Performance of an AI-powered visualization software platform for precision surgery in breast cancer patients.

Surgery remains the primary treatment modality in the management of early-stage invasive breast cancer. Artificial intelligence (AI)-powered visualization platforms offer the compelling potential to aid surgeons in evaluating the tumor's location and morphology within the breast and accordingly optimize their surgical approach. We sought to validate an AI platform that employs dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) to render three-dimensional (3D) representations of the tumor and 5 additional chest tissues, offering clear visualizations as well as functionalities for quantifying tumor morphology, tumor-to-landmark structure distances, excision volumes, and approximate surgical margins.

Trocar-site incisional hernia after laparoscopic colorectal surgery: a significant problem? Incidence and risk factors from a single-center cohort.

Background: Trocar-site incisional hernia (TSIH) after laparoscopic surgery has been scarcely studied. TSIH incidence and risk factors have never been properly studied for laparoscopic colorectal surgery.

Methods: A retrospective analytic study in a tertiary hospital was performed including patients who underwent elective laparoscopic colorectal surgery between 2014 and 2016.

3-D Subject-Specific Shape and Density Estimation of the Lumbar Spine From a Single Anteroposterior DXA Image Including Assessment of Cortical and Trabecular Bone.

Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is the standard exam for osteoporosis diagnosis and fracture risk evaluation at the spine. However, numerous patients with bone fragility are not diagnosed as such. In fact, standard analysis of DXA images does not differentiate between trabecular and cortical bone; neither specifically assess of the bone density in the vertebral body, which is where most of the osteoporotic fractures occur.

Cortical and Trabecular Bone Analysis of Patients With High Bone Mass From the Barcelona Osteoporosis Cohort Using 3-Dimensional Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry: A Case-Control Study.

High bone mass (HBM), a rare phenotype, can be detected by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scanning. Measurements with peripheral quantitative computed tomography at the tibia have found increased trabecular bone mineral density and changes in cortical bone density and structure, all of which lead to increased bone strength. However, no studies on cortical and trabecular bone have been performed at the femur.

3D-DXA: Assessing the Femoral Shape, the Trabecular Macrostructure and the Cortex in 3D from DXA images.

The 3D distribution of the cortical and trabecular bone mass in the proximal femur is a critical component in determining fracture resistance that is not taken into account in clinical routine Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) examination. In this paper, a statistical shape and appearance model together with a 3D-2D registration approach are used to model the femoral shape and bone density distribution in 3D from an anteroposterior DXA projection. A model-based algorithm is subsequently used to segment the cortex and build a 3D map of the cortical thickness and density.

Automatic control of pollutant on a shallow river using surface water systems: application to the Ebro River.

In this paper, the problem of automatic control of pollutant on a shallow river using surface water systems is addressed using a benchmark test case based in the Ebro River. The Ebro River presents flooding episodes in the city of Zaragoza in Spring when snow melts in the Pyrenees. To avoid flooding and high pollutant levels in living areas, some lands outside the city are prepared to be flooded.

K+ starvation inhibits water-stress-induced stomatal closure via ethylene synthesis in sunflower plants.

The effect of water stress on stomatal closure in sunflower plants has been found to be dependent on K(+) nutrient status. When plants with different internal K(+) content were subjected to a water-stress period, stomatal conductance was reduced more markedly in plants with an adequate K(+) supply than in K(+)-starved plants. K(+) starvation promoted the production of ethylene by detached leaves, as well as by the shoot of whole plants.

Optimal predictive control of water transport systems: Arrêt-Darré/Arros case study.

This paper proposes the use of predictive optimal control as a suitable methodology to manage efficiently transport water networks. The predictive optimal controller is implemented using MPC control techniques. The Arrêt-Darré/Arros dam-river system located in the Southwest region of France is proposed as case study.

Predictive optimal control of sewer networks using CORAL tool: application to Riera Blanca catchment in Barcelona.

This paper deals with the global control of the Riera Blanca catchment in the Barcelona sewer network using a predictive optimal control approach. This catchment has been modelled using a conceptual modelling approach based on decomposing the catchments in subcatchments and representing them as virtual tanks. This conceptual modelling approach allows real-time model calibration and control of the sewer network.

Characterization of manganese-dependent peroxidase isoenzymes from the ligninolytic fungus Phanerochaete flavido-alba.

Phanerochaete flavido-alba is able to decolorize and detoxify olive oil wastewater (OMW) in a process in which simple and polymeric phenols are removed. An unusual acidic MnP is accumulated during the degradation course. This microorganism produces two families of MnPs.

Approach to the synthesis of antitumor quassinoids from labdane diterpenes: an efficient synthesis of a picrasane-related intermediate.

[structure: see text]. The tetracyclic ketal 24, a suitable intermediate for the synthesis of antitumor pentacyclic quassinoids, has been efficiently prepared from communic acids (5a-c), via methyl ketone 9. The synthetic sequence from 9 to 24 consists of 15 steps in 12% overall yield.

Lignans and polyacetylenes from bupleurum acutifolium.

Two new lignans (R,Z)-3-(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-2-(3, 4-dimethoxybenzylidene)-gamma-butyrolactone (1) and (2R, 3S)-2-acetoxy-2,3-bis(3,4-dimethoxybenzyl)-gamma-butyrolactone (2), and four new polyacetylenes, (2Z,8E,10E)-heptadeca-2,8,10-triene-4, 6-diyn-1-ol (3), (2E,9Z)-octadeca-2,9-diene-4,6-diyne-1,18-diol (4), (2E,9Z)-18-hydroxy-octadeca-2,9-diene-4,6-diyn-1-yl acetate (5), and (2E,9Z)-1-hydroxy-octadeca-2,9-diene-4,6-diyn-18-yl acetate (6), were isolated and identified from the hexane extract of aerial parts of Bupleurum acutifolium Boiss. Their structures were elucidated by NMR and MS analyses.

Determination of pantothenic acid in infant milk formulas by high performance liquid chromatography.

A reverse-phase liquid chromatographic method was adapted for the assay of pantothenic acid in infant milk formulas. Sample preparation consisted of deproteination with acetic acid and sodium acetate solutions, followed by centrifugation and filtration. The chromatographic system included a C-18 column and a mobile phase consisting of a sodium phosphate buffer and acetonitrile (97:3, vol/vol).

A rapid gas-liquid chromatography method for the determination of lactulose and mannitol in urine: clinical application in studies of intestinal permeability.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop a gas-liquid chromatography method for the determination of the urinary excretion of two nonmetabolizable sugars (lactulose and mannitol) to estimate the intestinal permeability.

Methods: Two internal standards (alpha-methyl-D-glucopyranosyde and sucrose) were added to the urine samples prior to derivatization with the aid of a solution of pyridine, [N, O-bis (trimethylsilyl)]-acetamide and chlorotrimethylsilan. Sample preparation was simpler and faster than in other previous methods and the four sugars were resolved within 27 min.