Utilizing Artificial Intelligence-Based Deformable Registration for Global and Layer-Specific Cardiac MRI Strain Analysis in Healthy Children and Young Adults.

Rationale And Objectives: The absence of published reference values for multilayer-specific strain measurement using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in young healthy individuals limits its use. This study aimed to establish normal global and layer-specific strain values in healthy children and young adults using a deformable registration algorithm (DRA).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective study included 131 healthy children and young adults (62 males and 69 females) with a mean age of 16.

Optimizing Deep Learning for Cardiac MRI Segmentation: The Impact of Automated Slice Range Classification.

Rationale And Objectives: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging is crucial for diagnosing cardiovascular diseases, but lengthy postprocessing and manual segmentation can lead to observer bias. Deep learning (DL) has been proposed for automated cardiac segmentation; however, its effectiveness is limited by the slice range selection from base to apex.

Materials And Methods: In this study, we integrated an automated slice range classification step to identify basal to apical short-axis slices before DL-based segmentation.

Associations of childhood allergies with parental reproductive and allergy history.

Purpose: There has been a noted parallel rise in both the use of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) to conceive and childhood allergies in the last few decades. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible association between reproductive and allergy history in parents and allergies in their children.

Methods: This exploratory study used a cross-sectional study design and web-based survey to collect anonymous data on demographics, allergy, and health history from parents and about each of their children under 18 years of age.

What is the angle of a banana? The difficulty in reliable assessment of hypospadias chordee.

Introduction: The degree of chordee associated with hypospadias impacts operative management. Unfortunately, poor inter-observer reliability in assessing chordee by multiple methods in vitro has been demonstrated. This variability may be related to the fact that chordee is not a discrete angle, but rather an arc-like curvature similar to that of a banana.

Cerium Oxide Enhances the Toxicity of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles in Human Lung Epithelial Cell Cultures.

Recently, many approaches have been developed to improve the performance of nanomaterials. Combining more than one nanomaterial is one such approach that achieves superior results. However, during the fabrication of nanomaterials or formulation of end products, materials can be released into the ambient air and be inhaled by workers.

Factors contributing to missed opportunities for human papillomavirus vaccination among adolescents, ages 11 to 13, in Iowa.

Introduction: Rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination remain low and missed opportunities for HPV vaccination are widespread. Researchers have identified factors related to HPV vaccination, but less is known about missed opportunities.

Methods: We used medical claims data from a large Midwestern insurance provider to explore relationships between adolescent and provider characteristics and missed opportunities for HPV vaccination.

Household endotoxin reduction in the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project for rural childhood asthma.

Endotoxin exacerbates asthma. We designed the Louisa Environmental Intervention Project (LEIP) and assessed its effectiveness in reducing household endotoxin and improving asthma symptoms in rural Iowa children. Asthmatic school children (N = 104 from 89 homes) of Louisa and Keokuk counties in Iowa (aged 5-14 years) were recruited and block-randomized to receive extensive (education + professional cleaning) or educational interventions.

Maximum Pairwise Pseudo-Likelihood Estimation of the Covariance Matrix from Left-Censored Data.

Toxicological studies often depend on laboratory assays that have thresholds below which environmental pollutants cannot be measured with accuracy. Exposure levels below this limit of detection may well be toxic and hence it is vital to use data analytic methods that handle such left-censored data with as little estimation bias as possible. In an on-going study for which our methodology is developed, levels of residential exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the interrelationships of their subtypes (congeners) are characterized.

Evaluation of the Limulus amebocyte lysate and recombinant factor C assays for assessment of airborne endotoxin.

As a potent inflammatory agent, endotoxin is a key analyte of interest for studies of lung ailments in domestic environments and occupational settings with organic dust. A relatively unexplored advance in endotoxin exposure assessment is the use of recombinant factor C (rFC) from the Limulus pathway in a fluorometric assay. In this study, we compared airborne endotoxin concentrations in laboratory- and field-collected parallel air samples using the kinetic Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) assay and the rFC assay.

Modulation of reactive oxygen species by Rac1 or catalase prevents asbestos-induced pulmonary fibrosis.

The release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytokines by alveolar macrophages has been demonstrated in asbestos-induced pulmonary fibrosis, but the mechanism linking alveolar macrophages to the pathogenesis is not known. The GTPase Rac1 is a second messenger that plays an important role in host defense. In this study, we demonstrate that Rac1 null mice are protected from asbestos-induced pulmonary fibrosis, as determined by histological and biochemical analysis.

Concentrations of bioaerosols, odors, and hydrogen sulfide inside and downwind from two types of swine livestock operations.

Few data on in-barn and downwind concentrations of endotoxin, bioaerosols, and odors from livestock facilities are available, and no studies have compared conventional confinement operations with the more animal-friendly hoop operations. Hoops are open to the environment and use a composted bedding system rather than housing pigs on slatted floors over pits holding manure slurry as in conventional confinements. We assessed airborne toxicants upwind, in barns, and downwind and evaluated determinants of exposure.