Eighteen New Candidate Effectors of the Phytonematode Heterodera glycines Produced Specifically in the Secretory Esophageal Gland Cells During Parasitism.

Heterodera glycines, the soybean cyst nematode, is the number one pathogen of soybean (Glycine max). This nematode infects soybean roots and forms an elaborate feeding site in the vascular cylinder. H.

MR-detected changes in liver fat, abdominal fat, and vertebral bone marrow fat after a four-week calorie restriction in obese women.

Purpose: To determine changes in the bone marrow fat fraction (BMFF) in obesity after dietary intervention in comparison with changes in abdominal fat, liver fat, and serum lipids.

Materials And Methods: Twenty obese (BMI 34.92 ± 3.

Relationship of unilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) to contralateral and ipsilateral knee joint degeneration - a longitudinal 3T MRI study from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI).

Objective: To evaluate the association of prevalent unilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA) with worsening of degenerative knee abnormalities and clinical outcomes in the ipsilateral and contralateral knee.

Methods: Both knees of 30 individuals in the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) with unilateral THA (n = 14 left, n = 16 right) at baseline were assessed at baseline and at 4-year follow-up for Whole-organ MR Imaging Scores (WORMS), cartilage T2 relaxation times (only available for right knees), Western Ontario and McMasters Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) scores and upper leg isometric strength. Right knees of 30 individuals without THA were analyzed as controls.

Diffusion-weighted stimulated echo acquisition mode (DW-STEAM) MR spectroscopy to measure fat unsaturation in regions with low proton-density fat fraction.

Purpose: To propose and optimize diffusion-weighted stimulated echo acquisition mode (DW-STEAM) for measuring fat unsaturation in the presence of a strong water signal by suppressing the water signal based on a shorter T2 and higher diffusivity of water relative to fat.

Methods: A parameter study for point-resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) and STEAM using oil phantoms was performed and correlated with gas chromatography (GC). Simulations of muscle tissue signal behavior using DW-STEAM and long-echo time (TE) PRESS and a parameter optimization for DW-STEAM were conducted.

In-vivo assessment of femoral bone strength using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) based on routine MDCT imaging: a preliminary study on patients with vertebral fractures.

Purpose: To experimentally validate a non-linear finite element analysis (FEA) modeling approach assessing in-vitro fracture risk at the proximal femur and to transfer the method to standard in-vivo multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) data of the hip aiming to predict additional hip fracture risk in subjects with and without osteoporosis associated vertebral fractures using bone mineral density (BMD) measurements as gold standard.

Methods: One fresh-frozen human femur specimen was mechanically tested and fractured simulating stance and clinically relevant fall loading configurations to the hip. After experimental in-vitro validation, the FEA simulation protocol was transferred to standard contrast-enhanced in-vivo MDCT images to calculate individual hip fracture risk each for 4 subjects with and without a history of osteoporotic vertebral fractures matched by age and gender.

The cyst nematode effector protein 10A07 targets and recruits host posttranslational machinery to mediate its nuclear trafficking and to promote parasitism in Arabidopsis.

Plant-parasitic cyst nematodes synthesize and secrete effector proteins that are essential for parasitism. One such protein is the 10A07 effector from the sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii, which is exclusively expressed in the nematode dorsal gland cell during all nematode parasitic stages. Overexpression of H.

The need for T₂ correction on MRS-based vertebral bone marrow fat quantification: implications for bone marrow fat fraction age dependence.

Vertebral bone marrow fat quantification using single-voxel MRS is confounded by overlapping water-fat peaks and the difference in T2 relaxation time between water and fat components. The purposes of the present study were: (i) to determine the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of vertebral bone marrow using single-voxel multi-TE MRS, addressing these confounding effects; and (ii) to investigate the implications of these corrections with respect to the age dependence of the PDFF. Single-voxel MRS was performed in the L5 vertebral body of 86 subjects (54 women and 32 men).

A reference database of cartilage 3 T MRI T2 values in knees without diagnostic evidence of cartilage degeneration: data from the osteoarthritis initiative.

Objective: 1) To establish a gender- and BMI-specific reference database of cartilage T2 values, and 2) to assess the associations between cartilage T2 values and gender, age, and BMI in knees without radiographic osteoarthritis or MRI-based (WORMS 0/1) evidence of cartilage degeneration.

Design: 481 subjects aged 45-65 years with Kellgren-Lawrence Scores 0/1 in the study knee were selected. Baseline morphologic cartilage 3T MRI readings (WORMS scoring) and T2 measurements (resolution = 0.

Assessment of whole spine vertebral bone marrow fat using chemical shift-encoding based water-fat MRI.

Background: The assessment of bone marrow composition has recently gained significant attention due to its association with bone loss pathophysiology and cancer therapy-induced bone marrow damage. The purpose of our study was to investigate the anatomical variation of the vertebral bone marrow fat using chemical shift-encoding based water-fat MRI and to assess the repeatability of these measurements.

Methods: Chemical shift-encoding based water-fat MRI of the whole spine was performed in 28 young, healthy subjects (17 males, 11 females, 26 ± 4 years).

Local Staging of Soft-Tissue Sarcoma: Emphasis on Assessment of Neurovascular Encasement-Value of MR Imaging in 174 Confirmed Cases.

Purpose: To evaluate utility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in local staging of soft-tissue sarcoma, with an emphasis on assessment of neurovascular encasement.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval was obtained; informed consent requirement was waived. Preoperative MR images in 174 patients with soft-tissue sarcoma were analyzed by two readers.

Volumetric femoral BMD, bone geometry, and serum sclerostin levels differ between type 2 diabetic postmenopausal women with and without fragility fractures.

Unlabelled: While type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with higher skeletal fragility, specific risk stratification remains incompletely understood. We found volumetric bone mineral density, geometry, and serum sclerostin differences between low-fracture risk and high-fracture risk T2D women. These features might help identify T2D individuals at high fracture risk in the future.

Characterizing Trabecular Bone structure for Assessing Vertebral Fracture Risk on Volumetric Quantitative Computed Tomography.

While the proximal femur is preferred for measuring bone mineral density (BMD) in fracture risk estimation, the introduction of volumetric quantitative computed tomography has revealed stronger associations between BMD and spinal fracture status. In this study, we propose to capture properties of trabecular bone structure in spinal vertebrae with advanced second-order statistical features for purposes of fracture risk assessment. For this purpose, axial multi-detector CT (MDCT) images were acquired from 28 spinal vertebrae specimens using a whole-body 256-row CT scanner with a dedicated calibration phantom.

Temporal dynamics of the very premature infant gut dominant microbiota.

Background: The very-preterm infant gut microbiota is increasingly explored due to its probable role in the development of life threatening diseases. Results of high-throughput studies validate and renew the interest in approaches with lower resolution such as PCR-Temporal Temperature Gel Electrophoresis (TTGE) for the follow-up of dominant microbiota dynamics. We report here an extensive longitudinal study of gut colonization in very preterm infants.

MR-based trabecular bone microstructure is not altered in subjects with indolent systemic mastocytosis.

Subjects with indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM) have an increased risk for osteoporosis. It has been demonstrated that trabecular bone microstructure analysis improves the prediction of bone strength beyond dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-based bone mineral density. The purpose of this study was to obtain Magnetic Resonance (MR)-based trabecular bone microstructure parameters as advanced imaging biomarkers in subjects with ISM (n=18) and compare them with those of normal controls (n=18).

Technical note: The two step procedure (TSP) for the determination of age at death of adult human remains in forensic cases.

This paper presents the principles and results of TSP (the two step procedure), a comprehensive (combined) method of age estimation in mature human skeletal remains. The first step consists of the examination of the pubic symphysis using the Suchey-Brooks system for a "pre-choice". Then for SBS phases I, II, III, (young adults up to about 40) the age estimate is given using the chronological interval corresponding to each phase.

Magnetic resonance perfusion and diffusion imaging characteristics of transient bone marrow edema, avascular necrosis and subchondral insufficiency fractures of the proximal femur.

Purpose: To evaluate magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion and diffusion imaging characteristics in patients with transient bone marrow edema (TBME), avascular necrosis (AVN), or subchondral insufficiency fractures (SIF) of the proximal femur.

Materials And Methods: 29 patients with painful hip and bone marrow edema pattern of the proximal femur on non-contrast MR imaging were examined using diffusion-weighted and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced sequences. Apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) and perfusion parameters were calculated for different regions of the proximal femur.

Members of the Meloidogyne avirulence protein family contain multiple plant ligand-like motifs.

Sedentary plant-parasitic nematodes engage in complex interactions with their host plants by secreting effector proteins. Some effectors of both root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) and cyst nematodes (Heterodera and Globodera spp.

Cartilage repair surgery: outcome evaluation by using noninvasive cartilage biomarkers based on quantitative MRI techniques?

Background: New quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques are increasingly applied as outcome measures after cartilage repair.

Objective: To review the current literature on the use of quantitative MRI biomarkers for evaluation of cartilage repair at the knee and ankle.

Methods: Using PubMed literature research, studies on biochemical, quantitative MR imaging of cartilage repair were identified and reviewed.

Mining novel effector proteins from the esophageal gland cells of Meloidogyne incognita.

Meloidogyne incognita is one of the most economically damaging plant pathogens in agriculture and horticulture. Identifying and characterizing the effector proteins which M. incognita secretes into its host plants during infection is an important step toward finding new ways to manage this pest.

Synchronization of developmental processes and defense signaling by growth regulating transcription factors.

Growth regulating factors (GRFs) are a conserved class of transcription factor in seed plants. GRFs are involved in various aspects of tissue differentiation and organ development. The implication of GRFs in biotic stress response has also been recently reported, suggesting a role of these transcription factors in coordinating the interaction between developmental processes and defense dynamics.

Improving bone strength prediction in human proximal femur specimens through geometrical characterization of trabecular bone microarchitecture and support vector regression.

We investigate the use of different trabecular bone descriptors and advanced machine learning tech niques to complement standard bone mineral density (BMD) measures derived from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for improving clinical assessment of osteoporotic fracture risk. For this purpose, volumes of interest were extracted from the head, neck, and trochanter of 146 proximal femur specimens on multidetector computer tomography. The trabecular bone captured was characterized with (1) statistical moments of the BMD distribution, (2) geometrical features derived from the scaling index method (SIM), and (3) morphometric parameters, such as bone fraction, trabecular thickness, etc.

Bone mineral density values derived from routine lumbar spine multidetector row CT predict osteoporotic vertebral fractures and screw loosening.

Background And Purpose: Established methods of assessing bone mineral density are associated with additional radiation exposure to the patient. In this study, we aimed to validate a method of assessing bone mineral density in routine multidetector row CT of the lumbar spine.

Materials And Methods: In 38 patients, bone mineral density was assessed in quantitative CT as a standard of reference and in sagittal reformations derived from standard multidetector row CT studies without IV contrast.