ChatGPT In Healthcare: What Science Says
This study demonstrates that ChatGPT, a large language model, can assist in radiologic decision-making at the point of care, achieving moderate to high accuracy in determining appropriate imaging steps for breast cancer screening and breast pain evaluation, although limitations of the model, such as misalignment and “hallucinations”, must be considered when designing clinically-oriented prompts for use with large language models.Analysis of large-language model versus human performance for genetics questionsMedrxivThe use of language models like ChatGPT in clinical genetics has the potential to provide rapid an...
Source: The Medical Futurist - May 25, 2023 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: TMF Artificial Intelligence in Medicine ChatGPT digital health large language models ChatGPT in healthcare AI in healthcare AI in medicine Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 717
This week ' s classic case was generously provided by Florida Fan. The following was seen in a Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smear. No additional history is available. Diagnosis?Each division on the ruler is 2.5 micrometers; the object is slightly less than 250 micrometers long. (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 10, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 717
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 717:Brugia malayiThis case was a little bit tricky in that the tail didn ' t show a clear terminal and subterminal nucleus as expected forB. malayi. However, the tail nuclei were separated, there is a long head space, and the sheath stained deep pink with Giemsa (the latter being a ' soft ' feature). To confirm the findings, many of you rightly noted that you would try to get the patient ' s travel history and also look for other microfilariae in this specimen.B. malayiis restricted to Asia and SE Asia and is a cause of lymphatic filariasis. Thanks again to Florida Fan...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 7, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 716
Happy May, everyone! As the first Monday of the month, it ' s time for our post fromIdzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Idzi was recently featured in agreat articleby the Institute - you should check it out! This month ' s case are the following objects seen in 3 different stains from a patient with sudden onset of profuse watery diarrhea and abdominal cramping:Concentrated wet preparation with Lugol ' s iodineHeine stainModified acid fast stainWhat is your diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 1, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 716
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 716:Cyclospora cayetanensisoocystsOn the wet mount preparation with Lugol ' s iodine, one can nicely appreciate the spherical oocyst with well-defined outer wall and internal globular bodies. The oocysts are not highlighted by the Heine and trichrome stains (latter not shown), but their presence may be suspected by their negative contour. Confirmation can be made by staining with modified acid fast stain (or modified safranin stain), and by demonstrating autofluorescence with fluorescence microscopy. It is important to measure the oocysts on the stains above, since cryptosp...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 30, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 715
This week ' s interesting case was donated by Dr Mike Mitchell and his fantastic parasitology experts, Laura Derderian, Gwen Kee, and Brie Ray. The specimen below was submitted to the laboratory for evaluation of a possible parasite after being found in a 19 month girl ' s diaper. Identification? What is the significance to the patient? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 25, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 715
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 715: Cockroach ootheca (egg case or ' purse ' )These fascinating structures contain about 30-40 eggs each. The female cockroach carries her ootheca until the eggs hatch and the first instar nymphs emerge. For those of you who had never heard of this phenomenon before, you can read moreHERE. In this case, we can see the emerging nymphs:Laura noted that the ootheca was hard and solid when it first arrived in the lab so she added some saline and waited for 30 minutes. This is when the nymphs began to poke out and she was able to remove them for individual viewing. Thinking abo...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 23, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 714
This week ' s case was donated by Dr. Sandeep T. You may remember the amazing case of fasciolopiasis he provided back in 2012 (and if not, you should definitely check it outHERE). His latest case from a middle aged taxi driver who reports passing white objects in is his stool for the past 2 years. He denies fever, weight loss, vomiting and diarrhea. A routine complete count is unremarkable with no anemia. Below is one of the white objects submitted for pathologic examination. Identification? What additional procedures would be helpful in this case? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 5, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 714
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 714:Taeniaspecies proglottid. Examination of the uterine branching pattern is required for species level identification when using morphology alone. Gravid proglottids (which we know we have here since we see eggs) can be categorized into 2 groups:Taenia soliumproglottids have 7-13 primary lateral branches off of the central stem, whereasT. saginataandT. asiaticahave 12-30. Of the three species, onlyT. soliumcauses human cysticercosis, so it is helpful to identify whenT. soliumis present.Options for determining the species of gravid proglottids are:1. Transilluminating the progl...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 2, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 713
Here is combination case from my archives showing a particular parasite in 3 different preparations of vaginal secretions.Conventional Pap smear:ThinPrep Pap smear:Giemsa-stained cytoprep:Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 27, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 713
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 713:Trichomonas vaginalistrophozoiteAs noted by Florida Fan, the Giemsa-stained preparation is ideal for highlighting the key morphologic features ofT. vaginalistrophozoites, including the flagella, undulating membrane, and axostyle. In my mind, the Pap stain just doesn ' t highlight the features as well. Here is an annotated image showing some of these features:The trophozoites ofT. vaginalisare 7-30 micrometers long, are tear drop/pear-shaped (i.e., pyriform), and have 5 flagella. Four flagella are anteriorly directed, while the 5th flagellum runs posteriorly along the undulat...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 26, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Early Oak Piercer just for FUN
TL:DR – Pheromones are a useful tool for discovering what day-flying moths are in your neighbourhood.
As regular readers know, I do a bit of mothing…I have had a FUN lure, a pheromone lure aimed at attracting Grapholita funebrana. It’s been sighted in the garden for a couple of weeks with nothing appearing until 21st March 2023 at which point I was lucky enough to catch a couple of micro moths, Pammene giganteana (known to some unofficially as the Early Oak Piercer) not the target species but nice to see, nevertheless.
The micro moth Pammene giganteana (Early Oak Piercer)
The larvae of the Early Oak Pier...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - March 23, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Lepidoptera Source Type: blogs
Case of the Week 712
This week ' s beautiful case was donated by Drs. Beal, Saulino and Herrera Rivera from the University of Florida. The following structure was noted on a liver biopsy from a patient with former international residence. What is the diagnosis? Can you describe the key diagnostic features? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 6, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
Quotations Missing from Bartlett ’s
David BoazOverat The Dispatch (ungatedhere) I have a critique of the latest edition ofBartlett ' s Familiar Quotations. As I say,Bartlett ' sis " the gold standard of quotations, the place anyone can go to confirm a quote and see the source. " But its editors " seem far more familiar with the words of liberal, leftist, and socialist sources than those of conservatives and libertarians. "Over the past 40 years, since the rise of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, John Paul II, and even Deng Xiaoping, the world has seen a turn toward markets and economic freedom (albeit with a fall in 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns). But...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 6, 2023 Category: American Health Authors: David Boaz Source Type: blogs
Answer to Case 712
Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 712:Schistosomasp. egg within an eosinophilic granuloma.As nicely described by Idzi (with minor edits from me), " When the eggs are deposited by the female worm in the arterial plexus of intestines/bladder, many of these eggs will flow back to the liver. In the picture, I can ’t see the egg’s spine, so the exact species remains unknown, but we can see the refractive egg shell with miracidium inside. At the miracidium’s terebratorium (upper left), we can see one of the two lateral secretory glands (staining basophilic). Right behind this gland, we see part of a ring of nerv...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 5, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs
