20 research outputs found
QuestGen: Effectiveness of Question Generation Methods for Fact-Checking Applications
No full textVerifying fact-checking claims poses a significant challenge, even for humans. Recent approaches have demonstrated that decomposing claims into relevant questions to gather evidence enhances the efficiency of the fact-checking process. In this paper, we provide empirical evidence showing that this question decomposition can be effectively automated. We demonstrate that smaller generative models, fine-tuned for the question generation task using data augmentation from various datasets, outperform large language models by up to 8%. Surprisingly, in some cases, the evidence retrieved using machine-generated questions proves to be significantly more effective for fact-checking than that obtained from human-written questions. We also perform manual evaluation of the decomposed questions to assess the quality of the questions generated.Accepted in CIKM 2024 as a short paper 4 pages and 1 page references. Fixed typo in author nam
Trans umbilical first trocar access during laparoscopic surgery
No full textBackground: In order to perform laparoscopic procedures, it is necessary to first access the peritoneal cavity and establish carbon dioxide pneumoperitoneum. The placement of the first trocar remains a critical step in laparoscopic surgery. In order to minimize complications associated with placement of first trocar, several techniques have been reported. Author describe a surgical technique that provides a quick, safe, and reliable initial access to the peritoneal cavity with its excellent functional and cosmetic results.Methods: Retrospective study of patients who underwent various laparoscopic procedures at Maxx lyfe Hospital, Bathindi, Jammu was carried out by the closed technique for initial access to the peritoneal cavity through the umbilicus from July 2016 to May 2019. In this study, patients who had a prior midline laparotomy with involvement of the umbilicus were excluded.Results: Authors analyzed 456 patients (M = 190; F = 266) in the study period. Average age of the patients was 32 years (range:12-86). A physiologic defect was identified in the umbilical region in all patients who had no history of previous abdominal surgery in that region. The average time to access the peritoneal cavity was 30 seconds (range: 20-50).Conclusions: This technique is quick, safe, reliable, simple, and easy to learn and easy to perform. It is associated with no mortality and minimal morbidity and has excellent cosmetic results. Based on authors experience, authors believe that this method provides surgeons with an effective and safe way to insert the first trocar and recommend it as a routine procedure to access the peritoneal cavity for abdominal laparoscopic surgery
Pediatric Deaths Due to Otolaryngologic Causes: A Population‐Based Study in Massachusetts, 1990–2002
No full textSafety of the HyperSound® Audio System in subjects with normal hearing
No full textThe objective of the study was to assess the safety of the HyperSound® Audio System (HSS), a novel audio system using ultrasound technology, in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions; we considered preexposure and post-exposure test design. We investigated primary and secondary outcome measures: i) temporary threshold shift (TTS), defined as >10 dB shift in pure tone air conduction thresholds and/or a decrement in distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) >10 dB at two or more frequencies; ii) presence of new-onset otologic symptoms after exposure. Twenty adult subjects with normal hearing underwent a pre-exposure assessment (pure tone air conduction audiometry, tympanometry, DPOAEs and otologic symptoms questionnaire) followed by exposure to a 2-h movie with sound delivered through the HSS emitter followed by a post-exposure assessment. No TTS or new-onset otological symptoms were identified. HSS demonstrates excellent safety in normal hearing subjects under normal use conditions
Determinants of Hearing Loss in Perforations of the Tympanic Membrane
No full textBackground: Although tympanic membrane perforations are common, there have been few systematic studies of the structural features determining the magnitude of the resulting conductive hearing loss. Our recent experimental and modeling studies predicted that the conductive hearing loss will increase with increasing perforation size, be independent of perforation location (contrary to popular otologic belief), and increase with decreasing size of the middle-ear and mastoid air space (an idea new to otology).
Objective: To test our predictions regarding determinants of conductive hearing loss in tympanic membrane perforations against clinical data gathered from patients.
Study Design: Prospective clinical study. Setting: Tertiary referral center.
Inclusion Criteria: Patients with tympanic membrane perforations without other middle-ear disease. Main Outcome Measures: Size and location of perforation; air-bone gap at 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 Hz; and tympanometric estimate of volume of the middle-ear air spaces.
Results: Isolated tympanic membrane perforations in 62 ears from 56 patients met inclusion criteria. Air-bone gaps were largest at the lower frequencies and decreased as frequency increased. Air-bone gaps increased with perforation size at each frequency. Ears with small middle-ear volumes, ≤4.3 ml (n = 23), had significantly larger air-bone gaps than ears with large middle-ear volumes, \u3e4.3 ml (n = 39), except at 2,000 Hz. The mean air-bone gaps in ears with small volumes were 10 to 20 dB larger than in ears with large volumes. Perforations in anterior versus posterior quadrants showed no significant differences in air-bone gaps at any frequency, although anterior perforations had, on average, air-bone gaps that were smaller by 1 to 8 dB at lower frequencies.
Conclusion: The conductive hearing loss resulting from a tympanic membrane perforation is frequency-dependent, with the largest losses occurring at the lowest sound frequencies; increases as size of the perforation increases; varies inversely with volume of the middle-ear and mastoid air space (losses are larger in ears with small volumes); and does not vary appreciably with location of the perforation. Effects of location, if any, are small
Enhancement of Detection and Diagnosis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Through The Improvement of Machine Learning and AI Models
No full textDue to low survival rates and an unparalleled burden of non-small cell lung cancer on
underserved communities, there is great urgency for innovative and accessible methods that will
improve healthcare access for lung cancer patients. To combat this inequity, Team DOC aims to
develop an AI model that is able to not only improve lung cancer diagnoses but also predict the
progression of non-small cell lung cancer. We intend to evaluate the performance of a
convolutional neural network on the LIDC-IDRI dataset and retrain the final layers of the model
to improve its performance on the same dataset. Repeating this process on different model
architectures allows us to determine which model performs optimally, providing a foundation to
develop an end-to-end explainable AI workflow that can extract clinically relevant predictions of
cancer progression for further analysis. Throughout our training process, we resolve to address
the accuracy and potential for bias. Additionally, we are carrying out a survey among
underserved populations and communities to discern the need for our improved cancer detection
model. We hope that our model will be able to be implemented in communities with lack of
access to healthcare systems to bridge the gap between underprivileged communities and
unbiased care
