Abstract:
Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for treating damage inflicted by use of a cardio-pulmonary bypass (CPB) machine, particularly excessive bleeding and multi organ failure, by administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT).
Abstract:
A method for preventing bleeding, blood-brain barrier disruption, brain injury, or a combination thereof in a subject destined for cardiac surgery is disclosed. The method involves administering to the subject prior to cardiac surgery a therapeutically effective amount of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT-1), or functional variant thereof. The result is that it prevents bleeding, blood-brain barrier disruption, or a combination thereof in a subject destined for cardiac surgery.
Abstract:
A sterile injector comprises a body having a cavity, a hollow needle positionable at a distal end of the injector, a probe holder receivable within the needle, a probe connected to a distal end of the holder, and a driving element axially displaceable within the cavity, for causing relative motion between the probe and the needle upon displacement of the driving element. A sample is injected into a sealed container by displacing the driving element to a first position causing the probe to extend from the needle, applying the extended probe with a sample, displacing the driving element to a second position causing the sample laden probe to be retracted within the needle, piercing a seal of a sealed container with the needle, and displacing the driving element to a third position distally spaced from the first position, after which the probe is injected into the container interior.
Abstract:
A method for three-dimensional interactive segmentation, including: receiving a three-dimensional medical image of an interior volume of a patient's body; automatically performing three dimensional segmentation on the three dimensional medical image to detect and define a region of interest, wherein the performing of the three dimensional segmentation comprises automatically determining a boundary defining the region of interest; receiving from a user spatial information indicating one or more regions of disagreement in the three-dimensional medical image with respect to the determined boundary; and updating the three dimensional segmentation of the three dimensional medical image based on the spatial information received from the user, wherein the updating comprises updating the determined boundary based on the spatial information to redefine the area of interest.
Abstract:
Provided herein are compositions for treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and methods of their use, including inhibiting ALL relapse. Further provided herein are systems of treatment that are directed by a health care provider, and which combine prognostic methods for determining ALL relapse and the described treatments.
Abstract:
A device (200) for implantation in or near an annulus of a tricuspid valve comprising at least one blood flow control element (202) adapted to capture a volume of blood therein. Optionally or alternatively, the blood flow control element is adapted to allow at least some volume of blood (406) to regurgitate through the annulus during at least some part of systole. Optionally or alternatively, the device comprises a relatively rigid annulus with an arc length of less than 300 degrees. Optionally or alternatively, the relatively rigid annulus comprises a plurality of tissue fixation elements positioned along no more than 300 degrees of a circumference of the annulus, for example to avoid damaging conduction pathways between an atria and a chamber.
Abstract:
This disclosure relates to compositions for use in treatment of a retinal degenerative disease, such as age related macular degeneration. The described compositions include agents for activating p38 and/or JNK signaling through the activation of TAK1 in the retinal pigment epithelium of a subject diagnosed with the disease. Methods of treatment of a retinal degenerative disease using the described compositions are also provided.
Abstract:
A method of distinguishing sleep period states that a person experiences during a sleep period, the method comprising: using a non-contact microphone to acquire a sleep sound signal representing sounds made by a person during sleep; segmenting the sleep sound signals into epochs; generating a sleep sound feature vector for each epoch; providing a first model that gives a probability that a given sleep period state experienced by the person in a given epoch exhibits a given sleep sound feature vector; providing a second model that gives a probability that a first sleep period state associated with a first epoch transitions to a second sleep period state associated with a subsequent second epoch; and processing the feature vectors using the first and second models to determine a sleep period state of the person from a plurality of possible sleep period states for each of the epochs.
Abstract:
A chitosan composition which forms a hydrogel at near physiological pH and 37° C., comprising at least one type of chitosan having a degree of acetylation in the range of from about 30% to about 60%, and at least one type of chitosan having a degree of deacetylation of at least about 70% is disclosed. Further disclosed is a chitosan composition which forms a hydrogel at near physiological pH and 37° C., that includes at least one type of chitosan having a degree of deacetylation of at least about 70% and a molecular weight of from 10-4000 kDa, and at least one type of a chitosan having a molecular weight of from 200-20000 Da. Further disclosed are methods of preparation and uses of the chitosan compositions.
Abstract:
A method of analysis is disclosed. The method comprises: registering a target image to define a plurality of keypoints arranged in sets corresponding to polygons or linear segments in the target image; accessing a database of registered and annotated images, and employing a polygon-wise comparison between the target image and each database image; and using the comparison for projecting annotated locations from the database images into the target image.