Automated echocardiographic detection of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction using artificial intelligence

Background: Detection of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) involves integration of multiple imaging and clinical features which are often discordant or indeterminate. Objectives: We applied artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze a single apical four-chamber (A4C) transthoracic echocardiogram videoclip to detect HFpEF. Methods: A three-dimensional convolutional neural network was developed and trained on A4C videoclips to classify patients with HFpEF (diagnosis of HF, EF≥50%, and echocardiographic evidence of increased filling pressure; cases) versus without HFpEF (EF≥50%, no diagnosis of HF, normal filling pressure; controls). Model outputs were classified as HFpEF, no HFpEF, or non-diagnostic (high uncertainty). Performance was assessed in an independent multi-site dataset and compared to previously validated clinical scores. Results: Training and validation included 2971 cases and 3785 controls (validation holdout, 16.8% patients), and demonstrated excellent discrimination (AUROC:0.97 [95%CI:0.96-0.97] and 0.95 [0.93-0.96] in training and validation, respectively). In independent testing (646 cases, 638 controls), 94 (7.3%) were non-diagnostic; sensitivity (87.8%; 84.5-90.9%) and specificity (81.9%; 78.2-85.6%) were maintained in clinically relevant subgroups, with high repeatability and reproducibility. Of 701 and 776 indeterminate outputs from the HFA-PEFF and H2FPEF scores, the AI HFpEF model correctly reclassified 73.5 and 73.6%, respectively. During follow-up (median [IQR]:2.3 [0.5-5.6] years), 444 (34.6%) patients died; mortality was higher in patients classified as HFpEF by AI (hazard ratio [95%CI]:1.9 [1.5-2.4]). Conclusion: An AI HFpEF model based on a single, routinely acquired echocardiographic video demonstrated excellent discrimination of patients with versus without HFpEF, more often than clinical scores, and identified patients with higher mortality

Associations between community programmes and policies and children’s physical activity: the Healthy Communities Study

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146309/1/ijpo12426.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146309/2/ijpo12426_am.pd

Identification of Radiopure Titanium for the LZ Dark Matter Experiment and Future Rare Event Searches

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will search for dark matter particle interactions with a detector containing a total of 10 tonnes of liquid xenon within a double-vessel cryostat. The large mass and proximity of the cryostat to the active detector volume demand the use of material with extremely low intrinsic radioactivity. We report on the radioassay campaign conducted to identify suitable metals, the determination of factors limiting radiopure production, and the selection of titanium for construction of the LZ cryostat and other detector components. This titanium has been measured with activities of $^{238}$U$_{e}$~$<$1.6~mBq/kg, $^{238}$U$_{l}$~$<$0.09~mBq/kg, $^{232}$Th$_{e}$~$=0.28\pm 0.03$~mBq/kg, $^{232}$Th$_{l}$~$=0.25\pm 0.02$~mBq/kg, $^{40}$K~$<$0.54~mBq/kg, and $^{60}$Co~$<$0.02~mBq/kg (68\% CL). Such low intrinsic activities, which are some of the lowest ever reported for titanium, enable its use for future dark matter and other rare event searches. Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to assess the expected background contribution from the LZ cryostat with this radioactivity. In 1,000 days of WIMP search exposure of a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, the cryostat will contribute only a mean background of $0.160\pm0.001$(stat)$\pm0.030$(sys) counts.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Uremic Toxins Inhibit Transport by Breast Cancer Resistance Protein and Multidrug Resistance Protein 4 at Clinically Relevant Concentrations

During chronic kidney disease (CKD), there is a progressive accumulation of toxic solutes due to inadequate renal clearance. Here, the interaction between uremic toxins and two important efflux pumps, viz. multidrug resistance protein 4 (MRP4) and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) was investigated. Membrane vesicles isolated from MRP4- or BCRP-overexpressing human embryonic kidney cells were used to study the impact of uremic toxins on substrate specific uptake. Furthermore, the concentrations of various uremic toxins were determined in plasma of CKD patients using high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Our results show that hippuric acid, indoxyl sulfate and kynurenic acid inhibit MRP4-mediated [3H]-methotrexate ([3H]-MTX) uptake (calculated Ki values: 2.5 mM, 1 mM, 25 µM, respectively) and BCRP-mediated [3H]-estrone sulfate ([3H]-E1S) uptake (Ki values: 4 mM, 500 µM and 50 µM, respectively), whereas indole-3-acetic acid and phenylacetic acid reduce [3H]-MTX uptake by MRP4 only (Ki value: 2 mM and IC50 value: 7 mM, respectively). In contrast, p-cresol, p-toluenesulfonic acid, putrescine, oxalate and quinolinic acid did not alter transport mediated by MRP4 or BCRP. In addition, our results show that hippuric acid, indole-3-acetic acid, indoxyl sulfate, kynurenic acid and phenylacetic acid accumulate in plasma of end-stage CKD patients with mean concentrations of 160 µM, 4 µM, 129 µM, 1 µM and 18 µM, respectively. Moreover, calculated Ki values are below the maximal plasma concentrations of the tested toxins. In conclusion, this study shows that several uremic toxins inhibit active transport by MRP4 and BCRP at clinically relevant concentrations

Cause-of-Death Contributions to Educational Inequalities in Mortality in Austria between 1981/1982 and 1991/1992: Les contributions des causes de décès aux inégalités de mortalité par niveau d’éducation en Autriche entre 1981/1982 et 1991/1992

This article uses census records and deaths records to analyze trends in educational inequalities in mortality for Austrian women and men aged 35–64 years between 1981/1982 and 1991/1992. We find an increasing gradient in mortality by education for circulatory diseases and especially ischaemic heart disease. Respiratory diseases and, in addition for women, cancers showed the opposite trend. Using decomposition analysis, we give evidence that in many cases changes in the age-structure within the 10-year interval had a bigger effect than direct improvements in mortality on the analyzed subpopulations

Third national surveillance of risk factors of non-communicable diseases (SuRFNCD-2007) in Iran: methods and results on prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, central obesity, and dyslipidemia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The burden of non-communicable diseases is rising globally. This trend seems to be faster in developing countries of the Middle East. In this study, we presented the latest prevalence rates of a number of important non-communicable diseases and their risk factors in the Iranian population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The results of this study are extracted from the third national Surveillance of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases (SuRFNCD-2007), conducted in 2007. A total of 5,287 Iranian citizens, aged 15–64 years, were included in this survey. Interviewer-administered questionnaires were applied to collect the data of participants including the demographics, diet, physical activity, smoking, history of hypertension, and history of diabetes. Anthropometric characteristics were measured and serum biochemistry profiles were determined on venous blood samples. Diabetes (fasting plasma glucose ≥ 126 mg/dl), hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg, or use of anti-hypertensive drugs), dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia: triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dl, hypercholesterolemia: total cholesterol ≥ 200 mg/dl), obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²), and central obesity (waist circumference ≥ 80 cm in females and ≥ 94 cm in males) were identified and the national prevalence rates were estimated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and central obesity was 8.7% (95%CI = 7.4–10.2%), 26.6% (95%CI = 24.4–28.9%), 22.3% (95%CI = 20.2–24.5%), and 53.6% (95%CI = 50.4–56.8%), respectively. The prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia was 36.4% (95%CI = 34.1–38.9%) and 42.9% (95%CI = 40.4–45.4%), respectively. All of the mentioned prevalence rates were higher among females (except hypertriglyceridemia) and urban residents.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We documented a strikingly high prevalence of a number of chronic non-communicable diseases and their risk factors among Iranian adults. Urgent preventive interventions should be implemented to combat the growing public health problems in Iran.</p

Re-establishing the ‘outsiders’: English press coverage of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup

In 2015, the England Women’s national football team finished third at the Women’s World Cup in Canada. Alongside the establishment of the Women’s Super League in 2011, the success of the women’s team posed a striking contrast to the recent failures of the England men’s team and in doing so presented a timely opportunity to examine the negotiation of hegemonic discourses on gender, sport and football. Drawing upon an ‘established-outsider’ approach, this article examines how, in newspaper coverage of the England women’s team, gendered constructions revealed processes of alteration, assimilation and resistance. Rather than suggesting that ‘established’ discourses assume a normative connection between masculinity and football, the findings reveal how gendered ‘boundaries’ were both challenged and protected in newspaper coverage. Despite their success, the discursive positioning of the women’s team as ‘outsiders’, served to (re)establish men’s football as superior, culturally salient and ‘better’ than the women’s team/game. Accordingly, we contend that attempts to build and, in many instances, rediscover the history of women’s football, can be used to challenge established cultural representations that draw exclusively from the history of the men’s game. In such instances, the 2015 Women’s World Cup provides a historical moment from which the women’s game can be relocated in a context of popular culture

What potential has tobacco control for reducing health inequalities? The New Zealand situation

In this Commentary, we aim to synthesize recent epidemiological data on tobacco and health inequalities for New Zealand and present it in new ways. We also aim to describe both existing and potential tobacco control responses for addressing these inequalities. In New Zealand smoking prevalence is higher amongst Māori and Pacific peoples (compared to those of "New Zealand European" ethnicity) and amongst those with low socioeconomic position (SEP). Consequently the smoking-related mortality burden is higher among these populations. Regarding the gap in mortality between low and high socioeconomic groups, 21% and 11% of this gap for men and women was estimated to be due to smoking in 1996–99. Regarding the gap in mortality between Māori and non-Māori/non-Pacific, 5% and 8% of this gap for men and women was estimated to be due to smoking. The estimates from both these studies are probably moderate underestimates due to misclassification bias of smoking status. Despite the modest relative contribution of smoking to these gaps, the absolute number of smoking-attributable deaths is sizable and amenable to policy and health sector responses. There is some evidence, from New Zealand and elsewhere, for interventions that reduce smoking by low-income populations and indigenous peoples. These include tobacco taxation, thematically appropriate mass media campaigns, and appropriate smoking cessation support services. But there are as yet untried interventions with major potential. A key one is for a tighter regulatory framework that could rapidly shift the nicotine market towards pharmaceutical-grade nicotine (or smokeless tobacco products) and away from smoked tobacco