22 research outputs found

    Correlation between gaze and hovers during decision-making interaction

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    Taps only consist of a small part of the manual input when inter-acting with touch-enabled surfaces. Indeed, how the hand behaves in the hovering space is informative of what the user intends to do. In this article, we present a data collection related to hand and eye motion. We tailored a kiosk-like system to record participants' gaze and hand movements. We specifically designed a memory game to detect the decision-making process users may face. Our data collection comprises of 177 trials from 71 participants. Based on a hand movement classification, we extracted 16588 hovers. We study the gaze behaviour during hovers, and we found out that the distance between gaze and hand depends on the target's location on the screen. We also showed how indecision can be deducted from this distance

    Assessment of pathological response to therapy using lipid mass spectrometry imaging.

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    In many cancers, the establishment of a patient's future treatment regime often relies on histopathological assessment of tumor tissue specimens in order to determine the extent of the 'pathological response' to a given therapy. However, histopathological assessment of pathological response remains subjective. Here we use MALDI mass spectrometry imaging to generate lipid signatures from colorectal cancer liver metastasis specimens resected from patients preoperatively treated with chemotherapy. Using these signatures we obtained a unique pathological response score that correlates with prognosis. In addition, we identify single lipid moieties that are overexpressed in different histopathological features of the tumor, which have potential as new biomarkers for assessing response to therapy. These data show that computational methods, focusing on the lipidome, can be used to determine prognostic markers for response to chemotherapy and may potentially improve risk assessment and patient care

    Defining the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic index of piperacillin/tazobactam within a hollow-fibre infection model to determine target attainment in intensive care patients

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    BACKGROUND: It is important to optimize dosing schemes of antibiotics to maximize the probability of therapeutic success. The recommended pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) index for piperacillin/tazobactam therapy in clinical studies ranges widely (50%-100% fT>1-4×MIC). Dosing schemes failing to achieve PK/PD targets may lead to negative treatment outcomes. OBJECTIVES: The first aim of this study was to define the optimal PK/PD index of piperacillin/tazobactam with a hollow-fibre infection model (HFIM). The second aim was to predict whether these PK/PD targets are currently achieved in critically ill patients through PK/PD model simulation. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A dose-fractionation study comprising 21 HFIM experiments was performed against a range of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, doses and infusion times. Clinical data and dose histories from a case series of nine patients with a known bacterial infection treated with piperacillin/tazobactam in the ICU were collected. The PK/PD index and predicted plasma concentrations and therefore target attainment of the patients were simulated using R version 4.2.1. RESULTS: fT >MIC was found to be the best-fitting PK/PD index for piperacillin/tazobactam. Bactericidal activity with 2 log10 cfu reduction was associated with 77% fT>MIC. Piperacillin/tazobactam therapy was defined as clinically 'ineffective' in ∼78% (7/9) patients. Around seventy-one percent (5/7) of these patients had a probability of >10% that 2  log10 cfu reduction was not attained. CONCLUSIONS: Our dose-fractionation study indicates an optimal PK/PD target in piperacillin/tazobactam therapies should be 77% fT>MIC for 2 log10 kill. Doses to achieve this target should be considered when treating patients in ICU

    Monophasic synovial sarcoma presenting as a primary ileal mass: a case report and review of the literature

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Synovial sarcoma is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumor mainly arising in the peri-articular tissue in young adults. There are few cases reported in other areas.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 29-year-old Saudi woman of Arabian ethnicity with synovial sarcoma arising primarily from the ileum who presented with abdominal pain, a palpable mass and incomplete intestinal obstruction. A literature review was performed to gather information on this rare gastrointestinal tract sarcoma.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although it is a rare tumor of the pre-articular tissues, synovial sarcoma can present, in exceedingly rare cases, in unusual anatomical sites such as the gastrointestinal tract. We believe the reporting of all rare or unexpected presentations of sarcoma will eventually improve our understanding of this relatively unusual malignancy.</p

    Liver phospholipids fatty acids composition in response to different types of diets in rats of both sexes

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    Background: Dietary intake influence changes in fatty acids (FA) profiles in liver which plays a central role in fatty acid metabolism, triacylglycerol synthesis and energy homeostasis. We investigated the effects of 4-weeks treatment with milk-and fish-based diet, on plasma biochemical parameters and FA composition of liver phospholipids (PL) in rats of both sexes. Methods: Adult, 4 months old, Wistar rats of both sexes, were fed with different types of diets: standard, milk-based and fish-based, during 4 weeks. Analytical characterization of different foods was done. Biochemical parameters in plasma were determined. Fatty acid composition was analyzed by gas-chromatography. Statistical significance of FA levels was tested with two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the sex of animals and treatment (type of diet) as factors on logarithmic or trigonometric transformed data. Results: Our results showed that both, milk-and fish-based diet, changed the composition and ratio of rat liver phospholipids FA, in gender-specific manner. Initially present sex differences appear to be dietary modulated. Although, applied diets changed the ratio of total saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), and effects were gender specific. Milk-based diet lowered SFA and elevated MUFA in males and increased PUFA in females vs. standard diet. The same diet decreased n-3, increased n-6 and n-6/n-3 ratio in males. Fish-based diet increased n-3, decreased n-6 and n-6/n-3 ratio vs. standard and milk-based diet in females. However, the ratio of individual FA in liver PL was also dietary-influenced, but with gender specific manner. While in females fish-based diet decreased AA (arachidonic acid) increased level of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), DPA (docosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), the same diet elevated only DHA levels in males. Conclusion: Gender related variations in FA composition of rat liver PL were observed, and results have shown that those initial differences could be significantly modulated by the type of diet. Furthermore, the modulatory effects of milk-and fish-based diets on liver phospholipids FA profiles appeared to be sex-specific

    Abstracts from the 3rd International Genomic Medicine Conference (3rd IGMC 2015)

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    The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of screening for latent tuberculosis among migrants in the EU/EEA: a systematic review.

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    BackgroundMigrants account for a large and growing proportion of tuberculosis (TB) cases in low-incidence countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) which are primarily due to reactivation of latent TB infection (LTBI). Addressing LTBI among migrants will be critical to achieve TB elimination. Methods: We conducted a systematic review to determine effectiveness (performance of diagnostic tests, efficacy of treatment, uptake and completion of screening and treatment) and a second systematic review on cost-effectiveness of LTBI screening programmes for migrants living in the EU/EEA. Results: We identified seven systematic reviews and 16 individual studies that addressed our aims. Tuberculin skin tests and interferon gamma release assays had high sensitivity (79%) but when positive, both tests poorly predicted the development of active TB (incidence rate ratio: 2.07 and 2.40, respectively). Different LTBI treatment regimens had low to moderate efficacy but were equivalent in preventing active TB. Rifampicin-based regimens may be preferred because of lower hepatotoxicity (risk ratio = 0.15) and higher completion rates (82% vs 69%) compared with isoniazid. Only 14.3% of migrants eligible for screening completed treatment because of losses along all steps of the LTBI care cascade. Limited economic analyses suggest that the most cost-effective approach may be targeting young migrants from high TB incidence countries. Discussion: The effectiveness of LTBI programmes is limited by the large pool of migrants with LTBI, poorly predictive tests, long treatments and a weak care cascade. Targeted LTBI programmes that ensure high screening uptake and treatment completion will have greatest individual and public health benefit

    The fatty acid and triacylglycerol profiles of conventionally and organically produced grains of maize, spelt and buckwheat

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    Triacylglycerols (TAGs) and free fatty acids (FAs) present an important part of the grain lipid fraction. Knowing about its composition can be important information for both chemotaxonomic and nutritional parameters. The aim of the present study was to determine the TAG and FA profiles (and their similarities/differences) of several important crops (maize, spelt, buckwheat) grown under dissimilar agroecological systems - conventional and organic. Fatty acid composition was determined by applying the GC-FID method while HPLC method was used for the determination of the triacylglycerol profile of selected grains. To the best of our knowledge, the TAG profile of spelt grains was determined for the first time. Ten different FAs were identified in examined samples with a predominant presence of linoleic acid, except in the case of buckwheat (oleic acid) grains. Uniformly, buckwheat grains stood out due to the predominance of triglycerides with an equivalent carbon number of fifty (ECN 50) or forty-eight (ECN 48). In contrast, other samples contained ECN 44 and ECN 46 TAGs as the most represented triglycerides. Based on the principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster statistical analysis results, there is no uniformity in the differences between organic and conventional production growing systems
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