Arch Med Sci
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Recently introduced microUSB ultrasound probe, which can be connected to personal mobile device constitutes a new class of diagnostic pocket size imaging devices (PSID).The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and clinical utility of real-time tele-echocardiography with the use such device. ⋯ Pocket size imaging devices allows an inexperienced operator to perform a focused echocardiographic examination under a remote supervision of an experienced cardiologist. The introduction of new technology in the form of PSID with tele-echocardiography feature can revolutionize access to this imaging technique.
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Acute liver failure (ALF) is a syndrome defined by jaundice, coagulopathy (INR > 1.5) and hepatic encephalopathy in patients with no evidence of prior liver disease. Toxins and drugs are a frequent cause of ALF in children. ⋯ ALF in mushroom poisoning is associated with a high mortality in children, despite optimal medical therapy. This etiology was one of the most important causes of death in our cohort. The difficulty in accessing emergency liver transplantation is an obstacle common to many Eastern European pediatric centers. Fortunately, in the last 5 years the incidence of mushroom intoxications has decreased in our area. It is worrying that over the last few years there has been an increased incidence of toxic ALF after drug exposure (for suicidal purposes or due to lenient regulations for prescribing hepatotoxic medications).
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It is essential to predict the survival status of patients based on their prognosis. This can assist physicians in evaluating treatment decisions. Random forest is an excellent machine learning algorithm even without any modification. We propose a new random forest weighting method and apply it to the gastric cancer patient data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. We evaluated the generalization ability of this weighted random forest algorithm on 10 public medical datasets. Furthermore, for the same weighting mode, the difference between using out-of-bag (OOB) data and all training sets as the weighting basis is explored. ⋯ Compared with the original random forest, the weighted random forest model shows a significant improvement in performance, and the effect of using all training data as the weighting basis is better than using OOB data.
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Thrombocytes may regulate the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), limiting neovascularization in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). The aim of this study was to examine the role of platelet counts, thrombocytopenia, and infections in the pathogenesis of ROP. ⋯ The results of the study confirm the association between ROP development and its severity with thrombocytopenia. While there were no differences in the occurrence of thrombocytopenia right after the birth, its episode before the diagnosis of ROP seems to be significant for ROP development. The deficiency of platelets prior to a treatment intervention may be associated with necessity of re-treatment.
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Elevated hemoglobin (Hb) A2 is an important diagnostic marker for β-thalassemia carriers. However, diagnosis of cases with borderline Hb A2 may be problematic. We described the molecular characteristics found in a large cohort of Thai subjects with borderline Hb A2. ⋯ A large proportion of subjects with borderline Hb A2 are not β-thalassemia carriers and for those with β-thalassemia, only mild β+-thalassemia mutations were detected. Evaluation of the patients using Hb A2, Hb F and MCV values will help in selecting cases for further molecular analysis. The results should explain the unusual phenotype of the cases and facilitate a thalassemia screening program in the region.