Efficient Generation of Pretraining Samples for Developing a Deep Learning Brain Injury Model via Transfer Learning.

The large amount of training samples required to develop a deep learning brain injury model demands enormous computational resources. Here, we study how a transformer neural network (TNN) of high accuracy can be used to efficiently generate pretraining samples for a convolutional neural network (CNN) brain injury model to reduce computational cost. The samples use synthetic impacts emulating real-world events or augmented impacts generated from limited measured impacts.

Simultaneous detection of novel genes and SNPs by adaptive -value combination.

Combining SNP -values from GWAS summary data is a promising strategy for detecting novel genetic factors. Existing statistical methods for the -value-based SNP-set testing confront two challenges. First, the statistical power of different methods depends on unknown patterns of genetic effects that could drastically vary over different SNP sets.

Approximating subject-specific brain injury models via scaling based on head-brain morphological relationships.

Most human head/brain models represent a generic adult male head/brain. They may suffer in accuracy when investigating traumatic brain injury (TBI) on a subject-specific basis. Subject-specific models can be developed from neuroimages; however, neuroimages are not typically available in practice.

Quantification of patient-specific coronary material properties and their correlations with plaque morphological characteristics: An in vivo IVUS study.

Background: A method using in vivo Cine IVUS and VH-IVUS data has been proposed to quantify material properties of coronary plaques. However, correlations between plaque morphological characteristics and mechanical properties have not been studied in vivo.

Method: In vivo Cine IVUS and VH-IVUS data were acquired at 32 plaque cross-sections from 19 patients.

The generalized Fisher's combination and accurate p-value calculation under dependence.

Combining dependent tests of significance has broad applications but the related p-value calculation is challenging. For Fisher's combination test, current p-value calculation methods (eg, Brown's approximation) tend to inflate the type I error rate when the desired significance level is substantially less than 0.05.

Association of Variants in the SPTLC1 Gene With Juvenile Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Importance: Juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rare form of ALS characterized by age of symptom onset less than 25 years and a variable presentation.

Objective: To identify the genetic variants associated with juvenile ALS.

Design, Setting, And Participants: In this multicenter family-based genetic study, trio whole-exome sequencing was performed to identify the disease-associated gene in a case series of unrelated patients diagnosed with juvenile ALS and severe growth retardation.

A Novel Pulmonary Valve Replacement Surgery Strategy Using Contracting Band for Patients With Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot: An MRI-Based Multipatient Modeling Study.

Patients with repaired Tetralogy of Fallot (ToF), a congenital heart defect which includes a ventricular septal defect and severe right ventricular outflow obstruction, account for the majority of cases with late-onset right ventricle (RV) failure. Current surgery procedures, including pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) with right ventricle remodeling, yield mixed results. PVR with active band insertion was hypothesized to be of clinical usage on improving RV function measured by ejection fraction (EF).

Displacement Error Propagation From Embedded Markers to Brain Strain.

Head injury model validation has evolved from against pressure to relative brain-skull displacement, and more recently, against marker-based strain. However, there are concerns on strain data quality. In this study, we parametrically investigate how displacement random errors and synchronization errors propagate into strain.

Using intravascular ultrasound image-based fluid-structure interaction models and machine learning methods to predict human coronary plaque vulnerability change.

Plaque vulnerability prediction is of great importance in cardiovascular research. In vivo follow-up intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) coronary plaque data were acquired from nine patients to construct fluid-structure interaction models to obtain plaque biomechanical conditions. Morphological plaque vulnerability index (MPVI) was defined to measure plaque vulnerability.

Multi-Band Surgery for Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Patients With Reduced Right Ventricle Ejection Fraction: A Pilot Study.

Introduction: Right ventricle (RV) failure is one of the most common symptoms among patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). The current surgery treatment approach including pulmonary valve replacement (PVR) showed mixed post-surgery outcomes. A novel PVR surgical strategy using active contracting bands is proposed to improve the post-PVR outcome.

Bone Adaptation in Adult Women Is Related to Loading Dose: A 12-Month Randomized Controlled Trial.

Although strong evidence exists that certain activities can increase bone density and structure in people, it is unclear what specific mechanical factors govern the response. This is important because understanding the effect of mechanical signals on bone could contribute to more effective osteoporosis prevention methods and efficient clinical trial design. The degree to which strain rate and magnitude govern bone adaptation in humans has never been prospectively tested.

Comparison of Statistical Tests and Power Analysis for Phosphoproteomics Data.

Advances in protein tagging and mass spectrometry have enabled generation of large quantitative proteome and phosphoproteome data sets, for identifying differentially expressed targets in case-control studies. The power study of statistical tests is critical for designing strategies for effective target identification and control of experimental cost. Here, we develop a simulation framework to generate realistic phospho-peptide data with known changes between cases and controls.

Ventricle stress/strain comparisons between Tetralogy of Fallot patients and healthy using models with different zero-load diastole and systole morphologies.

Patient-specific in vivo ventricle mechanical wall stress and strain conditions are important for cardiovascular investigations and should be calculated from correct zero-load ventricle morphologies. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) data were obtained from 6 healthy volunteers and 12 Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) patients with consent obtained. 3D patient-specific CMR-based ventricle models with different zero-load diastole and systole geometries due to myocardium contraction and relaxation were constructed to qualify right ventricle (RV) diastole and systole stress and strain values at begin-filling, end-filling, begin-ejection, and end-ejection, respectively.

Combining morphological and biomechanical factors for optimal carotid plaque progression prediction: An MRI-based follow-up study using 3D thin-layer models.

Plaque progression prediction is of fundamental significance to cardiovascular research and disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Magnetic resonance image (MRI) data of carotid atherosclerotic plaques were acquired from 20 patients with consent obtained. 3D thin-layer models were constructed to calculate plaque stress and strain.

Multi-factor decision-making strategy for better coronary plaque burden increase prediction: a patient-specific 3D FSI study using IVUS follow-up data.

Plaque progression and vulnerability are influenced by many risk factors. Our goal is to find a simple method to combine multiple risk factors for better plaque development prediction. Intravascular ultrasound data at baseline and follow-up were acquired from nine patients, and fluid-structure interaction models were constructed to obtain plaque wall stress/strain (PWS/PWSn) and wall shear stress (WSS).

Patient-specific in vivo right ventricle material parameter estimation for patients with tetralogy of Fallot using MRI-based models with different zero-load diastole and systole morphologies.

Patient-specific in vivo ventricle material parameter determination is important for cardiovascular investigations. A new cardiac magnetic image (CMR)-based modeling approach with different zero-load diastole and systole geometries was adopted to estimate right ventricle material parameter values for healthy and patients with Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and seeking potential clinical applications. CMR data were obtained from 6 healthy volunteers and 16 TOF patients with consent obtained.

Concussion classification via deep learning using whole-brain white matter fiber strains.

Developing an accurate and reliable injury predictor is central to the biomechanical studies of traumatic brain injury. State-of-the-art efforts continue to rely on empirical, scalar metrics based on kinematics or model-estimated tissue responses explicitly pre-defined in a specific brain region of interest. They could suffer from loss of information.

Fluid-structure interaction models based on patient-specific IVUS at baseline and follow-up for prediction of coronary plaque progression by morphological and biomechanical factors: A preliminary study.

Plaque morphology and biomechanics are believed to be closely associated with plaque progression. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that integrating morphological and biomechanical risk factors would result in better predictive power for plaque progression prediction. A sample size of 374 intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) slices was obtained from 9 patients with IVUS follow-up data.

MRI-based patient-specific human carotid atherosclerotic vessel material property variations in patients, vessel location and long-term follow up.

Background: Image-based computational models are widely used to determine atherosclerotic plaque stress/strain conditions and investigate their association with plaque progression and rupture. However, patient-specific vessel material properties are in general lacking in those models, limiting the accuracy of their stress/strain measurements. A noninvasive approach of combining in vivo 3D multi-contrast and Cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computational modeling was introduced to quantify patient-specific carotid plaque material properties for potential plaque model improvements.

Comparison of Right Ventricle Morphological and Mechanical Characteristics for Healthy and Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot: An In Vivo MRI-Based Modeling Study.

Patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) account for the majority of cases with late onset right ventricle failure. Comparing TOF patients with healthy people may provide information to address this challenge. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) data were obtained from 16 TOF patients (patient group, PG) and 6 healthy volunteers (healthy group, HG).

Incorporation of protein binding effects into likelihood ratio test for exome sequencing data.

Statistical association studies are an important tool in detecting novel disease genes. However, for sequencing data, association studies confront the challenge of low power because of relatively small data sample size and rare variants. Incorporating biological information that reflects disease mechanism is likely to strengthen the association evidence of disease genes, and thus increase the power of association studies.