Clinical Analysis of Acinic Cell Carcinoma in Parotid Gland

ObjectivesAcinic cell carcinoma (AciCC) is a rarely encountered malignancy in parotid gland. Because AciCC is rare and was recently recognized as the entity of malignancy, AciCC has been difficult to study. We aimed to analyze the diagnosis and treatment experience for this malignancy in our hospital.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed medical records of the 20 patients with AciCC of parotid gland diagnosed from 1990 to 2009. The preoperative computed tomography scan, preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and intraoperative frozen section results were compared with the final diagnosis. The survival and recurrence were analyzed with the cancer stages and treatment modalities.ResultsThere were 10 males and 10 females, with a mean age of 44.4 years, ranging 8-77 years. The AJCC tumor stage distributions of the patients were 70%, 15%, and 15% for stages I, II, and IV, respectively. The sensitivity of FNAC and intraoperative frozen section was 26.7% and 50.0% respectively. The 10-year survival rate was 90.9% with a mean follow-up of 111 months, ranging 17-251 months. The 10-year disease free survival rate was 74.2% and the mean duration of recurrence from initial surgery was 92.3 months.ConclusionAciCC of the parotid gland is a rare malignancy that has features of less aggressive behavior, and good prognosis. Intraoperative frozen section examination may be helpful in the diagnosis of AciCC of the parotid gland because of the low sensitivity of preoperative computed tomography scan and FNAC. Surgery with adjuvant postoperative radiotherapy is satisfactory for disease control

Reinforcement Learning Based Vocal Fold Localization in Preoperative Neck CT for Injection Laryngoplasty

Transcutaneous injection laryngoplasty is a well-known procedure for treating a paralyzed vocal fold by injecting augmentation material to it. Hence, vocal fold localization plays a vital role in the preoperative planning, as the fold location is required to determine the optimal injection route. In this communication, we propose a mirror environment based reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm for localizing the right and left vocal folds in preoperative neck CT. RL-based methods commonly showed noteworthy outcomes in general anatomic landmark localization problems in recent years. However, such methods suggest training individual agents for localizing each fold, although the right and left vocal folds are located in close proximity and have high feature-similarity. Utilizing the lateral symmetry between the right and left vocal folds, the proposed mirror environment allows for a single agent for localizing both folds by treating the left fold as a flipped version of the right fold. Thus, localization of both folds can be trained using a single training session that utilizes the inter-fold correlation and avoids redundant feature learning. Experiments with 120 CT volumes showed improved localization performance and training efficiency of the proposed method compared with the standard RL method

QAnon shifts into the mainstream, remains a far-right ally

© 2022The rise of domestic fringe groups within the United States has been well documented, threatening political and social stability. The QAnon conspiracy theory has developed as one such destructive group, though it remains a largely misunderstood movement. Through a mixed-methods analysis of over 3.5 million messages on Telegram from three politically extreme communities - QAnon, far-right, and far-left - we studied how QAnon fits within the larger non-mainstream political ecosystem. Our analysis provides insights into how this new political movement is dissimilar to the far-right or the far-left but shares offline interests with the far-right. The topics discussed within QAnon communities were unique to the movement and the least reactive to news cycles. Links shared by QAnon, particularly from YouTube and Twitter, were often from traditional conservative sources and individuals, whereas the far-left and far-right relied on less mainstream sources. Finally, though QAnon may be distinct from the other communities, it coalesces with the far-right during particular political events where the former United States President Trump is a major player. Our findings highlight how fringe groups react to major political events and navigate conversations online.11Nsciescopu

Obstructive site localization using multisensor manometry versus the Friedman staging system in obstructive sleep apnea

The aim of this study was to find the correlation between an anatomy-based staging system and pressure manometry performed during sleep. A retrospective study of 45 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) was carried out. All patients were evaluated by polysomnography, and obstruction sites were localized using a multisensor manometer during the full night. Obstruction sites were classified into retropalatal and retroglossal. The patients were also staged by anatomic findings of tonsil size and palate position. The % retroglossal obstruction was 29.4, 33.5 and 48.6% in stages I, II and III, respectively. There was no significant difference between stages. In contrast, when compared according to the Friedman tongue position (FTP), the mean % retroglossal obstruction of FTP grade 3 was significantly higher than that of FTP grade 1 (P = 0.009) although apnea hypopnea index, body mass index and lowest SpO2 were not different among FTP grades. It seems that FTP correlates with retroglossal obstruction and may be used to select patients in need of retroglossal modification of the airway

No packing versus packing after endoscopic sinus surgery: pursuit of patients' comfort after surgery

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the necessity of postoperative nasal packing and to find factors relevant in determining if nasal packing was required after endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). METHODS: From January 2007 through June 2007, 64 consecutive patients who underwent ESS were evaluated. The decision whether or not to perform nasal packing depended on the surgeon's judgment of the bleeding after surgery. Demographic characteristics, medical history, disease extent, surgical procedures, and subjective and objective amount of intraoperative bleeding were analyzed. Postoperative symptoms and endoscopic findings were evaluated also. RESULTS: Forty-eight (75%) of the 64 patients included in this study did not have nasal packing after ESS. One patient from the no-packing group needed nasal packing postoperatively because of persistent nasal bleeding. Symptom scores of nasal obstruction and postnasal drip on the 1st postoperative day were lower in the no-packing group. In unilateral ESS cases, subjectively estimated blood loss and mucosal inflammation scores were lower in the no-packing group. It was observed that preoperative steroid use was more frequent in the packing group. All other parameters did not show significant differences between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Nasal packing can be safely used less frequently to help the patients experience less discomfort after ESS. The need for nasal packing after ESS can be decided by judicious estimation of bleeding during and after the surgery

Enhanced Condensation, Agglomeration, and Rejection of Water Vapor by Superhydrophobic Aligned Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Membranes

The separation of gas molecules and water vapor has become increasingly important for electronic, energy, and environmental systems. Here we demonstrate a new mechanism of enhanced condensation, agglomeration, and rejection of water vapor by superhydrophobic aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes with the intertube distance of 73 nm, channel aspect ratio of ∼5.5 × 10⁴, and tortuosity of 1.157. The array with the characteristic channel dimension some 300 times greater than the target molecule size effectively suppressed water molecular transport at room temperature with the selectivity as high as ∼2 × 10⁵ (H₂/H₂O). The flow through the interstitial space of nanotubes allowed high permeability of other gas molecules (2.1 × 10^–9 to 3.8 × 10^–8 mol·m/m²·s·Pa), while retaining high selectivity, which is orders of magnitude greater than the permeate flux of polymeric membranes used for the water–gas mixture separation. This new separation mechanism with high selectivity and permeate flux, enabled by the unique geometry of aligned nanotubes, can provide a low-energy and cost-effective method to control humidity

COVID-19 Discourse on Twitter in Four Asian Countries: Case Study of Risk Communication

©Sungkyu Park, Sungwon Han, Jeongwook Kim, Mir Majid Molaie, Hoang Dieu Vu, Karandeep Singh, Jiyoung Han, Wonjae Lee, Meeyoung Cha. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 16.03.2021.BACKGROUND: COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has led to a global pandemic. The World Health Organization has also declared an infodemic (ie, a plethora of information regarding COVID-19 containing both false and accurate information circulated on the internet). Hence, it has become critical to test the veracity of information shared online and analyze the evolution of discussed topics among citizens related to the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: This research analyzes the public discourse on COVID-19. It characterizes risk communication patterns in four Asian countries with outbreaks at varying degrees of severity: South Korea, Iran, Vietnam, and India. METHODS: We collected tweets on COVID-19 from four Asian countries in the early phase of the disease outbreak from January to March 2020. The data set was collected by relevant keywords in each language, as suggested by locals. We present a method to automatically extract a time-topic cohesive relationship in an unsupervised fashion based on natural language processing. The extracted topics were evaluated qualitatively based on their semantic meanings. RESULTS: This research found that each government's official phases of the epidemic were not well aligned with the degree of public attention represented by the daily tweet counts. Inspired by the issue-attention cycle theory, the presented natural language processing model can identify meaningful transition phases in the discussed topics among citizens. The analysis revealed an inverse relationship between the tweet count and topic diversity. CONCLUSIONS: This paper compares similarities and differences of pandemic-related social media discourse in Asian countries. We observed multiple prominent peaks in the daily tweet counts across all countries, indicating multiple issue-attention cycles. Our analysis identified which topics the public concentrated on; some of these topics were related to misinformation and hate speech. These findings and the ability to quickly identify key topics can empower global efforts to fight against an infodemic during a pandemic.11Nsciescopu