CerebNet: A fast and reliable deep-learning pipeline for detailed cerebellum sub-segmentation

Quantifying the volume of the cerebellum and its lobes is of profound interest in various neurodegenerative and acquired diseases. Especially for the most common spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA), for which the first antisense oligonculeotide-base gene silencing trial has recently started, there is an urgent need for quantitative, sensitive imaging markers at pre-symptomatic stages for stratification and treatment assessment. This work introduces CerebNet, a fully automated, extensively validated, deep learning method for the lobular segmentation of the cerebellum, including the separation of gray and white matter. For training, validation, and testing, T1-weighted images from 30 participants were manually annotated into cerebellar lobules and vermal sub-segments, as well as cerebellar white matter. CerebNet combines FastSurferCNN, a UNet-based 2.5D segmentation network, with extensive data augmentation, e.g. realistic non-linear deformations to increase the anatomical variety, eliminating additional preprocessing steps, such as spatial normalization or bias field correction. CerebNet demonstrates a high accuracy (on average 0.87 Dice and 1.742mm Robust Hausdorff Distance across all structures) outperforming state-of-the-art approaches. Furthermore, it shows high test-retest reliability (average ICC >0.97 on OASIS and Kirby) as well as high sensitivity to disease effects, including the pre-ataxic stage of spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3). CerebNet is compatible with FreeSurfer and FastSurfer and can analyze a 3D volume within seconds on a consumer GPU in an end-to-end fashion, thus providing an efficient and validated solution for assessing cerebellum sub-structure volumes. We make CerebNet available as source-code (https://github.com/Deep-MI/FastSurfer)

Review of methods used by chiropractors to determine the site for applying manipulation

Background: With the development of increasing evidence for the use of manipulation in the management of musculoskeletal conditions, there is growing interest in identifying the appropriate indications for care. Recently, attempts have been made to develop clinical prediction rules, however the validity of these clinical prediction rules remains unclear and their impact on care delivery has yet to be established. The current study was designed to evaluate the literature on the validity and reliability of the more common methods used by doctors of chiropractic to inform the choice of the site at which to apply spinal manipulation. Methods: Structured searches were conducted in Medline, PubMed, CINAHL and ICL, supported by hand searches of archives, to identify studies of the diagnostic reliability and validity of common methods used to identify the site of treatment application. To be included, studies were to present original data from studies of human subjects and be designed to address the region or location of care delivery. Only English language manuscripts from peer-reviewed journals were included. The quality of evidence was ranked using QUADAS for validity and QAREL for reliability, as appropriate. Data were extracted and synthesized, and were evaluated in terms of strength of evidence and the degree to which the evidence was favourable for clinical use of the method under investigation. Results: A total of 2594 titles were screened from which 201 articles met all inclusion criteria. The spectrum of manuscript quality was quite broad, as was the degree to which the evidence favoured clinical application of the diagnostic methods reviewed. The most convincing favourable evidence was for methods which confirmed or provoked pain at a specific spinal segmental level or region. There was also high quality evidence supporting the use, with limitations, of static and motion palpation, and measures of leg length inequality. Evidence of mixed quality supported the use, with limitations, of postural evaluation. The evidence was unclear on the applicability of measures of stiffness and the use of spinal x-rays. The evidence was of mixed quality, but unfavourable for the use of manual muscle testing, skin conductance, surface electromyography and skin temperature measurement. Conclusions: A considerable range of methods is in use for determining where in the spine to administer spinal manipulation. The currently published evidence falls across a spectrum ranging from strongly favourable to strongly unfavourable in regard to using these methods. In general, the stronger and more favourable evidence is for those procedures which take a direct measure of the presumptive site of care– methods involving pain provocation upon palpation or localized tissue examination. Procedures which involve some indirect assessment for identifying the manipulable lesion of the spine–such as skin conductance or thermography–tend not to be supported by the available evidence.https://doi.org/10.1186/2045-709X-21-3

Introducing the LHC in the classroom: an overview of education resources available

In the context of the recent re-start of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the challenge presented by unidentified falling objects (UFOs), we seek to facilitate the introduction of high energy physics in the classroom. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of the LHC and its operation, highlighting existing education resources, and linking principal components of the LHC to topics in physics curricula

Trinuclear tris(ansa-metallocene) complexes of zirconium and hafnium for olefin polymerization

International audienceNew platforms for trinuclear complexes, 1,3,5-tris(fluoren-2-yl-R)benzene (Ph{2-FluRH}3; R = H (2a), 6-tBu (2b), 7-tBu (2c), Tet (2d) (Tet = 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-tetrahydrobenzofluorene), were synthesized via an acid-catalyzed cyclotrimerization of the corresponding substituted 2-acetylfluorenes. Subsequent nucleophilic addition of the [Ph{2-FluR}3]3− trianions onto 6,6,-dimethylfulvene afforded the corresponding isopropylidene-bridged pro-ligands Ph{Me2C(2-FluRH)(C5H5)}3 (3a-d). Discrete trinuclear tris(dichloro-ansa-zirconocene and hafnocene), Ph[{Me2C(2-FluR)(C5H4)}MX2]3 (X = Cl 4b-d-Zr, 4c,d-Hf) were prepared by salt metathesis reactions. Some zirconium complexes were further alkylated towards the corresponding tris(dialkyls) (X = Me 5c,d-Zr; X = CH2SiMe3 6c-Zr). The structures of these metal complexes were determined by elemental analyses, and by 1D, inverse 2D heteronuclear correlation, and DOSY NMR spectroscopy, as well as by theoretical computations. Those studies revealed the existence of two isomers, of C3 and C1 symmetry respectively, originating from the mutual orientation of the three ansa-metallocene fragments. Preliminary studies on the catalytic performances of the dichloro complexes, upon activation with MAO, in ethylene and propylene homopolymerization and ethylene/1-hexene copolymerization were carried out and compared to those of the monometallic analogues under identical conditions

RGB-Projektor mit feinstrukurierter Strahlformungsoptik

Für den Demonstrator eines Projektors mit mehrfarbigen Laserlichtquellen wurde ein neuer Berechnungsalgorithmus zur Bestimmung der Freiformlinsenstruktur eingesetzt und erfolgreich experimentell verifiziert, indem die Freiformoptik mit ultrapräziser Drehbearbeitung gefertigt wurde

Fractional anisotropy and troponin T parallel structural nerve damage at the upper extremities in a group of patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes - a study using 3T magnetic resonance neurography.

BackgroundRecent studies have found that troponin T parallels the structural and functional decay of peripheral nerves at the level of the lower limbs in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The aim of this study was to determine whether this finding can also be reproduced at the level of the upper limbs.MethodsTen patients with fasting glucose levels >100 mg/dl (five with prediabetes and five with T2D) underwent magnetic resonance neurography of the right upper arm comprising T2-weighted and diffusion weighted sequences. The fractional anisotropy (FA), an indicator for the structural integrity of peripheral nerves, was calculated in an automated approach for the median, ulnar, and radial nerve. All participants underwent additional clinical, serological, and electrophysiological assessments.ResultsHigh sensitivity Troponin T (hsTNT) and HbA1c were negatively correlated with the average FA of the median, ulnar and radial nerve (r = -0.84; p = 0.002 and r = -0.68; p = 0.032). Both FA and hsTNT further showed correlations with items of the Michigan Hand Outcome Questionnaire (r = -0.76; p = 0.010 and r = 0.87; p = 0.001, respectively). A negative correlation was found for hsTNT and HbA1c with the total Purdue Pegboard Test Score (r = -0.87; p = 0.001 and r = -0.68; p = 0.031).ConclusionThis study is the first to find that hsTNT and HbA1c are associated with functional and structural parameters of the nerves at the level of the upper limbs in patients with impaired glucose tolerance and T2D. Our results support the hypothesis that hyperglycemia-related microangiopathy, represented by elevated hsTNT levels, is a contributor to nerve damage in diabetic polyneuropathy