Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
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Association of grass pollen concentration and physical symptoms as well as impairments in day-to-day life in pollen allergy patients
No full textAllergic diseases are a major global public health issue, profoundly impacting the daily lives of millions of people worldwide. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between daily grass pollen concentration and daily physical symptoms as well as impairments in day-to-day life in pollen allergy patients in Bavaria, Germany over a period of three-months. Pollen data of the pollen season 2022 were obtained from the electronic pollen information network of Bavaria. We used an app-based questionnaire and developed an index to measure physical symptoms—regarding eyes and nose as well as impairments in day-to-day life including performance, sleep quality and daily activities. For our analyses we used data from 53 patients. The associations were analysed using linear mixed models (LMM). We found a statistically significant association between the level of grass pollen concentration and both the index physical symptoms (β = 0.002; p < 0.001) and the index impairments in day-to-day life (β = 0.00064; p < 0.048). It is important that patients are well informed about the pollen count as well as their physical symptoms and daily life impairments so that they can manage their allergies effectively and appropriately
ParFam - (Neural Guided) Symbolic Regression Based on Continuous Global Optimization
No full textThe problem of symbolic regression (SR) arises in many different applications, such as identifying physical laws or deriving mathematical equations describing the behavior of financial markets from given data. Various methods exist to address the problem of SR, often based on genetic programming. However, these methods are usually complicated and involve various hyperparameters. In this paper, we present our new approach ParFam that utilizes parametric families of suitable symbolic functions to translate the discrete symbolic regression problem into a continuous one, resulting in a more straightforward setup compared to current state-of-the-art methods. In combination with a global optimizer, this approach results in a highly effective method to tackle the problem of SR. We theoretically analyze the expressivity of ParFam and demonstrate its performance with extensive numerical experiments based on the common SR benchmark suit SRBench, showing that we achieve state-of-the-art results. Moreover, we present an extension incorporating a pre-trained transformer network (DL-ParFam) to guide ParFam, accelerating the optimization process by up to two magnitudes. Our code and results can be found at https://github.com/Philipp238/parfam
Transcranial magnetic stimulation in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A randomised, crossover pilot-trial
No full textHighlights
•First study of high-frequency rTMS (10Hz, iTBS) with real 1Hz-rTMS as control in children with FASD.
•Protocols were safe and well tolerated with only mild, self-limiting adverse events.
•10Hz–rTMS and iTBS led to improved task-performance in attention and self-assessment of social-emotional regulation.
•There were no TMS-effects on executive functions or quality of life.
•The preliminary evidence of positive TMS-effects calls for further investigation in larger, placebo-controlled trials
Zur Qualität KI-generierten Feedbacks
No full textZiel des vorliegenden Beitrags ist, die Qualität der Rücmeldungen eines didaktisch systemgeprompteten, generativen Sprachmodells zu Schüler:innentexten zu untersuchen. Hierzu schrieben in einer explorativen Studie 19 Schüler:innen eine erste Textversion, erhielten KI-generiertes Feeback und überarbeiteten daraufhin noch einmal ihre Texte, die wiederum ein maschinelles Feedback bekamen. Die kriteriengeleiteten Rückmeldungen des KI-basierten Systems wurden im Anschluss mit menschlichen Expertenurteilen qualitativ und quantitativ verglichen. Darüber hinaus wurden die Überzeugungen der Schüler:innen untersucht. Die Arbeit liefert vier zentrale Ergebnisse: Erstens verbesserten die Schüler:innen die Qualität ihrer Texte durch die Überarbeitung – ob diese Verbesserung dank oder trotz des KI-generierten Feedbacks erwirkt werden konnte, muss ob der fehlenden Kontrollgruppe unbeantwortet bleiben. Zweitens weist der Vergleich der analytischen Urteile zwischen einem menschlichen Experten und dem KI-System nur auf schwache Übereinstimmungen (ICC = 0,279, p = 0,001) hin. Drittens deuten die qualitativen Analysen an, dass lernförderliches Feedback zu Schüler:innentexten durch das KI-System zwar möglich ist, es treten aber auch eindeutige Probleme in Bezug auf die Konsistenz und die inhaltliche Richtigkeit des Feedbacks zutage. Viertens haben diese Fehler zur Folge, dass einige Schüler:innen dem Feedback kein Vertrauen schenken, was eine der zentralen Herausforderungen von KI-generiertem Feedback ist und bleiben wird
Microcomputed tomographic examination of the osseous structures of the canine carpus
No full textThe surgical treatment of carpal joint injuries is associated with a high implant-based complication rate of up to 50 %. For this reason, the aim of the study was to create a database on the bony microarchitecture of the cancellous and cortical structures of the carpus. A total of 80 carpal joints from 20 medium-sized dogs and 20 toy breeds were examined and compared with each other using microcomputed tomography. The parameters bone volume (BV/TV), bone surface (BS/BV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), number of trabeculae (Tb.N), trabecular spacing (Tb.Sp), degree of anisotropy (DA) and connectivity density (Conn. D) were measured and compared. In addition, the cortical structure was classified using a three-staged scoring system. It was shown that all carpal bones have a cancellous structure, that differs clearly between the groups, without one group being mechanically superior. The evaluation implies, that the second carpal bone appears to be very stable. The formation of the cortex differs massively between the groups, with the toy breeds having only a very thin, partially interrupted bone lamella, whereas the medium-sized dogs have a normal cortex. Within the toy breed group inhomogeneous results were observed, whereby the values of the Chihuahuas deviated. This breed had significantly fewer (Tb.N) and thinner trabeculae (Tb.Th) with a greater trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), lower bone volume fraction (BV/TV) and higher bone surface (BS/BV). This indicates a decreased stability of the Chihuahua's carpal bones. The results of this study could potentially improve the development of new implants and thus reduce the complication rate
Clinical application and new visualization techniques of 3D-quantitative motion analysis in epileptic seizures characterized by ictal automatic movements
No full textPurpose
Our aim was to test the capability of the NeuroKinect 3D-method, as a movement visualization technique and quantitative analysis to differentiate ictal movements such as hyperkinetic and focal seizures with manual automatisms. The dataset is extracted from the NeuroKinect dataset, which is a RGB-D-IR dataset of epileptic seizures. The dataset is recorded with Kinect v2 and consists of RGB, Infrared (IR) and depth streams.
Quantitative 3D-movement analysis of 20 motor seizures was performed. Velocity, acceleration, jerk, covered distance, displacement and movement extent of Regions of Interests (= ROI: head, right hand, left hand and trunk) were captured.
Results
Among the analyzed seizures were 10 hyperkinetic (n = 7: 4 male, 3 female; mean age 39.6 years (SD ± 9.7)) and 10 focal seizures with manual automatisms (n = 10: 2 male, 8 female; mean age 39.2 years (SD ± 17.6)). Hyperkinetic seizures exhibited higher mean velocity in all ROIs (e.g. head = 0.62 ± 0.28 (m/s) vs. 0.12 ± 0.07 (m/s)) as well as higher mean acceleration and mean jerk in most ROIs; these differences were statistically significant. Mean movement extent, covered distance, and displacement for all ROIs were larger for hyperkinetic seizures, however not significantly. The duration of ictal movements (80 s ± 38 s versus 26 s ± 14 s; p = 0.001) was significantly longer in focal seizures with manual automatisms.
Conclusions
This new visualization technique allows to reconstruct tracked movement via 3D viewer and supports a 3D movement quantification which is capable to differentiate seizures characterized by movements, which may help to localize the epileptogenic zone
ChatGPT delivers satisfactory responses to the most frequent questions on meniscus surgery
Get PDFPurpose
To examine ChatGPT’s effectiveness in responding to common patient questions related to meniscus surgery, including procedures such as meniscus repair and meniscectomy.
Methods
We identified 20 frequently asked questions (FAQs) about meniscus surgery from major orthopedic institutions recommended by ChatGPT, which were then refined by two authors into 10 questions commonly encountered in the outpatient setting. These questions were posted to ChatGPT. Answers were evaluated using a scoring system to assess accuracy and clarity and were rated as “excellent answer requires no clarification,” “satisfactory requires minimal clarification,” “satisfactory requires moderate clarification,” or “unsatisfactory requires substantial clarification.”
Results
Four responses were excellent, requiring no clarification, four responses were satisfactory, requiring minimal clarification, two were satisfactory, requiring moderate clarification, none of the answers were unsatisfactory.
Conclusion
As hypothesized, ChatGPT provides satisfactory and reliable information for frequently asked questions about meniscus surgery
Energie und Verletzungspotenzial von gezielt aus einem Fahrzeug abgeworfenen Steinen nach Durchschlag durch eine Pkw-Windschutzscheibe
No full textWir berichten aus Anlass eines Strafverfahrens über Versuche und deren biomechanische Bewertung hinsichtlich des möglichen Verletzungspotenzials von Steinen, welche vorsätzlich im Begegnungsverkehr auf entgegenkommende Fahrzeuge geworfen werden und nach Durchschlag der Windschutzscheibe Personen im Fahrzeuginneren treffen können. Durch Versuche im Realmaßstab konnten konkrete Werte für mögliche verbleibende kinetische Energien der etwa pflaumengroßen, bis zu 100 g schweren Steine nach Windschutzscheibendurchschlag gewonnen werden. Es zeigte sich bei den vorliegenden Gegebenheiten, dass die Restenergie des Steins im Fahrzeuginnenraum im ungünstigen Fall noch so hoch sein kann, dass Schädelfrakturen und entsprechende interkraniale Verletzungen entstehen können.Based on a criminal case we report on laboratory tests and the ensuing biomechanical assessment regarding the injury potential of stones deliberately thrown at oncoming vehicles that can break through the windshield and hit the occupants. Through life-size experiments, the values of residual kinetic energies of plum-sized stones (mass up to approximately 100 g) after breaking through the windshield were determined. We found out that under the circumstances of the study, in unfavorable situations the residual energy of the stone within the vehicle interior could reach levels sufficient to cause skull fractures and corresponding intracranial injuries
Challenges in multinational rare disease clinical studies during COVID-19: regulatory assessment of cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat in adults with late-onset Pompe disease
Get PDFPROPEL (ATB200-03; NCT03729362) compared the efficacy and safety of cipaglucosidase alfa plus miglustat (cipa + mig), a two-component therapy for late-onset Pompe disease (LOPD), versus alglucosidase alfa plus placebo (alg + pbo). The primary endpoint was change in 6-min walk distance (6MWD) from baseline to week 52. During PROPEL, COVID-19 interrupted some planned study visits and assessment windows, leading to delayed visits, make-up assessments for patients who missed ≥ 3 successive infusions before planned assessments at weeks 38 and 52, and some advanced visits (end-of-study/early-termination visits). These were remapped to the respective planned visits. To evaluate if remapping may have overestimated treatment effects, we conducted post hoc analyses using a mixed-effect model for repeated measures based on actual time points of assessments. In this post hoc analysis, estimated mean treatment difference between cipa + mig and alg + pbo for change from baseline to week 52 in 6MWD was 11.7 m (95% confidence interval [CI] − 1.0 to 24.4; p = 0.072). In the original published analyses, between-group difference using last observation carried forward was 13.6 m (95% CI − 2.8 to 29.9; p = 0.071 [p value from separate non-parametric analysis of covariance]). Both statistical analysis approaches led to similar results and consistent conclusions, confirming the efficacy of cipa + mig for adults with LOPD. NCT03729362; trial start date: December 4, 2018
Predicting work ability impairment in post COVID-19 patients: a machine learning model based on clinical parameters
No full textThe Post COVID-19 condition (PCC) is a complex disease affecting health and everyday functioning. This is well reflected by a patient’s inability to work (ITW). In this study, we aimed to investigate factors associated with ITW (1) and to design a machine learning-based model for predicting ITW (2) twelve months after baseline. We selected patients from the post COVID care study (PCC-study) with data on their ability to work. To identify factors associated with ITW, we compared PCC patients with and without ITW. For constructing a predictive model, we selected nine clinical parameters: hospitalization during the acute SARS-CoV-2 infection, WHO severity of acute infection, presence of somatic comorbidities, presence of psychiatric comorbidities, age, height, weight, Karnofsky index, and symptoms. The model was trained to predict ITW twelve months after baseline using TensorFlow Decision Forests. Its performance was investigated using cross-validation and an independent testing dataset. In total, 259 PCC patients were included in this analysis. We observed that ITW was associated with dyslipidemia, worse patient reported outcomes (FSS, WHOQOL-BREF, PHQ-9), a higher rate of preexisting psychiatric conditions, and a more extensive medical work-up. The predictive model exhibited a mean AUC of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78; 0.88) in the 10-fold cross-validation. In the testing dataset, the AUC was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.58; 0.93). In conclusion, we identified several factors associated with ITW. The predictive model performed very well. It could guide management decisions and help setting mid- to long-term treatment goals by aiding the identification of patients at risk of extended ITW