Divergent Projection Patterns Revealed by Reconstruction of Individual Neurons in Orbitofrontal Cortex

The orbitofrontal cortex(OFC)is involved in diverse brain functions via its extensive projections to multiple target regions.There is a growing understanding of the overall outputs of the OFC at the population level,but reports of the projection patterns of individual OFC neurons across different cortical layers remain rare.Here,by combining neuronal sparse and bright labeling with a whole-brain florescence imaging system(fMOST),we obtained an uninterrupted three-dimensional whole-brain dataset and achieved the full morphological reconstruction of 25 OFC pyramidal neurons.We compared the wholebrain projection targets of these individual OFC neurons in different cortical layers as well as in the same cortical layer.We found cortical layer-dependent projections characterized by divergent patterns for information delivery.Our study not only provides a structural basis for understanding the principles of laminar organizations in the OFC,but also provides clues for future functional and behavioral studies on OFC pyramidal neurons.

Accurate and efficient pulmonary CT imaging workflow for COVID-19 patients by the combination of intelligent guided robot and automatic positioning technology

Background:The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic has put radiologists at a higher risk of infection during the computer tomography(CT)examination for the patients.To help settling these problems,we adopted a remote-enabled and automated contactless imaging workflow for CT examination by the combination of intelligent guided robot and automatic positioning technology to reduce the potential exposure of radiologists to 2019 novel coronavirus(2019-nCoV)infection and to increase the examination efficiency,patient scanning accuracy and better image quality in chest CT imaging.Methods:From February 10 to April 12,2020,adult COVID-19 patients underwent chest CT examinations on a CT scanner using the same scan protocol except with the conventional imaging workflow(CW group)or an automatic contactless imaging workflow(AW group)in Wuhan Leishenshan Hospital(China)were retrospectively and prospectively enrolled in this study.The total examination time in two groups was recorded and compared.The patient compliance of breath holding,positioning accuracy,image noise and signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)were assessed by three experienced radiologists and compared between the two groups.Results:Compared with the CW group,the total positioning time of the AW group was reduced((118.0±20.0)s vs.(129.0±29.0)s,P=0.001),the proportion of scanning accuracy was higher(98%vs.93%),and the lung length had a significant difference((0.90±1.24)cm vs.(1.16±1.49)cm,P=0.009).For the lesions located in the pulmonary centrilobular and subpleural regions,the image noise in the AW group was significantly lower than that in the CW group(centrilobular region:(140.4±78.6)HU vs.(153.8±72.7)HU,P=0.028;subpleural region:(140.6±80.8)HU vs.(159.4±82.7)HU,P=0.010).For the lesions located in the peripheral,centrilobular and subpleural regions,SNR was significantly higher in the AW group than in the CW group(centrilobular region:6.6±4.3 vs.4.9±3.7,P=0.006;subpleural region:6.4±4.4 vs.4.8±4.0,P<0.001).Conclusions:The automatic contactless imaging workflow using intelligent guided robot and automatic posi-tioning technology allows for reducing the examination time and improving the patient’s compliance of breath holding,positioning accuracy and image quality in chest CT imaging.