Maxilloturbinal Aids in Nasophonation in Horseshoe Bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae)

Horseshoe bats (Family Rhinolophidae) show an impressive array of morphological traits associated with use of high duty cycle echolocation calls that they emit via their nostrils (nasophonation). Delicate maxilloturbinal bones inside the nasal fossa of horseshoe bats have a unique elongated strand-like shape unknown in other mammals. Maxilloturbinal strands also vary considerably in length and cross-sectional shape. In other mammals, maxilloturbinals help direct respired air and prevent respiratory heat and water loss. We investigated whether strand-shaped maxilloturbinals in horseshoe bats perform a similar function to those of other mammals, or whether they were shaped for a role in nasophonation. Using histology, we studied the mucosa of the nasal fossa in Rhinolophus lepidus, which we compared with Hipposideros lankadiva (Hipposideridae) and Megaderma lyra (Megadermatidae). Using micro-CT scans of 30 horseshoe bat species, we quantified maxilloturbinal surface area and skull shape within a phylogenetic context. Histological results showed horseshoe bat maxilloturbinals are covered in a thin, poorly vascularized, sparsely ciliated mucosa poorly suited for preventing respiratory heat and water loss. Maxilloturbinal surface area was correlated with basicranial width, but exceptionally long and dorsoventrally flat maxilloturbinals did not show enhanced surface area for heat and moisture exchange. Skull shape variation appears to be driven by structures linked to nasophonation, including maxilloturbinals. Resting echolocation call frequency better predicted skull shape than did skull size, and was specifically correlated with dimensions of the rostral inflations, palate, and maxilloturbinals. These traits appear to form a morphological complex, indicating a nasophonatory role for the strand-shaped rhinolophid maxilloturbinals. Anat Rec, 2018. © 2018 American Association for Anatomy.     

儿童发育性髋关节发育不良解剖学改变与影像学表现

背景:发育性髋关节发育不良是常见的儿童髋关节发育畸形,该病不同时期的治疗效果不同,早期治疗疗效较好,并发症较少,远期的预后更好,可以减少复发率,减轻经济压力,提高生活质量,所以,临床上对发育性髋关节发育不良的早期诊断越来越重要。目的:对发育性髋关节发育不良的解剖学改变及影像学表现的研究进展进行综述。方法:以"DDH,Anatomy,X-ray Radiography,CT,MRI,Ultrasound"为英文检索词,"发育性髋关节发育不良,解剖,X线摄影,CT,MRI,超声"为中文检索词,对PubMed、Springerlink等英文数据库及万方、CNKI等中文数据库进行检索,检索时限为1990年1月至2019年12月,排除与文章研究目的无关及重复性研究,纳入符合标准的55篇文献进行综述。结果与结论:影像学诊断作为一种无创性的检查手段,已经成为诊断发育性髋关节发育不良首选的检查方法,而明确其解剖学改变更有助于临床影像学诊断,常规X射线片能够进行发育性髋关节发育不良的快速筛查;MRI有助于分辨软组织结构以及骨性结构早期信号改变;三维CT能够多角度评价髋臼骨性结构改变,排除了体位因素造成的遮挡;超声同样能够进行发育性髋关节发育不良筛查,并对关节积液更加敏感。所以,不同的影像学检查各有优势,相辅相成,提高发育性髋关节发育不良的早期诊断率。     

Gadolinium complex and phosphorescent probe-modified NaDyF4 nanorods for T1- and T2-weighted MRI/CT/phosphorescence multimodality imaging

To compensate for the deficiencies of individual imaging modalities, lanthanide-based nanoparticles are ideal building blocks for multifunctional contrast agents. Herein, oleic acid-coated NaDyF₄ nanorods (DyNPs) were synthesized by the hydrothermal method, and then coated with α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and modified with gadolinium complex (Gd-DTPA) to obtain hydrophilic and functionalized nanoparticles (DyNPs-Gd). By loading the phosphorescent probe (iridium-complex) within the surface hydrophobic layer, the developed nanophosphors (DyNPs-Gd-Ir) could be further applied in phosphorescent cell labeling. The Dy in the host induces a high X-ray absorption ability for X-ray computed tomography (CT) and negative enhancement for T₂-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), whereas positive contrast for T₁-weighted MRI results from the Gd-DTPA. DyNPs-Gd-Ir has been successfully applied to T₁- and T₂-weighted MRI/CT in vivo. Toxicity studies demonstrated that DyNPs-Gd-Ir exhibited low toxicity to living systems. Therefore, DyNPs-Gd-Ir could be a platform for next-generation contrast agents for T₁- and T₂-weighted MRI/CT/phosphorescence multimodal imaging.     

The relationship between the diameter of chemically-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their organ biodistribution profiles in vivo

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit unique properties which have led to their applications in the biomedical field as novel delivery systems for diagnosis and therapy purposes. We have previously reported that the degree of functionalization of CNTs is a key factor determining their biological behaviour. The present study broadens the spectrum by investigating the impact of the diameter of CNTs using two series of multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs) with distinct differences in their diameters. Both MWNTs were doubly functionalized by 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition and amidation reactions, allowing the appended functional groups to be further conjugated with radionuclide chelating moieties and antibodies or antibody fragments. All constructs possessed comparable degree of functionalization and were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy, gel electrophoresis and surface plasmon resonance. The MWNT conjugates were radio-labelled with indium-111, which thereby enabled in vivo single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) imaging and organ biodistribution study using γ-scintigraphy. The narrow MWNTs (average diameter: 9.2 nm) demonstrated enhanced tissue affinity including non-reticular endothelial tissues compared to the wider MWNTs (average diameter: 39.5 nm). The results indicate that the higher aspect ratio of narrow MWNTs may be beneficial for their future biological applications due to higher tissue accumulation.     

Neuroimaging in dementia

Over the last few years, advances in neuroimaging have generated biomarkers, which increase diagnostic certainty, provide valuable information about prognosis, and suggest a particular pathology underlying the clinical dementia syndrome. We aim to review the evidence for use of already established imaging modalities, along with selected techniques that have a great potential to guide clinical decisions in the future. We discuss structural, functional and molecular imaging, focusing on the most common dementias: Alzheimer's disease, fronto-temporal dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and vascular dementia. Finally, we stress the importance of conducting research using representative cohorts and in a naturalistic set up, in order to build a strong evidence base for translating imaging methods for a National Health Service. If we assess a broad range of patients referred to memory clinic with a variety of imaging modalities, we will make a step towards accumulating robust evidence and ultimately closing the gap between the dramatic advances in neurosciences and meaningful clinical applications for the maximum benefit of our patients.     

A method for carpal motion hysteresis quantification in 4-dimensional imaging of the wrist

IntroductionCarpal bones motions exhibit hysteresis that is dependent on the direction of wrist motion, which can be seen during 4-dimensional (3D plus time) imaging of the wrist. In vitro studies have demonstrated the phenomenon of carpal hysteresis and have reported that hysteresis area increases with carpal instabilities. However, their techniques required implantation of bone markers and thus cannot be used clinically. The objective of this study is to use noninvasive 4-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) technique to quantify carpal hysteresis, and to determine the reliability of this method.MethodA cadaveric wrist mounted on a custom motion simulator was imaged using a dual-source CT scanner while undergoing periodic radioulnar deviation. Ten image phases of this motion was reconstructed through retrospective cardiac gating. The rotational angles of scaphoid, lunate and triquetrum in each phase were derived through manual registration using Matlab after segmenting the bones in Analyze 8.1. These angles were then plotted against global wrist positional angles to produce the hysteresis curves and the area was calculated. The image segmentation and measurements were repeated by 2 raters to derive intra- and inter-rater reliability assessments.ResultsThe hysteresis area was found to be larger in the lunate (96.5 deg²) followed by triquetrum (92.3 deg²) and scaphoid (67.5 deg²). The measurement of the total hysteresis area of the scaphoid had the highest reliability with intra- and inter-rater reliability of 95.5% and 95.4% respectively.DiscussionWe have demonstrated that our approach of using 4DCT imaging can be used to assess and quantify the hysteresis of the carpal motion with good reliability.     

Contrasting lexical similarity and formal definitions in SNOMED CT: Consistency and implications

ObjectiveTo quantify the presence of and evaluate an approach for detection of inconsistencies in the formal definitions of SNOMED CT (SCT) concepts utilizing a lexical method.Material and methodUtilizing SCT’s Procedure hierarchy, we algorithmically formulated similarity sets: groups of concepts with similar lexical structure of their fully specified name. We formulated five random samples, each with 50 similarity sets, based on the same parameter: number of parents, attributes, groups, all the former as well as a randomly selected control sample. All samples’ sets were reviewed for types of formal definition inconsistencies: hierarchical, attribute assignment, attribute target values, groups, and definitional.ResultsFor the Procedure hierarchy, 2111 similarity sets were formulated, covering 18.1% of eligible concepts. The evaluation revealed that 38 (Control) to 70% (Different relationships) of similarity sets within the samples exhibited significant inconsistencies. The rate of inconsistencies for the sample with different relationships was highly significant compared to Control, as well as the number of attribute assignment and hierarchical inconsistencies within their respective samples.Discussion and conclusionWhile, at this time of the HITECH initiative, the formal definitions of SCT are only a minor consideration, in the grand scheme of sophisticated, meaningful use of captured clinical data, they are essential. However, significant portion of the concepts in the most semantically complex hierarchy of SCT, the Procedure hierarchy, are modeled inconsistently in a manner that affects their computability. Lexical methods can efficiently identify such inconsistencies and possibly allow for their algorithmic resolution.     

基于Contourlet阈值法的锥形束CT图像去噪研究

目的：将多尺度分析工具之一的Contourlet变换运用到锥形束CT（CBCT）图像去噪领域,并对Contourlet不同阈值去噪方法进行探讨。提出基于Contourlet变换结合半软阈值方法对锥形束CT去噪,并论证去噪效果。方法：利用Contourlet变换的多尺度多方向性以及平移不变性,对低分辨率锥形束CT图像进行拉普拉斯塔形滤波和方向滤波多层分解后得到变换系数,随后对变换系数采用不同阈值方法进行处理,最后逆序反变换得到去噪后图像。通过软阈值和硬阈值方法在Contourlet变换中的应用,提出半软阈值结合Contourlet变换方法对锥形束CT图像去噪。通过对头,胸,盆腔各10例临床锥形束CT图像的去噪,比较三种阈值去噪效果。结果：半软阈值法在胸部和盆腔部锥形束CT图像去噪中比Contourlet硬阈值去噪在PSNR上平均高出1.40 d B和3.11 d B,但在头部锥形束CT图像处理中无优势,而Contourlet软阈值去噪后的锥形束CT图像在消除噪声的同时,信号自身的能量被消弱最多。结论：本文半软阈值法在一定程度上修正了硬,软阈值函数的缺陷,结合Contourlet变换在处理图像几何结构方面的优势,为锥形束CT图像去噪提供了一个新思路。