Autoassociative MLP in Sleep Spindle Detection

Spindles are one of the most important short-lasting waveforms in sleep EEG. They are the hallmarks of the so-called Stage 2 sleep. Visual spindle scoring is a tedious workload, since there are often a thousand spindles in one all-night recording of some 8 hr. Automated methods for spindle detection typically use some form of fixed spindle amplitude threshold, which is poor with respect to inter-subject variability. In this work a spindle detection system allowing spindle detection without an amplitude threshold was developed. This system can be used for automatic decision making of whether or not a sleep spindle is present in the EEG at a certain point of time. An Autoassociative Multilayer Perceptron (A-MLP) network was employed for the decision making. A novel training procedure was developed to remove inconsistencies from the training data, which was found to improve the system performance significantly.     

Fludarabine in combination with alemtuzumab is effective and feasible in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia: results of a phase II trial.

PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy and safety of a newly developed concomitant administration of fludarabine and alemtuzumab (FluCam) in patients with relapsed or refractory B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 36 patients were treated in this phase II study (median age, 61.47 years; mean number of prior chemotherapies, 2.6; Binet stage C, n = 28). After an initial dose escalation of alemtuzumab over 3 days, alemtuzumab 30 mg and fludarabine 30 mg/m2 were administered on 3 consecutive days. Treatment was repeated after 28 days for up to six cycles. Restaging (following National Cancer Institute criteria) was carried out after cycles 2 and 4 and 1 month after the end of treatment. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 83% (11 complete responses, 19 partial responses, one stable disease, and five progressive diseases). Two patients with progressive disease developed fungal pneumonias, and one patient died as a result of Escherichia coli sepsis. Two subclinical cytomegalovirus reactivations occurred. CONCLUSION: The new FluCam regimen is effective and feasible in patients with relapsed and refractory B-CLL.     

Heparin octasaccharides inhibit angiogenesis in vivo.

BACKGROUND: In previous experiments, we showed that heparin oligosaccharides inhibit the angiogenic cytokine fibroblast growth factor-2. Here, we present the first in vivo study of size-fractionated heparin oligosaccharides in four models of angiogenesis that are progressively less dependent on fibroblast growth factor-2. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Heparin oligosaccharides were prepared using size-exclusion gel filtration chromatography and characterized through depolymerization and strong anion exchange high-performance liquid chromatography. Size-defined oligosaccharides (20 mg/kg/d) were given to mice bearing s.c. sponges that were injected with fibroblast growth factor-2 (100 ng/d). After 14 days, octasaccharides and decasaccharides reduced the microvessel density to levels below control. In a second experiment, HEC-FGF2 human endometrial cancer cells that overexpress fibroblast growth factor-2 were implanted in a hollow fiber placed s.c. in vivo. Oligosaccharides were given at 20 mg/kg/d for 2 weeks and the data again showed that octasaccharides significantly reduced microvessel density around the fiber (P = 0.03). In a more complex model, where angiogenesis was induced by a broad spectrum of growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor, we implanted H460 lung carcinoma cells in hollow fibers and treated the animals with oligosaccharides at 20 mg/kg/d over 3 weeks. Octasaccharides reduced the microvessel density to that of control. Preliminary investigation of 6-O-desulfated heparins showed that these also had antiangiogenic activity. RESULTS: Finally, we examined the inhibitory potential of hexasaccharides and octasaccharides given at 20 mg/kg/d and these inhibited the growth of H460 lung carcinoma in vivo. At clinically attainable concentrations, significant anticoagulation (activated partial thromboplastin time, anti-factor Xa, and anti-factor IIa) was not observed in vitro unless species containing > or =16 saccharide residues were investigated. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, our preclinical data show that heparin octasaccharides represent novel antiangiogenic compounds that can be given without the anticoagulant effects of low molecular weight heparin.     

Determination of the pericardial to serum myoglobin ratio for the early diagnosis of perioperative myocardial infarction after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Pericardial fluid reflect the composition of cardiac interstitium in myocardial ischemia. This study investigated the value of the pericardial and serum myoglobin (MG) measurements for the diagnosis of perioperative myocardial infarction (MI) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Postoperative arterial and pericardial blood samples were taken in 64 subjects undergoing elective CABG allocated to two groups according to the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities observed during the first postoperative 24h. Group 1=normal and nonspecific ECG abnormalities, and Group 2=perioperative Q-wave MI. The occurrence of perioperative MI was associated with a dramatic increase in both serum and pericardial cardiac troponin I (CTnI) and MG concentrations. Pericardial concentrations were higher than serum concentrations during the first postoperative 24h in all subject. However, pericardial/serum CTnI ratio in subjects in Group 2 was not statistically different from Group 1 at the time of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and did not significantly change at time intervals. On the other hand, more than two-fold increase in the pericardial/serum MG ratio was determined for all patients who experienced perioperative Q-wave MI with the lowest value as 2.75, whereas only 1 of 59 patients in group 1 had the ratio higher than 2 with the highest value as 2.15 at the time of admission to the ICU. In conclusion, determination of pericardial/serum MG ratio may be a useful tool for the early diagnosis of the perioperative MI after CABG.     

Women's empowerment and fertility preferences of married women: analysis of demographic and health survey’2016 in Timor-Leste

A recently independent state, Timor-Leste, is progressing towards socioeconomic development, prioritizing women empowerment while its increased fertility rate (4.1) could hinder the growth due to an uncontrolled population. Currently, limited evidence shows that indicators of women''s empowerment are associated with fertility preferences and rates. The objective of this study was to assess the association between women empowerment and fertility preferences of married women aged 15 to 49 years in Timor-Leste using nationally representative survey data. The study was conducted using the data of the latest Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2016. The study included 4040 rural residents and 1810 urban residents of Timor-Leste. Multinomial logistic regression has been performed to assess the strength of association between the exposures indicating women''s empowerment and outcome (fertility preference). After adjusting the selected covariates, the findings showed that exposures that indicate women empowerment in DHS, namely, the employment status of women, house and land ownership, ownership of the mobile phone, and independent bank account status, contraceptive use, and the attitude of women towards negotiating sexual relations are significantly associated with fertility preferences. The study shows higher the level of education, the less likely were the women to want more children, and unemployed women were with a higher number of children. Our study also found that the attitude of violence of spouses significantly influenced women''s reproductive choice. However, employment had no significant correlation with decision-making opportunities and contraceptive selection due to a lack of substantial data. Also, no meaningful data was available regarding decision-making and fertility preferences. Our findings suggest that women''s empowerment governs decision-making in fertility preferences, causing a decline in the fertility rate.     

一例47岁精神状态改变合并急性肾衰的病例分析

病例介绍患者,男,47岁,由于精神状态改变合并急性肾衰于6月初的一天早上10点送入我院急诊科。该患者在前一天晚上8点与家人共进晚餐时出现行为异常,餐后又开车外出。根据其妻子的描述,当晚回到家时,患者说话含糊不清并出现嗜睡。到晚9点出现呕吐并且昏睡。凌晨3点其妻子叫他无反应,遂拨打急诊中心电话,将患者送至当地医院急诊科。该患者最近没有发热、患病以及抑郁症状。曾患有肠易激综合征(服用了阿托品与地芬诺酯治疗)、慢性背部疼痛和焦虑,对青霉素过敏,没有个人或者家族重要疾病史。患者有吸烟和酗酒史,但近年无饮酒,其妻子确认其没有使…     

Investigation of antioxidant compounds in commercial pomegranate molasses products using matrix-solid phase dispersion extraction coupled with HPLC

Pomegranate is a well known fruit for its unique flavor, taste and health benefits. The medicinal properties of this fruits directly associated with the phenolic content present, with great anti-oxidant potential. The research is intended to develop matrix solid phase dispersion method (MSPD) and HPLC quantification of four major anti-oxidant marker constituents (vitamin C, gallic acid, rutin & ellagic acid) in pomegranate molasses samples. The effects of several important experimental parameters like type of dispersant, sample-dispersant ratio, solvents and its volume, time of extraction were investigated. A C₁₈ column with the specification (5?µm, 250?×?4.0?mm) was used for the separation. A gradient flow of mobile phase was selected after many trials containing 0.1%, v/v solution of orthophosphoric acid and acetonitrile. The flow rate was 1.0?mL/min; and the chromatograms were recorded at 254?nm. The validation parameters, like linearity (r²?=?0.9985, 0.9965, 0.9925 & 0.9986), accuracy (100.3, 99.5, 100.9 & 101.9%), intra-day precision (%RSD?=?1.09, 1.02, 1.26 & 0.97), inter-day precision (%RSD?=?1.32, 0.83, 1.07, & 1.15) LOD (0.07, 4.50, 0.45 & 0.40?µg/mL), LOQ (0.095, 9.50, 0.85 & 9.5?µg/mL) and robustness (% RSD?=?0.92, 0.76, 0.81 & 0.83) respectively for vitamin C, gallic acid, rutin & ellagic acid, were found satisfactory as per ICH guidelines.