Unexpected seizures significantly decrease the quality of life in epileptic patients. Seizure attacks are caused by hyperexcitability and anatomical lesions of special regions of the brain, and cognitive impairments and memory deficits are their most common concomitant effects. In addition to seizure reduction treatments, medical rehabilitation involving brain-computer interfaces and neurofeedback can improve cognition and quality of life in patients with focal epilepsy in most cases, in particular when resective epilepsy surgery has been considered treatment in drug-resistant epilepsy. Source estimation and precise localization of epileptic foci can improve such rehabilitation and treatment. Electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring and multimodal noninvasive neuroimaging techniques such as ictal/interictal single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) imaging and structural magnetic resonance imaging are common practices for the localization of epileptic foci and have been studied in several kinds of researches. In this article, we review the most recent research on EEG-based localization of seizure foci and discuss various methods, their advantages, limitations, and challenges with a focus on model-based data processing and machine learning algorithms. In addition, we survey whether combined analysis of EEG monitoring and neuroimaging techniques, which is known as multimodal brain data fusion, can potentially increase the precision of the seizure foci localization. To this end, we further review and summarize the key parameters and challenges of processing, fusion, and analysis of multiple source data, in the framework of model-based signal processing, for the development of a multimodal brain data analyzing system. This article has the potential to be used as a valuable resource for neuroscience researchers for the development of EEG-based rehabilitation systems based on multimodal data analysis related to focal epilepsy.

Understanding the mechanical characteristics of rocks when subjected to direct tension is crucial for assessing the stability of rock formations. Within the scope of this research, a series of tests was conducted using Tage tuff to assess the deformation behavior and crack extension of rock under direct tension. The axial, lateral, and shear strain fields as well as crack propagation, localized deformation behavior, and failure mode of the rocks were analyzed using three-dimensional digital image correlation method. The results showed that the axial strain fields on the specimen surface were heterogeneous, with different locations and localization occurring in the pre-peak stage, which was similar to the evolution of shear strain, whereas the lateral strain only showed slight changes. The crack extension direction was inferred, indicating that both tensile and shear stress occurred in the tests. Furthermore, different stress-strain responses were observed for the inside and outside of the localized bands. Then, the surface patterns of specimen failure were scanned and analyzed to assess the failure mode and residual strength of the specimen under direct tensile stress. Finally, the results of direct tension, uniaxial compression, and Brazilian split tests for Tage tuff were compared, and the complete stress-strain curve of uniaxial tension (UT) was simulated using a nonlinear-variable-compliance constitutive equation. This study provides a deeper understanding into the damage behavior of rocks under direct tension.

UNASSIGNED: Low-dose computed tomography (CT) has been increasingly utilized for lung cancer screening. Localization of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN) is crucial for resection. Two-stage localization method involves dye injection by radiologists prior to the operation. The significant interval between localization and resection is associated with a higher risk of marker failure, psychological distress and procedural complications. Single-stage localization and resection procedure under general anesthesia poses unique challenges. The aim of the study is to compare the safety, efficacy and patient satisfaction between the two methods.
UNASSIGNED: This is a retrospective study comparing outcomes between two-stage and single-stage pre-operative localization of SPN. The primary study outcome was total operating time. Secondary outcomes included successful lesion localization, complication rate, 30-day readmission, mortality, patient satisfaction, and pain level.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 26 and 56 patients were included for the single and two-stage group respectively. Total operative time was significantly longer in the single-stage arm (mean: 188 min) than that of the two-stage arm (mean: 172 min, P<0.001) due to the additional time needed for intra-operative localization. Mean satisfaction score was significantly higher in the single-stage group than that of the two-stage group (92 vs. 52.69, P=0.004). Pain level assessed by numerical rating scales was better in the single-stage arm compared to the two-stage arm (mean: 8.8 vs. 4.85, P=0.007).
UNASSIGNED: Single-stage localization and resection resulted in a minor increase in total operative time, higher patient satisfaction and less pain with comparable safety and efficacy to conventional two-stage approach.

BACKGROUND: Nutrient foramen (NF) is a hole on the long bones that allows the passage of the nutrient artery. The vasculature of the bone is very important for fracture healing and vascularized bone grafting. Therefore, information about the location and number of NFs is important for surgical and clinical practice. The clavicle is the most commonly fractured bone. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between the location and number of NFs on the clavicle and other clavicle parameters.
METHODS: This study was performed on 86 dry clavicles of contemporary adult individuals without age and gender records. Some clavicle parameters and NF parameters were measured and the relationship between them was analyzed. Measurements were performed using a digital caliper.
RESULTS: Most of the clavicles had a single NF. There was a positive correlation between DFant/DFpost (distance between NF and anterior border/distance between NF and posterior border) and vertical thickness of sternal end (VTs), vertical thickness of thinnest point (VTt) and clavicular thinnest point index (CIt) in all cases (p < 0.05). Sagittal thickness of acromial end (STa), vertical thickness of clavicle (VTc), sagittal thickness of clavicle (STc) and sagittal thickness of thinnest point (STt) were associated with NF counts. The most common localization of NFs was type 2. The NFs were mostly located in the inferior position.
CONCLUSIONS: Relationships between the number and morphometric characteristics of NFs and some clavicle parameters were determined. It was suggested that the knowledge of the number and morphometric characteristics of NFs is important for the protection of the nutrient artery in orthopedic surgery applications.

Background: The diagnostic work-up of musculoskeletal tumors is a multifactorial process. During the early phase, differential diagnoses are made using basic radiological imaging. In this phase, part of the decision making is based on the patient\'s age, as well as the incidence and predilection sites of different entities. Unfortunately, this information is based on older and fragmented data. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated all soft-tissue and bone tumors around the knee in children treated at our tertiary center in the last 20 years, with the aim of verifying the data used today. Methods: In this retrospective study, the databank of our tertiary center was used to give an overview of treated tumors around the knee in children. Results: We were able to include 224 children with bone and soft-tissue tumors around the knee. The cohort consisted of 184 bone tumors, of which 144 were benign and 40 malignant. The 40 soft-tissue tumors comprised 30 benign and 10 malignant masses. The most common lesions were osteochondromas (88) in the bone and tenosynovial giant-cell tumors (12) in the soft tissue. Conclusions: With this original work, we were able to verify and supplement earlier studies, as well as deepen our insight into these very rare diseases.

Node localization is critical for accessing diverse nodes that provide services in remote places. Single-anchor localization techniques suffer co-linearity, performing poorly. The reliable multiple anchor node selection method is computationally intensive and requires a lot of processing power and time to identify suitable anchor nodes. Node localization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is challenging due to the number and placement of anchors, as well as their communication capabilities. These senor nodes possess limited energy resources, which is a big concern in localization. In addition to convention optimization in WSNs, researchers have employed nature-inspired algorithms to localize unknown nodes in WSN. However, these methods take longer, require lots of processing power, and have higher localization error, with a greater number of beacon nodes and sensitivity to parameter selection affecting localization. This research employed a nature-inspired crow search algorithm (an improvement over other nature-inspired algorithms) for selecting the suitable number of anchor nodes from the population, reducing errors in localizing unknown nodes. Additionally, the weighted centroid method was proposed for identifying the exact location of an unknown node. This made the crow search weighted centroid localization (CS-WCL) algorithm a more trustworthy and efficient method for node localization in WSNs, with reduced average localization error (ALE) and energy consumption. CS-WCL outperformed WCL and distance vector (DV)-Hop, with a reduced ALE of 15% (from 32%) and varying communication radii from 20 m to 45 m. Also, the ALE against scalability was validated for CS-WCL against WCL and DV-Hop for a varying number of beacon nodes (from 3 to 2), reducing ALE to 2.59% (from 28.75%). Lastly, CS-WCL resulted in reduced energy consumption (from 120 mJ to 45 mJ) for varying network nodes from 30 to 300 against WCL and DV-Hop. Thus, CS-WCL outperformed other nature-inspired algorithms in node localization. These have been validated using MATLAB 2022b.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of three factors using retrospective chart review: age at which 2nd cochlear implant (CI) is implanted, prior hearing aid (HA) experience in the 2nd CI ear, and long-term experience with bilateral cochlear implants (BICIs) on sound localization in children with sequential BICIs.
METHODS: Mean absolute error (MAE) in localizing speech noise of 60 children with sequential BICIs was compared across four age groups of the 2nd CI (1-5.0; 5.1-10.0; 10.1-14.0; & 14.1-19.0 years) and two extents of prior HA experience (more than and less than one year). MAE was also longitudinally analyzed after 4-6 years of experience with BICI involving 18 participants out of 60.
RESULTS: Children who received 2nd CI before five years of age demonstrated significantly better localization than those who received it after ten years of age. More than one year of prior HA experience in the 2nd CI ear and extensive experience with sequential BICIs significantly enhanced localization performance. Inter-implant intervals and age at the 2nd CI showed a significant positive correlation with the MAE (poorer localization).
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that age at 2nd CI is important in developing sound localization skills. Based on the results, obtaining 2nd CI within the first five years of life and no later than ten years old is recommended. The results also suggest that longer use of amplification before 2nd CI and prolonged BICI experience significantly fosters localization development.

8-arm PEG (polyethylene-glycol) is a highly promising nanoplatform due to its small size (<10 nm), ease-of-conjugation (many functionalized variants are readily available with \"click-like\" properties), biocompatibility, and optical inactivity. This study evaluates 8-arm PEG uptake into cells (in vitro) and localization and clearance in vasculature (in vivo) for targeting of choroidal neovascularization in mice, an animal model of macular degeneration. 8-arm PEG nanoparticles were labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and functionalized in the absence or presence of pentameric Ar-Gly-Asp (RGD; 4 RGD motifs and a PGC linker), one of the most common peptide motifs used for active targeting. In vitro studies show that RGD-conjugated 8-arm PEG nanoparticles exhibit enhanced cellular uptake relative to non-RGD-conjugated control NPs at 34% ± 9%. Laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV) was performed in a mouse model to measure 8-arm PEG localization and clearance to model macular degeneration lesions in vivo. It was determined that both RGD-conjugated and non-RGD-conjugated (nRGD) 8-arm PEG particles localized to CNV lesions, with a half-life around 24 h. In vivo experiments showed that RGD-conjugated nanoparticles exhibited enhanced localization by 15-20% relative to without RGD controls. Exhibiting a high rate of localization and fast clearance relative to larger nanoparticles, targeted 8-arm PEG nanoparticles with a conjugated RGD-peptide could be a promising modality for macular degeneration diagnosis and therapy.

The position of the internal os of the cervix reported in the literature was inconsistent on MRI images. Additionally, the practical impactful data influencing the internal os located by MRI is limited. We aimed to confirm the position of the internal os of the cervix on MRI images, and the influencing factors locating the the internal os by MRI. A single-center retrospective study was conducted. Data from 175 patients who underwent total hysterectomy for stage I endometrial cancer were collected. The internal os of the cervix is positioned as the starting point for measuring the length of the cervix on MRI images. On dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), the section formed by the enhancement difference between the uterus and cervix, and on T2-weighted imaging(T2WI), the section formed by the physiological curvature of the uterus and the low signal intensity of the cervical stroma were used as starting points. The results showed no statistically significant difference compared with the removed uterus specimens (p = 0.208, p = 0.571, p = 0.804). A history of cesarean section(p < 0.001), irregular vaginal bleeding for more than three months(p < 0.001), cervical adenomyosis(p = 0.043), and premenopause(p = 0.001) were not conducive to locating the internal os of the cervix by MRI. Our findings provide valuable information and confirm the position of the internal os of the cervix on MRI images, and the several important infuencing factors. We hope that some patients will benefit from our study.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane tyrosine kinase that is frequently modified by glycosylation post-translationally. In cancer, EGFR amplifications and hotspot mutations such as L858R that promote proliferation have been detected in a significant fraction of non-small cell lung carcinomas and breast adenocarcinomas. Molecular dynamic simulations suggested that glycosylation at asparagine residue 361 (N361) promotes dimerization and ligand binding. We stably expressed glycosylation-deficient mutant EGFR N361A, with or without the oncogenic mutation L858R. Immunofluorescence and flow cytometry demonstrated that the mutants were each well expressed at the cell membrane. N361A decreased proliferation relative to wild-type EGFR as well as decreased sensitivity to ligands. Proximity ligation assays measuring co-localization of EGFR with its binding partner HER2 in cells revealed that N361A mutations increased co-localization. N361A, located near the binding interface for the EGFR inhibitor necitumumab, desensitized cells expressing the oncogenic EGFR L858R to antibody-based inhibition. These findings underline the critical relevance of post-translational modifications on oncogene function.