An effective ultrasound fetal palate screening software based on the "sequential sector scan through the oral fissure" and three-dimensional ultrasound.

BACKGROUND: Orofacial clefts are one of the most common congenital malformations of the fetal face and ultrasound is mainly responsible for its diagnosis. It is difficult to view the fetal palate, so there is currently no unified standard for fetal palate screening, and the diagnosis of cleft palate is not included in the relevant prenatal ultrasound screening guidelines. Many prenatal diagnoses for cleft palate are missed due to the lack of effective screening methods. Therefore, it is imperative to increase the display rate of the fetal palate, which would improve the detection rate and diagnostic accuracy for cleft palate. We aim to introduce a fetal palate screening software based on the "sequential sector scan though the oral fissure", an effective method for fetal palate screening which was verified by our follow up results and three-dimensional ultrasound and to evaluate its feasibility and clinical practicability. METHODS: A software was designed and programmed based on "sequential sector scan through the oral fissure" and three-dimensional ultrasound. The three-dimensional ultrasound volume data of the fetal face were imported into the software. Then, the median sagittal plane was taken as the reference interface, the anterior upper margin of the mandibular alveolar bone was selected as the fulcrum, the interval angles, and the number of layers of the sector scan were set, after which the automatic scan was performed. Thus, the sector scan sequential planes of the mandibular alveolar bone, pharynx, soft palate, hard palate, and maxillary alveolar bone were obtained in sequence to display and evaluate the palate. In addition, the feasibility and accuracy of the software in fetal palate displaying and screening was evaluated by actual clinical cases. RESULTS: Full views of the normal fetal palates and the defective parts of the cleft palates were displayed, and relatively clear sequential tomographic images and continuous dynamic videos were formed after the three-dimensional volume data of 10 normal fetal palates and 10 cleft palates were imported into the software. CONCLUSIONS: The software can display fetal palates more directly which might allow for a new method of fetal palate screening and cleft palate diagnosis.

Quality Evaluation of Tripterygium Glycoside Tablets Based on Quantitative Band-Selective 2D 1H-13C HSQC and 1H NMR Fingerprinting.

Tripterygium glycoside tablets (TGTs) are preparations extracted and purified from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F and are extensively utilized in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, variations in production processes among manufacturers can lead to challenges in quality control and clinical utilization of TGTs. A band-selective 2D 1H-13C HSQC quantification method was applied for the determination of 13 active ingredients in TGTs. This method was validated following the guidelines of USP-NF 2022. The results demonstrated that the quantitative method exhibited excellent signal resolution, as well as sufficient accuracy, sensitivity, and stability. In addition, the 1H NMR spectra of TGTs from three manufacturers underwent analysis using principal component analysis and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis. The results revealed significant differences among the TGTs from the three manufacturers, with manufacturer 2 and manufacturer 3 demonstrating superior product consistency compared to manufacturer 1. A quality evaluation system for TGTs was developed based on band-selective 2D 1H-13C HSQC and 1H NMR, encompassing both quality markers and fingerprinting. This system offers reliable approaches and insights for enhancing the quality control of natural products.

Multi-Omics analysis elucidates tumor microenvironment and intratumor microbes of angiogenesis subtypes in colon cancer.

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis plays an important role in colon cancer (CC) progression. AIM: To investigate the tumor microenvironment (TME) and intratumor microbes of angiogenesis subtypes (AGSs) and explore potential targets for antiangiogenic therapy in CC. METHODS: The data were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas database and Gene Expression Omnibus database. K-means clustering was used to construct the AGSs. The prognostic model was constructed based on the differential genes between two subtypes. Single-cell analysis was used to analyze the expression level of SLC2A3 on different cells in CC, which was validated by immunofluorescence. Its biological functions were further explored in HUVECs. RESULTS: CC samples were grouped into two AGSs (AGS-A and AGS-B) groups and patients in the AGS-B group had poor prognosis. Further analysis revealed that the AGS-B group had high infiltration of TME immune cells, but also exhibited high immune escape. The intratumor microbes were also different between the two subtypes. A convenient 6-gene angiogenesis-related signature (ARS), was established to identify AGSs and predict the prognosis in CC patients. SLC2A3 was selected as the representative gene of ARS, which was higher expressed in endothelial cells and promoted the migration of HUVECs. CONCLUSION: Our study identified two AGSs with distinct prognoses, TME, and intratumor microbial compositions, which could provide potential explanations for the impact on the prognosis of CC. The reliable ARS model was further constructed, which could guide the personalized treatment. The SLC2A3 might be a potential target for antiangiogenic therapy.

Far-focus compound ultrasound imaging with lag-one coherence-based zero-cross factor.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound imaging has been widely used in clinical examination because of portability, safety, and low cost. However, there are still some main challenges of imaging quality that remain in conventional ultrasound systems. OBJECTIVE: Improving image quality of SA-based methods using an improved imaging mode named far-focus compound (FSC) imaging. METHODS: A far-focus compound (FSC) imaging based on full-aperture transmission and full-aperture reception is proposed in this paper. In transmission, it uses the full aperture to transmit the focused beam to ensure image resolution and emission of sound field energy. In reception, the full aperture is used to receive the reflected beam to ensure the image quality. A lag-one coherence-based zero-cross factor (LOCZF) is then implemented in FSC for improvement of contrast ratio (CR). The LOCZF uses lag-one coherence as zero-cross factorâs adaptive coefficient. Comparisons were made with several other weighting techniques by performing simulations and experiments for performance evaluation. RESULTS: Results confirm that LOCZF applied to FSC offers a good image contrast and simultaneously the speckle pattern. For simulated cysts, CR improvement of LOCZF reaches 194.1%. For experimental cysts, CR improvement of LOCZF reaches 220%. From the in-vivo result, compared with FSC, CR improvement of LOCZF reaches 112.7%. CONCLUSION: Proved gCNR performance. In addition, the LOCZF method shows good performance in experiments. The proposed method can be used as an effective weighting technique for improvement of image quality in ultrasound imaging.

Investigation on the coupling coordination of pseudo human settlements in the urban agglomerations in eastern China.

In the information age, digital information technology has gradually become a new quality of productivity to improve international competitiveness, and the status and importance of the pseudo human settlements(PHS) constructed by digital and information has been increasing in the human settlements(HS) system. In this context, exploring the coupling coordination of the internal systems of the PHS provides a theoretical basis for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of the HS in the urban agglomerations, provides a theoretical reference for rationally interpreting the new type of human-land relationship in the information age, and provide a new perspective for the study of the human settlements geography. Currently, research on PHS is in its nascent stages, therefore, we construct a theoretical framework for the coupling coordination of the "three states" of the HS, takes the internal system of PHS as the entry point, empirically analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics of the PHS coupling coordination degree within urban agglomerations in eastern China and the driving factors by using the coupling coordination degree, spatial autocorrelation, the center of gravity and the ellipse of the standard deviation, and geo-detector models. Research shows: (1) Time course: exhibits an upward "inverted L" trend. (2) Spatial pattern: exhibits a general spatial pattern of "high in the north and low in the south". (3) Spatial correlation: shows a spatially positively correlated clustering trend. (4) Spatial evolution: demonstrates a decentralized pattern of migration from the northeast to the southwest, indicating that the coupling coordination grows faster in the southwest than in the northeast. (5) Driving factor: the development of coupling coordination degree of PHS results from multiple factors and systems. This research provides theoretical support for promoting the comprehensive improvement of the quality of PHS in the urban agglomerations in eastern China, and offers scientific reference for the construction of PHS in other regions of China.

Mutant NOTCH3ECD Triggers Defects in Mitochondrial Function and Mitophagy in CADASIL Cell Models.

Background: Cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarction and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is an inherited small-vessel disease that affects the white matter of the brain. Recent studies have confirmed that the deposition of NOTCH3ECD is the main pathological basis of CADASIL; however, whether different mutations present the same pathological characteristics remains to be further studied. Some studies have found that mitochondrial dysfunction is related to CADASIL; however, the specific effects of NOTCH3ECD on mitochondrial remain to be determined. Objective: We aimed to explore the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in CADASIL. Methods: We established transgenic human embryonic kidney-293T cell models (involving alterations in cysteine and non-cysteine residues) via lentiviral transfection. Mitochondrial function and structure were assessed using flow cytometry and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Mitophagy was assessed using western blotting and immunofluorescence. Results: We demonstrated that NOTCH3ECD deposition affects mitochondrial morphology and function, and that its protein levels are significantly correlated with mitochondrial quality and can directly bind to mitochondria. Moreover, NOTCH3ECD deposition promoted the induction of autophagy and mitophagy. However, these processes were impaired, leading to abnormal mitochondrial accumulation. Conclusions: This study revealed a common pathological feature of NOTCH3ECD deposition caused by different NOTCH3 mutations and provided new insights into the role of NOTCH3ECD in mitochondrial dysfunction and mitophagy.

Brain local stability and network flexibility of table tennis players: a 7T MRI study.

Table tennis players have adaptive visual and sensorimotor networks, which are the key brain regions to acquire environmental information and generate motor output. This study examined 20 table tennis players and 21 control subjects through ultrahigh field 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. First, we measured percentage amplitude of fluctuation across five different frequency bands and found that table tennis players had significantly lower percentage amplitude of fluctuation values than control subjects in 18 brain regions, suggesting enhanced stability of spontaneous brain fluctuation amplitudes in visual and sensorimotor networks. Functional connectional analyses revealed increased static functional connectivity between two sensorimotor nodes and other frontal-parietal regions among table tennis players. Additionally, these players displayed enhanced dynamic functional connectivity coupled with reduced static connectivity between five nodes processing visual and sensory information input, and other large-scale cross-regional areas. These findings highlight that table tennis players undergo neural adaptability through a dual mechanism, characterized by global stability in spontaneous brain fluctuation amplitudes and heightened flexibility in visual sensory networks. Our study offers novel insights into the mechanisms of neural adaptability in athletes, providing a foundation for future efforts to enhance cognitive functions in diverse populations, such as athletes, older adults, and individuals with cognitive impairments.

Safety and Effectiveness of Brachial Artery Preclosure by Purse-String Suture Technique for Left Subclavian Artery Revascularization in Stanford B Aortic Dissection.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the safety and efficacy of the combination of brachial artery (BA) cutdown with purse-string suture (PSS) for BA preclosure during fenestrated thoracic endovascular aortic repair (f-TEVAR). METHODS: We reviewed the consecutive data in our center from January 2022 to May 2023. Clinical data were analyzed retrospectively, including the baseline characteristics, procedural details, complications, and outcomes. Dichotomous data were summarized as absolute values and percentages. Continuous variables were presented as median values and interquartile ranges (IQRs). All patients underwent arterial cutdown with the PSS technique for BA preclosure. The technique was considered successful when complete hemostasis was achieved and confirmed by ultrasonography 24 h postoperatively. The patients were followed up 30 days postoperatively for access-related complications. RESULTS: Forty-eight patients who underwent f-TEVAR with 48 BA access sites were included [36 males and 12 females; median age: 62 (IQR: 30-78) years]. The median body mass index was 27.3 (IQR: 21.2-32.7) kg/m2. The median access establishing and closing times were 7.8 (IQR: 6-9.3) min and 3.7 (IQR: 2.5-5) min, respectively. The median operative time and length of stay were 75 (IQR: 63-87) min and 7 (IQR: 5-9) days, respectively. Although the success rate was 100%, partial numbness in the median nerve distribution was noted in 1 patient in the forearm. This resolved spontaneously and no permanent neurological problem was seen. No other access-related complications were noted, and the total complication rate was 2.1% (1/48). CONCLUSIONS: BA preclosure with the PSS technique is safe and effective for left subclavian artery revascularization in Stanford B aortic dissection and can be another option for access closure during f-TEVAR.

Functional characterization of NOD1 from golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus.

Fish rely on innate immune system for immunity, and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptors (NLRs) are a vital group of receptor for recognition. In the present study, NOD1 gene was cloned and characterized from golden pompano Trachinotus ovatus, a commercially important aquaculture fish species. The ORF of T. ovatus NOD1 was 2820 bp long, encoding 939 amino acid residues with a highly conserved domains containing CARD-NACHT-LRRs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the T. ovatus NOD1 clustered with those of fish and separated from those of birds and mammals. T. ovatus NOD1 has wide tissue distribution with the highest expression in gills. Bacterial challenges (Streptococcus agalactiae and Vibrio alginolyticus) significantly up-regulated the expression of NOD1 with different response time. The results of T. ovatus NOD1 ligand recognition and signaling pathway analysis revealed that T. ovatus NOD1 could recognize iE-DAP at the concentration of ≧ 100 ng/mL and able to activate NF-κB signaling pathway. This study confirmed that NOD1 play a crucial role in the innate immunity of T. ovatus. The findings of this study improve our understanding on the immune function of NOD1 in teleost, especially T. ovatus.

Brain functional connectivity alterations of Wernicke's area in individuals with autism spectrum conditions in multi-frequency bands: A mega-analysis.

Characterized by severe deficits in communication, most individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) experience significant language dysfunctions, thereby impacting their overall quality of life. Wernicke's area, a classical and traditional brain region associated with language processing, plays a substantial role in the manifestation of language impairments. The current study carried out a mega-analysis to attain a comprehensive understanding of the neural mechanisms underpinning ASC, particularly in the context of language processing. The study employed the Autism Brain Image Data Exchange (ABIDE) dataset, which encompasses data from 443 typically developing (TD) individuals and 362 individuals with ASC. The objective was to detect abnormal functional connectivity (FC) between Wernicke's area and other language-related functional regions, and identify frequency-specific altered FC using Wernicke's area as the seed region in ASC. The findings revealed that increased FC in individuals with ASC has frequency-specific characteristics. Further, in the conventional frequency band (0.01-0.08 Hz), individuals with ASC exhibited increased FC between Wernicke's area and the right thalamus compared with TD individuals. In the slow-5 frequency band (0.01-0.027 Hz), increased FC values were observed in the left cerebellum Crus II and the right lenticular nucleus, pallidum. These results provide novel insights into the potential neural mechanisms underlying communication deficits in ASC from the perspective of language impairments.

Classification of Alzheimer's disease: application of a transfer learning deep Q-network method.

Early diagnosis is crucial to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), so it is urgent to find an effective diagnostic method for AD. This study intended to investigate whether the transfer learning approach of deep Q-network (DQN) could effectively distinguish AD patients using local metrics of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) as features. This study included 1310 subjects from the Consortium for Reliability and Reproducibility (CoRR) and 50 subjects from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) GO/2. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), fractional ALFF (fALFF) and percent amplitude of fluctuation (PerAF) were extracted as features using the Power 264 atlas. Based on gender bias in AD, we searched for transferable similar parts between the CoRR feature matrix and the ADNI feature matrix, resulting in the CoRR similar feature matrix served as the source domain and the ADNI similar feature matrix served as the target domain. A DQN classifier was pre-trained in the source domain and transferred to the target domain. Finally, the transferred DQN classifier was used to classify AD and healthy controls (HC). A permutation test was performed. The DQN transfer learning achieved a classification accuracy of 86.66% (p < 0.01), recall of 83.33% and precision of 83.33%. The findings suggested that the transfer learning approach using DQN could be an effective way to distinguish AD from HC. It also revealed the potential value of local brain activity in AD clinical diagnosis.

Efficacy and safety of Orelabrutinib-based regimens in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a single-center retrospective analysis.

Currently, combining chemotherapy with Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitors (BTKi) has demonstrated significant effectiveness in treating patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Orelabrutinib is a second-generation BTK inhibitor, and presently, there have been few reports of Orelabrutinib being used to treat DLBCL. We conducted a retrospective investigation to explore the safety and efficacy of Orelabrutinib in combination with chemotherapy or immunotherapy. The study comprised 19 patients with a median age of 61 years. The overall response rate (ORR) was 89.5% with a complete response (CR) rate of 73.7% and a partial response rate (PR) of 15.8%. The estimated 2-year overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates were 78.6% (95%CI, 59.8%-100%) and 72.2% (95% CI, 52.4%-99.6%), respectively, with a median follow-up time of 11 months (range 2-24). The most prevalent grade 3 or 4 adverse events (AEs), neutropenia (52.6%), anemia (36.8%), thrombocytopenia (26.3%), febrile neutropenia (26.3%), and lung infection (10.5%), were the most common. Our results reveal that Orelabrutinib is an effective therapy for DLBCL patients. Furthermore, our first investigation of the Orelabrutinib application lays a foundation for larger retrospective studies.

A Sedentary Lifestyle Changes the Composition and Predicted Functions of the Gut Bacterial and Fungal Microbiota of Subjects from the Same Company.

A sedentary lifestyle affects the diversity and composition of the gut microbiota, but previous studies have mainly focused on bacteria instead of fungi. Here, we compared both the fecal bacterial and fungal microbiota compositions and functions in sedentary persons and controls. Subjects from the China Railway Corporation, including 99 inspectors and 88 officials, were enrolled in our study. Fecal microbiota communities were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene sequencing for bacteria and ITS sequencing for fungi. We found that the diversity of the gut microbiota of the sedentary group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05). The sedentary group had a higher abundance of Firmicutes, a lower abundance of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria and a higher abundance of Ascomycota, and a lower abundance of Basidiomycota. Furthermore, functional prediction analysis of the fungal microbiota revealed more L-tryptophan degradation to 2-amino-3-carboxymuconate semialdehyde, more phospholipid remodeling (phosphatidylethanolamine, yeast), and more L-tyrosine degradation I, as well as less pentose phosphate pathway (non-oxidative branch), less adenosine nucleotide biosynthesis and less L-valine biosynthesis in the sedentary group (P < 0.05). Thus, a sedentary lifestyle changes the composition and function of the gut microbiota. It may change the pentose phosphate pathway (non-oxidative branch), nucleic acid and amino acid biosynthesis and phospholipid metabolism in fungi.

Development and validation of an online calculator to predict the pathological nature of colorectal tumors.

BACKGROUND: No single endoscopic feature can reliably predict the pathological nature of colorectal tumors (CRTs). AIM: To establish and validate a simple online calculator to predict the pathological nature of CRTs based on white-light endoscopy. METHODS: This was a single-center study. During the identification stage, 530 consecutive patients with CRTs were enrolled from January 2015 to December 2021 as the derivation group. Logistic regression analysis was performed. A novel online calculator to predict the pathological nature of CRTs based on white-light images was established and verified internally. During the validation stage, two series of 110 images obtained using white-light endoscopy were distributed to 10 endoscopists [five highly experienced endoscopists and five less experienced endoscopists (LEEs)] for external validation before and after systematic training. RESULTS: A total of 750 patients were included, with an average age of 63.6 ± 10.4 years. Early colorectal cancer (ECRC) was detected in 351 (46.8%) patients. Tumor size, left semicolon site, rectal site, acanthosis, depression and an uneven surface were independent risk factors for ECRC. The C-index of the ECRC calculator prediction model was 0.906 (P = 0.225, Hosmer-Lemeshow test). For the LEEs, significant improvement was made in the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy (57.6% vs 75.5%; 72.3% vs 82.4%; 64.2% vs 80.2%; P < 0.05), respectively, after training with the ECRC online calculator prediction model. CONCLUSION: A novel online calculator including tumor size, location, acanthosis, depression, and uneven surface can accurately predict the pathological nature of ECRC.

Interactive effect between sleep and exercise on depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents.

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the effects of sleep and exercise, individually and jointly, on depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Methods: Cluster sampling was used to conduct a cross-sectional, electronic survey among 11,563 students from five primary and high schools in Sichuan Province in Western China. The questionnaire contained custom-designed items concerning sleep and exercise, while it used the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale to assess depressive symptoms and the Core Self-Evaluations Scale to assess core self-evaluation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression. Results: A total of 10,185 valid questionnaires were collected, corresponding to an effective response rate of 88.1%. Among the respondents in the final analysis, 5,555 (54.5%) were boys and 4,630 (45.5%) were girls, and the average age was 15.20 ± 1.72 years (range, 11-18 years). Only less than half of the respondents (4,914, 48.2%) reported insufficient sleep, while the remainder (5,271, 51.8%) had adequate sleep. Nearly one-quarter (2,250, 22.1%) reported insufficient exercise, while the remainder (7,935, 77.9%) reported adequate exercise. More than half of the respondents (5,681, 55.7%) were from vocational high school, 3,368 (33.1%) were from junior high school, 945 (9.3%) were from senior high school, and 191 (1.9%) were from primary school. The prevalence of depressive symptoms among all respondents was 29.5% (95% CI 28.7%-30.4%). When other variables were controlled, the depression score did not vary significantly with gender (B = -0.244, SE = 0.127, P = 0.054), but it decreased by 0.194 points per 1-year increase in age (B = -0.194, SE = 0.037, P < 0.001). Students getting adequate sleep had depression scores 2.614 points lower than those getting insufficient sleep (B = -2.614, SE = 0.577, P < 0.001), while students who engaged in adequate exercise had depression scores 1.779 points lower than those not exercising enough (B = -1.779, SE = 0.461, P < 0.001). The depression score decreased by 0.919 points per 1-point increase in the core self-evaluation score (B = -0.919, SE = 0.008, P < 0.001). In regression controlling for gender, age, and core self-evaluation, sleep and exercise were found to be related significantly to influence depressive symptoms (B = 0.821, SE = 0.315, P = 0.009). Conclusion: Adequate sleep and adequate exercise are individually associated with milder depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Our results further highlight the need for researchers and clinicians to take into account not only the individual but also the joint effects of sleep and exercise on depression in adolescents when conducting research and designing interventions. If sleep or physical exercise has substantially reduced the risk of depressive symptoms, further reductions by improving sleep and exercise become difficult and may even have opposite effects.

Quantification of sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids from genus Tripterygium by band-selective HSQC NMR.

Sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids (SPAs) are bioactive analogues derived from the genus Tripterygium and have anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic properties. Attributed to the similar sesquiterpene structures, the total SPAs showed severe peak overlap in 1D NMR and HPLC, leading to difficulties in identification and quantification. Interestingly, the application of band-selective HSQC NMR that specifically excited the region corresponding to the H-3 of SPAs prompted a signal separation of the total SPAs. Based on the high resolution, 23 SPAs were identified from the band-selective HSQC spectrum. The coupling constants (JCH, JHH) and relaxation times (T1, T2) of SPAs were measured, and it was found that they caused less than 1% attenuation of the HSQC signals, so the HSQC signals of SPAs had almost uniform responses. The concentrations of 23 SPAs were determined by standard curve method, using wilforgine as the calibration. In addition, we extended the pulse length-based concentration determination (PULCON) as a more efficient external standard method to the band-selective HSQC spectrum, and the results showed that the concentrations of alkaloids determined by PULCON were consistent with those measured by standard curve method. The developed quantification approach was validated according to the <761> of United States Pharmacopoeia (USP), demonstrating that the established band-selective HSQC approach is reliable for the rapid quantification of analogues in botanical extracts.

Improved Ultrafast Power Doppler Imaging Using United Spatial-Angular Adaptive Scaling Wiener Postfilter.

Ultrafast power Doppler imaging (uPDI) using high-frame-rate plane-wave transmission is a new microvascular imaging modality that offers high Doppler sensitivity. However, due to the unfocused transmission of plane waves, the echo signal is subject to interference from noise and clutter, resulting in a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and poor image quality. Adaptive beamforming techniques are effective in suppressing noise and clutter for improved image quality. In this study, an adaptive beamformer based on a united spatial-angular adaptive scaling Wiener (uSA-ASW) postfilter is proposed to improve the resolution and contrast of uPDI. In the proposed method, the signal power and noise power of the Wiener postfilter are estimated by uniting spatial and angular signals, and a united generalized coherence factor (uGCF) is introduced to dynamically adjust the noise power estimation and enhance the robustness of the method. Simulation and in vivo data were used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the uSA-ASW can achieve higher resolution and significant improvements in image contrast and background noise suppression compared with conventional delay-and-sum (DAS), coherence factor (CF), spatial-angular CF (SACF), and adaptive scaling Wiener (ASW) postfilter methods. In the simulations, uSA-ASW improves contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) by 34.7 dB (117.3%) compared with DAS, while reducing background noise power (BNP) by 52 dB (221.4%). The uSA-ASW method provides full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) reductions of [Formula: see text] (59.5%) and [Formula: see text] (56.9%), CNR improvements of 25.6 dB (199.9%) and 42 dB (253%), and BNP reductions of 46.1 dB (319.3%) and 12.9 dB (289.1%) over DAS in the experiments of contrast-free human neonatal brain and contrast-free human liver, respectively. In the contrast-free experiments, uSA-ASW effectively balances the performance of noise and clutter suppression and enhanced microvascular visualization. Overall, the proposed method has the potential to become a reliable microvascular imaging technique for aiding in more accurate diagnosis and detection of vascular-related diseases in clinical contexts.

Static and dynamic resting-state brain activity patterns of table tennis players in 7-Tesla MRI.

Table tennis involves quick and accurate motor responses during training and competition. Multiple studies have reported considerably faster visuomotor responses and expertise-related intrinsic brain activity changes among table tennis players compared with matched controls. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Herein, we performed static and dynamic resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) analyses of 20 table tennis players and 21 control subjects using 7T ultra-high field imaging. We calculated the static and dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) of the two groups. The results revealed that table tennis players exhibited decreased static ALFF in the left inferior temporal gyrus (lITG) compared with the control group. Voxel-wised static functional connectivity (sFC) and dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analyses using lITG as the seed region afforded complementary and overlapping results. The table tennis players exhibited decreased sFC in the right middle temporal gyrus and left inferior parietal gyrus. Conversely, they displayed increased dFC from the lITG to prefrontal cortex, particularly the left middle frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus-medial, and left superior frontal gyrus-dorsolateral. These findings suggest that table tennis players demonstrate altered visuomotor transformation and executive function pathways. Both pathways involve the lITG, which is a vital node in the ventral visual stream. These static and dynamic analyses provide complementary and overlapping results, which may help us better understand the neural mechanisms underlying the changes in intrinsic brain activity and network organization induced by long-term table tennis skill training.

Tuning the hardness and crack resistance through liquid-liquid phase separation in an aluminosilicate glass.

Here, spinodal decomposition is used as a strategy to enhance the mechanical properties of the 30Al2O3·70SiO2 glass. The melt-quenched 30Al2O3·70SiO2 glass exhibited a liquid-liquid phase separation with an interconnected snake-like nano-structure. Through further heat treatment at 850 °C for different durations of up to 40 hours, we observed a continuous increase of up to about 0.90 GPa in hardness (Hv) together with a drop in the slope for Hv rise at 4 hours. However, the crack resistance (CR) achieved a maximum value of 13.6 N when the heat treatment time was 2 hours. Detailed calorimetric, morphological and compositional analyses were conducted to elucidate the effect of tuning the thermal treatment time on hardness and crack resistance. These findings pave the way to utilize the spinodal phase-separated phenomena to enhance the mechanical properties of glasses.

The predictive value of MiR-221 in cancer chemoresistance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have reported that microRNA-221 (miR-221) is abnormally expressed in various cancers, and there has not been a study to systematically analyze the association between miR-221 and chemoresistance in different cancers. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Ovid, and Cochrane for relevant studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate. RESULTS: A total of 30 studies with 1670 patients were enrolled in our study. Thirteen cancer types have been studied, and traditional chemotherapy, targeted drugs, endocrine therapy, chemoradiotherapy, and other treatments were used. High miR-221 expression was associated with poor chemotherapy response in most studies, and the meta-analysis confirmed this result (OR = 3.64, 95%CI: 1.73-7.62, p = 0.001). Besides, the higher level of miR-221 was related to shorter overall survival (OS) (HR = 2.16, 95%CI: 1.47-3.16, p < 0.001) and progression-free survival (PFS) (HR = 1.81, 95%CI: 1.51-2.16, p < 0.001) in patients after chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight that high miR-221 expression has possible associations with chemoresistance and poor prognosis in multiple cancers. Further studies are needed to discover the molecular mechanisms underlying these associations to provide a solid evidence base for it being used as biomarkers of response to chemotherapeutic interventions in cancer.