Optimising diffusion-weighted imaging of the thyroid gland using dedicated surface coil.

AIM: To assess the feasibility of applying field-of-view (FOV) optimised and constrained undistorted single-shot (FOCUS) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the thyroid gland by comparing its image quality with conventional DWI (C-DWI) qualitatively and quantitatively using a dedicated surface coil exclusively designed for the thyroid gland at 3 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective study, 32 healthy volunteers who had undergone 3 T the thyroid gland MRI with FOCUS-DWI and C-DWI were enrolled. Two independent reviewers assessed the overall image quality, artefacts, sharpness, and geometric distortion based on a five-point Likert scale. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were quantified for both sequences. Interobserver agreement, qualitative scores, and quantitative parameters were compared between two sequences. RESULTS: Agreement between the two readers was good for FOCUS-DWI (κ = 0.714-0.778) and moderate to good for C-DWI (κ = 0.525-0.672) in qualitative image quality assessment. Qualitatively, image quality (overall image quality, artefacts, sharpness, and geometric distortion) was significantly better in FOCUS-DWI than that in the C-DWI (all p<0.05); however, quantitatively, FOCUS-DWI had significantly lower SNRs (p<0.001) and CNRs (p=0.012) compared with C-DWI. The ADC value on FOCUS-DWI was significantly higher than that on C-DWI (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: FOCUS-DWI depicted the thyroid gland with significantly better image quality qualitatively and less ghost artefacts, but had significantly lower SNR and CNR quantitatively, compared with C-DWI, suggesting that both DWI sequences have advantages and could be chosen for different purposes.

[Value of indocyanine green fluorescence tracer in laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis].

Objective: To explore the value of low-dose indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for acute cholecystitis. Methods: Clinical data of 198 patients with acute cholecystitis and had received LC in Changzhou No.2 People's Hospital from January 2020 to September 2021 were collected. In the fluorescence group (n=97), peripheral intravenous injection of ICG was performed 15 minutes before LC, while conventional white light was applied in the control group (n=101). The efficiency of bile duct discrimination, operation time, intraoperative bleeding and postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results: Of the 198 patients, 86 were males and 112 females. The differences were not statisticly significant in age [52 (44, 63) vs 56 (46, 68) years, P>0.05], history of chronic inflammation [34(35.1%) vs 31(30.7%) cases, P>0.05] and other clinical baseline data between the two groups. Compared with the control group, the fluorescence group had higher efficiency of bile duct identification [18 (16,19) vs 38 (28,55) min,P<0.001], shorter operation time [45 (40,60) vs 80 (65,100) min,P<0.001], less intraoperative bleeding [10 (5,15) vs 60 (20,100) ml,P<0.001], and less postoperative liver function damage [alanine aminotransferase 35.0 (23.4,51.0) vs 98.3 (67.0,134.8)U/L,P<0.001]. In the control group, there was one case of biliary duct injury during operation, one case of postoperative biliary fistula, and one case of postoperative hemorrhage. No similar adverse event was found in fluorescence group. Conclusions: ICG fluorescence imaging can improve the efficiency of LC for patients with acute cholecystitis. It is easy to operate and has a good clinical application value.

[Analysis of treatment modalities and prognosis of patients with gallbladder cancer in China from 2010 to 2017].

Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and prognosis of gallbladder cancer (GBC) patients in China. Methods: This retrospective multicenter cohort study enrolled 3 528 consecutive GBC patients diagnosed between January 2010 to December 2017 in 15 hospitals from 10 provinces. There were 1 345 (38.12%) males and 2 183 (61.88%) females.The age of diagnosis was (63.7±10.8) years old (range: 26 to 99 years old) .There were 213 patients (6.04%) in stage 0 to Ⅰ, whereas 1 059 (30.02%) in stage Ⅱ to Ⅲ, 1 874 (53.12%) in stage Ⅳ, and 382 (10.83%) unavailable. Surgery was performed on 2 255 patients (63.92%) . Three hundred and thirty-six patients received chemotherapy or radiotherapy (9.52%; of which 172 were palliative); 1 101 (31.21%) received only supportive treatment.The patient source, treatment and surgery, pathology, concomitant gallstone, and prognosis were analyzed. Results: Among the 3 528 GBC patients, 959 (27.18%) were from East China, 603 (17.09%) from East-North China, 1 533 (43.45%) from Central China, and 433(12.27%) from West China. Among the 1 578 resectable tumor, 665 (42.14%) underwent radical surgery, 913 (57.86%) underwent surgery that failed to follow the guidelines.Eight hundred and ninety-one (56.46%) patients were diagnosed before surgery, 254 (16.10%) during surgery, and 381 (24.14%) after surgery (time point of diagnosis couldn't be determined in 52 patients) .Among the 1 578 patients with resectable tumor, 759 (48.10%) had concomitant gallstone.Among the 665 patients underwent radical surgery, 69 (10.4%) showed positive resection margin, 510 (76.7%) showed negative resection margin, and 86 (12.9%) unreported margin status.The 5-year overall survival rate (5yOS) for the 3 528-patient cohort was 23.0%.The 5yOS for patients with resectable tumor was 39.6%, for patients with stage ⅣB tumor without surgery was 5.4%, and for patients with stage ⅣB tumor underwent palliative surgery was 4.7%. Conclusions: More than half GBC patients in China are diagnosed in stage Ⅳ.Curative intent surgery is valuable in improving prognosis of resectable GBC.The treatment of GBC needs further standardization.Effective comprehensive treatment for GBC is in urgent need.

Identification and characterization a novel HLA-A allele, A*02:355, by sequence-based typing in a Chinese potential donor.

The new allele A*02:355 differs from A* 02:03:01 at positions 98 (T→A) and 102(A→C) resulting in an amino acid exchange F9→T. Interallelic sequence exchange is more likely the mechanism of its origination. The amino acid replacement influences the HLA peptide binding cleft and might have significant functional effects.

[Analysis of non-invasive prenatal screening detection in fetal chromosome aneuploidy].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) in the detection of fetal aneuploidies. Methods: Cell free DNA was sequenced in 5 566 pregnant women to identify the fetal aneuploidies in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 1(st), 2015 to March 15(th), 2016. Among them, 5 230 (93.96%, 5 230/5 566) were singleton pregnancies and 336 (6.04%, 336/5 566) were twin pregnancies. In singleton pregnancies, 1 809 (34.59%, 1 809/5 230) were women with advanced maternal age, and 3 421 (65.41%, 3 421/5 230) were young women. The positive results of NIPS were validated by karyotyping through invasive procedures and neonatal outcomes were followed up by telephone. Results: Among the 5 566 women, 69 (1.24%, 69/5 566) got positive NIPS results, with 66 in singleton pregnancies and 3 in twin pregnancies. Two were monochorionic diamniotic twins and 1 was dichorionic twin pregnancy. The positive predictive value of NIPS for trisomy 21, 18 and 13 were 100.0%, 90.9% and 100.0%, and was 55.6% for sex chromosome aneuploidies. There was no false negative case found during the follow-up. In the advanced maternal age group and young women group, the prevalence rates of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies were 1.11%(20/1 809) and 0.94%(32/3 421), respectively. In the young women with soft markers in fetal ultrasound, the prevalence of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies was 1.44% (7/487), and in serum high risk women, it was 0.94% (7/747). In women with the serum screening risk with cut-off value, 0.89%(9/1 016) had fetal aneuploidies, and the prevalence was 0.77%(9/1 171) in volunteers. There was no statistically significant difference among these groups (P=0.636). Conclusions: There is no difference in the detection rate of fetal aneuploidies between high-risk women in serum screening and volunteers in NIPS. NIPS is more suitable as a first line screening test for women without fetal ultrasound abnormalities. It should be used carefully when there is ultrasound abnormalities.

Identification of a new HLA-A allele: A*02:512.

A*02:512 differs from A*02:01:01:01 by one nucleotide at nt 506.

Characterization of a new HLA allele: HLA-A*29:49.

The new A*29:49 differs from A*29:01:01:01 by one nucleotide at nt 368.

A novel HLA-A allele, A*31:65, was identified by sequence-based typing in a Chinese potential donor.

A*31:65: one nucleotide change resulting in a new motif CAC at codon 84 in HLA-A.

Identification of a new HLA allele, HLA-DRB1*03:80, in a Chinese Han ethnic individual.

The new allele DRB1*03:80 has a single nucleotide change at position 239(C→G) in exon 2 from the closest matching allele DRB1*03:06.

A novel HLA-B*35 allele, B*35:189 with a new motif GGG at codon 35, identified by sequence-based typing in a Chinese potential donor.

B*35:189: one nucleotide change resulting in a new motif GGG at codon 35 in HLA-B.

Association of KIR2DS4 and its variant KIR1D with syphilis in a Chinese Han population.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum spirochaete bacterium. The killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) gene family encodes cell surface receptors that are found on natural killer (NK) cells and certain T-cell subsets. NK cells are fast-acting effector lymphocytes of innate immunity that respond to infection. The activity of NK cells depends on the dynamic balance of activating and inhibitory signals that are transmitted through respective receptors including KIRs. KIR2DS4 is the only activating KIR gene in KIR haplotype A. KIR1D is a partial deletion KIR2DS4 variant encoding protein devoid of transmembrane region. Up to now, there is no knowledge of association of KIR2DS4 and its variant KIR1D with syphilis in a population that belongs to KIR gene haplotype A. Polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method was used to genotype KIR genes in 190 patients with syphilis and 192 healthy controls. The gene frequencies of KIR2DS4 and KIR1D were analysed for the association with syphilis in patients and healthy controls who belong to KIR gene haplotype A. The gene frequency of KIR1D/KIR1D in patients with syphilis classified as haplotype A was 16.85% and was significantly higher than that in the control group (6.59%) (P = 0.032). However, there was no significant difference for the gene frequencies of KIR2DS4/KIR2DS4 and KIR2DS4/KIR1D between the two groups (P > 0.05). KIR1D/KIR1D was found in association with susceptibility to syphilis in the Chinese Han population that belongs to KIR gene haplotype A.

Annealing effect on the structure and electronic transport properties in La5/8Ca3/8MnO3/ErMnO3 multilayer thin films.

Ferromagnetic La5/8Ca3/8MnO3 (LCMO) and Ferroelectric ErMnO3 (EMO) multilayer thin films with sandwich structure (LCMO/EMO/LCMO) were grown on (LaAlO3)0.3(Sr2AlTaO6)0.7 (001) [LSAT (001)] substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method. For these films, the structural characterization was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the temperature-dependence resistivity (p-T) showing the metal-insulator transition (Tp) also was measured. In the multilayer thin films the LCMO (002) peak move to lower Bragg angles after annealing at 900 degrees C for 30 hours under 1atm Oxygen pressure, and this condition is much different from the LCMO single layer films where the (002) peak moves to higher Bragg angle after annealing due to the lattice mismatch between the LCMO layer and the substrate. By increasing the thickness of LCMO, the multilayer samples show two MR peaks in a wide temperature range during the process of M-l transition. This phenomenon is attributed to a new (La5/8Ca3/8)xEr(1-x)MnO3 layer produced by the solubility between LCMO and EMO layers after high-temperature annealing. In this paper, we provide some evidence of dissolution between LCMO and EMO layers, and discuss the influence on structure and electronic transport properties in the composite thin films by annealing.

Identification of a novel HLA-B*15 allele (B*9552) by sequence-based typing in a Chinese donor.

A novel human leukocyte antigen B allele, B*9552, has been identified by sequence-based typing in a donor of Chinese Marrow Donor Program, which has one nucleotide change at position 272 (C-->A) in exon 2 from the closest matching allele B*15010101, resulting in an amino acid substitution from Ser to Tyr at codon 91.

A novel HLA-B allele, B*5535, was identified by sequence-based typing in a Chinese individual.

A novel human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B allele, B*5535, has been identified in a Chinese individual by sequence-based typing, which has seven nucleotide changes from the closest matching allele B*5502 resulting in two amino acids changes: 69 Glu-->Met; 70 Glu-->Ala.

A novel HLA-B allele, B*4096 was identified by sequence-based typing in a Chinese individual.

A novel HLA-B allele, B*4096, has been identified in a Chinese individual by sequence-based typing, which has seven nucleotide changes from the closest matching allele B*40060101 resulting in five amino acid changes: 101Ser-->Asn; 104Ser-->Thr; 105Leu-->Ala; 106Arg--> Leu and 107Gly-->Arg.

A novel HLA-DRB1 allele, DRB1*1219, was identified by sequence-based typing in a Chinese leukaemia family.

A novel human leukocyte antigen DRB1 allele, DRB1*1219, has been identified in a Chinese leukaemia patient and his family by polymerase chain reaction sequence-based typing, which has one nucleotide change at position 341 (C-->T) in exon 2 from the closest matching allele DRB1*120201, resulting in an amino acid substitution from Ala-->Val at codon 85.

Prolongation of rat intestinal allograft survival by administration of triptolide-modified donor bone marrow-derived dendritic cells.

Severe graft rejection remains an important obstacle in intestinal transplantation. In this study, dendritic cells (DCs) isolated from rat bone marrow were cultured for 5 days, and triptolide applied for 3 more days. The recipient rats were pretreated with donor triptolide-modified or not modified DC. Small bowel transplantation was performed to observed survival times. We demonstrated that triptolide markedly inhibited both the expression of CD80 and MHCII expression on DCs. Triptolide-modified DCs stimulated lower proliferative responses among allogeneic T cells, prolonging the survival of intestinal allografts in rats. These results suggested that pretreatment with triptolide-modified DC prolonged the survival of rat small bowel allografts after transplantation.