Quantitative Analysis of the Cervical Texture by Ultrasound and Correlation with Gestational Age

Objectives: Quantitative texture analysis has been proposed to extract robust features from the ultrasound image to detect subtle changes in the textures of the images. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of quantitative cervical texture analysis to assess cervical tissue changes throughout pregnancy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including singleton pregnancies between 20.0 and 41.6 weeks of gestation from women who delivered at term. Cervical length was measured, and a selected region of interest in the cervix was delineated. A model to predict gestational age based on features extracted from cervical images was developed following three steps: data splitting, feature transformation, and regression model computation. Results: Seven hundred images, 30 per gestational week, were included for analysis. There was a strong correlation between the gestational age at which the images were obtained and the estimated gestational age by quantitative analysis of the cervical texture (R = 0.88). Discussion: This study provides evidence that quantitative analysis of cervical texture can extract features from cervical ultrasound images which correlate with gestational age. Further research is needed to evaluate its applicability as a biomarker of the risk of spontaneous preterm birth, as well as its role in cervical assessment in other clinical situations in which cervical evaluation might be relevant

Prevention of depression and sleep disturbances in elderly with memory-problems by activation of the biological clock with light - a randomized clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depression frequently occurs in the elderly and in patients suffering from dementia. Its cause is largely unknown, but several studies point to a possible contribution of circadian rhythm disturbances. Post-mortem studies on aging, dementia and depression show impaired functioning of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) which is thought to be involved in the increased prevalence of day-night rhythm perturbations in these conditions. Bright light enhances neuronal activity in the SCN. Bright light therapy has beneficial effects on rhythms and mood in institutionalized moderate to advanced demented elderly. In spite of the fact that this is a potentially safe and inexpensive treatment option, no previous clinical trial evaluated the use of long-term daily light therapy to prevent worsening of sleep-wake rhythms and depressive symptoms in early to moderately demented home-dwelling elderly.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study investigates whether long-term daily bright light prevents worsening of sleep-wake rhythms and depressive symptoms in elderly people with memory complaints. Patients with early Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Subjective Memory Complaints (SMC), between the ages of 50 and 75, are included in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. For the duration of two years, patients are exposed to ~10,000 lux in the active condition or ~300 lux in the placebo condition, daily, for two half-hour sessions at fixed times in the morning and evening. Neuropsychological, behavioral, physiological and endocrine measures are assessed at baseline and follow-up every five to six months.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>If bright light therapy attenuates the worsening of sleep-wake rhythms and depressive symptoms, it will provide a measure that is easy to implement in the homes of elderly people with memory complaints, to complement treatments with cholinesterase inhibitors, sleep medication or anti-depressants or as a stand-alone treatment.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ISRCTN29863753</p

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

System for Electronically Aligning the Polarization of an Antenna

This invention concerns a system for electronically aligning the polarisation Of an antenna with the Polarisation of a signal received therein or transmitted therefrom, said signal having two mutually orthogonal components, namely a vertical component (Cv) and a horizontal component (Co)

Thymic Epithelial Tumors: Prognostic Significance and Relationship between Histology and the New TNM Staging System

Background This study aims to describe the relationship between the new tumor nodes metastasis (TNM) staging and World Health Organization (WHO) classification and to identify how these two variables relate to each other and whether they possess a prognostic value in predicting survival and recurrence of disease. Methods Medical records of 54 patients who underwent surgery for thymic epithelial tumors between 1996 and 2015 were reviewed. The histologic type of neoplasm was classified according to the criteria of WHO and staging was evaluated using the new TNM classification system. Results A significant correlation between the TNM stages and the histological classification was found (p &lt; 0.001). Complete resection is related to both TNM stage and histological grading (p &lt; 0.001). Evaluation of the 5- A nd 10-year survival curves shows how these are significantly correlated only at the stage (p = 0.03 and = 0.04, respectively). The risk of death at 5 and 10 years for stages III to IV is six and three times higher than in stages I to II, respectively. Regarding the disease-free survival, there is significant correlation with both staging and histology (p = 0.001 and = 0.02, respectively). Conclusions There is a significant correlation between the new TNM staging and the histological grade WHO. The ability to implement a complete resection, the overall and disease-free survival is closely related to the thymoma stage. Furthermore, both histotype and stage correlate with disease-free survival. In fact, the least aggressive stages, both WHO and TNM, have a free time out of disease superior to advanced stages

Ku Band Hemispherical Fully Electronic Antenna for Aircraft in Flight Entertainment

The results obtained in the frame of the ESA activity “Advanced Antenna Concepts For Aircraft In Flight Entertainment” are presented. The aim of the activity consists in designing an active antenna able to guarantee the Ku band link between an aircraft and a geostationary satellite in order to provide in flight entertainment services. The transmit-receive antenna generates a single narrow beam to be steered electronically in a half sphere remaining compliant with respect to stringent requirements in terms of pattern shape, polarization alignment, EIRP, G/T, and using customized electronic devices. At the same time, the proposed solution should be competitive in terms of cost and complexity

Clinical Feasibility of Quantitative Ultrasound Texture Analysis: A Robustness Study Using Fetal Lung Ultrasound Images

OBJECTIVES: To compare the robustness of several methods based on quantitative ultrasound (US) texture analysis to evaluate its feasibility for extracting features from US images to use as a clinical diagnostic tool. METHODS: We compared, ranked, and validated the robustness of 5 texture‐based methods for extracting textural features from US images acquired under different conditions. For comparison and ranking purposes, we used 13,171 non‐US images from widely known available databases (OUTEX [University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland] and PHOTEX [Texture Lab, Heriot‐Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland]), which were specifically acquired under different controlled parameters (illumination, resolution, and rotation) from 103 textures. The robustness of those methods with better results from the non‐US images was validated by using 666 fetal lung US images acquired from singleton pregnancies. In this study, 2 similarity measurements (correlation and Chebyshev distances) were used to evaluate the repeatability of the features extracted from the same tissue images. RESULTS: Three of the 5 methods (gray‐level co‐occurrence matrix, local binary patterns, and rotation‐invariant local phase quantization) had favorably robust performance when using the non‐US database. In fact, these methods showed similarity values close to 0 for the acquisition variations and delineations. Results from the US database confirmed robustness for all of the evaluated methods (gray‐level co‐occurrence matrix, local binary patterns, and rotation‐invariant local phase quantization) when comparing the same texture obtained from different regions of the image (proximal/distal lungs and US machine brand stratification). CONCLUSIONS: Our results confirmed that texture analysis can be robust (high similarity for different condition acquisitions) with potential to be included as a clinical tool