Blood Biomarkers Predict Cardiac Workload Using Machine Learning.

Introduction: Rate pressure product (the product of heart rate and systolic blood pressure) is a measure of cardiac workload. Resting rate pressure product (rRPP) varies from one individual to the next, but its biochemical/cellular phenotype remains unknown. This study determined the degree to which an individual's biochemical/cellular profile as characterized by a standard blood panel is predictive of rRPP, as well the importance of each blood biomarker in this prediction.

Physical Features and Vital Signs Predict Serum Albumin and Globulin Concentrations Using Machine Learning.

Objective: Serum protein concentrations are diagnostically and prognostically valuable in cancer and other diseases, but their measurement via blood test is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and costly. This study investigates the possibility of predicting albumin, globulin, and albumin-globulin ratio from easily accessible physical characteristics (height, weight, Body Mass Index, age, gender) and vital signs (systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, pulse) using advanced machine learning techniques.

Methods: We obtained albumin concentration, globulin concentration, albumin-globulin ratio and predictor information (physical characteristics, vital signs) from physical exam records of 46,951 healthy adult participants in Hangzhou, China.

Pediatric genetic disease of the cornea.

Our objective is to evaluate the literature regarding selected genetic diseases of the cornea, including megalocornea, keratoglobus, keratoconus, cystinosis, the mucopolysaccharidoses, sclerocornea, Peters' anomaly, familial dysautonomia, and various corneal dystrophies. The transparency of the cornea is a consequence of uniformity in both size and spacing of the collagen lamellae. The cornea's clarity depends on a delicate biochemical and structural balance; consequently, genetic disorders that disrupt either its metabolic or anatomic function can cause opacity and vision loss.

Patient self-report of prior laser treatment reliably indicates presence of severe diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To determine whether patient self-report of prior laser treatment can be used as a reliable tool for assessing the presence of severe diabetic retinopathy.

Design: This was a retrospective study on two groups of diabetic subjects.

Methods: One hundred patients with diabetes were recruited from the general eye and retina clinics at the University of Chicago Hospitals.

A novel approach to extraction of incarcerated omentum and mesh insertion in laparoscopic ventral hernia repair.

During laparoscopic ventral hernia repair (LVHR), it is not always possible to reduce incarcerated omentum through a tight defect and it may tear or require transection within the abdomen. This leaves an ischemic mass of tissue within the hernia sac which can cause pain, infection, or the appearance of hernia recurrence postoperatively. We describe a technique which allows extraction of any retained omentum within the hernia sac, mesh insertion, and laparoscopic completion of the procedure using only 5 mm trocars.

Modulation of vascular remodeling induced by a brief intraluminal exposure to the recombinant R7020 strain of Herpes simplex-1.

Objective: Vascular remodeling in response to injury or low shear stress (or both) is characterized by neointimal hyperplasia and luminal contraction. When profound, the response leads to restenosis after percutaneous endovascular intervention as well as to de novo stenosis in vein grafts. It has recently been reported that exposure of vein patches to neurovirulence-attenuated Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) decreases neointimal hyperplasia and increases luminal area.