Image Segmentation for Review of Cerebral Apoplexy

Brain computed tomography (CT) provides a medical imaging tool for reviewing cerebral apoplexy. It is of strong clinical significance to study the key techniques for lesion segmentation and feature selection of cerebral apoplexy. Most of the previous research fail to fully utilized the other prior information, or apply to the changing feature analysis on multiple lesion images generated in the rehabilitation process. Therefore, this paper aims to develop an image segmentation method for review of cerebral apoplexy. Based on the correlation between image series, the authors proposed a segmentation method for CT images of cerebral apoplexy, and developed a way to extract and select the changing lesion features, which assists with the diagnosis of cerebral apoplexy rehabilitation. The image segmentation and feature selection results were obtained through experiments, revealing the effectiveness of our method.

Radiation-Induced Heart Disease

Cancer incidence and survivorship have had a rising tendency over the last two decades due to better treatment modalities. One of these is radiation therapy (RT), which is used in 20–55% of cancer patients, and its basic principle consists of inhibiting proliferation or inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. Classically, photon beam RT has been the mainstay therapy for these patients, but, in the last decade, proton beam has been introduced as a new option. This newer method focuses more on the tumor and affects less of the surrounding normal tissue, i.e., the heart. Radiation to the heart is a common complication of RT, especially in patients with lymphoma, breast, lung, and esophageal cancer. The pathophysiology is due to changes in the microvascular and macrovascular milieu that can promote accelerated atherosclerosis and/or induce fibrosis of the myocardium, pericardium, and valves. These complications occur days, weeks, or years after RT and the risk factors associated are high radiation doses (>30 Gy), concomitant chemotherapy (primarily anthracyclines), age, history of heart disease, and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors. The understanding of these mechanisms and risk factors by physicians can lead to a tailored assessment and monitorization of these patients with the objective of early detection or prevention of radiation-induced heart disease. Echocardiography is a noninvasive method which provides a comprehensive evaluation of the pericardium, valves, myocardium, and coronaries, making it the first imaging tool in most cases; however, other modalities, such as computed tomography, nuclear medicine, or cardiac magnetic resonance, can provide additional value.

Advances in Editing Silkworms (Bombyx mori) Genome by Using the CRISPR-Cas System

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR-associated) represents a powerful genome editing technology that revolutionized in a short period of time numerous natural sciences branches. Therefore, extraordinary progress was made in various fields, such as entomology or biotechnology. Bombyx mori is one of the most important insects, not only for the sericulture industry, but for numerous scientific areas. The silkworms play a key role as a model organism, but also as a bioreactor for the recombinant protein production. Nowadays, the CRISPR-Cas genome editing system is frequently used in order to perform gene analyses, to increase the resistance against certain pathogens or as an imaging tool in B. mori. Here, we provide an overview of various studies that made use of CRISPR-Cas for B. mori genome editing, with a focus on emphasizing the high applicability of this system in entomology and biological sciences.

Fluorescence Microscopy—An Outline of Hardware, Biological Handling, and Fluorophore Considerations

Fluorescence microscopy has become a critical tool for researchers to understand biological processes at the cellular level. Micrographs from fixed and live-cell imaging procedures feature in a plethora of scientific articles for the field of cell biology, but the complexities of fluorescence microscopy as an imaging tool can sometimes be overlooked or misunderstood. This review seeks to cover the three fundamental considerations when designing fluorescence microscopy experiments: (1) hardware availability; (2) amenability of biological models to fluorescence microscopy; and (3) suitability of imaging agents for intended applications. This review will help equip the reader to make judicious decisions when designing fluorescence microscopy experiments that deliver high-resolution and informative images for cell biology.

Ultrasound Imaging for the Diagnosis and Evaluation of Sarcopenia: An Umbrella Review

There is an increasing number of reviews investigating the value of ultrasound (US) in the assessment of aging-related muscle loss. The present umbrella review aimed to systematically investigate the evidence of US imaging in the diagnosis and evaluation of sarcopenia. PubMed, Medline, Embase and Web of Science were searched from their inceptions to 31 October 2021. Systematic reviews and reviews using a systematic strategy for literature search were enrolled. The extracted data were narrated at the level of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. This umbrella review included four articles pertaining to 125 original studies and yielded several important findings. First, US is a reliable and valid imaging tool for the assessment of skeletal muscle mass. Second, among all the US parameters in B-mode, muscle thickness is the most commonly used one, which has good correlation with other standard measurements. Third, although sonoelastography and contrast-enhanced US are promising imaging modalities, their clinical utility is still limited at the current stage. Finally, a future systematic review is warranted to analyze how different ultrasonographic diagnostic criteria influence the prevalence of sarcopenia as well as its adverse health outcomes.

PI-RADS version 2.1 for the evaluation of transition zone lesions: a practical guide for radiologists

Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging has been established as the most accurate non-invasive diagnostic imaging tool for detecting prostate cancer (PCa) in both the peripheral zone and the transition zone (TZ) using the PI-RADS (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System) version 2.1 released in 2019 as a guideline to reporting. Transition zone PCa remains the most difficult to diagnose due to a markedly heterogeneous background and a wide variety of atypical imaging presentations as well as other anatomical and pathological processes mimicking PCa. The aim of this paper was to present a spectrum of PCa in the TZ, as a guide for radiologists.

Evaluation of Newly Introduced Bioactive Materials in Terms of Cavity Floor Adaptation: OCT Study

Objective. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the adaptation of newly introduced bioactive restorative materials to the cavity floor using cross-polarization optical coherence tomography (CP-OCT). Materials and Methods. Round class V cavities were prepared on the proximal surfaces of sixty non-carious human anterior teeth (0.5 mm depth × 4 mm diameter), which were divided into groups according to the restorative material (n = 15). In the VF group, Vertise flow composite (Kerr, Orange, CA, USA) was used, in the BF group, Beautifil II composite (Shofu, Koyoto, Japan) was used, and in the AB group, ACTIVA BioACTIVE composite (Pulpdent, Watertown, NY, USA) was used. Cavities were restored using the bulk filling technique and cured according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Then, the specimens were immersed in a contrasting agent, and image acquisitions were taken by CP-OCT to calculate the adaptation percentage by using an image analysis software. Results. B-scans showed a diffuse bright band of white pixels at the tooth-resin interface that was interpreted as a micro-gap present between the cavity floor and restorative material. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically significant difference between all tested groups with the AB group representing the least gap formation, followed by the BF group, and then the VF group, which demonstrated the highest gap formation. Conclusions. In class V cavities, better adaptation to the cavity floor can be obtained when using ACTIVA BioACTIVE more than Vertise flow and Beautifil II composites. In addition, CP-OCT is considered a non-destructive imaging tool that helps in evaluating the quality of the tooth-restoration interface when bioactive composites are used.

Biosynthesized Silver Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy and In Vivo Bioimaging

In the current communication, a simple, environmentally compatible, non-toxic green chemistry process is used for the development of silver nanoparticles (AgZE) by the reaction between silver nitrate (AgNO3) and the ethanolic leaf extract of Zinnia elegans (ZE). The optimization of AgZE is carried out using a series of experiments. Various physico-chemical techniques are utilized to characterize the nanomaterials. The cell viability assay of AgZE in normal cells (CHO, HEK-293T, EA.hy926, and H9c2) shows their biocompatible nature, which is supported by hemolytic assay using mouse RBC. Interestingly, the nanoparticles exhibited cytotoxicity towards different cancer cell lines (U-87, MCF-7, HeLa, PANC-1 and B16F10). The detailed anticancer activity of AgZE on human glioblastoma cell line (U-87) is exhibited through various in vitro assays. In vivo the AgZE illustrates anticancer activity by inhibiting blood vessel formation through CAM assay. Furthermore, the AgZE nanoparticles when intraperitoneally injected in C57BL6/J mice (with and without tumor) exhibit fluorescence properties in the NIR region (excitation: 710nm, emission: 820nm) evidenced by bioimaging studies. The AgZE biodistribution through ICPOES analysis illustrates the presence of silver in different vital organs. Considering all the results, AgZE could be useful as a potential cancer therapeutic agent, as well as an NIR based non-invasive imaging tool in near future.

Imaging analysis to quantitate the Interplay of membrane and cytoplasm protein dynamics

Plasma membrane proteins are extremely important in cell signaling and cellular functions. Protein expression and localization alter in response to various signals in a way that is dependent on cell type and niche. Compartmental quantification of the expression of particular proteins is a very useful means of understanding their role in cellular processes. Immunofluorescence staining is frequently used to investigate the distribution of proteins of interest. Here, we present an imaging method for quantifying the membrane to cytoplasm ratio (MCR) of proteins analyzed at single-cell resolution. This technique provides a robust quantification of membrane proteins and contributes new insights into membrane expression dynamics. We have developed a protocol that uses immunostaining to assess protein expression according to the fluorescent cellular distribution and to compute the MCR. The method was applied to measure the MCR of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) in response to insulin in 3T3-L1 cells, an in-vitro model for adipocyte function and adipogenesis. The results revealed informative changes in the subcellular localization of GLUT4 following insulin induction. MCR analysis is a powerful imaging tool that can be generally applied to membrane proteins to provide a rapid and efficient quantitative analysis of protein distribution and sub-cellular processes in cells.

Current Roles of PET/CT in Thymic Epithelial Tumours: Which Evidences and Which Prospects? A Pictorial Review

Background: The use of 18F FDG PET/CT scan in thymic epithelial tumours (TET) has been reported in the last two decades, but its application in different clinical settings has not been clearly defined. Methods: We performed a pictorial review of pertinent literature to describe different roles and applications of this imaging tool to manage TET patients. Finally, we summarized future prospects and potential innovative applications of PET in these neoplasms. Results: 18FFDG PET/CT scan may be of help to distinguish thymic hyperplasia from thymic epithelial tumours but evidences are almost weak. On the contrary, this imaging tool seems to be very performant to predict the grade of malignancy, to a lesser extent pathological response after induction therapy, Masaoka Koga stage of disease and long-term prognosis. Several other radiotracers have some application in TETs but results are limited and almost controversial. Finally, the future of PET/CT and theranostics in TETs is still to be defined but more detailed analysis of metabolic data (such as texture analysis applied on thymic neoplasms), along with promising preclinical and clinical results from new “stromal PET tracers”, leave us an increasingly optimistic outlook. Conclusions: PET plays different roles in the management of thymic epithelial tumours, and its applications may be of help for physicians in different clinical settings.