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Background and Purpose: DWI is crucial for detecting infarction stroke. However, its spatial resolution is often limited, hindering accurate lesion visualization. Our aim was to evaluate the image quality and diagnostic confidence of deep learning (DL)-based super-resolution reconstruction for brain DWI of infarction stroke., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 114 consecutive participants who underwent brain DWI. The DWI images were reconstructed with 2 schemes: 1) DL-based super-resolution reconstruction (DWI DL ); and 2) conventional compressed sensing reconstruction (DWI CS ). Qualitative image analysis included overall image quality, lesion conspicuity, and diagnostic confidence in infarction stroke of different lesion sizes. Quantitative image quality assessments were performed by measurements of SNR, contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), ADC, and edge rise distance. Group comparisons were conducted by using a paired t test for normally distributed data and the Wilcoxon test for non-normally distributed data. The overall agreement between readers for qualitative ratings was assessed by using the Cohen κ coefficient. A P value less than .05 was considered statistically significant., Results: A total of 114 DWI examinations constituted the study cohort. For the qualitative assessment, overall image quality, lesion conspicuity, and diagnostic confidence in infarction stroke lesions (lesion size <1.5 cm) improved by DWI DL compared with DWI CS (all P < .001). For the quantitative analysis, edge rise distance of DWI DL was reduced compared with that of DWI CS ( P < .001), and no significant difference in SNR, CNR, and ADC values (all P > .05)., Conclusions: Compared with the conventional compressed sensing reconstruction, the DL-based super-resolution reconstruction demonstrated superior image quality and was feasible for achieving higher diagnostic confidence in infarction stroke., (© 2025 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)

Cotton seed development and fiber elongation are the inseparable and overlapped development processes requiring the continuous supply of sucrose as the direct carbon source. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of how sucrose is transported from the source tissues (leaves) into growing cotton seeds. Here, we identify the function of a sucrose transporter gene, Sugars Will Eventually be Exported Transporter 10, GhSWEET10 in cotton seed development. GhSWEET10 encodes a functional sucrose transporter, predominantly expressing in the funiculus, inner seedcoat, and endosperm during fiber elongation. GhSWEET10 RNAi plants (GhSWEET10i) accumulated less sucrose and glucose in growing seeds and that led to shorter fibers and smaller seeds, whereas GhSWEET10 overexpressed plants (GhSWEET10OE) had bigger seeds and longer fibers with more sugar accumulation during fiber elongation. GhSWEET10 gene is transcriptionally controlled by the transcription factor GhDOFD45. GhDOFD45 knockout plants (GhDOFD45-KO) possessed the phenotypes of smaller seeds and shorter fibers like those of GhSWEET10i plants. Furthermore, GhSWEET10 mainly exports the sucrose from the funiculus into developing seeds according to the mimic-analysis of sucrose transporting. Collectively, all these findings show that GhDOFD45 positively regulates GhSWEET10 expression to mainly transport sucrose from leaves into developing cotton seeds. Our findings also imply that the sucrose transport into enlarging seeds benefits fiber development, and thus GhSWEET10 can be selected as a target of breeding novel cotton varieties with larger and more vigorous seeds., (© 2024 Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: The relationship between neurotransmitters and oxidative stress in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients, considering HPA axis activity and psychological and cognitive states, is unclear. This study examines changes in neurotransmitters (GABA, Glx) and antioxidants (GSH) in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) of MDD patients under varying levels of ACTH, and their relationship with psychological and cognitive conditions., Methods: Forty-five MDD patients were divided into high-ACTH (>65 pg/mL; n = 16) and normal-ACTH (7-65 pg/mL; n = 29) groups based on blood ACTH levels, along with 12 healthy controls (HC). All participants underwent HAM-D, HAM-A assessments, and most completed MMSE and MoCA tests. GABA+, Glx, and GSH levels in the dACC were measured using the MEGA-PRESS sequence. Intergroup differences and correlations between clinical factors, HPA axis activity, and metabolites were analyzed., Results: Compared to HC, the normal ACTH group showed higher Glx and lower GSH levels. Glx and GSH were negatively correlated with MDD severity. In the high-ACTH MDD group, Glx positively correlated with delayed memory, and GSH positively correlated with abstraction. Factors influencing GABA included ACTH levels, depression duration, and negative events. Predictive factors for HAM-D scores were GSH and GABA., Limitations: The sample size is small., Conclusion: MDD patients exhibit neurochemical differences in the brain related to HPA axis levels, MDD severity, and cognitive function. Clinical factors, neurotransmitters, and neuroendocrine levels significantly influence depression severity., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To explore the role of deep learning (DL) and radiomics-based integrated approach based on contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CEMRI) for predicting early recurrence (ER) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after curative resection., Methods: Total 165 HCC patients (ER, n = 96 vs. non-early recurrence (NER), n = 69) were retrospectively collected and divided into a training cohort ( n = 132) and a validation cohort ( n = 33). From pretreatment CEMR images, a total of 3111 radiomics features were extracted, and radiomics models were constructed using five machine learning classifiers (logistic regression, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, extreme gradient Boosting, and multilayer perceptron). DL models were established via three variations of ResNet architecture. The clinical-radiological (CR), radiomics combined with clinical-radiological (RCR), and deep learning combined with RCR (DLRCR) models were constructed. Model discrimination, calibration, and clinical utilities were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis, respectively. The best-performing model was compared with the widely used staging systems and preoperative prognostic indexes., Results: The RCR model (area under the curve (AUC): 0.841 and 0.811) and the optimal radiomics model (AUC: 0.839 and 0.804) achieved better performance than the CR model (AUC: 0.662 and 0.752) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. The optimal DL model (AUC: 0.870 and 0.826) outperformed the radiomics model in the both cohorts. The DL, radiomics, and CR predictors (aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and tumor diameter) were combined to construct the DLRCR model. The DLRCR model presented the best performance over any model, yielding an AUC, an accuracy, a sensitivity, a specificity of 0.917, 0.886, 0.889, and 0.882 in the training cohort and of 0.844, 0.818, 0.800, and 0.846 in the validation cohort, respectively. The DLRCR model achieved better clinical utility compared to the clinical staging systems and prognostic indexes., Conclusion: Both radiomics and DL models derived from CEMRI can predict HCC recurrence, and DL and radiomics-based integrated approach can provide a more effective tool for the precise prediction of ER for HCC patients undergoing resection., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhao, Wang, Wang, Li, Liu, Liu, Ji, Su, Zhang, Song, Yao and Liu.)

Cotton fiber length is basically determined by well-coordinated gene expression and phosphatidylinositol phosphates (PIPs) accumulation during fiber elongation but the regulatory mechanism governing PIPs transport remains unknown. Here, we report a MYB transcription factor GhMYB30D04 in Gossypium hirsutum that promotes fiber elongation through modulating the expression of PIP transporter gene GhLTPG1. Knockout of GhMYB30D04 gene in cotton (KO) results in a reduction of GhLTPG1 transcripts with lower accumulation of PIPs, leading to shorter fibers and lower fiber yield. Conversely, GhMYB30D04 overexpression (GhMYB30D04-OE) causes richer PIPs and longer cotton fibers, mimicking the effects of exogenously applying PIPs on the ovules of GhMYB30D04-KO and wild type. Furthermore, GhMYB30D04 interacts with GhHD1, the crucial transcription factor of fiber initiation, to form an activation complex stabilized by PIPs, both of which upregulate GhLTPG1 expression. Comparative omics-analysis revealed that higher and extended expressions of LTPG1 in fiber elongation mainly correlate with the variations of the GhMYB30D04 gene between two cotton allotetraploids, contributing to longer fiber in G. babardense. Our work clarifies a mechanism by which GhHD1-GhMYB30D04 form a regulatory module of fiber elongation to tightly control PIP accumulation. Our work still has an implication that GhMYB30D04-GhHD1 associates with development transition from fiber initiation to elongation., (© 2024 The Author(s). Journal of Integrative Plant Biology published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.)

Early tumor response prediction can help avoid overtreatment with unnecessary chemotherapy sessions. It is important to determine whether multiple apparent diffusion coefficient indices (S index, ADC-diff) are effective in the early prediction of pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer (BC). Patients with stage II and III BCs who underwent T 1 WI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI using a 3 T system were included. They were divided into two groups: major histological responders (MHRs, Miller-Payne G4/5) and nonmajor histological responders (nMHRs, Miller-Payne G1-3). Three b values were used for DWI to derive the S index; ADC-diff values were obtained using b = 0 and 1000 s/mm 2 . The different interquartile ranges of percentile S-index and ADC-diff values after treatment were calculated and compared. The assessment was performed at baseline and after two and four NAC cycles. A total of 59 patients were evaluated. There are some correlations of interquartile ranges of S-index parameters and ADC-diff values with histopathological prognostic factors (such as estrogen receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 expression, all p < 0.05), but no significant differences were found in some other interquartile ranges of S-index parameters or ADC-diff values between progesterone receptor positive and negative or for Ki-67 tumors (all P > 0.05). No differences were found in the dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI characteristics between the two groups. HER-2 expression and kurtosis of the S-index distribution were screened out as independent risk factors for predicting MHR group (p < 0.05, area under the curve (AUC) = 0.811) before NAC. After early NAC (two cycles), only the 10th percentile S index was statistically significant between the two groups (p < 0.05, AUC = 0.714). No significant differences were found in ADC-diff value at any time point of NAC between the two groups (P > 0.1). These findings demonstrate that the S-index value may be used as an early predictor of pathological response to NAC in BC; the value of ADC-diff as an imaging biomarker of NAC needs to be further confirmed by ongoing multicenter prospective trials., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with increased, and early cardiovascular disease risk. Changes in hemodynamics within the left ventricle (LV) respond to cardiac remodeling. The LV hemodynamics in nondialysis CKD patients are not clearly understood., Purpose: To use four-dimensional blood flow MRI (4D flow MRI) to explore changes in LV kinetic energy (KE) and the relationship between LV KE and LV remodeling in CKD patients., Study Type: Retrospective., Population: 98 predialysis CKD patients (Stage 3: n = 21, stage 4: n = 21, and stage 5: n = 56) and 16 age- and sex-matched healthy controls., Field Strength/sequence: 3.0 T/balanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) cine sequence, 4D flow MRI with a fast field echo sequence, T1 mapping with a modified Look-Locker SSFP sequence, and T2 mapping with a gradient recalled and spin echo sequence., Assessment: Demographic characteristics (age, sex, height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, aortic regurgitation, and mitral regurgitation) and laboratory data (eGFR, Creatinine, hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin saturation, potassium, and carbon dioxide bonding capacity) were extracted from patient records. Myocardial T1, T2, LV ejection fraction, end diastolic volume (EDV), end systolic volume, LV flow components (direct flow, delayed ejection, retained inflow, and residual volume) and KE parameters (peak systolic, systolic, diastolic, peak E-wave, peak A-wave, E/A ratio, and global) were assessed. The KE parameters were normalized to EDV (KEiEDV). Parameters were compared between disease stage in CKD patients, and between CKD patients and healthy controls., Statistical Tests: Differences in clinical and imaging parameters between groups were compared using one-way ANOVA, Kruskal Walls and Mann-Whitney U tests, chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test. Pearson or Spearman's correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analysis were used to compare the correlation between LV KE and other clinical and functional parameters. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant., Results: Compared with healthy controls, peak systolic (24.76 ± 5.40 μJ/mL vs. 31.86 ± 13.18 μJ/mL), systolic (11.62 ± 2.29 μJ/mL vs. 15.27 ± 5.10 μJ/mL), diastolic (7.95 ± 1.92 μJ/mL vs. 13.33 ± 5.15 μJ/mL), peak A-wave (15.95 ± 4.86 μJ/mL vs. 31.98 ± 14.51 μJ/mL), and global KEiEDV (9.40 ± 1.64 μJ/mL vs. 14.02 ± 4.14 μJ/mL) were significantly increased and the KEiEDV E/A ratio (1.16 ± 0.67 vs. 0.69 ± 0.53) was significantly decreased in CKD patients. As the CKD stage progressed, both diastolic KEiEDV (10.45 ± 4.30 μJ/mL vs. 12.28 ± 4.85 μJ/mL vs. 14.80 ± 5.06 μJ/mL) and peak E-wave KEiEDV (15.30 ± 7.06 μJ/mL vs. 14.69 ± 8.20 μJ/mL vs. 19.33 ± 8.29 μJ/mL) increased significantly. In multiple regression analysis, global KEiEDV (β* = 0.505; β* = 0.328), and proportion of direct flow (β* = -0.376; β* = -0.410) demonstrated an independent association with T1 and T2 times., Data Conclusion: 4D flow MRI-derived LV KE parameters show altered LV adaptations in CKD patients and correlate independently with T1 and T2 mapping that may represent myocardial fibrosis and edema., Technical Efficacy: Stage 3., (© 2024 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Background: Pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) remain unclear, with limited studies on the temporal variability of neural activity and its coupling with regional perfusion., Purpose: To assess neural activity and neurovascular coupling (NVC) in ESRD patients, evaluate the classification performance of these abnormalities, and explore their relationships with cognitive function., Study Type: Prospective., Population: Exactly 33 ESRD patients and 35 age, sex, and education matched healthy controls (HCs)., Field Strength/sequence: The 3.0T/3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling, resting-state functional MRI, and 3D-T1 weighted structural imaging., Assessment: Dynamic (dfALFF) and static (sfALFF) fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and cerebral blood flow (CBF) were assessed. CBF-fALFF correlation coefficients and CBF/fALFF ratio were determined for ESRD patients and HCs. Their ability to distinguish ESRD patients from HCs was evaluated, alongside assessment of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) MRI features. All participants underwent blood biochemical and neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive decline., Statistical Tests: Chi-squared test, two-sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U tests, covariance analysis, partial correlation analysis, family-wise error, false discovery rate, Bonferroni correction, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and multivariate pattern analysis. P < 0.05 denoted statistical significance., Results: ESRD patients exhibited higher dfALFF in triangular part of left inferior frontal gyrus (IFGtriang) and left middle temporal gyrus, lower CBF/dfALFF ratio in multiple brain regions, and decreased CBF/sfALFF ratio in bilateral superior temporal gyrus (STG). Compared with CBF/sfALFF ratio, dfALFF, and sfALFF, CBF/dfALFF ratio (AUC = 0.916) achieved the most powerful classification performance in distinguishing ESRD patients from HCs. In ESRD patients, decreased CBF/fALFF ratio correlated with more severe renal impairment, increased CSVD burden, and cognitive decline (0.4 < |r| < 0.6)., Data Conclusion: ESRD patients exhibited abnormal dynamic brain activity and impaired NVC, with dynamic features demonstrating superior discriminative capacity and CBF/dfALFF ratio showing powerful classification performance., Level of Evidence: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1., (© 2024 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Background: The link between glymphatic system function in the brain and alterations in white-matter microstructure among individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) remains unclear. This study aimed to examine the assessment of glymphatic system function in patients with MDD using the diffusion tensor imaging along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS) index and to evaluate its association with cerebral-white-matter abnormalities and neuropsychological scores., Methods: From February 2023 to November 2023, this cross-sectional study recruited 35 patients with MDD from the Psychosomatic Diseases Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University. In this time period, 23 healthy controls (HCs) were enlisted from the community and matched with the MDD cohort in terms of years of education, gender, and age. All participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging, depression, anxiety, and cognitive assessments. The tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) analyzed DTI parameters and identified significant clusters. Automated fiber quantification (AFQ) was used to automatically identify fiber bundles with statistical differences. Mann-Whitney tests or two-sample t -tests were used for comparisons. Interobserver consistency of the DTI-ALPS measurements was evaluated using the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Partial correlation analyses and linear regression analyses were used to examine relationships. A comparison of the DTI-ALPS index was made between the two groups. Correlations among diffusion characteristics, neuropsychological scores, and the DTI-ALPS index were analyzed., Results: Compared to HCs, patients with MDD exhibited a lower DTI-ALPS score (P=0.001). According to using linear regression analysis, the ALPS index was found to be an independent predictor of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [B=-25.32; P=0.001; 95% confidence interval (CI): -40.35 to -11.55], Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (B=-33.48; P=0.003; 95% CI: -55.38 to -11.24), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment total score (B=8.59; P=0.008; 95% CI: 2.38 to 14.79). According to the TBSS analysis, there were clusters of increased axial diffusivity (AD), mean diffusivity (MD), and radial diffusivity (RD) in patients with MDD as compared to HCs (all P values <0.05). A lower DTI-ALPS score was correlated with higher AD (r=-0.592; P<0.001), MD (cluster 1: r=-0.567, P=0.001; cluster 2: r=-0.581, P<0.001), and RD (r=-0.491; P=0.004) values. AFQ analysis identified the significantly different diffusion indicators in the left cingulum bundle (CB&#95;L), left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF&#95;L), and left uncinate fasciculus (UF&#95;L) between the two groups (all false discovery rate P values <0.05). DTI-ALPS score was negatively correlated with the AD value of CB&#95;L (r=-0.304; P=0.024), ILF&#95;L (r=-0.35; P=0.008), and UF&#95;L (r=-0.354; P=0.008) in AFQ tract-level analysis. In point-wise analysis, the MD value of CB&#95;L at nodes 33 to 36 was negatively correlated with DTI-ALPS score (r ranging from -0.504 to -0.535; P<0.01)., Conclusions: Our results indicated a decrease in DTI-ALPS index score in patients with MDD. DTI-ALPS score was associated with depression, anxiety, declined cognitive ability, and white-matter microstructural abnormalities and may thus be a promising biomarker for the partial evaluation of glymphatic system function in patients with MDD., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/qims-24-510/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2024 Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. All rights reserved.)

Background: Increasing attention has been given to the peritumoral region. However, conflicting findings have been reported regarding the relationship between peritumoral region features on MRI and the prognosis of breast cancer., Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between peritumoral region features on MRI and prognosis of breast cancer., Materials and Methods: A retrospective meta-analysis of observational studies comparing either qualitative or quantitative assessments of peritumoral MRI features on breast cancer with poor prognosis and control subjects was performed for studies published till October 2022. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) or standardized mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by using random-effects models. The heterogeneity across the studies was measured using the statistic I 2 . Sensitivity analyses were conducted to test this association according to different study characteristics., Results: Twenty-four studies comprising 1853 breast cancers of poor prognosis and 2590 control participants were included in the analysis. Peritumoral edema was associated with non-luminal breast cancers (OR=3.56; 95%CI: 2.17, 5.83; p=.000), high expression of the Ki-67 index (OR=3.70; 95%CI: 2.41, 5.70; p =.000), high histological grade (OR=5.85; 95%CI: 3.89, 8.80; p=.000), lymph node metastasis (OR=2.83; 95%CI: 1.71, 4.67; p=.000), negative expression of HR (OR=3.15; 95%CI: 2.03, 4.88; p=.000), and lymphovascular invasion (OR=1.72; 95%CI: 1.28, 2.30; p=.000). The adjacent vessel sign was associated with greater odds of breast cancer with poor prognosis (OR=2.02; 95%CI: 1.68, 2.44; p=.000). Additionally, breast cancers with poor prognosis had higher peritumor-tumor ADC ratio (SMD=0.67; 95%CI: 0.54, 0.79; p=.000) and peritumoral ADCmean (SMD=0.29; 95%CI: 0.15, 0.42; p=.000). A peritumoral region of 2-20 mm away from the margin of the tumor is recommended., Conclusion: The presence of peritumoral edema and adjacent vessel signs, higher peritumor-tumor ADC ratio, and peritumoral ADCmean were significantly correlated with poor prognosis of breast cancer., Clinical Relevance Statement: MRI features of the peritumoral region can be used as a non-invasive index for the prognostic evaluation of invasive breast cancer., Key Points: • Peritumoral edema was positively associated with non-luminal breast cancer, high expression of the Ki-67 index, high histological grade, lymph node metastasis, negative expression of HR, and lymphovascular invasion. • The adjacent vessel sign was associated with greater odds of breast cancers with poor prognosis. • Breast cancers with poor prognosis had higher peritumor-tumor ADC ratio and peritumoral ADCmean., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Radiology.)

Objectives: To find the optimal acceleration factor (AF) of the compressed SENSE (CS) technique for uterine isotropic high-resolution 3D T2-weighted imaging (3D-ISO-T2WI)., Methods: A total of 91 female volunteers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Chu Hsien-I Memorial Hospital and Tianjin Institute of Endocrinology, and The Fourth Hospital of Harbin were recruited. A total of 44 volunteers received uterus sagittal 3D-ISO-T2WI scans on 3.0T MRI device with different CS AFs (including SENSE3, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, and CS7), 51 received 3D-ISO-T2WI scans with different degrees of fat suppression (none, light, moderate, and severe), while 4 volunteers received both series of scans. Image quality was subjectively evaluated with a 3-point scoring system. Junction zone signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and myometrial SNR were also calculated. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to analyse the consistency of the measurement results by 2 observers. Analysis of variance test or Friedman rank sum test was used to compare the differences in subjective scores, SNR, and CNR under different AFs/different degrees of fat suppression., Results: Images by AFs of CS3, CS4, and CS5 had the highest SNR and CNR. Among them, CS5 had the shortest scan time. CS5 also had one of the highest subjective scores. There was no significant difference in SNR and CNR among images acquired with different degrees of fat suppression. Also, images with moderate fat suppression had the highest subjective scores., Conclusion: The CS5 combined with moderate fat suppression is recommended for routine female pelvic 3D-ISO-T2WI scan., Advances in Knowledge: The CS5 has the highest image quality and has the shortest scan time, which is the best AF. Moderate fat suppression has the highest subjective scores. The CS5 and moderate fat suppression are the best combination for a female pelvic 3D-ISO-T2WI scan., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Institute of Radiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: To investigate the value of the combined application of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) and enhanced T2*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) for preoperative prediction of microvascular invasion (MVI) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Materials and Methods: 76 patients with pathologically confirmed HCC were retrospectively enrolled and divided into the MVI-positive group (n=26) and MVI-negative group (n=50). Conventional MRI, IVIM, and ESWAN sequences were performed. Three region of interests (ROIs) were placed on the maximum axial slice of the lesion on D, D*, and f maps derived from IVIM sequence, and R2* map derived from ESWAN sequence, and intratumoral susceptibility signal (ITSS) from the phase map derived from ESWAN sequence was also automatically measured. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn to evaluate the ability for predicting MVI. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to screen independent risk predictors in clinical and imaging information. The Delong's test was used to compare the differences between the area under curves (AUCs)., Results: The D and D* values of MVI-negative group were significantly higher than those of MVI-positive group ( P =0.038, and P =0.023), which in MVI-negative group were 0.892×10 -3 (0.760×10 -3 , 1.303×10 -3 ) mm 2 /s and 0.055 (0.025, 0.100) mm 2 /s, and in MVI-positive group were 0.591×10 -3 (0.372×10 -3 , 0.824×10 -3 ) mm 2 /s and 0.028 (0.006, 0.050)mm 2 /s, respectively. The R2* and ITSS values of MVI-negative group were significantly lower than those of MVI-positive group ( P =0.034, and P =0.005), which in MVI-negative group were 29.290 (23.117, 35.228) Hz and 0.146 (0.086, 0.236), and in MVI-positive group were 43.696 (34.914, 58.083) Hz and 0.199 (0.155, 0.245), respectively. After univariate and multivariate analyses, only AFP (odds ratio, 0.183; 95% CI, 0.041-0.823; P = 0.027) was the independent risk factor for predicting the status of MVI. The AUCs of AFP, D, D*, R2*, and ITSS for prediction of MVI were 0.652, 0.739, 0.707, 0.798, and 0.657, respectively. The AUCs of IVIM (D+D*), ESWAN (R2*+ITSS), and combination (D+D*+R2*+ITSS) for predicting MVI were 0.772, 0.800, and, 0.855, respectively. When IVIM combined with ESWAN, the performance was improved with a sensitivity of 73.1% and a specificity of 92.0% (cut-off value: 0.502) and the AUC was significantly higher than AFP ( P =0.001), D ( P =0.038), D* ( P =0.023), R2* ( P =0.034), and ITSS ( P =0.005)., Conclusion: The IVIM and ESWAN parameters showed good efficacy in prediction of MVI in patients with HCC. The combination of IVIM and ESWAN may be useful for noninvasive prediction of MVI before clinical operation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Ren, Zhao, Wang, Liu, Zhang, Zhuang, Wang, Wang, Zhang, Song and Liu.)

Verticillium dahliae is a kind of pathogenic fungus that brings about wilt disease and great losses in cotton. The molecular mechanism of the effectors in V. dahliae regulating cotton immunity remains largely unknown. Here, we identified an effector of V. dahliae, VdPHB1, whose gene expression is highly induced by infection. The VdPHB1 protein is localized to the intercellular space of cotton plants. Knock-out of the VdPHB1 gene in V. dahliae had no effect on pathogen growth, but decreased the virulence in cotton. VdPHB1 ectopically expressed Arabidopsis plants were growth-inhibited and significantly susceptible to V. dahliae. Further, VdPHB1 interacted with the type II metacaspase GhMC4. GhMC4 gene-silenced cotton plants were more sensitive to V. dahliae with reduced expression of pathogen defense-related and programmed cell death genes. The accumulation of GhMC4 protein was concurrently repressed when VdPHB1 protein was expressed during infection. In summary, these results have revealed a novel molecular mechanism of virulence regulation that the secreted effector VdPHB1 represses the activity of cysteine protease for helping V. dahliae infection in cotton., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site–for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Objective: To investigate the feasibility and performance of 4D flow MRI accelerated by compressed sensing (CS) for the hemodynamic quantification of intracranial artery and venous sinus., Materials and Methods: Forty healthy volunteers were prospectively recruited, and 20 volunteers underwent 4D flow MRI of cerebral artery, and the remaining volunteers underwent 4D flow MRI of venous sinus. A series of 4D flow MRI was acquired with different acceleration factors (AFs), including sensitivity encoding (SENSE, AF = 4) and CS (AF = CS4, CS6, CS8, and CS10) at a 3.0 T MRI scanner. The hemodynamic parameters, including flow rate, mean velocity, peak velocity, max axial wall shear stress (WSS), average axial WSS, max circumferential WSS, average circumferential WSS, and 3D WSS, were calculated at the internal carotid artery (ICA), transverse sinus (TS), straight sinus (SS), and superior sagittal sinus (SSS)., Results: Compared to the SENSE4 scan, for the left ICA C2, mean velocity measured by CS8 and CS10 groups, and 3D WSS measured by CS6, CS8, and CS10 groups were underestimated; for the right ICA C2, mean velocity measured by CS10 group, and 3D WSS measured by CS8 and CS10 groups were underestimated; for the right ICA C4, mean velocity measured by CS10 group, and 3D WSS measured by CS8 and CS10 groups were underestimated; and for the right ICA C7, mean velocity and 3D WSS measured by CS8 and CS10 groups, and average axial WSS measured by CS8 group were also underestimated (all p  < 0.05). For the left TS, max axial WSS and 3D WSS measured by CS10 group were significantly underestimated ( p  = 0.032 and 0.003). Similarly, for SS, mean velocity, peak velocity, average axial WSS measured by the CS8 and CS10 groups, max axial WSS measured by CS6, CS8, and CS10 groups, and 3D WSS measured by CS10 group were significantly underestimated compared to the SENSE4 scan ( p  = 0.000-0.021). The hemodynamic parameters measured by CS4 group had only minimal bias and great limits of agreement compared to conventional 4D flow (SENSE4) in the ICA and every venous sinus (the max/min upper limit to low limit of the 95% limits of agreement = 11.4/0.03 to 0.004/-5.7, 14.4/0.05 to -0.03/-9.0, 12.6/0.04 to -0.03/-9.4, 16.8/0.04 to 0.6/-14.1; the max/min bias = 5.0/-1.2, 3.5/-1.4, 4.5/-1.1, 6.6/-4.0 for CS4, CS6, CS8, and CS10, respectively)., Conclusion: CS4 strikes a good balance in 4D flow between flow quantifications and scan time, which could be recommended for routine clinical use., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Cao, Yuan, Zhang, Quan, Chang, Yang, Song and Miao.)

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based homogeneous immunoassay obviates tedious washing steps and thus is a promising approach for immunoassays. However, a conventional FRET-based homogeneous immunoassay operating in the visible region is not able to overcome the interference of complex biological samples, thus resulting in insufficient detection sensitivity and poor accuracy. Here, we develop a near-infrared (NIR)-to-NIR FRET platform (Ex = 808 nm, Em = 980 nm) that enables background-free high-throughput homogeneous quantification of various biomarkers in complex biological samples. This NIR-to-NIR FRET platform is portable and easy to operate and is mainly composed of a high-performance NIR-to-NIR FRET pair based on lanthanide-doped nanoparticles (LnNPs) and a custom-made microplate reader for readout of NIR luminescence signals. We demonstrate that this NIR-to-NIR FRET platform is versatile and robust, capable of realizing highly sensitive and accurate detection of various critical biomarkers, including small molecules (morphine and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D), proteins (human chorionic gonadotropin), and viral particles (adenovirus) in unprocessed complex biological samples (urine, whole blood, and feces) within 5-10 min. We expect this NIR-to-NIR FRET platform to provide low-cost healthcare for populations living in resource-limited areas and be widely used in many other fields, such as food safety and environmental monitoring.

Purpose: To explore the consistency of FRACTURE (Fast-field-echo Resembling A CT Using Restricted Echo-spacing) MRI and X-Ray/computerized tomography (CT) in the evaluation of bone injuries in knee and ankle joints., Methods: From Nov. 2020 to Jul. 2023, 42 patients with knee joint or ankle joint injuries who underwent FRACTURE MRI examinations were retrospectively collected. 11 patients were examined by both X-Ray and FRACTURE examinations. 31 patients were examined by both CT and FRACTURE examinations. The fracture, osteophyte, and bone destruction of the joints were evaluated by two radiologists using X-Ray/CT and FRACTURE images, respectively. Kappa test was used for consistency analysis., Results: The evaluation consistency of fracture, osteophyte and bone destruction via X-Ray and FRACTURE images by radiologist 1 were 0.879, 0.867 and 0.847 respectively, and for radiologist 2 were 0.899, 0.930, and 0.879, respectively. The evaluation consistency of fracture, osteophyte and bone destruction via CT and FRACTURE images by radiologist 1 were 0.938, 0.937 and 0.868 respectively, and for radiologist 2 were 0.961, 0.930, and 0.818, respectively., Conclusion: For fracture, osteophyte, and bone destruction of knee and ankle joints. FRACTURE MRI showed a high consistency with X-Ray/CT examinations., Competing Interests: Author LL was employed by company Philips Healthcare. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Jin, Liu, Chen, Zhao, Lin, Liu and Song.)

Objective: We investigated the feasibility of using compressed sensitivity encoding (CS-SENSE) to accelerate high-resolution black-blood T1-weighted imaging with variable flip angles (T1WI-VFA) for efficient visualization and characterization of lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) on a 3.0 T MR scanner., Materials and Methods: Twenty-five healthy volunteers and 18 patients with the cerebrovascular disease were prospectively enrolled. Healthy volunteers underwent T1WI-VFA sequences with different acceleration factors (AFs), including conventional sensitivity encoding (SENSE) AF = 3 and CS-SENSE AF = 3, 4, 5, and 6 (SENSE3, CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, respectively) at 3 Tesla MRI scanner. Objective evaluation (contrast ratio and number, length, and branches of LSAs) and subjective evaluation (overall image quality and LSA visualization scores) were used to assess image quality and LSA visualization. Comparisons were performed among the 5 sequences to select the best AF. All patients underwent both T1WI-VFA with the optimal AF and digital subtraction angiography (DSA) examination, and the number of LSAs observed by T1WI-VFA was compared with that by DSA., Results: Pair-wise comparisons among CS3, CS4, and SENSE3 revealed no significant differences in both objective measurements and subjective evaluation (all P > 0.05). In patients, there was no significant difference in LSA counts on the same side between T1WI-VFA with CS4 and DSA (3, 3-4 and 3, 3-3, P = 0.243)., Conclusions: CS3 provided better LSA visualization but a longer scan duration compared to CS4. And, CS4 strikes a good balance between LSA visualization and acquisition time, which is recommended for routine clinical use., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We aimed to explore the subregional atrophy patterns of the amygdala and hippocampus in Parkinson's disease (PD) with depression and their correlation with the severity of the depressive symptom. MRI scans were obtained for 34 depressed PD patients (DPD), 22 nondepressed PD patients (NDPD), and 28 healthy controls (HC). Amygdala and hippocampal subregions were automatically segmented, and the intergroup volume difference was compared. The relationships between the volumes of the subregions and depression severity were investigated. Logistic analysis and Receiver operator characteristic curve were used to find independent predictors of DPD. Compared with the HC group, atrophy of the bilateral lateral nucleus, left accessory basal nucleus, right cortical nucleus, right central nucleus, and right medial nucleus subregions of the amygdala were visible in the DPD group, while the right lateral nucleus subregion of the amygdala was smaller in the DPD group than in the NDPD group. The DPD group showed significant atrophy in the left molecular layer, left GC-DG, left CA3, and left CA4 subregions compared with the HC group for hippocampal subregion volumes. Also, the right lateral nuclei volume and disease duration were independent predictors of DPD. To sum up, DPD patients showed atrophy in multiple amygdala subregions and left asymmetric hippocampal subregions. The decreased amygdala and hippocampal subregion volumes were correlated with the severity of depressive symptoms. The volume of right lateral nuclei and disease duration could be used as a biomarker to detect DPD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Backgrounds: Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) has become a significant global public health issue, characterized by a rising prevalence and associated deficits across multiple organ systems. Our study aims to utilize the DTI-ALPS technique to assess the change of ALPS index in T2DM patients, and to explore whether such changes are correlated with cognition level and diffusion parameters., Methods: The study involved 41 patients with T2DM (mean age, 60.49 ± 8.88 years) and 27 healthy controls (mean age, 58.00 ± 7.63 years). All subjects underwent MRI examination, cognitive assessment, and laboratory tests. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was used to evaluate white matter changes. GLM was performed to check the DTI-ALPS index difference between T2DM and HC groups. Spearman correlation analysis and partial correlation analysis were used to analyze the correlation between the DTI-ALPS index and diffusion properties & cognitive scores., Results: The results show that the ALPS index was lower in T2DM patients. MoCA score was significantly correlated with the ALPS index. Patients with T2DM had a significant increase in both mean diffusivity (MD) and radial diffusivity (RD) and decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA) compared to the HC group., Conclusion: The results suggest that the ALPS index is decreased in T2DM patients and associates with cognitive level., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Yu, Jiang, Yu, Liu, Yang, Cao, Song, Miao and Wang.)

Phosphorescence analyses have attracted broad attention due to their remarkable merits of the elimination of auto-fluorescence and scattering light. However, it remains a great challenge to develop novel materials with uniform size and morphology, stability, long lifetime, and aqueous-phase room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) characteristics. Herein, monodisperse and uniform RTP nanobeads were fabricated by an in situ covalent hybridization of carbon dots (CDs) and dendritic mesoporous silicon nanoparticles (DMSNs) via silane hydrolysis. The formation of Si-O-C and Si-C/N covalent bonds is beneficial for the fixation of vibrations and rotations of the luminescent centers. Specially, the nanopores of DMSNs provide a confined area that can isolate the triplet state of CDs from water and oxygen and thus ensure the occurrence of aqueous-phase RTP with an ultra-long lifetime of 1.195 s (seen by the naked eye up to 9 seconds). Through surface modifying folic acid (FA), CDs@DMSNs can serve as a probe to distinguish different cell lines that feature varying FA receptor expression levels. In addition, taking MCF-7 as the model, highly sensitive and quantitative detection (linear range: 10 3 -10 6 cells per mL) has been achieved via an RTP probe. Furthermore, their potential applications in cellular and in vivo time-gated phosphorescence imaging have been proposed and demonstrated, respectively. This work would provide a new route to design CD-based RTP composites and promote their further applications in the medical and biological fields.

Background: Accurate preoperative judgment of lymph node (LN) metastasis is a critical step in creating a treatment strategy and evaluating prognosis in rectal cancer (RC) patients., Objective: This study aimed to explore the value of T1 mapping and amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) imaging in predicting LN metastasis in patients with rectal cancer., Methods: In a retrospective study, twenty-three patients with pathologically confirmed rectal adenocarcinoma who underwent MRI and surgery from August 2019 to August 2021 were selected. Then, 3.0T/MR sequences included conventional sequences (T1WI, T2WI, and DWI), APTw imaging, and T1 mapping. Patients were divided into LN metastasis (group A) and non-LN metastasis groups (group B). The intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to test the inter-observer consistency. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between the two groups. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between T1 and APT values. Logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to assess the differential performance of each parameter and their combination. The difference between AUCs was compared using the DeLong test., Results: The APT value in patients with LN metastasis was significantly higher than in those without LN metastasis group (P=0.020). Also, similar results were observed for the T1 values (P=0.001). The area under the ROC curve of the APT value in the prediction of LN metastasis was 0.794; when the cutoff value was 1.73%, the sensitivity and specificity were 71.4% and 88.9%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of the T1 value was 0.913; when the cutoff value was 1367.36 ms, the sensitivity and specificity were 78.6% and 100.0%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of T1+APT was 0.929, with a sensitivity of 78.6% and specificity of 100.0%., Conclusion: APT and T1 values show great diagnostic efficiency in predicting LN metastasis in rectal cancer., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Objective: To examine amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) combined with diffusion weighed (DWI) and dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI for early prediction of pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in invasive breast cancer., Materials: In this prospective study, 50 female breast cancer patients (49.58 ± 10.62 years old) administered neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) were enrolled with MRI carried out both before NAC (T0) and at the end of the second cycle of NAC (T1). The patients were divided into 2 groups based on tumor response according to the Miller-Payne Grading (MPG) system. Group 1 included patients with a greater degree of decrease in major histologic responder (MHR, Miller-Payne G4-5), while group 2 included non-MHR cases (Miller-Payne G1-3). Traditional imaging protocols (T1 weighted, T2 weighted, diffusion weighted, and DCE-MRI) and APTw imaging were scanned for each subject before and after treatment. APTw value (APTw0 and APTw1), Dmax (maximum diameter, Dmax0 and Dmax1), V (3D tumor volume, V0 and V1), and ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient, ADC0 and ADC1) before and after treatment, as well as changes between the two times points (ΔAPT, ΔDmax, ΔV, ΔADC) for breast tumors were compared between the two groups., Results: APT0 and APT1 values significantly differed between the two groups ( p  = 0.034 and 0.01). ΔAPTw values were significantly lower in non-MHR tumors compared with MHR tumors ( p  = 0.015). ΔDmax values were significantly higher in MHR tumors compared with non-MHR tumors ( p  = 0.005). ADC0 and ADC1 values were significantly higher in MHR tumors than in non-MHR tumors ( p  = 0.038 and 0.035). AUC (Dmax+DWI + APTw) = AUC (Dmax+APTw) > AUC (APTw) > AUC (Dmax+DWI) > AUC (Dmax)., Conclusion: APTw imaging along with change of tumor size showed a significant potential in early prediction of MHR for NAC treatment in breast cancer, which might allow timely regimen refinement before definitive surgical treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Zhang, Song, Liang, Wang, Wu, Zhang, Zhang, Liu, Wang, Wang and Lin.)

Microstructural abnormalities of white matter fiber tracts are considered as one of the etiology of diabetes-induced neurological disorders. We explored the cerebral white matter microstructure alteration accurately, and to analyze its correlation between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden and cognitive performance in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The clinical-laboratory data, cognitive scores [including mini-mental state examination (MMSE), Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), California verbal learning test (CVLT), and symbol digit modalities test (SDMT)], CSVD burden scores of the T2DM group (n = 34) and healthy control (HC) group (n = 21) were collected prospectively. Automatic fiber quantification (AFQ) was applied to generate bundle profiles along primary white matter fiber tracts. Diffusion tensor images (DTI) metrics and 100 nodes of white matter fiber tracts between groups were compared. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the relationship between DTI metrics and cognitive scores and CSVD burden scores. For fiber-wise and node-wise, DTI metrics in some commissural and association fibers were increased in T2DM. Some white matter fiber tracts DTI metrics were independent predictors of cognitive scores and CSVD burden scores. White matter fiber tracts damage in patients with T2DM may be characterized in specific location, especially commissural and association fibers. Aberrational specific white matter fiber tracts are associated with visuospatial function and CSVD burden., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: To develop and validate multi-parametric MRI (MP-MRI)-based radiomics models for the prediction of biological characteristics in endometrial cancer (EC)., Methods: A total of 292 patients with EC were divided into LVSI ( n = 208), DMI ( n = 292), MSI ( n = 95), and Her-2 ( n = 198) subsets. Total 2316 radiomics features were extracted from MP-MRI (T 2 WI, DWI, and ADC) images, and clinical factors (age, FIGO stage, differentiation degree, pathological type, menopausal state, and irregular vaginal bleeding) were included. Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), spearman's rank correlation test, univariate logistic regression, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were used to select radiomics features; univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify clinical independent risk factors. Five classifiers were applied (logistic regression, random forest, decision tree, K-nearest neighbor, and Bayes) to construct radiomics models for predicting biological characteristics. The clinical model was built based on the clinical independent risk factors. The combined model incorporating the radiomics score (radscore) and the clinical independent risk factors was constructed. The model was evaluated by ROC curve, calibration curve (H-L test), and decision curve analysis (DCA)., Results: In the training cohort, the RF radiomics model performed best among the five classifiers for the three subsets (MSI, LVSI, and DMI) according to AUC values (AUC MSI : 0.844; AUC LVSI : 0.952; AUC DMI : 0.840) except for Her-2 subset (Decision tree: AUC=0.714), and the combined model had higher AUC than the clinical model in each subset (MSI: AUC combined =0.907, AUC clinical =0.755; LVSI: AUC combined =0.959, AUC clinical =0.835; DMI: AUC combined = 0.883, AUC clinical =0.796; Her-2: AUC combined =0.812, AUC clinical =0.717; all P <0.05). Nevertheless, in the validation cohort, significant differences between the two models (combined vs. clinical model) were found only in the DMI and LVSI subsets (DMI: AUC combined =0.803, AUC clinical =0.698; LVSI: AUC combined =0.926, AUC clinical =0.796; all P <0.05)., Conclusion: The radiomics analysis based on MP-MRI and clinical independent risk factors can potentially predict multiple biological features of EC, including DMI, LVSI, MSI, and Her-2, and provide valuable guidance for clinical decision-making., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Ma, Zhao, Song, Meng, Xu, Tian, Chen, Wang, Song, Lin, Wang and Liu.)

Ethylene plays an essential role in the development of cotton fibres. Ethylene biosynthesis in plants is elaborately regulated by the activities of key enzymes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate oxidase (ACO) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate synthase (ACS); however, the potential mechanism of post-translational modification of ACO and ACS to control ethylene synthesis in cotton fibres remains unclear. Here, we identify an E3 ubiquitin ligase, GhXB38D, that regulates ethylene biosynthesis during fibre elongation in cotton. GhXB38D gene is highly expressed in cotton fibres during the rapid elongation stage. Suppressing GhXB38D expression in cotton significantly enhanced fibre elongation and length, accompanied by the up-regulation of genes associated with ethylene signalling and fibre elongation. We demonstrated that GhXB38D interacts with the ethylene biosynthesis enzymes GhACS4 and GhACO1 in elongating fibres and specifically mediates their ubiquitination and degradation. The inhibition of GhXB38D gene expression increased the stability of GhACS4 and GhACO1 proteins in cotton fibres and ovules, resulting in an elevated concentration of ethylene. Our findings highlight the role of GhXB38D as a regulator of ethylene synthesis by ubiquitinating ACS4 and ACO1 proteins and modulating their stability. GhXB38D acts as a negative regulator of fibre elongation and serves as a potential target for enhancing cotton fibre yield and quality through gene editing strategy., (© 2023 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Noninvasive and precise methods to estimate treatment response and identify hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who could benefit from transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) are urgently required. The present study aimed to investigate the ability of intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics based on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) to preoperatively predict tumor response to TACE in HCC patients., Methods: A total of 138 patients with HCC who received TACE were retrospectively included and randomly divided into training and validation cohorts at a ratio of 7:3. Total 1206 radiomics features were extracted from arterial, venous, and delayed phases images. The inter- and intraclass correlation coefficients, the spearman's rank correlation test, and the gradient boosting decision tree algorithm were used for radiomics feature selection. Radiomics models on intratumoral region (TR) and peritumoral region (PTR) (3 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm) were established using logistic regression. Three integrated radiomics models, including intratumoral and peritumoral region (T-PTR) (3 mm), T-PTR (5 mm), and T-PTR (10 mm) models, were constructed using TR and PTR radiomics scores. A clinical-radiological model and a combined model incorporating the optimal radiomics score and selected clinical-radiological predictors were constructed, and the combined model was presented as a nomogram. The discrimination, calibration, and clinical utilities were evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curve, calibration curve, and decision curve analysis, respectively., Results: The T-PTR radiomics models performed better than the TR and PTR models, and the T-PTR (3 mm) radiomics model demonstrated preferable performance with the AUCs of 0.884 (95%CI, 0.821-0.936) and 0.911 (95%CI, 0.825-0.975) in both training and validation cohorts. The T-PTR (3 mm) radiomics score, alkaline phosphatase, tumor size, and satellite nodule were fused to construct a combined nomogram. The combined nomogram [AUC: 0.910 (95%CI, 0.854-0.958) and 0.918 (95%CI, 0.831-0.986)] outperformed the clinical-radiological model [AUC: 0.789 (95%CI, 0.709-0.863) and 0.782 (95%CI, 0.660-0.902)] in the both cohorts and achieved good calibration capability and clinical utility., Conclusions: CE-MRI-based intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics approach can provide an effective tool for the precise and individualized estimation of treatment response for HCC patients treated with TACE., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) feature tracking (FT) is more widely used in the measurement of left atrial (LA) strain and strain rate (SR). However, in recent years, researchers have attempted to improve the low temporal resolution of CMR-FT to better capture the subtle deformations of the myocardium. The technique of compressed sensing (CS) has been applied clinically, reducing scan time while increasing temporal resolution. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of the increased temporal resolution of CS cine sequences on the analysis of LA longitudinal strain and SR., Materials and Methods: Twenty-nine healthy subjects were included in the study. They underwent CMR with a reference steady-state free precession cine sequence of conventional temporal resolution (standard SSFP sequence), a cine sequence of higher temporal resolution (HT sequence), and an HT cine sequence with CS (CS HT sequence) (temporal resolution: 22.1-44.3/24.9-47.1 ms, 11.1-19.4 ms, and 8.3-19.4 ms, respectively). The standard SSFP sequence, HT sequence, and CS HT sequence were acquired in all subjects during the same scanning session. LA longitudinal strain and SR, reflecting LA reservoir, conduit, and contraction booster-pump function, were measured by CMR-FT and compared among the three sequences., Results: The measurements of LASR reservoir, conduit, and booster-pump were significantly higher on the HT and CS HT sequences than on the standard SSFP sequence. The standard SSFP sequence was correlated significantly with the HT and CS HT sequences in terms of LA strain and SR analysis, respectively. The LA strain and SR measurements also showed excellent agreement between the HT and CS HT sequences., Conclusion: Higher temporal resolution led to significantly higher measured LASR values in CMR-FT. Furthermore, the addition of CS reduced scan time and did not affect LA longitudinal strain or SR analysis., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japan Radiological Society.)

Purpose: To assess the value of amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) combined with intra-voxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging in differential diagnosis of stage I-II endometrial carcinoma (EC) and endometrial polyp (EP)., Methods: A total of 53 female patients (37 cases with EC and 16 cases with EP) confirmed by surgical resection or biopsy from June 2019 to Jan. 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination including diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), APTw and IVIM scans. The pure diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D ⁎ ), perfusion fraction (f), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and APT values were independently measured by two observers. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to test the consistency of measurements by the two observers. Mann-Whitney U test was performed to analyze the difference of each parameter between EC and EP groups. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed, and the Delong test was used for ROC curve comparison. Pearson's correlation analysis was used to assess the correlation between APTw and IVIM parameters., Results: There was no significant difference in clinical manifestations between the two groups (P > 0.05). APT and D ⁎ values of the EC group were significantly higher than those of the EP group [APT: 2.64 ± 0.50% vs. 2.05 ± 0.58%; and D ⁎ : (54.06 ± 36.06) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s vs. (30.54 ± 16.67) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s]. D, f and ADC values of EC group were significantly lower than those of EP group [D: 0.62(0.53,0.76) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s vs. (1.45 ± 0.48) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s; f: 22.18 ± 8.08% vs. 30.80 ± 8.92%; and ADC: (0.88 ± 0.16) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s vs. (1.57 ± 0.43) × 10 -3  mm 2 /s]. The area under ROC curves were observed as: AUC (IVIM+APT) > AUC (D) > AUC (ADC) > AUC (APT) > AUC (f) > AUC (D ⁎ ). Delong test suggested statistical significance between AUC by APT and D, D and D ⁎ , D and f, D ⁎ and ADC, APT and com(IVIM+APT), D ⁎ and com(IVIM+APT), as well as f and com(IVIM+APT). No significant correlation between the APT and IVIM parameters was observed in either EC or EP group., Conclusion: Both APT and IVIM parameters showed statistical differences between EC and EP. With combination of APT and IVIM parameters, the diagnostic accuracy between EC and EP can be significantly improved., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest of this article., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To explore the specific alterations of white matter microstructure in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by automated fiber quantification (AFQ) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS), and to analyze the correlation between white matter abnormality and impairment of executive function., Methods: In this prospective study, a total of twenty-seven patients diagnosed with ADHD (20 males, 7 females; mean age of 8.89 ± 1.67 years) and twenty-two healthy control (HC) individuals (11 males, 11 females, mean age of 9.82 ± 2.13 years) were included. All participants were scanned with diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and assessed for executive functions. AFQ and TBSS analysis methods were used to investigate the white matter fiber impairment of ADHD patients, respectively. Axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of 17 fiber properties were calculated using the AFQ. The mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (AK), radial kurtosis (RK), mean diffusivity (MD DKI ), axial diffusivity (AD DKI ), radial diffusivity (RD DKI ) and fractional anisotropy (FA DKI ) of DKI and AD, RD, MD, and FA of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) assessed the integrity of the white matter based on TBSS. Partial correlation analyses were conducted to evaluate the correlation between white matter abnormalities and clinical test scores in ADHD while taking age, gender, and education years into account. The analyses were all family-wise error rate (FWE) corrected., Results: ADHD patients performed worse on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) test ( p  < 0.05). Minor variances existed in gender and age between ADHD and HC, but these variances did not yield statistically significant distinctions. There were no significant differences in TBSS for DKI and DTI parameters ( p  > 0.05, TFCE-corrected). Compared to HC volunteers, the mean AD value of right cingulum bundle (CB&#95;R) fiber tract showed a significantly higher level in ADHD patients following the correction of FWE. As a result of the point-wise comparison between groups, significant alterations (FWE correction, p  < 0.05) were mainly located in AD (nodes 36-38, nodes 83-97) and MD (nodes 92-95) of CB&#95;R. There was no significant correlation between white matter diffusion parameters and clinical test scores in ADHD while taking age, gender, and education years into account., Conclusion: The AFQ method can detect ADHD white matter abnormalities in a specific location with greater sensitivity, and the CB&#95;R played a critical role. Our findings may be helpful in further studying the relationship between focal white matter abnormalities and ADHD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Hu, Tan, Chen, Wu, Jiang, Du, Zuo, Gao, Song and Miao.)

Purpose: To assess the usefulness of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) imaging in the differentiation of parotid gland tumors., Materials and Methods: Patients with parotid gland tumors who underwent APTw imaging were retrospectively enrolled and divided into groups according to pathology. Two radiologists evaluated the APTw image quality independently, and APTw images with quality score ≥3 were enrolled. The maximum and average values of APTw imaging for tumor lesions (APTmax and APTmean) were measured. The differences in APTmax and APTmean were compared between malignant tumors (MTs) and benign tumors (BTs), as well as between MTs and pleomorphic adenomas (PAs) and between MTs and Warthin tumors (WTs). Independent-samples t -test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used for statistical analysis., Results: Seventy-three patients were included for image quality evaluation. In this study, 32/73 and 29/73 parotid tumors were scored as 4 and 3, respectively. After excluding lesions with quality score ≤2 (12/73), the APTmean and APTmax of MTs were 4.15% ± 1.33% and 7.43% ± 1.61%, higher than those of BTs 2.74% ± 1.04% and 5.25% ± 1.54%, respectively ( p < 0.05). The areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of the APTmean and APTmax for differentiation between MTs and BTs were 0.819 and 0.821, respectively. MTs indicated significantly higher APTmean and APTmax values than those of PAs ( p < 0.05) and WTs ( p < 0.05). The AUCs of the APTmean and APTmax for differentiation between MTs and PAs were 0.830 and 0.815 and between MTs and WTs were 0.847 and 0.920, respectively., Conclusion: Most APTw images for parotid tumors had acceptable image quality for APTw value evaluation. Both APTmax and APTmean can be used to differentiate MTs from BTs and to differentiate MTs from subtype parotid gland tumors., Competing Interests: Author LJL was employed by company Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wang, Wang, Huang, Ma, Lin, Liu, Song and Liu.)

Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are promising points-of-care tests, playing a vital role in diseases screening, diagnosis and surveillance. However, development of portable, cheap, and smart LFAs platform for sensitive and accurate quantification of disease biomarkers in complex media is challenging. Here, a cheap handheld device was developed to realize on-site detection of disease biomarkers by Nd 3+ /Yb 3+ co-doped near-infrared (NIR)-to-NIR downconversion nanoparticles (DCNPs) based LFA. Its sensitivity is at least 8-fold higher for detecting NIR light signal from Nd 3+ /Yb 3+ co-doped nanoparticles than conventional expensive InGaAs camera based detection platform. Additionally, we enhance NIR quantum yield of Nd 3+ /Yb 3+ co-doped nanoparticles up to 35.5% via simultaneous high dopant of sensitizer ions Nd 3+ and emitter ions Yb 3+ . Combination of NIR-to-NIR handheld detection device and ultra-bright NIR emitting NaNbF 4 :Yb60%@NaLuF 4 nanoparticle probe allows the detection sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain and Omicron variants specific neutralizing antibodies LFA up to the level of commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay kit. Furthermore, by this robust method, enhanced neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain and Omicron variants are observed in healthy participants with Ad5-nCoV booster on top of two doses of inactivated vaccine. This NIR-to-NIR handheld platform provides a promising strategy for on-site evaluating protective humoral immunity after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination or infection., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Förster or fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) enables to probe biomolecular interactions, thus playing a vital role in bioassays. However, conventional FRET platforms suffer from limited sensitivity due to the low FRET efficiency and poor anti-interference of existing FRET pairs. Here we report a NIR-II (1000-1700 nm) FRET platform with extremely high FRET efficiency and exceptional anti-interference capability. This NIR-II FRET platform is established based on a pair of lanthanides downshifting nanoparticles (DSNPs) by employing Nd 3+ doped DSNPs as an energy donor and Yb 3+ doped DSNPs as an energy acceptor. The maximum FRET efficiency of this well-engineered NIR-II FRET platform reaches up to 92.2%, which is much higher than most commonly used ones. Owing to the all-NIR advantage (λ ex  = 808 nm, λ em  = 1064 nm), this highly efficient NIR-II FRET platform exhibits extraordinary anti-interference in whole blood, and thus enabling background-free homogeneous detection of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in clinical whole blood sample with high sensitivity (limit of detection = 0.5 μg/mL) and specificity. This work opens up new opportunities for realizing highly sensitive detection of various biomarkers in biological samples with severe background interference., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The aim of this study is to search for the predictive value of 3D fat analysis and calculation technique (FACT) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters in identifying osteoporosis in women., Methods: We enrolled 48 female subjects who underwent 3.0 T MRI, including 3D FACT and IVIM sequences. Bone mineral density (BMD) values and Fracture Risk Assessment (FRAX) scores were obtained. Proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in the bone marrow and the real diffusion (D) value of intervertebral discs were measured on 3D FACT and IVIM images, respectively. Accuracy and bias were assessed by linear regression analysis and Bland-Altman plots. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess the measurements' reproducibility. Spearman's rank correlation was applied to explore the correlation. MRI-based parameters were tested for significant differences among the three groups using ANOVA analyses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed., Results: The PDFF of the vertebral body showed a negative correlation with BMD (R = -0.393, p = 0.005) and a positive correlation with the FRAX score (R = 0.706, p < 0.001). The D value of intervertebral discs showed a positive correlation with BMD (R = 0.321, p = 0.024) and a negative correlation with the FRAX score (R = -0.334, p = 0.019). The area under the curve values from the ROC analysis showed that the 3D FACT and IVIM sequences could accurately differentiate between normal and osteoporosis (AUC = 0.88 using the PDFF; AUC = 0.77 using the D value). The PDFF value demonstrated a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of 78.6%, 89.5%, 84.6%, and 85.0%, respectively, in its ability to predict osteoporosis. The D value had a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 63.16%, 92.9%, 65.0%, and 77.8%, respectively, for predicting osteoporosis., Conclusions: The 3D FACT- and IVIM-measured PDFF and D values are promising biomarkers in the assessment of bone quality and fracture risk.

Luminescence concentration quenching exists widely in lanthanide-doped luminescent nanomaterials, and significantly hinders their emission intensity. In this work, we report the concentration-quenching-free properties of the 406 nm emission in Pr 3+ -doped nanoscintillators, which is attributed to the large energy gap between the 1 S 0 and 1 I 6 states (Δ E = ∼25 000 cm -1 ) of Pr 3+ ions, preventing the concentration quenching effects caused by both cross-relaxation and energy migration to surface quenchers. This work provides further understanding about the concentration quenching effect of lanthanide-doped luminescent nanomaterials and a new perspective for avoiding detrimental concentration quenching. In addition, we also demonstrate the potential use of Pr 3+ -doped nanoscintillators as anti-counterfeiting materials.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) results in hippocampal volume reduction, but the hippocampal subfields atrophy patterns cannot be identified. We explored the volumes and asymmetry of the hippocampal subfields and their relationships with memory function and biochemical changes. Hippocampal global and subfields volumes were derived from 33 ESRD patients and 46 healthy controls (HCs) from structural MRI. We compared the volume and asymmetric index of each subfield, with receiver operating characteristic curve analysis to evaluate the differentiation between ESRD and HCs. The relations of hippocampal subfield volumes with memory performance and biochemical data were investigated in ESRD group. ESRD patients had smaller hippocampal subfield volumes, mainly in the left CA1 body, left fimbria, right molecular layer head, right molecular layer body and right HATA. The right molecular layer body exhibited the highest accuracy for differentiating ESRD from HCs, with a sensitivity of 80.43% and specificity of 72.73%. Worse learning process (r = 0.414, p = 0.032), immediate recall (r = 0.396, p = 0.041) and delayed recall (r = 0.482, p = 0.011) was associated with left fimbria atrophy. The left fimbria volume was positively correlated with Hb (r = 0.388, p = 0.05); the left CA1 body volume was negatively correlated with Urea (r = - 0.469, p = 0.016). ESRD patients showed global and hippocampal subfields atrophy. Left fimbria atrophy was related to memory function. Anemia and Urea level may be associated with the atrophy of left fimbria and CA1 body, respectively., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Microsatellite instability (MSI), caused by mismatch repair (MMR) protein defects that lead to uncorrectable mismatch bases, results in the accumulation of gene mutations and ultimately to tumors. Preoperative prediction of MSI can provide a basis for personalized and precise treatment of endometrial cancer (EC) patients., Purpose: To investigate amide proton transfer weighting (APTw) imaging combined with intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) in the assessment of MSI in EC., Study Type: Retrospective., Population: A total of 71 patients with EC (12 classified as the MSI group and 22 as the microsatellite stabilization [MSS] group after entering and leaving the group standard)., Field Strength/sequence: A 3.0 T/IVIM, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and APTw., Assessment: Amide proton transfer (APT) value, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), pure diffusion coefficient (D), pseudo diffusion coefficient (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) were calculated and compared between MSI and MSS groups., Statistical Tests: The Kendall's W test; Mann-Whitney U-test; Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test; logistic regression analysis; Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC); The Delong test; Pearson or Spearman correlation coefficients. The significance threshold was set at P < 0.05., Results: APT and D* values of the MSI group were significantly higher than those of the MSS group. While ADC, D, and f values in the MSI group were significantly lower than those in the MSS group. The multivariate analysis revealed that only APT and D* values were independent predictors to evaluate the MSI status. And the ROC curves indicated that the combination of APT and D* values could distinguish the MSI status of EC with the highest diagnostic efficacy (AUC = 0.973), even without significant difference to those by APT (AUC = 0.894) or D* (AUC = 0.920) value separately (P = 0.149 and 0.078, respectively)., Conclusion: Combination of APTw and IVIM imaging may serve as an effective noninvasive method for clinical assessment of MSI in EC., Evidence Level: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2., (© 2022 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Targeting proteins for Xklp2 (TPX2s) comprise a class of MAPs that are essential for plant growth and development by regulating the dynamic changes of microtubules (MTs) and proper formation of cytoskeleton. However, the function of TPX2 proteins in cotton fiber development remains poorly understood. Here, we identified the function of a fiber elongation-specific TPX2 protein, GhMAP20L5, in cotton. Suppressed GhMAP20L5 gene expression in cotton (GhMAP20L5i) significantly reduced fiber elongation rate, fiber length and lint percentage. GhMAP20L5i fibers had thinner and looser secondary cell walls (SCW), and incompact helix twists. GhMAP20L5 specifically interacted with the tubulin GhTUB13 on the cytoskeleton. Gene coexpression analysis showed that GhMAP20L5 involved in multiple pathways related to cytoskeleton establishment and fiber cell wall formation and affected cellulase genes expressions. In summary, our results revealed that GhMAP20L5 is important for fiber development by regulating cytoskeleton establishment and the cellulose deposition in cotton., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest I have confirmed that there is no competitive interest., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To quantitatively evaluate the iron deposition and volume changes in deep gray nuclei according to threshold-method of quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) acquired by strategically acquired gradient echo (STAGE) sequence, and to analyze the correlation between the magnetic susceptibility values (MSV) and cognitive scores in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients., Methods: Twenty-nine patients with T2DM and 24 healthy controls (HC) matched by age and gender were recruited in this prospective study. QSM images were used to evaluate whole-structural volumes (V wh ), regional magnetic susceptibility values (MSV RII ), and volumes (V RII ) in high-iron regions in nine gray nuclei. All QSM data were compared between groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess the discriminating ability between groups. The predictive model from single and combined QSM parameters was also established using logistic regression analysis. The correlation between MSV RII and cognitive scores was further analyzed. Multiple comparisons of all statistical values were corrected by false discovery rate (FDR). A statistically significant P -value was set at 0.05., Results: Compared with HC group, the MSV RII of all gray matter nuclei in T2DM were increased by 5.1-14.8%, with significant differences found in bilateral head of caudate nucleus (HCN), right putamen (PUT), right globus pallidus (GP), and left dentate nucleus (DN) ( P < 0.05). The V wh of most gray nucleus in T2DM group were decreased by 1.5-16.9% except bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN). Significant differences were found in bilateral HCN, bilateral red nucleus (RN), and bilateral substantia nigra (SN) ( P < 0.05). V RII was increased in bilateral GP, bilateral PUT ( P < 0.05). V RII /V wh was also increased in bilateral GP, bilateral PUT, bilateral SN, left HCN and right STN ( P < 0.05). Compared with the single QSM parameter, the combined parameter showed the largest area under curve (AUC) of 0.86, with a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 75.9%. The MSV RII in the right GP was strongly associated with List A Long-delay free recall (List A LDFR) scores ( r = -0.590, P = 0.009)., Conclusion: In T2DM patients, excessive and heterogeneous iron deposition as well as volume loss occurs in deep gray nuclei. The MSV in high iron regions can better evaluate the distribution of iron, which is related to the decline of cognitive function., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Hu, Gao, Tian, Liu, Jiang, Li, Li, Song, Wang and Miao.)

Background: To investigate the value of amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) imaging combined with modified Dixon fat quantification (mDixon-Quant) imaging in determining the degree of differentiation of cervical squamous carcinoma (CSC) against histopathologic., Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data were collected from 52 CSC patients. According to histopathologic results, patients were divided into the poorly differentiated group (37 cases) and the well/moderately differentiated group (15 cases). The APTw value by APTw imaging and the fat fraction (FF) and transverse relaxation rate R 2 * values by mDixon-Quant were independently measured by two radiologists. Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to test the consistency of APTw, FF, and R 2 * values measured by the two observers. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the difference in each parameter between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the association between the degree of differentiation on histopathology and imaging parameters by APTw and mDixon Quant. The ROC curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of various parameters and their combination in distinguishing the degree of CSC differentiation on histopathology. The DeLong test was used to access the differences among the area under the ROC curves (AUCs). The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate the correlation between APTw and mDixon-Quant imaging parameters., Results: The APTw means were 2.95 ± 0.78% and 2.05 (1.85, 2.65)% in the poorly and well/moderately differentiated groups, respectively. The R 2 * values were 26.62 (21.99, 33.31)/s and 22.93 ± 6.09/s in the poorly and well/moderately differentiated groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The AUCs of APTw, R 2 * , and their combination were 0.762, 0.686, and 0.843, respectively. The Delong test suggested statistical significance between R 2 * and the combination of APTw and R 2 * . R 2 * values showed a significant correlation with APTw values in the poorly differentiated group., Conclusions: APTw combined with mDixon-Quant can be used to efficiently distinguish the differention degrees of CSC diagnosed on histopathology., Competing Interests: Authors LL, XZ, and JW were employed by Philips China. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Meng, Tian, Ma, Lin, Zhang, Wang, Song and Liu.)

Background: A subset of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) will experience adverse clinical events such as heart failure (HF), cardiovascular death, and new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF). Current risk stratification methods are imperfect and limit the identification of patients at high risk for HCM. This study aimed to evaluate the role of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived left atrial strain parameters in the occurrence of adverse clinical events in patients with HCM., Methods: Left atrial (LA) structural, functional, and strain parameters were evaluated in 99 patients with HCM and compared with 89 age-, sex-, and BMI-matched control subjects. LA strain parameters were derived from CMR two- and four-chamber cine images by a semiautomatic method. LA strain parameters include global longitudinal strain (GLS) and global circumferential strain (GCS). The LA GLS includes reservoir strain (GLS reservoir), conduit strain (GLS conduit), and booster strain (GLS booster). Three LA GLS strain rate (SR) parameters were derived: SR reservoir, SR conduit, and SR booster. The primary endpoint was set as a composite of adverse clinical events, including SCD, new-onset or worsening to hospitalized HF, new-onset AF, thromboembolic events, and fatal ventricular arrhythmias., Results: LA GLS, GLS SR and GCS were impaired in HCM patients compared to control subjects (all p < 0.001). After a mean follow-up of 37.94 ± 23.69 months, 18 HCM patients reached the primary endpoint. LA GLS, GLS SR, and GCS were significantly lower in HCM patients with adverse clinical events than in those without adverse clinical events (all p < 0.05). In stepwise multiple Cox regression analysis, LV SV, LA diameter, pre-contraction LAV (LAV pre-ac), passive LA ejection fraction (EF), and LA GLS booster were all independent determinants of adverse clinical events. LA GLS booster ≤ 8.9% was the strongest determinant (HR = 8.9 [95%CI (1.951, 40.933)], p = 0.005). Finally, LA GLS booster provided predictive adverse clinical events value (AUC = 0.86 [95%CI 0.77-0.98]) that exceeded traditional outcome predictors., Conclusion: LA strain assessment, a measure of LA function, provides additional predictive information for established predictors of HCM patients. LA GLS booster was independently associated with adverse clinical events in patients with HCM., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: Strain analysis has become commonly used in clinical practice in various heart diseases., Purpose: To explore whether late gadolinium enhancement (LGE)-negative areas with coronary artery chronic total occlusion (CTO) appear normal when analyzed for longitudinal strain using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging., Material and Methods: A total of 16 patients and 31 healthy controls who underwent 1.5-T MR at our hospital between January 2015 and July 2017 were included in the study. The LGE-CMR of patients with CTO was negative. Left ventricular functional parameters, segmental longitudinal strain/strain rate, and perfusion parameters were measured using CVI42 software., Results: For myocardial segments supplied by CTO vessels, systolic longitudinal strain rate (SLSR)was significantly lower than that of healthy controls, and diastolic longitudinal strain rate (DLSR) was significantly higher (1.19 1/s vs. 1.02 1/s; P  = 0.018). Moreover, longitudinal strain (LS), SLSR, and DLSR did not differ between good and poor collateral circulation. Perfusion index of CTO territory segments was lower than non-CTO territory segments (0.20 vs. 0.22; P  = 0.027). No correlation was found between longitudinal strain parameters and perfusion parameters., Conclusion: Although LGE-CMR was negative in patients with CTO, the myocardial SLSR of CTO territory segments was significantly lower than that of healthy controls.

Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder caused by mutations in the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) gene. As of 2022, more than 100 different CSF1R mutations were reported in patients with CSF1R-related leukoencephalopathy. In this case report, we describe ALSP in a previously healthy 46-year-old woman who presented with memory impairment, poor interpersonal behavior, and decreased verbal fluency. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed confluent white matter changes and atrophy of the corpus callosum. Whole-exome sequencing identified a novel splice-site mutation (C.1858 + 5G > A) in intron 13 of the CSF1R gene, resulting in an intron 12 retention and an exon 13 deletion of CSF1R mRNA., (© 2022. Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia.)

Purpose: Excessive brain iron depositions were found in both patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The present study aimed to explore iron deposition and heterogeneity in the extrapyramidal system in PD patients with T2DM using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and further to reveal the effect of T2DM on the changes in brain iron in patients with PD., Materials and Methods: A total of 38 PD patients with T2DM (PDDM), 30 PD patients without T2DM (PDND), and 20 asymptomatic control subjects (CSs) were recruited for this study. All subjects underwent multiple MRI sequences involving enhanced gradient echo T2 star weighted angiography (ESWAN). The magnetic sensitivity values (MSV) and volume of the whole nuclei (MSV W , V W ) and high iron region (MSV RII , V RII ) were measured on the bilateral caudate nucleus (CN), the putamen (PUT), the globus pallidus (GP), the substantia nigra (SN), the red nucleus (RN) and the dentate nucleus (DN). Clinical and laboratory data were recorded, especially for the Hoehn and Yahr (H-Y) stage, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAMA). All QSM data were compared between PDDM and PDND groups and correlated with clinical and laboratory data., Results: Compared to the PDND group, the V RII/ V W of the left CN was significantly increased in the PDDM group. Significantly higher MSV W and MSV RII were also found in the PDDM group, including bilateral SN of MSV W , right PUT, and bilateral CN, GP, and SN of MSV RII . The H-Y stage of the PDDM group was significantly higher than that of the PDND group. The MSV RII of bilateral RN of the PDDM group was positively correlated with the HAMA scores. HDL, DBP, and SBP levels were associated with MSV RII of right CN in the PDDM group., Conclusion: T2DM could aggravate the disease severity and anxiety in patients with PD. The iron distribution of deep gray matter nuclei in PD patients with T2DM was significantly heterogeneous, which was related to blood pressure and blood lipids., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Li, Gao, Du, Jiang, Yang, Hu, Liu, Liu, Zhang, Song and Miao.)

Objectives: To investigate the value of amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) imaging combined with dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in predicting intermediate-risk factors of deep stromal invasion (DSI) and lymphovascular vascular space invasion (LVSI) in cervical cancer., Methods: Seventy patients with cervical cancer who underwent MRI before operation from July 2019 to February 2022 were retrospectively included in this study. Clinical information including age, histologic subtype etc. were recorded for patients. ATPw imaging parameter APT mean and DCE-MRI parameters K trans , K ep and V e were measured and analyzed. The independent-sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, or Chi-square test was used to compare the differences of parameters between DSI/LVSI positive and negative groups. Logistic analysis was used to develop a combined predictive model. The receiver operating characteristic curve was for predictive performance. ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the differences of consecutive parameters among multiple groups., Results: K trans and SCC-Ag were independent factors in predicting DSI; K trans +SCC-Ag had the highest AUC 0.819 with sensitivity and specificity of 71.74% and 91.67%, respectively. APT mean and K trans were independent factors in predicting LVSI; APT mean +K trans had the highest AUC 0.874 with sensitivity and specificity of 92.86% and 75.00%, respectively. K trans and Ve could discriminate coexistence of DSI and LVSI from presence of single one, APT mean could discriminate the presence of DSI or LVSI from no risk factor presence., Conclusion: The combination of APTw and DCE-MRI is valuable in predicting intermediate-risk factors of DSI and LVSI in cervical cancer., Competing Interests: Authors LL and JW were employed by Philips Healthcare. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Song, Tian, Ma, Meng, Chen, Wang, Lin, Wang, Song and Liu.)

In the current study, we propose a single-voxel (SV) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) pulse sequence, based on intermolecular double-quantum coherence (iDQC), for in vivo specific assessment of brown adipose tissue (BAT) at 3 T. The multilocular adipocyte, present in BAT, typically contains a large number of small lipid droplets surrounded by abundant intracellular water, while the monolocular adipocyte, present in white adipose tissue (WAT), accommodates only a single large lipid droplet with much less water content. The SV-iDQC sequence probes the spatial correlation between water and fat spins at a distance of about the size of an adipocyte, thus can be used for assessment of BAT, even when mixed with WAT and/or muscle tissues. This sequence for measurement of water-to-fat (water-fat) iDQC signals was tested on phantoms and mouse BAT and WAT tissues. It was then used to differentiate adipose tissues in the supraclavicular and subcutaneous regions of healthy youth human volunteers (n = 6). Phantom results with water-fat emulsions demonstrated enhanced water-fat iDQC signal with increased voxel size, increased energy level of emulsification, or increased distribution balance of water and fat spins. The animal tissue experiments resulted in obvious water-fat iDQC signal in mouse BAT, while this signal was almost absent in the WAT spectrum. The optimal choice of the dipolar coupling distance for the observation was approximately 100 μm, as tested on both emulsion phantom and animal tissue. The water-fat iDQC signals observed in the supraclavicular adipose tissues were higher than in the subcutaneous adipose tissues in healthy young volunteers (0.43 ± 0.36 vs. 0.10 ± 0.06, p = 0.06). It was concluded that the iDQC-based sequence has potential for assessment of mouse and human BAT at 3 T, which is of interest for clinical research and the diagnosis of obesity and associated diseases., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Objectives: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the performance of compressed SENSE (CS) for 3D amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) brain tumor imaging with different acceleration factors (AFs), and the results were compared with those of conventional SENSE., Methods: Approximately 51 patients with brain tumor (22 males, 49.95 ± 10.52 years) with meningiomas ( n = 16), metastases ( n = 12), or gliomas ( n = 23) were enrolled. All the patients received 3D APTw imaging scans on a 3.0 T scanner with acceleration by CS (AFs: CS2, CS3, CS4, and CS5) and SENSE (AF: S1.6). Two readers independently and subjectively evaluated the APTw images relative to image quality and measured confidence concerning image blur, distortion, motion, and ghosting artifacts, lesion recognition, and contour delineation with a 5-point Likert scale. Mean amide proton transfer (APT) values of brain tumors (APT tumor ), the contralateral normal-appearing white matter (APT CNAWM ), and the peritumoral edema area (if present, APT edema ) and the tumor volume (V APT ) were measured for objective evaluation and determination of the optimal AF. The Ki67 labeling index was also measured by using standard immunohistochemical staining procedures in samples from patients with gliomas, and the correlation between tumor APT values and the Ki67 index was analyzed., Results: The image quality of AF = CS5 was significantly lower than that of other groups. V APT showed significant differences among the six sequences in meningiomas ( p = 0.048) and gliomas ( p = 0.023). The pairwise comparison showed that the V APT values of meningiomas measured from images by CS5 were significantly lower, and gliomas were significantly larger than those by SENSE1.6 and other CS accelerations, ( p < 0.05). APT tumor ( p = 0.191) showed no significant difference among the three types of tumors. The APT tumor values of gliomas measured by APTw images with the SENSE factor of 1.6 and the CS factor of 2, 3, and 4 (except for CS5) were all positively correlated with Ki67., Conclusion: Compressed SENSE could be successfully extended to accelerated 3D APTw imaging of brain tumors without compromising image quality using the AF of 4., Competing Interests: LL and JW are employee of Philips Healthcare, China. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Zhang, Zhang, Gao, Miao, Liu, Song, Lin and Wang.)

Background: Intravoxel incoherent motion imaging (IVIM) can non-invasively evaluate diffusion and microvascular perfusion., Purpose: To explore the myocardium microcirculation of a healthy Chinese population by using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) IVIM., Material and Methods: A total of 80 healthy volunteers (44 men, 36 women) who underwent 3.0-T CMR examination were enrolled. All participants had cardiac cine imaging and short-axis CMR-IVIM of the left ventricle (LV) using multiple b-values. The consistency of the IVIM parameters was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Bland-Altman test. Spearman correlation analysis was performed between IVIM parameters and age, and body mass index (BMI). The differences of IVIM parameters were analyzed between gender and different ages., Results: LV end-diastolic volume (EDV), end-systolic volume (ESV), LVmass, cardiac output (CO), and BMI in the male group were higher than those in the female group ( P <0.05). IVIM parameters had good intra-observer and inter-observer consistency (≥0.75). Bland-Altman analysis also showed good intra-observer and inter-observer consistency. ADC fast decreased with increasing female age (rs = -0.37; P  = 0.01), while IVIM parameters had no correlation with BMI regardless of sex. ADC fast in the female group had a statistical difference between different age groups. The ADC slow and f in the male group were lower than those in the female group ( P <0.05); however, there was no statistical difference in ADC fast between genders., Conclusion: IVIM parameters in healthy Chinese volunteers provided good consistency. There was a negative correlation between ADC fast and age in the female group.

Objective: To explore the value of amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for differential diagnosis of fibroadenomas and malignant breast tumors., Materials and Methods: This prospective study enrolled 56 patients with suspected breast tumors and performed APTw imaging. Based on the histopathology results, patients were divided into group 1 with malignant breast tumors (n = 41) and group 2 with fibroadenomas (n = 15). The measured image parameters (APTw value, ADC value, type of Time of Intensity Curve, maximum tumor diameter in image) and the maximal diameter of the tumors measured from surgical resection were compared between the two groups, and the diagnostic performance based on these parameters was quantified with ROC curve. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to analyze the association between APTw or ADC values and ER, PR, HER2, and Ki-67 expressions., Results: The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC = 0.87 and 0.91) indicated a good inter-observer agreement of the measured APTw values. APTw values of malignant lesions were significantly higher than those of fibroadenomas (3.21 ± 1.04% vs 1.50 ± 0.54%, p < 0.001). Area under the curve (AUC) obtained from APTw imaging, DWI, DCE, APTw imaging+DWI, APTw imaging+DWI, and APTw imaging+DWI + DCE was 0.959, 0.897, 0.976, 0.997, and 1 respectively. The APTw value showed a negative correlation with ER expression (r = -0.357)., Conclusion: APTw imaging yielded similar diagnosis performance in discriminating fibroadenomas and malignant breast tumors when compared to the DCE and better than DWI imaging, and provided supplement information on tumor cell activity to DWI images. The APTw value showed correlations with some prognostic factors for breast cancer., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Reduced white matter (WM) integrity has been implicated in chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). However, whether the differences in WM abnormalities exist in ESRD and non-end-stage CKD (NES-CKD) remains unclear. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the WM microstructural changes between the two stages using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and explore the related influencing factors. Methods: Diffusion tensor imaging' images were prospectively acquired from 18 patients with ESRD, 22 patients with NES-CKD, and 19 healthy controls (HCs). Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was performed to assess the voxel-wise differences in WM abnormalities among the three groups. The relationships between DTI parameters and biochemical data were also analyzed. Results: Compared with NES-CKDs, FA value was significantly decreased, and AD value increased in ESRDs mainly in brain regions of bilateral anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), the genu and body of corpus callosum (CC), bilateral anterior corona radiata, superior corona radiata, and superior longitudinal fasciculus. Besides, extensive and symmetrical deep WM damages were observed in patients with ESRD, accompanied by increased MD and RD values. Multiple regression analysis revealed that uric acid and serum phosphorus level can be used as independent predictors of WM microstructural abnormalities in clusters with statistical differences in DTI parameters between ESRD and NES-CKD groups. Conclusion: In the progression of CKD, patients with ESRD have more severe WM microstructural abnormalities than NES-CKDs, and this progressive deterioration may be related to uric acid and phosphate levels., Competing Interests: LL was employed by the company Philips Healthcare China. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Jiang, Gao, Liu, Gao, Che, Lin, Jiang, Chang, Song, Wang, Wang and Miao.)