Crowd disagreement about medical images is informative

Classifiers for medical image analysis are often trained with a single consensus label, based on combining labels given by experts or crowds. However, disagreement between annotators may be informative, and thus removing it may not be the best strategy. As a proof of concept, we predict whether a skin lesion from the ISIC 2017 dataset is a melanoma or not, based on crowd annotations of visual characteristics of that lesion. We compare using the mean annotations, illustrating consensus, to standard deviations and other distribution moments, illustrating disagreement. We show that the mean annotations perform best, but that the disagreement measures are still informative. We also make the crowd annotations used in this paper available at \url{https://figshare.com/s/5cbbce14647b66286544}.Comment: Accepted for publication at MICCAI LABELS 201

Depression and quality of life among Afghan healthcare workers: A cross-sectional survey study

Background: According to the World Health Organization, approximately 280 million individuals worldwide suffer from depression. One occupational group that is more prone to mental health issues is healthcare workers (HCWs). However, very little is known about the mental health of HCWs in Afghanistan. Therefore, the present study examined depression, quality of life (QOL), and related factors among Afghan HCWs. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered in June 2022 among healthcare workers (N = 299) in the Herat province of Afghanistan. The survey examined depression, its risk factors and predictors among HCWs. Results: Of the 299 participants, 73.6% of them reported depression symptoms. Low monthly income, working in a private hospital, and being a cigarette smoker were some of the main variables associated with depression symptoms among Afghan HCWs. Multiple regression analysis indicated that field of work (aOR = 3.774, p = 0.0048), monthly income (aOR = 0.746, p = 0.0088), job type (aOR = 8.970, p <0.0001), cigarette smoking (aOR = 2.955, p = 0.0069), a bad event happening during the past month (aOR = 2.433, p = 0.0157), physical domain of quality of life (aOR = 0.966, p = 0.0186), and psychological domain of quality of life (aOR = 0.950, p = 0.0005) were significantly associated with depression symptoms. Conclusion: The prevalence of depression symptoms is high among healthcare workers in the Herat province of Afghanistan. One of the variables found to have a major impact on the prevalence of depression was their monthly income. Considering its impact on quality of life and the overall quality of healthcare services, the government should implement regular screening for depression, psychological counselling services, and psychiatric treatment for vulnerable healthcare workers

Depression and self-esteem among Afghan school-going adolescents under the Taliban government: a cross-sectional study

Background: During the period of adolescence, several major developmental changes occur that can have significant impact on an individual’s brain structure and functioning through their entire life. Aims: The present study aimed to examine the association between depression and self-esteem alongside specific sociodemographic factors among school-going adolescents living under the rule of Taliban. Methods: A cross-sectional survey study was conducted with adolescents (n = 452) from 20 randomly selected public primary, secondary and high schools of Herat province (Afghanistan) out of the 86 schools registered in Herat Education Department. The survey included the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). Results: Two-thirds of adolescents reported depression symptoms (65.3%) and 86.3% reported poor self-esteem. Multiple regression analysis indicated that (i) mother's education level was significantly associated with depression symptoms and (ii) low-income economic status was significantly associated with self-esteem. Conclusion: As well as being one of the few studies in Afghanistan, the present study is one of the very few to assess the association between class group, self-esteem, and depression symptoms. These findings may be used by healthcare authorities and school administrators to raise awareness and implement strategies to facilitate self-esteem among school school-going adolescents

A random cell motility gradient downstream of FGF controls elongation of amniote embryos

Vertebrate embryos are characterized by an elongated antero-posterior (AP) body axis, which forms by progressive cell deposition from a posterior growth zone in the embryo. Here, we used tissue ablation in the chicken embryo to demonstrate that the caudal presomitic mesoderm (PSM) has a key role in axis elongation. Using time-lapse microscopy, we analysed the movements of fluorescently labelled cells in the PSM during embryo elongation, which revealed a clear posterior-to-anterior gradient of cell motility and directionality in the PSM. We tracked the movement of the PSM extracellular matrix in parallel with the labelled cells and subtracted the extracellular matrix movement from the global motion of cells. After subtraction, cell motility remained graded but lacked directionality, indicating that the posterior cell movements associated with axis elongation in the PSM are not intrinsic but reflect tissue deformation. The gradient of cell motion along the PSM parallels the fibroblast growth factor (FGF)/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) gradient1, which has been implicated in the control of cell motility in this tissue2. Both FGF signalling gain- and loss-of-function experiments lead to disruption of the motility gradient and a slowing down of axis elongation. Furthermore, embryos treated with cell movement inhibitors (blebbistatin or RhoK inhibitor), but not cell cycle inhibitors, show a slower axis elongation rate. We propose that the gradient of random cell motility downstream of FGF signalling in the PSM controls posterior elongation in the amniote embryo. Our data indicate that tissue elongation is an emergent property that arises from the collective regulation of graded, random cell motion rather than by the regulation of directionality of individual cellular movements

Hospital Admissions Due to Ischemic Heart Diseases and Prescriptions of Cardiovascular Diseases Medications in England and Wales in the Past Two Decades

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the trend of ischemic heart disease (IHD) admission and the prescriptions of IHD medications in England and Wales. Methods: A secular trends study was conducted during the period of 1999 to 2019. We extracted hospital admission data for patients from all age groups from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database for Wales. Prescriptions of IHD medications were extracted from the Prescription Cost Analysis database from 2004 to 2019. The chi-squared test was used to assess the difference between the admission rates and the difference between IHD medication prescription rates. The trends in IHD-related hospital admission and IHD-related medication prescription were assessed using a Poisson model. The correlation between hospital admissions for IHD and its IHD medication-related prescriptions was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Our study detected a significant increase in the rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) medication prescriptions in England and Wales, representing a rise in the CVD medications prescription rate of 41.8% (from 539,334.95 (95% CI = 539,286.30–539,383.59) in 2004 to 764,584.55 (95% CI = 764,545.55–764,623.56) in 2019 prescriptions per 100,000 persons), with a mean increase of 2.8% per year during the past 15 years. This increase was connected with a reduction in the IHD hospital admission rate by 15.4% (from 838.50 (95% CI = 836.05–840.94) in 2004 to 709.78 (95% CI = 707.65–711.92) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.01), with a mean decrease of 1.02% per year during the past 15 years and by 5% (from 747.43 (95% CI = 745.09–749.77) in 1999 to 709.78 (95% CI = 707.65–711.92) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.01) with a mean decrease of 0.25% per year during the past two decades in England and Wales. Conclusion: The rate of hospitalisation due to IHD has decreased in England and Wales during the past two decades. Hospitalisation due to IHD was strongly and negatively correlated with the increase in the rates of dispensing of IHD-related medications. Other factors contributing to this decline could be the increase in controlling IHD risk factors during the past few years. Future studies exploring other risk factors that are associated with IHD hospitalisation are warranted

Preferential Paths of Air-water Two-phase Flow in Porous Structures with Special Consideration of Channel Thickness Effects.

Accurate understanding and predicting the flow paths of immiscible two-phase flow in rocky porous structures are of critical importance for the evaluation of oil or gas recovery and prediction of rock slides caused by gas-liquid flow. A 2D phase field model was established for compressible air-water two-phase flow in heterogenous porous structures. The dynamic characteristics of air-water two-phase interface and preferential paths in porous structures were simulated. The factors affecting the path selection of two-phase flow in porous structures were analyzed. Transparent physical models of complex porous structures were prepared using 3D printing technology. Tracer dye was used to visually observe the flow characteristics and path selection in air-water two-phase displacement experiments. The experimental observations agree with the numerical results used to validate the accuracy of phase field model. The effects of channel thickness on the air-water two-phase flow behavior and paths in porous structures were also analyzed. The results indicate that thick channels can induce secondary air flow paths due to the increase in flow resistance; consequently, the flow distribution is different from that in narrow channels. This study provides a new reference for quantitatively analyzing multi-phase flow and predicting the preferential paths of immiscible fluids in porous structures

Diabetic Neuropathy and Axon Reflex-Mediated Neurogenic Vasodilatation in Type 1 Diabetes

Objective: Axon reflex-mediated neurogenic vasodilatation in response to cutaneous heating may reflect early, pre-clinical small fibre dysfunction. We aimed to evaluate the distribution of the vascular flare area measured by laser doppler imaging (‘‘LDI FLARE area’’) in type 1 diabetes and in healthy volunteers. Research and Methods: Concurrent with clinical and electrophysiological examination to classify diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSP), LDIFLARE area (cm 2) was determined in 89 type 1 diabetes subjects matched to 64 healthy volunteers. We examined the association and diagnostic performance of LDI with clinical and subclinical measures of DSP and its severity. Results: Compared to the 64 healthy volunteers, the 56 diabetes controls without DSP had significantly lower LDIFLARE area (p = 0.006). The 33 diabetes cases with DSP had substantially lower LDIFLARE area as compared to controls without DSP (p = 0.002). There was considerable overlap in LDIFLARE area between all groups such that the ROC curve had an AUC of 0.72 and optimal sensitivity of 70 % for the detection of clinical DSP. Use of a subclinical definition for DSP, according to subclinical sural nerve impairment, was associated with improved AUC of 0.75 and sensitivity of 79%. In multivariate analysis higher HbA1c and body mass index had independent associations with smaller LDIFLARE area. Conclusions: Axon reflex-mediated neurogenic vasodilatation in response to cutaneous heating is a biomarker of earl

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388