Background: Covid-19 is an extremely contagious illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) virus. The cardiac involvement in such a public health emergency disease has not been well studied and a conflicting evidence exists on this issue. Objective: This systematic review article aimed to compile and illustrate clinical characteristics, diagnostic findings, management, and outcomes manifesting in myocarditis linked with Covid-19. Methods: A literature search was accomplished for published eligible articles with MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases. All eligible case reports and case series were included from around the world without any language restrictions. For this review, inclusion criteria were laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection cases reporting a diagnosis of acute myocarditis. Results: Data from 41 studies describing myocarditis in 42 Covid-19 patients was obtained. The median age of these patients was 43.4 years, with 71.4% of them being men. Fever was the most prevalent presenting symptoms seen in 57% of patients. Hypertension was the most pervasive comorbidity accompanying these patients. Cardiac biomarkers troponin and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were raised in almost 90% and 87% of patients, respectively. Electrocardiogram findings were nonspecific and included ST-segment and T-wave changes. Echocardiogram commonly showed left ventricular systolic dysfunction with increased heart size. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) exhibited myocardial edema and injury. The most prevalent histopathological feature appreciated was diffuse lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates. Antivirals and corticosteroids were the most frequently used medications. About 38% of patients also needed vasopressor assistance. Out of 42 patients, 67% recovered, and eight died. Conclusion:Because of the risk of a sudden worsening of patients conditions and myocarditis association with considerable mortality and morbidity, a knowledge of this cardiac complication of Covid-19 disease is crucial for healthcare professionals.

Observational studies indicate that pleural effusion has an association with risk and the clinical prognosis of COVID‐19 disease; however, the available literature on this area is inconsistent. The objective of this systematic review and meta‐analysis is to evaluate the correlation between COVID‐19 disease and pleural effusion. A rigorous literature search was conducted using multiple databases. All eligible observational studies were included from around the globe. The pooled prevalence and associated 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using the random effect model. Mantel–Haenszel odds ratios were produced to report overall effect size using random effect models for severity and mortality outcomes. Funnel plots, Egger regression tests, and Begg–Mazumdar's rank correlation test were used to appraise publication bias. Data from 23 studies including 6234 COVID‐19 patients was obtained. The overall prevalence of pleural effusion in COVID‐19 patients was 9.55% (95% CI, I2 = 92%). Our findings also indicated that the presence of pleural effusions associated with increased risk of severity of disease(OR = 5.08, 95% CI 3.14–8.22, I2 = 77.4%) and mortality due to illness(OR = 4.53, 95% CI 2.16–9.49, I2 = 66%) compared with patients without pleural effusion. Sensitivity analyses illustrated a similar effect size while decreasing the heterogeneity. No significant publication bias was evident in the meta‐analysis. The presence of pleural effusion can assist as a prognostic factor to evaluate the risk of worse outcomes in COVID‐19 patients hence, it is recommended that hospitalized COVID‐19 patients with pleural effusion should be managed on an early basis.

Background: Covid-19 is an extremely contagious illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) virus. Although this disease primarily involves pulmonary tissue, rapidly advancing research has established cardiac involvement in Covid-19 patients. Objective: This systematic review article aimed to compile and illustrate clinical characteristics, diagnostic findings, management, and outcomes manifesting in myocarditis linked with Covid-19. Methods: A literature search was accomplished for published eligible articles with MEDLINE/PubMed and Embase databases. All eligible case reports and case series were included from around the world without any language restrictions. For this review, inclusion criteria were laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection cases reporting a diagnosis of acute myocarditis. Results: Data from 41 studies describing myocarditis in 42 Covid-19 patients was obtained. The median age of these patients was 43.4 years, with 71.4% of them being male. Fever was the most prevalent presenting symptoms seen in 57% of patients. Hypertension was the most pervasive comorbidity accompanying these patients. Cardiac biomarkers troponin and Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) were raised in almost 90% and 87% of patients, respectively. Electrocardiogram findings were Non-specific and included ST-segment and T-wave changes. The most prevalent histopathological feature appreciated was diffuse lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrates. Antivirals and corticosteroids were the most frequently used medications. About 38% of patients also needed vasopressor assistance. Out of 42 patients, 67% recovered, and eight died. Conclusion: Due to the risk of a sudden worsening of patients conditions and myocarditis association with considerable mortality and morbidity, a knowledge of this cardiac complication of Covid-19 disease is crucial for healthcare professionals.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we used vessel size imaging to investigate the specific microvascular changes and most susceptible brain regions during AD progression in an amyloid precursor protein 23 (APP23) transgenic AD mouse model. Using 9.4 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the values of microvascular density (Density), mean vessel diameter (mVD), and vessel size index (VSI) were compared between APP23 and wild-type (WT) mice at 3, 6, 9, 14, and 20 months of age. Our results demonstrate that in 20-month old APP23 and WT mice, the Density values were significantly decreased, while the vascular dilatation and diameter had increased. However, a transient increase in the cortex Density at 14-months was observed in APP23 mice. Additionally, our results suggest that the hippocampus is the susceptible brain region affected by the abnormal microvascular angiogenesis during the early stages of AD. Together, our findings indicate that vessel size imaging using MRI can provide novel biomarkers for the early detection of AD, and for monitoring the effects of vascular-targeted therapeutics in AD.

The homeostasis of various metabolites is impaired in epilepsy secondary to the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) imaging is an emerging molecular MRI technique that can detect various metabolites and proteins in vivo. However, the role of CEST imaging for TSC‐associated epilepsy has not been assessed. Here, we aim to investigate the feasibility of applying CEST imaging to TSC‐associated epilepsy, optimize the CEST acquisition parameters, and provide an analysis method for exploring the dominant molecular contributors to the CEST signal measured. Nine TSC epilepsy patients were scanned on a 3‐T MRI system. The CEST saturation frequencies were swept from −6 to 6 ppm with 12 different combinations of saturation power (4, 3, 2 and 1 μT) and duration (1000, 700 and 400 ms). Furthermore, a two‐stage simulation method based on the seven‐pool Bloch‐McConnell model was proposed to assess the contribution of each exchangeable pool to the CEST signal in normal‐appearing white matter and cortical tubers, which avoided the complexity and uncertainty of full Bloch‐McConnell fitting. The results showed that under the optimal saturation duration of 1000 ms, the greatest contrast between tubers and normal tissues occurred around 3, 2.5, 1.75 and 3.5 ppm for B1 of 4, 3, 2 and 1 μT, respectively. At the optimal frequency offsets, the CEST values of tubers were significantly higher than those in the normal brain tissues (P < 0.01). Furthermore, the two‐stage analysis suggested that the amine pool played a dominant role in yielding the contrast between cortical tubers and normal tissues. These results indicate that CEST MRI may serve as a potentially useful tool for identifying tubers in TSC, and the two‐stage analysis method may provide a route for investigating the molecular contributions to the CEST contrast in biological tissues.

No abstract

Experience-dependent cortical plasticity is a pivotal process of human brain development and essential for the formation of most cognitive functions. Although studies found that early visual experience could influence the endogenous development of visual cortex in animals, little is known about such impact on human infants. Using the multimodal MRI data from the developing human connectome project, we characterized the early structural and functional maps in the ventral visual cortex and their development during neonatal period. Particularly, we found that postnatal time selectively modulated the cortical thickness in the ventral visual cortex and the functional circuit between bilateral primary visual cortices. But the cortical myelination and functional connections of the high-order visual cortex developed without significant influence of postnatal time in such an early period. The structure–function analysis further revealed that the postnatal time had a direct influence on the development of homotopic connection in area V1, while gestational time had an indirect effect on it through cortical myelination. These findings were further validated in preterm-born infants who had longer postnatal time but shorter gestational time at birth. In short, these data suggested in human newborns that early postnatal time shaped the structural and functional development of the visual cortex in selective and organized patterns.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) endosperm provides the developing embryo with nutrients and provides human beings with a staple food. The embryo eventually develops into a new sporophyte generation. Despite their important roles, the molecular mechanisms underlying early-stage endosperm and embryo development remain elusive. Here, we established the fundamental functions of rice OsLFR, an ortholog of the Arabidopsis SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex (CRC) component LFR. OsLFR was expressed primarily in the rice spikelets and seeds, and the OsLFR protein was localized to the nucleus. We conducted genetic, cellular and molecular analyses of loss-of-function mutants and transgenic rescue lines. OsLFR depletion resulted in homozygous lethality in the early seed stage through endosperm and embryo defects, which could be successfully recovered by the OsLFR genomic sequence. Cytological observations revealed that the oslfr endosperm had relatively fewer free nuclei, had abnormal and arrested cellularization, and demonstrated premature programed cell death: the embryo was reduced in size and failed to differentiate. Transcriptome profiling showed that many genes, involved in DNA replication, cell cycle, cell wall assembly and cell death, were differentially expressed in a knockout mutant of OsLFR (oslfr-1), which was consistent with the observed seed defects. Protein-protein interaction analysis showed that OsLFR physically interacts with several putative rice SWI/SNF CRC components. Our findings demonstrate that OsLFR, possibly as one component of the SWI/SNF CRC, is an essential regulator of rice seed development, and provide further insights into the regulatory mechanism of early-stage rice endosperm and embryo development.