scholarly journals Multi-Steps Registration Protocol for Multimodal MR Images of Hip Skeletal Muscles in a Longitudinal Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (21) ◽  
pp. 7823
Author(s):  
Lucia Fontana ◽  
Alfonso Mastropietro ◽  
Elisa Scalco ◽  
Denis Peruzzo ◽  
Elena Beretta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Image Registration ◽  
Mr Images ◽  
Learning Rates ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Muscle Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
First Time ◽  
Tesla Scanner

Image registration is crucial in multimodal longitudinal skeletal muscle Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies to extract reliable parameters that can be used as indicators for physio/pathological characterization of muscle tissue and for assessing the effectiveness of treatments. This paper aims at proposing a reliable registration protocol and evaluating its accuracy in a longitudinal study. The hips of 6 subjects were scanned, in a multimodal protocol, at 2 different time points by a 3 Tesla scanner; the proposed multi-step registration pipeline is based on rigid and elastic transformations implemented in SimpleITK using a multi-resolution technique. The effects of different image pre-processing (muscle masks, isotropic voxels) and different parameters’ values (learning rates and mesh sizes) were quantitatively assessed using standard accuracy indexes. Rigid registration alone does not provide satisfactory accuracy for inter-sessions alignment and a further elastic step is needed. The use of isotropic voxels, combined with the muscle masking, provides the best result in terms of accuracy. Learning rates can be increased to speed up the process without affecting the final results. The protocol described in this paper, complemented by open-source software, can be a useful guide for researchers that approach for the first time the issues related to the muscle MR image registration.

scholarly journals Environmental sources along natural cave ripening shape the microbiome and metabolome of artisanal blue-veined cheeses

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Alexa ◽  
José F Cobo-Diaz ◽  
Erica Renes ◽  
Tom F O´Callaghan ◽  
Kieran Kilcawley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Source Tracking ◽  
Fermented Foods ◽  
Quality And Safety ◽  
Microbial Succession ◽  
Quality Markers ◽  
Food Quality And Safety ◽  
The Impact ◽  
First Time

Abstract Microorganisms colonising processing environments can significantly impact food quality and safety. Here we describe a detailed longitudinal study assessing the impact of cave ripening on the microbial succession and quality markers across different producers of blue-veined cheese. Both the producer and cave in which cheeses were ripened significantly influenced the cheese microbiome and metabolome. The cheese microbiome was significantly determined by the microbiome of caves, which were a source of Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, Staphylococcus, Tetragenococcus and Yaniella, among others, as demonstrated through source tracking and the characterization of 613 metagenome assembled genomes. Tetragenococcus koreensis and T. halophilus were detected at high abundance in cheese for the first time, associated with the occurrence of various metabolites, and showed high levels of horizontal gene transfer with other members of the cheese microbiome. Overall, we demonstrated that processing environments can be a source of non-starter microorganisms of relevance to ripening of artisanal fermented foods.

scholarly journals Characterizing the Brain Structural Adaptations Across the Motherhood Transition

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Martínez-García ◽  
María Paternina-Die ◽  
Manuel Desco ◽  
Oscar Vilarroya ◽  
Susanna Carmona
Keyword(s):  
Early Years ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Confounding Variables ◽  
Physiological Adaptations ◽  
Current Article ◽  
Brain Changes ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
First Time ◽  
Structural Adaptations

Women that become mothers face notable physiological adaptations during this life-period. Neuroimaging studies of the last decade have provided grounded evidence that women's brains structurally change across the transition into motherhood. The characterization of this brain remodeling is currently in its early years of research. The current article reviews this scientific field by focusing on our longitudinal (pre-to-post pregnancy) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies in first-time parents and other longitudinal and cross-sectional studies of parents. We present the questions that are currently being answered by the parental brain literature and point out those that have not yet been explored. We also highlight potential confounding variables that need to be considered when analyzing and interpreting brain changes observed during motherhood.

scholarly journals A Robust Method for MR Image Segmentation and Multiple Scleroses Detection

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1119-1130
Author(s):  
H. Zouaoui ◽  
A. Moussaoui ◽  
M. Oussalah ◽  
A. Taleb-Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Automatic Segmentation ◽  
Fuzzy Model ◽  
Mr Images ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Mr Image Segmentation ◽  
The Brain

In the present article, we propose a new approach for the segmentation of the MR images of the Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) allows the visualization of the brain and it is widely used in the diagnosis and the follow-up of the patients suffering from MS. Aiming to automate a long and tedious process for the clinician, we propose the automatic segmentation of the MS lesions. Our algorithm of segmentation is composed of three stages: segmentation of the brain into regions using the algorithm Fuzzy Particle Swarm Optimization (FPSO) in order to obtain the characterization of the different healthy tissues (White matter, grey matter and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)) after the extraction of white matter (WM), the elimination of the atypical data (outliers) of the white matter by the algorithm Fuzzy C-Means (FCM), finally, the use of a Mamdani-type fuzzy model to extract the MS lesions among all the absurd data.

TBE in Sweden

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Characterization ◽  
Immunoglobulin M ◽  
Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Tick Borne Encephalitis ◽  
Specific Immunoglobulin ◽  
Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus ◽  
First Time

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) was isolated for the first time in Sweden in 1958 (from ticks and from 1 tick-borne encephalitis [TBE] patient).1 In 2003, Haglund and colleagues reported the isolation and antigenic and genetic characterization of 14 TBEV strains from Swedish patients (samples collected 1991–1994).2 The first serum sample, from which TBEV was isolated, was obtained 2–10 days after onset of disease and found to be negative for anti-TBEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), whereas TBEV-specific IgM (and TBEV-specific immunoglobulin G/cerebrospinal fluid [IgG/CSF] activity) was demonstrated in later serum samples taken during the second phase of the disease.

Chemical Constituents and Antibacterial Activity of Cissus Aralioides.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Balogun Olaoye Solomon ◽  
Ajayi Olukayode Solomon ◽  
Owolabi Temitayo Abidemi ◽  
Oladimeji Abdulkarbir Oladele ◽  
Liu Zhiqiang
Keyword(s):  
Plant Extract ◽  
Chemical Constituents ◽  
Ethyl Acetate Fraction ◽  
Antibacterial Activities ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Chromatographic Purification ◽  
Whole Plant ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
First Time

: Cissus aralioides is a medicinal plant used in sub-Saharan Africa for treatment of infectious diseases; however the chemical constituents of the plant have not been investigated. Thus, in this study, attempt was made at identifying predominant phytochemical constituents of the plant through chromatographic purification and silylation of the plant extract, and subsequent characterization using spectroscopic and GC-MS techniques. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) for the antibacterial activities of the plant extract, chromatographic fractions and isolated compounds were also examined. Chromatographic purification of the ethyl acetate fraction from the whole plant afforded three compounds: β-sitosterol (1), stigmasterol (2) and friedelin (3). The phytosterols (1 and 2) were obtained together as a mixture. The GC-MS analysis of silylated extract indicated alcohols, fatty acids and sugars as predominant classes, with composition of 24.62, 36.90 and 26.52% respectively. Results of MICs indicated that friedelin and other chromatographic fractions had values (0.0626-1.0 mg/mL) comparable with the standard antibiotics used. Characterization of natural products from C. aralioides is being reported for the first time in this study.

An Algorithm Combining Analysis-based Blind Compressed Sensing and Nonlocal Low-rank Constraints for MRI Reconstruction

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mei Sun ◽  
Jinxu Tao ◽  
Zhongfu Ye ◽  
Bensheng Qiu ◽  
Jinzhang Xu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Compressed Sensing ◽  
Signal Reconstruction ◽  
Low Rank ◽  
Mr Images ◽  
Scanning Time ◽  
Previous State ◽  
Rank Approximation ◽  
Mri Reconstruction ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Rank Constraints

Background: In order to overcome the limitation of long scanning time, compressive sensing (CS) technology exploits the sparsity of image in some transform domain to reduce the amount of acquired data. Therefore, CS has been widely used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reconstruction. </P><P> Discussion: Blind compressed sensing enables to recover the image successfully from highly under- sampled measurements, because of the data-driven adaption of the unknown transform basis priori. Moreover, analysis-based blind compressed sensing often leads to more efficient signal reconstruction with less time than synthesis-based blind compressed sensing. Recently, some experiments have shown that nonlocal low-rank property has the ability to preserve the details of the image for MRI reconstruction. Methods: Here, we focus on analysis-based blind compressed sensing, and combine it with additional nonlocal low-rank constraint to achieve better MR images from fewer measurements. Instead of nuclear norm, we exploit non-convex Schatten p-functionals for the rank approximation. </P><P> Results & Conclusion: Simulation results indicate that the proposed approach performs better than the previous state-of-the-art algorithms.

Green Synthesis and Spectroscopic Studies of Ag-rGO Nanocomposites for Highly Selective Mercury (II) Sensing

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubhangi J. Mane-Gavade ◽  
Sandip R. Sabale ◽  
Xiao-Ying Yu ◽  
Gurunath H. Nikam ◽  
Bhaskar V. Tamhankar
Keyword(s):  
Green Synthesis ◽  
Color Change ◽  
Limit Of Detection ◽  
Aqueous Media ◽  
Suitable Condition ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Spectroscopic Studies ◽  
Calibration Plot ◽  
First Time

Introduction: Herein we report the green synthesis and characterization of silverreduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (Ag-rGO) using Acacia nilotica gum for the first time. Experimental: We demonstrate the Hg2+ ions sensing ability of the Ag-rGO nanocomposites form aqueous medium. The developed colorimetric sensor method is simple, fast and selective for the detection of Hg2+ ions in aqueous media in presence of other associated ions. A significant color change was noticed with naked eye upon Hg2+ addition. The color change was not observed for cations including Sr2+, Ni2+, Cd2+, Pb2+, Mg2+, Ca2+, Fe2+, Ba2+ and Mn2+indicating that only Hg2+ shows a strong interaction with Ag-rGO nanocomposites. Under the most suitable condition, the calibration plot (A0-A) against concentration of Hg2+ was linear in the range of 0.1-1.0 ppm with a correlation coefficient (R2) value 0.9998. Results & Conclusion The concentration of Hg2+ was quantitatively determined with the Limit of Detection (LOD) of 0.85 ppm. Also, this method shows excellent selectivity towards Hg2+ over nine other cations tested. Moreover, the method offers a new cost effective, rapid and simple approach for the detection of Hg2+ in water samples.

scholarly journals Waste-Based One-Part Alkali Activated Materials

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2911
Author(s):  
Margarida Gonçalves ◽  
Inês Silveirinha Vilarinho ◽  
Marinélia Capela ◽  
Ana Caetano ◽  
Rui Miguel Novais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Microstructural Analysis ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Sodium Metasilicate ◽  
High Compressive Strength ◽  
Hardened State ◽  
First Time ◽  
Furnace Slag ◽  
Alkali Activated

Ordinary Portland Cement is the most widely used binder in the construction sector; however, a very high carbon footprint is associated with its production process. Consequently, more sustainable alternative construction materials are being investigated, namely, one-part alkali activated materials (AAMs). In this work, waste-based one-part AAMs binders were developed using only a blast furnace slag, as the solid precursor, and sodium metasilicate, as the solid activator. For the first time, mortars in which the commercial sand was replaced by two exhausted sands from biomass boilers (CA and CT) were developed. Firstly, the characterization of the slag and sands (aggregates) was performed. After, the AAMs fresh and hardened state properties were evaluated, being the characterization complemented by FTIR and microstructural analysis. The binder and the mortars prepared with commercial sand presented high compressive strength values after 28 days of curing-56 MPa and 79 MPa, respectively. The mortars developed with exhausted sands exhibit outstanding compressive strength values, 86 and 70 MPa for CT and CA, respectively, and the other material’s properties were not affected. Consequently, this work proved that high compressive strength waste-based one-part AAMs mortars can be produced and that it is feasible to use another waste as aggregate in the mortar’s formulations: the exhausted sands from biomass boilers.

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