Comparative Study Between Decision Trees and Neural Networks to Predictfatal Road Accidents in Lebanon

International audienceNowadays, road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of deaths in this world. It is a complex phenomenon leaving a significant negative impact on human’s life and properties. Classification techniques of data mining are found efficient to deal with such phenomena. After collecting data from Lebanese Internal Security Forces, data are split into training and testing sets using 10-fold cross validation. This paper aims to apply two different algorithms of Decision Trees C4.5 and CART, and various Artificial Neural Networks (MLP) in order to predict the fatality of road accidents in Lebanon. Afterwards, a comparative study is made to find the best performing algorithm. The results have shown that MLP with 2 hidden layers and 42 neurons in each layer is the best algorithm with accuracy rate of prediction (94.6%) and area under curve (AUC 95.71%)

Infectious and Noninfectious Acute Pericarditis in Children: An 11-Year Experience

Objective. The study was undertaken to determine the etiology, review management, and outcome in children diagnosed with acute pericarditis during 11 years at tertiary pediatric institution. Methods. Retrospective chart review of children diagnosed between 2004 and 2014. Patients with postsurgical pericardial effusions were excluded. Results. Thirty-two children were identified (median age 10yr/11mo). Pericardiocentesis was performed in 24/32 (75%) patients. The most common cause of pericarditis was infection in 11/32 (34%), followed by inflammatory disorders in 9 (28%). Purulent pericarditis occurred in 5 children including 4 due to Staphylococcus aureus: 2 were methicillin resistant (MRSA). All patients with purulent pericarditis had concomitant infection including soft tissue, bone, or lung infection; all had pericardial drain placement and 2 required pericardiotomy and mediastinal exploration. Other infections were due to Histoplasma capsulatum (2), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (2), Influenza A (1), and Enterovirus (1). Pericarditis/pericardial effusion was the initial presentation in 4 children with systemic lupus erythematosus including one who presented with tamponade and in 2 children who were diagnosed with systemic onset juvenile inflammatory arthritis. Tumors were diagnosed in 2 patients. Five children had recurrent pericarditis. Systemic antibiotics were used in 21/32 (66%) and prednisone was used in 11/32 (34%) patients. Conclusion. Infections remain an important cause of pericarditis in children. Purulent pericarditis is most commonly caused by Staphylococcus aureus and is associated with significant morbidity, need of surgical intervention, and prolonged antibiotic therapy. Echocardiography-guided thoracocentesis remains the preferred diagnostic and therapeutic approach. However, pericardiotomy and drainage are needed when appropriate clinical response is not achieved with percutaneous drainage

A dual role for hepatocyte-intrinsic canonical NF-kappaB signaling in virus control.

peer reviewedBACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatic innate immune control of viral infections has largely been attributed to Kupffer cells, the liver macrophages. However, also hepatocytes, the parenchymal cells of the liver, possess potent immunological functions in addition to their known metabolic functions. Owing to their abundance in the liver and known immunological functions, we aimed to investigate the direct anti-viral mechanisms employed by hepatocytes. METHODS: Using lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) as a model of liver infection, we first assessed the role of myeloid cells by depletion prior to infection. We investigated the role of hepatocyte-intrinsic innate immune signaling by infecting mice lacking canonical NF-kappaB signaling (IKKbeta(DeltaHep)) specifically in hepatocytes. In addition, mice lacking hepatocyte-specific interferon-alpha/beta signaling-(IFNAR(DeltaHep)), or interferon-alpha/beta signaling in myeloid cells-(IFNAR(DeltaMyel)) were infected. RESULTS: Here, we demonstrate that LCMV activates NF-kappaB signaling in hepatocytes. LCMV-triggered NF-kappaB activation in hepatocytes did not depend on Kupffer cells or TNFR1- but rather on TLR-signaling. LCMV-infected IKKbeta(DeltaHep) livers displayed strongly elevated viral titers due to LCMV accumulation within hepatocytes, reduced interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) expression, delayed intrahepatic immune cell influx and delayed intrahepatic LCMV-specific CD8(+) T-cell responses. Notably, viral clearance and ISG expression were also reduced in LCMV-infected primary hepatocytes lacking IKKbeta, demonstrating a hepatocyte-intrinsic effect. Similar to livers of IKKbeta(DeltaHep) mice, enhanced hepatocytic LCMV accumulation was observed in livers of IFNAR(DeltaHep), whereas IFNAR(DeltaMyel) mice were able to control LCMV-infection. Hepatocytic NF-kappaB signaling was also required for efficient ISG induction in HDV-infected dHepaRG cells and interferon-alpha/beta-mediated inhibition of HBV replication in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Together, these data show that hepatocyte-intrinsic NF-kappaB is a vital amplifier of interferon-alpha/beta signaling pivotal for early, strong ISG responses, influx of immune cells and hepatic viral clearance

A dual role for hepatocyte-intrinsic canonical NF-κB signaling in virus control.

Using lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) as a model of liver infection, we first assessed the role of myeloid cells by depletion prior to infection. We investigated the role of hepatocyte-intrinsic innate immune signaling by infecting mice lacking canonical NF-κB signaling (IKKβΔHep) specifically in hepatocytes. In addition, mice lacking hepatocyte-specific interferon-α/β signaling-(IFNARΔHep), or interferon-α/β signaling in myeloid cells-(IFNARΔMyel) were infected