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A two-year field experiment was executed to investigate the impact of different controlled irrigation and drainage regimes on the morphological and mechanical traits related to the lodging resistance of rice in Jiangsu province, China. Three irrigation regimes were comprised of conventional flooding practices (CK), controlled irrigation and drainage mode I (CID-1), and controlled irrigation and drainage mode II (CID-2). Results indicated that there was no significant difference in the heights of rice plants under the three irrigation regimes, but the average diameter of CK treatment was 21% higher than that of CID-2 in the 2013 season. Similarly, the value of the section modulus of CK was significantly higher than that of CID-2 (p < 0.05). On the contrary, the length of basal internodes of CK and CID-1 was significantly lower than that of CID-2 in 2013 (p < 0.05). For both seasons, the safety factor against stem breakage (SFs) of CID-2 always had the lowest value under different irrigation regimes, which might be related to the significantly lower values of bending strength of culm at breaking (S) and the bending stress (BS) as well as lower ash content and cellulose content in CID-2 compared with CK and CID-1. Collectively, properly increasing the depth of water levels after heavy rain under the current water-saving mode (CID-1) would not increase the risk of lodging for rice plants, whereas if the water depth after heavy rain was kept higher than 20 cm (CID-2), the SFs would be significantly lower than that of CK, and the rice plants would be much more likely to undergo lodging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duckweed (Lemna minor L.) is a common plant in paddy fields, absorbing nutrients, heavy metals, and agrochemical residues from irrigation water, thus playing a pivotal role in ecosystem sustainability. To reveal the combined effects of irrigation modes, rice cultivars, and fertilizer types on duckweed, tank experiments were conducted in two rice-growing seasons (2019 and 2020) in Jiangsu Province, China. The experiment included three factors, each consisting of two levels: rice cultivars (R) (japonica rice (J) and indica rice (X)), fertilizer types (F) (organic fertilizer (O) and chemical fertilizer (C)), and irrigation modes (I) (controlled irrigation (1) and shallow-frequent irrigation (2)). Results indicated that organic fertilizer significantly increased the total phosphorus concentration by 396% and promoted DCR by 703% in floodwater as compared with chemical fertilizer. The significantly higher tiller numbers of indica rice increased the shade level, repressing maximum electron transfer rate (ETR max) of duckweed, and consequently reduced DCR by 32.8% as compared with japonica rice. A cyclic pattern of Production-Death-Reproduction of duckweed under controlled irrigation was observed, which depended on the periodic cycle of Appear-Disappear-Reappear of the floodwater. Setting the irrigation lower limit to 87.9% saturation water content(θs) can benefit the regeneration of duckweed after re-watering. Similar to a capacitor that could store and release electric charge in circuit system by regulating voltage, under the application of organic fertilizer (battery), duckweed (capacitors) efficiently absorbs, decomposes, and subsequently reabsorbs nutrients by the regulation of controlled irrigation (switch), releasing fertility gradually for the rice plant (electrical appliance). • Duckweed is influenced by combined effects of fertilizer, rice and irrigation types. • Setting irrigation lower limit at 87.9% θ s aids duckweed regrowth. • Duckweed absorbs, decomposes, reabsorbs nutrients—acts as "fertilizer capacitors". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer has thwarted as a major health problem affecting the global population. With an alarming increase in the patient population suffering from diverse varieties of cancers, the global demographic data predicts sharp escalation in the number of cancer patients. This can be expected to reach 420 million cases by 2025. Among the diverse types of cancers, the most frequently diagnosed cancers are the breast, colorectal, prostate and lung cancer. From years, conventional treatment approaches like surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy have been practiced. In the past few years, increasing research on molecular level diagnosis and treatment of cancers have significantly changed the realm of cancer treatment. Lately, uses of advanced chemotherapy and immunotherapy like treatments have gained significant progress in the cancer therapy, but these approaches have several limitations on their safety and toxicity. This has generated lot of momentum for the evolution of new drug delivery approaches for the effective delivery of anticancer therapeutics, which may improve the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effect of the drugs along with significant reduction in the side effects. In this regard, the protein-based nano-medicines have gained wider attention in the management of cancer. Proteins are organic macromolecules essential, for life and have quite well explored in developing the nano-carriers. Furthermore, it provides passive or active tumour cell targeted delivery, by using protein based nanovesicles or virus like structures, antibody drug conjugates, viral particles, etc. Moreover, by utilizing various formulation strategies, both the animal and plant derived proteins can be converted to produce self-assembled virus like nano-metric structures with high efficiency in targeting the metastatic cancer cells. Therefore, the present review extensively discusses the applications of protein-based nano-medicine with special emphasis on intracellular delivery/drug targeting ability for anticancer drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous evidence have shown that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) TMPO antisense RNA 1 (TMPO-AS1) is involved in the aggressiveness of several cancers. Nevertheless, the precise functions of TMOP-AS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are still unresolved. Materials and Methods: The expressions of TMPO-AS1 and miR-320a were detected in HCC tissues and cells by qRT-RCR. The cell growth, migration and invasion were detected by colony formation, wound healing assay and Transwell assay, respectively. The targeting relation between miR-320a and TMPO-AS1 was predicted by bioinformatics analysis and identified by luciferase reporter gene as well as FISH assay. The expression of SERPINE1 MRNA Binding Protein 1 (SERBP1) was detected by Western blot. The growth of HCC cell was analyzed using transplanted tumor model. Results: Currently, we revealed that TMPO-AS1 was overexpressed in clinical HCC samples and a panel of HCC cell lines. Clinically, a higher level of TMPO-AS1 was connected to the advanced stage of HCC and worse prognosis of patients. Depletion of TMPO-AS1 repressed HCC cell viability, migration ability and invasiveness. Nevertheless, upregulation of TMPO-AS1 caused opposite results. Further studies revealed that lncRNA TMPO-AS1 was largely located in the cytoplasm of HCC cell and sponge miR-320a, resulting in increasing the level of SERBP1 in HCC cell. Finally, TMPO-AS1 silencing suppressed tumor growth of HCC cell in vivo. Conclusion: Collectively, our results suggested that TMPO-AS1 was a promoting factor for the aggressive behaviors of HCC cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aimed to establish a predictive model for the presence of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer classification stage B or stage C4 (BCLC B/C) and further verify its accuracy, enabling clinicians to accurately predict the efficacy of TACE and propose individualized therapy to further optimize multidisciplinary team plans.Materials and Methods: A retrospective database review was performed, including 191 patients (39 females and 152 males; aged 50-76 years with a mean age of 55 ± 10 years) who received three consecutive TACE sessions for treating HCC (BCLC B/C) in 1 month apart, for a total of 3 months. After three TACE treatments, a total of 95 patients among the 191 patients showed TACE resistance, 112 cases were randomly selected to build the modeling group, and the remaining 79 cases formed a verification group. Some prognostic risk factors were obtained through clinical observation. Then, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed using the logistic proportional hazard regression model. Based on multivariate analysis results, a risk-index model was established and its effects on predicting the incidence of TACE resistance of those patients were evaluated.Results: Based on the results of the multivariate analysis, to show that were four-independent factors affecting a prognosis of patients with TACE resistance after three consecutive TACE treatment in 3 months, which were red blood cell (RBC), neutrophil count (NC), model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), and Apoprotein A1. The risk index model established according to the above factors was expressed as a predictive indice (PI), and PI = -3.79 + 4.916 × RBC - 1.547 × NC - 4.142 × MELD + 10.789 × ApoA1. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) of PI of the modeling group was 0.986, which was significantly higher than that of each component index in the equation. The specificity of the modeling group was 86.3%, and the sensitivity was 70.4%, and 43 of 61 patients with PI ≤ 5.36 (70.5%) had a good outcome 3 months after consecutive TACE. From of the PI, among 51 patients with TACE resistance after consecutive TACE, 32 (62.7%) had a PI > 5.36, and only 19 patients were misidentified as having TACE resistance because of their PI > 5.36. The accuracy was 82.1%. The specificity of the validation group was 85.9%, and the sensitivity was 77.9%. The disease was under control in 29 of the 35 patients with PI ≤ 5.36 (82.9%) after consecutive TACE. According to PI, among the 44 patients with TACE resistence after consecutive TACE, 38 (86.4%) had PI > 5.36, and only 6 patients were misidentified as TACE resistance due to their PI > 5.36, with an accuracy of 87.3%, respectively.Conclusions: According to the PI of this study, we investigated the risk factors and protective factors to estimate the presence of TACE resistance after three consecutive TACE treatment, so as it could help doctors to evaluate the patientet condition and choose more reasonable treatment methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Vertically heterogeneous soil salinity was able to relieved salt stress in tomato. • Plant physiological parameters were improved under heterogeneous salinity. • Chlorophyll fluorescence was correlated with the water-weighted mean soil salinity. Abstract Soil salinity is rarely uniform, but the understanding of the physiological responses of plants to vertically heterogeneous salinity in the root zone is still limited. In the present study, pot experiments were conducted in a greenhouse from April to July in 2014 and 2015. In both experiments, four treatments, T 1:1 , T 1:5 , T 2:4 and T 3:3 , differing in their vertical soil salt distributions, were established, with salt contents of 1‰, 1‰, 2‰ and 3‰ in the upper soil layer and 1‰, 5‰, 4‰ and 3‰ in the lower soil layer, respectively. Straw layer was buried to isolate the upper soil layer from the lower soil layer. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the effects of vertically heterogeneous salinity on the changes in the plant biomass, shoot Na+ and K+ contents, photosynthesis rate (P n), stomatal conductance (g s), chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll contents (Chl) of tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L.var. Yazhoufenwang). Under the similar average soil salt content, the heterogeneous salt distribution in the root zone (T 1:5) prevented Na+ accumulation and promoted K+ absorption compared with the homogeneous salt distribution (T 3:3) treatment, leading to an increase in the K+/Na+ ratio. The vertically heterogeneous soil salinity in both experiments was proved to benefit photosynthesis and the related physiological parameters in tomatoes, such as stomatal conductance (g s), maximum electron transport rate (ETR max), maximal efficiency of PSII photo-chemistry (F v /F m), actual quantum yield of PSII (Φ PSⅡ) and chlorophyll content (Chl). Significant increase was observed in these parameters in T 1:5 compared with T 3:3 during the fruiting and harvesting stages (P < 0.05). Chlorophyll fluorescence (ETR max , F v /F m and Φ PSⅡ) was found to be most closely related to the water-weighted mean soil salinity (P < 0.01) rather than to the lowest, highest or mean soil salinity in the root zone. The overall results suggested that vertically heterogeneous soil salinity could relieve salt stress and benefit photosynthesis and the related physiological parameters of tomato plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to calculate the exact initial shock pressure of borehole wall induced by the blasting with axially decoupled charge. For this purpose, Starfield superposition was introduced considering the attenuation and superposition of blasting pressure, and the theoretical solution of initial borehole wall pressure was obtained for the upper and middle air-decked charging structures. Then, the explosive pressure field around the borehole was measured by cement mortar models and a dynamic pressure test system, and the pressures at multiple measuring points were simulated with numerical models established by ANSYS/LS-DYNA. The results show that the deviations between simulated and theoretical pressures are smaller than 10%, indicating the reliability of the theoretical formula derived by Starfield superposition. For the upper air-decked charging structure, the initial shock pressure of the charging section followed a convex distribution, with the peak value near the charge centre. With the increase in the distance from the charging section, the borehole wall shock pressure in the air gap underwent a sharp decline initially before reaching a relatively constant level. The minimum pressure was observed at the hole collar. For the middle air-decked charging structure, the pressures at both ends of the charging section obeyed a convex distribution, with the peak value near the charge centre. Finally, the author optimized air-decked charging structure of periphery boreholes within Grade III surrounding rocks of Banjie tunnel, China, and proved the enhancement effect of the theoretical findings on smooth blasting. The research findings provide valuable references to the theoretical and experimental calculation of air column length and other key parameters of air-deck blasting and shed new light on the charging structure determination of smooth blasting and blasting vibration control for the excavation of large-section, deep mining roadways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data of patients with Stewart-Treves Syndrome (STS), and to compare them with the corresponding pathological data. A total of 4,289 cases of secondary upper limb lymphedema (LE) from a single center, including 5 female cases of STS who underwent modified-radical post mastectomy, were included in the study. All cases were diagnosed pathologically, and by conventional and contrast-enhanced (ce)MRI scans. A total of 43 tumor nodules (Φ ≥4 mm) were examined. According to the immunohistochemical results, the 5 cases of STS were divided into 2 types; 4 patients exhibited STS type I [angiosarcoma (AS)] and 1 patient exhibited STS type 2 [mixed lymphangiosarcoma (mLAS)]. The MRI signal intensity (SI) of all the nodules was compared with the pathological results. In the T1WI sequences, all nodules showed isointensity compared with normal muscle tissues in the same image. However, in the T2WI sequences, there were the visually recognizable differences in the SI compared with the LE tissues in the two STS types. The SI of mLAS was more markedly decreased compared with that of AS. The SI of mLAS was closer to that of normal muscle tissues compared with the SI of AS. In the ceMRI, the SI of the tumor nodules was markedly increased in the two STS types, compared with non-enhancement imaging. Overall, MRI is a useful tool for the evaluation and diagnosis of STS. A chronic case of LE, in which MRI examination demonstrates nodules within the LE, may suggest a diagnosis of STS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Many studies have reported brain volume changes in smokers. However, the volume differences of grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) in young and middle-aged male smokers with different lifetime tobacco consumption (pack-years) remain uncertain. Objectives To examine the brain volume change, especially whether more pack-years smoking would be associated with smaller gray matter and white matter volume in young and middle-aged male smokers. Methods We used a 3T MR scanner and performed Diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated lie algebra (DARTEL)-based voxel-based morphometry on 53 long-term male smokers (30.72 ± 4.19 years) and 53 male healthy non-smokers (30.83 ± 5.18 years). We separated smokers to light and heavy smokers by pack-years and compared brain volume between different smoker groups and non-smokers. And then we did analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) between smokers and non-smokers by setting pack-years as covariates. Results Light and heavy smokers all displayed smaller GM and WM volume than non-smokers and more obviously in heavy smokers. The main smaller areas in light and heavy smokers were superior temporal gyrus, insula, middle occipital gyrus, posterior cingulate, precuneus in GM and posterior cingulate, thalamus and midbrain in WM, in addition, we also observed more pack-years smoking was associated with some certain smaller GM and WM volumes by ANCOVA. Conclusion Young and middle-aged male smokers had many smaller brain areas than non-smokers. Some of these areas' volume had negative correlation with pack-years, while some had not. These may due to different pathophysiological role of smokings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Astragaloside (AGS) extracted from radix astragalin (Huangqi) has been considered to be beneficial to liver diseases. In this study, we examined the role played by AGS in alleviating hepatic fibrosis function via protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) mechanisms. We hypothesized that AGS affects PAR2 signaling pathway thereby improving hepatic function in rats with hepatic fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl4). We further hypothesized that AGS attenuates impaired hepatic function evoked by CCl4 to a greater degree in diabetic animals. Methods: ELISA and Western Blot analysis were used to examine PAR2 signaling pathway in diabetic CCl4-rats and non-diabetic CCl4-rats. Results: AGS inhibited the protein expression of PAR2 and its downstream pathway PKA and PKCɛ in CCl4-rats. Notably, the effects of AGS were greater in CCl4-rats with diabetes. AGS also significantly attenuated the CCl4-induced upregulations of pro-inflammatory cytokines, namely interleukin-1β, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α accompanied with decreases of collagenic parameters such as hexadecenoic acid, laminin and hydroxyproline. Additionally, AGS improved the CCl4-induced exaggerations of liver index and functions including alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase. Moreover, TGF-β1, a marker of hepatic fibrosis, was increased in CCl4-rats and AGS inhibited increases in TGF-β1 induced by CCl4. Conclusions: AGS alleviates hepatic fibrosis by inhibiting PAR2 signaling expression and its effects are largely enhanced in diabetic animals. Targeting one or more of these signaling molecules may present new opportunities for treatment and management of hepatic fibrosis; and results of our study are likely to shed light on strategies for application of AGS because it has potentially greater therapeutic effectiveness for hepatic fibrosis in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is difficult to detect optic nerve changes in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) before the development of optic neuropathy. Purpose: To detect changes in the intraorbital segment of the optic nerve in patients with TAO using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and determine any correlations with disease severity. Material and Methods: A total of 74 participants (17 normal, 22 mild, and 35 moderate-severe TAO) were organized to be given 3-T DTI to measure fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) for the orbital segments of their optic nerves. All underwent ophthalmological examinations for visual acuity, intraocular pressure, exophthalmos, and fundoscopy, and were assessed based on the Clinical Activity Score (CAS). Univariate analysis of variance and Pearson's correlation coefficients were carried out. Results: Patients with moderate-to-severe TAO had significantly lower FA values and higher MD values (P < 0.05). FA values were negatively correlated with CAS but had no obvious correlations with the degree of exophthalmos. MD values had no obvious correlations with CAS or the degree of exophthalmos. Conclusion: DTI parameters of the intraorbital optic nerves were significantly altered in moderate-to-severe patients before onset of clinical optic nerve dysfunction and may, therefore, be used as an imaging biomarker for assessing the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the variation of fruit and stem diameter is critical for optimizing irrigation schedule of tomato under alternate partial root zone drip irrigation (APRI) and improving water use efficiency in the green house. A plant physiology monitoring system (LPS-05MD) was used to measure the variation of fruit diameter and stem diameter during the fruiting stage of tomato under three different irrigation regimes: conventional drip irrigation (CDI), APRI and fixed partial root-zone irrigation (FDI). The soil under CDI were irrigated to 100% field capacity (FC) of the root-zones (from 0 m to a maximum depth of 0.40 m during the fruiting stage) by the drip irrigation system when the soil water content (SWC) in the root-zone reaching 80% FC. During the same day, the APRI and FDI treatments received about 2/3 of the irrigation amount for CDI, but only irrigated to one part of the root-zones (approximately 1/2 of the whole root-zone). For APRI, the irrigated root zone was alternatively changed from one side to another and consequently resulted in the SWC of different sides alternately high and low; whereas in FDI treatment, only the fixed side was irrigated and the other side was kept drying during the growing season. Results indicated that the variation of fruit diameter was significantly higher (P<0.05) in sunny days with high solar radiation rate than that of cloudy day with low solar radiation rate. The increase of tomato fruit diameter per day was not significantly linearly related to average SWC of the whole root zone (R²=0.30, P=0.16), but significantly related to the average solar radiation rate (R²=0.64, P=0.018). Previous studies indicate that the magnitude of MDS (maximum daily stem shrinkage) are not constant over a period of days with the same water status but different environmental conditions, and absolute MDS values registered without considering the evaporative demand might be meaningless. Based on this, there was a positive linear relationship between MDS and ET0 (R²=0.38, P<0.001), and the relationship between the value of MDS divided by ET0 (MDS/ET0) with SWC was significant different than MDS with SWC, which indicated that normalizing the absolute MDS values by environmental parameters, such as ET0, can help to indicate the soil water status precisely. Contrary to the previous results that MDS values increase in response to drought stress, in this study, MDS of APRI decreased with increasing water stress. This might be explained by the low resistance of water flow and high hydraulic capacitance of the tomato cultivar as well as the special physiological responses under APRI. For APRI, MDS/ET0 had a close relationships with SWC in the drying and wet root-zone (R²=0.60, P=0.006 and R² =0.88, P<0.001, respectively), which indicated that MDS normalized by ET0 under APRI was influenced both by SWC of drying side and wet side, and predominantly by the irrigated root-zone. Similarly, MDS/ET0 in FDI treatment was closely linearly related with the SWC in the irrigated root-zone (R²=0.61, P<0.001), but not with the fixed drying side (R²=0.02, P=0.64). This phenomenon can be explained by the decay of roots in the drying root-zone and the diminishment of the chemical signal generated from the drying roots of FDI. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been done to investigate the relationship between MDS (or MDS/ET0) and SWC of different root zone under APRI. The data in this study can help to reveal the mechanisms of variation of fruit diameter and stem diameter, as well as providing useful information for optimizing irrigation schedule of tomato under APRI grown in greenhouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The persistent petrosquamosal sinus (PSS) is usually overlooked before or during otological surgeries, which may cause misdiagnosis or iatrogenic bleedings. Imaging characteristics have not been well summarized for PSS, especially for large consecutive cases. Purpose: To analyze the characteristics of PSS on high-resolution CT venography (HRCTV) in order to improve imaging diagnostic accuracy as well as to assist clinical management. Material and Methods: Five hundred and thirty-two consecutive patients with pulsatile tinnitus who underwent CT angiography and venography examinations in the last 4 years were reviewed. Thirty patients with PSS in 39 temporal bones (TBs) were identified by two radiologists' consensus. The characteristics of PSS were analyzed according to its embryological variations. Different types of PSS were divided according to the origin and course, respectively. Results: The average diameter of the PSS was 1.4 mm. Twenty-nine TBs (74%) had PSS origin from the dorsolateral surface of the transverse sinus before its junction with the superior petrosal sinus (Position A); three TBs (8%) had PSS origin from the ventroinferior surface of the transverse sinus after or before the junction (Position B or C); seven TBs (18%) had PSS without definite origin (Position D). Eighteen TBs (46%) had PSS course in a lateral bony canal/groove (lateral canal type); 15 TBs (38%) had PSS course in petrosquamosal fissure (PSF) (PSF type); six TBs (15%) had PSS course in both (lateral canal/PSF type). For other imaging findings, a branch entering the cranial part of PSS was identified in 10 TBs (26%); a vascular mass was formed in five TBs (13%); focal defect of bony wall was observed in seven TBs (18%). A postglenoid foramen (PGF) was detected in 25 TBs (64%). Conclusion: HRCTV can mostly identify the characteristics of PSS similar to its anatomic findings and the optimal imaging technique has the potential to improve its clinical management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physiological basis for the advantage of alternate partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) over common deficit irrigation (DI) in improving crop water use efficiency (WUE) remains largely elusive. Here leaf gas exchange characteristics and photosynthetic CO2–response and light–response curves for maize (Zea mays L.) leaves exposed to PRI and DI were analysed under three N-fertilization rates, namely 75, 150, and 300 mg N kg−1 soil. Measurements of net photosynthetic rate (An) and stomatal conductance (gs) showed that, across the three N-fertilization rates, the intrinsic WUE was significantly higher in PRI than in DI leaves. Analysis of the CO2–response curve revealed that both carboxylation efficiency (CE) and the CO2-saturated photosynthetic rate (Asat) were significantly higher in PRI than in DI leaves across the three N-fertilization rates; whereas the N-fertilization rates did not influence the shape of the curves. The enhanced CE and Asat in the PRI leaves was accompanied by significant decreases in carbon isotope discrimination (Δ13C) and bundle-sheath cell leakiness to CO2 (Φ). Analysis of the light–response curve indicated that, across the three N-fertilization rates, the quantum yield (α) and light-saturated gross photosynthetic rate (Amax) were identical for the two irrigation treatments; whilst the convexity (κ) of the curve was significantly greater in PRI than in DI leaves, which coincided with the greater CE and Asat derived from the CO2–response curve at a photosynthetic photon flux density of 1500 μmol m−2 s−1. Collectively, the results suggest that, in comparison with the DI treatment, PRI improves photosynthetic capacity parameters CE, Asat, and κ of maize leaves and that contributes to the greater intrinsic WUE in those plants. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The effects of alternate partial root-zone drying (PRD) irrigation as compared with conventional deficit irrigation (DI) and full irrigation (FI) on leaf nitrogen (N) accumulation were investigated in maize (Zea mays L.) grown under three N-fertilization rates (1.5, 3.0, and 6.0gNpot−1). The plants were grown in split-root pots in a glasshouse and were exposed to FI, PRD, and DI treatments from the seventh leaf to tasselling/silking stage. The results showed that neither irrigation nor N-fertilization treatments influenced shoot biomass and plant leaf area; while PRD plants had the highest root biomass and root to shoot ratio compared to DI and FI plants. Increase of N rate significantly increased leaf N accumulation; across the N-fertilization rates, PRD and FI plants accumulated significantly greater amount of N in leaves than did DI plants. Leaf δ15N decreased significantly with increasing N-fertilization rate, and was significantly higher in PRD and FI than in DI plants. Water use efficiency (WUE) was the highest in PRD, followed by DI and the lowest in FI; while N-fertilization rate had no effect on WUE. It was concluded that an enlarged root system and an enhanced soil N availability under PRD might have contributed to the greater N accumulation in maize leaves. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Conclusions: The combined analysis of axial, coronal, and sagittal planes can increase the positive rate of diagnosis for dehiscence of the facial nerve canal. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scanning of the condition of the tympanic portion of the facial nerve canal in patients with chronic otitis media. Methods: A total of 76 ears of 72 inpatients with chronic suppurative otitis media and with cholesteatoma or granulation tissues in the attic were examined by routine HRCT. The condition (including dehiscence) of the tympanic portion of the facial nerve canal observed by CT on multi-planar images and surgical findings were recorded. Results: The condition of the tympanic portion of the facial nerve canal observed by CT could be confirmed by surgical findings in 67/76 ears, but was not confirmed in 9/76 ears. Axial-transverse images could clearly show the position and length of dehiscence on the lateral wall of the facial nerve, while coronal images were superior to axial-transverse images in showing the bony circumference of the facial nerve, and sagittal images could show the inferior wall of the facial nerve canal more clearly than images on the former planes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relationship between variation in serum uric acid (SUA) levels and brain health is largely unknown. This study aimed to examine the associations of long-term variability in SUA levels with neuroimaging metrics and cognitive function. Methods: This study recruited 1111 participants aged 25–83 years from a multicenter, community-based cohort study. The SUA concentrations were measured every two years from 2006 to 2018. We measured the intraindividual SUA variability, including the direction and magnitude of change by calculating the slope value. The associations of SUA variability with neuroimaging markers (brain macrostructural volume, microstructural integrity, white matter hyperintensity, and the presence of cerebral small vessel disease) and cognitive function were examined using generalized linear models. Mediation analyses were performed to assess whether neuroimaging markers mediate the relationship between SUA variation and cognitive function. Results: Compared with the stable group, subjects with increased or decreased SUA levels were all featured by smaller brain white matter volume (beta = − 0.25, 95% confidence interval [CI] − 0.39 to − 0.11 and beta = − 0.15, 95% CI − 0.29 to − 0.02). Participants with progressively increased SUA exhibited widespread disrupted microstructural integrity, featured by lower global fractional anisotropy (beta = − 0.24, 95% CI − 0.38 to − 0.10), higher mean diffusivity (beta = 0.16, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.28) and radial diffusivity (beta = 0.19, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.31). Elevated SUA was also associated with cognitive decline (beta = − 0.18, 95% CI − 0.32 to − 0.04). White matter atrophy and impaired brain microstructural integrity mediated the impact of SUA increase on cognitive decline. Conclusions: It is the magnitude of SUA variation rather than the direction that plays a critical negative role in brain health, especially for participants with hyperuricemia. Smaller brain white matter volume and impaired microstructural integrity mediate the relationship between increased SUA level and cognitive function decline. Long-term stability of SUA level is recommended for maintaining brain health and preventing cognitive decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the effect of the transverse sinus (TS) stenosis (TSS) position caused by arachnoid granulation on patients with venous pulsatile tinnitus (VPT) and to further identify the types of TSS that are of therapeutic significance for patients. Multiphysics interaction models of six patients with moderate TSS caused by arachnoid granulation and virtual stent placement in TSS were reconstructed, including three patients with TSS located in the middle segment of the TS (group 1) and three patients with TTS in the middle and proximal involvement segment of the TS (group 2). The transient multiphysics interaction simulation method was applied to elucidate the differences in biomechanical and acoustic parameters between the two groups. The results revealed that the blood flow pattern at the TS and sigmoid sinus junction was significantly changed depending on the stenosis position. Preoperative patients had increased blood flow in the TSS region and TSS downstream where the blood flow impacted the vessel wall. In group 1, the postoperative blood flow pattern, average wall pressure, vessel wall vibration, and sound pressure level of the three patients were comparable to the preoperative state. However, the postoperative blood flow velocity decreased in group 2. The postoperative average wall pressure, vessel wall vibration, and sound pressure level of the three patients were significantly improved compared with the preoperative state. Intravascular intervention therapy should be considered for patients with moderate TSS caused by arachnoid granulations in the middle and proximal involvement segment of the TS. TSS might not be considered the cause of VPT symptoms in patients with moderate TSS caused by arachnoid granulation in the middle segment of the TS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to systematically investigate structural and functional alterations in amygdala subregions using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with tinnitus with or without affective dysfunction. Sixty patients with persistent tinnitus and 40 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Based on a questionnaire assessment, 26 and 34 patients were categorized into the tinnitus patients with affective dysfunction (TPAD) and tinnitus patients without affective dysfunction (TPWAD) groups, respectively. MRI‐based measurements of gray matter volume, fractional anisotropy (FA), fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), degree centrality (DC), and functional connectivity (FC) were conducted within 14 amygdala subregions for intergroup comparisons. Associations between the MRI properties and clinical characteristics were estimated via partial correlation analyses. Compared with that of the HCs, the TPAD and TPWAD groups exhibited significant structural and functional changes, including white matter integrity (WMI), fALFF, ReHo, DC, and FC alterations, with more pronounced WMI changes in the TPAD group, predominantly within the left auxiliary basal or basomedial nucleus (AB/BM), right central nucleus, right lateral nuclei (dorsal portion), and left lateral nuclei (ventral portion containing basolateral portions). Moreover, the TPAD group exhibited decreased FC between the left AB/BM and left middle occipital gyrus and right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left basal nucleus and right SFG, and right lateral nuclei (intermediate portion) and right SFG. In combination, these amygdalar alterations exhibited a sensitivity of 65.4% and specificity of 96.9% in predicting affective dysfunction in patients with tinnitus. Although similar structural and functional amygdala remodeling were observed in the TPAD and TPWAD groups, the changes were more pronounced in the TPAD group. These changes mainly involved alterations in functionality and white matter microstructure in various amygdala subregions; in combination, these changes could serve as an imaging‐based predictor of emotional disorders in patients with tinnitus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Partial correlation analysis was performed to account for the interference of steatosis changes and inflammatory factors, to determine the true correlation between fibrosis and IVIM parameters (Dfast, Dslow, and F), and to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of IVIM for liver fibrosis. Methods: A total of 106 patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) examined by IVIM from November 2016 to November 2023 at our hospital were retrospectively included. Preliminary analysis of each IVIM parameter and correlations with pathological findings were performed using Spearman correlation analysis, and partial correlation analysis was used to exclude the interference of other pathological factors, thus yielding the true correlations between IVIM parameters (Dfast, Dslow, and F) and pathology. The diagnostic efficacy of IVIM parameters for diagnosing MASLD was assessed via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Spearman correlation analysis of all the IVIM parameters revealed correlations with steatosis, lobular inflammation, and ballooning. Partial correlation analysis indicated that Dfast was correlated with the pathological fibrosis stage (r = − 0.593, P < 0.001), Dslow was correlated with the pathological steatosis score (r = − 0.313, P < 0.05), and F was correlated with the pathological fibrosis stage and steatosis score (r = − 0.456 and 0.255, P < 0.001 and P < 0.05). In the diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, significant hepatic fibrosis, advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, Dfast achieved areas under the ROC curve of 0.763, 0.801, 0.853, and 0.897, respectively. The threshold values for diagnosing different fibrosis stages using Dfast (10–3 mm2/s) were 57.613, 54.587, 52.714, and 51.978, respectively. Conclusion: According to our partial correlation analysis, there was a moderate correlation between Dfast and F according to fibrosis stage, and Dfast was not influenced by inflammation or steatosis when diagnosing fibrosis in MASLD patients. A relatively close Dfast threshold is insufficient for accurately and noninvasively assessing various stages of MASLD fibrosis. In clinical practice, this approach can be considered an alternative method for the preliminary assessment of fibrosis in MASLD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore whether preoperative diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) can be used to evaluate the prognosis of anal fistula and identify the influence factors of postoperative recurrence.Methods: This is a retrospective study of 117 patients with anal fistula who have undergone preoperative DW-MRI and surgery. All patients were followed up by telephone or reexamination within 2 years after surgery. Of the 117 patients, 35 were excluded due to loss of follow-up and only 82 were included in this study. MRI fistula imaging-related data were analyzed, and fistula severity was scored using criteria of both local extension of fistulas and active inflammation for a total maximum score of 22. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of the fistula in patients with anal fistula during preoperative MRI examination was measured. According to whether anal fistula patients are accompanied by perianal abscess, they are divided into two groups, namely anal fistula group and anal fistula with abscess group. Based on whether patients with anal fistula recur after surgery, they were further divided into recurrent group and non-recurrent group.Results: 82 patients with anal fistula were included in this analysis, 23 of them recurred and 59 were cured. Among patients with perianal abscess, the mean ADC value of the recurrent group was (1.19 ± 0.21)×10-3 mm2/s, which is significantly lower than that of the non-recurrent group (1.36 ± 0.19)×10-3 mm2/s. There were significant statistical differences in ADC values between the two groups (p = 0.03). Among patients with anal fistulas without abscesses, 15 patients recurred after surgery, with a mean ADC value of (1.45 ± 0.27) ×10-3 mm2/s, and 33 patients didn't occur, with a mean ADC value of (1.44 ± 0.31)×10-3 mm2/s. The ADC value of preoperative fistula in patients was negative significant correlation with MRI findings score (r= -0.332, P = 0.002). Risk factors for the recurrence after anal fistula surgery include the time interval between MRI and operation, multiple fistula tracks. Fatigue, excessive intake of spicy or greasy food and diarrhea may also be external risk factors for postoperative recurrence of patients with anal fistula.Conclusions: DW-MRI has important application value for the prognosis evaluation of anal fistula. Complex type of anal fistula and improper lifestyle are the main risk factors affecting the recurrence after anal fistula surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is an important predictor of metastatic tumour recurrence and is associated with adverse outcomes and poor prognosis in Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. The association between varying regimens of anti-viral drugs with the incidence of MVI in HBV-related HCC has been demonstrated, however, no meta-analysis of the available data has been conducted. Therefore, the current study sought to evaluate the association of preoperative antiviral therapy with incidence of microvascular invasion in HCC hepatitis virus patients. A systematic search of the literature was performed in MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus, up to January 2020. A random-effects model was used to estimate pooled odds ratios (ORs). Overall, six studies, with 4988 patients, met our inclusion criteria. The pooled OR of MVI in the patients who had preoperative antiviral therapy versus the patients who did not have antiviral therapy was; OR: 0.60, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49–0.73; I2 = 25%. In this study, a significant reduction in the OR of MVI was evident in patients who had anti-viral therapy. • Antiviral therapy reduces the risk of microvascular invasion. • HCC patients who had antiviral regimes had a 40% lower risk of microvascular invasion. • Antiviral therapy helps to improve the prognosis of HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate simulation of evapotranspiration (ET) is essential to enhance efficient irrigation management in the maize field. Here, we evaluated the performance of four mathematical models for estimating the ET of maize. The four models based on surface resistance calculate ET from different vapor sources, which are Penman‐Monteith (PM) through the "big leaf" model, the Shuttleworth‐Wallace (SW) model for distinguishing between soil and canopy, the clumping (C) model for distinguishing between canopy, soils under the canopy and bare soil, and the seasonal clumping (Cj) model for dividing ET into transpiration of sunlit leaves and shaded leaves, evaporation of bare soil surface, sunlit soil surface of canopy gap fraction, and canopy shaded soil surfaces. The models were calibrated by ET measured from a weighing lysimeter, transpiration by the sap flux method, and soil evaporation by micro‐lysimeters in 2014, 2015, and 2017. Results showed that the measured daily transpiration was 3.32 mm/day during the full‐grown stage of maize, and the mean measured daily soil evaporation was 1.46 mm/day. The performance of the sap flow for transpiration plus micro‐lysimeter for soil evaporation method was consistent with the large‐weighted lysimeter method in measuring daily ET. For simulating versus measuring hourly transpiration, the Cj model performed better than the C model with a slope of 0.94, determination coefficient (R2) of 0.85, mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.08 mm/h, and modified agreement index (d) of 0.81. In simulating daily soil evaporation, the Cj model also had a higher slope and less MAE than the C and SW models. Nevertheless, the Cj model yielded increased slope and d and decreased MAE between simulated and measured daily ET. The most sensitive environmental factor in the Cj model is temperature. With a 50% increase in temperature, ET, transpiration, and evaporation increase by 45%, 36%, and 69%, respectively. In summary, the Cj model improved the accuracy for hourly and daily ET of maize and helped separate plant transpiration and soil evaporation, thus giving an available approach for precision irrigation in water management of maize planting systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the effects of irrigation regime and soil texture on potassium-use efficiency (KUE) of rice (Oryza sativa. L) is essential for improving rice productivity. In this regard, experiments were conducted from July to October in 2016 and 2017 by using a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement with four replications. The rice plants were grown in three soils, with clay contents of 40%, 50%, and 60%, which were marked as S (40%), S (50%), and S (60%), respectively. For each soil type, irrigation regimes, namely, R (F, S100%), R (F, S90%), and R (F, S70%), were established by setting the lower limit of irrigation to 100%, 90%, and 70% of saturated soil water content, respectively, and the upper limit of irrigation with 30 mm of flooding water above the soil surface for all irrigation regimes. Results showed that the responses of the roots and shoots and the potassium accumulation (KA) and KUE of rice were significantly affected by the water regime and soil texture. In the same irrigation regime, increasing the soil clay content improved the K utilization of rice. Under the same soil type, R (F, S100%) was the optimal water management practice for growing rice. The R (F, S100%) S (60%) treatment presented the highest KUE, which was 56.4% in 2016 and 68.1% in 2017. The R (F, S70%) S (40%) treatment showed the lowest KUE, which was 13.8% in 2016 and 14.9% in 2017. These results enrich knowledge regarding the relationship among soil, water, and rice, and provide valuable insights on the effect of irrigation regime and soil texture on the KA and KUE of rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The current study aimed to explore the moderating role of psychological resilience in the association between workload and depressive symptoms among radiology residents during standardized residency training (SRT) in China. Methods: A nationwide cross-sectional online survey was conducted among radiology residents in China. Workload was measured by working hours per week and the frequency of frontline nightwork in the last month. Resilience was assessed by the 2-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. The hierarchical regression and simple slope analyses were performed to examine the moderating effect of resilience. Results: Among 3666 radiology residents, the mean age was 27.3 years (SD = 2.6) and 58% were female. About 24.4% of the participants reported medium to severe depressive symptoms. The hierarchical regression showed that working hours (ba = 0.11, 95%CI: 0.08, 0.14) and having frontline nightwork more than once (ba = 1.22, 95%CI: 0.67, 1.78) were positively associated with depressive symptoms; the moderating effect of resilience was significant in the association of depressive symptoms with working hours (ba = − 0.02, 95%CI: − 0.03, − 0.01) and having frontline nightwork more than once (ba = − 0.28, 95%CI: − 0.49, − 0.07). The simple slope test showed the association between workload-related variables and depressive symptoms was only significant in those with a relatively lower level of resilience. Conclusions: The study found that resilience was an important modifier buffering the positive association between workload and depressive symptoms among radiology residents in China. Future medical training programs are suggested to include effective intervention components to increase personal resilience. Clinical relevance statement: Heavy workload in clinical setting may pose adverse effect on mental health and job performance of radiology residents. The study investigated whether psychological resilience would mitigate the association between workload and depressive symptoms among Chinese radiology residents. Key Points: • Radiology residents with a heavier workload presented a higher level of depressive symptoms in China. • Psychological resilience mitigated the positive association between workload and depressive symptoms. • The association between workload and depressive symptoms was only statistically significant in radiology residents with a relatively lower level of resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study systematically investigated structural and functional alterations in the thalamus and its subregions using multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and examined its clinical relevance in tinnitus patients with different outcomes after sound therapy (narrowband noise). Methods: In total, 60 patients with persistent tinnitus and 57 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. Based on treatment efficacy, 28 patients were categorized into the effective group and 32 into the ineffective group. Five MRI measurements of the thalamus and its seven subregions, including gray matter volume, fractional anisotropy, fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation, and functional connectivity (FC), were obtained for each participant and compared between the groups. Results: Patients in both the groups exhibited widespread functional and diffusion abnormalities in the whole thalamus and several subregions, with more obvious changes observed in the effective group. All tinnitus patients had abnormal FC compared with the HCs; FC differences between the two patient groups were only observed in the striatal network, auditory‐related cortex, and the core area of the limbic system. We combined the multimodal quantitative thalamic alterations and used it as an imaging indicator to evaluate prognosis before sound therapy and achieved a sensitivity of 71.9% and a specificity of 85.7%. Conclusion: Similar patterns of thalamic alterations were identified in tinnitus patients with different outcomes, with more obvious changes observed in the effective group. Our findings support the tinnitus generation hypothesis of frontostriatal gating system dysfunction. A combination of multimodal quantitative thalamic properties may be used as indicators to predict tinnitus prognosis before sound therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare the diagnostic sensitivity of ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (U-HRCT) and HRCT in isolated fenestral otosclerosis (IFO). Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 85 patients (85 ears) diagnosed with IFO between October 2020 and November 2022. U-HRCT (0.1 mm thickness) was performed for 20 ears, HRCT (0.67 mm thickness) for 45 ears, and both for 20 ears. The images were evaluated by general radiologists and neuroradiologists who were blinded to the diagnosis and surgical information. The diagnostic sensitivity of U-HRCT and HRCT for detecting IFO was compared between the two groups. Results: Excellent inter-observer agreement existed between the two neuroradiologists (Cohen's κ coefficient 0.806, 95% CI 0.692–0.920), with good agreement between the general radiologists (Cohen's κ coefficient 0.680, 95% CI 0.417–0.943). U-HRCT had a sensitivity of 100% (40/40 ears) for neuroradiologists and 87.5% (35/40 ears) for general radiologists, significantly higher than HRCT (89.2% [58/65 ears] for neuroradiologists; 41.5% [27/65 ears] for general radiologists) (p = 0.042, p′ < 0.000). General radiologists' sensitivity with HRCT was significantly lower compared to neuroradiologists (p < 0.000), but no significant difference was observed when general radiologists switched to U-HRCT (p = 0.152). Among the 20 ears that underwent both examinations, U-HRCT detected lesions smaller than 1 mm in 5 ears, whereas HRCT's sensitivity for neuroradiologists was 40% (2/5 ears), significantly lower than for lesions larger than 1 mm (93.3%, 14/15 ears, p = 0.032). Conclusion: U-HRCT exhibits higher sensitivity than HRCT in diagnosing IFO, suggesting its potential as a screening tool for suspected otosclerosis patients. Critical relevance statement: Ultra-high-resolution computed tomography has the potential to become a screening tool in patients with suspected otosclerosis and to bridge the diagnostic accuracy gap between general radiologists and neuroradiologists. Key points: • U-HRCT exhibits higher sensitivity than HRCT in the diagnosis of IFO. • U-HRCT has a significant advantage in the detection of less than 1 mm IFO. • U-HRCT has the potential to be used for screening of patients with suspected otosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bulimia nervosa (BN) is an eating disorder characterized by recurrent binge eating and compensatory behaviors. The thalamus plays a crucial role in the neural circuitry related to eating behavior and needs to be further explored in BN. Methods: In this study, 49 BN patients and 44 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. We applied the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation to investigate regional brain activity in the thalamus and functional connectivity (FC) to examine the synchronization of activity between thalamic subregions and other brain regions in both groups. All results underwent false discovery rate (p < 0.05, FDR correction) correction. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the patients' abnormal clinical performance and the thalamic alterations (p < 0.05, FDR correction). Results: We found no significant differences in neural activity between BN patients and HCs in the sixteen thalamic subregions. However, compared to the HCs, the individuals with BN showed decreased FC between the thalamic subregions and several regions, including the bilateral prefrontal cortex, right inferior parietal lobule, right supplementary motor area, right insula, cingulate gyrus and vermis. Additionally, BN patients showed increased FC between the thalamic subregions and visual association regions, primary sensorimotor cortex, and left cerebellum. These altered FC patterns in the thalamus were found to be correlated with clinical variables (the frequency of binge eating/purging per week and external eating behavior scale scores) in the BN group. All results have passed FDR correction. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that there is disrupted FC between thalamic subregions and other brain regions in BN patients during resting state. These regions are primarily located within the frontoparietal network, default mode network, somatosensory, and visual network. These findings elucidate the neural activity characteristics underlying BN and suggest that thalamic subregions have potential as targets for future neuromodulation interventions. Plain English summary: The high recurrence rate of bulimia nervosa (BN) poses a clinical challenge, and thus, it is crucial to improve the characterization and identification of brain functional abnormalities as direct targets for novel therapies. To investigate the neural circuitry associated with BN, the thalamus is a critical node since it serves as a higher-order relay point in the cortico-thalamo-cortical information pathway. Our findings reveal that altered functional connectivity (FC) between thalamic nuclei and other brain regions is evident throughout the whole brain, particularly within the frontoparietal network, default mode network, somatosensory, and visual network. These changes in FC are significantly associated with disordered eating behavior and the severity of illness in BN patients. Therefore, these findings help identify the neural mechanisms underlying disordered eating behavior and BN severity and suggest potential targets for future neuromodulation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Using two three-dimensional U-Net architectures for myocardium structure extraction and a distance transformation algorithm specifically for the left circumflex artery, we have designed a fully automated algorithm for coronary artery labeling in coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images. Methods: In this retrospective analysis, a cohort of 157 patients who had undergone coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) was included. An automated coronary artery labeling algorithm was developed using a distance transformation approach to delineate the anatomical segments along the centerlines extracted from the CCTA images. A total of 16 segments were successfully identified and labeled. The algorithm's outcomes were recorded and reviewed by three experts, and the performance of segment detection and labeling was assessed. Additionally, the level of agreement in manually labeled segments between two experts was quantified. Results: When comparing the labels generated by the experts with those produced by the algorithm, it was necessary to modify or eliminate 117 labels (5.4%) out of 2180 segments assigned by the algorithm. The overall accuracy for label presence was 96.2%, with an average overlap of 94.0% between the expert reference and algorithm-generated labels. Furthermore, the average agreement rate between the two experts stood at 95.0%. Conclusions: Based on the labels of the clinical experts, the proposed deep learning algorithm exhibits high accuracy for automatic labeling. Therefore, our proposed method exhibits promising results for the automatic labeling of the coronary arteries and will alleviate the burden on radiologists in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess brain functional alterations in BN patients with affective disorders and their association with maladaptive eating behaviors. A total of 42 BN patients with affective disorders (anxiety and depression) and 47 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. The resting-state fMRI data were analyzed for functional changes as indicated by regional homogeneity based on Kendall's coefficient of concordance (KCC-ReHo) and seed-based functional connectivity (FC). A principal component analysis (PCA) model was used to identify the commonalities within the behavioral questionnaires from the BN group. Patients in the BN group showed decreased ReHo in the bilateral middle frontal gyrus (MFG) and right supramarginal gyrus (SMG). Additionally, the BN group showed increased FC between the left MFG and the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG); decreased FC between the right MFG and the bilateral insula and the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG); and decreased FC between the right SMG and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In the FC-behavior association analysis, the second principal component (PC2) was negatively correlated with FC between the left MFG and the right ITG. Based on a brain functional analysis (ReHo and FC), this study revealed significant aberrant changes in the frontal-temporal regions of BN patients with affective disorders. These regions, which serve as fronto-temporal circuitry, are associated with restraint and emotional eating behaviors. Our findings shed new light on the neural mechanisms underlying the condition. • Anxiety and depression are the most common affective comorbidities in patients with bulimia nervosa • Little is known about the neuropathic mechanisms underlying comorbid affective disorders in bulimia nervosa • Potential disturbance in the recruitment of fronto-temporal circuitry in BN patients with comorbid affective disorders • The brain functional changes were correlated with disordered eating behaviors • Interplay between BN-specific and comorbid psychopathological effects may contribute to specific brain functional activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Although studies have demonstrated the involvement of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the neurobiology of eating disorders, its alterations in bulimia nervosa (BN) remain largely unknown. This study investigated the structural and functional properties of NAc in patients with BN. Method: Based on the resting‐state functional MRI and high‐resolution anatomical T1‐weighted imaging data acquired from 43 right‐handed BN patients and 40 sex‐, age‐ and education‐matched right‐handed healthy controls (HCs), the group differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and fractional amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuation (fALFF) in slow‐4 and ‐5 bands and functional connectivity (FC) of NAc subregions (core and shell) were compared. The relationships between MRI and clinical data were explored in the BN group. Results: Compared with HCs, BN patients showed preserved GMV, decreased fALFF in slow‐5 band of the left NAc core and shell, decreased FC between left NAc core and right caudate, and increased FC between all NAc subregions and frontal regions, between all NAc subregions (except the right NAc core) and the supramarginal gyrus (SMG), and between right NAc shell and left middle temporal gyrus. FC between the NAc and SMG was correlated with emotional eating behaviors. Discussion: Our study revealed preserved GMV, local neuronal activity reduction and functional network reorganization of the NAc in BN. The functional network reorganization of the NAc mainly occurred in the frontal cortex and was correlated with emotional eating behavior. These findings may provide novel insights into the BN using NAc as an entry point. Public significance: Although studies have demonstrated the involvement of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the neurobiology of eating disorders, its alterations in bulimia nervosa (BN) remain largely unknown. We used a multimodal MRI technique to systematically investigate structural and functional alterations in NAc subregions of BN patients and explored the associations between such alterations and maladaptive eating behaviors, hoping to provide novel insights into BN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiments were conducted on tomato plants to study the interactive responses of water levels (W70%: 70% of water consumption and W90%: 90% water consumption) and nitrogen rates (N100%: 100% of recommended and N80%:80% of N1.0) under two straw mulching conditions (NS; no straw introduced and WS: with buried straw layer) on growth and physiological parameters for two fruit growing years to assess the interactive responses of fertigation under buried straw layer on the changes in plant fresh and dry biomass, roots biomass, photosynthesis rate (PN), stomatal conductance (GS) and chlorophyll fluorescence of tomato plants. Buried straw layer was proved to improve plant biomass, photosynthesis rate and other physiological traits such as chlorophyll contents (Chl), maximum electron transport rate (ETRmax), maximum quantum yield (FV/FM) and GS under the lower fertilizer (N80%) and irrigation levels (W70%). However, increasing fertilizer and irrigation level decreased these parameters significantly (p <.05 to p <.001) under buried straw layer. Conversely, increased fertilizer (N100%) and irrigation (W90%) levels increased these parameters significantly (p <.05 to p <.001) under no straw condition. The overall findings revealed that buried straw layer could relieve stress developed by limited irrigation water and fertilizer and benefit plant growth, physiological parameters and fruit yield of tomato plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the stapedius muscle and the vertical part of the facial nerve is important for surgery. The study aims to understand the spatial relationship between the stapedius muscle and the vertical part of the facial nerve in ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (U-HRCT) images. A total of 105 ears from the heads of 54 human cadavers were analyzed using U-HRCT. The location and direction of the stapedius muscle were evaluated with the facial nerve as the reference. The integrity of the bony septum between the two structures and the distance between the transverse sections were examined. Paired Student's t-test and the nonparametric Wilcoxon test were applied. The lower end of the stapedius muscle emerged at the upper (45 ears), middle (40 ears), or lower (20 ears) level of the facial nerve and was positioned medial (32 ears), medial posterior (61 ears), posterior (11 ears), or lateral posterior (1 ear) to the facial nerve. The bony septum was not continuous in 99 ears. The distance between the midpoints of the two structures was 1.75 mm (IQR=1.55-2.16 mm). The spatial relationship between the stapedius muscle and the facial nerve was varied. They were close to each other and in most cases the bony septum was not intact. Preoperative familiarity with the relationship between the two structures is helpful for avoiding unwanted injury to the facial nerve in surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the relationship of MRI morphology of primary rectal cancer with extramural vascular invasion (EMVI), metastasis and local recurrence. Materials and methods: This retrospective study included 153 patients with rectal cancer. Imaging factors and histopathological index including nodular projection (NP), cord sign (CS) at primary tumor margin, irregular nodules (IN) of mesorectum, MRI-detected peritoneal reflection invasion (PRI), range of rectal wall invasion (RRWI), patterns and length of tumor growth, maximal extramural depth (EMD), histologically confirmed local node involvement (hLN), MRI T stage, MRI N stage, MRI-detected extramural vascular invasion (mEMVI) and histologically confirmed extramural vascular invasion (hEMVI) were evaluated. Determining the relationship between imaging factors and hEMVI, synchronous metastasis and local recurrence by univariate analysis and multivariable logistic regression, and a nomogram validated internally via Bootstrap self-sampling was constructed based on the latter. Results: Thirty-eight cases of hEMVI, fourteen cases of synchronous metastasis and ten cases of local recurrence were observed among 52 NP cases. There were 50 cases of mEMVI with moderate consistency with hEMVI (Kappa = 0.614). NP, CS, EMD and mEMVI showed statistically significant differences in the negative and positive groups of hEMVI, synchronous metastasis, and local recurrence. Compared to patients with local mass growth, the rectal tumor with circular infiltration had been found to be at higher risk of synchronous metastasis and local recurrence (P < 0.05). NP and IN remained as significant predictors for hEMVI, and mEMVI was a predictor for synchronous metastasis, while PRI and mEMVI were predictors for local recurrences. The nomogram for predicting hEMVI demonstrated a C-index of 0.868, sensitivity of 86.0%, specificity of 79.6%, and accuracy of 81.7%. Conclusion: NP, CS, IN, large EMD, mEMVI, and circular infiltration are significantly associated with several adverse prognostic indicators. The nomogram based on NP has good predictive performance for preoperative EMVI. mEMVI is a risk factor for synchronous metastasis. PRI and mEMVI are risk factors for local recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The significance of liver metastasis (LM) in increasing the risk of death for postoperative colorectal cancer (CRC) patients necessitates innovative approaches to predict LM. Aim: Our study presents a novel and significant contribution by developing an interpretable fusion model that effectively integrates both free‐text medical record data and structured laboratory data to predict LM in postoperative CRC patients. Methods: We used a robust dataset of 1463 patients and leveraged state‐of‐the‐art natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning techniques to construct a two‐layer fusion framework that demonstrates superior predictive performance compared to single modal models. Our innovative two‐tier algorithm fuses the results from different data modalities, achieving balanced prediction results on test data and significantly enhancing the predictive ability of the model. To increase interpretability, we employed Shapley additive explanations to elucidate the contributions of free‐text clinical data and structured clinical data to the final model. Furthermore, we translated our findings into practical clinical applications by creating a novel NLP score‐based nomogram using the top 13 valid predictors identified in our study. Results: The proposed fusion models demonstrated superior predictive performance with an accuracy of 80.8%, precision of 80.3%, recall of 80.5%, and an F1 score of 80.8% in predicting LMs. Conclusion: This fusion model represents a notable advancement in predicting LMs for postoperative CRC patients, offering the potential to enhance patient outcomes and support clinical decision‐making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence supports the hypothesis that white matter (WM) abnormalities are involved in the pathophysiology of bulimia nervosa (BN); however, findings from in vivo neuroimaging studies have been inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the possible brain WM alterations, including WM volume and microstructure, in patients with BN. We recruited 43 BN patients and 31 healthy controls (HCs). All participants underwent structural and diffusion tensor imaging. Differences in WM volume and microstructure were evaluated using voxel‐based morphometry, tract‐based spatial statistics, and automated fibre quantification analysis. Compared with HCs, BN patients showed significantly decreased fractional anisotropy in the middle part of the corpus callosum (nodes 31–32) and increased mean diffusivity in the right cranial nerve V (CN V) (nodes 27–33 and nodes 55–88) and vertical occipital fasciculus (VOF) (nodes 58–85). Moreover, we found decreased axial diffusivity in the right inferior fronto‐occipital fasciculus (node 67) and increased radial diffusivity in the CN V (nodes 22–34 and nodes 52–89) and left VOF (nodes 60–66 and nodes 81–85). Meanwhile, WM microstructural changes were correlated with patients' clinical manifestations. We did not find any significant differences in WM volume and the main WM fibre bundle properties between BN patients and HCs. Taken together, these findings provide that BN shows significant brain WM reorganization, but primarily in microstructure (part of WM fibre bundle), which is not sufficient to cause changes in WM volume. The automated fibre quantification analysis could be more sensitive to detect the subtle pathological changes in a point or segment of the WM fibre bundle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Overhanging facial nerve (FN) may be challenging in imaging diagnosis. The purpose of the study is to investigate the imaging clues for overhanging FN near the oval window on ultra-high-resolution computed tomography (U-HRCT) images. Methods: Between October 2020 and August 2021, images of 325 ears (276 patients) were included in the analysis obtained by an experimental U-HRCT scanner. On standard reformatted images, the morphology of FN was evaluated and its position was quantitatively measured using the following indices: protrusion ratio (PR), protruding angle (A), position of FN (P-FN), distance between FN and stapes (D-S), and distance between FN and anterior and posterior crura of stapes (D-AC and D-PC). According to the FN morphology in imaging, images were divided into overhanging FN group and non-overhanging FN group. Binary univariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify the imaging indices independently associated with overhanging FN. Results: Overhanging FN was found in 66 ears (20.3%), which manifested as downwards protrusion of either local segment (61 ears, 61/66) or the entire course near the oval window (5 ears, 5/66). D-AC [odds ratio: 0.063, 95% CI 0.012–0.334, P = 0.001) and D-PC (odds ratio: 0.008, 95% CI 0.001–0.050, P = 0.000) were identified as independent predictors of FN overhang (area under the curve: 0.828 and 0.865, respectively). Conclusion: Abnormal morphology of the lower margin of FN, D-AC and D-PC on U-HRCT images provide valuable diagnostic clues for FN overhang. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Maintaining clay soil at 100% saturation and then reflooding increased the biomass yield and nitrogenutilization of rice. • Allowing clay soil to dry 30% below the saturation and then reflooding reduced rice harvest and nitrogen utilization. • Increasing soil 2:1 clay content improved the biomass production and nitrogen absorption of rice. • Soil cracking is dependent on the irrigation regime and and soil 2:1 clay content. • The results provide an important rice water management option to practice in expansive clay soils. Abstract Rice is commonly grown in clay soils under flooding or water-saving irrigation. The combination of irrigation regime and soil texture tend to create the distinguished growing environment of crops. However, plant response to this combination environment is seldom studied in rice grown in southern China. To investigate the effects of irrigation regime, soil texture type and their interaction on the biomass production, nitrogen uptake and nitrogen-use efficiency of rice, a shelter experiment was conducted using a randomized complete block design with a factorial arrangement of treatments with four replications. The main treatment was irrigation regime, set in three levels as R (30mm-100%) , (100% saturation, 30 mm flooded), R (30mm-90%) , (90% saturation, 30 mm flooded) and R (30mm-70%) , (70% saturation, 30 mm flooded). The subtreatment was the soil texture type, set in three levels as 40%, 50% and 60% clay content, respectively. The irrigation regime, soil texture, and their combined interaction had significant effects on the biomass yield and nitrogen-use efficiency of rice. Compared to that of anaerobic-flooded water regime, biomass yield, nitrogen uptake and nitrogen utilization efficiency of the aerobic-flooded water regime were markedly reduced in both seasons of 2016 and 2017. Higher soil expanding clay content improved the biomass production and nitrogen utilization of rice in the both seasons. Maintaining soil water content at saturation and then reflooding was the optimal water management practice for rice cultivation in the soil, with 60% swelling clay content. The optimal combination R (30mm-100%) S (60%) presented the greatest nitrogen-use efficiency, which was 34.7% in 2016 and 46.6% in 2017. Soil swelling was dominant in the combination R (30mm-100%) S (60%) , as it increased the biomass yield, absorption and nitrogen utilization of the rice plant by 64.0%, 81.5% and 76.2% in 2016, and 67.2%, 82.9% and 77.9 in 2017, compared to the combination R (30mm-70%) S (40%). Allowing the expansive soil to dry to 30% below the saturation point and then reflooding resulted in a sharp reduction in the nitrogen-use efficiency of rice of 8.2% in 2016 and 10.3% in 2017 due to cracks in the soil that preferentially became the major routes of water and nutrient losses. Soil cracking is dependent on the irrigation regime and soil texture, and cracks must be avoided when yielding rice in vertic clay soil under water saving irrigation. Our results are valuable in deciding what water management option to practice when yielding rice in swell-shrink clay soil. The results are also an important contribution to knowledge of soil, water and rice relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unclear whether dobutamine, commonly used clinically in echocardiography and short-term congestive heart failure treatment for promoting increased myocardial contractility, affects brain microcirculatory behavior. Cerebral microcirculation plays an important role in ensuring adequate oxygen transport. Therefore, we investigated the effects of dobutamine on cerebral hemodynamics. Methods: Forty-eight healthy volunteers without cardiovascular or cerebrovascular disease underwent MRI to obtain cerebral blood flow (CBF) maps using 3D pseudocontinuous arterial spin labeling before and during the dobutamine stress test. Additionally, cerebrovascular morphology was obtained based on 3D-time-off-light (3D-TOF) magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Electrocardiogram, heart rate (HR), respiration rate (RR), blood pressure, and blood oxygen were simultaneously recorded before and during dobutamine injection and during recovery (not during MRI). The anatomic features of the circle of Willis and the basilar artery (BA) diameter were assessed on MRA images by two radiologists with extensive neuroimaging experience. Binary logistic regression was used to test for the independent determinants of CBF changes. Results: HR, RR, systolic (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) significantly increased after dobutamine infusion. Blood oxygen levels remained similar. Compared to the CBF in the resting state, the CBF values exhibited significantly lower CBF levels in both grey matter and white matter. Furthermore, compared with the CBF in the resting state, that in the stress state was decreased in the anterior circulation, mainly in the frontal lobe (voxel level P < 0.001, pixel level P < 0.05). Logistic regression showed that body mass index (BMI; odds ratio [OR] 5.80, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.60–21.01, P = 0.008], resting SBP (OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.45–0.92, P = 0.014), and BA diameter (OR 11.04, 95% CI 1.05–116.53, P = 0.046) were significantly associated with frontal lobe CBF changes. Conclusions: Dobutamine-induced stress significantly decreased CBF in the frontal lobe anterior circulation. Individuals with a high BMI and low SBP during the dobutamine stress test are more likely to have a stress-induced CBF decrease. Thus, attention should be paid to blood pressure, BMI, and cerebrovascular morphology of patients undergoing dobutamine stress echocardiography or those receiving intensive care or anesthesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sigmoid sinus wall dehiscence (SSWD) is an important etiology of venous pulsatile tinnitus (VPT) and is treated by sigmoid sinus wall reconstruction (SSWR). This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of the different degrees of SSWR and the prognostic effect in patients with VPT. Personalized models of three patients with SSWD (control), 3/4SSWD, 1/2SSWD, 1/4SSWD, and 0SSWD were reconstructed. A multiphysics interaction approach was applied to elucidate the biomechanical and acoustic changes. Results revealed that after SSWR, the average pressure of venous vessel on the SSWD region reduced by 33.70 ± 12.53%, 35.86 ± 12.39%, and 39.70 ± 12.45% (mean ± SD) in three patients with 3/4SSWD, 1/2SSWD, and 1/4SSWD. The maximum displacement of the SSWR region reduced by 25.91 ± 30.20%, 37.20 ± 31.47%, 52.60 ± 34.66%, and 79.35 ± 18.13% (mean ± SD) in three patients with 3/4SSWD, 1/2SSWD, 1/4SSWD, and 0SSWD, with a magnitude approximately 10−3 times that of the venous vessel in the SSWD region. The sound pressure level at the tympanum reduced by 23.72 ± 1.91%, 31.03 ± 14.40%, 45.62 ± 19.11%, and 128.46 ± 15.46% (mean ± SD). The SSWR region was still loaded with high stress in comparison to the surrounding region. The SSWR region of the temporal bone effectively shielded the high wall pressure and blocked the transmission of venous vessel vibration to the inner ear. Patients with inadequate SSWR still had residual VPT symptoms despite the remission of VPT symptoms. Complete SSWR could completely solve VPT issues. High-stress distribution of the SSWR region may be the cause of the recurrence of VPT symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the imaging features of unilateral pulsatile tinnitus (PT) with jugular bulb wall dehiscence (JBWD). Methods: Computerized tomography angiography images of unilateral PT patients were reviewed between 2019 and 2021. Thirty-one symptomatic JBWD patients without sigmoid sinus wall dehiscence (SSWD) were included. Thirty-eight patients with SSWD were used as the control group. The prevalence of JBWD was calculated. The area and height of the jugular bulb, the extent of dehiscence, the presence of jugular bulb diverticulum, posterior condylar emissary vein (PCEV), oblique occipital sinus (OOS), venous outflow laterality (VOL), the degree of transverse sinus stenosis (TSS), and the pituitary height to sella turcica ratio were compared between the two groups. Results: The prevalence of JBWD was 12.1%, and JBWD was established as a causative diagnosis in 5.0% of unilateral PT patients. There were no statistical differences in the gender, symptomatic side, or VOL between the two groups. The area of the jugular bulb was larger and the height was higher (parea < 0.001, pheight = 0.005). The prevalence of jugular bulb diverticulum was higher in the JBWD group (p = 0.002). The degree of symptomatic TSS was less severe (p < 0.001), and the prevalence of bilateral TSS was lower in the JBWD group (p < 0.001). The pituitary height to sella turcica ratio was greater (p = 0.004), the prevalence of PCEV (p = 0.014) was lower, and OOS (p = 0.015) was greater in the JBWD group. Conclusions: The correlating factors of PT with JBWD and PT with SSWD are significantly different. These findings can further facilitate early and efficient PT treatment. Key Points: • The incidence of jugular bulb dehiscence (JBWD) accounted for approximately 12.1% in pulsatile tinnitus (PT) patients, and JBWD was established as a causative diagnosis in 5.0% of PT patients. • PT required large blood flows and abnormal flow patterns, whether in JBWD or sigmoid sinus wall dehiscence groups. • JBWD causing PT has some unique characteristic findings on CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 75-year-old man presented to our hospital with cough and sputum for more than a year. Eight months previously, the patient was admitted to a local hospital, and his symptoms were relieved after symptomatic treatment (expectorants and antitussives). Three months ago, he was admitted to our hospital, and his symptoms improved with antiinflammatory therapy. He had a 30-pack-years history of smoking (20 cigarettes/day) and a history of drinking (200 g liquor per day). The patient had no history of genetic disorders or cancer. He did not present with fever, dyspnea, hemoptysis or chest distress, and there was no history of weight loss since onset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Computed tomography (CT) is the preferred noninvasive method for the evaluation of osteitis in chronic sinusitis. Some scholars believe that the bone changes associated with chronic sinusitis always show high attenuation (high density) and are positively correlated with the severity of the disease. However, sinus bone remodeling is a complex process that may cause high or low attenuation. There have been few reports on the spread of osteitis. Therefore, additional research on sinus CT is necessary. Objective: To observe bony changes in chronic maxillary sinusitis (CMS) by CT and reveal the mechanism. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted in 45 patients with unilateral CMS with bony changes in the sinus walls. The patients' clinical data and CT results were analyzed and compared between the affected and normal sides. We propose the location, involvement, attenuation, and thickness method to evaluate CMS with osteitis. Results: Of the 45 patients, 40 (88.9%), 2, 12, and 7 had posterior external, medial, anterior, and superior lesions, respectively. The nasal region, sphenoid bone, palatine bone, and zygomatic arch were involved in 3, 12, 8, and 18 (40%) patients, respectively. Computed tomography indicated high attenuation in 30 (75.0%) and low attenuation in 10 (25.0%) patients; 6 (15.0%) showed new bone marrow cavities. The bone thickness was significantly different between the affected and normal sides in 40 patients (P <.001), including members of both the high- and low-attenuation groups (high-attenuation group: P <.001; low-attenuation group: P <.01). However, there was no significant difference in the thickness of the affected side between the high- and low-attenuation groups (P >.05). Conclusions: Chronic rhinosinusitis with bony changes may occur in the maxillary sinus walls and spread to adjacent bones. Both increased and decreased attenuation may occur in these circumstances. Analyzing the CT features of bone changes in unilateral CMS can improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grading of intracochlear endolymphatic hydrops (EH) in Meniere's disease (MD) varies and lacks uniformity. To compare the grading consistency and correlation between different grade methods of intracochlear EH and hearing loss. Thirty-one patients diagnosed with MD underwent gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Two radiologists graded the cochlea EH according to M1, M2, M3, or M4. We analysed the grading consistency and correlation between the EH degrees and hearing loss. The weighted kappa coefficients for inter-observer and intra-observer agreements for grading using M1 were good, whereas those for M2, M3, and M4 are excellent (all p < 0.001). The cochlear EH degree based on M2 was correlated with the low-to-mid frequencies, high frequencies, full frequencies, and MD clinical stage (all p < 0.05). The degrees based on M1, M3, M4 were only relevant to some of the 4 items. The grading consistency of M2, M3, M4 is relatively higher than that of M1, and M2 shows the strongest correlation with hearing loss. Our results provide a more accurate method for assessing the clinical severity of MD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the topological characteristics of the resting-state functional network and the underlying pathological mechanism in nondialysis patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (CKD5 ND). Eighty-five subjects (21 patients with CKD5 ND, 32 patients with CKD on maintenance hemodialysis (HD), and 32 healthy controls (HCs)) underwent laboratory examinations, neuropsychological tests, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. The topological characteristics of networks were compared with a graph–theoretical approach, and correlations between neuropsychological scores and network properties were analyzed. All participants exhibited networks with small-world attributes, and global topological attributes were impaired in both groups of patients with CKD 5 (ND and HD) compared with HCs (p < 0.05); these impairments were more severe in the CKD5 ND group than in the HD group (p < 0.05). Compared with the HC group, the degree centrality of the CKD5 ND group decreased mainly in the basal ganglia and increased in the bilateral orbitofrontal gyrus, bilateral precuneus, and right cuneus. Correlation analysis showed that the degree of small-worldness, normalized clustering coefficients, and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were positively correlated and that characteristic path length was negatively correlated with these variables in patients with CKD5 ND. The nodal efficiency of the bilateral putamen (r = 0.53, p < 0.001 and r = 0.47, p < 0.001), left thalamus (r = 0.37, p < 0.001), and right caudate nucleus (r = 0.28, p = 0.01) was positively correlated with MoCA scores. In conclusion, all CKD5 ND patients exhibited changes in functional network topological properties and were closely associated with mild cognitive impairment. More interestingly, the topological property changes in CKD5 ND patients were dominated by basal ganglia areas, which may be more helpful to understand and possibly reveal the underlying pathological mechanisms of cognitive impairment in CKD5 ND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Facial canal dehiscence (FCD), typically found in the tympanic segment, is a risk factor for facial nerve injury. An imaging scoring method was proposed to identify FCD based on ultra-high-resolution CT. Methods: Forty patients (21 females and 19 males, mean age 44.3 ± 17.4 years), whose tympanic facial canal (FC) was examined during otological surgery, were divided into the FCD group (n = 29) and the control group (n = 11) based on surgical findings. Imaging appearance of tympanic FC was scored 0–3: 0 = no evident bony covering, 1 = discontinuous bony covering with linear deficiency, 2 = discontinuous bony covering with dotted deficiency, and 3 = continuous bony covering. Both lateral and inferior walls were assigned a score as LFCD and IFCD, respectively. An FCD score was calculated as LFCD + IFCD. The diagnostic value of the FCD score was tested using the ROC curve. Results: The inter-observer agreement was moderate for the lateral wall (Cohen's κ coefficient 0.416, 95% CI 0.193–0.639), and good for the inferior wall (Cohen's κ coefficient 0.702, 95% CI 0.516–0.888). In the FCD group, the most common appearance for both walls was discontinuous bony covering with linear deficiency (LFCD = 1, 22/29, 75.9%; IFCD = 1, 15/29, 51.7%). An FCD score of less than 4 was associated with high sensitivity (0.82) and specificity (0.93) for identifying FCD, with an AUC of 0.928. Conclusions: Using the proposed scoring method, FCD score < 4 could identify FCD of the tympanic segment with high concordance with surgical findings. Key Points: • Imaging appearance of the tympanic facial canal (FC) is divided into four types based on ultra-high-resolution CT images. • The most common appearance of FC with facial canal dehiscence (FCD) is discontinuous bony covering with linear deficiency. • An FCD score, consisting of scores of the lateral and inferior walls, less than 4 is highly indicative of FCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bulimia nervosa is a recurrent eating disorder with uncertain pathogenesis. Recently, there has been growing interest in using neuroimaging techniques to explore brain structural and functional alterations in bulimia nervosa, but the findings of previous studies have a great number of inconsistencies. Methods: Here, we collected anatomical and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 43 bulimia nervosa patients and 34 matched healthy controls (HCs). We applied a surface‐based morphology analysis to explore brain cortical morphology differences and a novel surface‐based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to investigate functional abnormalities. Principal component analysis was performed to analyze the behavioral data of the participants. We further analyzed the relationships between abnormalities in cortical characteristics or FC and clinical features. Results: We observed increased greater sulcal depth in the right superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the right medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) in bulimia nervosa patients than in the HCs. Additionally, the patients exhibited increased FC between the right STG and right ventral tegmental area but decreased function between the right mOFC and right putamen, which was significantly negatively correlated with the first principal component reflecting the severity of bulimia nervosa symptom. Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence of neuroanatomical and functional abnormalities in bulimia nervosa patients. Moreover, the FC between the right mOFC and right putamen was associated with symptom severity of bulimia nervosa, which may be a neural marker and involved in the neuropathological mechanism of bulimia nervosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate vestibule segmentation for CT images is of great significance for the clinical diagnosis of congenital ear malformations and cochlear implant. However, it is still a challenging task due to extremely small size and irregular shape of vestibule. Here, a vestibule segmentation network for CT images is proposed under the basic encoder‐decoder framework. Firstly, a residual block based on channel attention mechanism, named Res‐CA block, is designed to guide the network to enhance the important features for the segmentation tasks while suppressing the irrelevant ones. And then, a global context‐aware pyramid feature extraction (GCPFE) module is proposed to capture multi‐receptive‐field global context information. Finally, active contour with elastic (ACE) loss function is adopted to guide network learning more detailed information of the boundary. Furthermore, deep supervision (DS) mechanism is employed to locate the boundaries finely, improving the robustness of the network. The experiments are conducted on the self‐established VestibuleDataset and UHRCT‐Dataset, as well as publicly available retinal dataset, namely DRIVE, to comprehensively verify the robustness and generalization capability of the proposed segmentation network. The experimental results show that the proposed network can achieve a superior performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]