An Integrated Soft Computing Approach to Hughes Syndrome Risk Assessment

The AntiPhospholipid Syndrome (APS) is an acquired autoimmune disorder induced by high levels of antiphospholipid antibodies that cause arterial and veins thrombosis, as well as pregnancy-related complications and morbidity, as clinical manifestations. This autoimmune hypercoagulable state, usually known as Hughes syndrome, has severe consequences for the patients, being one of the main causes of thrombotic disorders and death. Therefore, it is required to be preventive; being aware of how probable is to have that kind of syndrome. Despite the updated of antiphospholipid syndrome classification, the diagnosis remains difficult to establish. Additional research on clinically relevant antibodies and standardization of their quantification are required in order to improve the antiphospholipid syndrome risk assessment. Thus, this work will focus on the development of a diagnosis decision support system in terms of a formal agenda built on a Logic Programming approach to knowledge representation and reasoning, complemented with a computational framework based on Artificial Neural Networks. The proposed model allows for improving the diagnosis, classifying properly the patients that really presented this pathology (sensitivity higher than 85%), as well as classifying the absence of APS (specificity close to 95%)

Faculty Publications and Creative Works 2002

Introduction One of the ways in which we recognize our faculty at the University of New Mexico is through Faculty Publications & Creative Works. An annual publication, it highlights our faculty\u27s scholarly and creative activities and achievements and serves as a compendium of UNM faculty efforts during the 2001 calendar year. Faculty Publications & Creative Works strives to illustrate the depth and breadth of research activities performed throughout our University\u27s laboratories, studios and classrooms. We believe that the communication of individual research is a significant method of sharing concepts and thoughts and ultimately inspiring the birth of new ideas. In support of this, UNM faculty during 2002 produced over 2,278 works, including 1,735 scholarly papers and articles, 64 books, 195 book chapters, 174 reviews, 84 creative works and 26 patented works. We are proud of the accomplishments of our faculty which are in part reflected in this book, which illustrates the diversity of intellectual pursuits in support of research and education at the University of New Mexico. Terry Yates Vice Provost for Researc

Predictive ability of the ISS, NISS, and APACHE II score for SIRS and sepsis in polytrauma patients

Purpose: Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis as causes of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) remain challenging to treat in polytrauma patients. In this study, the focus was set on widely used scoring systems to assess their diagnostic quality. Methods: A total of 512 patients (mean age: 39.2±16.2, range: 16-88years) who had an Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥17 were included in this retrospective study. The patients were subdivided into four groups: no SIRS, slight SIRS, severe SIRS, and sepsis. The ISS, New Injury Severity Score (NISS), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores, and prothrombin time were collected at admission. The Kruskal-Wallis test and χ2-test, multinomial regression analysis, and kernel density estimates were performed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis is reported as the area under the curve (AUC). Data were considered as significant if p<0.05. Results: All variables were significantly different in all groups (p<0.001). The odds ratio increased with increasing SIRS severity for NISS (slight vs. no SIRS, 1.06, p=0.07; severe vs. no SIRS, 1.07, p=0.04; and sepsis vs. no SIRS, 1.11, p=0.0028) and APACHE II score (slight vs. no SIRS, 0.97, p=0.44; severe vs. no SIRS, 1.08, p=0.02; and sepsis vs. no SIRS, 1.12, p=0.0028). ROC analysis revealed that the NISS (slight vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.61; severe vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.67; and sepsis vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.77) and APACHE II score (slight vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.60; severe vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.74; and sepsis vs. no SIRS, AUC 0.82) had the best predictive ability for SIRS and sepsis. Conclusion: Quick assessment with the NISS or APACHE II score could preselect possible candidates for sepsis following polytrauma and provide guidance in trauma surgeons' decision-makin

Ranking the Risks: The 10 Pathogen-Food Combinations With the Greatest Burden on Public Health

Examines food-borne pathogens with the highest disease burdens and the top ten foods most commonly contaminated by them, such as salmonella in poultry, toxoplasma in pork, and listeria in deli meats. Makes policy recommendations for improving prevention

Faculty Publications and Creative Works 2004

Faculty Publications & Creative Works is an annual compendium of scholarly and creative activities of University of New Mexico faculty during the noted calendar year. Published by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, it serves to illustrate the robust and active intellectual pursuits conducted by the faculty in support of teaching and research at UNM

Supporting sea cucumbers: are seagrass meadows the solution?

Recent years have seen rapid global expansion of sea cucumber fisheries causing two thirds of species to now be considered fully exploited. Such fisheries often occur in areas where communities have restricted livelihoods and there are limited resources for regulation enforcement. Understanding baseline ecology such as habitat preference can allow prioritisation of more effective and focused management strategies. The data presented here was collected by the collaborative research project, the Indo Pacific Seagrass Network. Belt transects were conducted in seagrass and unvegetated habitats at 16 gleaned sites across the Indo Pacific. Sea cucumber community assemblage and seagrass morphometrics were collected. The results demonstrated consistently low sea cucumber abundance and diversity throughout the Indo Pacific compared to historic data with 73% of transects recording zero presence. Exhausted populations have become the new ecological baseline for sea cucumber stocks at gleaned sites. The presence of seagrass supported significantly (P< 0.001) higher abundance and diversity than unvegetated transects. 38% of seagrass transects had sea cucumbers present compared to 12% of unvegetated transects. Furthermore, there was a positive relationship between seagrass meadows with a higher percentage of vegetation cover and sea cucumber abundance. Fine scale metrics, such as seagrass life-history trait and benthos type, did not have a significant effect. One site with much lower fishing pressure and pollution sources than the other 15 sites observed no difference in sea cucumber abundance between the seagrass and unvegetated transects. This suggests that seagrass meadows are more critical for supporting the health of sea cucumber populations in heavily harvested systems

MINIMIZING THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF WORK ENVIRONMENT IN UPPER LIMB: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction: Occupational problems are highly prevalent and act as impediments to effective labor. As per the statistics by WHO, in the year 2003, it was seen that back injuries shared the highest proportion in occupational disorders (60%), followed by neck and upper limb. Body: In the upper limb, any joint, be it the shoulder, elbow, wrist or hand, can be affected. Variable structures ranging from the tendon, ligament, nerve or muscle can be involved leading to problems effectuating in the form of pain, tenderness, swelling, and functional deficits. Common problems seen are carpal tunnel syndrome, muscle sprain-strain, and osteoarthritis in joints, etc. Management: ULMSDS can be prevented by incorporating activity in daily life awhile also keeping a check on posture. At workplace, architectural adjustments and changes in physical and social environment can help prevention exacerbation of upper limb conditions. Regular rest intervals can also be included to avoid prolonged fixation of joints in one position. Conclusion: This paper focuses on ULMSDS in an attempt to improve the quality of life through various intervention strategies within the work organization thus enhancing work quality and output of the companies. Article visualizations