Norwoodhenderson4658

Abdominal aortic atherosclerotic plaque burden may have clinical significance but manual measurement is time-consuming and impractical.

To perform external validation on an automated atherosclerotic plaque detector for noncontrast and postcontrast abdominal CT.

The training data consisted of 114 noncontrast CT scans and 23 postcontrast CT urography scans. The testing data set consisted of 922 CT colonography (CTC) scans, and 1207 paired noncontrast and postcontrast CT scans from renal donors from a second institution. Reference standard data included manual plaque segmentations in the 137 training scans and manual plaque burden measurements in the 922 CTC scans. The total Agatston score and group (0-3) was determined using fully-automated deep learning software. Performance was assessed by measures of agreement, linear regression, and paired evaluations.

On CTC scans, automated Agatston scoring correlated highly with manual assessment (R

 = 0.94). On paired renal donor CT scans, automated Agatston scoring on postcontrast CT correlated highly with noncontrast CT (R

 = 0.95). When plaque burden was expressed as a group score, there was excellent agreement for both the CTC (weighted kappa 0.80 ± 0.01 [95% confidence interval 0.78-0.83]) and renal donor (0.83 ± 0.02 [0.79-0.86]) assessments.

Fully automated detection, segmentation, and scoring of abdominal aortic atherosclerotic plaques on both pre- and post-contrast CT was validated and may have application for population-based studies.

Fully automated detection, segmentation, and scoring of abdominal aortic atherosclerotic plaques on both pre- and post-contrast CT was validated and may have application for population-based studies.The Bacille Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccine was developed over a century ago and has become one of the most used vaccines without undergoing a modern vaccine development life cycle. Despite this, the vaccine has protected many millions from severe and disseminated forms of tuberculosis (TB). In addition, BCG has cross-mycobacterial effects against non-tuberculous mycobacteria and off-target (also called non-specific or heterologous) effects against other infections and diseases. More recently, BCG's effects on innate immunity suggest it might improve the immune response against viral respiratory infections including SARS-CoV-2. New TB vaccines, developed over the last 30 years, show promise, particularly in prevention of progression to disease from TB infection in young adults. The role of BCG in the context of new TB vaccines remains uncertain as most participants included in trials have been previously BCG immunised. BCG replacement vaccines are in efficacy trials and these may also have off-target effects.Laryngeal images obtained via high-speed videoendoscopy are an invaluable source of information for the advancement of voice science because they can capture the true cycle-to-cycle vibratory characteristics of the vocal folds in addition to the transient behaviors of the phonatory mechanism, such as onset, offset, and breaks. This information is obtained through relating the spatial and temporal features from acquired images using objective measurements or subjective assessments. While these images are calibrated temporally, a great challenge is the lack of spatial calibration. Recently, a laser-projection system allowing for spatial calibration was developed. However, various sources of optical distortions deviate the images from reflecting the reality. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the fiberoptic flexible endoscope distortions on the calibration of images acquired by the laser-projection system. Specifically, it is shown that two sources of nonlinear distortions could deviatevoice disorders. Considering that the studied phenomena are due to optical principles, the findings of this study, especially those related to the effects of the imaging angle, can provide further insights regarding other endoscopic instruments (eg, distal-chip and rigid endoscopes) and procedures (eg, gastroendoscopy and colonoscopy).

Family history (FH) of cardiovascular (CV) disease is a known CV risk factor. However, it is rarely considered for CV risk stratification. selleck chemicals llc Furthermore, FH for metabolic diseases is generally overlooked.

To evaluate, in a population of men with erectile dysfunction (ED), whether FH for cardio-metabolic diseases could provide insights into metabolic and sexual features and predict the occurrence of forthcoming major adverse CV events (MACE).

A consecutive series of 4,693 individuals (aged 51.3±13.3years) attending an Andrology outpatient clinic for ED was studied. A subset of these (n=1,595) was evaluated retrospectively for MACE occurrence.

Several metabolic and sexual function-related parameters were studied. For the retrospective study, information on an incident MACE was collected over a mean follow-up of 4.2±2.5years.

A greater number of cardio-metabolic FH factors were associated with a worse metabolic profile, including higher waist circumference, triglycerides, glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin because it helps in the identification of those who need lifestyle and risk factor modifications and whose risk would otherwise be overlooked. Rastrelli G, Yannas D, Mucci B, et al. Family History for Cardio-Metabolic Diseases A Predictor of Major Adverse Cardiovascular Events in Men With Erectile Dysfunction. J Sex Med 2020;172370-2381.Abdominoperineal resection (APR) in patients with anorectal carcinomas may involve flap-based perineal reconstruction techniques, such as rectus abdominis, myocutaneous, gracilis, and gluteal flaps. There is no consensus on the optimal approach. We evaluated the outcomes of perineal reconstruction following APR in the literature and identified a predominance of abdominal-based approaches, though overall outcomes were similar compared with thigh or perineal-based options. Statistical power to detect small differences in outcomes is limited, however, due to the retrospective design, relatively short-term follow-up, and potential selection bias based on morbidities associated with reconstructive techniques. Lacking randomized studies to define optimum approaches to perineal reconstruction, clinicians should individualize surgical strategy.