Validation of quantitative [F]NaF PET uptake parameters in bone diseases: a systematic review.

Purpose: [F]NaF PET has become an increasingly important tool in clinical practice toward understanding and evaluating diseases and conditions in which bone metabolism is disrupted. Full kinetic analysis using nonlinear regression (NLR) with a two-tissue compartment model to determine the net rate of influx (K) of [F]NaF is considered the gold standard for quantification of [F]NaF uptake. However, dynamic scanning often is impractical in a clinical setting, leading to the development of simplified semi-quantitative parameters.

The Use of Long-Term Monthly Basiliximab Infusions as Rescue Maintenance Immunosuppression in Pancreas Transplant Recipients.

This single-center retrospective study was designed to evaluate the use of basiliximab as an alternative rescue maintenance immunosuppression in situations where standard maintenance immunosuppression is not tolerated after a pancreas transplant. All pancreas transplants performed between January 11, 2006, and January 6, 2022, were reviewed. All recipients received rabbit antithymocyte globulin (rATG) induction with tacrolimus + sirolimus maintenance for simultaneous pancreas and kidney (SPK) and additional low-dose mycophenolic acid for pancreas transplant alone (PTA).

Feasibility of Using F-FDG PET/CT Radiomics and Machine Learning to Detect Drug-Induced Interstitial Lung Disease.

Background: Bleomycin is an oncolytic and antibiotic agent used to treat various human cancers because of its antitumor activity. Unfortunately, up to 46% of the patients treated with bleomycin develop drug-induced interstitial lung disease (DIILD) and potentially life-threatening interstitial pulmonary fibrosis. Tools and biomarkers for predicting and detecting DIILD are limited.

GraFMRI: A graph-based fusion framework for robust multi-modal MRI reconstruction.

Purpose: This study introduces GraFMRI, a novel framework designed to address the challenges of reconstructing high-quality MRI images from undersampled k-space data. Traditional methods often suffer from noise amplification and loss of structural detail, leading to suboptimal image quality. GraFMRI leverages Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to transform multi-modal MRI data (T1, T2, PD) into a graph-based representation, enabling the model to capture intricate spatial relationships and inter-modality dependencies.

Biosynthesis of mitis group streptococcal glycolipids and their roles in physiology and antibiotic susceptibility.

Bacterial cell surface components such as lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) play critical roles in host-microbe interactions and alter host responses based on their chemical structures. Mitis group streptococci have commensal and pathogenic interactions with the human host and produce Type IV LTAs that are slightly different in chemical structures between species. To reveal the molecular bases for the intricate interactions between MGS and human hosts, a detailed understanding of the structure and biosynthetic process of MGS LTAs is needed.

[F]NaF PET/CT as a Marker for Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Applications in Bone Disorders.

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic bone disorder characterized by episodic flare-ups in connective tissue, which are frequently followed by the formation of heterotopic ossification. The absence of available plasma-soluble biomarkers for flare-ups or heterotopic bone formation poses severe challenges to the monitoring of disease activity to measure or predict disease progression. Recently, 18-fluor-sodium fluoride positron emission tomography/computed tomography ([F]NaF PET/CT) was introduced as a potential marker for ossifying FOP activity.

Leading the green wave: How and when green transformational leadership cultivates employee green creativity.

Appealing to the componential theory of creativity and social exchange theory, this study examines the roles of green transformational leadership, employee green passion, and green climate in nurturing green creativity in employees. It further delves into the moderating role of green perceived organizational support in the employee green passion-green climate linkage. The results obtained from applying PLS-based structural equation modeling on 464 data points drawn from the U.

SimLVSeg: Simplifying Left Ventricular Segmentation in 2-D+Time Echocardiograms With Self- and Weakly Supervised Learning.

Objective: Achieving reliable automatic left ventricle (LV) segmentation from echocardiograms is challenging due to the inherent sparsity of annotations in the dataset, as clinicians typically only annotate two specific frames for diagnostic purposes. Here we aim to address this challenge by introducing simplified LV segmentation (SimLVSeg), a novel paradigm that enables video-based networks for consistent LV segmentation from sparsely annotated echocardiogram videos.

Methods: SimLVSeg consists of two training stages: (i) self-supervised pre-training with temporal masking, which involves pre-training a video segmentation network by capturing the cyclic patterns of echocardiograms from largely unannotated echocardiogram frames, and (ii) weakly supervised learning tailored for LV segmentation from sparse annotations.

Impact of psychological entitlement on engagement in learning activities and psychological anxiety: the mediating role of envy.

Psychological entitlement has appeared as a significant topic for research in the field of management and Psychology. From the perspective of social comparison theory, the present study aimed to investigate the impact of psychological entitlement on engagement in learning activities and psychological anxiety in the hotel industry. Furthermore, benign and malign envy were examined as an explanatory mechanism between psychological entitlement and its outcomes.

Cesium adsorption from an aqueous medium for environmental remediation: A comprehensive analysis of adsorbents, sources, factors, models, challenges, and opportunities.

Considering the widespread and indispensable nature of nuclear energy for future power generation, there is a concurrent increase in the discharge of radioactive Cs into water streams. Recent studies have demonstrated that adsorption is crucial in removing Cs from wastewater for environmental remediation. However, the existing literature lacks comprehensive studies on various adsorption methods, the capacities or efficiencies of adsorbents, influencing factors, isotherm and kinetic models of the Cs adsorption process.

The Early Perfusion Image Is Useful to Support the Visual Interpretation of Brain Amyloid-PET With 18F-Flutemetamol in Borderline Cases.

Purpose: Visual interpretation of brain amyloid-β (Aβ) PET can be difficult in individuals with borderline Aβ burden. Coregistration with individual MRI is recommended in these cases, which, however, is not always available. This study evaluated coregistration with the early perfusion frames acquired immediately after tracer injection to support the visual interpretation of the late Aβ-frames in PET with 18F-flutemetamol (FMM).

A robust and simple non-enzymatic electrochemical sensor based on carbon dots-metal oxide composite for the detection of metronidazole traces in food products.

A facile and simple electrochemical composite sensor, CDs-Ag@CuO-GA, prepared from carbon dots stabilized silver nanoparticles and copper oxide, was used as an electrocatalyst and signal amplifier for the non-enzymatic detection of antibiotic traces in food products. The prepared composite demonstrated excellent stability, sensitivity, and cost-effectiveness. The sensor was constructed by modifying a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) with CDs-Ag@CuO-GA, and the electroanalytical response was determined for the precise determination of metronidazole (MTZ) drug traces in milk.

Intelligent breast cancer diagnosis with two-stage using mammogram images.

Breast cancer (BC) significantly contributes to cancer-related mortality in women, underscoring the criticality of early detection for optimal patient outcomes. Mammography is a key tool for identifying and diagnosing breast abnormalities; however, accurately distinguishing malignant mass lesions remains challenging. To address this issue, we propose a novel deep learning approach for BC screening utilizing mammography images.

Affordable and real-time antimicrobial resistance prediction from multimodal electronic health records.

The spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) leads to challenging complications and losses of human lives plus medical resources, with a high expectancy of deterioration in the future if the problem is not controlled. From a machine learning perspective, data-driven models could aid clinicians and microbiologists by anticipating the resistance beforehand. Our study serves as the first attempt to harness deep learning (DL) techniques and the multimodal data available in electronic health records (EHR) for predicting AMR.

Bond Shear Tests to Evaluate Different CFRP Shear Strengthening Strategies for I-Shaped Concrete Cross-Sections.

I-shaped concrete girders are widely used in precast bridge and roof construction, making them a common structural component in existing infrastructure. Despite well-established strengthening techniques using various innovative materials, such as externally bonded carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement, the shear strengthening of an I-shaped concrete girder is not straightforward. Several research studies have shown that externally bonded CFRP reinforcement might exhibit early debonding at the concave corners of the I-shape, resulting in a marginal increase in shear capacity.

Vegetations Lurking in the Dark and the Role of Neoendothelialization.

• IE of PFO devices is rare but devastating and necessitates surgical removal. • Guidelines specify antibiotics for dental work, but epidural abscesses cause IE too. • Incomplete NE of PFO devices is an independent risk factor for IE.

Non-Invasive Monitoring of Microvascular Oxygenation and Reactive Hyperemia using Hybrid, Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy for Critical Care.

The detection of levels of impairment in microvascular oxygen consumption and reactive hyperemia is vital in critical care. However, there are no practical means for a robust and quantitative evaluation. This paper describes a protocol to evaluate these impairments using a hybrid near-infrared diffuse optical device.

Ultra-low foetal radiation exposure in F-FDG PET/CT imaging with a long axial field-of-view PET/CT system.

Purpose: Long axial field-of-view (LAFOV) PET/CT systems enable PET/CT scans with reduced injected activities because of improved sensitivity. With this study, we aimed to examine the foetal radiation dose from an F-FDG PET/CT scan on a LAFOV PET/CT system with reduced injected activity.

Methods: Two pregnant women were retrospectively included and received an F-FDG PET/CT scan on a LAFOV PET/CT system with an intravenous bolus injection of 0.

Drug carrier wonders: Synthetic strategies of zeolitic imidazolates frameworks (ZIFs) and their applications in drug delivery and anti-cancer activity.

With the rapid advancement of nanotechnology, stimuli-responsive nanomaterials have emerged as a feasible choice for the designing of controlled drug delivery systems. Zeolitic imidazolates frameworks are a subclass of Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are recognized by their excellent porosity, structural tunability and chemical modifications make them promising materials for loading targeted molecules and therapeutics agents. The biomedical industry uses these porous materials extensively as nano-carriers in drug delivery systems.