Deep learning-based automatic pipeline system for predicting lateral cervical lymph node metastasis in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma using computed tomography:A multi-center study

Objective:The assessment of lateral lymph node metastasis(LLNM)in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC)holds great significance.This study aims to develop and evaluate a deep learning-based automatic pipeline system(DLAPS)for diagnosing LLNM in PTC using computed tomography(CT).Methods:A total of 1,266 lateral lymph nodes(LLNs)from 519 PTC patients who underwent CT examinations from January 2019 to November 2022 were included and divided into training and validation set,internal test set,pooled external test set,and prospective test set.The DLAPS consists of an auto-segmentation network based on RefineNet model and a classification network based on ensemble model(ResNet,Xception,and DenseNet).The performance of the DLAPS was compared with that of manually segmented DL models,the clinical model,and Node Reporting and Data System(Node-RADS).The improvement of radiologists’diagnostic performance under the DLAPS-assisted strategy was explored.In addition,bulk RNA-sequencing was conducted based on 12 LLNs to reveal the underlying biological basis of the DLAPS.Results:The DLAPS yielded good performance with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC)of 0.872,0.910,and 0.822 in the internal,pooled external,and prospective test sets,respectively.The DLAPS significantly outperformed clinical models(AUC 0.731,P<0.001)and Node-RADS(AUC 0.602,P<0.001)in the internal test set.Moreover,the performance of the DLAPS was comparable to that of the manually segmented deep learning(DL)model with AUCs ranging 0.814−0.901 in three test sets.Furthermore,the DLAPSassisted strategy improved the performance of radiologists and enhanced inter-observer consistency.In clinical situations,the rate of unnecessary LLN dissection decreased from 33.33%to 7.32%.Furthermore,the DLAPS was associated with the cell-cell conjunction in the microenvironment.Conclusions:Using CT images from PTC patients,the DLAPS could effectively segment and classify LLNs non-invasively,and this system had a good generalization ability and clinical applicability.

Detection and classification of breast lesions using multiple information on contrast-enhanced mammography by a multiprocess deep-learning system: A multicenter study

Objective: Accurate detection and classification of breast lesions in early stage is crucial to timely formulate effective treatments for patients. We aim to develop a fully automatic system to detect and classify breast lesions using multiple contrast-enhanced mammography(CEM) images.Methods: In this study, a total of 1,903 females who underwent CEM examination from three hospitals were enrolled as the training set, internal testing set, pooled external testing set and prospective testing set. Here we developed a CEM-based multiprocess detection and classification system(MDCS) to perform the task of detection and classification of breast lesions. In this system, we introduced an innovative auxiliary feature fusion(AFF)algorithm that could intelligently incorporates multiple types of information from CEM images. The average freeresponse receiver operating characteristic score(AFROC-Score) was presented to validate system’s detection performance, and the performance of classification was evaluated by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC). Furthermore, we assessed the diagnostic value of MDCS through visual analysis of disputed cases,comparing its performance and efficiency with that of radiologists and exploring whether it could augment radiologists’ performance.Results: On the pooled external and prospective testing sets, MDCS always maintained a high standalone performance, with AFROC-Scores of 0.953 and 0.963 for detection task, and AUCs for classification were 0.909[95% confidence interval(95% CI): 0.822-0.996] and 0.912(95% CI: 0.840-0.985), respectively. It also achieved higher sensitivity than all senior radiologists and higher specificity than all junior radiologists on pooled external and prospective testing sets. Moreover, MDCS performed superior diagnostic efficiency with an average reading time of 5 seconds, compared to the radiologists’ average reading time of 3.2 min. The average performance of all radiologists was also improved to varying degrees with MDCS assistance.Conclusions: MDCS demonstrated excellent performance in the detection and classification of breast lesions,and greatly enhanced the overall performance of radiologists.

Effect of thickness of antimony selenide film on its photoelectric properties and microstructure

Antimony selenide(Sb2Se3) films are widely used in phase change memory and solar cells due to their stable switching effect and excellent photovoltaic properties. These properties of the films are affected by the film thickness. A method combining the advantages of Levenberg–Marquardt method and spectral fitting method(LM–SFM) is presented to study the dependence of refractive index(RI), absorption coefficient, optical band gap, Wemple–Di Domenico parameters, dielectric constant and optical electronegativity of the Sb2Se3films on their thickness. The results show that the RI and absorption coefficient of the Sb2Se3films increase with the increase of film thickness, while the optical band gap decreases with the increase of film thickness. Finally, the reasons why the optical and electrical properties of the film change with its thickness are explained by x-ray diffractometer(XRD), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometer(EDS), Mott–Davis state density model and Raman microstructure analysis.

奶牛围产期脂肪因子变化对胰岛素信号通路的影响

奶牛围产期出现能量负平衡,动员体脂供能并释放游离性脂肪酸(free fat acid, FFA)是酮病的始发因素,且由于泌乳期外周胰岛素抵抗和产后胰岛素水平降低,胰岛素作为抑制FFA释放的关键激素并不能很好地发挥其生理作用。文章旨在阐述奶牛围产期与脂代谢和糖代谢相关的主要胰岛素信号通路,包括磷脂酰肌醇3-激酶(phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, PI3K)通路、丝裂原活化蛋白激酶(mitogen-activated protein kinase, MAPK)通路等,以及脂肪因子通过这些通路对胰岛素敏感性的影响,为进一步研究酮病的发病机制及防控靶点提供理论基础。

奶牛围产期低血钙及酮病的营养调控

本文针对以产后低血钙、酮病为代表的奶牛围产期营养代谢病,从发病机理、临床表现、预防控制突破点和营养调控关键点等方面进行阐述,以期为围产期营养代谢病的综合调控提供依据。

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human placenta suppress allogeneic umbilical cord blood lymphocyte proliferation

Human placenta-derived mononuclear cells （MNC） were isolated by a Percoll density gradient and cultured in mesenchymal stem cell （MSC） maintenance medium. The homogenous layer of adherent cells exhibited a typical fibroblastlike morphology, a large expansive potential, and cell cycle characteristics including a subset of quiescent cells. In vitro differentiation assays showed the tripotential differentiation capacity of these cells toward adipogenic, osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages. Flow cytometry analyses and immunocytochemistry stain showed that placental MSC was a homogeneous cell population devoid of hematopoietic cells, which uniformly expressed CD29, CD44, CD73, CD105, CD166, laminin, fibronectin and vimentin while being negative for expression of CD31, CD34, CD45 and m-smooth muscle actin. Most importantly, immuno-phenotypic analyses demonstrated that these cells expressed class Ⅰ major histocompatibility complex （MHC-I）, but they did not express MHC-Ⅱ molecules. Additionally these cells could suppress umbilical cord blood （UCB） lymphocytes proliferation induced by cellular or nonspecific mitogenic stimuli. This strongly implies that they may have potential application in allograft transplantation. Since placenta and UCB are homogeneous, the MSC derived from human placenta can be transplanted combined with hematopoietic stem cells （HSC） from UCB to reduce the potential graft-versus-host disease （GVHD） in recipients.

Taurine and vitamin C influence 8-nitroguanine brain expression following sub-chronic arsenic exposure in the mouse

BACKGROUND： Arsenic-induced overproduction of reactive nitrogen species results in damage to biomacromolecules in tissues. This is one of major mechanisms of toxic effects due to arsenic. It is assumed that taurine and vitamin C prevent overproduction of peroxynitrite （ONOO） and resist arseniasis by decreasing oxygen-free radical production. OBJECTIVE： To investigate the intervention effects of taurine and vitamin C on 8-nitroguanine （8-NO2-G） expression in the brain of mice exposed to arsenic. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING： A randomized, controlled, animal experiment was performed at the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Dalian Medical University, China between March 2007 and July 2008. MATERIALS： As203, taurine, and vitamin C （Sigma, USA）, rabbit polyclonal anti-8-NO2-G antibody and goat anti-rabbit IgG （Dojindo, Japan） were used in this study. METHODS： A total of 40 healthy, Kunming mice were equally and randomly assigned to four groups Mice in the As203 group received drinking water containing 4 mg/L As2O3. Mice in the taurine and vitamin C groups received 150 mg/kg taurine and 45 mg/kg vitamin C, respectively, by gavage, twice per week, and simultaneously received As2O3. Mice in the control group were administered normal drinking water. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： Histopathological changes in brain tissues of mice were observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. 8-NO2-G expression in brain tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS： Abnormal, histopathological changes were observed in brain tissue of mice from the As2O3 group, which included axonal loss, cell shrinkage, and karyolysis. The above-described changes were minimal in the taurine and vitamin C groups. 8-NO2-G expression was significantly greater in brain tissue from the As2O3 group compared with the control group （P 〈 0.05）, however, weak 8-NO2-G expression was observed in the taurine and vitamin C groups. CONCLUSION： Taurine or vitamin C protected against pathological changes and nucleic acid damage due to reactive nitrogen species in brain tissue of mice exposed to arsenic.

Hydrodynamics features of dispersed bubbles in the ventilated wake flow of a cylinder

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the 2 D bubbly flow downstream of a cylinder. Sparsely distributed bubbles were produced using the ventilation method. The carrier flow was measured using the particle image velocimetry(PIV) technique. The shadow imaging technique was used to capture instantaneous bubbly flow images. An image-processing code was compiled to identify bubbles in acquired image, calculate the bubble equivalent diameter and the bubble velocity. The effects of Reynolds number and the flow rate of the injected air were considered. The result indicates that the carrier flow is featured by distinct flow structures and the wake region is suppressed as the upstream velocity increases. Regarding the bubbles trapped in the wake flow, the number of small bubbles increases with the upstream velocity. On the whole, the bubble velocity is slightly lower than that of the carrier flow. The consistency between small bubbles and the carrier flow is high in terms of velocity magnitude, which is justified near the wake edge. The difference between the bubble velocity and the carrier flow velocity is remarkable near the wake centerline. For certain Reynolds number, with the increase in the air flow rate, the bubble equivalent diameter increases and the bubble void fraction is elevated.

Abrupt decrease of c-myc expression by antisense transcripts induces terminal differentiation and apoptosis in human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells

This study was designed using c-myc antisense transcripts to evaluate how alteration of c-myc expression in human myeloid leukemic HL-60 cells could influence the myelomonocytic differentiation and induction of apoptosis. The recombinant plasmid pDACx expressing antisense transcripts to c-myc fragment containing a part of intron 1 and 137 nt exon 2 was constructed. pDACx was transfected into HL-60 cell line by lipofectin reagent.Cytochemical stainings including NBT reduction, peroxidase and α -NAE as well as detection of CD13 and CD33 antigens by flow cytometric analysis indicated occurrence of myelomonocytic differentiation in cells expressing antisense transcripts to c-myc. DNA degradation measured by DNA gel electrophoresis and typical morphological changes observed under electron microscope proved the switchon of apoptosis in terminally differentiating HL-60 cells.

Study on the therapeutic effect of external application of Shounian powder combined with acupuncture at Zhitong acupoint on intercostobrachial nerve syndrome after breast cancer operation

Background:To explore the clinical effect of external application of ShouNian Powder combined with acupuncture at Zhitong acupoint in the treatment of intercostobrachial nerve syndrome(ICBNs)after breast cancer operation.Methods:A total of 80 patients with ICBNs who underwent modified radical mastectomy in our hospital from July 2014 to July 2016 were collected and divided into control group and study group according to the different treatment methods of ICBNs.40 patients in the control group were treated with symptomatic analgesia and 40 patients in the study group were treated with external application of ShouNian Powder combined with acupuncture at Zhitong acupoint to compare and analyze the pain relief,quality of life and analgesic recurrence rate of ICBNs between the two groups.Results:Compared with the control group,the pain relief rate of ICBNs in the study group was higher.The patient satisfaction and long-term quality of life in the study group were better than those in the control group.However,there was no significant difference in postoperative pain recurrence rate.Conclusion:External application of ShouNian Powder combined with acupuncture at Zhitong acupoint can effectively relieve pain and improve quality of life for patients with ICBNs after breast cancer operation,which has a certain popularizing significance in clinical practice.

Group Variable Selection via a Combination of <i>L</i>_qNorm and Correlation-Based Penalty

Considering the problem of feature selection in linear regression model, a new method called LqCP is proposed simultaneously to select variables and favor a grouping effect, where strongly correlated predictors tend to be in or out of the model together. LqCP is based on penalized least squares with a penalty function that combines the Lq (0n. In addition, a simulation about grouped variable selection is performed. Finally, The model is applied to two real data: US Crime Data and Gasoline Data. In terms of prediction error and estimation error, empirical studies show the efficiency of LqCP.

Clinical research on curative effect of treatment on patients with gouty renal stone by hydration-alkalization therapy

Objective:Study the clinical effect of intravenous hydration and alkalization therapy on uric acid nephrolithiasis.Methods: Sixty-five patients with 86 stones admitted to Department of Endocrinology and Urinary Nephropathy from December 2015 to December 2017 in our hospital were divided into control group (n= 31) and Treatment group (n = 34) with at random. Both groups were given basic treatment with low purine diet and the control group was treated with oral sodium bicarbonate tablets + oral rehydration 1000 mL / d. The treatment group was treated with hydration alkalosis treatment by 0.9% saline 500 mL + 5% sodium bicarbonate injection of 60 mL + 10% potassium chloride injection 10 mL intravenous infusion, 2 times/d. Two groups were treated for a course of treatment (10 d), respectively, detecting relevant laboratory parameters and imaging studies before and after treatment for assessing the effectiveness of treatment.Result: The total effective rate of the treatment group was 86.67%, which was significantly better than the control group (4.88%).Conclusion: It is a significant effect that Intravenous hydration alkalosis therapy for the treatment of uric acid nephrolithiasis. The diameter of less than 0.5 cm stones disappears, and the diameter of 0.5-0.8 cm stone was significantly reduced. As it can improve stone related renal insufficiency with low cost, it is widely recommended in clinical.

A case report of breast Paget’s disease and related literature

Paget’s disease is a relatively rare disease that occurs in the nipple and areola areas,and the early symptoms are not typical.In this study,we notified a case of a patient with Paget’s disease complicated with breast cancer.The tumor found in the postoperative pathological specimen has no blood flow signal,and its tissue density is similar to that of the surrounding glandular tissue,and there is no calcification point.This situation is rare through an extensive literature review.Our research can provide experience for clinical diagnosis and treatment of Paget’s disease with breast cancer.

Ionic liquid driven nanostructure self-assembly in organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors

As a type of three-terminal transistor,organic electrochemical transistors(OECTs)can effectively modulate their channel conductivity through ionic electrochemical doping across gate-electrolyte-channel routes,endowing their versatile applications in bioelectronics,low power logic circuit,and neuromorphic computing[1].In the concrete,free cations/anions in aqueous electrolytes driven by gate voltage can effectively penetrate into the bulk channel,then resulting in the volumetric n/p-doping of channel semiconductors.Notably,the film thickness of the channel also involves the modulation of OECT performance owing to the polymer swelling and ion penetration,which is hardly occurred in other transistors working in field-effect mode.

Single-cell transcriptomic analysis identifies a highly replicating Cd168+ þskeletal stem/progenitor cell population in mouse long bones

Skeletal stem/progenitor cells(SSPCs)are tissue-specific stem/progenitor cells localized within skeletons and contribute to bone development,homeostasis,and regeneration.However,the heterogeneity of SSPC populations in mouse long bones and their respective regenerative capacity remain to be further clarified.In this study,we perform integrated analysis using single-cell RNA sequencing(scRNA-seq)datasets of mouse hindlimb buds,postnatal long bones,and fractured long bones.Our analyses reveal the heterogeneity of osteochondrogenic lineage cells and recapitulate the developmental trajectories during mouse long bone growth.In addition,we identify a novel Cd168þSSPC population with highly replicating capacity and osteochondrogenic potential in embryonic and postnatal long bones.Moreover,the Cd168þSSPCs can contribute to newly formed skeletal tissues during fracture healing.Furthermore,the results of multicolor immunofluorescence show that Cd168þSSPCs reside in the superficial zone of articular cartilage as well as in growth plates of postnatal mouse long bones.In summary,we identify a novel Cd168þSSPC population with regenerative potential in mouse long bones,which adds to the knowledge of the tissuespecific stem cells in skeletons.

Development and validation of a CT-based radiomics model for differentiating pneumonia-like primary pulmonary lymphoma from infectious pneumonia: A multicenter study

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.

Trabecular-like Ti-6Al-4V scaffolds for orthopedic: fabrication by selective laser melting and in vitro biocompatibility

Porous metal scaffolds play an important role in the orthopedic field, due to their wide applications in prostheses implantation. Some previous studies showed that the scaffolds with trabecular bone structure reconstructed via computed tomography had satisfactory biocompatibility. However, the reverse modeling scaffolds were inflexible for customized design. Therefore, a top-down designing biomimetic bone scaffold with favorable mechanical performances and cytocompatibility is urgently demanded for orthopedic implants. An emerging additive manufacturing technique, selective laser melting, was employed to fabricate the trabecular-like porous Ti-6Al-4 V scaffolds with varying irregularities(0.05-0.5) and porosities(48.83%–74.28%) designed through a novel Voronoi-Tessellation based method. Micro-computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the scaffolds’ morphology.Quasi-static compression tests were performed to evaluate the scaffolds’ mechanical properties. The MG63 cells culture in vitro experiments, including adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, were conducted to study the cytocompatibility of scaffolds. Compressive tests of scaffolds revealed an apparent elastic modulus range of 1.93–5.24 GPa and an ultimate strength ranging within 44.9–237.5 MPa, which were influenced by irregularity and porosity, and improved by heat treatment. Furthermore, the in vitro assay suggested that the original surface of the SLM-fabricated scaffolds was favorable for osteoblasts adhesion and migration because of micro scale pores and ravines. The trabecular-like porous scaffolds with full irregularity and higher porosity exhibited enhanced cells proliferation and osteoblast differentiation at earlier time, due to their preferable combination of small and large pores with various shapes. This study suggested that selective laser melting-derived Ti-6Al-4 V scaffold with the trabecular-like porous structure designed through Voronoi-Tessellation method, favorable mechanical performance, and good cytocompatibility was a potential biomaterial for orthopedic implants.

Optimization design of fertilizer apparatus owned arc gears based on discrete element method

To improve the uniformity of the flow when fertilizer apparatus discharges fertilizer,a kind of fertilizer apparatus owned arc gears was designed.Also,the design and working principle of its general structure and key components were analyzed theoretically.Aiming at exploring the influence of arc structural parameters to the performance of arc gears discharging fertilizer,DEM simulation was used in this study.Fertilizer apparatus owned arc gears was taken as the research object to analyze the influence of two key components including the arc radius of gears’concave-grooves and the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears.The variation coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount stability and the linear determined coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount in unit time as evaluation index were selected.Two factors and five levels quadratic rotation orthogonal experiment was applied,and Design-Expert 8.0 software was used to achieve data processing and analysis.The results of experiment indicated that the arc radius of gears’concave-grooves had significant effect on the linear determined coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount in unit time,and the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears had significant effect on the variation coefficient of fertilizer discharging amount stability.The optimum structural parameters were 8.54 mm as the arc radius of gears’concave-grooves and 5.22 mm as the minimal length between two mutual meshing gears.Upon this circumstance,the variation coefficient was 0.28 and determination coefficient was 0.9972.The optimum apparatus was selected to conduct the bench test and field simulation test.The results indicated that the variation coefficient is 0.27,and the linear determined coefficient of is 0.9980.The results of simulation experiment were anastomotic basically with the real result,which showed that DEM simulation technology was usable to the experiment of testing fertilizer discharging.The results of this research can provide a reference to the improving of performance in discharging fertilizer.

Model construction of soybean average diameter and hole parameters of seed-metering wheel based on DEM

To satisfy the demands of soybean precision sowing,this article starts with statistics of the physical parameters of soybean seeds in Heilongjiang province,China.The filling process of soybean seeds was analyzed,and the ratio relationship between the diameter,depth,chamfer length of seed-metering wheel’s holes and the mean diameter of soybean seeds was determined.EDEM was used to simulate seeding circumstances of hole seed-metering wheel with different holes’sizes.The hole diameter ratio,hole depth ratio,and chamfer length ratio were the test factors,while the percentage of single multiple and the empty seeds were test indexes.The triple quadratic regression orthogonal rotation combination test was designed,and the mathematical model between test indexes and test factors was established.Results showed that the influence of hole diameter ratio and hole depth ratio was significant(p<0.01)in the case of single,multiple and empty seed percentage while chamfer length ratio was only significant in single seed percentage compared to multiple and empty seeds percentage(p>0.05).The chamfer length ratio was 0.15,the hole diameter ratio was 1.63-1.73,the hole depth ratio was 0.81-1.20,the quality of seeding index was more than 90,and multiple and missing indexes were less than 6%and 4%,respectively.The soybean hole wheel seeding device was produced under the optimal parameter combination,to perform a comparative verification test with non-optimized parameters.The test showed anastomotic simulation results,verified the validity of the simulation.The seeding device after optimization expressed the best operating performance,which might satisfy the demands of soybean precision sowing.The study results can provide a theoretical reference for the optimization design of soybean seeding devices.

Progress and prospect of hydrate-based desalination technology

With the continuous growth of the population and the improvement of production, the shortage of freshwater has plagued many countries. The use of novel technologies such as desalination to produce fresh water on a large scale has become inevitable in the world. Hydrate-based desalination (HBD) technology has drawn an increasing amount of attention due to its mild operation condition and environmental friendliness. In this paper, literature on hydrate-based desalination is comprehensively analyzed and critically evaluated, focuses on experimental progress in different hydrate formers that have an impact on thermodynamics and dynamics in hydrate formation. Besides, various porous media promotion is investigated. Besides, the hydrate formation morphology and hydrate crystal structure with different hydrate formers are analyzed and compared. Moreover, molecular dynamic simulation is discussed to further understand microscopic information of hydrate formation. Furthermore, simulations of the HBD process by considering the energy consumption are also investigated. In conclusion, the hydrated based desalination is a potential technology to get fresh water in a sustainable way.