Remote epitaxy of single-crystal rhombohedral WS2 bilayers.

Compared to transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers, rhombohedral-stacked (R-stacked) TMD bilayers exhibit remarkable electrical performance, enhanced nonlinear optical response, giant piezo-photovoltaic effect and intrinsic interfacial ferroelectricity. However, from a thermodynamics perspective, the formation energies of R-stacked and hexagonal-stacked (H-stacked) TMD bilayers are nearly identical, leading to mixed stacking of both H- and R-stacked bilayers in epitaxial films. Here, we report the remote epitaxy of centimetre-scale single-crystal R-stacked WS2 bilayer films on sapphire substrates. The bilayer growth is realized by a high flux feeding of the tungsten source at high temperature on substrates. The R-stacked configuration is achieved by the symmetry breaking in a-plane sapphire, where the influence of atomic steps passes through the lower TMD layer and controls the R-stacking of the upper layer. The as-grown R-stacked bilayers show up-to-30-fold enhancements in carrier mobility (34 cm2V-1s-1), nearly doubled circular helicity (61%) and interfacial ferroelectricity, in contrast to monolayer films. Our work reveals a growth mechanism to obtain stacking-controlled bilayer TMD single crystals, and promotes large-scale applications of R-stacked TMD.

LncRNA RPL29P2 promotes peritoneal fibrosis and impairs peritoneal transport function via miR-1184 in peritoneal dialysis.

Peritoneal dialysis (PD), hemodialysis and kidney transplantation are the three therapies to treat uremia. However, PD is discontinued for peritoneal membrane fibrosis (PMF) and loss of peritoneal transport function (PTF) due to damage from high concentrations of glucose in PD fluids (PDFs). The mechanism behind PMF is unclear, and there are no available biomarkers for the evaluation of PMF and PTF. Using microarray screening, we found that a new long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), RPL29P2, was upregulated in the PM (peritoneal membrane) of long-term PD patients, and its expression level was correlated with PMF severity and the PTF loss. In vitro and rat model assays suggested that lncRNA RPL29P2 targets miR-1184 and induces the expression of collagen type I alpha 1 chain (COL1A1). Silencing RPL29P2 in the PD rat model might suppress the HG-induced phenotypic transition of Human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMCs), alleviate HG-induced fibrosis and prevent the loss of PTF. Overall, our findings revealed that lncRNA RPL29P2, which targets miR-1184 and collagen, may represent a useful marker and therapeutic target of PMF in PD patients.

ADAR1 promotes cisplatin resistance in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by regulating BRCA2 expression through A-to-I editing manner.

Aberrant A-to-I RNA editing, mediated by ADAR1 has been found to be associated with increased tumourigenesis and the development of chemotherapy resistance in various types of cancer. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a highly aggressive malignancy with a poor prognosis, and overcoming chemotherapy resistance poses a significant clinical challenge. This study aimed to clarify the roles of ADAR1 in tumour resistance to cisplatin in iCCA. We discovered that ADAR1 expression is elevated in iCCA patients, particularly in those resistant to cisplatin, and associated with poor clinical outcomes. Downregulation of ADAR1 can increase the sensitivity of iCCA cells to cisplatin treatment, whereas its overexpression has the inverse effect. By integrating RNA sequencing and Sanger sequencing, we identified BRCA2, a critical DNA damage repair gene, as a downstream target of ADAR1 in iCCA. ADAR1 mediates the A-to-I editing in BRCA2 3'UTR, inhibiting miR-3157-5p binding, consequently increasing BRCA2 mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, ADAR1 enhances cellular DNA damage repair ability and facilitates cisplatin resistance in iCCA cells. Combining ADAR1 targeting with cisplatin treatment markedly enhances the anticancer efficacy of cisplatin. In conclusion, ADAR1 promotes tumour progression and cisplatin resistance of iCCA. ADAR1 targeting could inform the development of innovative combination therapies for iCCA.

Anchored VN Quantum Dots Boosting High Capacity and Cycle Durability of Na3V2(PO4)3@NC Cathode for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery and Organic Sodium-Ion Battery.

Na3V2(PO4)3 is a promising high-voltage cathode for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) and organic sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, the poor rate capability, specific capacity, and cycling stability severely hamper it from further development. In this work, Na3V2(PO4)3 (NVP) with vanadium nitride (VN) quantum dots encapsulated by nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) nanoflowers (NVP/VN@NC) are manufactured as cathode using in situ nitridation, carbon coating, and structural adjustment. The outer NC layer increases the higher electronic conductivity of NVP. Furthermore, VN quantum dots with high theoretical capacity not only improve the specific capacity of pristine NVP, but also serve as abundant "pins" between NVP and NC to strengthen the stability of NVP/VN@NC heterostructure. For Zn-ion storage, these essential characteristics allow NVP/VN@NC to attain a high reversible capacity of 135.4 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1, and a capacity retention of 91% after 2000 cycles at 5 A g-1. Meanwhile, NVP/VN@NC also demonstrates to be a stable cathode material for SIBs, which can reach a high reversible capacity of 124.5 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1, and maintain 92% of initial capacity after 11000 cycles at 5 A g-1. This work presents a feasible path to create innovative high-voltage cathodes with excellent reaction kinetics and structural stability.

Causal relationship between inflammatory proteins and glioblastoma: a two-sample bi­directional mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies have indicated a potential correlation between glioblastoma and circulating inflammatory proteins. Further investigation is required to establish a causal relationship between these two factors. Methods: We performed a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary of 91 circulating inflammation-related proteins (N = 14,824) to assess their causal impact on glioblastoma. The GWAS summary data for glioblastoma included 243 cases and 287,137 controls. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary analytical method to assess causality. Four additional MR methods [simple mode, MR-Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode] were used to supplement the IVW results. Furthermore, several sensitivity analyses were performed to assess heterogeneity, horizontal pleiotropy, and stability. Reverse MR analysis was also performed. glioblastoma transcriptomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were analyzed to validate the findings obtained through MR, while pathway and functional enrichment analyses were conducted to predict the potential underlying mechanisms. Results: Our findings from employing the inverse variance weighted method in our forward MR analysis provide robust evidence supporting a potential association between glioblastoma and elevated levels of Cystatin D, as well as decreased levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in the circulation. Moreover, our reverse MR analysis revealed that glioblastoma may contribute to increased concentrations of C-X-C motif chemokine 9 (CXCL9) and Interleukin-33 (IL-33) in the bloodstream. Transcriptomic analysis showed that FGF21 expression was inversely associated with the risk of developing glioblastoma, whereas an increased risk was linked to elevated levels of CXCL9 and IL-33. Pathway and functional enrichment analyses suggested that Cystatin D might exert its effects on glioblastoma through intracellular protein transport, whereas FGF21 might affect glioblastoma via glucose response mechanisms. Conclusion: These results indicate that FGF21 is a significant factor in glioblastoma susceptibility. Glioblastoma also affects the expression of inflammatory proteins such as C-X-C motif chemokine 9 and Interleukin-33, providing new insights into the mechanisms of glioblastoma genesis and clinical research.

Unveiling the Future of Human and Machine Coding: A Survey of End-to-End Learned Image Compression.

End-to-end learned image compression codecs have notably emerged in recent years. These codecs have demonstrated superiority over conventional methods, showcasing remarkable flexibility and adaptability across diverse data domains while supporting new distortion losses. Despite challenges such as computational complexity, learned image compression methods inherently align with learning-based data processing and analytic pipelines due to their well-suited internal representations. The concept of Video Coding for Machines has garnered significant attention from both academic researchers and industry practitioners. This concept reflects the growing need to integrate data compression with computer vision applications. In light of these developments, we present a comprehensive survey and review of lossy image compression methods. Additionally, we provide a concise overview of two prominent international standards, MPEG Video Coding for Machines and JPEG AI. These standards are designed to bridge the gap between data compression and computer vision, catering to practical industry use cases.

Interpretation of 10 years of Alzheimer's disease genetic findings in the perspective of statistical heterogeneity.

Common genetic variants and susceptibility loci associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been discovered through large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS), GWAS by proxy (GWAX) and meta-analysis of GWAS and GWAX (GWAS+GWAX). However, due to the very low repeatability of AD susceptibility loci and the low heritability of AD, these AD genetic findings have been questioned. We summarize AD genetic findings from the past 10 years and provide a new interpretation of these findings in the context of statistical heterogeneity. We discovered that only 17% of AD risk loci demonstrated reproducibility with a genome-wide significance of P < 5.00E-08 across all AD GWAS and GWAS+GWAX datasets. We highlighted that the AD GWAS+GWAX with the largest sample size failed to identify the most significant signals, the maximum number of genome-wide significant genetic variants or maximum heritability. Additionally, we identified widespread statistical heterogeneity in AD GWAS+GWAX datasets, but not in AD GWAS datasets. We consider that statistical heterogeneity may have attenuated the statistical power in AD GWAS+GWAX and may contribute to explaining the low repeatability (17%) of genome-wide significant AD susceptibility loci and the decreased AD heritability (40-2%) as the sample size increased. Importantly, evidence supports the idea that a decrease in statistical heterogeneity facilitates the identification of genome-wide significant genetic loci and contributes to an increase in AD heritability. Collectively, current AD GWAX and GWAS+GWAX findings should be meticulously assessed and warrant additional investigation, and AD GWAS+GWAX should employ multiple meta-analysis methods, such as random-effects inverse variance-weighted meta-analysis, which is designed specifically for statistical heterogeneity.

Halide Perovskite Inducing Anomalous Nonvolatile Polarization in Poly(vinylidene fluoride)-based Flexible Nanocomposites.

Ferroelectric materials have important applications in transduction, data storage, and nonlinear optics. Inorganic ferroelectrics such as lead zirconate titanate possess large polarization, though they are rigid and brittle. Ferroelectric polymers are light weight and flexible, yet their polarization is low, bottlenecked at 10 µC cm-2. Here we show poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposite with only 0.94% of self-nucleated CH3NH3PbBr3 nanocrystals exhibits anomalously large polarization (~19.6 µC cm-2) while retaining superior stretchability and photoluminance, resulting in unprecedented electromechanical figures of merit among ferroelectrics. Comprehensive analysis suggests the enhancement is accomplished via delicate defect engineering, with field-induced Frenkel pairs in halide perovskite stabilized by the poled ferroelectric polymer through interfacial coupling. The strategy is general, working in poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) as well, and the nanocomposite is stable. The study thus presents a solution for overcoming the electromechanical dilemma of ferroelectrics while enabling additional optic-activity, ideal for multifunctional flexible electronics applications.

Comparison of behavioral and physiological changes in postpartum healthy and inflammatory diseased cows.

During parturition, cows often experience intense pain and stress, which increases the risk of inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to compare the postpartum health status between healthy cows and those diagnoses with inflammatory diseases by examining behavioral and heart rate (HR) variability (HRV) changes, to provide information before the onset of disease. Eight Holstein cows were used in this study. HR, parameters of HRV (low-frequency power: LF; high-frequency power: HF; LF/HF ratio, and total power) and time budget of individual maintenance behaviors (standing, recumbency, feeding, rumination while standing and lying, and sleep) were continuously recorded from 0 to 168 h postpartum. Milk and blood samples were collected daily. Cows were categorized as diseases based on the positive result of California mastitis test and/or serum haptoglobin concentration that exceeded 50 µg/ml after all blood samples have been collected. Compared to healthy individuals (n = 3), diseased cows (n = 5) exhibited higher HR, LF/HF, and lower total power (p < 0.05), suggesting the dominance of the sympathetic nervous system in cows with inflammatory diseases. Additionally, diseased cows showed an increased standing time budget and reduced recumbency (p < 0.05), which may be a behavioral strategy in response to discomfort from inflammation.

Subtrochanteric fracture after core decompression for osteonecrosis of the femoral head: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a common clinical disease. Improper treatment can lead to femoral head collapse and hip joint dysfunction. Core decompression is particularly important for early ONFH. However, subtrochanteric fractures after core decompression cause some clinical problems. CASE PRESENTATION: This article describes a 34-year-old male patient with early ONFH. After core decompression, he suffered a subtrochanteric fracture of the femur while bearing weight on the affected limb when going up stairs. He was subsequently treated with open reduction and intramedullary nail fixation. CONCLUSION: When core decompression is used to treat ONFH, the location or size of the drill hole, whether a tantalum rod or bone is inserted, and partial weight-bearing of the affected limb may directly affect whether a fracture occurs after surgery. It is hoped that this case report can provide a reference for clinical orthopedic surgeons in the treatment of early ONFH.

Spatially selective catalysis of OSA starch for preparation of Pickering emulsions with high emulsification properties.

The traditional strategies of chemical catalysis and biocatalysis for producing octenyl succinic anhydride modified starch can only randomly graft hydrophobic groups on the surface of starch, resulting in unsatisfactory emulsification performance. In this work, a lipase-inorganic hybrid catalytic system with multi-scale flower like structure is designed and applied to spatially selective catalytic preparation of ocenyl succinic anhydride modified starch. With the appropriate floral morphology and petal density, lipases distributed in the "flower center" can selectively catalyze the grafting of hydrophobic groups in a spatial manner, the hydrophobic groups are concentrated on one side of starch particles. The obtaining OSA starch exhibits excellent emulsifying property, and the pickering emulsion has good protective effect on the embedded curcumin. This work provides a direction for the development of high-performance starch-based emulsifiers for the food and pharmaceutical industries, which is of great significance for improving the preparation and emulsification theory research of modified starch.

Gradient gyroid Ti6Al4V scaffolds with TiO2 surface modification: Promising approach for large bone defect repair.

Large bone defects, particularly those exceeding the critical size, present a clinical challenge due to the limited regenerative capacity of bone tissue. Traditional treatments like autografts and allografts are constrained by donor availability, immune rejection, and mechanical performance. This study aimed to develop an effective solution by designing gradient gyroid scaffolds with titania (TiO2) surface modification for the repair of large segmental bone defects. The scaffolds were engineered to balance mechanical strength with the necessary internal space to promote new bone formation and nutrient exchange. A gradient design of the scaffold was optimized through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to enhance fluid flow and cell adhesion. In vivo studies in rabbits demonstrated that the G@TiO2 scaffold, featuring a gradient structure and TiO2 surface modification, exhibited superior healing capabilities compared to the homogeneous structure and TiO2 surface modification (H@TiO2) and gradient structure (G) scaffolds. At 12 weeks post-operation, in a bone defect representing nearly 30 % of the total length of the radius, the implantation of the G@TiO2 scaffold achieved a 27 % bone volume to tissue volume (BV/TV) ratio, demonstrating excellent osseointegration. The TiO2 surface modification provided photothermal antibacterial effects, enhancing the scaffold's biocompatibility and potential for infection prevention. These findings suggest that the gradient gyroid scaffold with TiO2 surface modification is a promising candidate for treating large segmental bone defects, offering a combination of mechanical strength, bioactivity, and infection resistance.

Regulatory effect of Yinchenhao decoction on bile acid metabolism to improve the inflammatory microenvironment of hepatocellular carcinoma in mice.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a malignant tumor with extremely high mortality. The tumor microenvironment is the "soil" of its occurrence and development, and the inflammatory microenvironment is an important part of the "soil". Bile acid is closely related to the occurrence of HCC. Bile acid metabolism disorder is not only directly involved in the occurrence and development of HCC but also affects the inflammatory microenvironment of HCC. Yinchenhao decoction, a traditional Chinese medicine formula, can regulate bile acid metabolism and may affect the inflammatory microenvironment of HCC. To determine the effect of Yinchenhao decoction on bile acid metabolism in mice with HCC and to explore the possible mechanism by which Yinchenhao decoction improves the inflammatory microenvironment of HCC by regulating bile acid metabolism, we established mice model of orthotopic transplantation of hepatocellular carcinoma. These mice were treated with three doses of Yinchenhao decoction, then liver samples were collected and tested. Yinchenhao decoction can regulate the disorder of bile acid metabolism in liver cancer mice. Besides, it can improve inflammatory reactions, reduce hepatocyte degeneration and necrosis, and even reduce liver weight and the liver index. Taurochenodeoxycholic acid, hyodeoxycholic acid, and taurohyodeoxycholic acid are important molecules in the regulation of the liver inflammatory microenvironment, laying a foundation for the regulation of the liver tumor inflammatory microenvironment based on bile acids. Yinchenhao decoction may improve the inflammatory microenvironment of mice with HCC by ameliorating hepatic bile acid metabolism.

Exosome-transmitted circular RNA circ-LMO7 facilitates the progression of osteosarcoma by regulating miR-21-5p/ARHGAP24 axis.

The potential function and mechanism of circRNAs in regulating malignant performances of Osteosarcoma (OS) cells have not been well investigated. The expression level of CircLMO7, miR-21-5p and ARHGAP24 were detected by RT-qPCR. The relationship between miR-21-5p and circ-LMO7, as well as between miR-21-5p and ARHGAP24, was predicted and examined through bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter gene experiments. Moreover, OS cell growth, invasion, migration, and apoptosis were detected using the cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), transwell and flow cytometry assays, respectively. ARHGAP24 protein level was measured using western blotting. In present study, we choose to investigate the role and mechanism of circ-LOM7 on OS cell proliferation, migration and invasion. circ-LOM7 was found to be down-regulated in OS tissues and cell lines. Enforced expression of circ-LOM7 suppressed the growth, invasion, and migration of OS cells. In contrast, decreasing circ-LMO7 expression had opposite effects. Furthermore, miR-21-5p was predicted to be sponged by circ-LMO7, and had an opposite role of circ-LMO7 in OS. Moreover, ARHGAP24 served as miR-21-5p's downstream target. Mechanistically, circ-LMO7 was packed in exosomes and acted as a cancer-suppresser on OS by sponging miR-21-5p and upregulating the expression of ARHGAP24. The exosomal circ-LMO7 expression was significantly decreased in OS cell exosomes, and co-culture experiments showed that exosomal circ-LMO7 suppressed the proliferation ability of OS cells. Circ-LMO7 exerts as a tumor suppressor in OS, and the circ-LMO7/miR-21-5P/ARHGAP24 axis is involved in OS progression.

MyoD1 promotes the transcription of BIK and plays an apoptosis-promoting role in the development of gastric cancer.

Myogenic differentiation (MyoD) 1, which is known as a pivotal transcription factor during myogenesis, has been proven dysregulated in several cancers. However, litter is known about the precise role and downstream genes of MyoD1 in gastric cancer (GC) cells. Here, we report that MyoD1 is lowly expressed in primary GC tissues and cells. In our experiments, overexpression of MyoD1 inhibited cell proliferation. Downstream genes of MyoD1 regulation were investigated using RNA-Seq. As a result, 138 up-regulated genes and 20 down-regulated genes and 27 up-regulated lncRNAs and 20 down-regulated lncRNAs were identified in MyoD1 overexpressed MKN-45 cells, which participated in epithelial cell signaling in Helicobacter pylori infection, glycosaminoglycan biosynthesis (keratan sulfate), notch signaling pathway, and others. Among these genes, BIK was directly regulated by MyoD1 in GC cells and inhibited cancer cell proliferation. The BIK knockdown rescued the effects of MyoD1 overexpression on GC cells. In conclusion, MyoD1 inhibited cell proliferation via 158 genes and 47 lncRNAs downstream directly or indirectly that participated in multiple signaling pathways in GC, and among these, MyoD1 promotes BIK transcription by binding to its promoter, then promotes BIK-Bcl2-caspase 3 axis and regulates GC cell apoptosis.

Overview of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) in metabolic diseases.

GDF15 is a stress response cytokine and a distant member of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFß) superfamily, its levels increase in response to cell stress and certain diseases in the serum. To exert its effects, GDF15 binds to glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) receptor alpha-like (GFRAL), which was firstly identified in 2017 and highly expressed in the brain stem. Many studies have demonstrated that elevated serum GDF15 is associated with anorexia and weight loss. Herein, we focus on the biology of GDF15, specifically how this circulating protein regulates appetite and metabolism in influencing energy homeostasis through its actions on hindbrain neurons to shed light on its impact on diseases such as obesity and anorexia/cachexia syndromes. It works as an endocrine factor and transmits metabolic signals leading to weight reduction effects by directly reducing appetite and indirectly affecting food intake through complex mechanisms, which could be a promising target for the treatment of energy-intake disorders.

Tungsten phosphide on nitrogen and phosphorus-doped carbon as a functional membrane coating enabling robust lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) hold great potential as future energy storage technology, but their widespread application is hampered by the slow polysulfide conversion kinetics and the sulfur loss during cycling. In this study, we detail a one-step approach to growing tungsten phosphide (WP) nanoparticles on the surface of nitrogen and phosphorus co-doped carbon nanosheets (WP@NPC). We further demonstrate that this material provides outstanding performance as a multifunctional separator in LSBs, enabling higher sulfur utilization and exceptional rate performance. These excellent properties are associated with the abundance of lithium polysulfide (LiPS) adsorption and catalytic conversion sites and rapid ion transport capabilities. Experimental data and density functional theory calculations demonstrate tungsten to have a sulfophilic character while nitrogen and phosphorus provide lithiophilic sites that prevent the loss of LiPSs. Furthermore, WP regulates the LiPS catalytic conversion, accelerating the Li-S redox kinetics. As a result, LSBs containing a polypropylene separator coated with a WP@NPC layer show capacities close to 1500 mAh/g at 0.1C and coulombic efficiencies above 99.5 % at 3C. Batteries with high sulfur loading, 4.9 mg cm-2, are further produced to validate their superior cycling stability. Overall, this work demonstrates the use of multifunctional separators as an effective strategy to promote LSB performance.

A blueprint for tumor-infiltrating B cells across human cancers.

B lymphocytes are essential mediators of humoral immunity and play multiple roles in human cancer. To decode the functions of tumor-infiltrating B cells, we generated a B cell blueprint encompassing single-cell transcriptome, B cell-receptor repertoire, and chromatin accessibility data across 20 different cancer types (477 samples, 269 patients). B cells harbored extraordinary heterogeneity and comprised 15 subsets, which could be grouped into two independent developmental paths (extrafollicular versus germinal center). Tumor types grouped into the extrafollicular pathway were linked with worse clinical outcomes and resistance to immunotherapy. The dysfunctional extrafollicular program was associated with glutamine-derived metabolites through epigenetic-metabolic cross-talk, which promoted a T cell-driven immunosuppressive program. These data suggest an intratumor B cell balance between extrafollicular and germinal-center responses and suggest that humoral immunity could possibly be harnessed for B cell-targeting immunotherapy.

Aerobic fitness as a moderator of acute aerobic exercise effects on executive function.

This study aimed to investigate the moderating role of aerobic fitness on the effect of acute exercise on improving executive function from both behavioral and cerebral aspects. Thirty-four young individuals with motor skills were divided into high- and low-fitness groups based on their maximal oxygen uptake. Both groups completed 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on a power bike. Executive function tests (Flanker, N-back, More-odd-shifting) were performed before and after exercise and functional near-infrared spectroscopy was used to monitor prefrontal cerebral blood flow changes during the tasks. The results indicated significant differences between the two groups regarding executive function. Participants with lower aerobic fitness performed better than their higher fitness counterparts in inhibitory control and working memory, but not in cognitive flexibility. This finding suggests that the aerobic fitness may moderate the extent of cognitive benefits gained from acute aerobic exercise. Furthermore, the neuroimaging data indicated negative activation in the frontopolar area and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in response to three complex tasks. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual aerobic fitness when assessing the cognitive benefits of exercise and could have significant implications for tailoring fitness programs to enhance cognitive performance.

Combining T1rho and advanced diffusion MRI for noninvasively staging liver fibrosis: an experimental study in rats.

PURPOSE: To investigate the value of imaging parameters derived from T1 relaxation times in the rotating frame (T1ρ or T1rho), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) in assessment of liver fibrosis in rats and propose an optimal diagnostic model based on multiparametric MRI. METHODS: Thirty rats were divided into one control group and four fibrosis experimental groups (n = 6 for each group). Liver fibrosis was induced by administering thioacetamide (TAA) for 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. T1ρ, mean kurtosis (MK), mean diffusivity (MD), perfusion fraction (f), true diffusion coefficient (D), and pseudo-diffusion coefficient (D*) were measured and compared among different fibrosis stages. An optimal diagnostic model was established and the diagnostic efficiency was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The mean AUC values, sensitivity, and specificity of T1ρ and MD derived from DKI across all liver fibrosis stages were comparable but much higher than those of other imaging parameters (0.954, 92.46, 91.85 for T1ρ; 0.949, 92.52, 91.24 for MD). The model combining T1ρ and MD exhibited better diagnostic performance with higher AUC values than any individual method for staging liver fibrosis (≥ F1: 1.000 (0.884-1.000); ≥ F2: 0.935 (0.782-0.992); ≥ F3: 0.982 (0.852-1.000); F4: 0.986 (0.859-1.000)). CONCLUSION: Among the evaluated imaging parameters, T1ρ and MD were superior for differentiating varying liver fibrosis stages. The model combining T1ρ and MD was promising to be a credible diagnostic biomarker to detect and accurately stage liver fibrosis.