Improving nonalcoholic fatty liver disease classification performance with latent diffusion models.

Integrating deep learning with clinical expertise holds great potential for addressing healthcare challenges and empowering medical professionals with improved diagnostic tools. However, the need for annotated medical images is often an obstacle to leveraging the full power of machine learning models. Our research demonstrates that by combining synthetic images, generated using diffusion models, with real images, we can enhance nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) classification performance even in low-data regime settings.

Emergency Department Visits From 2014 to 2018 for Head Injuries in Youth Non-Tackle Football Compared With Other Sports.

Background: Non-tackle football (ie, flag, touch, 7v7) is purported to be a lower-risk alternative to tackle football, particularly in terms of head injuries. However, data on head injuries in non-tackle football are sparse, particularly among youth participants.

Purpose: To describe the epidemiology of  emergency department visits for head injuries due to non-tackle football among youth players in the United States and compare the data with basketball, soccer, and tackle football.

Effect of Annealing Temperature for Ni/AlO/Pt RRAM Devices Fabricated with Solution-Based Dielectric.

Resistive random access memory (RRAM) devices with Ni/AlO/Pt-structure were manufactured by deposition of a solution-based aluminum oxide (AlO) dielectric layer which was subsequently annealed at temperatures from 200 °C to 300 °C, in increments of 25 °C. The devices displayed typical bipolar resistive switching characteristics. Investigations were carried out on the effect of different annealing temperatures for associated RRAM devices to show that performance was correlated with changes of hydroxyl group concentration in the AlO thin films.

Calcium Microdomain Formation at the Perisynaptic Cradle Due to NCX Reversal: A Computational Study.

It has recently been proposed using a multi-compartmental mathematical model that negatively fixed charged membrane-associated sites constrain the flow of cations in perisynaptic astroglial processes. This restricted movement of ions between the perisynaptic cradle (PsC), principal astroglial processes and the astrocyte soma gives rise to potassium (K) and sodium (Na) microdomains at the PsC. The present paper extends the above model to demonstrate that the formation of an Na microdomain can reverse the Na/Ca exchanger (NCX) thus providing an additional source of calcium (Ca) at the PsC.

Comparing Recidivism of Sexual and Nonsexual Offenders: The Role of Humanist, Spiritual, and Religious Involvement.

Some research has considered whether faith-informed programs help persons with a previous incarceration navigate a life away from crime. Few studies considered whether offense category moderates this relationship. Building upon studies that found a strong association between a prior sexual conviction and participation in religion in prison, we assess whether time spent in humanist, spiritual, and religious (HSR) programs in prison is associated with reconviction, separately for persons convicted of a sex offense and any other offense.

Potassium and sodium microdomains in thin astroglial processes: A computational model study.

A biophysical model that captures molecular homeostatic control of ions at the perisynaptic cradle (PsC) is of fundamental importance for understanding the interplay between astroglial and neuronal compartments. In this paper, we develop a multi-compartmental mathematical model which proposes a novel mechanism whereby the flow of cations in thin processes is restricted due to negatively charged membrane lipids which result in the formation of deep potential wells near the dipole heads. These wells restrict the flow of cations to "hopping" between adjacent wells as they transverse the process, and this surface retention of cations will be shown to give rise to the formation of potassium (K+) and sodium (Na+) microdomains at the PsC.

Topical Tavaborole in the Treatment of Onychomycosis Complicated by Dermatophytoma: A Post-hoc Assessment of Phase II Subjects.

Dermatophytoma is a little-known, difficult to treat fungal infection that complicates onychomycosis. First described by Roberts and Evans in the late 1990's, dermatophytoma presents as a dense concentration of fungal hyphae within or under the nail plate and is generally white or yellow/brown in color, and linear (streaks) or round (patches) in shape; primary etiologic organisms are dermatophytes. Oral antifungals have limited success in treating dermatophytoma owing to difficulties accessing and penetrating what is hypothesized to be a fungal biofilm.

In vitro efficacy of tavaborole topical solution, 5% after penetration through nail polish on ex vivo human fingernails.

Background: Topical antifungal treatments for onychomycosis are applied to clean, unpolished nails for 48 weeks or longer. Patients often wish to mask their infection with nail polish yet there is no evidence to suggest antifungal efficacy in the presence of nail polish.

Objective: To determine if tavaborole retains the ability to penetrate the nail plate and inhibit fungal growth in the presence of nail polish.

Clinical trial designs for topical antifungal treatments of onychomycosis and implications on clinical practice.

There currently are 3 topical agents approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat onychomycosis: tavaborole, efinaconazole, and ciclopirox. The phase 3 clinical trial designs for these treatments and their notable differences make it difficult for clinicians to interpret the data into clinical practice. For example, the primary end point predominantly used to assess efficacy in all the trials is complete cure, defined as no involvement of the nail plus mycologic cure; also, a notable number of patients fail to achieve a complete cure despite clear improvement in the nail.

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of tavaborole topical solution, 5%, in the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenail in adults: a pooled analysis of an 8-week, post-study follow-up from two randomized phase 3 studies.

Purpose: The role of topical antifungal agents in the long-term management of toenail onychomycosis is not well established. The current study evaluated durability of clinical benefit of tavaborole topical solution, 5%, for the treatment of toenail onychomycosis.

Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis of 8-week, post-study follow-up (PSFU) data from two phase 3, randomized controlled trials in a subset of patients who experienced complete or almost clear nail (CN) at the end of treatment (week 52); 48 weeks of treatment with once-daily tavaborole compared with placebo in adults with distal subungual onychomycosis was evaluated at week 60.

Silicon-based dynamic synapse with depressing response.

A compact implementation of a dynamic charge transfer synapse cell, capable of implementing synaptic depression, is presented. The cell is combined with a simple current mirror summing node to produce biologically plausible postsynaptic potentials (PSPs). A single charge packet is effectively transferred from the synapse to the summing node, whenever a presynaptic pulse is applied to one of its terminals.

A generic operational strategy to qualify translational safety biomarkers.

The importance of using translational safety biomarkers that can predict, detect and monitor drug-induced toxicity during human trials is becoming increasingly recognized. However, suitable processes to qualify biomarkers in clinical studies have not yet been established. There is a need to define clear scientific guidelines to link biomarkers to clinical processes and clinical endpoints.

Building a sustainable system: the making of the WTIS.

Building Ontario's Wait Time Information System (WTIS) was one of the largest and most complex technology projects Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) had ever taken on. Increasing public concern about wait times and the lack of adequate tools to provide a clear or accurate picture of provincial wait times had led to a sense of urgency for the province to report wait time data. While healthcare providers and the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care (MOHLTC) sought to address timely access to care, the challenges to develop a suitable information management/information technology (IM/IT) solution within aggressive timelines were significant.

Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health.

Background: Prayer is amongst the oldest and most widespread interventions used with the intention of alleviating illness and promoting good health. Given the significance of this response to illness for a large proportion of the world's population, there has been considerable interest in recent years in measuring the efficacy of intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health in a scientifically rigorous fashion. The question of whether this may contribute towards proving or disproving the existence of God is a philosophical question lying outside the scope of this review of the effects of prayer.

Comparative properties of recombinant human and bovine matrix metalloproteinase-20.

Introduction: Matrix metalloproteinase-20 (MMP-20) is a predominant enzyme for the progressive processing of enamel extracellular matrix protein components (primarily amelogenin) during the early stages of enamel formation. So far, the recombinant porcine, mouse and bovine MMP-20 have been cloned and used extensively in the researches of tooth enamel development. The homology of these MMP-20s to human MMP-20 is approximately 80%.