Longitudinal Evolution of the Brain Microstructure in Cirrhotic Patients on Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging.

BACKGROUND: Although improvement of cognitive function after liver transplantation has been demonstrated in several neuropsychological studies, there is limited research on longitudinal changes in the cirrhotic patients' brain structure before and after transplantation. PURPOSE: To investigate longitudinal changes of brain microstructure in cirrhotic patients using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI). STUDY TYPE: Prospective. SUBJECTS: A total of 153 cirrhosis patients, comprising 60 hepatic encephalopathy (HE) patients (16 females/44 males) and 93 no-HE patients (35 females/58 males), along with 93 healthy controls (HCs) (53 females/40 males) were enrolled. Subsequently, 58 recipients completed 1-month postoperative follow-up, 29 patients completed 1-, 3-months, and 17 patients completed 1-, 3-, 6-month follow-up. SEQUENCE: Spin-echo single-shot echo-planar sequence using a 3.0 T scanner. ASSESSMENT: Diffusion kurtosis estimator software was used to estimate the DKI parameter maps by a MR imaging physicist (Y.-Y.C. with 12 years of experience). STATISTICAL TESTS: The diffusion metrics (eg, radial kurtosis [RK], mean kurtosis, fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity) of the patients before transplantation were compared with those of the HCs using voxel-wise analysis of variance (ANOVA), along with t tests for post hoc analysis. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to the longitudinal data. We imposed a cluster level Family Wise Error (FWE) correction rate of PFWE = 0.05 with voxel-wise cutoff of P = 0.001 together with a cluster-size cutoff of N ≥ 56, and generated smoothness estimates from the preprocessed data using the mixed-model autocorrelation function. RESULTS: The RK metrics of the patients decreased significantly in the anterior cingulate cortex (HE/no-HE < HC, ANOVA-F = 21.91). After transplantation, the RK of the pallidum showed a continuous upward trend (time effect T = 11.26); whereas the RK of the right postcentral gyrus showed a continuous downward trend (time effect T = -9.56). In addition, the RK in superior longitudinal fasciculus showed new-onset decrease after transplantation. DATA CONCLUSION: Longitudinal changes in DKI metrics reveal the course of brain microstructural changes before and after transplantation in cirrhotic patients, potentially associated with cognitive alterations after surgery. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 4.

Buccal acupuncture combined with ultrasound-guided dry needle-evoked inactivation of trigger points to treat cervical and shoulder girdle myofascial pain syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) is a common disease with easy persistence and recurrence. In clinical practice, although many methods have been adopted to prevent and treat MPS, the control of MPS is still not satisfactory. OBJECTIVE: To compare the safety and effectiveness of buccal acupuncture, inactivation of trigger points (MTrPs), and their combination in the treatment of MPS. METHODS: Two hundred MPS patients in the pain clinic were randomly divided into four groups (n= 50) to receive oral drugs (Group A), oral drugs + buccal needle (Group B), oral drugs + MTrP inactivation (Group C), or oral drugs + buccal needle + MTrP inactivation (Group D). RESULTS: The visual analogue scale (VAS) and cervical range of motion (ROM) of Group D were significantly lower than those of the other three groups, and the pressure pain threshold (PPT) value of labelled MTrPs was significantly higher than those of the other three groups (P< 0.05). The excellent rate and total effective rate of Group D were significantly higher than those of the other three groups. Group C had the highest pain score and the lowest acceptance score. The results showed that buccal acupuncture combined with ultrasound-guided dry needle-evoked inactivation of MTrPs can significantly reduce the VAS score of MPS patients, improve the range of motion of the cervical spine, and improve patient satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a highly accepted and satisfactory treatment for MPS, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

The correlation between changes in gray matter microstructure and cerebral blood flow in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and gray matter (GM) microstructure in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: A recruited cohort of 23 AD patients, 40 MCI patients, and 37 normal controls (NCs) underwent diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) for microstructure evaluation and pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) for CBF assessment. We investigated the differences in diffusion- and perfusion-related parameters across the three groups, including CBF, mean diffusivity (MD), mean kurtosis (MK), and fractional anisotropy (FA). These quantitative parameters were compared using volume-based analyses for the deep GM and surface-based analyses for the cortical GM. The correlation between CBF, diffusion parameters, and cognitive scores was assessed using Spearman coefficients, respectively. The diagnostic performance of different parameters was investigated with k-nearest neighbor (KNN) analysis, using fivefold cross-validation to generate the mean accuracy (mAcc), mean precision (mPre), and mean area under the curve (mAuc). Results: In the cortical GM, CBF reduction primarily occurred in the parietal and temporal lobes. Microstructural abnormalities were predominantly noted in the parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes. In the deep GM, more regions showed DKI and CBF parametric changes at the MCI stage. MD showed most of the significant abnormalities among all the DKI metrics. The MD, FA, MK, and CBF values of many GM regions were significantly correlated with cognitive scores. In the whole sample, the MD, FA, and MK were associated with CBF in most evaluated regions, with lower CBF values associated with higher MD, lower FA, or lower MK values in the left occipital lobe, left frontal lobe, and right parietal lobe. CBF values performed best (mAuc = 0.876) for distinguishing the MCI from the NC group. Last, MD values performed best (mAuc = 0.939) for distinguishing the AD from the NC group. Conclusion: Gray matter microstructure and CBF are closely related in AD. Increased MD, decreased FA, and MK are accompanied by decreased blood perfusion throughout the AD course. Furthermore, CBF values are valuable for the predictive diagnosis of MCI and AD. GM microstructural changes are promising as novel neuroimaging biomarkers of AD.

Bromide-mediated, C2-selective, and oxygenative alkylation of pyridinium salts using alkenes and molecular oxygen.

Herein, we report a bromide-mediated, C2-selective, and oxygenative alkylation of pyridinium salts using alkenes and O2 for the synthesis of important ß-2-pyridyl ketones. Notably, a quaternary carbon center was successfully installed at the C2-position of pyridine and the resulting C2-substituents were highly functionalized. The intermediary cycloadduct was isolated and further transformed into the desired product, which indicated that this three-component reaction underwent a reaction cascade including dearomative cycloaddition and rearomative ring-opening oxygenation. Finally, the bromide-mediated mechanism was discussed and active Br(I) species were proposed to be generated in situ and promote the rearomative ring-opening oxygenation by halogen bond-assisted electron transfer.

Improvement of olfactory fMRI activation and hemodynamic response function curve with respiration correction.

BACKGROUND: Odor perception is highly dependent on respiration, however, the asynchronization between inspiration and odor delivery results in a decreased activation and hemodynamic response function (HRF) curve in olfactory functional MRI (fMRI). This study aimed to investigate the effect of a data post-processing method to minimize the asynchronization and consequently improve the olfactory activation and HRF curve and compare it between different TRs (3 s and 1 s). NEW METHOD: A new data post-processing method of respiration correction based on olfactory perception was investigated. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS: The odor stimuli of olfactory fMRI were mostly based on odor deliveries. But for the reason of respiration, the time of olfactory perception might be a little different. The actual onset time and duration of odor stimuli were modified based on the respiration data. RESULTS: For 3 s TR data, an increased number of activated voxels and higher HRF curves response height were obtained with the respiration correction method in the primary olfactory cortex (POC) (P = 0.034 and 0.009) and insula (P = 0.024 and 0.001), compared with the uncorrected method. But the activated voxels and response height of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) did not differ between uncorrected and respiration correction methods (P = 0.102 and 0.200). The time to peak of the HRF curve was shorter with the respiration correction method in all ROIs (all P < 0.05), compared with the uncorrected method. Whereas there were no significant differences between the uncorrected and corrected results for 1 s TR data. CONCLUSIONS: The post-processing method of respiration correction could effectively minimize the asynchronization between respirations and odor deliveries, and improve the activations and HRF curves for a routine 3 s TR olfactory fMRI data.

Brain Microstructural Changes in Patients with Amnestic mild Cognitive Impairment : Detected by Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) Combined with Machine Learning.

PURPOSE: This study investigated brain microstructural changes in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) by retrospectively analyzing neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) data with machine learning algorithms. METHODS: A total of 26 aMCI patients and 24 healthy controls (HC) underwent NODDI magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. The NODDI parameters including neurite density index (NDI), orientation dispersion index (ODI), and volume fraction of isotropic water molecules (Viso) were estimated. Machine learning algorithms such as K­nearest neighbor (KNN), logistic regression (LR), random forest (RF), and support vector machine (SVM) were used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of NODDI parameters in predicting aMCI. The differences in the NODDI parameter values between the aMCI and HC groups were analyzed using the independent sample t­test, False discovery rate (FDR) correction was used for multiple testing. After adjusting for age, sex, and educational years, partial correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between NODDI parameters and clinical cognitive status of aMCI patients. RESULTS: The NDI, ODI, and Viso values of white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) structure templates combined with the KNN, LR, RF and SVM machine learning algorithms accomplished the discrimination between aMCI and HC groups. The NDI and ODI values decreased (p value range, < 0.001-0.042) and Viso values increased (p value range, < 0.001-0.043) in the aMCI group compared to the HCs. The NDI, ODI, and Viso values of the WM and GM structure templates with significant differences were significantly correlated with mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) scores. CONCLUSION: NODDI combined with machine learning algorithms is a promising strategy for early diagnosis of aMCI. Moreover, NODDI parameters correlated with the clinical cognitive status of aMCI patients.

The role of CXCR3 and its ligands in cancer.

Chemokines are a class of small cytokines or signaling proteins that are secreted by cells. Owing to their ability to induce directional chemotaxis of nearby responding cells, they are called chemotactic cytokines. Chemokines and chemokine receptors have now been shown to influence many cellular functions, including survival, adhesion, invasion, and proliferation, and regulate chemokine levels. Most malignant tumors express one or more chemokine receptors. The CXC subgroup of chemokine receptors, CXCR3, is mainly expressed on the surface of activated T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells, and plays an essential role in infection, autoimmune diseases, and tumor immunity by binding to specific receptors on target cell membranes to induce targeted migration and immune responses. It is vital to treat infections, autoimmune diseases, and tumors. CXCR3 and its ligands, CXCL9, CXCL10, and CXCL11, are closely associated with the development and progression of many tumors. With the elucidation of its mechanism of action, CXCR3 is expected to become a new indicator for evaluating the prognosis of patients with tumors and a new target for clinical tumor immunotherapy. This article reviews the significance and mechanism of action of the chemokine receptor CXCR3 and its specific ligands in tumor development.

Value of different anastomoses in laparoscopic radical right hemicolectomy for right-sided colon cancer: retrospective study and literature review.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to analyze the safety of circular lateral anastomosis and cross-lateral anastomosis in laparoscopic radical resection of right-sided colon cancer. METHODS: From January 2018 to March 2021, 147 patients with right-sided colon cancer were admitted to the Department of General Surgery, Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou University. The experimental group comprised patients with circular lateral anastomosis, whereas the control group comprised patients with cruciform lateral anastomosis. The general clinical data, intraoperative features, and postoperative results of the two groups were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: Both groups successfully underwent laparoscopic lateral ileocolic anastomosis, with significant differences in anastomotic leakage (χ2=4.520, P < 0.05). By contrast, body mass index (t = 1.568, P = 0.119), histological typing (χ2 = 2.067, P = 0.559), intraoperative bleeding (t = 0.418, P = 0.677), and intestinal obstruction (χ2 = 2.564, P = 0.109) were not significantly different between the groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In laparoscopic-assisted radical hemicolectomy for right-sided colon cancer, the incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage was lower with circular lateral anastomosis than with cross-lateral anastomosis, and circular lateral anastomosis was superior to cross-lateral anastomosis in terms of reducing the length of hospital stay and improving patients' postoperative quality of life.

Practice of Multidisciplinary Collaborative Chain Management Model in Constructing Nursing Path for Acute Trauma Treatment.

Prompt and effective treatment is the key to improve the prognosis of patients with acute trauma, and nursing plays an important role. However, conventional nursing has many limitations. Some studies have pointed out that the multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model can optimize the emergency procedures, ensure the continuity of the emergency treatment process, and optimize the treatment details. This study analyzed the practice of constructing an acute trauma care pathway based on a multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model. The results showed that the application of the multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model in the construction of acute trauma treatment nursing paths can enhance the emergency efficiency and nursing treatment, prevent the occurrence of adverse events, and improve the prognosis of patients.

Proteomic analysis reveals the heterogeneity of metabolic reprogramming in lacrimal gland tumors.

Lacrimal gland adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is associated with high recurrence and mortality rates. Many recent studies have focused on the clinical features of the disease, and a better understanding of its underlying molecular mechanisms may help guide future treatment strategies. For proteomics quantitation, we analyzed normal tissues, benign tumor tissues and ACC tissues by LC-MS/MS with Tandem mass tags (TMTs) labeling. Bioinformatics analysis of the KEGG pathway found that, compared with normal tissues, the expression levels of major proteins related to cell metabolism were lower in benign tumors and cancer tissues of the lacrimal gland. In addition, we also performed IHC staining to verify the expression of representative proteins in tissue samples. All of these results indicated that compared with normal tissues, lacrimal gland tumors had unique metabolic reprogramming characteristics. Further Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM) analysis revealed that glycine, serine and threonine metabolism in ACC tissues was significantly enhanced compared with that in normal tissues and benign tumor tissues. This finding suggested that glycine, serine and threonine metabolism might be the key to the malignant transformation of ACC; thus, assessing the metabolism in these tissues could be an effective approach enabling the early diagnosis of ACC, and the proteins involved in these metabolic pathways could represent therapeutic targets.

Microstructural white matter alterations in Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment and its diagnostic value based on diffusion kurtosis imaging: a tract-based spatial statistics study.

This prospective study aimed to explore the white matter microstructural alterations in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) using the Tract-based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) method of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI).Diffusion images were collected from 45 AD patients, 42 aMCI patients, and 35 healthy controls (HC). The differences of DKI-derived parameters, including kurtosis fractional anisotropy (KFA), mean kurtosis (MK), fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD), were compared across the three groups using the TBSS method. Correlation between the altered DKI-derived parameters and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores were analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of different white matter parameters with the strongest correlations. As a result, compared with the HC group, KFA values decreased significantly in the aMCI group. Compared with both the HC and aMCI groups, the FA, KFA, and MK values decreased significantly and the MD value increased significantly in the AD group. FA, MD, KFA, and MK values of many white matter fiber tracts were significantly correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the splenium of corpus callosum KFA values were highest for the diagnosis of aMCI and AD patients. In conclusion, the compactness and complexity of white matter microstructures were reduced in AD and aMCI patients. DKI can provide information about the severity of AD progression, and KFA might be more sensitive for the detection of white matter microstructural alterations.

Prognostic Value of Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, and Lymphocyte-to-White Blood Cell Ratio in Colorectal Cancer Patients Who Received Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to assess the prognostic value of pretreatment platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and lymphocyte-to-white blood cell ratio (LWR) of CRC patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: We analyzed the peripheral blood routine parameters and other clinical data of 145 patients with colorectal cancer who had undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy between January 2011 and February 2014. Pretreatment blood parameters of 145 patients were collected, and PLR, NLR, and LWR were calculated. The utility of PLR, NLR, and LWR in predicting treatment efficacy and patient survival was statistically evaluated using the chi-square test, log-rank test, Kaplan-Meier curves and logistic regression models, and Cox regression models. RESULTS: Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the best cutoff values of PLR, NLR, and LWR were 154.31, 3.01, and 0.22, respectively. In univariate analysis, tumor location (P = 0.044), differentiation degree (P = 0.001), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.020), and high PLR (P = 0.042) were significantly correlated with a lower overall response rate (ORR). In addition, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and high PLR were correlated with short OS (P < 0.01) and DFS (P < 0.01). Moreover, WBC count was correlated with a short OS. Multivariate analysis showed that tumor location (P = 0.013), differentiation degree (P = 0.001), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.033) were independent predictors of ORR. In addition, lymph node metastasis independently predicted a shorter OS (P = 0.011). Lymph node metastasis (P = 0.013) and high PLR (P = 0.022) were independent prognostic factors for short DFS. CONCLUSIONS: For CRC patients who received NAC, clinical pathological stage and lymph node metastasis were correlated with lower ORR and survival, while a high PLR that may be of prognostic relevance in CRC patients receiving NAC.

Improved Activation and Hemodynamic Response Function of Olfactory fMRI Using Simultaneous Multislice with Reduced TR Acquisition.

OBJECTIVES: The respiration could decrease the time synchronization between odor stimulation and data acquisition, consequently deteriorating the functional activation and hemodynamic response function (HRF) in olfactory functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with a conventional repetition time (TR). In this study, we aimed to investigate whether simultaneous multislice (SMS) technology with reduced TR could improve the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) activation and optimize HRF modeling in olfactory fMRI. METHODS: Sixteen young healthy subjects with normal olfaction underwent olfactory fMRI on a 3T MRI scanner using a 64 channel head coil. FMRI data were acquired using SMS acceleration at three different TRs: 3000 ms, 1000 ms, and 500 ms. Both metrics of BOLD activation (activated voxels, mean, and maximum t-scores) and the HRF modeling (response height and time to peak) were calculated in the bilateral amygdalae, hippocampi, and insulae. RESULTS: The 500 ms and 1000 ms TRs both significantly improved the number of activated voxels, mean, and maximum t-score in the amygdalae and insulae, compared with a 3000 ms TR (all P < 0.05). But the increase of these metrics in the hippocampi did not reach a statistical significance (all P > 0.05). No significant difference in any BOLD activation metrics between TR 500 ms and 1000 ms was observed in all regions of interest (ROIs) (all P > 0.05). The HRF curves showed that higher response height and shorter time to peak in all ROIs were obtained at 500 ms and 1000 ms TRs compared to 3000 ms TR. TR 500 ms had a more significant effect on response height than TR 1000 ms in the amygdalae (P = 0.017), and there was no significant difference in time to peak between TR 500 ms and 1000 ms in all ROIs (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The fast image acquisition technique of SMS with reduced TR could significantly improve the functional activation and HRF curve in olfactory fMRI.

Alterations of Brain Networks in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Resting State fMRI Study Based on a Population-specific Brain Template.

This study aimed to investigate the alterations in brain networks in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) based on a population-specific brain template. Previous studies on AD brain networks using graph theory rarely adopted brain templates specific for certain ethnicities. In this study, patients were divided into 3 groups: AD (n = 24), MCI (n = 27), and healthy controls (HCs, n = 33), and all of the subjects are Chinese. Functional brain networks were constructed for each group based on a Chinese brain template using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data; several graph metrics were calculated. Graph metrics with significant differences after false discovery rate (FDR) correction were analyzed with respect to correlations with four neuropsychological test scores: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), which assessed the subjects' cognitive functions and ability to engage in ADL. Graph metrics including assortativity coefficient, nodal degree centrality, nodal clustering coefficient, nodal efficiency, and nodal local efficiency of the frontal gyrus and cerebellum were significantly altered in AD and MCI compared with HC. Several graph metrics were significantly correlated with cognitive function and the ability to engage in daily activities. The findings suggest that altered graph metrics in the frontal gyrus may reflect brain plasticity, and that patients with MCI may have unique graph metric alterations in the cerebellum. Future graph analysis studies on functional brain networks in AD and MCI based on population-specific brain atlases for particular ethnicities may prove valuable.

Generation of onco-enhancer enhances chromosomal remodeling and accelerates tumorigenesis.

Chromatin remodeling impacts the structural neighborhoods and regulates gene expression. However, the role of enhancer-guided chromatin remodeling in the gene regulation remains unclear. Here, using RNA-seq and ChIP-seq, we identified for the first time that neurotensin (NTS) serves as a key oncogene in uveal melanoma and that CTCF interacts with the upstream enhancer of NTS and orchestrates an 800 kb chromosomal loop between the promoter and enhancer. Intriguingly, this novel CTCF-guided chromatin loop was ubiquitous in a cohort of tumor patients. In addition, a disruption in this chromosomal interaction prevented the histone acetyltransferase EP300 from embedding in the promoter of NTS and resulted in NTS silencing. Most importantly, in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the ability of tumor formation was significantly suppressed via deletion of the enhancer by CRISPR-Cas9. These studies delineate a novel onco-enhancer guided epigenetic mechanism and provide a promising therapeutic concept for disease therapy.

The Assessment of Brain Functional Changes in the Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Patient with Cognitive Impairment by Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to detect functional changes in the brain of cognitive impairment-temporal lobe epilepsy (CI-TLE) patient and to sort out the possible mechanism involved in CI in CI-TLE patients using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-eight TLE cases were included, which was divided into 44 TLE patients without CI (cognitive not impairment [CNI]-TLE) and 14 TLE patients with CI (CI-TLE). The normal control (NC) group consisted of 40 participants. RS-fMRI data preprocessing was carried out in statistical parametric mapping (SPM) software. The data were realigned, coregistered, normalized, and finally smoothened and then were taken for amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) calculation in RS-fMRI data analysis toolkit (REST) software. For data analysis, voxel-wise two-sample t-test was carried out between TLE group and NC group; CI-TLE group and cognitive not impairment-TLE (CNI-TLE) group in SPM software, a cluster >10 voxels and P < 0.01 was considered to be significant. RESULTS: Compared to NC, the TLE patients showed increased ALFF activation mostly in parahippocampal gyrus (PG), frontal lobe, midbrain, pons, insula, inferior temporal gyrus, and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) while decreased ALFF value was seen in posterior cingulate gyrus, cuneus, cerebellum posterior lobe, inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and superior temporal gyrus. Compared to CNI-TLE, CI-TLE patients showed increased ALFF in middle temporal gyrus (MTG), cuneus, ACG, IPL, middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), cerebellum posterior lobe, and decreased ALFF cluster in the corpus callosum and MFG. CONCLUSION: Between TLE and NC, we found increased ALFF activation in PG, frontal lobe, thalamus, insula, midbrain, and pons in TLE patient. Between CI and CNI TLE, area of executive control network and default model network, especially in MTG, ACG, IPL, MFG, and SFG, had increased ALFF value in CI-TLE patient. Activation of these areas should be because of the decompensation mechanism.

LncRNA CANT1 suppresses retinoblastoma progression by repellinghistone methyltransferase in PI3Kγ promoter.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common malignant intraocular tumor of childhood. Recent studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which are longer than 200 bp and without protein-coding ability, are key regulators of tumorigenesis. However, the role of lncRNAs in retinoblastoma remains to be elucidated. In this study, we found that the expression of lncRNA CASC15-New-Transcript 1 (CANT1) was significantly downregulated in RB. Notably, overexpression of CANT1 significantly inhibited RB growth both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, lncRNA CANT1, which was mainly located in the nucleus, occupied the promoter of phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma (PI3Kγ) and blocked histone methyltransferase hSET1 from binding to the PI3Kγ promoter, thus abolishing hSET1-mediated histone H3K4 trimethylation of the PI3Kγ promoter and inhibiting PI3Kγ expression. Furthermore, we found that silencing PI3Kγ either by lncRNA CANT1 overexpression or by PI3Kγ siRNA, reduced the activity of PI3K/Akt signaling and suppressed RB tumorigenesis. In summary, lncRNA CANT1 acts as a suppressor of RB progression by blocking gene-specific histone methyltransferase recruitment. These findings outline a new CANT1 modulation mechanism and provide an alternative option for the RB treatment.

Outcomes of Treatment for Elderly Patients With Trigeminal Neuralgia: Percutaneous Balloon Compression Versus Microvascular Decompression.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate the surgical outcomes of percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) and microvascular decompression (MVD) in the treatment of elderly patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). METHODS: A total of 30 patients who underwent PBC surgery (PBC group) and 30 patients who received MVD surgery (MVD group) were included. The treatment efficacy, Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain intensity score, inflammatory response, the rates of complication and recurrence were analyzed respectively. RESULTS: The total efficacy was 93.33% in the PBC group and 90.00% in the MVD group (P > 0.05), respectively. The pain relief rate was 90.00% and 86.67% after PBC and MVD surgery, respectively (P > 0.05). The levels of IL-1ß, TNF-α, and IL-6 were significantly decreased at post-operative 3 days and 5 days compared with pre-operation in the 2 groups (P < 0.05). The post-operative complication rates regarding masticatory muscle weakness and facial numbness in the PBC group were higher than MVD group (P < 0.05). Nevertheless, the incidences of herpes simplex and keratohelcosis were similar between the 2 groups (P > 0.05). The recurrence rates were also similar between the 3 groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous balloon compression and MVD are effective in the treatment for elderly TN, which can effectively improve the post-operative cure rate of pain prognosis and reduce the inflammatory response. However, PBC is a minimally invasive, safe and effective method for patients in poor general condition and refused treatment with craniotomy.

Prevention and control measures in radiology department for COVID-19.

Since a novel coronavirus was discovered from a cluster of patients with emerging pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China, it has spread rapidly through droplet and contact transmission. Recently, the novel coronavirus pneumonia which was named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO) has been raised as a worldwide problem. Radiological examinations were confirmed as effective methods for the screening and diagnosis of COVID-19. It is reported that some radiologists and radiological technologists were infected when giving examinations to the patients with COVID-19. In order to reduce the infection risk of medical staff in radiology department, we summarized the experience on prevention and control measures in radiology department for COVID-19, aiming to guide the prevention and practical work for radiologists and radiological technologists. KEY POINTS: • The novel coronavirus spreads rapidly through droplet and contact transmission. • Radiologists and radiological technologists were possibly infected by patients. • Prevention and control measures in radiology department for COVID-19 are important.

Microstructural White Matter Alterations in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease : Study Based on Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI).

PURPOSE: To investigate microstructural alterations in white matter in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) and to assess the potential diagnostic performance of NODDI-derived parameters. METHODS: In this study 14 MCI patients, 14 AD patients, and 14 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. The diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)-derived fractional anisotropy (FA) and NODDI-derived neurite density index (NDI), orientation dispersion index (ODI), and volume fraction of isotropic water molecules (Viso) were calculated from the diffusion data. The tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) method was used for statistical analysis with one-way ANOVA. The correlations between the parameter values and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) scores were examined. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was conducted to assess the diagnostic performance of different parameters. RESULTS: Compared with the HC group, the NDI and ODI values decreased significantly and the Viso values were significantly increased in the MCI and AD groups (p < 0.01, threshold-free cluster enhancement (TFCE)-corrected); however, there were no significant differences in FA values in the MCI group. The NDI, ODI, and Viso values of multiple fibers were significantly correlated with MMSE and MoCA scores. For the diagnosis of AD, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) for the NDI value of the splenium of corpus callosum was larger than the FA value (AUC = 0.885, 0.714, p = 0.042). The AUC of the Viso value of the right cerebral peduncle was larger than FA value (AUC = 0.934, 0.531, p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The NDI is more sensitive to white matter microstructural changes than FA and NODDI could be superior to DTI in the diagnosis of AD.