J Res Med Sci
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Large amounts of information have called for increased computational complexity. Data dimension reduction is therefore critical to preliminary analysis. In this research, four variable selection (VS) methods are compared to obtain the important variables in predicting the prognosis of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. ⋯ The use of an SVM classifier on optimal subsets given by GA and SFS reveals that wrapper-based methods perform better than filter-based methods in our data set, although all selected subsets, except for the MRMR, were clinically accepted. In addition, for prognosis prediction of TBI patients, a small subset of clinical records during ICU admission is enough to achieve an accepted accuracy.
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Amphetamine abuse has been conceived as an addictive illness where stress regulation and inhibitory control may be crucial factors determining chronicity and relapse. Since amphetamine consumption may disrupt the cerebral systems regulating inhibition and stress behaviors, deregulation on these systems may be expected even after long-term abstinence periods. The present study aimed to evaluate the ability of abstinent amphetamine consumers to regulate stress parameters and to inhibit cognitive patterns under the acute trier social stress test (TSST) paradigm. ⋯ We concluded that both the stress regulatory system and executive function system (attentional/inhibitory control) represent key vulnerability conditions to the long-term effect of compulsive amphetamine consumption.
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Although positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy is effective for treating obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), some patients with severe OSA are intolerable to this treatment, which may lead to an increase in the mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular diseases. We investigated the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and sleep parameters during natural sleep and treatment of patients with OSA. ⋯ Therapy-induced amelioration of OSA and sleep quality was accompanied by decrease in the amplitudes of VLF components of HRV. The VLF component may thus reflect physiological changes in both autonomic activity and sleep structure and serve as an objective marker for therapeutic efficacy in patients with severe OSA.
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Hepatitis B is one of the major causes of mortality among viral diseases. To reduce morbidity rate and increase knowledge of people about potential risk factors, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B among the general population and the risk factors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Isfahan, Iran. ⋯ Our results demonstrated that there are still several risk factors for hepatitis B surface antigen infection among the Iranian adult population. Immunization programs should continue and focus on high-risk adults, and interventions should be directed toward to reduce risk factors associated with hepatitis B.
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The most feared complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is biliary tract injuries (BTI). We conducted a prospective study to evaluate the role of preoperative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in describing the biliary tract anatomy and to investigate its potential benefit to prevent BTI. ⋯ MRCP could be a valuable tool to study preoperatively the biliary anatomy and to recognize "dangerous" anatomical variations. Subsequent BTI might be avoided. Further randomized trials should be designed to assess its real value as a routine investigation before LC.