Incorporating patient-specific prior clinical knowledge to improve clinical target volume auto-segmentation generalisability for online adaptive radiotherapy of rectal cancer: A multicenter validation.

Background & Purpose: Deep learning (DL) based auto-segmentation has shown to be beneficial for online adaptive radiotherapy (OART). However, auto-segmentation of clinical target volumes (CTV) is complex, as clinical interpretations are crucial in their definition. The resulting variation between clinicians and institutes hampers the generalizability of DL networks.

Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia Revealed by Diffusion-Tensor MRI.

Objectives: Detecting premalignant lesions for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, mainly pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), is critical for early diagnosis and for understanding PanIN biology. Based on PanIN's histology, we hypothesized that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and T2* could detect PanIN.

Materials And Methods: DTI was explored for the detection and characterization of PanIN in genetically engineered mice (KC, KPC).

A computational framework for processing time-series of earth observation data based on discrete convolution: global-scale historical Landsat cloud-free aggregates at 30 m spatial resolution.

Processing large collections of earth observation (EO) time-series, often petabyte-sized, such as NASA's Landsat and ESA's Sentinel missions, can be computationally prohibitive and costly. Despite their name, even the Analysis Ready Data (ARD) versions of such collections can rarely be used as direct input for modeling because of cloud presence and/or prohibitive storage size. Existing solutions for readily using these data are not openly available, are poor in performance, or lack flexibility.

Development of an Electrochemical Paper-Based Device Modified with Functionalized Biochar for the Screening of Paracetamol in Substandard Medicines.

The global prevalence of counterfeit and low-quality pharmaceuticals poses significant health risks and challenges in medical treatments, creating a need for rapid and reliable drug screening technologies. This study introduces a cost-effective electrochemical paper-based device (ePAD) modified with functionalized bamboo-derived biochar (BCF) for the detection of paracetamol in substandard medicines. The sensor was fabricated using a custom 3D-printed stencil in PLA, designed for efficient production, and a 60:40 (m/m) graphite (GR) and glass varnish (GV) conductive ink, resulting in a robust and sensitive platform.

Do Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) Used Within Radiotherapy Clinical Trials Reflect the Impact of Treatment?

This is the first article that investigates whether the patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used in clinical trials effectively capture the specific side-effects of radiotherapy and proton beam therapy (PBT) and provides context for researchers selecting PROMs for clinical trials. PROMs from radiotherapy trials were identified from previous research and assessed against the United Kingdom Royal College of Radiologists' guidelines for tumour-site-specific side-effects. The analysis revealed that none of the 51 identified PROMs captured the full range of side-effects, with only 25 addressing fatigue and 6 addressing radiation-induced skin reactions.

Evaluation of deep learning-based target auto-segmentation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging-guided cervix brachytherapy.

Background And Purpose: The target structures for cervix brachytherapy are segmented by radiation oncologists using imaging and clinical information. At the first fraction, this is performed manually from scratch. For subsequent fractions the first fraction segmentations are rigidly propagated and edited manually.

Deep Learning Method Applied to Autonomous Image Diagnosis for Prick Test.

Background: The skin prick test (SPT) is used to diagnose sensitization to antigens. This study proposes a deep learning approach to infer wheal dimensions, aiming to reduce dependence on human interpretation.

Methods: A dataset of SPT images (n = 5844) was used to infer a convolutional neural network for wheal segmentation ().

Melatonin increases superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2) levels and improves rat ovarian graft function after transplantation.

Background: Ovarian cryopreservation is a promising technique despite being hindered by damage from freezing and thawing. Melatonin can mitigate this outcome.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of melatonin on the follicular dynamics of ovarian tissue in a cryopreserved cell culture.

Disentangling negative reinforcement, working memory, and deductive reasoning deficits in elevated BMI.

Neuropsychological data suggest that being overweight or obese is associated with a tendency to perseverate behavior despite negative feedback. This deficit might be observed due to other cognitive factors, such as working memory (WM) deficits or decreased ability to deduce model-based strategies when learning by trial-and-error. In the present study, a group of subjects with overweight or obesity (Ow/Ob, n = 30) was compared to normal-weight individuals (n = 42) in a modified Reinforcement Learning (RL) task.

Incorporating patient-specific information for the development of rectal tumor auto-segmentation models for online adaptive magnetic resonance Image-guided radiotherapy.

Background And Purpose: In online adaptive magnetic resonance image (MRI)-guided radiotherapy (MRIgRT), manual contouring of rectal tumors on daily images is labor-intensive and time-consuming. Automation of this task is complex due to substantial variation in tumor shape and location between patients. The aim of this work was to investigate different approaches of propagating patient-specific prior information to the online adaptive treatment fractions to improve deep-learning based auto-segmentation of rectal tumors.

High-fat and High-sucrose Diet-induced Hypothalamic Inflammation Shows Sex Specific Features in Mice.

Hypothalamic inflammation underlies diet-induced obesity and diabetes in rodent models. While diet normalization largely allows for recovery from metabolic impairment, it remains unknown whether long-term hypothalamic inflammation induced by obesogenic diets is a reversible process. In this study, we aimed at determining sex specificity of hypothalamic neuroinflammation and gliosis in mice fed a fat- and sugar-rich diet, and their reversibility upon diet normalization.

Neuroimmune interactions in the development and chronification of migraine headache.

Migraine is highly prevalent and debilitating. The persistent headaches in this condition are thought to arise from the activation and sensitization of the trigeminovascular pathway. Both clinical and animal model studies have suggested that neuroimmune interactions contribute to the pathophysiology of migraine headache.

Efficacy and safety of left atrial appendage closure procedure in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with contraindication and/or failure for oral anticoagulants: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: With the aim of reducing the risk of Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA) in patients with Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation (NVAF), Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) devices are emerging as an alternative to oral anticoagulants.

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and safety of the LAAO procedure in patients with NVAF and contraindications and/or failure for oral anticoagulants.

Method: The search for evidence was carried out in the electronic databases Medline and Embase till January 2024.

Morphological and Molecular Analyses of Aponurus laguncula Looss, 1907 (Digenea: Lecithasteridae) Parasitic in Atlantic Spadefish Chaetodipterus faber (Broussonet, 1782) (Acanthuriformes: Ephippidae) from Brazilian Coastal Zone.

Objectives: An integrative taxonomic description of Aponurus laguncula (Lecithasteridae), a digenean parasitic species of Chaetodipterus faber (Acanthuriformes) from Brazilian Southeast, is provided. Morphological techniques, as whole mounted slides, histology and scanning electron microscopy, and molecular analyses supported that integrative description.

Methods: Fifteen digenean specimens were stained in hydrochloric carmine and mounted on permanent slides.

Technical Aspects of Penumbra Indigo Lightning Flash System for Mechanical Thrombectomy of Pulmonary Embolism: A Comprehensive Review.

Purpose: To demonstrate the technical aspects of the novel Penumbra Indigo Lightning Flash System (Penumbra, Inc.) for mechanical thrombectomy of pulmonary embolism (PE).

Technique: The novel Penumbra Lightning Flash catheter is a 16 French (F) sheath-compatible device designed for advanced thrombectomy, especially in the pulmonary arteries.

Effects of valproic acid on wound healing of the abdominal wall musculoaponeurotic layer: an experimental study in rats.

Introduction: valproic acid (VPA), an epigenetic drug, has potential for the treatment of neoplasms. Its effects on the healing of the peritoneal-musculo-aponeurotic plane (PMA) of the abdominal wall are studied.

Method: sixty Wistar rats were allocated into two groups: experimental (VPA) and control (0.

The IMRiS Trial: A Phase 2 Study of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy in Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma.

Purpose: Primary soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is rare, with many tumors occurring in extremities. Local management is limb-sparing surgery and preoperative/postoperative radiation therapy (RT) for patients at high risk of local recurrence. We prospectively investigated late normal tissue toxicity and limb function observed after intensity modulated RT (IMRT) in extremity STS.

High-quality draft genome sequence of sp. RC80, a candidate for biofuel production.

sp. RC80 was isolated from temperate deciduous forest soil in New England. The assembled genome is a single contig with 5,977,337 bp and 97.