Assessing plastic ingestion in the White stork (Ciconia ciconia) through regurgitated pellets.

Pollution is one of the main factors that threaten biodiversity nowadays. Plastic waste is a global problem which impacts not only on the marine environment but also on the terrestrial one. Great amounts of this kind of refuse are compiled in landfills, where lots of avian species feed.

Deep learning reconstruction of zero-echo time sequences to improve visualization of osseous structures and associated pathologies in MRI of cervical spine.

Objectives: To determine whether deep learning-based reconstructions of zero-echo-time (ZTE-DL) sequences enhance image quality and bone visualization in cervical spine MRI compared to traditional zero-echo-time (ZTE) techniques, and to assess the added value of ZTE-DL sequences alongside standard cervical spine MRI for comprehensive pathology evaluation.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 52 patients underwent cervical spine MRI using ZTE, ZTE-DL, and T2-weighted 3D sequences on a 1.5-Tesla scanner.

CompositIA: an open-source automated quantification tool for body composition scores from thoraco-abdominal CT scans.

Background: Body composition scores allow for quantifying the volume and physical properties of specific tissues. However, their manual calculation is time-consuming and prone to human error. This study aims to develop and validate CompositIA, an automated, open-source pipeline for quantifying body composition scores from thoraco-abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans.

Imaging of elbow entrapment neuropathies.

Entrapment neuropathies at the elbow are common in clinical practice and require an accurate diagnosis for effective management. Understanding the imaging characteristics of these conditions is essential for confirming diagnoses and identifying underlying causes. Ultrasound serves as the primary imaging modality for evaluating nerve structure and movement, while MRI is superior for detecting muscle denervation.

ESR Essentials: imaging of common paediatric pulmonary diseases-practice recommendations by the European Society of Paediatric Radiology.

Chest imaging in children presents unique challenges due to varying requirements across age groups. For chest radiographs, achieving optimal images often involves careful positioning and immobilisation techniques. Antero-posterior projections are easier to obtain in younger children, while lateral decubitus radiographs are sometimes used when expiratory images are difficult to obtain and for free air exclusion.

Diagnostic accuracy of ultra-low-dose chest CT vs chest X-ray for acute non-traumatic pulmonary diseases.

Objectives: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of ULDCT to CXR for detecting non-traumatic pulmonary diseases at the emergency department (ED) and to study diagnostic confidence levels.

Methods: Secondary analysis of the prospective OPTIMACT trial (2418 ED participants randomly allocated to ULDCT or CXR). Diagnoses at imaging at the ED were compared to the reference diagnosis on day 28.

Differences in Body Composition, Bone Density, and Tibial Microarchitecture in Division I Female Athletes Participating in Different Impact Loading Sports.

Sport participation affects body composition and bone health, but the association between sport, body composition, and bone health in female athletes is complex. We compared areal bone mineral density (aBMD, DXA) and tibial volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), geometry, microarchitecture, and estimated strength (HR-pQCT) in cross-country runners (n = 22), gymnasts (n = 23) and lacrosse players (n = 35), and investigated associations of total body lean mass (TBLM), team, and their interaction with tibial bone outcomes. Total body (TB), total hip (TH), femoral neck (FN), and lumbar spine (LS) aBMD were higher in gymnasts than runners (p < 0.

Determining the status of tertiary lymphoid structures in invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma based on chest CT radiomic features.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the status of tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) using radiomic features in patients with invasive pulmonary adenocarcinoma (IA).

Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with IA from November 2015 to March 2024 were recruited from two independent centers (center 1, training and internal test data set; center 2, external test data set). TLS was divided into two groups according to hematoxylin-eosin staining.

Ongoing Symptoms and Concerns Experienced by Low-Risk Breast Cancer Survivors Following Active Treatment.

Introduction: Little is known about the symptom burden of breast cancer survivors with early-stage disease. Many studies have focused on symptoms of patients who are undergoing or recently completed systemic therapy. However, with the increased use of Oncotype DX, the proportion of early-stage hormone receptor-positive patients who undergo chemotherapy has declined, making existing studies of the symptom experience less useful for these patients.

Generative AI as a tool to accelerate the field of ecology.

The emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) models specializing in the generation of new data with the statistical patterns and properties of the data upon which the models were trained has profoundly influenced a range of academic disciplines, industry and public discourse. Combined with the vast amounts of diverse data now available to ecologists, from genetic sequences to remotely sensed animal tracks, generative AI presents enormous potential applications within ecology. Here we draw upon a range of fields to discuss unique potential applications in which generative AI could accelerate the field of ecology, including augmenting data-scarce datasets, extending observations of ecological patterns and increasing the accessibility of ecological data.

Synchronized long-read genome, methylome, epigenome and transcriptome profiling resolve a Mendelian condition.

Resolving the molecular basis of a Mendelian condition remains challenging owing to the diverse mechanisms by which genetic variants cause disease. To address this, we developed a synchronized long-read genome, methylome, epigenome and transcriptome sequencing approach, which enables accurate single-nucleotide, insertion-deletion and structural variant calling and diploid de novo genome assembly. This permits the simultaneous elucidation of haplotype-resolved CpG methylation, chromatin accessibility and full-length transcript information in a single long-read sequencing run.

Neural signatures of risk-taking adaptions across health, bipolar disorder, and lithium treatment.

Cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying bipolar disorder (BD) and its treatment are still poorly understood. Here we examined the role of adaptations in risk-taking using a reward-guided decision-making task. We recruited volunteers with high (n = 40) scores on the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, MDQ, suspected of high risk for bipolar disorder and those with low-risk scores (n = 37).

Engineering synthetic signaling receptors to enable erythropoietin-free erythropoiesis.

Blood transfusion plays a vital role in modern medicine, but frequent shortages occur. Ex vivo manufacturing of red blood cells (RBCs) from universal donor cells offers a potential solution, yet the high cost of recombinant cytokines remains a barrier. Erythropoietin (EPO) signaling is crucial for RBC development, and EPO is among the most expensive media components.

Social mixing patterns of United States healthcare personnel at a quaternary health center: a prospective observational study.

Background: Understanding healthcare personnel's (HCP) contact patterns are important to mitigate healthcare-associated infectious disease transmission. Little is known about how HCP contact patterns change over time or during outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This study in a large United States healthcare system examined the social contact patterns of HCP via standardized social contact diaries.

Advanced Imaging of Type 2 Spinal CSF Leaks with Ultrahigh-Resolution Cone-Beam CT Myelography.

Type 2 CSF leaks are spinal lateral dural tears, causing spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). They may be visualized with digital subtraction myelography (DSM), cone-beam CT (CBCT) myelography, energy-integrating detector or photon-counting CT myelography. A recently introduced ultrahigh-resolution cone-beam CT (UHR-CBCT) myelography has shown beneficial visualization of CSF-venous fistula, another cause of SIH.

Time persistence of the fMRI resting-state functional brain networks.

Time persistence is a fundamental property of many complex physical and biological systems; thus understanding the phenomenon in the brain is of high importance. Time persistence has been explored at the level of stand-alone neural time-series, but since the brain functions as an interconnected network, it is essential to examine time persistence at the network level. Changes in resting-state networks have been previously investigated using both dynamic (i.

Lobectomy Increases Postoperative Pulmonary Artery Enlargement to a Greater Extent than Segmentectomy.

Purpose: The underlying mechanism why segmentectomy has demonstrated the non-inferiority to lobectomy in several randomized trials remains unclear. Computed tomography (CT)-measured pulmonary artery (PA) enlargement reflects PA pressure and predicts the prognosis of certain respiratory diseases. We compared the preoperative and postoperative PA diameter to the ascending aorta diameter (PA/A) ratio, investigating its impact on right ventricular function in lung resection.

Genetics of Tourette Syndrome.

This review explores the genetic basis of Tourette syndrome (TS), a complex neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and vocal tics. Family, twin, and molecular genetic studies provide strong evidence for a genetic component in TS, with heritability estimates ranging from 50% to 80%. The genetic architecture of TS is complex, involving both common variants with small effects and rare variants with larger effects.

Small bowel obstruction after caesarean section: an unusual complication of surgical haemostatic agent.

An unusual case of small bowel obstruction (SBO) due to haemostatic gelatin sponge placed during caesarean delivery is presented. A primigravida in their 30s underwent caesarean delivery at 39 weeks, and developed symptoms of SBO from the second postoperative day. Given the worsening condition of the patient and increasing abdominal girth, CT of the abdomen and pelvis was done which revealed features of SBO.

Mount Fuji sign in invasive fungal rhinosinusitis.

We report on a fatal case of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis with after lung transplantation. After endoscopic treatment and adjuvant medical therapy with isavuconazole, caspofungin and an investigational antifungal drug, there was a good clinical response with absence of endoscopic and radiographic disease. However, the patient developed disease recurrence, with signs of intracranial involvement on MRI, for which urgent endoscopic sinus surgery was performed and isavuconazole was restarted.

Cardioembolic stroke caused by atrial myxoma.

A woman in her early 60s presented with multiple transient neurological symptoms over the course of 20 months, including transient loss of power to her right lower limb. Initial workup with CT brain scan, carotid dopplers and ECG revealed no abnormality; however, MRI of the brain suggested recent ischaemic events in separate cortical territories. Subsequent transoesophageal echocardiogram revealed a large mobile mass histologically confirmed to be an atrial myxoma.

Frozen versus fresh embryo transfer in women with low prognosis for in vitro fertilisation treatment: pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that a freeze-all strategy would increase the chance of live birth compared with fresh embryo transfer in women with low prognosis for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

Design: Pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Nine academic fertility centres in China.

Work loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab or TNF inhibitors: a nationwide direct drug-to-drug comparison.

Objective: To compare work loss after starting tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We used data from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register to identify patients aged 19-62 years who were treated with TNFi (n=15 093), rituximab (n=2123), abatacept (n=1877) or tocilizumab (n=1720) between 2007 and 2020. Data on work loss (0-365 days per year) from sick leave and disability pension were retrieved from linkage to the Social Insurance Agency.