Causal Neuro-immune Relationships at Patients with Chronic Pyelonephritis and Cholecystitis. Correlations between Parameters EEG, HRV and White Blood Cell Count

CoTCoNet: An optimized coupled transformer-convolutional network with an adaptive graph reconstruction for leukemia detection

BACKGROUND

Swift and accurate blood smear analyses are crucial for diagnosing leukemia and other hematological malignancies. However, manual leukocyte count and morphological evaluation remain time-consuming and prone to errors. Additionally, conventional image processing methods struggle to differentiate cells due to visual similarities between malignant and benign cell morphology.

METHOD

In response to above challenges, we propose Coupled Transformer Convolutional Network (CoTCoNet) framework for leukemia classification. CoTCoNet integrates dual-feature extraction to capture long-range global features and fine-grained spatial patterns, facilitating the identification of complex hematological characteristics. Additionally, the framework employs a graph-based module to uncover hidden, biologically relevant features of leukocyte cells, along with a Population-based Meta-Heuristic Algorithm for feature selection and optimization. Furthermore, we introduce a novel combination of leukocyte segmentation and synthesis, which isolates relevant regions while augmenting the training dataset with realistic leukocyte samples. This strategy isolates relevant regions while augmenting the training data with realistic leukocyte samples, enhancing feature extraction, and addressing data scarcity without compromising data integrity.

RESULTS

We evaluated CoTCoNet on a dataset of 16,982 annotated cells, achieving an accuracy of 0.9894 and an F1-Score of 0.9893. We tested CoTCoNet on four diverse, publicly available datasets (including those above) to assess generalizability. Results demonstrate a significant performance improvement over existing state-of-the-art approaches.

CONCLUSIONS

CoTCoNet represents a significant advancement in leukemia classification, offering enhanced accuracy and efficiency compared to traditional methods. By incorporating explainable visualizations that closely align with cell annotations, the framework provides deeper insights into its decision-making process, further solidifying its potential in clinical settings.

The Potential Mechanisms of High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude, Controlled Vertebral Thrusts on Neuroimmune Function: A Narrative Review

The current COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the need to find healthcare solutions that boost or support immunity. There is some evidence that high-velocity, low-amplitude (HVLA) controlled vertebral thrusts have the potential to modulate immune mediators. However, the mechanisms of the link between HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts and neuroimmune function and the associated potential clinical implications are less clear. This review aims to elucidate the underlying mechanisms that can explain the HVLA controlled vertebral thrust--neuroimmune link and discuss what this link implies for clinical practice and future research needs. A search for relevant articles published up until April 2021 was undertaken. Twenty-three published papers were found that explored the impact of HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts on neuroimmune markers, of which eighteen found a significant effect. These basic science studies show that HVLA controlled vertebral thrust influence the levels of immune mediators in the body, including neuropeptides, inflammatory markers, and endocrine markers. This narravtive review discusses the most likely mechanisms for how HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts could impact these immune markers. The mechanisms are most likely due to the known changes in proprioceptive processing that occur within the central nervous system (CNS), in particular within the prefrontal cortex, following HVLA spinal thrusts. The prefrontal cortex is involved in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system. Bi-directional neuro-immune interactions are affected by emotional or pain-related stress. Stress-induced sympathetic nervous system activity also alters vertebral motor control. Therefore, there are biologically plausible direct and indirect mechanisms that link HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts to the immune system, suggesting HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts have the potential to modulate immune function. However, it is not yet known whether HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts have a clinically relevant impact on immunity. Further research is needed to explore the clinical impact of HVLA controlled vertebral thrusts on immune function.

Comparison and Analysis of EEG with Negative and Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a type of major mental illness characterized by split personality in thinking and behaviour. Schizophrenia has become the fourth leading cause of disability among adolescents in developing countries. This article is based on the EEG signals of normal people, schizophrenia-positive patients, and schizophrenianegative patients. From the neuropsychological background and cognitive ability test results, the level of EEG amplitude, the frequency distribution of EEG in performing functional tasks, and the analysis of a comparative analysis of the degree of brain injury can help medical staff to accurately and effectively classify and diagnose the different symptoms of schizophrenia.

Study on the related factors of post-herpetic neuralgia in hospitalized patients with herpes zoster in Sichuan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine based on big data analysis

Although various factors were reported to be related to post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), studies based on adequate and comprehensive data were absent. Data was extracted from cases of hospitalized patients with herpes zoster in dermatology department, Sichuan hospital of traditional Chinese medicine range from December, 2011 to February, 2018, and then cleaned to build prediction model with TREENET algorithms. Following evaluated the prediction model by ROC and confusion matrix, variables importance ranking and variables dependency analysis were performed, resulting in the importance ranking of factors for PHN and the dependency between factors and PHN. Based on strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, 1303 (571 PHN and 732 normal controls) cases and 2958 indicators were selected. Model evaluation showed high ROC value (training sample = 0.985, test samples = 0.752) and high accuracy value (70.27%), which indicated that the model was predictive. After variables importance ranking and variables dependency analysis, 62 variables in the model were associated with the occurrence of PHN. Our study identified 62 variables related to PHN and revealed that various variables were the important risk factors for PHN, including age, MCHC, sodium and UA.

Perspectives on the use of electrostimulation with the device “VEB”® in the management of disorders related to COVID-19

Background. One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is the so-called "cytokine storm". Its pathogenesis is that the initial release by lymphocytes and macrophages of proinflammatory cytokines in the classical immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is significantly enhanced and maintained due to excessive adrenergic stimulation of the immune cells. The proinflammatory adrenergic mechanism of the "cytokine storm" can be offset by the activation of the anti-inflammatory cholinergic mechanism by non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve. In 2015, a generator for electrotherapy and stimulation oh human nerve centers was created, called “VEB-1”®. Preliminary observation of volunteers revealed a modulating effect of a four-day course of electrical stimulation on the parameters of electroencephalogram, metabolism, as well as gas-discharge visualization (GDV). We hypothesized that changes in EEG parameters may be accompanied by a vagotonic shift of the sympatho-vagus balance, favorable for calming the “cytokine storm”. The main purpose of this study was to find out. In addition, concomitant changes in EEG, immunity, GDV, etc. due to the use of the devices "VEB-1"® and recently designed "VEB-2" had to be detected. Material and research methods. The object of observation were 18 volunteers: 11 women 33-62 y and 7 men 29-62 y (Mean±SD: 51±12 y) without clinical diagnose but with dysfunction of neuro-endocrine-immune complex and metabolism. In the morning registered HRV (“CardioLab+HRV”, “KhAI-Medica”, Kharkiv, UA), EEG (“NeuroCom Standard”, “KhAI-Medica”, Kharkiv, UA), kirlianogram by the method of GDV (“GDV Chamber”, “Biotechprogress”, SPb, RF), electroconductivity of skin in three pairs of points of acupuncture (“Medissa”), electrokinetic index of buccal epithelium ("Biotest", Kharkiv State University), as well as some parameters of immunity and metabolism. After the initial testing, an electrical stimulation session was performed with a “VEB-1”® or a “VEB-2” devices. The next morning after completing the four-day course, retesting was performed. Results. The effects of electrical stimulation can be divided into the following networks. Regarding EEG, this is a leveling of right-hand lateralization and normalizing decrease in the increased of the amplitude of the θ-rhythm and its spectral power density (SPD) at the loci F3, F7, F8, T3, T4, T6, P3, O1 and O2; further increase of SPD of δ-rhythm in loci F3, F4, T6, P3 and O1 as well as further decrease of SPD F4-α; reversion of the increased level of entropy in loci Fp1, F4, C3 and P3 to the lowered level. Regarding HRV, it is a vagotonic shift of sympatho-vagus balance due to a decrease in elevated levels of sympathetic tone markers and an increase in decreased levels of vagus tone markers, but without normalization. Neurotropic effects are accompanied by favorable changes in a number of immune parameters and a tendency to decrease the level of C-Reactive Protein. Regarding GDV, it is almost complete normalization of the initially increased GDI Area in the frontal projection and third Chakra Energy; normalizing decrease in the initially increased Energy of second and seventh Chakras; normalizing right-hand shift of more or less pronounced left-sided Asymmetry of first and third Chakra. These effects should be clearly interpreted as physiologically beneficial. The effects on these parameters are almost equally pronounced in people of both sexes when using both devices. Conclusion. Vagotonic and immunotropic effects of our device give us a reason to offer it for further research on the leveling of “cytokine storm” in patients with COVID-19.

Zataria multiflora extract reverses lipopolysaccharide-induced anxiety and depression behaviors in rats

OBJECTIVE

Stressors have an important role in sickness behaviors. We checked the effect of Zataria multiflora (ZM) extract against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced anxiety and depression behaviors in rats.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Rats were distributed in the following groups (n=10): Control, LPS (1 mg/kg), LPS-ZM50, LPS-ZM100 and LPS-ZM200. LPS was syringed intraperitoneally (ip) 2 hr before performing behavioral tests. LPS-ZM groups were treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg (ip) of ZM extract 30 min before LPS administration. Open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swimming (FS) tests were done. White blood cell (WBC) was counted in all groups.

RESULTS

In OF, pretreatment with ZM extract augmented the number of lines crossed and traveled distance in central and peripheral areas. The rats treated with ZM extract spent more time in the central zone and less time in the peripheral area compared to the LPS group. In EPM, the number of entries into the open and closed arms and stop time in the open arms in LPS-ZM groups were higher than the LPS group. The stop time in the closed arms of ZM-LPS groups was less than the LPS group. In FS test, swimming and climbing time in groups treated with ZM extract was more than the LPS group while their immobility time was less. WBC count in the LPS-ZM100 and LPS-ZM200 was lower than that of the LPS group.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results, pretreatment with ZM extract restituted anxiety and depression caused by LPS in rats. This effect of ZM was associated with amelioration of LPS-promoted inflammation.