Median Detection Rate Research Articles

Neoplasia Diagnosis After Multi-target Stool DNA Is Enhanced Among Lowest Baseline Detectors.

Variation in colorectal neoplasia detection limits the effectiveness of screening colonoscopy. By evaluating neoplasia detection rates of individual colonoscopists, we aimed to quantify the effects of pre-procedural knowledge of a positive (+) multi-target stool DNA (mt-sDNA) on colonoscopy quality metrics. We retrospectively identified physicians who performed a high volume of + mt-sDNA colonoscopies; colorectal neoplasia at post-mt-sDNA colonoscopy was recorded. These colonoscopists were stratified into quartiles based on baseline adenoma detection rates. Baseline colonoscopy adenoma detection rates and sessile serrated lesion detection rates were compared to post-mt-sDNA colonoscopy neoplasia diagnosis rates among each quartile. Withdrawal times were measured from negative exams. During the study period (2014-17) the highest quartile of physicians by volume of post-mt-sDNA colonoscopies were evaluated. Among thirty-five gastroenterologists, their median screening colonoscopy adenoma detection rate was 32% (IQR, 28-39%) and serrated lesion detection rate was 13% (8-15%). After + mt-sDNA, adenoma diagnosis increased to 47% (36-56%) and serrated lesion diagnosis increased to 31% (17-42%) (both p < 0.0001). Median withdrawal time increased from 10 (7-13) to 12 (10-17) minutes (p < 0.0001) and was proportionate across quartiles. After + mt-sDNA, lower baseline detectors had disproportionately higher rates of adenoma diagnosis in female versus male patients (p = 0.048) and higher serrated neoplasia diagnosis rates among all patients (p = 0.0092). Knowledge of + mt-sDNA enriches neoplasia diagnosis compared to average risk screening exams. Adenomatous and serrated lesion diagnosis was magnified among those with lower adenoma detection rates. Awareness of the mt-sDNA result may increase physician attention during colonoscopy. Pre-procedure knowledge of a positive mt-sDNA test improves neoplasia diagnosis rates among colonoscopists with lower baseline adenoma detection rates, independent of withdrawal time.

Laboratory Cross-Comparison and Ring Test Trial for Tumor BRCA Testing in a Multicenter Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Series: The BORNEO GEICO 60-0 Study

Germline and tumor BRCA testing constitutes a valuable tool for clinical decision-making in the management of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients. Tissue testing is able to identify both germline (g) and somatic (s) BRCA variants, but tissue preservation methods and the widespread implementation of NGS represent pre-analytical and analytical challenges that need to be managed. This study was carried out on a multicenter prospective GEICO cohort of EOC patients with known gBRCA status in order to determine the inter-laboratory reproducibility of tissue sBRCA testing. The study consisted of two independent experimental approaches, a bilateral comparison between two reference laboratories (RLs) testing 82 formalin-paraffin-embedded (FFPE) EOC samples each, and a Ring Test Trial (RTT) with five participating clinical laboratories (CLs) evaluating the performance of tissue BRCA testing in a total of nine samples. Importantly, labs employed their own locally adopted next-generation sequencing (NGS) analytical approach. BRCA mutation frequency in the RL sub-study cohort was 23.17%: 12 (63.1%) germline and 6 (31.6%) somatic. Concordance between the two RLs with respect to BRCA status was 84.2% (gBRCA 100%). The RTT study distributed a total of nine samples (three commercial synthetic human FFPE references, three FFPE, and three OC DNA) among five CLs. The median concordance detection rate among them was 64.7% (range: 35.3-70.6%). Analytical discrepancies were mainly due to the minimum variant allele frequency thresholds, bioinformatic pipeline filters, and downstream variant interpretation, some of them with consequences of clinical relevance. Our study demonstrates a wide range of concordance in the identification and interpretation of BRCA sequencing data, highlighting the relevance of establishing standard criteria for detecting, interpreting, and reporting BRCA variants.

Detecting temporal lobe seizures in ultra long-term subcutaneous EEG using algorithm-based data reduction

ObjectiveUltra long-term monitoring with subcutaneous EEG (sqEEG) offers objective outpatient recording of electrographic seizures as an alternative to self-reported epileptic seizure diaries. This methodology requires an algorithm-based automatic seizure detection to indicate periods of potential seizure activity to reduce the time spent on visual review. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of a sqEEG-based automatic seizure detection algorithm. MethodsA multicenter cohort of subjects using sqEEG were analyzed, including nine people with epilepsy (PWE) and 12 healthy subjects, recording a total of 965 days. The automatic seizure detections of a deep-neural-network algorithm were compared to annotations from three human experts. ResultsData reduction ratios were 99.6% in PWE and 99.9% in the control group. The cross-PWE sensitivity was 86% (median 80%, range 69–100% when PWE were evaluated individually), and the corresponding median false detection rate was 2.4 detections per 24 hours (range: 2.0–13.0). ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated that step one in a sqEEG-based semi-automatic seizure detection/review process can be performed with high sensitivity and clinically applicable specificity. SignificanceUltra long-term sqEEG bears the potential of improving objective seizure quantification.

A multicentric observational study of patients affected by advanced heart failure with implantable cardioverter defibrillator and left ventricular assist devices

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Background Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is increasingly used in patients with end-stage heart failure. Most patients already have an implantable defibrillator (ICD) at the time of L-VAD implantation. Studies on this patient population are limited by the small sample size and the short duration of follow-up. Purpose The aim of this study was to retrospectively describe the real-world management of patients implanted with both ICD and LVAD. The main objective was to evaluate the incidence and predictors of appropriate and inappropriate therapies of the ICD and the incidence and predictors of ICD related complications. Methods 212 patients were enrolled in four Centers in the period between July 2006 and November 2020. The inclusion criteria were age&amp;gt; 18 years, advanced heart failure, patients with ICD and concomitant or subsequent continuous flow LVAD implantation. ICD therapy was defined as antitachycardia pacing therapy or shock. The data available at the last visit with a median follow up of 21 months were analyzed. Outcome predictors were assessed by univariate logistic regression and the variables of interest included in a multivariate model. Results The rate of appropriate ICD therapies was 29.7%, while the incidence of inappropriate therapies was 10.4%; in the multivariate analysis the presence of a zone therapy with low detection rate (VT zone with median detection rate of 164.5 bpm) was found to be an independent predictor of the composite of appropriate and inappropriate therapies (OR = 19.05; CI = 2.19-165.21; p = 0.007). Interference between ICD and LVAD occurred in 7.5% of cases; the incidence of infectious complications related to the ICD was 7.1% and bleeding complications of 5.2%; in the multivariate analysis, ICD generator replacement was an independent predictor of total complications related to the ICD (interference, infectious and bleeding; OR = 4.45; IC = 1.60-12.36; p = 0.004). 103 patients had CRT defibrillator (48,6%). At follow up there was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of appropriate therapies between those who had CRT-on (n=74) and those who had CRT-off (n=29; p = 0.61). Conclusions Patients with LVAD implanted with an ICD experience a high rate of appropriate and inappropriate ICD therapies. An active VT zone at low heart rate was found to be an independent predictor of ICD therapies. Of more, ICD generator replacement was found to be an independent predictor of total complications related to the ICD. Our findings suggest the importance of tailoring device programming in order to minimize the incidence of ICD therapies, thus sparing the need for generator replacement in this population.

Patient acceptance of transvaginal sonographic endometrial thickness assessment compared with hysteroscopy and biopsy for exclusion of endometrial cancer in cases of postmenopausal bleeding.

Available examinations for women with postmenopausal bleeding include transvaginal sonography to measure endometrial thickness (TVS-ET), and invasive endometrial assessment using hysteroscopy/endometrial biopsy. However, selection of the examination method seldom involves consideration of patient preferences. The aim of this study was to examine patient preferences for the method used to investigate postmenopausal bleeding. Women were asked to complete an interviewer-administered structured survey before they underwent clinical investigations at a university gynaecology unit from June 2016 to June 2017. Using the standard gamble approach, women were asked to choose between invasive assessment by hysteroscopy/endometrial biopsy (gold standard) or TVS-ET with a risk of missing endometrial cancer. The risk of missing endometrial cancer during TVS-ET was varied until each woman was indifferent to either option. The median detection rate for endometrial cancer required using TVS-ET was 95% (interquartile range=80%-99.9%). In total, 200 women completed the survey, and 77 (38.5%) women required TVS-ET to have a 99.9% detection rate for endometrial cancer. Prior hysteroscopy experience was the only factor that influenced the women's decisions: a significantly higher detection rate was required by this patient group than by patients without previous hysteroscopy experience (P=0.047). A substantial proportion of women would accept TVS-ET alone for the investigation of postmenopausal bleeding. In the era of patientcentred care, clinicians should incorporate patient preferences and enable women to make informed choices concerning the management of postmenopausal bleeding.

Feasibility study using multifocal Doppler twinkling artifacts to detect suspicious microcalcifications in ex vivo specimens of breast cancer on US

Multifocal Doppler twinkling artifact (MDTA) imaging has shown high detection rates of microcalcifications in phantom studies. We aimed to evaluate its performance in detecting suspicious microcalcifications in comparison with mammography by using ex vivo breast cancer specimens. We prospectively included ten women with breast cancer that presented with calcifications on mammography. Both digital specimen mammography and MDTA imaging were performed for ex vivo breast cancer specimens on the day of surgery. Five breast radiologists marked cells that included suspicious microcalcifications (referred to as ‘positive cell’) on specimen mammographic images using a grid of 5-mm cells. Cells that were marked by at least three readers were considered as ‘consensus-positive’. Matched color Doppler twinkling artifact (CDTA) signals were compared between reconstructed US-MDTA projection images and mammographic images. The median detection rate for each case was 74.7% for positive cells and 96.7% for consensus-positive cells. Of the 10 cases, 90% showed a detection rate of ≥ 80%, with 50% of cases showing a 100% detection rate for consensus-positive cells. The proposed MDTA imaging method showed high performance for detecting suspicious microcalcifications in ex vivo breast cancer specimens, and may be a feasible approach for detecting suspicious breast microcalcifications with US.

Acquired insights from the long-term surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 RNA for COVID-19 monitoring: The case of Monterrey Metropolitan Area (Mexico)

Wastewater-based epidemiology offers a time- and cost-effective way to monitor SARS-CoV-2 spread in communities and therefore represents a complement to clinical testing. WBE applicability has been demonstrated in a number of cases over short-term periods as a method for tracking the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and an early-warning tool for predicting outbreaks in the population. This study reports SARS-CoV-2 viral loads from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and hospitals over a 6-month period (June to December 2020). Results show that the overall range of viral load in positive tested samples was between 1.2 × 103 and 3.5 × 106 gene copies/l, unveiling that secondary-treated wastewaters mirrored the viral load of influents. The interpretation suggests that the viral titers found in three out of four WWTPs were associated to clinical COVID-19 surveillance indicators preceding 2–7 days the rise of reported clinical cases. The median wastewater detection rate of SARS-CoV-2 was one out of 14,300 reported new cases. Preliminary model estimates of prevalence ranged from 0.02 to 4.6% for the studied period. This comprehensive statistical and epidemiological analysis demonstrates that the applied wastewater-based approach to COVID-19 surveillance is in general consistent and feasible, although there is room for improvements.

Assessment of hearing screening programmes across 47 countries or regions II: coverage, referral, follow-up and detection rates from newborn hearing screening

Objectives To assess the performance of newborn hearing screening (NHS) programmes, through selected quality measures and their relationship to protocol design. Design NHS coverage, referral, follow-up and detection rates were aggregated. Referral rates were compared to age at screening step 1, number of steps, and test method: OAE or aABR. Study sample A questionnaire on existing hearing screening was completed by experts from countries in Europe, plus Russia, Malawi, Rwanda, India and China. Results Out of 47 countries or regions, NHS coverage rates were reported from 26, referral rates from 23, follow up from 12 and detection rates from 13. Median coverage rate for step 1 was 96%. Referral rate from step 1 was 6–22% where screening may be performed <24 h from birth, 2–15% for >24 h, and 4% for >72 h. Referral rates to diagnostic assessment averaged 2.1% after one to two steps using OAE only, 1.7% after two steps including aABR, and 0.8% after three to four steps including aABR. Median detection rate for bilateral permanent hearing impairment ≥40dB was 1 per 1000 infants. Conclusion Referral rates were related to age, test method and number of screening steps. Quality measures were not available for many NHS programmes.

Underdetection of cases of COVID-19 in France threatens epidemic control.

As countries in Europe gradually relaxed lockdown restrictions after the first wave, test-trace-isolate strategies became critical to maintain the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at low levels1,2. Reviewing their shortcomings can provide elements to consider in light of the second wave that is currently underway in Europe. Here we estimate the rate of detection of symptomatic cases of COVID-19 in France after lockdown through the use of virological3 and participatory syndromic4 surveillance data coupled with mathematical transmission models calibrated to regional hospitalizations2. Our findings indicate that around 90,000 symptomatic infections, corresponding to 9 out 10 cases, were not ascertained by the surveillance system in the first 7 weeks after lockdown from 11May to 28June 2020, although the test positivity rate did not exceed the 5% recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO)5. The median detection rate increased from 7% (95% confidence interval, 6-8%) to 38% (35-44%) over time, with large regional variations, owing to a strengthening of the system as well as a decrease in epidemic activity. According to participatory surveillance data, only 31% of individuals with COVID-19-like symptoms consulted a doctor in the study period. This suggests that large numbers of symptomatic cases of COVID-19 did not seek medical advice despite recommendations, as confirmed by serological studies6,7. Encouraging awareness and same-day healthcare-seeking behaviour of suspected cases of COVID-19 is critical to improve detection. However, the capacity of the system remained insufficient even at the low epidemic activity achieved after lockdown, and was predicted to deteriorate rapidly with increasing incidence of COVID-19 cases. Substantially more aggressive, targeted and efficient testing with easier access is required to act as a tool to control the COVID-19 pandemic. The testing strategy will be critical to enable partial lifting of the current restrictive measures in Europe and to avoid a third wave.

Investigating the use of ultrasonography for the antenatal diagnosis of structural congenital anomalies in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review

BackgroundCongenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of under-5 mortality globally. The greatest burden is faced by those in low/middle-income countries (LMICs), where over 95% of deaths occur. Many of...

Localization of impalpable breast lesions and detection of sentinel lymph nodes through magnetic methods

PurposeThe most commonly used technique for guiding the surgical removal of impalpable breast lesions is wire-guided localization (WGL). Potential complications of WGL include wire migration, wire transection, patient discomfort, and pneumothorax. Recently, another possibility for preoperative localization of breast lesions trough small steel seeds was developed. A magnetic handheld probe can be used both for localization of breast lesions and sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) detection. MethodsIn this study, we used a new technology for localizing breast lesions in conjunction with sentinel nodes (SLNs) detection through SPIO nanoparticles; both detected using a magnetic probe. The technique uses small steel markers (Magseed®) with magnetic properties, which are placed in breasts under ultrasonographic or mammographic guidance. 41 localization seeds were placed in 38 patients. In 27 patients with malignant tumors, simultaneous use of magnetic method for SLNs detection was used. ResultsIn all 38 patients, breast lesions were accurately localized using this method. No interference between Magseed signals and SPIO tracer signals were observed during magnetic probe measurements. All tumors were exscised with tumor-free surgical margins. The SLN biopsy was successful in all patients undergoing this procedure. The SLN median detection rate was 3 nodes. ConclusionsThe new magnetic methods are reliable alternatives for localizing breast lesions and SLN detection. They are well tolerated by patients and they can avoid the disadvantages of WGL. They have the potential to make tumor localization and SLN biopsy procedures possible in facilities without a nuclear medicine department or where radioisotope availability is limited.

CLAmp‐seq: A Novel Amplicon‐Based NGS Assay with Concatemer Error Correction for Improved Detection of Actionable Mutations in Plasma cfDNA from Patients with NSCLC

AbstractHigh‐throughput sequencing of circulating cell‐free DNA (cfDNA) is critical for targeted therapy selection and monitoring in non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, low quantities of cfDNA in the blood and assay artifacts limit the sensitivity and specificity of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) test. This study develops a novel amplicon‐based NGS technology, CLAmp‐seq (circular ligation amplification and sequencing), with a concatemer‐based error correction strategy, which effectively removes polymerase errors from the first round of amplification. Analytical validation shows median detection rate of 100% at a mutant allele frequency (MAF) of 0.1% for 20 ng of input. The assay achieves 99.8% and 99.5% concordance of repeatability and reproducibility for 0.1% MAF, respectively, and both 100% for 0.5% MAF cfDNA standards. A comparative analysis of 134 NSCLC patient plasma samples demonstrates strong concordance (97.4%) and linearity (R2 = 0.95) between the CLAmp‐seq NGS readouts and droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) results. The detection of mutants in cfDNA obtained from pretreatment plasma samples shows 94.8% concordance with tissue genotyping results. No mutation is detected in noncancerous control samples. It shows that CLAmp‐seq NGS assay can offer an easy‐to‐use, fast, and accurate molecular diagnostic tool with multiplex capacity that is well‐suited for clinical in vitro diagnosis.

Automated Detection and Segmentation of Multiple Sclerosis Lesions Using Ultra-High-Field MP2RAGE.

The aim of this study was to develop a new automated segmentation method of white matter (WM) and cortical multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions visible on magnetization-prepared 2 inversion-contrast rapid gradient echo (MP2RAGE) images acquired at 7 T MRI. The proposed prototype (MSLAST [Multiple Sclerosis Lesion Analysis at Seven Tesla]) takes as input a single image contrast derived from the 7T MP2RAGE prototype sequence and is based on partial volume estimation and topological constraints. First, MSLAST performs a skull-strip of MP2RAGE images and computes tissue concentration maps for WM, gray matter (GM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using a partial volume model of tissues within each voxel. Second, MSLAST performs (1) connected-component analysis to GM and CSF concentration maps to classify small isolated components as MS lesions; (2) hole-filling in the WM concentration map to classify areas with low WM concentration surrounded by WM (ie, MS lesions); and (3) outlier rejection to the WM mask to improve the classification of small WM lesions. Third, MSLAST unifies the 3 maps obtained from 1, 2, and 3 processing steps to generate a global lesion mask. Quantitative and qualitative assessments were performed using MSLAST in 25 MS patients from 2 research centers. Overall, MSLAST detected a median of 71% of MS lesions, specifically 74% of WM and 58% of cortical lesions, when a minimum lesion size of 6 μL was considered. The median false-positive rate was 40%. When a 15 μL minimal lesions size was applied, which is the approximation of the minimal size recommended for 1.5/3 T images, the median detection rate was 80% for WM and 63% for cortical lesions, respectively, and the median false-positive rate was 33%. We observed high correlation between MSLAST and manual segmentations (Spearman rank correlation coefficient, ρ = 0.91), although MSLAST underestimated the total lesion volume (average difference of 1.1 mL), especially in patients with high lesion loads. MSLAST also showed good scan-rescan repeatability within the same session with an average absolute volume difference and F1 score of 0.38 ± 0.32 mL and 84%, respectively. We propose a new methodology to facilitate the segmentation of WM and cortical MS lesions at 7 T MRI, our approach uses a single MP2RAGE scan and may be of special interest to clinicians and researchers.

New criteria of burst suppression on electroencephalogram in dogs anesthetized with sevoflurane

Burst suppression on electroencephalogram (EEG) is defined as suppression periods longer than 0.5 s during which the amplitude does not exceed 5 μV in human. The aims of this study were; 1) an attempt of creating new criteria of burst suppression in dogs; and 2) a survey on accuracy of sub-parameter of Bispectral index (BIS). Using a BIS monitor, suppression ratio (SRBIS) and raw-EEG data were recorded at 2.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, 3.5%, 4.0%, and 5.0% end-tidal sevoflurane concentration (ETSEV) in 6 beagle dogs. The minimum ETSEV at which burst suppression was visually confirmed (ETSEVBS) was determined. By applying various duration and voltage threshold to criteria, suppression ratio was calculated (SR). Using the minimum balanced error rate (BER), new criteria consisting of the minimum duration of 0.35 s and the maximum threshold of 2.25 μV that provided SR > 0 above ETSEVBS was screened. SR was set by these criteria (SRBER) and by manual inspection (SRTRUE). The median detection rate of SRBER/SRTRUE was a statistically significant increase (p < .01) compared to that of SRBIS/SRTRUE (77% and 17% at 3.5% ETSEV, 89% and 19% at 4.0% ETSEV, and 86% and 84% at 5.0% ETSEV, respectively). In addition, between SRBER and SRTRUE evaluated by regression and Bland-Altman analyses, there was a strong correlation (r = 0.967, p < .001) and a moderate agreement (Limits of agreement: −7.14 ± 13.95).The method using BER may help to establish new criteria of burst suppression to grasp the excessive deep level of anesthesia.

An Interactive Web-Based Educational Tool Improves Detection and Delineation of Barrett’s Esophagus–Related Neoplasia

Endoscopic detection of early Barrett's esophagus-related neoplasia (BORN) is a challenge. We aimed to develop a web-based teaching tool for improving detection and delineation of BORN. We made high-definition digital videos during endoscopies of patients with BORN and non-dysplastic Barrett's esophagus. Three experts superimposed their delineations of BORN lesions on the videos using special tools. In phase one, 68 general endoscopists from 4 countries assessed 4 batches of 20 videos. After each batch, mandatory feedback compared the assessors' interpretations with those from experts. These data informed the selection of 25 videos for the phase 2 module, which was completed by 121 new assessors from 5 countries. A 5-video test batch was completed before and after scoring of the four 5-video training batches. Mandatory feedback was as in phase 1. Outcome measures were scores for detection, delineation, agreement delineation, and relative delineation of BORN. A linear mixed-effect model showed significant sequential improvement for all 4 outcomes over successive training batches in both phases. In phase 2, median detection rates of BORN in the test batch increased by 30% (P < .001) after training. From baseline to the end of the study, there were relative increases in scores of 46% for detection, 129% for delineation, 105% for agreement delineation, and 106% for relative delineation (all, P < .001). Scores improved independent of assessors' country of origin or level of endoscopic experience. We developed a web-based teaching tool for endoscopic recognition of BORN that is easily accessible, efficient, and increases detection and delineation of neoplastic lesions. Widespread use of this tool might improve management of Barrett's esophagus by general endoscopists.

Rotavirus infections in children in Turkey: A systematic review.

We aimed to describe rotavirus epidemiology and clinical findings including extraintestinal manifestations in a setting that has yet to introduce rotavirus vaccines in the national immunization program. A literature search was performed by using the key words "Turkey" and "rotavirus." Ninety-eight studies published between 1987 and 2016 including epidemiological, clinical, and genotypical data at least 1year duration were included. There were a total of 117741 children with diarrhea and 26566 rotavirus gastroenteritis with a median detection rate 31.8% (95% CI, 31.3-32.4) under 5years of age. The rate of dehydration was 47% (95% CI, 23.4-91.6). There were 328 cases reported to be presenting with a various complication related to rotavirus in 2750 children in eight studies. The overall complication rate was 11.7% (95% CI, 10.7-12.9). The cumulative incidence of the most common genotypical combinations circulating worldwide was only 59.7% (G9[P8], 25%; G1[P8], 22%; G2[P4], 5.6%; G3[P8], 2.6%; G4[P8], 4.5%) whereas mixed, untypeable, and other genotypes were 2.4%, 15%, and 22.9% respectively. Our results point out the importance of rotavirus vaccination by presenting that rotavirus may cause severe complications besides severe gastroenteritis. The role of strain diversity in the variability of clinical presentations of rotavirus infections needs to be further investigated.

Fine-grained wireless propagation ambience sensing

The ubiquitous wireless network infrastructure and the need of people’s indoor sensing inspire the work leveraging wireless signal into broad spectrum for indoor applications, including indoor localization, human–computer interaction, and activity recognition. To provide an accurate model selection or feature template, these applications take the system reliability of the signal in line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight propagation into account. Unfortunately, these two types of signal propagation are analyzed in static or mobile scenario separately. Our question is how to use the wireless signal to estimate the signal propagation ambience to facilitate the adaptive complex environment? In this paper, we exploit the Fresnel zone theory and channel state information (CSI) to model the static and mobile ambience detectors. Considering the spatiotemporal correlation of indoor activities, the propagation ambience can be divided into three categories: line-of-sight (LOS), non-line-of-sight (NLOS), and semi-line-of-sight (SLOS), which is used to represent the intermediate state between the LOS and NLOS propagation ambience during user movement. Leveraging the hidden Markov model to estimate the dynamic propagation ambience in the mobile environment, a novel propagation ambience identification method, named Ambience Sensor (Asor), is proposed to improve the real-time performance for the upper applications. Furthermore, Asor is integrated into a localization algorithm, Asor-based localization system (Aloc), to confirm the effectiveness. We prototype Asor and Aloc based on commodity WiFi infrastructure without any hardware modification. In addition, the real-time performance of Asor is evaluated by conducting tracking experiments. The experimental results show that the median detection rate of propagation ambience is superior to the existing methods in absence of any a priori hypothesis of static or mobile scenarios.

Oligorecurrent prostate cancer limited to lymph nodes: getting our ducks in a row : Nodal oligorecurrent prostate cancer.

Oligorecurrent prostate cancer with exclusive nodal involvement represents a common state of disease, amenable to local therapy. New radio-labeled tracers have enriched the possibility of cancer detection and treatment. In this review, we aim to illustrate the main nuclear medicine diagnostic options and the role of radiotherapy in this setting of patients. We performed a PubMed search referring to the PRISMA guidelines to analyze the performance of PSMA- and choline-PET in detecting oligorecurrence limited to lymph nodes, and to review the main studies supporting either ablative stereotactic body radiotherapy or regional lymph node irradiation in this clinical setting. PSMA-PET has shown higher efficacy in the diagnosis of nodal lesions if compared with choline-PET. More specifically, for PSA ≤ 2ng/ml, the median detection rate of choline-PET ranges from 19.5 to 44.5%, whereas PSMA ranges from 51.5 to 74%. SBRT achieves high local control rates positively affecting progression-free survival (PFS), with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT)-free survival ranging from 25 to 44months and with low toxicity rates (0-15%). Prophylactic nodal irradiation shows 3-year PFS rates ranging from 62 to 75%, but with a potential higher risk of toxicity. However, the chosen treatment option needs to be tailored on the single patient. Newer PET/CT radio-labeled tracers have increased disease detection in oligorecurrent prostate cancer patients. Growing evidence of their impact on metastasis-directed therapy encourages the use of the most advanced radiotherapy techniques in the clinical management of such patients.

Respondent-driven sampling for identification of HIV- and HCV-infected people who inject drugs and men who have sex with men in India: A cross-sectional, community-based analysis.

BackgroundA major barrier to achieving ambitious targets for global control of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is low levels of awareness of infection among key populations such as men who have sex with men (MSM) and people who inject drugs (PWID). We explored the potential of a strategy routinely used for surveillance in these groups, respondent-driven sampling (RDS), to be used as an intervention to identify HIV- and HCV-infected PWID and MSM who are unaware of their status and those who are viremic across 26 Indian cities at various epidemic stages.Methods and findingsData were collected as part of the baseline assessment of an ongoing cluster-randomized trial. RDS was used to accrue participants at 27 sites (15 PWID sites and 12 MSM sites) selected to reflect varying stages of the HIV epidemic among MSM and PWID in India. A total of 56 seeds recruited a sample of 26,447 persons (approximately 1,000 participants per site) between October 1, 2012, and December 19, 2013. Across MSM sites (n = 11,997), the median age was 25 years and the median number of lifetime male partners was 8. Across PWID sites (n = 14,450), 92.4% were male, the median age was 30 years, and 87.5% reported injection in the prior 6 months. RDS identified 4,051 HIV-infected persons, of whom 2,325 (57.4%) were unaware of their HIV infection and 2,816 (69.5%) were HIV viremic. It also identified 5,777 HCV-infected persons, of whom 5,337 (92.4%) were unaware that they were infected with HCV and 4,728 (81.8%) were viremic. In the overall sample (both MSM and PWID), the prevalence of HIV-infected persons who were unaware of their status increased with sampling depth, from 7.9% in participants recruited in waves 1 through 5 to 12.8% among those recruited in waves 26 and above (p-value for trend < 0.001). The overall detection rate of people unaware of their HIV infection was 0.5 persons per day, and the detection rate of HIV-infected persons with viremia (regardless of their awareness status) was 0.7 per day. The detection rate of HIV viremic individuals was positively associated with underlying HIV prevalence and the prevalence of HIV viremia (linear regression coefficient per 1-percentage-point increase in prevalence: 0.05 and 0.07, respectively). The median detection rate of PWID who were unaware of their HCV infection was 2.5 per day. The cost of identifying 1 unaware HIV-infected individual ranged from US$51 to US$2,072 across PWID sites and from US$189 to US$5,367 across MSM sites. The mean additional cost of identifying 1 unaware HCV-infected PWID was US$13 (site range: US$7–US$140). Limitations of the study include the exclusivity of study sites to India, lack of prior HIV/HCV diagnosis confirmation with clinic records, and lack of cost data from other case-finding approaches commonly used in India.ConclusionsIn this study, RDS was able to rapidly identify at nominal cost a substantial number of unaware and viremic HIV-infected and HCV-infected individuals who were currently not being reached by existing programs and who were at high risk for transmission. Combining RDS (or other network-driven recruitment approaches) with strategies focused on linkage to care, particularly in high-burden settings, may be a viable option for achieving the 90-90-90 targets in key populations in resource-limited settings.

Real-Time Epileptic Seizure Detection Using EEG.

This paper proposes a novel patient-specific real-time automatic epileptic seizure onset detection, using both scalp and intracranial electroencephalogram (EEG). The proposed technique obtains harmonic multiresolution and self-similarity-based fractal features from EEG for robust seizure onset detection. A fast wavelet decomposition method, known as harmonic wavelet packet transform (HWPT), is computed based on Fourier transform to achieve higher frequency resolutions without recursive calculations. Similarly, fractal dimension (FD) estimates are obtained to capture self-similar repetitive patterns in the EEG signal. Both FD and HWPT energy features across all EEG channels at each epoch are organized following the spatial information due to electrode placement on the skull. The final feature vector combines feature configurations of each epoch within the specified moving window to reflect the temporal information of EEG. Finally, relevance vector machine is used to classify the feature vectors due to its efficiency in classifying sparse, yet high-dimensional data sets. The algorithm is evaluated using two publicly available long-term scalp EEG (data set A) and short-term intracranial and scalp EEG (data set B) databases. The proposed algorithm is effective in seizure onset detection with 96% sensitivity, 0.1 per hour median false detection rate, and 1.89 s average detection latency, respectively. Results obtained from analyzing the short-term data offer 99.8% classification accuracy. These results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective with both short- and long-term EEG signal analyzes recorded with either scalp or intracranial modes, respectively. Finally, the use of less computationally intensive feature extraction techniques enables faster seizure onset detection when compared with similar techniques in the literature, indicating potential usage in real-time applications.