Accelerated Cardiac Diffusion Tensor Imaging Using Joint Low-Rank and Sparsity Constraints

Objective: The purpose of this manuscript is to accelerate cardiac diffusion tensor imaging (CDTI) by integrating low-rankness and compressed sensing. Methods: Diffusion-weighted images exhibit both transform sparsity and low-rankness. These properties can jointly be exploited to accelerate CDTI, especially when a phase map is applied to correct for the phase inconsistency across diffusion directions, thereby enhancing low-rankness. The proposed method is evaluated both ex vivo and in vivo, and is compared to methods using either a low-rank or sparsity constraint alone. Results: Compared to using a low-rank or sparsity constraint alone, the proposed method preserves more accurate helix angle features, the transmural continuum across the myocardium wall, and mean diffusivity at higher acceleration, while yielding significantly lower bias and higher intraclass correlation coefficient. Conclusion: Low-rankness and compressed sensing together facilitate acceleration for both ex vivo and in vivo CDTI, improving reconstruction accuracy compared to employing either constraint alone. Significance: Compared to previous methods for accelerating CDTI, the proposed method has the potential to reach higher acceleration while preserving myofiber architecture features which may allow more spatial coverage, higher spatial resolution and shorter temporal footprint in the future.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figures, published on IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineerin

Point Mutation of Hoxd12 in Mice

Purpose: Genes of the HoxD cluster play a major role in vertebrate limb development, and changes that modify the Hoxd12 locus affect other genes also, suggesting that HoxD function is coordinated by a control mechanism involving multiple genes during limb morphogenesis. In this study, mutant phenotypes were produced by treatment of mice with chemical mutagen, N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU). We analyzed mutant mice exhibiting the specific microdactyly phenotype and examined the genes affected. Materials and Methods: We focused on phenotype characteristics including size, bone formation, and digit morphology of ENU-induced microdactyly mice. The expressions of several molecules were analyzed by genome-wide screening and quantitative real-time PCR to define the affected genes. Results: We report on limb phenotypes of an ENU-induced A-to-C mutation in the Hoxd12 gene, resulting in alanine-to-serine conversion. Microdactyly mice exhibited growth defects in the zeugopod and autopod, shortening of digits, a missing tip of digit I, limb growth affected, and dramatic increases in the expressions of Fgf4 and Lmx1b. However, the expression level of Shh was not changed Hoxd12 point mutated mice. Conclusion: These results suggest that point mutation rather than the entire deletion of Hoxd12, such as in knockout and transgenic mice, causes the abnormal limb phenotype in microdactyly mice. The precise nature of the spectrum of differences requires further investigation.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Silicon carbide-free graphene growth on silicon for lithium-ion battery with high volumetric energy density

Silicon is receiving discernable attention as an active material for next generation lithium-ion battery anodes because of its unparalleled gravimetric capacity. However, the large volume change of silicon over charge-discharge cycles weakens its competitiveness in the volumetric energy density and cycle life. Here we report direct graphene growth over silicon nanoparticles without silicon carbide formation. The graphene layers anchored onto the silicon surface accommodate the volume expansion of silicon via a sliding process between adjacent graphene layers. When paired with a commercial lithium cobalt oxide cathode, the silicon carbide-free graphene coating allows the full cell to reach volumetric energy densities of 972 and 700 Whl(-1) at first and 200th cycle, respectively, 1.8 and 1.5 times higher than those of current commercial lithium-ion batteries. This observation suggests that two-dimensional layered structure of graphene and its silicon carbide-free integration with silicon can serve as a prototype in advancing silicon anodes to commercially viable technology.

Hemorrhagic Transformation of Ischemic Stroke: Severe Complications of Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis

Ischemic stroke is a common complication of infective endocarditis (IE), occurring in 20-40% of left side IE cases. In these subsets, anticoagulation therapy may provoke hemorrhagic transformation (HT) of ischemic stroke, and complications of this magnitude deteriorate the clinical course for IE patients. However, in cases of IE complicated with a mechanical prosthetic valve, the physician can be concerned over the maintenance of anticoagulation due to the risk of thrombotic complication. According to our retrospective review, HT of ischemic stroke in prosthetic valve endocarditis occurred 13.8% (4/29) of the time in a variety of situations. Some of these even arose in patients with a subtherapeutic range of prothrombin time

Hepatocellular carcinoma with characteristic mucin production: a case report

We present a unique case of hepatocellular carcinoma with mucin-producing gland formation. A 53-year-old man with hepatitis B infection presented with weight loss for the past month. Computed tomography demonstrated a 10 × 9.8 cm mass in the right hepatic lobe accompanied by cirrhotic changes in the hepatic parenchyma. Right hepatectomy was performed, and the tumor cut surface showed a poorly-circumscribed, white to pink tumor with numerous nodules and extensive necrosis. Microscopically, the tumor was composed of thick trabeculae and large, irregularly-shaped islands, both of which were filled with pleomorphic eosinophilic hepatoid cells or gland-forming columnar cells with mucin production. Those cells were immunoreactive for cytokeratin 19 in both the trabeculae and the glands. In some tumor cells, limited immunoreactivity for cytokeratin 7, epithelial membrane antigen and carcinoembryonic antigen was noted. The cells forming thick trabeculae were focally positive for hepatocyte paraffin 1 and alpha-fetoprotein. We suggest that this tumor shows bidirectional differentiation into hepatocytes and cholangiocytes, supporting the concepts that human hepatocarcinogenesis can be based on transformation of progenitor cells which can imply divergent differentiation

A Unified Approach for Comprehensive Analysis of Various Spectral and Tissue Doppler Echocardiography

Doppler echocardiography offers critical insights into cardiac function and phases by quantifying blood flow velocities and evaluating myocardial motion. However, previous methods for automating Doppler analysis, ranging from initial signal processing techniques to advanced deep learning approaches, have been constrained by their reliance on electrocardiogram (ECG) data and their inability to process Doppler views collectively. We introduce a novel unified framework using a convolutional neural network for comprehensive analysis of spectral and tissue Doppler echocardiography images that combines automatic measurements and end-diastole (ED) detection into a singular method. The network automatically recognizes key features across various Doppler views, with novel Doppler shape embedding and anti-aliasing modules enhancing interpretation and ensuring consistent analysis. Empirical results indicate a consistent outperformance in performance metrics, including dice similarity coefficients (DSC) and intersection over union (IoU). The proposed framework demonstrates strong agreement with clinicians in Doppler automatic measurements and competitive performance in ED detection

Prospective Electrocardiogram-Gated Delayed Enhanced Multidetector Computed Tomography Accurately Quantifies Infarct Size and Reduces Radiation Exposure

ObjectivesThis study sought to determine whether low-dose, prospective electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated delayed contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (DCE-MDCT) can accurately delineate the extent of myocardial infarction (MI) compared with retrospective ECG-gated DCE-MDCT.BackgroundFor defining the location and extent of MI, DCE-MDCT compares well with delayed enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance. However, the addition of a delayed scan requires additional radiation exposure to patients. MDCT protocols using prospective ECG gating can substantially reduce effective radiation dose exposure, but these protocols have not yet been applied to infarct imaging.MethodsTen porcine models of acute MI were imaged 10 days after MI using prospective and retrospective ECG-gated DCE-MDCT (64-slice) 10 min after a 90-ml contrast bolus. The MDCT images were analyzed using a semiautomated computed tomography density (CTD) threshold technique. Infarct size, signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios, contrast-to-noise (CNR) ratios, and image quality metrics were compared between the 2 ECG-gating techniques.ResultsInfarct volume measurements obtained by both methods were strongly correlated (R = 0.93, p < 0.001) and in good agreement (mean difference: −0.46 ml ± 4.00%). Compared with retrospective ECG gating, estimated radiation dosages were markedly reduced with prospective ECG gating (930.1 ± 62.2 mGy×cm vs. 42.4 ± 2.3 mGy×cm, p < 0.001). The SNR and CNR of infarcted myocardium were somewhat lower for prospective gated images (22.0 ± 11.0 vs. 16.3 ± 7.8 and 8.8 ± 5.3 vs. 7.0 ± 3.9, respectively; p < 0.001). However, all examinations using prospective gating protocol achieved sufficient diagnostic image quality for the assessment of MI.ConclusionsProspective ECG-gated DCE-MDCT accurately assesses infarct size compared with retrospective ECG-gated DCE-MDCT imaging. Although infarct SNR and CNR were significantly higher for the retrospective gated protocol, prospective ECG-gated DCE-MDCT provides high-resolution imaging of MI, while substantially lowering the radiation dose