Gene co-expression network and differential expression analyses of subcutaneous white adipose tissue reveal novel insights into the pathological mechanisms underlying ketosis in dairy cows.

Ketosis is a common nutritional metabolic disease during the perinatal period in dairy cows. Although various risk factors have been identified, the molecular mechanism underlying ketosis remains elusive. In this study, subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT) was biopsied for transcriptome sequencing on 10 Holstein cows with type II ketosis [blood ß-hydroxybutyric acid (BHB) >1.4 mmol/L; Ket group] and another 10 cows without type II ketosis (BHB ≤1.4 mmol/L; Nket group) at d 10 after calving. Serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and BHB, as indicators of excessive fat mobilization and circulating ketone bodies, respectively, were significantly higher in the Ket group than in the Nket group. Aspartate transaminase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL), as indicators of liver damage, were higher in the Ket group than in the Nket group. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) of the sWAT transcriptome revealed modules significantly correlated with serum BHB, NEFA, AST, TBIL, and total cholesterol. The genes in these modules were enriched in the regulation of the lipid biosynthesis process. Neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type 2 (NTRK2) was identified as the key hub gene by intramodular connectivity, gene significance, and module membership. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR analyses for these samples, as well as a set of independent samples, validated the downregulation of NTRK2 expression in the sWAT of dairy cows with type II ketosis. NTRK2 encodes tyrosine protein kinase receptor B (TrkB), which is a high-affinity receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, suggesting that abnormal lipid mobilization in cows with type II ketosis might be associated with impaired central nervous system regulation of adipose tissue metabolism, providing a novel insight into the pathogenesis underlying type II ketosis in dairy cows.

Reflective temperature sensor based on a fiber Bragg grating combined with a fiber loop ringdown technique.

In this paper, a reflective fiber sensing system combined with a fiber loop ringdown technique for temperature detection is proposed. A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with an initial center wavelength of 1543.33 nm was set as the sensor head. The experimental results showed that the average sensitivity of temperature was 1.003 µs/°C in the temperature range of 30-38°C, and the resolution was 0.007°C, which is 14 times better than the current FBG sensing demodulator. In addition, the system has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, and insensitivity to optical power fluctuation.

Combined Vertebral Augmentation and Radiofrequency Ablation in the Management of Spinal Metastases: an Update.

OPINION STATEMENT: Spinal metastases are the most commonly encountered tumour of the spine, occurring in up to 40% of patients with cancer. Each year, approximately 5% of cancer patients will develop spinal metastases. This number is expected to increase as the life expectancy of cancer patients increases. Patients with spinal metastases experience severe and frequently debilitating pain, which often decreases their remaining quality of life. With a median survival of less than 1 year, the goals of treatment in spinal metastases are reducing pain, improving or maintaining level of function and providing mechanical stability. Currently, conventional treatment strategies involve a combination of analgesics, bisphosphonates, radiotherapy and/or relatively extensive surgery. Despite these measures, pain management in patients with spinal metastases is often suboptimal. In the last two decades, minimally invasive percutaneous interventional radiology techniques such as vertebral augmentation and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) have shown progressive success in reducing pain and improving function in many patients with symptomatic spinal metastases. Both vertebral augmentation and RFA are increasingly being recognised as excellent alternative to medical and surgical management in carefully selected patients with spinal metastases, namely those with severe refractory pain limiting daily activities and stable pathological vertebral compression fractures. In addition, for more complicated lesions such as spinal metastasis with soft tissue extension, combined treatments such as vertebral augmentation in conjunction with RFA may be helpful. While combined RFA and vertebral augmentation have theoretical benefits, comparative trials have not been performed to establish superiority of combined therapy. We believe that a multidisciplinary approach as well as careful pre-procedure evaluation and imaging will be necessary for effective and safe management of spinal metastases. RFA and vertebral augmentation should be considered during early stages of the disease so as to maintain the remaining quality of life in this patient population group.

Ketosis Alters Transcriptional Adaptations of Subcutaneous White Adipose Tissue in Holstein Cows during the Transition Period.

Ketosis is a common nutritional, metabolic disease during the perinatal period in dairy cows characterized by elevated blood ß-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA). In this study, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed to investigate adaptive changes in adipose tissue during the perinatal period of dairy cows. Blood and tailhead subcutaneous white adipose tissue (sWAT) were obtained from ketotic cows (Ket = 8, BHBA ≥ 1.4 mmol/L) and non-ketotic cows (Nket = 6, BHBA < 1.4 mmol/L) 21 d pre-partum and 10 d post-partum. Compared with pre-partum, decreased lipid synthesis due to down-regulation of PCK1 may be in a strong association with clinical ketosis. Simultaneously, PCK2 was downregulated in the Ket postnatally compared to its expression prenatally, and the expression of PCK2 was 2.7~4.2 times higher than that of PCK1, implying a more severe lipid storage impairment in the Ket. Moreover, compared to pre-partum, the upregulated differentially expressed genes post-partum in the Ket were enriched in the inflammatory response biological process. The higher expression of TNC (tenascin C) in the post-partum Ket relative to the Nket suggested that the adipose tissue of ketotic cows might also be accompanied by tissue fibrosis. Notably, pre-partum CD209 was higher in the Ket than in the Nket, which might be used as a candidate marker for the pre-partum prediction of ketosis. Combined with published gene expression traits, these results suggested that inflammation leads to a more widespread downregulation of the lipid synthesis gene network in adipose tissue in ketotic cows. Additionally, sWAT in post-partum cows with ketosis might also be accompanied by tissue fibrosis which could make the treatment of ketosis more difficult.

Value of computed tomography scores in complicated acute diverticulitis.

BACKGROUND: Diverticular disease remains one of the most common conditions in the western world. Up to 25% of patients with diverticular disease require hospitalization, 15-30% of those of which require surgical intervention. CT scoring systems have been proposed as means to drive assessment and stratify patients necessitating hospital intervention. To assess and correlate CT scoring systems with clinical and surgical outcomes. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis at a single institution. Single institutional assessment with patients presenting to emergency with a CT diagnosed episode of acute diverticulitis. One hundred and eighty-nine patients were included in the study, 61% of which were male. Patient demographics, comorbidities, medications, biochemistry and inflammatory markers, type of complication following acute diverticulitis, operative/procedural intervention, hospital outcome and mortality were measured. CT scoring systems assessed included modified Hinchey, modified Neff, World Society of Emergency Surgery (WSES) and modified Siewert scoring systems. RESULTS: Majority of patients had left-sided diverticulitis (91%) with localized air (88%) and pericolic abscess (49%) the most common radiological findings. 28% of patients required radiological and/or surgical management with 12% requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission. There was a general trend for surgical/radiological intervention as the scores increased in severity. The four scoring systems were found to be statistically significant predictors of any intervention and of ICU admission with minimal statistical differences across the different scoring systems. CONCLUSION: Radiological CT scores for complicated diverticulitis are at best, moderate predictors of clinical and surgical outcomes and may serve to guide management with minimal statistical differences across different scores.

Incidental detection of prostate cancer with computed tomography scans.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent type of cancer found in men worldwide, with around one in nine men being diagnosed with PCa within their lifetime. PCa often shows no symptoms in its early stages and its diagnosis techniques are either invasive, resource intensive, or has low efficacy, making widespread early detection onerous. Inspired by the recent success of deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) in computer aided detection (CADe), we propose a new CNN based framework for incidental detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) in patients who had a CT scan of the abdomen/pelvis for other reasons. While CT is generally considered insufficient to diagnose PCa due to its inferior soft tissue characterisation, our evaluations on a relatively large dataset consisting of 139 clinically significant PCa patients and 432 controls show that the proposed deep neural network pipeline can detect csPCa patients at a level that is suitable for incidental detection. The proposed pipeline achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) of 0.88 (95% Confidence Interval: 0.86-0.90) at patient level csPCa detection on CT, significantly higher than the AUCs achieved by two radiologists (0.61 and 0.70) on the same task.

Clinical outcomes of patients with two small hepatocellular carcinomas.

BACKGROUND: Management of single small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is straightforward with curative outcomes achieved by locoregional therapy or resection. Liver transplantation is often considered for multiple small or single large HCC. Management of two small HCC whether presenting synchronously or sequentially is less clear. AIM: To define the outcomes of patients presenting with two small HCC. METHODS: Retrospective review of HCC databases from multiple institutions of patients with either two synchronous or sequential HCC ≤ 3 cm between January 2000 and March 2018. Primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and transplant-free survival (TFS). RESULTS: 104 patients were identified (male n = 89). Median age was 63 years (interquartile range 58-67.75) and the most common aetiology of liver disease was hepatitis C (40.4%). 59 (56.7%) had synchronous HCC and 45 (43.3%) had sequential. 36 patients died (34.6%) and 25 were transplanted (24.0%). 1, 3 and 5-year OS was 93.0%, 66.1% and 62.3% and 5-year post-transplant survival was 95.8%. 1, 3 and 5-year TFS was 82.1%, 45.85% and 37.8%. When synchronous and sequential groups were compared, OS (1,3 and 5 year synchronous 91.3%, 63.8%, 61.1%, sequential 95.3%, 69.5%, 64.6%, P = 0.41) was similar but TFS was higher in the sequential group (1,3 and 5 year synchronous 68.5%, 37.3% and 29.7%, sequential 93.2%, 56.6%, 48.5%, P = 0.02) though this difference did not remain during multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: TFS in patients presenting with two HCC ≤ 3 cm is poor regardless of the timing of the second tumor. All patients presenting with two small HCC should be considered for transplantation.

The association between maternal renal function and pregnancy outcomes in type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: To investigate the prognostic value of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria in determining pregnancy outcomes in women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. METHODS: An observational study of pregnant women with type 1 (n = 92) and type 2 diabetes (n = 106) who delivered between 2004 and 2014 at a single tertiary obstetric centre. Clinical and biochemical characteristics were determined and related to major obstetric outcomes: preeclampsia, preterm birth <32 and <37 weeks, and neonatal intensive care admission. We used univariate analyses and multivariable logistic regression models with eGFR using the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation and albuminuria as covariates. RESULTS: In the pooled diabetes cohort, multivariable logistic regression with eGFR and albuminuria status demonstrated that the presence of albuminuria (albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥ 3.5 mg/mmol) (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.42-4.99; P = 0.002) was associated with preeclampsia, whilst an eGFR of < 120 mL/min/1.73 m2 was associated with preterm birth < 32 weeks (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.00-1.09; P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Despite its recognized limitations in pregnancy, lower eGFR values were associated with increased risk of adverse outcomes. Our exploratory data suggest eGFR, along with albuminuria, can aid in identifying women at high risk of developing adverse obstetric outcomes.

The value of radiomics based on contrast-enhanced spectral mammography of internal and peripheral regions combined with clinical factors in predicting benign and malignant breast lesions of breast imaging reporting and data system category 4 / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To evaluate the value of radiomics based on contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) of internal and peripheral regions combined with clinical factors in predicting benign and malignant breast lesions of breast imaging reporting and data system category 4 (BI-RADS 4).Methods:A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and imaging data of patients with breast lesions who were treated in Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital (Center 1) Affiliated to Qingdao University from July 2017 to July 2020 and in Fudan University Cancer Hospital (Center 2) from June 2019 to July 2020. Center 1 included 835 patients, all female, aged 17-80 (49±12) years, divided into training set (667 cases) and test set (168 cases) according to the "train-test-split" function in Python software at a ratio of 8∶2; and 49 patients were included from Center 2 as external validation set, all female, aged 34-70 (51±8) years. The radiomics features were extracted from the intralesional region (ITR), the perilesional regions of 5, 10 mm (PTR 5 mm, PTR10 mm) and the intra-and perilesional regions of 5, 10 mm (IPTR 5 mm, IPTR 10 mm) and were selected by variance filtering, SelectKBest algorithm, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator. Then five radiomics signatures were constructed including ITR signature, PTR 5 mm signature, PTR 10 mm signature, IPTR 5 mm signature, IPTR 10 mm signature. In the training set, univariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to construct nomograms by selecting radiomics signatures and clinical factors with significant difference between benign and malignant BI-RADS type 4 breast lesions. The efficacy of nomogram in predicting benign and malignant BI-RADS 4 breast lesions was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic curve and area under the curve (AUC). Decision curve and calibration curve were used to evaluate the net benefit and calibration capability of the nomogram.Results:The nomogram included ITR signature, PTR 5 mm signature, PTR 10 mm signature, IPTR 5 mm signature, age, and BI-RADS category 4 subclassification for differentiating malignant and benign BI-RADS category 4 breast lesions and obtained AUCs of 0.94, 0.92, and 0.95 in the training set, test set, and external validation set, respectively. The calibration curve showed good agreement between the predicted probabilities and actual results and the decision curve indicated a good net benefit of the nomogram for predicting malignant BI-RADS 4 lesions in the training set, test set, and external validation set.Conclusion:The nomogram constructed from the radiomics features of the internal and surrounding regions of CESM breast lesions combined with clinical factors is attributed to differentiate benign from malignant BI-RADS category 4 breast lesions.

Development and validation of a CT-based radiomics model for differentiating pneumonia-like primary pulmonary lymphoma from infectious pneumonia: A multicenter study / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Pneumonia-like primary pulmonary lymphoma (PPL) was commonly misdiagnosed as infectious pneumonia, leading to delayed treatment. The purpose of this study was to establish a computed tomography (CT)-based radiomics model to differentiate pneumonia-like PPL from infectious pneumonia.@*METHODS@#In this retrospective study, 79 patients with pneumonia-like PPL and 176 patients with infectious pneumonia from 12 medical centers were enrolled. Patients from center 1 to center 7 were assigned to the training or validation cohort, and the remaining patients from other centers were used as the external test cohort. Radiomics features were extracted from CT images. A three-step procedure was applied for radiomics feature selection and radiomics signature building, including the inter- and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs), a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the significant clinicoradiological variables and construct a clinical factor model. Two radiologists reviewed the CT images for the external test set. Performance of the radiomics model, clinical factor model, and each radiologist were assessed by receiver operating characteristic, and area under the curve (AUC) was compared.@*RESULTS@#A total of 144 patients (44 with pneumonia-like PPL and 100 infectious pneumonia) were in the training cohort, 38 patients (12 with pneumonia-like PPL and 26 infectious pneumonia) were in the validation cohort, and 73 patients (23 with pneumonia-like PPL and 50 infectious pneumonia) were in the external test cohort. Twenty-three radiomics features were selected to build the radiomics model, which yielded AUCs of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.94-0.99), 0.93 (95% CI: 0.85-0.98), and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.87-0.99) in the training, validation, and external test cohort, respectively. The AUCs for the two readers and clinical factor model were 0.74 (95% CI: 0.63-0.83), 0.72 (95% CI: 0.62-0.82), and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.62-0.84) in the external test cohort, respectively. The radiomics model outperformed both the readers' interpretation and clinical factor model ( P <0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The CT-based radiomics model may provide an effective and non-invasive tool to differentiate pneumonia-like PPL from infectious pneumonia, which might provide assistance for clinicians in tailoring precise therapy.

Research status of abnormal lipid metabolism associated with pancreatic cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

In recent years, with the continuous studies on tumor metabonomics, more and more results have shown that changes of metabolism play important roles in the occurrence and development of malignant tumor. Carcinogenic factors can destroy the metabolic balance of human body, induce metabolic reprogramming, and then mediate a variety of biological behaviors to partici-pate in the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells. Lipids provide the body with the necessary energy and essential fatty acids, and a variety of lipid molecules and metabolites are involved in cell signal transduction. Lipid metabolism is an important link in the metabolic system of the body, and the relationship between the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer and lipid metabo-lism is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the changes of lipid metabolism in pancreatic cancer, summarize some preclinical studies and clinical trials, and deeply explain the research status of abnormal lipid metabolism associated with pancreatic cancer, so as to provide new ideas for the study of pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and accurate treatment.

Current status of the application of translational medicine in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer / 中华消化外科杂志

Pancreatic cancer is a rapidly progressive and highly malignancy of the digestive system. In recent years, the diagnosis and treatment of pancreatic cancer has been in a slow stage of development, and the 5-year survival rate of patients remains very low. The main objective of translational medicine is to remove the barriers between basic medical research and clinical medical applications, to achieve practical integration between laboratory and clinic, and to accelerate the translation of the results obtained from basic research into clinical diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of diseases, thus promoting the development of life sciences. With the rapid development of the concept and technology of translational medicine, its application in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer can bring new hope for effectively improving the overall prognosis of patients. The authors comprehensively analyzed the latest research progress of translational medicine in the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in order to improve the early diagnosis and long-term survival of pancreatic cancer patient.

Critical quality attribute assessment of big brand traditional Chinese medicine: quality control of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills in texture and sensory attributes / 中国中药杂志

Texture sensory attributes are the key items in quality control of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills. The purpose of this study is to develop a quality control method for assessing the texture sensory attributes of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills based on real-world Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin pilular masses and finished products. First, parameters of texture profile analysis(TPA) were optimized through single factor and central composite design(CCD) experiments to establish a detection method for texture sensory attri-butes of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. The results showed that the established detection method was stable and reliable, with the optimal parameters set up as follows: deformation percentage of 70%, detection speed at 30 mm·min~(-1), and interval time of 15 s. Furthermore, 540 data points yielded form six texture sensory attributes of pills from 30 batches were subjected to multivariate statistical process control(MSPC) with Hotelling T~2 and squared prediction error(SPE) control charts to establish the quality control method of Tongren Niuhuang Qingxin Pills. This study is expected to provide a reference for improving the quality control system of Chinese medicinal honeyed pills.

A clinical study on the effects of early fiberoptic bronchoscopic lavage and sputum aspiration on pulmonary complications after minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective:To explore the role of fiberoptic bronchoscopic lavage and sputum aspiration in preventing and treating pulmonary complications after esophageal cancer surgery.Methods:Clinical data of 98 patients undergone minimally invasive esophageal cancer treatment in our hospital from January 2016 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.Fifty patients undergone bronchoscopic lavage and sputum aspiration were assigned to the experimental group and 48 patients receiving routine physical therapy to the control group.The incidences of pulmonary infection, respiratory failure, anastomotic leakage, drainage tube retention time after operation, duration of antibiotic use, average length of stay, etc., were compared between the two groups.Results:The incidences of pulmonary infection(20.0% vs.45.8%, χ2=7.43, P=0.006), respiratory failure(2.0% vs. 12.5%, χ2=4.07, P=0.000), drainage tube retention time[(7.7±1.9)d vs. (9.9±2.3) d, t=-5.28, P=0.000)], antibiotic use time[(8.2±1.5) d and (11.6±2.5) d, t=-5.90, P=0.000)]were lower in the experimental group than in the control group.There was no significant difference in the incidence of anastomotic leakage or the average hospitalization time between the two groups(all P>0.05). Conclusions:Early sputum aspiration via fiberoptic bronchoscope after minimally invasive esophageal cancer surgery can reduce perioperative risks for complications, improve the therapeutic efficacy, and should be encouraged in clinical practice.

Developmental relationship between mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells and hematopoietic cells during human embryogenesis / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective@#To analyze the developmental relationship between mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (MSPCs) and hematopoietic cells during human embryogenesis.@*Methods@#Aborted embryos at different developmental stages were used in this study after medical abortion. Embryonic blood tissues were isolated and digested into single cells. These single cells were plated in semisolid medium in favor of the differentiation of colony-forming cell with high proliferative potential (HPP-CFC) and incubated for 10 to 14 d. Individual colonies with diameter more than 0.5 mm were picked and replated in liquid medium. Fibroblastic adherent cells appeared in the replated colonies were cultured for cell proliferation and cytokins expressed on cell surface were identified to analyze whether they had the characteristics of MSPCs.@*Results@#This study summarized the dynamic development of HPP-CFCs and other hematopoietic progenitor cells in different tissues including aorta-gonad-mesonephros (AGM) region, yolk sac and embryonic liver. From the 28-somite stage, a proportion of HPP-CFCs in AGM region could give rise to adherent fibroblastic cells in addition to hematopoietic cells. The adherent cells harbored the differentiation potential of MSPCs and could inhibit the proliferation of T cells in lymphocyte transformation test.@*Conclusions@#This study suggests some prehematopoietic precursors in AGM region can give rise to both hematopoietic progenitors and MSPCs during human embryogenesis.

Developmental relationship between mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells and hematopoietic cells dur-ing human embryogenesis / 中华微生物学和免疫学杂志

Objective To analyze the developmental relationship between mesenchymal stem/pro-genitor cells (MSPCs) and hematopoietic cells during human embryogenesis. Methods Aborted embryos at different developmental stages were used in this study after medical abortion. Embryonic blood tissues were isolated and digested into single cells. These single cells were plated in semisolid medium in favor of the dif-ferentiation of colony-forming cell with high proliferative potential ( HPP-CFC) and incubated for 10 to 14 d. Individual colonies with diameter more than 0. 5 mm were picked and replated in liquid medium. Fibroblastic adherent cells appeared in the replated colonies were cultured for cell proliferation and cytokins expressed on cell surface were identified to analyze whether they had the characteristics of MSPCs. Results This study summarized the dynamic development of HPP-CFCs and other hematopoietic progenitor cells in different tis-sues including aorta-gonad-mesonephros ( AGM) region, yolk sac and embryonic liver. From the 28-somite stage, a proportion of HPP-CFCs in AGM region could give rise to adherent fibroblastic cells in addition to hematopoietic cells. The adherent cells harbored the differentiation potential of MSPCs and could inhibit the proliferation of T cells in lymphocyte transformation test. Conclusions This study suggests some prehemato-poietic precursors in AGM region can give rise to both hematopoietic progenitors and MSPCs during human embryogenesis.

Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography Versus Ultrasonography: Diagnostic Performance in Symptomatic Patients with Dense Breasts

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) versus ultrasonography (US) in symptomatic patients with dense breasts, while using histology as the gold standard.MATERIALS AND METHODS: After obtaining approval from the local ethics board, this prospective study collected data from patients with symptomatic breasts who underwent CESM and US examinations from May 1, 2017 to September 30, 2017. We then selected those with dense breasts and pathological results as our sample population. Both CESM and US results were classified by a radiologist through the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System, and the results were compared with their corresponding histological results. The chi-square test was conducted to compare the diagnostic performance of CESM and US, and the receiver operating characteristic curves for the two imaging modalities were obtained.RESULTS: A total of 131 lesions from 115 patients with dense breasts were included in this study. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy were 93.8%, 88.1%, 88.2%, 93.7%, and 90.8% for CESM, and 90.6%, 82.1%, 82.9%, 90.2%, and 86.3% for US, respectively. The p values for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy were 0.687, 0.388, 0.370, 0.702, and 0.238, respectively. The area under the curve of CESM (0.917) was comparable with that of US (0.884); however, the differences between CESM and US were not statistically significant (p = 0.225). Eight false-positive cases and 4 false-negative cases for breast cancer were found in CESM, while 12 false-positive cases and 6 false-negative cases were found in US.CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performances of CESM and US are comparable in symptomatic women with dense breasts; however, the routine use of additional US imaging is questionable for lesions that can be detected by CESM.

Identification of honeysuckle powder quality by Heracles Ⅱ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose / 中国中药杂志

The quality of honeysuckle has always been an important factor in industrial development. Flowering is one of the elements for the variation of the effective components in honeysuckle. We can conveniently recognize whether the commodity is mixed with blossomed honeysuckle in the form of medicinal material. However,it is hard to identify whether the products are mixed with blossomed honeysuckle in the form of powdersince visual identification traits are missing. Therefore,this study aims to seek an effective method of odor-based distinguish for identifying the quality of honeysuckle powder in different ratios by using Heracles Ⅱ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose.The powdered samples were prepared with flower buds and fully blooming flowers in different proportion. Gas chromatograms of the powder were obtained by HeraclesⅡ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose. Through analyzing the data of chromatograms,we have concluded that the qualitative results of the prepared powder were almost the same,and there existed differences in the components content. Meanwhile,the hexanal odor appeared to be the critical factor in identifying honeysuckle powder quality among the flavor of all possible compounds. Also,we have applied PCA,DFA and CQ to identify and classify the variety of the powder based on the chromatogram data. Finally,it is realized that the powder was rapidly identified and classified into three grades based on the proportion of flowering honeysuckle. The predicted concentration value for the first class is less than 3,the value of is not less than 3 and less than 5 for the second class,and more than 5 for the third class. In summary,the results obtained by the study suggest that Heracles Ⅱ ultra-fast gas phase electronic nose analysis can be used as a rapid identification method for the quality of honeysuckle powder. At the same time,it can provide a reference for the quality classification of honeysuckle based on flowering degrees.

Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients-Derived Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Suppress Daunorubicin Induced HL-60 Cell Apoptosis via Modulating Caspase-3/Survivin / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the role of bone marrow niche in the chemotherapy resistance of patient with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and to investigate the effects of the MSCs on the apoptosis of HL-60 cell and its underlying mechanisms.@*METHODS@#MSCs were derived from the bone marrow of newly diagnosed AML patients (AML-MSCs) and health donors(MSCs) were co-cultured with HL-60 cells respectively. The apoptosis of HL-60 cells in the presence/absence of MSCs and/or Daunorubicin were determined by flow cytometry with Annexin V/PI double staining. In addition, the morphological features of HL-60 cells were observed by Wright-Giemsa staining, and the ratio of blasts and differentiated cells were counted. Furthermore, the expressions of apoptosis-related factors including Caspase-3, Caspase-8,Caspase-9 and Survivin were detected by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#The flow cytometry showed that there was no significant change in apoptosis of HL-60 cells co-cultured with MSC derived from healthy donors or AML patients. After adding Daunorubicin into different cultural systems, the apoptotic rates of HL-60, HL-60 co-cultured with normal MSCs and HL-60 co-cultured with AML-MSCs were (49.57±7.44)%, (30.72±4.05)% and (22.99±4.08)%, respectively, which showed that normal MSCs and AML-MSCs could remarkably supress Daunorubicin-induced HL-60 apoptosis, however, there was no statistically significant difference of apoptosis between HL-60 co-cultured with normal MSCs and HL-60 co-cultured with AML-MSCs. Wright-Giemsa staining showed that most of the HL-60 cells co-cultured with AML-MSCs were primitive, and cell differentiation was unusual. In AML-MSCs co-cultured group, the cell apoptosis and differentiation caused by DNR was significant decreased, and most of HL-60 cells were initial. Western blot showed that the cleavage activity of Caspase-3 of HL-60 in AML-MSCs and normal MSCs co-cultured group was decreased, compared with HL-60 in single cultured group, moreover, the decrease was significantly in AML-MSC group. Additionally, the expression of survivin in AML-MSCs and normal MSCs co-cultured group was increased, compared with that in single cultured group, and increase was significant in AML-MSCs group.@*CONCLUSION@#MSCs can suppress Daunorubicin-induced HL-60 apoptosis via inhibiting Caspase-3 and maintaining survivin level.