A versatile control program for positioning and shooting targets in laser-plasma experiments.

We introduce a LabVIEW-based control program that significantly improves the efficiency and flexibility in positioning and shooting solid targets in laser-plasma experiments. The hardware driven by this program incorporates a target positioning subsystem and an imaging subsystem, which enables us to install up to 400 targets for one experimental campaign and precisely adjust them in six freedom degrees. The overall architecture and the working modes of the control program are demonstrated in detail. In addition, we characterized the distributions of target positions of every target holder and simultaneously saved the target images, resulting in a large dataset that can be used to train machine learning models and develop image recognition algorithms. This versatile control system has become an indispensable platform when preparing and conducting laser-plasma experiments.

Development and multicenter validation of a novel radiomics-based model for identifying eosinophilic chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

BACKGROUND: Reliable noninvasive methods are needed to identify endotypes of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) to facilitate personalized therapy. Previous computed tomography (CT) scoring system has limited and inconsistent performance in identifying eosinophilic CRSwNP. We aimed to develop and validate a radiomics-based model to identify eosinophilic CRSwNP. METHODS: Surgical patients with CRSwNP were recruited from Tongji Hospital and randomly divided into training (n = 232) and internal validation cohort (n = 61). Patients from two additional hospitals served as external validation cohort-1 (n = 84) and cohort-2 (n = 54), respectively. Data were collected from October 2013 to May 2021. Eosinophilic CRSwNP was determined by histological criterion. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and the logistic regression (LR) algorithm were used to develop a radiomics model. Univariate and multivariate LR were employed to build models based on CT scores, clinical characteristics, and the combination of radiological and clinical characteristics. Model performance was evaluated by assessing discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility. RESULTS: The radiomics model based on 10 radiomic features achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.815 in the training cohort, significantly better than the CT score model based on ethmoid-to-maxillary sinus score ratio with an AUC of 0.655. The combination of radiomic features and blood eosinophil count had a further improved performance, achieving an AUC of 0.903. The performance of these models was confirmed in all validation cohorts with satisfying predictive calibration and clinical application value. CONCLUSIONS: A CT radiomics-based model is promising to identify eosinophilic CRSwNP. This radiomics-based method may provide novel insights in solving other clinical concerns, such as guiding personalized treatment and predicting prognosis in patients with CRSwNP.

[Study on the dynamic changes of peripheral platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio in the prognosis of neoadjuvant chemotherapy patients with gastric cancer].

Objective: To investigate the significance of platelet lymphocyte ratio (PLR) before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Methods: The medical records of 247 AGC patients who underwent surgery between May 2015 and October 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. The relationship between PLR value and its changes before and after neoadjuvant therapy and clinicopathological features and prognosis was further analyzed. Results: △PLR was defined according to the different states of PLR before and after neoadjuvant therapy. If negative value was defined as"Reduced Group"(138) and positive value or 0 was defined as "Unreduced group"(109). There were statistical differences between the two groups of△PLR in tumor size, nerve invasion, presence or absence of vascular tumor thrombus, ypT staging, ypN staging, ypTNM staging, and pathological response (all P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference between age, gender, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (all P>0.05). Survival analysis showed that the 5-year disease-free survival rates between the two groups were 39.0% and 54.0%, respectively (P=0.025); the 5-year overall survival rates between the two groups were 41.8% and 58.1%, respectively (P=0.035); the difference were statistically significant. Multivariate analysis showed that ypT3-4 stage, ypN3b stage and △PLR were independent risk factors for 5-year disease-free survival rate (HR=2.731/2.676, 95%CI: 1.026-7.268/1.014-6.985; HR=4.717, 95%CI: 1.922-11.579; HR=2.854, 95%CI: 1.117-4.124; all P<0.05) and 5-year overall survival rate (HR=3.226/2.655, 95%CI: 1.280-9.227/0.945-7.548; HR=4.550, 95%CI: 1.842-11.239; HR=2.897, 95%CI: 1.049-5.251; all P<0. 05). Conclusion: △PLR can better predict the prognosis of AGC patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

[Effect of thrombolytic therapy and influencing factors of Budd-Chiari syndrome with inferior vena cava thrombosis].

Objective: To examine the effect of thrombolytic therapy of Budd-Chiari syndrome (B-CS) with inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombosis, and the prognosis factors of it. Methods: The clinical data of 67 patients of B-CS with IVC thrombosis treated in the Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2013 to August 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 30 males and 37 females. The age was (47.7±11.1) years(range: 18 to 72 years). All patients received catheter directed thrombolysis, and the thrombolysis process, complications and outcomes were analyzed. All patients received IVC balloon angioplasty after thrombolytic therapy. The t test, χ2 test, Mann-Whitney U test were used for univariate analysis of the prognosis factors of thrombolysis effects, while unconditional Logistic regression model were used for multivariate analysis. Results: In the 67 patients, 47 cases succerssed in thrombolytic therapy. The successful rates of thrombolysis at 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-week were 9.0%, 29.9%, 64.2% and 70.1%, respectively. The rates of thrombolytic catheter-related infection at 1-, 2-, 3- and 4-week were 1.5%, 4.5%, 14.9% and 31.3%, respectively. No serious complications such as symptomatic and acute pulmonary embolism occurred during perioperative period of IVC balloon angioplasty. Univariate analysis showed that differences in thrombus length ((36.7±18.1) mm vs. (52.0±16.4) mm, t=-3.234, P=0.002), Child-Pugh classification (class A/B/C: 37/8/2 vs. 10/8/2, Z=-2.310, P=0.021) and pre-opening IVC proportion (68.1% (32/47) vs. 35.0% (7/20), χ²=6.313, P=0.012) were statistically significant. The thrombus length (OR=0.948, 95%CI: 0.913 to 0.984, P=0.005), pre-opening IVC (OR=5.451, 95%CI: 1.469 to 20.228, P=0.011) were independent prognosis factors of thrombolytic effect. Conclusions: Thrombolytic therapy for B-CS with IVC thrombosis were satisfactory, and the thrombolysis duration should be confined within 3 weeks. IVC balloon angioplasty is safe and effective for patients failing in thrombolysis, and pre-opening IVC is an important method to improve the thrombolytic effect.

[Present and future: artificial intelligence in medical imaging].

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot point in clinical medicine research. In recent years, AI has played an important role in recognizing the lesion, improving the diagnostic accuracy and assessing the diagnostic efficacy. To accelerate the pace of AI industry, it should be a first thing to improve relevant industrial policies and regulations and to build a transformation platform for industry-university-research. All these will contribute to the standardization in further development of medical imaging AI industry.

[The role of Artificial intelligent-based FFRCT in assessing the hemodynamic relevance of deep myocardial bridge of the left anterior descending coronary artery].

Objective: To investigate the role of artificial intelligence-based coronary CT blood flow reserve score (FFRCT) in assessing hemodynamic relevance in patients with deep myocardial bridge (MB) of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Methods: A total of 113 patients diagnosed with deep MB of the left anterior descending coronary artery by coronary CT angiography (CCTA) at the Department of Radiology of Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University from January 2017 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. The location, length, depth, and degree of systolic compression of the MB were measured. The artificial intelligence-based coronary FFRCT software was employed to calculate the FFRCT value of the deep MB of the left anterior descending coronary artery. With the boundary of 0.80, all patients were divided into FFRCT normal group (FFRCT>0.80) and FFRCT abnormal group (FFRCT≤0.80), and the relationship between FFRCT abnormality and the location, length, depth, and degree of systolic stenosis of the deep MB of the left anterior descending branch was analyzed. The effectiveness of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve in predicting FFRCT abnormalities was measured by using ROC curve to analyze the length, depth, and degree of systolic stenosis of MB. Results: There were no significant differences in age, gender and high-risk factors between FFRCT normal group (n=79) and FFRCT abnormal group (n=34) (P>0.05). In terms of clinical symptoms, unstable angina, asymptomatic myocardial ischemia, stable angina in the FFRCT normal group were 15.2%, 41.8%, 32.9%,respectively, while 32.4%, 23.5%, 35.3% in the FFRCT abnormal group,respectively. Except for unstable angina (χ²=4.32,P=0.038), there were no significant differences in asymptomatic myocardial ischemia and stable angina between the two groups (χ²=3.42, 0.06, P>0.05). The length of deep MB was about (36±5) mm in the FFRCT normal group and (44±5) mm in the FFRCT abnormal group, respectively. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant (t=-7.703, P<0.001). The ROC curve showed that the optimal critical value of the length of the deep MB was 39.7 mm, the area under the curve was 0.88 (95%CI:0.81-0.95, P<0.001), and the accuracy rate of diagnosing FFRCT ≤0.80 was 82.3%. Conclusion: FFRCT value is of great value in the evaluation of hemodynamics in patients with deep myocardial bridge of left anterior descending coronary artery, and the length of deep myocardial bridge is an important factor affecting FFRCT value.

[Effects of dynamic contrast enhancement on diffusion weighted imaging score of 3 in prostate imaging reporting and data system version 2 of peripheral zone].

Objective: To investigate the effects and value of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) score 3 in the prostate imaging data and reporting system version 2(PI-RADS V2)of peripheral zone. Methods: A retrospective study of consecutive 204 cases of prostate disease in peripheral zone was conducted from January 2015 to January 2018, including 169 cases of prostate cancer and 35 cases of non-prostate cancer. All cases were examined multi-parametric MR imaging on a 3-T MR scanner and confirmed by pathology. Images were analyzed according to PI-RADS V2.Inter-reader agreement of scores was evaluated by kappa coefficient. The constituent ratio of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) in PI-RADS V2 overall scores 3, 3+1 and 4 were calculated and analyzed by non-parametric Chi-square test to determine whether the difference in composition ratio was significant. The positive rate of DCE in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) score 3 and 4 were calculated. Results: There were 68.6%(140/204) cases in 204 patients with peripheral prostate disease who scored PI-RADS V2 overall score of 3,3+1 and 4. Kappa value was higher for the PI-RADS V2 overallscore of 4 than 3 or 3+1 in the PZ (k values of 0.802 vs 0.737 or 0.591, respectively; all P<0.01). The constituent ratio of csPCa in PI-RADS V2 overallscore of 3, 3+1 and 4 were 16.7%(3/18),43.2%(19/44),78.2%(61/78), the difference of which was significant (χ(2)=29.839, P<0.05).There was also a significant difference between the constituent ratio of csPCa in the score of 3+1 and 4 (χ(2)=15.286, P<0.01).The positive rate of DCE in cases of PI-RADS V2 overall score 3,3+1 and 4 was 76.4%(107/140).The positive rate of DCE incases of DWI score 3 and 4 were 71.0%(44/62), 80.8%(63/78),respectively. Conclusion: DCE has a certain value in PI-RADS V2 due to its high positive rate in the detection of prostate cancer in peripheral zone.DCE is helpful to DWI score 3 to improve the detection rate of csPCa.The PI-RADS V2 overall score 3+1 and 4 in the peripheral zone maybe need to be distinguished due to the different detection of csPCa.

[Retrospective analysis of mechanical thrombectomy for distal branch occlusion of middle cerebral artery].

Objective: To explore the necessity, feasibility, technical points, operative complications and prognosis of mechanical thrombectomy for distal branch occlusion of middle cerebral artery. Methods: Mechanical thrombectomy was performed on 42patients (28 males,14 females; age ranged from 43 to 88 years, mean 65.48years)with distal branch occlusion of middle cerebral artery (M2, M3), between May 2017 to July 2019. Theclinical feature was retrospectively analyzed. The NIHSS score before operation, 24 hours after operation and 1 week after operation, the recanalization of occluded vessels during operation, the complications and the recovery after 3 months (3 months mRS score) were analyzed. Results: Of the 42 patients, 38 patients were successfully recanalized, and the recanalization rate was 90.48%. Postoperative hemorrhage in 6 cases and vasospasm in 17 cases. At 90 days after operation, the mRS score was 0 in 13 cases, 1 in 11 cases, 2 in 6 cases, and 0 cases died. Conclusions: Mechanical thrombotomy is safe and feasible for patients with distal branch occlusion of middle cerebral artery (M2, M3). However, the risks and benefits of patients should be fully considered.

Negative magnetization, complex magnetic ordering and applications of Cr-doped Co2TiO4.

Polycrystalline Co2Ti1-xCrxO4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2) inverse spinel ceramics have been synthesized via a sol-gel technique. The dc magnetization measurement in the field-cooled mode shows that negative magnetization could be observed until x reaches 0.2. The exchange constants are calculated using the ferrimagnetic Curie-Weiss fitting and the mean-field theory. This reveals that the strength of the inter sublattice magnetic interaction presents a non-monotonic trend with the increase in Cr content and reaches the minimum at x = 0.1, giving rise to the highest compensation temperature in the x = 0.1 sample. The applicability of the x = 0.1 sample is investigated in light of two prominent magnetic effects: (i) the stable magnetic switching effect indicates the potential applications in magnetic switching and data storage and (ii) the coexistence of normal and inverse magnetocaloric effects suggests a potential application in a constant temperature bath at 54 K.

Comparing phase and electrographic flow mapping for persistent atrial fibrillation.

BACKGROUND: An increasing number of methods are being used to map atrial fibrillation (AF), yet the sensitivity of identifying potential localized AF sources of these novel methods are unclear. Here, we report a comparison of two approaches to map AF based upon (1) electrographic flow mapping and (2) phase mapping in a multicenter registry of patients in whom ablation terminated persistent AF. METHODS: Fifty-three consecutive patients with persistent AF in whom ablation terminated AF in an international multicenter registry were enrolled. Electrographic flow mapping (EGF) and phase mapping were applied to the multipolar simultaneous electrograms recorded from a 64-pole basket catheter in the chamber (left vs right atrium) where AF termination occurred. We analyzed if the mapping methods were able to detect localized sources at the AF termination site. We also analyzed global results of mapping AF for each method, patterns of activation of localized sources. RESULTS: Patients were 64.3 ± 9.4 years old and 69.8% were male. EGF and phase mapping identified localized sources at AF termination sites in 81% and 83% of the patients, respectively. Methods were complementary and in only n = 2 (3.7%) neither method identified a source. Globally, EGF identified more localized sources than phase mapping (5.3 ± 2.8 vs 1.8 ± 0.5, P < 0.001), with a higher prevalence of focal (compared to rotational) activation pattern (49% vs 2%, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: EGF is a novel vectorial-based AF mapping method, which can detect sites of AF termination, agreeing with, and complementary to, an alternative AF mapping method using phase analysis.

[Functional lateralization of major Chinese language cortex for presurgical evaluation in neurosurgery].

Objective: To investigate the functional lateralization of major Chinese language cortex in patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in dominant hemispheric via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Methods: Nine right-handed normal volunteers and fourteen patients with cerebral AVM in dominant hemisphere diagnosed in Beijing Tiantan Hospital between December 2017 and June 2018 were included. Three language tasks (semantic judgment, word reading, and listening comprehension) were applied to activate language areas. Lateralization index (LI) was used to show the dominant hemisphere. Results: In the control group, right-sided lateralization of BOLD signal activations was observed in 0/27 (0%) of the language tasks. While in the AVM patients, right-sided lateralization of BOLD signal activations was observed in 8/42 (19%) language tasks. The difference was statistically significant (χ(2)=5.73, P=0.019). Conclusions: The dominant hemisphere of different language tasks may be different in patients with cerebral lesions. Compared with normal controls, patients with cerebral AVM in dominant hemispheric are more likely to have right-sided lateralization of language cortex.

[Combination of environmental friendly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing for protein and molecular detection in tumor biopsy specimens].

Objective: To investigate the impact of ultrasonic assisted rapid processing technique combined with the environment friendly reagent (which can be utilized in fixing,dehydrating and clearing) on processing tumor biopsy specimens and the subsequent target detection. Methods: Postoperative tissue samples of 56 cases of breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, stomach cancer, liver mass, bladder mass, uterus mass were obtained at the National Cancer Center, Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from February to April, 2017. Three specimens ranging in size from 1 to 3 mm were collected from each sample, and were separated into control group (traditional tissue-processing method); experiment group 1 (3.7% neutral buffered formaldehyde fixation, composite environment friendly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing) and experimental group 2 (composite environment friendly reagent direct fixation, higher temperature and longer time for tissue processing). Two pathologists blinded to the experimental groups scored totally the nuclear, cytoplasmic, and membrane staining of 43 cases of immunohistochemistry (IHC), four HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), 20 extracted DNA quality and four EGFR gene mutation detection in lung adenocarcinoma; the results were compared with the control group. Results: There was no difference in the IHC staining, HER2 FISH, the DNA quality, and EGFR genetic results between experimental group 1 and control group. For experiment group 2, comparing results of IHC staining, HER2 FISH and the quality of DNA, there was no obvious difference from control group and experiment group 1, but might show an increase in the background of IHC staining. The difference between the treatment temperature and time in the experimental group 2 did not affect the results of the gene mutation detection. Conclusions: Environment freindly reagent and ultrasonic assisted rapid processing equipment could be used for rapid processing and diagnosis for tumor biopsies. Using complex environment-friendly reagents supplement fixation, higher treatment temperature and longer treatment time do not significantly affect the IHC, FISH and molecular detection accuracy.

[Changing trends of topical anti-glaucoma medications in the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University during the past ten years].

Objective: To investigate the changing trends of topical anti-glaucoma medications in the outpatient of the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University over the decade 2005-2014. Methods: Retrospective case series study. The medications data of glaucoma outpatients in the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were collected for the period of January 1(st) 2005 to December 31(st) 2014. SPSS 20.0 statistical software was used, mainly for statistical description of the data. The main outcome measures were the proportions of the prescriptions of different medications, and the proportions of the monotherapy and combination therapies. Results: During the 10 years, the number of glaucoma outpatients increased year by year, from 994 in 2005 to 3 266 in 2014, the gender ration was close to 1∶1, and the age were (57±18) years. The proportion of ß-blockers decreased from 56.7% (750/1 323) in 2005 to 33.1% (2 120/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of cholinergic agents decreased from 17.2% (227/1 323) in 2005 to 10.3% (663/6 407) in 2014. While the proportion of prostaglandins increased from 13.3% (176/1 323) in 2005 to 36.8% (1 916/5 209) in 2011, which was close to the 37.9% (1 972/5 209) of ß-blockers in 2011. In 2012, the prostaglandins proportion increased to 41.9% (2 435/5 810) exceeding the 37.2% (2 161/5 810) of ß-blockers, and became the most prescribed medication. The proportion of prostaglandins continued to increase to 46.9% (3 008/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of α(2)-agonists increased from 17.0% (225/1 323) in 2005 to 22.8% (1 460/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of carbonic anhydrase inhibitors increased from 9.6% (127/1 323) in 2005 to 24.1% (1 546/6 407) in 2014.The proportion of monotherapy decreased from 78.0% (1 032/1 323) in 2005 to 58.6% (3 757/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of two drugs combination increased from 20.0% (264/1 323) in 2005 to 26.7% (1 709/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of three drugs combination increased from 2.0% (26/1 323) in 2005 to 12.3% (788/6 407) in 2014. The proportion of four drugs combination increased from 0.1% (1/1 323) in 2005 to 2.3% (150/6 407) in 2014. Conclusions: The changes of the proportions of topical anti-glaucoma medications were remarkable from 2005 to 2014 in the outpatient of the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University. The ß-blockers and cholinergic agents were declining, while the prostaglandins, α(2)-agonists and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors were increasing, and the prostaglandins became the most prescribed medication since 2012. The proportion of combination therapy was increasing. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2018, 54: 520-525).

Tunable quantum dot arrays as efficient sensitizers for enhanced near-infrared electroluminescence of erbium ions.

Under electrical pumping conditions, high-efficiency Si-based near-infrared light generation and amplification on a chip have long been pursued for future optical interconnection technology. However, the overall performance of Si-based near-infrared electroluminescence (EL) devices, including the overall efficiency, turn-on voltage and stability under operational conditions, can rarely meet the requirements of monolithic optoelectronic integration. In this work, we designed a confined crystallization growth strategy for fabricating metal oxide quantum dot (QD) arrays embedded in Si-based films as sensitizers of Er3+ ions. Through the precise control of particle size and number density of QD sensitizers, the near-infrared photoluminescence (PL) emission of Er3+ ions can be enhanced by more than three orders of magnitude. More significantly, such hierarchical control over the regular arrangement of QD arrays not only considerably enhances the resonance energy transfer efficiency, but also offers an effective conduction path for carrier transport. Therefore, the corresponding near-infrared EL device exhibits a decreased turn-on voltage of 4.5 V, a high external quantum efficiency of 0.7%, and a long operational lifetime of more than 1000 hours, making this device superior to most Si-based on-chip near-infrared EL devices. This well-controlled metal oxide QD array represents an ideal sensitizer to effectively promote the EL emission of rare earth ions and reduce the turn-on voltage. Meanwhile, the analysis of the carrier transport mechanism paves the way for future research into resonance energy transfer under electrical pumping conditions.

Resistin facilitates breast cancer progression via TLR4-mediated induction of mesenchymal phenotypes and stemness properties.

Growing evidence indicates that resistin-an obesity-related cytokine-is upregulated in breast cancer patients, yet its impact on breast cancer behavior remains to be ascertained. Similarly, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) has been implicated in breast cancer progression, however, its clinically relevant endogenous ligand remains elusive. In this study, we observed that high serum resistin levels in breast cancer patients positively correlated with tumor stage, size and lymph node metastasis. These findings were replicated in animal models of breast cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis. Resistin was found to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stemness in breast cancer cells-mechanisms critical to tumorigenesis and metastasis-through a TLR4/nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB)/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway and negated by TLR4-specific antibody and antagonist. These findings provide clear evidence that resistin is a clinically relevant endogenous ligand for TLR4, which promotes tumor progression via TLR4/NF-κB/STAT3 signaling, providing insights into a novel therapeutic target in breast cancer.

[Effects of different computed high b-values on diffusion weighted imaging scores in Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 of prostate cancer in peripheral zone].

Objective: To determine the effects of different computed high b-value on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) scores in Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System version 2 (PI-RADS v2) of prostate cancer in peripheral zone. Methods: A retrospective study of 104 cases of prostate cancer in peripheral zone was conducted, all of the patients were histopathologically confirmed by transrectal ultrasound guided saturation biopsy or radical prostatectomy in Tongji Hospital of Tongji University from January 2012 to December 2015.All MRI imaging examinations were performed by using a 3.0T Siemens Verio MRI scanner.The imaging protocol consisted of high-resolution axial and sagittal T(2) weighted imaging (T(2)WI), axial acquired diffusion weighted imaging (aDWI) with b=0, 50, 1 000 s/mm(2) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) scans.Computed diffusion weighted imaging (cDWI) images with b=1 000, 1 400, 2 000 s/mm(2) were processed by Matlab.These three groups of cDWI images were analyzed according to the PI-RADS v2 criteria, and signal intensity of ratio (SIR) of lesions were analyzed by independent t test and one-way ANOVA in each group. Results: The numbers of cases with a DWI score of 2 and 5 were similar among three groups.Nine cases (33.3%) in all 27 cases with a DWI score of 3 on b=1 000 s/mm(2) upgraded to score 4 when b-value rose to 1 400 and 2 000 s/mm(2).The ratios of SIR of lesions in cases upgraded from DWI score 3 to 4 to those unchanged cases on b=1 400 and 2 000 s/mm(2) were 1.86±0.21 to 1.61±0.27 and 2.18±0.26 to 1.75±0.30, respectively (t=2.486, t=3.671, both P<0.05). In these 9 cases who upgraded to DWI score 4, SIRs of the lesion were significantly different between groups when b=1 000, 1 400 and 2 000 s/mm(2) (F=10.907, 33.768, 8.043, all P<0.05), and their SIRs increased with the rising of b-value. Conclusions: The computed high b-value (b≥1 400 s/mm(2)) mainly affects cases with a DWI score of 3, but DWI scores would not change neither in b=1 400 s/mm(2) nor in 2 000 s/mm(2) cases. For DWI score in PI-RADS v2 of prostate cancer in peripheral zone, b=1 400 s/mm(2) is probably of more scoring value than b=1 000 or 2 000 s/mm(2).

[In vitro early detection of amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease by Pittsburgh compound B-modified magnetic nanoparticles].

Objective: To construct magnetic nanoparticles targeting ß-amyloid (Aß) plaques, the pathological biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to study their binding capability in vitro. Methods: Superparamagnetic nanoparticles Mn(0.6)Zn(0.4)Fe(2)O(4) (MZF) were coated with amphiphilic star-block copolymeric micelles and modified with Aß-specific probe Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) to construct a novel magnetic nanoparticle MZF-PiB, which specifically targeted amyloid plaques. Transmission electron microscope was used to study the morphological features of MZF-PiB. Superparamagnetism of MZF-PiB was assessed by its r(2) relaxation rate by using 3.0 T MRI scanner. Cytotoxic test was applied to determine biosafety of MZF-PiB nanoparticles in differentiated human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK). In vitro binding tests were conducted via immunohistochemistry on 6-month old AD mice brain sections. Differences of cell viability between groups were compared with one-way analysis of variance. Results: MZF-PiB nanoparticles were successfully constructed. Transmission electron microscope images showed that the nanoparticles were about 100 nm in size. The r(2) relaxation rate was 163.11 mMS(-1). No differences were found in cell viability of SH-SY5Y and MDCK incubated with MZF-PiB suspension for 24 h or 48 h when compared with those of untreated cells (F=2.336, 2.539, 0.293, 1.493, all P>0.05). In vitro binding tests indicated that the MZF-PiB were specifically bound to amyloid plaques. The smallest size of detected plaques was 27 µm. Conclusion: PiB-modified nanoparticles targeting Aß are biologically safe and highly superparamagnetic, possessing the capability to detect amyloid plaques early in vitro and the potential for early diagnosis of AD.