Search

Introduction: The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) chat programs has opened two distinct paths, one enhancing interaction and another potentially replacing personal understanding. Ethical and legal concerns arise due to the rapid development of these programs. This paper investigates academic discussions on AI in medicine, analyzing the context, frequency, and reasons behind these conversations. Methods: The study collected data from the Web of Science database on articles containing the keyword "ChatGPT" published from January to September 2023, resulting in 786 medically related journal articles. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed articles in English related to medicine. Results: The United States led in publications (38.1%), followed by India (15.5%) and China (7.0%). Keywords such as "patient" (16.7%), "research" (12%), and "performance" (10.6%) were prevalent. The Cureus Journal of Medical Science (11.8%) had the most publications, followed by the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (8.3%). August 2023 had the highest number of publications (29.3%), with significant growth between February to March and April to May. Medical General Internal (21.0%) was the most common category, followed by Surgery (15.4%) and Radiology (7.9%). Discussion: The prominence of India in ChatGPT research, despite lower research funding, indicates the platform's popularity and highlights the importance of monitoring its use for potential medical misinformation. China's interest in ChatGPT research suggests a focus on Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI applications, despite public bans on the platform. Cureus' success in publishing ChatGPT articles can be attributed to its open-access, rapid publication model. The study identifies research trends in plastic surgery, radiology, and obstetric gynecology, emphasizing the need for ethical considerations and reliability assessments in the application of ChatGPT in medical practice. Conclusion: ChatGPT's presence in medical literature is growing rapidly across various specialties, but concerns related to safety, privacy, and accuracy persist. More research is needed to assess its suitability for patient care and implications for non-medical use. Skepticism and thorough review of research are essential, as current studies may face retraction as more information emerges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This paper offers a mini-review of OpenAI's language model, ChatGPT, detailing its mechanisms, applications in healthcare, and comparisons with other large language models (LLMs). Methods: The underlying technology of ChatGPT is outlined, focusing on its neural network architecture, training process, and the role of key elements such as input embedding, encoder, decoder, attention mechanism, and output projection. The advancements in GPT-4, including its capacity for internet connection and the integration of plugins for enhanced functionality are discussed. Results: ChatGPT can generate creative, coherent, and contextually relevant sentences, making it a valuable tool in healthcare for patient engagement, medical education, and clinical decision support. Yet, like other LLMs, it has limitations, including a lack of common sense knowledge, a propensity for hallucination of facts, a restricted context window, and potential privacy concerns. Conclusion: Despite the limitations, LLMs like ChatGPT offer transformative possibilities for healthcare. With ongoing research in model interpretability, common-sense reasoning, and handling of longer context windows, their potential is vast. It is crucial for healthcare professionals to remain informed about these technologies and consider their ethical integration into practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, a large urban university-based hospital transitioned to a new two-floor emergency department. Despite the new environment, there were usability and workflow challenges with the space. The authors of this paper created a multidisciplinary, human-centered design collaborative of clinicians, university faculty, and students in an effort to increase emergency department efficiency. After thorough design-research and clinician-focused collaboration, the authors and design team identified the need to improve medical supply retrieval time, which directly impacts patient care and clinician satisfaction. The primary interventions consisted of a redesign that is as follows: (a) created standardized icons related to organ system, (b) increased visibility of supply labels, and (c) reorganized supplies based on usage data. Although a successful project, it was not without several barriers discussed in this article, including design researcher and clinician-level setting and engagement, academic/institutional policies, and conflicting schedules. In addition, the lessons learned from implementing human-centered design concepts into clinical workflow sets forth future research opportunities and inspiration for other institutions to collaborate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite decades of policies to widen participation in medical degrees, students selected for Medicine continue to reflect a socially elite group, rather than the diversity of the communities that graduates will serve. While research has documented experiences of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, this paper examines the "cultures of success" that enable advantaged students to gain entry to medical school. It documents how these students' school and home environments enable the development and realisation of "aspirational capacity". Aspirational capacity is not just about having a dream, but also the resources and knowledge to realise one's dream. The paper also examines a negative side of a narrow aspirational focus. "Aspirational constriction" describes the premature foreclosure of career ambitions, which can have negative implications for both the students and for society, and for less advantaged students, who are effectively excluded from degrees such as Medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug therapy is a very powerful tool to improve the medical outcome of children. Despite this fact, pediatricians still commonly prescribe drug formulations that were developed for adults. In this series of educational papers related to pediatric clinical pharmacology, we aim to raise awareness on different aspects of clinical pharmacology in children, covering neonatal clinical pharmacology, formulation-related issues, ethical aspects of clinical research, pharmacovigilance, and training in pediatric clinical pharmacology. We want to illustrate the relevance of this re-emerging research field for the practicing clinician, although we are very much aware that these topics do not fully cover the multifaceted landscape of pediatric clinical pharmacology. We hope that many readers will reconsider their daily clinical practices and will be stimulated to collaborate to further improve pediatric drug therapy throughout Europe and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to highlight the potential applications and limits of a large language model (LLM) in healthcare. ChatGPT is a recently developed LLM that was trained on a massive dataset of text for dialogue with users. Although AI-based language models like ChatGPT have demonstrated impressive capabilities, it is uncertain how well they will perform in real-world scenarios, particularly in fields such as medicine where high-level and complex thinking is necessary. Furthermore, while the use of ChatGPT in writing scientific articles and other scientific outputs may have potential benefits, important ethical concerns must also be addressed. Consequently, we investigated the feasibility of ChatGPT in clinical and research scenarios: (1) support of the clinical practice, (2) scientific production, (3) misuse in medicine and research, and (4) reasoning about public health topics. Results indicated that it is important to recognize and promote education on the appropriate use and potential pitfalls of AI-based LLMs in medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of selected literary work related to medicine. The article "Relationship of sliding hiatus hernia to gastroesophageal reflux disease: a possible role for helicobacter pylori infection," by G. Manes, O. Pieramico, G. Uomo, S. Mosca, C. de Nucci and A. Balzano, reports on the diagnosis of sliding hiatal hernia. Sliding hiatal hernia is a common endoscopic finding with a prevalence that increases with the age of patients. Although nearly all patients with GERD have HH, only a minority of patients with hernia reports reflux symptoms. Another article "Anal fistula: levovist-enhanced endoanal ultrasound: a pilot study," by S.S.B. Chew, J.L. Yang, G.L. Newstead and P.R. Douglas, investigate the usefulness of the contrast agent Levovist in ultrasound assessment of anal fistula.

In this paper, we describe a review concerning the Quantum Computing (QC) and Deep Learning (DL) areas and their applications in Computational Intelligence (CI). Quantum algorithms (QAs), engage the rules of quantum mechanics to solve problems using quantum information, where the quantum information is concerning the state of a quantum system, which can be manipulated using quantum information algorithms and other processing techniques. Nowadays, many QAs have been proposed, whose general conclusion is that using the effects of quantum mechanics results in a significant speedup (exponential, polynomial, super polynomial) over the traditional algorithms. This implies that some complex problems currently intractable with traditional algorithms can be solved with QA. On the other hand, DL algorithms offer what is known as machine learning techniques. DL is concerned with teaching a computer to filter inputs through layers to learn how to predict and classify information. Observations can be in the form of plain text, images, or sound. The inspiration for deep learning is the way that the human brain filters information. Therefore, in this research, we analyzed these two areas to observe the most relevant works and applications developed by the researchers in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Precision medicine highlights the importance of exploring heterogeneity in the effectiveness and costs of interventions. Our objective was to identify and compare frameworks for valuing heterogeneity-informed decisions, and consider their strengths and weaknesses for application to precision medicine.Methods: We conducted a scoping review to identify papers that proposed an analytical framework to place a value, in terms of costs and health benefits, on using heterogeneity to inform treatment selection. The search included English-language papers indexed in MEDLINE, Embase or EconLit, and a manual review of references and citations. We compared the frameworks qualitatively considering: the purpose and setting of the analysis; the types of precision medicine interventions where the framework could be applied; and the framework's ability to address the methodological challenges of evaluating precision medicine.Results: Four analytical frameworks were identified: value of stratification, value of heterogeneity, expected value of individualised care and loss with respect to efficient diffusion. Each framework is suited to slightly different settings and research questions. All focus on maximising net benefit, and quantify the opportunity cost of ignoring heterogeneity by comparing individualised or stratified decisions to a means-based population-wide decision. Where the frameworks differ is in their approaches to uncertainty, and in the additional metrics they consider.Conclusions: Identifying and utilising heterogeneity is at the core of precision medicine, and the ability to quantify the value of heterogeneity-informed decisions is critical. Using an analytical framework to value heterogeneity will help provide evidence to inform investment in precision medicine interventions, appropriately capturing the value of targeted health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a critical analysis is performed on differences in citation frequency of basic and clinical cardiovascular papers. It appears that the latter papers are cited at about 40% higher frequency. The differences between the largest number of citations of the most cited papers are even larger. It is also demonstrated that the groups of clinical and basic cardiovascular papers are also heterogeneous concerning citation frequency. It is concluded that none of the existing citation indicators appreciates these differences. At this moment these indicators should not be used for quality assessment of individual scientists and scientific niches with small numbers of scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, where there is no centralized medical records system, biomedical care providers rely on families to explain their child's illness and to carry records of any previous treatment the child may have received. Drawing on discussions of documentation, I argue that in the context of medical treatment for pediatric seizures, (1) families collect medical records to enable and shape their child's medical treatment, and (2) such a merging of medical and familial care is necessitated by the nature of their child's illness and the structure of the Indian healthcare system. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Meerut and New Delhi, this paper attends to practices of record keeping to understand the demands biomedical institutions place on families for the treatment of their child's seizures. I examine the creation, maintenance, and movement of medical records to suggest that documents are a point of intersection between medical and kinship practices. They are artifacts of care that can narrate parallel histories of a patient's illness and family-clinician efforts to alleviate a child's suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Outcomes-based agreements (OBAs) have the potential to provide more timely patient access to novel therapies, although they are not suitable for every new medication or reimbursement scenario. The authors of this paper studied how to operationalize an OBA in oncology by leveraging existing real-world data (RWD) infrastructure in the province of Alberta. Objective: The main objectives were to (1) evaluate which health outcomes in oncology are suitable for OBAs and whether they can be tracked with existing infrastructure, and (2) determine how RWD in oncology can be used to implement an OBA and the expected timing for delivery. Methods: Using the Oncology Outcomes (O2) Group infrastructure and Alberta administrative data, a review of five key oncology outcomes was performed to determine suitability to support an OBA. Results: Overall survival and time-to-next-treatment were determined as potentially suitable oncology outcomes for OBAs; progression-free survival, patient-reported outcomes, and return to work were deemed inadequate for OBAs at the current time due to data limitations. Conclusions: Results indicate that it is feasible to leverage RWD to support OBAs in oncology in Alberta, with minimal additional data, resources, and infrastructure. The operational processes and steps to collect and analyze RWD for OBAs were identified, starting with performing an RWD feasibility study. The expected timeframe to fulfill the real-world evidence (RWE) requirements for an OBA is approximately 3 years for cancers with short trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The religious context of death has deep implications in shaping the phenomenon of death for the denizens of Kashi. The present paper argues that religious understanding of death confronts the medical issue(s) in the contemporary scenario. To explore the abysmal religio-cultural underpinning(s) of the episteme of death and dying in the era of hegemonic medical technologies is the purpose of this study. Further, it will discuss the enigma of death and dying and will represent some insights into it from the vantage point of religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts on medical topics which includes the comparison of the bone loss in ovariectomized rats and in neurectomized rates, research on primary bone healing and the discovery of pharmaceutical-based therapy for heterotopic ossification.

Hyperhidrosis is a dermatosis presenting as pathologically excessive focal or generalized sweating. The stigmatizing nature of hyperhidrosis may cause patients to feel embarrassment and apprehension about their symptoms and experience a significant decrease in well-being. Severe cases of hyperhidrosis can also increase the risk of developing psychiatric and somatic comorbidities. Conventional non-surgical treatments of hyperhidrosis include aluminum salts, iontophoresis, botulinum toxin injections, and oral glycopyrronium. In recent years, new topical anticholinergic medications and devices have emerged that may improve the patients' symptoms and even prevent the development of comorbidities. The treatment of hyperhidrosis can be a complex matter and may require the combination of several therapies. The purpose of this paper was to firstly review the literature on existing non-surgical treatment options for hyperhidrosis, and secondly provide a stepwise approach to investigating and treating patients with hyperhidrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definitions and conceptualizations of health, and the management of healthcare have been challenged by the current global scenarios (e.g., new diseases, new geographical distribution of diseases, effects of climate change on health, etc.) and by the ongoing scholarship in humanities and science. In this paper we question the mainstream definition of health adopted by the WHO—‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO in Preamble to the constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the international health conference, The World Health Organization, 1948)—and its role in providing tools to understand what health is in the contemporary context. More specifically, we argue that this context requires to take into account the role of the environment both in medical theory and in the healthcare practice. To do so, we analyse WHO documents dated 1984 and 1986 which define health as ‘coping with the environment’. We develop the idea of ‘coping with the environment’, by focusing on two cardinal concepts: adaptation in public health and adaptivity in philosophy of biology. We argue that the notions of adaptation and adaptivity can be of major benefit for the characterization of health, and have practical implications. We explore some of these implications by discussing two recent case studies of adaptivity in public health, which can be valuable to further develop adaptive strategies in the current pandemic scenario: community-centred care and microbiologically healthier buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this response paper, we respond to the criticisms that Michal Pruski raised against our article "Beyond Money: Conscientious Objection in Medicine as a Conflict of Interests." We defend our original position against conscientious objection in healthcare by suggesting that the analogies Pruski uses to criticize our paper miss the relevant point and that some of the analogies he uses and the implications he draws are misplaced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Translation science entails application of information gained through scientific research to practices intended to improve prevention and public health. The outreach arm of Land-Grant Universities—the Cooperative Extension System—is uniquely poised to facilitate this translation process and contribute to resolution of current substance misuse and other behavioral health issues. Objective: This paper summarizes selected literatures that guided the conceptualization of a framework for building Extension's capacity to enhance the translation process, in order to better address substance misuse and other behavioral health issues. Method: Peer-reviewed literature was obtained from journals representing varied disciplines including medicine, public health, education, and psychology. Journals for Extension professionals were a prominent source of relevant literature. The literature review informed the identification of relevant practice gaps, barriers in addressing those gaps, and the development of a capacity-building framework. Results: The framework described highlights opportunities for building Cooperative Extension's capacity to address goals in four key domains. These goals include (1) catalyzing Extension's organizational development to support science-driven practices, (2) bolstering prevention and behavioral health-oriented professional development for Extension faculty and staff, (3) creating a stronger culture of behavioral health in Extension, and (4) strengthening Extension's financing of prevention-oriented behavioral health efforts. Conclusion: Addressing the capacity-related goals identified in this paper could be a major catalyst for enhancing the power of proven, prevention-oriented behavioral health and, thereby, the well-being of our families, communities and nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About one-sixth of the world's population is affected by a neglected tropical disease as defined by the World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control. Parasitic diseases comprise most of the neglected tropical disease list and they are causing enormous amounts of disability, morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs worldwide. The burden of disease of the top five parasitic diseases has been estimated to amount to a total 23 million disability-adjusted life-years. Despite the massive health and economic impact, most drugs currently used for the treatment of parasitic diseases have been developed decades ago and insufficient novel drugs are being developed. The current review provides a compilation of the systemic and target-site pharmacokinetics of established antiparasitic drugs. Knowledge of the pharmacokinetic profile of drugs allows for the examination and possibly optimization of existing dosing schemes. Many symptoms of parasitic diseases are caused by parasites residing in different host tissues. Penetration of the antiparasitic drug into these tissues, the target site of infection, is a prerequisite for a successful treatment of the disease. Therefore, for the examination and improvement of established dosing regimens, not only the plasma but also the tissue pharmacokinetics of the drug have to be considered. For the current paper, almost 7000 scientific articles were identified and screened from which 429 were reviewed in detail and 100 were included in this paper. Systemic pharmacokinetics are available for most antiparasitic drugs but in many cases, not for all the relevant patient populations and only for single- or multiple-dose administration. Systemic pharmacokinetic data in patients with organ impairment and target-site pharmacokinetic data for relevant tissues and body fluids are mostly lacking. To improve the treatment of patients with parasitic diseases, research in these areas is urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper "An archeology of corruption in medicine" (2018), Miles Little, Wendy Lipworth, and Ian Kerridge ("the authors" or "Little et al.") present an account of corruption and describe its prevalent forms in medicine. In presenting an individual-focused account of corruption found within "social entities" (organizations, institutions, and systems), Little et al. argue that these entities are corruptible by nature and that certain individuals are prone to take advantage of the corruptibility of social entities to pursue their own ends. The authors state that this is not preventable, so the way to remedy corruption is via management and, where necessary, punishment. This commentary will briefly lay out the key features and functions of corruption as presented by Little et al., before providing a critical discussion that will focus on whether corruptibility is a necessary feature of social entities. I will propose that it is not a necessary feature, though it may frequently arise where individualistic values are unchecked. Corruption can be prevented within social entities by enhancing structures that direct toward virtue and which promote and reward cooperation instead of competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a call for papers for a special issue of the "Journal of Medical Humanities," which deals with medicine and humanities.

Presents a call for papers for a special issue of the "Journal of Medical Humanities."

Species lists are widely used in legislation and regulation to manage and conserve biodiversity. In this paper, we explore the issues caused by the lack of an adequately governed and universally accepted list of the world's species. These include lack of quality control, duplicated effort, conflicts of interest, lack of currency, and confusion in the scientific use of taxonomic information. If species lists are to fulfill their role efficiently, then the governance systems underlying their creation must keep pace. Fortunately, modernization of species list governance is now possible as a result of advances in biodiversity informatics and two decades of experience working to create the backbone of a global species list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for constructing protein semantic networks using MEDLINE abstracts is proposed. The publications retrieved by the context search for protein names (relevant) and the related publications were used. The proposed method is based on estimation of semantic connectivity between proteins. The connectivity score was calculated as a function of the number of relevant or related papers found for a pair of proteins. This score was used to construct a semantic network for 150 human proteins belonging to five different metabolic pathways. Analysis of the network demonstrated that the proteins involved in associated molecular processes formed the subgraphs with a high edge density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of an anniversary issue of Journal of Molecular Evolution, commenting on a paper published on 1999 by the Nobel laureate Frances Arnold and her colleague Kentaro Miyazaki. The paper by Miyazaki and Arnold presented saturation mutagenesis as an alternative method to random mutagenesis for obtaining enzymes with increasing stability. Both techniques were conceived to accomplish directed evolution, an approach honoured by the Nobel Prize of Chemistry 2018. Here, I am commenting on the pros and cons of random and saturation mutagenesis, while also discussing important results from directed evolution. I conclude that molecular evolution is finding new applications in science and it is definitely an integral part of the genomic era's revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on retractment of a paper published in 1998 in the journal 'New England Journal of Medicine,' by its editors. Reasons for retractment; Authors and theme of the paper.

Background: In the past decades, behavioral medicine has attained global recognition. Due to its global reach, a critical need has emerged to consider whether the original definition of behavioral medicine is still valid, comprehensive, and inclusive, and to reconsider the main tasks and goals of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM), as the umbrella organization in the field. The purpose of the present study was to (i) update the definition and scope of behavioral medicine and its defining characteristics; and (ii) develop a proposal on ISBM's main tasks and goals. Method: Our study used the Delphi method. A core group prepared a discussion paper. An international Delphi panel rated questions and provided comments. The panel intended to reach an a priori defined level of consensus (i.e., 70%). Results: The international panel reached consensus on an updated definition and scope of behavioral medicine as a field of research and practice that builds on collaboration among multiple disciplines. These disciplines are concerned with development and application of behavioral and biomedical evidence across the disease continuum in clinical and public health domains. Consensus was reached on a proposal for ISBM's main tasks and goals focused on supporting communication and collaboration across disciplines and participating organizations; stimulating research, education, and practice; and supporting individuals and organizations in the field. Conclusion: The consensus on definition and scope of behavioral medicine and ISBM's tasks and goals provides a foundational step toward achieving these goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This survey paper attempts to cover a broad range of topics related to computational biomedicine. The field has been attracting great attention due to a number of benefits it can provide the society with. New technological and theoretical advances have made it possible to progress considerably. Traditionally, problems emerging in this field are challenging from many perspectives. In this paper, we considered the influence of big data on the field, problems associated with massive datasets in biomedicine and ways to address these problems. We analyzed the most commonly used machine learning and feature mining tools and several new trends and tendencies such as deep learning and biological networks for computational biomedicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the organization of research in high-performing research groups in an age of increasing competition and pressure from outside and within higher-education institutions. To explore how researchers navigate such pressures and demands, the practice and perceptions of four high-performing research groups in Denmark and the Netherlands are examined, and the extent to which these groups can be understood as “communities of practice” or if they are displaying “team”-like characteristics is discussed. Previous studies have shown the benefits of communities of practice for organizational performance, and the present study demonstrates that the successful groups do indeed share many characteristics with such communities. A central argument of the paper is, however, also that incentive structures, inherent in many new policy initiatives that are meant to foster excellence in science, are more directed at “team-like” organization by focusing on, e.g., formally organized work processes, predefined goals, milestones, work packages, and hierarchically organized consortia. The potential implications of this are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a short period of time, many areas of science have made a sharp transition towards data-dependent methods. In some cases, this process has been enabled by simultaneous advances in data acquisition and the development of networked system technologies. This new situation is particularly clear in the life sciences, where data overabundance has sparked a flurry of new methodologies for data management and analysis. This can be seen as a perfect scenario for the use of machine learning and computational intelligence techniques to address problems in which more traditional data analysis approaches might struggle. But, this scenario also poses some serious challenges. One of them is model interpretability and explainability, especially for complex nonlinear models. In some areas such as medicine and health care, not addressing such challenge might seriously limit the chances of adoption, in real practice, of computer-based systems that rely on machine learning and computational intelligence methods for data analysis. In this paper, we reflect on recent investigations about the interpretability and explainability of machine learning methods and discuss their impact on medicine and health care. We pay specific attention to one of the ways in which interpretability and explainability in this context can be addressed, which is through data and model visualization. We argue that, beyond improving model interpretability as a goal in itself, we need to integrate the medical experts in the design of data analysis interpretation strategies. Otherwise, machine learning is unlikely to become a part of routine clinical and health care practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point-based rigid registration (PBRR) techniques are widely used in many aspects of image-guided surgery (IGS). Accurately estimating target registration error (TRE) statistics is of essential value for medical applications such as optically surgical tool-tip tracking and image registration. For example, knowing the TRE distribution statistics of surgical tool tip can help the surgeon make right decisions during surgery. In the meantime, the pose of a surgical tool is usually reported relative to a second rigid body whose local frame is called coordinate reference frame (CRF). In an n-ocular tracking system, fiducial localization error (FLE) should be considered inhomogeneous, that means FLE is different between fiducials, and anisotropic that indicates FLE is different in all directions. In this paper, we extend the TRE estimation algorithm relative to a CRF from homogeneous and anisotropic to heterogeneous FLE cases. Arbitrary weightings can be assumed in solving the registration problems in the proposed TRE estimation algorithm. Monte Carlo simulation results demonstrate the proposed algorithm's effectiveness for both homogeneous and inhomogeneous FLE distributions. The results are further compared with those using the other two algorithms. When FLE distribution is anisotropic and homogeneous, the proposed TRE estimation algorithm's performance is comparable with that of the first one. When FLE distribution is heterogeneous, proposed TRE estimation algorithm outperforms the other two classical algorithms in all test cases when ideal weighting scheme is adopted in solving two registrations. Possible clinical applications include the online estimation of surgical tool-tip tracking error with respect to a CRF in IGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical confidentiality is an essential duty in the medical profession. In this paper, we introduce a novel robust blind watermarking method for securing the medical report in a DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) imaging. The insertion of each bit is done in the subtraction of adjacent DC coefficients of the FFT (fast Fourier transformation) using a key kw. Each bit of the watermark is eXORed with a bit generated by a proposed system which generates a bit sequence in function of the key kw. The proposed method has the features of having better security, invisibility, and robustness. Experimental results show that it is robust to single, double, and triple attacks and that it has better robustness than recently proposed watermarking schemes. Graphical abstract The proposed security system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is Translational Science and Medicine new? Its dramatic expansion has spelled a dizzying array of new disciplines, departments, buildings, and terminology. Yet, without novel theories or concepts, Translational Science and Medicine (TSM) may appear to be nothing more than an old concept with a new brand. Yet, is this view true? As is illustrated herein, histories of TSM which treat it as merely an old product under a new name misunderstand its essential architecture. As an expressly economic transformation, modern translational approaches are differentiated precisely by a set of semi-permanent architectures which render it an altogether different kind of object when compared to previous attempts by institutions to turn science into medicine. Powered by new software, embedded within campuses that now house companies, and with legal agreements that outline agreed-upon scientific activity, TSM is now powered by a set of robust and durable structures that differentiate it from previous approaches. Based on ethnographic research about translational neuroscience in North America, this paper suggests that the sense of TSM as not being new is a consequence of analytic modes that tend to see scientific enterprises in epistemic terms alone. Analyzing TSM as primarily a scientific object misses the fact that it is a principally a financial one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiritual care is deep rooted in the traditional ancient system of medicine. However, due to lack of high grade evidences, practitioners of modern system of medicine are hesitant to inculcate spirituality in their clinical practice. This paper is an attempt to basic understanding of spiritual care therapy, current evidences for it and the challenges for incorporation in the allopathic system of medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnic minority populations have been identified as high users of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM). This paper reports the systematic review of TCAM use amongst ethnic minorities. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in Ovid, PubMed and CINAHL. Included studies were original, peer-reviewed, English language articles with the primary focus on TCAM use amongst ethnic minority populations. A total of 17 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. A considerable level of TCAM use was observed amongst ethnic minority populations usually attributed to its perceived safe and natural properties. Ethnic minority populations predominantly used TCAM concurrently with conventional medicine and primary TCAM referral sources were family and friends. A substantial level of TCAM integration with conventional medicine is common practice amongst these populations and the lack of disclosure about TCAM use raises an important area for further research inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicalization occurs when an aspect of embodied humanity is scrutinized by the medical industry, claimed as pathological, and subsumed under medical intervention. Numerous critiques of medicalization appear in academic literature, often put forth by bioethicists who use a variety of "lenses" to make their case. Feminist critiques of medicalization raise the concerns of the politically disenfranchised, thus seeking to protect women—particularly natal sex women—from medical exploitation. This article will focus on three feminist critiques of medicalization, which offer an alternative narrative of sickness and health. I will first briefly describe the philosophical origins of medicalization. Then, I will present three feminist critiques of medicalization. Liberal feminism, trans feminism, and crip feminism tend to regard Western medicine with a hermeneutics of suspicion and draw out potential harms of medicalization of reproductive sexuality, gender, and disability, respectively. While neither these branches of feminism—nor their critiques—are homogenous, they provide much-needed commentaries on phallocentric medicine. I will conclude the paper by arguing for the continual need for feminist critiques of medicalization, using uterus transplantation as a relevant case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsupervised ensemble, or consensus clustering, consists in finding the optimal combination strategy of individual clusterings that is robust with respect to the selection of an algorithmic clustering pool. Recently an approach was proposed based on the concept of consensus graph that has profound advantages over its predecessors. Despite its robust properties this approach assigns the same weight to the contribution of each clustering to the final solution. In this paper, we propose a weighting policy for this problem that is based on internal clustering quality measures and compare against other popular approaches. Results on publicly available datasets show that weights can significantly improve the accuracy performance while retaining the robust properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the overlook on bismuth oxide nanoparticles as a potential material applied in medicine-related fields of science. First, the types of drug delivery systems are described. General properties of bismuth oxide are considered as well. The main part of article is devoted to bismuth oxide-based systems intended for drug delivery and medical imaging purposes. It has been confirmed by many scientists that bismuth oxide nanoparticles are a promising material for drug delivery systems and for enhancing the properties of other products in medical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are over-represented within alternative medicine, both as consumers and as service providers. In this paper, I show that the appeal of alternative medicine to women relates to the neglect of women's health needs within scientific medicine. This is concerning because alternative medicine is severely limited in its therapeutic effects; therefore, those who choose alternative therapies are liable to experience inadequate healthcare. I argue that while many patients seek greater autonomy in alternative medicine, the absence of an evidence base and plausible mechanisms of action leaves patients unable to realize meaningful autonomy. This seems morally troubling, especially given that the neglect of women's needs within scientific medicine seems to contribute to preferences for alternative medicine. I conclude that the liberatory credentials of alternative medicine should be questioned and make recommendations to render scientific medicine better able to meet the needs of typical alternative medicine consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tissue engineering holds great promise in regenerative medicine. However, the field of tissue engineering faces a myriad of difficulties. A major challenge is the necessity to integrate vascular networks into bioengineered constructs to enable physiological functions including adequate oxygenation, nutrient delivery, and removal of waste products. The last two decades have seen remarkable progress in our collective effort to bioengineer human-specific vascular networks. Studies have included both in vitro and in vivo investigations, and multiple methodologies have found varying degrees of success. What most approaches to bioengineer human vascular networks have in common, however, is the synergistic use of both (1) endothelial cells (ECs)—the cells used to line the lumen of the vascular structures and (2) perivascular cells—usually used to support EC function and provide perivascular stability to the networks. Here, we have highlighted trends in the use of various cellular sources over the last two decades of vascular network bioengineering research. To this end, we comprehensively reviewed all life science and biomedical publications available at the MEDLINE database up to 2018. Emphasis was put on selective studies that definitively used human ECs and were specifically related to bioengineering vascular networks. To facilitate this analysis, all papers were stratified by publication year and then analyzed according to their use of EC and perivascular cell types. This study provides an illustrating discussion on how each alternative source of cells has come to be used in the field. Our intention was to reveal trends and to provide new insights into the trajectory of vascular network bioengineering with regard to cellular sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advances in next generation sequencing, the amount of genomic sequence data being produced continues to grow at an exponential rate. It is estimated that the entire genome of each individual human, each containing about 3 billion letters, could be made available in the next a few years. An increasingly pressing issue in genomics and medicine is how to efficiently store and query these massive amounts of sequence data. Recently a lossless compression technique has been proposed to drastically reduce the storage space of genomic sequences, taking advantage of the fact that any two genomes from the same species are highly similar and therefore only their differences need to be encoded. In this paper we study how to efficiently answer queries on the compressed sequences without first decompressing them. We study three important types of queries, including retrieving a subsequence, finding subsequences matching a given pattern, and finding subsequences similar to a pattern. We propose an index structure, filtering techniques, and efficient algorithms for answering these queries. We further demonstrate the utility of these algorithms using a real dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Religious-spiritual (R/S) education helps medical students cope with caregiving stress and gain skills in interpersonal empathy needed for clinical care. Such R/S education has been introduced into K-12 and college curricula in some developed nations and has been found to positively impact student’s mental health. Such a move has not yet been seen in the Indian education system. This paper aimed to examine perspectives of teachers and parents in India on appropriateness, benefits, and challenges of including R/S education into the school curriculum and also to gather their impressions on how a R/S curriculum might promote students’ health. A cross-sectional study of religiously stratified sample of teachers and parents was initiated in three preselected schools in India and the required sample size (N = 300) was reached through snowballing technique. A semi-structured questionnaire, with questions crafted from “Religion and Spirituality in Medicine, Physicians Perspective” (RSMPP) and “American Academy of Religion’s (AAR) Guidelines for Religious Literacy,” was used to determine participants’ perspectives. Findings revealed that teachers’ and parents’ “comfort in integrating R/S into school curriculum” was associated with their gender (OR 1.68), education status (OR 1.05), and intrinsic religiosity (OR 1.05). Intrinsic religiosity was significantly (p = 0.025) high among parents while “intrinsic spirituality” was high (p = 0.020) among teachers. How participants’ R/S characteristics influence their support of R/S education in school is discussed. In conclusion, participants believe R/S education will fosters students’ emotional health and interpersonal skills needed for social leadership. A curriculum that incorporates R/S education, which is based on AAR guidelines and clinically validated interpersonal spiritual care tools would be acceptable to both teachers and parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several different flexible end effectors have been developed to solve the problem of approaching the lesion in a minimally invasive surgery. In this paper, we developed a wire-driven end effector device to treat frozen shoulder. Since the device is for capsular release surgery, it has a suitable bend radius for the surgery. It is a cylindrical cannula that can fit various surgical tools and can be sterilized after use. The end effector is made of an elastic material called PAI (polyamide-imide) with its outer diameter and total length being 4 and 19 mm. It is controlled by wires that are connected to a motor. Through quantitative evaluation, we confirmed that the end effector can bend up to 90° in an upward or downward direction. Through qualitative evaluation, we confirmed that the device can easier access all regions of the glenoid in a shoulder model than conventional electrocautery. An experiment on a cadaver followed, which allowed us to discuss the real life performance, operation, and areas of improvement of the device with surgeons. From the experiments, we confirmed that our target region, the IGHL (inferior glenohumeral ligament), is within the reach of our device. The surgeon also evaluated that the control of the device caused no inconvenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper follows the testimony of Izzeldin Abuelaish, a Palestinian physician who bears witness to his experiences working, living, and suffering under Israeli rule. He presents his story as a doctor's story, drawing on his identity as a medical professional to gain credibility and visibility and to challenge the limited legitimacy of Palestinian grievances. In this paper, I explore his testimony as a medical voice that at once recounts the suffering and loss endured by the Palestinian people and also struggles to negotiate the values associated with being a "reliable" witness. Consequently, I ethnographically examine the social life and reception of his story in Jewish-Israeli publics. In comparison with most Palestinian narratives, Abuelaish's testimony achieved an extremely rare degree of visibility and sympathy, a phenomenon that calls out for analysis. I identify the boundaries that typically render Palestinian grievances invisible to Israeli publics and suggest how medicine's self-proclaimed ethos of neutrality served as a channel for crossing them. Finally, I reflect on the political possibilities and limitations of medical witnessing to render suffering visible and arouse compassion toward those construed as a dangerous/enemy Other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines J. G. Farrell's depictions of colonial medicine as a means of analysing the historical reception of the further past and argues that the end-of-Empire context of the 1970s in which Farrell was writing informed his reappraisal of Imperial authority with particular regard to the limits of medical knowledge and treatment. The article illustrates how in The Siege of Krishnapur (1973), Farrell repeatedly sought to challenge the authority of medical and colonial history by making direct use of period material in the construction of his fictional narrative; by using these sources with deliberate critical intent, Farrell directly engages with the received historical narrative of colonial India, that the British presence brought progress and development, particularly in matters relating to medicine and health. To support these assertions the paper examines how Farrell employed primary sources and period medical practices such as the nineteenth-century debate between miasma and waterborne Cholera transmission and the popularity of phrenology within his novels in order to cast doubt over and interrogate the British right to rule. Overall the paper will argue that Farrell's critique of colonial medical practices, apparently based on science and reason, was shaped by the political context of the 1970s and used to question the wider moral position of Empire throughout his fiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This series of papers examines how the Anglo-American dental profession was established in the eighteenth century, examining its need for a name and identity, public recognition and official status. This final paper describes the presence of the new dentists in North America before and after the revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early 2000s, Esteban Burchard and his colleagues defended a controversial route to the view that there’s a racial classification of people that’s (epistemically) useful in medicine. The route, which I call ‘Burchard’s route,’ is arguing that there’s a racial classification of people that’s useful in medicine because, roughly, there’s a racial classification with medically relevant genetic differentiation (Risch et al. in Genome Biol 1-12, 2002; Burchard et al. in N Engl J Med 348(12):1170-1175, 2003). While almost all scholars engaged in this debate agree that there’s a racial classification of people that’s useful in medicine in some way, there’s tremendous controversy over whether any racial scheme is useful in medicine because there are medically relevant genetic differences among those races (Yudell et al. in Science 351(6273): 564-565, 2016). The goal of this paper will be to show that Burchard’s route is basically correct. However, I will use a slightly different argument than Burchard et al.’s in order to provide a firmer foundation for the thesis, both metaphysically and genetically. I begin by reviewing Burchard’s route and its critics. Second, I present an original argument for establishing Burchard et al.’s conclusion using a Burchard-like route. I call it ‘Spencer’s route’. I reply to major objections along the way, and I end with a summary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays medical data in terms of image files are often exchanged between different hospitals for use in telemedicine and diagnosis. Visible watermarking being extensively used for Intellectual Property identification of such medical images, leads to serious issues if failed to identify proper regions for watermark insertion. In this paper, the Region of Non-Interest (RONI) based visible watermarking for medical image authentication is proposed. In this technique, to RONI of the cover medical image is first identified using Human Visual System (HVS) model. Later, watermark logo is visibly inserted into RONI of the cover medical image to get watermarked medical image. Finally, the watermarked medical image is compared with the original medical image for measurement of imperceptibility and authenticity of proposed scheme. The experimental results showed that this proposed scheme reduces the computational complexity and improves the PSNR when compared to many existing schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, medical imaging repositories have been supported by indoor infrastructures. However, the amount of diagnostic imaging procedures has continuously increased over the last decades, imposing several challenges associated with the storage volume, data redundancy and availability. Cloud platforms are focused on delivering hardware and software services over the Internet, becoming an appealing solution for repository outsourcing. Although this option may bring financial and technological benefits, it also presents new challenges. In medical imaging scenarios, communication latency is a critical issue that still hinders the adoption of this paradigm. This paper proposes an intelligent Cloud storage gateway that optimizes data access times. This is achieved through a new cache architecture that combines static rules and pattern recognition for eviction and prefetching. The evaluation results, obtained from experiments over a real-world dataset, show that cache hit ratios can reach around 80%, leading to reductions of image retrieval times by over 60%. The combined use of eviction and prefetching policies proposed can significantly reduce communication latency, even when using a small cache in comparison to the total size of the repository. Apart from the performance gains, the proposed system is capable of adjusting to specific workflows of different institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, a significant change in medical school applications has occurred, with more than 50 % of applicants being female. Despite the significant increase in the number of women entering the medical profession, there is evidence that a gendered hierarchy persists. Female medical students are more likely than their male colleagues to enter and practice in less prestigious medical specializations and are less likely to enter more prestigious fields such as surgery. This paper assesses two competing explanations for female medical students' specialty choices. Does women's choice appear to reflect their preference for family and their gender role socialization; or rather the structural barriers and constraints that women still experience in male-dominant fields? Drawing from qualitative data collected from 15 female medical students and residents in Ontario, Canada-this study explores whether Canadian female students and residents anticipate having a difficult time combining career and family life, and how these expectations shape their specialty choice. The findings suggest that structural barriers within the medical field deter women from pursuing certain specializations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]