Endovascular therapy versus medical treatment for symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial artery stenosis (ICAS) is an arterial narrowing in the brain that can cause stroke. Endovascular therapy (ET) and conventional medical treatment (CMT) may prevent recurrent ischaemic stroke caused by ICAS. However, there is no consensus on the best treatment for people with ICAS. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of endovascular therapy plus conventional medical treatment compared with conventional medical treatment alone for the management of symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis. SEARCH METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, four other databases, and three trials registries on 16 August 2022. We contacted study authors and researchers when we required additional information. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing ET plus CMT with CMT alone for the treatment of symptomatic ICAS. ET modalities included angioplasty alone, balloon-mounted stent, and angioplasty followed by placement of a self-expanding stent. CMT included antiplatelet therapy in addition to control of risk factors such as hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and diabetes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently screened the records to select eligible RCTs, then extracted data from them. We resolved any disagreements through discussion, reaching consensus decisions among the full team. We assessed risk of bias and applied the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. The primary outcome was death by any cause or non-fatal stroke of any type within three months of randomisation. Secondary outcomes included all-cause death or non-fatal stroke of any type occurring more than three months after randomisation, ipsilateral stroke, transient ischaemic attack, ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, death, restenosis, dependency, and health-related quality of life. MAIN RESULTS: We included four RCTs with 989 participants who had symptomatic ICAS, with an age range of 18 to 85 years. We identified two ongoing RTCs. All trials had high risk of performance bias, as it was impossible to blind participants and personnel to the intervention. Three trials were terminated early. One trial was at high risk of attrition bias because of substantial loss to follow-up after one year and a high proportion of participants transferring from ET to CMT. The certainty of evidence ranged from low to moderate; we downgraded for imprecision. Compared to CMT alone, ET plus CMT probably increases the risk of short-term death or stroke (risk ratio (RR) 2.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.81 to 4.75; 4 RCTs, 989 participants; moderate certainty), short-term ipsilateral stroke (RR 3.26, 95% CI 1.94 to 5.48; 4 RCTs, 989 participants; moderate certainty), short-term ischaemic stroke (RR 2.24, 95% CI 1.30 to 3.87; 4 RCTs, 989 participants; moderate certainty), and long-term death or stroke (RR 1.49, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.99; 4 RCTs, 970 participants; moderate certainty). Compared to CMT alone, ET plus CMT may increase the risk of short-term haemorrhagic stroke (RR 13.49, 95% CI 2.59 to 70.15; 4 RCTs, 989 participants; low certainty), short-term death (RR 5.43, 95% CI 1.21 to 24.40; 4 RCTs, 989 participants; low certainty), and long-term haemorrhagic stroke (RR 7.81, 95% CI 1.43 to 42.59; 3 RCTs, 879 participants; low certainty). It is unclear if ET plus CMT compared with CMT alone has an effect on the risk of short-term transient ischaemic attack (RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.30 to 2.07; 3 RCTs, 344 participants; moderate certainty), long-term transient ischaemic attack (RR 1.05, 95% CI 0.50 to 2.19; 3 RCTs, 335 participants; moderate certainty), long-term ipsilateral stroke (RR 1.78, 95% CI 1.00 to 3.17; 4 RCTs, 970 participants; moderate certainty), long-term ischaemic stroke (RR 1.56, 95% CI 0.77 to 3.16; 4 RCTs, 970 participants; moderate certainty), long-term death (RR 1.61, 95% CI 0.77 to 3.38; 4 RCTs, 951 participants; moderate certainty), and long-term dependency (RR 1.51, 95% CI 0.93 to 2.45; 4 RCTs, 947 participants; moderate certainty). No subgroup analyses significantly modified the effect of ET plus CMT versus CMT alone. The trials included no data on restenosis or health-related quality of life. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review provides moderate-certainty evidence that ET plus CMT compared with CMT alone increases the risk of short-term stroke and death in people with recent symptomatic severe ICAS. This effect was still apparent at long-term follow-up but appeared to be due to the early risks of ET; therefore, there may be no clear difference between the interventions in terms of their effects on long-term stroke and death. The impact of delayed ET intervention (more than three weeks after a qualifying event) warrants further study.

Sorafenib Plus Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy versus Sorafenib for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Major Portal Vein Tumor Thrombosis: A Randomized Trial.

Background The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with major portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) is dismal after standard treatment with sorafenib. Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has been suggested for patients with HCC and major PVTT. Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of sorafenib plus 3cir-OFF HAIC versus sorafenib alone for advanced HCC with major PVTT. Materials and Methods This phase II trial recruited systemic treatment-naïve patients with HCC and major PVTT (portal vein invasion grade Vp3 [first branch] and Vp4 [main trunk]) between June 2017 and November 2019. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1 ratio) to receive sorafenib (400 mg twice daily) plus 3cir-OFF HAIC (35 mg/m2 oxaliplatin [hours 0-2] followed by 600 mg/m2 5-fluorouracil [hours 2-24], days 1-3) with a standardized percutaneous port catheter system or sorafenib alone (400 mg twice daily) every 4 weeks. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). The secondary end points were objective response rate, progression-free survival (PFS), and safety. OS and PFS were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Results The intent-to-treat population included 64 patients, with 32 in each group. The median OS was 16.3 months (95% CI: 0.0, 35.5) with sorafenib plus HAIC and 6.5 months (95% CI: 4.4, 8.6) with sorafenib alone (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.28; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.53; P < .001). A higher objective response rate (41% [n = 13] vs 3% [n = 1], P < .001) and a longer median PFS (9.0 months vs 2.5 months; HR = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.47; P < .001) were observed in the sorafenib plus HAIC group. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events were more frequent in the sorafenib plus HAIC group, including diarrhea (n = 7 [22%] vs n = 5 [16%]), hand-foot syndrome (n = 6 [19%] vs n = 2 [6%]), and thrombocytopenia (n = 7 [22%] vs n = 0). Conclusion Sorafenib plus 3cir-OFF hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy may be a promising treatment in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and major portal vein tumor thrombosis because of the improved survival and an acceptable safety profile. Clinical trial registration no. NCT03009461 © RSNA, 2022 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Chung in this issue.

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy plus regorafenib in advanced colorectal cancer: a real-world retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy delivers the drug directly to the liver. We aim to explore the benefits and tolerability of Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy plus regorafenib in advanced colorectal liver metastasis refractory to standard systemic chemotherapy. METHODS: This study analyzed 47 patients treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy plus regorafenib after standard systemic oxaliplatin and/or irinotecan in combination with bevacizumab or cetuximab between Jan 2017 and Jun 2020. Regorafenib was given for only 3 weeks in a 4-week cycle. RESULTS: Among 47 patients, 32 (68%) were males. The median age was 61 (29-75). With a median follow-up of 22.2 months (3.7-50.7 months). Before Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy administration in combination with regorafenib, 34 (72.3%) patients previously received ≥ 2 prior lines of systemic therapy and 37 (78.7%)patients previously received targeted biological treatment (anti-VEGF or anti-EGFR, or both). The initial doses of regorafenib were 40 mg/d (n = 1, 2.13%), 80 mg/d (n = 11, 23.43%), 120 mg/d (n = 2, 4.26%), and 160 mg/d (n = 23, 48.94%), while for 24.6% (n = 14) dose was unknown. Median Overall Survival was 22.2 months. Median Progression-Free Survival was 10.8 (95% CI: 9.0-13.7) months. Common Adverse Events were hand-foot skin reaction (12.77%), fatigue (6.38%), vomiting (6.38%), and decreased appetite (6.38%). Only 2 patients discontinued regorafenib due to Adverse Events. CONCLUSIONS: Regorafenib combined with Hepatic arterial infusion was effective and tolerable in patients with liver predominant metastasis of colorectal cancer. Hence, this therapy can be considered as an alternative for second- or subsequent lines of therapy in patients refractory to standard systemic chemotherapy.

A Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus Type 1c Strain in China: Isolation, Identification, and Assessment of Pathogenicity in Rabbits.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is an important animal pathogen and has a negative economic impact on cattle industries worldwide. In this study, the BVDV strain named BJ175170 was detected, isolated, and identified from cattle in Beijing, China, during herd screening by BVDV antigen-ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA). To investigate its genomic features, the characteristic 5'UTR region of the isolates were sequenced and BLAST analyzed. BVDV BJ175170 belongs to the BVDV-1c subtype, which differs from the Beijing prevalent BVDV strains. The BVDV particles were further observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). To evaluate the virulence of the BVDV BJ175170, the BVDV seronegative rabbits were intraperitoneally inoculated with the virus suspension. Blood samples were analyzed for changes in leukocyte number and antibody titer, and tissue samples were taken for histopathology analysis. These data confirmed again that rabbits could act as the reservoir of BVDV, which poses a small but non-zero risk of re-infection for BVDV-free cattle herds. To our knowledge, this is the first report of pathological changes in rabbits after exposure to BVDV-1c subtype, which could act as experimental reference. Meanwhile, the results of this study indicate that rabbits could act as a potential model for studying the mechanism of BVDV in vivo.

Early Cleft Palate Repair by a Modified Technique Without Relaxing Incisions.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to evaluate a modified palatoplasty technique (MPT) concerning the postoperative outcomes and associated influencing factors. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: One hundred forty-three consecutive patients with non-syndromic cleft palate, who received MPT before one year of age within an oral and maxillofacial surgery department of a university-affiliated tertiary hospital between 2011-2017, were reviewed. MAIN MEASURES: The postoperative wound healing and velopharyngeal function (VPF) were the primary outcome measures. The sex, age at surgery, cleft type, cleft width, palatal width, soft palate length, pharyngeal cavity depth, and operation duration were preselected as influencing factors. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The mean age at surgery was 9 ± 1.31 months (5-11), and the average cleft width was 9.03 ± 2.41 mm (4-15). The rate of incomplete cleft palate was 84.6% while the complete cleft palate was 15.4%. Complete wound healing was reported in 96.5% while the others (3.5%) had persistent oronasal fistula. About 90.2% of cases have shown normal velopharyngeal function whereas the others (9.8%) had sustained velopharyngeal insufficiency. The wound healing appeared to be significantly impacted by cleft width and pharyngeal cavity depth (P = .015 and 0.049, respectively). However, none of the factors had a significant association with VPF. CONCLUSIONS: The present modified palatoplasty technique has obtained a low fistula rate and appropriate speech outcome. Therefore, this MPT could be promoted for early repairing cleft palate of different severities.

γ-Glutamyltranspeptidase as a Prognostic Biomarker in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prognostic value of pretreatment serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) level in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving transarterial chemoembolization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 140 patients (123 male, 17 female; mean age, 56.9 y ± 12.0; range, 22.0-82.0 y) with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer class C HCC who received first-line conventional chemoembolization between December 2013 and March 2018. Patients were divided into low and high GGT groups based on a cutoff value calculated with a receiver operating characteristic curve. Overall survival (OS) was compared between groups by log-rank test. Univariate and multivariate survival analyses were performed. RESULTS: The optimal cutoff values of GGT were 119.5 U/L in men and 175.0 U/L in women. The 6-, 9-, and 12-mo OS rates were 81.7%, 72.4%, and 62.9%, respectively, for patients in the low GGT group (n = 44) and 58.8%, 35.7%, and 28.8%, respectively, for patients in the high GGT group (n = 96; P < .001). Multivariable Cox regression analysis identified high pretreatment serum GGT level (hazard ratio [HR], 2.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.67-4.40; P < .001), multiple tumors (HR, 3.05; 95% CI, 1.23-7.53; P = .02), and performance of target treatment (ie, sorafenib; HR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.24-0.72; P = .002) or ablation (HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.18-0.66; P = .001) as independent prognostic factors for OS. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment serum GGT level was an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients with advanced HCC treated with chemoembolization, suggesting that GGT is a useful prognostic biomarker for advanced HCC.

Immobilization and Release Behavior of Phosphorus on Phoslock-Inactivated Sediment under Conditions Simulating the Photic Zone in Eutrophic Shallow Lakes.

Phosphorus-inactivating agents (PIAs) have increasingly been applied and extensively investigated to control internal phosphorus loading in lakes. However, little is known about the behavior of PIA-amended sediment in terms of phosphorus immobilization and release when the sediment is resuspended in the photic layer, whose environment differs from the lake bed. Lanthanum-modified bentonite (LMB) is a popular PIA product. In this study, the 33 day core incubation experiment under dark conditions showed that capping sediment with LMB efficiently decreased the concentration of total phosphorus, total dissolved phosphorus, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) by 90, 87, and 99%, respectively. Resuspension into overlying water under light conditions at high pH, high dissolved organic carbon, and in the presence of algae significantly impedes the performance of LMB. However, the adoption of a higher LMB dose improved the performance, including a reduction in the phosphorus level and control of algal growth. The dynamics of the phosphorus migration when the LMB-inactivated sediment was resuspended into the photic zone mainly involves the release of DIP from the sediment and the uptake of DIP by algae and LMB. In conclusion, a higher dose is needed in the PIA (particularly Phoslock) application in shallow productive lakes where sediment resuspension occurs frequently.

Tip60 Suppresses Cholangiocarcinoma Proliferation and Metastasis via PI3k-AKT.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Aberrant expression of Tip60 is associated with progression in many cancers. However, the role of Tip60 in cancer progression remains contradictory. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance, biological functions and underlying mechanisms of Tip60 deregulation in cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) for the first time. METHODS: Quantitative real-time PCR (QRT-PCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) were carried out to measure Tip60 expression in CCA tissues and cell lines. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were used for survival analysis. In vitro, cell proliferation was evaluated by flow cytometry and CCK-8, colony formation, and EDU assays. Migration/ invasion was evaluated by trans-well assays. Phosphokinase array was used to confirm the dominant signal regulated by Tip60. Tumor growth and metastasis were demonstrated in vivo using a mouse model. RESULTS: Tip60 was notably downregulated in CCA tissues, which was associated with greater tumor size, venous invasion, and TNM stage. Down-regulation of Tip60 was associated with tumor progression and poorer survival in CCA patients. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that Tip60 suppressed growth and metastasis throughout the progression of CCA. We further identified the PI3K/AKT pathway as a dominant signal of Tip60 and suggested that Tip60 regulated CCA cell proliferation and metastasis via PT3K-AKT pathway. Pearson analysis revealed that PTEN was positively correlated with the Tip60 level in CCA tissues. CONCLUSION: Tip60, as a tumor suppressor in CCA via the PI3K/AKT pathway, might be a promising therapeutic target or prognostic marker for CCA.

Phase II Study of Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy with Oxaliplatin and 5-Fluorouracil for Advanced Perihilar Cholangiocarcinoma.

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil for advanced perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (PCC) in this prospective phase II study. Materials and Methods The protocol was approved by the local ethics committee, and all patients gave informed consent. Patients with nonresectable PCC were included in a prospective, open phase II study investigating HAI through interventionally implanted port catheters. HAI consisted of infusions of oxaliplatin 40 mg/m2 for 2 hours, followed by 5-fluorouracil 800 mg/m2 for 22 hours on days 1-3 every 3-4 weeks. A maximum of six cycles of HAI were applied for tumor control patients followed by maintenance with oral capecitabine until tumor progression. The primary end points were tumor response and progression-free survival (PFS). The secondary end points were local PFS, overall survival, and adverse events. Kaplan-Meier methodology and Cox regression analysis were used to evaluate the risk factors for survival. Results Between 2012 and 2015, 37 patients were enrolled. The overall response rate was 67.6% (25 of 37), and the disease control rate was 89.2% (33 of 37). Median PFS, local PFS, and overall survival were 12.2, 25.0, and 20.5 months, respectively. All three survival lengths in patients with periductal infiltrating pattern were found to be significantly longer than those in patients with mass-forming pattern (P < .001, hazard ratio < 0.2). Macroscopic growth patterns (P = .018) and number of HAI cycles (P < .001) were independent risk factors of survival. The most frequent adverse events were grades 1 and 2 gastrointestinal side effects and sensory neuropathy in 31 (83.8%) and 28 (75.7%) patients, respectively. Conclusion HAI with oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil may be an encouraging treatment choice for advanced PCC due to its high tumor control, survival benefit, and low toxicity, especially in patients with periductal infiltrating pattern. © RSNA, 2016.

Transforming growth factor-ß-Expressing Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induce Local Tolerance in a Rat Liver Transplantation Model of Acute Rejection.

Acute rejection is commonly encountered for long-term survival in liver transplant (LT) recipients and may impact their long-term survival if rejection is severe or recurrent. The aim of this study is to examine the therapeutic potential of transforming growth factor (TGF-ß)-overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in inducing a local immunosuppression in liver grafts after transplantation. MSCs were transduced with a lentiviral vector expressing the human TGF-ß1 gene; TGF-ß1-overexpressing MSCs (designated as TGF/MSCs) were then transfused into the liver grafts via the portal vein of a rat LT model of acute rejection. Rejection severity was assessed by clinical and histologic analysis. The immunity suppression effects and mechanism of TGF/MSCs were tested, focusing on their ability to induce generation of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the liver grafts. Our findings demonstrate that transfusion of TGF/MSCs prevented rejection, reduced mortality, and improved survival of rats after LT. The therapeutic effects were associated with the immunosuppressive effects of MSCs and TGF-ß1. Their reciprocal effects on Tregs induction and function resulted in more CD4 + Foxp3 + Helios- induced Tregs, fewer Th17 cells, and improved immunosuppressive effects in local liver grafts. Thus, TGF/MSCs can induce a local immunosuppressive effect in liver grafts after transplantation. The immunomodulatory activity of TGF-ß1 modified MSCs may be a gateway to new therapeutic approaches to prevent organ rejection in clinical transplantation. Stem Cells 2016;34:2681-2692.

[Analysis of Three Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Solution Based on Two-Dimensional Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy].

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are listed as the priority pollutants. It is difficult to resolve effectively the peaks of PAHs by conventional one-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy due to its low content and the overlapping fluorescence three mixed ystems and a total of 27 samples, are to be prepared with different concentrations of three PAHs. Concentrations of three PAHS are monotonically increasing or decreasing in each mixed system. Then the 2D fluorescence correlation spectrum of each mixed systems will be calculated under the perturbation of the concentration of anthracene, phenanthrene and pyrene in solution. There are seven strong autopeaks at 425, 402, 381, 373, 365, 393 and 347 nm in synchronous 2D correlation spectrum. The fluorescence peak of phenanthrene at 347 nm is uncovered in three mixed systems, so the band at 347 nm is to be used as clues for further assignment. According to positive or negative cross peaks at 347 nm in synchronous 2D correlation spectrum, we can know that the peaks at 402, 381, 425 and 452 nm are assigned to anthracene, the peaks at 373 and 393 nm are assigned to pyrene, and the peaks at 365, 356 and 347 nm are assigned to phenanthrene. The fluorescence peak of phenanthrene at 385 nm is shown in asynchronous 2D correlation spectrum; it means the spectral resolution of asynchronous spectrum is better than the synchronous spectrum. The results are that it is feasible to analyze serious overlapping multi-component PAHs using two-dimensional fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which can be extended to the detection of other pollutants in the air.

FAM83D activates the MEK/ERK signaling pathway and promotes cell proliferation in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Publicly available microarray data suggests that the expression of FAM83D (Family with sequence similarity 83, member D) is elevated in a wide variety of tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its role in the pathogenesis of HCC has not been elucidated. Here, we showed that FAM83D was frequently up-regulated in HCC samples. Forced FAM83D expression in HCC cell lines significantly promoted their proliferation and colony formation while FAM83D knockdown resulted in the opposite effects. Mechanistic analyses indicated that FAM83D was able to activate the MEK/ERK signaling pathway and promote the entry into S phase of cell cycle progression. Taken together, these results demonstrate that FAM83D is a novel oncogene in HCC development and may constitute a potential therapeutic target in HCC.

[Two-Dimensional Hetero-Spectral Near-Infrared and Mid-Infrared Correlation Spectroscopy for Discrimination Adulterated Milk].

New approach for discriminant analysis of adulterated milk is proposed based on combining hetero-spectral two-dimensional (2D) near-infrared (NIR) and mid-infrared (IR) correlation spectroscopy along with multi-way partial least squares discriminant analysis (NPLS-DA). Firstly, 36 pure milk samples were collected and 36 adulterated milk with starch samples (0.01 to 1 g · L(-1)) were prepared by adding appropriate mass of starch into pure milk. Then, one-dimensional NIR transmittance spectra and IR attenuated total reflection spectra of pure milk and adulterated milk with starch were measured at room temperature. And the synchronous 2D NIR-IR (4200~4800 vs. 900~1700 cm(-1)) correlation spectra of all samples were calculated. Due to the trace of adulterants, the synchronous 2D IR-NIR correlation spectral differences between adulterated milk with starch and pure milk are very subtle. Consequently, it was impossible to directly distinguish whether the sample was pure milk or adulterated milk. Finally, 2D IR-NIR correlation spectra were to build a discriminant model to classify adulterated milk and pure milk. The classification accuracy rates of samples in calibration set and in prediction set were 95.8% and 100% respectively. Also, the NPLS-DA models were built based on 2D NIR and 2D IR correlation spectra, respectively. The classification accuracy rates of samples in prediction set were 95.8%. Comparison results showed that the NPLS-DA model could provide better results using 2D NIR-IR correlation spectra than using 2D NIR, and 2D IR correlation spectra. The proposed method can not only effectively extract the feature information of adulterants in milk, but also explores a new perspective method for detection of adulterated food.

[Progress in Application of Two-Dimensional Correlation Spectroscopy for Detection of Food Quality].

In recent years, the food safety and quality has always been a serious issue. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a rapid and widely available method to determine the quality of food. Due to high spectral resolution, good spectral selectivity and good ability of spectrogram analysis, the technology of two-dimensional (2D) correlation spectroscopy is an effective method for solving three major problems encountered by the conventional one-dimensional (1D) spectrum: low selectivity of the spectra, difficulty in extracting the information of the spectral feature and difficulty in spectrogram analysis. Therefore, 2D correlation spectroscopy, which is suited to distinguish similar samples hardly distinguished by the conventional 1D spectroscopy, has been successfully applied in many complex biological systems. The developmental process, the experimental way to obtain spectrum, the fundamental mathematical principle and the properties of 2D correlation spectroscopy were introduced in this paper. At the same time, it is pointed out that the origin of weak characteristic bands of substance can be verified in terms of the positive or negative corss peaks in synchronous 2D correlation spectrum combined with the existence or inexistence of corss peaks in asynchronous 2D correlation spectrum. The application of 2D near-infrared, mid-infrared, fluorescence, and raman correlation spectroscopy in the detection of food quality and adulteration, concentrated specifically on diary product, wine, oil, meat, honey, and rice were reviewed. Finally, the limitations and future development prospects were pointed out.

[Discrimination of adulterated milk based on Euclidian distances between two-dimensional infrared correlation spectra].

Based on Euclidian distances between synchronous two-dimensional infrared correlation spectra, in terms of the average Euclidian distances between unknown samples and "extreme samples", and average intra- and inter-Euclidian distances of samples in the calibration set, a new method for the discrimination of adulterated milk was proposed. Sixteen pure milk samples were collected and 16 adulterated milk samples with urea (0.01-0.3 g x L(-1)), and 16 adulterated milk samples with melamine (0.01-0.3 g x L(-1)) samples were prepared, respectively. The IR absorption spectra of all samples were measured at room temperature. The synchronous two-dimensional correlation spectra were generated from concentration-dependent spectral variation of adulterant in milk. The Euclidian distances were calculated between synchronous two-dimensional infrared correlation spectra of all samples. Then, the classification models were built respectively for adulterated milk with urea, and adiulterated milk with melamine. The "extreme samples", average intra- and inter-Euclidian distances were determined. Finally, the unknown samples in prediction set were predicted using constructed models in terms of classification rules of adulterated milk. The classification accuracy rates for pure milk and adulterated milk were 100%. The effectiveness of the proposed method was verified. The results obtained in this study revealed that synchronous two-dimensional infrared correlation spectra in combination with Euclidian distance has a feasible potential to discriminate adulterated milk and pure milk.

A comparative study between Embosphere(®) and conventional transcatheter arterial chemoembolization for treatment of unresectable liver metastasis from GIST.

OBJECTIVE: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a standard treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and/or some unresectable liver metastasis tumors. Hypervascular liver metastatic lesions such as metastasis from gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) are an indication for transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Embosphere(®)-TAE (Embo-TAE) in comparison with conventional TACE (cTACE) for the treatment of liver metastasis from GIST. METHODS: A total of 45 patients who underwent TACE between Aug 2008 and Feb 2013 were enrolled. Patients with GIST who underwent TAE with Embosphere(®) (n=19) were compared with controls who received cTACE (n=26). The primary end points were treatment response and treatment-related adverse events. The secondary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: The treatment response of Embo-TAE group was significantly higher than that of the cTACE group (P<0.001). The PFS was significantly better in the Embosphere(®)-group than in the cTACE group (56.6 and 42.1 weeks, respectively; P=0.003). However, there was no statistically significant difference in liver toxicity between the two groups (P>0.05). The median OS in the Embo-TAE group was longer than that in the cTACE group (74.0 weeks, 95% CI: 68.2-79.8 vs. 61.7 weeks, 95% CI: 56.2-67.2 weeks) (unadjusted P=0.045). The use of Embo-TAE significantly reduced the risk of death in patients with GIST with liver metastases according to the Cox proportional hazards regression model [hazard ratio (HR): 0.149; 95% CI: 0.064-0.475]. CONCLUSIONS: TAE with Embosphere(®) showed better treatment response and delayed tumor progression compared with cTACE. There was no significant difference in treatment-related hepatic toxicities. Embo-TAE thus appears to be a feasible and promising approach in the treatment of liver metastasis from GIST.

Correction of the Effect of Humic Acids on the Fluorescence Detection of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Combination Spectroscopy.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely distributed in soil and water, but fluorescence spectroscopy for PAHs is often interfered with organic matter in the environment. The aim of this paper is to evaluate a correction method using combined spectral technology in an environment where humic acids and PAHs coexist. In the present work, humic acids and benzo[ghi]perylene were analyzed in various concentrations using fluorescence and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy from single and mixed samples. The NIR prediction model of humic acids in mixed samples was established based on synergy interval partial least squares, and the standard curve of fluorescence spectra for humic acids was established at 478 nm (characteristic wavelength of benzo[ghi]perylene). The fluorescence intensity of humic acids in the mixed sample was predicted from the content derived from the NIR spectra. The final correction was carried out by their exclusion from the fluorescence of the mixture at the same wavelength. The corrected fluorescence intensity was linearly correlated with the concentration of benzo[ghi]perylene with R2 = 0.8362, while R2 = 0.3538 before correction. These results give a new insight into the calibration modeling of the combined spectral method.

Dark-DSAR: Lightweight one-step pipeline for action recognition in dark videos.

Dark video human action recognition has a wide range of applications in the real world. General action recognition methods focus on the actor or the action itself, ignoring the dark scene where the action happens, resulting in unsatisfied accuracy in recognition. For dark scenes, the existing two-step action recognition methods are stage complex due to introducing additional augmentation steps, and the one-step pipeline method is not lightweight enough. To address these issues, a one-step Transformer-based method named Dark Domain Shift for Action Recognition (Dark-DSAR) is proposed in this paper, which integrates the tasks of domain migration and classification into a single step and enhances the model's functional coherence with respect to these two tasks, making our Dark-DSAR has low computation but high accuracy. Specifically, the domain shift module (DSM) achieves domain adaption from dark to bright to reduce the number of parameters and the computational cost. Besides, we explore the matching relationship between the input video size and the model, which can further optimize the inference efficiency by removing the redundant information in videos through spatial resolution dropping. Extensive experiments have been conducted on the datasets of ARID1.5, HMDB51-Dark, and UAV-human-night. Results show that the proposed Dark-DSAR obtains the best Top-1 accuracy on ARID1.5 with 89.49%, which is 2.56% higher than the state-of-the-art method, 67.13% and 61.9% on HMDB51-Dark and UAV-human-night, respectively. In addition, ablation experiments reveal that the action classifiers can gain ≥1% in accuracy compared to the original model when equipped with our DSM.

A Photosensitivity-Enhanced Plant Growth Algorithm for UAV Path Planning.

With the rise and development of autonomy and intelligence technologies, UAVs will have increasingly significant applications in the future. It is very important to solve the problem of low-altitude penetration of UAVs to protect national territorial security. Based on an S-57 electronic chart file, the land, island, and threat information for an actual combat environment is parsed, extracted, and rasterized to construct a marine combat environment for UAV flight simulation. To address the problem of path planning for low-altitude penetration in complex environments, a photosensitivity-enhanced plant growth algorithm (PEPG) is proposed. Based on the plant growth path planning algorithm (PGPP), the proposed algorithm improves upon the light intensity preprocessing and light intensity calculation methods. Moreover, the kinematic constraints of the UAV, such as the turning angle, are also considered. The planned path that meets the safety flight requirements of the UAV is smoother than that of the original algorithm, and the length is reduced by at least 8.2%. Finally, simulation tests are carried out with three common path planning algorithms, namely, A*, RRT, and GA. The results show that the PEPG algorithm is superior to the other three algorithms in terms of the path length and path quality, and the feasibility and safety of the path are verified via the autonomous tracking flight of a UAV.