This prospective randomized study showed that non-lactate-containing crystalloid solution may have important advantages over LR solution, concerning lactate and liver profiles, in living donors undergoing right hepatectomy.

Viral meningitis is the most common cause of aseptic meningitis. Use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has increased the ability to determine the etiology of viral meningitis. This study used PCR analysis to evaluate the etiology of aseptic meningitis in 177 previously healthy adults over a 5-year period, as well as analyzing the clinical characteristics, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) findings, and prognosis according to each etiology. The most frequent cause of aseptic meningitis was enterovirus (EV), followed by varicella zoster virus (VZV). Patients with EV meningitis were significantly younger than those with VZV meningitis. The percentage of lymphocytes in white blood cell counts and protein concentrations in the CSF differed significantly among patients with EV, VZV and meningitis of undetermined etiology. Younger age and lower percentage of lymphocyte and protein level in CSF analysis may be suggestive of EV meningitis. Further prospective studies are warranted to identify the correlations between the clinical characteristics and the etiologies of meningitis.

Machine learning is where a machine (i.e., computer) determines for itself how input data is processed and predicts outcomes when provided with new data. An artificial neural network is a machine learning algorithm based on the concept of a human neuron. The purpose of this review is to explain the fundamental concepts of artificial neural networks.