Real-time breast lesion classification combining diffuse optical tomography frequency domain data and BI-RADS assessment

Ultrasound (US)-guided diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has demonstrated potential for breast cancer diagnosis, in which real-time or near real-time diagnosis with high accuracy is desired. However, DOT's relatively slow data processing and image reconstruction speeds have hindered real-time diagnosis. Here, we propose a real-time classification scheme that combines US breast imaging reporting and data system (BI-RADS) readings and DOT frequency domain measurements. A convolutional neural network is trained to generate malignancy probability scores from DOT measurements. Subsequently, these scores are integrated with BI-RADS assessments using a support vector machine classifier, which then provides the final diagnostic output. An area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.978 is achieved in distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions in patient data without image reconstruction.

[α2-macroglobulin alleviates glucocorticoid-induced avascular necrosis of the femoral head in mice by promoting proliferation, migration and angiogenesis of vascular endothelial cells]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the mechanism underlying the protective effect of α2-macroglobulin (A2M) against glucocorticoid-induced femoral head necrosis.

METHODS

In a human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) model with injuries induced by gradient concentrations of dexamethasone (DEX; 10-8-10-5 mol/L), the protective effects of A2M at 0.05 and 0.1 mg/mL were assessed by examining the changes in cell viability, migration, and capacity of angiogenesis using CCK-8 assay, Transwell and scratch healing assays and angiogenesis assay. The expressions of CD31 and VEGF-A proteins in the treated cells were detected using Western blotting. In BALB/c mouse models of avascular necrosis of the femoral head induced by intramuscular injections of methylprednisolone, the effects of intervention with A2M on femoral trabecular structure, histopathological characteristics, and CD31 expression were examined with Micro-CT, HE staining and immunohistochemical staining.

RESULTS

In cultured HUVECs, DEX treatment significantly reduced cell viability, migration and angiogenic ability in a concentration- and time-dependent manner (P<0.05), and these changes were obviously reversed by treatment with A2M in positive correlation with A2M concentration (P<0.05). DEX significantly reduced the expression of CD31 and VEGF-A proteins in HUVECs, while treatment with A2M restored CD31 and VEGF-A expressions in the cells (P<0.05). The mouse models of femoral head necrosis showed obvious trabecular damages in the femoral head, where a large number of empty lacunae and hypertrophic fat cells could be seen and CD31 expression was significantly decreased (P<0.05). A2M treatment of the mouse models significantly improved trabecular damages, maintained normal bone tissue structures, and increased CD31 expression in the femoral head (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

A2M promotes proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of DEX-treated HUVECs and alleviates methylprednisolone-induced femoral head necrosis by improving microcirculation damages and maintaining microcirculation stability in the femoral head.

Isolated non-immune mediated second-degree atrioventricular block in fetus: natural history and predictive factors for spontaneous recovery

OBJECTIVES

To uncover the clinical course of fetal isolated non-immune mediated second-degree AVB and determine the factors associated with the spontaneous recovery for fetal non-immune second-degree atrioventricular block (AVB).

METHODS

A total of 20 fetuses with isolated, non-immune mediated second-degree AVB were prospectively recruited between 2014 and 2022. These fetuses were divided into the spontaneous recovery group (n=12) and the non-spontaneous recovery group (n=8). Maternal and fetal basic characteristics, intrauterine and postnatal outcomes were compared between groups.

RESULTS

Twelve fetuses restored 1:1 atrioventricular conduction in utero and did not recur during the postnatal follow-up period. The residual eight fetuses maintained as second-degree AVB and six of them were aborted due to parental request in utero. Of the two live children with second-degree AVB, one of them progressed to complete AVB at the latest follow up at the age of 34 months, but without any symptoms, heart enlargement or dysfunction. The residual one progressed to complete AVB and was finally diagnosed with type 2 long-QT syndrome. Fetuses in the spontaneous recovery group presented with earlier gestational age at diagnosis (20.0[17.0-26.0] vs. 24.5[18.0-35.0] weeks, p=0.004) and higher atrial rate (147[130-160] vs 138.00[125.00-149.00] bpm, p=0.006) in comparison with the non-spontaneous recovery group. A cut-off value of 22.5 weeks of gestational age and 144 bpm of atrial rate at diagnosis could predict the failure of spontaneous recovery, with sensitivities of 87.5%, 75%, and specificities of 92.0%, 87.5%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The outcome of fetal non-immune second-degree AVB was favorable. Earlier gestational age at diagnosis and higher atrial rate were related to spontaneous reversion for isolated non-immune-mediated second-degree AVB. However, prenatal gene test should be performed for those with persistent AVB to exclude the heritable disorders including LQTS. These findings may provide important references for clinical management and prenatal counseling. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Construct validation of machine learning for accurately predicting the risk of postoperative surgical site infection following spine surgery

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to evaluate the risk factors for machine learning (ML) algorithms in predicting postoperative surgical site infection (SSI) following spine surgery.

METHODS

This prospective cohort study included 986 patients who underwent spine surgery at Taizhou People's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from January 2015 to October 2022. Supervised ML algorithms included support vector machine, logistic regression, random forest, XGboost, decision tree, k-nearest neighbour, and naïve Bayes (NB), which were tested and trained to develop a predicting model. The ML model performance was evaluated from the test dataset. We gradually analysed their accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity, as well as the positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and area under the curve.

RESULTS

The rate of SSI was 9.33%. Using a backward stepwise approach, we identified that the remarkable risk factors predicting SSI in the multi-variate Cox regression analysis were age, body mass index, smoking, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, drain duration and pre-operative albumin level. Compared with other ML algorithms, the NB model had the highest performance in seven ML models, with an average area under the curve of 0.95, sensitivity of 0.78, specificity of 0.88, and accuracy of 0.87.

CONCLUSIONS

The NB model in the ML algorithm had excellent calibration and accurately predicted the risk of SSI compared with the existing models, and might serve as an important tool for the early detection and treatment of SSI following spinal infection.

PA-NeRF, a neural radiance field model for 3D photoacoustic tomography reconstruction from limited Bscan data

We introduce a novel deep-learning-based photoacoustic tomography method called Photoacoustic Tomography Neural Radiance Field (PA-NeRF) for reconstructing 3D volumetric PAT images from limited 2D Bscan data. In conventional 3D volumetric imaging, a 3D reconstruction requires transducer element data obtained from all directions. Our model employs a NeRF-based PAT 3D reconstruction method, which learns the relationship between transducer element positions and the corresponding 3D imaging. Compared with convolution-based deep-learning models, such as Unet and TransUnet, PA-NeRF does not learn the interpolation process but rather gains insight from 3D photoacoustic imaging principles. Additionally, we introduce a forward loss that improves the reconstruction quality. Both simulation and phantom studies validate the performance of PA-NeRF. Further, we apply the PA-NeRF model to clinical examples to demonstrate its feasibility. To the best of our knowledge, PA-NeRF is the first method in photoacoustic tomography to successfully reconstruct a 3D volume from sparse Bscan data.

Kinetochore scaffold 1 downregulation suppressed the development of non-small cell lung cancer by inactivating the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/protein kinase B (AKT)/nuclear factor-kappa B pathway

Kinetochore scaffold 1 (KNL1) is indispensable for generating motile micro-tubule attachments and isolating chromosomes. KNL1 is highly expressed in multiple middle-route tissues and promotes tumor development. However, how it functions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting (WB) were used to determine KNL1 expression in NSCLC tissues and cells. The sh-KNL1 or oe-KNL1 was transfected into NSCLC cells. The colony formation assay, cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, and flow cytometry were used to evaluate cell proliferation and apoptosis. A transwell assay was used to monitor invasion and migration. The CCK-8 assay was used to measure NSCLC cell sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs. WB confirmed the protein levels of apoptosis-related proteins, cell cycle-associated proteins, and the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) pathway. A PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway inhibitor was used to intervene in NSCLC cell transfection along with oe-KNL1, thus revealing the function of the pathway in carcinogenicity mediated by KNL1. In result KNL1 expression was substantially increased in NSCLC tissues and cells. High-level KNL1 expression is related to the poor prognosis of NSCLC patients. KNL1 silencing bolstered promoted NSCLC cell apoptosis and inhibited proliferation, cell cycle progression, invasion, and EMT, whereas KNL1 silencing had the opposite effect. KNL1 knockdown increased NSCLC cell sensitivity to chemical drugs. KNL1 promoted PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway activation, while PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway inhibition weakened the procancer effect mediated by KNL1 overexpression but had little influence on KNL1 levels. We conclude that KNL1 activates the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway to increase NSCLC progression and attenuate NSCLC sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs.

Acoustic resolution photoacoustic Doppler flowmetry for assessment of patient rectal cancer blood perfusion

Significance

Photoacoustic Doppler flowmetry offers quantitative blood perfusion information in addition to photoacoustic vascular contrast for rectal cancer assessment.

Aim

We aim to develop and validate a correlational Doppler flowmetry utilizing an acoustic resolution photoacoustic microscopy (AR-PAM) system for blood perfusion analysis.

Approach

To extract blood perfusion information, we implemented AR-PAM Doppler flowmetry consisting of signal filtering and conditioning, A-line correlation, and angle compensation. We developed flow phantoms and contrast agent to systemically investigate the flowmetry's efficacy in a series of phantom studies. The developed correlational Doppler flowmetry was applied to images collected during in vivo AR-PAM for post-treatment rectal cancer evaluation.

Results

The linearity and accuracy of the Doppler flow measurement system were validated in phantom studies. Imaging rectal cancer patients treated with chemoradiation demonstrated the feasibility of using correlational Doppler flowmetry to assess treatment response and distinguish residual cancer from cancer-free tumor bed tissue and normal rectal tissue.

Conclusions

A new correlational Doppler flowmetry was developed and validated through systematic phantom evaluations. The results of its application to in vivo patients suggest it could be a useful addition to photoacoustic endoscopy for post-treatment rectal cancer assessment.

[Association between hair trace element and all-cause death in elderly people in Hainan]

Objective: To explore the association between hair trace element and all-cause death in the elderly in Hainan Province. Methods: The subjects of the study were elderly people from China Hainan Centenarian Cohort Study, a total of 163 elderly were included. The association between hair trace element level and all-cause death was analyzed by using Cox proportional risk regression model. Results: After fully adjusting the covariates, the multiple Cox proportional hazards regression analyses showed that selenium (Se), manganese (Mn), strontium (Sr) concentrations in hair were significantly associated with all-cause mortality, the hazard ratio (HR) were 0.72 (95%CI: 0.54-0.98, P=0.035), 1.50 (95%CI: 1.07-2.11, P=0.020) and 0.54 (95%CI: 0.37-0.79, P=0.001), respectively. Subgroup and cross analysis showed that hair copper (Cu) were significant association with death in the people with anemia, the HR were 1.81 (95%CI: 1.13-2.88, P=0.013). And, hair Mn interacted with anemia, the HR was 0.46 (95%CI: 0.22-0.94, P=0.033). Conclusions: Se, Mn and Sr concentrations in hair were associated with the elevated risk for all-cause death in the elderly in Hainan. Se, Mn and Sr concentrations in hair can be used as a reference index for the prediction of the death risk of long-lived elderly in community, suggesting that the daily diet of elderly people are rich and diverse, in order to maintain normal and balanced trace element content in the body.

Characterization of adnexal lesions using photoacoustic imaging to improve sonographic O-RADS risk assessment

OBJECTIVE

To assess the impact of photoacoustic imaging (PAI) on the assessment of ovarian/adnexal lesion(s) of different risk categories using the sonographic ovarian-adnexal imaging-reporting-data system (O-RADS) in women undergoing planned oophorectomy.

METHOD

This prospective study enrolled women with ovarian/adnexal lesion(s) suggestive of malignancy referred for oophorectomy. Participants underwent clinical ultrasound (US) examination followed by coregistered US and PAI prior to oophorectomy. Each ovarian/adnexal lesion was graded by two radiologists using the US O-RADS scale. PAI was used to compute relative total hemoglobin concentration (rHbT) and blood oxygenation saturation (%sO2 ) colormaps in the region of interest. Lesions were categorized by histopathology into malignant ovarian/adnexal lesion, malignant Fallopian tube only and several benign categories, in order to assess the impact of incorporating PAI in the assessment of risk of malignancy with O-RADS. Malignant and benign histologic groups were compared with respect to rHbT and %sO2 and logistic regression models were developed based on tumor marker CA125 alone, US-based O-RADS alone, PAI-based rHbT with %sO2 , and the combination of CA125, O-RADS, rHbT and %sO2. Areas under the receiver-operating-characteristics curve (AUC) were used to compare the diagnostic performance of the models.

RESULTS

There were 93 lesions identified on imaging among 68 women (mean age, 52 (range, 21-79) years). Surgical pathology revealed 14 patients with malignant ovarian/adnexal lesion, two with malignant Fallopian tube only and 52 with benign findings. rHbT was significantly higher in malignant compared with benign lesions. %sO2 was lower in malignant lesions, but the difference was not statistically significant for all benign categories. Feature analysis revealed that rHbT, CA125, O-RADS and %sO2 were the most important predictors of malignancy. Logistic regression models revealed an AUC of 0.789 (95% CI, 0.626-0.953) for CA125 alone, AUC of 0.857 (95% CI, 0.733-0.981) for O-RADS only, AUC of 0.883 (95% CI, 0.760-1) for CA125 and O-RADS and an AUC of 0.900 (95% CI, 0.815-0.985) for rHbT and %sO2 in the prediction of malignancy. A model utilizing all four predictors (CA125, O-RADS, rHbT and %sO2 ) achieved superior performance, with an AUC of 0.970 (95% CI, 0.932-1), sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 82%.

CONCLUSIONS

Incorporating the additional information provided by PAI-derived rHbT and %sO2 improves significantly the performance of US-based O-RADS in the diagnosis of adnexal lesions. © 2023 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Discriminating minimal residual disease status in multiple myeloma based on MRI: utility of radiomics and comparison of machine-learning methods

AIM

To explore the possibility of discriminating minimal residual disease (MRD) status in multiple myeloma (MM) based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and identify optimal machine-learning methods to optimise the clinical treatment regimen.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 83 patients were analysed retrospectively. They were divided randomly into training and validation cohorts. The regions of interest were segmented and radiomics features were extracted and analysed on two sequences, including T1-weighted imaging (WI) and fat saturated (FS)-T2WI, and then radiomics models were built in the training cohort and evaluated in the validation cohort. Clinical characteristics were calculated to build a traditional model. A combined model was also built using the clinical characteristics and radiomics features. Classification accuracy was assessed using area under the curve (AUC) and F1 score.

RESULTS

In the training cohort, only the bone marrow (BM) infiltrate ratio (p=0.005) was retained after univariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis. In T1WI, the linear support vector machine (SVM) achieved the best performance compared to other classifiers, with AUCs of 0.811 and 0.708 and F1 scores of 0.792 and 0.696 in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Similarly, in FS-T2WI sequence, linear SVM achieved the best performance with AUCs of 0.833 and 0.800 and F1 score of 0.833 and 0.800. The combined model constructed by the FS-T2WI-linear SVM and BM infiltrate ratio outperformed the traditional model (p=0.050 and 0.012, Delong test), but showed no significant difference compared with the radiomics model (p=0.798 and 0.855).

CONCLUSION

The linear SVM-based machine-learning method can offer a non-invasive tool for discriminating MRD status in MM.

Automated pipeline for breast cancer diagnosis using US assisted diffuse optical tomography

Ultrasound (US)-guided diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a portable and non-invasive imaging modality for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment response monitoring. However, DOT data pre-processing and imaging reconstruction often require labor intensive manual processing which hampers real-time diagnosis. In this study, we aim at providing an automated US-assisted DOT pre-processing, imaging and diagnosis pipeline to achieve near real-time diagnosis. We have developed an automated DOT pre-processing method including motion detection, mismatch classification using deep-learning approach, and outlier removal. US-lesion information needed for DOT reconstruction was extracted by a semi-automated lesion segmentation approach combined with a US reading algorithm. A deep learning model was used to evaluate the quality of the reconstructed DOT images and a two-step deep-learning model developed earlier is implemented to provide final diagnosis based on US imaging features and DOT measurements and imaging results. The presented US-assisted DOT pipeline accurately processed the DOT measurements and reconstruction and reduced the procedure time to 2 to 3 minutes while maintained a comparable classification result with manually processed dataset.

Brachytherapy Dose Prediction Based on Monte Carlo Simulations Using Artificial Neural Networks

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE(S)

The current brachytherapy dose calculation is still based on the oversimplified water kernel superposition algorithm recommended by AAPM TG43. Monte Carlo (MC) method provides high accuracy in dose calculation. However, the MC simulation is computationally intensive and too slow to use in the time-sensitive clinical workflow. This study aims to develop a fast neural network (SK-UNet) to predict 3D brachytherapy dose distribution calculated by the MC simulations.

MATERIALS/METHODS

We hypothesize that the tracks of Ir-192 inside applicators are essential in dose map prediction and the Selective Kernel Networks (SK) can be employed to emphasize the contribution of the applicator in training. We then included SK in UNet to select appropriate receptive field sizes as needed. The network inputs were CT images of patient anatomy, binary masks of HRCTV, bladder, rectum, and source tracks, and the output was the predicted dose map. Totally, 120 cases were used for training and 30 for testing. All clinically common applicators (e.g., vaginal, tandem and ovoid, multi-channel applicator, free needles, etc.) were involved in the study. Model performance was evaluated by the mean absolute error (MAE) of DVH dosimetric metrics and dose distribution metrics between ground truth (GT) and prediction. A smaller MAE indicated a more accurate dose prediction. Dose distribution metrics include the overdose volume index (ODI), target conformity (TC), dose homogeneity index (DHI), and conformal index (COIN). GT was dose calculated by MC simulations. 3D Gamma analysis was also involved.

RESULTS

As shown in Table 1, compared with GT, SK-Net showed comparable DVH dosimetric metrics with 0.28±0.19 deviation for HRCTV D90%, 0.21±0.16 deviation for bladder D2cc, and 0.25±0.22 deviation for rectum D2cc. In dose distribution metrics, the deviations between GT and prediction were TC = 0.04±0.02, ODI = 0.03±0.03, DHI = 0.02±0.02, and COIN = 0.02±0.03. The gamma passing rate was 93%±6%. The 3D dose map prediction for each patient takes about 6s on average in an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 GPU compared to hours with MC simulations.

CONCLUSION

SK-Net demonstrated comparable performance to the MC simulation but with a significantly shorter execution time, taking only 6 seconds on average. It offered a solution to the trade-off between accuracy and speed and has the potential to serve as an alternative to the time-consuming MC simulation in brachytherapy. The developed technique is believed to have the potential for future application with other types of radiation sources and cancers.

Risk factors for bloodstream infection in paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), a standard treatment for paediatric haematological diseases, is highly associated with bloodstream infection (BSI), which may increase mortality.

AIM

To explore the risk factors for BSI in paediatric HSCT recipients.

METHODS

Three English databases and four Chinese databases were searched from inception to March 17th, 2022. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, and case-control studies that enrolled HSCT recipients aged ≤18 years and reported BSI risk factors. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. Using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE), certainty of body of evidence was assessed.

FINDINGS

Fourteen studies involving 4602 persons were included. The incidences of BSI and associated mortality in paediatric HSCT recipients were approximately 10-50% and 5-15%, respectively. Meta-analysis of all studies revealed that previous BSI before HSCT (relative effect (RE): 2.28; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19-4.34, moderate certainty) and receiving an umbilical cord blood transplant (RE: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.22-1.97, moderate certainty) were probably associated with an increased risk of BSI. Meta-analysis of studies with low risk of bias reassured that previous BSI before HSCT probably increased the risk of BSI (RE: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.19-4.34, moderate certainty), and revealed that steroid use (RE: 2.72; 95% CI: 1.31-5.64, moderate certainty) was likely a risk factor whereas autologous HSCT was probably a protective factor of BSI (RE: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.45-0.94, moderate certainty).

CONCLUSION

These findings could inform the management of paediatric HSCT recipients, helping identify who may benefit from prophylactic antibiotics.

[Association analysis between sex hormone levels and all-cause mortality in Hainan female centenarians]

Objective: To investigate the distribution characteristics of sex hormones and their relationship with all-cause mortality in Hainan female centenarians. Methods: All the subjects were from China Hainan Centenarian Cohort Study. A total of 717 female centenarians were included in the final analysis. Kaplan-Meier method was used to draw the survival curve, and Cox proportional hazard regression was used to analyze the relationship between sex hormones and survival time. Results: The M(Q1, Q3) of estradiol and progesterone among female centenarians was 32.60 (18.40, 58.70) pmol/L and 0.62 (0.32, 1.01) nmol/L. The estradiol (pmol/L) and progesterone (nmol/L) in the survival and death groups were 26.65 vs.37.80, 0.54 vs.0.69, respectively, with statistical differences (P<0.05). Cox multivariate analysis showed that estradiol and progesterone were significantly associated with death (P<0.05), the hazard ratio (HR) of estradiol Q4 was 1.58 (95%CI: 1.17-2.15), and the HR of progesterone Q3 was 1.53 (95%CI: 1.10-2.12), HR for Q4 was 1.63 (95%CI: 1.15-2.32). Subgroup and cross-analysis showed that estradiol was statistically significant with hypertension, diabetes, and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.05), and progesterone interacted with diabetes (P=0.016), while testosterone interacted with low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P=0.034). Conclusion: It is suggested that the estrogen levels of female centenarians in Hainan were associated with a higher mortality risk and an increased risk of cardiovascular metabolic disease (such as diabetes, hypertension, and abnormal lipid metabolism).

Two-stage classification strategy for breast cancer diagnosis using ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography and deep learning

Significance

Ultrasound (US)-guided diffuse optical tomography (DOT) has demonstrated great potential for breast cancer diagnosis in which real-time or near real-time diagnosis with high accuracy is desired.

Aim

We aim to use US-guided DOT to achieve an automated, fast, and accurate classification of breast lesions.

Approach

We propose a two-stage classification strategy with deep learning. In the first stage, US images and histograms created from DOT perturbation measurements are combined to predict benign lesions. Then the non-benign suspicious lesions are passed through to the second stage, which combine US image features, DOT histogram features, and 3D DOT reconstructed images for final diagnosis.

Results

The first stage alone identified 73.0% of benign cases without image reconstruction. In distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions in patient data, the two-stage classification approach achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.946, outperforming the diagnoses of all single-modality models and of a single-stage classification model that combines all US images, DOT histogram, and imaging features.

Conclusions

The proposed two-stage classification strategy achieves better classification accuracy than single-modality-only models and a single-stage classification model that combines all features. It can potentially distinguish breast cancers from benign lesions in near real-time.

[Comparison of the effects and safety of dydrogesterone and medroxyprogesterone acetate on endometrial hyperplasia without atypia: a randomized controlled non-inferior phase Ⅲ clinical study]

Objective: To compare the effects and safety of dydrogesterone (DG) and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on the treatment in patients with endometrial hyperplasia without atypia (EH). Methods: This was a single-center, open-label, prospective non-inferior randomized controlled phase Ⅲ trial. From February 2019 to November 2021, patients with EH admitted to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University were recruited. Enrolled patients were stratified according to the pathological types of simple hyperplasia (SH) or complex hyperplasia (CH), and were randomised to receive MPA or DG. Untill May 14, 2022, the median follow-up time after complete response (CR) was 9.3 months (1.1-17.2 months). The primary endpoint was the 6-month CR rate (6m-CR rate). The secondary endpoints included the 3-month CR rate (3m-CR rate), adverse events rate, recurrence rate, and pregnancy rate in one year after CR. Results: (1) A total of 292 patients with EH were enrolled in the study with the median age of 39 years (31-45 years). A total of 135 SH patients were randomly assigned to MPA group (n=67) and DG group (n=68), and 157 CH patients were randomly assigned to MPA group (n=79) and DG group (n=78). (2) Among 292 patients, 205 patients enrolled into the primary endpoint analysis, including 92 SH patients and 113 CH patients, with 100 patients in MPA group and 105 in DG group, respectively. The 6m-CR rate of MPA group and DG group were 90.0% (90/100) and 88.6% (93/105) respectively, and there were no statistical significance (χ²=0.11, P=0.741), with the rate difference (RD) was -1.4% (95%CI:-9.9%-7.0%). Stratified by the pathology types, the 6m-CR rate of SH patients was 93.5% (86/92), and MPA group and DG group were respectively 91.1% (41/45) and 95.7% (45/47); and the 6m-CR rate of CH patients was 85.8% (97/113), and MPA group and DG group were 89.1% (49/55) and 82.8% (48/58) respectively. The 6m-CR rates of the two treatments had no statistical significance either (all P>0.05). A total of 194 EH patients enrolled into the secondary endpoint analysis, including 88 SH patients and 106 CH patients, and 96 patients in MPA group and 98 in DG group, respectively. The 3m-CR rate of SH patients were 87.5% (77/88), while the 3m-CR rates of MPA group and DG group were 90.7% (39/43) and 84.4% (38/45), respectively; the 3m-CR rate of CH patients was 66.0% (70/106), and MPA group and DG group had the same 3m-CR rate of 66.0% (35/53). No statistical significance was found between the two treatments both in SH and CH patients (all P>0.05). (3) The incidence of adverse events between MPA group and DG group had no statistical significance (P>0.05). (4) A total of 93 SH patients achieved CR, and the cumulative recurrence rate in one year after CR were 5.9% and 0 in MPA group and DG group, respectively. While 112 CH patients achieved CR, and the cumulative recurrence rate in one year after CR were 8.8% and 6.5% in MPA group and DG group, respectively. There were no statistical significance between two treatment groups (all P>0.05). Among the 93 SH patients, 10 patients had family planning but no pregnancy happened during the follow-up period. Among the 112 CH patients, 21 were actively preparing for pregnancy, and the pregnancy rate and live-birth rate in one year after CR in MPA group were 7/9 and 2/7, while in DG group were respectively 4/12 and 2/4, and there were no statistical significance in pregnancy rate and live-birth rate between the two treatment groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Compared with MPA, DG is of good efficacy and safety in treating EH. DG is a favorable alternative treatment for EH patients.

[Effect of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on the clinical outcomes of patients infected with the Omicron variant in Guangdong Province]

Objective: To evaluate the effect of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on the clinical outcomes of patients infected with the Omicron variant. Methods: A total of 1 403 Omicron-infected patients admitted to 20 designated hospitals in Guangdong Province from January 1 to May 31, 2022, were selected as subjects in this study. A case-control study was conducted to collect the demographic data, underlying disease, vaccination status, last exposure date, gene sequencing of infected strains and clinical outcomes from the China Disease Prevention and Control Information System and Guangdong telemedicine platform. Pneumonia (common, severe and critical) and non-pneumonia (asymptomatic and mild) were selected as the case group and control group. The effect of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine on the clinical outcomes of patients infected with the Omicron variant was analyzed. Results: The median age [M (Q₁, Q₃)] of the subjects was 36 (27-47) years old, with males accounting for 52.25% (733 cases). The main outcome of the infection was non-pneumonia, accounting for 92.09% (1 292 cases), and the duration [M (Q₁, Q₃)] of the disease was 18 (14-22) days. There were 134 (9.55%), 39 (2.78%), 403 (28.72%), 437 (31.15%) and 390 (27.80%) cases with no or partial vaccination, within 90 days of primary vaccination, over 90 days of primary vaccination, within 90 days of booster vaccination and over 90 days of booster vaccination, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that after adjusting for gender, age, underlying disease, and location of the report, compared with those with no or partial vaccination, the risk of developing pneumonia was lower in those with over 90 days of primary vaccination, within 90 days of booster vaccination and over 90 days of booster vaccination [OR (95%CI) values were 0.52 (0.28-0.98), 0.39 (0.21-0.73) and 0.40 (0.21-0.77), respectively]. Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that after adjusting for gender, age, underlying disease and location of the report, the duration of the disease was shorter in those who received booster vaccinated for more than 90 days compared with that in those who had no or partial vaccination [HR (95%CI): 1.26 (1.03-1.55)]. Conclusion: The inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine affects the clinical outcomes of patients infected with the Omicron variant.

Enhanced 3D visualization of human fallopian tube morphology using a miniature optical coherence tomography catheter

We demonstrate the use of our miniature optical coherence tomography catheter to acquire three-dimensional human fallopian tube images. Images of the fallopian tube's tissue morphology, vasculature, and tissue heterogeneity distribution are enhanced by adaptive thresholding, masking, and intensity inverting, making it easier to differentiate malignant tissue from normal tissue. The results show that normal fallopian tubes tend to have rich vasculature accompanied by a patterned tissue scattering background, features that do not appear in malignant cases. This finding suggests that miniature OCT catheters may have great potential for fast optical biopsy of the fallopian tube.

Depth-resolved attenuation mapping of the human ovary and fallopian tube using optical coherence tomography

Due to the lack of reliable early-diagnostic tools, most ovarian cancers are diagnosed at late stages. Although optical coherence tomography (OCT) has shown promise for identifying diseased ovaries and fallopian tubes at an earlier stage, previous studies either did not provide quantitative scattering mapping or simply used Beer's law to fit the scattering coefficients of each A-line. In this paper, we calculated the pixel-wise attenuation coefficients of ovaries and fallopian tubes in OCT images. Data from 73 freshly excised human ovaries and fallopian tubes from 36 patients have shown that statistical features are statistically different between cancerous ovaries, infundibula, and fimbriae and normal ones.

[Therapeutic mechanism of Guizhi Gancao Decoction for heart failure: a network pharmacology-based analysis]

OBJECTIVE

To predict the targets and pathways in the therapeutic mechanism of Guizhi Gancao Decoction (GZGCD) against heart failure (HF) based on network pharmacology.

METHODS

The chemical components of GZGCD were analyzed using the databases including TCMSP, TCMID and TCM@Taiwan, and the potential targets of GZGCD were predicted using the SwissTargetPrediction database. The targets of HF were obtained using the databases including DisGeNET, Drugbank and TTD. The intersection targets of GZGCD and HF were identified using VENNY. Uniport database was used to convert the information, and the components-targets-disease network was constructed using Cytoscape software. The Bisogene plug-in, Merge plug-in, and CytoNCA plug-in in Cytoscape software were used for protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis to acquire the core targets. Metascape database was used for GO and KEGG analysis. The results of network pharmacology analysis were verified with Western blot analysis. Three factors (PKCα, ERK1/2 and BCL2) were screened according to the degree value of network pharmacology results and the degree of correlation with heart failure process. The pentobarbtal sodium was dissolvein H9C2 cells treated with serum-free high glucose medium to simulate the ischemic anoxic environment of heart failure. The total proteins of myocardial cells were extracted. The protein contents of PKCα, ERK1/2 and BCL2 were determined.

RESULTS

We identified a total of 190 intersection targets between GZGCD and HF using Venny database, involving mainly the circulatory system process, cellular response to nitrogen compounds, cation homeostasis, and regulation of the MAPK cascade. These potential targets were also involved in 38 pathways, including the regulatory pathways in cancer, calcium signal pathway, cGMP-PKG signal pathway, and cAMP signal pathway. Western blot analysis showed that in an in vitro H9C2 cell model of HF, treatment with GZGCD downregulated PKCα and ERK1/2 expressions and upregulated BCL2 expression.

CONCLUSION

The therapeutic mechanism of GZGCD for HF involves multiple targets including PRKCA, PRKCB, MAPK1, MAPK3, and MAPK8 and multiple pathways including the regulatory pathway in cancer and the calcium signaling pathway.

[Influence of sleep fragmentation in infancy and toddler period on emotional and behavioral problem at the age of 6 years: a birth cohort study]

Objective: To investigate the influence of sleep fragmentation in infancy and toddler period on emotional and behavioral problems at the age of 6 years. Methods: Using a prospective cohort design, 262 children were extracted from mother-child birth cohort recruited from May 2012 to July 2013 in Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Children's sleep and physical activities were assessed using actigraphy at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months of age, from which the sleep fragmentation index (FI) at each follow-up point was calculated. Children's emotional and behavioral problems at 6 years of age were assessed using the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Group-based trajectory model was applied to determine sleep FI in infancy and toddler period trajectory groups with Bayesian information criteria being used to determine the best fitting model. Children's emotional and behavioral problems between groups were examined with independent t test and linear regression models, etc. Results: A total of 177 children, with 91 boys and 86 girls, were included in the final analysis and were divided into 2 groups: high FI group (n=30) and low FI group (n=147). Compared with children in the low FI group, those in the high FI group presents with higher total difficulties score and higher hyperactivity or inattention score ((11.0±4.9) vs. (8.9±4.1), (4.9±2.7) vs. (3.7±2.3) scores, t=2.17, 2.23, both P<0.05, respectively), with the differences remaining significant after adjusting for covariates (t=2.08, 2.09, both P<0.05 respectively). Conclusion: High sleep fragmentation in infancy and toddler period is associated with more emotional and behavioral problems, especially hyperactivity or inattention problems, at 6 years of age.

Cylindrical lens configuration for optimizing light delivery in a curvilinear endocavity photoacoustic imaging system

Curvilinear endocavity ultrasound images capture a wide field of view with a miniature probe. In adapting photoacoustic imaging (PAI) to work with such ultrasound systems, light delivery is challenged by the trade-off between image quality and laser safety concerns. Here, we present two novel, to the best of our knowledge, designs based on cylindrical lenses that are optimized for transvaginal PAI B-scan imaging. Our simulation and experimental results demonstrate that, compared to conventional light delivery methods for PAI imaging, the proposed designs are safer for higher pulse energies and provide deeper imaging and a wider lateral field of view. The proposed designs could also improve the performance of endoscopic co-registered ultrasound/photoacoustic imaging in other clinical applications.

Deep learning based on co-registered ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging improves the assessment of rectal cancer treatment response

Identifying complete response (CR) after rectal cancer preoperative treatment is critical to deciding subsequent management. Imaging techniques, including endorectal ultrasound and MRI, have been investigated but have low negative predictive values. By imaging post-treatment vascular normalization using photoacoustic microscopy, we hypothesize that co-registered ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging will better identify complete responders. In this study, we used in vivo data from 21 patients to develop a robust deep learning model (US-PAM DenseNet) based on co-registered dual-modality ultrasound (US) and photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) images and individualized normal reference images. We tested the model's accuracy in differentiating malignant from non-cancer tissue. Compared to models based on US alone (classification accuracy 82.9 ± 1.3%, AUC 0.917(95%CI: 0.897-0.937)), the addition of PAM and normal reference images improved the model performance significantly (accuracy 92.4 ± 0.6%, AUC 0.968(95%CI: 0.960-0.976)) without increasing model complexity. Additionally, while US models could not reliably differentiate images of cancer from those of normalized tissue with complete treatment response, US-PAM DenseNet made accurate predictions from these images. For use in the clinical settings, US-PAM DenseNet was extended to classify entire US-PAM B-scans through sequential ROI classification. Finally, to help focus surgical evaluation in real time, we computed attention heat maps from the model predictions to highlight suspicious cancer regions. We conclude that US-PAM DenseNet could improve the clinical care of rectal cancer patients by identifying complete responders with higher accuracy than current imaging techniques.

Fusion deep learning approach combining diffuse optical tomography and ultrasound for improving breast cancer classification

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a promising technique that provides functional information related to tumor angiogenesis. However, reconstructing the DOT function map of a breast lesion is an ill-posed and underdetermined inverse process. A co-registered ultrasound (US) system that provides structural information about the breast lesion can improve the localization and accuracy of DOT reconstruction. Additionally, the well-known US characteristics of benign and malignant breast lesions can further improve cancer diagnosis based on DOT alone. Inspired by a fusion model deep learning approach, we combined US features extracted by a modified VGG-11 network with images reconstructed from a DOT deep learning auto-encoder-based model to form a new neural network for breast cancer diagnosis. The combined neural network model was trained with simulation data and fine-tuned with clinical data: it achieved an AUC of 0.931 (95% CI: 0.919-0.943), superior to those achieved using US images alone (0.860) or DOT images alone (0.842).

[Peripheral blood KCNMA1 methylation level is associated with the occurrence and progression of lung cancer]

OBJECTIVE

To explore the association of KCNMA1 gene methylation levels in peripheral blood with lung cancer.

METHODS

The methylation levels of 4 CpG sites in KCNMA1 gene were quantitatively detected in 285 patients with lung cancer, 186 age- and sex-matched patients with benign pulmonary nodules and 278 matched healthy control subjects using mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). The association of KCNMA1 methylation levels with lung cancer was analyzed using logistic regression models adjusted for covariates. The KCNMA1 methylation levels in different subgroups of lung cancer patients were compared using Mann-Whitney U test.

RESULTS

In subjects over 55 years and in female subjects, the highest quartile (Q4) vs the lowest quartile (Q1) of KCNMA1_CpG_5 methylation levels were significantly correlated with lung cancer (for subjects over 55 years: OR=2.60, 95% CI: 1.25-5.41, P=0.011; for female subjects: OR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.03?4.26, P=0.042). From Q2 to Q4 of KCNMA1_CpG_5 methylation levels, their correlation with lung cancer became gradually stronger (P=0.003 and 0.038, respectively). In male subjects, the OR of Q4 of KCNMA1_CpG_5 methylation levels was 0.35 in patients with lung cancer as compared with patients with benign nodules (95% CI: 0.16-0.79, P=0.012). KCNMA1_CpG_3 methylation level was significantly lower in invasive adenocarcinoma than in noninvasive adenocarcinoma (P=0.028), and that of KCNMA1_CpG_1 was significantly higher in patients with larger tumors (T2-4) than in those with smaller tumors (T1) (P=0.021).

CONCLUSION

The change of peripheral blood KCNMA1 methylation level is correlated with the occurrence and development of lung cancer.

A Coregistered Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Imaging Protocol for the Transvaginal Imaging of Ovarian Lesions

Ovarian cancer remains the deadliest of all the gynecological malignancies due to the lack of reliable screening tools for early detection and diagnosis. Photoacoustic imaging or tomography (PAT) is an emerging imaging modality that can provide the total hemoglobin concentration (relative scale, rHbT) and blood oxygen saturation (%sO2) of ovarian/adnexal lesions, which are important parameters for cancer diagnosis. Combined with coregistered ultrasound (US), PAT has demonstrated great potential for detecting ovarian cancers and for accurately diagnosing ovarian lesions for effective risk assessment and the reduction of unnecessary surgeries of benign lesions. However, PAT imaging protocols in clinical applications, to our knowledge, largely vary among different studies. Here, we report a transvaginal ovarian cancer imaging protocol that can be beneficial to other clinical studies, especially those using commercial ultrasound arrays for the detection of photoacoustic signals and standard delay-and-sum beamforming algorithms for imaging.

Ultrasound-enhanced Unet model for quantitative photoacoustic tomography of ovarian lesions

Quantitative photoacoustic tomography (QPAT) is a valuable tool in characterizing ovarian lesions for accurate diagnosis. However, accurately reconstructing a lesion's optical absorption distributions from photoacoustic signals measured with multiple wavelengths is challenging because it involves an ill-posed inverse problem with three unknowns: the Grüneisen parameter ( Γ ) , the absorption distribution, and the optical fluence ( ϕ ) . Here, we propose a novel ultrasound-enhanced Unet model (US-Unet) that reconstructs optical absorption distribution from PAT data. A pre-trained ResNet-18 extracts the US features typically identified as morphologies of suspicious ovarian lesions, and a Unet is implemented to reconstruct optical absorption coefficient maps, using the initial pressure and US features extracted by ResNet-18. To test this US-Unet model, we calculated the blood oxygenation saturation values and total hemoglobin concentrations from 655 regions of interest (ROIs) (421 benign, 200 malignant, and 34 borderline ROIs) obtained from clinical images of 35 patients with ovarian/adnexal lesions. A logistic regression model was used to compute the ROC, the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.94, and the accuracy was 0.89. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to reconstruct quantitative PAT with PA signals and US-based structural features.

[Dynamic analysis of tuberculosis specific mononuclear cells in peripheral blood of HIV patients with tuberculosis]

Objective: To evaluate the response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) combined with active tuberculosis (TB) to TB-specific antigen stimulation. Methods: From January to December, 2018, individuals infected with both HIV and TB (HIV/TB group) were taken as the study subjects. Individuals infected with HIV alone (HIV group), individuals infected with TB alone (TB group) and healthy people (Health control group, HC group) were taken as the control groups. PBMCs were isolated and stimulated with purified protein derivative of bacillus calmette-guerin (BCG-PPD). The expression of surface molecules in T cells (CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺) and monocytes (CD14⁺) and the percentages of Interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α were detected by cell surface molecular staining, direct intracellular cytokine staining and flow cytometry (CD3^- lymphocytes were mainly B lymphocytes and NK cells). Analysis of non-parametric data was used to compare the data between the two groups, and paired t-test was used to compare the data before and after PPD stimulation in each group. Results: Before PPD stimulation, the percentage of IFN-γ⁺ CD8⁺ cells in the peripheral blood of HIV/TB group(mean 0.52%) was significantly lower than that in TB group(mean 0.94%, P=0.010). The TNF-α⁺cell percentages in CD3⁺, CD4⁺, CD8⁺, or CD14⁺ cells in the HIV/TB group(mean 19.2%) were significantly lower than those in the HIV group(mean 31.9%, P=0.002). The percentage of TNF-α secreted by monocytes in the HIV group was significantly lower than that in the HC group. The percentages of IFN-γ⁺ CD8⁺ and IFN-γ⁺ CD3^- cells in the peripheral blood of the TB group (mean 0.94%) were significantly higher than thoset in the HC group(mean 0.51%, P=0.020), while the percentages of TNF-α⁺ cells in each subsets of PBMCs were significantly lower than those in the HC group. After PPD stimulation, the percentage of IFN-γ⁺ CD8⁺ cells in the HIV/TB group was significantly lower than that in the TB group(P=0.008), and the change was more marked than that before stimulation. The percentage of IFN-γ⁺ CD8⁺ cells in the HIV group(mean 0.20%) was lower than that in the HC group (mean 0.52%, P=0.044). The percentage of IFN-γ⁺ CD3^- in the TB group was significantly higher than in the HC group. There were no significant differences in TNF-α⁺ cell percentages in the 3 groups compared with the control group after PPD stimulation. The percentages of IFN-γ⁺ CD4⁺ cells in the HC and the TB groups were significantly increased after PPD stimulation in each group (P=0.002, P=0.001, respectively). However, there were no significant differences of IFN-γ⁺ CD4⁺ cell percentages in the HIV/TB group and the HIV group. The percentages of TNF-α production by monocytes were significantly increased after PPD stimulation in all groups. Conclusions: Chronic Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection reduced the ability of PBMCs to produce TNF-α. For patients with TB infection, the production of TNF-α was reduced when combined with HIV infection. The capacity of CD8⁺ and CD3^- lymphocytes to produce IFN-γ was increased in TB patients, while the capacity of CD8⁺ T cells to produce IFN-γ was decreased with co-infection of HIV. Infection of HIV weakened the immune response to MTB infection, which made the clinical diagnosis and treatment of TB more difficult.

THIRD bedside ultrasound protocol for rapid diagnosis of undifferentiated shock: a prospective observational study

INTRODUCTION

It is clinically challenging to differentiate the pathophysiological types of shock in emergency situations. Here, we evaluated the ability of a novel bedside ultrasound protocol (Tamponade/tension pneumothorax, Heart, Inferior vena cava, Respiratory system, Deep venous thrombosis/aorta dissection [THIRD]) to predict types of shock in the emergency department.

METHODS

An emergency physician performed the THIRD protocol on all patients with shock who were admitted to the emergency department. All patients were closely followed to determine their final clinical diagnoses. The kappa index, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were calculated for the initial diagnostic impression provided by the THIRD protocol, compared with each patient's final diagnosis.

RESULTS

In total, 112 patients were enrolled in this study. The kappa index between initial impression and final diagnosis was 0.81 (95% confidence interval=0.73-0.89; P<0.001). For hypovolaemic, cardiogenic, distributive, and obstructive types of shock, the sensitivities of the THIRD protocol were 100%, 100%, 93%, and 100%, respectively; the sensitivity for a 'mixed' shock aetiology was 86%. The negative predictive value of the THIRD protocol for all five types of shock was ≥96%.

CONCLUSION

Initial diagnostic judgements determined using the THIRD protocol showed favourable agreement with the final diagnosis in patients who presented with undifferentiated shock. The THIRD protocol has great potential for use as a bedside approach that can guide the rapid management of undifferentiated shock in emergency settings, particularly for patients with obstructive, hypovolaemic, or cardiogenic shock.

Quantification of ovarian lesion and fallopian tube vasculature using optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy

The heterogeneity in the pathological and clinical manifestations of ovarian cancer is a major hurdle impeding early and accurate diagnosis. A host of imaging modalities, including Doppler ultrasound, MRI, and CT, have been investigated to improve the assessment of ovarian lesions. We hypothesized that pathologic conditions might affect the ovarian vasculature and that these changes might be detectable by optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM). In our previous work, we developed a benchtop OR-PAM and demonstrated it on a limited set of ovarian and fallopian tube specimens. In this study, we collected data from over 50 patients, supporting a more robust statistical analysis. We then developed an efficient custom analysis pipeline for characterizing the vascular features of the samples, including the mean vessel diameter, vascular density, global vascular directionality, local vascular definition, and local vascular tortuosity/branchedness. Phantom studies using carbon fibers showed that our algorithm was accurate within an acceptable error range. Between normal ovaries and normal fallopian tubes, we observed significant differences in five of six extracted vascular features. Further, we showed that distinct subsets of vascular features could distinguish normal ovaries from cystic, fibrous, and malignant ovarian lesions. In addition, a statistically significant difference was found in the mean vascular tortuosity/branchedness values of normal and abnormal tubes. The findings support the proposition that OR-PAM can help distinguish the severity of tubal and ovarian pathologies.

Modeling Global Carbon Costs of Plant Nitrogen and Phosphorus Acquisition

Most Earth system models (ESMs) do not explicitly represent the carbon (C) costs of plant nutrient acquisition, which leads to uncertainty in predictions of the current and future constraints to the land C sink. We integrate a plant productivity-optimizing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) acquisition model (fixation & uptake of nutrients, FUN) into the energy exascale Earth system (E3SM) land model (ELM). Global plant N and P uptake are dynamically simulated by ELM-FUN based on the C costs of nutrient acquisition from mycorrhizae, direct root uptake, retranslocation from senescing leaves, and biological N fixation. We benchmarked ELM-FUN with three classes of products: ILAMB, a remotely sensed nutrient limitation product, and CMIP6 models; we found significant improvements in C cycle variables, although the lack of more observed nutrient data prevents a comprehensive level of benchmarking. Overall, we found N and P co-limitation for 80% of land area, with the remaining 20% being either predominantly N or P limited. Globally, the new model predicts that plants invested 4.1 Pg C yr-1 to acquire 841.8 Tg N yr-1 and 48.1 Tg P yr-1 (1994-2005), leading to significant downregulation of global net primary production (NPP). Global NPP is reduced by 20% with C costs of N and 50% with C costs of NP. Modeled and observed nutrient limitation agreement increases when N and P are considered together (r 2 from 0.73 to 0.83).

Difference imaging from single measurements in diffuse optical tomography: a deep learning approach

SIGNIFICANCE

"Difference imaging," which reconstructs target optical properties using measurements with and without target information, is often used in diffuse optical tomography (DOT) in vivo imaging. However, taking additional reference measurements is time consuming, and mismatches between the target medium and the reference medium can cause inaccurate reconstruction.

AIM

We aim to streamline the data acquisition and mitigate the mismatch problems in DOT difference imaging using a deep learning-based approach to generate data from target measurements only.

APPROACH

We train an artificial neural network to output data for difference imaging from target measurements only. The model is trained and validated on simulation data and tested with simulations, phantom experiments, and clinical data from 56 patients with breast lesions.

RESULTS

The proposed method has comparable performance to the traditional approach using measurements without mismatch between the target side and the reference side, and it outperforms the traditional approach using measurements when there is a mismatch. It also improves the target-to-artifact ratio and lesion localization in patient data.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed method can simplify the data acquisition procedure, mitigate mismatch problems, and improve reconstructed image quality in DOT difference imaging.

[An adaptive CT metal artifact reduction algorithm that combines projection interpolation and physical correction]

OBJECTIVE

To propose an adaptive weighted CT metal artifact reduce algorithm that combines projection interpolation and physical correction.

METHODS

A normalized metal projection interpolation algorithm was used to obtain the initial corrected projection data. A metal physical correction model was then introduced to obtain the physically corrected projection data. To verify the effectiveness of the method, we conducted experiments using simulation data and clinical data. For the simulation data, the quantitative indicators PSNR and SSIM were used for evaluation, while for the clinical data, the resultant images were evaluated by imaging experts to compare the artifact-reducing performance of different methods.

RESULTS

For the simulation data, the proposed method improved the PSNR value by at least 0.2 dB and resulted in the highest SSIM value among the methods for comparison. The experiment with the clinical data showed that the imaging experts gave the highest scores of 3.616±0.338 (in a 5-point scale) to the images processed using the proposed method, which had significant better artifact-reducing performance than the other methods (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The metal artifact reduction algorithm proposed herein can effectively reduce metal artifacts while preserving the tissue structure information and reducing the generation of new artifacts.

Human colorectal cancer tissue assessment using optical coherence tomography catheter and deep learning

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can differentiate normal colonic mucosa from neoplasia, potentially offering a new mechanism of endoscopic tissue assessment and biopsy targeting, with a high optical resolution and an imaging depth of ~1 mm. Recent advances in convolutional neural networks (CNN) have enabled application in ophthalmology, cardiology, and gastroenterology malignancy detection with high sensitivity and specificity. Here, we describe a miniaturized OCT catheter and a residual neural network (ResNet)-based deep learning model manufactured and trained to perform automatic image processing and real-time diagnosis of the OCT images. The OCT catheter has an outer diameter of 3.8 mm, a lateral resolution of ~7 μm, and an axial resolution of ~6 μm. A customized ResNet is utilized to classify OCT catheter colorectal images. An area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.975 is achieved to distinguish between normal and cancerous colorectal tissue images.

[Safety and efficacy of left atrial appendage closure combined with patent foramen ovale closure for atrial fibrillation patients with patent foramen ovale]

Objective: To analyze the safety and efficacy of combined left atrial appendage (LAA) and patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure in adult atrial fibrillation (AF) patients complicating with PFO. Methods: This study is a retrospective and cross-sectional study. Seven patients with AF complicated with PFO diagnosed by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in Zhoupu Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences from June 2017 to October 2020 were selected. Basic data such as age, gender and medical history were collected. The atrial septal defect or PFO occluder and LAA occluder were selected according to the size of PFO, the ostia width and depth of LAA. Four patients underwent left atrial appendage closure(LAAC) and PFO closure at the same time. PFO closure was performed during a one-stop procedure of cryoablation combined with LAAC in 2 patients. One patient underwent PFO closure at 10 weeks after one-stop procedure because of recurrent transient ischemic attack (TIA). All patients continued to take oral anticoagulants. TEE was repeated 8-12 weeks after intervention. In case of device related thrombus(DRT), TEE shall be rechecked 6 months after adjusting anticoagulant and antiplatelet drug treatment. Patients were follow-up at 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 months by telephone call, and the occurrence of cardio-cerebrovascular events was recorded. Results: Among the 7 patients with AF, 2 were male, aged (68.0±9.4) years, and 3 had a history of recurrent cerebral infarction and TIA. Average PFO diameter was (3.5±0.8)mm. Three patients were implanted with Watchman LAA occluder (30, 30, 33 mm) and atrial septal defect occluder (8, 9, 16 mm). 2 patients were implanted with LAmbre LAA occluder (34/38, 18/32 mm) and PFO occluder (PF1825, PF2525). 2 patients were implanted with LACbes LAA occluder (24, 28 mm) and PFO occluder (PF2525, PF1825) respectively. The patients were followed up for 12 (11, 24) months after operation. TEE reexamination showed that the position of LAA occluder and atrial septal defect occluder or PFO occluder was normal in all patients. DRT was detected in 1 patient, and anticoagulant therapy was adjusted in this patient. 6 months later, TEE showed that DRT disappeared. No cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events occurred in all patients with AF during follow-up. Conclusions: In AF patients complicated with PFO, LAAC combined with PFO closure may have good safety and effectiveness.

[Progress on clinical trials of common gastrointestinal cancer drugs in China from 2012 to 2021]

Objective: Systematically summarize the research progress of clinical trials of gastric cancer oncology drugs and the overview of marketed drugs in China from 2012 to 2021, providing data and decision-making evidence for relevant departments. Methods: Based on the registration database of the drug clinical trial registration and information disclosure platform of Food and Drug Administration of China and the data query system of domestic and imported drugs, the information on gastric cancer drug clinical trials, investigational drugs and marketed drugs from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2021 was analyzed, and the differences between Chinese and foreign enterprises in terms of trial scope, trial phase, treatment lines and drug type, effect and mechanism studies were compared. Results: A total of 114 drug clinical trials related to gastric tumor were registered in China from 2012 to 2021, accounting for 3.7% (114/3 041) of all anticancer drug clinical trials in the same period, the registration number showed a significant growth rate after 2016 and reached its peak with 32 trials in 2020. Among them, 85 (74.6%, 85/114) trials were initiated by Chinese pharmaceutical enterprise. Compared with foreign pharmaceutical enterprise, Chinese pharmaceutical enterprise had higher rates of phase I trials (35.3% vs 6.9%, P=0.001), but the rate of international multicenter trials (11.9% vs 67.9%, P<0.001) was relatively low. There were 76 different drugs involved in relevant clinical trials, of which 65 (85.5%) were targeted drugs. For targeted drugs, HER2 is the most common one (14 types), followed by PD-1 and multi-target VEGER. In the past ten years, 3 of 4 marketed drugs for gastric cancer treatment were domestic and included in the national medical insurance directory. Conclusions: From 2012 to 2021, China has made some progress in drug research and development for gastric carcinoma. However, compared with the serious disease burden, it is still insufficient. Targeted strengthening of research and development of investment in many aspects of gastric cancer drugs, such as new target discovery, matured target excavating, combination drug development and early line therapy promotion, is the key work in the future, especially for domestic companies.

Evidence of a shared binding site for Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa toxins in Cnaphalocrocis medinalis cadherin

Insect midgut cadherins function as receptors and play critical roles as protein receptors of insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins used as biopesticides and in Bt transgenic crops worldwide. Here, we cloned and characterized the full-length midgut cadherin (CmCad) cDNA from the rice leaffolder (Cnaphalocrocis medinalis), a destructive pest of rice in many Asian countries. Expression of recombinant proteins corresponding to the extracellular domain of CmCad allowed testing binding of Cry proteins. Results from in vitro ligand blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays supported that the extracellular domain of CmCad contains regions recognized by both Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa. Molecular modelling and docking simulations indicated that binding to both Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa is localized primarily within a CmCad motif corresponding to residues T1417-D1435. A recombinant CmCad protein produced without residues T1417-D1435 lacked binding to Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa, confirmed our modelling predictions that CmCad has a shared Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa binding site. The potential existence of a shared binding region in CmCad suggests that caution should be taken when using combinations of Cry1Ac and Cry2Aa in pyramided transgenic rice, as their combined use could speed the evolution of resistance to both toxins.

[Association between nutritional status and depression among centenarians in Hainan Province]

Objective: To explore the relationship between nutritional status and depression of centenarians in Hainan Province. Methods: A total of 1 002 elderly people in Hainan Province who were 100 years of age or older on June 1, 2014 were included in the study. The basic condition questionnaire, Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living-Lawton scale (Lawton-IADL) and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were used to collect the subjects' demographic characteristics, disease history, nutritional status, functional status of daily activities, and depression, respectively. The restricted cubic spline fitting logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between the scores of MNA-SF and depression. The multivariable logistic regression model was used to analyze the relationship between nutritional status and depression in the total population and different subgroups of daily activity function. Results: The M (Q₁, Q₃) of subjects' age was 102 (101, 104) years old, among which 82.0% (822) were women. The prevalence of malnutrition, impaired daily activities, and depression was 20.8% (208 cases), 64.7% (648 cases) and 28.5%(286 cases), respectively. Restricted cubic spline fitting logistic regression model showed a linear association between the scores of the MNA-SF and depression (P=0.251). The higher the MNA-SF score was, the lower the risk of depression was in centenarians. Multivariable logistic regression model analysis showed that after adjusting for sex, education level, diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, visual function, hearing function, and functional status of daily activities, malnutrition was positively associated with the development of depression in the total population and the subgroup with impaired daily activities [OR (95%CI) was 1.50 (1.07-2.11) and 1.56 (1.09-2.24), respectively], but not in the subgroup with good daily activities [OR (95%CI): 0.77 (0.21-2.80)]. Conclusion: Malnutrition is positively associated with depression, especially in the centenarians with impaired daily activities.