Microscopic examination of acid-fast mycobacterial bacilli (AFB) in sputum smears remains the most economical and readily available method for laboratory diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). However, this conventional approach is low in sensitivity and labor-intensive. An automated microscopy system incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning for AFB identification was evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Biochem Biotechnol
November 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the pivotal role of epidemiology in studying pathogenic agents [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfect Drug Resist
February 2024
Nanopore sequencers can enrich or deplete the targeted DNA molecules in a library by reversing the voltage across individual nanopores. However, it requires substantial computational resources to achieve rapid operations in parallel at read-time sequencing. We present a deep learning framework, NanoDeep, to overcome these limitations by incorporating convolutional neural network and squeeze and excitation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCigarette smoke (CS) facilitates adverse effects on the airway inflammation and treatment of asthma. Here, we investigated the mechanisms by which CS exacerbates asthma. The roles of IL-33 and IL-35 in asthma development were examined by treatment with IL-33 knockout (IL-33 KO) or transfection of adenovirus encoding IL-35 (Ad-IL-35) in a murine model of cigarette smoke-exposure asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTobacco smoke exposure is a major environmental risk factor that facilitates the development and progression of asthma. Our previous study showed that CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) inhibits thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP)-dendritic cells (DCs) to reduce Th2/Th17-related inflammatory response in smoke-related asthma. However, the mechanism underlying CpG-ODN -downregulated TSLP remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe most robust and economical method for laboratory diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB) is to identify mycobacteria acid-fast bacilli (AFB) under acid-fast staining, despite its disadvantages of low sensitivity and labor intensity. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in TB-smear microscopy to assist medical technologists with routine AFB smear microscopy. In this study, we evaluated the performance of a TB automated system consisting of a microscopic scanner and recognition program powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a well-established, popular treatment choice for renal stones. Traditionally, the semi-liquid gel is used as a coupling medium in ESWL. During ESWL, body fluid or blood might transmit between the patients when the probe or gel used in the procedure is contaminated and cause potential nosocomial infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInteract Cardiovasc Thorac Surg
June 2022
Objectives: Blunt chest trauma is often associated with severe pain, reduced lung function and decreased sleep quality. This study aims to investigate the immediate and long-term effect of acupuncture on these factors using a randomized control double-blind design.
Methods: A total of 72 patients were randomized into 2 groups: treatment group (press tack acupuncture) and control group (press tack placebo).
Background: The role of adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (ACCRT) is unclear for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) who receive esophagectomy with clean margins. We compared the survival of the ACCRT versus observation groups for these patients staged with positron emission tomography (PET) via a population-based approach.
Methods: Eligible patients with locally advanced ESCC diagnosed between 2011 and 2017 were identified via the Taiwan Cancer Registry.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, there is a large global drop in the number of newly diagnosed cases with tuberculosis (TB) worldwide. Actions to mitigate and reverse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB are urgently needed. Recent development of TB smear microscopy automation systems using artificial intelligence may increase the sensitivity of TB smear microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to investigate clinical effectiveness of stone disintegration by using isolation coupling pad ("icPad") as coupling medium to reduce trapped air pockets during extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). Patients underwent ESWL between Oct. 2017 and May 2018 were enrolled in this clinical observational study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHypoxia and angiogenesis play key roles in the pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but regulators linking these two pathways to drive tumor progression remain elusive. Here we provide evidence of ADAM9's novel function in ESCC progression. Increasing expression of ADAM9 was correlated with poor clinical outcomes in ESCC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe infant brain undergoes a remarkable period of neural development that is crucial for the development of cognitive and behavioral capacities (Hasegawa et al., 2018). Longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is able to characterize the developmental trajectories and is critical in neuroimaging studies of early brain development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure increases corticosteroid insensitive asthma related to increased Th17 phenotype, and new treatment strategies are needed for CS-associated asthma. Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), found in the airway epithelium, is critical for ameliorating glucocorticoids insensitivity. We recently demonstrated the anti-inflammatory effects of CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODNs) on CS-exposure asthma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Air pockets between the lithotripter head and body surface are almost inevitably generated when applying a handful of gel onto the contact portion of the treatment head and that on the patient's skin during coupling procedure. These air pockets can compromise the transmission of acoustic energy of shock wave and may significantly affect efficacy of stone disintegration. Comparing to conventional gel, this study aims to investigate efficacy of stone disintegration by using a proprietary isolation-coupling pad ("icPad") as the coupling medium to reduce trapped air pockets during ESWL procedure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetastasis is a crucial hallmark of cancer progression and remains the primary cause of patient deaths. Metastasis-associated proteases contribute to cancer progression by disrupting the extracellular matrix interaction to facilitate the spreading of cancer cells to other organs. ADAM9, a type of metalloprotease, has been reported to promote tumor biology and is associated with clinicopathological features such as poor outcome, therapy resistance, and metastasis formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDifferentiating multiple primary lung cancer (MPLC) from lung metastasis is important, and the pathology and gene mutations may be different between the tumors. A lung biopsy to differentiate lesions should be considered, especially when the response of different tumors to treatment is distinct.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Tumor recurrence is an important issue for patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and adjuvant therapy is considered of no benefit to a tumor less than 4 cm. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) on tumor recurrence in patients with a completely resected pN0 NSCLC less than 4 cm.
Methods: Between January 2011 and December 2016, 211 consecutive patients with diagnoses of stage I NSCLC less than 4 cm after complete resection were included.