Diagnostic Value of Ultrasound Endoscopy-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration for Peritoneal Lesions.

Background: Peritoneal lesions present diagnostic challenges, necessitating precise imaging techniques. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) offers a promising approach for accurate diagnosis, aiding in optimal patient management and treatment planning. Objective: This study aims to assess the diagnostic efficacy of EUS-FNA in peritoneal lesions to offer insight in guiding optimal patient management. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted, and a total of 58 patients who underwent EUS-FNA of the peritoneum at our hospital between October 2021 and November 2021 were included. The ultrasound diagnostic instrument facilitated puncture guidance, with 2-5 punctures performed in various parts of the selected peritoneal lesion areas. The analysis encompassed evaluating the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of biopsy for diagnosing peritoneal-associated lesions, alongside assessing the number of punctures, puncture satisfaction, and incidence of postoperative complications. Results: The included patients undergoing EUS-FNA revealed that 41 (70.69%) had malignant lesions, while 17 (29.31%) presented with benign lesions. The diagnostic accuracy of EUS-FNA for peritoneal lesions was determined to be 94.83%, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 97.30% for malignant tumors, specificity of 90.48%, positive predictive value of 94.74%, and negative predictive value of 95%. Lesions exhibited a size range of 2.5cm × 2.9cm to 15.2cm × 9.8cm. Each patient underwent 2-5 punctures (3.3 ± 1.4), with a puncture satisfaction rate of 96.55%. The incidence of postoperative complications following EUS-FNA was found to be 3.45%. Conclusion: EUS-FNA exhibits substantial diagnostic utility for peritoneal-related lesions, marked by exceptional accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and favorable safety. Its clinical adoption is warranted, promising improved patient care and management.

The application of plasma technology for the preparation of supercapacitor electrode materials.

With the rapidly growing demand for clean energy and energy interconnection, there is an urgent need for rapid and high-capacity energy storage technologies to realize large-scale energy storage, transfer energy, and establish the energy internet. Supercapacitors, which have advantages such as high specific capacitance, fast charging and discharging rates, and long cycle lifetimes, are being widely used in electric vehicles, information technology, aerospace, and other fields. The performance of supercapacitors is crucially dependent on electrode materials. These can be categorized into electric double-layer capacitors and pseudocapacitors, primarily made from carbon and transition metal oxides, respectively. However, effectively monitoring the physicochemical properties of electrode materials during preparation and processing is challenging, which limits the improvement of supercapacitors' performance. Plasma materials preparation technology can effectively affect the materials preparation processing by energetic electrons, ions, free radicals, and multiple effects in plasma, which are easily manipulated by operation parameters. Therefore, plasma material preparation technology is considered a promising method to precisely monitor the physicochemical and electrochemical properties of energy storage materials and has been widely studied. This paper provides an overview of plasma materials preparation mechanisms, and details of the plasma technology application in the preparation of transition metal hybrids, carbon, and composite electrode materials, as well as a comparison with traditional methods. In conclusion, the advantages, challenges, and research directions of plasma materials preparation technology in the field of electrode materials preparation are summarized.

[A study on effects of unilateral maxillary canine impaction on the dento-maxillofacial three-dimensional structure].

PURPOSE: To investigate the three-dimensional structure characteristics of unilateral impacted teeth by cone-beam CT (CBCT), and to evaluate the risk factors for upper impacted teeth, so as to provide evidence for early clinical intervention in orthodontics. METHODS: Thirty patients with unilateral maxillary canine impaction were included. Their CBCT images were measured by three-dimensional reconstruction of Romexis software. The differences of the three-dimensional structure characteristics between two sides were measured and compared with SPSS17.0 software package. Paired t test and regression analysis of related data were performed. RESULTS: Significant difference in inclination of both canine and lateral incisor was found between impacted side and normal eruption side, with canine mesially inclined and lateral incisor distally inclined (P<0.001). Volumes of the canines were significantly bigger and those of the lateral incisor were significantly smaller on the impacted side compared with the normal eruption side (P<0.05). The occurrence of impacted canine increased with the increase of the volume of the canine and decrease of the volume of the lateral incisor. Significant difference in arch length and arch width in canine and premolar area was found between impacted side and normal eruption side (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in width in molar area between both sides(P>0.05). There was no significant difference in arch length in canine, premolar and molar region (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Maxillary impacted canines can lead to three-dimensional abnormalities of the ipsilateral teeth and alveolar bone, the severity of maxillary impacted canine is closely related to surrounding dental structural abnormalities, suggesting that maxillary impacted canines can be predicted, early diagnosed, and early effectively intervened as well.

Rapid CO breath test screening of drugs for protective effects on ribavirin-induced hemolysis in a rabbit model: a pilot study.

Hemolytic anemia is a major side effect of ribavirin antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C. Ribavirin dose reduction may compromise the antiviral response and erythropoietin can take several weeks to alleviate anemia. The purpose of the present study was to screen potentially protective drugs against ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia in a rabbit model, using our modified CO breath test for measuring erythrocyte (RBC) lifespan, the gold standard diagnostic index of hemolysis. Fifteen rabbits were divided randomly into five groups (N = 3/group): one vehicle control group, one ribavirin (only)-treated (RBV) group, and three groups initially treated with ribavirin only, followed by a combination of ribavirin with prednisone (RBV + Pred), polyene phosphatidyl choline (RBV + PPC), or reduced glutathione (RBV + GSH). RBC lifespan was calculated from accumulated CO measured in a closed rebreath apparatus, blood volume measured by the Evan's blue dye (EBD) dilution test, and hemoglobin concentration data. The RBC lifespan was normal in the vehicle control group (44-60 d), but reduced significantly in all of the ribavirin-treated groups before the addition of screened drugs (17-35 d). RBC lifespan rebounded significantly with the addition of glutathione, but not with the addition of prednisone or polyene phosphatidyl choline. A similar overall drug effect pattern was seen in the hemoglobin concentration and reticulocyte count data. In conclusion, the results of this pilot study indicate that reduced glutathione can attenuate ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia, and that the RBC lifespan measured with our modified rapid CO breath test is feasible and reliable for use in animal studies.

A Modified Carbon Monoxide Breath Test for Measuring Erythrocyte Lifespan in Small Animals.

This study was to develop a CO breath test for RBC lifespan estimation of small animals. The ribavirin induced hemolysis rabbit models were placed individually in a closed rebreath cage and air samples were collected for measurement of CO concentration. RBC lifespan was calculated from accumulated CO, blood volume, and hemoglobin concentration data. RBC lifespan was determined in the same animals with the standard biotin-labeling method. RBC lifespan data obtained by the CO breath test method for control (CON, 49.0 ± 5.9 d) rabbits, rabbits given 10 mg/kg·d(-1) of ribavirin (RIB10, 31.0 ± 4.0 d), and rabbits given 20 mg/kg·d(-1) of ribavirin (RIB20, 25.0 ± 2.9 d) were statistically similar (all p > 0.05) to and linearly correlated (r = 0.96, p < 0.01) with the RBC lifespan data obtained for the same rabbits by the standard biotin-labeling method (CON, 51.0 ± 2.7 d; RIB10, 33.0 ± 1.3 d; and RIB20, 27.0 ± 0.8 d). The CO breath test method takes less than 3 h to complete, whereas the standard method requires at least several weeks. In conclusion, the CO breath test method provides a simple and rapid means of estimating RBC lifespan and is feasible for use with small animal models.

Identification of human disease genes from interactome network using graphlet interaction.

Identifying genes related to human diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, etc., is an important task in biomedical research because of its applications in disease diagnosis and treatment. Interactome networks, especially protein-protein interaction networks, had been used to disease genes identification based on the hypothesis that strong candidate genes tend to closely relate to each other in some kinds of measure on the network. We proposed a new measure to analyze the relationship between network nodes which was called graphlet interaction. The graphlet interaction contained 28 different isomers. The results showed that the numbers of the graphlet interaction isomers between disease genes in interactome networks were significantly larger than random picked genes, while graphlet signatures were not. Then, we designed a new type of score, based on the network properties, to identify disease genes using graphlet interaction. The genes with higher scores were more likely to be disease genes, and all candidate genes were ranked according to their scores. Then the approach was evaluated by leave-one-out cross-validation. The precision of the current approach achieved 90% at about 10% recall, which was apparently higher than the previous three predominant algorithms, random walk, Endeavour and neighborhood based method. Finally, the approach was applied to predict new disease genes related to 4 common diseases, most of which were identified by other independent experimental researches. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the graphlet interaction is an effective tool to analyze the network properties of disease genes, and the scores calculated by graphlet interaction is more precise in identifying disease genes.

[Study on the characteristics of Tsutsugamushi disease in the epidemic areas of south islands in China].

OBJECTIVE: To study the increasing incidence and the characteristics of Tsutsugamushi disease in the areas of Nan Peng Lie islands, Nan Ao island, Wan Shan archipelago, Nao Zhou island and Lei Zhou peninsula, located in the southern part of China and to develop strategies for preventive measures. METHODS: Both epidemiological investigation, isolation and gene identification of Orientia tsutsugamushi, as well as pilot preventive measures were carried out. RESULTS: These islands belonged to the epidemic area of south subtropical zone of Tsutsugamushi disease. The main host was Rattus norvegicu and the overall rates of infection on Orientia tsutsugamushi were 22.78%-33.75%. The main biological vector was Leptotrombidium (Leptotrombidium) deliens and the rates of infection on Orientia tsutsugamushi were 40.00%-75.00%. 25 strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi had been isolated from Rattus norvegicu and Leptotrombidium (Leptotrombidium) deliens. Results showed that the isolated strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi were 15 Karp, 8 Kato, 2 Yonchon. Results from serological studies showed that the positive rate of anti-Orientia tsutsugamushi antibodies was high, in both residents and soldiers stationed in these islands. On these islands, rats and biological vectors were killed. Results showed that these measures had positive impact in reducing the incidence. CONCLUSION: Islands from the southern part of the country belonged to the epidemic area of Tsutsugamushi disease. People visiting this areas should be under protection.

[Study on DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains isolated in Southern Chinese army by IS6110-restriction fragment length polymorphism].

OBJECTIVE: To study the correlation between DNA fingerprinting of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) stains isolated from the Chinese army in the south and from local residents, and to investigate the molecular epidemiological characteristics of tuberculosis (TB) in the army, for the sake of TB prevention in the army. METHODS: MTB DNA was digested with restriction endonuclease PvuII and electrophoresed in agarose gel, after Southern Blotting, the membrane was hybridized with a 245 bp fragment of IS6110 which labeled [alpha(32)P]-dCTP as probe. Finally, a restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) patterns was shown, and analyzed logestic with epidemiological data from the patients. RESULTS: A total number of 185 TB strains were detected and the IS6110 copy numbers ranged from 1 - 22. No significant difference was found in the IS6110 copy numbers between patients from army and local patients. IS6110 copy numbers of TB strains in army patients were centered in 6 - 20, however, with 7 - 20 copies in local TB patients. The TB strains were dispersed into 8 groups and the majority of TB strains in both army and local patients was centered in groups I, II, III. The distribution of DNA fingerprint for drug resistance TB strains was significantly different from those for sensitive strains. No different distribution of among groups was found regarding BCG history. CONCLUSIONS: The genetics of TB stains were roughly the same between the army patients and local ones, but there was a strong correlation in the gene levels. Data suggested that a close connection should be considered on TB prevention and treatment for TB patients in the army and local residents.

[Study on molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Chinese army with PCR amplified fingerprinting methods].

OBJECTIVE: Typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains and epidemiological studies in the army of southern China to provide scientific basis for prevention of pulmonary tuberculosis. METHODS: A rapid fingerprinting of M. tuberculosis strains method by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with outward-directed primers that designed to the ends of the insertion sequence IS6110 was developed, and to analyze the relationship between the polymorphism of DNA fingerprinting and epidemiology of M. tuberculosis. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-four M. tuberculosis detected were classified into eight types according to their characters of PCR amplified fingerprints. The main types were type I (36.4%), type II (31.8%), and type III (21.4%), while other types were less than 4 percentage. In those main type groups, patients aged 20 to 29 and 30 to 39 took up 31.8% and 27.9% respectively. For those main types, the distribution of those types in the first treated patients showed significant difference compared with that in the retreated patients, and the rate of drug-resistance was also statistically different. However, the distribution was not statistically significant to history of BCG vaccination and patients living in urban or rural area. The main drug-resistant strains were only Isoniazid-resistant or Rifampin-resistant strains, while the drug-resistant strains were 44.4%, 29.6% and 14.8% respectively in type I, type II and type III. CONCLUSION: PCR fingerprinting was a rapid, precise, sensitive, specific method to type M. tuberculosis, and could be used to study the epidemiology of tuberculosis; The prevalence of tuberculosis was primarily due to the transmission of type I, type II and type III in the army being studied from Southern China, to suggest that surveillance needs to be strengthened.

[HBV C gene mutation in the transmission from father to infant].

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA was detected from infants whose mothers were negative for all HBV markers and the fathers were HBV carrier, the homology of HBV sequence of fathers and fetus was high, and HBV mutations concentrated on some points, and the transmission of HBV from father to fetus was also identified in some reports. The present study aimed to study HBV transmission from father to infant. METHODS: The study enrolled 16 pairs of fathers who were HBV carriers and infants whose mothers were negative for HBV markers. The infants had evidences for intrauterine HBV infection. The five HBV serum markers HBsAg, HBeAg, anti-HBe, anti-HBs, and anti-HBc were detected with ELISA. The positive results for HBsAg and/or HBeAg were regarded as markers of HBV infection. Amplification of HBV DNA was done using a nested PCR method. The first amplification was carried out using primer C1 (nt 2394-2370), and primer C3 (nt 1730-1754). The second amplification was carried out using primer C2 (nt 1955-1974) and primer C6 (nt 2348-2330). Both primers were designed to amplify the part of sequence coding for the hepatitis B C antigen. The size of the amplified fragment obtained by the nested PCR was expected to be 394 bp. The PCR products were electrophoresed on 1.5% agarose gels, which were then stained with ethidium bromide and observed with ultraviolet transillumination. When 394 bp specific band was detectable, the sample was designated positive. Then the positive samples were identified by dot blot. The second PCR products were extracted by phenol-chloroform and 70% ethanol precipitation, then resuspended in TE buffer (pH8.0), and used as the template for cloning. The template was connected into pGEM-T vector by ligase. The ligated products were cloned into fresh competent JM109 cells, and incubated for 90 minutes at 37 degrees C on roller drum. Finally several dilutions were plated on plates containing ampicillin, X-Gal and IPTG, and incubated at 37 degrees C overnight. The white colony on plates was used for identification by the nested PCR with the above primers. When the 394 bp band was detectable by electrophoresis of PCR products in 1.5% agarose gels, the colony was designated positive; a positive colony was incubated in LB medium for 8 to 12 hrs, then plasmid was extracted using the Wizard Plus SV Minipreps DNA Purification System Kit (Promega). The purified plasmid was sent to Beijing Saibaisheng Company for sequencing. The homology of HBV C nt 2022-2301 sequence was compared between fathers and infants. RESULTS: The homology of HBV C nt 2022-2301 sequence were 99% - 100% in 16 pairs of fathers and infants. The results were referred to the published sequence of HBV adw/adr clones, and the nucleic acid databases were searched for homology by using BLAST tool on Internet. HBV of the sixteen pairs of father/infant was closely related to the Japan strain (Genebank accession number AF121249), but there were still 17 more mutations at nucleotide positions 2029, 2034, 2044, 2059, 2078, 2095, 2104, 2154, 2161, 2169, 2189, 2201, 2233, 2251, 2284, 2288, 2293. Moreover the mutations at positions 2189, 2288 resulted in the substitution of the encoded amino acid (corresponding to amino acid positions 97 and 130, respectively), the other mutations at the position were nonphenotypic. The mutation of 2189, 2288 nucleotide of HBV C gene caused 97, 130 amino acid substitution for isoleucine to leucine and proline to threonine. The mutation of 2189, 2288 nucleotide of HBV C gene were detected in 6 (37.5%) of 16 pairs of fathers and infants. CONCLUSION: The HBV transmission from father to infants did exist. The main HBV C gene mutation strains also existed in the transmission.

Sequence analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi DNA from mites collected in the Xisa archipelago, China.

The genotype of Orientia tsutsugamushi DNA from mites in the Xisa archipelago of China were identified. A natural focus of tsutsugamushi disease in the archipelago was found. The DNA sequence that codes for the 56 kDa protein of O. tsutsugamushi was amplified by nested polymerase chain reaction (N-PCR). The purified positive products were cloned into a pGEM-T vector and sequenced. The DNA sequence was compared with various sequences on the internet for sequence homology. A 507 bp DNA fragment encoding the 56 kDa protein was amplified from the samples. The sequence homology was 85% (Karp strain), 68% (Gilliam strain), 65% (Kato strain), and 67% (Yonchon strain). Orientia tsutsugamushi is carried by the mites of the Xisa archipelago; the main genotype is the Karp strain.

[Improvement of the determination method of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene(BTEX) in water using activated carbon fiber solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)].

The methods of direct injection, carbon disulfide extraction and activated carbon fiber solid-phase microextraction/GC-MS, usually used in the determination of BTEX in water matrix, are compared and discussed. Experimental data of linearity, precision and limit of detection illustrate that the last one is better than the two other methods. This method was tested by the practical sample experiments and expected to be a simple and sensitive new method for the analysis of BTEX in water.