Digital Scan在医学影像数字化中的应用

现代计算机及相关技术的迅速发展为医学影像的数字化处理、存储、传输提供了方便。医学影像数字化是当今医学影像技术发展的趋势和需要。对已有的传统医学影像胶片进行数字化处理是医学图像信息进入全面数字化管理系统所必须完成的工作,是为PACS和HIS系统服务。     

Digital technology to support students’ socioscientific reasoning about environmental issues

Scientific expertise and outcomes often give rise to controversy. An educational response that equips students to take part in such discussions is the teaching of socially acute questions (SAQs). With SAQs, the understanding of uncertainty, risk and how knowledge is developed is central. This study explores the way in which students from different disciplines and different continents are brought together via a digital platform to explore SAQs about environmental issues (a green algae outbreak linked to release of fertilisers along the coast of Brittany; the construction of a desalination plant near Melbourne to produce freshwater; and changes in meat consumption on a global scale, with regard to population projections in 2050). We have developed frameworks for looking at the quality of the collective reasoning and at the nature of students’ interactions, so that we can analyse the organisation of the learning communities and the building of collegial expertise. The results show that interdisciplinary discussions, especially on an international scale, foster the understanding of complex situations. In this paper, we discuss the modalities of one didactic scenario to enhance critical thinking and collaborative work, and to provide space for learners to support argumentation.     

Three-Dimensional Digital Capture of Head Size in Neonates – A Method Evaluation

Introduction

The quality of neonatal care is mainly determined by long-term neurodevelopmental outcome. The neurodevelopment of preterm infants is related to postnatal head growth and depends on medical interventions such as nutritional support. Head circumference (HC) is currently used as a two-dimensional measure of head growth. Since head deformities are frequently found in preterm infants, HC may not always adequately reflect head growth. Laser aided head shape digitizers offer semiautomatic acquisition of HC and cranial volume (CrV) and could thus be useful in describing head size more precisely.

Aims

1) To evaluate reproducibility of a 3D digital capture system in newborns. 2) To compare manual and digital HC measurements in a neonatal cohort. 3) To determine correlation of HC and CrV and predictive value of HC.

Methods

Within a twelve-month period data of head scans with a laser shape digitizer were analysed. Repeated measures were used for method evaluation. Manually and digitally acquired HC was compared. Regression analysis of HC and CrV was performed.

Results

Interobserver reliability was excellent for HC (bias-0.005%, 95% Limits of Agreement (LoA) −0.39–0.39%) and CrV (bias1.5%, 95%LoA-0.8–3.6%). Method comparison data was acquired from 282 infants. It revealed interchangeability of the methods (bias-0.45%; 95%LoA-4.55–3.65%) and no significant systematic or proportional differences. HC and CrV correlated (r² = 0.859, p<0.001), performance of HC predicting CrV was poor (RSD ±24 ml). Correlation was worse in infants with lower postmenstrual age (r² = 0.745) compared to older infants (r² = 0.843).

Discussion

The current practice of measuring HC for describing head growth in preterm infants could be misleading since it does not represent a 3D approach. CrV can vary substantially in infants of equal HC. The 3D laser scanner represents a new and promising method to provide reproducible data of CrV and HC. Since it does not provide data on cerebral structures, additional imaging is required.     

Becoming data: biometric IDs and the individual in ‘Digital India’

Aadhaar (literally ‘foundation’) is the largest national biometric identification drive the world has witnessed. An Aadhaar is a twelve-digit ID number linked to its holder's iris scans, fingerprints, facial photograph, and demographic information in a centralized database. In but a decade, India has expeditiously enrolled over 90 per cent of its billion-strong population into a Central Identities Data Repository. This essay is an ethnographic consideration of the processes by which Aadhaar enrollees become data, focusing on the sociopolitical valence of biometric data. It argues that the datafication of the body via Aadhaar occasions re-examinations of – and contestations over – the idea of the individual in postcolonial India, a country often deemed sociocentric in popular and scholarly discourse alike. Further, it suggests that biometric socialization facilitates belonging in a ‘Digital India’, often rendered as a data cosmopolis in emergent technocratic imaginations.     

Semi-Automated Digital Image Analysis of Pick’s Disease and TDP-43 Proteinopathy

Digital image analysis of histology sections provides reliable, high-throughput methods for neuropathological studies but data is scant in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), which has an added challenge of study due to morphologically diverse pathologies. Here, we describe a novel method of semi-automated digital image analysis in FTLD subtypes including: Pick’s disease (PiD, n=11) with tau-positive intracellular inclusions and neuropil threads, and TDP-43 pathology type C (FTLD-TDPC, n=10), defined by TDP-43-positive aggregates predominantly in large dystrophic neurites. To do this, we examined three FTLD-associated cortical regions: mid-frontal gyrus (MFG), superior temporal gyrus (STG) and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) by immunohistochemistry. We used a color deconvolution process to isolate signal from the chromogen and applied both object detection and intensity thresholding algorithms to quantify pathological burden. We found object-detection algorithms had good agreement with gold-standard manual quantification of tau- and TDP-43-positive inclusions. Our sampling method was reliable across three separate investigators and we obtained similar results in a pilot analysis using open-source software. Regional comparisons using these algorithms finds differences in regional anatomic disease burden between PiD and FTLD-TDP not detected using traditional ordinal scale data, suggesting digital image analysis is a powerful tool for clinicopathological studies in morphologically diverse FTLD syndromes.     

Digital Noah’s Ark: last chance to save the endangered species

Science China Life Sciences -     

Digital transformation—life cycle assessment of digital services,multifunctional devices and cloud computing

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment -     

Digital Presence of Norwegian Scholars on Academic Network Sites—Where and Who Are They?

The use of academic profiling sites is becoming more common, and emerging technologies boost researchers’ visibility and exchange of ideas. In our study we compared profiles at five different profiling sites. These five sites are ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Scholar Citations, ResearcherID and ORCID. The data set is enriched by demographic information including age, gender, position and affiliation, which are provided by the national CRIS-system in Norway. We find that approximately 37% of researchers at the University of Bergen have at least one profile, the prevalence being highest (> 40%) for members at the Faculty of Psychology and the Faculty of Social Sciences. Across all disciplines, ResearchGate is the most widely used platform. However, within Faculty of Humanities, Academia.edu is the preferred one. Researchers are reluctant to maintain multiple profiles, and there is little overlap between different services. Age turns out to be a poor indicator for presence in the investigated profiling sites, women are underrepresented and professors together with PhD students are the most likely profile holders. We next investigated the correlation between bibliometric measures, such as publications and citations, and user activities, such as downloads and followers. We find different bibliometric indicators to correlate strongly within individual platforms and across platforms. There is however less agreement between the traditional bibliometric and social activity indicators.     

Digital Subtraction Angiography Imaging Characteristics of Patients with Extra–Intracranial Atherosclerosis and Its Relationship to Stroke

To investigate the angiographic characteristics and clinical features in patients with suspected extra–intracranial atherosclerosis in a large cohort of Chinese population. On the basis of digital subtraction angiography characteristics, pathological morphology of extra–intracranial atherosclerosis was divided into tortuosity, kinking, coiling, and stenosis in 2,218 individuals aged 45–89 years. The degree of stenosis was further divided into low-grade (<30 %), intermediate-grade (30–69 %), and high-grade stenosis (≥70 %). Clinical manifestations were divided into transient ischemic attack, cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage. The prevalence of tortuosity and stenosis were significantly higher in the extracranial arterial system than that of intracranial arterial system. The prevalence of tortuosity and kinking were significantly higher on the left side than the right side. The prevalence of mild and moderate stenosis in the internal carotid artery was significantly higher in the left side than the right side. The incidence of cerebral infarction was significantly higher in the internal carotid arterial (ICA) system than the vertebrobasilar arterial (VBA) system. Tortuosity is a common carotid abnormality in the Chinese population. The prevalence of ICA tortuosity is higher than that of VBA. The incidence of cerebral infarction in each atherosclerosis group was significantly higher in ICA than that of VBA. The prevalence of stroke is higher in the ICA system than the VBA system. Kinkings and coilings may not have a clinical significance if these lesions are not associated with atheromatous plaques or carotid stenosis.     

放射数字化减影技术（Digital Subtraction Radiography）在评估骨组织细微变化方面的应用

在口腔医学临床实践中,对及时发现早期、细微硬组织的变化提出了越来越高的要求。由于口腔颌面部硬组织结构复杂,运用常规的影像学检测手段常难以对早期病损作出准确的诊断。即使已存在明显的牙槽骨丧失,但确诊变化程度,常受种种因素干扰而发生误差。在口腔种植中,早期存在的种植体周     

Digital cranial endocast of Hyopsodus (Mammalia, "Condylarthra"): a case of paleogene terrestrial echolocation?

We here describe the endocranial cast of the Eocene archaic ungulate Hyopsodus lepidus AMNH 143783 (Bridgerian, North America) reconstructed from X-ray computed microtomography data. This represents the first complete cranial endocast known for Hyopsodontinae. The Hyopsodus endocast is compared to other known "condylarthran" endocasts, i. e. those of Pleuraspidotherium (Pleuraspidotheriidae), Arctocyon (Arctocyonidae), Meniscotherium (Meniscotheriidae), Phenacodus (Phenacodontidae), as well as to basal perissodactyls (Hyracotherium) and artiodactyls (Cebochoerus, Homacodon). Hyopsodus presents one of the highest encephalization quotients of archaic ungulates and shows an "advanced version" of the basal ungulate brain pattern, with a mosaic of archaic characters such as large olfactory bulbs, weak ventral expansion of the neopallium, and absence of neopallium fissuration, as well as more specialized ones such as the relative reduction of the cerebellum compared to cerebrum or the enlargement of the inferior colliculus. As in other archaic ungulates, Hyopsodus midbrain exposure is important, but it exhibits a dorsally protruding largely developed inferior colliculus, a feature unique among "Condylarthra". A potential correlation between the development of the inferior colliculus in Hyopsodus and the use of terrestrial echolocation as observed in extant tenrecs and shrews is discussed. The detailed analysis of the overall morphology of the postcranial skeleton of Hyopsodus indicates a nimble, fast moving animal that likely lived in burrows. This would be compatible with terrestrial echolocation used by the animal to investigate subterranean habitat and/or to minimize predation during nocturnal exploration of the environment.     

Measuring Laypeople’s Trust in Experts in a Digital Age: The Muenster Epistemic Trustworthiness Inventory (METI)

Given their lack of background knowledge, laypeople require expert help when dealing with scientific information. To decide whose help is dependable, laypeople must judge an expert’s epistemic trustworthiness in terms of competence, adherence to scientific standards, and good intentions. Online, this may be difficult due to the often limited and sometimes unreliable source information available. To measure laypeople’s evaluations of experts (encountered online), we constructed an inventory to assess epistemic trustworthiness on the dimensions expertise, integrity, and benevolence. Exploratory (n = 237) and confirmatory factor analyses (n = 345) showed that the Muenster Epistemic Trustworthiness Inventory (METI) is composed of these three factors. A subsequent experimental study (n = 137) showed that all three dimensions of the METI are sensitive to variation in source characteristics. We propose using this inventory to measure assignments of epistemic trustworthiness, that is, all judgments laypeople make when deciding whether to place epistemic trust in–and defer to–an expert in order to solve a scientific informational problem that is beyond their understanding.     

Akonni TruTip? and Qiagen? Methods for Extraction of Fetal Circulating DNA - Evaluation by Real-Time and Digital PCR

Due to the low percentage of fetal DNA present in maternal plasma (< 10%) during early gestation, efficient extraction processes are required for successful downstream detection applications in non-invasive prenatal diagnostic testing. In this study, two extraction methods using similar chemistries but different workflows were compared for isolation efficiency and percent fetal DNA recovery. The Akonni Biosystems TruTip technology uses a binding matrix embedded in a pipette tip; the Circulating Nucleic Acids Kit from Qiagen employs a spin column approach. The TruTip method adds an extra step to decrease the recovery of DNA fragments larger than 600 bp from the sample to yield an overall higher percentage of smaller molecular weight DNA, effectively enriching for fetal DNA. In this evaluation, three separate extraction comparison studies were performed - a dilution series of fragmented DNA in plasma, a set of clinical maternal samples, and a blood collection tube time point study of maternal samples. Both extraction methods were found to efficiently extract small fragment DNA from large volumes of plasma. In the amended samples, the TruTip extraction method was ~15% less efficient with overall DNA recovery, but yielded an 87% increase in % fetal DNA relative to the Qiagen method. The average percent increase of fetal DNA of TruTip extracted samples compared to the Qiagen method was 55% for all sets of blinded clinical samples. A study comparing extraction efficiencies from whole blood samples incubated up to 48 hours prior to processing into plasma resulted in more consistent % fetal DNA recoveries using TruTip. The extracted products were tested on two detection platforms, quantitative real-time PCR and droplet digital PCR, and yielded similar results for both extraction methods.     

Measurement by Digital Autoradiography with a β-Imager of [35S]Methionine Incorporated by Rat Central Nervous System Cells in Primary Cultures: A Marker of in vitro Development

Mixed glial–neuronal cultures prepared from rat embryonic cortical cells were either treated with aracytosine or infected with an adenovirus encoding the Lac-Z gene according to two protocols of infection. In each experiment, 24 h before the end of the incubation period, [³⁵S]methionine was added to one set of cultures which were performed in plastic chamber slides. At 10–13 days in vitro, control and treated cultures were processed either for immunocytochemical detection of neuron-specific enolase (NSE)-stained cells or for measurement of [³⁵S]methionine incorporation. For the latter, cultures grown in the chamber slides were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, dehydrated, and air-dried. After removal of the upper structures of the chambers, the slides were directly transferred to a 1200 -imager, a gaseous detector which displays a digital image of the cultured cells and permits the quantitative measurement of incorporated [³⁵S]methionine within a few hours. In aracytosine-treated cultures, we observed that the numbers of NSE(+) cells as well as [³⁵S]methionine incorporation were decreased compared with control cultures. After viral infection, the number of NSE(+) neurons and the amount of radioactivity incorporated were either the same in control and infected cultures or decreased for the cultures treated according to the different protocols. In all cases, the amount of [³⁵S]methionine incorporated varied in the same direction as the number of NSE(+) neurons in cultures. The digital imaging of the cultures permitted observation of the layer of cultured cells. It appears that such a rapid and direct measurement of incorporation of a radiolabeled indicator of protein synthesis may be considered as a quick and reliable marker of cell survival and/or proliferation.     

Digital Gene Expression Analysis of Corky Split Vein Caused by Boron Deficiency in ‘Newhall’ Navel Orange (Citrus sinensis Osbeck) for Selecting Differentially Expressed Genes Related to Vascular Hypertrophy

Corky split vein caused by boron (B) deficiency in ‘Newhall’ Navel Orange was studied in the present research. The boron-deficient citrus exhibited a symptom of corky split vein in mature leaves. Morphologic and anatomical surveys at four representative phases of corky split veins showed that the symptom was the result of vascular hypertrophy. Digital gene expression (DGE) analysis was performed based on the Illumina HiSeq™ 2000 platform, which was applied to analyze the gene expression profilings of corky split veins at four morphologic phases. Over 5.3 million clean reads per library were successfully mapped to the reference database and more than 22897 mapped genes per library were simultaneously obtained. Analysis of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) revealed that the expressions of genes associated with cytokinin signal transduction, cell division, vascular development, lignin biosynthesis and photosynthesis in corky split veins were all affected. The expressions of WOL and ARR12 involved in the cytokinin signal transduction pathway were up-regulated at 1^st phase of corky split vein development. Furthermore, the expressions of some cell cycle genes, CYCs and CDKB, and vascular development genes, WOX4 and VND7, were up-regulated at the following 2^nd and 3^rd phases. These findings indicated that the cytokinin signal transduction pathway may play a role in initiating symptom observed in our study.