Search results for "ASSESSMENT"
showing 10 items of 5125 documents
Quantitative assessment of synchronization during atrial fibrillation by Shannon Entropy characterization of propagation delays
2005
This study introduced a new method for the quantification of the synchronization (S) and the causal verse of activation (S12) in couples of atrial electrograms recorded during atrial fibrillation (AF). The synchronization indexes S and S12 relied on the measure of the propagation delays between coupled activation times in two atrial signals and on the characterization of their dispersion by Shannon-Entropy (SE). S and S12 were validated both on simulated activation time series and endocavitary signals in patients. In simulation, S and S12 were equal to 1 for propagation of one single wavefront in a fully excitable tissue, while they decreased for reentries in partially excitable tissue (S =…
Association between neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-lymphocyte ratio, and C-reactive protein levels and metabolic status in patients with a bip…
2022
OBJECTIVES Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) are markers of inflammation that are elevated in bipolar disorder (BD) and are also related to a higher risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed at investigating for the first time the association between NLR, PLR, and CRP and the metabolic status in BD. METHODS We assessed the association between biomarkers and the metabolic status: number of metabolic risk factors, presence of MetS, insulin sensitivity (Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index, QUICKI) and insulin resistance (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance, HOMA-IR index), in a sample of 219 outpa…
The Renal Dangers of an Increased Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index
2020
Although a number of longitudinal investigations assessed the ability of aortic PWV to predict the development of kidney disfunction or progression of renal disease, little is known about the association of CAVI with the risk of renal function deterioration. In the current issue of the American Journal of Hypertension is published a paper of Itano S et al, that add a new piece of evidence in this scenario. The authors analyzed data from the national health check-up system in Japan, including 24.297 participants with normal baseline kidney function. They found that those with CAVI measurements ≥8.1 had a higher risk for CKD events compared to their counterparts with CAVI measurements <8.1…
EFSUMB Guidelines 2011: Comment on Emergent Indications and Visions
2012
The focus of this article is the emergent and potential indications of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS). Emergent applications of CEUS techniques include extravascular and intracavitary contrast-enhanced ultrasound, quantitative assessment of microvascular circulation for tumor response assessment, and tumor characterization using dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US). Potential indications for microbubble agents include novel molecular imaging and drug and gene delivery techniques, which have been successfully tested in animal models. "Comments and Illustrations of the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (EFSUMB) Non-Liver Guidelines 2011" whi…
Impact of vCJD on blood supply.
2007
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is an at present inevitably lethal neurodegenerative disease which can only be diagnosed definitely post mortem. The majority of the approximately 200 victims to date have resided in the UK where most contaminated beef materials entered the food chain. Three cases in the UK demonstrated that vCJD can be transmitted by blood transfusion. Since BSE and vCJD have spread to several countries outside the UK, it appears advisable that specific risk assessments be carried out in different countries and geographic areas. This review explains the approach adopted by Germany in assessing the risk and considering precautionary measures. A fundamental premise is…
Association between low-frequency ultrasound and hip fractures - comparison with DXA-based BMD
2013
Background New methods for diagnosing osteoporosis and evaluating fracture risk are being developed. We aim to study the association between low-frequency (LF) axial transmission ultrasound and hip fracture risk in a population-based sample of older women. Methods The study population consisted of 490 community-dwelling women (78–82 years). Ultrasound velocity (VLF) at mid-tibia was measured in 2006 using a low-frequency scanning axial transmission device. Bone mineral density (BMD) at proximal femur measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used as the reference method. The fracture history of the participants was collected from December 1997 until the end of 2010. Lifestyl…
Endoscopic and surgical resection of T1a/T1b esophageal neoplasms: A systematic review
2013
AIM: To investigate potential therapeutic recommendations for endoscopic and surgical resection of T1a/T1b esophageal neoplasms. METHODS: A thorough search of electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, Pubmed and Cochrane Library, from 1997 up to January 2011 was performed. An analysis was carried out, pooling the effects of outcomes of 4241 patients enrolled in 80 retrospective studies. For comparisons across studies, each reporting on only one endoscopic method, we used a random effects meta-regression of the log-odds of the outcome of treatment in each study. “Neural networks” as a data mining technique was employed in order to establish a prediction model of lymph node status in superficial …
Does the use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic impact on oral hygiene habits, oral conditions, reasons to seek dental care and esthetic conc…
2021
Background To evaluate the impact of the use of face masks on oral hygiene habits; oral conditions self-perception; reasons to seek dental treatment; and esthetic concerns. Material and methods 1346 participants answered a web-based survey with questions related to the aims of the study. Descriptive statistic was performed and the responses were analyzed with chi-square test and regression analysis. Results With the use of masks, toothbrushing frequency decreased significantly, and people are significantly less concerned about oral hygiene. The number of subjects that reported to have halitosis increased significantly and this was associated with a decrease in toothbrushing frequency. The g…
Italian association for the study of the liver position statement on SARS-CoV2 vaccination.
2021
The vaccination campaign against Sars-CoV-2 commenced in Italy at the end of December 2020. The first ones to receive the immunization against the virus were the health workers and the residents of nursing homes, following which the vaccine would be available for the entire population, beginning with the most vulnerable individuals. SARS-CoV2 vaccines have been demonstrated to be safe for the general population, although no data for patients with liver diseases or those having undergone liver transplantation are available so far. The present position statement AISF is an attempt to suggest, based on the published data on the impact of Sars-Cov-2 infection in patients with chronic liver dise…
A test to evaluate the impact of the CAD tools in mammographic diagnosis
2003
In this work we present the results of a study about the impact of CAD tools on Sensitivity and Specificity in mammographic diagnosis. The approach is aimed to evaluate the statistical significance through the comparison of these figures of merit obtained in different situations. For this purpose two different CAD tools, the CALMA station (INFN project) and the SecondLook™ station (by CADx) have been used as a support for radiologists.