The Value of Dual Time Point 18F-FDG PET/CT Imaging in Differentiating Lymph Node Metastasis From Reactive Hyperplasia in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: This study explored the clinical value of dual time-point 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging for differentiating lymph node metastasis from lymph nodes with reactive hyperplasia. METHODS: 250 lymph nodes from 153 bladder cancer patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/computed tomography (CT) delayed diuretic imaging were analyzed. The maximum and mean standardized uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean, respectively), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and related delay indices before and after PET delayed imaging were obtained. Relationships with outcomes were analyzed using nonparametric and multivariate analyses. Receiver operating characteristic curves and nomograms were drawn to predict lymph node metastasis. RESULTS: Delayed PET/CT imaging showed better detection of hyperplasia and metastatic lymph nodes. Delayed imaging with a cutoff SUVmax of 2.0 or 2.5 increased the detection rate of metastatic lymph nodes by 4.1%, and 6.9%, respectively. Delayed imaging often showed speckle-like radioactive foci in lymph nodes with reactive hyperplasia and increased FDG uptake throughout the nodes in metastatic lymph nodes. The lymph node short-axis diameter, SUVmean, and delayed index of MTV (DIMTV) were independent predictors for differentiating metastatic lymph nodes from reactive hyperplasia, and their combination showed better differentiation performance than the individual predictors. In high-risk patients, the probability of lymph node metastasis was as high as 97.6%. CONCLUSION: Dual time-point imaging can detect more metastatic lymph nodes. Some lymph nodes with hyperplasia show speckle-like radioactive foci on delayed imaging. The lymph node short-axis diameter, SUVmean, and DIMTV are three important parameters for predicting lymph node metastasis.

The value of 3D high-resolution IR-prepared fast spoiled gradient-recalled MRI in the diagnosis of meningeal carcinomatosis involving the cranial nerves.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical utility of three-dimension (3D) high-resolution inversion recovery (IR)-prepared fast spoiled gradient-recalled (SPGR) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of cranial nerve meningeal carcinomatosis (MC). METHODS: A total of 114 patients with MC from January 2015 to March 2020 were enrolled and their MRIs were analyzed retrospectively. All patients underwent MRIs before being administered a contrast agent. Both a 2D conventional MRI sequence and a 3D IR-prepared fast SPGR high-resolution T1-weighted (BRAVO) scan sequence were measured after contrast agent administration. The characteristics of MC and the involved cranial nerves were then examined. RESULTS: Among the 114 MC patients, 81 (71.05%) had cranial nerve enhancement on contrast-enhanced 3D-BRAVO imaging, while only 41 (35.96%) had image enhancement on conventional MRI. The contrast-enhanced 3D-BRAVO displayed stronger image contrast enhancement of the cranial nerves than the conventional MRI (P < 0.001). Furthermore, detection rates for the facial and auditory nerves, trigeminal nerve, oculomotor nerve, sublingual nerve, optic nerve, glossopharyngeal/vagal/accessory nerve, and abductor nerve on contrast-enhanced 3D-BRAVO imaging were 58.77%, 47.37%, 9.65%, 8.77%, 5.26%, 3.51%, and 0.88%, respectively. We found a statistically significant difference between the affected facial and auditory nerves, as well as the trigeminal nerve, oculomotor nerve, sublingual nerve, and optic nerve. CONCLUSION: In MC, contrast-enhanced 3D-BRAVO imaging displayed the cranial nerves more effectively than 2D conventional enhanced MRI. The facial, auditory, and trigeminal nerves are the primary nerves involved in MC, and improved scanning of these nerves would aid in the early detection and treatment of MC.

Astragaloside IV alleviates stroke-triggered early brain injury by modulating neuroinflammation and ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

PURPOSE: Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is an active ingredient extracted from Astragalus membranaceus with an established therapeutic effect on central nervous system diseases. This study examined the neuroprotective properties and possible mechanisms of AS-IV in stroke-triggered early brain injury (EBI) in a rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. METHODS: The neurological scores and brain water content were analyzed. 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was utilized to determine the infarct volume, neuroinflammatory cytokine levels, and ferroptosis-related genes and proteins, and neuronal damage and molecular mechanisms were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dutp nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining, western blotting, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: AS-IV administration decreased the infarct volume, brain edema, neurological deficits, and inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and NF-κB, increased the levels of SLC7A11 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), decreased lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and prevented neuronal ferroptosis. Meanwhile, AS-IV triggered the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and alleviated ferroptosis due to the induction of stroke. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, the findings of this research illustrate that AS-IV administration can improve delayed ischemic neurological deficits and decrease neuronal death by modulating nuroinflammation and ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Pushing the Electrochemical Performance Limits of Polypyrrole Toward Stable Microelectronic Devices.

Conducting polymers have achieved remarkable attentions owing to their exclusive characteristics, for instance, electrical conductivity, high ionic conductivity, visual transparency, and mechanical tractability. Surface and nanostructure engineering of conjugated conducting polymers offers an exceptional pathway to facilitate their implementation in a variety of scientific claims, comprising energy storage and production devices, flexible and wearable optoelectronic devices. A two-step tactic to assemble high-performance polypyrrole (PPy)-based microsupercapacitor (MSC) is utilized by transforming the current collectors to suppress structural pulverization and increase the adhesion of PPy, and then electrochemical co-deposition of PPy-CNT nanostructures on rGO@Au current collectors is performed. The resulting fine patterned MSC conveyed a high areal capacitance of 65.9 mF cm-2 (at a current density of 0.1 mA cm-2), an exceptional cycling performance of retaining 79% capacitance after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles at 5 mA cm-2. Benefiting from the intermediate graphene, current collector free PPy-CNT@rGO flexible MSC is produced by a facile transfer method on a flexible substrate, which delivered an areal capacitance of 70.25 mF cm-2 at 0.1 mA cm-2 and retained 46% of the initial capacitance at a current density of 1.0 mA cm-2. The flexible MSC is utilized as a skin compatible capacitive micro-strain sensor with excellent electromechanochemical characteristics.

Astragaloside IV alleviates stroke-triggered early brain injury by modulating neuroinflammation and ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway

Purpose: Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease. Astragaloside IV (AS-IV) is an active ingredient extracted from Astragalus membranaceus with an established therapeutic effect on central nervous system diseases. This study examined the neuroprotective properties and possible mechanisms of AS-IV in stroke-triggered early brain injury (EBI) in a rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Methods: The neurological scores and brain water content were analyzed. 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was utilized to determine the infarct volume, neuroinflammatory cytokine levels, and ferroptosis-related genes and proteins, and neuronal damage and molecular mechanisms were evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dutp nickend labeling (TUNEL) staining, western blotting, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: AS-IV administration decreased the infarct volume, brain edema, neurological deficits, and inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-6, and NF-κB, increased the levels of SLC7A11 and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), decreased lipid reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and prevented neuronal ferroptosis. Meanwhile, AS-IV triggered the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway and alleviated ferroptosis due to the induction of stroke. Conclusion: Hence, the findings of this research illustrate that AS-IV administration can improve delayed ischemic neurological deficits and decrease neuronal death by modulating nuroinflammation and ferroptosis via the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway.

Engineering Vacancies at the 2D Nanocrystals for Robust Bifunctional Electrocatalysts.

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) through water decomposition are feasible methods to produce green and clean energy. Herein, we report a facile two-step strategy for the preparation of non-noble metal defect-rich nanosheets by an electrochemical process at room temperature. First-principle calculations are used to study the bifunctional catalytic reaction mechanism of defect engineering in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs); from the first-principle calculations, we predicted that the rich S vacancies on the nanosheet promoted electron transfer and reduced the energy barrier of electrocatalysis. As a substantiation, we conducted HER/OER electrochemical characterizations and found that the defect-rich atomic-thick tantalum sulfide is a kind of dual-function electrocatalyst with enhanced comprehensive properties of Tafel slope (39 mV/dec for HER, 38 mV/dec for OER) and low overpotential (0.099 V for HER, 0.153 V for OER) in acidic and alkaline environments, respectively. Likewise, the defect-rich catalysts exhibit high stability in acidic and alkaline solutions, which have potential applications as electrocatalysts for the large-scale production of hydrogen and oxygen.

Hypoglossal Nerve Lesions: The Role of a 3D IR-Prepped Fast SPGR High-Resolution 3T MRI Sequence.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To assess a 3D high-resolution IR-prepped fast SPGR high-resolution MRI sequence for evaluating hypoglossal nerve lesions. METHODS: The clinical data of 8 patients with hypoglossal nerve lesions admitted from December 2011 to February 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. MRI included contrast-enhanced conventional sequences and a 3D IR-prepped fast SPGR high-resolution T1-weighted (BRAVO) MRI sequence at 3T. RESULTS: Eight patients had hypoglossal lesions detected by MRI. Conventional enhanced scanning could not clearly display the hypoglossal nerve and canal, while the enhanced 3D high-resolution sequence could. In addition, multiple planar reconstruction clearly displayed the hypoglossal nerve, hypoglossal canal, and lesions in multiple planes. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with conventional MRI, we show superior results from an advanced sequence to improve image quality in characterizing hypoglossal nerve lesions.

Application value analysis of magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography in the diagnosis of intracranial infection after craniocerebral surgery.

BACKGROUND: Intracranial infection is a common clinical disease. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have certain sensitivity and have good diagnostic efficacy. AIM: To study the application value of MRI and CT in the diagnosis of intracranial infection after craniocerebral surgery. METHODS: We selected 82 patients who underwent craniocerebral surgery (including 40 patients with intracranial infection and 42 patients without infection) during the period from April 2016 to June 2019 in our hospital. All 82 patients received CT and MRI examinations, and their clinical data were reviewed. A retrospective analysis was performed, and the coincidence rate of positive diagnosis and the overall diagnosis coincidence rate of different pathogenic infection types were measured with the two examination methods. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as well as the positive and negative predictive values of the two examination methods were compared. RESULTS: For all types of pathogenic infections (Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hemolyticus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and others), MRI scans had higher positive diagnostic coincidence rates than CT scans; the overall diagnostic coincidence rate, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive values were significantly higher with MRI examinations than with CT examinations, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: MRI examination can accurately diagnose intracranial infection after clinical craniocerebral surgery. Compared with CT, MRI had higher diagnostic efficiency. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, the diagnostic coincidence rate, and the positive and negative predictive values were significantly higher with MRI than with conventional CT, which can be actively promoted.

Construction of aptasensors for sensitive detection of 8-OH-dG based on a diffusion mediated electrochemiluminescence quenching effect.

A DNA immobilization-free ECL aptasensor was developed for the detection of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxygunosine based on the diffusion mediated ECL quenching effect. This ECL aptasensor exhibited a high sensitivity and low detection limit by combining homogeneous DNA reaction with dual signal amplifications: target-induced multi-DNA release and Exo I-assisted target recycling.

Hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic activity of butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites with dominant {101} facets.

Novel butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites dominantly bounded by {101} facets have been synthesized via a conventional hydrothermal by using tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) as a mineralizer and surface modifier. The wing-branches of the butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites are composed of primary block tetragonal plates with dominant {101} facets overlapping and ranking around the stem of 〈131〉 directions in the same plane belonging to the group of {101}. With the basis of the experimental results and the lattice structure, a possible formation mechanism of the butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites has been discussed and proposed. The preferential adsorption of the organic [Formula: see text] ions released by the ionization of TMAH on {101} planes suppresses the deposition of the calcium titanate species on {101} planes, which induces the formation of the primary block tetragonal plates and their overlapping as well as ranking around 〈131〉 direction along {101} planes, resulting in the butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites bounded with {101} facets. The investigation on the degradation of rhodamine-B demonstrates, due to the dominant exposition of the {101} facets, the butterfly-like CaTiO3 dendrites display superior photocatalytic activity of more than four time that of CaTiO3 microcuboids bounded with smart {101} and (010) facets.

1-Acetyl-5-isobutyl-2-sulfanylidene-imidazolidin-4-one.

There are two independent mol-ecules in the asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(9)H(14)N(2)O(2)S. In the crystal, the mol-ecules are linked by N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a chain along the a axis.

1,5-Bis[1-(2,4-dihy-droxy-phen-yl)ethyl-idene]carbonohydrazide dimethyl-formamide disolvate.

In the title compound, C(17)H(18)N(4)O(5)·2C(3)H(7)NO, two solvent mol-ecules are linked to the main mol-ecule via N-H⋯O and O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a hydrogen-bonded trimer. Intra-molecular O-H⋯N hydrogen bonds influence the mol-ecular conformation of the main mol-ecule, and the two benzene rings form a dihedral angle of 10.55 (18)°. In the crystal, inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link hydrogen-bonded trimers into ribbons extending along the b axis.