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Purpose: Advancements in Machine Learning (ML) techniques have revolutionized diagnosing and monitoring epileptic seizures using Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. This analysis aims to determine the effectiveness of ML techniques in recognizing patterns of epileptic seizures in the brain using EEG signals., Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar for relevant RCTs, cohort studies, and case-control studies involving patients with prior epileptic seizures who underwent EEG analysis aided by ML techniques. Using the STATA software, we evaluated the accuracy of predicting epileptic seizures, measured using metrics such as Area under the curve (AUC), Sensitivity, and Specificity., Results: The random effects bivariate model of 4 studies with 214 patients revealed high diagnostic performance for ML techniques in detecting epileptic signals in EEGs. The estimated sensitivity was 0.97 (95 % CI: 0.92-0.99), indicating its ability to accurately detect the condition in 97 % of cases. Similarly, the estimated specificity was 0.99 (95 % CI: 0.98-0.99), demonstrating its ability to correctly identify the absence of the condition in 99 % of cases. There was also a high AUC (1.00, 95 % CI: 0.99-1.00), indicating ML techniques can distinguish epileptic seizures from no seizures in EEG signals 100 % of the time. These findings underscore the test's robust diagnostic utility in sensitivity and specificity. There was a significant between-study variability (heterogeneity) with a chi-square p-value <0.001 and an I 2 value of 95 %. A bivariate box plot further confirmed the heterogeneity. Deek's test for publication bias showed a non-significant p-value (p = 0.06) indicating the absence of publication bias., Conclusion: ML techniques can potentially enhance diagnostic accuracy in epilepsy detection, offering valuable insights into developing advanced diagnostic tools for clinical practice., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors report no relationships that could be construed as a conflict of interest. All authors take responsibility for all aspects of the reliability and freedom from bias of the data presented and their discussed interpretation., (Copyright © 2025 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Soft biological polymers, such as articular cartilage, possess exceptional fracture and fatigue resistance, offering inspiration for the development of novel materials. However, we lack a detailed understanding of changes in cartilage material behavior and of crack propagation following cyclic compressive loading. We investigated the structure and mechanical behavior of cartilage as a function of loading frequency and number of cycles. Microcracks were initiated in cartilage samples using microindentation, then cracks were extended under cyclic compression. Thickness, apparent stiffness, energy dissipation, phase angle, and crack length were measured to determine the effects of cyclic loading at two frequencies (1 Hz and 5 Hz). To capture the fatigue-induced material response (thickness, stiffness, energy dissipation, and phase angle), material properties were compared between pre-and-post diagnostic tests. The findings indicate that irreversible structural damage (reduced thickness), cartilage softening (reduced apparent stiffness), and reduced energy dissipation (including phase angle) increased with an increase in the number of cycles. Higher frequency loading resulted in less reduction in energy dissipation, phase angle, and thickness change. Crack lengths, quantified through brightfield imaging, increased with number of cycles and frequency. This study sheds light on the complex response of cartilage under cyclic loading resulting in softening, structural damage, and altered dynamic behavior. The findings provide better understanding of failure mechanisms in cartilage and thus may help in diagnosis and treatment of osteoarthritis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Articular cartilage is found at the distal end of long bones and is responsible for assisting in joint articulation. While articular cartilage has remarkable resistance to failure, once initially damaged, degeneration is nearly irreversible. Thus, understanding damage initiation is important. There are a few proposed mechanisms for articular cartilage failure initiation: (A) a single collagen fibril stress-based regime; (B) a rate-dependent regime captured by brittle failure at slow displacement rates (SDR) and ductile failure at fast displacement rates (FDR); and (C) a rate-dependent regime where failure is governed by pressurization fragmentation at SDR and governed by strain at FDR. The objective of this study was to use finite element (FE) models to provide evidence to support or refute these proposed failure mechanisms. Models were developed of microfracture experiments that investigated osmolarity (hypo-osmolar, normal osmolarity, and hyper-osmolar) and displacement rate (FDR and SDR) effects. Cartilage was modeled with a neo-Hookean ground matrix, strain-dependent permeability, nonlinear fibril reinforcement with viscoelastic fibril terms, and Donnan equilibrium swelling. Total stress, solid matrix stress, Lagrange strain, and fluid pressure were determined under the indenter tip at the moment of microfracture. Results indicated significant rate dependence across multiple outputs, which does not support (A) a single failure regime. Larger solid and fluid pressures at FDR than SDR did not support (C) a rate-dependent regime split by pressurization at SDR and strain at FDR. Consistent solid shear stresses at SDR and consistent third principal solid stresses at FDR support (B) the ductile-brittle failure regime. These findings help to shed light on the underlying mechanisms of articular cartilage failure, which have implications for the development of osteoarthritis., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Articular cartilage is a poroviscoelastic (PVE) material with remarkable resistance to fracture and fatigue failure. Cartilage failure mechanisms and material properties that govern failure are incompletely understood. Because cartilage is partially comprised of negatively charged glycosaminoglycans, altering solvent osmolarity can influence PVE relaxations. Therefore, this study aims to use osmolarity as a tool to provide additional data to interpret the role of PVE relaxations and identify cartilage failure regimes. Cartilage fracture was induced using a 100 μm radius spheroconical indenter at controlled displacement rates under three different osmolarity solvents. Secondarily, contact pressure (CP) and strain energy density (SED) were estimated to cluster data into two failure regimes with an expectation maximization algorithm. Critical displacement, critical load, critical time, and critical work to fracture increased with increasing osmolarity at a slow displacement rate whereas no significant effect was observed at a fast displacement rate. Clustering provided two distinct failure regimes, with regime (I) at lower normalized thickness (contact radius divided by sample thickness), and regime (II) at higher normalized thickness. Varied CP and SED in regime (I) suggest that failure in the regime is strain-governed. Constant CP and SED in regime (II) suggests that failure in the regime is dominantly governed by stress. These regimes can be interpreted as ductile versus brittle, or using a pressurized fragmentation interpretation. These findings demonstrated fundamental failure properties and postulate failure regimes for articular cartilage., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Articular cartilage is a spatially heterogeneous, dissipative biological hydrogel with a high fluid volume fraction. Although energy dissipation is important in the context of delaying cartilage damage, the dynamic behavior of articular cartilage equilibrated in media of varied osmolarity and viscosity is not widely understood. This study investigated the mechanical behaviors of cartilage when equilibrated to media of varying osmolarity and viscosity. Dynamic moduli and phase shift were measured at both low (1 Hz) and high (75-300 Hz) frequency, with cartilage samples compressed to varied offset strain levels. Increasing solution osmolarity and viscosity both independently resulted in larger energy dissipation and decreased dynamic modulus of cartilage at both low and high frequency. Mechanical property alterations induced by varying osmolarity are likely due to the change in permeability and fluid volume fraction within the tissue. The effects of solution viscosity are likely due to frictional interactions at the solid-fluid interface, affecting energy dissipation. These findings highlight the significance of interstitial fluid on the energy dissipation capabilities of the tissue, which can influence the onset of cartilage damage., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The neonatal period - the first 4 weeks of life - is the most critical time for a child's survival. Breathing rate is a vital indicator of the health condition and requires continuous monitoring in case of sickness or preterm birth. Breathing movements can be counted by contact and non-contact methods. In the case of newborn infants, the non-contact breathing rate monitoring need is high, as a contact-based approach may interfere while providing care and is subject to interference by non-breathing movements. This review article delivers a factual summary, and describes the methods and processing involved in non-contact based breathing rate monitoring. The article also provides the advantages, limitations, and clinical applications of these methods. Additionally, signal processing, feasibility, and future direction of different non-contact neonatal breathing rate monitoring are discussed., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

mHealth, the use of wireless and portable communication technology to improve the health status of the population, has seen widespread adoption in low- and middle-income countries. It has been used to increase awareness and knowledge of healthcare, to collect health-related data, to deliver healthcare information such as results of investigations or appointment reminders, to aid decision-making by healthcare providers, and to improve communication between various stakeholders of the health system. Developing countries face an immense challenge of periodically updating the professional knowledge of their huge pool of community and facility level healthcare workers. Nearly universal possession of mobile phones, low-cost internet data, and high growth rate of smartphones has facilitated the use of mHealth in delivering evidence-based guidelines and decision-aids to frontline healthcare workers. This review describes the current evidence on the use of mHealth educational interventions targeting maternal and neonatal healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries. Recent efforts of the National Neonatology Forum of India in integration of mHealth for development and dissemination of clinical practice guidelines are also presented., (© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Increase in the number of patients suffering from Osteoarthritis is prevalent nowadays and hence, there is need for tissue regeneration. Fabricating a 3D structure giving a better control mimicking the actual tissue properties, especially for osteo-chondral applications is a challenge due to several constraints (like suitable biomaterial for cell encapsulation, mimicking mechanical properties). Here, we mimic the natural process of tissue formation by encapsulating cells in an optimized 3D construct which improves mechanical properties by matrix secretion. We investigated different concentrations of Alginate-Gelatin ink and further characterized the optimized concentration. Behaviour of different infill percentage on the bioactivity and morphology of the scaffold was also investigated. For observing the behaviour of cells on different infill percentages within the scaffolds of same concentration, we used osteoblasts (MG63) cells. The optimized material concentration with the adequate infill showed printability, adequate viscosity, and increased swelling. Both, 20 and 25% infill within the Alginate-Gelatin scaffolds (2.5% w/v Alginate and 5% w/v Gelatin) resulted in higher viability and proliferation of osteoblast cells. Additionally, to control the shape retention ability of the scaffolds dual crosslinking was applied. Thus, the developed Alginate-Gelatin based 3D scaffold maintains the required balance between biomechanics and soft tissue regeneration., (Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objectives: This study aimed to understand what information the US media communicated about Zika virus (ZIKV) and travel in 2016 and 2017., Study Design: We conducted a content analysis of news coverage about ZIKV and travel from April 5, 2016 to March 31, 2017., Methods: We obtained a stratified, random sample of English language, US print newspaper and television news coverage about ZIKV and travel. We developed a coding scheme to assess key messages in the news, including how ZIKV is transmitted, the symptoms and outcomes of ZIKV infection, and recommended prevention behaviors., Results: Almost all news stories mentioned mosquito-borne transmission (96.8%) and just over half mentioned sexual transmission (55.3%). News stories were more likely to talk about ZIKV outcomes (78.8%) than ZIKV symptoms (40.6%). However, outcomes affecting babies were mentioned more frequently than outcomes affecting adults. Recommendations included a wide array of protective behaviors, such as delaying or avoiding travel (77.6%) and using mosquito repellent (41.0%). However, few studies (10.9%) mentioned barriers to practicing ZIKV prevention behaviors., Conclusions: Public health organizations and professionals can use these findings to help improve communication about future outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses. We also recommend conducting real-time monitoring of news media and frequent content analysis of news stories to ensure coverage provides the information the public needs., (Copyright © 2019 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug among U.S. adolescents and adults, but little is known about factors that drive trends in cannabis use prevalence. To better understand drivers of these trends, we aimed to estimate age, period, and cohort effects on past-month cannabis use among U.S. individuals age 12 and older from 2002 to 2015., Methods: We conducted an age-period-cohort analysis on past-month cannabis use among participants ages 12 and older using the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual cross-sectional nationally-representative survey of drug use. Additionally, we examined how age, period, and cohort effects differed across gender. Participants (n = 779,799) self-reported cannabis patterns using a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI)., Results: Past-month cannabis use in this population increased from 6.0% in 2002 to 8.1% in 2015. Distinct age, period, and cohort effects were observed. Compared to participants ages 12-13, participants ages 18-21 (PR: 16.8, 95% CI: 15.6, 18.1) and 22-25 (PR: 13.2, 95% CI: 12.2, 14.4) had dramatically higher prevalence of past-month cannabis use. Compared to participants in 2002, participants in 2014 (PR: 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.4) and 2014 (PR: 1.2, 95% CI: 1.1, 1.4) had slightly higher prevalence of past-month cannabis use. Compared to the 1940s birth cohort, the 1950s birth cohort (PR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.5, 2.2) had a higher prevalence of past-month cannabis use., Conclusions: Past-month cannabis use is prevalent and increasing among U.S. adults. Distinct age, period, and cohort effects are at play, though age effects are strongest., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of umbilical cord milking as compared with early cord clamping on hematological parameters at 6 weeks of age among term and near term neonates., Study Design: This was a randomized control trial. Eligible neonates (>35 weeks' gestation) were randomized in intervention and control groups (100 each). Neonates of both groups got early cord clamping (within 30 seconds). The cord of the experimental group was milked after cutting and clamping at 25 cm from the umbilicus, whereas in control group cord was clamped near (2-3 cm) the umbilicus and not milked. Both groups got similar routine care. Unpaired Student t and Fisher exact tests were used for statistical analysis., Results: Baseline characteristics were comparable in the 2 groups. Mean hemoglobin (Hgb) (11.9 [1.5] g/dL and mean serum ferritin 355.9 [182.6] μg/L) were significantly higher in the intervention group as compared with the control group (10.8 [0.9] g/dL and 177.5 [135.8] μg/L), respectively, at 6 weeks of age. The mean Hgb and hematocrit at 12 hours and 48 hours was significantly higher in intervention group (P = .0001). The mean blood pressure at 30 minutes, 12 hours, and 48 hours after birth was significantly higher but within normal range. No significant difference was observed in the heart rate, respiratory rate, polycythemia, serum bilirubin, and need of phototherapy in the 2 groups., Conclusion: Umbilical cord milking is a safe procedure and it improved Hgb and iron status at 6 weeks of life among term and near term neonates., (Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)