Vitality Institute

Pleural effusion is a common clinical condition with a wide differential diagnosis, ranging from benign inflammatory processes to advanced malignancy. In some patients, malignant pleural effusion may represent the first manifestation of an underlying lung cancer. Early recognition and systematic evaluation are therefore essential for timely diagnosis and management. We report the case of a fifty eight year old Saudi male who presented with progressive shortness of breath and right sided chest discomfort of three weeks duration. The patient had a long history of cigarette smoking but no previous diagnosis of malignancy. Physical examination revealed reduced chest expansion and markedly diminished breath sounds over the right lower lung zone. Initial chest radiography demonstrated a moderate right sided pleural effusion without a clearly visible lung mass. Further diagnostic evaluation included contrast enhanced computed tomography of the chest, which confirmed a large right sided pleural effusion with partial lung collapse, mild pleural thickening, and a small irregular lesion in the right upper lobe. Diagnostic thoracentesis yielded exudative pleural fluid according to Light criteria. Microbiological studies were negative for bacterial infection and tuberculosis. Cytological examination of the pleural fluid revealed atypical epithelial cells suspicious for malignancy, and repeat analysis supported the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion. Subsequent CT guided biopsy of the right upper lobe lesion demonstrated histopathological features consistent with pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Management initially focused on symptomatic relief through pleural fluid drainage and supportive care. Following confirmation of the diagnosis, the patient was referred for oncologic evaluation and further staging. This case highlights the importance of considering malignancy in patients presenting with unexplained pleural effusion, particularly in individuals with significant smoking history, and emphasizes the role of pleural fluid analysis and tissue biopsy in establishing the diagnosis.

Vascular dementia (VD) is a severe cognitive impairment syndrome resulting from various cerebrovascular diseases and is one of the leading causes of senile dementia. In recent years, its incidence has been steadily increasing. Given the lack of specific treatments for VD, early detection, diagnosis, and intervention are critically important. This review examines the existing literature on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in the context of VD, with a focus on key metrics such as amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and functional connectivity (FC). By analyzing changes in brain functional activity in VD patients as observed through rs-fMRI, this study aims to provide essential imaging insights that could support and enhance clinical treatment strategies.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) may present various shapes, sizes, and subtle defects during manufacturing, which can affect its performance and functionality. However, existing detection methods often fail to meet the precision and speed required for MLCC defect detection. To address these issues, this paper builds an automated optical detection system (AODS) and proposes a deep learning model called EHL-DETR for defect identification and localization in MLCC images. First, we propose an efficient gate block (EGB) which enhances spatial feature extraction to improve the model’s multi-scale recognition capabilities. Second, the HiLo attention mechanism is introduced to achieve weighted fusion of local and global feature information, enhancing the model’s ability to detect subtle defects. Furthermore, the lightweight multi-scale feature pyramid network (LMSFPN) is proposed to enhance the fusion of multi-scale features and detect the defect more accurately. Experimental results demonstrate that EHL-DETR performs excellently on the MLCC dataset, achieving mAP<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">50</sub>, mAP<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">50-95</sub>, precision, and recall of 95.0%, 59.4%, 93.5%, and 90.1%, respectively, and a frame rate of 98.8 FPS, meeting the real-time defect detection requirements for MLCC.

Morrer é estar vivenciando com a plenitude de todos os sentidos humanos, os aspectos existenciais e fenomenológicos da morte em si. Viver a morte é pensá-la, reflexiva, criativa e criticamente, encará-la de frente, promovendo uma consciência e conscientização sobre todos os processos naturais do ciclo vital humano e sua finitude. O propósito deste texto foi desenvolver um relato de experiência de um caso clínico, a partir de um atendimento psicoterápico supervisionado, realizado no período do Estágio Clínico I e II em Psicologia, sob o enfoque da Terapia Cognitiva Comportamental, realizado no período entre Julho de 2022 a Julho de 2023. Houve uma caracterização e análise de um caso de Tanatofobia vivenciado no atendimento Psicológico a uma adolescente de 16 anos de idade. Após o estágio, registrar esta experiência na escrita, foi um desafio em promover uma conexão diante do Psicólogo em formação, o ser humano que necessita de um suporte psicológico e a relação do objeto da morte, enquanto componente da psicoterapia.

Self-driving cars are no longer science fiction: fully automated taxis have been operational since 2020. Automated driving may offer societal, environmental, and economic benefits. Despite such advantages, a negative consequence is an expected increase in motion sickness. Therefore, the overall aim of my dissertation is to contribute to research on the mitigation of motion sickness, particularly in automated driving. I started by investigating how motion sickness can best be measured when using a self-report rating scale. To measure motion sickness reliably, a scale should capture its progression unambiguously. The results of Chapter 2 indicate that a scale focusing on the symptomatology of motion sickness does so better than a scale focusing on general feelings of unpleasantness. This motivated my decision to use the Motion Illness Symptoms Classification (MISC) in my other studies. In Chapter 3, I explored if cognitive cues could influence the perception of self-motion. The results indicated: profoundly. Cognitive cues that manipulated a priori motion expectations elicited a percept of oscillatory self-motion in the absence of corresponding sensory stimulation. This finding supports the assumption that our brain uses a predictive mechanism in self-motion perception, such as internal models. Passengers presumably suffer more from motion sickness than drivers because drivers can better anticipate the car's accelerations. Anticipatory cues that alert passengers of accelerations via vision or sound have been demonstrated to mitigate motion sickness. In automated vehicles, providing anticipatory cues via the tactile modality may be more desirable. In Chapter 4, I investigated whether anticipatory vibrotactile cues that announced the onset of a forward displacement mitigated motion sickness, and if the timing of the cue was of influence. To determine their effectiveness, I developed a new pre registered measure: R. With R, it becomes possible to quantify the reduction in motion sickness symptomatology between a session with anticipatory cues and a control session in a single value. Using this measure, in Chapter 5 I compared the effectiveness of anticipatory auditory and vibrotactile cues for a more unpredictable motion stimulus. In both studies, the anticipatory cues generated some reduction in motion sickness, but large variability between participants resulted in a lack of statistical power. To increase power, I performed an internal meta analysis from which I concluded that anticipatory cues are overall effective in mitigating motion sickness. In Chapter 6, I performed a test track study in which I compared the effectiveness of anticipatory auditory and vibrotactile cues during a real car ride. The same analysis using the measure R indicated that the vibrotactile cue mitigated motion sickness. The auditory cue was significantly less effective and generated no significant mitigation overall. Remarkably, the mitigating effect of the vibrotactile cue was larger than the overall effect I found in the meta analysis on laboratory studies. Overall, my findings indicate that anticipatory vibrotactile cues can effectively mitigate motion sickness in automated driving. In conclusion, I hope that my work contributes to a better understanding of the measurement and mitigation of motion sickness, so that we can drive comfortably in the future.

There is converging evidence that young blood conveys cells, vesicles, and molecules able to revitalize function and restore organ integrity in old individuals. We assessed the effects of young plasma on the lifespan, epigenetic age, and healthspan of old female rats. Beginning at 25.6 months of age, a group of 9 rats (group T) was intraperitoneally injected with plasma from young rats until their natural death. A group of 8 control rats of the same age received no treatment (group C). Blood samples were collected every other week. Survival curves showed that from age 26 to 30 months, none of the group T animals died, whereas the survival curve of group C rats began to decline at age 26 months. Blood DNAm age versus chronological age showed that DNAm age in young animals increased faster than chronological age, then slowed down, entering a plateau after 27 months. The DNAm age of the treated rats fell below the DNAm age of controls and, in numerical terms, remained consistently lower until natural death. When rats were grouped according to the similarities in their differential blood DNA methylation profile, samples from the treated and control rats clustered in separate groups. Analysis of promoter differential methylation in genes involved in systemic regulatory activities revealed specific GO term enrichment related to the insulin-like factors pathways as well as to cytokines and chemokines associated with immune and homeostatic functions. We conclude that young plasma therapy may constitute a natural, noninvasive intervention for epigenetic rejuvenation and health enhancement.

Abstract Medication errors are one of the biggest problems in healthcare. The medicines ' poor labelling design (i.e., Look-Alike labels) is a well-recognised risk for potential confusion, wrong administration, and patient damage. Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) encourages the human-centred design of system elements, which might reduce medication errors and improve people's well-being and system performance. Objective: The aim of the present study is twofold: (i) to use a human reliability analysis technique to evaluate a medication administration task within a simulated scenario of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU); (ii) to estimate the impact of a Human-Centred Design (HCD) label in medication administration compared to a Look-Alike (LA) label. Method: This paper used a modified Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) version to analyse a medication administration task in a simulated NICU scenario. The modified technique involved expert nurses quantifying the likelihood of unreliability of a task and rating the conditions, including medicine labels, which most affect the successful completion of the task. Results: Findings suggest that Error Producing Conditions (EPCs), such as a shortage of time available for error detection and correction, no independent checking of output, and distractions, might increase Human Error Probability (HEP) in administering medications. Results also showed that the assessed HEP and the relative percentage of contribution to unreliability reduced by more than 40% when the HCD label was assessed compared to the LA label. Conclusion: Including labelling design based on HFE might help increase human reliability when administering medications under critical conditions.