PCR Detection of the Three <i>Neofabraea</i>Pathogenic Species Responsible for Apple Bull’s Eye Rot

Apple bull’s eye rot is caused by pathogenic Neofabraea species including N. malicorticis, N. perennans and N. alba. Fruits carrying this fungal quarantine disease are prohibited from entering China. The host plants for the pathogens include several Rosaceae fruits including apple and pear. Disease symptoms and pathogen morphology are often insufficient to determine the identity of the pathogen, particularly at the species level. In the current study, we analyzed the inter-species sequence variations in the β-tublin gene, and designed specific primers to allow PCR amplification of 554 bp fragments from pathogenic Neofabraea species. The PCR products were recovered and sequenced, and Blast search was conducted using the DNA sequences in the Genbank database. The results indicated precise PCR amplification of the target sequences from the host pathogen, which allowed unambiguous identification of the species.

“Bull’s eye”appearance of hepatocellular adenomas in patients with glycogen storage disease type I-atypical magnetic resonance imaging findings:Two case reports

BACKGROUND Hepatocellular adenomas are rare tumors that can occur in patients with glycogen storage disease type I.CASE SUMMARY We herein report two cases of histologically proven hepatocellular adenomas in patients with glycogen storage disease type I.Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)was performed after bolus injection of gadoxetate disodium,a liver-specific gadolinium-based MRI contrast agent.In the present cases,some of the hepatocellular adenomas showed unexpectedly a“bull’s eye”appearance on T2-weighted and post-contrast images,which was not previously described as imaging findings of hepatocellular adenomas in glycogen storage disease.A bull’s eye appearance on T2-weighted images can be encountered in both benign(i.e.,abscess)or malignant(i.e.,epithelioid hemangioendothelioma,cholangiocarcinoma,and metastases)hepatic lesions.CONCLUSION We present two cases of hepatocellular adenomas in patients with glycogen storage disease type 1,in which gadoxetate disodium-MRI showed atypical imaging findings for hepatocellular adenomas.At present there is no systematic study evaluating MRI findings of hepatocellular adenomas in patients with glycogen storage disease,further studies are needed to specifically investigate this issue.

Integrated Assessment of Cardiac PET/MRI: Co-Registered PET and MRI Polar Plots by Mutual MR-Based Segmentation of the Left Ventricular Myocardium

Background: In the present study, we sought to describe a procedure for the creation of co-registered positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) polar plots of cardiac PET/MRI examinations, validate the resulting plots against available standard methods in patients with myocardial infarction and provide examples that demonstrate the advantage of the novel approach over existing standards. Methods: Co-registered LGE and PET short-axis images were transformed into polar maps based on a radial sampling pattern. LGE was automatically detected using an automated thresholding algorithm (ATA). In 20 PET/MRI examinations in patients with acute myocardial infarction, agreement between manual LGE assessment and the ATA classification was calculated. Also agreement between MRI-segmentation based PET polar plots and standard PET polar plots (created with the Corridor4DM software package) was assessed. Results: No statistically significant difference in infarct sizes between manual and ATA segmentation was found (p = 0.12). Both methods were highly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.96, p Conclusion: A straightforward software approach for the creation of co-registered PET and MRI polar plots was described and successfully demonstrated in PET/MRI studies of myocardial infarction and inflammation.

Integrated colloidal quantum dot photodetectors with color-tunable plasmonic nanofocusing lenses

High-sensitivity photodetection is at the heart of many optoelectronic applications,including spectroscopy,imaging,surveillance,remote sensing and medical diagnostics.Achieving the highest possible sensitivity for a given photodetector technology requires the development of ultra-small-footprint detectors,as the noise sources scale with the area of the detector.This must be accomplished while sacrificing neither the optically active area of the detector nor its responsivity.Currently,such designs are based on diffraction-limited approaches using optical lenses.Here,we employ a plasmonic flat-lens bull’s eye structure(BES)to concentrate and focus light into a nanoscale colloidal quantum dot(CQD)photodetector.The plasmonic lenses function as nanofocusing resonant structures that simultaneously offer color selectivity and enhanced sensitivity.Herein,we demonstrate the first CQD photodetector with a nanoscale footprint,the optically active area of which is determined by the BES;this detector represents an exciting opportunity for high-sensitivity sensing.