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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a single early administration of dexamethasone and escin after loss of signal (LOS) during a neuromonitored total thyroidectomy. Methods: A retrospective analysis of results concerning consecutive patients undergoing total thyroidectomy was performed. Patients included in the study were divided into two groups: Group 1 for which a “wait and see” strategy was used; Group 2, receiving dexamethasone and escin immediately after LOS detection. Results: Overall 37 patients were included in Group 1 and 35 in Group 2. LOS recovery occurring in 29.7% of cases (n. 11) versus 65.7% (n. 23) respectively (p < 0.001). Postoperative fibrolayngoscopy for patients without LOS recovery showed normal cord function in 4 out of 26 cases (15.4%) in Group 1 and in 7 out of 12 (58.3%) in Group 2 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The early administration of dexamethasone and escin after LOS detection may achieve greater EMG signal recovery than a “wait and see” strategy.

Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) enables simultaneous mapping of multiple tissue parameters such as T1 and T2 relaxation times. The working principle of MRF relies on varying acquisition parameters pseudo-randomly, so that each tissue generates its unique signal evolution during scanning. Even though MRF provides faster scanning, it has disadvantages such as erroneous and slow generation of the corresponding parametric maps, which needs to be improved. Moreover, there is a need for explainable architectures for understanding the guiding signals to generate accurate parametric maps.In this paper, we addressed both of these shortcomings by proposing a novel neural network architecture (CONV-ICA) consisting of a channel-wise attention module and a fully convolutional network. Another contribution of this study is a new channel selection method: attention-based channel selection. Furthermore, the effect of patch size and temporal frames of MRF signal on channel reduction are analyzed by employing a channel-wise attention.The proposed approach, evaluated over 3 simulated MRF signals, reduces error in the reconstruction of tissue parameters by 8.88% for T1 and 75.44% for T2 with respect to state-of-the-art methods.It is demonstrated that channel attention mechanism helps to focus on informative channels and fully convolutional network extracts spatial information achieve the best reconstruction performance.As a consequence of improvement in fast and accurate manner, presented work can contribute to make MRF appropriate for clinical use.

Objective: Sleep spindle features show developmental changes during infancy and have the potential to provide an early biomarker for abnormal brain maturation. Manual identification of sleep spindles in the electroencephalogram (EEG) is time-consuming and typically requires highly-trained experts. Automated detection of sleep spindles would greatly facilitate this analysis. Research on the automatic detection of sleep spindles in infant EEG has been limited to-date. Methods: We present a random forest-based sleep spindle detection method (Spindle-AI) to estimate the number and duration of sleep spindles in EEG collected from 141 ex-term born infants, recorded at 4 months of age. The signal on channel F4-C4 was split into a training set (81 ex-term) and a validation set (30 ex-term). An additional 30 ex-term infant EEGs (channel F4-C4 and channel F3-C3) were used as an independent test set. Fourteen features were selected for input into a random forest algorithm to estimate the number and duration of spindles and the results were compared against sleep spindles annotated by an experienced clinical physiologist. Results: The prediction of the number of sleep spindles in the independent test set demonstrated 93.3% to 93.9% sensitivity, 90.7% to 91.5% specificity, and 89.2% to 90.1% precision. The duration estimation of sleep spindle events in the independent test set showed a percent error of 5.7% to 7.4%. Conclusion and Significance: Spindle-AI has been implemented as a web server that has the potential to assist clinicians in the fast and accurate monitoring of sleep spindles in infant EEGs.

This International Migration Review research note explores the effect of the expansion of mobile phone networks on migration decisions in Myanmar. Building on the work of scholars in economics, the empirical strategy uses variation in lightning frequency across space as an instrumental variable for the expansion of mobile phone networks. Our results suggest that villages with longer exposure to mobile phone networks exhibit reductions in out-migration. Specifically, an increase of one standard deviation in the time exposed to mobile phone networks diminishes the probability that household members migrate by 17 percent. We find empirical evidence suggesting that such findings are driven by the positive effects of mobile phone networks on labor market outcomes and the perceived well-being of individuals.

AIM To analyze the structural features and therapeutic response in clinical and subclinical inflammatory choroidal neovascularization (i-CNV) detected inside subretinal hyperreflective material (SHRM) using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and SS-OCT angiography (SS-OCTA). METHODS In this prospective interventional study, subjects with quiescent posterior uveitis presenting with SHRM on SS-OCT and CNV network on SS-OCTA were included. Subjects with intraretinal fluid/subretinal fluid (IRF/SRF) received intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections, while those with no IRF/SRF either received treatment or observation for 6 months until they developed IRF/SRF or decrease in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA)/metamorphopsia. Serial comparisons included SHRM width and height and intrinsic flow signal on OCTA. RESULTS 28 eyes of 22 subjects (12 males; mean age: 29.52 ± 12.56 years) were evaluated. Subjects with IRF/SRF at baseline (n = 6 eyes; termed as exudative iCNVs) receiving treatment showed significant improvement in BCVA (p = .017), SHRM width/height and flow signal (p

Subject. A change in the spectrum of spin waves (SW) in a magnetic cross is investigated when two signals pass through it: a pump signal and a probe signal. Objective. Detection of specific features in formation of the spectra of the output signals of SW in the multiport structure based on a yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film in the case of excitation of two magnetostatic surface waves (MSSW) simultaneously by the input antenna, where the first, with power higher than the first-order parametric instability threshold is the pump, and the second one is a probe. Methods. The experiments were performed for a cross structure from YIG film in the form of two orthogonal waveguides with the SW wire antennas placed at the ends of the waveguides, where one of the antennas on the transversely magnetized waveguide was considered as the input. Result. It was found that by choosing the probing signal frequency, one can significantly (by 10 dB) change the relative signal levels for the satellite waves at the output antennas, which are secondary MSSWs with some new frequencies and appear in the output signals spectrum as a result of the thresholdless processes of merging of parametric spin waves generated by MSSW pumping. In this case the secondary MSSWs frequencies can differ at the output antennas located on orthogonal waveguides. Discussion. The discovered effect is associated with the nonreciprocal nature of propagation of both the pumping wave and the waves generated at parametric instability condition in the structure.

The abnormal expression of microRNA (miRNA) can affect the RNA transcription and protein translation, leading to tumor progression and metastasis. Currently, the accurate detection of aberrant expression of miRNA, particularly using a portable detection system, remains a great challenge. Herein, a novel dual-mode biosensor with high sensitivity and robustness for miR-21 detection was developed based on the cis-cleavage and trans-cleavage activities of Cas12a. miRNA can be combined with hairpin DNA-horseradish peroxidase anchored on a CdS/g-C3N4/B-TiO2 photoelectrode, thus the nonenzymatic amplification was triggered to form numerous HRP-modified double-stranded DNA (HRP-dsDNA). Then, HRP-dsDNA can be specifically recognized and efficiently cis-cleaved by Cas12a nucleases to detach HRP from the substrate, while the remaining HRP on HRP-dsDNA can catalyze 4-chloro-1-naphthol (4-CN) to form biocatalytic precipitation (BCP) on the surface of the photoelectrode, and thus the photocurrent can be changed. Meanwhile, the trans-cleavage ability of Cas12a was activated, and nonspecifically degrade the FQ-reporter and a significant fluorescence signal can be generated. Such two different kinds of signals with independent transmission paths can mutually support to improve the performance of the detection platform. Besides, a portable device was constructed for the point-of-care (POC) detection of miR-21. Moreover, the dual-mode detection platform can be easily expanded for the specific detection of other types of biomarkers by changing the sequence of hairpin DNA, thereby promoting the establishment of POC detection for early cancer diagnosis.

Scattering transform has many advantages and has been widely used in various fields since proposed. An algorithm using machine learning was proposed by some developers of Kymatio to reconstruct the signal based on the Scattering transform of the signal on the internet (Reconstruct a synthetic signal from its scattering transform (DB/OL) https://www.kymat.io/gallery_1d/reconstruct_torch.html#sphx-glr-gallery-1d-reconstruct-torch-py and Andreux et al. https://arxiv.org/1812.11214 , 2019). In this paper, I improve this reconstruction algorithm to an efficiency-based algorithm. However, the coefficient in the original formula for the input signal is defined and followed by original gradient descent algorithm with the learning rate multiplied by an accelerator or braker for every iteration. Once the error is spotted out then the system is discarded. By introducing an efficiency parameter, the calculation time and the eliminated error are linked, so that coefficient can be determined to improve the efficiency and eliminated most errors in a short time. Also, the experimenter can adjust the importance parameter in the efficiency parameter to determine the importance of speed and accuracy, which provides the experimenter with more choices.

Background Carotid atherosclerotic plaques with intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) are associated with elevated stroke risk. IPH is predominantly imaged based on paramagnetic properties of the upstream hemoglobin degradation product methemoglobin. This is an explorative observational study to test the feasibility of a spoiled gradient echo based T2* weighted MRI sequence (3D MEDIC) for carotid plaque imaging, and to compare signs suggestive of the downstream degradation product hemosiderin on 3D MEDIC with signs of methemoglobin on a T1wBB sequence. Methods Patients with recent TIA or stroke were selected based on the presence on non-calcified plaque components on CTA to promote an enriched prevalence of IPH in the material. Patients (n = 42) underwent 3T MRI with 3D MEDIC and 2D turbo spin echo T1w black blood (T1wBB). Images were independently evaluated by two neuroradiologists and Cohens Kappa was used for inter-reader agreement for each sequence. Results The technical feasibility for 3D MEDIC, was 34/42 patients (81%). Non-calcified plaque components with susceptibility effect without simultaneous T1-shortening—a combination suggestive of hemosiderin, was seen in 13/34 of the plaques. An equally large group display elevated T1w signal in combination with signal loss on 3D MEDIC, a combination suggestive of both hemosiderin and methemoglobin. Cohen’s kappa for inter-reader agreement was 0.64 (CI 0.345–0.925) for 3D MEDIC and 0.94 (CI 0.81–1.00) for T1wBB. Conclusions 3D MEDIC shows signal loss, without elevated T1w signal on T1wBB, in non-calcified tissue in many plaques in this group of patients. If further studies, including histological verification, confirm that the 3D MEDIC susceptibility effect is indeed caused by hemosiderin, 3D MEDIC could aid in the detection of IPH, beyond elevation of T1w signal.

Background Transient periictal MRI abnormalities (TPMA) are caused by seizures, and may completely or partially reverse within a few days following seizure. Although TPMA are usually observed in patients with status epilepticus (SE), they have also been rarely reported after isolated/recurrent seizures not fulfilling the criteria for SE. Herein, we present a case of a 1-year-old girl with TPMA. Case A 1-year-old girl with Apert syndrome and epilepsy showed MRI abnormalities in the cortico-subcortical areas of the left temporal, occipital and parietal lobes, as well as the left thalamus. These abnormalities showed as a hyperintense signal on diffusion-weighted imaging and a hypointense signal on apparent-diffusion coefficient maps. On follow-up MRI after 3 days, the abnormal signals were completely reversed. We confirmed TPMA after eliminating other possibilities. When treatment was withdrawn, the patient regained consciousness immediately and did not show any abnormality on subsequent MRI. Conclusion TPMA may occur in young children; recognizing this possibility is important for making the diagnosis and conducting appropriate treatment. As a previous study revealed, the distribution of signal changes in cortico-subcortical areas and the ipsilateral thalamus may be a characteristic feature of TPMA.

The objective findings of phalangeal T2-weighted hyperintense and T1-weighted hypointense bone marrow signal on MRI without features of seronegative arthropathy or osteomyelitis may assist clinicians in making a diagnosis in the appropriate clinical context.

Purpose This study sought to validate whether the signal intensity ratio (SIR) of carotid intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) was associated with acute ischemic neurologic events. Methods A retrospective review was completed of consecutive patients that underwent neck magnetic resonance angiography using magnetization prepared-rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE) and T1-CUBE sequences between 2017 and 2020. Patients with magnetic resonance evidence of IPH were included. SIRs were measured by comparing the maximum IPH signal with the mean intramuscular signal from the adjacent sternocleidomastoid. Patients were stratified into ischemic or non-ischemic groups based on the presence of acute ipsilateral ischemic events (stroke, retinal artery occlusion). Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine if increasing IPH SIR was associated with an increased risk of ipsilateral ischemic events. Results Of 85 included patients (85 arteries), 66 were male (77.6%). Mean age was 71.0 (SD ± 11.1). There were 70 arteries with IPH that were ipsilateral to an ischemic event, and 15 that belonged to patients without an ischemic event. No association was found between increasing IPH SIR seen on MP-RAGE (odds ratio (OR): 0.82; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.58–1.4; P = 0.43) or T1-CUBE sequences (OR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.53–1.5; P = 0.56). Conclusions There was no association between the SIR of IPH and acute ischemia on either MP-RAGE or T1-CUBE sequences. Further investigation is required prior to widespread acceptance of SIR as a predictive imaging marker of symptomatic carotid plaque.

Interpretation of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) imaging in pediatrics requires an understanding of the normal appearance and developmental changes which occur at this joint during childhood. These developmental changes include morphologic changes and changes in bone marrow signal on MRI that should not be confused with pathology. Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common cause for imaging TMJ pathology in children. We will review current guidelines for imaging and grading TMJ pathology in JIA, as well as less frequent pathology which can occur at the TMJ.

Background Lipoma arborescens is characterized by the villous proliferation of the synovium and diffuse hyperplasia of fatty tissue in the subsynovial layer, almost always with a periarticular lesion. According to past articles, fewer cases have depicted the imaging features of lipoma arborescens. Purpose To evaluate the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of lipoma arborescens. Material and Methods The imaging features of 15 patients with pathologically proven lipoma arborescens were retrospectively analyzed including lesion number, shape, location, size, margins, attenuation on CT, and signal intensity and enhancement patterns on MR images. Results All cases (n=15) showed joint or bursa effusion. The primary lesion attached to the bursa wall adjacent to the bone in 13 cases and to the lateral wall in two cases. CT shows a mass with fatty tissue attenuation values in the suprapatellar pouch (n=3) or subdeltoid bursa with an erosion of the humeral head (n=2), among them two cases showed branched slightly high density in the center of the fat density tissue. Fifteen cases on routine MRI display mass-like subsynovial mass with fatty tissue signal on all of the sequences and suppression of the signal on fat-suppression sequences. Among them, five lesions showed branched slightly low T1-weighted imaging, high proton density-weighted imaging, and T2-weighted imaging signals in the center. It showed the enhancement of the linear surface and the bursa wall in contrast-enhanced MRI (n=3). Conclusion Lipoma arborescens have specific CT and MRI features that enable them to make a conclusive diagnosis of this rare condition, which helps the diagnosis before treatment.

The safety and comfort of drivers have been improved over the decades as a result of our broadened understanding of driver modeling and behavior prediction. Despite these remarkable advances in autonomous and interactive systems, there is a significant lack of approaches that consider the passengers and the vehicle as components of a dynamical vibro-acoustical system. Sound in vehicles is not only informative of the state of the vehicle and the environment, but can also critically affect the driver’s performance, attention, and comfort. This paper aims to investigate the interplay between the perceived sounds of a vehicle and psychoacoustic annoyance (PA) metrics. Our goal is to create an intelligent agent that would act to improve driving pleasantness through acoustic-driven learning. To tackle the problem of choosing the correct actions to reduce the acoustic annoyance, the paper presents a method based on reinforcement learning that learns from the environment, i.e., the vehicle interior. The method actively changes the state inside the vehicle (e.g., closing or opening the window and choosing the cruise speed) in order to minimize acoustic annoyance experienced by the driver. The results of this work, performed using the GTA V simulator, showed that the trained agent successfully learned to take the correct actions to reduce PA metrics. The paper also present to the community a new multi-modal dataset composed of several rides on a real vehicle and an in-depth analysis of the influence of vehicle’s signal on the acoustic annoyance.

A numerical analysis is conducted for assessing the feasibility on the use of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers for Korea Positioning System (KPS) satellites in space service volume (SSV). KPS is planned to provide a navigation and timing service by constructing seven satellites over the Korean Peninsula, which will orbit above the GNSS constellation in SSV. The major problems caused by such orbital characteristics include reduced satellite visibility due to poor geometric diversity and weak signals, causing an increase in the user range error (URE). To address these constraints, this study considers multi‐GNSS and 1‐st side‐lobe signal utilization scenarios. More specifically, the GNSS satellite visibility, geometric dilution of precision, carrier‐to‐noise ratio, URE, and navigation error for KPS satellites in SSV are analysed through a numerical simulation. A trade‐off between visibility and received signal power as well as their effects on positioning accuracy is analysed to describe the utility of side‐lobe signals. Finally, based on numerical analysis of the simulation results, this verifies the applicability of GNSS SSV for KPS satellites through multi‐GNSS and side‐lobe utilization scenarios.

Multiple immunolabeling introduces high risks of interferences between fluorochromes. In an intend to analyze T cell clonality using CD3-APC Alexa750, CD4-Pac Blue, CD8-Krome Orange, CD56-PE-Cy7 and Vbeta clonotypes FITC and PE, we repeatedly observed a clear, unexpected signal on B770 (PE-Cy7) detector on the Vb subset mimicking a lymphoproliferative disorder. The aim of this study was to identify and prevent this source of artifact. The study was performed on a seven color panel performed on fresh whole blood, labeled, fixed, lyzed and analyzed on Navios Cytometer Beckman Coulter. Data were reanalyzed using Kaluza. Eleven tubes tested two clonotypes each with the same T cell backbone. Only one representative combination is presented. Using this panel, we observed repeatedly a strong CD56 PE-Cy7 (B755 LP) on all Vbeta1 T cell subsets but not on Vbeta 2-FITC T cells. The effect was still observed after removing CD56-PE-Cy7 (Full Minus One). Changing anti-CD3 APC-Alexa 750 with CD3APC, the B755 LP signal disappeared but a B695/30 signal appeared. Shifting to CD3-FITC abolished any unexpected red signal. This demonstrates a fluorescent energy transfer (FRET) between PE excited by the blue laser and Alexa750 to be excited by the red laser. Accordingly, the Vbeta PE fluorescence intensity was reduced when FRET happened and clearly increased when CD3-FITC was used instead. This observation clearly reminds that FRET can give misleading results in case of labeling of very close markers with complementary fluorochromes. This risk has to be considered in panel design.

The intervertebral disc is the fibrocartilaginous structure between the endplates of adjacent vertebral bodies, providing support and mobility to the spine. Normally, the disc is isointense on the T1 weighted image (T1WI) and hyperintense on the T2 weighted image (T2WI). Degenerating disc shows loss of hyperintensity on T2WI due to disc dehydration. The development of hyperintensity on T1WI in degenerating disc is unusual. Causes of discal hyperintensity on T1WI include calcification, hemorrhage, melanin, mucin, or fat within the disc. Fat contents in the disc may be rarely seen in degeneration and appear as hyperintense signal on T1WI and T2WI. We, hereby report a case of discal hyperintensity on T1WI and T2WI due to fatty degeneration of the disc.

Surface engineering of electrochemiluminescence (ECL) emitters with capping agents is highly important, yet it remains a challenge. Herein, using N-acetyl-L-cysteine and cysteamine as model capping...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic potential of the aortic closure (A2) signal length on Doppler echocardiography in distinguishing aortic patient-prosthesis mismatch (PPM) from prosthetic stenosis among patients with elevated gradients over bioprosthetic valves. METHODS The A2 signal length was retrospectively measured for 150 patients with bioprosthetic aortic valves (50 with PPM, 50 with prosthetic stenosis, and 50 with normally functioning valves) from transthoracic echocardiograms performed at NYU Langone Health between 01/01/2012 and 08/01/2018. RESULTS Mean A2 signal length was shorter among patients with PPM (11.1 ms ± 5.2 ms), than among those with prosthetic stenosis (21.1 ms ± 6.0 ms), P

Purpose To evaluate graft properties on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after superior capsular reconstruction (SCR) to help improve our understanding of postoperative imaging. Methods We identified consecutive patients who underwent SCR by a single surgeon and who had postoperative MRIs available. MRIs were analyzed to look for common postoperative findings on imaging. Results Ten consecutive patients with an average age of 58 years who underwent SCR by a single surgeon had postoperative MRIs on average 404 days from surgery. Eight patients had completely intact grafts on follow-up MRI. All intact grafts were similar with homogenous appearance on all coronal images. All patients displayed some trace fluid with mild heterogenous signal at the level of the glenoid, which could represent failure of the graft to completely incorporate at the level of the glenoid or could be normal in the postoperative setting since all eight intact grafts displayed this finding. None of the patients with intact grafts had bony edema noted on either the glenoid or humeral side. Four of 8 patients were noted to have trace bony edema at the level of the lateral acromion. One patient had complete disruption on the glenoid side. One patient had partially intact graft that revealed heterogenous appearance of graft. Conclusions An intact graft displays a more homogenous signal on consecutive postoperative MRI coronal images than disrupted grafts or partially intact grafts. This suggests that intact grafts have better clinical outcomes than a partially disrupted or completely disrupted graft. However, the finding of heterogenous signal/fluid at the glenoid graft interface in all intact grafts could not be explained in this study. Level of Evidence Level IV, therapeutic case series.

The chemotaxis-Stokes system{nt+u·∇n=Δn−∇·(n∇c),ct+u·∇c=Δc−nc,ut=Δu+∇P+n∇ϕ, ∇·u=0, (⋆)is considered in a bounded domain Ω⊂R3 with smooth boundary. The corresponding solution theory is quite wel...

PURPOSE: Diagnosis of granuloma annulare (GA) is based on the clinical and histopathological findings. However, only sporadic case reports of subcutaneous GA sonography have been published to date. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ultrasonographic patterns of the different clinical variants of GA: localized, generalized, subcutaneous, and perforating. METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, we analyzed and correlated the clinical, histopathological, and sonographic features of 15 patients diagnosed with GA. RESULTS: We included 8 women and 7 men with a mean age of 48.4 years (8–77 years). We found three different sonographic patterns depending on the clinical variant of GA: poorly defined hypoechoic band including the dermis (dermal pattern), irregularly shaped hypoechoic hypodermal lumps (hypodermal pattern), and ill-defined hypoechoic dermal and subcutaneous lesions (mixed pattern). Five cases showed increased blood flow signal on Doppler interrogation. CONCLUSION: Although our findings are broadly consistent with the previous reports of subcutaneous GA, the sonographic features in localized, generalized, and perforating GA have not been previously reported.

Reduced gray-white matter contrast along the central sulcus has been described on T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The purpose of this study was to assess the gray-white matter contrast of the motor cortex on double inversion recovery (DIR), a sequence with superior gray-white matter differentiation. The gray-white matter signal on DIR was retrospectively compared to T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (T1-MPRAGE) using normal (n = 25) and abnormal (n = 25) functional MRI (fMRI) exams. Quantitative gray-white matter contrast ratios (CR) of the precentral and adjacent gyri were obtained on normal exams. Two neuroradiologists qualitatively rated reduced gray-white matter contrast of the hemispheres of both normal and abnormal exams. Hand motor functional mapping was used as a reference. In normal hemispheres (n = 50), the mean CR was significantly lower on DIR (0.44) vs T1-MPRAGE (0.63, p

PURPOSE Non-calcified cholesterol stones that are small in size are hard to be depicted on CT or magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. This institutional review board (IRB)-approved retrospective in vitro study aims to characterize contrast behaviors of 3 main components of the gallstones, i.e., cholesterol component (CC), bilirubin calcium component (BC) and CaCO3 (CO) on 3D radial scan with ultrashort TE (UTE) MRI, and to test the capability of depicting CC of gallstones as bright signals as compared to background saline. METHODS Fourteen representative gallstones from 14 patients, including 15 CC, 6 BC and 4 CO, were enrolled. The gallstones underwent MRI including fat-saturated T1-weighted image (fs-T1WI) and UTE MRI with dual echoes. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and the chemical analysis for the 25 portions of the stones were compared. RESULTS BC was bright on fs-T1WI, which did not change dramatically on UTE MRI and the signal did not remain on UTE subtraction image between dual echoes. Whereas the CC was negative or faintly positive signal on fs-T1WI, bright signal on UTE MRI and the contrast remained even higher on the UTE subtraction, which reflected their short T2 values. Median CNRs and standard errors of the segments on each imaging were as follows: on fs-T1WI, -10.2 ± 4.2 for CC, 149.7 ± 27.6 for BC and 37.9 ± 14.3 for CO; on UTE MRI first echo, 16.7 ± 3.3 for CC, 74.9 ± 21.3 for BC and 17.7 ± 8.4 for CO; on UTE subtraction image, 30.2 ±2.0 for CC, -11.2 ± 5.4 for BC and 17.8 ± 10.7 for CO. Linear correlations between CNRs and cholesterol concentrations were observed on fs-T1WI with r = -0.885, (P < 0.0001), UTE MRI first echo r = -0.524 (P = 0.0072) and UTE subtraction with r = 0.598 (P = 0.0016). CONCLUSION UTE MRI and UTE subtraction can depict CC bright.

Features of the formation of the spatial-energy profile of the visibility zone of active-pulse vision systems for delay distances comparable to the length of the visibility zone are studied numerically and experimentally. The case in which the duration of the illumination pulse is shorter than the recording duration is examined. For the calculations, the shape of the illumination pulse was set either close to the real shape or rectangular, and the sensitivity temporal profile of the photodetector was taken to be rectangular. The computational results for the real pulse profile are compared with data for a rectangular profile. The numerical studies for the real pulse show that, as opposed to the case of a rectangular pulse, the position of the maximum in the dependence of the signal on distance does not coincide with the delay distance. This difference decreases (and vanishes in the limit) for larger ratios of the delay distance to the spatial length of the illumination pulse. The calculations are in good agreement with the experimental dependence of the recorded signal on distance.

Vertebral hemangiomas are common benign lesions of the spine, characterized by abnormal vascular proliferation, being commonly asymptomatic incidental findings, presenting symptoms in only a small portion of affected individuals. In a smaller number of cases, however, hemangiomas can present an expansive effect and extra-osseous extension, determining a mass effect and neurological symptoms, being therefore called aggressive hemangiomas. On MRI, aggressive hemangiomas are characterized by having a larger vascular component and a smaller fat component, thus producing a low signal on T1-weighted images. We illustrate the case of a young male patient who presented with pain in the upper thoracic spine, who developed paraparesis and ascending sensory deficit and progressive lower limbs, progressing to paraplegia and loss of sphincter control.

On the basis of a transformer-type eddy current transducer, a measuring system has been constructed that allows one to estimate the possibility of using the eddy current method for measuring the thickness of conductive and dielectric coatings deposited on a conductive substrate. The design of the measuring system and the measurement techniques are described. Data that demonstrate the dependence of the amplitude part of the signal on objects of various thicknesses are presented; the maximum object dimensions at which these measurements are feasible have been found experimentally.

In conditional automated driving, drivers may be required starting manual driving from automated driving mode after take-over request (TOR). The objective of the study was to investigate different TOR features for drivers to engage in manual driving effectively in terms of reaction time, preference, and situation awareness (SA). Five TOR features, including four features using countdown, were designed and evaluated, consisted of combinations of different modalities and codes. Results revealed the use of non-verbal sound cue (beep) yielded shorter reaction time while participants preferred verbal sound cue (speech). Drivers' SA was not different for TOR features, but the level of SA was affected by different aspects of SA. The results may provide insights into designing multimodal TOR along with drivers' behavior during take-over tasks.

Understanding the variabilities of East Asian summer rainfall (EASR) and Western North Pacific summer rainfall (WNPSR) is essential because they play a key role to control the energy and water supply. Monsoon index is generally defined by seasonal mean, but it is not appropriate for considering various timescale characteristics. Because it includes the influence of not only the interannual but also longer timescales. Thus, the several timescale variances in the indices and background fields should be isolated as each variability to focus on their own features. Here, the present study defines the EASR and WNPSR indices to explore potential factors that may trigger the enhanced rainfall for the period 1979–2016. Interannual variation is shown to be dominant in both indices, while decadal variation is more significant in WNPSR than EASR. Each index is decomposed to obtain a signal on interannual and decadal timescales with 1–7 and 8–15 years. The interannual components in both indices perform opposite each other in atmospheric and oceanic fields and have a negative relationship with high covariance. Both location of subtropical jet and thermal condition over the Indian Ocean contribute to interannual EASR and WNPSR as factors. In contrast, related fields upon both decadal indices represent distinguished patterns. The EASR is modulated by Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTA) and interdecadal oscillation patterns in the decadal timescale. However, the WNPSR is controlled by the tri-polar SSTA over the North Atlantic. Consequently, the decadal and interannual variabilities show differing mechanisms to adjust rainfall during monsoon events.

Fibrous dysplasia is a benign, congenital skeletal disorder which leads to the formation of fibro-osseous intramedullary bone lesions. Clival fibrous dysplasia is a rare variant which commonly presents asymptomatically with no findings on examination and is often picked up incidentally on radiological investigation. A 39-year-old female presented with a sudden onset headache of 3 days’ duration alongside diplopia and right lower limb weakness upon examination. Computerized tomography head scan revealed an expansile clivus with a ground-glass appearance, magnetic resonance imaging brain scan revealed a predominantly hypointense signal on T1- and T2-weighted images and subsequent whole-body bone imaging confirmed the diagnosis of monostotic clival fibrous dysplasia. This case highlights the importance of considering monostotic clival fibrous dysplasia as a differential diagnosis in patients presenting with sudden onset symptoms of headache alongside cranial and peripheral nerve involvement, when other more sinister causes have been excluded.

Eight proxy records of Northern Fennoscandian summer temperature variability were analyzed for the CE 1700–2000 period. Stable and statistically significant correlation between the summer temperature reconstructions and a quasi 22-year Hale solar cycle was found to be present through the entire study period. The revealed solar–climatic link is a result of the effect of a weak solar cycle signal on a climatic system having internal bi-decadal variability. Precise physical mechanisms to explain this link are far from clear but galactic cosmic ray flux appears a probable physical agent to mediate the solar effect to the lower troposphere. No evidence of a link between Northern Fennoscandian temperature and quasi 20-year planetary-tidal cycle was found.

Ramp metering is typically proposed as a responsive strategy that takes freeway traffic parameters as control inputs to the ramp control logic. Such a strategy can be implemented in two ways; isolated ramp control or coordinated ramp control. Coordinated ramp control typically involves the cooperation between several ramp meters connected to a freeway segment to manage traffic on the freeway and traffic all ramps. Few studies also proposed the coordination between the on-ramp and the upstream traffic signal. Such coordination can help to mitigate congestion on the freeway and to avoid queue formation at the on-ramp. In this study, the authors' previous work on ramp metering and upstream signal coordination was extended to further evaluate the performance of such schemes by considering the impact of the distance between the upstream traffic signal and freeway. Extensive simulations in SUMO were performed to evaluate the benefit of the proposed coordinated strategy and the impact of ramp distance on the effectiveness of such coordination.

The nonlinear dynamic characteristics of human brain cognition and music stimulation are introduced based on the negative emotions of college students to explore the influence of music stimulation on human brain cognition activities and analyze the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. First, the correlation between EEG signals and human brain cognition, as well as the nonlinear dynamics of cognition, are explained. The average correlation dimension and the maximum value of the Lyapunov exponent are selected to characterize the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of EEG signals. Second, the power spectrum and EEG coherence are considered, and an emotion assessment algorithm is proposed. Finally, music stimulation is introduced, and its role in adjusting college students’ negative emotions is discussed. Results demonstrate significant differences in the average correlation dimension and the maximum value of the Lyapunov component of the participants in different cognition states under normal physiological conditions. The cognition function state shows chaotic behaviors, explaining the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of EEG signals. After music stimulation, a significant increase in EEG relative power is mostly located in the frontal and temporal regions of the brain. The EEG coherence in the same brain region shows growth changes. After the intervention of music stimulation, the emotion assessment scores of the self-rating anxiety scale, the positive and negative affect schedule, and the self-rating depression scale are reduced, and the entire changing process presents statistical significance. In conclusion, music stimulation intervention can affect human brain cognition activity, playing a positive role in emotion regulation.

Non-intrusive load monitoring is a technique to help power companies monitor and analyze residential energy usage. Aggregated power load measurements for a household (i.e., the signal on the main powerline) are disaggregated into individual appliance loads by examining the appliance-specific power consumption characteristics. These data can then be used to modify consumer behaviors via detailed billing and/or demand-pricing tariffs. A number of advances in the field have been reported in the past two decades, many of which apply machine learning algorithms. However, these algorithms usually only assign one label to an example, which is a poor match to the monitoring problem, meaning elaborate encodings or classifier ensembles are needed. A more elegant solution would be to use algorithms that assign multiple labels to a single example. These multi-label classification algorithms have received very little attention in this field to date. We conduct an experimental investigation of four multi-label classification algorithms for non-intrusive monitoring and find that the best one is superior to the existing reported results on multiple real-world household datasets.

A method is developed for determining Ca, Mg, Zr, Hf, V, La, Ce, and Y in heat-resistant nickel alloys (HNAs) by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. A scheme of the dissolution of tests of HNA samples of different brands in a microwave digestion system is proposed. Analytical lines of elements and of the internal standard, free from significant spectral suporpositions, are chosen. The effect of the time of accumulation of the analytical signal on the limits of quantification of elements is studied. Performance characteristics of the procedure are estimated in an analysis of model solutions and the accuracy of the results is estimated using standard samples of nickel alloys.

We proposed a method for the selective and highly sensitive amperometric determination of dopamine and adrenaline in the presence of ascorbic and uric acids in a flow-injection system. Screen-printed electrodes modified with palladium nanoparticles, exhibiting catalytic activity in the electrooxidation of catecholamines, were used as a detector. The difference between the oxidation peak potentials of these compounds is 200 mV. A linear bilogarithmic dependence of the analytical signal on the concentration of dopamine and adrenaline is observed in the ranges from 5 × 10–12 to 5 × 10–8 M and from 1 × 10–9 to 1 × 10–5 M, respectively. For simultaneous two-component analysis, screen-printed electrodes with two working electrodes were used, that is, dual screen-printed electrodes modified with palladium nanoparticles, which enable two substances to be determined simultaneously at two different potentials. The proposed method for the joint flow-injection amperometric determination of dopamine and adrenaline using a modified dual screen-printed electrode was tested in the analysis of urine.

In this paper, we present a Petrov–Galerkin finite element method for a class of chemotaxis models defined on surfaces, which describe the movement by one community in reaction to one chemical or biological signal on manifolds. It is desired for numerical methods to satisfy discrete maximum principle and discrete mass conservation property, which is a challenge due to the singular behavior of numerical solution. Thus a Petrov–Galerkin method is combined with an effective mass conservation factor to overcome the challenge. Furthermore, we prove two facts, this method maintains positivity and discrete mass conservation property. In addition, decoupled approach is applied based on the gradient and Laplacian recoveries to solve the coupling system. The relevant stability analyses is provided. Finally, numerical simulations of blowing-up problems and pattern formulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to characterize the individual contribution of multiple fat peaks to the measured chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) signal when using water-selective binomial-pulse excitation and to determine the effects of multiple fat peaks in the presence of B(0) inhomogeneity. METHODS: The excitation profiles of multiple binomial pulses were simulated. A CEST sequence with binomial-pulse excitation and modified point-resolved spectroscopy localization was then applied to the in vivo lumbar spinal vertebrae to determine the signal contributions of three distinct groups of lipid resonances. These confounding signal contributions were measured as a function of the irradiation frequency offset to determine the effect of the multi-peak nature of the fat signal on CEST imaging of exchange sites (at 1.0, 2.0 and 3.5 ppm) and robustness in the presence of B(0) inhomogeneity. RESULTS: Numerical simulations and in vivo experiments showed that water excitation (WE) using a 1-3-3-1 (WE-4) pulse provided the broadest signal suppression, which provided partial robustness against B(0) inhomogeneity effects. Confounding fat signal contributions to the CEST contrasts at 1.0, 2.0 and 3.5 ppm were unavoidable due to the multi-peak nature of the fat signal. However, these CEST sites only suffer from small lipid artifacts with ΔB(0) spanning roughly from −50 to 50 Hz. Especially for the CEST site at 3.5 ppm, the lipid artifacts are smaller than 1% with ΔB(0) in this range. CONCLUSION: In WE-4-based CEST magnetic resonance imaging, B(0) inhomogeneity is the limiting factor for fat suppression. The CEST sites at 1.0, 2.0 ppm and 3.5 ppm unavoidably suffer from lipid artifacts. However, when the ΔB(0) is confined to a limited range, these CEST sites are only affected by small lipid artifacts, which may be ignorable in some cases of clinical applications.