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David Roche, Debora Gil, & Jesus Giraldo. (2013). "Multiple active receptor conformation, agonist efficacy and maximum effect of the system: the conformation-based operational model of agonism, " . Drug Discovery Today, 18(7-8), 365–371.
Abstract: The operational model of agonism assumes that the maximum effect a particular receptor system can achieve (the Em parameter) is fixed. Em estimates are above but close to the asymptotic maximum effects of endogenous agonists. The concept of Em is contradicted by superagonists and those positive allosteric modulators that significantly increase the maximum effect of endogenous agonists. An extension of the operational model is proposed that assumes that the Em parameter does not necessarily have a single value for a receptor system but has multiple values associated to multiple active receptor conformations. The model provides a mechanistic link between active receptor conformation and agonist efficacy, which can be useful for the analysis of agonist response under different receptor scenarios.
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Alberto Hidalgo, Ferran Poveda, Enric Marti, Debora Gil, Albert Andaluz, Francesc Carreras, et al. (2012). "Evidence of continuous helical structure of the cardiac ventricular anatomy assessed by diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance multiresolution tractography " . European Radiology, 3(1), 361–362.
Abstract: Deep understanding of myocardial structure linking morphology and func- tion of the heart would unravel crucial knowledge for medical and surgical clinical procedures and studies. Diffusion tensor MRI provides a discrete measurement of the 3D arrangement of myocardial fibres by the observation of local anisotropic
diffusion of water molecules in biological tissues. In this work, we present a multi- scale visualisation technique based on DT-MRI streamlining capable of uncovering additional properties of the architectural organisation of the heart. Methods and Materials: We selected the John Hopkins University (JHU) Canine Heart Dataset, where the long axis cardiac plane is aligned with the scanner’s Z- axis. Their equipment included a 4-element passed array coil emitting a 1.5 T. For DTI acquisition, a 3D-FSE sequence is apply. We used 200 seeds for full-scale tractography, while we applied a MIP mapping technique for simplified tractographic reconstruction. In this case, we reduced each DTI 3D volume dimensions by order- two magnitude before streamlining.
Our simplified tractographic reconstruction method keeps the main geometric features of fibres, allowing for an easier identification of their global morphological disposition, including the ventricular basal ring. Moreover, we noticed a clearly visible helical disposition of the myocardial fibres, in line with the helical myocardial band ventricular structure described by Torrent-Guasp. Finally, our simplified visualisation with single tracts identifies the main segments of the helical ventricular architecture.
DT-MRI makes possible the identification of a continuous helical architecture of the myocardial fibres, which validates Torrent-Guasp’s helical myocardial band ventricular anatomical model.
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Francesc Carreras, Jaume Garcia, Debora Gil, Sandra Pujadas, Chi ho Lion, R.Suarez-Arias, et al. (2012). "Left ventricular torsion and longitudinal shortening: two fundamental components of myocardial mechanics assessed by tagged cine-MRI in normal subjects " . International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging, 28(2), 273–284.
Abstract: Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (Cardiac MRI) has become a gold standard diagnostic technique for the assessment of cardiac mechanics, allowing the non-invasive calculation of left ventric- ular long axis longitudinal shortening (LVLS) and absolute myocardial torsion (AMT) between basal and apical left ventricular slices, a movement directly related to the helicoidal anatomic disposition of the myocardial fibers. The aim of this study is to determine AMT and LVLS behaviour and normal values from a group of healthy subjects. A group of 21 healthy volunteers (15 males) (age: 23–55 y.o., mean:30.7 ± 7.5) were prospectively included in an obser- vational study by Cardiac MRI. Left ventricular rotation (degrees) was calculated by custom-made software (Harmonic Phase Flow) in consecutive LV short axis planes tagged cine-MRI sequences. AMT was determined from the difference between basal and apical planes LV rotations. LVLS (%) was determined from the LV longitudinal and horizontal axis cine-MRI images. All the 21 cases studied were interpretable, although in three cases the value of the LV apical rotation could not be determined. The mean rotation of the basal and apical planes at end-systole were -3.71° ± 0.84° and 6.73° ± 1.69° (n:18) respectively, resulting in a LV mean AMT of 10.48° ± 1.63° (n:18). End-systolic mean LVLS was 19.07 ± 2.71%. Cardiac MRI allows for the calculation of AMT and LVLS, fundamental functional components of the ventricular twist mechanics conditioned, in turn, by the anatomical helical layout of the myocardial fibers. These values provide complementary information about systolic ventricular function in relation to the traditional parameters used in daily practice.
Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Tagging MRI; Cardiac mechanics; Ventricular torsion
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Marta Diez-Ferrer, Arturo Morales, Rosa Lopez Lisbona, Noelia Cubero, Cristian Tebe, Susana Padrones, et al. (2019). Ultrathin Bronchoscopy with and without Virtual Bronchoscopic Navigation: Influence of Segmentation on Diagnostic Yield . Respiration, 97(3), 252–258.
Abstract: Background: Bronchoscopy is a safe technique for diagnosing peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs), and virtual bronchoscopic navigation (VBN) helps guide the bronchoscope to PPLs. Objectives: We aimed to compare the diagnostic yield of VBN-guided and unguided ultrathin bronchoscopy (UTB) and explore clinical and technical factors associated with better results. We developed a diagnostic algorithm for deciding whether to use VBN to reach PPLs or choose an alternative diagnostic approach. Methods: We compared diagnostic yield between VBN-UTB (prospective cases) and unguided UTB (historical controls) and analyzed the VBN-UTB subgroup to identify clinical and technical variables that could predict the success of VBN-UTB. Results: Fifty-five cases and 110 controls were included. The overall diagnostic yield did not differ between the VBN-guided and unguided arms (47 and 40%, respectively; p = 0.354). Although the yield was slightly higher for PPLs ≤20 mm in the VBN-UTB arm, the difference was not significant (p = 0.069). No other clinical characteristics were associated with a higher yield in a subgroup analysis, but an 85% diagnostic yield was observed when segmentation was optimal and the PPL was endobronchial (vs. 30% when segmentation was suboptimal and 20% when segmentation was optimal but the PPL was extrabronchial). Conclusions: VBN-guided UTB is not superior to unguided UTB. A greater impact of VBN-guided over unguided UTB is highly dependent on both segmentation quality and an endobronchial location of the PPL. Segmentation quality should be considered before starting a procedure, when an alternative technique that may improve yield can be chosen, saving time and resources.
Keywords: Lung cancer; Peripheral lung lesion; Diagnosis; Bronchoscopy; Ultrathin bronchoscopy; Virtual bronchoscopic navigation
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Debora Gil, & Petia Radeva. (2004). "Shape Restoration via a Regularized Curvature Flow " . Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, 21(3), 205–223.
Abstract: Any image filtering operator designed for automatic shape restoration should satisfy robustness (whatever the nature and degree of noise is) as well as non-trivial smooth asymptotic behavior. Moreover, a stopping criterion should be determined by characteristics of the evolved image rather than dependent on the number of iterations. Among the several PDE based techniques, curvature flows appear to be highly reliable for strongly noisy images compared to image diffusion processes.
In the present paper, we introduce a regularized curvature flow (RCF) that admits non-trivial steady states. It is based on a measure of the local curve smoothness that takes into account regularity of the curve curvature and serves as stopping term in the mean curvature flow. We prove that this measure decreases over the orbits of RCF, which endows the method with a natural stop criterion in terms of the magnitude of this measure. Further, in its discrete version it produces steady states consisting of piece-wise regular curves. Numerical experiments made on synthetic shapes corrupted with different kinds of noise show the abilities and limitations of each of the current geometric flows and the benefits of RCF. Finally, we present results on real images that illustrate the usefulness of the present approach in practical applications.
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Antoni Rosell, Sonia Baeza, S. Garcia-Reina, JL. Mate, Ignasi Guasch, I. Nogueira, et al. (2022). EP01.05-001 Radiomics to Increase the Effectiveness of Lung Cancer Screening Programs. Radiolung Preliminary Results . Journal of Thoracic Oncology, 17(9), S182.
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Esmitt Ramirez, Carles Sanchez, Agnes Borras, Marta Diez-Ferrer, Antoni Rosell, & Debora Gil. (2018). "BronchoX: bronchoscopy exploration software for biopsy intervention planning " . Healthcare Technology Letters, 5(5), 177–182.
Abstract: Virtual bronchoscopy (VB) is a non-invasive exploration tool for intervention planning and navigation of possible pulmonary lesions (PLs). A VB software involves the location of a PL and the calculation of a route, starting from the trachea, to reach it. The selection of a VB software might be a complex process, and there is no consensus in the community of medical software developers in which is the best-suited system to use or framework to choose. The authors present Bronchoscopy Exploration (BronchoX), a VB software to plan biopsy interventions that generate physician-readable instructions to reach the PLs. The authors’ solution is open source, multiplatform, and extensible for future functionalities, designed by their multidisciplinary research and development group. BronchoX is a compound of different algorithms for segmentation, visualisation, and navigation of the respiratory tract. Performed results are a focus on the test the effectiveness of their proposal as an exploration software, also to measure its accuracy as a guiding system to reach PLs. Then, 40 different virtual planning paths were created to guide physicians until distal bronchioles. These results provide a functional software for BronchoX and demonstrate how following simple instructions is possible to reach distal lesions from the trachea.
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Mireia Sole, Joan Blanco, Debora Gil, Oliver Valero, Alvaro Pascual, B. Cardenas, et al. (2021). Chromosomal positioning in spermatogenic cells is influenced by chromosomal factors associated with gene activity, bouquet formation, and meiotic sex-chromosome inactivation . Chromosoma, 130, 163–175.
Abstract: Chromosome territoriality is not random along the cell cycle and it is mainly governed by intrinsic chromosome factors and gene expression patterns. Conversely, very few studies have explored the factors that determine chromosome territoriality and its influencing factors during meiosis. In this study, we analysed chromosome positioning in murine spermatogenic cells using three-dimensionally fluorescence in situ hybridization-based methodology, which allows the analysis of the entire karyotype. The main objective of the study was to decipher chromosome positioning in a radial axis (all analysed germ-cell nuclei) and longitudinal axis (only spermatozoa) and to identify the chromosomal factors that regulate such an arrangement. Results demonstrated that the radial positioning of chromosomes during spermatogenesis was cell-type specific and influenced by chromosomal factors associated to gene activity. Chromosomes with specific features that enhance transcription (high GC content, high gene density and high numbers of predicted expressed genes) were preferentially observed in the inner part of the nucleus in virtually all cell types. Moreover, the position of the sex chromosomes was influenced by their transcriptional status, from the periphery of the nucleus when its activity was repressed (pachytene) to a more internal position when it is partially activated (spermatid). At pachytene, chromosome positioning was also influenced by chromosome size due to the bouquet formation. Longitudinal chromosome positioning in the sperm nucleus was not random either, suggesting the importance of ordered longitudinal positioning for the release and activation of the paternal genome after fertilisation.
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Guillermo Torres, & Debora Gil. (2020)." A multi-shape loss function with adaptive class balancing for the segmentation of lung structures" . International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, 15(1), S154–55.
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Oriol Rodriguez-Leon, Debora Gil, & Eduard Fernandez-Nofrerias. (2006)." Analisis en los cambios en el nivel de gris en las secuencias angiograficas mediante descriptores estadisticos para determinar la perfusion miocardica" . Revista Española de Cardiología, 59 Supl 2-166(2), 128.
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