Automatic workflow for narrow-band laryngeal video stitching

In narrow band (NB) laryngeal endoscopy, the clinician usually positions the endoscope near the tissue for a correct inspection of possible vascular pattern alterations, indicative of laryngeal malignancies. The video is usually reviewed many times to refine the diagnosis, resulting in loss of time since the salient frames of the video are mixed with blurred, noisy, and redundant frames caused by the endoscope movements. The aim of this work is to provide to the clinician a unique larynx panorama, obtained through an automatic frame selection strategy to discard non-informative frames. Anisotropic diffusion filtering was exploited to lower the noise level while encouraging the selection of meaningful image features, and a feature-based stitching approach was carried out to generate the panorama. The frame selection strategy, tested on on six pathological NB endoscopic videos, was compared with standard strategies, as uniform and random sampling, showing higher performance of the subsequent stitching procedure, both visually, in terms of vascular structure preservation, and numerically, through a blur estimation metric

Comparative Study of Quality Characteristics of Korean Soy Sauce Made with Soybeans Germinated Under Dark and Light Conditions

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of germinating soybeans under dark and light conditions on the quality characteristics of Korean soy sauce made with germinated soybeans. The germination rate of soybeans germinated under dark conditions (GSD) was higher than that of soybeans germinated under light conditions (GSL), whereas the lengths of sprouts and relative weights of GSL did not differ from those of GSD. The L, a, b, and ΔT values of GSL were significantly lower than GSD. The color of GSD remained yellow, while GSL changed to a green color due to photosynthesis by chlorophyll. The total amino acid contents in soy sauce fermented with soybeans germinated under dark conditions (SSGD) and soy sauce fermented with soybeans germinated under light conditions (SSGL) were lower than in soy sauce fermented with non-germinated soybeans (SNGS). The levels of isoflavone content in SSGD and SSGL were significantly increased compared to the SNGS. In conclusion, the germination of soybeans under dark and light conditions is not only an increasing organoleptic preference, but also has implications for the health benefits of Korean soy sauce

MAK-4 and -5 supplemented diet inhibits liver carcinogenesis in mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK) is an herbal formulation composed of two herbal mixtures, MAK-4 and MAK-5. These preparations are part of a natural health care system from India, known as Maharishi Ayur-Veda. MAK-4 and MAK-5 are each composed of different herbs and are said to have maximum benefit when used in combination. This investigation evaluated the cancer inhibiting effects of MAK-4 and MAK-5, <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>In vitro </it>assays: Aqueous extracts of MAK-4 and MAK-5 were tested for effects on <it>ras </it>induced cell transformation in the Rat 6 cell line assessed by focus formation assay. <it>In vivo </it>assays: Urethane-treated mice were put on a standard pellet diet or a diet supplemented with MAK-4, MAK-5 or both. At 36 weeks, livers were examined for tumors, sera for oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), and liver homogenates for enzyme activities of glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), and NAD(P)H: quinone reductase (QR). Liver fragments of MAK-fed mice were analyzed for connexin (cx) protein expression.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MAK-5 and a combination of MAK-5 plus MAK-4, inhibited <it>ras</it>-induced cell transformation. In MAK-4, MAK-5 and MAK4+5-treated mice we observed a 35%, 27% and 46% reduction in the development of urethane-induced liver nodules respectively. MAK-4 and MAK4+5-treated mice had a significantly higher ORAC value (<it>P </it>< 0.05) compared to controls (200.2 ± 33.7 and 191.6 ± 32.2 <it>vs. </it>152.2 ± 15.7 ORAC units, respectively). The urethane-treated MAK-4, MAK-5 and MAK4+5-fed mice had significantly higher activities of liver cytosolic enzymes compared to the urethane-treated controls and to untreated mice: GPX(0.23 ± 0.08, 0.21 ± 0.05, 0.25 ± 0.04, 0.20 ± 0.05, 0.21 ± 0.03 U/mg protein, respectively), GST (2.0 ± 0.4, 2.0 ± 0.6, 2.1 ± 0.3, 1.7 ± 0.2, 1.7 ± 0.2 U/mg protein, respectively) and QR (0.13 ± 0.02, 0.12 ± 0.06, 0.15 ± 0.03, 0.1 ± 0.04, 0.11 ± 0.03 U/mg protein, respectively). Livers of MAK-treated mice showed a time-dependent increased expression of cx32.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show that a MAK-supplemented diet inhibits liver carcinogenesis in urethane-treated mice. The prevention of excessive oxidative damage and the up-regulation of connexin expression are two of the possible effects of these products.</p

Renal amyloidosis in children

Renal amyloidosis is a detrimental disease caused by the deposition of amyloid fibrils. A child with renal amyloidosis may present with proteinuria or nephrotic syndrome. Chronic renal failure may follow. Amyloid fibrils may deposit in other organs as well. The diagnosis is through the typical appearance on histopathology. Although chronic infections and chronic inflammatory diseases used to be the causes of secondary amyloidosis in children, the most frequent cause is now autoinflammatory diseases. Among this group of diseases, the most frequent one throughout the world is familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). FMF is typically characterized by attacks of clinical inflammation in the form of fever and serositis and high acute-phase reactants. Persisting inflammation in inadequately treated disease is associated with the development of secondary amyloidosis. The main treatment is colchicine. A number of other monogenic autoinflammatory diseases have also been identified. Among them cryopyrin-associated periodic syndrome (CAPS) is outstanding with its clinical features and the predilection to develop secondary amyloidosis in untreated cases. The treatment of secondary amyloidosis mainly depends on the treatment of the disease. However, a number of new treatments for amyloid per se are in the pipeline

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR &lt; 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction &gt; 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR &lt; 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR &gt; 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Monitoring the quality of laboraties and the prevalence of resistance to antituberculosis drugs: Italy, 1998-2000

In 1998 a network of 20 regional tuberculosis (TB) laboratories (the Italian Multicentre Study on Resistance to Antituberculosis drugs (SMIRA) network) was established in Italy to implement proficiency testing and to monitor the prevalence of drug resistance nationwide. The network managed 30% of all TB cases reported in Italy each year. The aim of the present report is to describe: 1) the accuracy of drug-susceptibility testing in the network; 2) the prevalence of drug resistance for the period 1998-2000. Data were collected from the network laboratories. Sensitivity to streptomycin and ethambutol increased from the first survey (1998-1999) to the second survey (2000) from 87.7 to 91.9%. Specificity, predictive values for resistance and susceptibility, efficiency and reproducibility were consistent in both surveys. In previously untreated cases, the prevalence of multidrug-resistance was the same in both surveys (1.2%), while a slight decrease from the first to the second survey was observed for monoresistance to rifampicin (from 0.8 to 0.4%) and isoniazid (from 2.9 to 2%,). The significant association found between isoniazid resistance and immigration is a useful indicator for both clinicians managing individual tuberculosis cases and public health services planning control strategies