PROBABILISTIC NON-RIGID REGISTRATION OF PROSTATE IMAGES: MODELING AND QUANTIFYING UNCERTAINTY.

Registration of pre- to intra-procedural prostate images needs to handle the large changes in position and shape of the prostate caused by varying rectal filling and patient positioning. We describe a probabilistic method for non-rigid registration of prostate images which can quantify the most probable deformation as well as the uncertainty of the estimated deformation. The method is based on a biomechanical Finite Element model which treats the prostate as an elastic material.

Atlas-guided segmentation of vervet monkey brain MRI.

The vervet monkey is an important nonhuman primate model that allows the study of isolated environmental factors in a controlled environment. Analysis of monkey MRI often suffers from lower quality images compared with human MRI because clinical equipment is typically used to image the smaller monkey brain and higher spatial resolution is required. This, together with the anatomical differences of the monkey brains, complicates the use of neuroimage analysis pipelines tuned for human MRI analysis.

Nonsurgical transurethral radiofrequency collagen denaturation: results at three years after treatment.

Objective. To assess treatment efficacy and quality of life in women with stress urinary incontinence 3 years after treatment with nonsurgical transurethral radiofrequency collagen denaturation. Methods.

fMRI-DTI modeling via landmark distance atlases for prediction and detection of fiber tracts.

The overall goal of this research is the design of statistical atlas models that can be created from normal subjects, but may generalize to be applicable to abnormal brains. We present a new style of joint modeling of fMRI, DTI, and structural MRI. Motivated by the fact that a white matter tract and related cortical areas are likely to displace together in the presence of a mass lesion (brain tumor), in this work we propose a rotation and translation invariant model that represents the spatial relationship between fiber tracts and anatomic and functional landmarks.

ABVD alone versus radiation-based therapy in limited-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Background: Chemotherapy plus radiation treatment is effective in controlling stage IA or IIA nonbulky Hodgkin's lymphoma in 90% of patients but is associated with late treatment-related deaths. Chemotherapy alone may improve survival because it is associated with fewer late deaths.

Methods: We randomly assigned 405 patients with previously untreated stage IA or IIA nonbulky Hodgkin's lymphoma to treatment with doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) alone or to treatment with subtotal nodal radiation therapy, with or without ABVD therapy.

Estimation of delivered dose in radiotherapy: the influence of registration uncertainty.

We present a probabilistic framework to estimate the accumulated radiation dose and the corresponding dose uncertainty that is delivered to important anatomical structures, e.g. the primary tumor and healthy surrounding organs, during radiotherapy.

How many more guns?: Estimating the effect of allowing licensed concealed handguns on a college campus.

Among other arguments, advocates for lifting bans on carrying concealed handguns on campus propose that this would increase the prevalence of legitimately carried handguns, which might then deter crimes or be used to intervene in campus shooting incidents like the one that took place at Virginia Tech in 2007. Opponents suggest that increased prevalence of concealed handguns would lead to increases in other negative consequences, such as accidental shootings. Little empirical research has examined the potential outcomes of such a policy change, nor has existing research examined the prerequisite issue of whether lifting these bans would result in substantial increases in the prevalence of concealed handguns among students.

Probabilistic elastography: estimating lung elasticity.

We formulate registration-based elastography in a probabilistic framework and apply it to study lung elasticity in the presence of emphysematous and fibrotic tissue. The elasticity calculations are based on a Finite Element discretization of a linear elastic biomechanical model. We marginalize over the boundary conditions (deformation) of the biomechanical model to determine the posterior distribution over elasticity parameters.

State-space models of mental processes from fMRI.

In addition to functional localization and integration, the problem of determining whether the data encode some information about the mental state of the subject, and if so, how this information is represented has become an important research agenda in functional neuroimaging. Multivariate classifiers, commonly used for brain state decoding, are restricted to simple experimental paradigms with a fixed number of alternatives and are limited in their representation of the temporal dimension of the task. Moreover, they learn a mapping from the data to experimental conditions and therefore do not explain the intrinsic patterns in the data.

Localized orbital mucosa-associated lymphoma tissue lymphoma managed with primary radiation therapy: efficacy and toxicity.

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcomes and late effects of radiation therapy (RT) in localized primary orbital mucosa-associated lymphoma tissue (MALT) lymphoma (POML).

Methods And Materials: From 1989 to 2007, 89 patients with Stage IE POML received RT. The median age was 56 years old.

Implications of the current tuberculosis treatment landscape for future regimen change.

Background: The current tuberculosis (TB) treatment landscape has been studied extensively, but researchers rarely consider how it creates challenges or opportunities for future regimen change.

Methods: In 166 stakeholder interviews in the TB high-burden countries (HBCs), we investigated areas of first-line TB treatment and control that would affect, and be affected by, a future TB regimen change. Responses were compared with existing standardized data.

Size and usage patterns of private TB drug markets in the high burden countries.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) control is considered primarily a public health concern, and private sector TB treatment has attracted less attention. Thus, the size and characteristics of private sector TB drug sales remain largely unknown.

Methodology/principal Findings: We used IMS Health data to analyze private TB drug consumption in 10 high burden countries (HBCs), after first mapping how well IMS data coverage overlapped with private markets.

An empirical investigation of motion effects in eMRI of interictal epileptiform spikes.

We recently developed a functional neuroimaging technique called encephalographic magnetic resonance imaging (eMRI). Our method acquires rapid single-shot gradient-echo echo-planar MRI (repetition time=47 ms); it attempts to measure an MR signal more directly linked to neuronal electromagnetic activity than existing methods. To increase the likelihood of detecting such an MR signal, we recorded concurrent MRI and scalp electroencephalography (EEG) during fast (20-200 ms), localized, high-amplitude (>50 μV on EEG) cortical discharges in a cohort of focal epilepsy patients.

Adoption of new health products in low and middle income settings: how product development partnerships can support country decision making.

When a new health product becomes available, countries have a choice to adopt the product into their national health systems or to pursue an alternate strategy to address the public health problem. Here, we describe the role for product development partnerships (PDPs) in supporting this decision-making process. PDPs are focused on developing new products to respond to health problems prevalent in low and middle income settings.

Multimodal image registration for preoperative planning and image-guided neurosurgical procedures.

Image registration is the process of transforming images acquired at different time points, or with different imaging modalities, into the same coordinate system. It is an essential part of any neurosurgical planning and navigation system because it facilitates combining images with important complementary, structural, and functional information to improve the information based on which a surgeon makes critical decisions. Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has been one of the pioneers in developing intraoperative registration methods for aligning preoperative and intraoperative images of the brain.

Tumor angiogenesis change estimated by using diffuse optical spectroscopic tomography: demonstrated correlation in women undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer?

Purpose: To investigate if changes in tumor angiogenesis associated with complete pathologic response (pCR) or partial pathologic response (pPR) to treatment can be demonstrated by using diffuse optical spectroscopic (DOS) tomography.

Materials And Methods: All participants in this prospective, HIPAA-compliant, institutional review board-approved study provided written informed consent. Eleven women with invasive breast carcinoma were imaged with DOS tomography prior to, during, and at completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapeutic regimens.

Knowledge of oral health issues among low-income Baltimore adults: a pilot study.

Purpose: This pilot study documents conceptual knowledge of oral health among low-income adults in Baltimore.

Methods: Selected questions from the Baltimore Health Literacy and Oral Health Knowledge Project, a cross-sectional, population-based investigation of oral health literacy, were used for this analysis. Participants were asked questions during face-to-face interviews about basic oral health and the prevention and management of dental caries and periodontal diseases.

Individual-level risk factors for gun victimization in a sample of probationers.

Interventions aimed at preventing the important problem of gun injuries could be improved with an understanding of whether there are unique factors that place individuals at an increased risk of gun victimization. Much remains to be known about the victims of gun violence. The purpose of this article is to assess whether there are individual-level variables uniquely related to the likelihood of experiencing a gun victimization in a sample of probationers, individuals already at a heightened risk for criminal victimization.

Determining cell seeding dosages for tissue engineering human pulmonary valves.

Background: This study examines in vitro seeding of decellularized human pulmonary valves (hPVs) with human valve interstitial cells (hVICs) isolated from unrelated donor aortic valve leaflets. An assay was developed to assess seeding using precut uniform sized biopsies from whole hPVs for sequential evaluation of seeding efficiency, proliferation, and migration.

Materials And Methods: Scaffolds for seeding were created from decellularized hPVs using a reciprocating osmolality, double detergent, enzyme, multiple solvent protocol.

Domestic violence and South Korean women: the cultural context and alternative experiences.

The present research contributes to the growing body of cross-cultural research on domestic violence. This is accomplished by answering the question of how severity of intimate partner abuse varies for (1) women incarcerated for the homicides of their male partners (2) abused women who sought domestic violence shelter, short of killing their intimate assailants, and (3) a group of South Korean females outside of domestic violence shelters or prison. The article concludes with a discussion of potential policy implications of the findings as well as promising directions for future research.

Lipoprotein lipase links dietary fat to solid tumor cell proliferation.

Many types of cancer cells require a supply of fatty acids (FA) for growth and survival, and interrupting de novo FA synthesis in model systems causes potent anticancer effects. We hypothesized that, in addition to synthesis, cancer cells may obtain preformed, diet-derived FA by uptake from the bloodstream. This would require hydrolytic release of FA from triglyceride in circulating lipoprotein particles by the secreted enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL), and the expression of CD36, the channel for cellular FA uptake.

A new metric for detecting change in slowly evolving brain tumors: validation in meningioma patients.

Background: Change detection is a critical component in the diagnosis and monitoring of many slowly evolving pathologies.

Objective: This article describes a semiautomatic monitoring approach using longitudinal medical images. We test the method on brain scans of patients with meningioma, which experts have found difficult to monitor because the tumor evolution is very slow and may be obscured by artifacts related to image acquisition.