Limited Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms Late in Pregnancy Are Not Related to Neonatal Outcomes

Background: Prior studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding the link between antenatal depressive and anxiety symptomatology, with neonatal outcomes. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the possible association of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms, in the third trimester of pregnancy, with perinatal outcomes (birth weight of the newborn, Apgar score and the newborn’s admission in neonatal intensive care unit) in a sample of pregnant women, in Greece. Patients and Methods: A total of 117 women from Athens, during the 32nd to 35th week of pregnancy, participated in the study. Demographic and obstetric history data, as well as neonatal outcomes, were recorded. Three self-administered psychometric scales (Beck depression inventory (BDI), Edinburg postnatal depression scale (EPDS) and beck anxiety inventory (BAI)) were used to evaluate in detail the prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms. Descriptive statistics, Spearman’s Rho coefficients, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis testes were applied to analyze the data. Results: On the basis of BDI, 81.1% of the sample showed minimal, 15.4% mild, 2.6% moderate and 0.9% severe depressive symptoms, respectively. Furthermore, 80.3% of the participants, scored on EPDS below the cut-off point for a likely diagnosis of depression. According to BAI scale, 43.6% showed minimal, 42.7% women mild, 10.3% moderate and 3.4% severe anxiety symptoms. No statistically significant correlations were found between depressive and anxiety symptoms and neonatal outcomes (birth weight, Apgar score and admission in neonatal intensive care unit). Conclusions: Limited levels of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms do not seem to be associated with neonatal outcomes. In clinical practice, pregnant women, who suffer from low levels of prenatal depressive and anxiety symptoms, may be reassured, in respect of the adverse outcomes of these mood symptoms on the neonate

3D visualization processes for recreating and studying organismal form

The study of biological form is a vital goal of evolutionary biology and functional morphology. We review an emerging set of methods that allow scientists to create and study accurate 3D models of living organisms and animate those models for biomechanical and fluid dynamic analyses. The methods for creating such models include 3D photogrammetry, laser and CT-scanning, and 3D software. New multi-camera devices can be used to create accurate 3D models of living animals in the wild and captivity. New websites and virtual reality/augmented reality devices now enable the visualization and sharing of these data. We provide examples of these approaches for animals ranging from large whales to lizards and show applications for several areas: Natural history collections; body condition/scaling, bioinspired robotics, computational fluids dynamics (CFD), machine learning, and education. We provide two data sets to demonstrate the efficacy of CFD and machine learning approaches and conclude with a prospectus

Socioeconomic crisis and aggressive behaviour of Greek adolescents

Background: Aggressive behaviours are common during adolescence. In Greece, adolescents and their families experience a severe and enduring recession with potentially adverse impact on mental health. Aim: This study aimed to examine the correlation between adolescents' aggressive behaviour and economic factors. Methods: The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) was used to measure aggression. Reduction in pocket money and three items of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale were used to measure material deprivation as a result of the economic crisis. The questionnaires were administrated to a sample of 2,159 adolescent students of the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area. Results: Students who during the previous 4 weeks had experienced household food insecurity (anxiety/uncertainty about food, insufficient food quality or insufficient food intake) or had their pocket money decreased within the last 6 months scored on average significantly higher in the AQ compared to their counterparts who did not. Conclusion: The shortage in basic goods due to the actual Greek economic crisis seems to be related to aggressive behaviours during adolescence and we should take this into account in clinical practice. © SAGE Publications

Prevalence of Bullying and Its Co-Occurrence with Aggression and Mental Health Problems among Greek Adolescents Attending Urban Schools

Background: Bullying is one widespread violence type that threatens adolescent’s well-being in family, school, and neighborhood. This study aimed to estimate the percentages of the last 12 months bullying behaviors-types among Greek adolescents, and to identify the associations between these behaviors and adolescents’ aggression and mental health-behavioral problems. Study design: A cross-sectional study. Methods: The sample consisted of 1934 adolescents, attending the second grade of 45 randomly selected public and private high schools and senior high schools, of the Greater Athens Metropolitan Area. Bullying involvement was examined by four questions, evaluating the occurrence and type of bullying. The Buss and Perry Questionnaire and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire were administrated in order to estimate adolescents’ aggression and mental health-behavioral problems, respectively. Information about adolescents’ individual and family characteristics was also collected. Results: Overall, 18.4% of participants reported bullying involvement at school, as a victim (11.0%), a bully (5.0%), or both (2.4%), while verbal bullying was the most common type. Compared to uninvolved participants, victims were significantly more likely to report emotional symptoms and peer problems, bullies were more likely to report physical aggression, and bully-victims physical aggression, hostility, and lower prosocial behavior. Conclusions: Approximately one out of five adolescents were involved in bullying in the past year at school, reporting aggressive behaviors, emotional problems, and/or social difficulties. Further longitudinal research would increase understanding of the mechanisms of bullying involvement and may lead to preventative interventions promoting positive peer interactions in schools. © 2022 The Author(s), Published by Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

3D Shape Segmentation with Geometric Deep Learning

The semantic segmentation of 3D shapes with a high-density of vertices could be impractical due to large memory requirements. To make this problem computationally tractable, we propose a neural-network based approach that produces 3D augmented views of the 3D shape to solve the whole segmentation as sub-segmentation problems. 3D augmented views are obtained by projecting vertices and normals of a 3D shape onto 2D regular grids taken from different viewpoints around the shape. These 3D views are then processed by a Convolutional Neural Network to produce a probability distribution function (pdf) over the set of the semantic classes for each vertex. These pdfs are then re-projected on the original 3D shape and postprocessed using contextual information through Conditional Random Fields. We validate our approach using 3D shapes of publicly available datasets and of real objects that are reconstructed using photogrammetry techniques. We compare our approach against state-of-the-art alternatives

EUS – Fine- Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) in the Diagnosis of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma: A Review

Solid masses of the pancreas represent a variety of benign and malignant neoplasms of the exocrine and endocrine tissues of the pancreas. A tissue diagnosis is often required to direct therapy in the face of uncertain diagnosis or if the patient is not a surgical candidate either due to advanced disease or comorbidities. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a relatively new technology that employs endoscopy and high-frequency ultrasound (US). EUS involves imaging of the pancreatic head and the uncinate from the duodenum and imaging of the body and tail from the stomach. It has been shown to be a highly sensitive method for the detection of pancreatic masses. It is superior to extracorporeal US and computed tomographic (CT) scans, especially when the pancreatic tumor is smaller than 2-3 cm. Although EUS is highly sensitive in detecting pancreatic solid masses, its ability to differentiate between inflammatory masses and malignant disease is limited. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) brushing, CT-guided biopsies, and transabdominal ultrasound (US) have been the standard nonsurgical methods for obtaining a tissue diagnosis of pancreatic lesions, but a substantial false-negative rate has been reported. Transabdominal US-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNAB) has been used for tissue diagnosis in patients with suspected pancreatic carcinoma. It has been shown to be highly specific, with no false-positive diagnoses. With the advent of curvilinear echoendoscopes, transgastric and transduodenal EUS-FNAB of the pancreas have become a reality EUS with FNAB has revolutionized the ability to diagnose and stage cancers of the gastrointestinal tract and assess the pancreas. Gastrointestinal cancers can be looked at with EUS and their depth of penetration into the intestinal wall can be determined. Any suspicious appearing lymph nodes can be biopsied using EUS/FNAB. The pancreas is another organ that is well visualized with EUS. Abnormalities such as tumors and cysts of the pancreas can be carefully evaluated using EUS and then biopsied with FNAB. There are many new applications of EUS using FNAB. Researchers are looking to deliver chemotherapeutics into small pancreatic cancers and cysts. Nerve blocks using EUS/FNAB to inject numbing medicines into the celiac ganglia, a major nerve cluster, are now routinely performed in patients with pain due to pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study is to perform a review of the literature regarding the usefulness of EUS/FNAB in the diagnosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma

Cytology of Pericardial Effusion due to Malignancy

Background. Malignant pericardial effusion occurs in one tenth of all cancers. It is a very serious disorder that is mainly a secondary process due to metastasis because primary neoplasms of the pericardium such as mesotheliomas, sarcomas being exceedingly rare