LIVIVO - The Search Portal for Life Sciences

zur deutschen Oberfläche wechseln
Advanced search

Search results

Result 1 - 10 of total 27

Search options

  1. Article ; Online: Predicting the cytotoxicity of nanomaterials through explainable, extreme gradient boosting.

    Conti, Allegra / Campagnolo, Luisa / Diciotti, Stefano / Pietroiusti, Antonio / Toschi, Nicola

    Nanotoxicology

    2022  Volume 16, Issue 9-10, Page(s) 844–856

    Abstract: Nanoparticles (NPs) are a wide class of materials currently used in several industrial and biomedical applications. Due to their small size (1-100 nm), NPs can easily enter the human body, inducing tissue damage. NP toxicity depends on physical and ... ...

    Abstract Nanoparticles (NPs) are a wide class of materials currently used in several industrial and biomedical applications. Due to their small size (1-100 nm), NPs can easily enter the human body, inducing tissue damage. NP toxicity depends on physical and chemical NP properties (e.g., size, charge and surface area) in ways and magnitudes that are still unknown. We assess the average as well as the individual importance of NP atomic descriptors, along with chemical properties and experimental conditions, in determining cytotoxicity endpoints for several nanomaterials. We employ a multicenter cytotoxicity nanomaterial database (12 different materials with first and second dimensions ranging between 2.70 and 81.2 nm and between 4.10 and 4048 nm, respectively). We develop a regressor model based on extreme gradient boosting with hyperparameter optimization. We employ Shapley additive explanations to obtain good cytotoxicity prediction performance. Model performances are quantified as statistically significant Spearman correlations between the true and predicted values, ranging from 0.5 to 0.7. Our results show that i) size in situ and surface areas larger than 200 nm and 50 m2/g, respectively, ii) primary particles smaller than 20 nm; iii) irregular (i.e., not spherical) shapes and iv) positive Z-potentials contribute the most to the prediction of NP cytotoxicity, especially if lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays are employed for short experimental times. These results were moderately stable across toxicity endpoints, although some degree of variability emerged across dose quantification methods, confirming the complexity of nano-bio interactions and the need for large, systematic experimental characterization to reach a safer-by-design approach.
    MeSH term(s) Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Nanoparticles/toxicity ; Nanostructures/toxicity
    Chemical Substances L-Lactate Dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.27)
    Language English
    Publishing date 2022-12-19
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 2237988-5
    ISSN 1743-5404 ; 1743-5390
    ISSN (online) 1743-5404
    ISSN 1743-5390
    DOI 10.1080/17435390.2022.2156823
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  2. Article ; Online: Heritability of human "directed" functional connectome.

    Bianco, Maria Giovanna / Duggento, Andrea / Nigro, Salvatore / Conti, Allegra / Toschi, Nicola / Passamonti, Luca

    Brain and behavior

    2023  Volume 13, Issue 5, Page(s) e2839

    Abstract: Introduction: The functional connectivity patterns in the brain are highly heritable; however, it is unclear how genetic factors influence the directionality of such "information flows." Studying the "directionality" of the brain functional connectivity ...

    Abstract Introduction: The functional connectivity patterns in the brain are highly heritable; however, it is unclear how genetic factors influence the directionality of such "information flows." Studying the "directionality" of the brain functional connectivity and assessing how heritability modulates it can improve our understanding of the human connectome.
    Methods: Here, we investigated the heritability of "directed" functional connections using a state-space formulation of Granger causality (GC), in conjunction with blind deconvolution methods accounting for local variability in the hemodynamic response function. Such GC implementation is ideal to explore the directionality of functional interactions across a large number of networks. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were drawn from the Human Connectome Project (total n = 898 participants). To add robustness to our findings, the dataset was randomly split into a "discovery" and a "replication" sample (each with n = 449 participants). The two cohorts were carefully matched in terms of demographic variables and other confounding factors (e.g., education). The effect of shared environment was also modeled.
    Results: The parieto- and prefronto-cerebellar, parieto-prefrontal, and posterior-cingulate to hippocampus connections showed the highest and most replicable heritability effects with little influence by shared environment. In contrast, shared environmental factors significantly affected the visuo-parietal and sensory-motor directed connectivity.
    Conclusion: We suggest a robust role of heritability in influencing the directed connectivity of some cortico-subcortical circuits implicated in cognition. Further studies, for example using task-based fMRI and GC, are warranted to confirm the asymmetric effects of genetic factors on the functional connectivity within cognitive networks and their role in supporting executive functions and learning.
    MeSH term(s) Humans ; Connectome/methods ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Brain/diagnostic imaging ; Brain/physiology ; Cognition/physiology ; Executive Function ; Nerve Net
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-03-29
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 2623587-0
    ISSN 2162-3279 ; 2162-3279
    ISSN (online) 2162-3279
    ISSN 2162-3279
    DOI 10.1002/brb3.2839
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  3. Article: An Interpretable Machine Learning Model to Predict Cortical Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis.

    Conti, Allegra / Treaba, Constantina Andrada / Mehndiratta, Ambica / Barletta, Valeria Teresa / Mainero, Caterina / Toschi, Nicola

    Brain sciences

    2023  Volume 13, Issue 2

    Abstract: To date, the relationship between central hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS), such as white matter (WM)/cortical demyelinated lesions and cortical gray matter atrophy, remains unclear. We investigated the interplay between cortical atrophy and ... ...

    Abstract To date, the relationship between central hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS), such as white matter (WM)/cortical demyelinated lesions and cortical gray matter atrophy, remains unclear. We investigated the interplay between cortical atrophy and individual lesion-type patterns that have recently emerged as new radiological markers of MS disease progression. We employed a machine learning model to predict mean cortical thinning in whole-brain and single hemispheres in 150 cortical regions using demographic and lesion-related characteristics, evaluated via an ultrahigh field (7 Tesla) MRI. We found that (i) volume and rimless (i.e., without a "rim" of iron-laden immune cells) WM lesions, patient age, and volume of intracortical lesions have the most predictive power; (ii) WM lesions are more important for prediction when their load is small, while cortical lesion load becomes more important as it increases; (iii) WM lesions play a greater role in the progression of atrophy during the latest stages of the disease. Our results highlight the intricacy of MS pathology across the whole brain. In turn, this calls for multivariate statistical analyses and mechanistic modeling techniques to understand the etiopathogenesis of lesions.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-01-24
    Publishing country Switzerland
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2651993-8
    ISSN 2076-3425
    ISSN 2076-3425
    DOI 10.3390/brainsci13020198
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  4. Article ; Online: Classification of real-world pathological phonocardiograms through multi-instance learning.

    Duggento, Andrea / Conti, Allegra / Guerrisi, Maria / Toschi, Nicola

    Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference

    2021  Volume 2021, Page(s) 771–774

    Abstract: Heart auscultation is an inexpensive and fundamental technique to effectively to diagnose cardiovascular disease. However, due to relatively high human error rates even when auscultation is performed by an experienced physician, and due to the not ... ...

    Abstract Heart auscultation is an inexpensive and fundamental technique to effectively to diagnose cardiovascular disease. However, due to relatively high human error rates even when auscultation is performed by an experienced physician, and due to the not universal availability of qualified personnel e.g. in developing countries, a large body of research is attempting to develop automated, computational tools for detecting abnormalities in heart sounds. The large heterogeneity of achievable data quality and devices, the variety o possible heart pathologies, and a generally poor signal-to-noise ratio make this problem extremely challenging. We present an accurate classification strategy for diagnosing heart sounds based on 1) automatic heart phase segmentation, 2) state-of-the art filters drawn from the filed of speech synthesis (mel-frequency cepstral representation), and 3) an ad-hoc multi-branch, multi-instance artificial neural network based on convolutional layers and fully connected neuronal ensembles which separately learns from each heart phase, hence leveraging their different physiological significance. We demonstrate that it is possible to train our architecture to reach very high performances, e.g. an AUC of 0.87 or a sensitivity of 0.97. Our machine-learning-based tool could be employed for heart sound classification, especially as a screening tool in a variety of situations including telemedicine applications.
    MeSH term(s) Heart Auscultation ; Heart Sounds ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-12-10
    Publishing country United States
    Document type Journal Article
    ISSN 2694-0604
    ISSN (online) 2694-0604
    DOI 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9630705
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  5. Article ; Online: A novel multi-branch architecture for state of the art robust detection of pathological phonocardiograms.

    Duggento, Andrea / Conti, Allegra / Guerrisi, Maria / Toschi, Nicola

    Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences

    2021  Volume 379, Issue 2212, Page(s) 20200264

    Abstract: Heart auscultation is an inexpensive and fundamental technique to effectively diagnose cardiovascular disease. However, due to relatively high human error rates even when auscultation is performed by an experienced physician, and due to the not universal ...

    Abstract Heart auscultation is an inexpensive and fundamental technique to effectively diagnose cardiovascular disease. However, due to relatively high human error rates even when auscultation is performed by an experienced physician, and due to the not universal availability of qualified personnel, e.g. in developing countries, many efforts are made worldwide to propose computational tools for detecting abnormalities in heart sounds. The large heterogeneity of achievable data quality and devices, the variety of possible heart pathologies, and a generally poor signal-to-noise ratio make this problem very challenging. We present an accurate classification strategy for diagnosing heart sounds based on (1) automatic heart phase segmentation, (2) state-of-the art filters drawn from the field of speech synthesis (mel-frequency cepstral representation) and (3) an ad hoc multi-branch, multi-instance artificial neural network based on convolutional layers and fully connected neuronal ensembles which separately learns from each heart phase hence implicitly leveraging their different physiological significance. We demonstrate that it is possible to train our architecture to reach very high performances, e.g. an area under the curve of 0.87 or a sensitivity of 0.97. Our machine-learning-based tool could be employed for heartsound classification, especially as a screening tool in a variety of situations including telemedicine applications. This article is part of the theme issue 'Advanced computation in cardiovascular physiology: new challenges and opportunities'.
    MeSH term(s) Algorithms ; Heart Sounds ; Humans ; Machine Learning ; Neural Networks, Computer ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio
    Language English
    Publishing date 2021-10-25
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 208381-4
    ISSN 1471-2962 ; 0080-4614 ; 0264-3820 ; 0264-3952 ; 1364-503X
    ISSN (online) 1471-2962
    ISSN 0080-4614 ; 0264-3820 ; 0264-3952 ; 1364-503X
    DOI 10.1098/rsta.2020.0264
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  6. Article: Dynomics: A Novel and Promising Approach for Improved Breast Cancer Prognosis Prediction.

    Inglese, Marianna / Ferrante, Matteo / Boccato, Tommaso / Conti, Allegra / Pistolese, Chiara A / Buonomo, Oreste C / D'Angelillo, Rolando M / Toschi, Nicola

    Journal of personalized medicine

    2023  Volume 13, Issue 6

    Abstract: Traditional imaging techniques for breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and prediction, such as X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), demonstrate varying sensitivity and specificity due to clinical and technological factors. Consequently, positron ... ...

    Abstract Traditional imaging techniques for breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and prediction, such as X-rays and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), demonstrate varying sensitivity and specificity due to clinical and technological factors. Consequently, positron emission tomography (PET), capable of detecting abnormal metabolic activity, has emerged as a more effective tool, providing critical quantitative and qualitative tumor-related metabolic information. This study leverages a public clinical dataset of dynamic
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-06-15
    Publishing country Switzerland
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2662248-8
    ISSN 2075-4426
    ISSN 2075-4426
    DOI 10.3390/jpm13061004
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  7. Article: Interception of vertically approaching objects: temporal recruitment of the internal model of gravity and contribution of optical information.

    Delle Monache, Sergio / Paolocci, Gianluca / Scalici, Francesco / Conti, Allegra / Lacquaniti, Francesco / Indovina, Iole / Bosco, Gianfranco

    Frontiers in physiology

    2023  Volume 14, Page(s) 1266332

    Abstract: Introduction: ...

    Abstract Introduction:
    Language English
    Publishing date 2023-11-17
    Publishing country Switzerland
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2564217-0
    ISSN 1664-042X
    ISSN 1664-042X
    DOI 10.3389/fphys.2023.1266332
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  8. Article ; Online: About the Marty model of blood-brain barrier closure after its disruption using focused ultrasound.

    Conti, Allegra / Mériaux, Sébastien / Larrat, Benoit

    Physics in medicine and biology

    2019  Volume 64, Issue 14, Page(s) 14NT02

    Abstract: Many studies have demonstrated that pulsed ultrasound combined with circulating microbubbles can permeate the blood-brain barrier in a reversible manner. In 2012, our group demonstrated that the BBB remains permeable to small MRI contrast agents up to 24  ...

    Abstract Many studies have demonstrated that pulsed ultrasound combined with circulating microbubbles can permeate the blood-brain barrier in a reversible manner. In 2012, our group demonstrated that the BBB remains permeable to small MRI contrast agents up to 24 h after ultrasound application and also that this duration was dependent on nanoparticle size. We derived a simple theoretical model explaining these observations (Marty et al 2012 J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 32 1948-58). However, in this original paper the expression of the BBB closure time (t
    MeSH term(s) Blood-Brain Barrier/drug effects ; Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism ; Blood-Brain Barrier/radiation effects ; Brain/drug effects ; Brain/metabolism ; Brain/radiation effects ; Contrast Media/metabolism ; Drug Delivery Systems/methods ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Microbubbles ; Models, Statistical ; Sonication/methods ; Ultrasonic Waves
    Chemical Substances Contrast Media
    Language English
    Publishing date 2019-07-18
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
    ZDB-ID 208857-5
    ISSN 1361-6560 ; 0031-9155
    ISSN (online) 1361-6560
    ISSN 0031-9155
    DOI 10.1088/1361-6560/ab259d
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  9. Article: Ultrasound neuromodulation: mechanisms and the potential of multimodal stimulation for neuronal function assessment.

    Kamimura, Hermes A S / Conti, Allegra / Toschi, Nicola / Konofagou, Elisa E

    Frontiers in physics

    2020  Volume 8

    Abstract: Focused ultrasound (FUS) neuromodulation has shown that mechanical waves can interact with cell membranes and mechanosensitive ion channels, causing changes in neuronal activity. However, the thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in these ... ...

    Abstract Focused ultrasound (FUS) neuromodulation has shown that mechanical waves can interact with cell membranes and mechanosensitive ion channels, causing changes in neuronal activity. However, the thorough understanding of the mechanisms involved in these interactions are hindered by different experimental conditions for a variety of animal scales and models. While the lack of complete understanding of FUS neuromodulation mechanisms does not impede benefiting from the current known advantages and potential of this technique, a precise characterization of its mechanisms of action and their dependence on experimental setup (e.g., tuning acoustic parameters and characterizing safety ranges) has the potential to exponentially improve its efficacy as well as spatial and functional selectivity. This could potentially reach the cell type specificity typical of other, more invasive techniques e.g., opto- and chemogenetics or at least orientation-specific selectivity afforded by transcranial magnetic stimulation. Here, the mechanisms and their potential overlap are reviewed along with discussions on the potential insights into mechanisms that magnetic resonance imaging sequences along with a multimodal stimulation approach involving electrical, magnetic, chemical, light, and mechanical stimuli can provide.
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-05-26
    Publishing country Switzerland
    Document type Journal Article
    ZDB-ID 2721033-9
    ISSN 2296-424X
    ISSN 2296-424X
    DOI 10.3389/fphy.2020.00150
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

  10. Article ; Online: Radiomics in breast cancer classification and prediction.

    Conti, Allegra / Duggento, Andrea / Indovina, Iole / Guerrisi, Maria / Toschi, Nicola

    Seminars in cancer biology

    2020  Volume 72, Page(s) 238–250

    Abstract: Breast Cancer (BC) is the common form of cancer in women. Its diagnosis and screening are usually performed through different imaging modalities such as mammography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. However, mammography and ultrasound-imaging ... ...

    Abstract Breast Cancer (BC) is the common form of cancer in women. Its diagnosis and screening are usually performed through different imaging modalities such as mammography, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. However, mammography and ultrasound-imaging techniques have limited sensitivity and specificity both in identifying lesions and in differentiating malign from benign lesions, especially in presence of dense breast parenchyma. Due to the higher resolution of magnetic resonance images, MRI represents the method with the higher specificity and sensitivity among all the available tools, in both lesions' identification and diagnosis. However, especially for diagnosis, even MRI has limitations that are only partially solved if combined with mammography. Unfortunately, due to the limits of all these imaging tools, in order to have a certain diagnosis, patients often receive painful and costly bioptics procedures. In this context, several computational approaches have been developed to increase sensitivity, while maintaining the same specificity, in BC diagnosis and screening. Amongst these, radiomics has been increasingly gaining ground in oncology to improve cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. Radiomics derives multiple quantitative features from single or multiple medical imaging modalities, highlighting image traits which are not visible to the naked eye and hence significantly augmenting the discriminatory and predictive potential of medical imaging. This review article aims to summarize the state of the art in radiomics-based BC research. The dominating evidence extracted from the literature points towards a high potential of radiomics in disentangling malignant from benign breast lesions, classifying BC types and grades and also in predicting treatment response and recurrence risk. In the era of personalized medicine, radiomics has the potential to improve diagnosis, prognosis, prediction, monitoring, image-based intervention, and assessment of therapeutic response in BC.
    MeSH term(s) Breast Neoplasms/classification ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted/methods ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging/methods ; Mammography/methods ; Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography/methods
    Language English
    Publishing date 2020-05-01
    Publishing country England
    Document type Journal Article ; Review
    ZDB-ID 1033980-2
    ISSN 1096-3650 ; 1044-579X
    ISSN (online) 1096-3650
    ISSN 1044-579X
    DOI 10.1016/j.semcancer.2020.04.002
    Database MEDical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System OnLINE

    More links

    Kategorien

To top