Predicting cerebrovascular age and its clinical relevance: Modeling using 3D morphological features of brain vessels.

Aging manifests as many phenotypes, among which age-related changes in brain vessels are important, but underexplored. Thus, in the present study, we constructed a model to predict age using cerebrovascular morphological features, further assessing their clinical relevance using a novel pipeline. Age prediction models were first developed using data from a normal cohort (n = 1181), after which their relevance was tested in two stroke cohorts (n = 564 and n = 455).

Imaging and clinical predictors of acute constipation in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Background: Constipation symptoms are highly prevalent in acute ischemic stroke, but the clinical and neuroimaging predictors are unknown. This study aimed to identify lesions and clinical features associated with acute constipation.

Methods: Data from patients with acute ischemic stroke registered in a hospital-based stroke registry between January 2018 and December 2019 were analyzed.

The effect of intensive statin therapy in non-symptomatic intracranial arteries: The STAMINA-MRI sub-study.

Background And Aims: Pleiotropic effects of statins result in the stabilization of symptomatic intracranial arterial plaque. However, little is known about the effect of statins in non-symptomatic cerebral arteries. We hypothesized that intensive statin therapy could produce a change in the non-symptomatic cerebral arteries.

Automated in-depth cerebral arterial labelling using cerebrovascular vasculature reframing and deep neural networks.

Identifying the cerebral arterial branches is essential for undertaking a computational approach to cerebrovascular imaging. However, the complexity and inter-individual differences involved in this process have not been thoroughly studied. We used machine learning to examine the anatomical profile of the cerebral arterial tree.

How Cerebral Vessel Tortuosity Affects Development and Recurrence of Aneurysm: Outer Curvature versus Bifurcation Type.

Background And Purpose: Previous studies have assessed the relationship between cerebral vessel tortuosity and intracranial aneurysm (IA) based on two-dimensional brain image analysis. We evaluated the relationship between cerebral vessel tortuosity and IA according to the hemodynamic location using three-dimensional (3D) analysis and studied the effect of tortuosity on the recurrence of treated IA.

Methods: We collected clinical and imaging data from patients with IA and disease-free controls.

Characteristics and Factors for Short-Term Functional Outcome in Stroke Patients With Atrial Fibrillation, Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a major cause of ischemic stroke; however, detailed clinical data and prognostic factors for stroke patients with AF are lacking in Korea. We aimed to investigate clinical information and factors associated with functional outcomes of stroke patients with AF from the Korean nationwide ATrial fibrillaTion EvaluatioN regisTry in Ischemic strOke patieNts (K-ATTENTION) database. From January 2013 to December 2015, consecutive clinical information from acute stroke patients with AF or history of AF was collected from 11 centers in Korea.

Evaluation of Diffusion Lesion Volume Measurements in Acute Ischemic Stroke Using Encoder-Decoder Convolutional Network.

Background and Purpose- Automatic segmentation of cerebral infarction on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is typically performed based on a fixed apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) threshold. Fixed ADC threshold methods may not be accurate because ADC values vary over time after stroke onset. Deep learning has the potential to improve the accuracy, provided that a large set of correctly annotated lesion data is used for training.

Study on the Shielding Effectiveness of an Arc Thermal Metal Spraying Method against an Electromagnetic Pulse.

An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) explodes in real-time and causes critical damage within a short period to not only electric devices, but also to national infrastructures. In terms of EMP shielding rooms, metal plate has been used due to its excellent shielding effectiveness (SE). However, it has difficulties in manufacturing, as the fabrication of welded parts of metal plates and the cost of construction are non-economical.

RNA activation-independent DNA targeting of the Type III CRISPR-Cas system by a Csm complex.

The CRISPR-Cas system is an adaptive and heritable immune response that destroys invading foreign nucleic acids. The effector complex of the Type III CRISPR-Cas system targets RNA and DNA in a transcription-coupled manner, but the exact mechanism of DNA targeting by this complex remains elusive. In this study, an effector Csm holocomplex derived from is reconstituted with a minimalistic combination of Csm12345, and shows RNA targeting and RNA-activated single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) targeting activities.

Sustained blood pressure-lowering effect of aliskiren compared with telmisartan after a single missed dose.

Poor adherence to antihypertensive drug treatment is common and is often associated with marked prolongations of the dosing interval. Hence, selecting a treatment that has the potential to provide a sustained blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect is important. The objective of this analysis is to compare the sustained efficacy of aliskiren with telmisartan after a single missed dose.

Sustained decrease in blood pressure following missed doses of aliskiren or telmisartan: the ASSERTIVE double-blind, randomized study.

Objectives: The AliSkiren Study of profound antihypERtensive efficacy in hyperTensIVE patients (ASSERTIVE) study was designed to assess the sustained blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect of aliskiren vs. telmisartan after a 7-day treatment withdrawal in patients with hypertension.

Methods: Patients were randomized to once-daily aliskiren 150  mg (N = 414) or telmisartan 40  mg (N = 408).

Bayesian optimal designs for a quantal dose-response study with potentially missing observations.

In a dose-response study, there are frequently multiple goals and not all planned observations are realized at the end of the study. Subjects drop out and the initial design can be quite different from the final design. Consequently, the final design can be inefficient.