brainlife.io: A decentralized and open source cloud platform to support neuroscience research

Neuroscience research has expanded dramatically over the past 30 years by advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, the complexity of the data pipeline has also increased, hindering access to FAIR data analysis to portions of the worldwide research community. brainlife.io was developed to reduce these burdens and democratize modern neuroscience research across institutions and career levels. Using community software and hardware infrastructure, the platform provides open-source data standardization, management, visualization, and processing and simplifies the data pipeline. brainlife.io automatically tracks the provenance history of thousands of data objects, supporting simplicity, efficiency, and transparency in neuroscience research. Here brainlife.io's technology and data services are described and evaluated for validity, reliability, reproducibility, replicability, and scientific utility. Using data from 4 modalities and 3,200 participants, we demonstrate that brainlife.io's services produce outputs that adhere to best practices in modern neuroscience research

brainlife.io: a decentralized and open-source cloud platform to support neuroscience research

Neuroscience is advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, data pipeline complexity has increased, hindering FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) access. brainlife.io was developed to democratize neuroimaging research. The platform provides data standardization, management, visualization and processing and automatically tracks the provenance history of thousands of data objects. Here, brainlife.io is described and evaluated for validity, reliability, reproducibility, replicability and scientific utility using four data modalities and 3,200 participants

Role of HRCT in detection and characterization of pulmonary abnormalities in patients with febrile neutropenia

Background: Fever is of grave concern in the management of patients with neutropenia with early detection of a focus of infection being the major goal. As lungs are the most common focus, chest imaging is of vital importance. This Institute Review Board approved prospective study was undertaken to assess the usefulness of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in early detection and characterization of pulmonary abnormalities in febrile neutropenia. Materials and Methods: A total of 104 consecutive patients (M:F:75:29, age range 11-66 years) with fever of 38.2°C or more with an absolute neutrophil count 10 mm with or without surrounding GGO or cavitations was sensitive (95.23%) and specific (96.7%) for fungal infection, while small (1-4 mm) random or centrilobular nodules with tree-in-bud appearance was sensitive (90%) and highly specific (97.02%) for tuberculosis. Diagnosis of pyogenic infection based on presence of air-space consolidation, pleural effusion, GGO or centrilobular nodules showed a sensitivity of 84.78% and specificity of 93.84%, whereas patchy or diffuse GGO, interstitial thickening and/or air-space consolidation showed high sensitivity (86.7%) and specificity (96.8%) for Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia. Conclusion: HRCT chest is an excellent modality in the diagnostic work-up of patients with febrile neutropenia allowing early detection and characterization of pulmonary abnormalities

A novel sensor for sequential and cellular detection of copper and lactic acid

We report self assembling/aggregation properties of acyl-thiourea derivative, N-((6-methoxy-pyridin-2-yl)carbamothioyl)benzamide(NG1) [i1] and the disaggregation induced emission which leads to its application as fluorescence and colorimetric probe for the sensitive detection of Cu2+. The microscopy analysis of NG1via SEM, and AFM reveal that it self-assembles to give fiber-like morphologies.Interestingly,NG1 also assembles to fluorescent fibers which show tunable emission properties. Addition of Cu2+to these fibers causedisruption/disaggregation of fibers and a golden yellow fluorescence is produced due to disaggregation induced emission enhancement (DIEE). The application of NG1 as selective sensor for copper was further assessed by UV visible and fluorescence spectroscopy. Limit of Detection(LOD) of Cu2+ with colorimetry was 2.5ppm while LOD of Cu2+ with fluorescence was as low as 0.1ppm. This yellow fluorescence is quenched after the addition of lactic acid and hence NG1 could potentially be used for the sequential detection of both Cu and lactate.Further, structural modification of the probe NG1 suggest crucial role of both pyridine and acyl-thiourea moiety in the binding of Cu2+. The experimental results of interaction of NG1 with Cu2+ and lactate were also validated theoretically by quantum chemical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). Finally, we explore the ability of NG1for the sequential detection of Cu2+ and lactate in cells, which suggestsNG1 can be used effectively for the cellular imaging applications and to selectively sense Cu2+. To, the best of our knowledge, this is the first report wherein a dual sensor for Cu2+and lactate ion is synthesized and it may in allpossibilities pave the way for the diagnosis of Cu2+associated disorders like Wilson’s disease and in the detection of elevated lactate levels which are associated with the wide range of pathologies likemitochondrial diseases, cerebral ischemia and cancer. <br /

ezBIDS: Guided standardization of neuroimaging data interoperable with major data archives and platforms

Abstract Data standardization promotes a common framework through which researchers can utilize others’ data and is one of the leading methods neuroimaging researchers use to share and replicate findings. As of today, standardizing datasets requires technical expertise such as coding and knowledge of file formats. We present ezBIDS, a tool for converting neuroimaging data and associated metadata to the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) standard. ezBIDS contains four major features: (1) No installation or programming requirements. (2) Handling of both imaging and task events data and metadata. (3) Semi-automated inference and guidance for adherence to BIDS. (4) Multiple data management options: download BIDS data to local system, or transfer to OpenNeuro.org or to brainlife.io. In sum, ezBIDS requires neither coding proficiency nor knowledge of BIDS, and is the first BIDS tool to offer guided standardization, support for task events conversion, and interoperability with OpenNeuro.org and brainlife.io

Pushing the Limit of Oxygen Balance on a Benzofuroxan Framework: K₂DNDP as an Extremely Dense and Thermally Stable Material as a Substitute for Lead Azide

Because of environmental and health impacts, there is an ongoing necessity to develop sustainable primary explosives to replace existing lead-based analogues. Now we describe a potential primary explosive, dipotassium 4,6-dinitro-5,7-dioxidobenzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole 1-oxide (K2DNDP), which exhibits an excellent thermal stability (Tdec = 281 °C), positive oxygen balance (+4.79%), and a calculated crystal density of ρ = 2.274 g cm–3 at 100 K. Its physicochemical properties concomitantly with its straightforward synthesis make it a potential replacement for lead-based initiators

A call for neurologists to take up stroke intervention

Recent data have provided overwhelming evidence in favor of benefits of emergent endovascular intervention in large vessel acute ischemic stroke (AIS). India with its large population has a huge burden of AIS. Hence, neurologists need to gear up to the new challenge of providing interventional care to huge populations of AIS in the country. The best way to cover this unprecedented unmet need is to encourage neurologists to take up interventional subspecialty interests through new but sound training pathways

The SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 pandemic and challenges in stroke care in India

Stroke care in India has evolved rapidly in the last decade with a focus on stroke awareness, prevention, rapid triage, treatment, and rehabilitation. But acute stroke care and poststroke rehabilitation in the country have limitations owing to the economic constraints and poor access to health care. The SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic has made stroke care even more challenging. We outline the unfavorable circumstances in stroke care induced by the pandemic; propose mitigating measures; crisis management; and provide a comparative evaluation of stroke care between India and the United States during the pandemic. There is a need for public health systems in both developed and developing countries to improve awareness, implement proper strategies of triage, acute treatment, well-defined rehabilitation plans, telemedicine services, and virtual check-ins