Classical Features Research Articles

MORPHOLOGICAL EVOLUTION AND DIAGNOSIS OF BRONCHOPULMONARY DYSPLASIA IN VERY PRETERM INFANTS

Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) remains one of the most common and severe diseases in very preterm infants, which can cause death. Since the first description of BPD in 1967, not only understanding of the disease’s nature, its definition, classification, epidemiology, features of the clinical course, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and prognosis but the specific autopsy histopathological features have changed. The primarily reason for these is considered a change in the population of sick and dead infants as a result of improving clinical practice, increasing the survival rates of the most immature neonates, and reducing the incidence of severe BPD forms and the associated mortality.The BPD form that has been described initially is now called "old" BPD and is characterized by significant lung injury. In the smallest neonates, who were treated with exogenous surfactant, the histopathological signs of the disease changed, determining the need to modify the theoretical concept of BPD. The leading feature of the new BPD form was the disorder of lung development and formation, not their injury. Morphologically, this was manifested by a reduced number and simplified structure of acini, changes in the capillary structure with less obvious fibrosis of the lungs. Such morphometric methods as the radial alveolar count and the count of mean number of alveoli intercepts can be used for the histopathological diagnosis of a simplified lung structure. The use of these techniques helps to objectively assess lung growth retardation. Although the number of cases of "new" BPD currently prevails, some autopsies are still characterized by histopathological changes typical for the "old" form of the disease. A combination of classic and new features is also possible. When establishing a pathological diagnosis of BPD, it is essential to consider all specific histopathological changes that may indicate the presence and severity of the disease, as well as its role in thanatogenesis. This is important not only for the correct postmortem diagnosis of BPD, but also for the studying of various disease phenotypes.The article describes the main histopathological characteristic of various BPD forms, as well as methods of evaluating the simplified lung structure.

Correlated attributes: Toward a labeling algorithm of complementary categorial features

Classical syntactic features are revisited from an algebraic perspective, recalling a traditional argument that the ±N vs. ±V distinction involves correlated, conceptually orthogonal, features, which can be represented in the algebraic format of ±1 vs. ±i complementary elements in a vectorial space. Coupled with natural assumptions about shared information (semiotic) systems, such a space, when presumed within a labeling algorithm, allows us to deduce fundamental properties of the syntax that do not follow from the presumed computation, like core selectional restrictions for lexical categories or their very presupposition in the context of a system of grammatical categories. This article suggests how that fundamental distinction can be coupled with neurophysiological realities, some of which (represented as mathematically real) can be pinpointed into punctual representations, while others (represented as mathematically complex) are, instead, fundamentally distributed. The postulated matrix mechanics amounts to a novel perspective on how to analyze syntactic neurophysiological signals.

Improving Automatic Melanoma Diagnosis Using Deep Learning-Based Segmentation of Irregular Networks.

Deep learning has achieved significant success in malignant melanoma diagnosis. These diagnostic models are undergoing a transition into clinical use. However, with melanoma diagnostic accuracy in the range of ninety percent, a significant minority of melanomas are missed by deep learning. Many of the melanomas missed have irregular pigment networks visible using dermoscopy. This research presents an annotated irregular network database and develops a classification pipeline that fuses deep learning image-level results with conventional hand-crafted features from irregular pigment networks. We identified and annotated 487 unique dermoscopic melanoma lesions from images in the ISIC 2019 dermoscopic dataset to create a ground-truth irregular pigment network dataset. We trained multiple transfer learned segmentation models to detect irregular networks in this training set. A separate, mutually exclusive subset of the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) 2019 dataset with 500 melanomas and 500 benign lesions was used for training and testing deep learning models for the binary classification of melanoma versus benign. The best segmentation model, U-Net++, generated irregular network masks on the 1000-image dataset. Other classical color, texture, and shape features were calculated for the irregular network areas. We achieved an increase in the recall of melanoma versus benign of 11% and in accuracy of 2% over DL-only models using conventional classifiers in a sequential pipeline based on the cascade generalization framework, with the highest increase in recall accompanying the use of the random forest algorithm. The proposed approach facilitates leveraging the strengths of both deep learning and conventional image processing techniques to improve the accuracy of melanoma diagnosis. Further research combining deep learning with conventional image processing on automatically detected dermoscopic features is warranted.

IL17A mRNA Staining Distinguishes Palmoplantar Psoriasis from Hyperkeratotic Palmoplantar Eczema in Diagnostic Skin Biopsies

Acral dermatoses, including hyperkeratotic palmoplantar eczema (HPE), palmoplantar psoriasis (PP), and mycosis fungoides palmaris et plantaris (MFPP), can be challenging to diagnose clinically and histopathologically. In this setting, cytokine biomarkers may be able to help provide diagnostic clarity. Therefore, we evaluated IL-17A, IFN-γ, and IL-13 expression in PP, HPE, and MFPP and compared their expression profiles with nonacral sites. We used biopsy specimens from the Yale Dermatopathology database, selecting cases of HPE (n= 12), PP (n= 8), MFPP (n= 8), normal acral skin (n= 9), nonacral eczema (n= 10), and nonacral psoriasis (n= 10) with classic clinical and histopathologic features. IL17A mRNA expression by RNA in situ hybridization differentiated PP (median score 63.1 [interquartile range 9.4-104.1]) from HPE (0.8 [0-6.0]; P= 0.003), MFPP (0.6 [0-2.6]; P= 0.003), and normal acral skin (0 [0-0]; P < 0.001). Unexpectedly, both PP and HPE showed co-expression of IFNG and IL13 mRNA. In contrast, nonacral psoriasis and eczema showed divergent patterns of IFNG and IL13 mRNA expression. Taken together, we show that IL17A mRNA expression may be a useful biomarker of PP, and we further show that acral dermatoses exhibit distinct immunology compared to nonacral sites, with implications for clinical management.

Imaging of Central Nervous System Demyelinating Disorders

This article summarizes neuroimaging findings in demyelinating disease, the most common being multiple sclerosis. Revisions to criteria and treatment options have been ongoing, and MRI plays a pivotal role in diagnosis and disease monitoring. The common antibody-mediated demyelinating disorders with their respective classic imaging features are reviewed, as well as the differential diagnostic considerations on imaging. The clinical criteria of demyelinating disease rely heavily on imaging with MRI. With novel antibody detection, the range of clinical demyelinating syndromes has expanded, most recently with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-IgG antibodies. Imaging has improved our understanding of the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis and disease progression, and further research is underway. The importance of increased detection of pathology outside of the classic lesions will have an important role as therapeutic options are expanding. MRI has a crucial role in the diagnostic criteria and differentiation among common demyelinating disorders and syndromes. This article reviews the typical imaging features and clinical scenarios that assist in accurate diagnosis, differentiation between demyelinating diseases and other white matter diseases, the importance of standardized MRI protocols in clinical practice, and novel imaging techniques.

Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of central nervous system infections in a tertiary center: A retrospective study.

Central nervous system (CNS) infection is one of the most common causes of morbidity, mortality, and hospital admission worldwide. The natural history of CNS infection is quite fatal. Early diagnosis and treatment have been proven to have a crucial role in patients' survival. The aim of this study was to identify the epidemiological and clinical patterns of patients diagnosed with CNS infections. This study is a retrospective study conducted in a tertiary level hospital in Nepal in which patient diagnosed with CNS infections (September 2019 to 2021) were included. Data were collected and analyzed in SPSS. The mean age of the 95 patients included in the study was 45.18 ± 19.56. Meningoencephalitis (n = 44, 46.30%) was the most common infection diagnosed. Patients belonging to the age group 30-60 years had a higher frequency of focal neurological deficit, and other classical clinical features. All the patients who died during the treatment had associated comorbidities but no concurrent infections. Altered sensorium, fever, and headache were the common presenting symptoms in all the recovered patients. To ensure optimum disease outcome, early diagnosisand prompt management are crucial. For this, recognizing the local disease patterns in terms of disease distribution, commonly implicated aetiologies, presenting symptoms, and prognostic factors is of utmost importance.

21TiP Molecular alterations predictive of outcome in early staged cervical cancer: A translational investigation in the international validation study of sentinel node biopsy in early cervical cancer SENTICOL III

Cervical cancer remains the second cause of cancer death in women worldwide. Despite of good histological and clinical features, some patients relapse after the treatment of early stage cervical cancer. Recent studies identified correlation between some genetic alterations and poor prognosis in advanced-staged cervical cancer. Yet, the literature remains scarce about molecular alterations and outcome correlation in early stage cervical cancer. Our translational study investigate recurrent molecular alterations predictive of outcome in early stage cervical cancer. We included the first 100 patients randomized in the Senticol III trial. This large multicentric, prospective, randomized, and international “validation study” tries to validate sentinel node biopsy as nodal staging of early cervical cancers (stage Ia – IIa1). Cervical tumor slides with contributive FFPE sample are analyzed and stratified based on well-established histological criteria (SEDLIS criteria). The immune microenvironment characteristics including TIL’s infiltration and PDL1 expression. PDL1 expression is assessed by IHC using the 22C3 antibody and quantified using CPS score. We made HPV detection and typing by PCR of the tumor samples. We performed DNA and RNA extractions from the FFPE tumor specimens. Using the dedicated gene panel developed by our team, we analyzed 571 genes commonly altered in cancer. We performed high throughput RNA sequencing to establish the gene expression profile of each tumor and its associated stroma. The genomic and transcriptomic analysis assessed the tumor mutational load, the most frequently altered genes and their expression. The biostatistical analyses will correlate molecular alterations, histopathological and clinical classical features, with patient outcome. The different parameters will be first analyzed independently (univariate analysis) and then in a multiparametric manner (logistic regression). NCT03386734. Fabrice Lecuru, MD PhD.

The Association between Apolipoprotein B, Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Subclinical Atherosclerosis-Findings from the SEPHAR National Registry on Hypertension in Romania.

The present study aimed to investigate the association between apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and classical features associated with clinical or subclinical atherosclerosis. A total of 811 adult patients from the general Romanian population, included in the national SEPHAR registry on hypertension, were divided into two groups based on Apo B value (low versus high Apo B with a cut-off established at 130 mg/dL) and subsequently into four subgroups according to the cut-offs recommended by the 2021 ESC Guidelines on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. In all patients, lipid profile, uric acid, full blood count and presence of significant carotid plaques were assessed. Apo B levels were positively correlated with proatherogenic lipids (total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol, p < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with HDL cholesterol (all p < 0.05). In comparison with patients with low Apo B levels, those with elevated Apo B levels more frequently presented significant carotid plaques (17% vs. 19% vs. 28% vs. 46%, p < 0.0001). Univariate regression analysis identified a strong association between the level of uric acid and increased value of Apo B in the four subgroups (uric acid 4.8 +/- 1.3 vs. 5 +/- 1.6 vs. 5.1 +/- 1.5 vs. 5.8 +/- 1.6, r = 0.2, p < 0.0001). The results of this nationwide registry on hypertension in Romania indicate that high Apo B may be considered as a risk factor for CVD, promoting atherosclerosis and associated with increased expression of classical markers of clinical or subclinical CVD.

Athletes are not at greater risk for death by suicide: A review.

Suicide represents a major mental and public health issue. Elite athletes share certain individual and environmental characteristics that may increase their risk for mental illnesses, ultimately leading to suicide. This notion conflicts with the general perception of athletes, being the healthiest representatives of society. A comprehensive literature search was carried out through PubMed and Embase databases for relevant publications. Recent calls for investigating suicidality among athletes resulted in a considerable amount of literature providing some evidence regarding lower rates of suicide among professional and high-performance athletes as well as similar incidence and prevalence of mental conditions, which are known as risk factors for suicide. Nevertheless, special attention is required in this population as predisposing and precipitating factors might differ from classical features of suicidality in the general population. Sports physicians, sports psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals in elite sports should be aware of early signs of affective disorders, risk of recreational drug abuse, misuse of performance-enhancing medications, sport-specific environmental stressors, serious physical injuries, and presence of physical or mental illness, all of which may increase suicidality. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is with suicide with higher severity correlated with increased risk. Compared to active athletes, former athletes may have higher rates of suicide due to common life stressors occurring after sports retirement. The findings suggest a multidisciplinary approach to suicidality in elite athletes, the main goal of which should be the reduction of suicide-related morbidity and mortality. Further research is required to clarify the existing gaps in the current knowledge of the issue. While having lower rates of suicide, athletes share some similar (affective disorders, drug abuse, mental and physical illness) and unique factors (misuse of performance-enhancing substances, sports-related stressors, sports injuries, TBI) putting them at risk of suicide during active career and retirement.

PENDRED syndrome with ectopic thyroid: About a delayed diagnosis

We describe a case of a delayed diagnosis of Pendred syndrome. The patient had a history of total thyroidectomy 13 years ago .And presented when aged 30 with a cervical abscess of ectopic thyroid. The patient had a hearing loss from the early childhood and she had a 27 year old sister who present the same history of deafness and goiter. Pendred syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by sensorineural hearing loss and thyroid dyshormonogenesis. It is caused by mutations in the PDS/SLC26A4 gene encoding for pendrin. Hypothyroidism in Pendred syndrome can be--although rarely--present from birth and therefore diagnosed by neonatal screening. We highlight to the general physician the classical features of this syndrome that would aid early diagnosis.

Kawasaki disease in Malaysia: Biochemical profile, characterization, diagnosis and treatment.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute idiopathic systemic vasculitis with a self- limiting course that predominantly affects children under 5 years old, particularly in the East Asian countries. Nevertheless, to date, the data on KD in Malaysia are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, clinical features, treatment, and outcomes of KD among the pediatric patients admitted to Hospital Canselor Tunku Muhriz (HCTM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A retrospective cohort study of 66,500 pediatric patients presented at HCTM from the year 2004 to 2021 was conducted. 62 KD cases out of 66,500 pediatric admissions were reported, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.58 to 1. Majority of KD patients (95.0%) were younger than 5 years old. Prior infection was reported in 5 KD patients (8.1%). Apart from the classical features, manifestations of various organ systems including cardiovascular (16.1%), gastrointestinal (43.5%), neurological (1.61%), musculoskeletal (1.61%), and genitourinary (17.7%) systems were observed. There was a significant association between sterile pyuria and coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) (p < 0.05). Interestingly, abnormal liver parameters (p < 0.05) and incomplete KD (p < 0.05) were significantly related to IVIG resistance. The presence of family history, immunological disorder, and previous infection in our KD patients suggested that there is a possibility of genetic, immunological, and infectious roles in the pathophysiology of KD. IVIG resistance is more likely to occur in KD patients with hepatic dysfunction or incomplete KD presentation. These findings highlighted the significant contribution of laboratory parameters to the prognosis of KD, prompting more in-depth research on the KD scoring systems and their relevance in this country.

Thyroid Collision Tumors: The Presence of the Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Component Negatively Influences the Prognosis.

The retrospective study included 69 cases diagnosed with TCTs (with simultaneous MTC and PTC components), MTC and PTC. All tumors were comparatively assessed for the classical histopathological prognostic features, including a new grading system for MTC. The main component of TCTs had more frequent microscopic extrathyroidal extension (mETE) (p = 0.000), lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p = 0.000), perineural invasion (PNI) (p = 0.044), and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.042). Additionally, the TCTs' MTC component presented with more frequent LVI (p = 0.010). Comparing TCTs' MTC and PTC components with MTC-only tumors and PTC-only tumors revealed that only the TCTs' MTC components had statistically significant more frequent mETE (p = 0.010) than MTC-only tumors. When applied to the MTC component of TCTs, the pathological parameters of the new grading system of MTC showed no correlations with other microscopic or clinical aspects. Using classical pathological prognostic features, the comparative analysis revealed that the main TCTs' component was more aggressive than the minor one. Contrary to PTCs, in TCTs, the medullary component was more aggressive than the papillary one, but also more aggressive than MTC-only tumors.

Visual clues for the histopathological diagnosis of psoriasis

Objective: The histopathologic diagnosis of psoriasis remains challenging. This study aimed to uncover visual clues for the histopathologic diagnosis of psoriasis in patients whose lesions required differentiation from other inflammatory skin disorders. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 100 psoriasis biopsy sections. Sections of other inflammatory skin diseases were included as the control group. The psoriasis and control groups were compared regarding the pathological characteristics, including the ñ sign, hypogranulosis, and neutrophilic infiltration or pustules within the epidermis. We also summarized the clinical information and the classic and non-classic histological features of psoriasis. Results: Biopsy sections from 190 patients were analyzed. Of these patients, 100 had a confirmed clinicopathological diagnosis of psoriasis, while 90 were diagnosed with an inflammatory skin disorder other than psoriasis (control group). The ñ sign was present in 79.0% and 21.11%, respectively, of the lesional biopsy samples from the psoriasis and control groups. The combination of the ñ sign and neutrophil infiltration in the upper epidermis was present in 74.0% and 10.0%, respectively, of the lesional biopsy samples from the psoriasis and control groups. The combination of these two features had a sensitivity of 0.89 and specificity of 0.76 in distinguishing between the psoriasis and control groups. Conclusion: The ñ sign is a useful visual clue for the histopathological diagnosis of psoriasis. However, for some inflammatory skin disorders that are very similar to psoriasis, such as pityriasis rubra pilaris, the combination of the ñ sign and neutrophil infiltration in the upper epidermis is needed to distinguish the condition from psoriasis.

SensMap R package and SensMapGUI shiny web application for sensory and consumer data mapping: Variations on external preference mapping and stability assessment

AbstractThis work addresses the theory of External Preference Mapping technique (EPM) that reliably gives a mapping of human perceptions' ratings considered as subjective data onto objective descriptions generally obtained from measurable analytic data. An R package named SensMap is made available to facilitate the adoption of the EPM technique in different research fields and to propose, in addition to classical features, advanced strategies for map visualization and its stability enhancement. The novelty of SensMap is to provide options in sensory space dimension reduction methods as well as options in consumers' likings prediction models based on sensory descriptors. The fitting quality of these models can be evaluated using several information criteria. Moreover, SensMap provides a methodology to quantify and assess the stability of preference maps from different employed strategies using a computational algorithm that consists in calculations of distances between maps based on resampling approach. A small part in this paper was devoted to evaluate the efficiency of the implemented stability approach by a simulation study and by application to real data from food science field. To make easier the conduction of the multiple types of analysis without requiring high programming knowledge, a very intuitive Graphical User Interface named SensMapGUI is implemented on the SensMap package. It is an R‐developed shiny web‐tool that produces results and graphics quickly and efficiently. The tool is made available at the following address https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/SensMap/index.html and is dedicated for all sensory practitioners and can be widely used by researchers who need subjective to objective data mapping.Practical ApplicationsResearchers and practitioners frequently require to understand human behaviors by measuring their perceptions and searching for the factors that drive their opinions. The SensMap R package is made available to provide a data visualization map, to allow different analysis strategies and to make available a selection process of the best mapping. The tool can be used through the free and open‐access R software by all sensory scientists and practitioners. SensMap will be regularly updated to allow for changes in dependent R packages and will continue to add new features about mapping. The novelty of the package consists in his incorporation of a nicely designed and easily accessible graphical interface named SensMapGUI that hides all technical complexities for the non‐R users. It is a web‐tool once implemented on line can be used on any device like tablets, iOS applications and Android without need to tedious coding. The tool can also be used by all researchers who need to establish a relationship between subjective and objective data. It can serve in some many investigations such as the evaluation of human state of stress by analogy with their electro‐dermal activity measurements, the explanation of old persons hearing ratings toward road noise on the basis of traffic sound measurements data, the evaluation of consumers' preferences toward some products in the market, etc.

A Case of Mycobacteriosis in Cultured Japanese Seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus) in Southern China

Japanese seabass (Lateolabrax japonicus) is an important species of cultured marine fish with high economic value in China. Nevertheless, from May to November 2019, mass mortality among cultured Japanese seabass occurred in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province of China. Approximately 0.2–0.5% mortality was recorded daily, and the cumulative mortality was up to 30% during this disease outbreak. In this study, the clinical signs and pathological characteristics of diseased fish were investigated. Furthermore, the pathogenicity and antibiotic sensitivity of identified pathogenic bacteria from diseased fish were analyzed. The infected fish showed clinical signs of uncoordinated swimming; anorexia; pigment changes; and a number of 1–5 mm grayish-white nodules in the liver, spleen, and kidney tissues was also found. A bacterial strain, which was designated as ZHLJ2019, was isolated from the diseased fish. To ensure that ZHLJ2019 isolate was the causative agent, a Koch postulate trial was performed. Healthy Japanese seabass were infected by the intraperitoneal injection of 5 × 104, 5 × 105 and 5 × 106 CFU/fish, and cumulative mortalities within 42 days were 75%, 90%, and 100%, respectively. The bacteria colony had traditional morphological and biochemical characteristics similar to that of Mycobacterium marinum. Phylogenetic molecular analyses of 16S rRNA, rpoB, hsp65, erp, and ITS genes confirmed that the isolated strain ZHLJ2019 was M. marinum. The granulomatous inflammation in internal organs of Japanese seabass naturally and experimentally infected with ZHLJ2019 isolate was consistent with the classic pathological features of mycobacteriosis. Drug susceptibility of ZHLJ2019 isolate to 11 antibiotics was determined by broth dilution method in vitro. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of minocycline, rifampicin, ethambutol, isoniazid, streptomycin, doxycycline hydrochloride, kanamycin sulfate, levofloxacin, roxithromycin, and prothionamide against the strain ZHLJ2019 were 4, 2, 8, 4, 16, 8, 8, 8, 4, and 8 μg/mL, respectively. The results of this study suggest that M. marinum is the causal agent responsible for the morbidity and mortality of Japanese seabass cultured in intensive brackish water dirt ponds in southern China.

Effect of Ayurvedic Polyherbal Compound (Syrup Kasahara Dashemani) in the Management of Vataja Kasa (Acute Cough) in Children – An Open-label Single-arm Clinical Study

ABSTRACT Background: Cough is one of the most common clinical presentations encountered frequently in the pediatric population and is correlated with Kasa Roga in Ayurveda. Kasa Roga (cough) is distressing to children and hampers their quality of life. Vataja Kasa (acute cough) if left untreated becomes chronic and distressing to both the child and the parents. Various ayurvedic formulations with cough-suppressing effects have been documented in classical texts that are cost-effective; Kasahara Dashemani is one such ayurvedic polyherbal compound mentioned by Acharya Charaka, possessing antitussive properties that are also evidenced by previous studies. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of Syrup Kasahara Dashemani on classical cardinal features of Vataja Kasa (acute cough), cough scores, and hematological parameters. Materials and Methods: The present study was an interventional prospective, open-label, single-arm clinical trial in which 30 children between the age group of 5 and 15 years presenting with classical cardinal features of Vataja Kasa (acute cough) were administered with syrup Kasahara Dashemani orally in various age-dependent doses calculated by using Young’s formula, every 6 h for 1-month duration. Assessment criteria included six classical cardinal features of Vataja Kasa, daytime and nighttime cough scores, and hematological investigations. Results: On assessing the outcome parameters, significant improvement was observed in all the six classical cardinal features of Vataja Kasa (acute cough), daytime and nighttime cough scores (P &lt; 0.0001), eosinophil count (P &lt; 0.05), absolute eosinophil count (P &lt; 0.05), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (P &lt; 0.05) in all the study subjects. Conclusion: Syrup Kasahara Dashemani can help alleviate Vataja Kasa (acute cough) in the pediatric population.

A Healthcare System for COVID19 Classification Using Multi-Type Classical Features Selection

The coronavirus (COVID19), also known as the novel coronavirus, first appeared in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. After that, it quickly spread throughout the world and became a disease. It has significantly impacted our everyday lives, the national and international economies, and public health. However, early diagnosis is critical for prompt treatment and reducing trauma in the healthcare system. Clinical radiologists primarily use chest X-rays, and computerized tomography (CT) scans to test for pneumonia infection. We used Chest CT scans to predict COVID19 pneumonia and healthy scans in this study. We proposed a joint framework for prediction based on classical feature fusion and PSO-based optimization. We begin by extracting standard features such as discrete wavelet transforms (DWT), discrete cosine transforms (DCT), and dominant rotated local binary patterns (DRLBP). In addition, we extracted Shanon Entropy and Kurtosis features. In the following step, a Max-Covariance-based maximization approach for feature fusion is proposed. The fused features are optimized in the preliminary phase using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and the ELM fitness function. For final prediction, PSO is used to obtain robust features, which are then implanted in a Support Vector Data Description (SVDD) classifier. The experiment is carried out using available COVID19 Chest CT Scans and scans from healthy patients. These images are from the Radiopaedia website. For the proposed scheme, the fusion and selection process accuracy is 88.6% and 93.1%, respectively. A detailed analysis is conducted, which supports the proposed system efficiency.

Natural H2 exploration: tools and workflows to characterize a play

Natural dihydrogen (H2) exploration is now active in various countries, but tools and workflows that help to characterize prospective zones are still poorly defined. This review paper is dedicated to share our experience in characterizing H2 plays based on exploration efforts carried out in many countries in Europe, North and South America, Africa, and Oceania between 2017 and 2023. We decided to focus on onshore exploration where three main reactions are generating H2: (i) redox reactions between Fe2+ and H2O, (ii) radiolysis of water and, (iii) organic late maturation where H2 comes from hydrocarbons. This leads to classify the H2 generating rocks (H2_GR) into four types that seem us the more likely to be of economic interest: basic and ultrabasic rocks of oceanic/mantellic affinity (H2_GR1), iron-rich bearing sedimentary and intrusive rocks, (H2_GR2), radioactive continental rocks (H2_GR3) and organic matter-rich rocks (H2_GR4). For the pre-fieldwork, the workflow aims to target new promising areas for H2 exploration. Cross-referencing the presence of H2_GR in the basement, classical geological-hydrodynamic features (fault, water source), and already-known H2 occurrences at the surface remain essential but should be accompanied by remote sensing analyses to detect possible H2 occurrences. For the fieldwork, the focus is made on gas and rocks. A discussion is led concerning the importance of punctual measurements and long-term monitoring of gas seepages, that allow to conclude on dynamics of H2 leakage from depth through space and time. For the post-fieldwork, we present the most useful analytical tools to characterize H2 gas seepages and the suspected H2_GR. The critical parameters to estimate the H2 potential of a rock are the content in Fe2+/Fetot (H2_GR1 and H2_GR2), the content of radioactive elements U, Th, K (H2_GR3), and the total organic content (H2_GR4). The hydrogen exploration is in its infancy and all the profession is attempting to define an automated and fast workflow. We are still far away from it due to a lack of data, yet this review presents a practical guide based on the current knowledge.

Automatic and Quantitative Electroencephalographic Characterization of Drug-resistant Epilepsy in Neonatal KCNQ2 Epileptic Encephalopathy.

KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy is relatively common in early-onset neonatal epileptic encephalopathy and seizure severity varied widely, categorized as drug-sensitive epilepsy and drug-resistant epilepsy. However, in clinical practice, anti-seizure medicines need to be gradually adjusted based on seizure control which undoubtedly increases the economic burden of patients, so further positive anti-seizure regimens depend on whether seizure severity can be predicted in advance. In this paper, we proposed a reliable assessment to differentiate between drug-sensitive epilepsy and drug-resistant epilepsy caused by KCNQ2 pathogenic variants. Based on the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrooculogram (EOG) signals, twenty-four classical temporal and spectral domain features were extracted and Gradient Boosting Decision Tree (GBDT) was employed to distinguish between patients with drug-sensitive epilepsy and drug-resistant epilepsy. In addition, we also systematically investigated the impact of channel combination and feature combination based on the forward stepwise selection strategy. By employing selected channels and features, the classification accuracy can reach 81.25% with a sensitivity of 57.14% and specificity of 100%. Compared with the state-of-the-art techniques, including the functional network, effective network, and common spatial patterns, the improvement of accuracy ranges from 37.5% to 56.25%, indicating the superiority of our proposed method. Overall, the proposed method may provide a promising tool to distinguish different seizure outcomes of KCNQ2 epileptic encephalopathy.

Challenges in the Anaesthetic Management of Congenital Disorder Infantile Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis

Pyloric stenosis is characterised by a thicker, lengthened, and larger pylorus as well as hypertrophy of the circular and, to a lesser extent, the longitudinal smooth muscles.The classical presenting features are non-bilious, projectile vomiting, visible peristalsis and hypochloremichypokalaemic metabolic alkalosis. Definitive treatment is often performed by a relatively quick surgical procedure shortly after diagnosis. Surgery for pyloromyotomy is usually performed when fluid, acid/base, and electrolyte imbalances have been properly and completely corrected, which in turn results in speedy recovery of patient. The complications linked to these diseases call for caution when administering anaesthesia for even ostensibly straightforward surgical procedures. The case report is about a 1-month old male neonate who presented with features of pyloric stenosis.Weighing the increase risk of complications and mortality, the neonate was managed using rapid sequence induction approach in combination with caudal block for an adequate analgesia.