A stacking ensemble framework integrating radiomics and deep learning for prognostic prediction in head and neck cancer.

Background: Radiomics models frequently face challenges related to reproducibility and robustness. To address these issues, we propose a multimodal, multi-model fusion framework utilizing stacking ensemble learning for prognostic prediction in head and neck cancer (HNC). This approach seeks to improve the accuracy and reliability of survival predictions.

Effects of monochromatic light on eye growth regulation and Myopia control.

The application of monochromatic light in myopia has remained a research hotspot in the field of myopia prevention and control. With rapid advances in clinical applications, numerous studies have confirmed its unique potential in slowing axial elongation in children and adolescents. However, the underlying mechanisms of monochromatic light remain inconclusive within the academic community.

Diffusion semantic segmentation model: A generative model for medical image segmentation based on joint distribution.

Background: The mainstream semantic segmentation schemes in medical image segmentation are essentially discriminative paradigms based on conditional distributions . Although efficient and straightforward, this prevalent paradigm focuses solely on extracting image features while ignoring the underlying data distribution . Therefore, the learned feature space exhibits inherent instability, which directly affects the precision of the model in delineating anatomical boundaries.

Residual Biomass-Based Hydrogel as a Novel UV-Protective and Antimicrobial Wound-Healing Dressing for Biomedical Use.

is widely known for its bioactive properties, particularly in anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial areas. Despite the full use of the bioactive compounds from its fruiting body, high-value residues remain largely underexploited. This study presents a novel one-pot gel formation method, utilizing cellulose-riched residues to create hydrogels as an effective wound-healing dressing.

Data Uncertainty (DU)-Former: An Episodic Memory Electroencephalography Classification Model for Pre- and Post-Training Assessment.

Episodic memory training plays a crucial role in cognitive enhancement, particularly in addressing age-related memory decline and cognitive disorders. Accurately assessing the effectiveness of such training requires reliable methods to capture changes in memory function. Electroencephalography (EEG) offers an objective way of evaluating neural activity before and after training.

Maternal vaginal and fecal microbiota in later pregnancy contribute to child fecal microbiota development in the ECHO cohort.

There is growing interest in the use of microbial-seeding interventions to mitigate the impacts of prenatal antibiotics, C-section, and lack of breastfeeding on mother-child microbe sharing. However, the relative importance of maternal vaginal vs. fecal microbiota in this process is unclear.

Exosomal CCT3 as a biomarker for diagnosis and immune therapy response in patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the dominant type of liver cancer and is associated with a high mortality rate. However, HCC lacks biomarkers for diagnosis and immune therapy response. Tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) carcinogen-specific molecules have been used for screening multiple biomarkers.

Infant Gut Microbiota and Childhood Blood Pressure: Prospective Associations and the Modifying Role of Breastfeeding.

Background: Germ-free mice experiments indicate that human gut microbiota influence blood pressure (BP), but no studies have prospectively examined if infant gut microbiota affects their future childhood BP. We aim to investigate prospective associations of infant gut microbiota diversity and composition with childhood BP, examining effect measure modification by breastfeeding and mediation by a child's body mass index.

Methods And Results: In the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood 2010 cohort, we measured infant gut microbiota (16S rRNA V4) at 1 week, 1 month, and 1 year and child BP at 3 and 6 years.

Unveiling the Antiobesity Mechanism of Sweet Potato Extract by Microbiome, Transcriptome, and Metabolome Analyses in Mice.

This study aimed to elucidate the antiobesity mechanisms of sweet potato extract (SPE) through biochemical, gut microbiome, liver transcriptome, and metabolome analyses. Administration of SPE to high-fat-diet-fed mice significantly reduced body weight gain, serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hepatic lipid accumulation, and adipocyte hypertrophy, which were closely linked to gut microbiome composition. SPE notably increased the abundance of and decreased that of , both of which were strongly associated with short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) production.

ABC Grow Healthy Practices and Obesity-Related Health Behaviours in Family Child Care Homes in South Carolina.

Background: Many states throughout the United States have introduced Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS) to address childhood obesity in preschool-age children, but few have examined the impact of these standards in Family Child Care Homes (FCCHs). In South Carolina, the ABC Grow Healthy Practices are specific QRIS items that include diet, physical activity and sleep practices.

Methods: The purposes of this cross-sectional study are to (1) describe physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality of children attending FCCHs in South Carolina and (2) compare physical activity levels, sleep duration and diet quality between children attending FCCHs that were enrolled versus not enrolled in the ABC programme.

VSmTrans: A hybrid paradigm integrating self-attention and convolution for 3D medical image segmentation.

Purpose: Vision Transformers recently achieved a competitive performance compared with CNNs due to their excellent capability of learning global representation. However, there are two major challenges when applying them to 3D image segmentation: i) Because of the large size of 3D medical images, comprehensive global information is hard to capture due to the enormous computational costs. ii) Insufficient local inductive bias in Transformers affects the ability to segment detailed features such as ambiguous and subtly defined boundaries.

Optimal strategies for modeling anatomy in a hybrid intelligence framework for auto-segmentation of organs.

Organ segmentation is a fundamental requirement in medical image analysis. Many methods have been proposed over the past 6 decades for segmentation. A unique feature of medical images is the anatomical information hidden within the image itself.

Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Preeclampsia: A Scoping Review.

Background: Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy-associated hypertension disorder with high morbidity and mortality. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)-molecules produced by gut microbes-have been associated with hypertension, yet their relation to PE remains uncertain.

Objectives: The aim was to review existing human studies that examined associations of the major SCFAs (acetate, propionate, butyrate) in pregnancy with PE development.

Auto-segmentation of thoraco-abdominal organs in pediatric dynamic MRI.

Purpose: Analysis of the abnormal motion of thoraco-abdominal organs in respiratory disorders such as the Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome (TIS) and scoliosis such as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) or early onset scoliosis (EOS) can lead to better surgical plans. We can use healthy subjects to find out the normal architecture and motion of a rib cage and associated organs and attempt to modify the patient's deformed anatomy to match to it. Dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) is a practical and preferred imaging modality for capturing dynamic images of healthy pediatric subjects.

Reclaiming Agriceuticals from Sweetpotato ( [L.] Lam.) By-Products.

Sweetpotato (SP, [L.] Lam.) is a globally significant food crop known for its high nutritional and functional values.

Policies, Practices, and Environmental Characteristics Among Family Child Care Homes in South Carolina.

Child care program requirements have adopted nutrition and physical activity standards to address childhood obesity, but few studies have examined the effects of these standards in family child care homes (FCCHs). In a cross-sectional study (2017-2019), the Childcare Home Eating and Exercise study examined self-reported provider characteristics and observed policies and practices related to physical activity and nutrition in FCCHs in South Carolina. Two-sample -tests were used to compare observed nutrition and physical activity policy, practice, and environment scores in child care homes that participated in versus did not participate in the state's ABC Quality program, which is designed to improve child care and includes policies and practices intended to increase physical activity levels and improve diet quality.