Artificial Intelligence-Based Assistance System for Visual Inspection of X-ray Scatter Grids.

Convolutional neural network (CNN)-based approaches have recently led to major performance steps in visual recognition tasks. However, only a few industrial applications are described in the literature. In this paper, an object detection application for visual quality evaluation of X-ray scatter grids is described and evaluated.

Ceramide-Initiated Protein Phosphatase 2A Activation Contributes to Arterial Dysfunction In Vivo.

Prior studies have implicated accumulation of ceramide in blood vessels as a basis for vascular dysfunction in diet-induced obesity via a mechanism involving type 2 protein phosphatase (PP2A) dephosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). The current study sought to elucidate the mechanisms linking ceramide accumulation with PP2A activation and determine whether pharmacological inhibition of PP2A in vivo normalizes obesity-associated vascular dysfunction and limits the severity of hypertension. We show in endothelial cells that ceramide associates with the inhibitor 2 of PP2A (I2PP2A) in the cytosol, which disrupts the association of I2PP2A with PP2A leading to its translocation to the plasma membrane.

Impairment of autophagy in endothelial cells prevents shear-stress-induced increases in nitric oxide bioavailability.

Autophagy is a lysosomal catabolic process by which cells degrade or recycle their contents to maintain cellular homeostasis, adapt to stress, and respond to disease. Impairment of autophagy in endothelial cells studied under static conditions results in oxidant stress and impaired nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. We tested the hypothesis that vascular autophagy is also important for induction of NO production caused by exposure of endothelial cells to shear stress (i.

Augmented blood removal after medicinal leech feeding in congested tissue flaps.

Reconstructive microsurgery is performed to reattach, transfer, or transplant body tissues. Venous congestion is a complication that threatens the viability of the affected tissue and is often treated with medicinal leeches. Leech therapy has two phases: active bloodletting and passive bleeding from the leech wound after detachment, which can last for several hours.

Development of a mechanical device to replace medicinal leech (Hirudo medicinalis) for treatment of venous congestion.

Medicinal leeches are used to treat venous congestion, a complication of reconstructive surgery. Despite substantial drawbacks of leeching, little progress has been made to develop a device that would replace the leech for this purpose. The goal of this study was to develop and test mechanical prototypes for the treatment of venous congestion.

Use of three-dimensional computed tomography for diagnosis and treatment planning for open-mouth jaw locking in a cat.

Case Description: A 2.5-year-old spayed female Persian cat was evaluated for acute inability to close its mouth.

Clinical Findings: A wry-mouth malocclusion was evident, and the right side of the mandible was longer than the left side.

A comparison of joint stability between anterior cruciate intact and deficient knees: a new canine model of anterior cruciate ligament disruption.

Transection of the canine anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a well-established osteoarthritis (OA) model. This study evaluated a new method of canine ACL disruption as well as canine knee joint laxity and joint capsule (JC) contribution to joint stability at two time points (16 and 26 weeks) after ACL disruption (n=5/time interval). Ten crossbreed hounds were evaluated with force plate gait analysis and radiographs at intervals up to 34 weeks after monopolar radiofrequency energy (MRFE) treatment of one randomly selected ACL.

Healing of subfailure ligament injury: comparison between immature and mature ligaments in a rat model.

This study evaluated biomechanical properties of healing ligament following subfailure (grade II) injury by comparing young and mature animals in a rat lateral collateral ligament (LCL) model. One randomly selected LCL was stretched in situ using a custom designed device in eighteen young (21 days) and eighteen skeletally mature (8 months) male rats. Animals were euthanized at 0, 7, and 14 days post-surgery, and ligament ultimate stress, strain at failure and laxity were determined (n = 6 pairs per group).