Introduction: Recently, "body-first" and "brain-first" subtype in Parkinson's disease (PD) was proposed based on the propagation of α-synuclein. In isolated RBD considered as a premotor stage of body-first PD, α-synuclein was supposed to originate in the enteric nervous system and spreads via autonomic nervous system. Therefore, we hypothesized that body-first PD is more likely to have a delayed gastric emptying time and reduced cardiac sympathetic denervation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFActive surveillance (AS) has been widely adopted as an alternative to immediate surgery owing to the indolent nature and favorable outcomes of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). AS is generally recommended for tumors measuring ≤1 cm without aggressive cytological subtypes, risk of gross extrathyroidal extension (ETE), lymph node metastasis (LNM), or distant metastasis. AS requires careful patient selection based on various patient and tumor characteristics, and ultrasound (US) findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The pressing need for reliable biomarkers in colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnosis and prognosis is a major global health concern. Current diagnostic methods rely heavily on invasive procedures like colonoscopy, and existing biomarkers such as Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) exhibit limitations in accuracy and specificity.
Aims: This study aims to identify and validate novel biomarkers that can enhance the early detection and diagnostic precision of CRC while overcoming the shortcomings of conventional biomarkers.
Active surveillance (AS) has been widely adopted as an alternative to immediate surgery owing to the indolent nature and favorable outcomes of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). AS is generally recommended for tumors measuring ≤1 cm without aggressive cytological subtypes, risk of gross extrathyroidal extension (ETE), lymph node metastasis (LNM), or distant metastasis. AS requires careful patient selection based on various patient and tumor characteristics, and ultrasound (US) findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This study aims to identify distinct microbial and functional biomarkers characteristic of body-first or brain-first subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD). This could illuminate the unique pathogenic mechanisms within these subtypes.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we classified 36 well-characterized PD patients into body-first, brain-first, or undetermined subtypes based on the presence of premotor REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and cardiac meta-iodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) uptake.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is known to be lethal disease. However, its prognosis remains poor, primarily because the precise oncogenic mechanisms underlying HCC progression remain elusive, thus hampering effective treatment. Here, we aimed to identify the potential oncogenes in HCC and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of their action.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInspired by the functions of biological neural networks, volatile memristors are essential for implementing neuromorphic computing. These devices enable large-scale and energy-efficient data processing by emulating neural functionalities through dynamic resistance changes. The threshold switching characteristics of volatile memristors, which are driven by various mechanisms in materials ranging from oxides to chalcogenides, make them versatile and suitable for neuromorphic computing systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study aims to compare outcomes following a negative surveillance MRI study by surgery-MRI interval and investigate factors associated with second breast cancers in women with a personal history of breast cancer (PHBC).
Methods: This retrospective study included 1552 consecutive women (mean age, 53 years) with a PHBC and a negative prevalence surveillance breast MRI result between August 2014 and December 2016. The incidence and characteristics of second breast cancers were reviewed and compared according to surgery-MRI interval (< 3 years vs ≥ 3 years).
J Photochem Photobiol B
August 2024
In the biological nervous system, the integration and cooperation of parallel system of receptors, neurons, and synapses allow efficient detection and processing of intricate and disordered external information. Such systems acquire and process environmental data in real-time, efficiently handling complex tasks with minimal energy consumption. Memristors can mimic typical biological receptors, neurons, and synapses by implementing key features of neuronal signal-processing functions such as selective adaption in receptors, leaky integrate-and-fire in neurons, and synaptic plasticity in synapses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tumor cells of diffuse-type gastric cancer (DGC) are discohesive and infiltrate into the stroma as single cells or small subgroups, so the stroma significantly impacts DGC progression. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are major components of the tumor stroma. Here, we identified CAF-specific secreted molecules and investigated the mechanism underlying CAF-induced DGC progression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate whether reader training improves the performance and agreement of radiologists in interpreting unenhanced breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).
Materials And Methods: A study of 96 breasts (35 cancers, 24 benign, and 37 negative) in 48 asymptomatic women was performed between June 2019 and October 2020. High-resolution DWI with b-values of 0, 800, and 1200 sec/mm² was performed using a 3.
Background: Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is a neurodegeneration characterized by asymmetric parkinsonism, dystonia, myoclonus, and apraxia. In the early stage, CBS presents with asymmetric parkinsonism and cortical symptoms (apraxia and alien hand), and neuroimaging finding is often vague, making early clinical differentiation from idiopathic Parkinson disease (IPD) challenging. This study was performed to delineate the specific patterns of cortical hypoperfusion, dopamine transporter (DAT) uptake using dual-phase FP-CIT PET in discriminating between CBS and IPD at early stage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFParkinsonism Relat Disord
November 2023
Objectives: Vascular health (white matter change, vascular risk factor, angiogenesis, microvascular alteration) is associated with clinical progression or levodopa-induced dyskinesia in PD. Vascular endothelial function is known to reflect the earliest vascular change. While DBS can improve motor and non-motor symptoms, the effect of DBS on vascular endothelial function is unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Ultrasonography (US) features of papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs) are used to select nodules for biopsy due to their association with tumor behavior. However, the molecular biological mechanisms that lead to the characteristic US features of PTCs are largely unknown.
Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the molecular biological mechanisms behind US features assessed by radiologists and three convolutional neural networks (CNN) through transcriptome analysis.
Ultrasound Med Biol
December 2023
Objective: The aims of the work described here were to evaluate the learnability of thyroid nodule assessment on ultrasonography (US) using a big data set of US images and to evaluate the diagnostic utilities of artificial intelligence computer-aided diagnosis (AI-CAD) used by readers with varying experience to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
Methods: Six college freshmen independently studied the "learning set" composed of images of 13,560 thyroid nodules, and their diagnostic performance was evaluated after their daily learning sessions using the "test set" composed of images of 282 thyroid nodules. The diagnostic performance of two residents and an experienced radiologist was evaluated using the same "test set.
A 76-year-old woman with a history of diabetes mellitus presented with right-side dominant generalized chorea. At presentation, her blood glucose level was 500 mg/dL with an HbA1C of 11%. Because the patient had been on levodopa treatment from her primary physician, a dual-phase 18F-FP-CIT PET scan was performed.
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