Threshold conditions for curbing COVID-19 with a dynamic zero-case policy derived from 101 outbreaks in China.

By 31 May 2022, original/Alpha, Delta and Omicron strains induced 101 outbreaks of COVID-19 in mainland China. Most outbreaks were cleared by combining non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) with vaccines, but continuous virus variations challenged the dynamic zero-case policy (DZCP), posing questions of what are the prerequisites and threshold levels for success? And what are the independent effects of vaccination in each outbreak? Using a modified classic infectious disease dynamic model and an iterative relationship for new infections per day, the effectiveness of vaccines and NPIs was deduced, from which the independent effectiveness of vaccines was derived. There was a negative correlation between vaccination coverage rates and virus transmission. For the Delta strain, a 61.8% increase in the vaccination rate (VR) reduced the control reproduction number (CRN) by about 27%. For the Omicron strain, a 20.43% increase in VR, including booster shots, reduced the CRN by 42.16%. The implementation speed of NPIs against the original/Alpha strain was faster than the virus's transmission speed, and vaccines significantly accelerated the DZCP against the Delta strain. The CRN ([Formula: see text]) during the exponential growth phase and the peak time and intensity of NPIs were key factors affecting a comprehensive theoretical threshold condition for DZCP success, illustrated by contour diagrams for the CRN under different conditions. The DZCP maintained the [Formula: see text] of 101 outbreaks below the safe threshold level, but the strength of NPIs was close to saturation especially for Omicron, and there was little room for improvement. Only by curbing the rise in the early stage and shortening the exponential growth period could clearing be achieved quickly. Strengthening China's vaccine immune barrier can improve China's ability to prevent and control epidemics and provide greater scope for the selection and adjustment of NPIs. Otherwise, there will be rapid rises in infection rates and an extremely high peak and huge pressure on the healthcare system, and a potential increase in excess mortality.

[Impact of the environmental layout of the neonatal intensive care unit on clinical outcomes and neurological development in very/extremely preterm infants]. / 新生儿重症监护室环境布局对极/è¶ æ—©äº§å„¿ä¸´åºŠç»“å±€åŠç¥žç»å‘è‚²çš„å½±å“.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of the environmental layout of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) on clinical outcomes and neurological development in very/extremely preterm infants. METHODS: A total of 304 very/extremely preterm infants admitted to Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between January 2021 and June 2022 within 24 hours after birth were included in this retrospective cohort study. Based on different environmental layouts in the NICU, the infants were divided into two groups: centralized layout group (n=157) and decentralized layout group (n=147). The clinical outcomes and Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) scores at corrected gestational age between 34 to 51+6 weeks were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The decentralized layout group had lower incidence rates of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (44.9% vs 62.4%, P<0.05) and intracranial hemorrhage (17.7% vs 28.0%, P<0.05) than the centralized layout group. The cure rate was higher in the decentralized layout group compared to the centralized layout group (68.7% vs 56.7%, P<0.05). The decentralized layout group had higher TIMP scores than the centralized layout group at corrected gestational age between 34 to 51+6 weeks (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The decentralized layout of the NICU exhibits positive effects on the clinical outcomes and early neurological development compared to the centralized layout in very/extremely preterm infants.

A Study of Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy Induced by the TTR Val30Leu Mutation in China.

INTRODUCTION: Familial amyloid polyneuropathy is currently prevalent worldwide as the transthyretin (TTR) Val30Met mutation, and there are other types of mutations. The purpose of this study was to understand the clinical manifestations, electrophysiological characteristics, and outcomes of hormone-related therapy in patients with the TTR Val30Leu mutation in China. METHODS: Clinical data were collected from 9 members of a family with the TTR Val30Leu mutation in China, and blood samples of 7 members of the family were sequenced. The electrophysiological examinations of 4 of them were collected and analysed. RESULTS: A total of 7 people had the TTR gene c.148G>T missense mutation and the TTR protein Val30Leu mutation in this family, and the positive members all had similar symptoms, such as limb paraesthesia and gastrointestinal symptoms. In addition, electrophysiological examination showed abnormal nerve conduction velocity in all 4 patients. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical manifestations of this mutation involve mainly limb sensory or motor disorders or gastrointestinal symptoms or both, and the electrophysiological examination shows neurogenic damage.

Effects of medical resource capacities and intensities of public mitigation measures on outcomes of COVID-19 outbreaks.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic is complex and is developing in different ways according to the country involved. METHODS: To identify the key parameters or processes that have the greatest effects on the pandemic and reveal the different progressions of epidemics in different countries, we quantified enhanced control measures and the dynamics of the production and provision of medical resources. We then nested these within a COVID-19 epidemic transmission model, which is parameterized by multi-source data. We obtained rate functions related to the intensity of mitigation measures, the effective reproduction numbers and the timings and durations of runs on medical resources, given differing control measures implemented in various countries. RESULTS: Increased detection rates may induce runs on medical resources and prolong their durations, depending on resource availability. Nevertheless, improving the detection rate can effectively and rapidly reduce the mortality rate, even after runs on medical resources. Combinations of multiple prevention and control strategies and timely improvement of abilities to supplement medical resources are key to effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic. A 50% reduction in comprehensive control measures would have led to the cumulative numbers of confirmed cases and deaths exceeding 590,000 and 60,000, respectively, by 27 March 2020 in mainland China. CONCLUSIONS: Multiple data sources and cross validation of a COVID-19 epidemic model, coupled with a medical resource logistic model, revealed the key factors that affect epidemic progressions and their outbreak patterns in different countries. These key factors are the type of emergency medical response to avoid runs on medical resources, especially improved detection rates, the ability to promote public health measures, and the synergistic effects of combinations of multiple prevention and control strategies. The proposed model can assist health authorities to predict when they will be most in need of hospital beds and equipment such as ventilators, personal protection equipment, drugs, and staff.

Hydrogen peroxide as a mediator of 5-aminolevulinic acid-induced Na+ retention in roots for improving salt tolerance of strawberries.

To explore the mechanisms of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-improved plant salt tolerance, strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa Duch. cv. 'Benihoppe') were treated with 10 mg l-1 ALA under 100 mmol l-1 NaCl stress. We found that the amount of Na+ increased in the roots but decreased in the leaves. Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) observations showed that ALA-induced roots had more Na+ accumulation than NaCl alone. Measurement of the xylem sap revealed that ALA repressed Na+ concentrations to a large extent. The electron microprobe X-ray assay also confirmed ALA-induced Na+ retention in roots. qRT-PCR showed that ALA upregulated the gene expressions of SOS1 (encoding a plasma membrane Na+ /H+ antiporter), NHX1 (encoding a vacuolar Na+ /H+ antiporter) and HKT1 (encoding a protein of high-affinity K+ uptake), which are associated with Na+ exclusion in the roots, Na+ sequestration in vacuoles and Na+ unloading from the xylem vessels to the parenchyma cells, respectively. Furthermore, we found that ALA treatment reduced the H2 O2 content in the leaves but increased it in the roots. The exogenous H2 O2 promoted plant growth, increased root Na+ retention and stimulated the gene expressions of NHX1, SOS1 and HKT1. Diphenyleneiodonium (DPI), an inhibitor of H2 O2 generation, suppressed the effects of ALA or H2 O2 on Na+ retention, gene expressions and salt tolerance. Therefore, we propose that ALA induces H2 O2 accumulation in roots, which mediates Na+ transporter gene expression and more Na+ retention in roots, thereby improving plant salt tolerance.

Comparison of the seventh and eighth editions of the UICC/AJCC staging system for nasopharyngeal carcinoma: analysis of 1317 patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy at two centers.

BACKGROUND: In the intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) era, great improvement has been made in survival of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The 7th edition of the International Union against Cancer/American Joint Committee on Cancer (UICC/AJCC) staging system seems "outdated " as it mainly based on the study in 2D/3D era, and thus the 8th edition has made some amendments according to recent studies. We aimed to compare and evaluate these two editions of staging system for NPC in patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy. METHODS: A total of 1317 patients with biopsy-proven, non-metastatic NPC treated with IMRT between 2009 and 2014 at two institutions were retrospectively assessed. All patients were assessed by magnetic resonance imaging and restaged according to the 7th and 8th editions. Prognostic factors for local relapse-free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed and compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards model was also used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR). RESULTS: In both 7th and 8th edition, insignificant difference could be observed between T2 and T3 disease, T2 and T4 disease (all P > 0.05) for LRFS, while the difference of LRFS between T3 and T4 disease was significant in the previous edition (P = 0.001) but insignificant (P = 0.279) after revision. For OS, highly similar survival curve could be seen between T2 and T3 disease in both edition (all P > 0.1). DMFS and OS were not significantly different between N3a and N1-3b categories of the 7th edition (all P > 0.05). In contrast, obvious segregation was observed between N3 and the other N categories after the revision and combination in the 8th edition (all P < 0.05). DFS and OS were not significantly different between stage IVA and IVB of the 7th edition (P = 0.057 and P = 0.365, respectively); therefore, combining these stages in the 8th edition was reasonable. CONCLUSION: The overall stages and N categories of the 8th edition of the UICC/AJCC staging system provide better segregation of survival outcomes than the 7th edition. The 8th edition is also more clinically applicable as it has reduced ambiguity and revised out-of-date definitions. However, the T categories need further optimizing as the 8th edition failed to solve the problem of similar survival between adjacent T-classification, which has been exited since 7th edition.

Stochastic Modelling of Air Pollution Impacts on Respiratory Infection Risk.

The impact of air pollution on people's health and daily activities in China has recently aroused much attention. By using stochastic differential equations, variation in a 6 year long time series of air quality index (AQI) data, gathered from air quality monitoring sites in Xi'an from 15 November 2010 to 14 November 2016 was studied. Every year the extent of air pollution shifts from being serious to not so serious due to alterations in heat production systems. The distribution of such changes can be predicted by a Bayesian approach and the Gibbs sampler algorithm. The intervals between changes in a sequence indicate when the air pollution becomes increasingly serious. Also, the inflow rate of pollutants during the main pollution periods each year has an increasing trend. This study used a stochastic SEIS model associated with the AQI to explore the impact of air pollution on respiratory infections. Good fits to both the AQI data and the numbers of influenza-like illness cases were obtained by stochastic numerical simulation of the model. Based on the model's dynamics, the AQI time series and the daily number of respiratory infection cases under various government intervention measures and human protection strategies were forecasted. The AQI data in the last 15 months verified that government interventions on vehicles are effective in controlling air pollution, thus providing numerical support for policy formulation to address the haze crisis.

Simultaneous Enhancement of Photoluminescence, MRI Relaxivity, and CT Contrast by Tuning the Interfacial Layer of Lanthanide Heteroepitaxial Nanoparticles.

Nanoparticle (NP) based exogenous contrast agents assist biomedical imaging by enhancing the target visibility against the background. However, it is challenging to design a single type of contrast agents that are simultaneously suitable for various imaging modalities. The simple integration of different components into a single NP contrast agent does not guarantee the optimized properties of each individual components. Herein, we describe lanthanide-based core-shell-shell (CSS) NPs as triple-modal contrast agents that have concurrently enhanced performance compared to their individual components in photoluminescence (PL) imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT). The key to simultaneous enhancement of PL intensity, MRI r1 relaxivity, and X-ray attenuation capability in CT is tuning the interfacial layer in the CSS NP architecture. By increasing the thickness of the interfacial layer, we show that (i) PL intensity is enhanced from completely quenched/dark state to brightly emissive state of both upconversion and downshifting luminescence at different excitation wavelengths (980 and 808 nm), (ii) MRI r1 relaxivity is enhanced by 5-fold from 11.4 to 52.9 mM-1 s-1 (per Gd3+) at clinically relevant field strength 1.5 T, and (iii) the CT Hounsfield Unit gain is 70% higher than the conventional iodine-based agents at the same mass concentration. Our results demonstrate that judiciously designed contrast agents for multimodal imaging can achieve simultaneously enhanced performance compared to their individual stand-alone structures and highlight that multimodality can be achieved without compromising on individual modality performance.

[Interpretation and prospect of clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for sepsis].

Clinical practice guideline on traditional Chinese medicine therapy alone or combined with antibiotics for sepsis is strictly in accordance with the latest diagnostic criteria for sepsis (sepsis-3) for the treatment of septic patients at different stages through syndrome differentiation. At present, the abuse of antibiotics and the prevalence of drug-resistant bacteria are very serious, without effective solutions. Thus, this is the first time to focus on traditional Chinese medicine combined with antibiotics to treat sepsis, in order to minimize the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria. This Guideline tends to systematically analyze the sepsis period, septic shock period as well as different clinical symptoms and traditional Chinese medicine measures for organ dysfunction in the sepsis process. By analyzing and interpreting the Guideline systematically, the clinicians could understand its purpose, significance and core ideas more thoroughly, and grasp the recommended specific interventions as well as their advantages and disadvantages, hoping to better implement the Guideline, provide guidance to clinicians and standardize the treatment of sepsis by traditional Chinese medicine.

Bioinspired Chemical Communication between Synthetic Nanomotors.

While chemical communication plays a key role in diverse natural processes, the intelligent chemical communication between synthetic nanomotors remains unexplored. The design and operation of bioinspired synthetic nanomotors is presented. Chemical communication between nanomotors is possible and has an influence on propulsion behavior. A chemical "message" is sent from a moving activator motor to a nearby activated (receiver) motor by release of Ag+ ions from a Janus polystyrene/Ni/Au/Ag activator motor to the activated Janus SiO2 /Pt nanomotor. The transmitted silver signal is translated rapidly into a dramatic speed change associated with the enhanced catalytic activity of activated motors. Selective and successive activation of multiple nanomotors is achieved by sequential localized chemical communications. The concept of establishing chemical communication between different synthetic nanomotors paves the way to intelligent nanoscale robotic systems that are capable of cooperating with each other.

Direct Evidence for Coupled Surface and Concentration Quenching Dynamics in Lanthanide-Doped Nanocrystals.

Luminescence quenching at high dopant concentrations generally limits the dopant concentration to less than 1-5 mol% in lanthanide-doped materials, and this remains a major obstacle in designing materials with enhanced efficiency/brightness. In this work, we provide direct evidence that the major quenching process at high dopant concentrations is the energy migration to the surface (i.e., surface quenching) as opposed to the common misconception of cross-relaxation between dopant ions. We show that after an inert epitaxial shell growth, erbium (Er3+) concentrations as high as 100 mol% in NaY(Er)F4/NaLuF4 core/shell nanocrystals enhance the emission intensity of both upconversion and downshifted luminescence across different excitation wavelengths (980, 800, and 658 nm), with negligible concentration quenching effects. Our results highlight the strong coupling of concentration and surface quenching effects in colloidal lanthanide-doped nanocrystals, and that inert epitaxial shell growth can overcome concentration quenching. These fundamental insights into the photophysical processes in heavily doped nanocrystals will give rise to enhanced properties not previously thought possible with compositions optimized in bulk.

High Relaxivity Gadolinium-Polydopamine Nanoparticles.

This study reports the preparation of a series of gadolinium-polydopamine nanoparticles (GdPD-NPs) with tunable metal loadings. GdPD-NPs are analyzed by nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion and with a 7-tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. A relaxivity of 75 and 10.3 mM-1 s-1 at 1.4 and 7 T is observed, respectively. Furthermore, superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry is used to study intraparticle magnetic interactions and determine the GdPD-NPs consist of isolated metal ions even at maximum metal loadings. From these data, it is concluded that the observed high relaxivities arise from a high hydration state of the Gd(III) at the particle surface, fast rate of water exchange, and negligible antiferromagnetic coupling between Gd(III) centers throughout the particles. This study highlights design parameters and a robust synthetic approach that aid in the development of this scaffold for T1 -weighted, high relaxivity MRI contrast agents.

LongTarget: a tool to predict lncRNA DNA-binding motifs and binding sites via Hoogsteen base-pairing analysis.

MOTIVATION: In mammalian cells, many genes are silenced by genome methylation. DNA methyltransferases and polycomb repressive complexes, which both lack sequence-specific DNA-binding motifs, are recruited by long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) to specific genomic sites to methylate DNA and chromatin. Increasing evidence indicates that many lncRNAs contain DNA-binding motifs that can bind to DNA by forming RNA:DNA triplexes. The identification of lncRNA DNA-binding motifs and binding sites is essential for deciphering lncRNA functions and correct and erroneous genome methylation; however, such identification is challenging because lncRNAs may contain thousands of nucleotides. No computational analysis of typical lncRNAs has been reported. Here, we report a computational method and program (LongTarget) to predict lncRNA DNA-binding motifs and binding sites. We used this program to analyse multiple antisense lncRNAs, including those that control well-known imprinting clusters, and obtained results agreeing with experimental observations and epigenetic marks. These results suggest that it is feasible to predict many lncRNA DNA-binding motifs and binding sites genome-wide. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Website of LongTarget: lncrna.smu.edu.cn, or contact: hao.zhu@ymail.com. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Enhanced UV upconversion emission using plasmonic nanocavities.

Upconversion of near infrared (NIR) into ultraviolet (UV) radiation could lead to a number of applications in bio-imaging, diagnostics and drug delivery. However, for bare nanoparticles, the conversion efficiency is extremely low. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate strongly enhanced upconversion emission from an ensemble of ß-NaYF4:Gd3+/Yb3+/Tm3+ @NaLuF4 core-shell nanoparticles trapped in judiciously designed plasmonic nanocavities. In doing so, different metal platforms and nanostructures are systematically investigated. Our results indicate that using a cross-shape silver nanocavity, a record high enhancement of 170-fold can be obtained in the UV band centered at a wavelength of 345 nm. The observed upconversion efficiency improvement may be attributed to the increased absorption at NIR, the tailored photonic local density of states, and the light out-coupling characteristics of the cavity.

Enhancement of Pork Jerky Using Co-cultures of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Angel Yeast.

Strains of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Angel Yeast were combined to ferment raw pork and make pork jerky. After fermentation, the jerky was dried and then tested for sensory evaluation, pH and free amino acid content. The results showed that the optimal conditions for fermentation using L. bulgaricus and Angel Yeast were: a pH of 6.5, a 1:1 (v/v) ratio of L. bulgaricus to Angel Yeast, a fermentation time of 42 h and temperature of 25 °C. The results showed that the pork jerky fermented with the combined strains was not very sour which was close to the pH of 7.0 and had a higher free amino acid content which was more than 68.3 mg/100 g compared with the pork jerky fermented by either L. bulgaricus or Angel Yeast alone. Overall, the results demonstrate that fermentation of raw pork with combined strains of L. bulgaricus and Angel Yeast improves the quality and flavor of pork jerky.

Interim anatase coating layer stabilizes rutile@Crx Oy photoanode for visible-light-driven water oxidation.

Ternary core-shell heterostructured rutile@anatase@Crx Oy nanorod arrays were elaborately designed as photoanodes for efficient photoelectrochemical water splitting under visible-light illumination. The four-fold enhanced and stabilized visible-light photocurrent highlights the unique role of the interim anatase layer in accelerating the interfacial charge transfer from the Crx Oy chromophore to rutile nanorods.

Short Soluble Coumarin Crosslinkers for Light-Controlled Release of Cells and Proteins from Hydrogels.

Materials that degrade or dissociate in response to low power light promise to enable on-demand, precisely localized delivery of drugs or bioactive molecules in living systems. Such applications remain elusive because few materials respond to wavelengths that appreciably penetrate tissues. The photocage bromohydroxycoumarin (Bhc) is efficiently cleaved upon low-power ultraviolet (UV) and near-infrared (NIR) irradiation through one- or two-photon excitation, respectively. We have designed and synthesized a short Bhc-bearing crosslinker to create light-degradable hydrogels and nanogels. Our crosslinker breaks by intramolecular cyclization in a manner inspired by the naturally occurring ornithine lactamization, in response to UV and NIR light, enabling rapid degradation of polyacrylamide gels and release of small hydrophilic payloads such as an ∼10 nm model protein and murine mesenchymal stem cells, with no background leakage.

Buflomedil for acute ischaemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Few strategies are effective for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. Buflomedil is a vasoactive agent that has been used for peripheral arterial diseases. Research studies have suggested that buflomedil may have beneficial effects in people with cerebral vascular diseases, including acute ischaemic stroke, however it has not been approved for treating stroke in clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of buflomedil for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (September 2014), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (2014, Issue 4), MEDLINE (1950 to February 2014), EMBASE (1980 to February 2014), ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database (July 2014), Web of Science (including Conference Proceedings Citation Index Science (CPCI-S)) (July 2014), and four Chinese databases (February 2014). We also searched five ongoing trials registers and reference lists of the included trials. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the efficacy of buflomedil in people with acute ischaemic stroke. The primary outcome of this review was long-term death or disability/dependence. Other outcomes included short-term death, short-term disability, neurological deficits, and adverse events. We included trials comparing buflomedil versus a placebo control, trials comparing buflomedil plus usual medical care versus usual medical care alone, or those comparing buflomedil plus another intervention versus that intervention alone. We excluded trials comparing buflomedil alone with other potentially active intervention(s). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently scrutinised citations, selected studies, extracted data and assessed risk of bias in the included trials. We reported risk ratios (RRs) for dichotomous data and standardised mean differences (SMDs) for continuous data. We performed meta-analysis, using a random-effects model, for death and improvement of neurological deficits. Data for disability/dependence and adverse events were not suitable for meta-analysis thus we reported these narratively. We performed subgroup analyses for time of recruitment since stroke, delivery route, daily dose, and treatment duration. MAIN RESULTS: We included 26 trials (2756 participants), all conducted in China. All participants were inpatients within the first few days after stroke onset (mean age 58 to 75 years and male proportion 45% to 80%). Most trials delivered buflomedil intravenously, with a daily dose of 200 mg for 14 days. The study quality was generally poor and many trials were poorly reported.Only one trial reported long-term death and disability, where stroke survivors in the buflomedil group had a lower risk of suffering 'death or disability' than those in the control group (200 participants, RR 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 0.94). All 26 trials assessed outcomes by the end of treatment (eight trials with 1056 participants reported death, one trial with 85 participants reported disability, and 26 trials with 2756 participants reported neurological deficits), but there was no robust evidence for any of these short-term outcomes. Seventeen trials (1899 participants) investigated the presence of adverse events during the treatment, of which six trials (853 participants) reported "no significant adverse event in any participants" and the other 11 trials (1046 participants) reported a total of 38 adverse events in the buflomedil group and two events in the control group. In general, for each of these outcomes the quality of evidence was low according to the GRADE principles. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence on the efficacy or safety of buflomedil to support its use for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. Given these uncertainties, the data support the rationale for an adequately powered RCT of buflomedil in people with acute ischaemic stroke.

A mathematical simulation to assess variability in lung nodule size measurement associated with nodule-slice position.

The purpose of this study is to assess the variance and error in nodule diameter measurement associated with variations in nodule-slice position in cross-sectional imaging. A computer program utilizing a standard geometric model was used to simulate theoretical slices through a perfectly spherical nodule of known size, position, and density within a background of "lung" of known fixed density. Assuming a threshold density, partial volume effect of a voxel was simulated using published slice and pixel sensitivity profiles. At a given slice thickness and nodule size, 100 scans were simulated differing only in scan start position, then repeated for multiple node sizes at three simulated slice thicknesses. Diameter was measured using a standard, automated algorithm. The frequency of measured diameters was tabulated; average errors and standard deviations (SD) were calculated. For a representative 5-mm nodule, average measurement error ranged from +10 to -23% and SD ranged from 0.07 to 0.99 mm at slice thicknesses of 0.75 to 5 mm, respectively. At fixed slice thickness, average error and SD decreased from peak values as nodule size increased. At fixed nodule size, SD increased as slice thickness increased. Average error exhibited dependence on both slice thickness and threshold. Variance and error in nodule diameter measurement associated with nodule-slice position exists due to geometrical limitations. This can lead to false interpretations of nodule growth or stability that could affect clinical management. The variance is most pronounced at higher slice thicknesses and for small nodule sizes. Measurement error is slice thickness and threshold dependent.

Wnt3a: functions and implications in cancer.

Wnt3a, one of Wnt family members, plays key roles in regulating pleiotropic cellular functions, including self-renewal, proliferation, differentiation, and motility. Accumulating evidence has suggested that Wnt3a promotes or suppresses tumor progression via the canonical Wnt signaling pathway depending on cancer type. In addition, the roles of Wnt3a signaling can be inhibited by multiple proteins or chemicals. Herein, we summarize the latest findings on Wnt3a as an important therapeutic target in cancer.