First report of Giardia duodenalis in pet rabbits in Brazil

Giardia duodenalis is a flagellate protozoan that multiplies in the small intestine of a wide variety of hosts, animals and humans. It has a worldwide distribution, however it is considered a neglected disease by the World Health Organization (WHO). Nowadays, rabbits are being chosen as pets, especially by children. There are already reports of the occurrence of G. duodenalis in rabbits from other countries, but research has not been carried out in Brazil yet. Thus, the objective of our work was to verify the occurrence and molecularly characterize G. duodenalis that affect pet rabbits, through the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in the northwest region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Fecal samples from 100 rabbits were collected, which later underwent a process of DNA extraction and amplification by nested-PCR (nPCR), using the SSU rRNA gene, and β-giardin (bg), glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) and triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) to determine the assemblage. A questionnaire was answered by the owners with information about gender, age, deworming, diarrhea, water source, food, place of residence and contact with other animals. From those samples, 40 were positive for G. duodenalis. Good quality of the SSU rRNA gene by nPCR were obtained from two samples. For the first time, we report the occurrence of G. duodenalis assemblage A on pet rabbits in Brazil.

Complex entropy based encryption and decryption technique for securing medical images

During medical picture transmission, the most pressing concern is security. Medical images must be encrypted since they are extremely sensitive. Watermarking, digital fingerprinting/signature, and encoding are some of the available image security techniques. Images and movies, for example, must be highly encrypted and decoded without losing any content information. Medical photos, for example, require extra protection, and protecting medical images is a critical issue when medical images and related patient information are transferred over public networks. This research work proposes a visual encryption strategy to secure medical pictures before being transmitted or stored in the cloud. This technique makes such pictures of unauthorized people unavailable and also maintains confidentiality, a prime safety requirement. The process made use of a pixel shuffling-based encryption technique and a secret key created from the image. In this research, we encrypted the medical image using modified Arnold Map Encryption and generated secret key values. Therefore, the image is encrypted, and henceforth it is decrypted as well. So this work gave us the encrypted image and decrypted image/original image as well. The modified Arnold Map Encryption tries to add more randomness, thus increasing the entropy of the image and thus makes it harder to decrypt. The modified Arnold Map Encryption is also compared to other algorithms such as Hyper Chaotic, Secure Hash Algorithm-13 (SHA-13), Ten Logistic Maps, Bakers Map, HenonMap, Cross Chaos Map, and 2D Logistic Map and shows better results in terms of encryption speed and Number of Pixel Change Rate (NPCR) value.

Image Encryption Method Using New Concept of Compound Blood Transfusion Rule with Multiple Chaotic Maps

INTRODUCTION

With the advancement in internet technology, a large amount of information in the form of data and image is transferred from one end to the other. The information may be military, defense, medical, etc. which should be kept confidential by providing security.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this article will be to provide security to the image. This is achieved by applying the image encryption method which converts the original information into an unreadable format.

METHODS

This work explores an efficient way of image encryption using a chaotic logistic function. A set of two chaotic logistic functions and 256 bit long external secret key are employed to enhance the security in the encrypted images. The initial condition of first logistic function has been obtained by providing the suitable weights to all bits of the secret key. The initial condition of second logistic function has been derived from the first chaotic logistic function. In this proposed algorithm, ten different operations are used to encrypt the pixel of an image. The outcome of the second logistic map decides the operation to be used in the encryption of the particular image pixel.

RESULTS

Various statistical parameters like NPCR, UACI and information entropy were calculated.

CONCLUSION

Results show that the proposed algorithm provides an image encryption method with better security and efficiency for all real-time applications such as medical images.

The epidemiology of spinal schwannoma in the United States between 2006 and 2014

OBJECTIVE

Spinal schwannoma remains the third most common intradural spinal tumor following spinal meningioma and ependymoma. The available literature is generally limited to single-institution reports rather than epidemiological investigations. As of 1/1/2004, registration of all benign central nervous system tumors in the United States became mandatory after the Benign Brain Tumor Cancer Registries Amendment Act took action, which provided massive resources for United States population-based epidemiological studies. This article describes the epidemiology of spinal schwannoma in the United States from January 1, 2006, through December 31, 2014.

METHODS

In this study, the authors utilized the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States, which corresponds to 100% of the American population. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries and the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program provide the resource for this data registry. The authors included diagnosis years 2006 to 2014. They used the codes per the International Coding of Diseases for Oncology, 3rd Edition: histology code 9560/0 and site codes C72.0 (spinal cord), C70.1 (spinal meninges), and C72.1 (cauda equina). Rates are per 100,000 persons and are age-adjusted to the 2000 United States standard population. The age-adjusted incidence rates and 95% confidence intervals are calculated by age, sex, race, and ethnicity.

RESULTS

There were 6989 spinal schwannoma cases between the years 2006 and 2014. The yearly incidence eminently increased between 2010 and 2014. Total incidence rate was 0.24 (95% CI 0.23-0.24) per 100,000 persons. The peak adjusted incidence rate was seen in patients who ranged in age from 65 to 74 years. Spinal schwannomas were less common in females than they were in males (incidence rate ratio = 0.85; p < 0.001), and they were less common in blacks than they were in whites (IRR = 0.52; p < 0.001) and American Indians/Alaska Natives (IRR = 0.50; p < 0.001) compared to whites. There was no statistically significant difference in incidence rate between whites and Asian or Pacific Islanders (IRR = 0.92; p = 0.16).

CONCLUSIONS

The authors' study results demonstrated a steady increase in the incidence of spinal schwannomas between 2010 and 2014. Male sex and the age range 65-74 years were associated with higher incidence rates of spinal schwannomas, whereas black and American Indian/Alaska Native races were associated with lower incidence rates. The present study represents the most thorough assessment of spinal schwannoma epidemiology in the American population.

Population-based, nationwide registration of prostatectomies in Sweden

Introduction

Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a common surgical procedure with a risk of postoperative erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. There is a need for data on RP as a basis for quality assurance and benchmarking.

Methods

In 2015, prostatectomies in Sweden (PiS) form was implemented in the National Prostate Cancer Register (NPCR) of Sweden with data on pre‐, peri‐ and post‐operative variables.

Results

Out of all radical prostatectomies performed in 2016 in Sweden, 3096/3881 (80%) were registered in PiS. A total of 2605 (84%) were robot‐assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) and 491 (16%) were RRP (retropubic radical prostatectomy). RARP was performed by 91 surgeons of whom 47% operated more than 25 RP/year; and RRP was performed by 69 surgeons of whom 10% performed more than 25 RP/year. RARP had a longer operative time (median operating time: RARP 155 minutes [IQR 124‐190]; RRP 129 minutes [IQR 105‐171]; P < .001) but was associated with smaller bleeding (median intraoperative blood loss: RARP 100 mL [IQR 50‐200], RRP 700 mL [IQR 500‐1100]; P < .001).

Conclusions

We report on a nationwide, population‐based register with transparent reporting of data on the performance of radical prostatectomy. These data are needed as a basis for quality assurance with comparisons of results from individual surgeons and hospitals.

Generalized double-humped logistic map-based medical image encryption

This paper presents the design of the generalized Double Humped (DH) logistic map, used for pseudo-random number key generation (PRNG). The generalized parameter added to the map provides more control on the map chaotic range. A new special map with a zooming effect of the bifurcation diagram is obtained by manipulating the generalization parameter value. The dynamic behavior of the generalized map is analyzed, including the study of the fixed points and stability ranges, Lyapunov exponent, and the complete bifurcation diagram. The option of designing any specific map is made possible through changing the general parameter increasing the randomness and controllability of the map. An image encryption algorithm is introduced based on pseudo-random sequence generation using the proposed generalized DH map offering secure communication transfer of medical MRI and X-ray images. Security analyses are carried out to consolidate system efficiency including: key sensitivity and key-space analyses, histogram analysis, correlation coefficients, MAE, NPCR and UACI calculations. System robustness against noise attacks has been proved along with the NIST test ensuring the system efficiency. A comparison between the proposed system with respect to previous works is presented.

The history and use of cancer registry data by public health cancer control programs in the United States

Because cancer registry data provide a census of cancer cases, registry data can be used to: 1) define and monitor cancer incidence at the local, state, and national levels; 2) investigate patterns of cancer treatment; and 3) evaluate the effectiveness of public health efforts to prevent cancer cases and improve cancer survival. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad overview of the history of cancer surveillance programs in the United States, and illustrate the expanding ways in which cancer surveillance data are being made available and contributing to cancer control programs. The article describes the building of the cancer registry infrastructure and the successful coordination of efforts among the 2 federal agencies that support cancer registry programs, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries. The major US cancer control programs also are described, including the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, and the Colorectal Cancer Control Program. This overview illustrates how cancer registry data can inform public health actions to reduce disparities in cancer outcomes and may be instructional for a variety of cancer control professionals in the United States and in other countries. Cancer 2017;123:4969-76. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Capture and coding of industry and occupation measures: Findings from eight National Program of Cancer Registries states

BACKGROUND

Although data on industry and occupation (I&O) are important for understanding cancer risks, obtaining standardized data is challenging. This study describes the capture of specific I&O text and the ability of a web-based tool to translate text into standardized codes.

METHODS

Data on 62 525 cancers cases received from eight National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) states were submitted to a web-based coding tool developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for translation into standardized I&O codes. We determined the percentage of sufficiently analyzable codes generated by the tool.

RESULTS

Using the web-based coding tool on data obtained from chart abstraction, the NPCR cancer registries achieved between 48% and 75% autocoding, but only 12-57% sufficiently analyzable codes.

CONCLUSIONS

The ability to explore associations between work-related exposures and cancer is limited by current capture and coding of I&O data. Increased training of providers and registrars, as well as software enhancements, will improve the utility of I&O data.

Population based study of use and determinants of active surveillance and watchful waiting for low and intermediate risk prostate cancer

PURPOSE

Prior studies have reported the underuse of deferred treatment (ie active surveillance or watchful waiting) for low risk prostate cancer in the United States. We examined contemporary trends in active surveillance and watchful waiting in the nationwide Swedish prostate cancer registry. We also examined factors associated with selection of deferred management, which might provide insight into the rational diffusion of this important management strategy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We identified 57,713 men with very low risk (T1c, Gleason 6 or less, prostate specific antigen less than 10 ng/ml, prostate specific antigen density less than 0.20 ng/ml/cc, 2 or fewer positive biopsy cores or less than 25% of cores positive), low risk (T1-T2, Gleason 6 or less, and prostate specific antigen less than 10 ng/ml) and intermediate risk prostate cancer (T1-T2, Gleason 7 and/or prostate specific antigen 10 to 20 ng/ml) in the PCBaSe (Prostate Cancer database Sweden) from 1998 to 2011. Subclassification of very low risk disease, and active surveillance vs watchful waiting was possible beginning in 2007. We examined primary treatment selection by risk group and used logistic regression to evaluate factors associated with deferred treatment.

RESULTS

Overall 13,272 (46%) men with low risk and 8,695 (30%) with intermediate risk prostate cancer chose deferred treatment. Since 2007, 59%, 41% and 16% of very low, low and intermediate risk prostate cancer, respectively, chose active surveillance. Age was by far the strongest determinant of deferred treatment. Education, marital status and comorbidity were significantly but weakly associated with deferring treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Deferred treatment for low and intermediate risk prostate cancer was frequently used in Sweden. Dissociating diagnosis from treatment in men with a low risk of progression can decrease the rate of overtreatment.