The Diagnostic and Predictive Value of Biomarkers for Pulmonary Fibrosis in Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019.

Introduction: In coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), particularly in older people, dysregulated immune response and aberrant repair can result in varied severity secondary pulmonary fibrosis (PF). By detecting some indicators, the occurrence and prognosis of fibrosis can be measured, providing directions for COVID-19 treatment. Methods: The research study lasted for 3 months and involved 88 COVID-19 patients. According to the chest radiological examination, 47 (53.41%) individuals were found to have no PF, while 41 (46.59%) showed PF. Clinical data such as inflammation markers, imaging findings, blood gas analysis, and hospital stay length were collected. Results: With area under the curve values of 0.7413, 0.7741, and 0.7048, respectively, and the study of the receiver operating characteristic curve demonstrated that mucin 1 (MUC1), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), and CXC chemokine receptor 10 (CXCL10) could diagnose the presence of COVID-19 PF. To evaluate the possibility of PF following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection, we established particular values for MUC1, CEA, and CXCL10 (1.296 ng/ml, 4.315 ng/ml, and 32.77 ng/ml, respectively). The survival curve for hospital days indicated that the length of hospital stays positively correlated with these three factors (P < 0.01). Transforming growth factor-beta did not correlate significantly with the severity of COVID-19 or PF. Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that the MUC1, CEA, and CXCL10 can be employed to explore the severity of secondary PF in COVID-19.

The combination of acyclovir and dexamethasone protects against Alzheimer's disease-related cognitive impairments in mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease. However, effective drugs for this disease have not yet been developed. The analysis of big data indicated that childhood herpes virus infection may be associated with the incidence of AD, suggesting that anti-herpetic drugs, such as acyclovir, may have preventive and suppressive effects in AD therapy. Moreover, short-term use of dexamethasone (DXMT), a clinical used synthetic corticosteroid, could effectively inhibit AD-related neuroinflammation. In this study, we have found that the combination of acyclovir and DXMT, but not acyclovir or DXMT alone, could protect against AD causing ß-amyloid (Aß) oligomer-induced spatial cognitive impairments. Moreover, acyclovir and DXMT could prevent Aß oligomer-induced over-activation of microglia and astrocytes, and over-expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, indicating that anti-AD effects of drug combination might be at least partially via neuroinflammation inhibition and immunomodulation. Furthermore, Aß oligomer-induced decrease of PSD-95 and increase of pTau expression was prevented by the combination of acyclovir and DXMT, suggesting the involvement of synaptic protective effects of the drug combination. Taken together, our studies indicated that the combination of acyclovir and DXMT might be an alternative therapy for the treatment of AD.

Image classification based on the linear unmixing and GEOBIA.

Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis and linear unmixing are common methods in image classification. The purpose of this study is to analyze the classification efficiency by integrating these two methods in the mountain area. This research selected Jiangle County, Fujian, as a study area. Two Landsat8 OLI images, which covered the county, were used. Linear spectral mixture model, multi-scale segmentation, and decision tree were applied in the classification. After image preprocessing, linear spectral mixture model was used to unmix the image into three fraction images-vegetation, shade, and soil. The principal component analysis and tasseled cap transformation were used to derived three principal components and the brightness, wetness, and greenness. Multi-scale segmentation is applied by eCognition. Under scale 40, the image was divided into vegetation and non-vegetation area, then under scale 20, the vegetation area was divided into different types by integrating the fraction with different methods. The accuracy assessment of the classification map was done using the forestry resource survey and the high-resolution image of Google Earth. This study indicated that the unmixed bands could improve the classification accuracy. The overall classification accuracy was 92.40% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.9032. Therefore, there is a conclusion that this approach is an efficient way to classify different plantation.

Monitoring and predicting land use and land cover changes using remote sensing and GIS techniques-A case study of a hilly area, Jiangle, China.

Land use and land cover change research has been applied to landslides, erosion, land planning and global change. Based on the CA-Markov model, this study predicts the spatial patterns of land use in 2025 and 2036 based on the dynamic changes in land use patterns using remote sensing and geographic information system. CA-Markov integrates the advantages of cellular automata and Markov chain analysis to predict future land use trends based on studies of land use changes in the past. Based on Landsat 5 TM images from 1992 and 2003 and Landsat 8 OLI images from 2014, this study obtained a land use classification map for each year. Then, the genetic transition probability from 1992 to 2003 was obtained by IDRISI software. Based on the CA-Markov model, a predicted land use map for 2014 was obtained, and it was validated by the actual land use results of 2014 with a Kappa index of 0.8128. Finally, the land use patterns of 2025 and 2036 in Jiangle County were determined. This study can provide suggestions and a basis for urban development planning in Jiangle County.

Association between dietary intake of folate, vitamin B6, B12 & MTHFR, MTR Genotype and breast cancer risk.

OBJECTIVE: we conducted a case-control study to investigate the association between dietary folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 intake, MTHFR and MTR genotype, and breast cancer risk. METHODS: Genotyping for MTHFR C677T and A1298C and MTR A2756G polymorphisms were performed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PCR-RFLP) method. The intake of folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 were calculated by each food item from questionnaire. RESULTS: Subjects with breast cancer tended to have more first-degree relatives (χ(2) =30.77, P<0.001) and have high intake of folate (t=2.42, P=0.008) and Vitamin B6 (t=2.94, P=0.002). Compared to the reference group, women with MTHFR 677 TT genotype and T allele had a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, with ORs (95%CI) of 1.8(1.08-2.27) and 1.39(1.02-1.92), respectively. For those who had folate intake＜450 ug/day, MTHFR 667TT genotype was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer (OR=2.45, 95% CI=1.09-5.82, P=0.02). Similarly, subjects with Vitamin B6 intake＜0.84 mg/day and MTHFR 667T allele genotype was correlated with a marginally increased risk of breast cancer. A significant interaction was observed between MTHFR C667T polymorphism and folate intake on the risk of breast cancer (P for interaction was 0.025). CONCLUSION: This case-control study found a significant association between MTHFR C667T polymorphism, folate intake and vitamin B6 and breast cancer risk, and a significant interaction was observed between MTHFR C667T polymorphism and folate intake on the risk of breast cancer.

An unusual case of myocardial noncompaction involving both ventricles--case report.

Noncompaction of ventricular myocardium (NCVM) is a rare congenital cardiomyopathy characterized by numerous excessively prominent trabeculations and intertrabecular recesses in the myocardium without any other cardiac structural abnormality. Transthoracic echocardiography is the imaging modality of choice for diagnosing NCVM. Although this disease commonly affects the left ventricle, the right ventricle or both ventricles can rarely be affected. We report the case of an 18-year-old male patient with NCVM involving both ventricles.

Isolated interrupted aortic arch in 42-year-old adult--case report.

Interrupted aortic arch (IAA) is a rare congenital anomaly characterized by a complete luminal and anatomical interruption between the ascending and descending thoracic aorta. It is usually detected in the perinatal period or during infancy, but a very few cases have been reported in adults. Here, we present the case of a 42-year-old man who visited our hospital for arterial hypertension and in whom IAA was diagnosed with echocardiography and confirmed by computed tomography angiography.