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001, however the MCCR from the osseous phase scans were not different between the two joint groups. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) for MCCR was excellent [0.9789, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.9734-0.9833]. Intra-observer agreement for qualitative SPECT findings was substantial for both the soft-tissue phase (kappa =0.78, 95% CI 0.72-0.83) and osseous-phase (kappa =0.70, 95% CI 0.64-0.76) scans.

Extracting reliable quantitative and qualitative measures from dual-phase 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT hand scans is feasible in RA patients. SPECT/CT may provide a unique means for assessing both synovitis and osseous involvement in RA joints using the same radiotracer injection.

Extracting reliable quantitative and qualitative measures from dual-phase 99mTc-MDP SPECT/CT hand scans is feasible in RA patients. PCNA-I1 SPECT/CT may provide a unique means for assessing both synovitis and osseous involvement in RA joints using the same radiotracer injection.

Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) newborns represent approximately 10% of births worldwide and 45% of births in some countries. It has been suggested that SGA might cause learning difficulties and behavioral abnormalities in childhood, yet the neurobiological basis for this is poorly understood. In this study, we employed several advanced imaging techniques-including T2-relaxation-under-spin-tagging (TRUST) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and phase-contrast (PC) MRI-to quantify oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), global cerebral blood flow (CBF), and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO

) to elucidate pathophysiological vulnerabilities of SGA neonates.

A total of 41 newborns were enrolled in this study, consisting of 29 SGA and 12 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) neonates. The SGA group was further divided into subgroups with and without abnormalities on structural MRI, denoted as SGA-a (N=17) and SGA-n (N=12). TRUST and PC MRI were performed to determine OEF, CBF, and CMRO

. Linear regression anaental period. In analyzing the SGA-a subgroup relative to the remaining neonates, the area under curve (AUC) values were 0.6, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.5 for birth weight, OEF, CMRO

, CBF, and brain volume, respectively. In analyzing the SGA-a subgroup relative to the SGA-n subgroup, AUC values were 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, and 0.5 for birth weight, OEF, CMRO

, CBF, and brain volume.

Structural damage in SGA-a neonates is associated with cerebral hemodynamic and metabolic deficits. SGA neonates with normal CBF and CMRO

reveal minimal structural abnormalities. Physiological imaging may help identify SGA patients at high risk of developing irreversible brain damage.

Structural damage in SGA-a neonates is associated with cerebral hemodynamic and metabolic deficits. SGA neonates with normal CBF and CMRO2reveal minimal structural abnormalities. Physiological imaging may help identify SGA patients at high risk of developing irreversible brain damage.

Increasing evidence indicates that radiotherapy (RT)-induced brain cortical deficits may play a critical role in developing radiation encephalopathy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the evolutional processes of RT-induced cortical injury have not been sufficiently investigated. This study investigates RT-induced effects on cortical morphology using longitudinal structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in NPC patients.

Using MRI-based morphometry with surface-based measures, we evaluated the longitudinal alterations of cortical volume (CV), cortical thickness (CT), and cortical surface area (CSA) in 104 NPC patients at pre-RT (n=104), within 3 months post-RT (n=92), 6 months post-RT (n=71), and 9-12 months post-RT (n=52). Twenty healthy controls were also evaluated in parallel. Linear mixed models were used to investigate the trajectories of RT-related changes in cortical brain morphology and its association with irradiation dose, with healthy controls data being used to construn morphology. These results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of irradiation-related neurotoxic effects on cortical brain morphology and will help guide the investigation of critically neuroprotective strategies.

Our preliminary findings revealed divergent effects of irradiation on cortical brain morphology. These results contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms of irradiation-related neurotoxic effects on cortical brain morphology and will help guide the investigation of critically neuroprotective strategies.

This study investigated the feasibility of using a computer-assisted method to evaluate and differentiate the carotid plaque characteristics in radiation-induced and non-radiation-induced carotid atherosclerosis.

This study included 107 post-radiotherapy (post-RT) nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients and 110 subjects with cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs). Each participant had a carotid ultrasound examination, and carotid plaques and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) were evaluated with grey scale ultrasound. The carotid plaque characteristics were evaluated for grey-scale median (GSM) and detailed plaque texture analysis (DPTA) using specific computer software. In DPTA, five different intra-plaque components were colour-coded according to different grey scale ranges. A multivariate linear regression model was used to evaluate the correlation of risk factors and carotid plaque characteristics.

Post-RT NPC patients have significantly higher CIMT (748±15.1 µm, P=0.001), more patients had a plaque assessment of carotid atherosclerosis.

Radiation caused more severe carotid artery disease than CVRF with larger CIMT and more prevalent of carotid plaque. Radiation-induced carotid plaques tended to have more intra-plaque calcifications, whereas non-radiation-induced carotid plaques had more lipids. Ultrasound aided by computer-assisted image analysis has potential for more accurate assessment of carotid atherosclerosis.

The feasibility and image quality of three-dimensional (3D) amide proton transfer (APT)-weighted (APTw) in parotid tumor lesions have not been well established in previous studies. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of APT imaging in parotid lesions and glands.

Patients with parotid lesions received 3D turbo spin echo (TSE) APTw on a 3.0T scanner. Two radiologists, who were blinded to the clinical data, independently evaluated the APTw image quality using 4-point Likert scales (1= poor, 4= excellent) in terms of integrity and hyperintensity artifacts. An image quality selection protocol was built based on the two scores. Evaluable images (integrity score >1) and trustable images (integrity score >3 and hyperintensity artifacts score >2) were then enrolled for APTw value comparison between parotid lesions and glands.

Forty consecutive patients were included in this study. Four patients were excluded due to severe motion (n=3) or dental (n=1) artifacts, and 36 patients received the APT sequlands; however, the technology still needs to be improved to remove artifacts. In our study, most APTw images of tumor lesions in parotid glands had acceptable image quality, and these APTw images are feasible for diagnostic use.

The successful recognition of benign and malignant breast nodules using ultrasound images is based mainly on supervised learning that requires a large number of labeled images. However, because high-quality labeling is expensive and time-consuming, we hypothesized that semi-supervised learning could provide a low-cost and powerful alternative approach. This study aimed to develop an accurate semi-supervised recognition method and compared its performance with supervised methods and sonographers.

The faster region-based convolutional neural network was used for nodule detection from ultrasound images. A semi-supervised classifier based on the mean teacher model was proposed to recognize benign and malignant nodule images. The general performance of the proposed method on two datasets (8,966 nodules) was reported.

The detection accuracy was 0.88±0.03 and 0.86±0.02, respectively, on two testing sets (1,350 and 2,220 nodules). When 800 labeled training nodules were available, the proposed semi-supervised moed for training, thus significantly alleviating the difficulty in data preparation of medical artificial intelligence.

Chronic migraine (CM) is a common and disabling neurological disorder that affects 1-2% of the global population. The aim of the present study was to identify the functional characteristics of the CM brain using static functional connectivity (s-FC), static functional network connectivity (s-FNC), and dynamic functional network connectivity (d-FNC) analyses.

In the present study, 17 CM patients and 20 sex- and age-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We utilized independent component (IC) analysis to identify 13 ICs. These 13 ICs were then classified into the following 6 resting-state networks (RSNs) the default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), dorsal attention network, auditory network (AN), visual network (VN), and cerebellum network. Subsequently, s-FC, s-FNC, and d-FNC analyses of 13 ICs were employed for between-group comparisons. Three temporal metrics (fraction of time spent, mean dwell time, and number of transitions), whine chronification may be related to abnormal pattern connectivity between sensory and cognitive brain networks.

To evaluate the effect of stent compression on in-stent restenosis (ISR) and clinical outcomes in patients with iliac vein compression syndrome (IVCS) after iliac vein stenting.

Fifty patients with IVCS treated with iliac vein stenting (Smart Control, Cordis, USA) between March 2017 and October 2018 were consecutively enrolled in this study. Computed tomography venography (CTV) was performed to assess stent compression and ISR. Based on the degree of stent compression, patients were allocated to a significant stent compression (SSC) group and an insignificant stent compression (ISC) group. The incidence of ISR was analyzed between the SSC and ISC groups. Patients' venous clinical severity scores (VCSSs) and responses to the chronic venous insufficiency questionnaire (CIVIQ) one year after stenting were compared between the two groups to evaluate the clinical improvement of venous insufficiency.

In total, 34% of patients had SSC. There were significant differences in the incidence of ISR (52.9%

21.2%, P=0.023), and in each group, there was one case of stent occlusion (5.88%

3.03%, P=0.999). Patients in the SSC group had a higher VCSS score (8.41±5.92

3.15±2.87, P=0.04) and a lower CIVIQ score (83.35±8.86

92.21±4.32, P=0.001).

SSC has a significant effect on the incidence of ISR and the clinical outcomes of venous insufficiency. Thus, a dedicated iliac venous stent with sufficient radial resistive force, crush resistance, and outward radial force is needed to prevent the occurrence of stent compression.

SSC has a significant effect on the incidence of ISR and the clinical outcomes of venous insufficiency. Thus, a dedicated iliac venous stent with sufficient radial resistive force, crush resistance, and outward radial force is needed to prevent the occurrence of stent compression.