[Application Test of the AI-Automatic Diagnostic System for Ki-67 in Breast Cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To study the different methods of artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted Ki-67 scoring of clinical invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast and to compare the results. METHODS: A total of 100 diagnosed IDC cases were collected, including slides of HE staining and immunohistochemical Ki-67 staining and diagnosis results. The slides were scanned and turned into whole slide image (WSI), which were then scored with AI. There were two AI scoring methods. One was fully automatic counting by AI, which used the scoring system of Ki-67 automatic diagnosis to do counting with the whole image of WSI. The second method was semi-automatic AI counting, which required manual selection of areas for counting, and then relied on an intelligent microscope to conduct automatic counting. The diagnostic results of pathologists were taken as the results of pure manual counting. Then the Ki-67 scores obtained by manual counting, semi-automatic AI counting and automatic AI counting were pairwise compared. The Ki-67 scores obtained from the manual counting (pathological diagnosis results), semi-automatic AI and automatic AI counts were pair-wise compared and classified according to three levels of difference: difference ≤10%, difference of >10%-<30% and difference ≥30%. Intra-class correlation coefficient ( ICC) was used to evaluate the correlation. RESULTS: The automatic AI counting of Ki-67 takes 5-8 minutes per case, the semi-automatic AI counting takes 2-3 minutes per case, and the manual counting takes 1-3 minutes per case. When results of the two AI counting methods were compared, the difference in Ki-67 scores was all within 10% (100% of the total), and the ICC index being 0.992. The difference between manual counting and semi-automatic AI was less than 10% in 60 cases (60% of the total), between 10% and 30% in 37 cases (37% of the total), and more than 30% in only 3 cases (3% of the total), ICC index being 0.724. When comparing automatic AI with manual counting, 78 cases (78% of the total) had a difference of ≤10%, 17 cases (17% of the total) had a difference of between 10% and 30%, and 5 cases (5%) had a difference of ≥30%, the ICC index being 0.720. The ICC values showed that there was little difference between the results of the two AI counting methods, indicating good repeatability, but the repeatability between AI counting and manual counting was not particularly ideal. CONCLUSION: AI automatic counting has the advantage of requiring less manpower, for the pathologist is involved only for the verification of the diagnosis results at the end. However, the semi-automatic method is better suited to the diagnostic habits of pathologists and has a shorter turn-over time compared with that of the fully automatic AI counting method. Furthermore, in spite of its higher repeatability, AI counting, cannot serve as a full substitute for pathologists, but should instead be viewed as a powerful auxiliary tool.

[Long-term plasticity of HVC-RA synapses in adult male zebra finches].

Long-term synaptic plasticity is considered as a key part of the neural mechanism of learning and memory. The production of learned vocalization of male zebra finches is closely related to high vocal center (HVC)-robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) pathway. However, the long-term plasticity of HVC-RA synapses is unclear. This study investigated the long-term plasticity of HVC-RA synapses in adult male zebra finches through in vivo field potential recording. The results showed that physiologic stimulation, i.e., δ rhythmic stimulation and low frequency stimulation could not effectively induce long-term synaptic plasticity. The former leaded to no change of the amplitudes of evoked population spikes, and the latter induced short-term depression (STD) of the amplitudes of the second evoked population spikes caused by paired pulses. But high frequency stimulation induced long-term depression (LTD) of the amplitudes of evoked population spikes to show out long-term synaptic plasticity. These results suggest that LTD represents the long-term plasticity of HVC-RA synapses in adult male zebra finches, which may be a key part of the neural mechanism of vocal learning and memory and can explain the plasticity of adult song to some degree.

[Pilot observation on the effect of integrated control measures against clonorchiasis in Pengjiang District of Jiangmen City].

From June to December in 2008, five villages were randomly chosen from Pengjiang District of Jiangmen city and about five hundred residents from each village were examined for clonorchiasis by Kato-Katz method (three slides per specimen). Fifty residents from each village were re-examined one month after treatment. One year later 50 treated residents were chosen from Dalin village and Sanya village for fecal examination. Questionnairing was conducted to determine the knowledge rate on clonorchiasis prevention among residents. The percentage and usage of sanitary toilets were investigated. The average infection rate of clonorchiasis from five villages was 21.5%(537/2501). 86.6%(465/537) of clonorchiasis received treatment voluntarily. One month after treatment the infection rate in four villages declined significantly. The positive rate showed no significant difference between one month and one year after treatment in Dalin and Sanya villages (P>0.05) . Questionairing indicated that 41.2%(170/413) of the clonorchiasis cases ate raw fish frequently, which was significantly higher than those non-infected people [4.2%, 8/192] (P<0.05). After health education, the knowledge awareness rate raised from 23.1% (135/584) to 84.5% (349/413) (P<0.05). The dissemination and usage of sanitary toilets were 93.2% (38 068/40 848) and 100%, respectively.

Investigation of diarrhetic shellfish toxins in Lingshan Bay, Yellow Sea, China, using solid-phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT).

Early detection of toxin contamination in shellfish (i.e., prior to harvest) would be of considerable advantage to fish farmers, researchers and food safety administrators. In 2004, a solid-phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) technique was developed to study algal toxins in New Zealand shellfish harvesting areas. In subsequent years, the basic idea have been further developed. Using a SPATT method, an investigation into diarrhetic shellfish toxins (DSTs) was conducted over a 10.5-month period in 2012 in shellfish farming areas in Lingshan Bay (Yellow Sea, China). This paper discusses the relationship among DSTs in toxic algae, seawater and contaminated shellfish. OA, DTX1 and PTX2 toxins were found in this shellfish farming area from summer to autumn. In shellfish the maximum concentrations of OA and DTX1 were 81 and 41 ng g(-1) respectively. PTX2 was very low. The maximum levels of OA and DTX1 in seawater were 165 and 56 ng g(-1) respectively, and were detected on June, separated by a 14-day period. Shellfish had accumulated the highest levels of OA and DTX1 recorded in this study. Comparison of the variations in DST levels in seawater showed there to be about 2 weeks for administrators to warn of the potential for toxin contamination in shellfish. Further research to explore the relationship between the variables of seawater temperature, sunlight and salinity, and DSTs in shellfish may help to establish a more suitable model for forecasting DST contamination in shellfish.

[Development of clinical trials for acupuncture treatment of common illnesses or clinical conditions in countries outside China].

In the present paper, the authors analyze current state of clinical trials for acupuncture treatment of various types of diseases or clinical conditions in countries outside China in the past 30 years. The published top 5 more papers involve disorders of muscle-skeleton and connective tissues (295 papers), disorders of the nerve system (230), problems of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics (164), post-surgical complications (134), and addiction (70). The top 5 countries having more papers published are Germany (59 papers on disorders of muscle-skeleton and connective tissues, 62 on neurological disorders, 17 on problems of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics, 21 on post-surgical complications, and 8 on addiction), USA (43 papers on disorders of muscle-skeleton and connective tissues, 27 on neurological disorders, 24 on problems of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics, 27 on post-surgical complications, and 29 on addiction), British (38 papers on disorders of muscle-skeleton and connective tissues, 17 on neurological disorders, 14 on post-surgical complications, and 6 on addiction), Sweden (17 papers on disorders of muscle-skeleton and connective tissues, 16 on neurological disorders, and 28 on problems of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics), and South Korea (14 papers on neurological disorders, 5 on post-surgical complications, and 3 on addiction).