Schistosomiasis as a Cause of Chronic Lower Abdominal Pain

Background: Chronic intestinal schistosomiasis is rare in the United Kingdom. The symptoms are nonspecific and may mimic several other gastrointestinal conditions. We present a case of chronic intestinal schistosomiasis in a West Indian woman presenting to a genitourinary clinic

The Role of Technical and Process Quality of Chatbots: A Case Study from the Insurance Industry

Artificial intelligence (AI) influences customer service through benefits, such as reliability, availability, and economic efficiency. However, AI applications also involve challenges of user acceptance and quality concerns. To address these challenges, we investigate the factors that impact AI preference and adoption among users of a chatbot in a real customer service scenario. We focus on Emma, a customer service chatbot at a large Finnish insurance company. Our analysis, based on an online survey administered to 225 consumers using the chatbot for their customer service needs, shows that customers are reasonably satisfied with Emma, though they are generally do not prefer AI over a human. Users’ perceived process quality relating to “soft” aspects of interaction is quintessential in strengthening technical quality relating to effectiveness and efficiency of service, both contributing to AI preference. Thus, the chatbot’s problem-solving ability acts as a hygiene factor, which alone cannot ensure adoption. As a pleasing and useful interaction is prerequisite for user experience, organizations should consider both technical and process quality when implementing chatbots in customer service

A new method for registrationbased medical image interpolation

Abstract—A new technique is presented for interpolating between grey-scale images in a medical data set. Registration between neighboring slices is achieved with a modified control grid interpolation algorithm that selectively accepts displacement field updates in a manner optimized for performance. A cubic interpolator is then applied to pixel intensities correlated by the displacement fields. Special considerations are made for efficiency, interpolation quality, and compression in the implementation of the algorithm. Experimental results show that the new method achieves good quality, while offering dramatic improvement in efficiency relative to the best competing method. Index Terms—Interpolation, reconstruction, registration. I

Machine learning approach to auto-tagging online content for content marketing efficiency: A comparative analysis between methods and content type

YesAs complex data becomes the norm, greater understanding of machine learning (ML) applications is needed for content marketers. Unstructured data, scattered across platforms in multiple forms, impedes performance and user experience. Automated classification offers a solution to this. We compare three state-of-the-art ML techniques for multilabel classification - Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbor, and Neural Network - to automatically tag and classify online news articles. Neural Network performs the best, yielding an F1 Score of 70% and provides satisfactory cross-platform applicability on the same organisation's YouTube content. The developed model can automatically label 99.6% of the unlabelled website and 96.1% of the unlabelled YouTube content. Thus, we contribute to marketing literature via comparative evaluation of ML models for multilabel content classification, and cross-channel validation for a different type of content. Results suggest that organisations may optimise ML to auto-tag content across various platforms, opening avenues for aggregated analyses of content performance

The acute and sub-chronic effects of cocoa flavanols on mood, cognitive and cardiovascular health in young healthy adults: a randomized, controlled trial.

Cocoa supplementation has been associated with benefits to cardiovascular health. However, cocoa\u27s effects on cognition are less clear. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial (n = 40, age M = 24.13 years, SD = 4.47 years) was conducted to investigate the effects of both acute (same-day) and sub-chronic (daily for four-weeks) 250 mg cocoa supplementation on mood and mental fatigue, cognitive performance and cardiovascular functioning in young, healthy adults. Assessment involved repeated 10-min cycles of the Cognitive Demand Battery (CDB) encompassing two serial subtraction tasks (Serial Threes and Sevens), a Rapid Visual Information Processing task, and a mental fatigue scale over the course of half an hour. The Swinburne University Computerized Cognitive Assessment Battery (SUCCAB) was also completed to evaluate cognition. Cardiovascular function included measuring both peripheral and central blood pressure and cerebral blood flow. At the acute time point, consumption of cocoa significantly improved self-reported mental fatigue and performance on the Serial Sevens task in cycle one of the CDB. No other significant effects were found. This trial was registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12613000626763). Accessible via http://www.anzctr.org.au/TrialSearch.aspx?searchTxt=ACTRN12613000626763&ddlSearch=Registered

Cleft closure and undersizing annuloplasty improve mitral repair in atrioventricular canal defects

ObjectiveReoperation rates to correct left atrioventricular valve regurgitation after primary repair of atrioventricular canal defects remain relatively high. The causes of valvular regurgitation are likely multifactorial, and simple cleft closure is often insufficient to prevent recurrence.MethodsTo elucidate the mechanisms leading to regurgitation, we conducted hemodynamic studies using isolated native mitral valves. Anatomy of these valves was altered to mimic atrioventricular canal type valves and studied under pediatric hemodynamic conditions. The impact of subvalvular geometry, cleft closure, annular dilatation, and annular undersizing on regurgitation were investigated.ResultsPapillary muscle position did not have a significant effect on regurgitation. Cleft closure had a significant impact on valvular competence, with reduction in regurgitation volume with increased cleft closure. Regurgitation volume decreased from 12.5 ± 2.4 mL/beat for an open cleft to 4.9 ± 1.9 mL/beat for a partially closed cleft and to 1.4 ± 1.6 mL/beat when the cleft was completely closed. Annular dilatation had a significant impact on regurgitation even after cleft closure. A 40% increase in annular size increased regurgitation by 59% for a partially closed cleft and by 84% for a fully closed cleft. Reducing the annular size by 20% from the physiologic level decreased the regurgitation volume by 12% for a fully open cleft and by 58% for the partially closed cleft case.ConclusionsAnnular dilatation after primary repair has a potentially significant role in the recurrence of atrioventricular valve regurgitation. Reducing the annular size and restricting dilatation as an adjunct to cleft closure is a promising surgical approach in such valve anatomies

When is a randomised controlled trial health equity relevant? Development and validation of a conceptual framework

Background Randomised controlled trials can provide evidence relevant to assessing the equity impact of an intervention, but such information is often poorly reported. We describe a conceptual framework to identify health equity-relevant randomised trials with the aim of improving the design and reporting of such trials.Methods An interdisciplinary and international research team engaged in an iterative consensus building process to develop and refine the conceptual framework via face-to-face meetings, teleconferences and email correspondence, including findings from a validation exercise whereby two independent reviewers used the emerging framework to classify a sample of randomised trials.Results A randomised trial can usefully be classified as 'health equity relevant' if it assesses the effects of an intervention on the health or its determinants of either individuals or a population who experience ill health due to disadvantage defined across one or more social determinants of health. Health equity-relevant randomised trials can either exclusively focus on a single population or collect data potentially useful for assessing differential effects of the intervention across multiple populations experiencing different levels or types of social disadvantage. Trials that are not classified as 'health equity relevant' may nevertheless provide information that is indirectly relevant to assessing equity impact, including information about individual level variation unrelated to social disadvantage and potentially useful in secondary modelling studies.Conclusion The conceptual framework may be used to design and report randomised trials. The framework could also be used for other study designs to contribute to the evidence base for improved health equity

Preclinical in vivo longitudinal assessment of KG207-M as a disease-modifying Alzheimer's disease therapeutic

In vivo biomarker abnormalities provide measures to monitor therapeutic interventions targeting amyloid-β pathology as well as its effects on downstream processes associated with Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology. Here, we applied an in vivo longitudinal study design combined with imaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, mirroring those used in human clinical trials to assess the efficacy of a novel brain-penetrating anti-amyloid fusion protein treatment in the McGill-R-Thy1-APP transgenic rat model. The bi-functional fusion protein consisted of a blood-brain barrier crossing single domain antibody (FC5) fused to an amyloid-β oligomer-binding peptide (ABP) via Fc fragment of mouse IgG (FC5-mFc2a-ABP). A five-week treatment with FC5-mFc2a-ABP (loading dose of 30 mg/Kg/iv followed by 15 mg/Kg/week/iv for four weeks) substantially reduced brain amyloid-β levels as measured by positron emission tomography and increased the cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β42/40 ratio. In addition, the 5-week treatment rectified the cerebrospinal fluid neurofilament light chain concentrations, resting-state functional connectivity, and hippocampal atrophy measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Finally, FC5-mFc2a-ABP (referred to as KG207-M) treatment did not induce amyloid-related imaging abnormalities such as microhemorrhage. Together, this study demonstrates the translational values of the designed preclinical studies for the assessment of novel therapies based on the clinical biomarkers providing tangible metrics for designing early-stage clinical trials