Denoising diffusion probabilistic models for generation of realistic fully-annotated microscopy image datasets.

Recent advances in computer vision have led to significant progress in the generation of realistic image data, with denoising diffusion probabilistic models proving to be a particularly effective method. In this study, we demonstrate that diffusion models can effectively generate fully-annotated microscopy image data sets through an unsupervised and intuitive approach, using rough sketches of desired structures as the starting point. The proposed pipeline helps to reduce the reliance on manual annotations when training deep learning-based segmentation approaches and enables the segmentation of diverse datasets without the need for human annotations.

Health Preference Measures in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Undergoing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy: Data from a Randomized Trial.

Background: In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), the preference-based, health-related quality of life in terms of utility has not been extensively studied.

Objective: To address this point, we compared the performance of different instruments assessing utility in patients with OSAS undergoing continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.

Materials And Methods: Data of 208 patients with OSAS (28 women, mean ± SE age 54.

Jo1-antisynthetase syndrome and severe interstitial lung disease with organising pneumonia on histopathology with favourable outcome on early combined treatment with corticosteroids, mycophenolate mofetil and rituximab.

Antisynthetase syndrome is a rare autoimmune disease and represents a distinct entity within the idiopathic inflammatory myopathies. Its variable systemic manifestations are composed of myositis, interstitial lung disease, non-erosive arthritis, fever, Raynaud's phenomenon, hyperkeratotic skin changes and the presence of antibodies against aminoacyl-transfer-RNA-synthetases. Interstitial lung disease is the major determinant of morbidity and mortality.

[Pulmonary Infiltrate - Not Always Due to Bacterial Infection].

Pulmonary Infiltrate - Not Always Due to Bacterial Infection A 65-year-old female patient with a history of controlled asthma was diagnosed with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). After two weeks of treatment on co-amoxicillin, she failed to respond and was referred for further investigations. Clinical symptoms and laboratory results were suggestive for eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA).

Scopolamine Reduces Electrophysiological Indices of Distractor Suppression: Evidence from a Contingent Capture Task.

Limited resources for the in-depth processing of external stimuli make it necessary to select only relevant information from our surroundings and to ignore irrelevant stimuli. Attentional mechanisms facilitate this selection via top-down modulation of stimulus representations in the brain. Previous research has indicated that acetylcholine (ACh) modulates this influence of attention on stimulus processing.

Autoadjusted versus fixed CPAP for obstructive sleep apnoea: a multicentre, randomised equivalence trial.

Background: The obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is conventionally treated by continuous positive airway pressure set at a fixed level (fCPAP). Automatic mask pressure adjustment (autoCPAP) is increasingly used during home therapy. We investigated whether autoCPAP is equivalent to fCPAP in improving sleepiness in patients with OSAS in the long-term.

Sevoflurane preconditioning protects from posttransplant injury in mouse lung transplantation.

Background: Although sevoflurane (Sevo) had been shown to ameliorate posttransplant injury in various organs, data available are inconsistent, particularly in the context of lung transplantation (Tx). We here investigated if preconditioning by Sevo can protect from posttransplant injury regarding both, primary graft dysfunction (PGD) and acute rejection (AR) after experimental lung Tx, thereby focusing on two important clinical outcome parameters.

Materials And Methods: Three experimental approaches were used: (1) BALB/c mice were preconditioned for 2 h with Sevo or a fentanyl cocktail (Control; n = 10); (2) syngeneic (Syn) mouse lung Tx (C57BL/6) with a Sevo-preconditioned graft followed by 18 h storage to mimic PGD (Syn-Tx, n = 12) versus controls (fentanyl cocktail); and (3) allogeneic (Allo) Tx (BALB/c, donor; C57BL/6, recipient) to mimic AR (Allo-Tx, n = 12) versus controls (fentanyl cocktail).

Prism Adaptation Alters Electrophysiological Markers of Attentional Processes in the Healthy Brain.

Neglect patients typically show a rightward attentional orienting bias and a strong disengagement deficit, such that they are especially slow in responding to left-sided targets after right-sided cues (Posner et al., 1984). Prism adaptation (PA) can reduce diverse debilitating neglect symptoms and it has been hypothesized that PA's effects are so generalized that they might be mediated by attentional mechanisms (Pisella et al.

Bioactive nanocomposite for chest-wall replacement: Cellular response in a murine model.

Chest-wall invading malignancies usually necessitate the resection of the respective part of the thoracic wall. Gore-Tex® is the material of choice that is traditionally used to repair thoracic defects. This material is well accepted by the recipient; however, though not rejected, it is an inert material and behaves like a 'foreign body' within the thoracic wall.

Sexual size dimorphism predicts rates of sequence evolution of SPerm Adhesion Molecule 1 (SPAM1, also PH-20) in monkeys, but not in hominoids (apes including humans).

Based on a dataset comprising coding DNA sequences of 23 anthropoid primates, we herein investigate if rates of sequence evolution of SPerm Adhesion Molecule1 (SPAM1, also PH-20), which participates in sperm-egg interaction, is lower in more sexually dimorphic species. For comparison, we analyze sequence evolution of apolipoproteinA-IV (APOA4) and apolipoprotein A-V (APOA5), which should evolve under less or even no sexual selection given their expression in blood, digestive tract, liver, and lungs. Regression analyses provides significant support for a negative dependence of SPAM1 derived branch-specific ratios of non-synonymous to synonymous substitution rates (dN/dS) on sexual size dimorphism (SSD) in a subsample comprising New World and Old World monkeys.

Influence of habitat complexity and landscape configuration on pollination and seed-dispersal interactions of wild cherry trees.

Land-use intensification is a major cause for the decline in species diversity in human-modified landscapes. The loss of functionally important species can reduce a variety of ecosystem functions, such as pollination and seed dispersal, but the intricate relationships between land-use intensity, biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are still contentious. Along a gradient from forest to intensively used farmland, we quantified bee species richness, visitation rates of bees and pollination success of wild cherry trees (Prunus avium).

Cortical processing of head- and eye-gaze cues guiding joint social attention.

Previous fMRI experiments showed an involvement of the STS in the processing of eye-gaze direction in joint attention. Since head-gaze direction can also be used for the assessment of another person's attentional focus, we compared the mechanisms underlying the processing of head- and eye-gaze direction using a combined psychophysical and fMRI approach. Subjects actively followed the head- or eye-gaze direction of a person in a photograph towards one of seven possible targets by moving their eyes.

Bird diversity and seed dispersal along a human land-use gradient: high seed removal in structurally simple farmland.

Only few studies have analysed the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function at the landscape scale although relationships and mechanisms known from experimental studies might be different in natural systems. We quantified bird diversity and seed removal from 38 wild cherry trees (Prunus avium) along a human land-use gradient from forest to structurally diverse to simple agricultural systems. High human land-use intensity led to low species richness and total abundance of the local bird community around wild cherry trees, as expected from previous studies.

Ecomorphological predictors of natal dispersal distances in birds.

1. Dispersal is one of the key ecological parameters but it is very difficult to quantify directly. As a consequence, empirical studies often ignore dispersal or use indirect measures.

Obstructive sleep apnea in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy.

Background: Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) show an increased sympathetic activity compared to controls. Additionally, there are several reports of increased corticosteroid and catecholamine levels in these patients. Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) has been shown to enhance sympathetic activity depending on severity.

Respiratory polygraphy in sleep apnoea diagnosis. Report of the Swiss respiratory polygraphy registry and systematic review of the literature.

Background: Sleep related breathing disorders (SBD) are common and associated with morbidity and mortality. Since polysomnography, the conventional diagnostic gold standard is costly and not generally available, ambulatory respiratory polygraphic sleep studies (RP) are used. To evaluate whether RP reimbursement by health insurance companies was justified, the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) requested registration of RP during 36 months and a literature review on RP.

Valaciclovir for chronic hepatitis B virus infection after lung transplantation.

We report on a chronic asymptomatic hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carrier who developed an increase in aminotransferase and HBsAg levels 1 year after lung transplantation. During treatment for cutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection with oral valaciclovir there was a marked decrease in replicating hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA and aminotransferase levels, which was sustained for 9 months by continuing low-dose valaciclovir. A second rise in aminotransferase levels again responded to a valaciclovir dose increase and the HBV-DNA levels declined further.

Effects of sinus surgery in patients with cystic fibrosis after lung transplantation: a 10-year experience.

Chronic infectious rhinosinusitis with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is common in cystic fibrosis and may result in allograft infection after lung transplantation. Sinus surgery followed by nasal care may reduce these adverse effects. Sinus surgery was performed in 37 patients with cystic fibrosis after transplantation.

Acute respiratory failure and cerebral hemorrhage due to primary Epstein-Barr virus infection.

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous human herpesvirus with worldwide distribution. Primary infection with EBV occurs early in life and typically presents as infectious mononucleosis. The usual course of the disease is benign and most patients recover uneventfully.

[Falling asleep at the steering wheel--a dangerous sequel of sleep apnea].

Excessive sleepiness is a common but underrecognised and preventable cause of road traffic accidents. Acute and chronic sleep deprivation, inadequate sleep hygiene, and sleep disorders are important causes of hypersomnolence. Since the latter is one of the cardinal manifestations of the obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, affected patients are at particular risk of being involved in traffic accidents.

Two years' outcome of lung volume reduction surgery in different morphologic emphysema types.

Background: Lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS) improves dyspnea, pulmonary function, and quality of life in selected patients with severe emphysema. We investigated the role of emphysema morphology in 37 patients as an outcome predictor for up to 2 years after operation.

Methods: Patients selected for bilateral thoracoscopic LVRS were divided, according to a simplified emphysema morphology classification, into three groups (homogeneous, moderately heterogeneous, and markedly heterogeneous) based on a preoperative chest computed tomogram.

Practicability and safety of dipyridamole cardiac imaging in patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We tested the practicability of dipyridamole myocardial nitrogen-13 ammonia positron emission tomography (dipyridamole (13)NH(3 )PET) for the perioperative risk assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) in a cohort of patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) undergoing lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS). Twenty consecutive LVRS candidates, 13 men and 7 women (mean age 57+/-2 years), without symptoms of CAD were prospectively studied by dipyridamole (13)NH(3 )PET. Side-effects and overall tolerance were assessed by a questionnaire and visual analogue scale.

[Noninvasive ventilation in chronic obstructive lung disease].

Non-invasive ventilation refers to ventilatory support without establishing an endotracheal airway. The advent positive-pressure ventilation delivered through a nasal or face mask has greatly expanded the use of non-invasive ventilation. In patients with acute respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive lung disease, non-invasive positive pressure ventilation reduces the need for intubation and related complications, shortens the duration of hospital stay and improves survival.