Development and Validation of a Deep Learning Model to Reduce the Interference of Rectal Artifacts in MRI-based Prostate Cancer Diagnosis.

Purpose To develop an MRI-based model for clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) diagnosis that can resist rectal artifact interference. Materials and Methods This retrospective study included 2203 male patients with prostate lesions who underwent biparametric MRI and biopsy between January 2019 and June 2023. Targeted adversarial training with proprietary adversarial samples (TPAS) strategy was proposed to enhance model resistance against rectal artifacts. The automated csPCa diagnostic models trained with and without TPAS were compared using multicenter validation datasets. The impact of rectal artifacts on the diagnostic performance of each model at the patient and lesion levels was compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC). The AUC between models was compared using the DeLong test, and the AUPRC was compared using the bootstrap method. Results The TPAS model exhibited diagnostic performance improvements of 6% at the patient level (AUC: 0.87 vs 0.81, P < .001) and 7% at the lesion level (AUPRC: 0.84 vs 0.77, P = .007) compared with the control model. The TPAS model demonstrated less performance decline in the presence of rectal artifact-pattern adversarial noise than the control model (ΔAUC: -17% vs -19%, ΔAUPRC: -18% vs -21%). The TPAS model performed better than the control model in patients with moderate (AUC: 0.79 vs 0.73, AUPRC: 0.68 vs 0.61) and severe (AUC: 0.75 vs 0.57, AUPRC: 0.69 vs 0.59) artifacts. Conclusion This study demonstrates that the TPAS model can reduce rectal artifact interference in MRI-based csPCa diagnosis, thereby improving its performance in clinical applications. Keywords: MR-Diffusion-weighted Imaging, Urinary, Prostate, Comparative Studies, Diagnosis, Transfer Learning Clinical trial registration no. ChiCTR23000069832 Supplemental material is available for this article. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Preparation, characterization, and antibacterial effect of bio-based modified starch films.

There are several problems with common starch films, including strong water absorption and poor mechanical properties. To create a better starch film, octenyl succinate cassava starch ester (OSCS) was first blended with chitosan and nano ZnO to prepare an OSCS/CS/ZnO film. Then, the film was supplemented with different concentrations of ε-PL as a bacteriostatic agent to prepare a film that would resist bacterial invasion. The mechanical properties, barrier properties, optical properties, and color of the modified starch antibacterial films were investigated, and finally the antibacterial properties and cytotoxicity were tested. The results demonstrated that the modified starch antibacterial film had good mechanical properties, improved surface hydrophobicity, and had a UV-blocking effect. The modified starch antibacterial film with ε-PL of 8% had stable and long-lasting antibacterial properties, stable release, and good cytocompatibility. An active packaging material was successfully prepared using ε-PL and had a strong preservative effect on food.

High Mobility Group Protein 1 Reverses Immune System Paralysis in Late-Phase Sepsis.

High mobility group protein 1 (HMGB1) is considered to be the primary inflammatory factor triggering immune paralysis in late-phase sepsis. In this study, however, we wanted to explore the possibility of using HMGB1 to boost local differentiation of bone marrow cells (BMCs) into regulatory dendritic cells (DCs) in vivo, thereby inducing immune reversal in late-phase sepsis and improving the prognosis. For this purpose, sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Mice were injected intraperitoneally with HMGB1 (10, 50, or 250 µg/kg of body weight) 7 days before CLP. BMCs and liver immune cells were isolated at 0, 3, 5, and 7 days post-CLP. Mice were intranasally infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa 3 days post-CLP as a secondary pneumonia infection model. BMCs and liver cells isolated from septic mice pretreated with HMGB1 were adoptively transferred into CLP mice. GFP+-C57BL/6 and C3H/HeN-C3H/HeJ parabiosis models were established. We found that HMGB1 pretreatment improved the survival of sepsis and increased the numbers of BMCs and liver immune cells in CLP mice. Furthermore, HMGB1 stimulation improved survival in the secondary pneumonia infection model. HMGB1 increased the number as well as the percentage of CD11c- CD45RBhigh DCs in septic BM and liver. Adoptive transfer of septic cells pretreated with HMGB1 into CLP mice attenuated sepsis. HMGB1 enhanced the redistribution of CD11c- CD45RBhigh DCs through TLR4 signaling in parabiosis models. We conclude that HMGB1 triggers immune reversal through the mobilization, redistribution, and local immune differentiation of BMCs, thereby compensating for impaired immunity and leading to sufficient bacterial eradication.

Tremella Polysaccharides attenuated sepsis through inhibiting abnormal CD4⁺CD25(high) regulatory T cells in mice.

Tremella Polysaccharides (TPS) have been reported to play an important role in regulating immune responses. Tregs are widely identified as the critical reason for immune dysfunction during sepsis. However, whether TPS could influence the immunomodulatory activities of Tregs in post-burn sepsis mice remains unclear. In this experiment, we researched the effects of TPS on peripheral blood Tregs in sepsis mouse induced by burn plus Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Results showed that TPS reversed the influences of Tregs on CD4⁺T cells proliferation and polarization and declined the level of IL-10 in burn plus P. aeruginosa infection mice. In addition, TPS notably reduced the mortality of post-burn sepsis mice. Therefore, TPS could inhibit the abnormal activities of CD4⁺CD25(high) Tregs in burn with P. aeruginosa infection mice, at least in part via inhibiting IL-10 secretion, and trigger a shift of Th2 to Th1 with activation of CD4⁺T cells in burn with P. aeruginosa infection mice.

Acute cerebral and pulmonary edema induced by hemodialysis.

BACKGROUND: The dialysis disequilibrium syndrome is characterized by neurologic deterioration and cerebral edema which occurs after hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathogenesis of acute cerebral and pulmonary edema induced by hemodialysis. METHODS: We evaluated the effects of hemodialysis on the biochemical and hemodynamic parameters of the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid, including the intracranial pressure, dry/wet ratio, and pulmonary edema index, and we also examined the pathological changes of the brain and lung tissue in dogs suffering from uremia. RESULTS: Seventy-two hours after bilateral ureteral ligation, 10 uremic dogs were hemodialyzed for 2 hours, yielding a 73.6% and 60.1% decrease in the plasma urea and creatinine, respectively, a decrease in the plasma osmolality from (359 +/- 18) mOsm/kg H(2)O to (304 +/- 6) mOsm/kg H(2)O (P < 0.01), a decrease in the dry/wet ratio of the lung and brain tissue, and an increase in the hemodynamic parameters (right atrial pressure, right ventricular pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and central venous pressure), intracranial pressure, total pulmonary resistance index, and pulmonary edema index. Moreover, the pathological examination revealed lung and brain edema in the dialyzed dogs. This group was compared to 3 control groups: 6 uremic dogs which were sham dialyzed without dialysate so that no fall in the plasma urea occurred, and 12 uremic and 12 nonuremic animals that were not dialyzed. However, the parameters mentioned above were not significantly changed among these 3 control groups. CONCLUSIONS: The acute brain and lung edema in our model appeared to be primarily due to a large osmotic gradient between the plasma and the brain and lung. This is the "urea reverse effect" which promoted the osmotically-induced lung and brain swelling.