Most midlife women have hot flashes. The conventional criterion (≥2 μmho rise/30 s) for classifying hot flashes physiologically has shown poor performance. We improved this performance in the laboratory with Support Vector Machines (SVMs), a pattern classification method. We aimed to compare conventional to SVM methods to classify hot flashes in the ambulatory setting. Thirty-one women with hot...

Hot flashes are experienced by over 70% of menopausal women. Criteria to classify hot flashes from physiologic signals show variable performance. The primary aim was to compare conventional criteria to Support Vector Machines (SVMs), an advanced machine learning method, to classify hot flashes from sternal skin conductance. Thirty women with > or =4 hot flashes/day underwent laboratory hot flas...

BACKGROUND Rapid ultrasound in shock (RUSH) is the most recent emergency ultrasound protocol, designed to help clinicians better recognize distinctive shock etiologies in a shorter time frame. OBJECTIVES In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of the RUSH protocol, performed by an emergency physician or radiologist, in predicting the type of shock in critical patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS...

PURPOSE To study the diagnostic accuracies of serum human epididymis protein 4 (HE-4) levels, virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) parameters and endometrial volume in endometrial cancer cases. MATERIALS AND METHODS One hundred and seven patients (37 with endometrial cancer and 70 with benign endometrial pathology) were included in this study. VOCAL parameters and serum HE-4 levels w...

BACKGROUND The aim of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is to increase the likelihood of successful breast conservation surgery (BCS). Accurate identification of BCS candidates is a diagnostic challenge. Breast Cancer Index (BCI) predicts recurrence risk in estrogen receptor+lymph node-breast cancer. Performance of BCI to predict chemosensitivity based on pathological complete response (pCR) and BCS was...

Projects may be evaluated and compared according to the Net Present Value (NPV) of their cash flow. The NPV is the discounted expected revenues minus the costs over the lifetime of the project. Traditional NPV calculations do not take into account the uncertainty in the variables that influence the revenues and costs. We present a simulation approach to incorporate uncertainty in the NPV calcul...

OBJECTIVE To determine the construct and criterion validity of the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group 2004 (BILAG-2004) index for assessing disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS Patients with SLE were recruited into a multicenter cross-sectional study. Data on SLE disease activity (scores on the BILAG-2004 index, Classic BILAG index, and Systemic Lupus Erythematosu...

OBJECTIVE To test several weaning predictors as determinants of successful extubation after elective cardiac surgery. METHODS The study was conducted at a tertiary hospital with 100 adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery from September to December 2014. We recorded demographic, clinical and surgical data, plus the following predictive indexes: static compliance (Cstat), tidal volu...

results we performed rush on 77 patients. kappa index was 0.71 (p value = 0.000), reflecting acceptable general agreement between initial impression and final diagnosis. for hypovolemic, cardiogenic and obstructive shock, the protocol had an npv above 97% yet it had a lower ppv. for shock with distributive or mixed etiology, rush showed a ppv of 100% but it had low sensitivity. subgroup analysi...