Human Papillomavirus in Endometrial Adenocarcinomas: Infectious Agent or a Mere “Passenger”?

Aims. To investigate the possible association of human papillomavirus (HPV) with endometrial hyperplasias and neoplasia. Does HPV play any role in the initiation or prognosis of endometrial adenocarcinomas? Methods. Twenty-five endometrial adenocarcinomas of the endometrioid cell type, with and without squamous differentiation, and twenty-four endometrial hyperplasias of various forms (simple, complex, and atypical) were analyzed for the presence of type 16 and 18 HPV by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The results were related to histopathological features of the tumour, and the patients' age, and prognosis. Results. Six of 25 endometrial adenocarcinomas were HPV 16-positive (24%), and 5 of 25 (20%) were HPV 18-positive. Simple endometrial hyperplasias was associated somewhat more commonly with HPV 16 and 18 (2/8 and 1/8 cases, resp.) than hyperplasias progressing to endometrial adenocarcinomas, namely, atypical endometrial hyperplasia (1/8 and 0/8 cases, resp.). None of the positive cases in the series, whether hyperplastic or neoplastic, demonstrated cytological evidence of HPV infection. There was no relation between HPV-positive cases and squamous differentiation, depth of myometrial invasion, lymphatic involvement, lymphocytic response, patients' age, or prognosis. Conclusion. It appears that the presence of HPV in the endometrium, as detected by PCR, does not play any role in the initiation or prognosis of endometrial adenocarcinoma

Prevalence of Joint Hypermobility and Patterns of Articular Manifestations in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Objective. The objective is the investigation of Joint Hypermobility (JH) and the Hypermobility Syndrome (HMS) in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods. We examined 83 patients with IBD and 67 healthy individuals for the presence of JH. Patients were excluded if they were under 18 or over 50 years of age and if they had other conditions which affect joint mobility. The x2 and the Fisher exact test were used appropriately between study groups. Odds ratios (ORs) for the risk of JH and HMS in IBD groups were calculated. Results. A total of 150 individuals (83 IBD patients and 67 healthy controls) participated in the study. 69 IBD patients, 41 with Crohn's Disease (CD) and 28 with ulcerative colitis (UC), were finally eligible. JH was detected in 29 CD patients (70.7%), in 10 UC patients (35.7%), and in 17 healthy control subjects (25.4%). Significant difference was detected on JH in CD patients as compared to UC patients (P = .0063) and controls (P < .0001). The estimated OR for JH was 7.108 (95% CI: 2.98–16.95) in CD and 1.634 (95% CI: 0.63–4.22) in UC patients. HMS was detected in 5 (12.2%) CD and in 1 (3.57%) UC patients. The OR for HMS in CD was 3.75 (95% CI: 0.41–34.007), while 7 (17.1%) CD patients had overlapping symptoms for both HMS and early spondylarthropathy. Conclusions. JH and the HMS are common in CD patients, thus articular manifestations should be carefully interpreted. This implies an involvement of collagen varieties in the pathogenesis of IBD

Semi-Supervised Fine-Tuning for Deep Learning Models in Remote Sensing Applications

A combinatory approach of two well-known fields: deep learning and semi supervised learning is presented, to tackle the land cover identification problem. The proposed methodology demonstrates the impact on the performance of deep learning models, when SSL approaches are used as performance functions during training. Obtained results, at pixel level segmentation tasks over orthoimages, suggest that SSL enhanced loss functions can be beneficial in models' performance

A Gas Leak Rate Measurement System for the ATLAS MUON BIS-Monitored Drift Tubes

A low-cost, reliable and precise system developed for the gas leak rate measurement of the BIS-Monitored Drift Tubes (MDTs) for the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer is presented. In order to meet the BIS-MDT mass production rate, a total number of 100 tubes are tested simultaneously in this setup. The pressure drop of each one of the MDT is measured, within a typical time interval of 48 hours, via a differential manometer comparing with the pressure of a gas tight reference tube. The precision of the method implemented is based on the system temperature homogeneity, with accuracy of ÄT = 0.3 oC. For this reason, two thermally isolated boxes are used testing 50 tubes each of them, to achieve high degree of temperature uniformity and stability. After measuring several thousands of the MDTs, the developed system is confirmed to be appropriate within the specifications for testing the MDTs during the mass production

Validation of the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale and the Relationship of Mind Wandering to Impairment in Adult ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates excessive mind wandering (MW) in adult ADHD using a new scale: the Mind Excessively Wandering Scale (MEWS). METHOD: Data from two studies of adult ADHD was used in assessing the psychometric properties of the MEWS. Case-control differences in MW, the association with ADHD symptoms, and the contribution to functional impairment were investigated. RESULTS: The MEWS functioned well as a brief measure of excessive MW in adult ADHD, showing good internal consistency (α > .9), and high sensitivity (.9) and specificity (.9) for the ADHD diagnosis, comparable with that of existing ADHD symptom rating scales. Elevated levels of MW were found in adults with ADHD, which contributed to impairment independently of core ADHD symptom dimensions. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest excessive MW is a common co-occurring feature of adult ADHD that has specific implications for the functional impairments experienced. The MEWS has potential utility as a screening tool in clinical practice to assist diagnostic assessment

Determinants of Microbial Load in Infected Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Pilot Study

We examined the determinants of microbial load in infected diabetic foot ulcers in 62 patients (38 men and 24 women, mean age: years) with clinically infected diabetic foot ulcers. Tissue cultures were taken from ulcers by 4 mm punches. Ulcer grade (University of Texas classification), neuropathy disability score (NDS), neuropathy symptom score (NSS), ankle-brachial index (ABI), perfusion, extent, depth, infection, and sensation (PEDIS) grade of diabetic foot infection, and laboratory parameters were evaluated in all patients. Total microbial load was positively correlated with the number of isolates on tissue cultures (, ), white blood cell count (WBC) (, ), and platelet count (PLT) (, ). It also exhibited a borderline insignificant positive correlation with PEDIS infection grade (, ). In stepwise linear regression analysis, the number of isolates on tissue cultures and WBC were identified as the only two significant parameters accounting for 38% of the variation in the log of total microbial load (adjusted , ). In conclusion, patients with infected diabetic foot ulcer exhibit a positive correlation of total microbial load with the number of isolates on tissue cultures, WBC and PLT

The key role of daytime sleepiness in cognitive functioning of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Background: Adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently suffer from sleep problems and report high levels of daytime sleepiness compared to neurotypical controls, which has detrimental effect on quality of life. Methods: We evaluated daytime sleepiness in adults with ADHD compared to neurotypical controls using an observer-rated sleepiness protocol during the Sustained Attention Response Task as well as electroencephalogram (EEG) slowing, a quantitative electroencephalographic measure collected during a short period of wakeful rest. Results: We found that adults with ADHD were significantly sleepier than neurotypical controls during the cognitive task and that this on-task sleepiness contributed to cognitive performance deficits usually attributed to symptoms of ADHD. EEG slowing predicted severity of ADHD symptoms and diagnostic status, and was also related to daytime sleepiness. Frontal EEG slowing as well as increased frontal delta were especially prominent in adults with ADHD. We have validated and adapted an objective observer-rated measure for assessing on-task sleepiness that will contribute to future sleep research in psychology and psychiatry. Conclusions: These findings indicate that the cognitive performance deficits routinely attributed to ADHD and often conceptualized as cognitive endophenotypes of ADHD are largely due to on-task sleepiness and not exclusively due to ADHD symptom severity. Daytime sleepiness plays a major role in cognitive functioning of adults with ADHD

System Test of the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer in the H8 Beam at the CERN SPS

An extensive system test of the ATLAS muon spectrometer has been performed in the H8 beam line at the CERN SPS during the last four years. This spectrometer will use pressurized Monitored Drift Tube (MDT) chambers and Cathode Strip Chambers (CSC) for precision tracking, Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) for triggering in the barrel and Thin Gap Chambers (TGCs) for triggering in the end-cap region. The test set-up emulates one projective tower of the barrel (six MDT chambers and six RPCs) and one end-cap octant (six MDT chambers, A CSC and three TGCs). The barrel and end-cap stands have also been equipped with optical alignment systems, aiming at a relative positioning of the precision chambers in each tower to 30-40 micrometers. In addition to the performance of the detectors and the alignment scheme, many other systems aspects of the ATLAS muon spectrometer have been tested and validated with this setup, such as the mechanical detector integration and installation, the detector control system, the data acquisition, high level trigger software and off-line event reconstruction. Measurements with muon energies ranging from 20 to 300 GeV have allowed measuring the trigger and tracking performance of this set-up, in a configuration very similar to the final spectrometer. A special bunched muon beam with 25 ns bunch spacing, emulating the LHC bunch structure, has been used to study the timing resolution and bunch identification performance of the trigger chambers. The ATLAS first-level trigger chain has been operated with muon trigger signals for the first time