Using Inverse Modeling by HYDRUS-1D to Predict Some Soil Hydraulic Parameters from Soil Water Evaporation

The objective of this research was to assess the use of unsaturated water flow in terms of soil water evaporation, which was determined by evaluating some soil hydraulic parameters in different soil textures. The results show that the predicted values of these parameters, which were obtained through inverse modeling with the HYDRUS-1D software and depend on the change of the volumetric water content, exhibited a significant agreement with the measured values from laboratory or field simulation data for soil water evaporation at 5. 10. 20. and 45 days of measurement. At the same time, inverse simulation was conducted on soil hydraulic parameters obtained from a 5-day laboratory soil evaporation period to predict field infiltration values and water retention curve, which showed a significant agreement with measured values for all soil textures.

Expectations of Mothers of Children With Cerebral Palsy Regarding Physical Therapy

Introduction: This study aimed to find out the expectations of mothers of children with cerebral palsy (CP), who are engaged in rehabilitation programs, especially in physical therapy treatment. Materials and Methods: Clinical types and gross motor function levels of the children were documented. A questionnaire consisting of 6 open-ended questions was used to define the expectations and views of the mothers of CP children about the physiotherapy and rehabilitation programs for the children. A total of 100 mothers were interviewed through an observational study with six open-ended questions along with demographic data. Results: There was no significant agreement regarding the applied treatment methods and the appropriateness of the rehabilitation programs. Conclusion: The expectations of mothers of CP children are not as high as they wanted from rehabilitation according to their children’s needs.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Perianal Fistulas in Clinically Symptomatic Patients and the Correlation Among Plain, Contrast, and Post Jelly MRI Fistulography

Objectives To evaluate different types of perianal fistulas and their complications on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to compare plain, contrast, and jelly magnetic resonance fistulography findings. Materials and Methods This prospective study was performed in 30 patients who presented with perianal pus discharge or external fistulous opening. Magnetic resonance imaging of the perianal region before and after giving intravenous contrast and after injecting jelly through a percutaneous opening was performed on a 3T scanner and the results were correlated. Results The mean age of the patients was 40.13 ± 13.88 years (range 19–75 years). The male to female ratio was 14:1. The most common type of fistula was St. James classification type I, which was seen in 13 patients (43%), followed by type IV in 30%, type III in 16%, type II in 6.66%, and type V in 3.33% of the patients. Using agreement analysis, we compared the number of primary and secondary tracts, internal openings, and horseshoe tracts and found a significant agreement between plain and post Jelly MRI fistulography (kappa statistic close to 1). When comparing plain and contrast MRI, there was significant agreement in the primary and secondary tracts, while statistically insignificant results were obtained (p > 0.05) for the horseshoe tract and internal openings. Contrast injection was helpful in 7 subjects (23.3%) as peripheral enhancement of abscesses were better delineated. Conclusion Magnetic resonance imaging is the one stop diagnostic modality for perianal fistulas. Acquisition of axial (Ax) T2, axial T2 FS, coronal T2 and coronal T2 FS sequences without administering intravenous contrast or jelly is usually sufficient for the diagnosis of fistulas and their complications.

User-Guided Global Explanations for Deep Image Recognition: A User Study

We study a user-guided approach for producing global explanations of deep networks for image recognition. The global explanations are produced with respect to a test data set and give the overall frequency of different “recognition reasons” across the data. Each reason corresponds to a small number of the most significant human-recognizable visual concepts used by the network. The key challenge is that the visual concepts cannot be predetermined and those concepts will often not correspond to existing vocabulary or have labelled data sets. We address this issue via an interactive-naming interface, which allows users to freely cluster significant image regions in the data into visually similar concepts. Our main contribution is a user study on two visual recognition tasks. The results show that the participants were able to produce a small number of visual concepts sufficient for explanation and that there was significant agreement among the concepts, and hence global explanations, produced by different participants.

Agreement between the SHAPES Questionnaire and a Multiple-Sensor Monitor in Assessing Physical Activity of Adolescents Using Categorial Approach: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to evaluate the agreement between a 7-day recall questionnaire and multiple-sensor monitor in identifying sufficiently active adolescents. A total of 282 students involved in the CRO-PALS study were randomly selected for a device-based measurement of physical activity (PA) using the SenseWear Armband device (SWA) no more than three weeks before or after having fulfilled the SHAPES questionnaire. Valid data was obtained from 150 participants (61 boys; 89 girls) and included in the analysis. In boys, SHAPES exhibited high specificity (92.3%), overall percent agreement (85.0%), and significant agreement (κ = 0.32, p = 0.014) with the SWA in recognising sufficiently active individuals. Conversely, no agreement was detected for quartiles of PA, although boys that were classified in the first and in the fourth quartile by SHAPES differed in device-based measured duration of MVPA (134 [95%CI: 109–160] vs. 87 [95%CI: 65–108], p = 0.032); and VPA (39 [95%CI: 23–56] vs. 14 [95%CI: 6–22], p = 0.011). In girls, no significant agreement between the two methods was found in any of the analyses. It appears that the SHAPES questionnaire is effective to identify individuals that comply with PA recommendations and to distinguish between the most active and the least active individuals for adolescent boys, but not for girls.

Performance of At-Home Self-Collected Saliva and Nasal-Oropharyngeal Swabs in the Surveillance of COVID-19

ABSTRACTSARS-CoV-2 quickly spread in the worldwide population by contact with oral and respiratory secretions of infected individuals, imposing social restrictions to control the infection. Massive testing is essential to breaking the chain of COVID-19 transmission. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of at-home self-collected samples - saliva and combined nasal-oropharyngeal swabs (NOP) - for SARS-CoV-2 detection in a telemedicine platform for COVID-19 surveillance. We analyzed 201 patients who met the criteria of suspected COVID-19. NOP sampling were combined (nostrils and oropharynx) and saliva collected using a cotton pad device. Detection of SARS-COV-2 was performed by using the Altona RealStar® SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR Kit 1.0. According to our data, there was an overall significant agreement (κ coefficient value of 0.58) between the performances of saliva and NOP. Assuming that positive results in either sample represent true infections, 70 patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 were identified, with 52/70 being positive in NOP and 55/70 in saliva. This corresponds to sensitivities of 74.2% (95% CI; 63.7% to 83.1%) for NOP and 78.6% (95% CI; 67.6% to 86.6%) for saliva. We also found a strong correlation (β-coefficients < 1) between the cycle threshold values in saliva and NOP. Ageusia was the only symptom associated with patients SARS-CoV-2 positive only in NOP (p=0.028). In conclusion, our data show the feasibility of using at-home self-collected samples (especially saliva), as an adequate alternative for SARS-CoV-2 detection. This new approach of testing can be useful to develop strategies for COVID-19 surveillance and for guiding public health decisions.

Interobserver Reliability of Glasgow Coma Scale Scores for Intensive Care Unit Patients

Background Intensive care units frequently use the Glasgow Coma Scale to objectively assess patients’ levels of consciousness. Interobserver reliability of Glasgow Coma Scale scores is critical in determining the degree of impairment. Objective To evaluate interobserver reliability of intensive care unit patients’ Glasgow Coma Scale scores. Methods This prospective observational study evaluated Glasgow Coma Scale scoring agreement among 21 intensive care unit nurses and 2 independent researchers who assessed 202 patients with neurosurgical or neurological diseases. Each assessment was completed independently and within 1 minute. Participants had no knowledge of the others’ assessments. Results Agreement between Glasgow Coma Scale component and sum scores recorded by the 2 researchers ranged from 89.5% to 95.9% (P = .001). Significant agreement among nurses and the 2 researchers was found for eye response (73.8%), motor response (75.0%), verbal response (68.1%), and sum scores (62.4%) (all P = .001). Significant agreement among nurses and the 2 researchers (55.2%) was also found for sum scores of patients with sum scores of 10 or less (P = .03). Conclusions Although the study showed near-perfect agreement between the 2 researchers’ Glasgow Coma Scale scores, agreement among nurses and the 2 researchers was moderate (not near perfect) for subcomponent and sum scores. Accurate Glasgow Coma Scale evaluation requires that intensive care unit nurses have adequate knowledge and skills. Educational strategies such as simulations or orientation practice with a preceptor nurse can help develop such skills.

Validation of Neural Network Predictions for the Outcome of Refractive Surgery for Myopia

Background: Refractive surgery (RS) for myopia has made a very big progress regarding its safety and predictability of the outcome. Still, a small percentage of operations require retreatment. Therefore, both legally and ethically, patients should be informed that sometimes a corrective RS may be required. We addressed this issue using Neural Networks (NN) in RS for myopia. This was a recently developed validation study of a NN. Methods: We anonymously searched the Ophthalmica Institute of Ophthalmology and Microsurgery database for patients who underwent RS with PRK, LASEK, Epi-LASIK or LASIK between 2010 and 2018. We used a total of 13 factors related to RS. Data was divided into four sets of successful RS outcomes used for training the NN, successful RS outcomes used for testing the NN performance, RS outcomes that required retreatment used for training the NN and RS outcomes that required retreatment used for testing the NN performance. We created eight independent Learning Vector Quantization (LVQ) networks, each one responding to a specific query with 0 (for the retreat class) or 1 (for the correct class). The results of the 8 LVQs were then averaged so we could obtain a best estimate of the NN performance. Finally, a voting procedure was used to reach to a conclusion. Results: There was a statistically significant agreement (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.7658) between the predicted and the actual results regarding the need for retreatment. Our predictions had good sensitivity (0.8836) and specificity (0.9186). Conclusion: We validated our previously published results and confirmed our expectations for the NN we developed. Our results allow us to be optimistic about the future of NNs in predicting the outcome and, eventually, in planning RS.

Development of quality index to classify meal healthiness through photos: first step for app of meal assessment using Machine Learning

Introduction:Currently, there are approximately 84 million smartphones in use in Brazil. The use of this technology facilitates the daily life of the individuals in the personal, social and professional scope. Therefore, we hypothesize that it can be used to assess and improve dietary intake. Thus, we intend to develop an application to assess meal quality from a photo taken by a smartphone, using artificial intelligence. For this, the machine should be trained to recognize which meal is healthy or unhealthy, and, as a first step, a meal quality index is necessary.Objective:This study aims to develop a meal quality index, to be applied to photos of dishes from a main meal.Methods:For the development of the index, it was considered the main recommendations established in the scientific literature and the “Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population”. The index includes nine components: 1- meat intake and/or meat substitute, 2- cooking method, 3- vegetables intake, 4- whole food intake, 5- food variety, 6- ultra-processed food intake, 7- fruits intake, 8- carbohydrates intake, 9- fat recipes and/or food. First, questions were elaborated and scored as 0 point (unhealthy answer) or 1 point (healthy answer). After, the meal photo was classified as “needs improvement” (< 4 points), good (> 5 e < 7 points) and very good (> 8 points). Each photo was assessed by two experts. Then, statistical analyses were performed considering Kappa (k) statistic to evaluate the agreement between the assessments by experts.Results:Data from 154 meal photos were assessed. We analyzed the % of agreement, k-value and significant agreement (p-value) for all index components and final classification, respectively: 1- meat intake and/or meat substitute, 64.94% and k = 0.2759 (p < 0.001); 2- cooking method, 81.82% and k = 0.5915 (p = 0.000); 3- vegetables intake, 77.27% and k = 0.5353 (p = 0.000); 4- whole food intake, 98.05% and k = -0.0087 (p = 0.545); 5- food variety, 79.22% and k = 0.5899 (p = 0.000); 6- ultra processed food intake, 76.62% and k = 0.4515 (p = 0.000); 7- fruits intake, 94.81% and k = 0.8494 (p = 0.000); 8- carbohydrates intake, 65.58% and k = 0.2960 (p = 0.000); 9- fat recipes and/or food, 73.38% and k = 0.4654 (p = 0.000); and final classification, 58.44% and k = 0.3218 (p = 0.000).Conclusion:We verified a moderate and significant agreement for almost all index components using meal photo.

Evaluation of Osseous Morphology of the Hip Using Zero Echo Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background: Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) is a common disorder of the hip resulting in groin pain and ultimately osteoarthritis. Radiologic assessment of FAI morphologies, which may present with overlapping radiologic features of hip dysplasia, often requires the use of computed tomography (CT) for evaluation of osseous abnormality, owing to the difficulty of direct visualization of cortical and subchondral bone with conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The use of a zero echo time (ZTE) MRI pulse sequence may obviate the need for CT by rendering bone directly from MRI. Purpose/Hypothesis: The purpose was to explore the application of ZTE MRI to the assessment of osseous FAI and dysplasia morphologies of the hip. It was hypothesized that angular measurements from ZTE images would show significant agreement with measurements obtained from CT images. Study Design: Cohort study (diagnosis); Level of evidence, 2. Methods: Thirty-eight hips from 23 patients were imaged with ZTE MRI and CT. Clinically relevant angular measurements of hip morphology were made in both modalities and compared to assess agreement. Measurements included coronal and sagittal center-edge angles, femoral neck-shaft angle, acetabular version (at 1-, 2-, and 3-o’clock positions), Tönnis angle, alpha angle, and modified-beta angle. Interrater agreement was assessed for a subset of 10 hips by 2 raters. Intermodal agreement was assessed on the complete cohort and a single rater. Results: Interrater agreement was demonstrated in both CT and ZTE, with intraclass correlation coefficient values ranging from 0.636 to 0.990 for ZTE and 0.747 to 0.983 for CT, indicating “good” to “excellent” agreement. Intermodal agreement was also shown to be significant, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.618 to 0.904. Conclusion: Significant agreement of angular measurements for hip morphology exists between ZTE MRI and CT imaging. ZTE MRI may be an effective method to quantitatively evaluate osseous hip morphology.