Improving MRI-based analysis of brain structural changes in patients with hypertension via a privileged information learning algorithm

Methods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bo Peng ◽  
Xinying Yu ◽  
Xinwei Ma ◽  
Zeyu Xue ◽  
Jingyu Wang ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Mejia Maza ◽  
Seth Jarvis ◽  
Weaverly Colleen Lee ◽  
Thomas J. Cunningham ◽  
Giampietro Schiavo ◽  
...  

AbstractThe neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the peripheral synapse formed between a motor neuron axon terminal and a muscle fibre. NMJs are thought to be the primary site of peripheral pathology in many neuromuscular diseases, but innervation/denervation status is often assessed qualitatively with poor systematic criteria across studies, and separately from 3D morphological structure. Here, we describe the development of ‘NMJ-Analyser’, to comprehensively screen the morphology of NMJs and their corresponding innervation status automatically. NMJ-Analyser generates 29 biologically relevant features to quantitatively define healthy and aberrant neuromuscular synapses and applies machine learning to diagnose NMJ degeneration. We validated this framework in longitudinal analyses of wildtype mice, as well as in four different neuromuscular disease models: three for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and one for peripheral neuropathy. We showed that structural changes at the NMJ initially occur in the nerve terminal of mutant TDP43 and FUS ALS models. Using a machine learning algorithm, healthy and aberrant neuromuscular synapses are identified with 95% accuracy, with 88% sensitivity and 97% specificity. Our results validate NMJ-Analyser as a robust platform for systematic and structural screening of NMJs, and pave the way for transferrable, and cross-comparison and high-throughput studies in neuromuscular diseases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Ervin Gubin Moung ◽  
Chong Joon Hou ◽  
Maisarah Mohd Sufian ◽  
Mohd Hanafi Ahmad Hijazi ◽  
Jamal Ahmad Dargham ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a global health crisis. The rapid spread of the virus has led to the infection of a significant population and millions of deaths worldwide. Therefore, the world is in urgent need of a fast and accurate COVID-19 screening. Numerous researchers have performed exceptionally well to design pioneering deep learning (DL) models for the automatic screening of COVID-19 based on computerised tomography (CT) scans; however, there is still a concern regarding the performance stability affected by tiny perturbations and structural changes in CT images. This paper proposes a fusion of a moment invariant (MI) method and a DL algorithm for feature extraction to address the instabilities in the existing COVID-19 classification models. The proposed method incorporates the MI-based features into the DL models using the cascade fusion method. It was found that the fusion of MI features with DL features has the potential to improve the sensitivity and accuracy of the COVID-19 classification. Based on the evaluation using the SARS-CoV-2 dataset, the fusion of VGG16 and Hu moments shows the best result with 90% sensitivity and 93% accuracy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (24) ◽  
pp. 11965
Author(s):  
Rafaelle Piazzaroli Finotti ◽  
Flávio de Souza Barbosa ◽  
Alexandre Abrahão Cury ◽  
Roberto Leal Pimentel

The present work evaluates the deep learning algorithm called Sparse Auto-Encoder (SAE) when applied to the characterization of structural anomalies. This study explores the SAE’s performance in a supervised damage detection approach to consolidate its application in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) field, especially when dealing with real-case structures. The main idea is to use the SAE to extract relevant features from the monitored signals and the well-known Support Vector Machine (SVM) to classify such characteristics within the context of an SHM problem. Vibration data from a numerical beam model and a highway viaduct in Brazil are considered to assess the proposed approach. In both analyzed examples, the efficiency of the implemented methodology achieved more than 99% of correct damage structural classifications, supporting the conclusion that SAE can extract relevant characteristics from dynamic signals that are useful for SHM applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Mejia Maza ◽  
Seth Jarvis ◽  
Weaverly Colleen Lee ◽  
Thomas J. Cunningham ◽  
Giampietro Schiavo ◽  
...  

AbstractThe neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the peripheral synapse formed between a motor neuron axon terminal and a muscle fibre. NMJs are thought to be the primary site of peripheral pathology in many neuromuscular diseases, but innervation/denervation status is often assessed qualitatively with poor systematic criteria across studies, and separately from 3D morphological structure. Here, we describe the development of ‘NMJ-Analyser’, to comprehensively screen the morphology of NMJs and their corresponding innervation status automatically. NMJ-Analyser generates 29 biologically relevant features to quantitatively define healthy and aberrant neuromuscular synapses and applies machine learning to diagnose NMJ degeneration. We validated this framework in longitudinal analyses of wildtype mice, as well as in four different neuromuscular disease models: three for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and one for peripheral neuropathy. We showed that structural changes at the NMJ initially occur in the nerve terminal of mutant TDP43 and FUS ALS models. Using a machine learning algorithm, healthy and aberrant neuromuscular synapses are identified with 95% accuracy, with 88% sensitivity and 97% specificity. Our results validate NMJ-Analyser as a robust platform for systematic and structural screening of NMJs, and pave the way for transferrable, and cross-comparison and high-throughput studies in neuromuscular diseases.


Author(s):  
S. Phyllis Steamer ◽  
Rosemarie L. Devine

The importance of radiation damage to the skin and its vasculature was recognized by the early radiologists. In more recent studies, vascular effects were shown to involve the endothelium as well as the surrounding connective tissue. Microvascular changes in the mouse pinna were studied in vivo and recorded photographically over a period of 12-18 months. Radiation treatment at 110 days of age was total body exposure to either 240 rad fission neutrons or 855 rad 60Co gamma rays. After in vivo observations in control and irradiated mice, animals were sacrificed for examination of changes in vascular fine structure. Vessels were selected from regions of specific interest that had been identified on photomicrographs. Prominent ultrastructural changes can be attributed to aging as well as to radiation treatment. Of principal concern were determinations of ultrastructural changes associated with venous dilatations, segmental arterial stenosis and tortuosities of both veins and arteries, effects that had been identified on the basis of light microscopic observations. Tortuosities and irregularly dilated vein segments were related to both aging and radiation changes but arterial stenosis was observed only in irradiated animals.


Author(s):  
W. Kunath ◽  
E. Zeitler ◽  
M. Kessel

The features of digital recording of a continuous series (movie) of singleelectron TV frames are reported. The technique is used to investigate structural changes in negatively stained glutamine synthetase molecules (GS) during electron irradiation and, as an ultimate goal, to look for the molecules' “undamaged” structure, say, after a 1 e/Å2 dose.The TV frame of fig. la shows an image of 5 glutamine synthetase molecules exposed to 1/150 e/Å2. Every single electron is recorded as a unit signal in a 256 ×256 field. The extremely low exposure of a single TV frame as dictated by the single-electron recording device including the electron microscope requires accumulation of 150 TV frames into one frame (fig. lb) thus achieving a reasonable compromise between the conflicting aspects of exposure time per frame of 3 sec. vs. object drift of less than 1 Å, and exposure per frame of 1 e/Å2 vs. rate of structural damage.


Author(s):  
K. Kovacs ◽  
E. Horvath ◽  
J. M. Bilbao ◽  
F. A. Laszlo ◽  
I. Domokos

Electrolytic lesions of the pituitary stalk in rats interrupt adenohypophysial blood flow and result in massive infarction of the anterior lobe. In order to obtain a deeper insight into the morphogenesis of tissue injury and to reveal the sequence of events, a fine structural investigation was undertaken on adenohypophyses of rats at various intervals following destruction of the pituitary stalk.The pituitary stalk was destroyed electrolytically, with a Horsley-Clarke apparatus on 27 male rats of the R-Amsterdam strain, weighing 180-200 g. Thirty minutes, 1,2,4,6 and 24 hours after surgery the animals were perfused with a glutaraldehyde-formalin solution. The skulls were then opened and the pituitary glands removed. The anterior lobes were fixed in glutaraldehyde-formalin solution, postfixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in Durcupan. Ultrathin sections were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and investigated with a Philips 300 electron microscope.


Author(s):  
P.L. Moore ◽  
P.L. Sannes ◽  
H.L. Bank ◽  
S.S. Spicer

It is thought that calcium and/or magnesium may play important roles in polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocyte functions such as chemotaxis, adhesion and phagocytosis. Yet, a clear understanding of the biological roles of these ions has awaited the development of techniques which permit a selective alteration of intracellular ion concentrations. Recently, treatment of cells with the ionophore A23187 has been used to alter intracellular divalent cation concentrations. This ionophore is a lipid soluble antibiotic produced by Streptomyces chartreusensis that complexes with both calcium and magnesium (3) and is believed to carry these ions across biological membranes (4). Biochemical investigations of human PMN leukocytes demonstrate that cells treated with A23187 and extracellular calcium release their lysosomal enzymes into the extracellular medium without rupturing and releasing their soluble cytoplasmic enzymes (5,6). The aim of the present study and and a companion report (7) was to investigate the structural changes that occur in leukocytes during ionophore-induced lysosomal enzyme release.


Author(s):  
Werner J. Niklowitz

After intoxication of rabbits with certain substances such as convulsant agents (3-acetylpyridine), centrally acting drugs (reserpine), or toxic metal compounds (tetraethyl lead) a significant observation by phase microscope is the loss of contrast of the hippocampal mossy fiber layer. It has been suggested that this alteration, as well as changes seen with the electron microscope in the hippocampal mossy fiber boutons, may be related to a loss of neurotransmitters. The purpose of these experiments was to apply the OsO4-zinc-iodide staining technique to the study of these structural changes since it has been suggested that OsO4-zinc-iodide stain reacts with neurotransmitters (acetylcholine, catecholamines).Domestic New Zealand rabbits (2.5 to 3 kg) were used. Hippocampal tissue was removed from normal and experimental animals treated with 3-acetylpyridine (antimetabolite of nicotinamide), reserpine (anti- hypertensive/tranquilizer), or iproniazid (antidepressant/monamine oxidase inhibitor). After fixation in glutaraldehyde hippocampal tissue was treated with OsO4-zinc-iodide stain and further processed for phase and electron microscope studies.


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