Attention-based multi-residual network for lung segmentation in diseased lungs with custom data augmentation.

Lung disease analysis in chest X-rays (CXR) using deep learning presents significant challenges due to the wide variation in lung appearance caused by disease progression and differing X-ray settings. While deep learning models have shown remarkable success in segmenting lungs from CXR images with normal or mildly abnormal findings, their performance declines when faced with complex structures, such as pulmonary opacifications. In this study, we propose AMRU++, an attention-based multi-residual UNet++ network designed for robust and accurate lung segmentation in CXR images with both normal and severe abnormalities.

Deferiprone in Alzheimer Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Interventions that substantially slow neurodegeneration are needed to address the growing burden of Alzheimer disease (AD) to societies worldwide. Elevated brain iron observed in AD has been associated with accelerated cognitive decline and may be a tractable drug target.

Objective: To investigate whether the brain-permeable iron chelator deferiprone slows cognitive decline in people with AD.

Rare Gold-Catalyzed 4-- Cyclization for Ring Expansion of Propargylic Aziridines toward Stereoselective ()-Alkylidene Azetidines, via Diborylalkyl Homopropargyl Amines.

We report an uncommon 4-- cyclization of -tosyl homopropargyl amines, catalyzed by [AuCl(PEt)]/AgOTf, to prepare stereoselective ()-2-alkylidene-1-tosylazetidine compounds. The reaction outcome contrasts with the gold-catalyzed cyclization of -tosyl homopropargyl amines containing a methyl group at the propargylic position that provides substituted 2,3-dihydropyrroles via a 5-- mechanism. The access to -tosyl homopropargyl amines is possible by the regioselective nucleophilic attack of α-diboryl alkylidene lithium salts to propargylic aziridines.

Long-term outcomes of early exposure to repeated general anaesthesia in children with cystic fibrosis (CF-GAIN): a multicentre, open-label, randomised controlled phase 4 trial.

Background: Long-term effects of early, recurrent human exposure to general anaesthesia remain unknown. The Australasian Cystic Fibrosis Bronchoalveolar Lavage (ACFBAL) trial provided an opportunity to examine this issue in children randomly assigned in infancy to either repeated bronchoalveolar-lavage (BAL)-directed therapy with general anaesthesia or standard care with no planned lavages up to 5 years of age when all children received BAL-directed therapy under general anaesthesia.

Methods: This multicentre, randomised, open-label phase 4 trial (CF-GAIN) used the original ACFBAL trial randomisation at 3·6 months (SD 1·6) to BAL-directed therapy or standard-care groups to assess the impact of general anaesthesia exposures over early childhood.

Respiratory Viral Coinfections in Pediatric Patients in the Primary Care Setting: A Multicenter Prospective Study Within the COPEDICAT Network.

Acute respiratory viral infections pose a significant healthcare burden on the pediatric population globally, but data on the dissemination pattern in the community due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic are scarce. We conducted a 2-year prospective multicenter study in Catalonia (Spain) that examined the prevalence and coinfection dynamics of respiratory viruses among 1276 pediatric patients from different age groups attending primary care. Coinfection analysis demonstrated complex patterns and revealed a coinfection rate of 23.

Tau and amyloid biomarkers modify the degree to which cognitive reserve and brain reserve predict cognitive decline.

Objective: Brain reserve, cognitive reserve, and education are thought to protect against late-life cognitive decline, but these variables have not been directly compared to one another in the same model, using future cognitive and functional decline as outcomes. We sought to determine whether the influence of these protective factors on executive function (EF) and daily function decline was dependent upon Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology severity, as measured by the total tau to beta-amyloid (T-τ/Aβ) ratio in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

Method: Participants were 1201 older adult volunteers in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) study.

Residual reserve index modifies the effect of amyloid pathology on fluorodeoxyglucose metabolism: Implications for efficiency and capacity in cognitive reserve.

Background: The residual approach to measuring cognitive reserve (using the residual reserve index) aims to capture cognitive resilience conferred by cognitive reserve, but may be confounded by factors representing brain resilience. We sought to distinguish between brain and cognitive resilience by comparing interactions between the residual reserve index and amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration ["AT(N)"] biomarkers when predicting executive function. We hypothesized that the residual reserve index would moderate at least one path from an AT(N) biomarker to executive function (consistent with cognitive resilience), as opposed to moderating a path between two AT(N) biomarkers (suggestive of brain resilience).

Diagnosis accuracy of waist-to-height ratio to predict cardiometabolic risk in children with obesity.

Background: Waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) predicts abdominal fat and cardiometabolic risk. In children with obesity, the most adequate cut-off to predict cardiometabolic risk as well as its ability to predict risk changes over time has not been tested. Our aim was to define an appropriate WHtR cut-off to predict cardiometabolic risk in children with obesity, and to analyze its ability to predict changes in cardiometabolic risk over time.

Site-Selective (Z)-α-Borylalkenyl Copper Systems for Nucleophilic Stereodefined Allylic Coupling.

1,1-Diborylalkenes can be transformed into (Z)-skipped dienes through Cu -phosphine catalyzed allylic coupling reactions. The energetically preferred formation of (Z)-α-borylalkenyl copper (I) species and the subsequent nucleophilic attack, explains the stereoselective nucleophilic substitution with allyl bromides. The eventual treatment of (Z)-skipped dienes with NaO Bu promotes cyclization/aromatization patterns via enyne intermediates.

Stereoselective Cyclopropanation of 1,1-Diborylalkenes via Palladium-Catalyzed (Trimethylsilyl)diazomethane Insertion.

Palladium catalyzes the cyclopropanation of 2-substituted 1,1-diborylalkenes with (trimethylsilyl)diazomethane. The relative stereoselectivity is controlled via a carbene insertion sequence generating an exclusive conformation between the R and SiMe substituents. Mixed 1,1-diborylalkenes also contributed to the formation of stereoselective B, B, Si-cyclopropanes.

Generative Model of Brain Microbleeds for MRI Detection of Vascular Marker of Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Cerebral microbleeds (CMB) are increasingly present with aging and can reveal vascular pathologies associated with neurodegeneration. Deep learning-based classifiers can detect and quantify CMB from MRI, such as susceptibility imaging, but are challenging to train because of the limited availability of ground truth and many confounding imaging features, such as vessels or infarcts. In this study, we present a novel generative adversarial network (GAN) that has been trained to generate three-dimensional lesions, conditioned by volume and location.

Schools as a Framework for COVID-19 Epidemiological Surveillance of Children in Catalonia, Spain: A Population-Based Study.

We describe and analyze the childhood (<18 years) COVID-19 incidence in Catalonia, Spain, during the first 36 weeks of the 2020-2021 school-year and to compare it with the incidence in adults. Data on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) tests were obtained from the Catalan Agency for Quality and Health Assessment. Overall, 7,203,663 SARS-CoV-2 tests were performed, of which 491,819 were positive (6.

Fifteen Years of the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study: Progress and Observations from 2,359 Older Adults Spanning the Spectrum from Cognitive Normality to Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study commenced in 2006 as a prospective study of 1,112 individuals (768 cognitively normal (CN), 133 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 211 with Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD)) as an 'Inception cohort' who underwent detailed ssessments every 18 months. Over the past decade, an additional 1247 subjects have been added as an 'Enrichment cohort' (as of 10 April 2019).

Objective: Here we provide an overview of these Inception and Enrichment cohorts of more than 8,500 person-years of investigation.

A modular olefination reaction between aldehydes and diborylsilylmethide lithium salts.

We describe the preparation of densely functionalised 1,1-silylborylated trisubstituted alkenes, via a boron-Wittig reaction, between LiC(Bpin)2(SiMe3) and aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes. The condensation of diborylsilylmethide lithium salts with α,β-unsaturated aldehydes provides a direct pathway to synthesize 1,1-silylborylated conjugated dienes and diynes.

Synthetic microbleeds generation for classifier training without ground truth.

Background And Objective: Cerebral microbleeds (CMB) are important biomarkers of cerebrovascular diseases and cognitive dysfunctions. Susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) is a common MRI sequence where CMB appear as small hypointense blobs. The prevalence of CMB in the population and in each scan is low, resulting in tedious and time-consuming visual assessment.

Longitudinal Trajectories in Cortical Thickness and Volume Atrophy: Superior Cognitive Performance Does Not Protect Against Brain Atrophy in Older Adults.

Background: Previous research has identified a small subgroup of older adults that maintain a high level of cognitive functioning well into advanced age. Investigation of those with superior cognitive performance (SCP) for their age is important, as age-related decline has previously been thought to be inevitable.

Objective: Preservation of cortical thickness and volume was evaluated in 76 older adults with SCP and 100 typical older adults (TOAs) assessed up to five times over six years.

Is Associated with Amyloid-β and ε4-Related Cognitive Decline in Cognitively Normal Adults.

Background: Genetic variation in Spondin-1, specifically rs11023139, has been associated with reduced rates of cognitive decline in individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the association was present in cognitively normal older adults.

Methods: Longitudinal cognitive decline was investigated using linear mixed modelling in a cohort of 590 cognitively normal older adults enrolled in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study.

Validation of bioelectrical impedance analysis for body composition assessment in children with obesity aged 8-14y.

Background & Aims: The aim was to generate a predictive equation to assess body composition (BC) in children with obesity using bioimpedance (BIA), and avoid bias produced by different density levels of fat free mass (FFM) in this population.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional validation study using baseline data from a randomized intervention trial to treat childhood obesity. Participants were 8 to 14y (n = 315), underwent assessments on anthropometry and BC through Air Displacement Plethysmography (ADP), Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry and BIA.

In vivo microstructural heterogeneity of white matter lesions in healthy elderly and Alzheimer's disease participants using tissue compositional analysis of diffusion MRI data.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are regions of high signal intensity typically identified on fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR). Although commonly observed in elderly individuals, they are more prevalent in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Given that WMH appear relatively homogeneous on FLAIR, they are commonly partitioned into location- or distance-based classes when investigating their relevance to disease.

A prospective cohort study of prodromal Alzheimer's disease: Prospective Imaging Study of Ageing: Genes, Brain and Behaviour (PISA).

This prospective cohort study, "Prospective Imaging Study of Ageing: Genes, Brain and Behaviour" (PISA) seeks to characterise the phenotype and natural history of healthy adult Australians at high future risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In particular, we are recruiting midlife and older Australians with high and low genetic risk of dementia to discover biological markers of early neuropathology, identify modifiable risk factors, and establish the very earliest phenotypic and neuronal signs of disease onset. PISA utilises genetic prediction to recruit and enrich a prospective cohort and follow them longitudinally.

Association of β-Amyloid Level, Clinical Progression, and Longitudinal Cognitive Change in Normal Older Individuals.

Objective: To determine the effect of β-amyloid (Aβ) level on progression risk to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia and longitudinal cognitive change in cognitively normal (CN) older individuals.

Methods: All CN from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle study with Aβ PET and ≥3 years follow-up were included (n = 534; age 72 ± 6 years; 27% Aβ positive; follow-up 5.3 ± 1.

Comorbidity of Cerebrovascular and Alzheimer's Disease in Aging.

Background: Cerebrovascular disease often coexists with Alzheimer's disease (AD). While both diseases share common risk factors, their interrelationship remains unclear. Increasing the understanding of how cerebrovascular changes interact with AD is essential to develop therapeutic strategies and refine biomarkers for early diagnosis.

Impact of APOE-ε4 carriage on the onset and rates of neocortical Aβ-amyloid deposition.

Neocortical Aβ-amyloid deposition, one of the hallmark pathologic features of Alzheimer's disease (AD), begins decades prior to the presence of clinical symptoms. As clinical trials move to secondary and even primary prevention, understanding the rates of neocortical Aβ-amyloid deposition and the age at which Aβ-amyloid deposition becomes abnormal is crucial for optimizing the timing of these trials. As APOE-ε4 carriage is thought to modulate the age of clinical onset, it is also important to understand the impact of APOE-ε4 carriage on the age at which the neocortical Aβ-amyloid deposition becomes abnormal.

Restricted Effect of Cerebral Microbleeds on Regional Magnetic Susceptibility.

Background: Cortical iron accumulation has been reported as a pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The cause of cortical iron elevation in AD is unknown but may be contributed by hemosiderin deposits in cerebral microbleeds that frequently occur in this disease.

Objective: To investigate the impact of cerebral microbleeds (which are more frequent in AD) on the magnetic susceptibility of the surrounding brain tissue.