Machine learning application for prediction of locoregional recurrences in early oral tongue cancer: a Web-based prognostic tool

Estimation of risk of recurrence in early-stage oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) remains a challenge in the field of head and neck oncology. We examined the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict recurrences in early-stage OTSCC. A Web-based tool available for public use was also developed. A feedforward neural network was trained for prediction of locoregional recurrences in early OTSCC. The trained network was used to evaluate several prognostic parameters (age, gender, T stage, WHO histologic grade, depth of invasion, tumor budding, worst pattern of invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphocytic host response). Our neural network model identified tumor budding and depth of invasion as the most important prognosticators to predict locoregional recurrence. The accuracy of the neural network was 92.7%, which was higher than that of the logistic regression model (86.5%). Our online tool provided 88.2% accuracy, 71.2% sensitivity, and 98.9% specificity. In conclusion, ANN seems to offer a unique decision-making support predicting recurrences and thus adding value for the management of early OTSCC. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that applied ANN for prediction of recurrence in early OTSCC and provided a Web-based tool.</p

Female sexual dysfunction in women of reproductive age group in Nigeria, West Africa

Introduction: Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) is a real physical, psychological, social, spiritual and cultural problem in Nigeria, yet greatly understudied. There is plethora of information about male sexual dysfunction but paucity of research on female dysfunction.Objectives: This study aims to assess the prevalence of FSD and correlates among women of reproductive age presenting at the General Outpatient Department of Kwara State Specialist Hospital.Method: This was a hospital based, cross sectional, descriptive study of three hundred female of reproductive age group. Blood pressure was measured. Classification of hypertension was made according to the JNC 7. BMI was calculated as (kg/m2).The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) was used to assess the major components of sexual function. Participant were considered to have difficulties in a particular domain if they demonstrated scores &lt;4.28 on the desire domain, &lt;5.08 on the arousal domain, &lt;5.45 on the lubrication domain, &lt;5.05 on the orgasm domain, &lt;5.04 on the satisfaction domain and &lt;5.51 on the pain domain. The data were analyzed using the epidemiological information (Epi-info) 2005 software package. The 2 by 2contingency tables were used to carry out Chi-square test and to find out the level of significance and values less than 0.05 were regarded as statistically significant.Result: Of the 300 female patients interviewed, 285 (95%) had sexual dysfunction while 15 (5%) did not. Types of sexual dysfunctional include, disorder of desire 273(91%), arousal 267(89%), lubrication 297(99%), orgasm 276(92%), satisfaction 258(86%) and pain 297(99%).Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that female sexual dysfunction is a significant problem that affects a substantial number of women in this environment. The most common dysfunction amongst women was in the pain and lubrication domains. The commonest cause of sexual dysfunction was aging, closely followed by socio-demographic predicament.Keywords: Female Sexual Dysfunction, Reproductive Age Group, Nigeria, West Afric

Depression and certain family characteristics among University of Ilorin students

Depression among undergraduates is gradually gaining public health concern globally. In Nigeria, there has been an observation of a rising prevalence of depression, suicides, and attempted suicides with associated detrimental effects on academic performance and overall functioning among undergraduates in the last decade. While&nbsp; data on other risk factors for depression abound, there is paucity of data on the association between family characteristics and depression among the students of the University of Ilorin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression, its pattern of severity, and association with certain family characteristics among students attending the University of Ilorin Health Centre. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 353 selected students attending the Health Centre from May to July 2017 using structured questionnaires (Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Index of Family Relation scale) and semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis was done with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20 and the level of statistical significance was set at a p-value of ≤ 0.05 at 95% confidence interval. The age range of the respondents was 16-26years with a mean of 20.43years SD ±2.20.The prevalence of depression was 45.3% out of which, 59.4% had mild depression, 27.5% had moderate depression, 9.4% had moderately severe depression and 3.7% had severe depression. Depression was positively associated with family relationship (p-value= 0.011), parents living together (p-value= 0.008) and order of birth (p-value = 0.001).&nbsp; The study showed that the prevalence of depression among the students was high with worrisome proportion of those with severe forms (moderately severe and severe depression). Certain family characteristics (parents living together, order of birth, and family relationship) were found to be statistically associated with depression among the students. Routine screening at the University Health center for early diagnosis and treatment to avoid grave outcomes is advised

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus us genomes comprise divergent subpopulations and harbor extensive variability

Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) was first reported in the United States (US) in 2017 from cotton plants in Alabama (AL) and has become widespread in cotton-growing states of the southern US. To investigate the genomic variability among CLRDV isolates in the US, complete genomes of the virus were obtained from infected cotton plants displaying mild to severe symptoms from AL, Florida, and Texas. Eight CLRDV genomes were determined, ranging in size from 5865 to 5867 bp, and shared highest nucleotide identity with other CLRDV isolates in the US, at 95.9–98.7%. Open reading frame (ORF) 0, encoding the P0 silencing suppressor, was the most variable gene, sharing 88.5–99.6% and 81.2–89.3% amino acid similarity with CLRDV isolates reported in cotton growing states in the US and in Argentina and Brazil in South America, respectively. Based on Bayesian analysis, the complete CLRDV genomes from cotton in the US formed a monophyletic group comprising three relatively divergent sister clades, whereas CLRDV genotypes from South America clustered as closely related sister-groups, separate from US isolates, patterns reminiscent of phylogeographical structuring. The CLRDV isolates exhibited a complex pattern of recombination, with most breakpoints evident in ORFs 2 and 3, and ORF5. Despite extensive nucleotide diversity among all available CLRDV genomes, purifying selection (dN/dS < 1) was implicated as the primary selective force acting on viral protein evolution. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]