Recognising and evaluating the effectiveness of extortion in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma.

Establishing and maintaining mutual cooperation in agent-to-agent interactions can be viewed as a question of direct reciprocity and readily applied to the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma. Agents cooperate, at a small cost to themselves, in the hope of obtaining a future benefit. Zero-determinant strategies, introduced in 2012, have a subclass of strategies that are provably extortionate.

Carotid Plaque-RADS: A Novel Stroke Risk Classification System.

Background: Carotid artery atherosclerosis is highly prevalent in the general population and is a well-established risk factor for acute ischemic stroke. Although the morphological characteristics of vulnerable plaques are well recognized, there is a lack of consensus in reporting and interpreting carotid plaque features.

Objectives: The aim of this paper is to establish a consistent and comprehensive approach for imaging and reporting carotid plaque by introducing the Plaque-RADS (Reporting and Data System) score.

Level of Onboard Care for Critical Patients: Analysis of the French Armed Forces Air Medical Evacuations From the Sahel Since 2013.

Objective: Since 2013, the French Armed Forces have been engaged in the Sahel. The aim of our work was to study the characteristics of severe patients evacuated according to the composition of the air medical staff (ie, an anesthesiologist/intensive care physician [AICP] or an emergency physician [EP]).

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis including all French service members repatriated from the Sahel with a speedy evacuation priority between 2013 and 2019.

Association of Collagen, Elastin, Glycosaminoglycans, and Macrophages With Tissue Ultimate Material Strength and Stretch in Human Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms: A Uniaxial Tension Study.

Fiber structures and pathological features, e.g., inflammation and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) deposition, are the primary determinants of aortic mechanical properties which are associated with the development of an aneurysm.

Estimation of the zero-pressure computational start shape of atherosclerotic plaques: Improving the backward displacement method with deformation gradient tensor.

Advances in medical imaging have enabled patient-specific biomechanical modelling of arterial lesions such as atherosclerosis and aneurysm. Geometry acquired from in-vivo imaging is already pressurized and a zero-pressure computational start shape needs to be identified. The backward displacement algorithm was proposed to solve this inverse problem, utilizing fixed-point iterations to gradually approach the start shape.

Study on the association of wall shear stress and vessel structural stress with atherosclerosis: An experimental animal study.

Background And Aims: Artery is subject to wall shear stress (WSS) and vessel structural stress (VSS) simultaneously. This study is designed to explore the role of VSS in development of atherosclerosis.

Methods: Silastic collars were deployed on the carotid to create two constrictions on 13 rabbits for a distinct mechanical environment at the constriction.

Greater aortic inflammation and calcification in abdominal aortic aneurysmal disease than atherosclerosis: a prospective matched cohort study.

Objective: Using combined positron emission tomography and CT (PET-CT), we measured aortic inflammation and calcification in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), and compared them with matched controls with atherosclerosis.

Methods: We prospectively recruited 63 patients (mean age 76.1±6.

Ferumoxytol-enhanced three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging of carotid atheroma- a feasibility and temporal dependence study.

Ferumoxytol is an ultrasmall super paramagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) agent recently used for magnetic resonance (MR) vascular imaging. Other USPIOs have been previously used for assessing inflammation within atheroma. We aim to assess feasibility of ferumoxytol in imaging carotid atheroma (with histological assessment); and the optimum MR imaging time to detect maximum quantitative signal change post-ferumoxytol infusion.

Evaluation of Systematic Blood Testing at the Time of Recruitment to the Armed Forces: Retrospective Monocentric Study Among 726 French Army Soldiers.

Introduction: In the French armed forces, the biological checkup required during the recruitment process comprises a urinalysis (urinary dipstick), a complete blood count (CBC), and measurement of serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, fasting blood glucose, and creatinine. This study aimed to evaluate the benefits of this biological checkup and to determine the most relevant parameters.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a monocentric retrospective study of all standardized and systematically conducted blood tests (CBC and measurement of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, fasting blood glucose, and creatinine) over a 15-month period among 726 French Army recruits.

Aeromedical Evacuations Within the French Armed Forces: Analysis of 2,129 Patients.

Introduction: The doctrine of medical support during French military operations is based on a triptych: forward medical stabilization, forward damage control surgery, and early strategic aeromedical evacuation (Strategic-AE). The aim of this study was to describe the last piece, the evacuation process of the French Strategic-AE.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis using patient records from 2015 to 2017.

Heterogeneity of Plaque Structural Stress Is Increased in Plaques Leading to MACE: Insights From the PROSPECT Study.

Objectives: This study sought to determine if plaque structural stress (PSS) and other plaque stress parameters are increased in plaques that cause future major adverse cardiovascular event(s) (MACE) and if incorporating these parameters improves predictive capability of intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS).

Background: Less than 10% of coronary plaques identified as high-risk by intravascular imaging result in subsequent MACE. Thus, more specific measurements of plaque vulnerability are required for effective risk stratification.

Introduction to Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging.

Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging (SWI) are MRI techniques that measure and display differences in the magnetization that is induced in tissues, . their magnetic susceptibility, when placed in the strong external magnetic field of an MRI system. SWI produces images in which the contrast is heavily weighted by the intrinsic tissue magnetic susceptibility.

Correlation of Lobar Cerebral Microbleeds with Amyloid, Perfusion, and Metabolism in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Despite the well-documented relationship between lobar cerebral microbleeds (lCMB) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is limited knowledge about the role of lCMB in AD pathology.

Objective: To understand the nature of this relationship, we investigated the association between lCMB, amyloid load, perfusion, and metabolism.

Methods: Participants with AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy controls were recruited and scanned with 11C-Pittsburg-Compound B (PiB), Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET, and susceptibility-weighted MRI.

Impact of combined plaque structural stress and wall shear stress on coronary plaque progression, regression, and changes in composition.

Aims: The focal distribution of atherosclerotic plaques suggests that local biomechanical factors may influence plaque development.

Methods And Results: We studied 40 patients at baseline and over 12 months by virtual-histology intravascular ultrasound and bi-plane coronary angiography. We calculated plaque structural stress (PSS), defined as the mean of the maximum principal stress at the peri-luminal region, and wall shear stress (WSS), defined as the parallel frictional force exerted by blood flow on the endothelial surface, in areas undergoing progression or regression.

Non-invasive assessment of glioma microstructure using VERDICT MRI: correlation with histology.

Purpose: This prospective study evaluated the use of vascular, extracellular and restricted diffusion for cytometry in tumours (VERDICT) MRI to investigate the tissue microstructure in glioma. VERDICT-derived parameters were correlated with both histological features and tumour subtype and were also used to explore the peritumoural region.

Methods: Fourteen consecutive treatment-naïve patients (43.

Understanding and improving the care pathway for children with autism.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe current care pathways for children with autism including enablers and barriers, as experienced by health professionals, education professionals and families in South Wales, UK.

Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on a mixed-methods approach using focus group discussions, creative writing workshops and visualisation using rich pictures.

Findings: The experiences of the care pathways differed significantly across the three groups.

Bayesian Inference-Based Estimation of Normal Aortic, Aneurysmal and Atherosclerotic Tissue Mechanical Properties: From Material Testing, Modeling and Histology.

Objective: Mechanical properties of healthy, aneurysmal, and atherosclerotic arterial tissues are essential for assessing the risk of lesion development and rupture. Strain energy density function (SEDF) has been widely used to describe these properties, where material constants of the SEDF are traditionally determined using the ordinary least square (OLS) method. However, the material constants derived using OLS are usually dependent on initial guesses.

Quantifying normal human brain metabolism using hyperpolarized [1-C]pyruvate and magnetic resonance imaging.

Hyperpolarized C Magnetic Resonance Imaging (C-MRI) provides a highly sensitive tool to probe tissue metabolism in vivo and has recently been translated into clinical studies. We report the cerebral metabolism of intravenously injected hyperpolarized [1-C]pyruvate in the brain of healthy human volunteers for the first time. Dynamic acquisition of C images demonstrated C-labeling of both lactate and bicarbonate, catalyzed by cytosolic lactate dehydrogenase and mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase respectively.

Association Between Abdominal Visceral Artery Calcification and All-Cause Mortality-A Computerized Tomography Imaging-Based Longitudinal Follow-Up Study.

Arterial calcification in different arterial beds has been observed to be an independent predictor of mortality. The association of abdominal visceral artery calcium with all-cause mortality remains unexplored. Patients who had undergone contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CT) imaging for routine assessment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) were considered for this study.

Neural network fusion: a novel CT-MR Aortic Aneurysm image segmentation method.

Medical imaging examination on patients usually involves more than one imaging modalities, such as Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance (MR) and Positron Emission Tomography(PET) imaging. Multimodal imaging allows examiners to benefit from the advantage of each modalities. For example, for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, CT imaging shows calcium deposits in the aorta clearly while MR imaging distinguishes thrombus and soft tissues better.

Superficial and multiple calcifications and ulceration associate with intraplaque hemorrhage in the carotid atherosclerotic plaque.

Objective: Intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) and ulceration of carotid atherosclerotic plaques have been associated with vulnerability while calcification has been conventionally thought protective. However, studies suggested calcification size and location may increase plaque vulnerability. This study explored the association between calcium configurations and ulceration with IPH.

Neovascularization in Vertebral Artery Atheroma-A Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Comparative Study in Patients with Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Disease.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease intertwined with neovascularization. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) enables the assessment of plaque neovascularization. This study aimed to explore the systemic nature of atherosclerosis by assessing difference in severity of neovascularization as quantified by DCE-MRI of vertebral arteries (VAs) between patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery disease.

Positron emission tomography-guided magnetic resonance spectroscopy in Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To determine whether the level of metabolites in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a representative marker of underlying pathological changes identified in positron emission tomographic (PET) images in Alzheimer disease (AD).

Methods: We performed PET-guided MRS in cases of probable AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy controls (HC). All participants were imaged by C-Pittsburgh compound B ( C-PiB) and F-fluorodeoxyglucose ( F-FDG) PET followed by 3T MRS.