scholarly journals Automatic CDR Estimation for Early Glaucoma Diagnosis

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Fernandez-Granero ◽  
A. Sarmiento ◽  
D. Sanchez-Morillo ◽  
S. Jiménez ◽  
P. Alemany ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Simple Structure ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Colour Space ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Glaucoma Diagnosis ◽  
Initial Segmentation ◽  
Colour Changes

Glaucoma is a degenerative disease that constitutes the second cause of blindness in developed countries. Although it cannot be cured, its progression can be prevented through early diagnosis. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for automatic glaucoma diagnosis based on retinal colour images. We focus on capturing the inherent colour changes of optic disc (OD) and cup borders by computing several colour derivatives in CIE L∗a∗b∗ colour space with CIE94 colour distance. In addition, we consider spatial information retaining these colour derivatives and the original CIE L∗a∗b∗ values of the pixel and adding other characteristics such as its distance to the OD centre. The proposed strategy is robust due to a simple structure that does not need neither initial segmentation nor removal of the vascular tree or detection of vessel bends. The method has been extensively validated with two datasets (one public and one private), each one comprising 60 images of high variability of appearances. Achieved class-wise-averaged accuracy of 95.02% and 81.19% demonstrates that this automated approach could support physicians in the diagnosis of glaucoma in its early stage, and therefore, it could be seen as an opportunity for developing low-cost solutions for mass screening programs.

The exploding worldwide cancer burden

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
C. M. Wilson ◽  
S. Tobin ◽  
R. C. Young
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Cancer Burden ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Aging Populations ◽  
Screening And Prevention ◽  
Developed Nations ◽  
Sophisticated Technology

Although age-adjusted cancer death rates have started to decline in the United States and other developed nations – thanks in large part to widespread screening programs that detect cancers at early, treatable stages – cancer in developing countries is on the rise. Ironically, rising life expectancy in those nations along with the adoption of ‘Western’ lifestyles will leave many more people vulnerable to cancer. Unfortunately, the early detection tools and treatment technology that have helped control cancer in wealthier lands are often not readily available in many other countries.Much of this increased cancer burden will take the form of cancers that affect women – not only breast, cervical, and other gynecologic cancers but colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and other malignancies related to tobacco. Physicians specializing in cancer care for women need to be alert to every opportunity to improve cancer screening and prevention among the growing, aging populations of less-developed countries.Less precise but less costly and more widely available screening techniques may save thousands more lives than the most sophisticated technology because low-cost programs can be applied widely instead of being reserved for a fortunate few. In addition, education and prevention efforts directed toward tobacco use need to be put in place to help stem an epidemic of tobacco-related cancers that has largely peaked in developed countries but looms ominously in the future of developing nations.

Opportunities and challenges in cervical cancer screening program in Kazakhstan: Results after imPACT review.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18020-e18020
Author(s):  
Dilyara Kaidarova ◽  
Raikhan Bolatbekova ◽  
Alma Zhylkaidarova ◽  
Tolkyn Sadykova ◽  
Yerlan Kukubassov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Screening Program ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Gynecological Cancer ◽  
Cervical Screening ◽  
Pap Test ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Screening Programs

e18020 Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, where the majority of registered patients are in developing countries. Screening programs in developed countries have reduced morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer by more than 2 times. Cervical cancer (CC) is the most common gynecological cancer in Kazakhstan (KZ). Standardized incidence rate of CC was 18.2 per 100,000, while the mortality rate was 6.2 per 100,000, in 2019. The National Cervical Screening program in KZ uses cytology (Pap test) from 2008. Screening program funded by the State budget. In 2016, Experts of imPACT Mission analyzed the CC screening and made recommendations for improvement. Since 2018 target age of CC screening expanded to 30-70 years and shortened the interval to 4 years, strengthened the control of patients with pre-cancerous pathology. Until 2018, people came to a fixed age; today we start CC screening within the target age at any age at the time of the first visit. The purpose of this study is to analyze cytological screening results in KZ after imPACT recommendations. Methods: Coverage, the number of screened women, the level of pre-cancer detection and cervical cancer during screening have been obtained from specific reports (form № 025, № 08) for 2008-2019. Results: The total number of screened women was in 6.775.975. There is a decrease in the number of screened women by 32% from 2008 to 2017. Since improvement of CC screening we increased coverage from 49.9% in 2017 (abs. number 409.124) to 89% in 2019 (abs. number 954.322). According to the results of screening, 2603 cases of CC were registered in 12 years. Analysis of screening results showed a marked increase in the detection of CC with an increasing by 67%. The persentage of registered cases of ASH+HSIL increased from 0.136% to 0.673%. Conclusions: there has been an increase in the coverage by screening of the target population since the screening update. During the study period, there has been an improvement in the detection of precancerous pathology and cancer in the early stage. Despite the positive results of screening, sufficient coverage by screening, certain successes in detecting the initial stage of CC, mortality rate from CC remain high, which makes it necessary to improve the screening of CC in KZ through the introduction of HPV-screening.

STEREOTACTIC BODY RADIATION THERAPY FOR EARLY-STAGE NON-SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 638-644
Author(s):  
Andrey Arsenev ◽  
Sergey Novikov ◽  
Sergey Kanaev ◽  
Anton Barchuk ◽  
Andrey Nefedov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Radiation Therapy ◽  
Small Cell Lung Cancer ◽  
Cell Lung Cancer ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Small Cell ◽  
Small Cell Lung ◽  
Stereotactic Radiation ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Surgical Methods

An active introduction of screening programs potentially leads to a significant increase in the proportion of patients with early forms of non-small cell lung cancer. Surgical treatment, which is the standard of care for localized forms, due to functional limitations can be performed only in 65-70% of patients. The solution to this problem can be found in the improvement of the results of radiotherapy by using modern equipment, the planning systems, improved fractionation schemes and introduction of methods for summing radiation doses. Stereotactic radiotherapy allows high-precision delivery of high radiation dose to tumor with a minimal damage to surrounding healthy tissues. In this literature review based on the analysis of a large number of publications we show that it is not yet possible to make valid conclusions about the effectiveness and safety of stereotactic radiation therapy as an alternative to the surgical methods. It is necessary to plan and conduct randomized trials without further delay taking into account the expected high relevance of the method.

Free Fatty Acid Receptors as New Potential Targets in Colorectal Cancer

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (14) ◽  
pp. 1397-1404
Author(s):  
Adrian Bartoszek ◽  
Jakub Fichna ◽  
Aleksandra Tarasiuk ◽  
Agata Binienda ◽  
Adam Fabisiak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Colorectal Cancer ◽  
Fatty Acid ◽  
Free Fatty Acid ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Pharmacological Targets ◽  
The Family ◽  
Free Fatty Acid Receptors

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. In developed countries, its mortality remains high, yet the prevalence has established owing to effective screening programs; however due to the westernization of lifestyle, the incidences in many other countries have increased. Although the treatment of CRC has improved in the last few years, the side effects of these approaches cannot be neglected. Recently, members of the family of free fatty acid receptors (FFARs) have become attractive pharmacological targets in many diseases, including asthma; studies also point to their role in carcinogenesis. Here, we discuss current knowledge and future directions in FFAR research related to CRC. Contradictory results of FFARs modulation may derive from the pleiotropic effects of FFAR ligands, receptor distribution and different signal transduction. Hence, we indicate directions of further studies to fully use the potential of FFARs in CRC.

scholarly journals Automation of absolute protein-ligand binding free energy calculations for docking refinement and compound evaluation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Germano Heinzelmann ◽  
Michael K. Gilson
Keyword(s):  
Free Energy ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Binding Free Energy ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Free Energies ◽  
Energy Calculations ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Binding Free Energy Calculations ◽  
Binding Free Energies

AbstractAbsolute binding free energy calculations with explicit solvent molecular simulations can provide estimates of protein-ligand affinities, and thus reduce the time and costs needed to find new drug candidates. However, these calculations can be complex to implement and perform. Here, we introduce the software BAT.py, a Python tool that invokes the AMBER simulation package to automate the calculation of binding free energies for a protein with a series of ligands. The software supports the attach-pull-release (APR) and double decoupling (DD) binding free energy methods, as well as the simultaneous decoupling-recoupling (SDR) method, a variant of double decoupling that avoids numerical artifacts associated with charged ligands. We report encouraging initial test applications of this software both to re-rank docked poses and to estimate overall binding free energies. We also show that it is practical to carry out these calculations cheaply by using graphical processing units in common machines that can be built for this purpose. The combination of automation and low cost positions this procedure to be applied in a relatively high-throughput mode and thus stands to enable new applications in early-stage drug discovery.

scholarly journals P63 Improving cervical smear uptake through an Automated Voice Messages Reminder

BJS Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Bladt ◽  
Felyx Wong ◽  
Francesca Bladt
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Cervical Screening ◽  
Telephone Triage ◽  
Cervical Smear ◽  
Screening Programs ◽  
Smear Test ◽  
Voice Message ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Busy Schedule

Abstract National cervical screening programs have played a pivotal role in the prevention of cervical cancer. However, practices across the UK have reached an all-time low in cervical screening uptake. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of implementing an automated voice message reminder within the local general practice (GP) telephone triage system and explore the reasons which deter eligible patients away from cervical screening. A 20-second voice-message reminder in the telephone queue was played, addressing key risk factors along with a message from a child who lost his mother to cervical cancer. From the anonymised GP database, weekly new smear test bookings were monitored from 4 weeks prior until 2 weeks after the intervention was implemented. To qualitatively assess factors which deter patients away from screening, female patients were randomly sampled to fill in an anonymous questionnaire. The use of a low-cost 20 second voice message in the telephone queue across UK GP practices could be an effective method to increase cervical smear test coverage towards the national target of 80%. 35 questionnaire responses were received, main themes reported for not attending screening include embarrassment(37%), busy schedule(32%) and cultural differences(24%). In the week following the intervention, cervical smear tests increased more than 2-fold, from an average of 12 to 26 smears per week. This could be partly due to the convenient timing of voice recording, reminding them to book both appointments simultaneously and the child’s emotive message.

scholarly journals Investigation of serial coherent laser beam combination based on Brillouin amplification

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHUANGYI WANG ◽  
ZHIWEI LÜ ◽  
DIANYANG LIN ◽  
LEI DING ◽  
DONGBIN JIANG
Keyword(s):  
Laser Beam ◽  
High Power ◽  
Simple Structure ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coupling Efficiency ◽  
Laser Beams ◽  
Beam Combination ◽  
Multiple Beams ◽  
Combination Scheme ◽  
Stokes Beam

Based on transferring energy from multiple pump beams into one Stokes beam using Brillouin amplification, a serial coherent laser beam combination scheme is presented, which has many advantages, such as, simple structure, low cost, ease of adjustment, higher load capability, scalable easily, etc. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that the combination of several beams using this method is theoretically possible. But in practice, the amplification of high power Stokes beam is a key problem to solve. In this paper, the amplification of Stokes beam whose power is higher than the pump beam is first studied and proved experimentally. Coupling the two laser beams by this method is proved experimentally, and the coupling efficiency reaches more than 80%. Then the feasibility of multiple beams combination based on Brillouin amplification is analyzed and tested theoretically.

scholarly journals Role of Protein Biomarkers in the Detection of High-Grade Disease in Cervical Cancer Screening Programs

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte A. Brown ◽  
Johnannes Bogers ◽  
Shaira Sahebali ◽  
Christophe E. Depuydt ◽  
Frans De Prins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cervical Cancer ◽  
Cancer Screening ◽  
Cervical Cancer Screening ◽  
Cervical Screening ◽  
False Negative ◽  
Pap Test ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Protein Biomarkers ◽  
Ki 67 ◽  
Screening Programs

Since the Pap test was introduced in the 1940s, there has been an approximately 70% reduction in the incidence of squamous cell cervical cancers in many developed countries by the application of organized and opportunistic screening programs. The efficacy of the Pap test, however, is hampered by high interobserver variability and high false-negative and false-positive rates. The use of biomarkers has demonstrated the ability to overcome these issues, leading to improved positive predictive value of cervical screening results. In addition, the introduction of HPV primary screening programs will necessitate the use of a follow-up test with high specificity to triage the high number of HPV-positive tests. This paper will focus on protein biomarkers currently available for use in cervical cancer screening, which appear to improve the detection of women at greatest risk for developing cervical cancer, including Ki-67,p16INK4a, BD ProEx C, and Cytoactiv HPV L1.

Compact Triple/Quadruple-Band Reconfigurable Monopole Antenna for Wireless Applications

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150277
Author(s):  
Asmaa Zugari ◽  
Wael Abd Ellatif Ali ◽  
Mohammad Ahmad Salamin ◽  
El Mokhtar Hamham
Keyword(s):  
Simple Structure ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Ground Plane ◽  
Monopole Antenna ◽  
Pin Diode ◽  
Wireless Applications ◽  
Rectangular Patch ◽  
Antenna Performance ◽  
Compact Size ◽  
Multi Band

In this paper, a compact reconfigurable tri-band/quad-band monopole antenna is presented. To achieve the multi-band behavior, two right-angled triangles were etched in a conventional rectangular patch, and a partial ground plane is used. Moreover, the proposed multi-band antenna is printed on a low cost FR4 epoxy with compact dimensions of 0.23[Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is calculated at the lowest resonance frequency. To provide frequency agility, a metal strip which acts as PIN diode was embedded in the frame of the modified patch. The tri-band/quad-band antenna performance in terms of reflection coefficient, radiation patterns, peak gain and efficiency was studied. The measured results are consistent with the simulated results for both cases. The simple structure and the compact size of the proposed antenna could make it a good candidate for multi-band wireless applications.

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