Investigating the Etiology of Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathy; A Case Report of Cardiac Amyloidosis

Amyloidosis is the result of misfolded protein deposition in organs and tissues, including the heart also known as cardiac amyloidosis. We describe a case of a patient presenting with decompensated heart failure, which highlights the importance of identifying the etiology of the patient’s cardiomyopathy through a thorough history and physical. This led to a diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis. The patient was subsequently initiated on tafamidis, a medication that is associated with reductions in all-cause mortality and cardiovascular-related hospitalizations, reduced decline in functional capacity, and improved quality of life of the patient

A Case Report of Acute Idiopathic Hepatitis Requiring Liver Transplant

Acute liver injury may be very difficult to treat, especially when the etiology is unknown. We describe a case of a patient who presented with signs and symptoms of acute liver injury and went through an extensive work-up that did not reveal a definitive cause. The lack of diagnosis can be distressing for the patient, so it is important to regularly communicate the current plan and potential future necessary steps (such as a transplant surgery) to facilitate smooth, informed decision-making throughout the whole process

Multimodal Machine Learning for Automated ICD Coding

This study presents a multimodal machine learning model to predict ICD-10 diagnostic codes. We developed separate machine learning models that can handle data from different modalities, including unstructured text, semi-structured text and structured tabular data. We further employed an ensemble method to integrate all modality-specific models to generate ICD-10 codes. Key evidence was also extracted to make our prediction more convincing and explainable. We used the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care III (MIMIC -III) dataset to validate our approach. For ICD code prediction, our best-performing model (micro-F1 = 0.7633, micro-AUC = 0.9541) significantly outperforms other baseline models including TF-IDF (micro-F1 = 0.6721, micro-AUC = 0.7879) and Text-CNN model (micro-F1 = 0.6569, micro-AUC = 0.9235). For interpretability, our approach achieves a Jaccard Similarity Coefficient (JSC) of 0.1806 on text data and 0.3105 on tabular data, where well-trained physicians achieve 0.2780 and 0.5002 respectively.Comment: Machine Learning for Healthcare 201

Hormone Effects on Extracellular Vesicle Production and Loading from Breast Cancer Cells

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1018/thumbnail.jp

3D Printed Coronary Arteries: A Useful Tool in Anatomical Education

Introduction Learning 3D anatomy from 2D figures can be challenging. The use of 3D printing in medical education has shown to improve knowledge and skill in surgical training(1). We investigated the efficacy of 3D printed coronary artery models in teaching coronary anatomy to medical students.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medicaledposters/1000/thumbnail.jp

The health response to the Rohingya refugee crisis post August 2017: Reflections from two years of health sector coordination in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

On August 25 2017, an unprecedented influx of Rohingya refugees began from Rakhine State in Myanmar into Bangladesh’s district of Cox’s Bazar. The scale and acuteness of this humanitarian crisis was unprecedented and unique globally, requiring strong coordination of a multitude of actors. This paper reflects on the health sector coordination from August 2017 to October 2019, focusing on selected achievements and persisting challenges of the health sector strategic advisory group (HSSAG), and the health sector working groups including epidemiology and case management, sexual and reproductive health, community health, mental health and psychosocial support, and emergency preparedness. In the early days of the response, minimum service standards for primary health care were established, a fundamental initial step which enabled the standardization of services based on critical needs. Similarly, establishing standards for community health outreach was the backbone for capitalizing on this important health workforce. Novel approaches were adopted for infectious disease responses for acute watery diarrhoea and varicella, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations. Sexual and reproductive health services were prioritized from the initial onset of the crisis and improvements in skilled delivery attendance, gender-based violence services, abortion care and family planning were recorded. Mental health service provision was strengthened through community-based approaches although integration of mental health programmes into primary health care has been limited by availability of specialist psychiatrists. Strong, collaborative and legitimate leadership by the health sector strategic advisory group, drawing on inter-sectoral collaborations and the technical expertise of the different technical working groups, were critical in the response and proved effective, despite the remaining challenges to be addressed. Anticipated reductions in funding as the crisis moves into protracted status threatens the achievements of the health sector in provision of health services to the Rohingya refugees

Sperm Proteomics: Road to Male Fertility and Contraception

Spermatozoa are highly specialized cells that can be easily obtained and purified. Mature spermatozoa are transcriptionally and translationally inactive and incapable of protein synthesis. In addition, spermatozoa contain relatively higher amounts of membrane proteins compared to other cells; therefore, they are very suitable for proteomic studies. Recently, the application of proteomic approaches such as the two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and differential in-gel electrophoresis has identified several sperm-specific proteins. These findings have provided a further understanding of protein functions involved in different sperm processes as well as of the differentiation of normal state from an abnormal one. In addition, studies on the sperm proteome have demonstrated the importance of spermatozoal posttranslational modifications and their ability to induce physiological changes responsible for fertilization. Large-scale proteomic studies to identify hundreds to thousands of sperm proteins will ultimately result in the development of novel biomarkers that may help to detect fertility, the state of complete contraception, and beyond. Eventually, these protein biomarkers will allow for a better diagnosis of sperm dysfunctions and aid in drug development. This paper reviews the recent scientific publications available from the PubMed database to address sperm proteomics and its potential application to characterize male fertility and contraception

Teaching and research in Malaysian public universities: Synergistic or antagonistic?

The Malaysian higher education system has undergone many reforms in the last two decades. These reforms have had radical implications for all aspects of the professional lives of university academics, particularly in their teaching and research as well as in their relations with institutional governance, infrastructure and facilities and remuneration. This chapter briefly discusses the consequences of the changing university system and institutional environments for teaching and research in the Malaysian public universities. It then examines a set of available data from the 2007 CAP study to investigate how academics use their time for teaching and research and how they perceive the teaching and research nexus. This chapter explores aspects of teaching and research using several determinants—perception of teaching and research environment, workload and preference, teaching and research processes, perception of a nexus—and compares them by university type. Several implications particularly in relation to the institutional policies and practices are offered to provide support for the coexistence of research and teaching in the Malaysian public universities

A M\"ossbauer study of the magneto-structural coupling effect in SrFe2_2As2_2 and SrFeAsF

In the present paper, we report a comparison study of SrFe$_2$As$_2$ and SrFeAsF using M\"ossbauer spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the magnetic hyperfine field is fitted with a modified Bean-Rodbell model. The results give much smaller magnetic moment and magneto-structural coupling effect for SrFeAsF, which may be understood as due to different inter-layer properties of the two compounds.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures,conference ICAME2011, to be appear in Hyperfine Interaction

Value added productivity performance of the peninsular Malaysian wood sawmilling industry

Value added manufacturing activity in the wood sawmilling industry of Peninsular Malaysia is important for employment opportunities, particularly for low income citizens living in this rural area, to provide returns to the local economy while being environmentally sustainable. This paper is a review on the value added wood sawmill industry in Peninsular Malaysia, using the value of major import and exports of major timbers products and forested area in Peninsular Malaysia over the period 2003 to 2012. The productivity performance measures that are based on the concept of value added are emphasized in this paper. The value added in wood sawmill industry was found to increase from year 2003 to 2012. Consequently, Malaysia is moving on the right path to achieve the goal of National Timber Policy 2020, transforming the timber industry into high value addition industry. However, further analysis using the value added productivity measure found that the value addition rely on international timber price rather than skilled workers