Radiomics nomogram based on MRI water imaging identifying symptomatic nerves of patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia: A preliminary study.

The study proposes a combined nomogram based on radiomics features from magnetic resonance neurohydrography and clinical features to identify symptomatic nerves in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia. We retrospectively analyzed 140 patients with clinically confirmed trigeminal neuralgia. Out of these, 24 patients constituted the external validation set, while the remaining 116 patients contributed a total of 231 nerves, comprising 118 symptomatic nerves, and 113 normal nerves. Radiomics features were extracted from the MRI water imaging (t2-mix3d-tra-spair). Radiomics feature selection was performed using L1 regularization-based regression, while clinical feature selection utilized univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. Subsequently, radiomics, clinical, and combined models were developed by using multivariate logistic regression, and a nomogram of the combined model was drawn. The performance of nomogram in discriminating symptomatic nerves was assessed through the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics, accuracy, and calibration curves. Clinical applications of the nomogram were further evaluated using decision curve analysis. Five clinical factors and 13 radiomics signatures were ultimately selected to establish predictive models. The AUCs in the training and validation cohorts were 0.77 (0.70-0.84) and 0.82 (0.72-0.92) with the radiomics model, 0.69 (0.61-0.77) and 0.66 (0.53-0.79) with the clinical model, 0.80 (0.74-0.87), and 0.85 (0.76-0.94) with the combined model, respectively. In the external validation set, the AUCs for the clinical, radiomics, and combined models were 0.70 (0.60-0.79), 0.78 (0.65-0.91), and 0.81 (0.70-0.93), respectively. The calibration curve demonstrated that the nomogram exhibited good predictive ability. Moreover, The decision curve analysis curve indicated shows that the combined model holds high clinical application value. The integrated model, combines radiomics features from magnetic resonance neurohydrography with clinical factors, proves to be effective in identify symptomatic nerves in trigeminal neuralgia. The diagnostic efficacy of the combined model was notably superior to that of the model constructed solely from conventional clinical features.

Detection of IgG protein in human urine based on vertical flow paper microfluidic chip / 生物工程学报

The kidney is the body's most important organ and the protein components in urine could be detected for diagnosing certain diseases. The amount of IgG protein in urine could be used to determine the degree of kidney function damage. IgG protein in human urine was detected by vertical flow paper-based microfluidic chip, double-antibody sandwich immunoreaction, and cell phone image processing. The results showed that using an IgG antibody concentration of 500 μg/mL and a gold standard antibody concentration of 100 μg/mL, the image signal showed a good linear relationship in the range of IgG concentration of 0.2-3.2 μg/mL, with R2=0.973 3 achieved. A complete set of detection devices were designed and the detection method showed good non-specificity.

Effect of Hemoglobin on Efficacy of CAR-T Therapy in Patients with Multiple Myeloma / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of hemoglobin (Hb) on the efficacy of chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy (CAR-T) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM).@*METHODS@#From June 2017 to December 2020, 76 MM patients who received CAR-T therapy in the Department of Hematology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, with complete clinical data and evaluable efficacy, were selected as the research objects. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the best cut-off value was obtained. The patients were divided into groups on the basis of Hb 105.5 g/L as the cut-off value. The age, sex, serum calcium, β2-microglobulin, serum creatinine, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and the influencing factors of CAR-T treatment efficacy in MM patients were analyzed.@*RESULTS@#Hb was an influencing factor of efficacy. Univariate analysis showed that Hb, LDH, and albumin affected the efficacy of CAR-T therapy. Multivariate analysis showed that Hb ( OR=1.039, 95% CI: 1.002-1.078) and LDH ( OR=1.014, 95% CI: 1.000-1.027) were the influencing factors for the efficacy of CAR-T therapy.@*CONCLUSION@#The efficacy of CAR-T therapy in MM patients with low Hb is poor, and Hb is a factor affecting the efficacy of CAR-T therapy.

Irreversible electroporation versus radiofrequency ablation for malignant hepatic tumor: A prospective single-center double-arm trial.

Objective: Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a nonthermal ablation technique for the treatment of malignant liver tumors. IRE has demonstrated efficacy and safety in the treatment of malignant liver tumors and its unique advantages in the treatment of nearby vascular lesions. This study aimed to compare the efficacy, safety, and intermediate-term outcomes of IRE and radiofrequency (RF) therapy in malignant liver tumors. Methods: Twenty-four patients with primary or secondary liver malignancies were included in this prospective, double-arm clinical trial. Patients were randomly divided into the IRE and RF groups. The primary outcome was the efficacy (local ablation control evaluation at 90 days). The secondary outcomes were safety (procedure-related complications at â€‹≤ â€‹90 days) and intermediate-term survival (at 24 months). Results: The ablation assessment at 90 days after surgery with mRECIST for IRE versus RF were 70%, 20%, 0%, and 10% versus 92.9%, 7.1%, 0%, and 0% (CR, PR, SD, and PD, respectively). The complication rates of IRE versus RF with Clavien-Dindo classification were 16.7%, 25%, 0%, 8.3%, and 8.3% versus 8.3%, 50%, 0%, 0%, and 0% (Grade I, II, III, IV, and V, respectively). The average overall survival (OS) was 17.55 months in the IRE group (95% CI 15.13-22.37) and 18.75 months in the RF group (95% CI 12.48-22.61). There was no statistical difference between the IRE and RF groups in terms of efficacy (p â€‹= â€‹0.48), safety(p â€‹= â€‹0.887), or 24-month OS (p â€‹= â€‹0.959). Conclusions: IRE ablation revealed similar efficacy and safety in a short-term follow-up, and similar OS in mid-term survival as RF ablation in treating malignant hepatic tumors.

Chinese expert consensus of image-guided irreversible electroporation for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal disease with extremely high mortality. Although surgical resection is the optimal therapeutic approach for PC, about 30%-40% of those patients are not candidates for surgical resection when diagnosed. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy also could not claim a desirable effect on PC. The application of interventional radiology approaches is limited by unavoidable damage to the surrounding vessels or organs. By the superiority of mechanism and technology, IRE could ablate the tumor by creating irreversible pores on the membrane of PC cells with other tissues like vessels and pancreatic ducts untouched. This consensus gathers the theoretical basis and clinical experience from multiple Chinese medical centers, to provide the application principles and experience from Chinese experts in the IRE field.

Performance evaluation of two fundus oculi angiographic imaging system: Optos 200Tx and Heidelberg Spectralis.

The present study aimed to compare the imaging performance of two ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography imaging systems, namely the OptosOptomap 200Tx (Optos 200Tx) and the Heidelberg Spectralis (Spectralis). A total of 18 patients (36 eyes) underwent angiography using the two systems at the Department of Ophthalmology, Beijing Friendship Hospital (Beijing, China) between January and June 2017. The images were obtained as a single shot centered on the macula. The total area and area within each of four visualized quadrants were calculated and compared. The averages of the total and individual quadrant area captured by the Optos 200Tx were all larger than those obtained with the Spectralis (P<0.05). For pair-wise comparison, the circular area centered on the macula (radius of 10 and 15 mm) was displayed: Optos 200Tx 10 mm (295.57 mm2) < Spectralis (520.11 mm2) < Optos 200Tx 15 mm (596.45 mm2) < Optos 200Tx (804.36 mm2) (P<0.01). The differences of each of the four quadrant areas were statistically significant between the two systems (P<0.05). The mean size of the areas was in the following order: Inferior < temporal < superior < nasal for the Optos 200Tx, and inferior < temporal < nasal < superior for the Spectralis. Further comparison of the four-quadrant area indicated that the inferior quadrant of the Optos 200Tx was smaller than the other three quadrants (P<0.01) and the inferior quadrant of the Spectralis was smaller than the superior quadrant (P<0.01). The total retinal area and the retinal area of each quadrant captured by the Optos 200Tx were larger than those captured with the Spectralis. The total retinal area captured with the Optos 200Tx was able to cover the mid-peripheral area and part of the far-peripheral area of the retina, whereas the Spectralis only covered the mid-peripheral area.

Development of Quality of Life of College Students Questionnaire and its reliability and validity / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To develop a brief version of Quality of Life of College Students Questionnaire(QOLCS-51) to measure the quality of college students conveniently in time.@*Methods@#Qualitative research and two investigations were applied to shorten and verify the brief questionnaire, and SPSS 22.0 and Lisrel 9.20 were used to analyze the reliability and validity of 2 questionnaires.@*Results@#Quality of Life of College Students Questionnaire-bref was developed by deleting 22 items through qualitative research and 6 items by the first investigation. 952 college students from Jiangsu, Anhui and Shanxi Province were selected to participate in the second investigation, which consisted of five domains and 23 items (QOLCS-23). All 23 items were accepted by analysis of difficulty(0.44-0.68), and all have passed the test of critical ratio(P<0.01), the general related index was 0.33-0.60(P<0.01). 78.3% items distinguished the students with/without dyssomnia. Reliability was tested by test-retest reliability coefficient(0.71-0.86), homogeneity reliability coefficient (Cronbach α=0.845) and exploratory factor analysis (6 factors, i.e. physics domain, three subdomains of psychology domain, behavior domain, social domain and environment domain). Validity was tested by correlations of five domains between QOLCS-51 and QOLCS23(greater than 0.8) and confirmatory factor analysis(χ2/df=12.17, RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.07, GFI=0.84, AGFI=0.83, CFI=0.92, IFI=0.92, NFI=0.85, NNFI=0.91).@*Conclusion@#QOLCS51 consists of 23 items of QOLCS23, after deleting 28 items, to assess 5 dimensions of physiology, psychology, behavior, environment and social support with good construction validity and criterion-related validity, and good homogeneity reliability and re-test reliability.

Reduction of Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity in Sensorimotor and Visual Information Processing Pathways in Schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have demonstrated interhemispheric functional connectivity alterations in schizophrenia. However, the relationship between these alterations and the disease state of schizophrenia is largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to investigate this relationship using voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC) method. METHODS: This study enrolled 36 schizophrenia patients with complete remission, 58 schizophrenia patients with incomplete remission and 55 healthy controls. The VMHC was calculated based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data. Differences in VMHC among three groups were compared using one-way analysis of variance. A brain region with a significant difference in VMHC was defined as a region of interest (ROI), and the mean VMHC value in the ROI was extracted for the post hoc analysis, i.e., pair-wise comparisons across the three groups. RESULTS: VMHC in the visual region (inferior occipital and fusiform gyri) and the sensorimotor region (paracentral lobule) showed significant differences among the three groups (P < 0.05, a false discovery rate method corrected). Pair-wise comparisons in the post hoc analysis showed that VMHC of the visual and sensorimotor regions in schizophrenia patients with complete remission and incomplete remission was lower than that in healthy controls (P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected); however, there was no significant difference between the two patient subgroups. CONCLUSIONS: Interhemispheric functional connectivity in the sensorimotor and visual processing pathways was reduced in patients with schizophrenia, but this reduction was unrelated to the disease state; thus, this reduction may serve as a trait marker of schizophrenia.

The mechanism of controllable dehydrogenation: CPMD study of M(BH4)x(NH3)y (M = Li, Mg) decomposition.

Amine metallic borohydrides were synthesized as a new series of hydrogen-storage materials. Their dehydrogenation can be controlled if appropriate metal centres are chosen. A typical example is LiBH4NH3 (ALB) and Mg(BH4)2(NH3)2 (AMgB) adopt the same symmetries but show totally different appearances when decomposed. Both ALB and AMgB are relatively new compounds designed as candidates for solid-state hydrogen storage. In this study, we have applied a Car-Parrinello molecular dynamic (CPMD) method to simulate the overall processes of their decomposition to figure out the mechanisms behind the difference in post-decomposition appearances. The polarization of Mg(2+) is almost two times larger than that of Li(+), making the Mg(2+) bond with nitrogen and boron stronger compared to that of Li(+), which improves the appearance of dehydrogenation of AMgB over that of ALB.

Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling imaging of cerebral blood perfusion asymmetry in drug-naïve patients with first-episode major depression.

Many previous studies have reported that regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) aberrations may be one of the pathological characteristics of depression and rCBF has demonstrated a certain degree of asymmetry. However, studies investigating the cerebral blood perfusion asymmetry changes of drug-naïve patients experiencing their first episode of major depression using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) are rare. Ten drug-naïve patients experiencing their first major depression episode and 15 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the current study. A novel pCASL method was applied to whole brain MRI scans of all of the samples. The Statistics Parameter Mapping and Relative Expression Software Tool software packages were used for the pre-processing and statistical analysis of the two sets of images, and the differences in the cerebral blood perfusion at the whole brain level were compared between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, the cerebral perfusion of the depression patients showed an asymmetric pattern. Decreased cerebral blood perfusion regions were primarily located in the left hemisphere, specifically in the left temporal lobe, frontal lobe and cingulate cortex [P<0.05 and cluster size ≥30 with false discovery rate (FDR) correction]. Simultaneously, increased perfusion regions were predominantly located in the right hemisphere, specifically in the right cerebellum, thalamus, frontal lobe and anterior cingulate cortex (P<0.05 and cluster size ≥30, with FDR correction). Thus, pCASL may characterize the alterations in cerebral blood perfusion of patients with depression.

Comparative Study of Electrochemical Performance of SnO2 Anodes with Different Nanostructures for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Powders composed of SnO2 nanostructures including microporous nanospheres, mesoporous nanospheres and nanosheets were synthesized by the direct hydrothermal hydrolyzation of SnCl4, hydrothermal hydrolyzation of SnCl4 using glucose as a soft template and precipitation of SnCl2 ∙ 2H20 using oxalic acid as a precipitant, respectively. The electrochemical performance of the three samples used as the anode of a lithium ion battery was determined using galvanostatic discharge/charge tests and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Among of them, the anode composed of microporous SnO2 nanospheres demonstrated outstanding initial discharge and charge capacities of 2480 and 1510 mAh g-1, respectively, with a coulombic efficiency of 60.9% at a current density of 78 mA g-1 (0.1 C). In addition, high initial discharge and charge capacities of 1398 mAh g-1 and 950 mAh g-1, respectively, with a coulombic efficiency of 67.95% were obtained even at a high current density of 550 mA g-1 (0.7 C). Moreover, a reversible capacity of 500 mAh g-1 with a coulombic efficiency of 99.95% was attained even after 50 discharging/charging cycles at 550 mA g-1 (0.7 C). This superior electrochemical performance of the SnO2 anodes can be attributed to the large specific surface area (172.7 m2 g-1), small crystal size (approximately 15 nm) and the interstitial microporous pores (<2 nm) of the particles, which favored lithium-ion diffusion and insertion/desertion at the surface of SnO2 and decreased the polarization and the volume expansion of SnO2. Moreover, the resistance of the cell and Li+ diffusion coefficient were studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

Abnormality of the corpus callosum in coalmine gas explosion-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abnormal corpus callosum (CC) has been reported in childhood trauma-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, the nature of white matter (WM) integrity alterations in the CC of young adult-onset PTSD patients is unknown. In this study, 14 victims of a coal mine gas explosion with PTSD and 23 matched coal miners without experiencing the coal mine explosion were enrolled. The differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) within 7 sub-regions of the CC were compared between the two groups. Compared to the controls, PTSD coal miners exhibited significantly reduced FA values in the anterior sub-regions of the CC (P < 0.05, Bonferroni-corrected), which mainly interconnect the bilateral frontal cortices. Our findings indicated that the anterior part of the CC was more severely impaired than the posterior part in young adult-onset PTSD, which suggested the patterns of CC impairment may depend on the developmental stage of the structure when the PTSD occurs.

Contrast-enhanced MRI in preoperative assessment of myometrial and cervical invasion, and lymph node metastasis: diagnostic value and error analysis in endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the ability of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging to predict myometrial invasion, cervical invasion, and pelvic lymph node metastasis in endometrial carcinoma and to analyze factors that lead to errors in this identification. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: University general hospital. POPULATION: A total of 167 women diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma. METHODS: All patients received a preoperative contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging scan. Histopathological findings were used as the definitive diagnosis. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The results were compared with histopathological findings, factors that make accurate assessment of myometrial invasion, cervical invasion, and pelvic lymph node metastasis difficult by contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were analyzed. RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, positive predictive values, and negative predictive values of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were 90.9, 91.8, 91.6, 73.2 and 97.6%, respectively, for identifying deep myometrial invasion; 84.2, 96.0, 94.6, 72.7 and 97.9%, respectively, for identifying cervical invasion; and 45.0, 91.2, 85.6, 40.9 and 92.4%, respectively, for identifying pelvic lymph node metastasis. The main causes of error in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging were myomas, cornual lesions, deep myometrial invasion, large tumor size, non-endometrioid tumor type, and lower tumor grade. CONCLUSION: Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging has a high accuracy and a low tendency to produce false-negative predictive values. Gynecological oncologists should combine the imaging data and clinical information to make therapeutic decisions and avoid diagnostic errors.

Brain functional connectivity density and individual fluid reasoning capacity in healthy young adults.

Functional connectivity density (FCD) is a newly developed data-driven method to measure the number of functional connections of each voxel, possibly providing new insight into the neural correlates of fluid reasoning. Here, we recruited 211 healthy young adults (91 men and 120 women) to investigate associations between the global FCD and fluid reasoning capacity as measured by the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices. Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices scores were correlated negatively with the global FCD in multiple brain regions of the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal cortices in male participants. No significant correlation was found in female participants. Our findings confirmed the association between fluid reasoning and functional connectivity of multiple cognitive-related brain regions. The positive correlation with the functional connectivity strength and the negative correlation between fluid reasoning and FCD suggest that individuals with superior fluid reasoning capacity may possess a small number of strong functional connections. The sex dichotomy of this association indicates that the fluid reasoning capacity of men and women may have different neural substrates.

On health insurance for medical risks incurred by AIDS infection from blood transfusion / 中华医院管理杂志

An analysis of typical cases of AIDS infection incurred by blood transfusion suggests that the error-free infection in blood transfusion calls for a social relief mechanism.The authors also made a feasibility analysis of the compensation of medical risk health insurance for such infection,and explored a new way out for resolving the disputes involving medical risk of such infection.

Structural impairments of hippocampus in coal mine gas explosion-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Investigations on hippocampal and amygdalar volume have revealed inconsistent results in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Little is known about the structural covariance alterations between the hippocampus and amygdala in PTSD. In this study, we evaluated the alteration in the hippocampal and amygdalar volume and their structural covariance in the coal mine gas explosion related PTSD. High resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed on coal mine gas explosion related PTSD male patients (n = 14) and non-traumatized coalminers without PTSD (n = 25). The voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method was used to test the inter-group differences in hippocampal and amygdalar volume as well as the inter-group differences in structural covariance between the ipsilateral hippocampus and amygdala. PTSD patients exhibited decreased gray matter volume (GMV) in the bilateral hippocampi compared to controls (p<0.05, FDR corrected). GMV covariances between the ipsilateral hippocampus and amygdala were significantly reduced in PTSD patients compared with controls (p<0.05, FDR corrected). The coalminers with gas explosion related PTSD had decreased hippocampal volume and structural covariance with the ipsilateral amygdala, suggesting that the structural impairment of the hippocampus may implicate in the pathophysiology of PTSD.

Immunogenic response induced by wzm and wzt gene deletion mutants from Brucella abortus S19.

Brucellosis is an infectious disease affecting humans and animals worldwide. Effective methods of control include inducing immunity in animals by vaccination and elimination. Brucella abortus S19 is one of the popular vaccines for control of cattle brucellosis, as it has low virulence. In this paper, allelic exchange plasmids of wzm and wzt genes were constructed and partially knocked out to evaluate the effects on the induction of immunity to Brucella abortus S19 mutants. Cytokine secretion in vitro, INF-γ induction in vivo and antibody dynamics were evaluated. These data suggested that the immunity-eliciting ability of the wzm and wzt gene deletion mutants was similar, although reduced compared with the S19 strain. The results demonstrated that the wzt gene may be more important in the regulation of the induction of immunity than the wzm gene.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy in esophageal carcinoma / 中华胃肠外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the efficacy and safety of video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) esophagectomy in the treatment of esophageal cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From June 2004 to October 2007, video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy was performed in 36 patients, including 29 men and 7 women with median age of 58.9 years old. The cancer located at upper segment in 5 cases, middle 25 cases and lower 6 cases. VATS approach was used to mobilize the intrathoracic esophagus and stomach was mobilized by open approach. Esophagogastric anastomosis was performed in the left neck.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean operative time was 250 minutes (190-330 min) and average time of VATS was 70 minutes. The mean hospital stay was 8.7 days. Mean lymph node harvest was 14.3 nodes. Post-operative complications occurred in 11 patients(30.6%), but no perioperative death occurred.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagectomy is technically feasible and safe with lower morbidity and shorter hospital stay as compared to open procedure, and may replace the open esophagectomy in selected patients.</p>

[Effect of extract of Gingko biloba on soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in patients with early diabetic nephropathy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of extract of Gingko biloba (EGb) on soluble intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) in patients with early diabetic nephropathy (DN). METHODS: Sixty-three patients with DN in early stage were randomly assigned to the control group (29 cases) and the treatment group (34 cases). Both groups were treated by routine treatment, and with EGb given to the treatment group additionally. The treatment course was 2 months. Serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were determined with ELISA before and after treatment, and urinary albumin excretion rate (UAER), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), serum creatinine (SCr) and blood lipids, etc. were examined as well. RESULTS: The levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were significantly lower in both groups after treatment than those before treatment (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), and the decrement in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group (P < 0.01). And the levels of UAER, SCr and blood lipids decreased in the treatment group after treatment (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: EGb could retard the development of early DN through decreasing the levels of serum sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1.