Deep learning methods for screening patients' S-ICD implantation eligibility.

Acknowledgments The work of Anthony J. Dunn is jointly funded by Decision Analysis Services Ltd. and EPSRC through the Studentship with Reference EP/R513325/1. The work of Alain B. Zemkoho is supported by the EPSRC grant EP/V049038/1 and the Alan Turing Institute under the EPSRC grant EP/N510129/1. The feedback provided by Sion Cave (DAS Ltd) on the initial draft of the paper is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Electrocardiographic changes during haemodialysis and the potential impact on subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator eligibility

Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the kindness and support that they received from all of the patients and staff at the Chandler's Ford Dialysis Unit. Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The effectiveness of some pesticides in the control of thrips and red spider mites on strawberry plants

This study was carried out in a private farm in Wardan, Giza governorate in Egypt during 2019 season on strawberry plants. The first experiment aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of different commercial products in cultivated land including Solo 24% SC (Bifenazate), Arbus 12% SC (Chlorfenapyr + Emamectin benzoate) , Concor 24% SC (Spirodiclofen), Excellent 1.9% EC (Emamectin benzoate) , Top9 (Chitosan 0.1%) , Biomectin 5% EC (Abamectin) and Congest 15% CS (Abamectin + Imidacloprid) in reducing the population densities of two spotted spider mite, Tetranychus uriticae Koch. on strawberry plants. According to general mean percentage of reduction in population of T. uriticae, data showed insignificant differences among the seven tested compounds whereas the mortality percentages were 85.94 %, 82.18%, 81.4%, 79.36%, 78.14%, 77.94% and 75.9%, respectively. From these results; it’s clear that Solo compound is the most effective compound and Congest is the lowest one. The other compounds ranged between them in controlling T. uriticae under these experimental conditions. The second experiment evaluated the effectiveness of different formulations in the nursery including Radiant (Spinetoram 12% Sc), Super Rigo (Naphthyl acetic acid – Chitosan), Top9 and Berna Star (Glyceryl stearate 32%) in reducing the population densities of western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) on strawberry plants. According to general mean percentage of reduction in population of F. occidentalis, data showed significant differences among the four compounds. These compounds could be divided into three groups. The first group contained Radiant compound showing high mortality (63.5%). The second group contained Super Rigo and Top9 compounds showing moderate effect (46.44% & 34.3%), respectively. The third group contained Berna Star compound showing least effect (28.36%). From these results; it’s clear that the chemical compound Radiant is the most effective while the natural compound Berna Star is the lowest in controlling F. occidentalis under these experimental conditions

Deep learning-based insights on T:R ratio behaviour during prolonged screening for S-ICD eligibility.

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The Use of App-based Follow-up of Cardiac Implantable Electronic Devices

There has been a steady rise in the number of patients treated with cardiac implantable electrical devices. Remote monitoring and remote follow-up have proven superior to conventional care in the follow-up of these patients and represent the new standard of care. With the widespread availability of smartphones and with more people using them for health queries, app-based remote care offers a promising new digital health solution promoting the shift of follow-up to exception-based assessments. It focuses on patients’ enablement and has shown promising results, but also highlights the need to increase the system’s automaticity to achieve acceptable follow-up adherence rates. MyCareLink Heart is a fully automated app-based system that represents the next generation of app-based monitoring and is currently being evaluated in an international study with promising initial results

Role of deep learning methods in screening for subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator in heart failure.

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Deep learning methods for screening patients' S-ICD implantation eligibility

Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators (S-ICDs) are used for prevention of sudden cardiac death triggered by ventricular arrhythmias. T Wave Over Sensing (TWOS) is an inherent risk with S-ICDs which can lead to inappropriate shocks. A major predictor of TWOS is a high T:R ratio (the ratio between the amplitudes of the T and R waves). Currently patients' Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are screened over 10 seconds to measure the T:R ratio, determining the patients' eligibility for S-ICD implantation. Due to temporal variations in the T:R ratio, 10 seconds is not long enough to reliably determine the normal values of a patient's T:R ratio. In this paper, we develop a convolutional neural network (CNN) based model utilising phase space reconstruction matrices to predict T:R ratios from 10-second ECG segments without explicitly locating the R or T waves, thus avoiding the issue of TWOS. This tool can be used to automatically screen patients over a much longer period and provide an in-depth description of the behaviour of the T:R ratio over that period. The tool can also enable much more reliable and descriptive screenings to better assess patients' eligibility for S-ICD implantation

Prevalence of Gall Bladder Stones among Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Benghazi Libya: A Case-control Study

Background: Diabetes mellitus and gall bladder stones are both common and costly diseases. Increasing age, female gender, overweight, familial history of the disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus is all associated with an increased risk of gallstones. Several studies from around the world reported an increased prevalence of gall bladder stones in patients with diabetes mellitus. Aims and objectives: The aim of this study was to define the frequency of gall bladder stones among Libyan diabetics and to evaluate the possible associated risk factors in these patients. Patients and methods: A case-control study was performed during 2007 at Benghazi Diabetes and endocrinology Center. The study involved 161 randomly selected type-2 diabetic patients under regular follow up at the center, and 166 age and sex matched non-diabetic outpatients at the 7th of October teaching hospital. Real-time abdominal ultrasound was performed by two radiologists to examine the abdomen after an overnight fast. Results: About 40% of the diabetic cohort had gall bladder stones as compared to 17.5% of non-diabetic patients. Females were significantly more affected than males. Patients with gall bladder stones were significantly older and had a significantly higher body mass index than those without stones. Conclusion: The prevalence of gallstones in Libyan diabetic patients is higher than the rates reported in other parts of the world. Libyan diabetic patients with gallstones tend to be older and more obese than those without gallstones. Duration of diabetes mellitus and type of treatment does not seem to influence the frequency of gall bladder stones among Libyan diabetics

Correlation analysis of deep learning methods in S-ICD screening

© 2023 The Authors. Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.Peer reviewedPublisher PD