Myocardial strain measured via two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in a family diagnosed with arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy

Background Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disorder characterized by ventricular arrhythmias, right and/or left ventricular involvement, and fibrofatty infiltrations in the myocardium. We report a family diagnosed with arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy (ALVC) and depict their echocardiographic characteristics. Methods and results Fifteen family members were divided into three groups based on whether they carried the TMEM43 mutation and had been diagnosed with ALVC. Eight of them had TMEM43 mutations, and four were diagnosed with ALVC according to the Padua criteria. Only the proband experienced sudden cardiac death and had a dilated left ventricle. Left ventricular ejection fraction was reduced in two patients; however, left ventricular global longitudinal strain was depressed in three patients. Low QRS voltages in limb leads were evident in three patients, and five patients had frequent ventricular premature contractions. Late gadolinium enhancement was evident in three patients. Left ventricular layer-specific strain showed that the transmural strain gradient ratio was increased in patients diagnosed with ALVC, and it was elevated in the genotype-positive and phenotype-negative groups compared with healthy individuals. Conclusion Global left ventricular longitudinal strain better evaluated left ventricular function than left ventricular ejection fraction. The transmural strain gradient ratio was elevated in patients diagnosed with ALVC, suggesting that it was useful for the evaluation of ALVC.

Depth Estimation of Single Defocused Images Based on Multi-Feature Fusion

Based on multi-feature fusion, this paper introduces a novel depth estimation method to suppress defocus and motion blurs, as well as focal plane ambiguity. Firstly, the node features formed by occlusion were fused to optimize image segmentation, and obtain the position relations between image objects. Next, the Gaussian gradient ratio between the defocused input image and the quadratic Gaussian blur was calculated to derive the edge sparse blur. After that, the fast guided filter was adopted to diffuse the sparse blur globally, and estimate the relative depth of the scene. Experimental results demonstrate that our method excellently resolves the ambiguity of depth estimation, and accurately overcomes the noise problem in real-time.

Myocardial strain measured via two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography in a family diagnosed with arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy

Background: Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disorder characterized by ventricular arrhythmias, right and/or left ventricular involvement, and fibro-fatty infiltrations in the myocardium. We report a family diagnosed with arrhythmogenic left ventricular cardiomyopathy (ALVC) and depict their echocardiographic characteristics.Methods and results: Fifteen family members were divided into three groups based on whether they carried the TMEM43 mutation and had been diagnosed with ALVC, were evaluated. Eight of them had TMEM43 mutations, and four were diagnosed with ALVC according to the Padua criteria. Only the proband experienced sudden cardiac death and had a dilated left ventricle. Left ventricular ejection fraction was reduced in two patients, however left ventricular global longitudinal strain was depressed in three patients. Low QRS voltages in limb leads were evident in three patients, and five patients had frequent ventricular extrasystoles. Late gadolinium enhancement was evident in three patients. Left ventricular layer-specific strain showed that the transmural strain gradient ratio was increased in patients diagnosed with ALVC, and it was elevated in the genotype-positive and phenotype-negative group than in healthy individuals.Conclusion: Global left ventricular longitudinal strain evaluated left ventricular function better than left ventricular ejection fraction. The transmural strain gradient ratio was elevated in patients diagnosed with ALVC, suggesting that it was valuable for the diagnosis and evaluation of ALVC.

Outcome of Petrosal Venous Sampling in Consecutive 68 Patients From a Major Neurosurgical Center in the United Kingdom

Background: Cushing’s disease is a challenging endocrine disorder caused by non-physiological cortisol excess from adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secreting pituitary adenoma. Inferior petrosal venous sampling (IPSS) is considered the gold standard investigation to differentiate Cushing’s disease from ectopic ACTH syndrome. Methods: This retrospective study included all patients who underwent IPSS between January 2011 and October 2020 at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London. Patients demographics, radiological, surgical, endocrinological and, histological data were retrieved. We assessed the accuracy of IPSS in localizing ACTH secreting pituitary adenoma and its concordance with neuroimaging and surgical findings at the time of tumor resection. Results: In total 68 patients underwent IPSS, 22 males and 46 females. The median age was 42 years. IPSS was performed prior to primary surgery in 61 patients (90%) and before secondary surgery in 4 patients (6%). Three patients (4%) are awaiting surgery at the time of our study. Fifty-two patients (80%) had positive histology of ACTH expressing adenoma. Four patients (8%) had ectopic ACTH syndrome. The sensitivity of IPSS in predicting Cushing’s disease prior to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) stimulation was 91% (95% CI [83% to 97%]) and accuracy of 88% (95% CI [77% to 95%]). The sensitivity of IPSS post CRH administration was 96% (95% CI [87% to 100%]) with accuracy of 86% (95% CI [75% to 93%]). Data on lateralization of pituitary adenoma were available for 63 patients. Prior to CRH stimulation, lateralization was right sided in 35 patients (56%), left sided in 15 (24%), and 13 patients (20%) did not have adequate interpetrosal sinus ACTH ratio. Lateralization post CRH stimulation was right sided in 40 patients (64%), left sided in 20 (32%), and 3 patients (4%) did not achieve adequate ACTH gradient ratio between two sides. Eighteen patients (30%) switched adenoma lateralization between pre and post CRH stimulation. Post CRH IPSS was consistent with neuroradiology in localizing pituitary adenomas in 59% (29 out of 49 patients) and concordant with surgical findings in 41% (25 out of 61 patients). Patients with ectopic ACTH syndrome had negative IPSS at all stages. IPSS procedure failed in 2 patients (3%). No post procedure complications were reported. Conclusion: IPSS has high sensitivity in diagnosing pituitary driven Cushing’s disease with good safety profile. However, the reliability in lateralizing pituitary adenoma is debated. One third of patients in this cohort switched lateralization before and after CRH administration. Studies on monkeys and rats showed that CRH induces coronary vasodilation and reduction in systemic vascular resistance. This suggest that CRH might have vasoactive effect on pituitary blood vessels with subsequent influence on IPS:P ACTH gradient ratio between the two sides.

Towards improving radiometry-derived snow depths with SNOWPACK and SMRT

<p>The depth of overlying snow on sea ice exerts a strong control on atmosphere-ocean heat and light flux and introduces major uncertainties in the remote sensing of sea ice thickness. Satellite-mounted microwave radiometers have enabled retrieval of snow depths over first year ice, but such retrievals are subject to a wide margin of error due to spatial variation in snow stratigraphy and roughness.</p><p>Here we model the microwave signature of snow on sea ice using a recently released sea ice variant of the snowpack evolution model, SNOWPACK (Wever et al., 2020). By advecting parcels of sea ice using ice motion vectors and exposing them to the relevant atmospheric forcing using ERA5 reanalysis, we model the accumulation of snow and the development of snowpack stratigraphy.</p><p>We then pass these modelled snowpacks to the Snow Microwave Radiative Transfer model (Picard et al., 2018) to estimate their microwave emission characteristics. By using relationships from the literature relating the ratios of the 37GHz and 19GHz channels, we calculate whether the traditional “gradient ratio” method (Markus and Cavalieri, 1998) over- or underestimates the depth of snow at a particular point based on our modelling. We then adjust the observed gradient ratio based on the model results in an attempt to better characterise snow depths.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>Wever, Nander, et al. "Version 1 of a sea ice module for the physics-based, detailed, multi-layer SNOWPACK model." <em>Geoscientific Model Development</em> 13.1 (2020): 99-119.</p><p>Picard, Ghislain, Melody Sandells, and Henning Löwe. "SMRT: An active–passive microwave radiative transfer model for snow with multiple microstructure and scattering formulations (v1. 0)." <em>Geoscientific Model Development </em>11.7 (2018): 2763-2788.</p><p>Markus, Thorsten, and Donald J. Cavalieri. "Snow depth distribution over sea ice in the Southern Ocean from satellite passive microwave data." <em>Antarctic sea ice: physical processes, interactions and variability </em>74 (1998): 19-39.</p>

Effect of the Number of Constrictions on the Filtration Behaviour of a Soil-Geotextile System

Nonwoven geotextile filters have been used in geo-environmental engineering for decades to prevent the movement of base soil fine particles, allowing adequate seepage to flow through the geotextile plane. Most of the design criteria developed for nonwoven geotextiles are based only on the comparison between their characteristic opening size and the indicative diameter of the soil to be filtered. In the meantime, the nonwoven geotextile fibrous structure has an influence on the filtration of the soil-geotextile system. In this paper the numbers of constrictions of nonwoven geotextile samples were determined to verify the existence of a correlation between the geotextile structure and the filtration behaviour of soil-geotextile systems. The compatibility between an internally unstable soil and a nonwoven geotextile filter was evaluated using the gradient ratio test. The results obtained can also be the basis for modifying the geotextile filter design and selection criteria.

A Comprehensive Study of Asymmetric Micro-Droplet Splitting in T-Junction

Splitting a single droplet into two unequal portions using a microfluidic T-junction has been an important functional feature of many modern lab-on-a-chip devices. A recent study introduced a general criterion for asymmetric droplet break-up in the range of intermediate Capillary numbers. The current work attempts to analyze, in more details, the different underlying mechanisms governing the asymmetric break-up process. In particular, this work focuses on the relationship between the break-up mechanism versus the splitting ratio of the daughter droplets. CFD simulation is used to closely monitor the effect of different fluid properties on the evolution of droplet break-up process. The splitting ratio under different flow conditions is characterized. Four mechanisms for primary droplet break-up are defined as follows: break-up with permanent obstruction, unstable break-up, breakup with tunnels and non-breakup. In particular, the main focus of this study is on the unstable break-up mechanisms where is very likely results to a much-deviated splitting ratio. Typically, yet unexpectedly, the resulting splitting ratio is often larger than the pressure gradient ratio in the T-junction. However, the two ratios are approximately equals to each other under a limited set of flow conditions. It has been observed that the splitting ratio could be more than double the pressure gradient ratio of the T-junction. The break-up is observed to be in the permanent obstruction mode if the splitting ratio is about the same magnitude as the pressure gradient ratio. The effects of the T-junction geometry on the break-up will also be examined.

A study on soil-geotextile interaction using gradient ratio tests

Nonwoven geotextile have been widely used for filtration. In this paper, the clogging potential for a soil-geotextile system were assessed using laboratory tests. An ASTM modified gradient ratio test device was used to determine gradient ratio as well as soil-gradient ratio. One type of nonwoven geotextile and soil were used to simulate the conditions in drainage system. The obtained results indicate that the gradient ratio and soil-gradient ratio increases with time because of clogging mechanism. However, the tested geotextile can be used as fi lter for soil with fine content of 20%.

Algorithm for Flat First-Year Ice Draft Using AMSR2 Data in the Arctic Ocean

First-year ice has replaced multiyear ice in the Northern Sea Route area since 2008. In this area, sea ice survival during summer substantially depends on first-year ice thickness at melt onset, and thus monitoring of first-year ice thickness in the freezing period is a key to forecasting sea ice distributions in the following summer. In this paper we introduce a new algorithm to estimate flat first-year ice draft using brightness temperature data measured by the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-2 (AMSR2). The algorithm uses a gradient ratio (GR) of 18- and 36-GHz vertically polarized brightness temperatures based on decreases in sea ice emissivity in higher AMSR2 frequency channels with thermodynamic growth associated with an increase in volume scattering. Such spectral characteristics of the emissivity are examined by comparing GR values with flat first-year ice draft extracted by mode values of in situ draft data measured by a moored ice profiling sonar. The accuracy of the daily draft estimated from GR values after applying proper noise filters is about 10 cm for a draft range of 0.4–1.2 m.