Rapid detection of producing extended spectrum β lactamase enzymes by infrared microspectroscopy and machine learning algorithms.

Antimicrobial drugs have played an indispensable role in decreasing morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases. However, the resistance of bacteria to a broad spectrum of commonly-used antibiotics has grown to the point of being a global health-care problem. One of the most important classes of multi-drug resistant bacteria is Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-producing (ESBL+) bacteria.

Automated thermal imaging for the detection of fatty liver disease.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) comprises a spectrum of progressive liver pathologies, ranging from simple steatosis to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. A liver biopsy is currently required to stratify high-risk patients, and predicting the degree of liver inflammation and fibrosis using non-invasive tests remains challenging. Here, we sought to develop a novel, cost-effective screening tool for NAFLD based on thermal imaging.

The microclimate under dressings applied to intact weight-bearing skin: Infrared thermography studies.

Background: When a patient is lying in a hospital bed (e.g. supine or prone), bodyweight forces distort soft tissues by compression, tension and shear, and may lead to the onset of pressure ulcers in those who are stationary and insensate, especially at their pelvic region.

Potential of infrared microscopy to differentiate between dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's diseases using peripheral blood samples and machine learning algorithms.

Significance: Accurate and objective identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is of major clinical importance due to the current lack of low-cost and noninvasive diagnostic tools to differentiate between the two. Developing an approach for such identification can have a great impact in the field of dementia diseases as it would offer physicians a routine objective test to support their diagnoses. The problem is especially acute because these two dementias have some common symptoms and characteristics, which can lead to misdiagnosis of DLB as AD and vice versa, mainly at their early stages.

The influence of mindfulness meditation on inattention and physiological markers of stress on students with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Background: Over recent decades, the number of students diagnosed with learning disabilities and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders has substantially increased. These students face various challenges and experience stress when receiving higher education.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to compare two non-pharmacological interventions: mindfulness and device-guided slow breathing, with a control group.

Microcirculatory Response to Photobiomodulation-Why Some Respond and Others Do Not: A Randomized Controlled Study.

Background And Objectives: Photobiomodulation (PBM), a non-ionizing, non-thermal irradiation, used clinically to accelerate wound healing and inhibit pain, was previously shown to increase blood flow. However, some individuals respond to PBM, but others do not. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors affecting this patient-specific response using advanced, noninvasive methods for monitoring microcirculatory activity.

Non-invasive thermal imaging of cardiac remodeling in mice.

Thermal infrared imaging has been suggested as a non-invasive alternative to monitor physiological processes and disease. However, the use of this technique to image internal organs, such as the heart, has not yet been investigated. We sought to determine the ability of our novel thermal image-processing algorithm to detect structural and functional changes in a mouse model of hypertension and cardiac remodeling.

Rapid diagnosis of infection etiology in febrile pediatric oncology patients using infrared spectroscopy of leukocytes.

Rapid diagnosis of the etiology of infection is highly important for an effective treatment of the infected patients. Bacterial and viral infections are serious diseases that can cause death in many cases. The human immune system deals with many viral and bacterial infections that cause no symptoms and pass quietly without treatment.

The Effect of Localized Vibration during Welding on the Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior of Steel Welds.

The use of vibratory welding is treated with some caution in the industry due to inconsistent beneficiary results. Here, a partial explanation is suggested by the differentiation between global vibrational effects (GVEs) and local vibrational effects (LVEs), and the latter is investigated experimentally. Two structural plates of steel are welded at three frequency/amplitude combinations using manual gas metal arc welding in an experimental setup that ensures only LVEs.

Differential chopping controller with high-resolution and accuracy using digital signal processor.

This work presents a digital mixer that receives two signals at different frequencies and produces their difference or their sum. Unlike analog circuits that are limited in their ability to separate between close frequencies and require an additional filtering step, we present a digital signal processor-based circuit with excellent frequency separation capabilities. Since software is used to calculate the output function, the obtained output signal is practically unlimited.

The relation between central variables, electromyography signals and peripheral microcirculation during intensive treadmill exercise.

Background: Aerobic exercise under muscle fatigue can lead to muscular damage and injuries. Finding the correlations between central and peripheral microcirculation variables, as well as with electromyography signals of leg muscles during aerobic exercise, may contribute to early muscle fatigue identification. The goal of this study was to characterize the peripheral compensation following intensive exercise for assessment of muscle performance based on non-invasive techniques.

Dressings cut to shape alleviate facial tissue loads while using an oxygen mask.

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) masks are commonly used for respiratory support where intubation or a surgical procedure can be avoided. However, prolonged use of NIV masks involves risk to facial tissues, which are subjected to sustained deformations caused by tightening of the mask and microclimate conditions. The risk of developing such medical device-related pressure ulcers can be reduced by providing additional cushioning at the mask-face interface.

Detection of Extended-Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Using Infrared Microscopy and Machine-Learning Algorithms.

The spread of multidrug resistant bacteria has become a global concern. One of the most important and emergent classes of multidrug-resistant bacteria is extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing bacteria (ESBL-positive = ESBL). Due to widespread and continuous evolution of ESBL-producing bacteria, they become increasingly resistant to many of the commonly used antibiotics, leading to an increase in the mortality associated with resulting infections.

Improving the Mechanical Rigidity of Hyaluronic Acid by Integration of a Supramolecular Peptide Matrix.

Hyaluronic acid (HA), a major component of the extracellular matrix, is an attractive material for various medical applications. Yet, its low mechanical rigidity and fast in vivo degradation hinder its utilization. Here, we demonstrate the reinforcement of HA by its integration with a low-molecular-weight peptide hydrogelator to produce a composite hydrogel.

The response of peripheral microcirculation to gravity-induced changes.

Background: The peripheral microcirculation supplies fresh blood to the small blood vessels, providing oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, removing waste, and maintaining normal homeostatic conditions. The goal of this study was to characterize the response of the peripheral microcirculation, in terms of blood flow and tissue oxygenation variables, to gravity-induced changes.

Methods: The study included 20 healthy volunteers and the experiment involved monitoring central and peripheral variables with the right hand positioned at different heights.

Differential Diagnosis of the Etiologies of Bacterial and Viral Infections Using Infrared Microscopy of Peripheral Human Blood Samples and Multivariate Analysis.

Human viral and bacterial infections are responsible for a variety of diseases that are still the main causes of death and economic burden for society across the globe. Despite the different responses of the immune system to these infections, some of them have similar symptoms, such as fever, sneezing, inflammation, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue. Thus, physicians usually encounter difficulties in distinguishing between viral and bacterial infections on the basis of these symptoms.

An innovative appendage invagination procedure to reduce thrombus formation - a numerical model.

Invagination is an innovative technique for closing the left atrial appendage (LAA) to reduce the risk of thrombi formation. The influence of LAA invagination on the flow fields in the atria was investigated based on a computational fluid dynamics. The simulation results demonstrated that the novel invagination process can eliminate low velocities (blood stasis) and low shear rate and thus decrease the risk of thrombus formation during atrial fibrillation.

Differentiation of mixed soil-borne fungi in the genus level using infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis.

Early detection of soil-borne pathogens, which have a negative effect on almost all agricultural crops, is crucial for effective targeting with the most suitable antifungal agents and thus preventing and/or reducing their severity. They are responsible for severe diseases in various plants, leading in many cases to substantial economic losses. In this study, infrared (IR) spectroscopic method, which is known as sensitive, accurate and rapid, was used to discriminate between different fungi in a mixture was evaluated.

RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm for material-informatics: application to photovoltaic solar cells.

An important aspect of chemoinformatics and material-informatics is the usage of machine learning algorithms to build Quantitative Structure Activity Relationship (QSAR) models. The RANdom SAmple Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm is a predictive modeling tool widely used in the image processing field for cleaning datasets from noise. RANSAC could be used as a "one stop shop" algorithm for developing and validating QSAR models, performing outlier removal, descriptors selection, model development and predictions for test set samples using applicability domain.

Beware of the toilet: The risk for a deep tissue injury during toilet sitting.

A pressure injury (PrI) compromises quality of life and can be life-threatening. The fundamental cause of PrIs is sustained deformations in weight-bearing soft tissues, e.g.

A real-time phoneme counting algorithm and application for speech rate monitoring.

Adults who stutter can learn to control and improve their speech fluency by modifying their speaking rate. Existing speech therapy technologies can assist this practice by monitoring speaking rate and providing feedback to the patient, but cannot provide an accurate, quantitative measurement of speaking rate. Moreover, most technologies are too complex and costly to be used for home practice.

Visualization Based Data Mining for Comparison Between Two Solar Cell Libraries.

Material informatics may provide meaningful insights and powerful predictions for the development of new and efficient Metal Oxide (MO) based solar cells. The main objective of this paper is to establish the usefulness of data reduction and visualization methods for analyzing data sets emerging from multiple all-MOs solar cell libraries. For this purpose, two libraries, TiO |Co O and TiO |Co O |MoO , differing only by the presence of a MoO layer in the latter were analyzed with Principal Component Analysis and Self-Organizing Maps.