Automatic detection of Crohn's disease using quantified motility in magnetic resonance enterography : initial experiences

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The AuthorsAIM: To report initial experiences of automatic detection of Crohn's disease (CD) using quantified motility in magnetic resonance enterography (MRE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 302 patients, three datasets with roughly equal proportions of CD and non-CD cases with various illnesses were drawn for testing and neural network training and validation. All datasets had unique MRE parameter configurations and were performed in free breathing. Nine neural networks were devised for automatic generation of three different regions of interests (ROI): small bowel, all bowel, and non-bowel. Additionally, a full-image ROI was tested. The motility in an MRE series was quantified via a registration procedure, which, accompanied with given ROIs, resulted in three motility indices (MI). A subset of the indices was used as an input for a binary logistic regression classifier, which predicted whether the MRE series represented CD. RESULTS: The highest mean area under the curve (AUC) score, 0.78, was reached using the full-image ROI and with the dataset with the highest cine series length. The best AUC scores for the other two datasets were only 0.54 and 0.49. CONCLUSION: The automatic system was able to detect CD in the group of MRE studies with lower temporal resolution and longer cine series showing potential in primary bowel disorder diagnostics. Larger ROI selections and utilising all available cine series for motility registration yielded slight performance improvements. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Royal College of Radiologists. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).Peer reviewe

Spatial Distribution of Fluoride Concentration in Drinking Water Sources in Northern Tanzania

Study on Fluoride concentration levels and spatial distribution was carried out in a total of 366 drinking water sources in Arusha city, Ngorongoro, Arumeru, Monduli, Karatu, Meru, and Longido districts in Arusha Region, Northern Tanzania. The main objective of the study was to map occurrence and level of Fluoride concentrations in the existing and potential sources of drinking water supply in the case study areas. Determination of Fluoride concentration was analysed by electrochemical methods using a Fluoride ion selective electrode. The obtained results indicate that out of the 22 water sources assessedin Arusha city, only 14 (63%) meets the recommended Fluoride concentration level (4 mg/L) for drinking water standards of Tanzania. In Karatu district out of the 22 water sources assessed, 9 sources (41%) do not meet the Tanzania standards of Fluoride concentration levels in drinking water sources, while in Longido all 18 boreholes had Fluoride concentration levels above the recommended Tanzania standards. Out of the 11 assessed spring water sources, 6 (55%) had concentration above the recommend levels. However, Fluoride concentrations in all rivers in Longido district were found to be within the allowable standards. In Monduli district 2 dug wells had Fluoride concentration between 0.34 and 1.0 mg/L, respectively. Fluoride concentration in Lake Manyara was found to be as high as 18 mg/L, which is far beyond the recommended concentration level in Tanzania as well as by World Health Organization (WHO). Fluoride concentrations in almost all spring water sources in Monduli district have Fluoride concentrations allowable both by Tanzania and WHO standards. In Meru district the percentage of water sources with Fluoride concentration within the allowable levels in Tanzania and can thus can be tapped for safe water supply are boreholes 64.3%, springs 66.7%, shallow wells 25.7% and rivers 71.5%. In Arusha District springs constitute the main water source. Out of these 77% have Fluoride concentration within Tanzania allowable standards. As for Ngorongoro out of 51 water sources assessed only 4 have Fluoride concentration above 4.0 mg/L, suggesting a major leeway and flexibility in terms of selection of water supply sources in this district. Results of this study indicate a challenging situation in terms of selection of source of safe water supply in Arusha city and Meru district as many of their water sources have Fluoride concentration above the permissible levels in Tanzania. However, the situation is different in Karatu, Longido and Monduli, Arumeru and Ngorongoro districts where substantial water sources have Fluoride concentration within levels acceptable for drinking water supply in Tanzania. Keywords: Fluoride Concentrations, Allowable Concentration levels, Drinking Water Source

Maternal early pregnancy body mass index and diurnal salivary cortisol in young adult offspring

Background Maternal early pregnancy overweight (body mass index [BMI] 25.0-29.9 kg/m(2)) and obesity (BMI >= 30 kg/m(2)) are associated with mental and physical health adversities in the offspring. Prenatal programming of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been put forward as one of the mechanisms that may play pathophysiological role. However, evidence linking maternal overweight and obesity with offspring HPA-axis activity is scarce. We studied if maternal early pregnancy BMI is associated with diurnal salivary cortisol, a marker of HPA-axis activity, in young adult offspring. Methods At a mean age of 25.3 (standard deviation [SD) = 0.6) years, 653 Arvo Ylppo Longitudinal Study participants collected saliva samples for cortisol analyses, at awakening, 15 and 30 min thereafter, 10:30AM, 12:00PM, 5:30PM and at bedtime. Maternal BMI was calculated from weight and height verified by a measurement in the first antenatal clinic visit before 12 weeks of gestation derived from healthcare records. Results Per each one kg/m(2) higher maternal early pregnancy BMI offspring diurnal average salivary cortisol was -1.4% (95% CI:-2.6, -0.2, p(FDR) = 0.033) lower, at awakening it was -2.4% (95% CI:-4.0, -0.7, p(FDR) = 0.025) lower and the morning average salivary cortisol was -2.0% (95% CI:-3.4,-0.5, p(FDR) = 0.017) lower. These associations were independent of the offspring's own young adulthood BMI, and other important covariates. Conclusion Our findings show that young adult offspring born to mothers with higher early pregnancy BMI show lower average levels of diurnal cortisol, especially in the morning. Whether these findings reflect prenatal programming of the offspring HPA-axis activity warrants further investigation.Peer reviewe

Pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity and gestational diabetes as predictors of body composition in offspring twenty years later : evidence from two birth cohort studies

Background. Global prevalence of overweight/obesity and gestational diabetes (GDM) is increasing. In pregnant women both conditions affect offspring's later health. Overweight/obesity is a risk factor of GDM; to what extent maternal overweight/obesity explains long-term effects of GDM in offspring is unknown. Objective. To evaluate effects of maternal pre-pregnancy overweight/obesity (BMI ⩾25 kg/m2) and GDM, occurring together or separately, on body composition among adult offspring. Methods. Participants include 891 individuals aged 24.1 years (s.d. 1.4) from two longitudinal cohort studies (ESTER and AYLS). Adult offspring of normoglycemic mothers with overweight/obesity (ONOO, n=153), offspring of mothers with GDM (OGDM; n=191) and controls (n=547) underwent anthropometric measurements and bioimpedance analysis. GDM was diagnosed by oral glucose tolerance test. Data were analyzed by linear regression models adjusted for confounders. Results. Compared with controls, ONOO-participants showed higher BMI [men 1.64 kg/m2 (95% confidence interval 0.57, 2.72); women 1.41 kg/m2 (0.20, 2.63)] and fat percentage [men 2.70% (0.99, 4.41); women 2.98% (0.87, 5.09)] with larger waist circumferences [men 3.34 cm (0.68, 5.99); women 3.09 cm (0.35, 5.83)]. Likewise, OGDM-participants showed higher fat percentage [men 1.97% (0.32, 3.61); women 2.32% (0.24, 4.41)]. BMI was non-significantly different between OGDM-participants and controls [men 0.88kg/m2 (-0.17, 1.92); women 0.82 kg/m2 (-0.39, 2.04)]. Also waist circumferences were larger [men 2.63 cm (-0.01, 5.28); women 3.39 cm (0.60, 6.18)], this difference was statistically significant in OGDM-women only. Differences in body composition measures were stronger among offspring of women with both GDM and overweight/obesity. For instance, fat mass was higher among OGDM-participants of overweight mothers [men 4.24 kg (1.36, 7.11) vs controls; women 5.22 kg (1.33, 9.11)] than OGDM participants of normal weight mothers [men 1.50 kg (-2.11, 5.11) higher vs controls; women 1.57 kg (-3.27, 6.42)]. Conclusions. Maternal pre-pregnancy overweight and GDM are associated with unhealthy body size and composition in offspring over 20 years later. Effects of maternal pre-pregnancy overweight appear more pronounced

Trajectories of Physical Activity Predict the Onset of Depressive Symptoms but Not Their Progression: A Prospective Cohort Study

This prospective, community-based study examined trajectories of physical activity from childhood to adulthood and whether these trajectories contributed to depressive symptoms in adulthood to a greater degree than adulthood physical activity. Participants () were from the ongoing Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study which started in 1980. Depressive symptoms were measured with Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in 2012, and physical activity was assessed from 1980 to 2011 with self-reports. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, childhood negative emotionality, socioeconomic factors, previous depressive symptoms, social support, body mass index, and smoking status (1980–2007). Highly, moderately, and lightly physically active trajectory groups were identified. Highly active participants reported lower levels of depressive symptoms compared to lightly active ones () and compared to moderately active ones (). Moderately active participants had less symptoms than lightly active ones (). High levels of adulthood physical activity associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms (). The findings did not withstand adjustment for previous depressive symptoms (). Lifelong physical activity trajectories or adulthood physical activity was not associated with the progression of depressive symptoms in adulthood. Thus, physical activity history does not contribute to the progression of the depressive symptoms to a greater degree than adulthood physical activity.</p

Wetlands for wastewater treatment and subsequent recycling of treated effluent : a review

Due to water scarcity challenges around the world, it is essential to think about non-conventional water resources to address the increased demand in clean freshwater. Environmental and public health problems may result from insufficient provision of sanitation and wastewater disposal facilities. Because of this, wastewater treatment and recycling methods will be vital to provide sufficient freshwater in the coming decades, since water resources are limited and more than 70% of water are consumed for irrigation purposes. Therefore, the application of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation has much potential, especially when incorporating the reuse of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which are essential for plant production. Among the current treatment technologies applied in urban wastewater reuse for irrigation, wetlands were concluded to be the one of the most suitable ones in terms of pollutant removal and have advantages due to both low maintenance costs and required energy. Wetland behavior and efficiency concerning wastewater treatment is mainly linked to macrophyte composition, substrate, hydrology, surface loading rate, influent feeding mode, microorganism availability, and temperature. Constructed wetlands are very effective in removing organics and suspended solids, whereas the removal of nitrogen is relatively low, but could be improved by using a combination of various types of constructed wetlands meeting the irrigation reuse standards. The removal of phosphorus is usually low, unless special media with high sorption capacity are used. Pathogen removal from wetland effluent to meet irrigation reuse standards is a challenge unless supplementary lagoons or hybrid wetland systems are used

Effectiveness of vegetated constructed wetland in the reducation of BOD5 in pre-treated wastewater

This paper describes the performance of a Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow Constructed Wetland (HSSFCW) as a post-treatment unit to reduce BOD5 from Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) pre-treated domestic wastewater in a pilot treatment system at the University College of Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS), Dar es Salaam. Two HSSFCW units (A and B) were designed and operated at a hydraulic loading rate of approximately 0.1m3/m2/day and a Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of approximately two days. Unit A was used as control with no macrophytes while the second (unit B) was planted with Phragmites mauritianus. The control wetland unit exhibited a lower BOD5 removal (66.9±2.25%) than the vegetated unit (72.3±1.75%). Similarly, the BOD5 loading removal rate in unit A was observed to be 91.42 kg/ha/day, while in unit B it was 98.9 kg/ha/day. Better performance of the planted wetland unit can be attributed to the metabolic activities of the micro-organisms and oxygen transfer, which might have been enhanced by the roots of the wetland plants. Also, the root zone increased the surface area thereby increasing the contact between micro-organisms and the pollutants to be destroyed. The removal of BOD5 in the unvegetated CW unit A suggests that in CW systems, gravitational settling of solids is also a predominant removal mechanism of BOD5. Journal of Building and Land Development Vol. 13 (2) 2006: pp. 74-8

Assessing leverage points for strengthening adaptive capacity in a Global South food system : A psychometric approach

Despite the burgeoning literature on adaptive capacity, there is a lack of psychometric approaches for assessing the determinants of adaptive capacity, particularly in food systems in the Global South. The study addressed this knowledge gap by investigating four determinants, previously identified as leverage points, for strengthening adaptive capacity: access to finance, access to and use of information and knowledge, social learning, and gender equality. Drawing on a survey (n = 1,271) of food system actors in Kisumu County, Kenya, we conducted a confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded factors of moderate-high internal validity and reliability. We then used structural equation modelling to examine the causal effect of food system actors’ attitudes and beliefs towards the four leverage points with regards to their perceived adaptive capacity. Two factors, access to finance and social learning, were significant positive predictors of adaptive capacity. A third leverage point factor, gender equality, contributed to the respondents’ perceived adaptive capacity through the mediating factor of assets. The results reveal entry points for strategic adaptation planning and raise complexities related to gender norms and values. We discuss the implications of these findings for adaptive capacity and transformative adaptation theory in food systems in the Global South.Peer reviewe