Impacts of Filtration on Contrast-Detail Detectability of an X-ray Imaging System

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impacts of added filtration on the contrast-detail detectability of a digital X-ray imaging system for small animal studies. A digital X-ray imaging system specifically designed for small animal studies was used. This system is equipped with a micro X-ray source with a tungsten target and a beryllium window filtration and a CCD-based digital detector. Molybdenum filters of 0 mm, 0.02 mm, and 0.05 mm in thickness were added. The corresponding X-ray spectra and contrast-detail detectabilities were measured using two phantoms of different thicknesses simulating breast tissue under different exposures. The added Mo filters reduced the low-energy as well as the high-energy photons, hence providing a narrowband for imaging quality improvement. In the experiments with a 1.15 cm phantom, the optimal image detectability was observed using 22 kVp and the 0.05 mm Mo filter. With the 2.15 cm phantom, the best detectability was obtained with 22 kVp and the 0.02 mm Mo filter. Our experiments showed that appropriate filtrations could reduce certain low- and high-energy components of X-ray spectra which have limited contributions to image contrast. At the same time, such filtration could improve the contrast-detail detectability, particularly at relatively low kVp and high filtration. Therefore, optimal image quality can be obtained with the same absorbed radiation dose by the subjects when appropriate filtration is used

Multicolor photometry of the galaxies in the central region of Abell 2634

An optical photometric observation with the BATC multicolor system is carried out for the central 56' x 56' region of the nearby cluster of galaxies, Abell 2634. We achieved the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 5572 sources detected down to $V \sim 20$ mag, including 178 previously known galaxies, with fourteen filters covering a wavelength range from 3600 \AA\ to 10000 \AA. After excluding the foreground and background galaxies, a sample of 124 known members is formed for an investigation of the SED properties. Based on the knowledge of SED properties of member galaxies, we performed the selection of faint galaxies belonging to Abell 2634. The color-color diagrams are powerful in the star/galaxy separation, and 359 faint galaxies are selected by their color features. The technique of photometric redshift and color-magnitude correlation for the early-type galaxies are applied for these faint galaxies, and a list of 74 faint member galaxies is achieved. Basis on the enlarged sample of member galaxies, the spatial distribution and color-magnitude relation of the galaxies in core region of Abell 2634 are discussed. We find a tendency that the color index dispersion of the early-type members is larger for the outer region, which might reflect some clues about the environmental effect on the evolution of galaxies in a cluster.Comment: 35 pages, 21 Postscript figures and tables, LaTeX, using aasms4.st

Academic-practice partnerships in evidence-based nursing practice: a scoping review protocol

Introduction Academic-practice partnerships are a promising strategy that could strengthen the promotion and innovation of evidence-based nursing practice (EBNP). However, there is little evidence of how academic and clinical institutions and individuals should collaborate in each process of EBNP and the factors that influence academic-practice partnerships in EBNP. There is a pressing need to explore the extent of the literature on academic-practice partnerships in EBNP, as well as to classify, compare and summarise the results or opinions obtained from various types of literature to identify both existing knowledge and gaps in the research.Methods and analysis The scoping review will be conducted following the methodological guidelines provided by the JBI. The scoping review will be reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist. Seven databases, including the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Educational Resource Information Center and two Chinese databases (ie, CNKI and WANFANG DATA), will be searched. The grey literature will also be searched using the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, American Nurses Association, Open Grey, Grey Literature Report and the official website of JBI. The literature screening and data extraction will be conducted independently by two researchers. A third researcher will be involved when a consensus is needed.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval is not required. The findings of the scoping review will be disseminated in a conference and a peer-reviewed journal.</p

Association of the LEP gene with immune infiltration as a diagnostic biomarker in preeclampsia

Objective: Preeclampsia (PE) is a serious condition in pregnant women and hence an important topic in obstetrics. The current research aimed to recognize the potential and significant immune-related diagnostic biomarkers for PE.Methods: From the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) data sets, three public gene expression profiles (GSE24129, GSE54618, and GSE60438) from the placental samples of PE and normotensive pregnancy were downloaded. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were selected and determined among 73 PE and 85 normotensive control pregnancy samples. The DEGs were used for Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), Disease Ontology (DO) enrichment analysis, and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). The candidate biomarkers were identified by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and support vector machine recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) analysis. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was applied to evaluate diagnostic ability. For further confirmation, the expression levels and diagnostic value of biomarkers in PE were verified in the GSE75010 data set (80 PE and 77 controls) and validated by qRT-RCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The CIBERSORT algorithm was used to calculate the compositional patterns of 22 types of immune cells in PE.Results: In total, 15 DEGs were recognized. The GO and KEGG analyses revealed that the DEGs were enriched in the steroid metabolic process, receptor ligand activity, GnRH secretion, and neuroactive ligand−receptor interaction. The recognized DEGs were primarily implicated in cell-type benign neoplasm, kidney failure, infertility, and PE. Gene sets related to hormone activity, glycosylation, multicellular organism process, and response to BMP were activated in PE. The LEP gene was distinguished as a diagnostic biomarker of PE (AUC = 0.712) and further certified in the GSE75010 data set (AUC = 0.850). The high expression of LEP was associated with PE in clinical samples. In addition, the analysis of the immune microenvironment showed that gamma delta T cells, memory B cells, M0 macrophages, and regulatory T cells were positively correlated with LEP expression (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusion:LEP expression can be considered to be a diagnostic biomarker of PE and can offer a novel perspective for future studies regarding the occurrence and molecular mechanisms of PE