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This is a multi-center retrospective study of patients underwent low anterior resection for rectal cancer. Ileostomy had been done to protect low lying Colo-rectal anastomosis, closure of ileostomy had been delayed in some patients due to patient own will, surgical complications (anastomotic leak) or coarse of chemotherapy. This study aimed to find the effect of temporary ileostomy on post-operative bowel defunction which is called Low anterior resection syndrome (LARS), and include; urgency, difficulty in emptying of bowel, and incontinence for feces and flatus. A total of 50 patients included in this study, the age ranges from the 19 to 80 years old with a mean age of 51.96 years. The total number of males was (33, %66). Majority of patients were overweight (21, 42%). The distance of tumors from the anal verge were less than 10 cm in (31,62%). The mean duration of fecal diversion was 7.17 months. Loop ileostomy were closed before six months in (27,54%). The mean duration of diversion of patients developed no LARS was 6.87 months which is shorter than those of developed LARS (7.31). Lower BMI patients are more prone to develop LARS, while Obese patients are more susceptible to develop major LARS. Nineteen cases developed LARS among those patient’s ileostomy closed before six months, and 15 cases developed LARS in those ileostomies closed after six months.

This study was conducted in the Iraqi Kurdistan region in January 2014 to determine the individual leaf area of oleander (Nerium oleander L.) by easy, accurate, inexpensive, and nondestructive method. Simple, multiple and exponential regression analyses were used by length (L) and width (W) and their combinations as independent variables and with leaf area as dependent variable to determine more accurate models (high coefficient of determination and less MSE). The results showed that the best fitting models that show more accurate estimation of oleander leaf area, compared to other models, were the simple linear regression that depends on length multiple width for Koya and Erbil cities and the total leaves of the two cities plants. On the other hand, the best fitting multiple linear equations were those which depend on square length and square width for Koya city and the total leaves of the two cities plants, whereas for Erbil city the best model was that depends on leaves with square length and width. Multiple linear regressions were the more accurate among the models, followed by simple linear regression, whereas the exponential model had the lowest accuracy. All coefficients of regressions values were found to be significant at the P < 0.0001 level.

Zircon shape is commonly reported during geochronology and geochemistry analyses of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks, but the relationship of zircon shape to primary growth environmental conditions remains poorly constrained. Current models for the control on igneous zircon shape focus on the relative growth of crystal prisms and pyramids, which are not discernible in the imaging techniques used for rapid quantification of zircon shape in geochronology sample mounts. We model the relationship between whole‐rock composition and zircon 2D shape in mineral separates from 45 mafic to felsic igneous samples, representative of Archean and Proterozoic crust in Western Australia. Shape parameters are derived from semi‐automated measurement of photomicrographs of polished zircon crystals in epoxy resin mounts. Whole‐rock composition shows a statistically significant relationship to median magmatic zircon crystal area and mathematically defined "roundness." Zircon populations show reduced median area and increased median roundness as whole‐rock silica decreases. Phase equilibrium modeling based on whole‐rock composition, and automated electron microscopy mineral maps, indicates that the compositional predisposition of zircon shape is influenced by fundamentally different physical growth environments in mafic versus felsic melts. Specifically, influential factors that differ between mafic and felsic liquids include crystallization sequence and duration—which influence unconstrained growth space—and the potential for absorption/exsolution of zirconium from the accompanying mineral assemblage. We present quantitative, explanatory models for the relationship between zircon 2D shape and whole‐rock silica and demonstrate that the relationships are adhered to across a broad spectrum of whole‐rock compositions. Plain Language Summary: Zircon is a resilient mineral that can preserve chemical information over billions of years and is used to date different types of rocks. The 2D boundary shapes of polished zircon crystals are commonly reported during their analysis. However, it is challenging to interpret the geological meaning of the 2D shapes as little is known about how the crystals' growth environment affects them. Current understanding is mostly based on 3D crystal faces that are not easily interpreted from imaging techniques geared toward rapid measurements of large quantities of zircon grains, as used during typical isotopic analysis of this mineral. We investigate whether there is geological information in easily acquired 2D zircon boundary shape. We measured the 2D shapes of zircons from different rock types and model how the shape changes with rock composition. We then model how different rock types crystallize and compare the crystallization models to mineral growth relationships seen in the rocks. We find that the 2D shape of zircon is affected by growth space, growth duration, and competition for mineral components. These three factors vary with rock composition. Thus, zircon 2D shape varies with rock composition, hinting at potentially useful, currently untapped, additional information stored in zircon grains. Key Points: Parent magma silica content influences the median 2D shape of an igneous zircon populationMajor controls of median zircon 2D boundary shape appear extrinsic to the crystalPredominant zircon crystallization processes differ between mafic and felsic rocks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection during drilling is necessary for onshore oil and gas development. With the available additives, it is impossible to design a drilling fluid system that is both efficient and environmentally friendly. Nevertheless, due to their high cost and complicated manufacturing procedure, several environmentally friendly drilling fluid additives cannot be utilised widely. This study used broad bean peel powder (BBPP) as a drilling fluid additive to improve drilling fluid performance. All the necessary experimental tests for rheology and filtration were conducted in an ambient condition. According to the results, BBPP reduced the drilling fluid's alkalinity by 10–39% and enhanced its rheological characteristics (plastic viscosity, gel strength). However, the BBPP had a negligible effect on other properties, including mud weight and yield point. Furthermore, adding fine (FBBPP) and Medium (MBBPP) broad bean peel powder improved the filtration properties of the reference mud. However, FBBPP was more effective in reducing the filter cake thickness and fluid loss from 1.75 mm and 20.4 mL to 1.0 mm and 13.3 mL, respectively. The ability of BBPP to improve rheological properties and decrease filtration properties makes them beneficial to a successful drilling operation.

The aim of the study is to declare the role of surgery in potentially curative malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, in term of prognosis, survival and complications after the surgical procedures. Does the surgery plays a significant role in the best patient's interest even in metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors? Clinical and pathological factors that changed the outcomes were also analyzed. It is retrospective, case series study. All patients who were undergoing surgery for malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors from 2013 to 2018. Results show that, sixteen patients were recruited with a mean age at diagnosis of 49.31 years, (ranging from 19-80 years). There were 8 male and 8 female patients. Common symptoms were abdominal pain 12 (75%) of them three cases had clinical jaundice 3 (18.8%) and one case had acute pancreatitis and pancreatic necrosis. One (6.3%) patient had functional tumor, and the rest 15 (93.8%) were nonfunctional tumors; all of the patients were sporadic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Overall morbidity was (43.8%) with no perioperative mortality. The median follow-up period was 23 months, ranging from 5-68 months. Recurrence occurred in four cases with a median disease-free interval of 9.5 moths with grade of differentiation (P-value 0.027), lymph node metastases (P-value 0.027) and tumor stage (P-value 0.017) were associated with recurrent disease. The overall 5 year survival was 81.2% and the disease free survival was (75%) at 5 year, with grade of tumor (Pvalue 0.001), lymph node metastases (P-value 0.001), invasion of other visceral organs(P-value 0.018) and recurrence (P-value 0.001)were associated with decreased survival. In conclusion, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors have favorable long-term survival after surgical resections even in the presence of liver metastases depending on the grade of differentiation of tumor and lymph node metastases rather than liver metastases and other factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detrital zircon geochronology is a powerful tool to address a range of geological questions related to sedimentary provenance. Nonetheless, non‐unique answers may result when igneous rocks of the same age are sourced from disparate locations. In an effort to resolve some of this issue in zircon provenance investigations, we explore the potential of detrital zircon grains to be linked to their original magmatic source through their grain shape. In order to develop this grain shape measure as a provenance tool, we first examine the relationships between chemistry and a range of different grain shape descriptors. We find grain shape to show a linear relationship to U‐concentration on a lithologic unit level. We interpret this relationship to be a function of crystal chemical control in igneous samples. Principal component analysis demonstrates the potential of simple grain shape descriptors (major axis, minor axis, and effective diameter) to characterize grains from particular rock units. Applying these same shape measures to sedimentary basins in the Proterozoic Albany–Fraser Orogen in southwest Australia allows us to closely replicate the findings of previous traditional U–Pb geochronological investigations in terms of grain provenance. In addition, we apply this technique to Mesozoic sediment on the southern margin of Australia and show for the first time that its detritus is more likely derived from the underlying crystalline basement rather than surrounding orogens that share similar magmatic ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study is to declare the role of surgery in potentially curative malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, in term of prognosis, survival and complications after the surgical procedures. Does the surgery play a significant role in the best patient’s interest even in metastatic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors? Clinical and pathological factors that changed the outcomes were also analyzed. It is retrospective, case series study. All patients who were undergoing surgery for malignant pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors from 2013 to 2018. Results show that, sixteen patients were recruited with a mean age at diagnosis of 49.31 years, (ranging from 19-80 years). There were 8 male and 8 female patients. Common symptoms were abdominal pain 12 (75%) of them three cases had clinical jaundice 3 (18.8%) and one case had acute pancreatitis and pancreatic necrosis. One (6.3%) patient had functional tumor, and the rest 15 (93.8%) were nonfunctional tumors; all of the patients were sporadic pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Overall morbidity was (43.8%) with no perioperative mortality. The median follow-up period was 23 months, ranging from 5-68 months. Recurrence occurred in four cases with a median disease-free interval of 9.5 moths with grade of differentiation (P-value 0.027), lymph node metastases (P-value 0.027) and tumor stage (P-value 0.017) were associated with recurrent disease. The overall 5 year survival was 81.2% and the disease free survival was (75%) at 5 year, with grade of tumor (P-value 0.001), lymph node metastases (P-value 0.001), invasion of other visceral organs(P-value 0.018) and recurrence (P-value 0.001)were associated with decreased survival. In conclusion, pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors have favorable long-term survival after surgical resections even in the presence of liver metastases depending on the grade of differentiation of tumor and lymph node metastases rather than liver metastases and other factors

Karst landforms provide insights into landscape evolution and paleoclimate but are inherently challenging to date. An ancient interval of particularly intense weathering of Western Australian Pleistocene aeolianites is recorded in a spectacular pinnacle karst landscape with associated ferricrete nodules. (U-Th)/He dating of the ferricrete nodules revealed an age of 102.8 + 10.6/-11.4 thousand years, corresponding to marine isotope stage 5c. The (U-Th)/He age thus directly dates the wettest interglacial period in the region over the last 500 thousand years, which was responsible for the dissolution that formed the pinnacles. The reliability of the ferricrete (U-Th)/He age is supported by bounding optically stimulated luminescence and U-Th dates on associated aeolianites and carbonate precipitates, respectively. A (U-Th)/He approach is globally applicable to aeolianites with associated ferricretes, allowing more accurate dating of the environmental changes affecting these lithologies, and temporally constraining rapid Pleistocene climatic oscillations to better contextualize the associated evolution of the biosphere.

Background: Our initial clinical study using simple diffusion kurtosis imaging (SDI), which simultaneously produces a diffusion kurtosis image (DKI) and an apparent diffusion coefficient map, confirmed the usefulness of SDI for tumor diagnosis. However, the obtained DKI had noticeable variability in the mean kurtosis (MK) values, which is inherent to SDI. We aimed to improve this variability in SDI by preprocessing with three different filters (Gaussian [G], median [M], and nonlocal mean) of the diffusion-weighted images used for SDI. Methods: The usefulness of filter parameters for diagnosis was examined in basic and clinical studies involving 13 patients with head and neck tumors. Results: The filter parameters, which did not change the median MK value, but reduced the variability and significantly homogenized the MK values in tumor and normal tissues in both basic and clinical studies, were identified. In the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for distinguishing tumors from normal tissues using MK values, the area under curve values significantly improved from 0.627 without filters to 0.641 with G (σ = 0.5) and 0.638 with M (radius = 0.5). Conclusions: Thus, image pretreatment with G and M for SDI was shown to be useful for improving tumor diagnosis in clinical practice.

We evaluated the usefulness of simple diffusion kurtosis (SD) imaging, which was developed to generate diffusion kurtosis images simultaneously with an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map for 27 cystic disease lesions in the head and neck region. The mean kurtosis (MK) and ADC values were calculated for the cystic space. The MK values were dentigerous cyst (DC): 0.74, odontogenic keratocyst (OKC): 0.86, ranula (R): 0.13, and mucous cyst (M): 0, and the ADC values were DC: 1364 × 10 -6 mm 2 /s, OKC: 925 × 10 -6 mm 2 /s, R: 2718 × 10 -6 mm 2 /s, and M: 2686 × 10 -6 mm 2 /s. The MK values of DC and OKC were significantly higher than those of R and M, whereas their ADC values were significantly lower. One reason for the characteristic signal values in diffusion-weighted images of DC may be related to content components such as fibrous tissue and exudate cells. When imaging cystic disease in the head and neck region using SD imaging, the maximum b-value setting at the time of imaging should be limited to approximately 1200 s/mm 2 for accurate MK value calculation. This study is the first to show that the MK values of DC are characteristically higher than those of other cysts.

The advancement of web-based technologies makes it possible to build user interfaces or web pages that present and summarize complex data in easy-to-read graphical formats that emphasize key information. Taking advantage of this technologic progress, we addressed the need for real-time visualizations of trends for major pathogens in the largest livestock industries in Ontario: poultry, swine, and cattle. These visualizations were built using test data from the laboratory information management system of the Animal Health Laboratory at the University of Guelph, a large veterinary diagnostic laboratory in Ontario. The data were processed using R software and used to construct interactive and dynamic visualizations using Tableau Desktop v.2021.4 (Tableau Software). We designed 12 dashboards: in chickens-influenza A virus, fowl adenovirus, infectious bronchitis virus, and infectious laryngotracheitis virus; in turkeys-influenza A virus; in swine, influenza A virus, rotavirus, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus; in cattle-bovine viral diarrhea virus, Mycoplasma bovis , Salmonella Dublin in individual samples, and Salmonella Dublin in bulk tank milk samples. Data for each pathogen are presented in 2 dashboards. One shows the data of the last 10 y (general view) and the other the data of the last 3 y, but in more detail (comprehensive view). Information on gaining access to all dashboards is available at https://iapd.lsd.uoguelph.ca/. The visualizations provide near-real-time access to aggregated assay results for selected pathogens for veterinarians, animal health regulatory agencies, researchers, and other users who are interested in livestock pathogen surveillance., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Increased heart dose during postoperative radiotherapy (RT) for left-sided breast cancer (BC) can cause cardiac injury, which can decrease patient survival. The deep inspiration breath-hold technique (DIBH) is becoming increasingly common for reducing the mean heart dose (MHD) in patients with left-sided BC. However, treatment planning and DIBH for RT are laborious, time-consuming and costly for patients and RT staff. In addition, the proportion of patients with left BC with low MHD is considerably higher among Asian women, mainly due to their smaller breast volume compared with that in Western countries. The present study aimed to determine the optimal machine learning (ML) model for predicting the MHD after RT to pre-select patients with low MHD who will not require DIBH prior to RT planning. In total, 562 patients with BC who received postoperative RT were randomly divided into the trainval (n=449) and external (n=113) test datasets for ML using Python (version 3.8). Imbalanced data were corrected using synthetic minority oversampling with Gaussian noise. Specifically, right-left, tumor site, chest wall thickness, irradiation method, body mass index and separation were the six explanatory variables used for ML, with four supervised ML algorithms used. Using the optimal value of hyperparameter tuning with root mean squared error (RMSE) as an indicator for the internal test data, the model yielding the best F2 score evaluation was selected for final validation using the external test data. The predictive ability of MHD for true MHD after RT was the highest among all algorithms for the deep neural network, with a RMSE of 77.4, F2 score of 0.80 and area under the curve-receiver operating characteristic of 0.88, for a cut-off value of 300 cGy. The present study suggested that ML can be used to pre-select female Asian patients with low MHD who do not require DIBH for the postoperative RT of BC., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023, Spandidos Publications.)

Introduction: Sarcocystis is a genus of cyst-forming parasites that infest both humans and livestock. Some parasites cause clinical and subclinical diseases in their hosts, resulting in economic losses., Methods: Esophagus, diaphragm, and skeletal muscle from slaughtered sheep and goats were examined macroscopically, microscopically, and ultrastructurally and subjected to DNA analysis., Results: We isolated macrocysts of S. gigantea and of S. caprafelis moulei from naturally infected sheep (Ovis aries) and goats (Capra hircus). The macrocyst wall thickness was 18.9 µm in sheep and 15.3 µm in goats, and consisted of an inner Periodic acid Schiff- (PAS) negative primary wall and an outer glycoconjugates containing i.e. PAS-positive secondary wall. The walls inner surface was compartmentalized and filled with bradyzoites. In S. gigantea the bradyzoites were approximently 12.3 x 2.6 µm in size, while in S. caprafelis moulei they were 13.9 x 4.4 µm. Ultrastructurally, both species have nearly identical morphology: cauliflower-like protrusions with numerous microtubules and often dendritic-like filaments, branching from the primary wall. The 18S rRNA gene in S. gigantea was 85.9% identical to that in S. medusiformis and 80.4% to the S. caprafelis moulei gene. The 28S rRNA gene in S. gigantea was 94.6% identical to that in S. medusiformis and 97.3% to the S. caprafelis moulei., Conclusion: This study is the first to (i) detail the ultrastructure of the macrocyst wall of S. caprafelis moulei , (ii) identify S. medusiformis in Iraqi sheep, and (iii) compare the prevalence of macroscopic Sarcocystis at different time periods within the same region. A positive finding was the reduction of macroscopic sarcocystosis occurrences (0.01% in sheep and 0.02% in goats) compared to our previous data from 1992 (4.1%: sheep, 33.6%: goats)., 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 Nawshirwan, Heucken, Piekarek, van Beers, Fulgham-Scott, Grandoch, Neiss, Vogt and Barham.)

Deep inspiration breath-hold (DIBH) is an excellent technique to reduce the incidental radiation received by the heart during radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer. However, DIBH is costly and time-consuming for patients and radiotherapy staff. In Asian countries, the use of DIBH is restricted due to the limited number of patients with a high mean heart dose (MHD) and the shortage of radiotherapy personnel and equipment compared to that in the USA. This study aimed to develop, evaluate, and compare the performance of ten machine learning algorithms for predicting MHD using a patient's body mass index and single-slice CT parameters to identify patients who may not require DIBH. Machine learning models were built and tested using a dataset containing 207 patients with left-sided breast cancer who were treated with field-in-field radiotherapy with free breathing. The average MHD was 251 cGy. Stratified repeated four-fold cross-validation was used to build models using 165 training data. The models were compared internally using their average performance metrics: F2 score, AUC, recall, accuracy, Cohen's kappa, and Matthews correlation coefficient. The final performance evaluation for each model was further externally analyzed using 42 unseen test data. The performance of each model was evaluated as a binary classifier by setting the cut-off value of MHD ≥ 300 cGy. The deep neural network (DNN) achieved the highest F2 score (78.9%). Most models successfully classified all patients with high MHD as true positive. This study indicates that the ten models, especially the DNN, might have the potential to identify patients who may not require DIBH.

Background: Autoimmune neuropathies can result in long-term disability and incomplete recovery, despite adequate first-line therapy. Kinesin-5 inhibition was shown to accelerate neurite outgrowth in different preclinical studies. Here, we evaluated the potential neuro-regenerative effects of the small molecule kinesin-5 inhibitor monastrol in a rodent model of acute autoimmune neuropathies, experimental autoimmune neuritis., Methods: Experimental autoimmune neuritis was induced in Lewis rats with the neurogenic P2-peptide. At the beginning of the recovery phase at day 18, the animals were treated with 1 mg/kg monastrol or sham and observed until day 30 post-immunisation. Electrophysiological and histological analysis for markers of inflammation and remyelination of the sciatic nerve were performed. Neuromuscular junctions of the tibialis anterior muscles were analysed for reinnervation. We further treated human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived secondary motor neurons with monastrol in different concentrations and performed a neurite outgrowth assay., Results: Treatment with monastrol enhanced functional and histological recovery in experimental autoimmune neuritis. Motor nerve conduction velocity at day 30 in the treated animals was comparable to pre-neuritis values. Monastrol-treated animals showed partially reinnervated or intact neuromuscular junctions. A significant and dose-dependent accelerated neurite outgrowth was observed after kinesin-5 inhibition as a possible mode of action., Conclusion: Pharmacological kinesin-5 inhibition improves the functional outcome in experimental autoimmune neuritis through accelerated motor neurite outgrowth and histological recovery. This approach could be of interest to improve the outcome of autoimmune neuropathy patients., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

A number of restricted diffusion (RD) imaging techniques, such as diffusion kurtosis (DK) imaging and Q space imaging, have been developed and proven to be useful for the diagnosis of diseases, including cerebral gliomas and cerebrovascular infarction. In particular, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) subtraction method (ASM) imaging has become available recently as a novel RD imaging technique. ASM is based on the difference between the ADC values in an image pair of two ADC maps, ADC basic (ADCb) and ADC modify (ADCm), which are created from diffusion-weighted images taken using short and long effective diffusion times, respectively. The present study aimed to assess the potential of different types of ASM imaging by comparing them with DK imaging which is the gold-standard RD imaging technique. In the present basic study using both polyethylene glycol phantom and cell-containing bio-phantom, three different types of ASM images were created using different calculation processes. ASM/A is an image calculated by dividing the absolute difference between ADCb and ADCm by ADCb several times. By contrast, ASM/S is an image created by dividing the absolute difference between ADCb and ADCm by the standard deviation of ADCb several times. As for positive ASM/A image (PASM/A), the positive image, which was resultant after subtracting ADCb from ADCm, was divided by ADCb several times. A comparison was made between the types of ASM and DK images. The results showed the same tendency between ASM/A in addition to both ASM/S and PASM/A. By increasing the number of divisions by ADCb from three to five times, ASM/A images transformed from DK-mimicking to more RD-sensitive images compared with DK images. These observations suggest that ASM/A images may prove useful for future clinical applications in RD imaging protocols for the diagnosis of diseases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Barham et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background and Purpose: After peripheral nerve lesions, surgical reconstruction facilitates axonal regeneration and motor reinnervation. However, functional recovery is impaired by aberrant reinnervation., Materials and Methods: We tested whether training therapy by treadmill exercise (9 × 250 m/week) before (run-idle), after (idle-run), or both before and after (run-run) sciatic nerve graft improves the accuracy of reinnervation in rats. Female Lewis rats (LEW/SsNHsd) were either trained for 12 weeks (run) or not trained (kept under control conditions, idle). The right sciatic nerves were then excised and reconstructed with 5 mm of a congenic allograft. One week later, training started in the run-run and idle-run groups for another 12 weeks. No further training was conducted in the run-idle and idle-idle groups. Reinnervation was measured using the following parameters: counting of retrogradely labeled motoneurons, walking track analysis, and compound muscle action potential (CMAP) recordings., Results: In intact rats, the common fibular (peroneal) and the soleus nerve received axons from 549 ± 83 motoneurons. In the run-idle group, 94% of these motoneurons had regenerated 13 weeks after the nerve graft. In the idle-run group, 81% of the normal number of motoneurons had regenerated into the denervated musculature and 87% in both run-run and idle-idle groups. Despite reinnervation, functional outcome was poor: walking tracks indicated no functional improvement of motion in any group. However, in the operated hindlimb of run-idle rats, the CMAP of the soleus muscle reached 11.9 mV (normal 16.3 mV), yet only 6.3-8.1 mV in the other groups., Conclusion: Treadmill training neither altered the accuracy of reinnervation nor the functional recovery, and pre-operative training (run-idle) led to a higher motor unit activation after regeneration., 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 Barham, Andermahr, Majczyński, Sławińska, Vogt and Neiss.)

Clinical research using restricted diffusion-weighted imaging, especially diffusion kurtosis (DK) imaging, has been progressing, with reports on its effectiveness in the diagnostic imaging of cerebral infarctions, neurodegenerative diseases, and tumors, among others. However, the application of DK imaging in daily clinical practice has not spread because of the long imaging time required and the use of specific software for image creation. Herein, with the aim of promoting clinical research using DK imaging at any medical facility, we evaluated fast DK imaging using a new software program. We developed a new macro program that produces DK images using general-purpose, inexpensive software (Microsoft Excel and ImageJ), and we evaluated fast DK imaging using bio-phantoms and a healthy volunteer in clinical trials. The DK images created by the new software with diffusion-weighted images captured with short-time imaging sequences were similar to the original DK images captured with long-time imaging sequences. The DK images using three b-values, which can reduce the imaging time by 43%, were equivalent to the DK images using five b-values. The DK imaging technique developed herein might allow any medical facility to increase its daily clinical use of DK imaging and easily conduct clinical research., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Purpose: Nimodipine and FK506 (Tacrolimus) are drugs that have been reported to accelerate peripheral nerve regeneration. We therefore tested these substances aiming to improve the final functional outcome of motoric reinnervation after facial nerve injury., Methods: In 18 female rats, the transected facial nerve was repaired by an artificial nerve conduit. The rats were then treated with either placebo, nimodipine, or FK506, for 56 days. Facial motoneurons were pre-operatively double-labeled by Fluoro-Gold and again 56 days post-operation by Fast-Blue to measure the cytological accuracy of reinnervation. The whisking motion of the vibrissae was analyzed to assess the quality of functional recovery., Results: On the non-operated side, 93-97% of those facial nerve motoneurons innervating the vibrissae were double-labeled. On the operated side, double-labeling only amounted to 38% (placebo), 40% (nimodipine), and 39% (FK506), indicating severe misdirection of reinnervation. Regardless of post-operative drug or placebo therapy, the whisking frequency reached 83-100% of the normal value (6.0 Hz), but whisking amplitude was reduced to 33-48% while whisking velocity reached 39-66% of the normal values. Compared to placebo, statistically neither nimodipine nor FK506 improved accuracy of reinnervation and function recovery., Conclusion: Despite previous, positive data on the speed and quantity of axonal regeneration, nimodipine and FK506 do not improve the final functional outcome of motoric reinnervation in rats., 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 Barham, Streppel, Guntinas-Lichius, Fulgham-Scott, Vogt and Neiss.)

Purpose: To focus on the effects of the presence of mesiodens on adjacent teeth and to investigate the timing of its safe removal., Materials and Methods: Cone-beam computed tomography examinations, obtained at Okayama University Hospital over a three-year period, were inspected. Data were recorded including the number of mesiodens; associated abnormalities; and the relationship with neighboring structures. Depending on multiple factors, the risk of developing complications due to early extraction of a mesiodens was divided into three categories: high, medium, and low risk., Results: A total of 5,958 cone-beam computed tomography exams were obtained, 460 patients aged 3-85 years were diagnosed with a total of 568 mesiodens, 382 (67.3%) of which were discovered in young patients (age <10 years), and 333 (87.2%) of these were associated with abnormalities. Regarding the risk categories, 11 (1.9%) were considered to be in the high-risk, five (0.9%) in the medium-risk and 552 (97.2%) in the low-risk categories. Moreover, eight out of 11 high-risk mesiodens were extracted and no post-operative complications have been seen., Conclusion: As the results showed that no postoperative complications were seen in all the extracted cases of high-risk mesiodens, this indicates the possibility of safe extraction at an early age which could reduce related future complications., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None, (Copyright © 2022 by Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology.)

The apparent diffusion coefficient subtraction method (ASM) was developed as a new restricted diffusionweighted imaging technique for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The usefulness of the ASM has been established by in vitro basic research using a bio-phantom, and clinical research on the application of the ASM for the human body is needed. Herein, we developed a short-time sequence for ASM imaging of the heads of healthy volunteers (n=2), and we investigated the similarity between the obtained ASM images and diffusion kurtosis (DK) images to determine the utility of the ASM for clinical uses. This study appears to be the first to report ASM images of the human head. We observed that the short-time sequence for the ASM imaging of the head can be scanned in approx. 3 min at 1.5T MRI. The noise reduction effect of median filter processing was confirmed on the ASM images scanned by this sequence. The obtained ASM images showed a weak correlation with the DK images, indicating that the ASM images are restricted diffusion-weighted images. The new shorttime imaging sequence could thus be used in clinical studies applying the ASM., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.