Anatomical Structure Sketcher for Cephalograms by Bimodal Deep Learning

The lateral cephalogram is a commonly used medium to acquire patient-specific morphology for diagnose and treatment planning in clinical dentistry. The robust anatomical structure detection and accurate annotation remain challenging considering the personal skeletal variations and image blurs caused by device-specific projection magnification, together with structure overlapping in the lateral cephalograms. We propose a novel cephalogram sketcher system, where the contour extraction of anatomical structures is formulated as a cross-modal morphology transfer from regular image patches to arbitrary curves. Specifically, the image patches of structures of interest are located by a hierarchical pictorial model. The automatic contour sketcher converts the image patch to a morphable boundary curve via a bimodal deep Boltzmann machine. The deep machine learns a joint representation of patch textures and contours, and forms a path from one modality (patches) to the other (contours). Thus, the sketcher can infer the contours by alternating Gibbs sampling along the path in a manner similar to the data completion. The proposed method is robust not only to structure detection, but also tends to produce accurate structure shapes and landmarks even in blurry X-ray images. The experiments performed on clinically captured cephalograms demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000346352700099&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Computer Science, Artificial IntelligenceCPCI-S(ISTP)

Clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery for the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility: A retrospective study of 226 cases

IntroductionTo determine the clinical effects of laparoscopic surgery (LS) in the treatment of endometriosis and endometriosis-fertility.MethodsTwo hundred twenty-six patients with endometriosis who underwent LS (LS group, n = 176) or laparotomy (LT group, n = 50) at the Third Hospital of Shijiazhuang City from June 2011 to June 2013 were included in this study, and their clinical outcomes for endometriosis and infertility were compared. All patients were followed up for 1 year after surgery to determine postoperative pregnancies in patients with endometriosis.ResultsThe operative times between the LS and LT groups were not significantly different (P > 0.05); however, the length of stay in the hospital and blood loss in the LS group were significantly different from the LT group (P < 0.05). The incidence of postoperative symptoms were lower in the LS group than the LT group (P < 0.05). The postoperative pregnancy rates in the two groups were significantly different, including the infertility patients (P < 0.05).ConclusionsCompared with LT, LS significantly reduced pain and improved the quality of life in women with endometriosis. These results can provide a reference for the clinical treatment of endometriosis

Analysis of Time Series Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Reveals the Molecular Features of Myocardial Infarction Progression

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the deadliest diseases in the world, and the changes at the molecular level after MI and the DNA methylation features are not clear. Understanding the molecular characteristics of the early stages of MI is of significance for the treatment of the disease. In this study, RNA-seq and MeDIP-seq were performed on heart tissue from mouse models at multiple time points (0 h, 10 min, 1, 6, 24, and 72 h) to explore genetic and epigenetic features that influence MI progression. Analysis based on a single point in time, the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially methylated regions (DMRs) increased with the time of myocardial infarction, using 0 h as a control group. Moreover, within 10 min of MI onset, the cells are mainly in immune response, and as the duration of MI increases, apoptosis begins to occur. Analysis based on time series data, the expression of 1012 genes was specifically downregulated, and these genes were associated with energy metabolism. The expression of 5806 genes was specifically upregulated, and these genes were associated with immune regulation, inflammation and apoptosis. Fourteen transcription factors were identified in the genes involved in apoptosis and inflammation, which may be potential drug targets. Analysis based on MeDIP-seq combined with RNA-seq methodology, focused on methylation at the promoter region. GO revealed that the downregulated genes with hypermethylation at 72 h were enriched in biological processes such as cardiac muscle contraction. In addition, the upregulated genes with hypomethylation at 72 h were enriched in biological processes, such as cell-cell adhesion, regulation of the apoptotic signaling pathway and regulation of angiogenesis. Among these genes, the Tnni3 gene was also present in the downregulated model. Hypermethylation of Tnni3 at 72 h after MI may be an important cause of exacerbation of MI

Efficiency of a randomized confirmatory basket trial design constrained to control the family wise error rate by indication

Basket trials pool histologic indications sharing molecular pathophysiology, improving development efficiency. Currently basket trials have been confirmatory only for exceptional therapies. Our previous randomized basket design may be generally suitable in the resource-intensive confirmatory phase, maintains high power even with modest effect sizes, and provides nearly k-fold increased efficiency for k indications, but controls false positives for the pooled result only. Since family-wise error rate by indications (FWER) may sometimes be required, we now simulate a variant of this basket design controlling FWER at 0.025k, the total FWER of k separate randomized trials. We simulated this modified design under numerous scenarios varying design parameters. Only designs controlling FWER and minimizing estimation bias were allowable. Optimal performance results when k=3,4. We report efficiency (expected # true positives/expected sample size) relative to k parallel studies, at 90% power (“uncorrected”) or at the power achieved in the basket trial (“corrected”, because conventional designs could also increase efficiency by sacrificing power). Efficiency and power (percentage active indications identified) improve with higher percentage of initial indications active. Up to 92% uncorrected and 38% corrected efficiency improvement is possible. Even under FWER control, randomized confirmatory basket trials substantially improve development efficiency. Initial indication selection is critical

A new peltospirid snail (Gastropoda Neomphalida) adds to the unique biodiversity of Longqi vent field, Southwest Indian Ridge

The biodiversity of deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean remains poorly characterised compared with that of their Pacific and Atlantic counterparts. Although the Longqi hydrothermal vent field is the most extensively explored vent site on the ultra-slow-spreading Southwest Indian Ridge, it is still a source of new discoveries. Here, we report and formally describe a new peltospirid snail from Longqi–Lirapex felix sp. nov. Known from only two specimens, it differs from other named Lirapex species by a depressed spire and the lack of coil loosening on the body whorl. Examinations of the external anatomy and radular characteristics agree with its placement in Lirapex, which is also supported by a molecular phylogeny reconstructed using the barcoding fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) gene. This is the fifth peltospirid snail known to inhabit the Longqi field, three of which (including Lirapex felix sp. nov.) have been found nowhere else. There is growing evidence that the Longqi field represents a biogeographically unique site among Indian Ocean vents. The discovery of Lirapex felix sp. nov. adds to the unique biodiversity of Longqi field, with implications for conservation in the light of potential deep-sea mining. This work is registered in ZooBank under: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3B892762-2110-4A1E-A80D-1779CBEC5EB3.</p

Evaluation of the Wind Field and Deposition Effect of a Novel Air-Assisted Strawberry Sprayer

Strawberry is a widely cultivated cash crop in China. In order to control pests and diseases on strawberries, there must be sufficient deposits on the abaxial surfaces of the leaves. Air-assisted technology can effectively increase the deposition on the abaxial surfaces of the leaves; however, most air-assisted equipment is not suitable for application due to the pattern of strawberry planting. Therefore, a novel air-assisted strawberry sprayer was developed, the static and dynamic wind fields were measured using a 3D anemometer, and the effectiveness of the application at different spray angles and wind speeds was evaluated. In addition, a comparison of the deposition effect in the strawberry canopy between the air-assisted strawberry sprayer, knapsack sprayer, and spray gun was conducted. The results showed that in the static wind field test, a difference between the center and edge wind fields was obtained, which was correlated with the distance and the outlet wind speed. In the dynamic wind field test, the wind field was found to be rolling backward during the movement, and an inward vortex was obtained. In the field, the data showed that a spray angle of 30° and a wind speed of 16 m·s−1 had the best deposition on the abaxial surface, with a coverage of 36.5% and 38.3% in the upper canopy and 6.2% and 7.9% in the lower canopy, respectively. Moreover, the air-assisted strawberry sprayer was found to have a higher deposition efficiency on abaxial surfaces than the knapsack sprayer and spray gun at a lower spray volume, the values of which in the upper and lower canopies were 42.8% and 29.7%, respectively. In conclusion, the air-assisted strawberry sprayer has the potential for the crop protection of greenhouse strawberries, and more evaluations are needed to improve the sprayer in the future

Molecular Basis for Luteolin as a Natural TatD DNase Inhibitor in Trueperella pyogenes

TatD960 and TatD825 are DNases that contribute to biofilm formation and virulence in Trueperella pyogenes (T. pyogenes). Luteolin is a natural flavonoid commonly found in plants that exhibits antimicrobial capacity. Our study aims to investigate the effects of luteolin on TatD DNases as a natural inhibitor. In this research, the expression of tatD genes and TatD proteins in T. pyogenes treated with luteolin was detected, and then the effect of luteolin on the hydrolysis of DNA by TatD DNases was analyzed using agarose gel electrophoresis. Moreover, the interactions between luteolin and TatD DNases were tested using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays and molecular docking analysis. After 1/2 MIC luteolin treatment, the transcription of tatD genes and expression of TatD proteins appeared to be reduced in 80&ndash;90% of T. pyogenes (n = 20). The gel assay revealed that luteolin can inhibit the activity of TatD DNases. The SPR assay showed that the KD values of luteolin to TatD960 and TatD825 were 6.268 &times; 10&minus;6 M and 5.654 &times; 10&minus;6 M, respectively. We found through molecular docking that hydrogen bonding is predominant in the interaction of luteolin and TatD DNases. Our data indicate that luteolin inhibited the ability of TatD DNases by decreasing their binding to DNA. The current study provides an insight into the development of luteolin as a DNase inhibitor in preventing biofilm formation and virulence in T. pyogenes