[Differences of Energy Spectrum CT Findings between Small Cell Lung Cancer with Mediastinal Lymph Node Metastasis and Mediastinal Sarcoidosis].

Objective To compare the differences of energy spectrum CT between small cell lung cancer(SCLC)with mediastinal lymph node metastasis and mediastinal sarcoidosis.Methods Twenty-five SCLC patients with mediastinal lymph node metastasis(SCLC group)and 26 patients with mediastinal sarcoidosis(sarcoidosis group)confirmed by bronchoscopy and biopsy in Tangshan People's Hospital from January 2018 to June 2019 were selected as the research objects.The CT value,iodine concentration,water concentration and energy spectrum curve slope under different single energy levels were compared between SCLC group and sarcoidosis group.Results The single-energy CT values of 40-80 keV segments in the arterial phase of the SCLC group were significantly higher than those in the sarcoidosis group(all P <0.05).The single-energy CT values of 90-140 keV segments were not significantly different from those in the sarcoidosis group(all P >0.05).The single-energy CT values of 40-90 keV segments in venous phase of the SCLC group were significantly higher than those of the sarcoidosis group(all P <0.05),and the single-energy CT values of 100-140 keV segments were not significantly different from those of the sarcoidosis group(all P >0.05).The concentrations of iodine in the arterial phase and venous phase of the SCLC group were(11.56±4.06)µg/cm 3 and(13.39±0.87)µg/cm 3,respectively,which were significantly higher than those [(4.43±3.85)µg/cm 3,t=11.564,P=0.026;(7.23±2.71)µg/cm 3,t=13.653,P=0.021] in the sarcoidosis group.The concentrations of water in the arterial and venous phases of the SCLC group were(1040.67±5.62)mg/cm 3 and(1035.23±8.57)mg/cm 3,respectively,which showed no statistically significant difference compared with those [(1028.87±6.94)mg/cm 3,t=3.155,P=1.861;(1021.53±4.68)mg/cm 3,t=3.265,P=1.687] in the sarcoidosis group.The slopes of energy spectrum curve at 40-70 keV,70-100 keV and 100-140 keV in venous phase of the SCLC group were significantly higher than those of the sarcoidosis group(all P <0.05),whereas they showed no significant difference between the two groups in arterial phase(all P >0.05).Conclusion The differences between SCLC with mediastinal lymph node metastasis and mediastinal sarcoidosis can be shown on the single-energy CT values of 40-80 keV in arterial phase and 40-90 keV in venous phase,iodine concentrations in arterial phase and venous phase,and the slope of energy spectrum curve in venous phase.

[Different Energy Spectrum CT Findings between Anterior Mediastinal Lymphoma and Thymic Carcinoma].

Objective To investigate the differences in energy spectrum CT findings between anterior mediastinal lymphoma and thymic carcinoma. Methods Twenty-two cases of anterior mediastinal lymphoma and 28 cases of thymic carcinoma confirmed by biopsy in Tangshan People's Hospital were selected.The CT values and changes of iodine content and water content in lesion sites were measured by energy spectrum analysis software.The differences between anterior mediastinal lymphoma and thymic carcinoma were compared. Results The single-energy CT value of 40-80 keV in thymus carcinoma was higher than that in anterior mediastinal lymphoma(P=0.001,P=0.037,P=0.042,P=0.034,P=0.002;P=0.016,P=0.013,P=0.018,P=0.024,P=0.012).The difference in the single-energy CT value of 90-110 keV between anterior mediastinal lymphoma and thymic carcinoma showed no statistical significance(all P>0.05).The concentrations of water in the arterial and venous stages of thymic carcinoma were significantly lower than those in the anterior mediastinal lymphoma(P=0.030,P=0.037),whereas the iodine concentrations were significantly higher(P=0.026,P=0.000). Conclusion Anterior mediastinal lymphoma and thymic carcinoma have remarkably different 40-80 keV single energy CT value and iodine concentration in arterial and venous phases,which may be helpful for the differential diagnosis of these two malignancies.

Gas identification in high-Q microbubble resonators.

A new, to the best of our knowledge, experimental mechanism is reported to realize the identification of gas by a microcavity sensor. Instead of measuring the change in the environment refractive index or absorption, the gas is detected indirectly and indentified by using the thermo-optics effect of a high-quality-factor microbubble resonator. When passing gas through the microbubble, the pressure induces a geometric deformation and thus an observable frequency shift, and the thermal bistability response varies due to the higher heat dissipation by gas molecules. With the two output parameters, we can unambiguously distinguish gas with different molecular weights, e.g., He, N2, and CO2. Our demonstration opens a new avenue of microcavity sensing by using indirect interaction between light and matter, realizing a multiple-parameter sensing approach for gas or solvent identification.

Excitation and analyzation of different surface plasmon modes on a suspended Ag nanowire.

Silver nanowires (AgNWs), as one of the most important plasmonic waveguides, can support several different plasmonic modes. These surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes have different electric field distributions, effective mode areas, propagation lengths and losses and thus can be used for different applications, from efficiently collecting single photons to carrying quantum entanglement. Therefore, the excitation and analysis of these different SPP modes are of pivotal importance for the development of subwavelength optical devices. In this work, we investigate different SPP modes on a suspended AgNW adhered to a fiber taper. Theoretical simulations and experimental results show that the desired SPP modes can be selectively excited by adjusting either the polarization of the excitation light or the coupling length between the fiber taper and the AgNW. Moreover, fundamental and higher-order SPP modes can be distinguished by means of a far-field method. Our results not only enable convenient and controllable excitation of the desired SPP modes but also provide unique insight into the optical properties of plasmonic waveguides.

Inhibition of acute lung injury by rubriflordilactone in LPS-induced rat model through suppression of inflammatory factor expression.

The present study demonstrates the effect of rubriflordilactone on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute kidney injury in rats and MLE-15 cells. LPS administration in rats resulted in formation of edema which was inhibited by pretreatment with rubriflordilactone. The pulmonary tissues of LPS administered rats and MLE-15 cells showed a significant increase in the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9, interleukin-6 and inducible nitric oxide synthase. However, rubriflordilactone treatment prior to LPS administration caused a significant reduction in the expression of these factors at a concentration of 10 nm/kg. Analysis of the Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) expression revealed significant (P=0.002) reduction on exposure to LPS in MLE-15 cells. However, rubriflordilactone treatment at 10 nm/ml concentration before LPS exposure caused inhibition of LPS induced reduction in Sirt1 expression. Silencing of Sirt1 by siRNA in MLE-15 cells led to inhibition of increased Sirt1 expression by rubriflordilactone in LPS administered rats. These findings suggest that rubriflordilactone inhibits LPS induced acute lung injury in rats and MLE-15 cells through promotion of Sirt1 expression.

[Testicular mixed nonseminomatous germ cell cancer: a case report and review of the literature].

OBJECTIVE: Testicular mixed nonseminomatous germ cell cancer (TMNGCC) is rarely reported. This study aimed to explore the clinical symptoms, pathological characteristics and treatment methods of TMNGCC. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical data of 1 case of TMNGCC, observed its pathological characteristics under the light microscope by histology, cytochemistry, immunohistochemistry and immune marking, and investigated the clinical features of such tumors by reviewing the relevant literature. RESULTS: The patient presented with a chief complaint of painless testicular swelling for 3 years. Histopathological examinations revealed a tumor of papillary, fissural or adenoid structure, with large polygonal or columnar cells with one or more irregular vesicular nuclei, the nuclear membrane clear, the cytoplasm eosinophilic or basophilic, and the interstitium infiltrated by a few lymphocytes. Here are the immunohistochemical results: CD117 -, CK8-18 + +, CD30 + +, CK + + +, vimentin -, PLAP +/-, P53 +, AFP + and EMA + +. The tumor was pathologically diagnosed as teratogenic embryonic testicular cancer, and treated by radical surgery, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy according to the treatment of TMNGCC. One-year follow-up found the patient to be alive. CONCLUSION: TMNGCC is a rare malignant tumor, mostly with unobvious clinical symptoms. Its diagnosis primarily depends on physical examination, ultrasonography, CT, and measurement of serum tumor markers; its confirmation necessitates pathological examination, and its first-choice treatment is surgical resection.

Ray-tracing methodology: application of spatial analytic geometry in the ray-optic model of optical tweezers.

Traditional solid geometry ray-tracing method is complex in analyzing the orientation of gradient forces and calculating incident angle of optic rays upon a microsphere. We present a new ray-tracing methodology based on spatial analytic geometry in the ray-optic model. For a single ray upon a microsphere, the directions of transmission and trapping forces are depicted by spatial vectors in a Cartesian coordinate system. At the same time, the polarized direction of a single focused ray can be transformed by a matrix of rotational coordinates. According to the relations of vectors, the trapping forces can be expressed identically. We use this new method to discuss differences of trapping forces in the cases of various states of unpolarized and polarized beams, and also show the reasons for differences in transverse force between measurement and theoretical results. Our simulative results show that this method can be applied identically to calculating both transverse and axial trapping forces, and also for different polarizations of a laser beam.