Background
The diagnosis of sonographically indeterminate adnexal masses (AM) signifies a major challenge in clinical practice. Early detection and characterization have increased the need for ...accurate imaging evaluation before treatment.
Purpose
To assess the validity and reproducibility of the ADNEX MR Scoring system in the diagnosis of sonographically indeterminate AM.
Study Type
A prospective multicenter study.
Population
In all, 531 women (mean age, 44 ± 11.2 years; range, 21–79 years) with 572 sonographically indeterminate AM.
Field Strength/Sequence
1.5T/precontrast T1‐weighted imaging (WI) fast spin echo (FSE) (in‐phase and out‐of‐phase, with and without fat suppression); T2‐WI FSE; diffusion‐WI single‐shot echo planner with b‐values of 0 and 1000 s/mm2; and dynamic contrast‐enhanced perfusion T1‐WI liver acquisition with volume acceleration (LAVA).
Assessment
All MRI examinations were evaluated by three radiologists, and the AM were categorized into five scores based on the ADNEX MR Scoring system. Score 1: no AM; 2: benign AM; 3: probably benign AM; 4: indeterminate AM; 5: probably malignant AM. Histopathology and imaging follow‐up were used as the standard references for evaluating the validity of the ADNEX MR Scoring system for detecting ovarian malignancy.
Statistical Tests
Four‐fold table test, kappa statistics (κ), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.
Results
In all, 136 (23.8%) AM were malignant, and 436 (76.2%) were benign. Of the 350 AM classified as score 2, one (0.3%) was malignant; of the 62 AM classified as score 3, six (9.7%) were malignant; of the 73 AM classified as score 4, 43 (58.9%) were malignant; and of the 87 AM categorized as score 5, 86 (98.9%) were malignant. The best cutoff value for predicting malignant AM was score >3 with sensitivity and specificity of 92.9% and 94.9%, respectively. The interreader agreement of the ADNEX MR Scoring was very good (κ = 0.861).
Data Conclusion
The current study supports the high validity and reproducibility of the ADNEX MR Scoring system for the diagnosis of sonographically indeterminate AM.
Level of Evidence
1
Technical Efficacy Stage
2
Microgreens are rich functional crops with valuable nutritional elements that have health benefits when used as food supplements. Growth characterization, nutritional composition profile of 21 ...varieties representing five species of the Brassica genus as microgreens were assessed under light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) conditions. Microgreens were grown under four different LEDs ratios (%); red:blue 80:20 and 20:80 (R80:B20 and R20:B80), or red:green:blue 70:10:20 and 20:10:70 (R70:G10:B20 and R20:G10:B70). Results indicated that supplemental lighting with green LEDs (R70:G10:B20) enhanced vegetative growth and morphology, while blue LEDs (R20:B80) increased the mineral and vitamin contents. Interestingly, by linking the nutritional content with the growth yield to define the optimal LEDs setup, we found that the best lighting to promote the microgreen growth was the green LEDs combination (R70:G10:B20). Remarkably, under the green LEDs combination (R70:G10:B20) conditions, the microgreens of Kohlrabi purple, Cabbage red, Broccoli, Kale Tucsan, Komatsuna red, Tatsoi and Cabbage green, which can benefit human health in conditions with limited food, had the highest growth and nutritional content.
Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a physical technology with notable effects on living organisms. In the present study, tomato seeds (Solanum lycopersicum var. Bassimo Mill.) were exposed to CAP for ...various time intervals, ranging from 1 to 5 min, in both continuous and intermittent periods, and were compared with a control group that received no CAP treatment. Seedlings grown from treated seeds exhibited improvements in levels of growth traits, photosynthetic pigments, and metabolite contents when compared to the control group. Seedlings from seeds treated with S04 displayed significant increases in shoot and root lengths, by 32.45% and 20.60% respectively, compared to the control group. Moreover, seedlings from seeds treated with S01 showed a 101.90% increase in total protein, whereas those treated with S02 experienced a 119.52% increase in carbohydrate content. These findings highlight the substantial improvements in growth characteristics, photosynthetic pigments, and metabolite levels in seedlings from treated seeds relative to controls. Total antioxidant capacity was boosted by CAP exposure. The activities of enzymes including superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidases were stimulated by S02 and exceeded control treatment by (177.48%, 137.41%, and 103.32%), respectively. Additionally, exposure to S04 increased the levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants like flavonoids, phenolics, saponins, and tannins over the control group (38.08%, 30.10%, 117.19%, and 94.44%), respectively. Our results indicate that CAP-seed priming is an innovative and cost-effective approach to enhance the growth, bioactive components, and yield of tomato seedlings.
Objective
To evaluate diagnostic performance and inter-reviewer agreement (IRA) of the Gynecologic Imaging Reporting and Data System (GI-RADS) for diagnosis of adnexal masses (AMs) by pelvic ...ultrasound (US).
Patients and methods
A prospective multicenter study included 308 women (mean age, 41 ± 12.5 years; range, 15–73 years) with 325 AMs detected by US. All US examinations were analyzed, and AMs were categorized into five categories according to the GI-RADS classification. We used histopathology and US follow-up as the reference standards for calculating diagnostic performance of GI-RADS for detecting malignant AMs. The Fleiss kappa (
κ
) tests were applied to evaluate the IRA of GI-RADS scoring results for predicting malignant AMs.
Results
A total of 325 AMs were evaluated: 127 (39.1%) were malignant and 198 (60.9%) were benign. Of 95 AMs categorized as GI-RADS 2 (GR2), none was malignant; of 94 AMs categorized as GR3, three were malignant; of 13 AMs categorized as GR4, six were malignant; and of 123 AMs categorized as GR5, 118 were malignant. On a lesion-based analysis, the GI-RADS had a sensitivity, a specificity, and an accuracy of 92.9%, 97.5%, and 95.7%, respectively, when regarding only those AMs classified as GR5 for predicting malignancy. Considering combined GR4 and GR5 as a predictor for malignancy, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of GI-RADS were 97.6%, 93.9%, and 95.4%, respectively. The IRA of the GI-RADS category was very good (
κ
= 0.896). The best cutoff value for predicting malignant AMs was >GR3.
Conclusions
The GI-RADS is very valuable for improving US structural reports.
Key Points
• There is still a lack of a standard in the assessment of AMs.
• GI-RADS is very valuable for improving US structural reports of AMs.
• GI-RADS criteria are easy and work at least as well as IOTA.
Cysteine (Cys) and α-lipoic acid (ALA) are naturally occurring antioxidants (sulfur-containing compounds) that can protect plants against a wide spectrum of environmental stresses. However, up to ...now, there are no conclusive data on their integrative roles in mitigation of drought stress in wheat plants. Here, we studied the influence of ALA at 0.02 mM (grain dipping pre-cultivation treatment) and Cys (25 and 50 ppm as a foliar application) under well watered and deficit irrigation (100% and 70% of recommended dose). The results showed that deficit irrigation markedly caused obvious cellular oxidative damage as indicated by elevating the malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide content (H2O2). Moreover, water stressed plants exhibited multiple changes in physiological metabolism, which affected the quantitative and qualitative variables of grain yield. The enzymatic antioxidants, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) were improved by Cys application. SOD and APX had the same response when treated with ALA, but CAT and POX did not. Moreover, both studied molecules stimulated chlorophyll (Chl) and osmolytes’ biosynthesis. In contrast, the Chl a/b ratio was decreased, while flavonoids were not affected by either of the examined molecules. Interestingly, all above-mentioned changes were associated with an improvement in the scavenging capacity of reactive oxygen species (ROS), leaf relative water content (RWC), grain number, total grain yield, weight of 1000 kernels, gluten index, falling number, and alveographic parameters (P, W, and P/L values). Furthermore, heatmap plot analysis revealed several significant correlations between different studied parameters, which may explore the importance of applied Cys and ALA as effective compounds in wheat cultivation under water deficit conditions.
Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is increasing in incidence in developing nations, including Egypt. Secondary prevention requires timely detection through the development of regional ...screening guidelines, which should be preceded by large-scale studies to characterize the population at risk. Methods: A prospective, multicentric exploratory study that included five large tertiary institutions in an urban Egyptian setting. All infants born with gestational age (GA) < 37 weeks and/or birth weight (BW) < 2000 grams were screened. More mature and heavier infants with unstable clinical course were also included. The primary outcome measure was the rate of ROP and high-risk disease occurrence in relation to underlying risk factors. Results: Of the 768 eyes (384 screened infants), 347 eyes (45.2%) had stage 1 or higher disease, and 43 eyes (5.6%) had high-risk disease. Eyes with stage 1 or higher ROP and treatment-requiring ROP had a mean (+ or - SD) GA of 33.4 (+ or - 2.6) weeks and 32.8 (+ or - 3.2) weeks, and BW of 1842.3 (+ or - 570.1) grams and 1747.6 + or - (676.2) grams, respectively. Treatment- requiring eyes belonged to infants that had significantly lower GA and significantly higher prevalence of co-morbidities than non-treatment-requiring eyes. Conclusion: The incidence of ROP and high-risk disease in an urban Egyptian setting are similar to those in comparable settings elsewhere and locally. This exploratory study supports tailoring local screening criteria for ROP, and may aid the future development of national guidelines. Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity, ROP, screening, plus disease, preterm
Background
The Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) recently published a chest CT classification system and Dutch Association for Radiology has announced Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) ...reporting and data system (CO-RADS) to provide guidelines to radiologists who interpret chest CT images of patients with suspected COVID-19 pneumonia. This study aimed to compare CO-RADS and RSNA classification with respect to their sensitivity and reliability for diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia.
Results
A retrospective study assessed consecutive CT chest imaging of 359 COVID-19-positive patients. Three experienced radiologists who were aware of the final diagnosis of all patients, independently categorized each patient according to CO-RADS and RSNA classification. RT-PCR test performed within one week of chest CT scan was used as a reference standard for calculating sensitivity of each system. Kappa statistics and intraclass correlation coefficient were used to assess reliability of each system. The study group included 359 patients (180 men, 179 women; mean age, 45 ± 16.9 years). Considering combination of CO-RADS 3, 4 and 5 and combination of typical and indeterminate RSNA categories as positive predictors for COVID-19 diagnosis, the overall sensitivity was the same for both classification systems (72.7%). Applying both systems in moderate and severe/critically ill patients resulted in a significant increase in sensitivity (94.7% and 97.8%, respectively). The overall inter-reviewer agreement was excellent for CO-RADS (
κ
= 0.801), and good for RSNA classification (
κ
= 0.781).
Conclusion
CO-RADS and RSNA chest CT classification systems are comparable in diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia with similar sensitivity and reliability.
Salinity in soil or irrigation water requires developing genetically salt-tolerant genotypes, especially in arid regions. Developing salt-tolerant and high-yielding wheat genotypes has become more ...urgent in particular with continuing global population growth and abrupt climate changes. The current study aimed at investigating the genetic variability of new breeding lines in three advanced generations F6–F8 under salinity stress. The evaluated advanced lines were derived through accurate pedigree selection under actual saline field conditions (7.74 dS/m) and using saline water in irrigation (8.35 dS/m). Ninety-four F6 lines were evaluated in 2017–2018 and reduced by selection to thirty-seven F7 lines in 2018–2019 and afterward to thirty-four F8 lines in 2019–2020 based on grain yield and related traits compared with adopted check cultivars. Significant genetic variability was detected for all evaluated agronomic traits across generations in the salt-stressed field. The elite F8 breeding lines displayed higher performance than the adopted check cultivars. These lines were classified based on yield index into four groups using hierarchical clustering ranging from highly salt-tolerant to slightly salt-tolerant genotypes, which efficiently enhance the narrow genetic pool of salt-tolerance. The detected response to selection and high to intermediate broad-sense heritability for measured traits displayed their potentiality to be utilized through advanced generations under salinity stress for identifying salt-tolerant breeding lines.
This study's aim was to determine the pesticide residues in 10 different vegetable commodities from the Asir region, Saudi Arabia. We evaluated 211 vegetable samples, collected from supermarkets ...between March 2018 and September 2018, for a total of 80 different pesticides using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) after extraction with a multi-residue method (the QuEChERS method). The results were assessed according to the maximum residue limit (MRL) provided by European regulations for each pesticide in each commodity. All lettuce, cauliflower, and carrot samples were found to be free from pesticide residues. A total of 145 samples (68.7%) contained detectable pesticide residues at or lower than MRLs, and 44 samples (20.9%) contained detectable pesticide residues above MRLs. MRL values were exceeded most often in chili pepper (14 samples) and cucumber (10 samples). Methomyl, imidacloprid, metalaxyl, and cyproconazole were the most frequently detected pesticides. Based on the results of this study, we recommend that a government-supported program for the monitoring of pesticide residues in vegetables be established to promote consumers' health and achieve sustainable farming systems.
Optimal power flow using moth swarm algorithm Mohamed, Al-Attar Ali; Mohamed, Yahia S.; El-Gaafary, Ahmed A.M. ...
Electric power systems research,
January 2017, 2017-01-00, 20170101, Letnik:
142
Journal Article
Recenzirano
•A novel MSA is proposed and applied to solve OPF problem.•The proposed approach is tested and compared with MDE, MPSO, MFO and FPA algorithms.•Two novel and efficient optimization operators are ...presented.•The study is implemented on IEEE 30-, 57- and 118-bus test power systems.•The results prove the speed and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.
This work presents a novel Moth Swarm Algorithm (MSA), inspired by the orientation of moths towards moonlight to solve constrained Optimal Power Flow (OPF) problem. The associative learning mechanism with immediate memory and population diversity crossover for Lévy-mutation have been proposed to improve exploitation and exploration ability, respectively, in addition to adaptive Gaussian walks and spiral motion. The MSA and four heuristic search algorithms are carried out on the IEEE 30-bus, 57-bus and IEEE 118-bus power systems. These approaches are applied to optimize the control variables such as real power generations, load tap changer ratios, bus voltages and shunt capacitance values under several power system constraints. Fourteen different cases are executed on different curves of fuel cost (e.g., quadratic, valve-loading effects, multi-fuels options), environmental pollution emission, active power loss, voltage profile and voltage stability for contingency and normal conditions, in single and multi objective optimization space. Furthermore, the impacts of the updating mechanism of optimizers on those objective functions are investigated. The effectiveness and superiority of the MSA have been demonstrated in comparison with many recently published OPF solution
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