Tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma in a male Lhasa Apso.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and more specifically tonsillar SCC are generally regarded as locally invasive with various rates of metastasis. A 13-year-old male Lhasa Apso was referred to the clinic with an unusual mass on his left tonsil and abnormal lumps under the tongue. The dog's food and water intake, breathing and heart rates, body temperature, capillary refill time, and blood tests were normal. A biopsy of abnormal tissue and immunohistochemical analysis were performed. Histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluations confirmed the basaloid SCC. Some treatments like surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy are used to treat a specific tumor or area of the body. However, in this particular case, chemotherapy was not administered. Considering that dogs with tonsillar cancer generally have a poor to guarded prognosis and a short life expectancy, this case was euthanized after one year with the owner's consent due to the significant tumor enlargement.

Role of digital subtraction angiography in acute cervical spinal cord ischemia.

Ascertaining the etiology of cervical spinal cord dysfunction presents a challenge to clinicians, as the list of differential diagnoses is extensive. Although compressive and inflammatory disorders are common and should be considered immediately, vascular causes are similarly important and acute. The overlap of clinical, magnetic resonance imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid features among the causes of myelopathies may lead to erroneous diagnoses. Such errors may be compounded if routine vascular imaging does not reveal the underlying vasculopathy. We present here three cases in which computed tomography angiography and magnetic resonance angiogram could not clarify the nature of an acute myelopathy, whereas digital subtraction angiography established the diagnosis of spinal cord ischemia.

Self-Recording of Eye Movements in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients Using a Smartphone Eye-Tracking App.

Introduction: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) can affect various eye movements, making eye tracking a potential means for disease monitoring. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility of ALS patients self-recording their eye movements using the "EyePhone," a smartphone eye-tracking application. Methods: We prospectively enrolled ten participants and provided them with an iPhone equipped with the EyePhone app and a PowerPoint presentation with step-by-step recording instructions. The goal was for the participants to record their eye movements (saccades and smooth pursuit) without the help of the study team. Afterward, a trained physician administered the same tests using video-oculography (VOG) goggles and asked the participants to complete a questionnaire regarding their self-recording experience. Results: All participants successfully completed the self-recording process without assistance from the study team. Questionnaire data indicated that participants viewed self-recording with EyePhone favorably, considering it easy and comfortable. Moreover, 70% indicated that they prefer self-recording to being recorded by VOG goggles. Conclusion: With proper instruction, ALS patients can effectively use the EyePhone to record their eye movements, potentially even in a home environment. These results demonstrate the potential for smartphone eye-tracking technology as a viable and self-administered tool for monitoring disease progression in ALS, reducing the need for frequent clinic visits.

SCANED: Siamese collateral assessment network for evaluation of collaterals from ischemic damage.

This study conducts collateral evaluation from ischemic damage using a deep learning-based Siamese network, addressing the challenges associated with a small and imbalanced dataset. The collateral network provides an alternative oxygen and nutrient supply pathway in ischemic stroke cases, influencing treatment decisions. Research in this area focuses on automated collateral assessment using deep learning (DL) methods to expedite decision-making processes and enhance accuracy. Our study employed a 3D ResNet-based Siamese network, referred to as SCANED, to classify collaterals as good/intermediate or poor. Utilizing non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) images, the network automates collateral identification and assessment by analyzing tissue degeneration around the ischemic site. Relevant features from the left/right hemispheres were extracted, and Euclidean Distance (ED) was employed for similarity measurement. Finally, dichotomized classification of good/intermediate or poor collateral is performed by SCANED using an optimal threshold derived from ROC analysis. SCANED provides a sensitivity of 0.88, a specificity of 0.63, and a weighted F1 score of 0.86 in the dichotomized classification.

Quantifying Induced Nystagmus Using a Smartphone Eye Tracking Application (EyePhone).

BACKGROUND: There are ≈5 million annual dizziness visits to US emergency departments, of which vestibular strokes account for over 250 000. The head impulse, nystagmus, and test of skew eye examination can accurately distinguish vestibular strokes from peripheral dizziness. However, the eye-movement signs are subtle, and lack of familiarity and difficulty with recognition of abnormal eye movements are significant barriers to widespread emergency department use. To break this barrier, we sought to assess the accuracy of EyePhone, our smartphone eye-tracking application, for quantifying nystagmus. METHODS AND RESULTS: We prospectively enrolled healthy volunteers and recorded the velocity of induced nystagmus using a smartphone eye-tracking application (EyePhone) and then compared the results with video oculography (VOG). Following a calibration protocol, the participants viewed optokinetic stimuli with incremental velocities (2-12 degrees/s) in 4 directions. We extracted slow phase velocities from EyePhone data in each direction and compared them with the corresponding slow phase velocities obtained by the VOG. Furthermore, we calculated the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for nystagmus detection by EyePhone. We enrolled 10 volunteers (90% men) with an average age of 30.2±6 years. EyePhone-recorded slow phase velocities highly correlated with the VOG recordings (r=0.98 for horizontal and r=0.94 for vertical). The calibration significantly increased the slope of linear regression for horizontal and vertical slow phase velocities. Evaluating the EyePhone's performance using VOG data with a 2 degrees/s threshold showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.87 for horizontal and vertical nystagmus detection. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that EyePhone could accurately detect and quantify optokinetic nystagmus, similar to the VOG goggles.

Homodyned K-Distribution Parameter Estimation in Quantitative Ultrasound: Autoencoder and Bayesian Neural Network Approaches.

Quantitative ultrasound (QUS) analyzes the ultrasound (US) backscattered data to find the properties of scatterers that correlate with the tissue microstructure. Statistics of the envelope of the backscattered radio frequency (RF) data can be utilized to estimate several QUS parameters. Different distributions have been proposed to model envelope data. The homodyned K-distribution (HK-distribution) is one of the most comprehensive distributions that can model US backscattered envelope data under diverse scattering conditions (varying scatterer number density and coherent scattering). The scatterer clustering parameter ( α ) and the ratio of the coherent to diffuse scattering power ( k ) are the parameters of this distribution that have been used extensively for tissue characterization in diagnostic US. The estimation of these two parameters (which we refer to as HK parameters) is done using optimization algorithms in which statistical features such as the envelope point-wise signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), skewness, kurtosis, and the log-based moments have been utilized as input to such algorithms. The optimization methods minimize the difference between features and their theoretical value from the HK model. We propose that the true value of these statistical features is a hyperplane that covers a small portion of the feature space. In this article, we follow two approaches to reduce the effect of sample features' error. We propose a model projection neural network based on denoising autoencoders to project the noisy features into this space based on this assumption. We also investigate if the noise distribution can be learned by the deep estimators. We compare the proposed methods with conventional methods using simulations, an experimental phantom, and data from an in vivo animal model of hepatic steatosis. The network weight and a demo code are available online at ht.tp://code.sonography.ai.

Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic errors cause substantial preventable harms worldwide, but rigorous estimates for total burden are lacking. We previously estimated diagnostic error and serious harm rates for key dangerous diseases in major disease categories and validated plausible ranges using clinical experts. OBJECTIVE: We sought to estimate the annual US burden of serious misdiagnosis-related harms (permanent morbidity, mortality) by combining prior results with rigorous estimates of disease incidence. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis of US-based nationally representative observational data. We estimated annual incident vascular events and infections from 21.5 million (M) sampled US hospital discharges (2012-2014). Annual new cancers were taken from US-based registries (2014). Years were selected for coding consistency with prior literature. Disease-specific incidences for 15 major vascular events, infections and cancers ('Big Three' categories) were multiplied by literature-based rates to derive diagnostic errors and serious harms. We calculated uncertainty estimates using Monte Carlo simulations. Validity checks included sensitivity analyses and comparison with prior published estimates. RESULTS: Annual US incidence was 6.0 M vascular events, 6.2 M infections and 1.5 M cancers. Per 'Big Three' dangerous disease case, weighted mean error and serious harm rates were 11.1% and 4.4%, respectively. Extrapolating to all diseases (including non-'Big Three' dangerous disease categories), we estimated total serious harms annually in the USA to be 795 000 (plausible range 598 000-1 023 000). Sensitivity analyses using more conservative assumptions estimated 549 000 serious harms. Results were compatible with setting-specific serious harm estimates from inpatient, emergency department and ambulatory care. The 15 dangerous diseases accounted for 50.7% of total serious harms and the top 5 (stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism and lung cancer) accounted for 38.7%. CONCLUSION: An estimated 795 000 Americans become permanently disabled or die annually across care settings because dangerous diseases are misdiagnosed. Just 15 diseases account for about half of all serious harms, so the problem may be more tractable than previously imagined.

COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the continuity of care for chronic patients: evidence from a cross-sectional retrospective study in a developing country.

BACKGROUND: Any disruption in continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions can lead to poor outcomes for the patients as well as great damage for the community and the health system. This study aims to determine the continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes during COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Through a cross-sectional retrospective study, data registered in six health centers in Yazd, Iran were analyzed. Data included the number of patients with chronic conditions (hypertension and diabetes) and average daily admission during a year before COVID-19 pandemic and the similar period after COVID-19 outbreak. The experience of continuity of care was assessed applying a validated questionnaire from a sample of 198 patients. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics, independent T-Test and Multivariable regression were used for analysis. FINDINGS: Results indicate that both visit load of the patients with chronic conditions (hypertension and diabetes) and their average daily admission were decreased significantly during a year after COVID-19 pandemic compared to the similar period before COVID-19 outbreak. The moderate average score of the patients` experience towards continuity of care during the pandemic was also reported. Regression analysis showed that age for the diabetes patients and insurance status for the hypertension patients affect the COC mean scores. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 pandemic causes serious decline in the continuity of care for patients with chronic conditions. Such a deterioration not only can lead to make these patients` condition worse in a long-term period but also it can make irreparable damages to the whole community and the health system. To make the health systems resilient particularly in disasters, serious attention should be taken into consideration among them, developing the tele-health technologies, improving the primary health care capacity, designing the applied responsive models of continuity of care, making multilateral participations and inter-sectoral collaborations, allocating sustainable resources, and enabling the patients with selfcare skills are more highlighted.

Burden of illness associated with Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)-related hospitalizations among adults in Ontario, Canada: A retrospective population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, RSV is a common viral pathogen that causes 64 million acute respiratory infections annually. Our objective was to determine the incidence of hospitalization, healthcare resource use and associated costs of adults hospitalized with RSV in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: To describe the epidemiology of adults hospitalized with RSV, we used a validated algorithm applied to a population-based healthcare utilization administrative dataset in Ontario, Canada. We created a retrospective cohort of incident hospitalized adults with RSV between September 2010 and August 2017 and followed each person for up to two years. To determine the burden of illness associated with hospitalization and post-discharge healthcare encounters each RSV-admitted patient was matched to two unexposed controls based on demographics and risk factors. Patient demographics were described and mean attributable 6-month and 2-year healthcare costs (2019 Canadian dollars) were estimated. RESULTS: There were 7,091 adults with RSV-associated hospitalizations between 2010 and 2019 with a mean age of 74.6 years; 60.4 % were female. RSV-coded hospitalization rates increased from 1.4 to 14.6 per 100,000 adults between 2010-2011 and 2018-2019. The mean difference in healthcare costs between RSV-admitted patients and matched controls was $28,260 (95 % CI: $27,728 - $28,793) in the first 6 months and $43,721 over 2 years (95 % CI: $40,383 - $47,059) post-hospitalization. CONCLUSIONS: RSV hospitalizations among adults increased in Ontario between 2010/11 to 2018/19 RSV seasons. RSV hospitalizations in adults were associated with increased attributable short-term and long-term healthcare costs compared to matched controls. Interventions that could prevent RSV in adults may reduce healthcare burden.

Exploiting Mechanics-Based Priors for Lateral Displacement Estimation in Ultrasound Elastography.

Tracking the displacement between the pre- and post-deformed radio-frequency (RF) frames is a pivotal step of ultrasound elastography, which depicts tissue mechanical properties to identify pathologies. Due to ultrasound's poor ability to capture information pertaining to the lateral direction, the existing displacement estimation techniques fail to generate an accurate lateral displacement or strain map. The attempts made in the literature to mitigate this well-known issue suffer from one of the following limitations: 1) Sampling size is substantially increased, rendering the method computationally and memory expensive. 2) The lateral displacement estimation entirely depends on the axial one, ignoring data fidelity and creating large errors. This paper proposes exploiting the effective Poisson's ratio (EPR)-based mechanical correspondence between the axial and lateral strains along with the RF data fidelity and displacement continuity to improve the lateral displacement and strain estimation accuracies. We call our techniques MechSOUL (Mechanically-constrained Second-Order Ultrasound eLastography) and L1 -MechSOUL ( L1 -norm-based MechSOUL), which optimize L2 - and L1 -norm-based penalty functions, respectively. Extensive validation experiments with simulated, phantom, and in vivo datasets demonstrate that MechSOUL and L1 -MechSOUL's lateral strain and EPR estimation abilities are substantially superior to those of the recently-published elastography techniques. We have published the MATLAB codes of MechSOUL and L1 -MechSOUL at https://code.sonography.ai.

Lateral Strain Imaging Using Self-Supervised and Physically Inspired Constraints in Unsupervised Regularized Elastography.

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have shown promising results for displacement estimation in UltraSound Elastography (USE). Many modifications have been proposed to improve the displacement estimation of CNNs for USE in the axial direction. However, the lateral strain, which is essential in several downstream tasks such as the inverse problem of elasticity imaging, remains a challenge. The lateral strain estimation is complicated since the motion and the sampling frequency in this direction are substantially lower than the axial one, and a lack of carrier signal in this direction. In computer vision applications, the axial and the lateral motions are independent. In contrast, the tissue motion pattern in USE is governed by laws of physics which link the axial and lateral displacements. In this paper, inspired by Hooke's law, we, first propose Physically Inspired ConsTraint for Unsupervised Regularized Elastography (PICTURE), where we impose a constraint on the Effective Poisson's ratio (EPR) to improve the lateral strain estimation. In the next step, we propose self-supervised PICTURE (sPICTURE) to further enhance the strain image estimation. Extensive experiments on simulation, experimental phantom and in vivo data demonstrate that the proposed methods estimate accurate axial and lateral strain maps.

Impact of Clinician Training Background and Stroke Location on Bedside Diagnostic Test Accuracy in the Acute Vestibular Syndrome - A Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Acute dizziness/vertigo is usually due to benign inner-ear causes but is occasionally due to dangerous neurologic ones, particularly stroke. Because symptoms and signs overlap, misdiagnosis is frequent and overuse of neuroimaging is common. We assessed the accuracy of bedside findings to differentiate peripheral vestibular from central neurologic causes. METHODS: We performed a systematic search (MEDLINE and Embase) to identify studies reporting on diagnostic accuracy of physical examination in adults with acute, prolonged dizziness/vertigo ("acute vestibular syndrome" [AVS]). Diagnostic test properties were calculated for findings. Results were stratified by examiner type and stroke location. RESULTS: We identified 6,089 citations and included 14 articles representing 10 study cohorts (n = 800). The Head Impulse, Nystagmus, Test of Skew (HINTS) eye movement battery had high sensitivity 95.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 92.5-98.1) and specificity 92.6% (95% CI = 88.6-96.5). Sensitivity was similar by examiner type (subspecialists 94.3% [95% CI = 88.2-100.0] vs non-subspecialists 95.0% [95% CI = 91.2-98.9], p = 0.55), but specificity was higher among subspecialists (97.6% [95% CI = 94.9-100.0] vs 89.1% [95% CI = 83.0-95.2], p = 0.007). HINTS sensitivity was lower in anterior cerebellar artery (AICA) than posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) strokes (84.0% [95% CI = 65.3-93.6] vs 97.7% [95% CI = 93.3-99.2], p = 0.014) but was "rescued" by the addition of bedside hearing tests (HINTS+). Severe (grade 3) gait/truncal instability had high specificity 99.2% (95% CI = 97.8-100.0) but low sensitivity 35.8% (95% CI = 5.2-66.5). Early magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI; within 24-48 hours) was falsely negative in 15% of strokes (sensitivity 85.1% [95% CI = 79.2-91.0]). INTERPRETATION: In AVS, HINTS examination by appropriately trained clinicians can differentiate peripheral from central causes and has higher diagnostic accuracy for stroke than MRI-DWI in the first 24-48 hours. These techniques should be disseminated to all clinicians evaluating dizziness/vertigo. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:295-308.

Melatonin Protects Against Titanium Oxide-Induced Neurotoxicity: Neurochemical, Neurobehavioral, and Histopathological Evidences.

titania (titanium dioxide, TiO2) is known to induce neurotoxicity and CNS dysfunctions. Numerous studies have explored the neuroprotective effects of melatonin against neurotoxicity. This study evaluates the potential of melatonin to protect against titania-induced neurotoxicity and the role of the Keap1/Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway. One group of animals were treated with Titania (0.045 and 0.075 g/rat) alone while the other with added melatonin (1 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg) and behavioral alterations were assessed using OFT (open field test). Neurochemical and histopathological changes were also studied in the hippocampus by analyzing kelch ECH associating protein 1 (Keap1), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), and antioxidant response element (ARE). It was seen that the animals with added Melatonin had improved behavioral scores in the OFT, like anxiety and motor dysfunction triggered by TiO2. Melatonin also reduced lipid peroxidation, ROS, GSSG, IL1ß, TNFα, Bax, and Keap1 levels, but boosted GSH, GPx, GR, SOD,IL10,IL4, Bcl2, Nrf2, and ARE levels and improved quadruple mitochondrial enzyme complex activity in titania-treated animals. Histopathological examination showed melatonin induced cytoprotection against vacuolization and necrosis in granular cells of DG and pyramidal cells of CA1 area of the hippocampus. In our study, pretreatment with melatonin reduced titania-induced neurotoxicity in the hippocampus through a mechanism potentially mediated by the Keap-1/Nrf2/ARE pathway.

A two-stage dissolved air flotation saturator configuration for significant microbubble improvement.

The presence of suspended contaminants in water and wastewater, such as algae, colloids, fats and oil, necessitates the use of systems such as dissolved air flotation (DAF) for their removal. In the current study, a novel setup has been proposed for bubble enhancement. An industrial scale (pilot) DAF system was tested at saturator pressures of 3-7 atm and flow rates of 5-20 L/min in three different configurations, namely, empty, packed, and the innovative two-stage (TS) configuration. In the TS system, after the nucleation of micro bubbles, the water is returned to the saturator to undergo pressurization for a second time before it is passed through the nozzle once more and is released. The results show that the highest volume of released air as well as the smallest microbubbles are seen in the TS configuration, followed by packed mode, with the empty configuration showing the least favourable results. Moreover, the bubbles produced at the lowest residence time and pressure (3 atm) with the novel setup are better than the bubbles produced by the standard configuration, even with pressures as high as 7 atm. Thus, the novel TS setup can allow for significantly lower energy requirements and lower capital costs. For real-world application of the TS system, the feed for the saturator could be extracted from within or near the contact zone, i.e. where the bubbles are released in the DAF tank.

Sudden unilateral hearing loss and vertigo following isolated cerebellar hypoperfusion without infarction due to vertebral artery dissection.

BACKGROUND: The definition of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is broadly accepted as acute sensorineural hearing loss of more than 30 dB over at least three consecutive frequencies in a pure-tone audiogram (PTA). Acute audiovestibular loss is common with ischaemic stroke in the territory of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA). However, cases in which SSNHL and vertigo occur with hypoperfusion alone are very rare. We describe a patient who developed unilateral SSNHL and vertigo as initial symptoms caused by cerebellar hypoperfusion by vertebral artery (VA) dissection without the occurrence of infarction. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old man suddenly developed acute hearing loss (AHL) in his left ear and vertigo. On neurological examination, he had vibration-induced right-beating nystagmus and left-beating nystagmus after a head-shaking test. Additionally, he had apogeotropic nystagmus during head turns to either side. The head impulse test (HIT) was normal. PTA showed mild unilateral SSNHL in the left ear. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) showed territorial perfusion deficits in the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) and anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) without infarction. Two months later, the patient had no vertigo but still had hearing impairment in his left ear. A follow-up PTA documented persistent unilateral SSNHL in the left ear. Additionally, perfusion computed tomography (CT) showed that perfusion deficits remained in the left cerebellum along the PICA and AICA territories. CONCLUSIONS: Our case highlights a case of AHL and vertigo presented by isolated cerebellar hypoperfusion without infarction. It is necessary to consider the possibility of a central cause in patients with AHL and vertigo, and it is important to confirm this possibility through brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including PWI, and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

Deep Estimation of Speckle Statistics Parametric Images.

Quantitative Ultrasound (QUS) provides important information about the tissue properties. QUS parametric image can be formed by dividing the envelope data into small overlapping patches and computing different speckle statistics such as parameters of the Nakagami and Homodyned K-distributions (HK-distribution). The calculated QUS parametric images can be erroneous since only a few independent samples are available inside the patches. Another challenge is that the envelope samples inside the patch are assumed to come from the same distribution, an assumption that is often violated given that the tissue is usually not homogenous. In this paper, we propose a method based on Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) to estimate QUS parametric images without patching. We construct a large dataset sampled from the HK-distribution, having regions with random shapes and QUS parameter values. We then use a well-known network to estimate QUS parameters in a multi-task learning fashion. Our results confirm that the proposed method is able to reduce errors and improve border definition in QUS parametric images.

Functionalised electrospun membranes (TETA-PVC) for the removal of lead(ii) from water.

Driven by the need for delivering sustainable water purification solutions for the removal of heavy metals from water, electrospun PVC membranes were functionalised with triethylenetetramine (TETA) and were used to remove lead(ii) ions selectively from water. The membranes were characterised and their adsorption behavior towards the removal of lead from water was investigated. The incorporation of TETA on the membrane's surface significantly improved the removal efficiency of lead(ii) up to 99.8% in 30 minutes and under ambient conditions, with the lowest concentration of 50 ppm. The adsorption mechanism was investigated and kinetic data showed a better correlation with the pseudo-second-order model. Similarly, the equilibrium data best fitted with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with a relatively high maximum adsorption capacity of 1250 mg g-1 for lead(ii) ions, larger than recently reported adsorption capacities for similar membranes. The functionalised membrane also showed high selectivity to lead(ii) in a mixed solution containing lead(ii), mercury(ii), cadmium(ii), arsenic(iii), copper(ii), and zinc(ii). The functionalised membrane was regenerated, where desorption of lead(ii) was achieved, under mildly acidic conditions. The removal efficiency of the regenerated membrane after six cycles of adsorption/desorption was maintained at a high level of 98%. The proposed design offers a simple yet effective, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solution for water treatment.

Improved Healing of Colonic Anastomosis with Allotransplantation of Axillary Skin Fibroblasts in Rats.

Objective: Colonic anastomosis is associated with serious complications leading to significant morbidity and mortality. Fibroblasts have recently been introduced as a practical alternative to stem cells because of their differentiation capacity, anti-inflammatory, and regenerative properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of intramural injection of fibroblasts on the healing of colonic anastomosis in rats. Materials and Methods: Inbred mature male Wistar rats were used in this experimental study (n=36). Fibroblasts were isolated from the axillary skin of a donor rat. In the sham group, manipulation on descending colon was done during laparotomy. A 5 mm segment of the colon was resected, and end-to-end anastomosis was performed. In the control group, 0.5 ml of phosphate buffer saline (PBS) was injected into the colonic wall and in the treatment group, 1×106 fibroblasts were transplanted. Following euthanasia on day 7, intra-abdominal adhesion, leakage and peritonitis were evaluated by necropsy. Mechanical properties were assessed using bursting pressure and tensile tests. Inflammation, angiogenesis, and collagen deposition were examined histopathologically. Results: The mean scores for adhesion and leakage were decreased in the treatment group versus control samples. Lower infiltration of inflammatory cells was observed in the treatment group (P=0.03). Angiogenesis and collagen deposition scores were significantly increased in the fibroblast transplanted group (P=0.03). Tensile mechanical properties of the colon were significantly increased in the treatment group compared to the control sample (P=0.01). There was no significant difference between the control and treatment groups in terms of bursting pressure (P=0.10). Positive weight changes were found in sham and treatment groups, but the control rats lost weight after 7 days. Conclusion: The results suggested that allotransplantation of dermal fibroblasts could improve the necroscopic, histopathological, and biomechanical indices of colonic anastomosis repair in rats.

An open-source framework for fast-yet-accurate calculation of quantum mechanical features.

We present the open-source framework kallisto that enables the efficient and robust calculation of quantum mechanical features for atoms and molecules. For a benchmark set of 49 experimental molecular polarizabilities, the predictive power of the presented method competes against second-order perturbation theory in a converged atomic-orbital basis set at a fraction of its computational costs. The calculation of isotropic molecular polarizabilities is robust for a data set of more than 80 000 molecules. We present furthermore a generally applicable van der Waals radius model that is rooted on atomic static polarizabilites. Efficiency tests show that such radii can even be calculated for small- to medium-size proteins where the largest system (SARS-CoV-2 spike protein) has 42 539 atoms. Following the work of Domingo-Alemenara et al. [Domingo-Alemenara et al., Nat. Commun., 2019, 10, 5811], we present computational predictions for retention times for different chromatographic methods and describe how physicochemical features improve the predictive power of machine-learning models that otherwise only rely on two-dimensional features like molecular fingerprints. Additionally, we developed an internal benchmark set of experimental super-critical fluid chromatography retention times. For those methods, improvements of up to 10.6% are obtained when combining molecular fingerprints with physicochemical descriptors. Shapley additive explanation values show furthermore that the physical nature of the applied features can be retained within the final machine-learning models. We generally recommend the kallisto framework as a robust, low-cost, and physically motivated featurizer for upcoming state-of-the-art machine-learning studies.

Eye and Head Movement Recordings Using Smartphones for Telemedicine Applications: Measurements of Accuracy and Precision.

Objective: Smartphones have shown promise in the assessment of neuro-ophthalmologic and vestibular disorders. We have shown that the head impulse test results recorded using our application are comparable with measurements from clinical video-oculography (VOG) goggles. The smartphone uses ARKit's capability to acquire eye and head movement positions without the need of performing a calibration as in most eye-tracking devices. Here, we measure the accuracy and precision of the eye and head position recorded using our application. Methods: We enrolled healthy volunteers and asked them to direct their eyes, their heads, or both to targets on a wall at known eccentricities while recording their head and eye movements with our smartphone application. We measured the accuracy as the error between the eye or head movement measurement and the location of each target and the precision as the standard deviation of the eye or head position for each of the target positions. Results: The accuracy of head recordings (15% error) was overall better than the accuracy of eye recordings (23% error). We also found that the accuracy for horizontal eye movements (17% error) was better than for vertical (27% error). Precision was also better for head movement (0.8 degrees) recordings than eye movement recordings (1.3 degrees) and variability tended to increase with eccentricity. Conclusion: Our results provide basic metrics evaluating the utility of smartphone applications in the quantitative assessment of head and eye movements. While the new method may not replace the more accurate dedicated VOG devices, they provide a more accessible quantitative option. It may be advisable to include a calibration recording together with any planned clinical test to improve the accuracy.