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Direct-to-patient mobile teledermoscopy is a feasible and useful adjunct to smartphone imaging for monitoring patient-identified lesions of concern, achieving comparable diagnostic and management accuracy as in-office dermatology.

Structural disconnectome analyses have provided valuable insights into how a stroke lesion results in widespread network disturbances and how these relate to deficits, recovery patterns, and outcomes. Previous analyses have primarily focused on patients with relatively mild to moderate deficits. However, outcomes vary among survivors of severe strokes, and the mechanisms of recovery remain poorly understood. This study assesses the association between lesion‐induced network disconnection and outcome after severe stroke. Thirty‐eight ischaemic stroke patients underwent MRI brain imaging early after stroke and longitudinal clinical follow‐up. Lesion information was integrated with normative connectome data to infer individual disconnectome profiles on a localized regional and region‐to‐region pathway level. Ordinal logistic regressions were computed to link disconnectome information to the modified Rankin Scale after 3–6 months. Disconnections of ipsilesional frontal, parietal, and temporal cortical brain areas were significantly associated with a worse motor outcome after a severe stroke, adjusted for the initial deficit, lesion volume, and age. The analysis of the underlying pathways mediating this association revealed location‐specific results: For frontal, prefrontal, and temporal brain areas, the association was primarily driven by relatively sparse intrahemispheric disconnections. In contrast, the ipsilesional primary motor cortex, the dorsal premotor cortex, and various parietal brain regions showed a remarkable involvement of either frontoparietal intrahemispheric or additionally interhemispheric disconnections. These results indicate that localized disconnection of multiple regions embedded in the structural frontoparietal network correlates with worse outcomes after severe stroke. Specifically, primary motor and parietal cortices might gain particular importance as they structurally link frontoparietal networks of both hemispheres. These data shed novel light on the significance of distinct brain networks for recovery after a severe stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic (AAP) drug used in treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. The adverse effects of clozapine on the heart may result in death and require drug discontinuation. Inflammatory mechanisms are thought to be responsible for the negative effect of clozapine on the heart. This suggests that using an agent with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which may be specific to clozapine-induced heart damage, may prevent possible damage. The aim of our study is to evaluate the effect of taxifolin (3 , 5 , 7 , 3 ', 4'-pentahydroxy flavanone), an agent with known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, on myocardial damage caused by clozapine with biochemical and histopathological data. The rats were divided into three equal groups: healthy control group (HC), clozapine-treated group (CLN), and taxifolin + clozapine-treated group (TCL). To perform this experiment, taxifolin was administered to TCL (n-6) rats at a dose of 50 mg/kg orally by gavage into the stomach. In the HC (n-6) and CLN (n-6) groups, the same volume of distilled water was administered orally as a solvent. One hour after the administration of taxifolin and distilled water, clozapine was administered orally at a dose of 20 mg/kg to the TCL and CLN groups once a day for 28 days. At the end of the period, troponin I (TP I) and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) levels were measured in the venous blood of each group. Malondialdehyde (MDA), total glutathione (tGSH), TNF-α, NF-▪B, and IL-1β levels were measured in samples taken from heart tissues. Additionally, heart tissues were evaluated histopathologically. Troponin I, CK-MB, MDA, TNF-α, NF-▪B, and IL-1β levels, myocardial degeneration, myofiber irregularity, and congestion scores were significantly higher and tGSH levels were lower in the clozapine group than in the healthy control and taxifolin + clozapine groups (P < 0.05). Compared with the healthy control group, troponin I, tGSH, and NF-KB levels were similar (P > 0.05), CK-MB, MDA, TNF-α, and IL-1β levels were higher in the taxifolin + clozapine group, while they were significantly lower than the clozapine group (P < 0.05). Histopathologically evaluated myocardial degeneration, myofiber irregularity, and congestion score were significantly lower in the taxifolin + clozapine group than in the clozapine group. In the clozapine group (CLN group), myofibers were found to have irregular patterns and were observed as irregular. In the taxifolin + clozapine group (TLC group), myofibrils generally showed a regular morphology. We found that taxifolin can ameliorate damage to myocardial tissue by regulating oxidant-antioxidant and proinflammatory cytokine levels. The data of our study suggest that taxifolin may be useful in the treatment of clozapine-induced myocardial injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Head direction (HD) neurons, signalling facing direction, generate a signal that is primarily anchored to the outside world by visual inputs. We investigated the route for visual landmark information into the HD system in rats. There are two candidates: an evolutionarily older, larger subcortical retino‐tectal pathway and a more recently evolved, smaller cortical retino‐geniculo‐striate pathway. We disrupted the cortical pathway by lesioning the dorsal lateral geniculate thalamic nuclei bilaterally, and recorded HD cells in the postsubicular cortex as rats foraged in a visual‐cue‐controlled enclosure. In lesioned rats we found the expected number of postsubicular HD cells. Although directional tuning curves were broader across a trial, this was attributable to the increased instability of otherwise normal‐width tuning curves. Tuning curves were also poorly responsive to polarizing visual landmarks and did not distinguish cues based on their visual pattern. Thus, the retino‐geniculo‐striate pathway is not crucial for the generation of an underlying, tightly tuned directional signal but does provide the main route for vision‐based anchoring of the signal to the outside world, even when visual cues are high in contrast and low in detail. Key points: Head direction (HD) cells indicate the facing direction of the head, using visual landmarks to distinguish directions.In rats, we investigated whether this visual information is routed through the thalamus to the visual cortex or arrives via the superior colliculus, which is a phylogenetically older and (in rodents) larger pathway.We lesioned the thalamic dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) in rats and recorded the responsiveness of cortical HD cells to visual cues.We found that cortical HD cells had normal tuning curves, but these were slightly more unstable during a trial. Most notably, HD cells in dLGN‐lesioned animals showed little ability to distinguish highly distinct cues and none to distinguish more similar cues.These results suggest that directional processing of visual landmarks in mammals requires the geniculo‐cortical pathway, which raises questions about when and how visual directional landmark processing appeared during evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To identify the prevalence and type of rotator cuff injuries in Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners. Method: A cross-sectional and association evaluating patients through non-probabilistic, convenience sampling, performing a bilateral shoulder ultrasound. Results: In the present study, 40 patients practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu were evaluated; 75% (n = 30) were male and 25% (n = 10) were female, in an age range of 19 to 53 years, with an average age of 31 years, a weight of 80.5 kg (BMI of 27), 82.5% (n = 33) reported pain or discomfort in any of the shoulder arcs of movement, with abduction being more common, with an overall prevalence of 70% (n = 28), followed by flexion (35%, n = 14), extension (22.5%, n = 9), internal rotation (17.5%, n = 7), rotation external (7.5%, n = 3) and adduction (7.5%, n = 3). Conclusions: Eighty percent presented ultrasound findings compatible with rotator cuff injury; the supraspinatus muscle tendon was the most affected element (72.5%). The most frequent finding was tendinopathy in 70% of the practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe features of a syphilitic vascularized iris mass on multimodal imaging and its resolution after penicillin treatment. Methods: Observational case report and literature review of syphilitic iris masses. Results: A 43-year-old woman presented with a unilateral vascularized tan iris mass in the setting of bilateral panuveitis that occurred along with bilateral papillitis, cystoid macular edema and retinal vasculitis. Laboratory work-up confirmed a diagnosis of syphilis. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) of the iris mass showed parapupillary hyperechoic full-thickness iris stromal thickening with small intrinsic circular lumens without cyst or ciliary body extension, while the anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) demonstrated a hyperreflective mass with deep iris extension and partial hyporeflective rim. Following treatment, the mass fully resolved without residual sequela. A review of literature identified 11 additional cases of syphilitic iris masses in the English literature from 1915 to present. Their presentations and clinical courses were reviewed herein. Conclusions: This report characterizes a syphilitic iris mass on slit-lamp photography, iris fluorescein angiography, UBM and AS-OCT; depicts key characteristics of syphilitic iris masses; and highlights the need for close inspection of the iris mass as an uncommon sign of ocular syphilis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Focal imaging abnormalities in patients with parkinsonism suggest secondary etiology and require a distinctive clinical approach to diagnosis and treatment. We review different entities presenting as secondary parkinsonism associated with structural brain lesions, with emphasis on the clinical course and neuroimaging findings. Secondary parkinsonism may be due to vascular causes, hydrocephalus, space-occupying lesions, metabolic causes (including acquired hepatocerebral degeneration, diabetic uremic encephalopathy, basal ganglia calcifications, osmotic demyelination syndrome), hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury, intoxications (including methanol, carbon monoxide, cyanide, carbon disulfide, manganese poisoning and illicit drugs), infections and immune causes. The onset can vary from acute to chronic. Both uni-and bilateral presentations are possible. Rigidity, bradykinesia and gait abnormalities are more common than rest tremor. Coexisting other movement disorders and additional associated neurological signs may point to the underlying diagnosis. Neuroimaging studies are an essential part in the diagnostic work-up of secondary parkinsonism and may point directly to the underlying etiology. We focus primarily on magnetic resonance imaging to illustrate how structural imaging combined with neurological assessment can lead to diagnosis. It is crucial that typical imaging abnormalities are recognized within the relevant clinical context. Many forms of secondary parkinsonism are reversible with elimination of the specific cause, while some may benefit from symptomatic treatment. This heterogeneous group of acquired disorders has also helped shape our knowledge of Parkinson's disease and basal ganglia pathophysiology, while more recent findings in the field garner support for the network perspective on brain function and neurological disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endometriosis negatively impacts the health-related quality of life of 190 million women worldwide. Novel advances in nonhormonal treatments for this debilitating condition are desperately needed. Macrophages play a vital role in the pathophysiology of endometriosis and represent a promising therapeutic target. In the current study, we revealed the full transcriptomic complexity of endometriosis-associated macrophage subpopulations using single-cell analyses in a preclinical mouse model of experimental endometriosis. We have identified two key lesion-resident populations that resemble i) tumor-associated macrophages (characterized by expression of Folr2, Mrc1, Gas6, and Ccl8+) that promoted expression of Col1a1 and Tgfb1 in human endometrial stromal cells and increased angiogenic meshes in human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and ii) scar-associated macrophages (Mmp12, Cd9, Spp1, Trem2+) that exhibited a phenotype associated with fibrosis and matrix remodeling. We also described a population of proresolving large peritoneal macrophages that align with a lipid-associated macrophage phenotype (Apoe, Saa3, Pid1) concomitant with altered lipid metabolism and cholesterol efflux. Gain of function experiments using an Apoe mimetic resulted in decreased lesion size and fibrosis, and modification of peritoneal macrophage populations in the preclinical model. Using cross-species analysis of mouse and human single-cell datasets, we determined the concordance of peritoneal and lesion-resident macrophage subpopulations, identifying key similarities and differences in transcriptomic phenotypes. Ultimately, we envisage that these findings will inform the design and use of specific macrophage-targeted therapies and open broad avenues for the treatment of endometriosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monkeypox virus was declared endemic in several nations when COVID-19 cases began to decline and people were readjusting to normal life. Monkeypox was identified in 1958, with the first human case occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1970. It has primarily impacted the poor Central and West African countries. Over the years, the monkeypox virus has evolved to a contagious disease due to which the situation is becoming grave and disturbing. In this paper, the genesis of the monkeypox virus, its history, and its re-emergence are discussed. Also, a quantitative analysis of cases that occurred in affected countries is performed based on several factors. This paper also discusses the role of Internet of Things (IoT) in controlling the current spread of the Monkeypox virus. An ensemble deep learning architecture is proposed to envisage the monkeypox virus through IoT devices. The convolutional neural network is incorporated to improve the performance of the proposed architecture. The proposed architecture is tested over two well-known datasets and attained better performance than the existing techniques. The impact of infected people's travel history, gender, and hospitalization requirements is also investigated. This work motivates young researchers to work on the development of vaccines and other precautionary measures to prevent the outbreak of the monkeypox virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cemento-osseous dysplasia (COD) is classified, by the World Health Organization as a benign fibro-osseous lesion related to the tooth and periapical area of the jaws and is considered as a benign reactive process appearing from the apical periodontium in close relation with the apices of teeth. Usually, it is asymptomatic, discovered accidentally, and affecting particularly middle-aged African women. There are four subtypes distinguished of the lesion: periapical (PCOD), focal (FCOD), florid (FLCOD) and familial florid cementoosseous dysplasia (FFLCOD). Pseudocysts found in the jaws go by various names, including solitary bone cyst, traumatic bone cyst, or simple bone cyst (SBC). These two pathologies have been reported separately; however, their co-occurrence remains rare and the first case of FLCOD with co-occurrence of SBC was reported by Melrose et al. in 1976 and later a few cases been reported in the literature. The aim of this report is to describe a case of a 46- year-old oriental female diagnosed with FLCOD with co-occurrence of SBC. Under local analgesia, a surgical exploration of the cyst was performed. In addition, a biopsy with a trephine was done in the region of missing right first mandibular molar. Based on the patient clinical, radiographic, and histological findings, a diagnosis of FLCOD was made in cooccurrence with a mandibular SBC. An examination of another female family member unveils a distinctive case, and the familial factor has been ruled out. No further treatment was planned and only follow-up was suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone lesions are commonly encountered on radiographs. Often, bone lesions are incidental findings on radiographs obtained for trauma or joint pain. Because of the wide spectrum of pathology that can be present, it useful for anyone who evaluates bone radiographs to have an idea of how to approach these lesions. In this article, we provide 10 facts to help clinicians evaluate and risk stratify bone lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In medical diagnosis, mammographic imaging is mainly concerned with the breast parenchymal patterns (counterbalance of glandular tissue and fatty tissue) by which an expert radiologist can easily determine the abnormalities in the breast of cancer patients and if the interpretation of mammogram and the quality of mammogram both are well provided. Accordingly, improved mammographic view via an efficient image processing algorithm plays a significant role in the medical diagnosis of mammograms. This study introduces a sharpening method based on the modified Laplacian filter (MLF) on compute unified device architecture (CUDA) to improve the visibility and detection of pernicious lesions in a mammogram. To process considerably large mammograms on CPU, the conventional Laplacian sharpening is more time-consuming due to the processing of all pixels with serial execution manner. Although this type of image sharpening is well established for improved image quality, its effect on a larger image for use in the GPU environment has not been extensively studied. The proposed framework is successfully devised and implemented in an efficient parallel execution manner on a computing platform of graphic processing units (GPU). To examine the impact of mammograms and filter size on performance along with the comparative processing time between serial execute on CPU and parallel computing on GPU (except data transfer time). To accelerate the performance of the proposed model, we adopt both global and shared memory in GPU to realize further improvements of the execution speed. The proposed framework applies a new nonlinear filter constraints module in the sharping stage while the Laplacian filter attenuate noise sensitivity and leads to achieving visually improved results in comparison with formal sharping. The proposed framework has been extensively compared with other recent baseline methods showing to improvement in the computational cost of the image sharping approach. Experimental results establish that the two proposed sharping methods outperform the state-of-the-art methods with respect to execution speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women; approximately 1 in 8 women is diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime. Some women are at significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer, including women carrying mutations in the BRCA1/2, TP53, or other genes and women with other risk factors. Women with a high lifetime risk for breast cancer are frequently offered annual breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations for early breast cancer detection. Breast MRI is commonly performed using a multiparametric imaging protocol, including dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted acquisitions. The dynamic contrast-enhanced T1-weighted acquisitions are frequently transformed into subtraction series, allowing the focused visualization of areas with high signal intensity and masses associated with elevated contrast agent uptake, which are among the hallmarks of suspicious findings. Here, we report a case in which a suspicious lesion-mimicking swap artifact occurred using a T1-weighted contrast-enhanced DIXON acquisition technique in a high-risk breast cancer screening MRI examination.

Cemento-osseous dysplasia (COD) is classified, by the World Health Organization as a benign fibro-osseous lesion related to the tooth and periapical area of the jaws and is considered as a benign reactive process appearing from the apical periodontium in close relation with the apices of teeth. Usually, it is asymptomatic, discovered accidentally, and affecting particularly middle-aged African women. There are four subtypes distinguished of the lesion: periapical (PCOD), focal (FCOD), florid (FLCOD) and familial florid cemento-osseous dysplasia (FFLCOD). Pseudocysts found in the jaws go by various names, including solitary bone cyst, traumatic bone cyst, or simple bone cyst (SBC). These two pathologies have been reported separately; however, their co-occurrence remains rare and the first case of FLCOD with co-occurrence of SBC was reported by Melrose et al. in 1976 and later a few cases been reported in the literature. The aim of this report is to describe a case of a 46-year-old oriental female diagnosed with FLCOD with co-occurrence of SBC. Under local analgesia, a surgical exploration of the cyst was performed. In addition, a biopsy with a trephine was done in the region of missing right first mandibular molar. Based on the patient clinical, radiographic, and histological findings, a diagnosis of FLCOD was made in co-occurrence with a mandibular SBC. An examination of another female family member unveils a distinctive case, and the familial factor has been ruled out. No further treatment was planned and only follow-up was suggested.

Summary: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help evaluate lateral epicondylitis; however, abnormal findings on MRI are not always consistent with the symptoms. The occurrence of such abnormal MRI findings at the lateral side of the elbow in patients without pain remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the MRI findings of the lateral elbow joint in patients with no complaints of pain in the elbow joint.We retrospectively identified 152 patients who had undergone MRI of the area including the elbow from July 2015 to January 2022. We excluded patients with pain in the elbow area and those with diagnosis of diseases that could affect MRI findings at the lateral elbow. The presence of lateral collateral ligament complex (LCLC) and common extensor tendon (CET) lesions on MRI was assessed by two reviewers.In total, 22 patients (12 men and 10 women) were included in the analysis. The mean age of the patients was 54 years. Five patients, all ≥65 years old, had abnormal findings related to the LCLC or CET on MRI. Abnormal LCLC and CET findings on MRI can be encountered in older patients even in the absence of elbow pain.

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Retos: Nuevas Perspectivas de Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación is the property of Federacion Espanola de Asociaciones de Docentes de Educacion Fisica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: A skin lesion refers to an area of the skin that exhibits anomalous growth or distinctive visual characteristics compared to the surrounding skin. Benign skin lesions are noncancerous and generally pose no threat. These irregular skin growths can vary in appearance. On the other hand, malignant skin lesions correspond to skin cancer, which happens to be the most prevalent form of cancer in the United States. Skin cancer involves the unusual proliferation of skin cells anywhere on the body. The conventional method for detecting skin cancer is relatively more painful. Methods: This work involves the automated prediction of skin cancer and its types using two stage Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). The first stage of CNN extracts low level features and second stage extracts high level features. Feature selection is done using these two CNN and ABCD (Asymmetry, Border irregularity, Colour variation, and Diameter) technique. The features extracted from the two CNNs are fused with ABCD features and fed into classifiers for the final prediction. The classifiers employed in this work include ensemble learning methods such as gradient boosting and XG boost, as well as machine learning classifiers like decision trees and logistic regression. This methodology is evaluated using the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) 2018 and 2019 dataset. Results: As a result, the first stage CNN which is used for creation of new dataset achieved an accuracy of 97.92%. Second stage CNN which is used for feature selection achieved an accuracy of 98.86%. Classification results are obtained for both with and without fusion of features. Conclusion: Therefore, two stage prediction model achieved better results with feature fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the microstructural properties of T2 lesion and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) in 20 white matter tracts between multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and correlations between the tissue damage and clinical variables. Methods: The white matter (WM) compartment of the brain was segmented for 56 healthy controls (HC), 48 patients with MS, and 38 patients with NMOSD, and for the patients further subdivided into T2 lesion and NAWM. Subsequently, the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tissue characterization parameters of fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were compared for 20 principal white matter tracts. The correlation between tissue damage and clinical variables was also investigated. Results: The higher T2 lesion volumes of 14 fibers were shown in MS compared to NMOSD. MS showed more microstructure damage in 13 fibers of T2 lesion, but similar microstructure in seven fibers compared to NMOSD. MS and NMOSD had microstructure damage of NAWM in 20 fibers compared to WM in HC, with more damage in 20 fibers in MS compared to NMOSD. MS patients showed higher correlation between the microstructure of T2 lesion areas and NAWM. The T2 lesion microstructure damage was correlated with duration and impaired cognition in MS. Conclusions: Patients with MS and NMOSD show different patterns of microstructural damage in T2 lesion and NAWM areas. The prolonged disease course of MS may aggravate the microstructural damage, and the degree of microstructural damage is further related to cognitive impairment. Clinical relevance statement: Microstructure differences between T2 lesion areas and normal-appearing white matter help distinguish multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. In multiple sclerosis, lesions rather than normal-appearing white matter should be a concern, because the degree of lesion severity correlated both with normal-appearing white matter damage and cognitive impairment. Key Points: • Multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder have different damage patterns in T2 lesion and normal-appearing white matter areas. • The microstructure damage of normal-appearing white matter is correlated with the microstructure of T2 lesion in multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder. • The microstructure damage of T2 lesion in multiple sclerosis is correlated with duration and cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinction and precise identification of tumor nodules are crucial for timely lung cancer diagnosis and planning intervention. This research work addresses the major issues pertaining to the field of medical image processing while focusing on lung cancer Computed Tomography (CT) images. In this context, the paper proposes an improved lung cancer segmentation technique based on the strengths of nature-inspired approaches. The better resolution of CT is exploited to distinguish healthy subjects from those who have lung cancer. In this process, the visual challenges of the K-means are addressed with the integration of four nature-inspired swarm intelligent techniques. The techniques experimented in this paper are K-means with Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), K-means with Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA), K-means with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and K-means with Firefly Algorithm (FFA). The testing and evaluation are performed on Early Lung Cancer Action Program (ELCAP) database. The simulation analysis is performed using lung cancer images set against metrics: precision, sensitivity, specificity, f-measure, accuracy, Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC), Jaccard, and Dice. The detailed evaluation shows that the K-means with Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA) significantly improved the quality of lung cancer segmentation in comparison to the other optimization approaches utilized for lung cancer images. The results exhibit that the proposed approach (K-means with CSA) achieves precision, sensitivity, and F-measure of 0.942, 0.964, and 0.953, respectively, and an average accuracy of 93%. The experimental results prove that K-means with ABC, K-means with PSO, K-means with FFA, and K-means with CSA have achieved an improvement of 10.8%, 13.38%, 13.93%, and 15.7%, respectively, for accuracy measure in comparison to K-means segmentation for lung cancer images. Further, it is highlighted that the proposed K-means with CSA have achieved a significant improvement in accuracy, hence can be utilized by researchers for improved segmentation processes of medical image datasets for identifying the targeted region of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke both have the potential to cause significant damage to the brain, with resultant neuropsychological impairments. How these different mechanisms of injury influence cognitive and behavioral changes associated with brain damage, however, is not well understood. Moreover, previous research directly comparing TBI and stroke has not accounted carefully for lesion location and size. Here, using a detailed lesion-matching approach that was used previously to compare neuropsychological outcomes in stroke versus tumor, we compared the neuropsychological profiles of 14 patients with focal lesions caused by TBI to those of 27 lesion-matched patients with stroke. Each patient with TBI was matched to two patients with stroke, based on lesion location and size (except 1 TBI case where only 1 stroke match was available). Demographic attributes (age, gender, handedness, education) were also matched in the TBI: stroke triplets, as much as possible. The patients with TBI versus stroke had similar performances across all cognitive and behavioral measures, with no significant or clinically meaningful differences. A supplemental analysis on developmental- versus adult-onset TBI cases (with their respective stroke matches) also yielded non-significant results, with TBI and stroke groups being statistically indistinguishable. Our results suggest that focal lesions caused by TBI versus stroke have similar neuropsychological outcomes in the chronic recovery phase, when location and size of lesion are comparable across TBI versus stroke mechanisms of injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cerebellar bulge prior to posterior fossa resection is an emergency condition during surgery. Intraoperative cerebellar bulging not only increases the difficulty of lesion resection but also brings additional postoperative complications. Currently, there are few systematic reports on this topic. The predictors of cerebellar bulge and how to effectively prevent intraoperative cerebellar bulge are discussed in this article. The clinical and imaging data of 527 patients with posterior fossa lesions who underwent resection at our hospital were retrospectively collected and analyzed. Perioperative clinical and imaging data were assessed. Variables were analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression analyses. Overall, 10.4% (55/527) of patients had intraoperative acute bulges. Multivariate analysis revealed that age <60 years, body mass index ≥24, lesion size ≥30 (mm), cerebellar tonsillar herniation and/or hydrocephalus, and perilesional edema (moderate-severe) were predictors of cerebellar bulging. Relief of the cerebellar bulge can be accomplished by excising the lesion, releasing cerebrospinal fluid, and removing the cerebellum (the outer one-third). Obvious cerebellar-related complications occurred in 4 patients postoperatively, and the symptoms disappeared after 6 months of follow-up. Cerebellar bulging during intraoperative posterior fossa resection deserves attention. Through the analysis of multiple factors related to cerebellar bulge, comprehensive evaluation and early intervention during the perioperative period are necessary. The incidence of cerebellar bulges can be reduced, and surgical complications related to cerebellar bulges can be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chordomas are rare, low-grade malignant tumors often found in the sacrococcygeal region and prone to local recurrence. We report an atypical presentation of a 40-year-old patient with a symptomatic midline retrococcygeal lesion that was presumptively treated as a pilonidal cyst due to its clinical and imaging features. After surgical pathology rendered the diagnosis of chordoma, the patient required salvage surgery in the form of partial sacrectomy with soft tissue flap coverage. In addition to the unusually predominant retrococcygeal location, surgical pathology identified an intervertebral disc origin rather than the typical osseous origin. To our knowledge, this presentation of chordoma with coccygeal intervertebral origin and a large subcutaneous mass at imaging has rarely been reported in the literature. We describe this case to raise awareness of atypical presentations of sacrococcygeal chordoma that may lead to erroneous presumptive diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the introduction of serological neoplastic biomarkers and typical radiological characteristics in clinical practice, liver biopsy (LB) is often still necessary to establish a histological diagnosis, especially in ambiguous cases. Nowadays, LB via the percutaneous approach (PC-LB), under computed tomography (CT) scan or ultrasonography (US) guidance, is the route of choice. However, certain focal liver lesions can be challenging to access percutaneously. In such cases, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)-guided fine needle biopsy (FNB) may represent an attractive, minimally invasive alternative. This retrospective observational study aimed to evaluate the efficacy, diagnostic performance, and safety of EUS-FNB conducted on 58 focal liver lesions located in both liver lobes. The adequacy of FNB samples for focal liver lesions located in the left and right lobes was 100% and 81.2%, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.001). Technical success was 100% for both liver lobes. The overall sensitivity and specificity were 95% and 100%, respectively. EUS-FNB is effective in making an accurate diagnosis with an excellent safety profile for focal liver lesions located in both liver lobes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Passive surveillance of wildlife disease is a valuable tool for the identification of emerging and changing disease patterns. Free-ranging leporids play an important role in their ecosystem and in the culture and diet of Canadians; however, little is known about their health status and the zoonotic pathogens they may carry. We summarized major causes of mortality and morbidity, as well as incidental infections and lesions, of free-ranging leporids submitted to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) between 1990 and 2019. We identified Canadian leporids as competent hosts for several zoonotic pathogens, most notably Francisella tularensis (20/569; 3.5%). Trauma was the most frequent cause of mortality or morbidity among leporids, accounting for 46.0% of cases submitted to the CWHC, followed by bacterial infections (13.7%) and emaciation (5.1%). Human-mediated mortalities, such as those involving machines (23.7%), were the most common trauma case type, with apparently healthy individuals overrepresented within this mortality group. Harvesters proved to be a valuable resource for the monitoring of diseased and infected animals, as more than half (69.6%) of the animals submitted by this group had an incidental infection or lesion. The results from this study provide a scientific understanding the cause of mortality in free-ranging leporids in Canada with relevance to public health, wildlife biologists, veterinarians, and potential future surveillance programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Ethiopia has a rapidly growing small ruminant sector, which faces low productivity due to husbandry practices and poor health condition of the animals. A study was conducted in Ethiopia's largest municipal abattoir with the objective to assess the health problems of sheep and goats presented for slaughter using standard ante-mortem and post-mortem methodology. Methods: A cross-sectional study using systematic random sampling was conducted on 384 sheep and 384 goats from January to July 2014. Results: Soiled skin (69.1%), poor body condition (24.3%), and nostril discharge (19.5%) were common among both species at ante-mortem examination. Gross lesions were frequent in livers (39.7%) and lungs (37.2%), while pneumonia (18.1%) and adhesions (13.8%) were frequent in the lungs of sheep and goats, indicating stress-related illness. Parasitic lesions, especially fasciolosis (19.3%) and hydatid cysts (8.1%) were significantly more common in sheep livers (p 0.05). The direct financial loss from lesions in both species was 1,077,015 ETB or 53,851 USD per year, most of which was estimated to occur from carcass bruising. Discussion: The findings indicate that reducing parasite burden and preventing carcass bruising through improved handling could significantly increase the profitability of the small ruminant meat sector in Ethiopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy and efficacy of laser ablation procedures depend on the accurate placement of the laser applicator within the diseased tissue, monitoring the real-time temperature during the ablation procedure, and mapping the extent of the ablated region. Ultrasound (US) imaging has been widely used to guide ablation procedures. While US imaging offers significant advantages for guiding ablation procedures, its limitations include low imaging contrast, angular dependency, and limited ability to monitor the temperature. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a relatively new imaging modality that inherits the advantages of US imaging and offers enhanced capabilities for laser-guided ablations, such as accurate, angle-independent tracking of ablation catheters, the potential for quantitative thermometry, and monitoring thermal lesion formation. This work provides an overview of ultrasound-guided procedures and how different US-related artifacts limit their utility, followed by introducing PA as complementary to US as a solution to address the existing limitations and improve ablation outcomes. Furthermore, we highlight the integration of PA-driven features into existing US-guided laser ablation systems, along with their limitations and future outlooks. Integrated US/PA-guided laser ablation procedures can lead to safer and more precise treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pelvic ring is a complicated anatomical structure which consists of the sacral bone, the iliac, ischial and pubic compartments and the pubic symphysis. In the elderly, osteoporotic fractures of the pelvic ring are often caused by low energy trauma. They are very rarely accompanied by neurological, vascular or endopelvic organ injuries. There has been a rise in the incidence of such trauma due to the increase of life expectancy, population aging and improvement of diagnostic and evaluation techniques. Pelvic ring fractures are often missed or under evaluated, resulting in remaining pain and great disability. Thorough assessment of the clinical presentation and medical history of the patient along with the needed imaging tests are vital for choosing the suitable therapeutic approach. Pelvic ring fractures are classified according to many systems. The most popular one is Denis et al classification, which is slowly replaced by the Young-Burgess classification, based on the applied force's direction. FFP classification aids in the diagnosis and leads the treatment algorithm. The AO/OTA cooperative categorization can help improve common understanding of such pathologies. Treatment sequence can be conservative or surgical and aims to pain management and rapid mobilization. However, it must always include the suitable osteoporotic therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La lesión en el derecho de los contratos es una figura que no ha sido ajena a críticas que cuestionan su relevancia y utilidad en el ordenamiento jurídico peruano. En esa línea, en el presente trabajo el autor analiza el artículo 1447 del Código Civil desde distintas aristas, tales como el análisis económico del derecho y diversa doctrina nacional e internacional. Finalmente, el autor concluye que esta figura es importante y necesaria para un Estado de Derecho; no sin antes reconocer que la lesión en el derecho de los contratos debe ser repensada, mas no eliminada.

The concept of structural reserve in stroke reorganization assumes that the relevance of the contralesional hemisphere strongly depends on the brain tissue spared by the lesion in the affected hemisphere. Recent studies, however, have indicated that the contralesional hemisphere's impact exhibits region-specific variability with concurrently existing maladaptive and supportive influences. This challenges traditional views, necessitating a nuanced investigation of contralesional motor areas and their interaction with ipsilesional networks.Our study focused on the functional role of contralesional key motor areas and lesion-induced connectome disruption early after stroke.Online TMS data of twenty-five stroke patients was analyzed to disentangle interindividual differences in the functional roles of contralesional primary motor cortex (M1), dorsal premotor cortex (dPMC), and anterior interparietal sulcus (aIPS) for motor function. Connectome-based lesion symptom mapping and corticospinal tract lesion quantification were used to investigate how TMS effects depend on ipsilesional structural network properties.At group and individual levels, TMS interference with contralesional M1 and aIPS but not dPMC led to improved performance early after stroke. At the connectome level, a more disturbing role of contralesional M1 was related to a more severe disruption of the structural integrity of ipsilesional M1 in the affected motor network. In contrast, a detrimental influence of contralesional aIPS was linked to less disruption of the ipsilesional M1 connectivity.Our findings indicate that contralesional areas distinctively interfere with motor performance early after stroke depending on ipsilesional structural integrity, extending the concept of structural reserve to regional specificity in recovery of function.

Introducción: la lesión de la médula espinal deja como secuela en el período agudo y crónico, deficiencias en la estabilidad de las funciones articulares y de la función del control de los movimientos voluntarios. Aquellos con buen control de tronco poseen una mayor probabilidad de realizar por sí mismos actividades de la vida diaria, hasta el momento, no contamos en Argentina con herramientas fiables que evalúen el control de tronco en estos sujetos. Objetivo: adaptar transculturalmente al castellano argentino el trunk control test en sujetos con secuela de lesión medular espinal y establecer la fiabilidad interobservador, intraobservador. Metodología: los sujetos fueron ingresados mediante un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia. Se incluyeron sujetos que: posean entre 15 años a 75 años y tengan diagnóstico de lesión medular espinal, se excluyeron sujetos que posean: otro diagnóstico neurológico, alteración en los órganos sensoriales, condiciones que impidan la realización de la prueba y enfermedad psiquiátrica. Resultados: 30 sujetos fueron incluidos para la adaptación transcultural y 55 para la fiabilidad. Se realizaron modificaciones semánticas en todos los ítems y opciones de respuesta. La fiabilidad intraobservador e interobservador de la escala o de los subdominios no logró un puntaje suficiente. Conclusión: se adaptó transculturalmente al castellano argentino el trunk control test y se estableció la fiabilidad interobservador, intraobservador. La adaptación se logró a través de cambios semánticos y la fiabilidad no fue suficiente. A futuro se deberán realizar estudios para mejorar la fiabilidad y estudiar la validez de la herramienta.

Introduction: Peripheral trauma is a very frequent cause of consultation in paediatric emergency departments but few studies have been published describing the characteristics of these patients. Material and methods: We performed a retrospective descriptive study by reviewing computerised emergency department forms during January and February 2020. Objective: To describe the characteristics of traumatic injuries in our area and to detect possible areas for improvement. Results: A total of 714 peripheral trauma cases were attended, which represents 9.5% of the total consultations. A total of 52.7% were schoolchildren (6–11 years). The most frequent locations were the ankle (27.5%) and fingers (17.2%). Fracture was detected in 6.7% of cases. Radiographs were requested in 78.6% of the patients, with pathological findings in 9.6% of them. Half of the X-rays were requested due to ankle or finger trauma. Referral to traumatology was made in 16.4% of patients, mainly for elbow and knee trauma, and the most commonly used treatment was general measures (49%) and bandaging (29.4%). Conclusions: Peripheral trauma is very common and, in general, banal. A large number of X-rays are requested with a very low yield, so it seems necessary to establish new protocols to reduce the number of requests. Improving training in elbow and knee trauma could improve paediatricians’ autonomy in dealing with these more complex injuries. Resumen: Introducción: Los traumatismos periféricos son una causa muy frecuente de consulta en las urgencias pediátricas, pero apenas se han publicado estudios que describan las características de estos pacientes. Material y métodos: Se realiza un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo mediante revisión de formularios informatizados de urgencias pediátricas durante los meses de enero y febrero de 2020. Objetivo: Conocer las características de la patología traumática pediátrica de nuestra área y detectar posibles puntos de mejora. Resultados: Se atendieron 714 traumatismos periféricos, lo que supone 9,5% de las consultas totales. De los pacientes presentados, 52,7% fueron escolares (seis a 11 años). Las localizaciones más frecuentes fueron el tobillo (27,5%) y los dedos de la mano (17,2%). Se detectó fractura en 6,7% de los casos. En 78,6% de los pacientes se solicitó radiografía, siendo patológica 9,6% de las mismas. La mitad de las radiografías se solicitaron por traumatismo en el tobillo o dedos de la mano. Se realizó interconsulta a traumatología en 16,4% de los pacientes, sobre todo en traumatismos de codo y rodilla, y el tratamiento más empleado fueron las medidas generales (49%) y el vendaje (29,4%). Conclusiones: Los traumatismos periféricos son muy habituales y, en general, banales. Se solicita un gran número de radiografías con una rentabilidad muy baja, por lo que parece necesario establecer nuevos protocolos que permitan reducir el número de peticiones. Mejorar la formación respecto a los traumatismos de codo y rodilla podría mejorar la autonomía de los pediatras respecto a este tipo de lesiones, más complejas.

Focal imaging abnormalities in patients with parkinsonism suggest secondary etiology and require a distinctive clinical approach to diagnosis and treatment. We review different entities presenting as secondary parkinsonism associated with structural brain lesions, with emphasis on the clinical course and neuroimaging findings. Secondary parkinsonism may be due to vascular causes, hydrocephalus, space-occupying lesions, metabolic causes (including acquired hepatocerebral degeneration, diabetic uremic encephalopathy, basal ganglia calcifications, osmotic demyelination syndrome), hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury, intoxications (including methanol, carbon monoxide, cyanide, carbon disulfide, manganese poisoning and illicit drugs), infections and immune causes. The onset can vary from acute to chronic. Both uni-and bilateral presentations are possible. Rigidity, bradykinesia and gait abnormalities are more common than rest tremor. Coexisting other movement disorders and additional associated neurological signs may point to the underlying diagnosis. Neuroimaging studies are an essential part in the diagnostic work-up of secondary parkinsonism and may point directly to the underlying etiology. We focus primarily on magnetic resonance imaging to illustrate how structural imaging combined with neurological assessment can lead to diagnosis. It is crucial that typical imaging abnormalities are recognized within the relevant clinical context. Many forms of secondary parkinsonism are reversible with elimination of the specific cause, while some may benefit from symptomatic treatment. This heterogeneous group of acquired disorders has also helped shape our knowledge of Parkinson’s disease and basal ganglia pathophysiology, while more recent findings in the field garner support for the network perspective on brain function and neurological disorders.

Introduction: Conservative management is usually preferred for iatrogenic tracheal injuries. Venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-V ECMO) is mostly used in acute refractory hypoxemia, airway lesions are an alternative indication. Case Report: A 51-year-old female was transferred with a large tracheal tear after plastic tracheotomy. Due to a critical ventilation situation with hypercapnia, conservative management was set and V-V ECMO was installed. With optimized tube positioning, minimal ventilation and gas transfer via V-V ECMO, a complete healing of the injury could be achieved. Discussion: Fast diagnosis of tracheal injuries is essential; transfer to a specialized centre should be considered. In our case, organ support via ECMO was necessary due to a difficult ventilation situation with persisting hypercapnia. Thus, reduction in ventilation pressures with reduction of possible leakage and healing of the tracheal tear could be achieved. Conclusion: Management of tracheal tears is complex; in severe cases special therapy concepts such as the use of V-V ECMO may become necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is a region involved in navigation. In this study, we investigated the role of the RSC in navigation in a large-scale environment where the destination is not visible from the current location. We used a large maze where the routes could be freely designed by inserting and removing plates. In Experiment 1, rats learned a specific route in the maze and then were tested with a shortcut route in addition to the learned route. The rats with RSC lesions utilized the shortcut faster than those in the control group. In Experiment 2, rats were initially trained to follow a specific route, and subsequently, we tested the effects of a small change in the environment on their route-following behavior. In the test, the rats with RSC lesions demonstrated more errors than those in the control group. This suggests that lesions in the RSC make navigation to a goal unstable. These findings suggest that the RSC may be involved in the ability to perform appropriate behavior at a segment on a learned route in a large-scale environment, which drives habitually following the learned route.

Abstract Background This study evaluates the lesion contrast in a cost-effective long axial field of view (FOV) PET scanner, called the walk-through PET (WT-PET). The scanner consists of two flat detector panels covering the entire torso and head, scanning patients in an upright position for increased throughput. High-resolution, depth-of-interaction capable, monolithic detector technology is used to provide good spatial resolution and enable detection of smaller lesions. Methods Monte Carlo GATE simulations are used in conjunction with XCAT anthropomorphic phantoms to evaluate lesion contrast in lung, liver and breast for various lesion diameters (10, 7 and 5 mm), activity concentration ratios (8:1, 4:1 and 2:1) and patient BMIs (18–37). Images were reconstructed iteratively with listmode maximum likelihood expectation maximization, and contrast recovery coefficients (CRCs) were obtained for the reconstructed lesions. Results Results shows notable variations in contrast recovery coefficients (CRC) across different lesion sizes and organ locations within the XCAT phantoms. Specifically, our findings reveal that 10 mm lesions consistently exhibit higher CRC compared to 7 mm and 5 mm lesions, with increases of approximately 54% and 330%, respectively, across all investigated organs. Moreover, high contrast recovery is observed in most liver lesions regardless of diameter or activity ratio (average CRC = 42%), as well as in the 10 mm lesions in the lung. Notably, for the 10 mm lesions, the liver demonstrates 42% and 62% higher CRC compared to the lung and breast, respectively. This trend remains consistent across lesion sizes, with the liver consistently exhibiting higher CRC values compared to the lung and breast: 7 mm lesions show an increase of 96% and 41%, while 5 mm lesions exhibit approximately 294% and 302% higher CRC compared to the lung and breast, respectively. Conclusion A comparison with a conventional pixelated LSO long axial FOV PET shows similar performance, achieved at a reduced cost for the WT-PET due to a reduction in required number of detectors.

In Iraq, one of the endemic illnesses is cutaneous Leishmaniasis. This study aimed to characterize local isolates of Leishmania tropica and Leishmania major molecularly and determine how closely related they were to reference isolates from nearby nations. A total of 140 and 60 skin lesion samples were collected from patients and dogs, respectively, from September 2021 to March 2022; molecular methods carried out to achieve the prevalence of cutaneous Leishmaniasis in humans and dogs, Nested PCR was done using the kDNA gene for phylogenetic analyses. The overall prevalence of cutaneous Leishmaniasis was 35% and 88.33% in humans and dogs, respectively; the findings showed the total prevalence of Leishmania major significant in dogs was 71.69% compared to Leishmania tropica was 28.35% with significant differences. Fifteen positive samples (Ten human and five dogs) were sequencing to Gen-bank database for phylogenetic analyses, which detected that seven of local isolates skin lesion human samples belongs to Leishmania major isolates IQ Kut isolates, Iraq and three isolates belongs to Leishmania tropica isolates IQ3, Iraq. Four of the local isolates skin lesion dog samples belong to Leishmania major isolates IQ Kut, Iraq, and one isolate belong to Leishmania tropica isolates IQ-7 Iraq. Determining many Leishmania major in humans and dogs indicates that dogs are key parasite reservoirs and significant zoonotic contributes to disease transmission to humans in the Middle Euphrates, Iraq.

Background: This study evaluates the lesion contrast in a cost-effective long axial field of view (FOV) PET scanner, called the walk-through PET (WT-PET). The scanner consists of two flat detector panels covering the entire torso and head, scanning patients in an upright position for increased throughput. High-resolution, depth-of-interaction capable, monolithic detector technology is used to provide good spatial resolution and enable detection of smaller lesions. Methods: Monte Carlo GATE simulations are used in conjunction with XCAT anthropomorphic phantoms to evaluate lesion contrast in lung, liver and breast for various lesion diameters (10, 7 and 5 mm), activity concentration ratios (8:1, 4:1 and 2:1) and patient BMIs (18–37). Images were reconstructed iteratively with listmode maximum likelihood expectation maximization, and contrast recovery coefficients (CRCs) were obtained for the reconstructed lesions. Results: Results shows notable variations in contrast recovery coefficients (CRC) across different lesion sizes and organ locations within the XCAT phantoms. Specifically, our findings reveal that 10 mm lesions consistently exhibit higher CRC compared to 7 mm and 5 mm lesions, with increases of approximately 54% and 330%, respectively, across all investigated organs. Moreover, high contrast recovery is observed in most liver lesions regardless of diameter or activity ratio (average CRC = 42%), as well as in the 10 mm lesions in the lung. Notably, for the 10 mm lesions, the liver demonstrates 42% and 62% higher CRC compared to the lung and breast, respectively. This trend remains consistent across lesion sizes, with the liver consistently exhibiting higher CRC values compared to the lung and breast: 7 mm lesions show an increase of 96% and 41%, while 5 mm lesions exhibit approximately 294% and 302% higher CRC compared to the lung and breast, respectively. Conclusion: A comparison with a conventional pixelated LSO long axial FOV PET shows similar performance, achieved at a reduced cost for the WT-PET due to a reduction in required number of detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. Determine the clinical-epidemiological characteristics of patients with ulcers in the lower extremities, which leads to adequate initial orientation of their etiology and management in primary health care, as it is a frequent pathology and with great economic, social, and environmental impact. general condition of the patient. Methodology. A descriptive, crosssectional study was carried out, which included 30 patients, evaluating various clinical and epidemiological variables statistically analyzed and the results presented in graphs and tables. Results. 60% were female and 40% male, the average age was 63.33 years; 36.66% had previous ulcers. In 60% the etiology of the ulcer was venous and in 23.33% it was neuropathic; 43.33% had grade I ulcers, and 36.67% had grade II ulcers. The most frequent comorbidities were arterial hypertension, venous insufficiency, and diabetes mellitus. The correct initial etiological diagnosis based on the anamnesis and clinical assessment is crucial to install the appropriate treatment measures and avoid chronicity and recurrence of the ulcer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sports injuries are common and impair the lives of athletes, coaching staff, and teammates. Objective: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of musculoskeletal injuries reported by men and women amateur basketball players. Methodology: This cross-sectional analytical study included 121 amateur basketball players. They identified and characterized injuries using the Referred Morbidity Survey. Results: The study included 66 males (n = 54.5%) and 55 females (n = 45.5%); their mean age was 23.0 years. All participants had at least one injury, and 49 (40.5%) presented two or more. The most common injuries were sprains (n = 59; 27.2%), dislocations (n = 34; 15.8%), contusions (n = 25; 11.5%), and ligament injuries (n = 19; 8.8%). The anatomical sites most affected were the ankle (n = 57; 26.3%), the knee (n = 40; 18.4%), the hand (n = 26; 12.0%), and the leg (n = 15; 6.9%). Regarding the mechanisms of injury, the most cited were jumping (n = 43; 19.8%), falling (n = 43; 19.8%), colliding with an opponent (n = 41; 18.9%), and direct trauma (n = 24; 11.1%). Regarding the moment of injury, 84 cases (38.7%) occurred during competitions, followed by 82 (37.8%) during training sessions. Conclusion: Amateur basketball players presented a high prevalence of injuries; the most common were sprains, dislocations, and contusions, mainly affecting the ankle and knee. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of studies robustly support a critical role for the hippocampus in spatial memory across a wide range of species. Hippocampal damage produces clear and consistent deficits in allocentric spatial memory that requires navigating through space in rodents, non‐human primates, and humans. By contrast, damage to the hippocampus spares performance in most non‐navigational spatial memory tasks—which can typically be resolved using egocentric cues. We previously found that transient inactivation of the hippocampus impairs performance in the Hamilton Search Task (HST), a self‐ordered non‐navigational spatial search task. A key question, however, still needs to be addressed. Acute, reversible inactivation of the hippocampus may have resulted in an impairment in the HST because this approach does not allow for neuroplastic compensation, may prevent the development of an alternative learning strategy, and/or may produce network‐based effects that disrupt performance. We compared learning and performance on the HST in male rhesus macaques (six unoperated control animals and six animals that underwent excitotoxic lesions of the hippocampus). We found a significant impairment in animals with hippocampal lesions. While control animals improved in performance over the course of 45 days of training, performance in animals with hippocampal lesions remained at chance levels. The HST thus represents a sensitive assay for probing the integrity of the hippocampus in non‐human primates. These data provide evidence demonstrating that the hippocampus is critical for this type of non‐navigational spatial memory, and help to reconcile the many null findings previously reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is a region involved in navigation. In this study, we investigated the role of the RSC in navigation in a large-scale environment where the destination is not visible from the current location. We used a large maze where the routes could be freely designed by inserting and removing plates. In Experiment 1, rats learned a specific route in the maze and then were tested with a shortcut route in addition to the learned route. The rats with RSC lesions utilized the shortcut faster than those in the control group. In Experiment 2, rats were initially trained to follow a specific route, and subsequently, we tested the effects of a small change in the environment on their route-following behavior. In the test, the rats with RSC lesions demonstrated more errors than those in the control group. This suggests that lesions in the RSC make navigation to a goal unstable. These findings suggest that the RSC may be involved in the ability to perform appropriate behavior at a segment on a learned route in a large-scale environment, which drives habitually following the learned route. • We examined the effect of lesions of RSC on route navigation in a complex maze. • RSC lesioned rats paradoxically learned to use a novel shortcut route faster than control rats. • A local structural change induced more deviations of route-following in lesioned rats. • These suggest that the function of RSC in appropriate behavior in a route segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Clinical diagnosis of ovarian cancer involves a combination of symptoms, blood tumor marker tests, and MRI images. Accurate diagnosis is essential for developing effective treatment strategies. MRI is commonly used due to its convenience. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic value of preoperative MRI in distinguishing between benign and malignant ovarian lesions before surgery. Methods: We performed a systematic search of literature in PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus with relevant keywords. Studies that did not perform MRI or had insufficient data were excluded. Data extraction was performed based on a standardized sheet. Meta analysis was performed with STATA, R, and R-Studio. Results: The initial search retrieved 14,967 articles from which 3,921 duplicates were removed. Finally, 15 studies were included based on our eligibility criteria. The pooled sensitivity of MRI in detection benign and malignant lesions was 89% (95% CI: 81%-94%, p-value<0.01). The pooled specificity MRI in detection benign and malignant lesions was 94% (95% CI: 90%-97%, p-value<0.01). There was considerable heterogeneity among the included studies. The I2 index indicates a generalized heterogeneity of 61% with heterogeneity of the sensitivity and specificity being 67% and 57%, respectively. Conclusion: MRI shows high sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing between benign and malignant ovarian tumors. Most studies reported sensitivity above 80% and specificity exceeding 90%. Further largescale, multi-center prospective studies are needed to further evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of MRI in diagnosing ovarian neoplasms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Based on the present global burden of oral diseases, unmet dental needs affect a more significant population worldwide. It is characterised by the need for dental care but receiving delayed or no care. The contributing factors include lack of knowledge about oral health, its consequences, and the availability of dental services. We need to find out the scale of the problem of unmet dental needs for the south Indian population. Therefore, the objective was to determine the relationship between the presence of oral disease and the quality of life-related to oral health using the OHIP-14 tool. Methods: The unmet dental requirements of the south Indian population were determined using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Close-ended questions were used to obtain data from two investigators trained to record the answers from the patients. The data was collected using the OHIP-14 questionnaire, which consists of 14 items divided into seven domains with two questions each. Physical pain, psychological impairment, physical disability, psychological disability, social disability, and disability were all considered. An additional analysis of artificial neural network (ANN) was done. Results: The response rate was 100 per cent. N = 1029 people replied to the questionnaire about their unmet dental needs. N = 497 (48.3%) were men, whereas N = 532 (51.7%) were women. The average age was 31.7811.72. As their current occupation, most of the included subjects (60.1%) were students. The respondents had no known personal habits and a mixed diet (94.93%). The average BMI was 24.022.59 (14-30.9). OHIP was present in 62.3% of the population. The average OHIP-14 severity score was 10.97. (8.54). The severity and degree of unmet dental need were substantial (p0.01) due to pain in the mouth/teeth/gums, malocclusion, and gum bleeding. The most common OHIP-14 domains affected by unmet oral needs were psychological discomfort, psychological limitation, social limitation, and feeling handicapped. The analysis of ANN revealed that high OHIP scores were primarily attributed to dental caries, poor oral health, and dental aesthetics. Conclusion: The severity and degree of unmet dental needs were significant among the south Indian population. The most common oral health status that impacted OHIP-14 domains were pain, malocclusion, and bleeding gums. These patients were significantly impacted by psychological discomfort and social limitations and felt handicapped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]