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Ultrasound-guided biopsy needle identification is a crucial step in clinical treatment planning, but remains challenging due to the difficulty in data acquisition that includes the ultrasound speckle interference pattern and the presence of strong linear anatomical structure. This paper introduces a real-time needle tracking method for visualizing 2D needle shapes and trajectory during interventions. Based on observations of the needle dynamics within a small fraction of dynamic ultrasound images, the current needle placement was estimated: (1) A subspace based background suppression technique was used to identify points representing possible needle locations using the consecutive dynamic frames in a sliding-window fashion. and (2) a Hough transform was then used to filter out false positives and fit the remaining points on the Hough space. Evaluation on datasets from 16 subjects demonstrated that the proposed method produced high-quality needle-only images, significantly reducing the mean trajectory error to 1.89°and the tip position error to 5.1 mm, outperforming temporal subtraction (2.65°and 14.3 mm) and Gabor filtering (2.94°and 13.8 mm). The attention-based U-Net achieved a comparable mean trajectory angle error of 1.82°but yielded a higher mean tip position error of 8.2 mm. Qualitative and quantitative analyses consistently indicated that the proposed method offers enhanced accuracy and robustness across subjects compared to competing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased expression of atrial natriuretic peptide in the kidney of rats with bilateral ureteral obstruction. Background. Whether the postobstructive diuresis can be related to an altered regulation of local atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) in the kidney was investigated. Methods. Three groups of rats had both of their ureters obstructed for 48 hours. The kidneys were taken without releasing the obstruction in one group [bilateral ureteral obstruction (BUO)]. The obstruction was released in the other two groups and the animals were kept for 4 and 24 hours thereafter to collect urinary data (BUR-4 and BUR-24, respectively). Plasma and urine ANP levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. The mRNA expression of ANP, natriuretic peptide receptor-A (NPR-A), and NPR-C was determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. ANP receptors were also quantitated by in vitro autoradiography. The activity of guanylyl cyclase was determined by the amount of cGMP generated in response to ANP. Results. Urinary volume and sodium excretion increased in BUR-4, along with the ANP mRNA expression in the kidney and the urinary ANP excretion. The ANP excretion positively correlated with the urinary volume and sodium excretion. The mRNA expression of both NPR-A and NPR-C was decreased by BUO, the latter being far more prominently affected. The maximal binding capacity of radiolabeled ANP was decreased in the glomerulus and papilla in BUO. Not only the urinary parameters but also the mRNA expression of ANP, NPR-A, and NPR-C were comparable between BUR-24 and control rats. ANP-stimulated cGMP generation was reduced in the glomerulus and papilla in BUO animals, which was rapidly resumed following the release of the obstruction. Conclusions. Postobstructive diuresis may be due partially to an increased ANP activity in the kidney. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PAI-1 and CTGF are overexpressed in kidney diseases and cause fibrosis of the lungs, liver, and kidneys. We used a rat model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) to investigate whether 6-BIO, a glycogen synthase kinase-3β inhibitor, attenuated fibrosis by inhibiting PAI-1 and CTGF in vivo. Additionally, TGFβ-induced cellular fibrosis was observed in vitro using the human kidney proximal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2), and rat interstitial fibroblasts (NRK49F). Expression of fibrosis-related proteins and signaling molecules such as PAI-1, CTGF, TGFβ, αSMA, SMAD, and MAPK were determined in HK-2 and NRK49F cells using immunoblotting. To identify the transcription factors that regulate the expression of PAI-1 and CTGF the promoter activities of AP-1 and SP-1 were analyzed using luciferase assays. Confocal microscopy was used to observe the co-localization of AP-1 and SP-1 to PAI-1 and CTGF. Expression of PAI-1, CTGF, TGFβ, and α-SMA increased in UUO model as well as in TGFβ-treated HK-2 and NRK49F cells. Furthermore, UUO and TGFβ treatment induced the activation of P-SMAD2/3, SMAD4, P-ERK 1/2, P-P38, and P-JNK MAPK signaling pathways. PAI-1, CTGF, AP-1 and SP-1 promoter activity increased in response to TGFβ treatment. However, treatment with 6-BIO decreased the expression of proteins and signaling pathways associated with fibrosis in UUO model as well as in TGFβ-treated HK-2 and NRK49F cells. Moreover, 6-BIO treatment attenuated the expression of PAI-1 and CTGF as well as the promoter activities of AP-1 and SP-1, thereby regulating the SMAD and MAPK signaling pathways, and subsequently exerting anti-fibrotic effects on kidney cells. [Display omitted] • 6-BIO inhibits UUO- and TGFβ induced kidney fibrosis. • 6-Bio reduces PAI-1 and CTGF expression associated with kidney fibrosis. • 6-BIO regulates AP-1 and SP-1 transcription activity in kidney cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of a 69-year-old woman with polyuria and bilateral knee pain. The patient undergo abdominal computed tomography (CT) which reveals bilateral hydronephrosis. Magnetic resonance imaging shows diffuse irregular sclerotic changes involving the diaphysis and metaphysic. Immunohistochemistry discovered that biopsy samples were CD68(+), but S-100(-) and CD1a(-), which is a distinctive finding in Erdheim-Chester disease.

The article discusses a case of a 43-year-old man who was presented to a hospital with generalized skin pruriginous and papulonodular eruptions. It say that a skin biopsy was performed and found symptoms of hyperkeratosis, pseudo-epitheliomatous acanthosis, and vascular hyperplasia of the upper dermis that are characteristics of prurigo nodularis. It states that tapere 16 milligram (mg) dose of oral methylprednisolone, antibiotics, antihistamines, ad cyrotherapy was treated to the patient.