Annotation Search: the FAST Way

Περιέχει το πλήρες κείμενοThis paper discusses how annotations can be exploited to develop information access and retrieval algorithms that take them into account. The paper proposes a general framework for developing such algorithms that specifically deals with the problem of accessing and retrieving topical information from annotations and annotated documents

Robot therapy for functional recovery of the upper limbs: a pilot study on patients after stroke.

Objective: To verify the possibility of administering robotaided therapy for the upper limbs in patients after stroke; to evaluate patients' degree of acceptance and compliance with the treatment; to establish if the treatment has an effect on motor impairment and functional outcome. Design: Quasi-experimental, uncontrolled study. Subjects: Fourteen patients with chronic hemiparesis after stroke. Methods: Patients were treated with a robotic system for the upper limbs (ReoGo TM ; Motorika Medical Ltd, Israel). Subjects performed the following assessment, at the start (T0), at the end of treatment (T1), and at the follow-up performed one month after the end of treatment (T2): Fugl-Meyer test (FM) for upper limbs; strength evaluation; Ashworth scale; visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain; Frenchay Arm test (FAT); Box and Block test (BB Functional Independence Measure (FIM TM ); ABILHAND Questionnaire; Timed Up and Go test (TUG); Euro-Quality of Life questionnaire and; a VAS for treatment satisfaction were administered to the subjects. Results: Total scores of FM, B&B, FAT and FIM TM showed a statistically significant improvement from T0 and T1 (FM p < 0.002, B&B p < 0.012, FAT p < 0.023, FIM TM p < 0.007) and from T0 and T2 (FM p < 0.003, B&B p < 0.011, FAT p < 0.024, FIM p < 0.027). No statistically significant differences were found between evaluations at T1 and T2 (FM p < 0.595, B&B p < 0.491, FAT p < 0.317, FIM p < 0.180). Conclusion: The sample was capable of completing the treatment and demonstrated good participant satisfaction. This pilot study led to the finding of a clinical improvement and excellent patient compliance. It can be hypothesized that the results are robot-dependent and that they were learned and then maintained. However, the study is limited in that a control group was not used. As such, it is desirable to continue this study with a control group, as well as by designing a prospective longitudinal randomized controlled trial study

Community next steps for making globally unique identifiers work for biocollections data

Biodiversity data is being digitized and made available online at a rapidly increasing rate but current practices typically do not preserve linkages between these data, which impedes interoperation, provenance tracking, and assembly of larger datasets. For data associated with biocollections, the biodiversity community has long recognized that an essential part of establishing and preserving linkages is to apply globally unique identifiers at the point when data are generated in the field and to persist these identifiers downstream, but this is seldom implemented in practice. There has neither been coalescence towards one single identifier solution (as in some other domains), nor even a set of recommended best practices and standards to support multiple identifier schemes sharing consistent responses. In order to further progress towards a broader community consensus, a group of biocollections and informatics experts assembled in Stockholm in October 2014 to discuss community next steps to overcome current roadblocks. The workshop participants divided into four groups focusing on: identifier practice in current field biocollections; identifier application for legacy biocollections; identifiers as applied to biodiversity data records as they are published and made available in semantically marked-up publications; and cross-cutting identifier solutions that bridge across these domains. The main outcome was consensus on key issues, including recognition of differences between legacy and new biocollections processes, the need for identifier metadata profiles that can report information on identifier persistence missions, and the unambiguous indication of the type of object associated with the identifier. Current identifier characteristics are also summarized, and an overview of available schemes and practices is provided

Long-term neuropsychological sequelae, emotional wellbeing and quality of life in patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura

Neurological symptoms related to microthrombosis are the hallmark of acute manifestations of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Despite the achievement of hematological remission, patients may report persisting neurological impairment that affects their quality of life. To assess the long-term neuropsychological consequences of acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, we recruited 35 acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura patients (77% females, median age at onset 41 years, interquartile range 35-48) regularly followed at our out-patient clinic of thrombotic microangiopathies in Milan (Italy) from December 2015 to October 2016. Patients underwent a psychological evaluation of memory and attentional functions, emotional wellbeing and health-related quality of life at least 3 months after their last acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura event (median 36 months, interquartile range 17-54). During the psychological consultation, 17 patients (49%) referred persisting subjective neurological impairment in the frame of a remission phase, with at least one symptom as disorientation, loss of concentration, dizziness, lack of balance, headache and diplopia. Neuropsychological assessment revealed lower scores than the Italian general population pertaining to direct, indirect and deferred memory. A higher degree of impairment of memory domains was found in patients with neurological involvement at the time of presentation of the first acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura episode. Anxiety and depression were detected in 7 (20%) and 15 (43%) patients, respectively. Health-related quality of life was lower than the Italian general population, with mental domains more impacted than physical domains (mean difference 58.43, 95% confidence interval [-71.49, -45.37]). Our study demonstrates compromised memory and attention functions, persisting anxiety/depression symptoms and a generally reduced quality of life in patients surviving from acute acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. New clinical strategies should be considered to improve these symptoms

Anti-atherogenic modification of serum lipoprotein function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis after tocilizumab treatment, a pilot study

Lipid metabolism derangement contributes to increased cardiovascular risk in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). It is still debated whether and how tocilizumab, an interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor used in active RA, impacts cardiovascular risk. We studied the effect of tocilizumab on the regulation of macrophage cholesterol homeostasis, measuring patient serum ability to respectively load (cholesterol loading capacity, CLC) and discharge (cholesterol efflux capacity, CEC) cells with cholesterol. Patients with RA (n = 8) were studied before and after 4 and 12 weeks of tocilizumab treatment. CLC was measured by a fluorimetric assay of intracellular cholesterol content in human macrophages and CEC was measured for the three main pathways, mediated by the transporters Scavenger Receptor class B-type I (SR-BI), ATP binding cassette-G1 (ABCG1) and-A1 (ABCA1) in specific cell models. After 12 weeks of tocilizumab treatment, serum LDL cholesterol levels were increased, while CLC was reduced. HDL cholesterol levels were unchanged, but CEC was significantly ameliorated for the SR-BI and ABCG1 pathways with respect to baseline. Tocilizumab reduces LDL pro-atherogenic potential despite increasing their serum levels and increases HDL protective activity in RA. The data of our pilot study suggest that tocilizumab regulates lipoprotein function in selected patient populations and lay the groundwork for future larger studies

Body water distribution in severe obesity and its assessment from eight-polar bioelectrical impedance analysis

Objective: To measure body water distribution and to evaluate the accuracy of eight-polar bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) for the assessment of total body water (TBW) and extracellular water (ECW) in severe obesity. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Obesity clinic. Subjects: In all, 75 women aged 18-66 y, 25 with body mass index (BMI) between 19.1 and 29.9 kg/m(2) (ie not obese), 25 with BMI between 30.0 and 39.9 kg/m(2) (ie class I and II obese), and 25 with BMI between 40.0 and 48.2 kg/m(2) (ie class III obese). Methods: TBW and ECW were measured by (H2O)-H-2 and Br dilution. Body resistance (R) was obtained by summing the resistances of arms, trunk and legs as measured by eight-polar BIA (InBody 3.0, Biospace, Seoul, Korea). The resistance index at a frequency of x kHz (RIx) was calculated as height 2/R-x. Results: ECW: TBW was similar in women with class III (46 +/- 3%, mean +/- s.d.) and class I-II obesity (45 +/- 3%) but higher than in nonobese women (39 +/- 3%, P < 0.05). In a random subsample of 37 subjects, RI500 explained 82% of TBW variance (P < 0.0001) and cross-validation of the obtained algorithm in the remaining 38 subjects gave a percent root mean square error (RMSE%) of 5% and a pure error (PE) of 2.1 l. In the same subjects, RI5 explained 87% of ECW variance (P < 0.0001) and cross-validation of the obtained algorithm gave a RMSE% of 8% and a PE of 1.4 l. The contribution of weight and BMI to the prediction of TBW and ECW was nil or negligible on practical grounds. Conclusions: ECW: TBW is similar in women with class I-II and class III obesity up to BMI values of 48.2 kg/m(2). Eight-polar BIA offers accurate estimates of TBW and ECW in women with a wide range of BMI (19.1-48.2 kg/m(2)) without the need of population-specific formulae

The precuneal interhemispheric, trans-tentorial corridor to the pineal region and brainstem, surgical anatomy, and case illustration

Background The pineal region and dorsal midbrain are among the most challenging surgical targets. To approach lesions in this region that harbor a superior to inferior long axis, we describe the basic steps of the precuneal, interhemispheric, trans-tentorial approach and illustrate anatomical landmarks of this established, but not so popular, surgical trajectory.Method To study the anatomical landmarks and safety of this approach, the neurovascular anatomy was studied on 22 sides of 11 formalin-fixed latex-injected anatomical specimens. A step-by-step dissection of the precuneal interhemispheric trans-tentorial approach and study of the key anatomical landmarks was performed. An illustrative clinical case of a pontomesencephalic cavernous malformation (CM) resected through this approach is also detailed.Results The mean distance from the transverse sinus to the most posterior cortical vein draining into the superior sagittal sinus was 6.4 cm. The mean distance from the calcarine sulcus to the most posterior cortical vein was 5.3 cm. Key steps of the dissection are as follows: craniotomy exposing the posterior aspect of the superior sagittal sinus (SSS), durotomy and gentle retraction of the SSS edge, dissection of the interhemispheric fissure, linear incision of the tentorium that extends anteriorly to the incisura and lateral reflection of the tentorium, and arachnoidal dissection and exposure of the cerebellomesencephalic fissure.Conclusion The precuneal, interhemispheric, trans-tentorial approach affords excellent access to the falcotentorial junction, splenium, pineal region, quadrigeminal cistern, and dorsal pons once the cerebellomesencephalic fissure has been dissected

Geographical information retrieval with ontologies of place

Geographical context is required of many information retrieval tasks in which the target of the search may be documents, images or records which are referenced to geographical space only by means of place names. Often there may be an imprecise match between the query name and the names associated with candidate sources of information. There is a need therefore for geographical information retrieval facilities that can rank the relevance of candidate information with respect to geographical closeness of place as well as semantic closeness with respect to the information of interest. Here we present an ontology of place that combines limited coordinate data with semantic and qualitative spatial relationships between places. This parsimonious model of geographical place supports maintenance of knowledge of place names that relate to extensive regions of the Earth at multiple levels of granularity. The ontology has been implemented with a semantic modelling system linking non-spatial conceptual hierarchies with the place ontology. An hierarchical spatial distance measure is combined with Euclidean distance between place centroids to create a hybrid spatial distance measure. This is integrated with thematic distance, based on classification semantics, to create an integrated semantic closeness measure that can be used for a relevance ranking of retrieved objects

Endoscopic endonasal surgical anatomy through the prechiasmatic sulcus: the key window to suprachiasmatic and infrachiasmatic corridors

Background Classically, the transtuberculum and transplanum approaches have been utilized to reach the suprachiasmatic and infrachiasmatic corridors. The aim of this study was to provide a better understanding of the key endoscopic endonasal anatomy of the suprachiasmatic and infrachiasmatic corridors provided through selective removal of the prechiasmatic sulcus (SRPS).Method A SRPS was performed in 16 sides of 8 alcohol-fixed head specimens. Twenty anatomical measurements were collected on the suprachiasmatic and infrachiasmatic corridors. The transplanum and transtuberculum approaches were also performed.Results In the suprachiasmatic corridor, the SRPS exposed the anterior communicating artery (AComm) and the post-communicating segment of the anterior cerebral arteries in all the cases, while the pre-communicating segment of the anterior cerebral arteries, recurrent arteries of Heubner, and fronto-orbital arteries were visualized in 75% (12/16), 31% (5/16), and 69% (11/16) of cases, respectively. In the infrachiasmatic corridor, the ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery and superior hypophyseal arteries were always visible through the SRPS. The mean width and height of the prechiasmatic sulcus were 13.2 mm and 9.6 mm, respectively. The mean distances from the midpoint of the AComm to the anterior margin of the optic chiasm (OCh) was 5.3 mm. The mean width of the infrachiasmatic corridor was 12 3 mm at the level of the proximal margin of the ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery. The mean distances from the posterior superior limit of the pituitary stalk to the basilar tip and oculomotor nerve were 9.7 mm and 12.3 mm, respectively.Conclusions The SRPS provides access to the main neurovascular and cisternal surgical landmarks of the suprachiasmatic and infrachiasmatic corridors. This anatomical area constitutes the key part of the approach to the suprasellar area. To afford adequate surgical maneuverability, the transplanum or transtuberculum approaches are usually a necessary extension