Deep Learning Based Automatic Fibroglandular Tissue Segmentation in Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Screening.

In light of the global increase in breast cancer cases and the crucial importance of the density of fibroglandular tissue (FGT) in assessing risk and predicting the course of the disease, the accurate measurement of FGT emerges as a significant challenge in diagnostic imaging. The current study focuses on the automatic segmentation of breast glandular tissue in MRI scans using a deep learning model. The aim is to establish a solid foundation for the development of methods for the precise quantification of fibroglandular tissue.

Kidney injury is independent of endothelial HIF-1α.

Unlabelled: Hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs) control cellular adaptation to low oxygen. In the kidney, activation of HIF is beneficial during injury; however, the specific contribution of HIF-1α in renal endothelial cells (EC) remains elusive. Since EC display tissue-specific heterogeneity, we investigated how HIF-1α affects key functions of glomerular EC in vitro and its contribution to renal development and pathophysiological adaptation to acute or chronic renal injury in vivo.

Visualization of the birth of an optical vortex using diffraction from a triangular aperture.

The study and application of optical vortices have gained significant prominence over the last two decades. An interesting challenge remains the determination of the azimuthal index (topological charge) ℓ of an optical vortex beam for a range of applications. We explore the diffraction of such beams from a triangular aperture and observe that the form of the resultant diffraction pattern is dependent upon both the magnitude and sign of the azimuthal index and this is valid for both monochromatic and broadband light fields.

Optical eigenmodes; exploiting the quadratic nature of the energy flux and of scattering interactions.

We report a mathematically rigorous technique which facilitates the optimization of various optical properties of electromagnetic fields in free space and including scattering interactions. The technique exploits the linearity of electromagnetic fields along with the quadratic nature of the intensity to define specific Optical Eigenmodes (OEi) that are pertinent to the interaction considered. Key applications include the optimization of the size of a focused spot, the transmission through sub-wavelength apertures, and of the optical force acting on microparticles.

Optical path clearing and enhanced transmission through colloidal suspensions.

We utilize advanced laser fields to clear a path through a dynamic turbid medium, a concept termed "Optical path clearing (OPC)." Particles are evacuated from a volume of the medium using the gradient and/or scattering forces due to an applied laser field with a suitably tailored spatial profile. Our studies encompass both an analytical model and proof-of-principle experiments where paths are cleared in dense bulk colloidal suspensions.