PEI/MMNs@LNA-542 nanoparticles alleviate ICU-acquired weakness through targeted autophagy inhibition and mitochondrial protection.

Intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICU-AW) is prevalent in critical care, with limited treatment options. Certain microRNAs, like miR-542, are highly expressed in ICU-AW patients. This study investigates the regulatory role and mechanisms of miR-542 in ICU-AW and explores the clinical potential of miR-542 inhibitors.

Development and application of a WebGIS-based prediction system for multi-criteria decision analysis of porcine pasteurellosis.

Porcine pasteurellosis is an infectious disease caused by Pasteurella multocida (P. multocida), which seriously endangers the healthy development of pig breeding industry. Early detection of disease transmission in animals is a crucial early warning for humans.

Targeted magnetic resonance imaging (tMRI) of small changes in the T and spatial properties of normal or near normal appearing white and gray matter in disease of the brain using divided subtracted inversion recovery (dSIR) and divided reverse subtracted inversion recovery (drSIR) sequences.

This review describes targeted magnetic resonance imaging (tMRI) of small changes in the T and the spatial properties of normal or near normal appearing white or gray matter in disease of the brain. It employs divided subtracted inversion recovery (dSIR) and divided reverse subtracted inversion recovery (drSIR) sequences to increase the contrast produced by small changes in T by up to 15 times compared to conventional T-weighted inversion recovery (IR) sequences such as magnetization prepared-rapid acquisition gradient echo (MP-RAGE). This increase in contrast can be used to reveal disease with only small changes in T in normal appearing white or gray matter that is not apparent on conventional MP-RAGE, T-weighted spin echo (T-wSE) and/or fluid attenuated inversion recovery (T-FLAIR) images.

Ceftriaxone improves impairments in synaptic plasticity and cognitive behavior in APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease by inhibiting extrasynaptic NMDAR-STEP signaling.

Abnormal activation of the extrasynaptic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) contributes to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Ceftriaxone (Cef) can improve cognitive impairment by upregulating glutamate transporter-1 and promoting the glutamate-glutamine cycle in an AD mouse model. This study aimed to investigate the effects of Cef on synaptic plasticity and cognitive-behavioral impairment and to unravel the associated underlying mechanisms.

Comprehensive assessment of osteoporosis in lumbar spine using compositional MR imaging of trabecular bone.

Objectives: To comprehensively assess osteoporosis in the lumbar spine, a compositional MR imaging technique is proposed to quantify proton fractions for all the water components as well as fat in lumbar vertebrae measured by a combination of a 3D short repetition time adiabatic inversion recovery prepared ultrashort echo time (STAIR-UTE) MRI and IDEAL-IQ.

Methods: A total of 182 participants underwent MRI, quantitative CT, and DXA. Lumbar collagen-bound water proton fraction (CBWPF), free water proton fraction (FWPF), total water proton fraction (TWPF), bone mineral density (BMD), and T-score were calculated in three vertebrae (L2-L4) for each subject.

Ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging of the osteochondral junction.

Osteoarthritis is a common chronic degenerative disease that causes pain and disability with increasing incidence worldwide. The osteochondral junction is a dynamic region of the joint that is associated with the early development and progression of osteoarthritis. Despite the substantial advances achieved in the imaging of cartilage and application to osteoarthritis in recent years, the osteochondral junction has received limited attention.

Synthetic CT in Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Repeated computed tomography (CT) examinations increase patients' ionizing radiation exposure and health costs, making an alternative method desirable. Cortical and trabecular bone, however, have short T2 relaxation times, causing low signal intensity on conventional magnetic resonance (MR) sequences. Different techniques are available to create a "CT-like" contrast of bone, such as ultrashort echo time, zero echo time, gradient-echo, and susceptibility-weighted image MR sequences, and artificial intelligence.

Articular Cartilage Assessment Using Ultrashort Echo Time MRI: A Review.

Articular cartilage is a major component of the human knee joint which may be affected by a variety of degenerative mechanisms associated with joint pathologies and/or the aging process. Ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequences with a TE less than 100 µs are capable of detecting signals from both fast- and slow-relaxing water protons in cartilage. This allows comprehensive evaluation of all the cartilage layers, especially for the short T layers which include the deep and calcified zones.

Myelin water imaging using a short-TR adiabatic inversion-recovery (STAIR) sequence.

Purpose: To develop a new myelin water imaging (MWI) technique using a short-TR adiabatic inversion-recovery (STAIR) sequence on a clinical 3T MR scanner.

Methods: Myelin water (MW) in the brain has both a much shorter T and a much shorter T * than intracellular/extracellular water. A STAIR sequence with a short TR was designed to efficiently suppress long T signals from intracellular/extracellular water, and therefore allow selective imaging of MW, which has a much shorter T .

Quantitative assessment of articular cartilage degeneration using 3D ultrashort echo time cones adiabatic T (3D UTE-Cones-AdiabT) imaging.

Objectives: To evaluate articular cartilage degeneration using quantitative three-dimensional ultrashort-echo-time cones adiabatic-T (3D UTE-Cones-AdiabT) imaging.

Methods: Sixty-six human subjects were recruited for this study. Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade and Whole-Organ Magnetic-Resonance-Imaging Score (WORMS) were evaluated by two musculoskeletal radiologists.

Assessment of Osteoporosis in Lumbar Spine: Quantitative MR Imaging of Collagen Bound Water in Trabecular Bone.

Aim: Bone collagen matrix makes a crucial contribution to the mechanical properties of bone by imparting tensile strength and elasticity. The collagen content of bone is accessible quantification of collagen bound water (CBW) indirectly. We prospectively study the performance of the CBW proton density (CBWPD) measured by a 3D short repetition time adiabatic inversion recovery prepared ultrashort echo time (STAIR-UTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence in the diagnosis of osteoporosis in human lumbar spine.

Assessment of Achilles Tendon Changes After Long-Distance Running Using Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer MR Imaging.

Background: Long-distance running is a common cause of Achilles tendinopathy. A reliable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique to track early changes in the tendon caused by running could facilitate more effective interventions to combat progression.

Purpose: To evaluate an ultrashort echo time sequence with magnetization transfer preparation (UTE-MT) in the detection of changes in Achilles tendons of amateur marathon runners before and after long-distance running.

Comprehensive assessment of lumbar spine intervertebral discs using a 3D adiabatic T prepared ultrashort echo time (UTE-Adiab-T) pulse sequence.

Background: T has been extensively reported as a sensitive biomarker of biochemical changes in the nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosis of intervertebral discs (IVDs). However, no T study of cartilaginous endplates (CEPs) has yet been reported because the relatively long echo times (TEs) of conventional clinical T sequences cannot effectively capture the fast-decaying magnetic resonance signals of CEPs, which have very short T/T*s. This can be overcome by using ultrashort echo time (UTE) T acquisitions.

On the fat saturation effect in quantitative ultrashort TE MR imaging.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of fat saturation (FatSat) on quantitative UTE imaging of variable knee tissues on a 3T scanner.

Methods: Three quantitative UTE imaging techniques, including the UTE multi-echo sequence for measurement, the adiabatic T prepared UTE sequence for T measurement, and the magnetization transfer (MT)-prepared UTE sequence for MT ratio (MTR) and macromolecular proton fraction (MMF) measurements were used in this study. Twelve samples of cartilage and twelve samples of meniscus, as well as six whole knee cadaveric specimens, were imaged with the three above-mentioned UTE sequences with and without FatSat.

Evaluation of enzymatic proteoglycan loss and collagen degradation in human articular cartilage using ultrashort echo time-based biomarkers: A feasibility study.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the feasibility of quantitative 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE)-based biomarkers in detecting proteoglycan (PG) loss and collagen degradation in human cartilage. A total of 104 cartilage samples were harvested for a trypsin digestion study (n = 44), and a sequential trypsin and collagenase digestion study (n = 60), respectively. Forty-four cartilage samples were randomly divided into a trypsin digestion group (tryp group) and a control group (phosphate-buffered saline [PBS] group) (n = 22 for each group) for the trypsin digestion experiment.

High-contrast osteochondral junction imaging using a 3D dual adiabatic inversion recovery-prepared ultrashort echo time cones sequence.

While conventional MRI sequences cannot visualize tissues from the osteochondral junction (OCJ) due to these tissues' short transverse T /T * relaxations, ultrashort echo time (UTE) sequences can overcome this limitation. A 2D UTE sequence with a dual adiabatic inversion recovery preparation (DIR-UTE) for selective imaging of short T tissues with high contrast has previously been developed, but high sensitivity to eddy currents and aliased out-of-slice excitation make it difficult to image the thin layer of the OCJ in vivo. Here, we combine the DIR scheme with a 3D UTE cones sequence for volumetric imaging of OCJ tissues in vivo, aiming to generate higher OCJ contrast compared with a recently developed single IR-prepared UTE sequence with a fat saturation module (IR-FS-UTE).

Quantitative 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer Imaging for Evaluation of Knee Cartilage Degeneration In Vivo.

Background: Recent studies suggest that macromolecular fraction (MMF) derived from three-dimensional ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) imaging is insensitive to the magic angle effect. However, its clinical use in osteoarthritis (OA) remains to be investigated.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of 3D UTE-MT-derived MMF in differentiating normal from degenerated cartilage.

Automated cartilage segmentation and quantification using 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE) cones MR imaging with deep convolutional neural networks.

Objective: To develop a fully automated full-thickness cartilage segmentation and mapping of T1, T1ρ, and T2*, as well as macromolecular fraction (MMF) by combining a series of quantitative 3D ultrashort echo time (UTE) cones MR imaging with a transfer learning-based U-Net convolutional neural networks (CNN) model.

Methods: Sixty-five participants (20 normal, 29 doubtful-minimal osteoarthritis (OA), and 16 moderate-severe OA) were scanned using 3D UTE cones T1 (Cones-T1), adiabatic T1ρ (Cones-AdiabT1ρ), T2* (Cones-T2*), and magnetization transfer (Cones-MT) sequences at 3 T. Manual segmentation was performed by two experienced radiologists, and automatic segmentation was completed using the proposed U-Net CNN model.

Brain ultrashort T component imaging using a short TR adiabatic inversion recovery prepared dual-echo ultrashort TE sequence with complex echo subtraction (STAIR-dUTE-ES).

Long T water contamination is a major challenge with direct in vivo UTE imaging of ultrashort T components in the brain since water contributes most of the signal detected from white and gray matter. The Short TR Adiabatic Inversion Recovery prepared Ultrashort TE (STAIR-UTE) sequence can significantly suppress water signals and simultaneously image ultrashort T components. However, the TR used may not be sufficiently short to allow the STAIR preparation to completely suppress all the water signals in the brain due to specific absorption rate (SAR) limitations on clinical MR scanners.