[Development and validation of three-dimensional body image stimuli for Chinese middle-aged adults].

Objective: To develop a three-dimensional body image stimuli suitable for middle-aged people in China, and verify the validity and reliability of the body image stimuli. Method: According to China and World Health Organization body mass index classification standards of adults, a set of three-dimensional body image stimuli of Chinese middle-aged males and females with different body size was developed by using 3D Studio Max and Adobe Photoshop CC based on the literature and expert consultation method. Forty-two 45- and 59-year-old middle-aged people in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province were recruited to verify the three-dimensional body image stimuli. Through questionnaire survey and physical examination, the coincidence between the selected body type and the actual body type was tested; the body composition was measured by dual-energy absorptiometry (DXA), and the structure validity of the image was tested; the body size satisfaction was investigated by the body image stimuli and the standard questionnaire, and the empirical validity of the image was tested. The repeated survey was conducted 14 days after the initial survey, and three experts were invited to score the current somatotype of the subjects to test the test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability of the body image stimuli. Pearson, Spearman, Kendall correlation and Kappa consistency analysis were used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the body image stimuli. Results: The average age of 42 subjects was 52.7 years old, including 13 males and 29 females. A group of three-dimensional body image stimuli of middle-aged men and women were developed, and each group included 8 images. 73.8% of the subjects chose the body size consistent with the actual body type, and the weighted Kappa coefficient was 0.755 (P<0.01). The selected somatotype was positively correlated with body weight and body composition indexes such as fat content, and the Pearson correlation coefficient of construct validity was 0.623-0.717 (P<0.05). The results of the two surveys were positively correlated, and the Spearman correlation coefficient of test-retest reliability was 0.784-0.821 (P<0.05). The scores of the three experts on the current somatotype of the subjects were positively correlated, and the Kendall correlation coefficient of inter-rater reliability was 0.818-0.878 (P<0.05). Conclusion: The development of principle and reference basis of three-dimensional body image stimuli of middle-aged people is reliable, and the validity and reliability of the body image stimuli are good.

Biological background of the genomic variations of cf-DNA in healthy individuals.

BACKGROUND: Cell-free DNA (cf-DNA)-based liquid biopsy is emerging as a revolutionary new method in individualized cancer treatment and prognosis monitoring, although detecting early-stage cancers using cf-DNA remains challenging, partially because of the undefined biological background of cf-DNA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We investigated somatic mutations in the cf-DNA of 259 cancer-free individuals with a median age of 47 years using an endogenous barcoding duplex method with an ultralow base error rate (2 × 10-7) and compared the variant allele frequencies (VAFs) of these mutations between the cf-DNA and the corresponding blood cell DNA. RESULTS: Sixty percent (155/259) of the samples showed at least one nonsynonymous mutation on either of two similar target panels covering 508 and 559 cancer-related genes. For individuals older than 50 years of age, the positive rate increased to 76%. Most cf-DNA mutations were also present at similar VAFs in the paired blood cell DNA. The most frequently mutated genes were driver genes of hematologic malignancies, including DNMT3A, TET2, AXSL1, and JAK2. However, the other 58.4% (192/329) of the mutations were likely 'passenger mutations' of clonal hematopoiesis, including mutations in NOTCH2, FAT3, EXT2, ERBB4, and ARID2, which are driver genes of solid tumors. CONCLUSION: Hematopoietic clone-derived mutations, including 'driver mutations' and 'passenger mutations', are prevalent in the cf-DNA of both healthy individuals and cancer patients and may be a potential source of false positives in the liquid biopsy. Our results also suggest the ineffectiveness for distinguishing clonal hematopoietic mutations of low VAF (≤0.1%) from tumor-derived mutations using conventional next-generation sequencing of blood cell DNA. However, an error correction model with an ultralow error rate and high coverage depth is required for blood cell DNA sequencing, which is difficult and costly to achieve with current technologies.

Utilizing data grid architecture for the backup and recovery of clinical image data.

Grid Computing represents the latest and most exciting technology to evolve from the familiar realm of parallel, peer-to-peer and client-server models. However, there has been limited investigation into the impact of this emerging technology in medical imaging and informatics. In particular, PACS technology, an established clinical image repository system, while having matured significantly during the past ten years, still remains weak in the area of clinical image data backup. Current solutions are expensive or time consuming and the technology is far from foolproof. Many large-scale PACS archive systems still encounter downtime for hours or days, which has the critical effect of crippling daily clinical operations. In this paper, a review of current backup solutions will be presented along with a brief introduction to grid technology. Finally, research and development utilizing the grid architecture for the recovery of clinical image data, in particular, PACS image data, will be presented. The focus of this paper is centered on applying a grid computing architecture to a DICOM environment since DICOM has become the standard for clinical image data and PACS utilizes this standard. A federation of PACS can be created allowing a failed PACS archive to recover its image data from others in the federation in a seamless fashion. The design reflects the five-layer architecture of grid computing: Fabric, Resource, Connectivity, Collective, and Application Layers. The testbed Data Grid is composed of one research laboratory and two clinical sites. The Globus 3.0 Toolkit (Co-developed by the Argonne National Laboratory and Information Sciences Institute, USC) for developing the core and user level middleware is utilized to achieve grid connectivity. The successful implementation and evaluation of utilizing data grid architecture for clinical PACS data backup and recovery will provide an understanding of the methodology for using Data Grid in clinical image data backup for PACS, as well as establishment of benchmarks for performance from future grid technology improvements. In addition, the testbed can serve as a road map for expanded research into large enterprise and federation level data grids to guarantee CA (Continuous Availability, 99.999% up time) in a variety of medical data archiving, retrieval, and distribution scenarios.

The protective role of selenium on the toxicity of cisplatin-contained chemotherapy regimen in cancer patients.

The effect of selenium (Se) in reducing the toxicity of cisplatin in cancer patients was studied. Forty-one patients were randomized into group A (20 patients with Se administration in first cycle of chemotherapy as study cases and without Se in second cycle of chemotherapy as control) and group B (21 patients without Se in first cycle of chemotherapy and with Se in second cycle of chemotherapy). The 4000 micrograms per day of Se as Seleno-Kappacarrageenan were administered from 4 before to 4 d after chemotherapy for study cases. The serum Se increased from 70.4 +/- 22.86 to 157.04 +/- 60.23 ng/mL (P < 0.001) in patients received Se. The cisplatin dosage was iv administration in 60-80 mg/m2 on the first day. The results showed that the peripheral WBC counts on day 14 after initiation of chemotherapy in study cases was significantly higher than the controls (3.35 +/- 2.01 vs 2.31 +/- 1.38 [x10(9)L])/L, p < 0.05). On the other hand, the consumption of GCSF for the cases was significantly less than the controls (110.1 +/- 82.2 vs 723.6 +/- 192.6 IU, p < 0.05). The volumes of blood transfusion for the study group were also significantly less than the controls (0 vs 62 +/- 38 mL, p < 0.05). The nephrotoxicity of cisplatin was measured by urine enzymes (NAG, GGT, AAP, LAP, and ALP) were determined prior to and at 2, 24, 48, and 72 h after initiation of chemotherapy. The urine enzymes NAG, GGT, AAP, and ALP after chemotherapy for cases were significantly lower than the controls. No toxicity of Seleno-Kappacarrageenan was noted. The above results suggest that the Se can be used as an agent for reducing the nephrotoxicity and bone marrow suppression induced by cisplatin.

Trends in PACS image storage and archive.

PACS is widely used in hospitals and is considered a mission critical system for around-the-clock daily clinical operation. Scheduled or unscheduled downtime of the main PACS archive storage or server could potentially cripple the entire PACS operation. This is especially the case in a filmless hospital environment. Therefore, in a downtime event, it is most desirable for users to have only a minimal performance impact without interruption of clinical data flow or loss of data and to have available historical PACS studies. This paper summarizes some of the developments in the design and implementation of a reliable PACS that insures maximum uptime for end users while preserving the integrity of the PACS data and making it available during downtime events. It also details strategy for developing proper clinical workflow contingency procedures when a scheduled downtime event to the main archive storage and server occurs. Specifically, the design and implementation of a fault-tolerant (FT) main archive server, the development of a FT back-up archive using an application service provider (ASP) model, and the clinical experiences while upgrading a main archive server and migrating the stored PACS data to new storage media will be discussed.

[Probe into internal relation between classification of the differentiation-syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine and serum copper and zinc in lung cancer].

This article probed into the internal relations and significance between differentiation of syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and trace elements--copper and zinc in lung cancer patients. The serum copper and zinc of 95 patients with lung cancer and 82 healthy persons were measured. According to differentiation of syndrome of TCM types of 95 lung cancer patients were divided, and the relations with their levels of serum copper, zinc and the ratio of copper/zinc compared respectively. The authors found that there were some inner links among the differentiation syndromes and levels of serum copper, zinc and its ratio. The result showed that the level of Cu/Zn ratio could reflect increase and decrease of body resistance and pathogenic factors the level of Cu/Zn ratio was more significant than that of copper and zinc. The authors suggested that the ratio of Cu/Zn could be used as the criteria of differentiation of syndrome of TCM. It is clinically significant to combine the level of copper, zinc and its ratio with differentiation of syndrome of TCM to evaluate the severity and prognosis of the patients and to direct the treatment of them with TCM.

[Study of relationship between TCM syndrome-types of malignant tumours and thyroid functional test].

The relationship between the thyroid functional test in 107 malignant tumour patients' sera with Deficiency-Excessiveness Syndromes in TCM, was studied. The results revealed that there were significant differences between the FT3, FT4 in tumour and control groups (P < 0.01) as well as between the rT3, FT3/rT3 in each type of tumour and control groups (P < 0.05-0.01). There was also definite relationship between the FT3, rT3, FT3/rT3 and the degree of differentiation, rate of progression and malignancy of tumours as well. rT3 elevated and FT3 reduced in accordance with the lowering of body resistance and reinforcing of pathogenic factors. FT3, rT3, FT3/rT3 are essential factors that reflecting the wax and wane of body resistance in the cases with malignant tumours in modern medicine.

[Study of relationship between level of serum selenium and syndrome differentiation and typing of traditional Chinese medicine in lung cancer].

The relationship between the Syndrome differentiation and typing of TCM and the level of serum Se in the patients with the primary lung cancer was studied. The results revealed that the changed level of serum Se reflected the wax and wane of the pathogenic factors and body resistance in the patients with lung cancer. The level of serum Se gradually decreased as a result of the reducing body resistance and strengthening pathogenic factors, which suggested that it facilitated the evaluation of the patients' condition, recovery and prognosis of lung cancer. Due to the level of serum Se was lowered with the using of some chemotherapeutic agents, and through the treatment of lung cancer with the Syndrome Differentiation of TCM, it could supplement chemotherapy and maintain the serum Se level. It suggested that some Chinese medicinal herbs rich in Se should be selected to treat lung cancer so as to improve the therapeutic effect.