An Android Application for Estimating Muscle Onset Latency using Surface EMG Signal.

BACKGROUND: Electromyography (EMG) signal processing and Muscle Onset Latency (MOL) are widely used in rehabilitation sciences and nerve conduction studies. The majority of existing software packages provided for estimating MOL via analyzing EMG signal are computerized, desktop based and not portable; therefore, experiments and signal analyzes using them should be completed locally. Moreover, a desktop or laptop is required to complete experiments using these packages, which costs. OBJECTIVE: Develop a non-expensive and portable Android application (app) for estimating MOL via analyzing surface EMG. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A multi-layer architecture model was designed for implementing the MOL estimation app. Several Android-based algorithms for analyzing a recorded EMG signal and estimating MOL was implemented. A graphical user interface (GUI) that simplifies analyzing a given EMG signal using the presented app was developed too. RESULTS: Evaluation results of the developed app using 10 EMG signals showed promising performance; the MOL values estimated using the presented app are statistically equal to those estimated using a commercial Windows-based surface EMG analysis software (MegaWin 3.0). For the majority of cases relative error <10%. MOL values estimated by these two systems are linearly related, the correlation coefficient value ~ 0.93. These evaluations revealed that the presented app performed as well as MegaWin 3.0 software in estimating MOL. CONCLUSION: Recent advances in smart portable devices such as mobile phones have shown the great capability of facilitating and decreasing the cost of analyzing biomedical signals, particularly in academic environments. Here, we developed an Android app for estimating MOL via analyzing the surface EMG signal. Performance is promising to use the app for teaching or research purposes.

Clinicopathologic and molecular characterization of mammary analogue secretory carcinoma of salivary gland origin.

BACKGROUND: Mammary analogue secretory carcinoma (MASC) is a newly recognized salivary gland tumor that harbors a characteristic balanced chromosomal translocation t (12; 15) (p13; q25) resulting in an ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene. METHODS: Retrospective study of 111 salivary gland carcinomas revealed 37 cases with secretory features and growth patterns resembling secretory carcinoma of breast. These 37 cases were originally diagnosed as acinic cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified and cystadenocarcinoma. Positive immunostaining for S-100 protein and mammaglobin, followed by detection of ETV6 gene rearrangement by FISH and/or ETV6-NTRK3 fusion transcript by RT-PCR were used to identify MASCs. RESULTS: In the cohort of 37 salivary carcinomas with secretory features we have identified 10 cases of MASC. All 10 MASCs were positive for mammaglobin, S-100 protein and SOX10, while staining for DOG1 and p63 protein were mostly absent. In 7/10 cases, both FISH and RT-PCR were positive while three remaining cases showed break of ETV6 gene by FISH analysis and the RT-PCR was negative. Clinical follow-up data were obtained in 6 out of 10 patients with MASC. In 3 patients cervical lymph node metastases developed, one patient with high grade transformed MASC died with multiple distant bone metastases, and local recurrence was observed in three patients. CONCLUSION: Our clinicopathological data are in keeping with previous studies; in most cases, MASC is a low-grade malignancy with overall favorable prognosis. In rare cases, however, MASC with high-grade transformation may behave aggressively, and these patients could benefit from targeted biological treatment using tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

[Pupillary diameter in every day situations]. / Pupillenweite in Alltagssituationen.

AIM OF THE STUDY: For the construction of true accommodating intraocular lenses and for refractive surgery a knowledge about pupil diameter in daily life is important. Sufficient data are available only in darkness. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 206 volunteers aged between 18 and 72 years without disorders influencing the pupil have been examined by means of pupillography at two luminance conditions (3 and 30 cd/m2) and 3 fixation distances (5 m, 1 m, 0.33 m). RESULTS: Pupil size decreases by 0.42 mm per decade with the darker condition and 0.25 mm per decade with brighter light. Fixation change from 5 to 1 m has hardly any influence on pupil size, changing to 0.33 m constricts the pupil by 0.43 mm at dark condition and 0.33 mm at the lighter condition. CONCLUSION: Luminance has the strongest influence on pupil size, near fixation has hardly any influence down to 1 m. The well-known age relation of pupil size in darkness is also valid for mesopic and photopic conditions. At 3 cd/m2 it was the same as reported in darkness, at 30 cd/m2 it was less in absolute numbers, but relative as compared to young adults it was approximately the same.

Suicide in old age: illness or autonomous decision of the will?

Depression, often accompanied by suicidal behavior or recurring thoughts about suicide, is one of the most common psychic impairments in old age. Statistics in Austria tell us clearly: Suicidal candidates among the elderly are likely to succeed. Especially in men, suicide has become a significant cause of death. In an age where traditional family structures are beginning to fall apart, and where the elderly increasingly feel to be a "burden" to society, unable to find their place, we tend to look at suicide more and more as a voluntary and autonomous decision, thus rationalizing it as in: "This life I would not want to live either". But is it permissible for physicians to consider a patient, who has acted suicidal, to be "not ill," or to have acted "with good reason"? The present paper shall critically revisit the concept of "rational suicide." What I hope to illuminate is the tension between medical care for, and autonomy of the patient that physicians have to negotiate in their work.

Correlating MR lesions and functional deficits in multiple sclerosis patients. Anatomical atlas registration.

Although brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is increasingly being used as an objective outcome measure in treatment trials for multiple sclerosis (MS), findings correlating conventional MR imaging and disabilities in established MS have been inconsistent. In some studies, measures of MR lesion status, such as numbers of lesions or MS lesion load (volume), have shown limited correlations with clinical scores such as the Kurtzke Expanded disability scale (EDSS). Other studies have shown clear correlations between MR findings and measures of disability in MS. Further development of image processing techniques should help elucidate the relationships between MR findings and disease processes in MS.

Substitution rate variation in closely related rodent species.

The existence of evolutionary rate variation has previously been demonstrated between different orders, different species and even between different regions of the same gene. To examine rate variation between closely related species of rodents we have sequenced the adenine phosphorybosyltransferase (APRT) gene from Mus spicilegus, Mus pahari, Mastomys hildebrandtii, Stochomys longicaudatus and Gerbillus campestris and compared these sequences with the previously published Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus and Mesocricetus auratus APRT sequences. The alignment of these eight rodent APRT sequences reveals two large insertions within the introns: an insertion with sequence similar to a B1 repetitive element is found within Mastomys and an insertion with sequence similar to a B2 repetitive element is found within M. pahari. A phylogeny for the rodent APRTs agrees with the previously published rodent phylogeny based on other molecular and morphological data. The relative rate test which is often used to test for variation in rates of evolution in different lineages is shown here to be sensitive to the choice of outgroup and therefore should be used with great caution. This sensitivity is detectable only with closely related species and results from the prevalence of homoplastic substitutions. Rate variation is demonstrated within the APRT exons and introns and between the rodent species (with the most significant difference being a rate difference in M. spicilegus). In addition, some third codon positions are shown to be more prone to substitution than others. This clearly demonstrates that even between very closely related species there is ample evidence of major differences in rates of evolution among species, among regions of the gene and among different positions within the gene. We also demonstrate that standard methods of analysis might not detect this variation.