The main goal of this study is to demonstrate the possibility of training the Neural Network (multilayer perceptron) classifier and preprocessing units simultaneously, i.e., that properties of preprocessing are chosen automatically during the training phase. In the first realization step, adaptive recursive estimation of the power within a frequency band was used as a preprocessing unit. To improve the efficiency of special units, the power and momentary frequency estimation was replaced by methods that are based on adaptive Hilbert transformers. The strategy was developed to obtain optimized recognition units that can be efficiently integrated into strategies for monitoring the cerebral status of neonates. Therefore, applications (e.g., in neonatal EEG pattern recognition) will be shown. Additionally, a method of minimizing the error function was used, where this minimization is based on optimizing the network structure. The results of structure optimization in the field of EEG pattern recognition in epileptic patients can be demonstrated.
One of the most common statistical analyses in experimental psychology concerns the comparison of two means using the frequentist t test. However, frequentist t tests do not quantify evidence and require various assumption tests. Recently, popularized Bayesian t tests do quantify evidence, but these were developed for scenarios where the two populations are assumed to have the same variance. As an alternative to both methods, we outline a comprehensive t test framework based on Bayesian model averaging. This new t test framework simultaneously takes into account models that assume equal and unequal variances, and models that use t-likelihoods to improve robustness to outliers. The resulting inference is based on a weighted average across the entire model ensemble, with higher weights assigned to models that predicted the observed data well. This new t test framework provides an integrated approach to assumption checks and inference by applying a series of pertinent models to the data simultaneously rather than sequentially. The integrated Bayesian model-averaged t tests achieve robustness without having to commit to a single model following a series of assumption checks. To facilitate practical applications, we provide user-friendly implementations in JASP and via the RoBTT package in R . A tutorial video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcuzGTIcorQ.
- MeSH
- Bayes Theorem MeSH
- Psychology, Experimental * methods MeSH
- Data Interpretation, Statistical MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Models, Statistical * MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Review MeSH
PURPOSE: Estimation of hip joint loading is fundamental for understanding joint function, injury and disease. To predict patientspecific hip loading, a musculoskeletal model must be adapted to the patient's unique geometry. By far the most common and cost effective clinical images are whole pelvis plain radiographs. This study compared the accuracy of anisotropic and isotropic scaling of musculoskeletal model to hip joint force prediction by taking patient-specific bone geometry from standard anteroposterior radiograms. METHODS: 356 hips from 250 radiograms of adult human pelvis were analyzed. A musculoskeletal model was constructed from sequential images of the Visible Human Male. The common body position of one-legged stance was substituted for the midstance phase of walking. Three scaling methods were applied: a) anisotropic scaling by interhip separation, ilium height, ilium width, and lateral and inferior position of the greater trochanter, b) isotropic scaling by pelvic width and c) isotropic scaling by interhip separation. Hip joint force in one-legged stance was estimated by inverse static model. RESULTS: Isotropic scaling affects all proportions equally, what results in small difference in hip joint reaction force among patients. Anisotropic hip scaling increases variation in hip joint force among patients considerably. The difference in hip joint force estimated by isotropic and anisotropic scaling may surpass patient's body weight. CONCLUSIONS: Hip joint force estimated by isotropic scaling depends mostly on reference musculoskeletal geometry. Individual's hip joint reaction force estimation could be improved by including additional bone geometrical parameters in the scaling method.
- MeSH
- Anisotropy MeSH
- Models, Biological * MeSH
- Biomechanical Phenomena MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Hip Joint physiology MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Posture physiology MeSH
- Reference Values MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
... Construction of the weight-for-age standards 79 -- 4.1 Indicator-specific methodology 79 -- 4.2 Weight-for-age ... ... Construction of the weight-for-length and weight-for-height standards 139 -- 5.1 Indicator-specific methodology ... ... 139 -- 5.2 Weight-for-length/height for boys 139 -- 5.2.1 Sample size 139 -- 5.2.2 Model selection and ... ... Computation of centiles and z-scores for length/height-for-age, weight-for-age, weight-for-length, weight-for-height ... ... Model specifications of the WHO child growth standards 312 vi ...
xx, 312 s. : il., tab., grafy ; 30 cm
- MeSH
- Anthropometry MeSH
- Models, Biological MeSH
- Nutrition Assessment MeSH
- Growth MeSH
- Child Development MeSH
- Conspectus
- Pediatrie
- NML Fields
- pediatrie
- NML Publication type
- publikace WHO
Aim: Retrospective analysis of the prescribing practice and cost of ambulatory treatment of hypertension and its common complications – heart failure, sequelae of cerebrovascular disease, and angina pectoris. Methods: Analysis of 3,240 reimbursable ambulatory prescriptions for hypertension, heart failure, sequelae of cerebrovascular disease and angina pectoris according to the complexity of the therapy and frequency of the prescribed medicines. Modeling and calculation of the expected monthly cost for outpatient therapy by using the “decision tree model”. Sensitivity analysis is performed within the ±30% interval. Results: 65% of the prescription were for the hypertension, and 35% for the observed complications. 1,297 prescriptions for hypertension include one medicine, 647 include two medicines, and only 8% of prescriptions were for three medicines. ACE inhibitors have been prescribed in 41% of all hypertension prescriptions, followed by beta-blockers (19%), Ca channel blockers (16%), diuretics (15%) etc. The prescriptions for hypertension complications are more diverse as therapeutic groups. The expected monthly cost of prescribed medicines per patient with hypertension alone is 6.90 € and in case of complications it is 10.71 € according to the prevalence of the complexity of therapy, and weighted monthly cost of medicines. The overall ambulatory cost is expected to be around 148 million € per year for near 1.5 million patients with 44% reimbursement. The cost of the therapy is sensitive more to changes in the medicine’s prices than to its complexity. Conclusion: This study is a first step in providing information for evidence-based cost containment measures or policy decisions at ambulatory level in Bulgaria and for the assessment of the share of complications’ therapy on the overall hypertension cost.
- MeSH
- Angina Pectoris economics drug therapy prevention & control MeSH
- Adrenergic beta-Antagonists administration & dosage economics MeSH
- Calcium Channel Blockers administration & dosage economics MeSH
- Cerebrovascular Disorders economics drug therapy prevention & control MeSH
- Diuretics administration & dosage economics MeSH
- Models, Economic MeSH
- Economics, Pharmaceutical statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Hypertension economics drug therapy complications MeSH
- Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors administration & dosage economics MeSH
- Prescriptions economics statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Drug Costs statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Outpatients statistics & numerical data MeSH
- Heart Failure economics drug therapy prevention & control MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Geographicals
- Bulgaria MeSH
Coronary heart disease and in particular its most serious form - acute myocardial infarction (AMI) - represents the most common cause of mortality in developed countries. Better prognosis may be achieved by understanding the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of AMI. Therefore, a catecholamine model of myocardial injury, which has appeared to be very similar to AMI in human in some aspect, was used. Male Wistar:Han rats were randomly divided into two groups: control group (saline) and isoprenaline group (ISO; synthetic catecholamine, 100 mg.kg(- 1) subcutaneously [s.c.]). After 24 hours, functional parameters were measured, biochemical markers in the blood and metals content in the heart tissue were analysed and histological examination was performed. ISO caused marked myocardial injury that was associated with myocardial calcium overload. Close correlation between myocardial impairment (i.e. serum TnT, stroke volume index and wet ventricles weight) and the levels of myocardial calcium was observed. Direct reactive oxygen species (ROS) involvement was documented only by non-significant increase in malonyldialdehyde 24 hours after ISO injury. Moreover, myocardial element analysis revealed no significant changes as for the content of zinc and iron while selenium and copper increased in the ISO group although it reached statistical significance only for the latter.
- MeSH
- Antioxidants metabolism MeSH
- Biomarkers analysis blood metabolism MeSH
- Heart Function Tests MeSH
- Myocardial Infarction diagnosis chemically induced blood metabolism MeSH
- Catecholamines toxicity MeSH
- Blood Pressure drug effects MeSH
- Rats MeSH
- Ascorbic Acid blood MeSH
- Disease Models, Animal MeSH
- Myocardium metabolism pathology MeSH
- Rats, Wistar MeSH
- Reactive Oxygen Species metabolism MeSH
- Heart Rate drug effects MeSH
- Heart Ventricles metabolism pathology drug effects MeSH
- Troponin T blood MeSH
- Calcium metabolism MeSH
- Organ Size drug effects MeSH
- Vitamin E blood MeSH
- Iron metabolism toxicity MeSH
- Zinc metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Rats MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) is one of the most efficient methods for the examination of gastrointestinal tracts. Computer-aided intelligent diagnostic tools alleviate the challenges faced during manual inspection of long WCE videos. Several approaches have been proposed in the literature for the automatic detection and localization of anomalies in WCE images. Some of them focus on specific anomalies such as bleeding, polyp, lesion, etc. However, relatively fewer generic methods have been proposed to detect all those common anomalies simultaneously. In this paper, a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) based model 'WCENet' is proposed for anomaly detection and localization in WCE images. The model works in two phases. In the first phase, a simple and efficient attention-based CNN classifies an image into one of the four categories: polyp, vascular, inflammatory, or normal. If the image is classified in one of the abnormal categories, it is processed in the second phase for the anomaly localization. Fusion of Grad-CAM++ and a custom SegNet is used for anomalous region segmentation in the abnormal image. WCENet classifier attains accuracy and area under receiver operating characteristic of 98% and 99%. The WCENet segmentation model obtains a frequency weighted intersection over union of 81%, and an average dice score of 56% on the KID dataset. WCENet outperforms nine different state-of-the-art conventional machine learning and deep learning models on the KID dataset. The proposed model demonstrates potential for clinical applications.
Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is the most common monogenic form of familial small vessel disease; no preventive or curative therapy is available. CADASIL is caused by mutations in the NOTCH3 gene, resulting in a mutated NOTCH3 receptor, with aggregation of the NOTCH3 extracellular domain (ECD) around vascular smooth muscle cells. In this study, we have developed a novel active immunization therapy specifically targeting CADASIL-like aggregated NOTCH3 ECD. Immunizing CADASIL TgN3R182C150 mice with aggregates composed of CADASIL-R133C mutated and wild-type EGF1-5 repeats for a total of 4 months resulted in a marked reduction (38-48%) in NOTCH3 deposition around brain capillaries, increased microglia activation and lowered serum levels of NOTCH3 ECD. Active immunization did not impact body weight, general behavior, the number and integrity of vascular smooth muscle cells in the retina, neuronal survival, or inflammation or the renal system, suggesting that the therapy is tolerable. This is the first therapeutic study reporting a successful reduction of NOTCH3 accumulation in a CADASIL mouse model supporting further development towards clinical application for the benefit of CADASIL patients.
- MeSH
- Immunotherapy, Active MeSH
- CADASIL * genetics therapy MeSH
- Capillaries metabolism MeSH
- Disease Models, Animal MeSH
- Brain metabolism MeSH
- Mutation MeSH
- Mice MeSH
- Receptor, Notch3 genetics metabolism MeSH
- Receptors, Notch metabolism MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Mice MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
Fatty liver is extremely common in insulin-resistant patients with either obesity or lipodystrophy and it has been proposed that hepatic steatosis be considered an additional feature of the metabolic syndrome. Although insulin resistance can promote fatty liver, excessive hepatic accumulation of fat can also promote insulin resistance and could contribute to the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. We sought to create a new nonobese rat model with hypertension, hepatic steatosis, and the metabolic syndrome by transgenic overexpression of a sterol-regulatory element-binding protein (SREBP-1a) in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). SREBPs are transcription factors that activate the expression of multiple genes involved in the hepatic synthesis of cholesterol, triglycerides, and fatty acids. The new transgenic strain of SHR overexpressing a dominant-positive form of human SREBP-1a under control of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) promoter exhibited marked hepatic steatosis with major biochemical features of the metabolic syndrome, including hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. Both oxidative and nonoxidative skeletal muscle glucose metabolism were significantly impaired in the SHR transgenic strain and glucose tolerance deteriorated as the animals aged. The SHR transgenic strain also exhibited reduced body weight and reduced adipose tissue stores; however, the level of hypertension in the transgenic SHR was similar to that in the nontransgenic SHR control. The transgenic SHR overexpressing SREBP-1a represents a nonobese rat model of fatty liver, disordered glucose and lipid metabolism, and hypertension that may provide new opportunities for studying the pathogenesis and treatment of the metabolic syndrome associated with hepatic steatosis.
- MeSH
- Adiponectin MeSH
- DNA-Binding Proteins * genetics MeSH
- Gene Expression MeSH
- Animals, Genetically Modified * MeSH
- Hypertension genetics physiopathology MeSH
- Liver pathology MeSH
- Blood Pressure MeSH
- Leptin blood MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Metabolic Syndrome * genetics MeSH
- Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins blood MeSH
- Disease Models, Animal * MeSH
- Rats, Inbred SHR * MeSH
- Sterol Regulatory Element Binding Protein 1 MeSH
- CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Proteins * genetics MeSH
- Aging metabolism MeSH
- Transgenes MeSH
- Transcription Factors * genetics MeSH
- Adipose Tissue pathology MeSH
- Fatty Liver * genetics physiopathology MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. MeSH
INTRODUCTION: Constantly increasing air pollution (AP) poses a concern affecting not only our health but also our skin. A typical manifestation of the skin damage induced by AP is its premature aging, irritation, skin barrier impairment, pigmentation disorders, and development or exacerbation of various skin diseases. For these reasons, it is crucial to protect the skin from the negative effects of AP. In this study, we evaluated the ability of some compounds commonly used in dermatological or cosmetic preparations with various biological activities to reduce AP-induced skin damage. METHODS: We established a new experimental model using porcine skin explants exposed to cigarette smoke (CS) in which we determined the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the stratum corneum, skin barrier lipids peroxidation, and gene expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin 6 in the epidermis. Then, we tested several polysaccharides and their derivatives such as sodium hyaluronate (SH) of different molecular weight (MW, 1.6 MDa, 300 kDa, 15 kDa, 5 kDa), yeast glucomannan, schizophyllan, and carboxymethyl β-glucan, then vitamin C derivative sodium ascorbyl phosphate, niacinamide, and D-panthenol for their ability to prevent CS-induced skin damage. For the evaluation and comparison of their mechanism of action, film-forming effect was determined by TEWL and gloss measurements and the antioxidant properties were assessed by DPPH assay. RESULTS: In the skin samples exposed to CS, we observed significant negative changes such as the presence of large amount of ROS in the stratum corneum, high level of skin barrier lipids peroxidation and upregulated IL6 gene expression. Pretreatment of the skin samples with all the tested substances significantly prevented CS-induced skin damage. The most effective were high MW SH probably due to its best film-forming effect and sodium ascorbyl phosphate with the best antioxidant properties. CONCLUSION: AP leads to a significant skin damage which can be effectively prevented using some conventional cosmetic and dermatological ingredients with various mechanisms of action.
