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Comput Methods Programs Biomed 2021 Apr 3;205:106086. Epub 2021 Apr 3.

B&VIIT Eye Center, Seoul, South Korea; VISUWORKS, Seoul, South Korea.

Background And Objective: The purpose of the present study was to investigate low-shot deep learning models applied to conjunctival melanoma detection using a small dataset with ocular surface images.

Methods: A dataset was composed of anonymized images of four classes; conjunctival melanoma (136), nevus or melanosis (93), pterygium (75), and normal conjunctiva (94). Before training involving conventional deep learning models, two generative adversarial networks (GANs) were constructed to augment the training dataset for low-shot learning. Read More

Hum Vaccin Immunother 2021 Apr 16:1-8. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Department of Pediatrics, Prof. Dr. Medipol University School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.

Developing an effective and safe vaccine against Covid-19 will facilitate return to normal. Due to hesitation toward the vaccine, it is crucial to explore the acceptability of the COVID-19 vaccine to the public and healthcare workers. In this cross-sectional survey, we invited 2251 pediatricians and 506 (22%) of them responded survey and 424 (84%) gave either nasopharyngeal swap or antibody assay for COVID-19 and 71 (14%) of them got diagnosis of COVID-19. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Apr 15;11(1):8328. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Dukhov Research Institute of Automatics (VNIIA), Moscow, Russia, 127055.

Under nonequilibrium conditions, quantum optical systems reveal unusual properties that might be distinct from those in condensed matter. The fundamental reason is that photonic eigenstates can have arbitrary occupation numbers, whereas in electronic systems these are limited by the Pauli principle. Here, we address the steady-state transport of pseudothermal photons between two waveguides connected through a cavity with Bose-Hubbard interaction between photons. Read More

Neurology 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Neurology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242

Neuroimage 2021 Apr 12:118043. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Center for Biomedical Imaging Research, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the spinal cord is technically challenging due to the size of its structure and susceptibility-induced field inhomogeneity, which impedes clinical applications. This study aimed to achieve high-fidelity spinal cord DTI with reasonable SNR and practical acquisition efficiency. Particularly, a distortion-free multi-shot EPI technique, namely point-spread-function encoded EPI (PSF-EPI), was adopted for diffusion imaging of the cervical spinal cord (CSC). Read More

Anesthesiology 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Background: Deep spinal infection is a devastating complication after epidural injection. This study aimed to investigate the incidence of deep spinal infection primarily after outpatient single-shot epidural injection for pain. Secondarily, this study assessed the national trends of the procedure and risk factors for said infection. Read More

Korean J Radiol 2021 Apr 1. Epub 2021 Apr 1.

Department of Radiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Objective: Motion-corrected averaging with a single-shot technique was introduced for faster acquisition of late-gadolinium-enhancement (LGE) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging while free-breathing. We aimed to evaluate the image quality (IQ) of free-breathing motion-corrected single-shot LGE (moco-ss-LGE) in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Materials And Methods: Between April and December 2019, 30 patients (23 men; median age, 48. Read More

J Magn Reson Imaging 2021 Apr 15. Epub 2021 Apr 15.

Department of Diagnostic Imaging, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

Background: In archived diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies, a reversed-phase encoding (PE) scan required to correct the distortion in single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) may not have been acquired. Furthermore, DTI tractography is adversely affected by incorrect white matter segmentation due to leukoencephalopathy (LE). All these issues need to be addressed. Read More

Trauma Case Rep 2021 Jun 17;33:100456. Epub 2021 Mar 17.

CUF Porto Hospital, Porto, Portugal.

Case: A young adult male sustained a high-energy crash suffering multiple injuries including a comminuted right femoral shaft fracture and an ipsilateral iliac wing fracture. The iliac fracture was caused by a femoral fragment which was projected and pierced the iliac wing. The patient underwent surgery with retrieval of the femoral fragment and fixation of the iliac and femoral fractures. Read More

Data Brief 2021 Apr 18;35:106960. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, degli Alimenti e dell'Ambiente, Università degli Studi di Foggia, Via Napoli, 25, 71122 Foggia, Italy.

An untargeted shot-gun approach is described for the ultra-high-resolution analysis of fennel proteins by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) combined with a home-made Matlab search algorithm. The first step of the proposed bioinformatic strategy was the development of a custom-made fennel protein database, starting from the well-known, on-line available, protein NCBI database, under organism, consisting of 231 total proteins. Partial and redundant forms of proteins, repeatedly included in the official NCBI database under different codes, were removed. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Apr 14;11(1):8172. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

Department of NanoEngineering, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.

Deep learning is quickly becoming a standard approach to solving a range of materials science objectives, particularly in the field of computer vision. However, labeled datasets large enough to train neural networks from scratch can be challenging to collect. One approach to accelerating the training of deep learning models such as convolutional neural networks is the transfer of weights from models trained on unrelated image classification problems, commonly referred to as transfer learning. Read More

Circ J 2021 Apr 13. Epub 2021 Apr 13.

University Heart Center Lübeck, Division of Electrophysiology, Medical Clinic II (Department of Cardiology, Angiology and Intensive Care Medicine), University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein.

Background: The arctic front cryoballoon (AF-CB) provides effective and durable pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) associated with encouraging clinical outcome. The POLARx cryoballoon incorporates unique features and design changes that may translate into improved efficacy, safety and further simplified balloon-based procedures. Efficacy and safety of the novel POLARx cryoballoon was compared to the fourth generation AF-CB (AF-CB4). Read More

Transfus Med Rev 2021 Mar 19. Epub 2021 Mar 19.

Clinical Pathology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. Electronic address:

Human factors account for most reported errors in the serious hazards of blood transfusion report, thus staff training on safe blood transfusion is strongly recommended. This study aimed to assess knowledge of blood transfusion safety among pediatricians and determine the impact of an educational initiative. A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 190 pediatricians. Read More

JBJS Case Connect 2021 04 13;11(2). Epub 2021 Apr 13.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Case: We describe a case of mild lead poisoning in a 25-year-old woman because of intra-articular migration of lead shot 12 years after gunshot injury to the left hip, ameliorated by arthroscopic foreign body removal. Retained lead can cause systemic symptoms of lead toxicity, supranormal blood lead concentration, and increasingly painful and destructive local arthritis even years after gunshot injury.

Conclusion: This report shows that lead fragments should be monitored closely if located near joint spaces. Read More

Nat Protoc 2021 Apr 12. Epub 2021 Apr 12.

Caltech Optical Imaging Laboratory, Andrew and Peggy Cherng Department of Medical Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.

Photoacoustic tomography (PAT) has demonstrated versatile biomedical applications, ranging from tracking single cells to monitoring whole-body dynamics of small animals and diagnosing human breast cancer. Currently, PAT has two major implementations: photoacoustic computed tomography (PACT) and photoacoustic microscopy (PAM). PACT uses a multi-element ultrasonic array for parallel detection, which is relatively complex and expensive. Read More

Cogn Sci 2021 Apr;45(4):e12969

Department of Communication and Performing Arts, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

The present study examined whether cinematographic editing density affects viewers' perception of time. As a second aim, based on embodied models that conceive time perception as strictly connected to the movement, we tested the hypothesis that the editing density of moving images also affects viewers' eye movements and that these later mediate the effect of editing density on viewers' temporal judgments. Seventy participants watched nine video clips edited by manipulating the number of cuts (slow- and fast-paced editing against a master shot, unedited condition). Read More

J Zhejiang Univ Sci B 2020 Dec.;21(12):977-989

Department of Chinese Integrative Medicine, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.

Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrine-metabolic dysfunction in reproductive-aged women, may be involved in compromised pregnancy and offspring outcomes. This study aimed to investigate whether maternal PCOS affects fetal growth, fetal development, and placental features.

Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 60 pregnant women with PCOS (PCOS group) and 120 healthy pregnant women without PCOS (control group). Read More

Inter Econ 2021 6;56(2):127-128. Epub 2021 Apr 6.

Peterson Institute for International Economics, 1750 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, 20036-1903 Washington, DC, USA.

Cell Transplant 2021 Jan-Dec;30:963689721993769

Bioinnovation Center, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien.

Until July 29th, the number of confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) cases worldwide has risen to over 16 million, within which 655 k deaths. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) emerges as the 11th global pandemic disease, showing the highest infectivity and lowest infection fatality rate. In this review, we compare the immunopathology among SARS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and SARS-CoV2. Read More

J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2021 Apr 2;119:104476. Epub 2021 Apr 2.

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy.

Impact based surface treatments with adequate kinetic energy have favorable effects on promoting cell-substrate interactions, reducing bacterial adhesion, and enhancing fatigue performance of metallic biomaterials. Here, we used both numerical and experimental approaches to evaluate the potential of these treatments for addressing the major issue associated with the application of pure iron in biomedical implants, i.e. Read More

Curr Biol 2021 Mar 31. Epub 2021 Mar 31.

Department of Neuropharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, N15 W7 Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.

Adapting to changing environmental conditions requires a prospective inference of future actions and their consequences, a strategy also known as model-based decision making. In stable environments, extensive experience of actions and their consequences leads to a shift from a model-based to a model-free strategy, whereby behavioral selection is primarily governed by retrospective experiences of positive and negative outcomes. Human and animal studies, where subjects are required to speculate about implicit information and adjust behavioral responses over multiple sessions, point to a role for the central serotonergic system in model-based decision making. Read More

Europace 2021 Apr;23(Supplement_2):ii23-ii27

Department of Cardiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands.

Treatment of symptomatic atrial fibrillation has seen important changes in the past decades. Advancements have especially been made in the field of non-pharmacological treatment of this disease. Patients in whom a rhythm control strategy is chosen the place of catheter ablation has become more frontline therapy in the past years. Read More

J Sport Rehabil 2021 Apr 9:1-10. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Context: Instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM), tissue flossing, and kinesiology taping are increasingly popular treatments among athletes for improving functional performance, despite limited evidence for their efficacy.

Objective: Previous research regarding the efficacy of soft tissues and neuromuscular techniques on improving functional capacity of shoulder joints in athletes has yielded conflicting results. We examined the immediate and short-term effects of IASTM, flossing, and kinesiology taping on the functional capacities of amateur athletes' shoulders. Read More

IEEE Trans Image Process 2021 16;30:4316-4329. Epub 2021 Apr 16.

Transductive zero-shot learning (TZSL) extends conventional ZSL by leveraging (unlabeled) unseen images for model training. A typical method for ZSL involves learning embedding weights from the feature space to the semantic space. However, the learned weights in most existing methods are dominated by seen images, and can thus not be adapted to unseen images very well. Read More

IEEE Trans Med Imaging 2021 Apr 9;PP. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

In echocardiography (echo), an electrocardiogram (ECG) is conventionally used to temporally align different cardiac views for assessing critical measurements. However, in emergencies or point-of-care situations, acquiring an ECG is often not an option, hence motivating the need for alternative temporal synchronization methods. Here, we propose Echo-SyncNet, a self-supervised learning framework to synchronize various cross-sectional 2D echo series without any human supervision or external inputs. Read More

IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell 2021 Apr 9;PP. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Current approaches mainly devote to modeling the video as a frame sequence by recurrent neural networks. However, one potential limitation of the sequence models is that they focus on capturing local neighborhood dependencies while the high-order dependencies in long distance are not fully exploited. In general, the frames in each shot record a certain activity and vary smoothly over time, but the multi-hop relationships occur frequently among shots. Read More

Sci Rep 2021 Apr 8;11(1):7785. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Microsystems and Terahertz Research Center, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Chengdu, 610200, Sichuan, China.

The scheme of optical imaging using scattering lens can provide a resolution beyond the classical optical diffraction limit with a coherent-state input. Nevertheless, due to the shot noise of the coherent state, the corresponding signal-to-noise ratio and resolution are both still shot-noise-limited. In order to circumvent this problem, we theoretically propose an alternative scheme where the squeezed state (with a sub-shot noise) is considered as input and the quantum noise is then suppressed below the shot-noise level. Read More

J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth 2021 Mar 8. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Objective: Cardiac surgical pain is of moderate-to-severe intensity. Ineffective pain control may lead to increased cardiopulmonary complications and poor surgical outcomes. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane block in providing analgesia in adult cardiac surgeries. Read More

Nanotechnology 2021 Apr 8. Epub 2021 Apr 8.

Department of Engineering, Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, CHINA.

Graphene, as a typical two-dimensional material, is popular in the design of nanodevices. The interlayer relative sliding of graphene sheets can significantly affect the effective bending stiffness of the few-layered graphene. For restricting the relative sliding, we adopted the atomic shot peening method to bond the graphene sheets together by ballistic C60 fullerenes from its two surfaces. Read More

IEEE Trans Image Process 2021 14;30:4253-4262. Epub 2021 Apr 14.

In the few-shot common-localization task, given few support images without bounding box annotations at each episode, the goal is to localize the common object in the query image of unseen categories. The few-shot common-localization task involves common object reasoning from the given images, predicting the spatial locations of the object with different shapes, sizes, and orientations. In this work, we propose a common-centric localization (CCL) network for few-shot common-localization. Read More