Nurse-led home-based detection of cardiac dysfunction by ultrasound: results of the CUMIN pilot study.

Aims: Access to echocardiography is a significant barrier to heart failure (HF) care in many low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we hypothesized that an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) device could enable the detection of cardiac dysfunction by nurses in Tunisia.

Methods And Results: This CUMIN study was a prospective feasibility pilot assessing the diagnostic accuracy of home-based AI-POCUS for HF conducted by novice nurses compared with conventional clinic-based transthoracic echocardiography (TTE).

Portable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system stages non-alcoholic fatty liver disease for potential screening and monitoring at home.

This study demonstrates the feasibility of predicting NAFLD using multi-spectral electrical impedance tomography (EIT), group source separation, constant reference EIT and anthropometric measures. Vibration-controlled Transient Elastography (VCTE) Controlled Attenuated Parameter (CAP; n = 121) and magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF; n = 34) achieved a sensitivity of 70.9% and specificity of 73.

Deep learning based reconstruction enables high-resolution electrical impedance tomography for lung function assessment.

Recently, deep learning based methods have shown potential as alternative approaches for lung time difference electrical impedance tomography (tdEIT) reconstruction other than traditional regularized least square methods, that have inherent severe ill-posedness and low spatial resolution posing challenges for further interpretation. However, the validation of deep learning reconstruction quality is mainly focused on simulated data rather than in vivo human chest data, and on image quality rather than clinical indicator accuracy. In this study, a variational autoencoder is trained on high-resolution human chest simulations, and inference results on an EIT dataset collected from 22 healthy subjects performing various breathing paradigms are benchmarked with simultaneous spirometry measurements.

Global and regional lung function assessment using portable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system: clinical study.

Recent development of affordable, portable and self-administrable electrical impedance tomography (EIT) system demonstrated the feasibility of using standalone EIT and subject's anthropometrics to predict the gold standard spirometry indicators for lung-function assessment. Compared to spirometry, the system showed the advantage of providing spatial mapping of the spirometry indicators. Nevertheless, the previous study was limited to healthy subjects.

CycleGAN with mutual information loss constraint generates structurally aligned CT images from functional EIT images.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has been employed in the field of medical imaging due to its cost effectiveness, safety profile and portability, but the images generated are relatively low resolution. To address these limitations, we create a novel method using EIT images to generate high resolution structurally aligned images of lungs like those from CT scans. A way to achieve this transformation is via Cycle generative adversarial networks (CycleGAN), which have demonstrated image-to-image translation capabilities across different modalities.

Affordable, portable and self-administrable electrical impedance tomography enables global and regional lung function assessment.

Accessibility of diagnostic screening and treatment monitoring devices for respiratory diseases is critical in promoting healthcare and reducing sudden complications and mortality. Spirometry is the standard for diagnosing and monitoring several lung diseases. However, it lacks regional assessment capabilities necessary for detecting subtle regional changes in certain diseases.

Oxidative stress markers-driven prognostic model to predict post-discharge mortality in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Background: Current predictive models based on biomarkers reflective of different pathways of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) pathogenesis constitute a useful tool for predicting death risk among HFrEF patients. The purpose of the study was to develop a new predictive model for post-discharge mortality risk among HFrEF patients, based on a combination of clinical patients' characteristics, N-terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and oxidative stress markers as a potentially valuable tool for routine clinical practice.

Methods: 116 patients with stable HFrEF were recruited in a prospective single-center study.

Unmixing multi-spectral electrical impedance tomography (EIT) predicts clinical-standard controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease classification: a feasibility study.

Here, we tested the feasibility of predicting CAP with multi-spectral EIT. Conductivity and CAP were acquired from nonalcoholic fatty liver disease patients using a portable EIT system and vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE). We then used frequency-difference conductivity and waist-over-height as prediction features to estimate CAP and found an adj.

Standalone electrical impedance tomography predicts spirometry indicators and enables regional lung assessment.

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a bio-medical imaging modality that has several clinical applications namely for human lungs. Yet, its relationship with gold standard lung diagnostic tools including spirometry is not available. In this study, simultaneous EIT and spirometry measurements were collected for 14 healthy subjects who performed forced breathing paradigms of different efforts simulating a wide range of spirometry indicators.

A Giant Left Anterior Descending Artery (LAD) Coronary Artery Aneurysm Treated by Covered Stent Angioplasty: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) is uncommon angiographic finding with unclear pathophysiology. Atherosclerosis is the main contributing risk factor in adults. To date, there are no standardized recommendations for the management of CAA.

Distal radial approach versus conventional radial approach: a comparative study of feasibility and safety.

The distal radial approach (DRA) is suggested to have benefits over the conventional radial approach (CRA) in terms of local complications and comfort of both patient and operator. Therefore, we aimed to compare the feasibility and safety of DRA and CRA in a real life population. We conducted a prospective, observational multicentric trial, including all patients undergoing coronary procedures in September 2019.

Conduction disturbances in low-surgical-risk patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement with self-expandable or balloon-expandable valves.

Despite a considerable improvement in TAVR devices and procedures, together with a reduction in procedural complications, the rate of conduction disturbances (CD) remained stable over the years. Indeed, the CD rate is still significantly higher than in surgical aortic valve replacement, and represents one of the main limitations to the expansion of TAVR to younger low-risk patients. The aim of the present study was to assess the incidence and predictors of CD in low-risk patients undergoing TAVR.

Echocardiographic parameters of the right ventricle in chronic hemodialysis.

Introduction: Right ventricular (RV) dysfunction is one of the leading predictors of mortality and heart failure in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Aim: To describe the different echocardiographic abnormalities of the RV in subjects with HD.

Methods: We performed a descriptive cross-sectional study covering the period from July to October 2018; involving 42 patients treated with chronic HD.

Adaptive neural output-feedback control for nonstrict-feedback time-delay fractional-order systems with output constraints and actuator nonlinearities.

This study addresses the issue of the adaptive output tracking control for a category of uncertain nonstrict-feedback delayed incommensurate fractional-order systems in the presence of nonaffine structures, unmeasured pseudo-states, unknown control directions, unknown actuator nonlinearities and output constraints. Firstly, the mean value theorem and the Gaussian error function are introduced to eliminate the difficulties that arise from the nonaffine structures and the unknown actuator nonlinearities, respectively. Secondly, the immeasurable tracking error variables are suitably estimated by constructing a fractional-order linear observer.

Two-Dimensional Isoelectric Focusing OFFGEL, Micro-Fluidic Lab-on-Chip Electrophoresis and FTIR for Assessment of Long-Term Stability of rhG-CSF Formulation.

Recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) has been increasingly recognized from among one of the most abundant families of biosimilars. Upon long-term storage, the rhG-CSF is subject to subtle chemical modifications that rapidly occur and, in particular, produce deaminated variants with divergent charge. Indeed, changes in charge from glutamine deamination may alter the way rhG-SCF will refold and the structure of resulting molecule.

Prenatal diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies in Tunisia: an 18 years of experience.

Unlabelled: Hemoglobinopathies are the most common genetic disease in Tunisia with a total carrier prevalence of 4.48%.

Objective: The aim of this study was to report an 18-year fully achieved experience of prenatal diagnosis (PND) of hemoglobinopathies (1994-2012) and to assess the impact of this prevention program.

Prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis: 10-years experience.

Purpose: We present in this study our 10years experience in prenatal diagnosis of cystic fibrosis performed in the Tunisian population.

Patients And Methods: Based on family history, 40 Tunisian couples were selected for prenatal diagnosis. Fetal DNA was isolated from amniotic fluid collected by transabdominal amniocentesis or from chronic villi by transcervical chorionic villus sampling.

Molar tubal ectopic pregnancy: Report of two cases.

Ectopic molar pregnancy is a rare occurrence and consequently not often considered as a diagnostic possibility. We report two cases of molar hydatidiform tubal pregnancy. Diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy was confirmed on clinical biological and sonographic investigations.

Crystal structure, vibrational studies, optical properties and DFT calculations of 2-amino-5-diethyl-aminopentanium tetrachlorocadmate (II).

Single crystals of a new organic-inorganic compound (C9H24N2) CdCl4 were grown by the slow evaporation technique and characterized by X-ray diffraction, infrared absorption Raman spectroscopy scattering, optical absorption, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis and dielectric measurements. The title compound belongs to the orthorhombic space group Pbca with the following unit cell parameters: a=11.397(7), b=13.

[Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration as the presenting manifestation of breast carcinoma: a case report].

Introduction: Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration may be a manifestation indicative of lung, gynecological or breast cancer. Nevertheless, breast cancer is rarely revealed by the occurrence of a paraneoplastic syndrome.

Case Report: We report a 38-year-old patient who presented a paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration with anti-Yo antibodies as the presenting manifestation of a breast cancer.

[Evaluation of different techniques for vaginoplasty in the treatment of Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser syndrome].

Background: Rokitansky syndrome is an utero-vaginal aplasia with a frequency of 1 / 5000 female births. To correct this anomaly whose prognosis is mainly functional and psychological numerous surgical techniques have been described.

Aims: To report our experience about 13 patients with Rokitansky syndrome and having benefited from a vaginoplasty between 1993 and 2008 and to evaluate the results of the various anatomical techniques.

[Fibroids and pregnancy: complications].

Aim: To study the maternal and fetal morbidity in the association fibroid and pregnancy and the management in this case.

Methods: A retrospective study of 80 cases of fibroids associated to pregnancy. These cases were taken from the department "C" of gynecology and obstetrics in the center of maternity and neonatology of Tunis.