Artificial intelligence-driven automated lung sizing from chest radiographs.

Lung size measurements play an important role in transplantation, as optimal donor-recipient size matching is necessary to ensure the best possible outcome. Although several strategies for size matching are currently used, all have limitations, and none has proven superior. In this pilot study, we leveraged deep learning and computer vision to develop an automated system for generating standardized lung size measurements using portable chest radiographs to improve accuracy, reduce variability, and streamline donor/recipient matching.

Cryoablation in lung transplantation: Its impact on pain, opioid use, and outcomes.

Objective: To assess the effect of intraoperative cryoablation on postoperative patient-reported pain, opioid use, and clinical outcomes in lung transplantation.

Methods: We performed a single-center retrospective cohort study of adult lung transplant recipients from August 2017 to September 2018. We compared outcomes of patients who received intraoperative cryoablation of the intercostal nerves with those who did not.

Effective silicon production from SiCl source using hydrogen radicals generated and transported at atmospheric pressure.

In the Siemens method, high-purity Si is produced by reducing SiHCl source gas with H ambient under atmospheric pressure. Since the pyrolysis of SiHCl, which produces SiCl as a byproduct, occurs dominantly in the practical Siemens process, the Si yield is low (~30%). In the present study, we generated hydrogen radicals (H-radicals) at pressures greater than 1 atm using tungsten filaments and transported the H-radicals into a reactor.

Multiorgan procurement is associated with a survival benefit after heart transplantation.

We assessed the impact of donor multiorgan procurement on survival following orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT). From the UNOS STAR database, we included all adult (≥18 Y) heart transplants (OHT) performed since 2000 and used donor IDs to determine how many other organs were procured from the same donor as the recipient's heart allograft (regardless of recipient). The Kaplan-Meier survival functions and risk-adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models were computed to assess the association of multiorgan procurement with post-heart transplantation mortality.

Stratification Risk Analysis in Bridging Patients to Lung Transplant on ECMO: The STABLE Risk Score.

Background: No clinically validated tool exists to predict in-hospital mortality in patients requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as a bridge to lung transplantation. We generated a quantitative risk assessment tool for these patients.

Methods: Of 822 patients in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database who required ECMO as bridge to lung transplant between 2004 and 2018, 630 were included in the analysis after exclusion for age <18 years, prior transplant, or treatment before 2004.

Absolute reliability of measurements of muscle strength and physical performance measures in older people with high functional capacities.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to clarify the absolute reliability of muscle strength and physical performance measures in older people.

Methods: The participants were 718 community-dwelling older people who were living independently. Muscle strength and physical performance tests were administered twice for all participants by the same rater.

Simultaneous Recovery of Display Panel Waste Glass and Wastewater Boron by Chemical Oxo-precipitation with Fluidized-Bed Heterogeneous Crystallization.

Silica-based carrier is a promising material for recovery of metal and nonmetal contaminants in chemical oxo-precipitation-fluidized bed crystallization (COP-FBC) system. Boron species are an essential element for plant growth and can cause health concerns in human beings at high concentrations in water environments. The composition of thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) contains a wide variety of metal oxides and can be tailored as promising functional mesoporous carriers for boron crystallization recovery in the presence of barium ions and hydrogen peroxide.

Shape-Controlled Syntheses of Magnetite Microparticles and Their Magnetorheology.

Magnetic microspheres in a concentrated suspension can be self-assembled to form chain structures under a magnetic field, resulting in an enhanced viscosity and elasticity of the suspension (i.e., the magnetorheological (MR) effect).

Blunt aortic injuries in the new era: radiologic findings and polytrauma risk assessment dictates management strategy.

Purpose: Blunt aortic injuries (BAI) have historically been considered an indication for emergent surgical intervention. Nevertheless, the observation that the outcome of the concomitant traumatic injuries has a major impact on prognosis and the rise of thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) as an effective therapy for BAI have significantly changed in recent years the treatment algorithm of this condition. Our objective was to identify findings associated with the aortic injury which would be the best predictor of prognosis, with the objective of guiding the decision-making process for selecting the optimal timing of aortic repair.

Protein kinase R-like endoplasmatic reticulum kinase is a mediator of stretch in ventilator-induced lung injury.

Background: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a severe form of lung injury characterized by damage to the epithelial barrier with subsequent pulmonary edema and hypoxic respiratory failure. ARDS is a significant medical problem in intensive care units with associated high care costs. There are many potential causes of ARDS; however, alveolar injury associated with mechanical ventilation, termed ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), remains a well-recognized contributor.

Applications of Out of Body Lung Perfusion.

Rationale And Objectives: Out of body organ perfusion is a concept that has been around for a long time. As technology has evolved, so have the systems available for out of body perfusion making whole organ preservation for extended evaluation, resuscitation, and discovery routine.

Materials And Methods: Clinical use of ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) systems has continued to expand as evidence has accumulated to suggest EVLP transplants experience similar mortality, ICU length of stay, length of mechanical ventilation, hospital length of stay, and rates of primary graft dysfunction as conventional lung transplants.

Quantitative Evidence for Revising the Definition of Primary Graft Dysfunction after Lung Transplant.

Rationale: Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a form of acute lung injury that occurs after lung transplantation. The definition of PGD was standardized in 2005. Since that time, clinical practice has evolved, and this definition is increasingly used as a primary endpoint for clinical trials; therefore, validation is warranted.

Combinatorial screening of halide perovskite thin films and solar cells by mask-defined IR laser molecular beam epitaxy.

As an extension of combinatorial molecular layer epitaxy via ablation of perovskite oxides by a pulsed excimer laser, we have developed a laser molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system for parallel integration of nano-scaled thin films of organic-inorganic hybrid materials. A pulsed infrared (IR) semiconductor laser was adopted for thermal evaporation of organic halide (A-site: CHNHI) and inorganic halide (B-site: PbI) powder targets to deposit repeated A/B bilayer films where the thickness of each layer was controlled on molecular layer scale by programming the evaporation IR laser pulse number, length, or power. The layer thickness was monitored with an quartz crystal microbalance and calibrated against stylus profilometer measurements.

Synthesis and Properties of Salicylaldehydes Fine-Tuned by Modular Assembly using "Plug-and-Socket"-Type Extendibility.

A salicylaldehyde derivative bearing four pyridine arms, 3,5-bis(N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl)-2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (Hbpsal) as a "socket", was prepared and used to derive a series of zinc complexes with various extra anions "plugged" into their vacant site. The crystal structure and H NMR spectra were noticeably influenced by the extra anions, allowing fine-tuning of the properties by "plug-and-socket"-type modification. Similar to unsubstituted salicylaldehyde, the zinc complexes reacted with primary amines to afford Schiff-base compounds.

Massive donor transfusion potentially increases recipient mortality after lung transplantation.

Objective: Donor blood transfusion has been identified as a potential risk factor for primary graft dysfunction and by extension early mortality. We sought to define the contributing risk of donor transfusion on early mortality for lung transplant.

Methods: Donor and recipient data were abstracted from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network database updated through June 30, 2014, which included 86,398 potential donors and 16,255 transplants.

Adipose Gene Expression Profile Changes With Lung Allograft Reperfusion.

Obesity is a risk factor for primary graft dysfunction (PGD), a form of lung injury resulting from ischemia-reperfusion after lung transplantation, but the impact of ischemia-reperfusion on adipose tissue is unknown. We evaluated differential gene expression in thoracic visceral adipose tissue (VAT) before and after lung reperfusion. Total RNA was isolated from thoracic VAT sampled from six subjects enrolled in the Lung Transplant Body Composition study before and after allograft reperfusion and quantified using the Human Gene 2.

Construct validity of posture as a measure of physical function in elderly individuals: Use of a digitalized inclinometer to assess trunk inclination.

Aim: The first aim of the present study was to determine the construct validity of evaluating posture as a measure of physical function in elderly individuals. The second aim was to determine reference values for sternum inclination in elderly individuals when measured using a digitalized inclinometer.

Methods: We included 834 community-dwelling elderly individuals (350 men and 484 women) in this study.

Mechanical circulatory support as a bridge to definitive surgical repair after post-myocardial infarct ventricular septal defect.

Ventricular septal defect (VSD) after myocardial infarction (MI) is an uncommon but serious complication. Patients refractory to attempts at medical stabilization and requiring emergency surgery have expected mortality rates greater than 50%. We present three cases of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation bridge to surgical repair in patients with multisystem organ failure who would otherwise require emergent cardiac surgery with associated risk and review the literature for mechanical circulatory support for patients with anterior and posterior post-MI VSD.

Oxidant stress regulatory genetic variation in recipients and donors contributes to risk of primary graft dysfunction after lung transplantation.

Objective: Oxidant stress pathway activation during ischemia reperfusion injury may contribute to the development of primary graft dysfunction (PGD) after lung transplantation. We hypothesized that oxidant stress gene variation in recipients and donors is associated with PGD.

Methods: Donors and recipients from the Lung Transplant Outcomes Group (LTOG) cohort were genotyped using the Illumina IBC chip filtered for oxidant stress pathway genes.

Lung donor selection criteria.

The criteria that define acceptable physiologic and social parameters for lung donation have remained constant since their empiric determination in the 1980s. These criteria include a donor age between 25-40, a arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2)/FiO2 ratio greater than 350, no smoking history, a clear chest X-ray, clean bronchoscopy, and a minimal ischemic time. Due to the paucity of organ donors, and the increasing number of patients requiring lung transplant, finding a donor that meets all of these criteria is quite rare.

A polymer-based magnetic resonance tracer for visualization of solid tumors by 13C spectroscopic imaging.

Morphological imaging precedes lesion-specific visualization in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) because of the superior ability of this technique to depict tissue morphology with excellent spatial and temporal resolutions. To achieve lesion-specific visualization of tumors by MRI, we investigated the availability of a novel polymer-based tracer. Although the 13C nucleus is a candidate for a detection nucleus because of its low background signal in the body, the low magnetic resonance sensitivity of the nucleus needs to be resolved before developing a 13C-based tracer.

Primary graft dysfunction.

Primary graft dysfunction (PGD) is a syndrome encompassing a spectrum of mild to severe lung injury that occurs within the first 72 hours after lung transplantation. PGD is characterized by pulmonary edema with diffuse alveolar damage that manifests clinically as progressive hypoxemia with radiographic pulmonary infiltrates. In recent years, new knowledge has been generated on risks and mechanisms of PGD.

Computed tomography findings in a patient with fungal aortitis: acute aortic syndrome secondary to fusariosis.

Fusarium is a mould widely distributed in soil and water which causes various diseases in plants and occasionally in animals. The Fusarium species cause a broad spectrum of infections in humans, of which, the degree of severity is largely determined by the immune-status of the host, occurring in the most severe and invasive forms in immunocompromised individuals. Skin infections, sinusitis and pneumonia are the most common human manifestations of the disease.