A critical look at studies applying over-sampling on the TPEHGDB dataset

Preterm birth is the leading cause of death among young children and has a large prevalence globally. Machine learning models, based on features extracted from clinical sources such as electronic patient files, yield promising results. In this study, we review similar studies that constructed predictive models based on a publicly available dataset, called the Term-Preterm EHG Database (TPEHGDB), which contains electrohysterogram signals on top of clinical data. These studies often report near-perfect prediction results, by applying over-sampling as a means of data augmentation. We reconstruct these results to show that they can only be achieved when data augmentation is applied on the entire dataset prior to partitioning into training and testing set. This results in (i) samples that are highly correlated to data points from the test set are introduced and added to the training set, and (ii) artificial samples that are highly correlated to points from the training set being added to the test set. Many previously reported results therefore carry little meaning in terms of the actual effectiveness of the model in making predictions on unseen data in a real-world setting. After focusing on the danger of applying over-sampling strategies before data partitioning, we present a realistic baseline for the TPEHGDB dataset and show how the predictive performance and clinical use can be improved by incorporating features from electrohysterogram sensors and by applying over-sampling on the training set

Diverse tick-borne microorganisms identified in free-living ungulates in Slovakia

Background: Free-living ungulates are hosts of ixodid ticks and reservoirs of tick-borne microorganisms in central Europe and many regions around the world. Tissue samples and engorged ticks were obtained from roe deer, red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, and wild boar hunted in deciduous forests of south-western Slovakia. DNA isolated from these samples was screened for the presence of tick-borne microorganisms by PCR-based methods. Results: Ticks were found to infest all examined ungulate species. The principal infesting tick was Ixodes ricinus, identified on 90.4% of wildlife, and included all developmental stages. Larvae and nymphs of Haemaphysalis concinna were feeding on 9.6% of wildlife. Two specimens of Dermacentor reticulatus were also identified. Ungulates were positive for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was found to infect 96.1% of cervids, 88.9% of mouflon, and 28.2% of wild boar, whereas Theileria spp. was detected only in cervids (94.6%). Importantly, a high rate of cervids (89%) showed mixed infections with both these microorganisms. In addition to A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp., Rickettsia helvetica, R. monacensis, unidentified Rickettsia sp., Coxiella burnetii, "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis", Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) and Babesia venatorum were identified in engorged I. ricinus. Furthermore, A. phagocytophilum, Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. were detected in engorged H. concinna. Analysis of 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences revealed the presence of five and two A. phagocytophilum variants, respectively, among which sequences identified in wild boar showed identity to the sequence of the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Phylogenetic analysis of Theileria 18S rRNA gene sequences amplified from cervids and engorged I. ricinus ticks segregated jointly with sequences of T. capreoli isolates into a moderately supported monophyletic clade. Conclusions: The findings indicate that free-living ungulates are reservoirs for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. and engorged ixodid ticks attached to ungulates are good sentinels for the presence of agents of public and veterinary concern. Further analyses of the A. phagocytophilum genetic variants and Theileria species and their associations with vector ticks and free-living ungulates are required.Fil: Kazimírová, Mária. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Hamšíková, Zuzana. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Spitalská, Eva. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Minichová, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Mahríková, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Caban, Radoslav. Široká ; EslovaquiaFil: Sprong, Hein. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Fonville, Manoj. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Schnittger, Leonhard. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kocianová, Elena. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; Eslovaqui

A review on the eco-epidemiology and clinical management of human granulocytic anaplasmosis and its agent in Europe

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the agent of tick-borne fever, equine, canine and human granulocytic anaplasmosis. The common route of A. phagocytophilum transmission is through a tick bite, the main vector in Europe being Ixodes ricinus. Despite the apparently ubiquitous presence of the pathogen A. phagocytophilum in ticks and various wild and domestic animals from Europe, up to date published clinical cases of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) remain rare compared to the worldwide status. It is unclear if this reflects the epidemiological dynamics of the human infection in Europe or if the disease is underdiagnosed or underreported. Epidemiologic studies in Europe have suggested an increased occupational risk of infection for forestry workers, hunters, veterinarians, and farmers with a tick-bite history and living in endemic areas. Although the overall genetic diversity of A. phagocytophilum in Europe is higher than in the USA, the strains responsible for the human infections are related on both continents. However, the study of the genetic variability and assessment of the difference of pathogenicity and infectivity between strains to various hosts has been insufficiently explored to date. Most of the European HGA cases presented as a mild infection, common clinical signs being pyrexia, headache, myalgia and arthralgia. The diagnosis of HGA in the USA was recommended to be based on clinical signs and the patient’s history and later confirmed using specialized laboratory tests. However, in Europe since the majority of cases are presenting as mild infection, laboratory tests may be performed before the treatment in order to avoid antibiotic overuse. The drug of choice for HGA is doxycycline and because of potential for serious complication the treatment should be instituted on clinical suspicion alone

Diurnal Changes of Heart Rate and Sympathovagal Activity for Temporal Patterns of Transient Ischemic Episodes in 24-Hour Electrocardiograms

We test the hypothesis that different temporal patterns of transient ST segment changes compatible with ischemia (ischemic episodes) are a result of different physiologic mechanisms responsible for ischemia. We tested the hypothesis using records of the Long-Term ST Database. Each record was divided into three intervals of records: morning, day, and night intervals; and was inserted into one of three sets according to the temporal pattern of ischemia: salvo, periodic, and sporadic pattern. We derived time- and frequency-domain parameters of the heart rate time series in selected intervals in the neighborhood of ischemic episodes. We used the adaptive autoregressive method with a recursive least-square algorithm for consistent spectral tracking of heart rate time series and to study frequency-domain sympathovagal behavior during ischemia. The results support the hypothesis that there are at least two distinct populations, which differ according to mechanisms and temporal patterns of ischemia

Diurnal Changes of Heart Rate and Sympathovagal Activity for Temporal Patterns of Transient Ischemic Episodes in 24-Hour Electrocardiograms

We test the hypothesis that different temporal patterns of transient ST segment changes compatible with ischemia (ischemic episodes) are a result of different physiologic mechanisms responsible for ischemia. We tested the hypothesis using records of the Long-Term ST Database. Each record was divided into three intervals of records: morning, day, and night intervals; and was inserted into one of three sets according to the temporal pattern of ischemia: salvo, periodic, and sporadic pattern. We derived time- and frequency-domain parameters of the heart rate time series in selected intervals in the neighborhood of ischemic episodes. We used the adaptive autoregressive method with a recursive least-square algorithm for consistent spectral tracking of heart rate time series and to study frequency-domain sympathovagal behavior during ischemia. The results support the hypothesis that there are at least two distinct populations, which differ according to mechanisms and temporal patterns of ischemia.</p

Diurnal changes of heart rate and sympatho-vagal activity for temporal patterns of transient ischemia

Using all 86 records of the Long-Term ST Database we studied diurnal variations of ischemia and heart rate among patients exhibiting different temporal patterns of ischemia: salvo, periodic and sporadic pattern. The results show, that the incidence of ischemia increases during the morning interval. The decrease of sympathetic and vagal activity during ischemia is the most prominent for the sporadic group, while for the salvo group only minor changes were observed. The results support our hypothesis, that there are at least two distinct populations which differ according to mechanisms and temporal patterns of ischemia. 1

Differentiation between ischemic and heart rate related events using the continuous wavelet transform

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of death in the world, as a result much efforts have been made to detect early ischemia. Traditionally changes produced in the ST or STT segments of the heartbeat were analyzed. The main difficulty relies on alterations produced in the ST or STT segment because of non ischemic events, such as changes in the heart rate, the ventricular conduction or the cardiac electrical axis. The aim of this work is to differentiate between ischemic and heart rate related events using the information provided by the continuous wavelet transform of the electrocardiogram. To evaluate the performance of the classifier, the Long Term ST Database was used, with ischemic and non ischemic differentiated events annotated by specialists. The analysis was performed over 77 events (52 ischemic and 25 heart rate related), obtaining a sensitivity and positive predictivity of 86.64% for both indicators.Fil: Fernández Biscay, Carolina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Argentino de Matemática Alberto Calderón; ArgentinaFil: Arini, Pedro David. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Argentino de Matemática Alberto Calderón; ArgentinaFil: Rincon Soler, Anderson Ivan. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Argentino de Matemática Alberto Calderón; ArgentinaFil: Bonomini, Maria Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto Argentino de Matemática Alberto Calderón; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Ingeniería Biomédica; Argentina8th International Work-Conference on the Interplay between Natural and Artificial ComputationAlmeríaEspañaInterplay between Natural and Artificial Computatio