Shivani Singh Singh

Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is one of the most important causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality and early prenatal diagnosis is essential for effective treatment and better clinical outcomes. In this study, ECHOFOCUS-CHD, an AI-inspired autonomous framework for the diagnosis of Critical Congenital Heart Disease from ultrasound images of fetuses is proposed. A quantitative experimental research design was used and 200 prenatal ultrasound scans acquired from hospitals and fetal echocardiography databases are used. A Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) was created to classify fetal cardiac conditions into normal, mild, moderate and critical CHD categories. The models are enhanced by using image preprocessing methods like noise reduction, normalization, contrast enhancement, and data augmentation. An overall accuracy of 94.5%, sensitivity of 92.8%, specificity of 95.6% with an AUC value of 0.96% was obtained, which shows an excellent diagnostic capability in the proposed system. The reliability of the framework was also verified using confusion matrix and ROC curve analyses. The system was also able to automatically classify the heart defects of foals using images from their prenatal scans, aiding clinical decisions during pregnancy and early treatment planning. The results show that AI-powered prenatal ultrasound analysis has the potential to greatly improve the effectiveness of early detection of CHD and prenatal screening.

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) have been proposed as assistive technologies for Locked-In Syndrome (LIS) patients that can facilitate communication based on decoding of neural signals. Traditional BCI systems based on recurrent neural network (RNN) models exhibit certain constraints in terms of decoding accuracy, communication speed, and response latency. The current study aims to assess the effectiveness of transformer-based frameworks in optimizing the efficiency of both invasive and non-invasive BCI systems as compared to classical RNN models. A computational-clinical study design was used which involved participation of 48 LIS or severely paralysed participants. Subjects were grouped in accordance with their involvement in invasive or non-invasive BCI groups, and assessments were conducted during a period of eight weeks of intervention. Neural activity data processing was done with the help of two different approaches, including transformer-based model application and RNN application, assessing communication speed, decoding accuracy, latency, and error rates of both systems. Results suggest that transformer-based neural decoding frameworks proved to be superior to RNNs in terms of all evaluated criteria. Invasive transformer-based BCI demonstrated the best results concerning communication speed, decoding accuracy, lowest latency, and lowest error rates. Non-invasive transformer BCIs also yielded better results than RNN-based BCIs.

Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) has become an essential area that combines AI, robotics, affective computing, and healthcare technologies. This study considers the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in managing emotional connections, multisensory interaction, and psychological support in robot-led pregnancy systems. This article focuses on emotional recognition systems, multisensory communication, biosensors, adaptive robotics, ethical questions, social acceptance issues, and future advancements in maternal healthcare robotics. There is existing evidence suggesting that the use of emotionally intelligent robot systems may help improve maternal mental state, minimize the negative effects of stress and anxiety, increase engagement in healthcare processes, and give individualized assistance during pregnancy. Machine learning (ML) techniques, natural language processing, affective computing, and physiological sensors play a major role in enhancing the emotional intelligence of robotic healthcare technologies. At the same time, there are some difficulties related to the authenticity of emotions, privacy issues, emotional dependence, biased algorithms, and other ethical concerns that restrict their application. Overall, robot-led pregnancy systems demonstrate great potential as maternal healthcare technology solutions.

Infectious leucorrhoea is one of the most prevalent diseases of gynecologic nature involving infection of the reproductive system by fungi, bacteria, and parasites. Recurrent vaginal infections may lead to microbial cross-infections between male sex partners, adversely affecting sexual relations and intimate connections in the couple. This paper attempted to examine the problem of cross-infection, the state of urogenital health of men involved in the research, and the effect of infectious leucorrhoea on sexual arousal in both parties. A cross-sectional observational clinical study was carried out among 80 couples undergoing gynecology and urology clinics visits due to complaints of infectious vaginal discharge. Clinical evaluation, microbial investigation, laboratory tests, and questionnaire were used in the process of information collection. The results have shown that C. albicans was the most common pathogen among women in the sample group. Dysuria, balanitis, and penile irritation were found among men involved in the research, suggesting possible cross-infection from women. Sexual desire loss and avoidance behavior were noticed as well. Analysis of statistics indicates that there were highly significant relationships between infections with leucorrhoea, urogenital problems among men, and compromised sexual wellbeing (p

Conjoined twinning is a very rare congenital disorder that results from partial separation during the development of the embryos in cases of monozygotic twins. Male-female symmetrical conjoined twins with an opposite phenotype in relation to their biological sex are an extremely rare developmental abnormality due to the complications involved, from an embryological, genetic, hormonal, clinical, and ethical standpoint. In this review, we discuss the embryological causes of conjoined twinning, sexual differentiation processes, and the potential causes of discordant phenotypical sex development through chromosomal mosaicism, epigenetics, asymmetry of hormone distribution, or receptors. Furthermore, Disorders of Sex Development (DSD), prenatal diagnosis and molecular analyses, psychosocial impacts, surgery, and ethical issues related to sexual discordance among conjoined twins are evaluated. Our current scientific knowledge is limited since such cases are extremely rare.

The current research study explored the physiological and psychological shifts that take place in the bodies of transgender men and transgender women on undergoing hormone therapy. A quantitative comparative study design was employed involving 120 individuals – 60 transgender men on testosterone therapy and 60 transgender women on estrogen and anti-androgen therapy over a period of one year. The study involved data collection using methods such as anthropometry, hormonal profiling, laboratory testing, cardiovascular examination, and psychosocial measures. The results showed marked physiological transformations in the form of increased muscle mass and elevated hemoglobin content among transgender men, and increased body fat accumulation and breast growth and decreased muscle mass among transgender women. In addition, there were certain effects noted on the metabolism and cardiovascular system as a result of hormone therapy. The psychological effects included better emotional well-being, improved body image and self-esteem, and lower levels of anxiety and depression.