Self-Assembly Hypoxic and ROS Dual Response Nano Prodrug as a New Therapeutic Approach for Glaucoma Treatments.

Glaucoma is an irreversible blinding eye disease characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death.Previous studies have demonstrated that protecting mitochondria and activating the CaMKII/CREB signaling pathway can effectively protect RGC and axon. However, currently treatments are often unsatisfactory, and the pathogenesis of glaucoma requires further elucidation. In this study, a ROS-responsive dual drug conjugate (OLN monomer) is first designed that simultaneously bonds nicotinamide and oleic acid. The conjugate self-assembled into nanoparticles (uhOLN-NPs) through the aggregation of multiple micelles and possesses ROS scavenging capability. Then, a polymer with a hypoxic response function is designed, which encapsulates uhOLN-NPs to form nanoparticles with hypoxic and ROS responses (HOLN-NPs). Under hypoxia in RGCs, the azo bond of HOLN-NPs breaks and releases uhOLN-NPs. Meanwhile, under high ROS conditions, the thioketone bond broke, leading to the dissociation of nano-prodrug. The released nicotinamide and oleic acid co-scavenge ROS and activate the CaMKII/CREB pathway, protecting mitochondria in RGCs. HOLN-NPs exhibit a significantly superior protective effect on R28 cells in glutamate models of glaucoma. The accumulation of HOLN-NPs in retinal RGCs lead to significant inhibition of RGC apoptosis and axonal damage in vivo. Notably, HOLN-NPs provide a new therapeutic approach for patients with neurodegenerative disease.

Uncover the anticancer potential of lycorine.

BACKGROUND: Natural products have a long history in drug discovery. Lycorine is an alkaloid derived from Amaryllidaceae plants, demonstrating significant pharmacological potential. Lycorine and its hydrochloride salt, lycorine hydrochloride, have shown outstanding anticancer effects both in vitro and in vivo. PURPOSE: This review aims to comprehensively summarize recent research advancements regarding the anticancer potential of lycorine and lycorine hydrochloride. It intends to elucidate current research limitations, optimization strategies, and future research directions to guide clinical translation. METHODS: Various databases, e.g., Web of Science, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, are systematically searched for relevant articles using keywords such as lycorine, cancer, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity. The retrieved literature is then categorized and summarized to provide an overview of the research advancements in the anticancer potential of lycorine and lycorine hydrochloride. RESULTS: Lycorine and lycorine hydrochloride demonstrate significant anticancer activities against various types of cancer both in vitro and in vivo, employing diverse mechanisms such as inducing cell cycle arrest, triggering cellular senescence, regulating programmed cell death, inhibiting angiogenesis, suppressing metastasis, and modulating immune system. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic profiles and toxicity data are summarized. Additionally, this review discusses the druggability, limitations, optimization strategies, and target identification of lycorine, offering insights for future preclinical studies. CONCLUSION: The anticancer effects and safety profile of lycorine and lycorine hydrochloride suggest promising potential for clinical applications. Further research on their in-depth mechanisms and optimization strategies targeting their limitations will enhance the understanding and druggability of lycorine and lycorine hydrochloride.

Altered brain activity associated with premature ejaculation improved by electroacupuncture in rats.

Background: Premature ejaculation (PE) is linked with abnormal brain activity that is modifiable by electroacupuncture (EA). Aim: In this study we aimed to explore the central pathological mechanism underlying EA in treating PE. Methods: Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a PE group (n = 8) and a control group (n = 8) according to ejaculatory frequency during copulatory behavior. All rats underwent EA at the Zusanli acupoint (ST-36) for 4 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after EA. Outcomes: The behavioral parameters, plasma norepinephrine levels, fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF), and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were evaluated. Results: The PE group ejaculated more times with shorter latency compared with controls. After EA, the ejaculation frequency of the PE group decreased, and the ejaculation latency period increased, with no changes observed in the control group. Norepinephrine levels were higher in the PE group than in the controls and were positively correlated with ejaculation frequency and negatively correlated with ejaculation latency. The PE group showed lower fALFF in the right striatum and higher ReHo in the brainstem compared with controls. After EA, controls showed decreased fALFF in the right striatum, left olfactory bulb, and dorsal fornix and increased ReHo in the right interpeduncular nucleus, as well as decreased ReHo in the left striatum, prelimbic system, right basal forebrain region, septal region, and olfactory bulb, while the model group exhibited increased fALFF in the right hypothalamic region, decreased fALFF in the left globus pallidum and right basal forebrain region and increased ReHo in the right interpeduncular nucleus, as well as decreased ReHo in the left striatum, olfactory bulb, basal forebrain region, dentate gyrus, right dysgranular insular cortex, and striatum. Compared with the controls after EA, the model group showed increased ReHo of the right hypothalamic region and decreased ReHo of the right dysgranular insular cortex. Clinical Implications: These findings might enhance the understanding of PE and contribute to new, targeted therapies for PE. Strengths and Limitations: The therapeutic effects might be achieved by EA inhibiting the activity in brain regions involved in ejaculatory behavior. However, the curative effect of acupuncture might be underestimated due to some curative effects of sham acupuncture used in the control group. Conclusion: In conclusion, the ejaculatory frequency of rats may be reduced and ejaculation latency could be extended by EA at ST-36, which might be achieved by the effects of this treatment on brain activity.

Effective Treatment with Venetoclax and Hypomethylating Agents for the Coexistence of Multiple Myeloma and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Case Report and Literature Review.

OBJECTIVE: Multiple myeloma (MM) and Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are distinct hematologic malignancies originating from different cell lineages. Their coexistence is extremely rare, and current treatment approaches are even more so. Therefore, exploring the clinical features of their coexistence and the promising treatment strategy is worthwhile. CASE REPORT: We described three cases involving the coexistence of MM and DNMT3A-mutant AML, two of which presented simultaneous occurrences, while Case 3 had secondary AML about 70 months after the MM. DISCUSSION: All cases exhibited DNMT3A mutations, which characterized by one missense mutation and two frameshift mutations; all were likely loss of function mutations. Among them, two patients were treated with Venetoclax-based regimens and achieved favorable effects. The patients were alive for 62,38 and 103 months. CONCLUSIONS: Clonal hematopoiesis of DNMT3A may have a crucial role in the coexistence of MM and AML and Venetoclax-based regimens reveal favorable treatment responses. However, drug resistance still needs to be considered, and further research is required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms and treatment strategies.

A case of anaphylactic shock to human fibrinogen infusion during cardiac surgery.

Human fibrinogen (FIB) has been clinically proven to be considerably effective for the treatment of postoperative bleeding, with reported cases of allergic reactions to human FIB being rare. Here, we report a case of an anaphylactic shock in 27-year-old patients with rheumatic heart valve disease who received a human FIB infusion during mitral valve replacement, aortic valve replacement, and tricuspid valve-shaping surgery. The patients showed generalised profuse sweating, a barely noticeable skin rash, faint pulse, systolic pressure < 50 mmHg, and a heart rate of 71 beats/min. We share insights from a case of severe allergy to human FIB infusion during cardiac surgery, through which we have gained experience in the processes of diagnosing and treating. This report aims to provide a preliminary summary of the characteristics of this case to serve as a reference for fellow clinicians.

Biodegradable magnesium and zinc composite microspheres with synergistic osteogenic effect for enhanced bone regeneration.

Biodegradable polymer microspheres in bone tissue engineering have become appealing as their non-invasive advantages in irregular damage bone repair. However, current microspheres used in BTE still lack sufficient osteogenic capacity to induce effective bone regeneration. In this study, we developed osteogenic composite microspheres concurrently loaded with magnesium oxide (MgO) and zinc oxide (ZnO), both of which are osteogenic active substances, using a facile and scalable emulsification method. The osteogenic composite microspheres exhibited a sequential yet complementary release profile characterized by a rapid release of Mg2+ and a gradual release of Zn2+ in a physiological environment, thereby maintaining the concentration of bioactive ions at a sustained high level. As a result, the combination of Mg2+ and Zn2+ in the composite microspheres led to a synergistic enhancement in biomimetic mineralization and the upregulation in the expression of osteogenic-related genes and proteins at the cellular level. Through a critical-sized calvarial rate defect model, the osteogenic composite microspheres were demonstrated to have strong osteogenic ability to promote new bone formation via ultrasonic imaging, histological and immunohistochemical evaluations. In sum, these osteogenic composite microspheres as microcarriers of Mg2+ and Zn2+ have great potential in the delivery of therapeutic ions for treating bone defects.

The effect of hyperuricemia and its interaction with hypertension towards chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes: evidence from a cross- sectional study in Eastern China.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the synergistic interaction effect between hyperuricemia and hypertension towards chronic kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This research originates from a cross-sectional study performed in Zhejiang Province, Eastern China, between March and November 2018. The correlation between serum uric acid levels and the risk of chronic kidney disease was assessed using a restricted cubic spline model. An unconditional multivariable logistic regression model, along with an interaction table, was utilized to explore the potential interaction effect of hyperuricemia and hypertension towards chronic kidney disease. Results: 1,756 patients with type 2 diabetes were included in this study, the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) was 27.62% in this population. A U-shaped non-linear pattern emerged correlating serum uric acid (SUA) levels and CKD risk, indicating that both low and high SUA levels were linked to an increased CKD risk. This risk achieved its lowest point (nadir) at SUA approximately equals to 285µmol/L (p for trend <0.05). Once adjustments for age, gender, education level, abnormal fasting plasma glucose (FPG), abnormal hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), abnormal total cholesterol (TC), abnormal high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), alcohol consumption and duration of diabetes were factored in, it was found that patients with both hyperuricemia and hypertension demonstrated a 5.42-fold (95% CI: 3.72-7.90) increased CKD risk compared to the reference group. The additive interaction between hyperuricemia and hypertension was statistically significant, as manifested by the following values: a relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) of 2.57 (95% CI: 0.71-4.71), an attributable proportion due to interaction (AP) of 0.47 (95% CI: 0.14-0.64), and a synergy index (SI) of 2.39 (95% CI: 1.24-4.58). In contrast, there was no significant interaction effect in multiplicative scale. Conclusion: Hyperuricemia and hypertension may contribute additively to CKD, beyond their isolated impacts. Evaluating the risk of CKD in type 2 diabetes patients necessitates considering this potential interaction.

Different Characteristics of Psychological and Sleep Symptoms Across Social Media Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder in Chinese Adolescents- A Network Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has explored a variety of mental disorders associated with Internet Gaming Disoder (IGD) and Social Media Addiction (SMA). To date, few studies focused on the network characteristics and investigated mood and sleep symptoms across SMA and IGD of adolescence at a group-specific level. This study aims to identify different characteristics of IGD and SMA and further determine the group-specific psychopathology process among adolescents. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study to recruit a cohort of 7,246 adolescents who were scored passing the cutoff point of Internet Gaming Disorder Scale-Short Form and Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, as grouped in IGD and SMA, or otherwise into the control group. Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were assessed for the current study, and all assessed items were investigated using network analysis. RESULTS: Based on the analytical procedure, the participants were divided into three groups, the IGD group (n=789), SMA group (n=713) and control group (n=5,744). The edge weight bootstrapping analysis shows that different groups of networks reach certain accuracy, and the network structures of the three groups are statistically different (pcontrol-IGD=0.004, pcontrol-SMA<0.001, pIGD-SMA<0.001). The core symptom of SMA is "feeling down, depressed, or hopeless", while IGD is "feeling tired or having little energy". CONCLUSION: Although IGD and SMA are both subtypes of internet addiction, the psychopathology processes of IGD and SMA are different. When dealing with IGD and SMA, different symptoms should be addressed.

Zirconia specimens printed by vat photopolymerization: Mechanical properties, fatigue properties, and fractography analysis.

PURPOSE: The mechanical and fatigue properties of zirconia specimens printed by vat photopolymerization (VPP) were evaluated and compared with those of zirconia specimens milled by computer numerical control (CNC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Bar-shaped specimens were printed by stereolithography (SL) and digital light processing (DLP). CNC-milled specimens were used as control samples. The fracture toughness, hardness, and flexural strength properties of the zirconia specimens were evaluated via single edge V-notch beam tests, Vickers hardness tests, and 3-point bending tests. Dynamic fatigue tests were carried out in distilled water using a step-stress test. After static bending and dynamic step-stress testing, fractography analysis was performed. Statistical analysis was carried out to compare the fracture toughness, hardness, flexural strength, and fatigue cycle results of each group (α = 0.05). RESULTS: The fracture toughness values did not significantly differ among the groups (p > 0.05). The flexural strength was 894.10 MPa for SL, 831.46 MPa for DLP, and 1140.39 MPa for CNC. The flexural strength of CNC was greater than that of SL and DLP (p < 0.01). The mean fatigue cycles were 23498.07 for SL, 19858.60 for DLP, and 31566.80 for CNC. The mean fatigue failure strength was 643.13 MPa for SL, 530.63 MPa for DLP, and 903.75 MPa for CNC. The fatigue failure strength of CNC was greater than that of SL and DLP (p < 0.05). Fractography analysis revealed material defects at the fracture origin for each group. A partially fused structure of the incompletely debonded resin could be observed in SL, and a porous region of incompletely sintered zirconia grains could be observed in CNC. CONCLUSIONS: The fracture toughness and hardness of zirconia printed by VPP are comparable to those of zirconia milled by CNC. However, zirconia milled by CNC has superior static flexural strength and dynamic fatigue resistance. Further studies are needed to explore the clinical applications of VPP-printed zirconia.

Alzheimer's disease with depressive symptoms: Clinical effect of intermittent theta burst stimulation repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by the ongoing deterioration of neural function, often presents alongside depressive features and greatly affects the quality of life of individuals living with the condition. Although several treatment methods exist, their efficacy is limited. In recent years, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) utilizing the theta burst stimulation (TBS) mode, specifically the intermittent TBS (iTBS), has demonstrated promising therapeutic potential in the management of neuropsychiatric disorders. AIM: To examine the therapeutic efficacy of iTBS mode of rTMS for treating depressive symptoms in patients with AD. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 105 individuals diagnosed with AD with depressive symptoms at Huzhou Third Municipal Hospital, affiliated with Huzhou University, between January 2020 and December 2023. Participants received standard pharmacological interventions and were categorized into control (n = 53) and observation (n = 52) groups based on treatment protocols. The observation group received iTBS mode of rTMS, while the control group received pseudo-stimulation. A comparative analysis evaluated psychological well-being, adverse events, and therapeutic at initiation of hospitalization (T0) and 15 days post-treatment (T1). RESULTS: At T1, both groups exhibited a marked reduction in self-rating depression scale and Hamilton depression scale scores compared to T0. Furthermore, the observation group showed a more pronounced decrease than the control group. By T1, the Mini-mental state examination scores for both groups had increased markedly from their initial T0 assessments. Importantly, the increase was particularly more substantial in the observation group than in the control group. Fourteen patients in the control group had ineffective treatment effects, while five patients in the observation group experienced the same. Additionally, the observation group experienced a substantially reduced incidence of ineffective treatment as compared to the control group (both P < 0.05); there were no recorded serious adverse events in either group. CONCLUSION: The iTBS model of rTMS effectively treated AD with depression, improving depressive symptoms and cognitive function in patients without serious adverse reactions, warranting clinical consideration.

Combining lymph node ratio to develop prognostic models for postoperative gastric neuroendocrine neoplasm patients.

BACKGROUND: Lymph node ratio (LNR) was demonstrated to play a crucial role in the prognosis of many tumors. However, research concerning the prognostic value of LNR in postoperative gastric neuroendocrine neoplasm (NEN) patients was limited. AIM: To explore the prognostic value of LNR in postoperative gastric NEN patients and to combine LNR to develop prognostic models. METHODS: A total of 286 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database were divided into the training set and validation set at a ratio of 8:2. 92 patients from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University in China were designated as a test set. Cox regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between LNR and disease-specific survival (DSS) of gastric NEN patients. Random survival forest (RSF) algorithm and Cox proportional hazards (CoxPH) analysis were applied to develop models to predict DSS respectively, and compared with the 8th edition American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses indicated that LNR was an independent prognostic factor for postoperative gastric NEN patients and a higher LNR was accompanied by a higher risk of death. The RSF model exhibited the best performance in predicting DSS, with the C-index in the test set being 0.769 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.691-0.846] outperforming the CoxPH model (0.744, 95%CI: 0.665-0.822) and the 8th edition AJCC TNM staging (0.723, 95%CI: 0.613-0.833). The calibration curves and decision curve analysis (DCA) demonstrated the RSF model had good calibration and clinical benefits. Furthermore, the RSF model could perform risk stratification and individual prognosis prediction effectively. CONCLUSION: A higher LNR indicated a lower DSS in postoperative gastric NEN patients. The RSF model outperformed the CoxPH model and the 8th edition AJCC TNM staging in the test set, showing potential in clinical practice.

Identification of TEFM as a potential therapeutic target for LUAD treatment.

BACKGROUND: Molecularly targeted therapies have recently become a hotspot in the treatment of LUAD, with ongoing efforts to identify new effective targets due to individual variability. Among these potential targets, the mitochondrial transcription elongation factor (TEFM) stands out as a crucial molecule involved in mitochondrial synthetic transcriptional processing. Dysregulation of TEFM has been implicated in the development of various diseases; however, its specific role in LUAD remains unclear. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive analysis of TEFM expression in LUAD, leveraging data from the TCGA database. Subsequently, we validated these findings using clinical specimens obtained from the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, employing western blotting and qRT-PCR techniques. Further experimental validation was performed through the transfection of cells with TEFM overexpression, knockdown, and knockout lentiviruses. The effects of TEFM on LUAD were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo using a range of assays, including CCK-8, colony formation, EdU incorporation, Transwell migration, Tunel assay, flow cytometry, JC-1 staining, and xenograft tumour models. RESULTS: Our investigation uncovered that TEFM exhibited elevated expression levels in LUAD and exhibited co-localization with mitochondria. Overexpression of TEFM facilitated malignant processes in LUAD cells, whereas its silencing notably curbed these behaviors and induced mitochondrial depolarization, along with ROS production, culminating in apoptosis. Moreover, the absence of TEFM substantially influenced the expression of mitochondrial transcripts and respiratory chain complexes. Results from nude mouse xenograft tumors further validated that inhibiting TEFM expression markedly hindered tumor growth. CONCLUSION: TEFM promotes LUAD malignant progression through the EMT pathway and determines apoptosis by affecting the expression of mitochondrial transcripts and respiratory chain complexes, providing a new therapeutic direction for LUAD-targeted therapy.

Identification of male schizophrenia patients using brain morphology based on machine learning algorithms.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disease, and its prevalence is higher. However, diagnosis of early-stage schizophrenia is still considered a challenging task. AIM: To employ brain morphological features and machine learning method to differentiate male individuals with schizophrenia from healthy controls. METHODS: The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and t tests were applied to select important features from structural magnetic resonance images as input features for classification. Four commonly used machine learning algorithms, the general linear model, random forest (RF), k-nearest neighbors, and support vector machine algorithms, were used to develop the classification models. The performance of the classification models was evaluated according to the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: A total of 8 important features with significant differences between groups were considered as input features for the establishment of classification models based on the four machine learning algorithms. Compared to other machine learning algorithms, RF yielded better performance in the discrimination of male schizophrenic individuals from healthy controls, with an AUC of 0.886. CONCLUSION: Our research suggests that brain morphological features can be used to improve the early diagnosis of schizophrenia in male patients.

Restoring energy metabolism by NAD+ supplement prevents alcohol-induced liver injury and boosts liver regeneration.

Our previous clinical metabolomics study illustrated that energy metabolism disorder is an underlying pathogenesis mechanism for the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD). Supplementation of nicotinamide (NAM), the precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), may restore the energy metabolism homeostasis of ALD and thus serves as potential therapeutics to treat ALD. In this bedside-to-bench study, the protective effect of NAM against ALD was investigated by using the NIAAA mice model (chronic-plus-binge ethanol), and the liver regeneration boosting capability of NAM was evaluated by the partial hepatectomy mice model. Our results showed that NAM supplements not only protected the liver from alcohol-induced injury and improved alcohol-induced mitochondrial structure and function change, but also boosted liver regeneration in postpartial hepatectomy mice by increasing liver NAD+ content. These findings suggested that NAM, a water-soluble form of vitamin B3, can promote liver regeneration and improves liver function by alleviating alcohol-induced energy metabolism disorder.

Clinical and genetic characteristics of Chinese pediatric and adult patients with hereditary spherocytosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the clinical features, pathogenic gene variants, and potential genotype-phenotype correlations in Chinese patients with hereditary spherocytosis (HS). METHODS: Retrospective analysis of clinical data and molecular genetic characteristics was conducted on patients diagnosed with HS at Jiangxi Provincial Children's Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Pingxiang People's Hospital and The Third People's Hospital of Jingdezhen between November 2017 and June 2023. Statistical analyses were performed to compare and analyze the red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HB), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) data between and within groups based on different mutations and age groups (< 14 and ≥ 14 years). RESULTS: A total of 34 HS patients were included in this study, comprising 22 children (64.70%) and 12 adults (35.30%). The probands who underwent genetic testing were derived from 34 unrelated families. Thirty-two variants were tested and 9 of them are novel. Eighteen cases had ANK1 variants, 15 had SPTB variants, and 1 had SLC4A1 variant. 25 patients performed core family members underwent genetic testing, 17 (68.0%, 17/25) were de novo, 5 (20.0%, 5/25) were maternally inherited, and 3 (12.0%, 3/25) were paternally inherited. ANK1-HS patients exhibited more severe anemia compared to cases with SPTB-HS, showing lower levels of RBC and HB (P < 0.05). Anemia was more severe in patients diagnosed in childhood than in those diagnosed in adulthood. Within the ANK1-HS group, MCH levels in adult patients was significantly higher than those in children (P < 0.05), while there were no significant differences in RBC, HB, MCV, and MCHC levels between two groups. Adult patients with SPTB-HS had significantly higher levels of RBC, HB, and MCH than pediatric patients (P < 0.05), while MCV and MCHC levels showed no significant statistical differences. CONCLUSION: This study conducted a comparative analysis of phenotypic characteristics and molecular genetics in adult and pediatric patients diagnosed with HS, confirming that pediatric ANK1-HS patients exhibit a more severe anemic phenotype compared to SPTB-HS patients, while the severity of HS in adults does not significantly differ between different causative genes.

Evaluation of the diagnostic role of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound for peripheral pulmonary lesions.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive value of echo features of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (RP-EBUS) in the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign 1esions. METHODS: The clinical data of 336 patients with peripheral pulmonary lesions (PPLs) undergoing RP-EBUS were analyzed in order to evaluate the predictive value of the three EBUS echo features including continuous margin, absence of a linear-discrete air bronchogram, and heterogeneous in pulmonary lesions. The sensitivity and specificity for each echoic feature or in combination in diagnosing malignancy or benignity were determined. RESULTS: 336 cases of PPLs including 216 cases of malignant lesions and 120 cases of benign lesions. The sensitivity and specificity of the continuous margin to the diagnosis of malignant lesions were 86.11% and 17.50%. The sensitivity and specificity of the absence of a linear-discrete air bronchogram to the diagnosis of malignant lesions were 66.67% and 57.50%, and the positive predictive value was 73.85%. The sensitivity and specificity of heterogeneity to the diagnosis of malignant lesions were 65.28% and 72.50%, and the positive predictive value was 81.03%. The combination of heterogeneous and absence of a linear-discrete air bronchogram could improve the diagnostic specificity to 87.50%, and the positive predictive value to 80.77%. CONCLUSION: The two EBUS echo features of heterogeneous and absence of a linear-discrete air bronchogram have predictive value for PPLs, especially in the presence of two features the pulmonary lesions should be highly suspected malignant tumors.

Near Infrared-Fluorescent Dinuclear Iridium(III) Nanoparticles for Immunogenic Sonodynamic Therapy.

Dinuclear iridium(III) complexes activated by light-inducible spatiotemporal control are emerging as promising candidates for cancer therapy. However, broader applications of current light-activated dinuclear iridium(III) complexes are limited by the ineffective tissue penetration and undesirable feedback on guidance activation. Here, an ultrasound (US) triggered near infrared-fluorescent dinuclear iridium(III) nanoparticle, NanoIr, is first reported to precisely and spatiotemporally inhibit tumor growth. It is demonstrated that reactive oxygen species can be generated by NanoIr upon exposure to US irradiation (NanoIr + US), thereby inducing immunogenic cell death. When combined with cisplatin, NanoIr + US elicits synergistic effects in patient-derived tumor xenograft mice models of ovarian cancer. This work first provides a design of dinuclear iridium(III) nanoparticles for immunogenic sonodynamic therapy.

Deep learning in the diagnosis of maxillary sinus diseases: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the performance of deep learning (DL) in the detection, classification, and segmentation of maxillary sinus diseases. METHODS: An electronic search was conducted by two reviewers on databases including PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and IEEE. All English papers published no later than February 7, 2024, were evaluated. Studies related to DL for diagnosing maxillary sinus diseases were also searched in journals manually. RESULTS: Fourteen of 1167 studies were eligible according to the inclusion criteria. All studies trained DL models based on radiographic images. Six studies applied to detection tasks, one focused on classification, two segmented lesions, and five studies made a combination of two types of DL models. The accuracy of the DL algorithms ranged from 75.7% to 99.7%, and the area under curves (AUC) varied between 0.7 and 0.997. CONCLUSION: DL can accurately deal with the tasks of diagnosing maxillary sinus diseases. Students, residents, and dentists could be assisted by DL algorithms to diagnose and make rational decisions on implant treatment related to maxillary sinuses.

Resection of pleural solitary fibrous tumors with distinct feeding vessels arising from the descending aorta: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Pleural solitary fibrous tumors (pSFTs) are rare mesenchymal pleural tumors with rich vascularity. Surgical resection is the cornerstone of pSFTs treatment, requiring careful preoperative imaging to delineate lesion extent and vascular supply including contrast-enhanced computed tomography and other examinations depending on its size and characteristics. CASE PRESENTATION: The patient was a 34-year-old female with a mass measuring approximately 67 × 42 × 65 mm in the left posterior mediastinum. Intraoperatively, the mass demonstrated rich vascularity. Two veins originating from the abdominal cavity entered the lower pole, one converged from the superior pole, draining into the brachiocephalic vein. Additionally, two arteries arose directly from the descending aorta, while several veins drained into the intercostal veins. In response to unexpected intraoperative vascular findings, vascular clips and silk threads were used to ligate them. Subsequently, the tumor was successfully dissected, with approximately 600 ml of blood loss recorded during the 4-hour surgery. The patient exhibited a satisfactory postoperative recovery, and follow-up spanning over six months revealed no indications of recurrence or metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: We firstly present a case of successful resection of a pSFT in a 34-year-old woman with a distinct feeding vessel arising from the descending aorta and describe the related surgical procedures. This case highlights preoperative evaluation of mass vascularity based on contrast-enhanced computed tomography. When blood supply is challenging to clarify, angiography can offer additional details, especially for giant pSFTs. Despite this, thorough intraoperative exploration remains essential to detect unexpected vessels. Appropriate interventions should be customized based on the vascular origins and the surrounding anatomical structures.