Learning and modeling biosignatures from tissue images

Ideally biosignatures can be detected at the early infection phase and used both for developing diagnostic patterns and for prognostic triage. Such biosignatures are important for vaccine validation and to provide risk stratification to a population such as for the identification of individuals who are exposed to biological or chemical agents and who are at high risk for developing an infection. The research goal is to detect broad based biosignature models and is initially focused on developing effective computer-augmented pathology tied to animal models developed at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Using lung tissue from infected and nai ve mice, feature extraction from images of the tissue under a specialized microscope, and Bayesian networks to analyze the data sets of features, we were able to differentiate normal from diseased samples and viral from bacterial samples in mid to late stages of infection. This effort has shown the potential effectiveness of computer-augmented pathology in this application. The extended research intends to couple analysis of serum, microarray analysis of organs, proteomic data and the pathology. The rational for the current invasive procedure on animal models is to facilitate the development of data analysis and machine learning techniques that can eventually be generalized to the task of discovering non-invasive and early stage biosignatures for human models.     

Presurgical nasoalveolar moulding for a unilateral midfacial cleft: A case report

Although surgical correction remains the mainstay of treating unilateral/bilateral cleft lip and/or palate deformities, some inadequacies still remain like scarring of the nasolabial complex, multiple interventions to achieve desired results, etc. Presurgical nasoalveolar moulding consists of selective repositioning by active moulding of the alveolar segments as well as the surrounding soft tissue. Clinical case of unilateral mid-facial cleft treated by the same, showed significant reduction in the defect size and improved contour of the columella-philtrum region for superior postsurgical esthetics.     

Long-term survival of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients with malignancy

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the 1-year survival rate of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) patients with malignancy was different from that of those without malignancy.

Oculoplastic publication trends in general ophthalmology journals

AIM: To examine the publication trend of oculoplastic articles throughout the last decade in general ophthalmology journals. METHODS: A review of all abstracts published between January 2010 to December 2019 in general, clinical ophthalmic journals was conducted. Articles that were categorized as original articles in general and clinical journals were included in the study. RESULTS: Totally 10 281 abstracts were included. Of them 465 (4.5%) were oculoplastic publications. The mean number of annual-publications was 46.5 and the mean annual-rate of oculoplastic publications was 4.51%. A significant decreasing trend in the number of oculoplastic publication in the last decade was found (P<0.01, R2=0.770). However, there was no significant change in the annual-rate of oculoplastic publications during the last decade (P=0.191, R2=0.203). From the 465 oculoplastic articles: 179 (38.5%) were articles about eyelid diseases, 160 (34.40%) were about orbit diseases, 92 (19.80%) were about lacrimal diseases and 34 (7.30%) were about thyroid eye disease (TED). A significant decreasing trends in the number of orbital and eyelids publications were found (P<0.01, P<0.01). However, there were no significant changes in the annual-rate of orbital, eyelids, TED and lacrimal-diseases publications throughout the last decade. CONCLUSION: Oculoplastic subspecialty deals with a wide range of pathologies in different ages. However, less than 5% of the articles in general, clinical, high impact factor ophthalmology journals are about oculoplastic diseases. One of the best way for ophthalmologists from different subspecilties, nowadays, to be updated, is to read high-impact-factor, general ophthalmology journals. Therefore, it is important that those journals will include articles about breakthroughs in oculoplastic.     

Lack of association between the C677T single nucleotide polymorphism of the MTHFR gene and glaucoma in Iranian patients

Glaucoma is a major cause of blindness worldwide. A single nucleotide polymorphism of the MTHFR gene (C677T) has been associated with susceptibility to this disease, although this is controversial in the last decade. In this study, the possible association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism and the risk of developing primary open angle (POAG) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG) was investigated. For this, a prospective study consisting of 73 POAG, 85 PEXG and 90 matched controls was undertaken in an Iranian population. Genomic DNA was extracted from whole blood. Genotyping of all individuals for the MTHFR C677T polymorphism was conducted using the PCR-RFLP technique. Our findings revealed no significant association between the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in POAG and PEXG compared with controls. Consistent with several other studies, our analysis suggests that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism is unlikely to be a factor contributing to the risk of developing specific forms of glaucoma.     

Impact of mHealth Chronic Disease Management on Treatment Adherence and Patient Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Background

Adherence to chronic disease management is critical to achieving improved health outcomes, quality of life, and cost-effective health care. As the burden of chronic diseases continues to grow globally, so does the impact of non-adherence. Mobile technologies are increasingly being used in health care and public health practice (mHealth) for patient communication, monitoring, and education, and to facilitate adherence to chronic diseases management.

Objective

We conducted a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the effectiveness of mHealth in supporting the adherence of patients to chronic diseases management (“mAdherence”), and the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of mAdherence tools and platforms in chronic disease management among patients and health care providers.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Embase, and EBSCO databases for studies that assessed the role of mAdherence in chronic disease management of diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung diseases from 1980 through May 2014. Outcomes of interest included effect of mHealth on patient adherence to chronic diseases management, disease-specific clinical outcomes after intervention, and the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of mAdherence tools and platforms in chronic disease management among target end-users.

Results

In all, 107 articles met all inclusion criteria. Short message service was the most commonly used mAdherence tool in 40.2% (43/107) of studies. Usability, feasibility, and acceptability or patient preferences for mAdherence interventions were assessed in 57.9% (62/107) of studies and found to be generally high. A total of 27 studies employed randomized controlled trial (RCT) methods to assess impact on adherence behaviors, and significant improvements were observed in 15 of those studies (56%). Of the 41 RCTs that measured effects on disease-specific clinical outcomes, significant improvements between groups were reported in 16 studies (39%).

Conclusions

There is potential for mHealth tools to better facilitate adherence to chronic disease management, but the evidence supporting its current effectiveness is mixed. Further research should focus on understanding and improving how mHealth tools can overcome specific barriers to adherence.     

Evaluation of Effect of Astringent on Oral Mucosa as a Non-surgical Preprosthetic Treatment Modality in Edentulous Patients: An In Vivo Study

Preprosthetic treatments are advocated in edentulous patients to enhance the denture bearing areas for good denture support. Most of the times the preprosthetic treatments are considered only in a surgical way. Ideally every edentulous patient undergoing complete denture treatment needs a non-surgical preprosthetic treatment. So that, the denture bearing area will be properly prepared before the denture construction. The present study was conducted on thirty completely edentulous male patients who had visited to our Institute for the treatment. Each patient was asked to massage with astringent gel on the denture bearing mucosa over a 4 weeks period. Exfoliative cytology was used to collect the surface cells from the palatal mucosa. First scrape was taken before the stimulation treatment was started. The second and third scrape was taken after the stimulation treatment with astringent gel for each patient. In this way total 90 scrapes were made and the each smear was stained with the Papanicolaou’s technique to examine under light microscope. About 100 cells were counted from each stained smear. The number of parabasal cells, intermediate cells and superficial cells were recorded to calculate the degree of keratinization. Statistical analysis was performed. A significant difference (p < 0.001) in keratinization levels was found. The mean percentage of superficial cells before the stimulation treatment was 79.80 %; this percentage was gradually increased to 84.60 and 90.57 % after the 2  and 4 weeks period of stimulation treatment respectively with astringent gel.     

Prosthodontic rehabilitation of dentinogenesis imperfecta

Dentinogenesis imperfecta and its prosthodontic management is a challenging task. Treatment protocol varies according to clinical case. Although various reports in the literature suggest general guidelines for treatment planning, the present case report describes a full mouth rehabilitation of a young patient with dentinogenesis imperfecta treated by maxillary fixed partial dentures and mandibular fiber reinforced overdenture with metal occlusal surfaces.     

Development and evaluation of learning module on clinical decision-making in Prosthodontics

Purpose:

Best practice strategies for helping students learn the reasoning skills of problem solving and critical thinking (CT) remain a source of conjecture, particularly with regard to CT. The dental education literature is fundamentally devoid of research on the cognitive components of clinical decision-making.

Aim:

This study was aimed to develop and evaluate the impact of blended learning module on clinical decision-making skills of dental graduates for planning prosthodontics rehabilitation.

Methodology:

An interactive teaching module consisting of didactic lectures on clinical decision-making and a computer-assisted case-based treatment planning software was developed Its impact on cognitive knowledge gain in clinical decision-making was evaluated using an assessment involving problem-based multiple choice questions and paper-based case scenarios.

Results:

Mean test scores were: Pretest (17 ± 1), posttest 1 (21 ± 2) and posttest 2 (43 ± 3). Comparison of mean scores was done with one-way ANOVA test. There was overall significant difference in between mean scores at all the three points (P < 0.001). A pair-wise comparison of mean scores was done with Bonferroni test. The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level. The pair-wise comparison shows that posttest 2 score is significantly higher than posttest 1 and posttest 1 is significantly higher than pretest that is, pretest 2 > posttest 1 > pretest.

Conclusion:

Blended teaching methods employing didactic lectures on the clinical decision-making as well as computer assisted case-based learning can be used to improve quality of clinical decision-making in prosthodontic rehabilitation for dental graduates.