Notes

An issue Investigation Standpoint in Linear Regression within the 'More Predictors than Samples' Circumstance.
Chronic cough was found in around one in six participants and was associated with more sick leave. Chronic cough 10 years earlier was associated with lower work ability and sick leave at follow-up. These associations were not explained by studied comorbidities. This indication of negative effects on employment from chronic cough needs to be recognised.
Early disease morbidity has been associated with asthma persistence in wheezing preschoolers; however, whether asthma control trajectories shortly after diagnosis could influence remission is unknown. We examined the association between asthma control trajectories 2 years post-diagnosis in preschoolers and subsequent disease remission.

We conducted a multicenter population-based retrospective cohort study consisting of 48 687 children with asthma diagnosed before 5 years old and born between 1990 and 2013 in 4 Canadian provinces who had prolonged disease activity post-diagnosis. Prolonged disease activity was defined as ≥1 medical visit or medication for asthma every 6-month period for ≥4 of the 6 periods post-diagnosis. Follow-up began at 3 years post-diagnosis (at cohort entry). Remission was defined as two consecutive years without drug claims or medical visits for asthma or asthma-like conditions following cohort entry. Asthma control trajectories, ascertained over four 6-month periods following diagnosis using a validated index, were classified as
,
,
,
, and
. Adjusted Cox models estimated associations between asthma control trajectories and time-to-remission. A random-effects meta-analysis summarised province-specific Hazard Ratios (HRs).

The pooled remission rate was 8.91 (95%CI 8.80,9.02)/100 person-years. Compared to children
, poorer asthma control was associated with incrementally lower HRs (95%CI) of remission in 4 other trajectories
, 0.89 (0.82,0.96);
, 0.78 (0.71,0.85);
, 0.68 (0.62,0.75);
, 0.52 (0.45,0.59).

Asthma control trajectories 2 years following a diagnosis in preschool were associated with remission, highlighting the clinical relevance of documenting control trajectories in early life.
Asthma control trajectories 2 years following a diagnosis in preschool were associated with remission, highlighting the clinical relevance of documenting control trajectories in early life.
Substantial variability in response to asthma treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) has been described among individuals and populations, suggesting the contribution of genetic factors. Nonetheless, only a few genes have been identified to date. We aimed to identify genetic variants associated with asthma exacerbations despite ICS use in European children and young adults and to validate the findings in non-Europeans. Moreover, we explored whether a gene-set enrichment analysis could suggest potential novel asthma therapies.

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) of asthma exacerbations was tested in 2681 European-descent children treated with ICS from eight studies. Suggestive association signals were followed up for replication in 538 European asthma patients. Further evaluation was performed in 1773 non-Europeans. Variants revealed by published GWAS were assessed for replication. Additionally, gene-set enrichment analysis focused on drugs was performed.

Ten independent variants were associated with asthma exacerbations despite ICS treatment in the discovery phase (p≤5×10
). Of those, one variant at the
locus was nominally replicated in Europeans (rs67026078, p=0.010), but this was not validated in non-European populations. Five other genes associated with ICS response in previous studies were replicated. Additionally, an enrichment of associations in genes regulated by trichostatin A treatment was found.

The intergenic region of
and
was revealed as a novel locus for asthma exacerbations despite ICS treatment in European populations. Genes associated were related to trichostatin A, suggesting that this drug could regulate the molecular mechanisms involved in treatment response.
The intergenic region of CACNA2D3 and WNT5A was revealed as a novel locus for asthma exacerbations despite ICS treatment in European populations. Genes associated were related to trichostatin A, suggesting that this drug could regulate the molecular mechanisms involved in treatment response.
While WEB devices have been shown to be safe and effective for aneurysm treatment, WEB-shape modification compression has been associated with incomplete aneurysm occlusion. We explored the relationship between occlusion rates and WEB-shape modification in different WEB device types in an experimental aneurysm model.

Elastase-induced aneurysms were created in rabbits and treated with dual-layer (
 = 12), single-layer (
 = 12), or single-layer sphere (
 = 12) WEB devices. Aneurysms were followed up either at 3 or 12 months. Angiographic occlusion was graded using the WEB Occlusion Scale grade I, complete; grade II, complete but recess filling; grade III, residual neck; or grade IV, residual aneurysm. WEB-shape modification and histologic features were also analyzed.

Grade I or II occlusion was seen in 16 (44%) aneurysms, and grade I, II, or III ("adequate") occlusion was observed in 22 (61.1%) aneurysms at follow-up. WEB-shape modification was observed in 22 (61.1%) aneurysms. WEB-shape modification was higher in single-layer (9/12) and dual-layer (10/12) devices compared with single-layer sphere devices (3/12). Aneurysms with WEB-shape modification had a higher level of thrombus organization in the dome compared with those without WEB-shape modification (68% [15/22] versus 50% [7/14]). WEB-shape modification was not correlated with angiographic or histologic outcomes but was significantly correlated with levels of fibrosis and smooth muscle cells in the aneurysm.

WEB-shape modification is not associated with incomplete aneurysm occlusion of WEB devices in the rabbit model but may be related to connective tissue formation and the healing response to WEB device implantation.
WEB-shape modification is not associated with incomplete aneurysm occlusion of WEB devices in the rabbit model but may be related to connective tissue formation and the healing response to WEB device implantation.Optic nerve choristomas are rare entities in which a developmental focus of histologically normal tissue is abnormally located within or along a segment of the optic nerve. Although benign, choristomas may demonstrate slow growth, ultimately resulting in visual field deficits due to compression of the adjacent nerve in the few cases reported in the anterior fossa. Choristomas may have cystic components, though this has not been described in such lesions along the optic nerve. Here, a predominantly cystic optic nerve choristoma is described, with radiologic features mimicking those of an anterior cranial fossa neurenteric cyst. The case highlights the radiology-pathology correlates of choristomas and reviews the surgical approach and management of patients with such lesions.
Stent-assisted treatment techniques can be an effective treatment option for intracranial aneurysms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the periprocedural feasibility and safety of the new LVIS EVO stent for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.

Patients with intracranial aneurysms treated with the LVIS EVO in 11 European neurovascular centers were retrospectively reviewed. Patient and aneurysm characteristics, procedural parameters, immediate grade of occlusion, and technical and clinical complications were assessed.

Fifty-seven patients with 59 aneurysms were treated with the LVIS EVO device; 57.6% of the aneurysms were incidental; 15.3% were acutely ruptured; 15.3% were recanalized or residual aneurysms; and 11.9% were treated for symptoms other than acute hemorrhage. The most frequent aneurysm locations were the middle cerebral artery (25.4%) and the anterior communicating artery (22.0%). selleck compound The rate of immediate successful deployment was 93.2%. In 6.8% (
= 4) of cases, additional in-stent angioplasty was needed. The immediate complete occlusion rate was 54.2%, while there was a residual aneurysm in 35.6% and a residual neck in 10.2%. Periprocedural technical complications occurred in 7/59 treatments (11.9%; the most frequent technical complication [
= 3] was thrombus formation), which all resolved completely without clinical sequelae. Postprocedural neurologic complications occurred after 4/59 treatments (6.8%; 2 transient ischemic attacks, 1 minor stroke, 1 major stroke), of which only 1 persistent complication was directly related to the procedure (minor stroke in the vascular territory distal to the stent).

The LVIS EVO stent is a safe, feasible device for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
The LVIS EVO stent is a safe, feasible device for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms.
Accurate determination of glioma grade leads to improved treatment planning. The criterion standard for glioma grading is invasive tissue sampling. Recently, radiomic features have shown excellent potential in glioma-grade prediction. These features may not fully exploit the underlying information in MR images. The objective of this study was to investigate the performance of features learned by a convolutional neural network compared with standard radiomic features for grade prediction.

A total of 237 patients with gliomas were included in this study. All images were resampled, registered, skull-stripped, and segmented to extract the tumors. The learned features from the trained convolutional neural network were used for grade prediction. The performance of the proposed method was compared with standard machine learning approaches, support vector machine, random forests, and gradient boosting trained with radiomic features.

The experimental results demonstrate that using learned features extracted from the convolutional neural network achieves an average accuracy of 87%, outperforming the methods considering radiomic features alone. The top-performing machine learning model is gradient boosting with an average accuracy of 64%. Thus, there is a 23% improvement in accuracy, and it is an efficient technique for grade prediction.

Convolutional neural networks are able to learn discriminating features automatically, and these features provide added value for grading gliomas. The proposed framework may provide substantial improvement in glioma-grade prediction; however, further validation is needed.
Convolutional neural networks are able to learn discriminating features automatically, and these features provide added value for grading gliomas. The proposed framework may provide substantial improvement in glioma-grade prediction; however, further validation is needed.
Together with quantile regression methods, such a model would have the potential for clinical utility through automated quantitative comparison of individual cases relative to their age and gender-matched peer group. Our aim was to demonstrate the automated processing of digital clinical head CT data in the development of a clinically useful model of age-related changes of the brain in the first 2 decades of life.

A total of 415 (209 female) consecutive, clinical head CTs with radiographically normal findings from patients from birth through 20 years of age were retrospectively selected and subjected to automated segmentation. Brain volume, brain parenchymal fraction, brain radiodensity, and brain radiomass were assessed as a function of patient age. Statistical modeling and quantile regression were performed.

Brain volume increased from 400 cm
at birth to 1350 cm
at 20 years of age (>3-fold). Males had a slightly steeper growth trajectory than females, with approximately 8% difference in volume between the sexes established in the first few years of life.
Website: https://www.selleckchem.com/