Verification of the Efficacy of New Diagnostic Criteria for Retropharyngeal Nodes in a Cohort of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients.

Purpose: A multistage approach to diagnose lateral retropharyngeal nodes (LRPNs) of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) had been proposed and warranted for validation. Methods: Between 2012 and 2017, the patients with newly diagnosed NPC were enrolled. The responsive nodes or those that progressed during follow-up were positive. The criteria for the multistage approach delimited LRPNs with a minimal axial diameter (MIAD) ≥ 6.1 mm were assessed as positive and if the mean standard uptake value ≥ 2.6, or if the maximal coronal diameter ≥ 25 mm and maximal axial diameter ≥ 8 mm with nodes MIAD < 6.1 mm were also considered as positive. The outcomes were compared with the MIAD cutoff value ≥ 6 mm (traditional method). A chi-squared test was used to compare two areas under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curves. Results: A total of 67 eligible NPC cases and 155 LRPNs (72 positive and 83 negative) were analyzed. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity of the traditional method were 0.91, 0.93, and 0.89, respectively. The values for the multistage approach all reached 0.94. The area under the curve was significantly greater for the multistage approach compared with the traditional method (p = 0.023). Conclusion: The results support the advantage of the multistage approach.

Thermal ages of the Huatung Basin determined from seismic waveform modeling: insights into Southeast Asia's evolution.

The Huatung Basin (HB), situated on the leading part of the Philippine Sea Plate, is directly involved in oblique subduction and mountain building in the Taiwan region. However, previous studies have reported a wide range of ages for the HB, from 30 to 130 Ma, making it difficult to properly constrain regional tectonics. We analyzed teleseismic waveforms recorded on Taiwan that traveled through the slab associated with the HB. By waveform matching, we have constrained the slab dimensions to approximately 400 km in length and 150 km in width, accompanied by an enhanced P-wave velocity of 6% within the slab core and an apparent dip angle of 55°. We used age-dependent subduction zone thermal models to estimate the thermal ages or the ages since the last thermal event of the HB. The best-fit thermal model indicates thermal ages ranging from 20 to 50 Ma, which is consistent with a suite of geophysical observations and the age inferred from geomagnetic anomaly data. However, our results differ considerably from the ages obtained through radiometric dating of rocks dredged from the seafloor. The discrepancy in age may be attributed to either thermal rejuvenation of the plate or dating of allochthonous samples dredged from the border of the basin.

Efficient conversion of human induced pluripotent stem cells into microglia by defined transcription factors.

Microglia, the immune cells of the central nervous system, play critical roles in brain physiology and pathology. We report a novel approach that produces, within 10 days, the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into microglia (iMG) by forced expression of both SPI1 and CEBPA. High-level expression of the main microglial markers and the purity of the iMG cells were confirmed by RT-qPCR, immunostaining, and flow cytometry analyses. Whole-transcriptome analysis demonstrated that these iMGs resemble human fetal/adult microglia but not human monocytes. Moreover, these iMGs exhibited appropriate physiological functions, including various inflammatory responses, ADP/ATP-evoked migration, and phagocytic ability. When co-cultured with hiPSC-derived neurons, the iMGs respond and migrate toward injured neurons. This study has established a protocol for the rapid conversion of hiPSCs into functional iMGs, which should facilitate functional studies of human microglia using different disease models and also help with drug discovery.