Upper endoscopy in Solomon Islands: A four-year retrospective study.

ObjectiveGastrointestinal diseases are common, yet some countries still lack endoscopy. Modern flexible endoscopy was introduced to the Solomon Islands National Referral Hospital (NRH) in 2012, but little is known about gastrointestinal disease in the country.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study describes trends in upper gastrointestinal diseases to inform local research and health programming.

Aggregated postpartum cerebral autoregulatory curves in normotensive individuals, preeclampsia with severe features, and superimposed preeclampsia with severe features.

Objectives Impaired cerebral autoregulation could contribute to postpartum stroke risk in individuals with preeclampsia. We modeled aggregated static autoregulatory curves in the postpartum period in individuals with no hypertension, preeclampsia, and chronic hypertension with superimposed preeclampsia. Approach This is a retrospective analysis of data from a prospective observational study of postpartum participants.

Bimodal fitting benefits emotional responses to music following unilateral cochlear implantation.

Objectives: Investigate contributions of cochlear implants (CIs) and hearing aids (HAs) towards musical emotion in bimodal (CI and HA together) users.

Design: Bimodal implantees and normal-hearing (NH) controls were recruited from a tertiary academic centre and via community outreach. Participants listened to ten musical clips and rated on scales of valence (happiness vs.

Lung Cancer with Isolated Pleural Dissemination as a Potential ctDNA Non-Shedding Tumor Type.

Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has emerged as a reliable prognostic biomarker in both early- and late-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. However, its role in NSCLC with pleural dissemination (M1a), a subset of disease with indolent biology, remains to be elucidated. We collected 41 M1a patients with serial ctDNA and CEA monitoring.

Benchmarking the Impact of Anatomical Segmentation on In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Purpose: Estimation of metabolite concentrations in brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) requires correction for differences in tissue water content, relaxation properties, and the proportions of gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Accurate knowledge of the relative proportions of these tissue classes within the volume of interest is therefore essential for reliable quantification. Commonly used brain segmentation tools differ in their algorithms, priors, and implementation, potentially introducing variability in MRS-derived concentration estimates.

Hyperbaric Oxygen and Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) Remains a significant enigma, despite its profound impacts on affected individuals. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has gained significant attention as a potential treatment, but its use remains controversial. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis assessing the efficacy of HBOT in treating SSNHL.

Diabetes-Associated Major Limb Amputation in Solomon Islands: A National, 5-Year Retrospective Study.

Background: Solomon Islands is a Western Pacific nation with one of the highest diabetes prevalences in the world. The delivery of surgical care is challenging given the country's complex geography and limited healthcare resources. This retrospective study aims to quantify diabetes-associated major limb amputation and to describe the characteristics of patients undergoing this procedure.

Evaluating the representational power of pre-trained DNA language models for regulatory genomics.

Background: The emergence of genomic language models (gLMs) offers an unsupervised approach to learning a wide diversity of cis-regulatory patterns in the non-coding genome without requiring labels of functional activity generated by wet-lab experiments. Previous evaluations have shown that pre-trained gLMs can be leveraged to improve predictive performance across a broad range of regulatory genomics tasks, albeit using relatively simple benchmark datasets and baseline models. Since the gLMs in these studies were tested upon fine-tuning their weights for each downstream task, determining whether gLM representations embody a foundational understanding of cis-regulatory biology remains an open question.

Constrained optimized water suppression for H MR spectroscopy.

Purpose: Water suppression is a necessary component to standard MR spectroscopy experiments due to the approximately 5000-10 000-fold higher water concentration and signal intensity compared with that of the metabolites and macromolecules of interest. Here, a novel algorithm referred to as constrained optimized water suppression (COWS) was developed, which enables generation of effective water suppression modules with an arbitrary number of radiofrequency (RF) pulses, and flexibly accommodates minimum durations between pulses, minimum total module duration, and maximum flip angles.

Methods: We use the COWS algorithm to create a water-suppression module with seven pulses, the same number of RF pulses as typical VAPOR7, at a reduced module duration of 236 ms, referred to as COWS(7;236), as well as one at the typical VAPOR duration but with an increased number of RF pulses, referred to as COWS(12;626).

User Comprehension and EHR Integration of the Decision Aid for Breast Cancer Risk Assessment: A Qualitative Study.

RealRisks is a decision aid that integrates patient-generated and electronic health record (EHR) data using Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). It offers modules to enhance understanding of breast cancer risk and a way for individuals to review and modify their EHR data before it is used in their personal risk assessment. RealRisks intends to encourage high-risk patients to take risk-reducing measures.

Factors Driving Patient Decisions to Access Electronic Health Records via a Breast Cancer Online Decision Aid linked to the Patient Portal.

A critical strategy in limiting breast cancer (BC) mortality is the early identification of high-risk patients and implementation of risk-reducing measures. , an online decision aid constructed by our team to provide education on BC risk and personalized risk assessment, allows users the option to connect to their electronic health record (EHR) to extract requisite data to calculate BC risk via Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). Using data from user profiles, baseline questionnaires, and interview transcripts, we sought to understand the differences between the groups of patients who opted to download their data via the EHR vs.

XGate: Explainable Reinforcement Learning for Transparent and Trustworthy API Traffic Management in IoT Sensor Networks.

The rapid proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and their associated application programming interfaces (APIs) has significantly increased the complexity of sensor network traffic management, necessitating more sophisticated and transparent control mechanisms. In this paper, we introduce XGate, a novel explainable reinforcement learning framework designed specifically for API traffic management in sensor networks. XGate addresses the critical challenge of balancing optimal routing decisions with the interpretability demands of network administrators operating large-scale IoT deployments.

Evidence for crustal brines and deep fluid infiltration in an oceanic transform fault.

Although oceanic transform faults (OTFs) are ubiquitous plate boundaries, the geological processes occurring along these systems remain underexplored. The Gofar OTF of the East Pacific Rise has gained attention due to its predictable, yet enigmatic, earthquake cycle. Here, we present results from the first ever controlled-source electromagnetic survey of an OTF, which sampled Gofar.

Longitudinal Assessment of Music Enjoyment in Hearing Aid Users Based on Music Listening Preferences.

Objective: Hearing loss is associated with deterioration of music enjoyment that can be mitigated with hearing aids (HAs). In this study, we assess HA users' music enjoyment and listening habits over time.

Study Design: Longitudinal.

Emotional Responses to Music Are Diminished in Bilateral Cochlear Implant Users.

Introduction: Emotional response to music, though a central facet of music listening, remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the emotional responses to music among bilateral cochlear implantees.

Methods: Bilateral CI users and normal-hearing (NH) controls were recruited from a tertiary academic center and community hearing loss groups.

Spline Baseline Model Flexibility Independently Affects the Accuracy and Precision of In Vivo Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectral Fitting in a Metabolite-Specific Manner Not Visually Predicted by Fit Residuals.

In vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) data often exhibit baselines or low-amplitude signal variations resulting from residual water, imperfectly suppressed lipids, low-amplitude metabolites not considered for fitting, and other features not represented in a basis set. While multitudinous approaches exist to model these baselines in H-MR spectral analysis, many continue to lack systematic validation against varied and realistic ground-truth standards. Here, we compare the accuracy (error mean) and precision (error standard deviation) of metabolite scaling estimates by linear combination modeling (LCM) spectral fitting accounting for spectral baselines via smoothed cubic splines at 50 different combinations of fixed knot interval and smoothing weight, either with or without additionally simulated Gaussian basis signals to separately model spectral macromolecules.

Image steganalysis using active learning and hyperparameter optimization.

Image steganalysis, detecting hidden data in digital images, is essential for enhancing digital security. Traditional steganalysis methods typically rely on large, pre-labeled image datasets, which are difficult and costly to compile. To address this, this paper introduces an innovative approach that combines active learning and off-policy Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) to improve image steganalysis with minimal labeled data.

Optimizing Bi-LSTM networks for improved lung cancer detection accuracy.

Lung cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, with low survival rates often attributed to late-stage diagnosis. To address this critical health challenge, researchers have developed computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems that rely on feature extraction from medical images. However, accurately identifying the most informative image features for lung cancer detection remains a significant challenge.

Mammography Home Workstations and Remote Diagnostic Breast Imaging: Current Practice Patterns and Planned Future Directions.

Objective: Assess current practices and plans regarding home workstations and remote diagnostic breast imaging in the United States.

Methods: A 43-question survey relating to remote breast imaging was distributed to Society of Breast Imaging members from July 6, 2023, through August 2, 2023. A descriptive summary of responses was performed.

The breast cancer genetic testing experience: probing the potential utility of an online decision aid in risk perception and decision making.

Background: Despite the association of pathogenic variants (PVs) in cancer predisposition genes with significantly increased risk of breast cancer (BC), uptake of genetic testing (GT) remains low, especially among ethnic minorities. Our prior study identified that a patient decision aid, RealRisks, improved patient-reported outcomes (including worry and perceived risk) relative to standard educational materials. This study examined patients' GT experience and its influence on subsequent actions.

The Effect of Ear Covering on Sound Localization and Speech Intelligibility in Operating Room.

Objective: To determine the effect of the surgical bouffant cap on hearing, sound localization, and speech intelligibility in the operating room (OR).

Background: Covering of the ear during surgical procedures has been promoted to prevent surgical site infection (SSI) from ear pathogens. However, the potential impact of ear covering on hearing in the OR has not been studied.