Search

Anti-thrombotics use is a significant risk factor of post-polypectomy bleeding (PPB). Evidence of prophylactic clipping is only available for proximal and large colonic lesions in general population. Dedicated studies to examine the benefit of prophylactic clipping in patients on aspirin remain scarce.A propensity-score weighted retrospective cohort study was performed in a tertiary referral center from January 2018 to September 2021. Patients who received aspirin and underwent colonoscopic polypectomy, endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection were included. Data on baseline demographics, medications and endoscopic factors (polyp number, size, location, morphology, resection method and prophylactic clipping) were captured. Propensity-score weighting models were developed between prophylactic clipping and no clipping groups. The primary outcome was delayed PPB within 30 days, with a composite endpoint consisting of repeated colonoscopy for hemostasis, requirement of blood transfusion or hemoglobin drop of greater than 2g/dL.Total 1,373 patients with 3,952 polyps were included. Baseline characteristics were balanced between two groups. In the multivariate analysis, the largest polyp size was a significant risk factor for PPB (odds ratio (OR) 1.07, 95%CI 1.02-1.11, p=0.002). Prophylactic clipping was not associated with a reduced risk of PPB (OR 1.34, 95%CI 0.83-2.18, p=0.240) and did not show any risk reduction in subgroups with different polyp sizes, locations and endoscopic resection techniques.Prophylactic clipping was not associated with a lower risk of PPB in aspirin users after endoscopic resection of colorectal polyps. Aspirin use should not be regarded as the only factor for the routine use of prophylactic clips.

Steganography is well known as a method of writing hidden messages in such a way that no one, apart from the sender and intended recipient, suspects the existence of the message. This paper presents a new data hiding scheme that uses a steganographic approach that is based on transforming the data to be covertly transmitted into a high-frequency signal, which is then carried by an audible public music signal. The principle is as follows: The secret message is translated into a digital form, which is then transformed into a high-frequency signal. This high-frequency signal, which is above the threshold of human audibility, is integrated into a public music signal, which can be actively downloaded by legal receivers. The receiver will demodulate the high-frequency signal and recover the data. This proposed scheme greatly reduces the risk of exposure of the secret message during transmission. Experimental simulations and comparisons are performed to investigate the practicability of the proposed method and its outperformance of competing data hiding schemes.

Background and aim Adopting the elements of the Serious Game framework has been hypothesised as a strategy to promote the efficacy of social emotional computer-based interventions (CBI) for autistic individuals. This systematic review aimed to review the application of Serious Game principles in current social emotional CBI targeting autistic individuals and evaluate the effect of these principles in remediating social emotional outcomes via meta-analysis. Methods Database searches identified 34 studies evaluating social emotional CBI with 17 controlled efficacy studies included in meta-regressions analyses. Narrative synthesis summarised the attributes of each CBI based on the five Serious Game principles; motivating storyline, goal directed learning, rewards and feedback, increasing levels of difficulty and individualisation. Results Based on the scores of the Serious Game assessment tool we developed, findings revealed on average a limited (45%) integration of Serious Game design principles in social emotional CBI for autistic individuals. Main findings from the meta-regressions of 17 controlled efficacy studies revealed a moderating effect of Serious Game design principles on the distant generalisation of social emotional skills and transferability of outcomes among autistic individuals. No significant moderating effects of Serious Game was found for close generalisation and maintenance outcomes. Conclusion Overall, findings suggest that the Serious Game design framework has utility in guiding the development of social emotional CBI which improve the social emotional skills of autistic individuals.

Background: Atypical visual perception in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may contribute to superiority in disembedding tasks. Gaze behavior has provided some insights in to mechan ...

Facial recognition is a complex skill necessary for successful human interpersonal and social interactions. Given that the most prevalent disorder of social interaction is autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a number of studies have investigated and found impaired facial recognition abilities in people with ASD. Further, this impairment may be critically involved in mediating the deficits in interpersonal and social interactions in people with ASD. We sought to address the question of whether face processing is impaired in children with ASD in the current study. While there were a number of differences in visual search behaviours between the 19 children with ASD and the 15 controls, this did not manifest in deficits in facial recognition accuracy. In addition, there were notable differences with respect to eye fixation behaviours and recognition accuracy in this study compared to the findings in a previous similar study conducted in adults with ASD. These differences suggest a performance enhancing developmental trajectory in facial processing in controls that may not be present in individuals with ASD.

The authors reviewed the clinical and electrophysiological features in 20 consecutive adult patients with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) admitted to a regional hospital in Hong Kong from 1993 to 1998. The majority of cases in this locality consists of the demyelinating form of GBS; epidemic, acute motor axonal neuropathy is not the predominant form. The incidence of GBS in this region of China was 0.44 per 100,000.

Negative ions are produced in a single-collision charge-transfer source. A beam of cesium atoms with kinetic energies which are variable between 10 and 350 eV intersects a beam of target molecules. Negative ions and Cs + are formed. The energy dependence of these anion spectra are measured for SO 2 , CH 3 NO 2 , SF 6 , and CF 2 Cl 2 . The observed cesium impact spectra are qualitatively different from those produced by electrons. At the higher cesium-atom energies, they are relatively insensitive to energy. Large parent ion intensities are seen for SO 2 and CH 3 NO 2 . For Cs + SF 6 , our ratios (SF 6 − /SF 5 − ) and (F − /SF 5 − ) are in agreement with those of Compton and Cooper for the limited range of Cs energy employed in both experiments.

A two-state; impact parameter model is developed to provide a comprehensive description of Penning and associative ionization. It is used to fit recent experimental results at low velocities and to predict branching ratios. The model indicates that the interaction leading to ionization is short-ranged.