease severity. To avoid diminishing differences in matched factors, this study with only matching duration of mechanical ventilation aimed to re-examine the risk factors and the factors governing outcomes of UE in intensive care units (ICUs). This case-control study was conducted on 1,775 subjects intubated for mechanical ventilation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examines the use of reflectivity-height transformation in full-field angle-deviation microscopes (ADM). In such microscopes, two light intensity distribution images of a prism's total internal reflection and critical angle are obtained separately with two charge-coupled devices (CCDs), and are converted into a reflectivity profile point-to-point and then into angle of deviation matrix after the beam is reflected by the test sample; finally, the surface height of the sample is found through the triangular geometrical relationship. This method obtains the image through the effective imaging area of CCD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis
September 2015
Background: Impaired peripheral oxygenation (IPO)-related variables readily achieved with cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) represent cardiovascular dysfunction. These variables include peak oxygen uptake ( [Formula: see text] predicted, anaerobic threshold [Formula: see text] predicted, [Formula: see text] rate slope <8.6 mL/watt, oxygen pulse <80% predicted, and ventilatory equivalents for O2 and CO2 at nadir of >31 and >34, respectively.
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