A hybrid feature selection algorithm using simplified swarm optimization for body fat prediction.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obesity is one of the chronic diseases that seriously threaten people's health outcomes globally. Since the prevalence of obesity is increasing among people of all ages, measuring the body fat percentages is vital before treatment. However, the body fat percentage cannot be accurately measured by weighing. While many devices are commonly used to measure the body fat percentage, these devices are expensive and depend on complex instruments. Therefore, more practical and cost-effective solutions are desired to measure body fat accurately. This study presents a hybrid feature selection method based on a VIKOR-based multi-filter ensemble technique (VMFET) and an improved simplified swarm optimization (iSSO) to predict the body fat percentage with low prediction error. METHODS: The study followed a two-phase process. First, VMFET was used to aggregate the statistical outcomesof individual filters to filter the most informative features from the original dataset. Then, the selected features are applied to the next phase. Second, iSSO was tailored with a biased random initialization scheme, effect-based feature pruning scheme, and multiple linear regression as a wrapper method to improve the prediction performance and select the optimal feature subset. STUDIES RESULTS: Extensive experiments were performed using nine datasets to verify the performance of the proposed method empirically, and the corresponding results were compared with up-to-date studies. CONCLUSION: The statistical results demonstrated that the proposed method offers a promising and effective tool for predicting body fat. SIGNIFICANCE: The hybrid feature selection model can enhance prediction accuracy and lower prediction error.

Dietary intake of vitamin B(6) and risk of breast cancer in Taiwanese women.

BACKGROUND: B vitamins, including vitamin B(6), are coenzymes that are important for DNA integrity and stability. Deficiencies in B vitamins may promote tumor carcinogenesis. METHODS: We examined the association of dietary vitamin B(6) intake with overall breast cancer risk and breast cancers stratified by hormone receptor status. This case-control study included 391 breast cancer cases and 782 control subjects enrolled at the Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. Energy-adjusted intake of vitamin B(6) was derived from a food frequency questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression. RESULTS: As compared with women in the lowest tertile, the multivariate-adjusted ORs for breast cancer among women in the second and highest tertiles of vitamin B(6) intake were 0.78 (95% CI, 0.64-2.52) and 0.64 (0.26-0.92), respectively. In addition, higher vitamin B(6) intake was associated with a significantly lower risk of developing ER-negative breast tumors. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that higher intake of vitamin B(6) is associated with a reduction in breast cancer risk, particularly ER-negative tumors.

Renal ultrasonography should be done routinely in children with first urinary tract infections.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the consequences of renal ultrasonography (RUS) in the treatment of children younger than 5 years of age with a first febrile urinary tract infection. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the results of imaging studies, including RUS, computed tomography, and voiding cystourethrography in children with a first febrile urinary tract infection during a 2-year period. Children with known urologic anomalies, other underlying diseases, or simultaneous combined illnesses were excluded. Children with nephromegaly were diagnosed with acute lobar nephronia by computed tomography. RESULTS: A total of 390 children were included in this study. Of the 390 children, 112 (28.7%) had abnormal RUS findings. The children with abnormal RUS findings of nephromegaly, small kidney, intermittent hydronephrosis, or a double collecting system had a significantly greater incidence of vesicoureteral reflux than children with normal RUS findings. Additionally, the occurrence of high-grade vesicoureteral reflux in children with abnormal RUS findings was more frequent than in children with normal RUS findings. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study indicate that it is worth performing RUS in children with a first febrile urinary tract infection because abnormal kidney size or other specific structural ultrasound findings should be investigated, in addition to isolated hydronephrosis.

Nephromegaly in children with Kawasaki disease: new supporting evidence for diagnosis and its possible mechanism.

To measure the kidney size in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and to delineate the condition of nephromegaly, 20 children with KD were enrolled in our study. Kidney sizes were measured during acute stage in these patients. Twenty healthy children and 15 febrile children served as healthy controls and fever controls, respectively. To delineate the possible mechanism, we also evaluated kidney volume (KV) in 13 other patients with KD during the acute phase and after the recovery phase as well as 26 healthy children. Plasma hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) levels were determined for all children. Kidney lengths and KV in patients with KD during the acute phase were significantly larger than those of healthy children. There was no kidney enlargement in healthy controls and after the recovery phase. The ratio of patient plasma HGF/TGF-beta1 during the acute phase and after the recovery phase correlated positively with the degree of nephromegaly in all patients. These results confirm the presence of large kidneys in children with KD. Our data also suggest that an elevated HGF/TGF-beta1 ratio may be responsible for the transient nephromegaly in these children.

Early postnatal renal growth in premature infants.

AIMS: To assess postnatal kidney volume development and to compare the intrauterine and extrauterine kidney growth curves of premature infants. METHODS: One hundred neonates were enrolled in this study, and all infants had their kidney volumes measured by renal ultrasound examination. Group GA consisted of 44 neonates who were evaluated within 48 h after birth, and their gestational ages were used in the analysis. Group CA included 56 premature infants born before 34 weeks of gestation and was evaluated 14-96 days after birth, and their conceptional ages were used in the analysis. Left kidney volume, body weight, body height and age were used in the correlation analysis. RESULTS: There was a better kidney growth rate for Group GA infants than for Group CA infants (P = 0.001). Kidney volumes in Group CA infants were thus apparently larger than those of the Group GA infants before 31 weeks of age, but they were smaller after 31 weeks of age. Group GA infants had a significantly faster growth in body weight (P = 0.001) and body height (P < 0.001). However, a larger kidney volume was noted in Group CA infants with the same body weight (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A chart is presented of the postnatal growth of normal kidney volume before 40 weeks conceptional age in premature infants. These data suggest that intrauterine growth may have a regulatory influence on kidney growth, and the reduced kidney volume in premature infants may result from the early extrauterine period.

High-volume continuous venovenous hemofiltration as an effective therapy for acute management of inborn errors of metabolism in young children.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Renal replacement therapies (RRTs) have been used for the acute management of inborn errors of metabolism. Hemodialysis is the most effective modality. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that high-volume hemofiltration can offer an alternative way to effectively remove small molecules. METHODS: Eight patients presented with acute neurological deterioration due to ammonia or organic acid accumulation. Different RRTs were applied, including continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH, n = 7), continuous arteriovenous hemofiltration (CAVH, n = 2), continuous venovenous hemodialysis (CVVHD, n = 1), intermittent hemodialysis (HD, n = 1), and peritoneal dialysis (PD, n = 2). RESULTS: Ammonia 50% reduction time in HD was 1.7 h while in CVVH it was 2-14.5 h. The greater the ultrafiltration flow was, the sooner patients regained consciousness. CAVH, CVVHD or PD was not sufficient enough. CONCLUSION: CVVH also has a good clearance for organic acid and ammonia if applying high-volume hemofiltration (>35 ml/kg/h). It can be therefore be considered as an alternative therapy if infant HD is not available.