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Aim Size and the sessile morphology of an adenoma may explain why colonoscopy is less effective in preventing proximal colonic cancer than distal cancers. We wanted to determine if advanced polypoid neoplasms ( APNs, i.e. adenoma with high-grade dysplasia or early adenocarcinoma) are more likely to be sessile and/or smaller in the proximal colon. Method We searched our institution's pathology database from 2004 to 2012 and identified patients with APNs. Polyps were categorized by size, morphology and location in the colon. Average polyp size and morphology were determined for each location. Results During the study period, 564 patients with APNs were identified. Of these, adenocarcinoma was noted in 21.6% and high-grade dysplasia in 78.4%. The average patient age was 64.4 years and 54.9% were men. The proportion of APNs that were ≤ 5 mm was 1.7%, ≤ 10 mm 19.3% and ≤ 15 mm 39%. APNs in the proximal colon were larger than those in the distal colon, but the difference was not statistically significant (27 vs 24 mm; P = 0.06). Eighty-three per cent of APNs in the proximal colon were sessile vs 57% in the distal colon ( P = 0.001). APNs in the proximal colon were almost four times more likely to be sessile than in the distal colon ( OR = 3.7). A similar association was noted for polyps ≤ 20 mm or polyps with high-grade dysplasia. Conclusion APNs in the proximal colon were almost four-times more likely to be sessile than those in the distal colon. No difference in the size of polyps was noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative slide image viewing systems are becoming increasingly important in pathology applications such as telepathology and E-learning. Despite rapid advances in computing and imaging technology, current digital pathology systems have limited performance with respect to remote viewing of whole slide images on desktop or mobile computing devices. In this paper we present a novel digital pathology client-server system that supports collaborative viewing of multi-plane whole slide images over standard networks using multi-touch-enabled clients. Our system is built upon a standard HTTP web server and a MySQL database to allow multiple clients to exchange image and metadata concurrently. We introduce a domain-specific image-stack compression method that leverages real-time hardware decoding on mobile devices. It adaptively encodes image stacks in a decorrelated colour space to achieve extremely low bitrates (0.8 bpp) with very low loss of image quality. We evaluate the image quality of our compression method and the performance of our system for diagnosis with an in-depth user study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which examined the water vapor permeability of cold- and warm-water fish skin gelatin films and then compared with various kinds of mammalian gelatins. Information on gel strength is given. Results of the study showed that higher band mobility was associated with pollock and salmon gelatins, as well as cold-water fish gelatins. It also found that the functional properties of gelatins were adversely affected by large amounts of β- and γ-chains.

Examines the relation between body weight and respiratory minute volume of animals. Indication of power law relation between minute volume and body weight; Allometric equations for the relation; Use of the estimation the inhalation toxicity.

Examines the genetic diversity of azuki Vigna angularis using molecular markers. Use of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analyses to assess the genetic diversity of selected azuki accessions; Comparison of the utility of the two DNA marker systems for evaluating similarity.

Distributional semantic models (DSMs) are a primary method for distilling semantic information from corpora. However, a key question remains: What types of semantic relations among words do DSMs detect? Prior work typically has addressed this question using limited human data that are restricted to semantic similarity and/or general semantic relatedness. We tested eight DSMs that are popular in current cognitive and psycholinguistic research (positive pointwise mutual information; global vectors; and three variations each of Skip-gram and continuous bag of words (CBOW) using word, context, and mean embeddings) on a theoretically motivated, rich set of semantic relations involving words from multiple syntactic classes and spanning the abstract-concrete continuum (19 sets of ratings). We found that, overall, the DSMs are best at capturing overall semantic similarity and also can capture verb-noun thematic role relations and noun-noun event-based relations that play important roles in sentence comprehension. Interestingly, Skip-gram and CBOW performed the best in terms of capturing similarity, whereas GloVe dominated the thematic role and event-based relations. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of our results, make recommendations for users of these models, and demonstrate significant differences in model performance on event-based relations., (© 2023 Cognitive Science Society LLC.)

Background US regulatory framework for advanced heart failure therapies (AHFT), ventricular assist devices, and heart transplants, delegate eligibility decisions to multidisciplinary groups at the center level. The subjective nature of decision-making is at risk for racial, ethnic, and gender bias. We sought to determine how group dynamics impact allocation decision-making by patient gender, racial, and ethnic group. Methods and Results We performed a mixed-methods study among 4 AHFT centers. For ≈ 1 month, AHFT meetings were audio recorded. Meeting transcripts were evaluated for group function scores using de Groot Critically Reflective Diagnoses protocol (metrics: challenging groupthink, critical opinion sharing, openness to mistakes, asking/giving feedback, and experimentation; scoring: 1 to 4 [high to low quality]). The relationship between summed group function scores and AHFT allocation was assessed via hierarchical logistic regression with patients nested within meetings nested within centers, and interaction effects of group function score with gender and race, adjusting for patient age and comorbidities. Among 87 patients (24% women, 66% White race) evaluated for AHFT, 57% of women, 38% of men, 44% of White race, and 40% of patients of color were allocated to AHFT. The interaction between group function score and allocation by patient gender was statistically significant ( P =0.035); as group function scores improved, the probability of AHFT allocation increased for women and decreased for men, a pattern that was similar irrespective of racial and ethnic groups. Conclusions Women evaluated for AHFT were more likely to receive AHFT when group decision-making processes were of higher quality. Further investigation is needed to promote routine high-quality group decision-making and reduce known disparities in AHFT allocation.

Background The majority of living organ donors are women, but few are deceased organ donors, which increases risks associated with sex mismatched organs. We sought to identify reasons for sex disparities in organ donation and strategies for equity. Methods and Results Using Amazon's Mechanical Turk, we examined US adults' perceptions regarding donation in a mixed-methods survey study. Results were compared by sex with Fisher's exact test and T-tests for quantitative results and qualitative descriptive analyses for write-in responses. Among 667 participants (55% women), the majority of men (64.8%) and women (63.4%) self-identified as registered donors. Women's willingness to donate their own organs to family members ( P =0.03) or strangers ( P =0.03) was significantly higher than men. Donors from both sexes were guided by: desire to help, personal experience, and believing organs would be useless to deceased donors. Non-donors from both sexes were guided by: no reason, medical mistrust, contemplating donation. When considering whether to donate organs of a deceased family member, women were equally guided by a family member's wishes and believing the family member had no further use for organs. Men had similar themes but valued the family member's wishes more. Among non-donors, both sexes would consider donation if more information was provided. Conclusions In a national survey, both sexes had similar reasons for becoming and not becoming an organ donor. However, compared with men, women were more willing to donate their organs to family members and strangers. Improving education and communicating wishes regarding organ donation with direct relatives may increase sex equity in deceased organ donation.

Background Race influences medical decision making, but its impact on advanced heart failure therapy allocation is unknown. We sought to determine whether patient race influences allocation of advanced heart failure therapies. Methods and Results Members of a national heart failure organization were randomized to clinical vignettes that varied by patient race (black or white man) and were blinded to study objectives. Participants (N=422) completed Likert scale surveys rating factors for advanced therapy allocation and think-aloud interviews (n=44). Survey results were analyzed by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and multivariable regression to identify factors influencing advanced therapy allocation, including interactions with vignette race and participant demographics. Interviews were analyzed using grounded theory. Surveys revealed no differences in overall racial ratings for advanced therapies. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression selected no interactions between vignette race and clinical factors as important in allocation. However, interactions between participants aged ≥40 years and black vignette negatively influenced heart transplant allocation modestly (-0.58; 95% CI, -1.15 to -0.0002), with adherence and social history the most influential factors. Interviews revealed sequential decision making: forming overall impression, identifying urgency, evaluating prior care appropriateness, anticipating challenges, and evaluating trust while making recommendations. Race influenced each step: avoiding discussing race, believing photographs may contribute to racial bias, believing the black man was sicker compared with the white man, developing greater concern for trust and adherence with the black man, and ultimately offering the white man transplantation and the black man ventricular assist device implantation. Conclusions Black race modestly influenced decision making for heart transplant, particularly during conversations. Because advanced therapy selection meetings are conversations rather than surveys, allocation may be vulnerable to racial bias.

Experimental evidence suggests that the fibroblastic proliferation often associated with the myeloproliferative disorders is not part of the neoplastic process, but is secondary to an unknown stimulus. This stimulus may be a factor derived from platelets which promotes the proliferation of fibroblasts in vitro (PDGF). Platelet-derived growth factor is localized to platelet alpha-granules together with PF4 and beta-TG. As an indicator of alpha-granule release, we have measured PF4 levels in plasma, platelets and urine in 46 normal subjects and 49 patients with myeloproliferative disorders, secondary thrombocytosis and miscellaneous malignancies. All 11 patients with elevated urinary PF4 excretion exhibited myelofibrosis, whereas 11 of 22 patients with documented myelofibrosis had urinary PF4 excretion in the normal range. No correlation was seen between marrow fibrosis and plasma levels or the platelet content of PF4. The data are consistent with the possibility that release of mitogen(s) from platelet or megakaryocyte alpha-granules in some patients with myeloproliferative disorders is pathogenetically related to the development of marrow fibrosis.