scholarly journals Nouns and Verbs Identify Different Subtypes of MCI

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiming Bao ◽  
Luwen Cao ◽  
Kunmei Han ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Jia Wen Hing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Ordinary Language ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Parts Of Speech ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Concreteness Effect ◽  
Two Measures ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Linguistic Approach

Abstract It is well-documented that patients with semantic dementia and Alzheimer’s disease present with difficulty in lexical retrieval and reversal of the concreteness effect in nouns and verbs. Little is known about the lexical phenomena before the onset of symptoms. We anticipate that there are linguistic signs in the speech of people who suffer from mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the prodromal stage of dementia. Here, we report the results of a novel corpus-linguistic approach to the early detection of cognitive impairment. We recorded 40 hours of natural, unconstrained speech of 188 English-speaking Singaporeans; 90 are diagnosed with MCI (51 amnestic, 39 nonamnestic), and 98 are cognitively healthy. The recordings yield 327,470 words, which are tagged for parts of speech. We calculate the per-minute speech rates and concreteness scores of nouns and verbs, and of all tagged words, in our dataset. Our analysis shows that the two measures of nouns and verbs identify different subtypes of MCI. Compared with healthy controls, subjects with amnestic MCI produce fewer but more abstract nouns, whereas subjects with nonamnestic MCI produce fewer but more concrete verbs. Cognitive impairment is manifested in ordinary language before the presentation of clinical symptoms, and can be detected through non-invasive corpus-based analysis of natural speech.

scholarly journals Non-Invasive Dengue Diagnostics—The Use of Saliva and Urine for Different Stages of the Illness

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1345
Author(s):  
Mahathir Humaidi ◽  
Wei Ping Tien ◽  
Grace Yap ◽  
Choon Rong Chua ◽  
Lee Ching Ng
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Acute Stage ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Fever Onset ◽  
Dengue Transmission ◽  
Dengue Diagnostics ◽  
Potential Tool

Dengue diagnosis is largely dependent on clinical symptoms and routinely confirmed with laboratory detection of dengue virus in patient serum samples collected via phlebotomy. This presents a challenge to patients not amenable to venipuncture. Non-invasive methods of dengue diagnosis have the potential to enhance the current dengue detection algorithm. In this study, samples from dengue infected patients were collected between January 2012 until September 2012 and September 2013 until December 2013 in two different setups. Panel A samples (blood, urine, and saliva) were collected daily when the 39 patients were hospitalised and during their follow-up visits while Panel B samples (saliva) were collected from 23 patients during the acute stage of dengue. Using DENV PCR on Panel A, from day 2 to day 4 post fever onset, serum showed the best overall positivity followed by saliva and urine (100%/82.1%/67.9%). From day 5 until day 10 post fever onset, serum and urine had similar positivity (67.4%/61.2%), followed by saliva (51.3%). Beyond day 10 post fever onset, DENV was undetectable in sera, but urine and saliva showed 56.8% and 28.6% positivity, respectively. DENV in urine was detectable up until 32 days post fever. Panel B results showed overall sensitivity of 32.4%/36% (RNA/NS1) for DENV detection in saliva. Our results suggest that the urine-based detection method is useful especially for late dengue detection, where DENV is undetected in sera but still detectable in urine. This provides a potential tool for the physician to pick up new cases in an area where there is ongoing dengue transmission and subsequently prompt for intensified vector control activities.

scholarly journals Circulating miRNAs Related to Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transitions (EMT) as the New Molecular Markers in Endometriosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 900-916
Author(s):  
Anna Zubrzycka ◽  
Monika Migdalska-Sęk ◽  
Sławomir Jędrzejczyk ◽  
Ewa Brzeziańska-Lasota
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Diagnostic Tools ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Disease Etiology ◽  
Diagnostic Biomarkers ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Non Invasive

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease defined by the presence of endometrial-like tissue found outside the uterus, most commonly in the peritoneal cavity. Endometriosis lesions are heterogenous but usually contain endometrial stromal cells and epithelial glands, immune cell infiltrates and are vascularized and innervated by nerves. The complex etiopathogenesis and heterogenity of the clinical symptoms, as well as the lack of a specific non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers, underline the need for more advanced diagnostic tools. Unfortunately, the contribution of environmental, hormonal and immunological factors in the disease etiology is insufficient, and the contribution of genetic/epigenetic factors is still fragmentary. Therefore, there is a need for more focused study on the molecular mechanisms of endometriosis and non-invasive diagnostic monitoring systems. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) demonstrate high stability and tissue specificity and play a significant role in modulating a range of molecular pathways, and hence may be suitable diagnostic biomarkers for the origin and development of endometriosis. Of these, the most frequently studied are those related to endometriosis, including those involved in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), whose expression is altered in plasma or endometriotic lesion biopsies; however, the results are ambiguous. Specific miRNAs expressed in endometriosis may serve as diagnostics markers with prognostic value, and they have been proposed as molecular targets for treatment. The aim of this review is to present selected miRNAs associated with EMT known to have experimentally confirmed significance, and discuss their utility as biomarkers in endometriosis.

Identification of Mild Cognitive Impairment Among Chinese Based on Multiple Spoken Tasks

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Tianqi Wang ◽  
Yin Hong ◽  
Quanyi Wang ◽  
Rongfeng Su ◽  
Manwa Lawrence Ng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Memory Load ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Semantic Fluency ◽  
Late Fusion ◽  
Single Task ◽  
Sentence Repetition ◽  
Picture Description ◽  
Description Task

Background: Previous studies explored the use of noninvasive biomarkers of speech and language for the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Yet, most of them employed single task which might not have adequately captured all aspects of their cognitive functions. Objective: The present study aimed to achieve the state-of-the-art accuracy in detecting individuals with MCI using multiple spoken tasks and uncover task-specific contributions with a tentative interpretation of features. Methods: Fifty patients clinically diagnosed with MCI and 60 healthy controls completed three spoken tasks (picture description, semantic fluency, and sentence repetition), from which multidimensional features were extracted to train machine learning classifiers. With a late-fusion configuration, predictions from multiple tasks were combined and correlated with the participants’ cognitive ability assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Statistical analyses on pre-defined features were carried out to explore their association with the diagnosis. Results: The late-fusion configuration could effectively boost the final classification result (SVM: F1 = 0.95; RF: F1 = 0.96; LR: F1 = 0.93), outperforming each individual task classifier. Besides, the probability estimates of MCI were strongly correlated with the MoCA scores (SVM: –0.74; RF: –0.71; LR: –0.72). Conclusion: Each single task tapped more dominantly to distinct cognitive processes and have specific contributions to the prediction of MCI. Specifically, picture description task characterized communications at the discourse level, while semantic fluency task was more specific to the controlled lexical retrieval processes. With greater demands on working memory load, sentence repetition task uncovered memory deficits through modified speech patterns in the reproduced sentences.

scholarly journals Cognitive impairment, clinical symptoms and functional disability in patients emerging from the minimally conscious state

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yelena G. Bodien ◽  
Geraldine Martens ◽  
Joseph Ostrow ◽  
Kristen Sheau ◽  
Joseph T. Giacino
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Functional Disability ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Minimally Conscious State ◽  
Conscious State ◽  
Minimally Conscious

The most useful and commonly available acute rejection surveillance strategies are routine monitoring of myocardial function and donor-specific anti-HLA Abs monitoring

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moataz Dowaidar
Keyword(s):  
Acute Rejection ◽  
Cell Function ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Contractile Function ◽  
Therapy Monitoring ◽  
Genomic Medicine ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Monitoring Tools ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Routine Monitoring

Given the complexity of acute rejection (AR) pathogenesis and its vast spectrum of clinical symptoms, no methodology (invasive or non-invasive) can provide all the information needed to identify functionally and prognostically relevant AR, treatment selection, and therapy monitoring early. Only the use of EMBs in combination with non-invasive technologies and methods to detect subclinical changes in myocardial contractile function (e.g., TDI and STE), to detect alloimmune activation (e.g., IM assay, assessment of complement-activating donor-specific anti-HLA Abs (DSAbs), screening of circulating cfdDNA), and to predict the imminent risk of immune-mediated injury (e.g., assessment of complement-activating DSAbs).Searching for both ACR and AMR in all EMBs is a key prerequisite for accurate diagnosis and decision-making in individuals suspected of AR. Close non-invasive allograft surveillance to detect patients at high risk of AR, along with properly planned EMBs (depending on the particular risk profile of the patient), can improve AR surveillance while decreasing rsEMBs. Because rsEMBs are less prevalent after the first post-HTx year and largely symptom-driven diagnostic EMBs, ongoing development of comprehensive, non-invasive technology to monitor both ACR and AMR is of significant importance. This is especially helpful for detecting late subclinical AMR, which would otherwise go unreported.The most useful and commonly available AR surveillance strategies are routine monitoring of myocardial functions utilizing sensitive ECHO techniques (TDI and STE for acute subclinical dysfunction diagnosis) and DSAb monitoring. As a result, early and late use of HTx is strongly suggested. New IM technologies such as T-cell function assays and genomic medicine approaches such as GEP, circulating dd-cfdDNA screening and microRNA assessment are promising non-invasive monitoring tools for future clinical use, but it is still necessary to test the practical value of their individual or combined use for AR detection (including both ACR and AMR), not just for ACR.

scholarly journals Detection of early nocturnal hypoventilation in neuromuscular disorders

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 1153-1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Trucco ◽  
Marina Pedemonte ◽  
Chiara Fiorillo ◽  
Hui-leng Tan ◽  
Annalisa Carlucci ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vital Capacity ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Neuromuscular Disorders ◽  
Invasive Ventilation ◽  
Additional Tool ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Respiratory Involvement ◽  
Nocturnal Hypoxemia ◽  
Nocturnal Hypoventilation ◽  
Non Invasive Ventilation

Objective Nocturnal hypoventilation (NH) is a complication of respiratory involvement in neuromuscular disorders (NMD) that can evolve into symptomatic daytime hypercapnia if not treated proactively with non-invasive ventilation. This study aimed to assess whether NH can be detected in the absence of other signs of nocturnal altered gas exchange. Methods We performed nocturnal transcutaneous coupled (tc) pCO2/SpO2 monitoring in 46 consecutive cases of paediatric-onset NMD with a restrictive respiratory defect (forced vital capacity < 60%). Nocturnal hypoventilation was defined as tcPCO2 > 50 mmHg for > 25% of recorded time, and hypoxemia as tcSpO2 < 88% for > 5 minutes. Daytime symptoms and bicarbonate were recorded after overnight monitoring. Results Twenty-nine of 46 consecutive patients showed NH. Twenty-three patients did not have nocturnal hypoxemia and 18 were clinically asymptomatic. In 20 patients, PaCO2 in daytime blood samples was normal. Finally, 13/29 patients with NH had isolated nocturnal hypercapnia without nocturnal hypoxia, clinical NH symptoms, or daytime hypercapnia. Conclusions Paediatric patients with NMD can develop NH in the absence of clinical symptoms or significant nocturnal desaturation. Therefore, monitoring of NH should be included among nocturnal respiratory assessments of these patients as an additional tool to determine when to commence non-invasive ventilation.

scholarly journals Working Memory and Cross-Frequency Coupling of Neuronal Oscillations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Abubaker ◽  
Wiam Al Qasem ◽  
Eugen Kvašňák
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Brain Stimulation ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Cognitive Outcomes ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation ◽  
Frequency Coupling ◽  
Cross Frequency Coupling

Working memory (WM) is the active retention and processing of information over a few seconds and is considered an essential component of cognitive function. The reduced WM capacity is a common feature in many diseases, such as schizophrenia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The theta-gamma neural code is an essential component of memory representations in the multi-item WM. A large body of studies have examined the association between cross-frequency coupling (CFC) across the cerebral cortices and WM performance; electrophysiological data together with the behavioral results showed the associations between CFC and WM performance. The oscillatory entrainment (sensory, non-invasive electrical/magnetic, and invasive electrical) remains the key method to investigate the causal relationship between CFC and WM. The frequency-tuned non-invasive brain stimulation is a promising way to improve WM performance in healthy and non-healthy patients with cognitive impairment. The WM performance is sensitive to the phase and rhythm of externally applied stimulations. CFC-transcranial-alternating current stimulation (CFC-tACS) is a recent approach in neuroscience that could alter cognitive outcomes. The studies that investigated (1) the association between CFC and WM and (2) the brain stimulation protocols that enhanced WM through modulating CFC by the means of the non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been included in this review. In principle, this review can guide the researchers to identify the most prominent form of CFC associated with WM processing (e.g., theta/gamma phase-amplitude coupling), and to define the previously published studies that manipulate endogenous CFC externally to improve WM. This in turn will pave the path for future studies aimed at investigating the CFC-tACS effect on WM. The CFC-tACS protocols need to be thoroughly studied before they can be considered as therapeutic tools in patients with WM deficits.

scholarly journals Some Predictors of Depressive Disorders in the Context of Clinical Patomorphosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
O. O. Belov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Clinical Picture ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Emotional Lability ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Diagnostic Strategies ◽  
Low Mood ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Initial Stage

The purpose of the study was to study the clinical and psychopathological phenomenology of the initial stage of depressive disorders in the context of clinical pathomorphosis. Materials and methods. Features of clinical symptoms of the initial stage of depressive disorders in the comparative aspect in the context of clinical pathomorphosis based on the analysis of medical records of 236 patients who were treated for depressive disorders in 1971-1995 (ICD-9 codes 296.1, 296.3) and clinical examination of 245 patients with depressive disorders in 2015-2019 (ICD-10 codes F 31.3, F 31.4, F 32.0, F 32.1, F 32.2, F 33.0, F 33.1, F 33.2) are considered. Results and discussion. It was established that there is a predominance in the clinical picture of modern depressive disorders of low mood (in general in 91.4% of patients, 91.6% of men and 91.3% of women, p>0.05), dyssomnia (93.1%, 92.5% and 93.5%, respectively, p>0.05), anxiety, fear (84.5%, 78.5%, 89.1%, respectively, p<0.01), asthenia (82.4%, 77.6% and 86.2%, respectively, p>0.05), somatic vegetative symptoms (82.9%, 77.6% and 87.0%, respectively, p<0.01), apathy (78.8%, 69.2% and 86.2%, respectively, p<0.01) and ideas of self-humiliation and self-blame (69.8%, 72.9% and 67.4%, respectively, p<0.01), and the relatively low prevalence of obsessive symptoms (55.1%, 54.2% and 55.8%, respectively, p<0.05), emotional lability (51.0%, 54.2% and 48.6%, respectively, p<0.01) and cognitive impairment (45.3%, 43.9% and 46.4%, respectively, p<0.05) with a predominance of emotional lability and ideas of self-humiliation and self-blame in men, and manifestations of anxiety, fear, apathy, cognitive impairment, obsessive and somatic vegetative symptoms in women, which gives grounds to consider that the main predictors of depressive disorder at the initial stage of low mood are dyssomnia, anxiety fear, asthenia and somatic vegetative symptoms. The revealed features suggest the presence of a clinical pathomorphosis of depressive disorders. The clinical pathomorphosis of the initial stage of depressive disorders is in a significant reduction in the clinical picture of low mood, ideas of self-abasement and self-blame, emotional lability and cognitive impairment, and an increase in anxiety, fear, asthenia, apathy, obsessive symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with significantly greater gender differentiation of clinical symptoms of depression. Conclusion. The identified patterns are embedded in the general trend towards polymorphism and clinical undifferentiation of modern depressive disorders, significant involvement of patients with sleep disorders, asthenic, apathetic and somatic vegetative symptoms, which requires revision of diagnostic strategies and individualization of diagnosis. The identified patterns can be used for early diagnosis of depressive disorders and prevention of depression

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