IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY ENHANCED CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE TEST DESIGNED FOR ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS

The purpose of the study is to implement a virtual reality (VR) enhanced continuous performance test (CPT) specifically designed as an aid to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis with the newest enabling technologies. To realize such an objective, firstly, the VR technology enabled ADHD diagnosis methodologies are investigated and required metrics are analyzed. Then, a new model is constructed in order to measure the required metrics and an assessment methodology is adopted to evaluate such metrics to cooperate with the created VR application. As the contribution, a new measurement model and procedure are presented and the effectiveness of the system is going to be examined in future studies

Systemic bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection and accompanying warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia following intravesical BCG immunotherapy

Intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is used for urothelial carcinoma. Systemic side effects are rare and commonly include organ involvement but rarely include bone marrow. We describe a patient who had received intravesical BCG and presented shortly afterwards with constitutional symptoms. Initial work-up revealed pancytopenia and immune haemolysis. He was presumptively diagnosed with systemic BCG infection and secondary warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia. Isoniazid, rifampin and ethambutol was started. The bone marrow biopsy revealed granulomas. Within 6 weeks of treatment, the patient's clinic and laboratory results were dramatically improved. A high level of suspicion is crucial for diagnosis and treatment

Fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio predicts mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an inflammatory disease, and serum albumin and fibrinogen are two important factors in systemic inflammation. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) and in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU).Material and methods: Patients diagnosed with COVID-19 admitted to the Adiyaman Training and Research Hospital from August to November 2020 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. They were divided into 2 groups based on in-hospital mortality: a survivor group (n = 188) and a non-survivor group (n = 198). FAR was calculated by dividing the fibrinogen value by the albumin value. Mortality outcomes were followed up until December 15, 2020.Results: The average age of the patients was 71.2 ± 12.9 years, and 54% were male. On multivariate logistic analysis, diabetes mellitus (OR: 1.806; 95% CI: 1.142–2.856; p = 0.011), troponin I levels (OR: 1.776; 95% CI: 1.031–3.061; p = 0.038), and FAR (OR: 1.004; 95% CI: 1.004–1.007; p = 0.010) at ICU admission were independent predictors of in-hospital mortality in patients with COVID-19.Conclusions: The FAR at admission was associated with mortality in patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the ICU

The frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy and Pompe disease in children with isolated transaminase elevation: results from the observational VICTORIA study

IntroductionElevated transaminases and/or creatine phosphokinase can indicate underlying muscle disease. Therefore, this study aims to determine the frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) in male children and Pompe disease (PD) in male and female children with isolated hypertransaminasemia.MethodsThis multi-center, prospective study enrolled patients aged 3–216 months with serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and/or aspartate transaminase (AST) levels >2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) for ≥3 months. Patients with a known history of liver or muscle disease or physical examination findings suggestive of liver disease were excluded. Patients were screened for creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels, and molecular genetic tests for DMD/BMD in male patients and enzyme analysis for PD in male and female patients with elevated CPK levels were performed. Genetic analyses confirmed PD. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients were analyzed.ResultsOverall, 589 patients [66.8% male, mean age of 63.4 months (standard deviation: 60.5)] were included. In total, 251 patients (188 male and 63 female) had CPK levels above the ULN. Of the patients assessed, 47% (85/182) of male patients were diagnosed with DMD/BMD and 1% (3/228) of male and female patients were diagnosed with PD. The median ALT, AST, and CPK levels were statistically significantly higher, and the questioned neurological symptoms and previously unnoticed examination findings were more common in DMD/BMD patients than those without DMD/BMD or PD (p < 0.001).DiscussionQuestioning neurological symptoms, conducting a complete physical examination, and testing for CPK levels in patients with isolated hypertransaminasemia will prevent costly and time-consuming investigations for liver diseases and will lead to the diagnosis of occult neuromuscular diseases. Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT04120168

High quality ITO thin films grown by dc and RF sputtering without oxygen

High quality indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown without oxygen by both dc and RF magnetron sputtering techniques on glass substrates. The effects of substrate temperature, film thickness and sputtering method on the structural, electrical and optical properties of the as-grown films were investigated. The results showed that the substrate temperature had substantial effects on the film properties, in particular on the crystallization and resistivity. When the substrate temperature was increased to 150 °C, crystallization in the (2 2 2) plane started appearing for both dc and RF sputtered films. We additionally found that with further increments of substrate temperature, the preferred crystallization orientation changed differently for dc and RF sputtered films. Optical transmission in the visible region for a film thickness of 70 nm was found to be above 85%. The bandgap was calculated to be about 3.64 eV for the substrate temperature of 150 °C for a 70 nm thick film. The value of the bandgap increased with respect to the increment in film thickness as well as substrate temperature. We also measured the temperature dependence of the resistivity and Hall coefficient of the films, and calculated the carrier concentration and Hall mobility. Very low room temperature resistivities for dc and RF magnetron sputtered grown films of about 1.28 × 10-4 Ω cm and 1.29 × 10-4 Ω cm, respectively, were obtained. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd.Ministry of Industry of Turkey, SANTEZ project number 00058.STZ.2007-1; TÜBİTAK project number 107T11

Intraparotid Facial Nerve Neurofibroma in Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Benign tumors of the nerve sheath are of 2 types: schwannoma and neurofibroma. Neurofibromas are most commonly found with neurofibromatosis type 1 and characterized by incorporation of the nerve fibers within their matrix. Both benign and malignant tumors can affect the facial nerve. These tumors can be intrinsic or extrinsic; in other words, it can originate from the facial nerve itself or from a contiguous structure or a metastatic disease. Actually, extrinsic tumors are far more common than intrinsic tumors. Intraparotid location of benign tumors of the facial nerve sheath is considered a rare event compared with intratemporal location

WSN Aided Indoor Localization for Unmanned Vehicles

This paper presents design considerations of an Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) based Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) aided indoor localization for unmanned vehicles (UV). In this approach, we integrate Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) measurements into an EKF based localization system. The localization system primarily uses measurements from a Laser Range Finder (LRF) and keeps track of the current position of the UV using an EKF-based algorithm. The integration of RSSI measurements at predetermined intervals improves the accuracy of the localization system. It may also prevent large drifts from the ground truth, kidnapping, and loop closure errors. Player/Stage based simulation studies were conducted to prove the effectiveness of the proposed system. The results of the comparative simulations show that integrating RSSI measurements into the localization system improves the system's accuracy

Acromegaly and Pregnancy: Five New Cases

WOS: 000423949600009Pregnancy is a rare occurrence in acromegalic patients because of impaired fertility due to the disease. There are limited data available regarding pregnancy in acromegalic patients; although, it appears that the patients are usually able to carry their pregnancies to full term. In addition, certain metabolic effects of acromegaly need to be considered as they can be harmful to both mother and fetus. The discontinuation of the medical treatment is usually recommended as the effects of medical treatment are unclear. Herein, we report five new cases of pregnancies in acromegalic patients who had undergone surgery and medical treatment for macroadenoma, before the onset of pregnancy, from different centers. Two of them had received radiotherapy after the surgery. None of the patients in our study were treated for pregnancy; however, two of them were receiving octreotide when the diagnosis of pregnancy was established. The medical treatment of these two patients was discontinued at the beginning of pregnancy. Four patients delivered healthy babies, and therapeutic abortion was performed at the sixth week of pregnancy to one of the patients who was being treated with octreotide before the pregnancy. Out of the five patients in our study, two had pregestational diabetes and one had hypertension. As a conclusion, it can be said that pregnancy in acromegalic patients is usually uneventful without any treatment throughout the pregnancy