Computed tomography radiomics study of invasion and instability of lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as ground glass nodule.

Background: Ground-glass nodule (GGN) is the most common manifestation of lung adenocarcinoma on computed tomography (CT). Clinically, the success rate of preoperative diagnosis of GGN by puncture biopsy and other means is still low. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical and radiomics characteristics of lung adenocarcinoma presenting as GGN on CT images using radiomics analysis methods, establish a radiomics model, and predict the classification of pathological tissue and instability of GGN type lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: This study retrospectively collected 249 patients with 298 GGN lesions who were pathologically confirmed of having lung adenocarcinoma. The images were imported into the Siemens scientific research prototype software to outline the region of interest and extract the radiomics features. Logistic model A (a radiomics model to identify the infiltration of lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as GGNs) was established using features after the dimensionality reduction process. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of the model on training set and the verification set was drawn, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Second, a total of 112 lesions were selected from 298 lesions originating from CT images of at least two occasions, and the time between the first CT and the preoperative CT was defined as not less than 90 days. The mass doubling time (MDT) of all lesions was calculated. According to the different MDT diagnostic thresholds instability was predicted. Finally, their AUCs were calculated and compared. Results: There were statistically significant differences in age and lesion location distribution between the "noninvasive" lesion group and the invasive lesion group (P<0.05), but there were no statistically significant differences in sex (P>0.05). Model A had an AUC of 0.89, sensitivity of 0.75, and specificity of 0.86 in the training set and an AUC of 0.87, sensitivity of 0.63, and specificity of 0.90 in the validation set. There was no significant difference statistically in MDT between "noninvasive" lesions and invasive lesions (P>0.05). The AUCs of radiomics models B1, B2 and B3 were 0.89, 0.80, and 0.81, respectively; the sensitivities were 0.71, 0.54, and 0.76, respectively; the specificities were 0.83, 0.77, and 0.60, respectively; and the accuracies were 0.78, 0.65, and 0.69, respectively. Conclusions: There were statistically significant differences in age and location of lesions between the "noninvasive" lesion group and the invasive lesion group. The radiomics model can predict the invasiveness of lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as GGNs. There was no significant difference in MDT between "noninvasive" lesions and invasive lesions. The radiomics model can predict the instability of lung adenocarcinoma manifesting as GGN. When the threshold of MDT was set at 813 days, the model had higher specificity, accuracy, and diagnostic efficiency.

Relationships between the coronary fat attenuation index for patients with heart-related disease measured automatically on coronary computed tomography angiography and coronary adverse events and degree of coronary stenosis.

Background: Pericoronary artery coronary tissue (PACT) is a type of epicardial fat that can reflect the state of the coronary artery (inflammation, etc.). However, it cannot be reasonably and efficiently utilized in routine computed tomography (CT) examination. The aim of this study was to use artificial intelligence (AI) software to analyze coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) and measure the coronary perivascular fat attenuation index (FAI) of patients. The relationship between FAI and the occurrence of coronary adverse events and the degree of coronary stenosis were further analyzed. Methods: This study involved patients who experienced CCTA in West China Hospital, Sichuan University, from January 2012 to December 2012. These patients were followed up to 2020 and classified according to the occurrence of coronary adverse events and the degree of stenosis of the lumen. For all patients, AI software was used to analyze the CCTA images of patients, and the FAI of 3 coronary arteries, the left anterior descending artery (LAD), the left circumflex artery (LCX), and the right coronary artery (RCA), was measured. Moreover, the relationship between FAI and patients with different degrees of coronary stenosis and adverse coronary events was determined. Results: Comparisons between any 2 groups showed that the differences in the FAI among the 4 groups for the LAD were significant (all P values <0.05). There were no significant differences between the group with less-than-moderate stenosis (Mb) without adverse events and the group with moderate-or-above stenosis (M) with no adverse events for the LCX (P>0.05). For the remaining groups, FAI values exhibited statistically significant differences (P<0.05). According to the degree of lumen stenosis, the patients were divided into groups according to LAD, LCX, and RCA and the sum of the 3 vessels. There were significant differences in coronary FAI among the groups with different degrees of lumen stenosis for the sum of the 3 vessels, the LAD, and the LCX (P<0.05). Conclusions: FAI can reflect the state of the coronary artery, which is related to inflammation of the coronary lumen. Moreover, there is a relationship between FAI and the degree of stenosis in the coronary lumen: the narrower the coronary lumen is, the higher the FAI around the lumen.

Evidence from two cases of asymptomatic infection with SARS-CoV-2: Are 14 days of isolation sufficient?

Among 78 laboratory-confirmed cases, we found two asymptomatic infections. One patient was discharged within 14 days after treatment. Another patient was discharged 25 days after treatment, and his RT-PCR test was still positive on the 15th day. We found that there may be virus carriers in the asymptomatic population with an epidemiological contact history. After 14 days of isolation, those with asymptomatic infection may still carry the virus, which means a risk of transmission, presenting a new challenge for the management of home isolation.

Electrochemical formation of Mg-Li-Ca alloys by codeposition of Mg, Li and Ca from LiCl-KCl-MgCl2-CaCl2 melts.

This work presents electrochemical formation of Mg-Li-Ca alloys via codeposition of Mg, Li and Ca on a molybdenum electrode in KCl-LiCl-MgCl(2)-CaCl(2) melts at 943 K. Cyclic voltammograms (CVs) showed that the underpotential deposition (UPD) of calcium on pre-deposited magnesium leads to the formation of a liquid Mg-Ca alloy, and the succeeding underpotential deposition of lithium on pre-deposited Mg-Ca alloy leads to the formation of a liquid Mg-Li-Ca solution. Chronopotentiometric measurements indicated that the codepositon of Mg, Li and Ca occurs at current densities more negative than -0.31 A cm(-2) in LiCl-KCl-MgCl(2) (5 wt%) melts containing 1 wt% CaCl(2). Chronoamperograms demonstrated that the onset potential for the codeposition of Mg, Li and Ca is -2.200 V, and the codeposition of Mg, Li and Ca is formed when the applied potentials are more negative than -2.200 V. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) indicated that Mg-Li-Ca alloys with different phases were formed via galvanostatic electrolysis. The microstructures of typical alpha and beta phases of Mg-Li-Ca alloys were characterized by optical microscope (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The analysis of energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) showed that the element Ca mainly distributes along grain boundary in Mg-Li-Ca alloys. The results of inductively coupled plasma analysis determined that the chemical compositions of Mg-Li-Ca alloys correspond with the phase structures of XRD patterns, and the lithium and calcium contents of Mg-Li-Ca alloys depend on the concentrations of MgCl(2) and CaCl(2).

Epidemiology and relevant factors of iron-deficiency anemia among children in plateau areas / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To investigate the epidemiology of iron-deficiency anemia among children aged 0-6 years in plateau area,and to provide a basis for the formulation of prevention and treatment measures for anemia.@*Methods@#A total of 1 512 children aged 0-6 years were randomly selected from 4 counties in plateau area by stratified and cluster sampling. Blood hemoglobin level was tested. Child dietary behaviors were collected from their parents.@*Results@#There were significant differences in the prevalence of children with different age, family location, education level of main dependants, occupation of main dependants and per capita income of family(χ2=12.83,39.48,27.05,44.26,32.45, P<0.05).No significant difference for anemia prevalence in gender and nationality was found. The prevalence of anemia among children aged 0-6 years was 67.0%, and the prevalence was highest among children aged 1 years while decreased with age.Univariate analysis of variance showed that the prevalence anemia was 74.0% in rural children, which was significantly higher than children in urban area 58.6%(χ2=39.48,P<0.05). Low education and income level of caregiver, husbandry in the family, no exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, and picky eaters positively associated with high prevalence of anemia. The prevalence rate of anemia in 0-6 months old infants fed with mixed feeding and artificial feeding (73.1%, 75.0%) was higher than that of breast feeding (48.9%) (χ2=6.78, P<0.05). Picky eating can lead to a high incidence of anemia in children.@*Conclusion@#Promoting healthy diets and correcting unhealthy dietary pattern through nutrition education to parents might be effective ways to lower the prevalence of anemia among children in plateau areas.