Notes

Fatty pancreas can be independently connected with up coming diabetes development: The 10-year future cohort study.
Sediments are capable of adsorbing and desorbing heavy metals (HMs) under various environmental conditions. This study investigated the impact of pre-set redox potential (Eh) on the release dynamics of HMs (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, and Zn) from sediment in an automated biogeochemical microcosm. The release of Co, Pb, and V under reducing conditions increased that may increase the potential risks in the aquatic environment. This phenomenon could be attributed to the decrease in pH, the reductive dissolution of FeMn oxides, and the complex of HMs with dissolved organic carbon (DOC). However, the soluble Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn decreased at redox potentials as low as -150 mV. Co, Ni, Pb, and Zn were observed in mobile fractions while Cu primarily existed in the residual fraction (indicating lithogenic source). HPI and HEI indexes showed that water quality concerning HMs would become more unsuitable for aquatic life by reducing Eh.A crucial step towards understanding potential impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to marsh ecosystems was to quantitatively determine the toxicity of oil remaining in the sediment. SB431542 The objective of this study was to assess the potential injury to benthic species using standardized toxicity bioassays. Sediments were collected from locations with differing degrees of oiling based on previous assessments. Less than 13% of the 315 toxicity tests resulted in toxicity to amphipods, mysid shrimp, or sea urchins. There was no relationship among toxicity test results, oiling category or measured total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Equilibrium partitioning sediment benchmarks and additive toxic units (ESBTUs) were applied as an additional line of evidence to evaluate the potential adverse effects based on PAH concentrations in field sediments. The ∑ESBTUs based on 34 PAHs at the 64 nearshore sampling locations were less then 1, indicating PAHs in sediments were unlikely to cause adverse impacts.
Whole-body bone scintigraphy is the most widely used method for detecting bone metastases in advanced cancer. However, its interpretation depends on the experience of the radiologist. Some automatic interpretation systems have been developed in order to improve diagnostic accuracy. These systems are pixel-based and do not use spatial or textural information of groups of pixels, which could be very important for classifying images with better accuracy. This paper presents a fast method of object-oriented classification that facilitates easier interpretation of bone scintigraphy images.

Nine whole-body images from patients suspected with bone metastases were analyzed in this preliminary study. First, an edge-based segmentation algorithm together with the full lambda-schedule algorithm were used to identify the object in the bone scintigraphy and the textural and spatial attributes of these objects were calculated. Then, a set of objects (224 objects, ~ 46% of the total objects) were selected as training data based on visual examination of the image, and were assigned to various levels of radionuclide accumulation before performing the data classification using both k-nearest-neighbor and support vector machine classifiers. link2 The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using as metric the statistical parameters calculated from error matrix.

The results revealed that the proposed object-oriented classification approach using either k-nearest-neighbor or support vector machine as classification methods performed well in detecting bone metastasis in terms of overall accuracy (86.62±2.163% and 86.81±2.137% respectively) and kappa coefficient (0.6395±0.0143 and 0.6481±0.0218 respectively).

In conclusion, the described method provided encouraging results in mapping bone metastases in whole-body bone scintigraphy.
In conclusion, the described method provided encouraging results in mapping bone metastases in whole-body bone scintigraphy.
To use Discrete Cosine Transform to include tumor motion variations on ITV definition of SBRT patients.

Data from 66 patients was collected. 2D planar fluoroscopy images (FI) were available for 54 patients. Daily CBCT projections (CBCTp) from 29 patients were employed to measure interfraction amplitude variability. Systematic amplitude variations were obtained from 17 patients with data from both FI and CBCTp. Tumor motion curves obtained from FI were characterized with a Cosine model (CM), based on cosine functions to the power of 2, 4 or 6, and DCT. Performance of both models was evaluated by means of R
coefficient and by comparing their results on Internal Target Volume (ITV) margins against those calculated from original tumor motion curves. Amplitude variations from CBCTp, as well as estimations of baseline shift variations were added to the DCT model to account for their effect on ITV margins.

DCT replicated tumor motion curves with a mean R
values for all patients of 0.86, 0.91 and 0.96 for the lateral (LAT), anterior-posterior (AP) and cranio-caudal (CC) directions respectively. CM yielded worst results, with R
values of 0.64, 0.61 and 0.74 in the three directions. Interfraction amplitude variation increased ITV margins by a 9%, while baseline shift variability implied a 40% and 80-100% increase for normalized values of baseline shift of 0.2 and 0.4 respectively.

Probability distribution functions of tumor positions can be successfully characterized with DCT. This permits to include tumor motion variablilities obtained from patient population into patient specific ITVs.
Probability distribution functions of tumor positions can be successfully characterized with DCT. This permits to include tumor motion variablilities obtained from patient population into patient specific ITVs.
Optimization of CT scan practices can help achieve and maintain optimal radiation protection. The aim was to assess centering, scan length, and positioning of patients undergoing chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia and to investigate their effect on associated radiation doses.

With respective approvals from institutional review boards, we compiled CT imaging and radiation dose data from four hospitals belonging to four countries (Brazil, Iran, Italy, and USA) on 400 adult patients who underwent chest CT for suspected or known COVID-19 pneumonia between April 2020 and August 2020. We recorded patient demographics and volume CT dose index (CTDI
) and dose length product (DLP). From thin-section CT images of each patient, we estimated the scan length and recorded the first and last vertebral bodies at the scan start and end locations. Patient mis-centering and arm position were recorded. Data were analyzed with analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The extent and frequency of patient mis-centering did not differ across the four CT facilities (>0.09). link3 The frequency of patients scanned with arms by their side (11-40% relative to those with arms up) had greater mis-centering and higher CTDI
and DLP at 2/4 facilities (p=0.027-0.05). Despite lack of variations in effective diameters (p=0.14), there were significantly variations in scan lengths, CTDI
and DLP across the four facilities (p<0.001).

Mis-centering, over-scanning, and arms by the side are frequent issues with use of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia and are associated with higher radiation doses.
Mis-centering, over-scanning, and arms by the side are frequent issues with use of chest CT in COVID-19 pneumonia and are associated with higher radiation doses.
To investigate the displacement forces and image artifacts associated with passive medical implants for recently-developed low-field (<100 mT) MRI systems, and to compare these with values from higher field strengths used for clinical diagnosis.

Setups were constructed to measure displacement forces in a permanent magnet-based Halbach array used for in vivo MRI at 50 mT, and results compared with measurements at 7T. Image artifacts were assessed using turbo (fast) spin echo imaging sequences for four different passive medical implants a septal occluder, iliac stent, pedicle screw and (ferromagnetic) endoscopic clip. Comparisons were made with artifacts produced at 1.5, 3 and 7T. Finally, specific absorption rate (SAR) simulations were performed to determine under what operating conditions the limits might be approached at low-field.

Displacement forces at 50 mT on all but the ferromagnetic implant were between 1 and 10 mN. Image artifacts at 50 mT were much less than at clinical field strengths for all passive devices, and with the exception of the ferromagnetic clip. SAR simulations show that very long echo train (>128) turbo spin echo sequences can be run with short inter-pulse times (5-10ms) within SAR limits.

This work presents the first evaluation of the effects of passive implants at field strengths less than 100 mT in terms of displacement forces, image artifacts and SAR. The results support previous claims that such systems can be used safely and usefully in challenging enviroments such as the intensive care unit.
This work presents the first evaluation of the effects of passive implants at field strengths less than 100 mT in terms of displacement forces, image artifacts and SAR. The results support previous claims that such systems can be used safely and usefully in challenging enviroments such as the intensive care unit.
A simple "paperclip test" for the function of individual elements in a diagnostic ultrasound transducer array is widely performed and has been adapted for phased arrays. The aim of this study was to adapt the test further for multi-row transducer arrays.

An embossing tool was used in place of the usual paperclip or metal rod and was slowly moved along the transducer array, attempting to isolate the signal from each row in turn. Phased array transducers were operated in M-mode. Non-functioning elements were identified by a reduction in amplitude of the reverberation line. The test was repeated several times for each transducer, ensuring that all non-functioning elements were identified and looking for consistency of results. 28 phased arrays and 5 linear/curvi-linear arrays in clinical use and 1 phased array and 1 linear array already identified as faulty by electronic transducer testing, and not in clinical service, were available for testing.

8 of the clinical phased arrays were found to have 1 or more faulty elements; 3 had only minor defects and 5 were replaced under warranty or service contract. The linear/curvi-linear arrays showed no fault. The adapted test showed the failed elements in the known faulty phased array, except at the end of the array, but weak elements were not detected. The faulty linear array had a block of failed outer elements which was identified by the test.

The adapted test is capable of detecting non-functioning elements in multi-row arrays, but weak elements were not detected.
The adapted test is capable of detecting non-functioning elements in multi-row arrays, but weak elements were not detected.Ammonium (NH4+) inhibits primary root (PR) growth in most plant species when present even at moderate concentrations. Previous studies have shown that transport of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is critical to maintaining root elongation under high-NH4+ stress. However, the precise regulation of IAA homeostasis under high-NH4+ stress (HAS) remains unclear. In this study, qRT-PCR, RNA-seq, free IAA and IAA conjugate and PR elongation measurements were conducted in genetic mutants to investigate the role of IAA biosynthesis and conjugation under HAS. Our data clearly show that HAS decreases free IAA in roots by increasing IAA inactivation but does not decrease IAA biosynthesis, and that the IAA-conjugating genes GH3.1, GH3.2, GH3.3, GH3.4, and GH3.6 function as the key genes in regulating high-NH4+ sensitivity in the roots. Furthermore, the analysis of promoterGUS staining in situ and genetic mutants reveals that HAS promotes IAA conjugation in the elongation zone (EZ), which may be responsible for the PR inhibition observed under HAS.
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