Comparative assessment of established and deep learning-based segmentation methods for hippocampal volume estimation in brain magnetic resonance imaging analysis.

In this study, our objective was to assess the performance of two deep learning-based hippocampal segmentation methods, SynthSeg and TigerBx, which are readily available to the public. We contrasted their performance with that of two established techniques, FreeSurfer-Aseg and FSL-FIRST, using three-dimensional T1-weighted MRI scans (n = 1447) procured from public databases. Our evaluation focused on the accuracy and reproducibility of these tools in estimating hippocampal volume.

Virtual MOLLI Target: Generative Adversarial Networks Toward Improved Motion Correction in MRI Myocardial T1 Mapping.

Background: The modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) sequence is commonly used for myocardial T1 mapping. However, it acquires images with different inversion times, which causes difficulty in motion correction for respiratory-induced misregistration to a given target image.

Hypothesis: Using a generative adversarial network (GAN) to produce virtual MOLLI images with consistent heart positions can reduce respiratory-induced misregistration of MOLLI datasets.

Underestimation of Occupational Radiation Exposure During Endovascular Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

During interventional procedures of endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR), the dosimeter was conventionally placed on chest facing toward the surgical table, instead of the main source of scatter radiation. Purpose of this study is to evaluate the underestimation of occupational radiation exposure. Phantom experiments were performed in a hybrid operating room equipped with an interventional angiography system.

Baicalein suppresses HER2-mediated malignant transformation of HER2-overexpressing ovarian cancer cells by downregulating HER2 gene expression.

The upregulation of the HER2 oncogene is associated with a variety of human cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. Baicalein is reported to have anti-tumor activity, but the molecular mechanism of this effect in HER2-positive cancer cells has not been studied. In this study, our data showed that baicalein can inhibit the proliferation and transformation potential of ovarian cancer cells overexpressing HER2.

Baicalein Induces G/M Cell Cycle Arrest Associated with ROS Generation and CHK2 Activation in Highly Invasive Human Ovarian Cancer Cells.

Ovarian cancer is a lethal gynecological cancer because drug resistance often results in treatment failure. The CHK2, a tumor suppressor, is considered to be an important molecular target in ovarian cancer due to its role in DNA repair. Dysfunctional CHK2 impairs DNA damage-induced checkpoints, reduces apoptosis, and confers resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation therapy in ovarian cancer cells.

Intra-tumoral susceptibility signal: a post-processing technique for objective grading of astrocytoma with susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Background: Susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) is sensitive to the accumulation of paramagnetic substances, such as hemorrhage and increased venous vasculature, both being frequently found in high-grade tumors. The purpose of this retrospective study is to differentiate high-grade and low-grade astrocytoma by objectively measuring quantitative intra-tumoral susceptibility signals (qITSS) on SWI.

Methods: Precontrast SWI and 3D contrast-enhanced T1WI of 65 patients with astrocytoma were collected at 1.

Dual down-regulation of EGFR and ErbB2 by berberine contributes to suppression of migration and invasion of human ovarian cancer cells.

The overexpression of EGFR and/or ErbB2 occurs frequently in ovarian cancers and is associated with poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the anticancer effects and molecular mechanisms of berberine on human ovarian cancer cells with different levels of EGFR and/or ErbB2. We found that berberine reduced the motility and invasiveness of ovarian cancer cells.

Effective dose for multiple and repeated radiation examinations in donors and recipients of adult-to-adult living donor liver transplants at a single center.

Purpose: To evaluate the effective doses received by donors and recipients, identify effective dose contributions, and make risk assessments.

Materials And Methods: It was a retrospective study. 100 Donors and 100 recipients were enrolled with an operative day from March 2016 to August 2017.

Susceptibility-weighted imaging provides complementary value to diffusion-weighted imaging in the differentiation between pyogenic brain abscesses, necrotic glioblastomas, and necrotic metastatic brain tumors.

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to investigate the differentiation of abscess and necrotic tumors, using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) either separated or combined.

Methods: Imaging was performed on 26 patients with pyogenic brain abscesses, 31 patients with rim-enhancing glioblastomas, and 21 patients with rim-enhancing metastases. The degree of intralesional susceptibility signal (ILSS) was independently assessed by three observers.

Deriving and validating biomarkers associated with autism spectrum disorders from a large-scale resting-state database.

Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to investigate the brain activity related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we applied information from a large-scale dataset, the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE), to clinical applications. We recruited 21 patients with ASD and 23 individuals with neurotypical development (TD).

Discriminating pyogenic brain abscesses, necrotic glioblastomas, and necrotic metastatic brain tumors by means of susceptibility-weighted imaging.

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) to discriminate abscesses and necrotic tumours.

Methods: Twenty-one patients with pyogenic abscesses, 21 patients with rim-enhancing glioblastomas and 23 patients with rim-enhancing metastases underwent SWI. Intralesional susceptibility signal (ILSS) was analyzed employing both qualitative (QL) and semi-quantitative (SQ) methods.

View-sharing PROPELLER with pixel-based optimal blade selection: application on dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging.

Purpose: To achieve better spatial and temporal resolution of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging, the concept of k-space data sharing, or view sharing, can be implemented for PROPELLER acquisition. As found in other view-sharing methods, the loss of high-resolution dynamics is possible for view-sharing PROPELLER (VS-Prop) due to the temporal smoothing effect. The degradation can be more severe when a narrow blade with less phase encoding steps is chosen in the acquisition for higher frame rate.

Automatic calibration of trigger delay time for cardiac MRI.

This study aimed to automatically identify the cardiac rest period using a rapid free-breathing (FB) calibration scanning procedure, and to determine the optimal trigger delay for cardiac imaging. A standard deviation (SD) method was used to rapidly identify cardiac quiescent phases employing multiphase cine cardiac images. The accuracy of this method was investigated using 46 datasets acquired from 22 healthy volunteers.

High spatial resolution brain functional MRI using submillimeter balanced steady-state free precession acquisition.

Purpose: One of the technical advantages of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is its precise localization of changes from neuronal activities. While current practice of fMRI acquisition at voxel size around 3 × 3 × 3 mm(3) achieves satisfactory results in studies of basic brain functions, higher spatial resolution is required in order to resolve finer cortical structures. This study investigated spatial resolution effects on brain fMRI experiments using balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) imaging with 0.

Ganoderma tsugae Extract Inhibits Growth of HER2-Overexpressing Cancer Cells via Modulation of HER2/PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway.

Ganoderma, also known as Lingzhi or Reishi, has been used for medicinal purposes in Asian countries for centuries. It is a medicinal fungus with a variety of biological properties including immunomodulatory and antitumor activities. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by which Ganoderma tsugae (GT), one of the most common species of Ganoderma, inhibits the proliferation of HER2-overexpressing cancer cells.

Correction of geometric distortion in Propeller echo planar imaging using a modified reversed gradient approach.

Objective: This study investigates the application of a modified reversed gradient algorithm to the Propeller-EPI imaging method (periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction based on echo-planar imaging readout) for corrections of geometric distortions due to the EPI readout.

Materials And Methods: Propeller-EPI acquisition was executed with 360-degree rotational coverage of the k-space, from which the image pairs with opposite phase-encoding gradient polarities were extracted for reversed gradient geometric and intensity corrections. The spatial displacements obtained on a pixel-by-pixel basis were fitted using a two-dimensional polynomial followed by low-pass filtering to assure correction reliability in low-signal regions.

Diffusion tensor imaging study of white matter fiber tracts in adolescent attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

A diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study was conducted in 12 adolescents with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and 14 age- and IQ-matched healthy controls. Inter-subject comparison of fractional anisotropy (FA) of the whole brain between the groups was obtained using the tract-based spatial statistics method. Results revealed significantly lower FA in widespread white matter tracts in cases relative to controls.

Polymorphic Ala-allele carriers at residue 1170 of HER2 associated with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: HER2, a receptor tyrosine kinase, was originally identified based on its role in cancer research. The protein has subsequently received attention for its role in nerve injury and neurodevelopment. We investigated the polymorphic association of HER2 variants at amino acid residues 655 and 1170 with Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder.

Quantitative comparison of post-processing methods for reduction of frequency modulation sidebands in non-water suppression 1H MRS.

Non-water suppression MRS (NWS MRS) has several advantages. First, the unsuppressed water signal can be used as internal calibration for metabolite quantification and as a reliable frequency/phase reference for retrospective motion correction. Second, it avoids the potential artifacts caused by incomplete water suppression (WS) and extra radiofrequency deposition from WS pulses.

Multilayer appearance on contrast-enhanced susceptibility-weighted images on patients with brain abscesses: Possible origins and effects of postprocessing.

Purpose: To demonstrate the presence of a multilayer appearance of the capsule on contrast-enhanced (CE) susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in patients with pyogenic brain abscesses. Possible origins for the appearance and effects of postprocessing settings are discussed.

Materials And Methods: Fourteen patients with pyogenic brain abscesses underwent post gadolinium-enhanced SWI at 1.

Berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid, inhibits the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells via Akt pathway modulation.

Berberine (BBR) is a natural alkaloid with significant antitumor activities against many types of cancer cells. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms by which BBR repressed the metastatic potential of breast cancer cells. BBR was found to downregulate the enzymatic activities and expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases 2 and 9 (MMP2 and MMP9, respectively).

Ile/Ile homozygosity at codon 655 of HER2 in schwannoma.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine the genetic role of HER2, one of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family, in schwannoma. The latter is a neogrowth of myelin-producing Schwann cells in peripheral nerves, inducible by N-nitrosoethylurea in animals with mutation in the neu gene (homologous gene of human HER2 protein).

Methods: In this study we obtained genomic DNA samples from tissue blocks of schwannoma, initially by xylene treatment and alcohol extraction, followed by use of the DNA extraction kit.

Accelerating EPI distortion correction by utilizing a modern GPU-based parallel computation.

Background And Purpose: The combination of phase demodulation and field mapping is a practical method to correct echo planar imaging (EPI) geometric distortion. However, since phase dispersion accumulates in each phase-encoding step, the calculation complexity of phase modulation is Ny-fold higher than conventional image reconstructions. Thus, correcting EPI images via phase demodulation is generally a time-consuming task.

Magnolol down-regulates HER2 gene expression, leading to inhibition of HER2-mediated metastatic potential in ovarian cancer cells.

Overexpression of the HER2 oncogene contributes to tumor cell invasion, metastasis and angiogenesis and correlates with poor prognosis. Magnolol has been reported to exhibit anti-tumor activities. However, the molecular mechanism of action of magnolol has not been investigated in HER2-positive cancer cells.

Growth suppression of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells by berberine via modulation of the HER2/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Berberine (BBR) is a natural alkaloid with significant antitumor activities against many types of cancer cells. This study investigated the molecular mechanisms by which BBR suppresses the growth of HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells. The results show that BBR induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest by interfering with the expression of cyclins D1 and E and that it induces cellular apoptosis through the induction of a mitochondria/caspase pathway.