Development and Validation of a Modality-Invariant 3D Swin U-Net Transformer for Liver and Spleen Segmentation on Multi-Site Clinical Bi-parametric MR Images.

To develop and validate a modality-invariant Swin U-Net Transformer (UNETR) deep learning model for liver and spleen segmentation on abdominal T1-weighted (T1w) or T2-weighted (T2w) MR images from multiple institutions for pediatric and adult patients with known or suspected chronic liver diseases. In this IRB-approved retrospective study, clinical abdominal axial T1w and T2w MR images from pediatric and adult patients were retrieved from four study sites, including Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), New York University (NYU), University of Wisconsin (UW) and University of Michigan / Michigan Medicine (UM). The whole liver and spleen were manually delineated as the ground truth masks.

Do Similar Objects Have Similar Grasp Positions?

In robotic grasping tasks, shape similarity has been widely adopted as a reference in grasp positions prediction for unknown objects. However, to the best of our knowledge, the issue "do similar objects have similar grasp positions?" has not been quantitatively analyzed before. This work aims to confirm or disprove the question by analyzing the relationship between the object shape similarity and grasp positions similarity.

Characterization and complete genome sequence of a novel zetapatitivirus from Penicillium exsudans isolate RCEF7900.

Penicillium exsudans strain RCEF7900, obtained from leaf litter, was found to harbor two double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) elements, designated as dsRNA1 and dsRNA2, with lengths of 1,816 bp and 1,625 bp, respectively. dsRNA1 encodes a 572-amino-acid RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) protein (65.29 kDa), while dsRNA2 encodes a 503-amino-acid coat protein (CP) (56.

New Insight into Industrial Lignin Intermolecular Force Heterogeneity Mitigation: Monodispersed Lignin Colloidal Sphere Synthesis and Full Biomass Photonic Material Preparation.

Industrial lignin is an underutilized resource from the pulping industry due to its high heterogeneity. The transformation of industrial lignin into monodispersed lignin colloidal spheres (LCSs) for the preparation of advanced biomass photonic materials is particularly appealing, because of their unique biocompatibility. However, the LCSs synthesized from industrial lignin generally show a wide size distribution and thus limit this specific application.

Toxicity and Efficacy of Different Target Volume Delineations of Radiation Therapy Based on the Updated Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/National Research Group and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Guidelines in Patients With Grade 3-4 Glioma: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Our study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of radiation therapy (RT) in the treatment of grade 3-4 glioma by comparing the updated Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG)/National Research Group (NRG) with European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) guidelines for target volume delineation.

Methods And Materials: A total of 245 patients with newly diagnosed World Health Organization grade 3-4 glioma were enrolled and randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to undergo postoperative RT with concurrent and maintenance temozolomide. The radiation target volume delineation was determined by using either the updated RTOG/NRG (n = 122) or EORTC guidelines (n = 123).

DFC-Igloo: A dynamic functional connectome learning framework for identifying neurodevelopmental biomarkers in very preterm infants.

Background And Objective: Very preterm infants are susceptible to neurodevelopmental impairments, necessitating early detection of prognostic biomarkers for timely intervention. The study aims to explore possible functional biomarkers for very preterm infants at born that relate to their future cognitive and motor development using resting-state fMRI. Prior studies are limited by the sample size and suffer from efficient functional connectome (FC) construction algorithms that can handle the noisy data contained in neonatal time series, leading to equivocal findings.

Joint self-supervised and supervised contrastive learning for multimodal MRI data: Towards predicting abnormal neurodevelopment.

The integration of different imaging modalities, such as structural, diffusion tensor, and functional magnetic resonance imaging, with deep learning models has yielded promising outcomes in discerning phenotypic characteristics and enhancing disease diagnosis. The development of such a technique hinges on the efficient fusion of heterogeneous multimodal features, which initially reside within distinct representation spaces. Naively fusing the multimodal features does not adequately capture the complementary information and could even produce redundancy.

Integration of surface swab with optical microscopy for detection and quantification of bacterial cells from stainless-steel surfaces.

Swab sampling is a common method for recovering microbes on various environmental surfaces. Its successful application for a specific target depends on the proper swab method and the following detection assay. Herein, we evaluated critical factors influencing surface swab sampling, aiming to achieve the optimal detection and quantification performance of optical detection for bacterial cells on stainless-steel surfaces.

Discovery and genomic characterization of three double-stranded RNA viruses coinfecting Conidiobolus taihushanensis.

Conidiobolus sensu lato, a genus within the family Ancylistaceae, encompasses a diverse range of fungal species that are widely distributed in plant debris and soil. In this study, we identified three double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) viruses coinfecting a strain of Conidiobolus taihushanensis. These viruses were identified as Conidiobolus taihushanensis totivirus 1 (CtTV1), Conidiobolus nonsegmented RNA virus 1-2 (CNRV1-2), and Conidiobolus taihushanensis virus 1 (CtV1).

[Retracted] Tanshinone IIA regulates colorectal cancer apoptosis via attenuation of Parkin‑mediated mitophagy by suppressing AMPK/Skp2 pathways.

Following the publication of this paper, it was drawn to the Editor's attention by a concerned reader that certain of the immunofluorescence assay data shown in Fig. 4A on p. 1698 were strikingly similar to data that had already been submitted for publication in different form in another article written by different authors at different research institutes.

Impact of Emerging Deep Learning-Based MR Image Reconstruction Algorithms on Abdominal MRI Radiomic Features.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate, on one MRI vendor's platform, the impact of deep learning (DL)-based reconstruction techniques on MRI radiomic features compared to conventional image reconstruction techniques.

Methods: Under IRB approval and informed consent, we prospectively collected undersampled coronal T2-weighted MR images of the abdomen (1.5 T; Philips Healthcare) from 17 pediatric and adult subjects and reconstructed them using a conventional image reconstruction technique (compressed sensitivity encoding [C-SENSE]) and two DL-based reconstruction techniques (SmartSpeed [Philips Healthcare, US FDA cleared] and SmartSpeed with Super Resolution [SmartSpeed-SuperRes, not US FDA cleared to date]).

Structural characterization and mechanisms of macrophage immunomodulatory activity of a novel polysaccharide with a galactose backbone from the processed Polygonati Rhizoma.

A purified polysaccharide with a galactose backbone (SPR-1, Mw 3,622 Da) was isolated from processed Polygonati Rhizoma with black beans (PRWB) and characterized its chemical properties. The backbone of SPR-1 consisted of [(4)-β-D-Gal-(1] → 4,6)-β-D-Gal-(1 → 4)-α-D-GalA-(1 → 4)-α-D-GalA-(1 → 4)-α-D-Glc-(1 → 4,6)-α-D-Glc-(1 → 4)-α/β-D-Glc, with a branch chain of R: β-D-Gal-(1 → 3)-β-D-Gal-(1→ connected to the →4,6)-β-D-Gal-(1→ via O-6, and a branch chain of R: α-D-Glc-(1 → 6)-α-D-Glc-(1→ connected to the →4,6)-α-D-Glc-(1→ via O-6. Immunomodulatory assays showed that the SPR-1 significantly activated macrophages, and increased secretion of NO and cytokines (i.

[Effects of Long-term Biochar Addition on Denitrification NO Emissions from Bacteria and Fungi in Paddy Soil].

Denitrification driven by bacteria and fungi is the main source of nitrous oxide （NO） emissions from paddy soil. It is generally believed that biochar reduces NO emissions by influencing the bacterial denitrification process, but the relevant mechanism of its impact on fungal denitrification is still unclear. In this study, the long-term straw carbonization returning experimental field in Changshu Agricultural Ecological Experimental Base of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was taken as the object.

An injectable composite hydrogel containing polydopamine-coated curcumin nanoparticles and indoximod for the enhanced combinational chemo-photothermal-immunotherapy of breast tumors.

The complexity and compensatory evolution of tumors weaken the effectiveness of single antitumor therapies. Therefore, multimodal combination therapies hold great promise in defeating tumors. Herein, we constructed a multi-level regulatory co-delivery system based on chemotherapy, phototherapy, and immunotherapy.

Synergistic solidification and mechanism research of electrolytic manganese residue and coal fly ash based on C-A-S-H gel material.

Electrolytic manganese residue (EMR) is known for high concentrations of Mn, NH, and heavy metals. Failure to undergo benign treatment and landfill disposal would undeniably lead to negative impacts on the quality of the surrounding ecological environment. This study sought to mitigate the latent environmental risks associated with EMR using a cooperative solidification/stabilization (S/S) method involving coal fly ash (CFA).

Association between circulatory complement activation and hypertensive renal damage: a case-control study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential importance of complement system activation, with particular emphasis on the complement alternative pathway (AP), in the pathogenesis of hypertensive renal damage.

Methods: Serum complement C3, complement Factor H (CFH) and AP activation were assessed in 66 participants with established essential hypertension with renal damage (RD). Fifty-nine patients with age- and sex-matched essential hypertension without renal damage (NRD) and 58 healthy participants (normal) were selected.

The petroleum ether extracts of Chloranthus fortunei(A. Gray) Solms-Laub.with bioactivities: A rising source in HCC drug treatment.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive killer worldwide with high incidence and mortality. The herb Chloranthus fortunei (A. Gray) Solms-Laub is known as "Si Ji Feng" and is classified as a Feng-type medicine in classic Yao medicines.

Critical-edge based tabu search algorithm for solving large-scale multi-vehicle Chinese postman problem.

The min-max multi-vehicle Chinese postman problem is an NP-hard problem, which is widely used in path planning problems based on road network graphs, such as urban road structure probing planning, urban road underground cavity detection planning, high-voltage line inspection planning, and so on. With the rapid increase in the number of nodes and connections of road network graph, the solution time and path equilibrium constraints pose new challenges to the problem solving. In this paper, we propose a critical-edge tabu search algorithm, CTA-kroutes, for solving the min-max multi-vehicle postman problem for large-scale road networks.

Localized application of SAG21k-loaded fibrin hydrogels for targeted modulation of the hedgehog pathway in facial nerve injury.

Given the broad biological effects of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, there is potential clinical value in local application of Hh pathway modulators to restrict pathway activation of target tissues and avoid systemic pathway activation. One option to limit Hh pathway activation is using fibrin hydrogels to deliver pathway modulators directly to tissues of interest, bypassing systemic distribution of the drug. In this study, we loaded the potent Hh pathway agonist, SAG21k, into fibrin hydrogels.

Structural connectivity at term equivalent age and language in preterm children at 2 years corrected.

We previously reported interhemispheric structural hyperconnectivity bypassing the corpus callosum in children born extremely preterm (<28 weeks) versus term children. This increased connectivity was positively associated with language performance at 4-6 years of age in our prior work. In the present study, we aim to investigate whether this extracallosal connectivity develops in extremely preterm infants at term equivalent age by leveraging a prospective cohort study of 350 very and extremely preterm infants followed longitudinally in the Cincinnati Infant Neurodevelopment Early Prediction Study.

A systematic review of automated methods to perform white matter tract segmentation.

White matter tract segmentation is a pivotal research area that leverages diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) for the identification and mapping of individual white matter tracts and their trajectories. This study aims to provide a comprehensive systematic literature review on automated methods for white matter tract segmentation in brain dMRI scans. Articles on PubMed, ScienceDirect [NeuroImage, NeuroImage (Clinical), Medical Image Analysis], Scopus and IEEEXplore databases and Conference proceedings of Medical Imaging Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention Society (MICCAI) and International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI), were searched in the range from January 2013 until September 2023.