Dynamic Screening Research Articles

Dynamic screening by plasticity in amorphous solids.

In recent work it was shown that elasticity theory can break down in amorphous solids subjected to nonuniform static loads. The elastic fields are screened by geometric dipoles; these stem from gradients of the quadrupole field associated with plastic responses. Here we study the dynamical responses induced by oscillatory loads. The required modification to classical elasticity is described. Exact solutions for the displacement field in circular geometry are presented, demonstrating that dipole screening results in essential departures from the expected predictions of classical elasticity theory. Numerical simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical predictions and to delineate their range of validity.

Physical frailty trajectories in older stroke survivors: Findings from a national cohort study.

Physical frailty (PF) is highly prevalent and associated with undesirable outcomes in stroke survivors aged 65 years or older. However, the long-term trajectories of PF are understudied in those older stroke survivors. To identify PF trajectories and relative predictors associated with the PF trajectories in older stroke survivors. This is a secondary analysis of a population-based cohort study in the United States. Six hundred and sixty-three older stroke survivors from the National Health and Ageing Trends Study from 2015 to 2021 were included. PF was operationally assessed based on the Fried Frailty Phenotype. Trajectories were identified by group-based trajectory modelling. The associations between sociodemographic characteristics, clinical factors, symptoms, cognitive factors and PF trajectories were examined using the design-based logistic regression method. Most older stroke survivors were 75 and older (63.32%), female (53.99%), white (80.54%) and partnered (50.64%). Two PF trajectory groups were identified (Group 1: low risk, robust; 49.47%; Group 2: high risk, deteriorating; 50.53%). Individuals were at a higher risk to be assigned to Group 2 if they were 75-84 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.16, 95% CI: 1.23-3.80) or 85+ years (aOR: 2.77, 95% CI: 1.52-5.04), had fair self-reported health (aOR: 2.78, 95% CI: 1.53-5.07) or poor self-reported health (aOR: 3.37, 95% CI: 1.51-7.52), had comorbidities (aOR: 8.44, 95% CI: 1.31-54.42), had breathing problems (aOR: 2.18, 95% CI: 1.18-4.02) and had balance problems (aOR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.06-2.73). PF trajectories in older stroke survivors were heterogeneous and were associated with age, self-rated health status, comorbidities, breathing problems and balance problems. Early, routine, dynamic screening for stroke-related physical frailty (PF) and relative predictors might be beneficial for identifying the most vulnerable individuals. Our findings might help develop strategies to manage PF progression. The reporting followed the STROBE guideline.

Biomimetic Anticoagulated Porous Particles with Self-Reporting Structural Colors.

Anticoagulation is vital to maintain blood fluidic status and physiological functions in the field of clinical blood-related procedures. Here, novel biomimetic anticoagulated porous inverse opal hydrogel particles is presented as anticoagulant bearing dynamic screening capability. The inverse opal hydrogel particles possess abundant sulfonic and carboxyl groups, which serve as binding sites with multiple coagulation factors and inhibit the blood coagulation process. Owing to the variations of refractive index and pore sizes during the binding process, the particles appeared corresponding structure color variations, which can be adopted as sensory index of anticoagulation. Based on these features, a sensor containing these diverse structure color particle units is constructed for pattern recognition of coagulation factors level in clinical plasma samples. By analyzing the sensory information of the unit, the colorimetric "fingerprint" for each target can be obtained and summarized as a database. Besides, a portable test-strip integrating sensory units is developed to distinguish the sample regarding abnormal coagulation factors-derived diseases via multivariate data analysis. It is believed that such biomimetic anticoagulated structural color particles and their derived sensor will open new avenue for clinical detection and disease diagnosis.

Dynamic Screening Strategy Based on Feature Graphs for UAV Object and Group Re-Identification

In contemporary times, owing to the swift advancement of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), there is enormous potential for the use of UAVs to ensure public safety. Most research on capturing images by UAVs mainly focuses on object detection and tracking tasks, but few studies have focused on the UAV object re-identification task. In addition, in the real-world scenarios, objects frequently get together in groups. Therefore, re-identifying UAV objects and groups poses a significant challenge. In this paper, a novel dynamic screening strategy based on feature graphs framework is proposed for UAV object and group re-identification. Specifically, the graph-based feature matching module presented aims to enhance the transmission of group contextual information by using adjacent feature nodes. Additionally, a dynamic screening strategy designed attempts to prune the feature nodes that are not identified as the same group to reduce the impact of noise (other group members but not belonging to this group). Extensive experiments have been conducted on the Road Group, DukeMTMC Group and CUHK-SYSU-Group datasets to validate our framework, revealing superior performance compared to most methods. The Rank-1 on CUHK-SYSU-Group, Road Group and DukeMTMC Group datasets reaches 71.8%, 86.4% and 57.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, our method performance is explored on the UAV datasets of PRAI-1581 and Aerial Image, the infrared datasets of SYSU-MM01 and CM-Group and the NIR dataset of RBG-NIR Scene dataset; the unexpected findings demonstrate the robustness and wide applicability of our method.

Size Dependence of Trion and Biexciton Binding Energies in Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals.

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have attracted much attention as light-source materials for light-emitting diodes, lasers, and quantum light emitters. The luminescence properties of perovskite NCs and the performance of NC-based light-source devices depend on trion and biexciton dynamics. Here, we examined the size dependence of trion and biexciton binding energies by conducting low-temperature single-dot spectroscopy on three different perovskite NCs: CsPbBr3, CsPbI3, and FAPbBr3. While the photoluminescence spectral widths of the all-inorganic CsPbBr3 and CsPbI3 NCs were narrow, compared with those of the organic-inorganic hybrid FAPbBr3 NCs, the binding energies of trions and biexcitons of all three samples showed similar size dependences, independent of the A-site cation and halogen. The effective-mass approximation calculations implied the importance of dynamical dielectric screening on the formation of trions and biexcitons.

Dynamic visual acuity screening test results analysis of 25 patients with peripheral vertigo

Objective:To observe the results of dynamic visual acuity screening tests in patients with peripheral vertigo and explore its clinical significance. Methods:The number of 48 healthy volunteers were enrolled as control group and 25 peripheral vertigo patients as experimental group. In the experimental group, there are 12 patients with vestibular neuritis, 1 patient with Hunt syndrome, 5 patients with sudden deafness with vertigo and 7 patients with bilateral vestibular dysfunction. Horizontal and vertical dynamic visual acuity screening tests were performed on them. The number of lost rows of horizontal and vertical dynamic visual acuity was compared between the control group and the experimental group to figure out if there is a statistical difference. The number of lost rows of horizontal and vertical dynamic visual acuity was compared within the experimental group to figure out if there is a statistical difference. The two groups of 18 cases of unilateral vestibular function decline and 7 cases of bilateral vestibular function decline in the experimental group were compared with the control group, and figure out if there is a statistical difference. Results:The median number of lost rows of horizontal dynamic visual acuity in 48 healthy volunteers was 1.5 and median number of lost rows of vertical dynamic visual acuity was 1.0 in the control group. The median number of lost rows of horizontal dynamic visual acuity of 26 healthy volunteers was 6 and median number of lost rows of vertical dynamic visual acuity was 5 in the experimental group. Compared to the experimental group, the number of lost rows both have statistical significance in horizontal and vertical dynamic visual acuity（P<0.01）. The comparison of horizontal and vertical lost rows within the test group also have statistical significance（P<0.01）. Twenty five patients with exceptional vestibular disease in the experimental group were divided into unilateral vestibular function reduction group（n=18） and bilateral vestibular function reduction group（n=7）. Compared with the control group, there was significant differences in the number of horizontal and vertical lost rows（P<0.01） within the three groups. After pairwise comparison, the number of lost rows of horizontal and vertical in the control group was significantly lower than that in the unilateral vestibular function reduction group and the bilateral vestibular function reduction group（P<0.01）. There was a highly significant correlation between the number of horizontally lost rows of DVA and the mean vHIT values of bilateral horizontal semicircular canals in 25 patients（P<0.01）; and a highly significant correlation between the number of vertically lost rows of DVA and the mean vHIT values of vertical semicircular canals in 4 groups bilaterally（P<0.01）. Conclusion:The Dynamic Visual Acuity Screening Test is a useful addition to existing tests of peripheral vestibular function, particularly the vHIT test, and provides a rapid assessment of the extent of 2 Hz VOR impairment in patients with reduced vestibular function.

Wearable dynamic electrocardiogram monitor-based screening for atrial fibrillation in the community-dwelling elderly population

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a major public health problem with high rates of morbidity, disability and mortality, especially in the elderly population. This study explored the diagnosis and treatment status of AF in adults aged ≥65 years in the community through wearable dynamic electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in 4 random communities within the Qingpu district of Shanghai, China. Between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2022, the ECGs of 3852 adults aged 65 years or older were examined through wearable dynamic ECG monitoring. Data from 3839 participants were ultimately analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the independent predictors of AF. ResultsWearable dynamic ECG monitoring detected AF in 360 elderly people, 78 of whom were diagnosed with AF for the first time. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that snoring, renal dysfunction, coronary heart disease and high CHA2DS2-VASc score were independent risk factors for AF. Among patients with unknown AF, 68 (87.20 %) met the criteria for anticoagulant therapy based on the CHA2DS2-VASc score. Only 4 (5.88 %) patients were taking anticoagulants. Of the patients with a clear history of AF, 249 (84.98 %) needed an anticoagulant strategy, but only 18 (7.23 %) took oral anticoagulants. ConclusionMany elderly people have silent AF, and wearable dynamic ECG monitoring can be used to screen for AF effectively.

Quantum electrodynamics of non-Hermitian Dirac fermions

We develop an effective quantum electrodynamics for non-Hermitian (NH) Dirac materials interacting with photons. These systems are described by nonspatial symmetry protected Lorentz invariant NH Dirac operators, featuring two velocity parameters υH and υNH associated with the standard Hermitian and a masslike anti-Hermitian Dirac operators, respectively. They display linear energy-momentum relation, however, in terms of an effective Fermi velocity υF=υH2−υNH2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\upsilon}_{\ extrm{F}}=\\sqrt{\\upsilon_{\ extrm{H}}^2-{\\upsilon}_{\ extrm{NH}}^2} $$\\end{document} of NH Dirac fermions. Interaction with the fluctuating electromagnetic radiation then gives birth to an emergent Lorentz symmetry in this family of NH Dirac materials in the deep infrared regime, where the system possesses a unique terminal velocity υF = c, with c being the speed of light. While in two dimensions such a terminal velocity is set by the speed of light in the free space, dynamic screening in three spatial dimensions permits its nonuniversal values. Manifestations of such an emergent spacetime symmetry on the scale dependence of various physical observables in correlated NH Dirac materials are discussed.

Computational dissection of genetic variation modulating the response of multiple photosynthetic phenotypes to the light environment

BackgroundThe expression of biological traits is modulated by genetics as well as the environment, and the level of influence exerted by the latter may vary across characteristics. Photosynthetic traits in plants are complex quantitative traits that are regulated by both endogenous genetic factors and external environmental factors such as light intensity and CO2 concentration. The specific processes impacted occur dynamically and continuously as the growth of plants changes. Although studies have been conducted to explore the genetic regulatory mechanisms of individual photosynthetic traits or to evaluate the effects of certain environmental variables on photosynthetic traits, the systematic impact of environmental variables on the dynamic process of integrated plant growth and development has not been fully elucidated.ResultsIn this paper, we proposed a research framework to investigate the genetic mechanism of high-dimensional complex photosynthetic traits in response to the light environment at the genome level. We established a set of high-dimensional equations incorporating environmental regulators to integrate functional mapping and dynamic screening of gene‒environment complex systems to elucidate the process and pattern of intrinsic genetic regulatory mechanisms of three types of photosynthetic phenotypes of Populus simonii that varied with light intensity. Furthermore, a network structure was established to elucidate the crosstalk among significant QTLs that regulate photosynthetic phenotypic systems. Additionally, the detection of key QTLs governing the response of multiple phenotypes to the light environment, coupled with the intrinsic differences in genotype expression, provides valuable insights into the regulatory mechanisms that drive the transition of photosynthetic activity and photoprotection in the face of varying light intensity gradients.ConclusionsThis paper offers a comprehensive approach to unraveling the genetic architecture of multidimensional variations in photosynthetic phenotypes, considering the combined impact of integrated environmental factors from multiple perspectives.

Optimization of epilepsy detection method based on dynamic EEG channel screening

To decrease the interference in the process of epileptic feature extraction caused by insufficient detection capability in partial channels of focal epilepsy, this paper proposes a novel epilepsy detection method based on dynamic electroencephalogram (EEG) channel screening. This method not only extracts more effective epilepsy features but also finds common features among different epilepsy subjects, providing an effective approach and theoretical support for across-subject epilepsy detection in clinical scenarios.Firstly, we use the Refine Composite Multiscale Dispersion Entropy (RCMDE) to measure the complexity of EEG signals between normal and seizure states and realize the dynamic EEG channel screening among different subjects, which can enhance the capability of feature extraction and the robustness of epilepsy detection. Subsequently, we discover common epilepsy features in 3–15 Hz among different subjects by the screened EEG channels. By this finding, we construct the Residual Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (ResCon-LSTM) neural network to accomplish across-subject epilepsy detection.The experiment results on the CHB-MIT dataset indicate that the highest accuracy of epilepsy detection in the single-subject experiment is 98.523 %, improved by 5.298 % compared with non-channel screening. In the across-subject experiment, the average accuracy is 96.596 %. Therefore, this method could be effectively applied to different subjects by dynamically screening optimal channels and keep a good detection performance.

Impact of medical radionuclide discharges on people and the environment

We present a novel methodology to dynamically calculate dose rates to people and wildlife from hospital-released radionuclides reaching the environment through water treatment plants (WTPs), using the biokinetic model D-DAT for aquatic wildlife, applied to 18F, 123I, 131I, 153Sm, 99mTc and 201Tl. We have also developed a method to calculate doses to WTP workers and to farmers from agricultural practices. This proof-of-concept study simulates a generic source term of radionuclide levels in the Belgian Molse Nete River during the year 2018, chosen because the river flow was very low during that year, which constitutes a very conservative, bounding case. The dose rates to wildlife calculated for this hypothetical scenario under conservative assumptions, are well below the ERICA predicted no effects dose rate to wildlife of 10 μGy h−1. Human exposures are also very low, in most cases not exceeding 10 μSv y−1. This work identifies important data gaps and areas of uncertainty in the assessment of radiopharmaceutical effluents. The study, which is part of the EC project SINFONIA, paves the way for a dynamic screening assessment methodology able to perform consistently assessments of the impact of radiopharmaceuticals on people and wildlife. This is particularly relevant since discharges of radiopharmaceuticals in rivers are on the increase and it is necessary to explicitly demonstrate that people and the environment are adequately protected.

Modeling the effects of prebiotic interventions on luminal and mucosa-associated gut microbiota without and with Clostridium difficile challenge in vitro.

Prebiotics can modulate the gut microbial community composition and function for improved (gut) health and increase resilience against infections. In vitro models of the gut facilitate the study of intervention effects on the gut microbial community relevant to health. The mucosa-associated gut microbiota, which thrives in close contact with the host plays a pivotal role in colonization resistance and health. Therefore, we here introduce the Mi-screen, an experimental approach implementing a 96-well plate equipped with a mucus agar layer for the additional culturing of mucosa-associated microbiota in vitro. In this study, we screened the effects of 2'-Fucosyllactose (2'-FL), fructooligosaccharides (FOS), and inulin within a complex microbiota without and with infection with the C. difficile strains ATCC 43599 (Ribotype 001) or ATCC BAA-1870 (Ribotype 027). We analyzed the microbial community composition and short-chain fatty acid levels after 48 h of incubation. The inclusion of an additional substrate and surface in the form of the mucus agar layer allowed us to culture a microbial richness ranging between 100-160 in Chao index, with Shannon indices of 5-6 across culture conditions, indicative of a microbial diversity of physiological relevance. The mucus agar layer stimulated the growth of characteristic mucosa-associated bacteria such as Roseburia inulinovorans. The prebiotic interventions affected luminal and mucosal microbial communities cultured in vitro and stimulated short-chain fatty acid production. FOS, inulin and 2'-FL promoted the growth of Bifidobacterium adolescentis within the mucosa-associated microbiota cultured in vitro. When spiking the untreated conditions with pathogenic C. difficile, the strains thrived within the luminal and the mucosal sample types, whereas prebiotic treatments exhibited inhibitory effects on C. difficile growth and prevented colonization. In conclusion, the Mi-screen facilitates the screening of luminal and mucosa-associated gut microbial community dynamics in vitro and therefore fills an important gap in the field of in vitro modeling.

Modulation of Auger recombination via facet engineering in CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals

We demonstrate the modulation of Auger recombination via facet engineering in CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals, where the static dielectric screening effect is revealed to prevail over the dynamic polaronic screening effect.

Dynamic analysis of beam structure of linear vibrating screen

This paper presents a novel model for calculating the dynamic stress of a beam structure in a vibrating screen. The proposed model employs a dynamic screen box model as a foundation and utilizes the flow method to establish the mass of the screening materials within the screen box. By considering the motion characteristics of beam structures, the dynamic model for the beam structure of a vibrating screen is derived. The results indicate that the dynamic model can reveal the internal relationship between the dynamic characteristics of beam structures and the structural and material parameters. Finally, a validation example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic model. The presented model not only contributes to the understanding of the dynamic behavior of beam structures in vibrating screens but also provides a reliable and accurate method for predicting the dynamic stress in beam structures. The proposed model can be applied to optimize the design and performance of vibrating screens, which have wide applications in mining, metallurgy, and other industries. Further research can be conducted to explore the potential of the proposed model for other types of structures subjected to dynamic loads.

ANALYSIS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL ERGONOMICS FOR NIGHT SHIFT WORKERS CORRELATED WITH SLEEP QUALITY AND TIME TO RECOVERY

The worker’s recovery time from physical and mental workload is a crucial factor for office and factory management and it will effect on the working performance and design working system. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of physiological conditions on sleep quality and time to recovery for night shift electric steam power plant workers. The research is started with study literatures on physiology ergonomics, sleep quality measurement, human metabolism, expenditure energy graph and physical/mental workload. The research worked with 50 samples (age between 30 to 45 years old) who have duty to control the electric steam power plant on dynamic computer screen in the night shift. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire was used subjectively to measure the value of sleep quality on 19 self – rated questions that assessed various sleep quality – related factor over the previous month. To know the speed of Time to Recovery (TTR), every worker perform a treadmill load with constant speed of 5 Km/hour for 10 minutes. Heart rate changes before activity, during activity (treatment) and TTR are recorded and it be analysed the pattern of relationship conducting to PSQI score. According to the data analysis, the higher PSQI score the longer time consume by workers to recovery. Moreover, Pearson statistic test results found that there is a strong relationship between sleep quality (PSQI value) and TTR for workers with value of 0.853. In sort, improving the quality of sleep for night shift electric steam power plant workers can definitely improve work performance on a shorter rest time or healthier conditions of workers.

Risk factors for a false negative Ortolani and Barlow examination in developmental dysplasia of the hip

IntroductionAlthough universal screening by neonatal clinical examination with Ortolani and Barlow manoeuvres is widely adopted, its role as a sole screening tool is controversial due to its poor sensitivity and failure in identifying hip joints that eventually require surgical intervention. HypothesisThis study aims to identify risk factors for a false negative Ortolani and Barlow examination in neonatal screening for DDH. The hypothesis is that risk factors for developmental dysplasia of the hips could similarly be risk factors for a false negative Ortolani and Barlow examination. Material and methodsIn the 14-year retrospective cohort study, all newborn infants born in a single institution from 1st January 1999 to 31st December 2013 were screened clinically with the Ortolani/Barlow manoeuvre by a neonatologist. Infants with positive risk factors, despite a normal clinical examination, were then scheduled for bilateral hip ultrasound in the first three months of life and evaluated according to the Graf's method, Harcke's method of dynamic ultrasound screening and Terjesen's method of evaluation for femoral head coverage. ResultsA total of 164 infants with normal Ortolani and Barlow examinations were scheduled for bilateral hip ultrasound due to the presence of risk factors. Amongst these, 32 (19.5%) infants were evaluated to have an abnormal hip on ultrasound. Breech position was the only statistically significant risk factor for a false negative Ortolani/Barlow examination (14/34, 41.2% vs. 18/112, 13.8%; p<0.001). DiscussionSonographic hip examinations are recommended for all infants with breech presentation even if they have a normal Ortolani and Barlow examination. Level of evidenceIII; case-control study.

A two-stage denoising framework for zero-shot learning with noisy labels

Although zero-shot learning (ZSL) has gained widespread concern due to its excellent capacity of recognizing new object classes without seeing any visual instances, most existing methods assume that all seen-class instances used for training are correctly labeled. In some real application scenarios, when it comes to noisy labels, ZSL will inevitably suffer accuracy collapse. To address the issue, a two-stage denoising framework (TSDF) is proposed for ZSL in this work. First, an ZSL-oriented Joint training with co-regularization (JoCoR) is developed, which includes a tailored loss function that helps remove suspected noisy-label instances prior to training a ZSL model. Second, a ramp-style loss function is designed to reduce negative impact brought by the remaining noisy labels. In order to facilitate incorporating the ramp-style loss into deep-architecture based ZSL models, a matched dynamic screening strategy (DSS) is also developed. Unlike the traditional concave-convex procedure (CCCP) framework, DSS handles the nonconvexity of the ramp-style loss without requiring an additional iterative loop, demonstrating notable advantages in efficiency. In addition, DSS could work without a predetermined truncating point in the ramp-style loss. Experimental results show that our proposed method achieves exciting results in various noisy-label environments.

Root Walker: an automated pipeline for large scale quantification of early root growth responses at high spatial and temporal resolution.

Plants are sessile organisms that constantly adapt to their changing environment. The root is exposed to numerous environmental signals ranging from nutrients and water to microbial molecular patterns. These signals can trigger distinct responses including the rapid increase or decrease of root growth. Consequently, using root growth as a readout for signal perception can help decipher which external cues are perceived by roots, and how these signals are integrated. To date, studies measuring root growth responses using large numbers of roots have been limited by a lack of high-throughput image acquisition, poor scalability of analytical methods, or low spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we developed the Root Walker pipeline, which uses automated microscopes to acquire time-series images of many roots exposed to controlled treatments with high spatiotemporal resolution, in conjunction with fast and automated image analysis software. We demonstrate the power of Root Walker by quantifying root growth rate responses at different time and throughput scales upon treatment with natural auxin and two mitogen-associated protein kinase cascade inhibitors. We find a concentration-dependent root growth response to auxin and reveal the specificity of one MAPK inhibitor. We further demonstrate the ability of Root Walker to conduct genetic screens by performing a genome-wide association study on 260 accessions in under 2 weeks, revealingknown and unknown root growth regulators. Root Walker promises to be a useful toolkit for the plant science community, allowing large-scale screening of root growth dynamics for a variety of purposes, including genetic screens for root sensing and root growth response mechanisms.

An automated single-molecule FRET platform for high-content, multiwell plate screening of biomolecular conformations and dynamics

Single-molecule FRET (smFRET) has become a versatile tool for probing the structure and functional dynamics of biomolecular systems, and is extensively used to address questions ranging from biomolecular folding to drug discovery. Confocal smFRET measurements are amongst the widely used smFRET assays and are typically performed in a single-well format. Thus, sampling of many experimental parameters is laborious and time consuming. To address this challenge, we extend here the capabilities of confocal smFRET beyond single-well measurements by integrating a multiwell plate functionality to allow for continuous and automated smFRET measurements. We demonstrate the broad applicability of the multiwell plate assay towards DNA hairpin dynamics, protein folding, competitive and cooperative protein–DNA interactions, and drug-discovery, revealing insights that would be very difficult to achieve with conventional single-well format measurements. For the adaptation into existing instrumentations, we provide a detailed guide and open-source acquisition and analysis software.

Pregnancy outcomes and genetic analysis for fetal ventriculomegaly.

Introduction: Fetal ventriculomegaly (VM) is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, partly caused by genetic factor. Methods: To systematically investigate the genetic etiology of fetal VM and related pregnancy outcomes in different subgroups: IVM (isolated VM) and NIVM (non-isolated VM); unilateral and bilateral VM; mild, moderate, and severe VM, a retrospective study including 131 fetuses with VM was carried out from April 2017 to August 2022. Results: 82 cases underwent amniocentesis or cordocentesis, of whom 8 cases (9.8%) were found chromosomal abnormalities by karyotyping. Meanwhile, additional 8 cases (15.7%) with copy number variations (CNVs) were detected by copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq). The detection rate (DR) of chromosomal abnormalities was higher in NIVM, bilateral VM and severe VM groups. And CNVs frequently occurred in NIVM, bilateral VM and moderate VM groups. In the NIVM group, the incidence of chromosomal aberrations and CNVs in multiple system anomalies (19.0%, 35.7%) was higher than that in single system anomalies (10.0%, 21.1%). After dynamic ultrasound follow-up, 124 cases were available in our cohort. 12 cases were further found other structural abnormalities, and lateral ventricular width was found increased in 8 cases and decreased in 15 cases. Meanwhile, 82 cases underwent fetal brain MRI, 10 cases of brain lesions and 11 cases of progression were additionally identified. With the involvement of a multidisciplinary team, 45 cases opted for termination of pregnancy (TOP) and 79 cases were delivered with live births. One infant death and one with developmental retardation were finally found during postnatal follow-ups. Discussion: CNV-seq combined with karyotyping could effectively improve the diagnostic rate in fetuses with VM. Meanwhile, dynamic ultrasound screening and multidisciplinary evaluation are also essential for assessing the possible outcomes of fetuses with VM.