A Novel Poroelastography Method for High-quality Estimation of Lateral Strain, Solid Stress and Fluid Pressure In Vivo.

Assessment of mechanical and transport properties of tissues using ultrasound elasticity imaging requires accurate estimations of the spatiotemporal distribution of volumetric strain. Due to physical constraints such as pitch limitation and the lack of phase information in the lateral direction, the quality of lateral strain estimation is typically significantly lower than the quality of axial strain estimation. In this paper, a novel lateral strain estimation technique based on the physics of compressible porous media is developed, tested and validated.

Training and provision of mobility aids to promote autonomy and mobility of older patients in a geriatric emergency department: A protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Older adults have higher rates of emergency department (ED) admissions when compared to their younger counterparts. Mobility is the ability to move around, but also encompasses the environment and the ability to adapt to it. Walking aids can be used to improve mobility and prevent falls.

Enhancing ECG-based heart age: impact of acquisition parameters and generalization strategies for varying signal morphologies and corruptions.

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a non-invasive approach to capture the overall electrical activity produced by the contraction and relaxation of the cardiac muscles. It has been established in the literature that the difference between ECG-derived age and chronological age represents a general measure of cardiovascular health. Elevated ECG-derived age strongly correlates with cardiovascular conditions (e.

Effect of VAChT reduction on lung alterations induced by exposure to iron particles in an asthma model.

Introduction: Pollution harms the health of people with asthma. The effect of the anti-inflammatory cholinergic pathway in chronic allergic inflammation associated to pollution is poorly understood.

Methods: One hundred eight animals were divided into 18 groups (6 animals).

Effects of plant protease inhibitors (Pep-3-EcTI, Pep-BbKI, and Pep-BrTI) versus corticosteroids on inflammation, remodeling, and oxidative stress in an asthma-COPD (ACO) model.

The peptide derived from trypsin inhibitor (Pep-3-EcTI), peptide derived from kallikrein inhibitor isolated from (Pep-BbKI), and peptide modified from (Pep-BrTI) peptides exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, suggesting their potential for treating asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap (ACO). We compared the effects of these peptides with dexamethasone (DX) treatment in an ACO model. In this study, 11 groups of male BALB/c mice were pre-treated under different conditions, including sensitization with intraperitoneal injection and inhalation of ovalbumin (OVA), intratracheal instillation of porcine pancreatic elastase (ELA), sensitization with intraperitoneal injection, and various combinations of peptide treatments with Pep-3-EcTI, Pep-BbKI, Pep-BrTI, dexamethasone, and non-treated controls (SAL-saline).

A single dose of angiotensin-(1-7) resolves eosinophilic inflammation and protects the lungs from a secondary inflammatory challenge.

Objective: Angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] is a pro-resolving mediator. It is not known whether the pro-resolving effects of Ang-(1-7) are sustained and protect the lung from a subsequent inflammatory challenge. This study sought to investigate the impact of treatment in face of a second allergic or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge.

Effects of environmental exposure to iron powder on healthy and elastase-exposed mice.

Prolonged exposure to iron powder and other mineral dusts can threaten the health of individuals, especially those with COPD. The goal of this study was to determine how environmental exposure to metal dust from two different mining centers in Brazil affects lung mechanics, inflammation, remodeling and oxidative stress responses in healthy and elastase-exposed mice. This study divided 72 male C57Bl/6 mice into two groups, the summer group and the winter group.

Non-Invasive Imaging of Mechanical Properties of Cancers In Vivo Based on Transformations of the Eshelby's Tensor Using Compression Elastography.

Knowledge of the mechanical properties is of great clinical significance for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of cancers. Recently, a new method based on Eshelby's theory to simultaneously assess Young's modulus (YM) and Poisson's ratio (PR) in tissues has been proposed. A significant limitation of this method is that accuracy of the reconstructed YM and PR is affected by the orientation/alignment of the tumor with the applied stress.

The phase angle cut-off point capable of discriminating hemodialysis patients with reduced exercise tolerance: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Phase angle (PhA) is a prognostic marker of all-cause mortality in chronic kidney disease. However, no study has investigated this marker as a predictor of exercise intolerance in hemodialysis (HD) patients. The aim of this study was to determine a cut-off point for the PhA capable of discriminating HD patients with reduced exercise tolerance.

Unveiling the future of breast cancer assessment: a critical review on generative adversarial networks in elastography ultrasound.

Elastography Ultrasound provides elasticity information of the tissues, which is crucial for understanding the density and texture, allowing for the diagnosis of different medical conditions such as fibrosis and cancer. In the current medical imaging scenario, elastograms for B-mode Ultrasound are restricted to well-equipped hospitals, making the modality unavailable for pocket ultrasound. To highlight the recent progress in elastogram synthesis, this article performs a critical review of generative adversarial network (GAN) methodology for elastogram generation from B-mode Ultrasound images.

Estimating age and gender from electrocardiogram signals: A comprehensive review of the past decade.

Twelve lead electrocardiogram signals capture unique fingerprints about the body's biological processes and electrical activity of heart muscles. Machine learning and deep learning-based models can learn the embedded patterns in the electrocardiogram to estimate complex metrics such as age and gender that depend on multiple aspects of human physiology. ECG estimated age with respect to the chronological age reflects the overall well-being of the cardiovascular system, with significant positive deviations indicating an aged cardiovascular system and a higher likelihood of cardiovascular mortality.

Modulating asthma-COPD overlap responses with IL-17 inhibition.

Background: IL-17 is a modulator of the inflammatory response and is implicated in lung remodeling in both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Well as and probably in patients with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO).

Methods: In this study, we evaluated the response of the airways and alveolar septa to anti-IL-17 treatment in an ACO model.

Predicting stress and interstitial fluid pressure in tumors based on biphasic theory.

The uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells causes the growth of the tumor mass. Consequently, the normal surrounding tissue exerts a compressive force on the tumor mass to oppose its expansion. These stresses directly promote tumor metastasis and invasion and affect drug delivery.

Investigating the Effects of a New Peptide, Derived from the Proteinase Inhibitor (EcTI), on Inflammation, Remodeling, and Oxidative Stress in an Experimental Mouse Model of Asthma-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Overlap (ACO).

The synthesized peptide derived from (pep3-EcTI) has been associated with potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and it may be a potential new treatment for asthma-COPD overlap-ACO). Purpose: To investigate the primary sequence effects of pep3-EcTI in an experimental ACO. BALB/c mice were divided into eight groups: SAL (saline), OVA (ovalbumin), ELA (elastase), ACO (ovalbumin + elastase), ACO-pep3-EcTI (treated with inhibitor), ACO-DX (treated with dexamethasone), ACO-DX-pep3-EcTI (treated with dexamethasone and inhibitor), and SAL-pep3-EcTI (saline group treated with inhibitor).

Assessment of spinal cord injury using ultrasound elastography in a rabbit model in vivo.

The effect of the mechanical micro-environment on spinal cord injury (SCI) and treatment effectiveness remains unclear. Currently, there are limited imaging methods that can directly assess the localized mechanical behavior of spinal cords in vivo. In this study, we apply new ultrasound elastography (USE) techniques to assess SCI in vivo at the site of the injury and at the time of one week post injury, in a rabbit animal model.

The pro-oncogenic protein IF does not contribute to the Warburg effect and is not regulated by PKA in cancer cells.

The endogenous inhibitor of mitochondrial FF-ATPase (ATP synthase), IF, has been shown to exert pro-oncogenic actions, including reprogramming of cellular energy metabolism (Warburg effect). The latter action of IF has been reported to be hampered by its PKA-dependent phosphorylation, but both reprogramming of metabolism and PKA-dependent phosphorylation are intensely debated. To clarify these critical issues, we prepared stably IF-silenced clones and compared their bioenergetics with that of the three parental IF-expressing cancer cell lines.

Effects of a Peptide Derived from the Primary Sequence of a Kallikrein Inhibitor Isolated from (pep-BbKI) in an Asthma-COPD Overlap (ACO) Model.

(1) There are several patients with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO). A peptide derived from the primary sequence of a kallikrein inhibitor isolated from (pep-BbKI) has potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Purpose: To investigate the effects of pep-BbKI treatment in an ACO model and compare them with those of corticosteroids.

Efficacy of bi-level erector spinae plane block versus bi-level thoracic paravertebral block for postoperative analgesia in modified radical mastectomy: a prospective randomized comparative study.

Background: Postoperative analgesia in breast surgery is difficult due to the extensive nature of the surgery and the complex innervation of the breast; general anesthesia can be associated with regional anesthesia techniques to control intra- and post-postoperative pain. This randomized comparative study aimed to compare the efficacy of the erector spinae plane block and the thoracic paravertebral block in radical mastectomy procedures with or without axillary emptying.

Methods: This prospective randomized comparative study included 82 adult females who were randomly divided into two groups using a computer-generated random number.

Assessment of compression-induced solid stress, fluid pressure and mechanopathological parameters in cancersusing poroelastography.

Compression-induced solid stress (SSc) and fluid pressure (FPc) during ultrasound poroelastography (USPE) experiments are correlated with two markers of cancer growth and treatment effectiveness: growth-induced solid stress (SSg) and interstitial fluid pressure (IFP). The spatio-temporal distributions of SSg and IFP are determined by the transport properties of the vessels and interstitium in the tumor microenvironment.We propose a new USPE method for the non-invasive imaging of the local cancer mechanical parameters and dynamics of fluid flow.

Non-invasive imaging of interstitial fluid transport parameters in solid tumors in vivo.

In this paper, new and non-invasive imaging methods to assess interstitial fluid transport parameters in tumors in vivo are developed, analyzed and experimentally validated. These parameters include extracellular volume fraction (EVF), interstitial fluid volume fraction (IFVF) and interstitial hydraulic conductivity (IHC), and they are known to have a critical role in cancer progression and drug delivery effectiveness. EVF is defined as the volume of extracellular matrix per unit volume of the tumor, while IFVF refers to the volume of interstitial fluid per unit bulk volume of the tumor.

Estimation of Mechanical and Transport Parameters in Cancers Using Short Time Poroelastography.

Mechanical and transport properties of cancers such as Young's modulus (YM), Poisson's ratio (PR), and vascular permeability (VP) have great clinical importance in cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. However, non-invasive estimation of these parameters is challenged by many practical factors. Elasticity imaging methods, such as "poroelastography", require prolonged data acquisition, which can limit their clinical applicability.

Lung Mechanics Over the Century: From Bench to Bedside and Back to Bench.

Lung physiology research advanced significantly over the last 100 years. Respiratory mechanics applied to animal models of lung disease extended the knowledge of the workings of respiratory system. In human research, a better understanding of respiratory mechanics has contributed to development of mechanical ventilators.