Landmark Localization From Medical Images With Generative Distribution Prior.

In medical image analysis, anatomical landmarks usually contain strong prior knowledge of their structural information. In this paper, we propose to promote medical landmark localization by modeling the underlying landmark distribution via normalizing flows. Specifically, we introduce the flow-based landmark distribution prior as a learnable objective function into a regression-based landmark localization framework.

Automatic Assessment of Ultrasound Curvature Angle for Scoliosis Detection Using 3-D Ultrasound Volume Projection Imaging.

Objective: Scoliosis is a spinal deformation in which the spine takes a lateral curvature, generating an angle in the coronal plane. The conventional method for detecting scoliosis is measurement of the Cobb angle in spine images obtained by anterior X-ray scanning. Ultrasound imaging of the spine is found to be less ionising than traditional radiographic modalities.

-related congenital myopathy in a Han Chinese patient: A case report and literature review.

mutations have been shown to be associated with myotonia, paramyotonia congenita, and periodic paralyses. More recently, loss-of-function variants in the gene were also noted to be associated with rarer, autosomal recessive forms of congenital myasthenic syndrome and congenital myopathy. Diagnosis is challenging as the initial clinical presentation and histological features on muscle biopsies are non-specific.

Sleep Apnea Detection Using Multi-Error-Reduction Classification System with Multiple Bio-Signals.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can cause serious health problems such as hypertension or cardiovascular disease. The manual detection of apnea is a time-consuming task, and automatic diagnosis is much more desirable. The contribution of this work is to detect OSA using a multi-error-reduction (MER) classification system with multi-domain features from bio-signals.

Joint Spine Segmentation and Noise Removal From Ultrasound Volume Projection Images With Selective Feature Sharing.

Volume Projection Imaging from ultrasound data is a promising technique to visualize spine features and diagnose Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. In this paper, we present a novel multi-task framework to reduce the scan noise in volume projection images and to segment different spine features simultaneously, which provides an appealing alternative for intelligent scoliosis assessment in clinical applications. Our proposed framework consists of two streams: i) A noise removal stream based on generative adversarial networks, which aims to achieve effective scan noise removal in a weakly-supervised manner, i.

Dual-task ultrasound spine transverse vertebrae segmentation network with contour regularization.

3D ultrasound imaging has become one of the common diagnosis ways to assess scoliosis since it is radiation-free, real-time, and low-cost. Spine curvature angle measurement is an important step to assess scoliosis precisely. One way to calculate the angle is using the vertebrae features of the 2-D coronal images to identify the most tilted vertebrae.

Founder Mutation c.1516A>C in KLHL40 Is a Frequent Cause of Nemaline Myopathy With Hyponatremia in Ethnic Chinese.

KLHL40-related nemaline myopathy is a severe autosomal recessive muscle disorder. The current study describes 4 cases of KLHL40-related nemaline myopathy in Hong Kong ethnic Chinese presenting within 3 years, which are confirmed with clinicopathologic features and genetic studies. The incidence is estimated to be at least 1 in 45 226 livebirths (at least 1 in 41 608 among ethnic Chinese livebirths) in Hong Kong.

Predicting protein-ligand binding site using support vector machine with protein properties.

Identification of protein-ligand binding site is an important task in structure-based drug design and docking algorithms. In the past two decades, different approaches have been developed to predict the binding site, such as the geometric, energetic, and sequence-based methods. When scores are calculated from these methods, the algorithm for doing classification becomes very important and can affect the prediction results greatly.

Hybrid particle swarm optimization with wavelet mutation and its industrial applications.

A new hybrid particle swarm optimization (PSO) that incorporates a wavelet-theory-based mutation operation is proposed. It applies the wavelet theory to enhance the PSO in exploring the solution space more effectively for a better solution. A suite of benchmark test functions and three industrial applications (solving the load flow problems, modeling the development of fluid dispensing for electronic packaging, and designing a neural-network-based controller) are employed to evaluate the performance and the applicability of the proposed method.

LMI-based stability and performance conditions for continuous-time nonlinear systems in Takagi-Sugeno's form.

This correspondence presents the stability analysis and performance design of the continuous-time fuzzy-model-based control systems. The idea of the nonparallel-distributed-compensation (non-PDC) control laws is extended to the continuous-time fuzzy-model-based control systems. A nonlinear controller with non-PDC control laws is proposed to stabilize the continuous-time nonlinear systems in Takagi-Sugeno's form.

Sampled-data fuzzy controller for time-delay nonlinear systems: fuzzy-model-based LMI approach.

This paper presents the stability analysis and performance design for a sampled-data fuzzy control system with time delay, which is formed by a nonlinear plant with time delay and a sampled-data fuzzy controller connected in a closed loop. As the sampled-data fuzzy controller can be implemented by a microcontroller or a digital computer, the implementation time and cost can be reduced. However, the sampling activity and time delay, which are potential causes of system instability, will complicate the system dynamics and make the stability analysis much more difficult than that for a pure continuous-time fuzzy control system.

Design and stabilization of sampled-data neural-network-based control systems.

This paper presents the design and stability analysis of a sampled-data neural-network-based control system. A continuous-time nonlinear plant and a sampled-data three-layer fully connected feedforward neural-network-based controller are connected in a closed loop to perform the control task. Stability conditions will be derived to guarantee the closed-loop system stability.

Fuzzy combination of fuzzy and switching state-feedback controllers for nonlinear systems subject to parameter uncertainties.

This paper presents a fuzzy controller, which involves a fuzzy combination of local fuzzy and global switching state-feedback controllers, for nonlinear systems subject to parameter uncertainties with known bounds. The nonlinear system is represented by a fuzzy combined Takagi-Sugeno-Kang model, which is a fuzzy combination of the global and local fuzzy plant models. By combining the local fuzzy and global switching state-feedback controllers using fuzzy logic techniques, the advantages of both controllers can be retained and the undesirable chattering effect introduced by the global switching state-feedback controller can be eliminated.

Digit and command interpretation for electronic book using neural network and genetic algorithm.

This paper presents the interpretation of digits and commands using a modified neural network and the genetic algorithm. The modified neural network exhibits a node-to-node relationship which enhances its learning and generalization abilities. A digit-and-command interpreter constructed by the modified neural networks is proposed to recognize handwritten digits and commands.

ABC transporter activities of murine hematopoietic stem cells vary according to their developmental and activation status.

Primitive hematopoietic cells from several species are known to efflux both Hoechst 33342 and Rhodamine-123. We now show that murine hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) defined by long-term multilineage repopulation assays efflux both dyes variably according to their developmental or activation status. In day 14.

Different in vivo repopulating activities of purified hematopoietic stem cells before and after being stimulated to divide in vitro with the same kinetics.

Objective: The Hoechst 33342-effluxing side population (SP) of adult mouse bone marrow (BM) contains most of the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Here we measured the HSC content of specific subsets of SP cells and then used a highly HSC-enriched fraction to investigate the effect of different growth factors on the initial rate of HSC proliferation in vitro and the accompanying maintenance (or loss) of HSCs in the first-division progeny.

Materials And Methods: Staining with Rhodamine-123 (Rho) was used to subfractionate lineage marker-negative (lin-) SP cells.

Liver and marrow of adult mdr-1a/1b(-/-) mice show normal generation, function, and multi-tissue trafficking of primitive hematopoietic cells.

Objective: Several lines of evidence suggest that expression of two ABC transporters (Abcg2/Bcrp1 and mdr-1a/b) and the related abilities to efflux Hoechst 33342 (Hst) and Rhodamine-123 (Rho) are features of primitive hematopoietic cells in adult bone marrow. Here we sought to determine the phenotypic and hematopoietic properties of the Hst-effluxing "side" population (SP) cells present in the liver of adult normal mice and whether these might be altered in mdr-1a/1b(-)(/-) mice.

Materials And Methods: Single-cell suspensions of liver (and sometimes bone marrow) were stained with Hst, separated into SP and non-SP fractions, and analyzed for hematopoietic cell-surface marker expression and functional activity in standard in vitro and in vivo (transplantation) assays.