A multicenter clinical AI system study for detection and diagnosis of focal liver lesions.

Early and accurate diagnosis of focal liver lesions is crucial for effective treatment and prognosis. We developed and validated a fully automated diagnostic system named Liver Artificial Intelligence Diagnosis System (LiAIDS) based on a diverse sample of 12,610 patients from 18 hospitals, both retrospectively and prospectively. In this study, LiAIDS achieved an F1-score of 0.940 for benign and 0.692 for malignant lesions, outperforming junior radiologists (benign: 0.830-0.890, malignant: 0.230-0.360) and being on par with senior radiologists (benign: 0.920-0.950, malignant: 0.550-0.650). Furthermore, with the assistance of LiAIDS, the diagnostic accuracy of all radiologists improved. For benign and malignant lesions, junior radiologists' F1-scores improved to 0.936-0.946 and 0.667-0.680 respectively, while seniors improved to 0.950-0.961 and 0.679-0.753. Additionally, in a triage study of 13,192 consecutive patients, LiAIDS automatically classified 76.46% of patients as low risk with a high NPV of 99.0%. The evidence suggests that LiAIDS can serve as a routine diagnostic tool and enhance the diagnostic capabilities of radiologists for liver lesions.

A simple polyarginine membrane electrochemical sensor for the determination of MDMA and MDA.

In this study, a simple electrochemical sensor based on l-arginine membrane (P-L-arg/GCE) was developed for rapid and sensitive detection of MDMA and MDA. A polyarginine membrane was obtained through one-step direct electropolymerization, which provides more reaction sites for the analyte and improves the sensitivity of the sensor. Following the optimized selection parameters, the MDMA detection range was established at 1.0 × 10-7∼3.5 × 10-5 mol L-1, with a detection limit of 3.3 × 10-8 mol L-1. Similarly, the detection range for MDA was established at 1.0 × 10-7∼5.3 × 10-5 mol L-1 with a detection limit of 3.3 × 10-8 mol L-1. Additionally, the potential oxidation mechanism of MDMA and MDA during the REDOX process was analyzed by cyclic voltammetry. Furthermore, the proposed sensor exhibited superior selectivity, excellent reproducibility, and satisfactory stability. The proposed sensors can be used for reliable monitoring of MDMA or MDA in human urine and hair samples, respectively, and it has acceptable analytical reliability and enormous potential for practical applications.

An electrochemical sensor for direct and sensitive detection of ketamine.

Ketamine is an organic drug with weak electrochemical activity, which makes it difficult to directly detect by electrochemical methods. Herein, an electrochemical sensor, with excellent detection sensitivity, is proposed for direct detection of ketamine based on a weakly conductive poly-L-cysteine molecularly imprinted membrane. Poly-L-cysteine molecularly imprinted membrane sensor (poly-L-Cys-KT-MIM/GCE) is obtained using L-cysteine as a functional monomer and ketamine as a template molecule based on electropolymerization. The green and highly active cysteine is selected as a functional monomer during electropolymerization, which cannot only achieve specific recognition but also improve detection sensitivity. Furthermore, the oxidation mechanism and fingerprint of ketamine on the electrode surface are established by analyzing the corresponding oxidation products using high/resolution mass spectrometry, which will help to promote the application of electrochemistry in the rapid detection of drugs. Under optimal conditions, the as-designed sensor demonstrated a linear response to ketamine within the range of 5.0 × 10-7 to 2.0 × 10-5 mol L-1 and a detection limit of 1.6 × 10-7 mol L-1. The proposed method exhibited excellent performance from the viewpoints of selectivity, sensitivity and stability. Notably, the sensor rendered excellent reliability and could be used for the detection of target analytes in hair and urine samples with high recovery rates.

A multifunctional adsorbent based on 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid/dopamine-modified magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for the removal of heavy-metal ions.

Overexploitation of nature by humans has led to an increasingly serious issue of heavy-metal water pollution. To reduce the threat of water pollution to humans and the environment, it is imperative to develop or improve the water treatment technology for heavy-metal-containing wastewater. Functionalized Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs) have been widely used as effective adsorbents for the removal of heavy-metal ions from water owing to their high efficiency, low cost, selective adsorption ability, and recyclability. In this study, Fe3O4@DA-DMSA magnetic nanoparticles (FDDMs) were prepared by the functionalization of Fe3O4 MNPs with environmentally friendly dopamine (DA) and a heavy-metal detoxifying agent such as 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) for the efficient and rapid adsorption of Pb2+, Cu2+, and Cd2+, with maximum adsorption capacities of 187.62, 63.01, and 49.46 mg/g, respectively. FDDMs exhibited the best ability to remove Pb2+ with a maximum adsorption capacity than that of the most reported Fe3O4 MNP-related adsorbents. In actual wastewater and multi-component simulated water samples contaminated with Pb2+, Cu2+, and Cd2+, the as-prepared adsorbent maintained a good removal ability for Pb2+ with low influence by ionic strength and interfering ions, as well as exhibited an excellent selectivity. According to the results of batch experiments and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of the adsorbent before and after adsorption, the adsorption mechanism of the adsorbent for the removal of heavy-metal ions mainly involves coordination and ion exchange. In addition, the adsorbent exhibited a good regeneration performance. Therefore, FDDMs can be considered as a promising adsorbent for the treatment of heavy-metal wastewater.

Intrathecal baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, inhibits the expression of p-CREB and NR2B in the spinal dorsal horn in rats with diabetic neuropathic pain.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of baclofen, a γ-aminobutyric acid B (GABAB) receptor agonist, on the expression of p-CREB and NR2B in the spinal dorsal horn of rats with diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP). The DNP rats, which were successfully induced with streptozocin, were distributed among 3 groups that were treated with saline (D1 group), baclofen (D2 group), or CGP55845 + baclofen (D3 group) continuously for 4 days. The rats induced with saline and subsequently treated with saline were used as controls (C group). The times for the paw withdrawal threshold and thermal withdrawal latency of the D1 group were lower than those for the C group, and were significantly increased after baclofen treatment, but not when GABA receptor was pre-blocked with CGP55845 (D3 group). Increased protein expression levels of NR2B and p-CREB and mRNA levels of NR2B were found in the D1 group when compared with the controls. Baclofen treatment significantly suppressed their expression, bringing it close to the levels of controls. However, in the D3 group, the expression of p-CREB and NR2B were still significantly higher than that of the controls. Activation of GABAB receptor by baclofen attenuates diabetic neuropathic pain, which may partly be accomplished via down-regulating the expression of p-CREB and NR2B.

Activation of spinal GABAB receptors normalizes N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor in diabetic neuropathy.

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activity is increased, while GABAB receptor is downregulated in the spinal cord dorsal horn in diabetic neuropathy. In this study, we determined the interaction of NMDARs and GABAB receptors in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic neuropathy. The paw withdrawal threshold (PWT) was significantly lower in STZ-treated rats than in vehicle-treated rats. Intrathecal injection of baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, significantly increased the PWT in STZ-treated rats, an effect that was abolished by pre-administration of the GABAB receptor specific antagonist CGP55845. Spinal NR2B, an NMDA receptor subunit, protein and mRNA expression levels were significantly higher in STZ-treated rats than in vehicle-treated rats. Intrathecal baclofen significantly reduced the NR2B protein and mRNA expression levels in STZ-treated rats. Intrathecal administration of CGP55845 eliminated baclofen-induced reduction of NR2B protein and mRNA levels in STZ-treated rats. In addition, the phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding (CREB) protein level was significantly higher in the spinal cord dorsal horn in STZ-treated rats compared with vehicle-treated rats. Intrathecal injection of baclofen significantly decreased phosphorylated CREB protein level in STZ-treated rats; an effect was blocked by CGP55845. These data suggest that activation of GABAB receptors in the spinal cord dorsal horn normalizes NMDAR expression level in diabetic neuropathic pain.