Persuasive technology for overcoming food cravings and improving snack choices

This research is partially supported by EPSRC Grant EP/G004560

Anesthetic Use In Status Epilepticus: A Concise Review

The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent literature focusing on intravenous (IV) administration of commonly used anesthetics, including midazolam, pentobarbital/ thiopental, propofol, and ketamine in the treatment of status epilepticus (SE). Anesthetics should be reserved as third-line therapy for the treatment of SE when benzodiazepines and other second-line agents fail to terminate the seizure. We have reviewed the literature related to the treatment of status epilepticus, refractory status epilepticus, super-refractory status epilepticus, anesthetics, midazolam, pentobarbital/thiopental, propofol, and ketamine. This paper focuses on the pharmacology, dosages, major side effects, and clinical use of IV anesthetics in the treatment of SE with an emphasis on the developing literature supporting the use of ketamine for this indication. Based on the available literature, we propose recommendations for third-line agent selection in the management of SE

An exploratory examination of the relationship between internet gaming disorder, smartphone addiction, social appearance anxiety and aggression among undergraduate students

Studies show a relationship between social appearance anxiety, aggression, and behavioral addictions. However, the relationship between social appearance anxiety, aggression, smartphone addiction, and Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD) has not been investigated. The present study used a self-report survey to examine the structural relationships between social appearance anxiety, aggression, smartphone addiction, and IGD. The sample comprised 383 Turkish undergraduate students (50.9% male; 49.1% female), all of who played online videogames. The study comprised demographic information questions and the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale, Buss-Perry Aggression Scale, Smartphone Addiction Scale, and the Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form. The relationships between scales were examined utilizing structural equation modeling. The findings showed that social appearance anxiety (β=.583) and smartphone addiction (β=.319) had a direct effect on IGD. Additionally, smartphone addiction partially mediated the association between aggression and IGD (β=.125). These findings suggest longitudinal research is needed to examine the temporal patterns and directionality between social appearance anxiety, aggression, smartphone addiction, and IGD. The present study results demonstrate that IGD may be associated with social appearance anxiety, smartphone addiction, and aggression. Therefore, to help reduce the incidence of IGD, interventions are needed among gamers to inhibit social appearance anxiety, reduce smartphone addiction, and decrease aggression

Contour Based Tracking for Driveway Entrance Counting System

Managing vehicle in free-flow entrance is tiring to do manually by a guard control especially due to the increase in transportation demand. Providing an accurate vehicle counting approach is vital for traffic management and it will surely be an essential part in tomorrow's smart cities. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to propose a more accurate vehicle counter by using the tracking and heuristic rules approaches. EzCam v1.0 is a vehicle surveillance system for a free-flow entrance where a module of vehicle counting based on proposed idea has been applied. The proposed method does not require high computational resources more than any relatively affordable non task specific hardware. It employs single threshold, contour extraction and sequential frame analysis and finally, vehicle counting process subsequently. The tracking-based method employs foreground object detection method and a mechanism for object filtering approach as compared to Chris Dahms approach which does not consider any object rejection and accept all contour information as relevant to be counted as vehicles. As a result, EzCam v1.0 which utilizes the exploited contour-based approach is able to achieve up to 94 percent of accuracy rate and outperforms the classic Chris Dahms method which obtained an accuracy of 88 percent. Therefore, the Exploited Contour based tracking method helps vehicle counting system to perform better accuracy in comparison to Chris Dahms approach

Psychopharmacological Treatment and Quality of Life in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Objective: Obsessive-compulsiv

Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation on Arterial Vasomotion, Stiffness and Endothelial Biomarkers in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

Background: Cardiovascular events are frequent and vascular endothelial function is abnormal in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We demonstrated endothelial dysfunction with vitamin D deficiency in CKD patients; however the impact of cholecalciferol supplementation on vascular stiffness and vasomotor function, endothelial and bone biomarkers in CKD patients with low 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] is unknown, which this study investigated. Methods: We assessed non-diabetic patients with CKD stage 3/4, age 17–80 years and serum 25(OH)D ,75 nmol/L. Brachial artery Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD), Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), Augmentation Index (AI) and circulating blood biomarkers were evaluated at baseline and at 16 weeks. Oral 300,000 units cholecalciferol was administered at baseline and 8-weeks. Results: Clinical characteristics of 26 patients were: age 50614 (mean61SD) years, eGFR 41611 ml/min/1.73 m2, males 73%, dyslipidaemia 36%, smokers 23% and hypertensives 87%. At 16-week serum 25(OH)D and calcium increased (43616 to 84629 nmol/L, p,0.001 and 2.3760.09 to 2.4260.09 mmol/L; p = 0.004, respectively) and parathyroid hormone decreased (10.868.6 to 7.464.4; p = 0.001). FMD improved from 3.163.3% to 6.163.7%, p = 0.001. Endothelial biomarker concentrations decreased: E-Selectin from 566662123 to 525662058 pg/mL; p = 0.032, ICAM-1, 3.4560.01 to 3.1061.04 ng/mL; p = 0.038 and VCAM-1, 54633 to 42633 ng/mL; p = 0.006. eGFR, BP, PWV, AI, hsCRP, von Willebrand factor and Fibroblast Growth Factor-23, remained unchanged. Conclusion: This study demonstrates for the first time improvement of endothelial vasomotor and secretory functions with vitamin D in CKD patients without significant adverse effects on arterial stiffness, serum calcium or FGF-23. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0200571

Guidance on noncorticosteroid systemic immunomodulatory therapy in noninfectious uveitis: fundamentals of care for uveitis (focus) initiative

Topic: An international, expert-led consensus initiative to develop systematic, evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis in the era of biologics. Clinical Relevance: The availability of biologic agents for the treatment of human eye disease has altered practice patterns for the management of noninfectious uveitis. Current guidelines are insufficient to assure optimal use of noncorticosteroid systemic immunomodulatory agents. Methods: An international expert steering committee comprising 9 uveitis specialists (including both ophthalmologists and rheumatologists) identified clinical questions and, together with 6 bibliographic fellows trained in uveitis, conducted a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol systematic reviewof the literature (English language studies from January 1996 through June 2016; Medline [OVID], the Central Cochrane library, EMBASE,CINAHL,SCOPUS,BIOSIS, andWeb of Science). Publications included randomized controlled trials, prospective and retrospective studies with sufficient follow-up, case series with 15 cases or more, peer-reviewed articles, and hand-searched conference abstracts from key conferences. The proposed statements were circulated among 130 international uveitis experts for review.Atotal of 44 globally representativegroupmembersmet in late 2016 to refine these guidelines using a modified Delphi technique and assigned Oxford levels of evidence. Results: In total, 10 questions were addressed resulting in 21 evidence-based guidance statements covering the following topics: when to start noncorticosteroid immunomodulatory therapy, including both biologic and nonbiologic agents; what data to collect before treatment; when to modify or withdraw treatment; how to select agents based on individual efficacy and safety profiles; and evidence in specific uveitic conditions. Shared decision-making, communication among providers and safety monitoring also were addressed as part of the recommendations. Pharmacoeconomic considerations were not addressed. Conclusions: Consensus guidelines were developed based on published literature, expert opinion, and practical experience to bridge the gap between clinical needs and medical evidence to support the treatment of patients with noninfectious uveitis with noncorticosteroid immunomodulatory agents

I4U Submission to NIST SRE 2018: Leveraging from a Decade of Shared Experiences

The I4U consortium was established to facilitate a joint entry to NIST speaker recognition evaluations (SRE). The latest edition of such joint submission was in SRE 2018, in which the I4U submission was among the best-performing systems. SRE'18 also marks the 10-year anniversary of I4U consortium into NIST SRE series of evaluation. The primary objective of the current paper is to summarize the results and lessons learned based on the twelve sub-systems and their fusion submitted to SRE'18. It is also our intention to present a shared view on the advancements, progresses, and major paradigm shifts that we have witnessed as an SRE participant in the past decade from SRE'08 to SRE'18. In this regard, we have seen, among others, a paradigm shift from supervector representation to deep speaker embedding, and a switch of research challenge from channel compensation to domain adaptation.Comment: 5 page

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine: Brussels, Belgium. 15-18 March 2016.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]