Brain shape

[Objective] This study aims to introduce a novel back projection-induced U-Net-shaped architecture, called ReconU-Net, based on the original U-Net architecture for deep learning-based direct positron emission tomography (PET) image reconstruction. Additionally, our objective is to visualize the behavior of direct PET image reconstruction by comparing the proposed ReconU-Net architecture with the original U-Net architecture and existing DeepPET encoder-decoder architecture without skip connections.
[Approach] The proposed ReconU-Net architecture uniquely integrates the physical model of the back projection operation into the skip connection...

It remains unknown whether adiposity subtypes are differentially associated with colorectal cancer (CRC). To move beyond single-trait anthropometric indicators, we derived four multi-trait body shape phenotypes reflecting adiposity subtypes from principal components analysis on body mass index, height, weight, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist and hip circumference. A generally obese (PC1) and a tall, centrally obese (PC3) body shape were both positively associated with CRC risk in observational analyses in 329,828 UK Biobank participants (3728 cases)...

Though rare, autoimmune paraneoplastic and non-paraneoplastic chorea can be leading causes of adult-onset acute/subacute chorea. Here, we report a case of acute-onset chorea with suspected autoimmune-mediated mechanisms in a 79-year-old female who exhibited acute-onset choreiform movements on the right side of her body. She tested positive for anti-centromere antibodies (ACAs) without displaying symptoms of scleroderma. Blood sugar levels, genetic testing for Huntington's disease, and an antibody panel related to paraneoplastic neurological syndrome were unremarkable...

PURPOSE: To report a case of carboplatin-induced bilateral optic neuropathy in a patient with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. CASE REPORT: A 65-year-old man with a history of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue with metastasis to the right axillary lymph node treated with carboplatin and paclitaxel was evaluated for decreased visual acuity in both eyes. Visual acuity was 20/70 in the right eye and no light perception in the left eye. On dilated fundus examination, optic disc edema was present in both eyes with more severity in the left eye, flame shape hemorrhages around the optic nerve head in both eyes and cotton wool spots around the left optic nerve head...

Averaging is commonly used for data reduction/aggregation to analyse high-dimensional MRI data, but this often leads to information loss. To address this issue, we developed a novel technique that integrates diffusion tensor metrics along the whole volume of the fibre bundle using a 3D mesh-morphing technique coupled with principal component analysis for delineating case and control groups. Brain diffusion tensor MRI scans of high school rugby union players ( n = 30, age 16-18) were acquired on a 3 T MRI before and after the sports season...

A 77-year-old man was presented with progressive consciousness disturbance, presumably caused by a backward fall. Head CT findings showed a large intracerebral hemorrhage in the left parietal lobe. Radiated fractures with an oval-shaped depression of the bilateral parietal bone crossing the midline were noted. Surgical evacuation of the hemorrhage was performed via a left-sided parietal craniotomy, during which fragments from the fracture with eggshell-like thinning were noted. Biparietal thinning is an uncommon condition noted in radiological findings of a symmetrical oval-shaped depression of bilateral parietal bones with reduced diploe thickness...

BACKGROUND: Effective irrigation is crucial for successful endodontic treatment. Traditional irrigants like sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) have been widely used, but there is a growing interest in exploring natural alternatives for their potential antimicrobial properties. OBJECTIVE: The study aims to compare the antimicrobial efficacy of Neem, Bitter Gourd, and NaOCl, with and without ultrasonic activation in managing primary endodontic infections. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ninety patients were randomly assigned six groups ( n = 15) Group 1: NaOCl, Group 2: NaOCl with passive ultrasonic irrigation (PUI), Group 3: Neem juice, Group 4: Neem juice with PUI, Group 5: Bitter gourd juice, and Group 6: Bitter gourd juice with PUI...

We describe coordinate systems adapted for the space between two surfaces, such as those delineating the highly folded cortex in mammalian brains. These systems are estimated in order to satisfy geometric priors, including streamline normality or equivolumetric conditions on layers. We give a precise mathematical formulation of these problems, and present numerical simulations based on diffeomorphic registration methods, comparing them with recent approaches. Our method involves•Diffeomorphic registration of inner and outer folded folded surfaces...

Retaining information in working memory is a demanding process that relies on cognitive control to protect memoranda-specific persistent activity from interference1,2 . However, how cognitive control regulates working memory storage is unclear. Here we show that interactions of frontal control and hippocampal persistent activity are coordinated by theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (TG-PAC). We recorded single neurons in the human medial temporal and frontal lobe while patients maintained multiple items in their working memory...

Emotion Regulation (ER) refers to the processes by which individuals influence their own emotions. It is a crucial aspect of human behavior, affecting everything from interpersonal relationships to mental health. The relationship between ER and Attachment Theory (AT) is pivotal. AT suggests that early bonds with primary caregivers influence future relationship expectations and behaviors. These initial experiences shape internal models of self and others, affecting how individuals regulate their emotions. Understanding the interplay between ER and AT is essential for comprehending the human affective system...

The role of the cortex in shaping automatic whole-body motor behaviors such as walking and balance is poorly understood. Gait and balance are typically mediated through subcortical circuits, with the cortex becoming engaged as needed on an individual basis by task difficulty and complexity. However, we lack a mechanistic understanding of how increased cortical contribution to whole-body movements shapes motor output. Here we use reactive balance recovery as a paradigm to identify relationships between hierarchical control mechanisms and their engagement across balance tasks of increasing difficulty in young adults...

The New World suboscines (Passeriformes and Tyrannides) are one of the biggest endemic vertebrate radiations in South America, including the families Furnariidae and Tyrannidae. Avian brain morphology is a reliable proxy to study their evolution. The aim of this work is to elucidate whether the brains of these families reflect the ecological differences (e.g., feeding behavior) and to clarify macroevolutionary aspects of their neuroanatomy. Our hypotheses are as follows: Brain size is similar between both families and with other Passeriformes; brain morphology in Tyrannides is the result of the pressure of ecological factors; and brain disparity is low since they share ecological traits...

BACKGROUND: Gliomas, as Central Nervous System (CNS) tumors, are greatly common with 80% of malignancy. Treatment methods for gliomas, such as surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy depend on the grade, size, location, and the patient's age. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to quantify glioma based on the radiomics analysis and classify its grade into High-grade Glioma (HGG) or Low-grade Glioma (LGG) by various machine-learning methods using contrast-enhanced brain Computerized Tomography (CT) scans...

Humans have the remarkable ability to vividly retrieve sensory details of past events. According to the theory of sensory reinstatement, during remembering, brain regions specialized for processing specific sensory stimuli are reactivated to support content specific retrieval. Recently, several studies have emphasized transformations in the spatial organization of these reinstated activity patterns. Specifically, studies of scene stimuli suggest a clear anterior shift in the location of retrieval activations compared with activity observed during perception...

Precision medicine aims to provide personalized care based on individual patient characteristics, rather than guideline-directed therapies for groups of diseases or patient demographics. Images-both radiology- and pathology-derived-are a major source of information on presence, type, and status of disease. Exploring the mathematical relationship of pixels in medical imaging ("radiomics") and cellular-scale structures in digital pathology slides ("pathomics") offers powerful tools for extracting both qualitative, and increasingly, quantitative data...

The morphological analysis and volume measurement of the hippocampus are crucial to the study of many brain diseases. Therefore, an accurate hippocampal segmentation method is beneficial for the development of clinical research in brain diseases. U-Net and its variants have become prevalent in hippocampus segmentation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging(MRI) due to their effectiveness, and the architecture based on Transformer has also received some attention. However, some existing methods focus too much on the shape and volume of the hippocampus rather than its spatial information, and the extracted information is independent of each other, ignoring the correlation between local and global features...

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has emerged as a new mode of non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), with its exquisite spatial precision and capacity to reach the deep regions of the brain. The placement of the acoustic focus onto the desired part of the brain is critical for successful tFUS procedures; however, acoustic wave propagation is severely affected by the skull, distorting the focal location/shape and the pressure level. High-resolution (HR) numerical simulation allows for monitoring of acoustic pressure within the skull but with a considerable computational burden...

The perceptual and motor systems appear to have a set of movement primitives that exhibit certain geometric and kinematic invariances. Complex patterns and mental representations can be produced by (re)combining some simple motor elements in various ways using basic operations, transformations, and respecting a set of laws referred to as kinematic laws of motion. For example, point-to-point hand movements are characterized by straight hand paths with single-peaked-bell-shaped velocity profiles, whereas hand speed profiles for curved trajectories are often irregular and more variable, with speed valleys and inflections extrema occurring at the peak curvature...

Deep learning technology has been successfully used in Chest X-ray (CXR) images of COVID-19 patients. However, due to the characteristics of COVID-19 pneumonia and X-ray imaging, the deep learning methods still face many challenges, such as lower imaging quality, fewer training samples, complex radiological features and irregular shapes. To address these challenges, this study first introduces an extensive NSNP-like neuron model, and then proposes a multitask adversarial network architecture based on ENSNP-like neurons for chest X-ray images of COVID-19, called MAE-Net...

The sense of vision begins in the retina, where light is detected and processed through a complex series of synaptic connections into meaningful information relayed to the brain via retinal ganglion cells. Light responses begin as tonic and graded signals in photoreceptors, later emerging from the retina as a series of spikes from ganglion cells. Processing by the retina extracts critical features of the visual world, including spatial frequency, temporal frequency, motion direction, color, contrast, and luminance...