BACKGROUND: Non-invasive high-resolution echocardiography to evaluate cardiovascular function of small animals is increasingly being used due to availability of genetically engineered murine models. Even though guidelines and standard values for humans were revised by the American Society of Echocardiography, evaluations on murine models are not performed according to any standard protocols. These limitations are preventing translation of preclinical evaluations to clinical meaningful conclusions. We have assessed the right heart of two commonly used murine models according to standard clinical guidelines, and provided the practical guide and sample values for cardiac assessments. METHODS: Right heart echocardiography evaluations of CD1 and C57BL/6 mice were performed under 1–3% isoflurane anesthesia using Vevo® 2100 Imaging System with a high-frequency (18–38 MHz) probe (VisualSonics MS400). We have provided a practical guide on how to image and assess the right heart of a mouse which is frequently used to evaluate development of right heart failure due to pulmonary hypertension. RESULTS: Our results show significant differences between CD1 and C57BL/6 mice. Right ventricle structural assessment showed significantly larger (p < 0.05) size, and pulmonary artery diameter in CD1 mice (n = 11) compared to C57BL/6 mice (n = 15). Right heart systolic and diastolic functions were similar for both strains. CONCLUSION: Our practical guide on how to image and assess the right heart of murine models provides the first comprehensive values which can be used for preclinical research studies using echocardiography. Additionally, our results indicate that there is a high variability between mouse species and experimental models should be carefully selected for cardiac evaluations.
Anesthesia ; Animals ; Echocardiography* ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Heart Ventricles* ; Humans ; Hypertension, Pulmonary ; Isoflurane ; Mice ; Models, Theoretical ; Pulmonary Artery

OBJECTIVES: Efficient identification of subject experts or expert communities is vital for the growth of any organization. Most of the available expert finding systems are based on self-nomination, which can be biased, and are unable to rank experts. Thus, the objective of this work was to develop a robust and unbiased expert finding system which can quantitatively measure expertise. METHODS: Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a controlled vocabulary developed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) for indexing research publications, articles and books. Using the MeSH terms associated with peer-reviewed articles published from India and indexed in PubMed, we developed a Web-based program which can be used to identify subject experts and subjects associated with an expert. RESULTS: We have extensively tested our system to identify experts from India in various subjects. The system provides a ranked list of experts where known experts rank at the top of the list. The system is general; since it uses information available with the PubMed, it can be implemented for any country. CONCLUSIONS: The expert finding system is able to successfully identify subject experts in India. Our system is unique because it allows the quantification of subject expertise, thus enabling the ranking of experts. Our system is based on peer-reviewed information. Use of MeSH terms as subjects has standardized the subject terminology. The system matches requirements of an ideal expert finding system.
Abstracting and Indexing as Topic ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Data Mining ; Expert Systems ; India ; Medical Subject Headings* ; National Library of Medicine (U.S.) ; Online Systems ; Professional Competence ; Vocabulary, Controlled

Background/Aims: Accurate assessment of disease activity is crucial for effective management and treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluated the correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. Methods: Clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and histologic disease activity was studied in 347 patients with UC. Agreements among various histologic classification systems, namely the Geboes Score (GS), Continuous GS, Nancy Index (NI), and Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), were analyzed. The predictive accuracy of fecal calprotectin (FC) for endoscopic and histologic remission was assessed. Results: We demonstrate a fair to moderate correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. There was a robust concordance among GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI in distinguishing between patients in histologic remission or activity. The NI detected 75% of patients who met the remission criteria according to the RHI, whereas the RHI identified all patients in remission as defined by the NI. FC levels below 150 μg/g had >70% accuracy in predicting endoscopic remission. FC levels below 150 μg/g showed ≥80% accuracy, and FC levels below 100 μg/g demonstrated ≥ 85% accuracy in predicting histologic remission, regardless of the scoring index applied. Elevated FC levels were associated with both acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrates in biopsy samples. Conclusions FC is a reliable predictor of histologic remission, with higher accuracy at lower thresholds. The GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI demonstrate comparable performance. FC could help stratify patients’ need for colonoscopy for the assessment of endoscopic and histologic remission.

Background/Aims: Accurate assessment of disease activity is crucial for effective management and treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluated the correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. Methods: Clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and histologic disease activity was studied in 347 patients with UC. Agreements among various histologic classification systems, namely the Geboes Score (GS), Continuous GS, Nancy Index (NI), and Robarts Histopathology Index (RHI), were analyzed. The predictive accuracy of fecal calprotectin (FC) for endoscopic and histologic remission was assessed. Results: We demonstrate a fair to moderate correlation between clinical, endoscopic, and histologic measures of disease activity in UC. There was a robust concordance among GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI in distinguishing between patients in histologic remission or activity. The NI detected 75% of patients who met the remission criteria according to the RHI, whereas the RHI identified all patients in remission as defined by the NI. FC levels below 150 μg/g had >70% accuracy in predicting endoscopic remission. FC levels below 150 μg/g showed ≥80% accuracy, and FC levels below 100 μg/g demonstrated ≥ 85% accuracy in predicting histologic remission, regardless of the scoring index applied. Elevated FC levels were associated with both acute and chronic inflammatory infiltrates in biopsy samples. Conclusions FC is a reliable predictor of histologic remission, with higher accuracy at lower thresholds. The GS, Continuous GS, NI, and RHI demonstrate comparable performance. FC could help stratify patients’ need for colonoscopy for the assessment of endoscopic and histologic remission.