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Non-communicable diseases: NCDs are one of leading causes of death in the world. Multi-NCDs patients tend to undergo and suffer from multiple coexistent diseases. This research aims at classifying NCDs patients who are diagnosed with other NCDs. Multi-label classification was used in this research. There are four diseases types used in this study, i.e. diabetes, hyper-tension, cardiovascular and stroke. Binary relevance (BR), Classifier Chains (CC), The random k-Iabelsets (RAkEL) and Multi-Label k-Nearest Neighbor (ML-KNN) are adopted to transform Multi-NCDs to disease label. The experiments are conducted on the physical examination datasets collected from electronic health records. In the experiments, the comparative results of the techniques are demonstrated. The result showed that the RAkEL method outperformed other methods and achieved the best accuracy of 91.07%.

This study aims to analyze the Naive Bayes classifier (NBC) method and feature extraction of Local Binary Pattern (LBP) for the classification of skin diseases. NBC was chosen because it is reliable for small datasets. Whereas LBP is suitable for feature extraction because every skin disease has a distinctive texture. The combination of these two algorithms is proven to produce good accuracy in small datasets. Based on four experiments with a total of images used are 225, 180, 135 and 90 images on nine types of skin diseases, with a composition of 80% for training data and 20% for testing data resulted in an accuracy of 82.20%, 91.67%, 85.18%, and 94.44%. The best accuracy obtained with the total image used is 90, this proves that the Naive Bayes classifier has good performance for classifying images in small datasets and with a small number of datasets can save time to do the training process.

MicroRNA-31 (miR-31) is among the most frequently altered microRNAs in human diseases, and altered expression of miR-31 has been detected in a large variety of diseases types. miR-31 could also regulate a variety of cell functions including hepatic fibrosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are regarded as the major cell type involved in hepatic fibrosis. Male BALB/c mice (five mice per group aged 6 weeks) received 200 μL of body weight of carbon tetrachloride (10% CCl4) mixed with olive oil intraperitoneally, and the first dose was doubled. To induce hepatic fibrosis, carbon tetrachloride was injected twice a week for 4, 6, 8, and 10 weeks. Control animals were injected with an equal volume of olive oil at the same time intervals. We found that miR-31 expression and fibrosis-related factors in four hepatic fibrosis stages. However, we noted that inhibition of miR-31 was down-regulated fibrosis-related factor expression in F1–F3 stages, but no F4 stage. Thus, we hypothesize that miR-31 may mediate hepatic fibrosis. In this research, we found that inhibition of miR-31 expression significantly inhibited HSC activation. The biological function of miR-31 during HSC activation might be through targeting hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha inhibitor (HIF1AN). Inhibition of miR-31 can reduce the transcription factor activity of hypoxia inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) by targeting the biological effects of HIF1AN with the condition of hypoxia. In later hepatic fibrosis could be rescue combining with inhibition of miR-31 and adding heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (HBEGF).

Background Our study investigates whether rheumatic autoimmune conditions are associated with an increased Carotid Intima-Media Thickness (C-IMT) when compared with healthy control subjects and evaluates possible discrepancies existing among the different rheumatic diseases types. Methods A total of 108 patients, 15 males and 93 females, aged between 18 and 82 years (mean age 51±14 years), fulfilling the ACR criteria for SLE, APS, SSc, PM/DM, MCTD, SS attending the Rheumatology Unit at Univeristy of Bari – Policlinico, were recruited between November 2010 and March 2011. Patients were subdivided into the following two groups: 1) Group SSc (Sclerodermic patients): 60 patients, 7 males and 53 females, mean age 52±14 years; 2) Group NoSSc (Non-Sclerodermic patients): 48 patients, 8 males and 40 females, mean age 50±15 years. We also enrolled 108 healthy controls, matched by sex and age with patients. All patients underwent to structured interview, physical examination, laboratory evaluation and two-dimensional echo-color Doppler of the carotid arteries. Results There were no significant differences between SSc and NoSSc regarding any of the demographics and traditional cardiovascular risk factors, except from total cholesterol that was significantly higher in SSc group, compared with the NoSSc group. The mean duration of disease since diagnosis was 8 (range 3 to 13) years, comparable in the two groups (a little longer in NoSSc ). Total cholesterol was significantly higher in SSc patients (mean value 224, range 196-252 mg/dL) than in NoSSc patients (mean value 203, range 194-212 mg/dL). HDL cholesterol value was slightly raised, if compared with a cut-off value of 45 (mean value 47, range 37-57 mg/dL), and was substantially similar in the two groups. Idem for LDL and triglycerids values that were a little raised in comparison with the cut-off values. The distribution of cardiovascular risk factors was similar in the two groups. We found a mean C-IMT value of 0.86 mm (range 0.73 to 0.99 mm) that resulted from the following values: 0.91±0.1 mm in SSc group, 0.80±0.14 in NoSSc group. The difference between groups was significant (p-value SSc and 17% for NoSSc , with a mean value of 14%. Conclusions We found no signs of increased atherosclerosis, as assessed by C-IMT measurement, among patients with rheumatic autoimmune diseases and healthy controls, and a strong evidence of higher risk in patients with SSc respect to patients with SLE, PM/DM, APS, MCTD and SS. Considering the current state of knowledge, the necessity of optimising prevention and treatment of CVD in patients with systemic rheumatic disease, in particular way those affected by SSc , must be emphasised. A comprehensive identification of cardiovascular risk profile in those diseases is an opportunity to improve prognosis of these patients, since most of the identified risk factors are susceptible of modification. Certainly, further researches are favourable in order to improve life duration and cardiovascular outcomes of these patients. Disclosure of Interest None Declared

Introduction The changing nature of diabetes in the young has underlined the importance of reliable data on where and how patients with diabetes present and live. In the former northern health region of England, an area encompassing North East England and North Cumbria, intriguing patterns in incidence and relationships with socio-economic status have been identified. The study aimed to establish a diabetes registry for children and young people in the former northern health region of England. Methods NHS Diabetes provided regional paediatric networks with financial support to enable delivery of national outcomes and improve diabetes care in the young. During regional meetings, the North East Clinical Paediatric Network discussed a proposal to fund establishment of a regional registry for patients with diabetes aged Results There has been significant learning regarding resources required to establish a diabetes registry including identification of sustainability issues. Methodologies have been documented and an algorithm has been generated. Data collection commenced in January 2011. Conclusions Establishing a registry is a complex process requiring many legal and ethical considerations. The algorithm can be used as a generic template to initiate similar registries in other geographical areas or for other diseases types.

Phosphodiesterase activity of cultured cells was determined with bis-(4-methylumbelliferyl) phosphate as substrate. In the presence of Triton X-100 an acid component was evident and results indicated that this enzyme was identical with sphingomyelinase. Acid phosphodiesterase activity was specifically inhibited by sphingomyelin. In fibroblasts from patients with Niemann-Pick diseases types A, B and C, acid phosphodiesterase activity was deficient whereas neutral activity was normal. Neutral activity could, however, be removed by acid precipitation or by binding to DEAE-cellulose. Hence a simple and sensitive fluorimetric method is described for the assay of sphingomyelinase activity in the diagnosis of Niemann-Pick disease.

CNF is one of the mainstays of treatment of patients with GSD I/III. Previously, this goal has been achieved by infusing glucose-containing fluids intragastically via a nasogastric (NG) tube. However, the NG tube can be both difficult to insert and uncomfortable, is disliked by patients and parents, and occasionally leads to severe epistaxis. To avoid these problems, we have constructed an intraoral prosthesis (IOP) to facilitate CNF in GSD I/III. A piece of thin metal tubing 2mm (D) × 5mm (L) is attached to a circular orthodontic band 3mm in width and affixed to a superior 1st or 2nd molar with the tubing lying parallel to the aveolar ridge in the buccal-gingival sulcus. At night, a NG tube is pressed firmly through the IOP and its orifice positioned at the posterior end of the aveolar ridge. The. CNF is then infused at the normal rate (≤ 0.5 cc/min) and is swallowed readily during sleep. To date, one patient each with GSD I and III have been fitted with the IOP. The IOP has caused no local irritation or hemmorhage, even after nightly infusions of 40% dextrose for 6 months. Blood glucose levels and linear growth rates are equal to or better than those observed previously in the same patients using intragastric CNF. The IOP is well tolerated by both patients and parents because of its simplicity and comfort. The IOP may facilitate CNF in many patients with GSD I/III.