TFG-Net: A Text Feature-Guided Network for Small Traffic Sign Detection.

Detecting small signs in complex real-world environments remains challenging due to limited feature information and interference from other objects. In this article, we propose a novel text feature-guided network (TFG-Net) to improve the performance of the small signs detection not only enhancing the feature information of small signs but also avoiding the influence of other objects. As the name suggests, TFG-Net incorporates a text detection branch, which extracts additional textual features from the signs and supplies them to the object detection branch.

Pooled analysis of multiple sclerosis findings on multisite 7 Tesla MRI: Protocol and initial observations.

Although 7 T MRI research has contributed much to our understanding of multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology, most prior data has come from small, single-center studies with varying methods. In order to truly know if such findings have widespread applicability, multicenter methods and studies are needed. To address this, members of the North American Imaging in MS (NAIMS) Cooperative worked together to create a multicenter collaborative study of 7 T MRI in MS.

Intersite brain MRI volumetric biases persist even in a harmonized multisubject study of multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Multicenter study designs involving a variety of MRI scanners have become increasingly common. However, these present the issue of biases in image-based measures due to scanner or site differences. To assess these biases, we imaged 11 volunteers with multiple sclerosis (MS) with scan and rescan data at four sites.

Serum NfL levels in the first five years predict 10-year thalamic fraction in patients with MS.

Background: Serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) levels are associated with relapses, MRI lesions, and brain volume in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To explore the value of early serum neurofilament light (sNfL) measures in prognosticating 10-year regional brain volumes in MS.

Methods: Patients with MS enrolled in the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigations in MS at Brigham and Women's Hospital (CLIMB) study within five years of disease onset who had annual blood samples from years 1-10 (n = 91) were studied.

Gut Microbiome in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the gut microbiome in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and how it relates to clinical disease.

Methods: We sequenced the microbiota from healthy controls and relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and progressive MS patients and correlated the levels of bacteria with clinical features of disease, including Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), quality of life, and brain magnetic resonance imaging lesions/atrophy. We colonized mice with MS-derived Akkermansia and induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Detection of Cortical and Deep Gray Matter Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis Using DIR and FLAIR at 3T.

Background And Purpose: The comparative detection rates of deep gray matter (GM) multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions using double inversion recovery (DIR) and fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR) on 3T MR imaging remain unknown. We aimed to assess the detectability of cortical and deep GM MS lesions using DIR and FLAIR on 3T clinical exams and evaluate the relationship between deep GM lesions and brain atrophy.

Methods: One hundred fifty consecutive MS patients underwent routine brain MRI that included 3D DIR and 2D T2 FLAIR on the same 3T scanner.

Regional microglial activation in the substantia nigra is linked with fatigue in MS.

Objective: The goal of our study is to assess the role of microglial activation in MS-associated fatigue (MSAF) using [F-18]PBR06-PET.

Methods: Fatigue severity was measured using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) in 12 subjects with MS (7 relapsing-remitting and 5 secondary progressive) and 10 healthy control participants who underwent [F-18]PBR06-PET. The MFIS provides a total fatigue score as well as physical, cognitive, and psychosocial fatigue subscale scores.

Multiple sclerosis lesions in motor tracts from brain to cervical cord: spatial distribution and correlation with disability.

Despite important efforts to solve the clinico-radiological paradox, correlation between lesion load and physical disability in patients with multiple sclerosis remains modest. One hypothesis could be that lesion location in corticospinal tracts plays a key role in explaining motor impairment. In this study, we describe the distribution of lesions along the corticospinal tracts from the cortex to the cervical spinal cord in patients with various disease phenotypes and disability status.

Gray matter microglial activation in relapsing vs progressive MS: A [F-18]PBR06-PET study.

Objective: To determine the value of [F-18]PBR06-PET for assessment of microglial activation in the cerebral gray matter in patients with MS.

Methods: Twelve patients with MS (7 relapsing-remitting and 5 secondary progressive [SP]) and 5 healthy controls (HCs) had standardized uptake value (SUV) PET maps coregistered to 3T MRI and segmented into cortical and subcortical gray matter regions. SUV ratios (SUVRs) were global brain normalized.

Lifespan normative data on rates of brain volume changes.

We provide here normative values of yearly percentage brain volume change (PBVC/y) as obtained with Structural Imaging Evaluation, using Normalization, of Atrophy, a widely used open-source software, developing a PBVC/y calculator for assessing the deviation from the expected PBVC/y in patients with neurological disorders. We assessed multicenter (34 centers, 11 acquisition protocols) magnetic resonance imaging data of 720 healthy participants covering the whole adult lifespan (16-90 years). Data of 421 participants with a follow-up > 6 months were used to obtain the normative values for PBVC/y and data of 392 participants with a follow-up <1 month were selected to assess the intrasubject variability of the brain volume measurement.

Quantitative MRI analysis of cerebral lesions and atrophy in post-partum patients with multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To assess the change in cerebral lesions and atrophy associated with pregnancy in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Background: Multiple sclerosis often affects women of reproductive age. Disease stabilization typically occurs during pregnancy, with transient recrudescence post-partum.

Whole-brain atrophy assessed by proportional- versus registration-based pipelines from 3T MRI in multiple sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: Whole-brain atrophy is a standard outcome measure in multiple sclerosis (MS) clinical trials as assessed by various software tools. The effect of processing method on the validity of such data obtained from high-resolution 3T MRI is not known. We compared two commonly used methods of quantifying whole-brain atrophy.

18F-PBR06 Versus 11C-PBR28 PET for Assessing White Matter Translocator Protein Binding in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Purpose: F-PBR06 and C-PBR28 are second-generation PET radioligands targeting the 18-kd translocator protein to assess microglial activation. We directly compared F-PBR06 and C-PBR28 for detecting brain translocator protein binding in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: Six patients with MS (4 women; mean age ± SD, 32.

A two-year study using cerebral gray matter volume to assess the response to fingolimod therapy in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Cerebral gray matter (GM) atrophy has clinical relevance in multiple sclerosis (MS). Fingolimod has known efficacy on clinical and conventional MRI findings in MS; the effect on GM is unknown.

Objective: To explore fingolimod's treatment effect on cerebral GM atrophy over two years in patients with relapsing forms of MS.

Automated segmentation of cerebral deep gray matter from MRI scans: effect of field strength on sensitivity and reliability.

Background: The cerebral subcortical deep gray matter nuclei (DGM) are a common, early, and clinically-relevant site of atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS). Robust and reliable DGM segmentation could prove useful to evaluate putative neuroprotective MS therapies. The objective of the study was to compare the sensitivity and reliability of DGM volumes obtained from 1.

Association Between Serum MicroRNAs and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures of Multiple Sclerosis Severity.

Importance: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are promising multiple sclerosis (MS) biomarkers. Establishing the association between miRNAs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of disease severity will help define their significance and potential impact.

Objective: To correlate circulating miRNAs in the serum of patients with MS to brain and spinal MRI.

Sample size requirements for one-year treatment effects using deep gray matter volume from 3T MRI in progressive forms of multiple sclerosis.

Objective: The subcortical deep gray matter (DGM) develops selective, progressive, and clinically relevant atrophy in progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (PMS). This patient population is the target of active neurotherapeutic development, requiring the availability of outcome measures. We tested a fully automated MRI analysis pipeline to assess DGM atrophy in PMS.

The Effect of Dimethyl Fumarate on Cerebral Gray Matter Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis.

Introduction: The objective of this pilot study was to compare cerebral gray matter (GM) atrophy over 1 year in patients starting dimethyl fumarate (DMF) for multiple sclerosis (MS) to that of patients on no disease-modifying treatment (noDMT). DMF is an established therapy for relapsing-remitting (RR) MS.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 20 patients with RRMS at the start of DMF [age (mean ± SD) 46.

The Contribution of Cortical Lesions to a Composite MRI Scale of Disease Severity in Multiple Sclerosis.

Objective: To test a new version of the Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale (v.3 = MRDSS3) for multiple sclerosis (MS), incorporating cortical gray matter lesions (CLs) from 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Background: MRDSS1 was a cerebral MRI-defined composite scale of MS disease severity combining T2 lesion volume (T2LV), the ratio of T1 to T2LV (T1/T2), and whole brain atrophy [brain parenchymal fraction (BPF)].

Serum lipid antibodies are associated with cerebral tissue damage in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To determine whether peripheral immune responses as measured by serum antigen arrays are linked to cerebral MRI measures of disease severity in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, serum samples were obtained from patients with relapsing-remitting MS (n = 21) and assayed using antigen arrays that contained 420 antigens including CNS-related autoantigens, lipids, and heat shock proteins. Normalized compartment-specific global brain volumes were obtained from 3-tesla MRI as surrogates of atrophy, including gray matter fraction (GMF), white matter fraction (WMF), and total brain parenchymal fraction (BPF).