Fine grained automatic left ventricle segmentation via ROI based Tri-Convolutional neural networks.

BACKGROUND: The left ventricle segmentation (LVS) is crucial to the assessment of cardiac function. Globally, cardiovascular disease accounts for the majority of deaths, posing a significant health threat. In recent years, LVS has gained important attention due to its ability to measure vital parameters such as myocardial mass, end-diastolic volume, and ejection fraction. Medical professionals realize that manually segmenting data to evaluate these processes takes a lot of time, effort when diagnosing heart diseases. Yet, manually segmenting these images is labour-intensive and may reduce diagnostic accuracy. OBJECTIVE/METHODS: This paper, propose a combination of different deep neural networks for semantic segmentation of the left ventricle based on Tri-Convolutional Networks (Tri-ConvNets) to obtain highly accurate segmentation. CMRI images are initially pre-processed to remove noise artefacts and enhance image quality, then ROI-based extraction is done in three stages to accurately identify the LV. The extracted features are given as input to three different deep learning structures for segmenting the LV in an efficient way. The contour edges are processed in the standard ConvNet, the contour points are processed using Fully ConvNet and finally the noise free images are converted into patches to perform pixel-wise operations in ConvNets. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: The proposed Tri-ConvNets model achieves the Jaccard indices of 0.9491 ± 0.0188 for the sunny brook dataset and 0.9497 ± 0.0237 for the York dataset, and the dice index of 0.9419 ± 0.0178 for the ACDC dataset and 0.9414 ± 0.0247 for LVSC dataset respectively. The experimental results also reveal that the proposed Tri-ConvNets model is faster and requires minimal resources compared to state-of-the-art models.

Evaluation of Folic Acid-Containing Mouthrinse and Chlorhexidine Mouthrinse as an Adjunct to Scaling and Root Planing in Patients With Periodontal Disease.

BACKGROUND: Periodontal disease is a host-mediated inflammation caused due to microbial challenge. Hence, mechanisms involving the control of host-associated mediators can be a potential target. The conventional nonsurgical periodontal treatment modality includes scaling and root planing (SRP), which is often combined with adjunctive chemical plaque control agents for effective disease control. Chlorhexidine (CHX) is the most common chemical plaque control agent used. Recent research is now being focused on exploring other medicinal substitutes that may benefit control of inflammation and tissue healing. Folic acid is an important nutrient that increases the ability of oral epithelial cells to resist local irritants and inflammation if supplemented either systemically or locally. AIM: The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of folic acid and CHX mouthwash as an adjunct to scaling and root planing for treating patients with chronic periodontitis. METHODOLOGY: In this study, 30 patients with chronic periodontitis were included and assigned to either of the two groups: Group A (receiving folic acid-containing mouthrinse) and Group B (receiving CHX mouthrinse). Periodontal measurements, including plaque index, probing pocket depth, gingival index, and healing index, were evaluated at baseline and again four weeks after scaling and root planing. RESULTS: Significant reduction was detected in all clinical parameters (plaque index, gingival index, probing pocket depth, healing index) for both groups (p<0.05) when evaluated from baseline to four weeks. CONCLUSION: Both mouthrinses were effective when used as an adjunct to scaling and root planing in the treatment of periodontitis. Hence, folic acid-containing mouthrinse can be used in patients with chronic periodontitis.

Motivational Drivers in Implant Therapy: A Novel Treatment Motivation Scale.

Aim This study aims to assess patient motivation during implant therapy using the newly developed implant treatment motivation scale. Materials and methods A questionnaire study was conducted, consisting of 15 questions designed to explore the motivating factors behind patients' decision to undergo implant therapy. A total of 50 patients about to undergo implant treatment at the Departments of Periodontology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Prosthodontics participated in the study.  Results Analysis revealed a consistently high level of motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic) among all patients undergoing implant therapy. Conclusions The findings highlight the crucial role of motivation in treatment-seeking behavior, emphasizing the importance of dentists in motivating and guiding patients through the process of implant therapy.

Baseline findings of a multicentric ambispective cohort study (2021-2022) among hospitalised mucormycosis patients in India.

In India, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021-2022, coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this, we established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India. In this paper, we report their baseline profile, clinical characteristics and outcomes at discharge. Patients hospitalized for mucormycosis during March-July 2021 were included. Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on mycological confirmation on direct microscopy (KOH/Calcofluor white stain), culture, histopathology, or supportive evidence from endoscopy or imaging. After consent, trained data collectors used medical records and telephonic interviews to capture data in a pre-tested structured questionnaire. At baseline, we recruited 686 patients from 26 study hospitals, of whom 72.3% were males, 78% had a prior history of diabetes, 53.2% had a history of corticosteroid treatment, and 80% were associated with COVID-19. Pain, numbness or swelling of the face were the commonest symptoms (73.3%). Liposomal Amphotericin B was the commonest drug formulation used (67.1%), and endoscopic sinus surgery was the most common surgical procedure (73.6%). At discharge, the disease was stable in 43.3%, in regression for 29.9% but 9.6% died during hospitalization. Among survivors, commonly reported disabilities included facial disfigurement (18.4%) and difficulties in chewing/swallowing (17.8%). Though the risk of mortality was only 1 in 10, the disability due to the disease was very high. This cohort study could enhance our understanding of the disease's clinical progression and help frame standard treatment guidelines.

Effect of Needling at Selected Acupuncture Points (GB39, BL17, LR13) on Hemoglobin Levels in Anemia: a Randomized Placebo Controlled Study.

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an important public health issue in India. This study was performed to determine the impact of acupuncture at the GB39, BL17, and LR13 points on hemoglobin levels, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and red cell distribution width (RDW) in people with IDA. One hundred women with IDA were randomly allocated to the acupuncture group (AG) or placebo control group (PCG). For 30 minutes per day, daily for 2 weeks, the AG received acupuncture at GB39, BL17, and LR13, while the PCG received needling at non-acupuncture points. Outcomes were assessed before and after the intervention. We found a significant increase (p < 0.001) in hemoglobin level (AG 10.39-11.38 g/dl, effect size 0.785; PCG 10.58-10.40 g/dl, effect size 0.191), MCH (AG 25.69-27.50 fl, effect size 0.418; PCG 27.43-27.23 fl, effect size 0.058), and RDW (AG 15.12-16.41 fl, effect size 0.626; PCG 14.91-14.94 fl, effect size 0.017) in the AG compared to the PCG. Results suggest that needling at the GB39, BL17, and LR13 acupuncture points is more effective in treating people with IDA than needling at non-acupuncture points.

A user-friendly web portal for analyzing conformational changes in structures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Initiation of the Tuberculosis Structural Consortium has resulted in the expansion of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) protein structural database. Currently, 969 experimentally solved structures are available for 354 MTB proteins. This includes multiple crystal structures for a given protein under different functional conditions, such as the presence of different ligands or mutations. In depth analysis of the multiple structures reveal that subtle differences exist in conformations of a given protein under varied conditions. Therefore, it is immensely important to understand the conformational differences between the multiple structures of a given protein in order to select the most suitable structure for molecular docking and structure-based drug designing. Here, we introduce a web portal ( http://bmi.icmr.org.in/mtbsd/torsion.php ) that we developed to provide comparative data on the ensemble of available structures of MTB proteins, such as Cα root means square deviation (RMSD), sequence identity, presence of mutations and torsion angles. Additionally, torsion angles were used to perform principal component analysis (PCA) to identify the conformational differences between the structures. Additionally, we present a few case studies to demonstrate this database. Graphical Abstract Conformational changes seen in the structures of the enoyl-ACP reductase protein encoded by the Mycobacterial gene inhA.