Multi-atlas segmentation with robust label transfer and label fusion.

Multi-atlas segmentation has been widely applied in medical image analysis. This technique relies on image registration to transfer segmentation labels from pre-labeled atlases to a novel target image and applies label fusion to reduce errors produced by registration-based label transfer. To improve the performance of registration-based label transfer against registration errors, our first contribution is to propose a label transfer scheme that generates multiple warped versions of each atlas to one target image through registration paths obtained by composing inter-atlas registrations and atlas-target registrations.

Robust Automated Amygdala Segmentation via Multi-Atlas Diffeomorphic Registration.

Here, we describe a novel method for volumetric segmentation of the amygdala from MRI images collected from 35 human subjects. This approach is adapted from open-source techniques employed previously with the hippocampus (Suh et al., 2011; Wang et al.

Karyotype and DNA-Methylation Responses in Myelodysplastic Syndromes following Treatment with Traditional Chinese Formula Containing Arsenic.

We have previously shown that arsenic-containing Chinese herbal formula, Qing-Huang powder capsule (containing tetraarsenic tetrasulfide, As(4)S(4)), is effective in the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS); yet the underlined mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, using standard cytogenetic analysis (G-banded) and global DNA methylation method (ChIP-on-chip assays), we aimed to determine the effect of arsenic-containing Chinese herbal formula on karyotype status and the genomic methylation level in primarily diagnosed MDS patients. Correlation of aberrant DNA methylation and chromosome aberrations in MDS was also investigated.

Image Charge Effects on the Formation of Pickering Emulsions.

Vigorous mixing of an aqueous particle dispersion with oil usually produces a particle-stabilized emulsion (a "Pickering emulsion"), the longevity of which depends on the particles' wetting properties. A known exception occurs when particles fail to adsorb to the oil-water interface created during mixing because of a strong repulsion between charges on the particle surface and similar charges on the oil-water interface; in this case, no Pickering emulsion is formed. Here, we present experimental evidence that the rarely considered electrostatic image force can cause a much bigger hindrance to particle adsorption and prevent the formation of Pickering emulsions even when the particle interaction with the interface charge is attractive.

Low shrinkage light curable dental nanocomposites using SiO microspheres as fillers.

Commercial resin matrixes of dental composites generally utilize diluents such as triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) to reduce viscosity. However, the diluents exhibited adverse effects such as higher volume shrinkage and diminished mechanical properties of the dental composites. To overcome these adverse effects, developing of both inorganic fillers and resin monomers is necessary to improve the properties of dental composite.

Highly dispersed Co0.5Zn0.5Fe2O4/polypyrrole nanocomposites for cost-effective, high-performance defluoridation using a magnetically controllable microdevice.

Highly dispersed Co(0.5)Zn(0.5)Fe(2)O(4)/polypyrrole (CZFO/PPy) nanocomposites with enhanced electromagnetic properties and large surface area were rapidly and controllably prepared using microfluidic reactors.

Effects of oligomeric grape seed proanthocyanidins on heart, aorta, kidney in DOCA-salt mice: role of oxidative stress.

Growing experimental and clinical data highlights the important roles of increased reactive oxygen species production in cardiovascular remodeling (CR). Oligomeric grape seed proanthocyanidins (GSPs) have been shown to be potent antioxidants and free radical scavengers. Mice were treated with DOCA-salt to induce CR and were given distilled water or oligomeric GSPs for 4 weeks.

Photoanode based on chain-shaped anatase TiO2 nanorods for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells.

Anatase TiO(2) nanorods with large specific surface areas and high crystallinity have been synthesized by surfactant-free hydrothermal treatment of water-soluble peroxotitanium acid (PTA). X-ray diffraction and TEM analysis showed that all TiO(2) nanorods derived from PTA in different hydrothermal processes were in the anatase phase, and high aspect ratio TiO(2) nanorods with chain-shaped structures were formed at 150 °C for 24 h by oriented growth. The nanorods were fabricated as photoanodes for high-efficiency dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

[Establishment and characterization of lung adenocarcinoma cell line XLA-07].

Objective: To establish and characterize a lung adenocarcinoma cell line from a female patient in Xuanwei, Yunnan province.

Methods: Surgical specimen of the lung adenocarcinoma was obtained and cultured immediately in RPMI 1640 medium with 10% fetal bovine serum and 10(5) U/L penicillin and 100 mg/L streptomycin. When stable proliferation of the cells was achieved after over 40 passages in culture, the biological features of the cell line were investigated by cell morphology, karyotyping, protein marker expression [cytokeratins (CKs), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and CD proteins], growth kinetics, cell cycle phase distribution, mitotic index, colony formation in soft agar, cell invasion and tumorigenicity in Balb/c nude mice.

Multi-Atlas Segmentation with Joint Label Fusion.

Multi-atlas segmentation is an effective approach for automatically labeling objects of interest in biomedical images. In this approach, multiple expert-segmented example images, called atlases, are registered to a target image, and deformed atlas segmentations are combined using label fusion. Among the proposed label fusion strategies, weighted voting with spatially varying weight distributions derived from atlas-target intensity similarity have been particularly successful.

Genome-wide analysis and identification of HAK potassium transporter gene family in maize (Zea mays L.).

The high-affinity K(+) (HAK) transporter gene family constitutes the largest family that functions as potassium transporter in plant and is important for various cellular processes of plant life. In spite of their physiological importance, systematic analyses of ZmHAK genes have not yet been investigated. In this paper, we indicated the isolation and characterization of ZmHAK genes in whole-genome wide by using bioinformatics methods.

Regression-Based Label Fusion for Multi-Atlas Segmentation.

Automatic segmentation using multi-atlas label fusion has been widely applied in medical image analysis. To simplify the label fusion problem, most methods implicitly make a strong assumption that the segmentation errors produced by different atlases are uncorrelated. We show that violating this assumption significantly reduces the efficiency of multi-atlas segmentation.

Au25(SG)18 as a fluorescent iodide sensor.

The recently emerging gold nanoclusters (GNC) are of major importance for both basic science studies and practical applications. Based on its surface-induced fluorescence properties, we investigated the potential use of Au(25)(SG)(18) (GSH: glutathione) as a fluorescent iodide sensor. The current detection limit of 400 nM, which can possibly be further enhanced by optimizing the conditions, and excellent selectivity among 12 types of anion (F(-), Cl(-), Br(-), I(-), NO(3)(-), ClO(4)(-), HCO(3)(-), IO(3)(-), SO(4)(2-), SO(3)(2-), CH(3)COO(-) and C(6)H(5)O(7)(3-)) make Au(25)(SG)(18) a good candidate for iodide sensing.

HbCIPK2, a novel CBL-interacting protein kinase from halophyte Hordeum brevisubulatum, confers salt and osmotic stress tolerance.

Protein kinases play an important role in regulating the response to abiotic stress in plant. CIPKs are plant-specific signal transducers, and some members have been identified. However, the precise functions of novel CIPKs still remain unknown.

Preparation of nanorod-like anatase TiO2 nanocrystals and their photovoltaic properties.

Anatase TiO2 nanocrystals with the high specific surface area were prepared by the hydrothermal treatment of anatase TiO2 sols at the temperature of 150 degrees C and above. When TiO2 sols with a lower content of TiO2 and at a relatively high pH value were hydrothermal treated, the dispersible and nanorod-like TiO2 nanocrystals were formed via the oriented attachment. The nanorod-like TiO2 nanocrystals with an aspect ratio of larger than 5 and a mean diameter of less than 7 nm were obtained in the absence of organic compounds.

RGD-conjugated PLA-PLL nanoparticles targeting to Bacp-37 breast cancer xenografts in vivo.

Targeted delivery carriers are receiving considerable attention, the development of a more precise targeted delivery carrier is critical for the advancement of cancer chemotherapy. In this study, we evaluated the effects of RGD-conjugated poly (lactic acid-co-lysine)-(Arginine-Glycine-Aspartic) nanoparticles (PLA-PLL-RGD NPs) on targeted delivery to Bacp-37 breast cancer bearing mice. PLA-PLL-RGD NPs were prepared by using the emulsion-solvent evaporation method.

Measuring longitudinal change in the hippocampal formation from in vivo high-resolution T2-weighted MRI.

The hippocampal formation (HF) is a brain structure of great interest because of its central role in learning and memory, and its associated vulnerability to several neurological disorders. In vivo oblique coronal T2-weighted MRI with high in-plane resolution (~0.5 mm × 0.

One dose of cyclosporine A is protective at initiation of folic acid-induced acute kidney injury in mice.

Background: In most patients, acute kidney injury (AKI) represents the combined effects of ischemic, toxic and inflammatory insults. No effective pharmacologic interventions have been developed to prevent AKI or to improve outcomes to date. Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a calcineurin inhibitor that mediates T-cell receptor signaling, suppresses inflammatory cytokine expression and inhibits leukocyte migration.

P25-graphene hydrogels: room-temperature synthesis and application for removal of methylene blue from aqueous solution.

Herein we report a room-temperature synthesis of chemically bonded TiO2 (P25)-graphene composite hydrogels and their use as high performance visible light photocatalysts. The three-dimensional (3D) TiO2-carbon composite exhibits a significant enhancement in the reaction rate in the decontamination of methylene blue, compared to the bare P25. The 3D P25-graphene hydrogel is much easier to prepare and apply as a macroscopic device, compared to the 2D P25-graphene sheets.

From label fusion to correspondence fusion: a new approach to unbiased groupwise registration.

Label fusion strategies are used in multi-atlas image segmentation approaches to compute a consensus segmentation of an image, given a set of candidate segmentations produced by registering the image to a set of atlases [19, 11, 8]. Effective label fusion strategies, such as local similarity-weighted voting [1, 13] substantially reduce segmentation errors compared to single-atlas segmentation. This paper extends the label fusion idea to the problem of finding correspondences across a set of images.

Clinical observation of the treatment of myelodysplastic syndrome mainly with Qinghuang Powder.

Objective: To observe the clinical effectiveness of Qinghuang Powder (QHP) combined with Bupi Yishen Decoction (, BPYS) in treating myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and its relationship with France, America, and Britain (FAB) type, international prognosis scaling system (IPSS) risk, and chromosome karyotype.

Methods: There were 124 MDS patients subjected to the tests. By FAB typing, 91 patients were typed as refractory anemia (RA) type and 33 as refractory anemia with excess of blasts (RAEB) type; by IPSS scale, 21 were sorted to low risk, 77 to moderate risk I, 20 to moderate risk II, and 6 to high risk; 78 of them had normal chromosome and 46 with abnormal chromosome, including 26 of trisomy 8.

Structural colored fiber fabricated by a facile colloid self-assembly method in micro-space.

Structural colored fiber was fabricated by an isothermal heating evaporation-induced self-assembly method. Under ambient white light illumination, the fibers appear colored due to optical reflectance, which is determined by the lattice constants of the photonic crystals. By controlling the size and layers of the silica nanospheres, the fiber color can be changed.

Self-organized TiO2 nanorod arrays on glass substrate for self-cleaning antireflection coatings.

Herein we report the direct fabrication of TiO(2) subwavelength structures with 1-dimensional TiO(2) nanorods on glass substrate through solvothermal process to form self-cleaning antireflection coatings. TiO(2) precursor solutions with different solvent constituents create TiO(2) nanorods with much different morphologies grown on glass substrates. Apiculate TiO(2) nanorods with vertical orientation are grown on the glass substrate which is solvothermally treated in the precursor solution containing ethylene glycol.

Bactericidal antibiotics temporarily increase inflammation and worsen acute kidney injury in experimental sepsis.

Objective: To explore the relationships among bactericidal antimicrobial treatment of sepsis, inflammatory response, severity of acute kidney injury, and outcomes.

Design: Controlled laboratory experiment.

Setting: University laboratory.

Acute removal of common sepsis mediators does not explain the effects of extracorporeal blood purification in experimental sepsis.

The effect of extracorporeal blood purification on clinical outcomes in sepsis is assumed to be related to modulation of plasma cytokine concentrations. To test this hypothesis directly, we treated rats that had a cecal ligation followed by puncture (a standard model of sepsis) with a modest dose of extracorporeal blood purification that did not result in acute changes in a panel of common cytokines associated with inflammation (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-10). Pre- and immediate post-treatment levels of these cytokines were unchanged compared to the sham therapy of extracorporeal circulation without blood purifying sorbent.