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To validate the Manipal Bedside Swallowing Screening Test (MBSST) for assessing aspiration in individuals with tracheostomy using Video Fluoroscopic Swallow Study (VFSS). A total of 53 tracheostomized participants were screened for aspiration at bedside and VFSS across different consistencies. Penetration Aspiration Scale (PAS) was used to substantiate the severity of aspiration if present. The test demonstrated both high sensitivity (91%; 95% confidence interval = 70.8–98.9) and diagnostic accuracy (96%; 95% confidence interval = 87.0-99.5) for detecting aspiration in individuals with tracheostomy. The Manipal Bedside Swallowing Screening Test is an easy to administer tool that has sufficient sensitivity to detect aspiration in individuals with tracheostomy. The MBSST will be an easy to administer tool and will help in screening for aspiration at bedside without any instrumental examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fractional Anisotropy (FA) values are considered as a solid concrete index for determining white matter integrity in ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. FA is more comparable and reliable parameter than individual diffusivity parameters. A b-value and Time of Echo (TE) significantly affect the reproducibility and accuracy of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) derived indices at 1.5 Tesla (T) MRI machines in grey and white matter. Hence, no fixed b-value and TE protocol combination is recommended in literature to obtain consistent FA values, as it is a relatively new imaging technique. Aim: To check the consistency of FA values using different combinations of b-value and TE in DTI of normal brain white matter and to establish a standardised protocol for calculating FA values in different regions of normal brain white matter of the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale and pons. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 23 healthy participants without neurological abnormalities using 1.5 T MRI, DTI of brain white matter was performed. FA values were measured at the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale and pons using fiber track analysis in six different combinations of b-value and TE. Results: The FA values with least coefficient of variation was found with a b-value of 1000 s/mm2 and TE 100 ms. Conclusion: The current study established a standardised protocol for calculating FA values in different regions of normal brain white matter of the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale and pons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and Objectives: To determine the overall performance of an existing CAD algorithm with thin-section computed tomography (CT) in the detection of pulmonary nodules and to evaluate detection sensitivity at a varying range of nodule density, size, and location. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted on 20 patients with 322 suspected nodules who underwent diagnostic chest imaging using 64-row multi-detector CT. The examinations were evaluated on reconstructed images of 1.4 mm thickness and 0.7 mm interval. Detection of pulmonary nodules, initially by a radiologist of 2 years experience (RAD) and later by CAD lung nodule software was assessed. Then, CAD nodule candidates were accepted or rejected accordingly. Detected nodules were classified based on their size, density, and location. The performance of the RAD and CAD system was compared with the gold standard that is true nodules confirmed by consensus of senior RAD and CAD together. The overall sensitivity and false-positive (FP) rate of CAD software was calculated. Observations and Results: Of the 322 suspected nodules, 221 were classified as true nodules on the consensus of senior RAD and CAD together. Of the true nodules, the RAD detected 206 (93.2%) and 202 (91.4%) by the CAD. CAD and RAD together picked up more number of nodules than either CAD or RAD alone. Overall sensitivity for nodule detection with the CAD program was 91.4%, and FP detection per patient was 5.5%. The CAD showed comparatively higher sensitivity for nodules of size 4-10 mm (93.4%) and nodules in hilar (100%) and central (96.5%) location when compared to RAD's performance. Conclusion: CAD performance was high in detecting pulmonary nodules including the small size and low-density nodules. CAD even with relatively high FP rate, assists and improves RAD's performance as a second reader, especially for nodules located in the central and hilar region and for small nodules by saving RADs time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate public sentiment on laryngeal cancer via tweets in 2022 using machine learning. We aimed to analyze the public sentiment about laryngeal cancer on Twitter last year. A novel dataset was created for the purpose of this study by scraping all tweets from 1st Jan 2022 that included the hashtags #throatcancer, #laryngealcancer, #supraglotticcancer, #glotticcancer, and #subglotticcancer in their text. After all tweets underwent a fourfold data cleaning process, they were analyzed using natural language processing and sentiment analysis techniques to classify tweets into positive, negative, or neutral categories and to identify common themes and topics related to laryngeal cancer. The study analyzed a corpus of 733 tweets related to laryngeal cancer. The sentiment analysis revealed that 53% of the tweets were neutral, 34% were positive, and 13% were negative. The most common themes identified in the tweets were treatment and therapy, risk factors, symptoms and diagnosis, prevention and awareness, and emotional impact. This study highlights the potential of social media platforms like Twitter as a valuable source of real-time, patient-generated data that can inform healthcare research and practice. Our findings suggest that while Twitter is a popular platform, the limited number of tweets related to laryngeal cancer indicates that a better strategy could be developed for online communication among netizens regarding the awareness of laryngeal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the performance of mannitol as a luminal contrast as compared to water and positive contrast in evaluation of bowel on multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Materials and Methods: Three hundred patients were randomly selected for this study and were divided equally into three groups. Each subject received 1500 ml of oral contrast. Group 1 received 3% mannitol in water, group 2 received diluted iodinated positive contrast, and group 3 received plain water without additives. Qualitative and quantitative analysis for distension, fold visibility, and overall image quality were analyzed by actual diameter measurement and point scale system at different bowel levels. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey's HSD Post-hoc test and Pearson's Chi-square (exact test) test were applied. Results: Group 1 showed better results for small bowel distension, intraluminal homogeneity, and visibility of mucosal folds on quantitative and qualitative analysis with statistically significant P value (P<0.001). The ileo-caecal junction distension and mural feature visibility was better with mannitol (P < 0.001). No significant difference in distension of stomach and duodenum was found between the three groups. Conclusion: Mannitol as endoluminal contrast increases the diagnostic accuracy of the investigative studies in comparison to water and iodine-based contrast by producing significantly better bowel distension and visibility of mural features with improved image quality without additional adverse effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The liver is primarily or secondarily involved by numerous vascular, metabolic, infectious, and neoplastic processes resulting in formation of focal liver masses, and the detection of such focal liver lesions is frequently accomplished with sonography. However, the categorization a liver mass as benign or malignant on ultrasound has always been a diagnostic dilemma. Objective: This study aimed to assess if the addition of compression sonoelastography to conventional B-mode ultrasound aided in diagnostic accuracy of the focal hepatic lesions. Materials and Methods: We evaluated B-mode characteristics of 52 liver lesions followed by calculation of their strain values on compression sonoelastography. The lesions were categorized as benign or malignant by ascertaining a cutoff strain value and the comparison was made with the histopathological diagnosis/contrast-enhanced computed tomography characteristics of the lesions. Results: The mean strain index value of malignant hepatic lesions (2.12 ± 1.06) was statistically higher than the benign lesions (0.92 ± 1.06) with 2-tailed P = 0.002. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of compression sonoelastography in diagnosing a malignant pathology were 74.4%, 88.9%, 94.6%, and 46.7%, respectively, and the additional evaluation of B-mode features yielded higher sensitivity (95.4% vs. 83.7%) and negative predictive value (75% vs. 46.7%). Conclusion: Compression sonoelastography is an efficient and beneficial complementary tool to B-mode imaging in evaluating solid liver lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractFace cups form a vital component of breathing, assisting with devices that aid in artificial breathing for neonates. This study aims to evaluate the flow parameters in the nasal cavity for two different types of face cups. The neonatal nasal cavity model was developed from CT scans using MIMICS 21.0. Two face cups, one hemispherical and the other anatomical shaped cups are developed around the nasal cavity and the airflow is simulated using ANSYS 2021 R2. Results are compared with a nasal-only model. At the nasal valve region, the highest velocity is seen for the nasal-only model which is 16.3% higher than that of the hemispherical face cup and 15.2% superior to the anatomical-shaped face cup. In addition, the decrease in pressure across the nasal-only model is 7.4 and 6.6% below that of the hemispherical cup and anatomical cup masks. The nasal resistance values across the nasal cavity are the lowest for the nasal-only model, 7.7 and 6.7% lower respectively than the hemispherical and anatomical-shaped cups. There were very minor changes in the flow parameters such as velocity, pressure and wall shear stress when comparing the hemispherical and anatomic-shaped masks for the airflow inside the nasal cavity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: The 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria were criticised for classifying patients only in the late stage. The 2010 ACR/European League against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were thus formulated to recognize the early stage of disease with high sensitivity. This pilot study was designed to estimate and compare the sensitivities of the 1987 ACR and 2010 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA. Methods: In a tertiary care hospital, the medical records of 97 patients diagnosed with RA were reviewed. Case study forms were filled with relevant clinical data and investigation results after reviewing each medical record. The radiographs of hands were also reviewed. To each case, both the 1987 ACR and the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria were applied and the results of the classification were noted. Results: The sensitivity of the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria was found to be 79.38 per cent [95% confidence interval (CI) = 71.33-87.43%] and the sensitivity of the 1987 ACR criteria was found to be 63.92 per cent (95% CI = 54.36-73.48%). The difference in the sensitivities was significant (P< 0.01). There was a significant rise in sensitivity of the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria when patients having anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) titres were analysed. Interpretation & conclusions: The 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria were found to be more sensitive than the 1987 ACR criteria possibly owing to features of the criteria. Anti-CCP titres were found to increase the sensitivity of the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite several newer advancements in imaging technology, no new investigative modality has been introduced to clinical practice in the recent times that is accurate and yet cost-effective. As a result, the majority of cancer centers across the globe rely on computed tomography to diagnose and estimate bone involvement in oral cancer. Here, we evaluated the reliability of computed tomography in predicting the mandibular invasion in our cohort of oral cancer patients who had undergone mandibulectomy. In this retrospective study, conducted at a tertiary cancer care facility, the patients of oral cancer who were operated at our center between 1st October 2018 and 30th September 2020 were considered. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the computed tomography in predicting bone involvement were calculated, and the survival analysis was performed to understand the implication of mandibular involvement on survival. The sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography in detecting bone involvement was around 77.9% and 76.7%, respectively, which were comparable with the other reports. In our series, only 30% of the resected mandible were involved by the disease. However, pathological involvement of the mandible did not affect the overall survival on univariate and multivariate analysis, but the presence of pathological positive cervical lymph nodes affected the survival. The outcome of our study suggests that the conservative mandibulectomy could be a sound oncological procedure particularly in those cases with no frank erosion of the mandible on computed tomography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The study involves CFD analysis of the peristaltic motion of urine bolus in a ureter • Peristaltic contraction results in high-pressure formation at the bolus and negative pressure at the neck. • The wall shear near the contracted throat region will decrease with the propagation of the peristalsis wave towards the urinary bladder. • The magnitude of the pressure gradient is high at the ureter wall and along the ureter axis around the moving contracted region, which decreases as the wave propagates towards the urine bladder. The bladder receives the urine from the kidney and ureter. The series of peristaltic waves facilitate urine transport to the bladder. The peristaltic flow in the ureter is associated with fluid trapping and material reflux, which may cause an increase in bladder pressure. It is difficult to visualize the complex peristalsis phenomenon, in the ureter using image and radiography experiments. A numerical simulation will help in the understanding of urine bolus formation and its effect on the ureter wall. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic analysis is carried out to understand the flow physics associated with bolus formation and the effect of reflux on the ureter. ANSYS-CFX, a commercially available computational dynamics package is used to simulate the peristalsis. A single sinusoidal peristaltic wave traveling along a circular tube will yield the velocity, pressure, wall shear stress distributions inside the ureter. The propagation of the peristaltic wave results in the backflow of urine near the inlet at the beginning of the flow. As the wave propagates towards the outlet, the flow rate decreases. It is observed that pressure distribution along the ureter axis will deteriorate towards the outlet. The contraction produces a very high-pressure gradient which causes the urine backflow. The trapping and the bolus formation cause a significant rise in bolus pressure, simultaneously developing negative pressure at the contraction neck. The effect of peristalsis on the ureter biofluid dynamic behavior of the ureter is visualized in this study. It is established that the peristaltic contraction results in high-pressure formation at the bolus and negative pressure at the neck. It was found to be a maximum of 1.1 Pa at the bolus center and —1.13 Pa at the neck region. At the ureter pelvis junction, a higher wall shear of 0.095 Pa is observed as the wave starts to propagate. The velocity vectors show that the trapping of urine causes reflux and results in an adverse pressure gradient near the wall. A maximum pressure gradient of 485 Pa/meter was observed at the contraction of the ureter wall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypomelanosis of Ito (HI) is a neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by hypopigmented cutaneous lesions and extracutaneous manifestations frequently affecting the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system. Dysmorphic features, dental, ophthalmic, gastrointestinal, cardiac, and renal abnormalities are described in a minority of patients. The authors describe a 4-month-old infant having HI with unusual pulmonary hypoplasia that has not been reported so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]