Concussion classification via deep learning using whole-brain white matter fiber strains

Developing an accurate and reliable injury predictor is central to the biomechanical studies of traumatic brain injury. State-of-the-art efforts continue to rely on empirical, scalar metrics based on kinematics or model-estimated tissue responses explicitly pre-defined in a specific brain region of interest. They could suffer from loss of information. A single training dataset has also been used to evaluate performance but without cross-validation. In this study, we developed a deep learning approach for concussion classification using implicit features of the entire voxel-wise white matter fiber strains. Using reconstructed American National Football League (NFL) injury cases, leave-one-out cross-validation was employed to objectively compare injury prediction performances against two baseline machine learning classifiers (support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF)) and four scalar metrics via univariate logistic regression (Brain Injury Criterion (BrIC), cumulative strain damage measure of the whole brain (CSDM-WB) and the corpus callosum (CSDM-CC), and peak fiber strain in the CC). Feature-based deep learning and machine learning classifiers consistently outperformed all scalar injury metrics across all performance categories in cross-validation (e.g., average accuracy of 0.844 vs. 0.746, and average area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) of 0.873 vs. 0.769, respectively, based on the testing dataset). Nevertheless, deep learning achieved the best cross-validation accuracy, sensitivity, and AUC (e.g., accuracy of 0.862 vs. 0.828 and 0.842 for SVM and RF, respectively). These findings demonstrate the superior performances of deep learning in concussion prediction, and suggest its promise for future applications in biomechanical investigations of traumatic brain injury.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, and 4 table

Experiments on bright field and dark field high energy electron imaging with thick target material

Using a high energy electron beam for the imaging of high density matter with both high spatial-temporal and areal density resolution under extreme states of temperature and pressure is one of the critical challenges in high energy density physics . When a charged particle beam passes through an opaque target, the beam will be scattered with a distribution that depends on the thickness of the material. By collecting the scattered beam either near or off axis, so-called bright field or dark field images can be obtained. Here we report on an electron radiography experiment using 45 MeV electrons from an S-band photo-injector, where scattered electrons, after interacting with a sample, are collected and imaged by a quadrupole imaging system. We achieved a few micrometers (about 4 micrometers) spatial resolution and about 10 micrometers thickness resolution for a silicon target of 300-600 micron thickness. With addition of dark field images that are captured by selecting electrons with large scattering angle, we show that more useful information in determining external details such as outlines, boundaries and defects can be obtained.Comment: 7pages, 7 figure

Diagnosis and management of a scrotal wall mass with the aid of a scrotoscope: a descriptive observational study

Background and objective: A scrotal wall mass is relatively rare in clinical practice, and very difficult to differentiate from a scrotal content lesion by a physical or ultrasound examination. In this study, we share our experience with the scrotoscope for diagnosing and treating scrotal wall masses. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all clinical data of scrotal wall mass patients treated by our medical team between June 2015 and July 2019. Diagnostic value was evaluated by comparison with a Doppler ultrasound examination and therapeutic value was evaluated by comparison with traditional surgery. Suspected scrotal tuberculosis or malignant scrotal tumor patients were excluded. Results: Six patients with scrotal wall masses were diagnosed and treated with the scrotoscope. A preoperative ultrasound examination led to an ambiguous or incorrect diagnosis for the origin of the scrotal wall masses in all six cases. The location of all of the masses was confirmed by exploring with the scrotoscope. Three patients were diagnosed with scrotal wall cysts, and one was successfully resected during the procedure; the other two were resected through a small incision. Four scrotal wall solid masses were resected in the other three patients through small incisions after the diagnosis using the scrotoscope. No wound infection, scrotal edema, hematoma, chronic scrotal pain, or injury to the testicles or epididymis were observed. Conclusions: Scrotal wall masses are relatively rare, and it was very difficult to obtain a firm diagnosis of their origin using preoperative ultrasound. The scrotoscope confirmed localization of the tumor, and provided us important information for a minimally invasive resection. Endoscopic resection of a mass can be performed using a scrotoscope

Research on the influence of the nature of the weathered bedrock zone on the roof water bursting and sand bursting: taking Zhaogu No. 1 Mine as an example

Based on Zhaogu No. 1 Mine’s characters that are the overlying thick alluvium, multi-aquifers (groups) and thin bedrock, the water pressure of the gravel aquifer under the alluvial layer reaches 4.0 MPa, defined a high-pressure aquifer. To determine the influence of bedrock properties on roof water inrush and sand bursting, and ensure the normal mining around the thin bedrock area under groups, there were tests, point loading, dry saturated water absorption rate and indoor disintegration, of bedrock samples taken from hydrological survey holes to determine those properties and influence on retaining sand-proof pillars by analyzing the variation curves of various indexes of them with depth. The experiments’ results showed that the weathering depth of bedrock exceeds 20 m; the dry saturated water absorption rate of mudstone in the vertical depth ranging of 0−6.5 m from the bottom interface of the alluvial layer is greater than 15%. The mudstone exposed to water features muddy disintegration, broken rock fragments and mud blocks, which means it is good water-proof performance of effective bridging mining cracks and a protective layer for waterproof coal pillars; as the strength of weathered mudstone below the alluvial layer 0 to 11.4 m is lower than it of the fine gravel aquifer in the lower that of 4.0 MPa, the sand control coal pillar’s protective layer that is greater more than 11.4 m is cannot be entirely composed of weathered mudstone; due to strong resistance to disintegration and lower dry saturated water absorption rate of sandstone, the protective layer cannot be entirely composed of weathered sandstone. The compressive strength of weathered sandstone, when it is higher than 4.0 MPa, can effectively resist the overlying water head pressure

Preclinical Evaluation of Radioiodinated Hoechst 33258 for Early Prediction of Tumor Response to Treatment of Vascular-Disrupting Agents

This study aimed to explore the use of 131I-Hoechst 33258 (131I-H33258) for early prediction of tumor response to vascular-disrupting agents (VDAs) with combretastatin-A4 phosphate (CA4P) as a representative. Necrosis avidity of 131I-H33258 was evaluated in mouse models with muscle necrosis and blocking was used to confirm the tracer specificity. Therapy response was evaluated by 131I-H33258 SPECT/CT imaging 24 h after CA4P therapy in W256 tumor-bearing rats. Radiotracer uptake in tumors was validated ex vivo using γ-counting, autoradiography, and histopathological staining. Results showed that 131I-H33258 had predominant necrosis avidity and could specifically bind to necrotic tissue. SPECT/CT imaging demonstrated that an obvious “hot spot” could be observed in the CA4P-treated tumor. Ex vivo γ-counting revealed 131I-H33258 uptake in tumors was increased 2.8-fold in rats treated with CA4P relative to rats treated with vehicle. Autoradiography and corresponding H&E staining suggested that 131I-H33258 was mainly localized in necrotic tumor area and the higher overall uptake in the treated tumors was attributed to the increased necrosis. These results suggest that 131I-H33258 can be used to image induction of cell necrosis 24 h after CA4P therapy, which support further molecular design of probes based on scaffold H33258 for monitoring of tumor response to VDAs treatment

26th Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting (CNS*2017): Part 3 - Meeting Abstracts - Antwerp, Belgium. 15–20 July 2017

This work was produced as part of the activities of FAPESP Research,\ud Disseminations and Innovation Center for Neuromathematics (grant\ud 2013/07699-0, S. Paulo Research Foundation). NLK is supported by a\ud FAPESP postdoctoral fellowship (grant 2016/03855-5). ACR is partially\ud supported by a CNPq fellowship (grant 306251/2014-0)

Finite-horizon H∞ control for a class of time-varying nonlinear systems subject to sensor and actuator saturations

In this paper, a time-varying dynamic output feedback controller is designed, which aims to solve the finite-horizon H∞ control problem for a class of discrete-time time-varying nonlinear systems subject to actuator and sensor saturations. The nonlinearities of the system under consideration satisfy the sector conditions, which include the Lipschitz non-linearities as a special case. To effectively handle the saturation nonlinearities, a compact convex hull representation is utilized, which leads to less conservative conditions for the controller design than the existing results due to imposition of extra slack variables. The sufficient conditions derived are expressed in the form of a series of recursive linear matrix inequalities. By outlining an implementation algorithm, the finite-horizon H∞ controller can be designed online. Finally, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of the proposed method

An efficient method for control of continuous-time systems subject to input saturation and external disturbance

In this paper the problem of control of continuous-time systems subject to input saturation and external disturbance is studied. The key idea is to construct a disturbance observer to enable the design of an efficient anti-disturbance controller. The new disturbance observer based controller can ensure asymptotical stability of the resulting closed-loop system. Moreover, an estimation of the domain of attraction is provided, and it can also be maximized by using an iterative algorithm. The theoretical findings are validated by a numerical example

Design of robust observer-based controller for uncertain time-delay systems with saturating actuators

This paper is concerned with designing robust observer-based controller for continuous-time time-delay systems with saturating actuators and subject to time-varying uncertainties. With the assumption that the system states are not available but detectable, the observer-based output feedback controller is designed under some delay-dependent conditions derived, and the controller thus designed guarantees that the system without perturbations on its input matrices can be stabilized together with the domain of attraction. In addition, an iterative optimization algorithm is developed to acquire a maximal estimate of the domain of attraction. Moreover, in the presence of perturbations on the system input matrices, the gain of the observer given by the above-mentioned controller design rules is adjusted in terms of some stabilization conditions derived. The theoretical findings are finally verified by an illustrative example along with computer simulations