To be or not be… In times of coronavirus

Journal #78 from Media Rise's Quarantined Across Borders Collection by Maria Valentina Aduen Ramirez. From Colombia. Quarantined in United States, Texas, College Station.This is a story about being an immigrant, feeling displaced, and the struggle of belonging and having rights during a health pandemic.Media Rise Publications. Quarantined Across Borders Collection. Edited by Dr. Srividya "Srivi" Ramasubramanian

A Scenario-Based Functional Testing Approach to Improving DNN Performance

This paper proposes a scenario-based functional testing approach for enhancing the performance of machine learning (ML) applications. The proposed method is an iterative process that starts with testing the ML model on various scenarios to identify areas of weakness. It follows by a further testing on the suspected weak scenarios and statistically evaluate the model's performance on the scenarios to confirm the diagnosis. Once the diagnosis of weak scenarios is confirmed by test results, the treatment of the model is performed by retraining the model using a transfer learning technique with the original model as the base and applying a set of training data specifically targeting the treated scenarios plus a subset of training data selected at random from the original train dataset to prevent the so-call catastrophic forgetting effect. Finally, after the treatment, the model is assessed and evaluated again by testing on the treated scenarios as well as other scenarios to check if the treatment is effective and no side effect caused. The paper reports a case study with a real ML deep neural network (DNN) model, which is the perception system of an autonomous racing car. It is demonstrated that the method is effective in the sense that DNN model's performance can be improved. It provides an efficient method of enhancing ML model's performance with much less human and compute resource than retrain from scratch.Comment: The paper is accepted to appear in the proceedings of IEEE 17th International Conference on Service-oriented Systems Engineering (IEEE SOSE 2023) as an invited paper of 2023 IEEE CISOSE Congres

Modelo predictivo de los niveles de sedentarismo en población de 18 a 60 años de Sincelejo 2011 - 2012

La práctica de actividad física en la mayor parte de la población ha venido siendo restringida por diversos factores, principalmente por los cambios en los hábitos de vida, acarreando diversas alteraciones orgánicas, de igual modo la mayoría de las actividades ofertadas no son de gran impacto en la población. Objetivo: Determinar las variables que predicen los niveles de sedentarismo en la población entre 18 y 60 años, en la ciudad de Sincelejo 2011. Materiales y métodos: 457 personas entre las edades de 18 a 60 años, escogidas mediante el diseño no probabilístico, con muestreo por cuotas, se contó con la aceptación de manera voluntaria por parte de los mismos, para participar en el estudio, el cumplimiento de los criterios de inclusión, el diligenciamiento del consentimiento informado, el cuestionario de aptitud para la actividad física. Resultados: la prevalencia de sedentarismo fue del 78,6%, la interrelación de las diferentes variables y las asociaciones reveladas en el modelo de regresión logística se estableció que la edad, el IMC, y el estado civil, explican el comportamiento de los niveles de sedentarismo de manera significativa. Conclusiones: La edad y el IMC, se convierten en las variables que predicen el nivel de sedentarismo para la ciudad de Sincelejo.The practice of physical activity in most of the population has been restricted by various factors, mainly by changes in life habits, leading to various organic alterations, in the same way most of the activities offered are not of great impact on the population. Objective: To determine the variables that predict the levels of sedentary lifestyle in the population between 18 and 60 years old, in the city of Sincelejo 2011. Materials and methods: 457 people between the ages of 18 to 60 years, chosen through the non-probabilistic design, with sampling by quotas, there was the voluntary acceptance by them, to participate in the study, compliance with the inclusion criteria, the completion of informed consent, the fitness questionnaire for physical activity. Results: the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle was 78.6%, the interrelation of the different variables and the associations revealed in the logistic regression model, it was established that age, BMI, and marital status explain the behavior of the levels of sedentary lifestyle significantly. Conclusions: Age and BMI, become the variables that predict the level of sedentary lifestyle for the city of Sincelejo

Niveles de sedentarismo en población entre 18 y 60 años: Sincelejo (Colombia)

Objetivo: Determinar las variables que predicen los niveles de sedentarismo en la población entre 18 y 60 años en la ciudad de Sincelejo (Sucre) en 2011. Materiales y métodos: 457 personas entre las edades de 18 a 60 años, escogidas mediante el diseño no probabilístico, con muestreo por cuotas; se contó con la aceptación de manera voluntaria por parte de los mismo para participar en el estudio, el cumplimiento de los criterios de inclusión, el diligenciamiento del consentimiento informado, el cuestionario de aptitud para la actividad física. Resultados: La prevalencia de sedentarismo fue del 78,6 %, y en lo que respecta a la interrelación de las diferentes variables y las asociaciones reveladas en el modelo de regresión logística se estableció que la edad, el IMC y el estado civil explican el comportamiento de los niveles de sedentarismo de manera significativa, p<0,05. Conclusiones: La edad y el IMC son las variables que predicen el nivel de sedentarismo para la ciudad de Sincelejo

Calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en pacientes con trastornos mentales

La Organización Mundial de la Salud, define la calidad de vida como la percepción individual de su posición en la vida en el contexto cultural y el sistema de valores en el que vive y con respecto a sus metas, expectativas, normas y preocupaciones. Los pacientes con trastornos mentales tienen comprometida su calidad de vida, desfavoreciendo la capacidad de adaptación, que conlleva al tener una restricción en la participación debido a que no puede interactuar socialmente debido a su condición y a los medicamentos suministrados. Se pretende revisar cómo se afecta la calidad de vida en las personas que padecen trastornos mentales. Para la localización del material bibliográfico se seleccionaron y revisaron artículos científicos en las bases de datos SCIELO, OVID, REDALYC, HINARI y SCOPUS, utilizando los descriptores: calidad de vida, salud mental, trastornos mentales. Se identificó carencia de artículos que correlacionen la calidad de vida con los trastornos mentales. ABSTRACTThe World Health Organization defines the quality of life as the individual perception of their position in life in the cultural context and the system of values in which you live and with regard to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. Patients with mental disorders have compromised their quality of life, disadvantaging adaptability, which leads to the individual having a restriction in participation since you can not interact socially because of their condition and provided medicines. Intends to review as it affects the quality of life for people who suffer from mental disorders, were selected for the location of the bibliographical material and reviewed scientific papers in SCOPUS, SCIELO, REDALYC, HINARI and OVID databases.Using the key words: quality of life, mental health, mental disorders.Identifying lack of articles that correlate quality of life with mental disorders

Accuracy of Doppler-Echocardiographic Mean Pulmonary Artery Pressure for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: The validity of Doppler echocardiographic (DE) measurement of systolic pulmonary artery pressure (sPAP) has been questioned. Recent studies suggest that mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) might reflect more accurately the invasive pressures. Methodology/Principal Findings: 241 patients were prospectively studied to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of mPAP for the diagnosis of PH. Right heart catheterization (RHC) and DE were performed in 164 patients mainly for preoperative evaluation of heart valve dysfunction. The correlation between DE and RHC was better when mPAP (r = 0.93) and not sPAP (r = 0.81) was assessed. Bland-Altman analysis revealed a smaller variation of mPAP than sPAP. The following ROC analysis identified that a mPAP$25.5 mmHg is useful for the diagnosis of PH. This value was validated in an independent cohort of patients (n = 50) with the suspicion of chronic-thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The calculated diagnostic accuracy was 98%, based on excellent sensitivity of 98 % and specificity of 100%. The corresponding positive and negative predictive values were 100%, respectively 88%. Conclusion: mPAP has been found to be highly accurate for the initial diagnosis of PH. A cut-off value of 25.5 mmHg might be helpful to avoid unnecessary RHC and select patients in whom RHC might be beneficial

Assessment of pulmonary artery pressure by echocardiography—A comprehensive review

Pulmonary hypertension is a pathological haemodynamic condition defined as an increase in mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥ 25mmHg at rest, assessed using gold standard investigation by right heart catheterisation. Pulmonary hypertension could be a complication of cardiac or pulmonary disease or a primary disorder of small pulmonary arteries. Elevated pulmonary pressure (PAP) is associated with increased mortality, irrespective of the aetiology. The gold standard for diagnosis is invasive right heart catheterisation, but this has its own inherent risks. In the past 30 years, immense technological improvements in echocardiography have increased its sensitivity for quantifying pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) and it is now recognised as a safe and readily available alternative to right heart catheterisation. In future, scores combining various echo techniques can approach the gold standard in terms of sensitivity and accuracy, thereby reducing the need for repeated invasive assessments in these patients

Initial investigation of test-retest reliability of home-to-home teleneuropsychological assessment in healthy, English-speaking adults

Prior teleneuropsychological research has assessed the reliability between in-person and remote administration of cognitive assessments. Few, if any, studies have examined the test-retest reliability of cognitive assessments conducted in sequential clinic-to-home or home-to-home teleneuropsychological evaluations - a critical issue given the state of clinical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examined this key psychometric question for several cognitive tests administered over repeated videoconferencing visits 4-6 months apart in a sample of healthy English-speaking adults. A total of 44 participants (ages 18-75) completed baseline and follow-up cognitive testing 4-6 months apart. Testing was conducted in a home-to-home setting over HIPAA-compliant videoconferencing meetings on participants' audio-visual enabled laptop or desktop computers. The following measures were repeated at both virtual visits: the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (FAS), Category Fluency (Animals), and Digit Span Forward and Backward from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Fourth Edition. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson correlations, root mean square difference (RMSD), and concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) were calculated as test-retest reliability metrics, and practice effects were assessed using paired-samples t-tests. Some tests exhibited small practice effects, and test-retest reliability was marginal or worse for all measures except FAS, which had adequate reliability (based on ICC and r). Reliability estimates with RMSD suggested that change within +/- 1 SD on these measures may reflect typical test-retest variability. The included cognitive measures exhibited questionable reliability over repeated home-to-home videoconferencing evaluations. Future teleneuropsychology test-retest reliability research is needed with larger, more diverse samples and in clinical populations.F31 AG062158 - NIA NIH HHS; R01 AG054671 - NIA NIH HHS; R01 AG066823 - NIA NIH HHSAccepted manuscrip