Clinical value of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography in diagnosis of gastric tumors

BACKGROUND The incidence of gastric cancer remains high,and it is the sixth most common cancer and the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide.Oral contrastenhanced ultrasonography is a simple,non-invasive,and painless method for the diagnosis of gastric tumors.AIM To explore the diagnostic value of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for the detection of gastric tumors.METHODS The screening results based on oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and electronic gastroscopy were compared with those of the postoperative pathological examination.RESULTS Among 42 patients with gastric tumors enrolled in the study,the diagnostic accordance rate was 95.2%for oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography(n=40)and 90.5%for electronic gastroscopy(n=38)compared with postoperative pathological examination.The Kappa value of consistency test with pathological findings was 0.812 for oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography and 0.718 for electronic gastroscopy,and there was no significant difference between them(P=0.397).For the TNM staging of gastric tumors,the accuracy rate of oral contrast enhanced ultrasonography was 81.9%for the overall T staging and 50%,77.8%,100%,and 100%for T1,T2,T3,and T4 staging,respectively.The sensitivity and specificity were both 100%for stages T3 and T4.The diagnostic accuracy rate of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography was 93.8%,80%,100%,and 100%for stages N0,N1-N3,M0,and M1,respectively.CONCLUSION The accordance rate of qualitative diagnosis by oral contrast-enhanced ultrasonography is comparable to that of gastroscopy,and it could be used as the preferred method for the early screening of gastric tumors.

Causal temporal graph attention network for fault diagnosis of chemical processes

Fault detection and diagnosis(FDD)plays a significant role in ensuring the safety and stability of chemical processes.With the development of artificial intelligence(AI)and big data technologies,data-driven approaches with excellent performance are widely used for FDD in chemical processes.However,improved predictive accuracy has often been achieved through increased model complexity,which turns models into black-box methods and causes uncertainty regarding their decisions.In this study,a causal temporal graph attention network(CTGAN)is proposed for fault diagnosis of chemical processes.A chemical causal graph is built by causal inference to represent the propagation path of faults.The attention mechanism and chemical causal graph were combined to help us notice the key variables relating to fault fluctuations.Experiments in the Tennessee Eastman(TE)process and the green ammonia(GA)process showed that CTGAN achieved high performance and good explainability.

Deep learning-assisted diagnosis of femoral trochlear dysplasia based on magnetic resonance imaging measurements

BACKGROUND Femoral trochlear dysplasia(FTD)is an important risk factor for patellar instability.Dejour classification is widely used at present and relies on standard lateral X-rays,which are not common in clinical work.Therefore,magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)has become the first choice for the diagnosis of FTD.However,manually measuring is tedious,time-consuming,and easily produces great variability.AIM To use artificial intelligence(AI)to assist diagnosing FTD on MRI images and to evaluate its reliability.METHODS We searched 464 knee MRI cases between January 2019 and December 2020,including FTD(n=202)and normal trochlea(n=252).This paper adopts the heatmap regression method to detect the key points network.For the final evaluation,several metrics(accuracy,sensitivity,specificity,etc.)were calculated.RESULTS The accuracy,sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the AI model ranged from 0.74-0.96.All values were superior to junior doctors and intermediate doctors,similar to senior doctors.However,diagnostic time was much lower than that of junior doctors and intermediate doctors.CONCLUSION The diagnosis of FTD on knee MRI can be aided by AI and can be achieved with a high level of accuracy.

Diagnostic value of lncRNAs as potential biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma diagnosis:a meta-analysis

Objective Several studies have revealed the critical role of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)as biomarkers for diagnosing oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC).However,the data remain inconsistent.This meta-analysis was performed to summarize the potential of lncRNAs as OSCC biomarkers.Methods We searched PubMed,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases for literature published until December 10,2020.Study quality was assessed using Quality Assessment for Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy-2,and sensitivity,specificity,and other measures regarding lncRNAs for OSCC diagnosis were pooled using bivariate meta-analysis models.Data analyses were performed using STATA 14.0.Results Overall,8 studies with 981 cases and 585 controls were included in the pooled analysis.The pooled sensitivity,specificity,positive likelihood ratio,negative likelihood ratio,diagnostic odds ratio,and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve values were as follows:0.76[95%confidence interval(CI),0.65–0.84],0.90(95%CI,0.82–0.95),7.5(95%CI,4.20–13.40),0.27(95%CI,0.18–0.39),28(95%CI,13.00–58.00),0.90(95%CI,0.87–0.93),respectively.Deeks’funnel plot asymmetry test(P=0.56)indicated no potential publication bias.Conclusion Our meta-analytical evidence suggests that lncRNAs could be employed as a potential non-invasive diagnostic tool for OSCC.

Development of a Photodynamic Diagnosis Method for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Using 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and a Luminescence Plate Reader

Purpose: To establish a simple and accurate photodynamic diagnosis (PDD) method for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Methods: OSCC cell lines HSC-2, HSC-3, HSC-4, and Sa3, and normal human oral keratinocytes (HOK) were used. First, we examined the amount of cells needed to detect differences in fluorescence intensities for PDD. OSCC cell lines were adjusted to concentrations of 1 × 104 (104), 1 × 105 (105), and 1 × 106 (106) cells/ml. The experimental groups comprised a group with 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA (+)), and a group without 5-ALA (5-ALA (-)). For each OSCC cell line, 100 μl of each concentration of cells of the 5-ALA groups was seeded onto fluorescence plates, and fluorescence intensity was measured at 60-min intervals for 240 min. Results are expressed as the ratio of fluorescence intensity in 5-ALA (+) to 5-ALA (-). As cells at the concentration of 106 cells/ml provided the clearest results, fluorescence intensities of all cell lines were measured using this concentration at 20-min intervals for 700 min using the same methods. Results: The 5-ALA (+) to (-) ratio increased in a cell concentration-dependent manner at 240 min;the ratio was highest with 106 cells/ml and lowest with 104 cells/ml. With 106 cells/ml in the 5-ALA (+) group, fluorescence intensity increased in a metabolic time-dependent manner;the increase was highest in HSC-2 cells, followed by HSC-4 cells, HSC-3 cells, Sa3 cells, and HOK. Fluorescence intensity was significantly enhanced after 40 min in HSC-2, HSC-3, and HSC-4 cells, after 60 min in Sa3 cells, and after 100 min in HOK compared to the 5-ALA (-) group (P < 0.05). Moreover, fluorescence intensity was significantly increased in OSCC cell lines compared to HOK after 40 min. Conclusion: Early detection of OSCC is possible by screening only microplate reader measurements of fluorescence intensity for PDD.

Cycle temporal algorithm-based multivariate statistical methods for fault diagnosis in chemical processes

Multivariate statistical process monitoring methods are often used in chemical process fault diagnosis.In this article,(I)the cycle temporal algorithm(CTA)combined with the dynamic kernel principal component analysis(DKPCA)and the multiway dynamic kernel principal component analysis(MDKPCA)fault detection algorithms are proposed,which are used for continuous and batch process fault detections,respectively.In addition,(II)a fault variable identification model based on reconstructed-based contribution(RBC)model that paves the way for determining the cause of the fault are proposed.The proposed fault diagnosis model was applied to Tennessee Eastman(TE)process and penicillin fermentation process for fault diagnosis.And compare with other fault diagnosis methods.The results show that the proposed method has better detection effects than other methods.Finally,the reconstruction-based contribution(RBC)model method is used to accurately locate the root cause of the fault and determine the fault path.

Factors Associated with Late Diagnosis of Oral Cancer

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine associations between the late diagnosis of oral cancer and demographic/clinical factors. A quantitative cross-sectional study was carried out in 2007. Material and Method: Oral tumors were recorded based on the TNM staging system, with T1 and T2 considered early diagnosis and T3 and T4 considered late diagnosis. Results: Patient age ranged from 30 to 105 years (mean: 64.7). Just over half of the patients (54.9%) resided in urban areas and approximately 1/4 (25.7%) had an agricultural occupation. The majority had smoking habits (89.9%) and consumed alcohol (62.5%). The most frequent tumor site was the tongue (42.4%), followed by the hard palate (19.2%) and lip (12.2%). The majority (70.1%) were in advanced stages (III and IV). A greater percentage of smokers were in advanced stages than non-smokers. The percentage of cases in the early stages was lowest when the tumor was located in the tongue (14.1%) and highest when located in the buccal mucosa (80.0%). Conclusion: The main causes of the late diagnosis of oral cancer are insufficient training on the part of physicians and dentists in the field of pathology, delays on the part of patients in seeking medical assistance and deficient access to quality medical care, reflecting the absence of preventive public health programs and an effective healthcare system.

Diagnosis and Treatment of a Case of Femoral Fracture in Dog

Femoral fracture of dogs is common in daily life. This paper introduced the diagnosis and treatment of a case of femoral fracture in dog, providing reference for clinical practice.

Diagnosis and Treatment of a Case of Femoral Neck Fracture in Cat

Simple femoral neck fractures in dogs and cats are rare in clinic. The cause of the fracture is that the pelvis or femur is directly or indirectly subjected to external force,and it often occurs secondarily to osteoporosis caused by dysplasia of the hip joint. This paper described the diagnosis and treatment of a blue cat with femora neck fracture.

Analysis of auxiliary diagnosis, cell survival, angiogenesis and nutritional support in patients with oral cancer

Objective:To investigate the changes and clinical significance of auxiliary diagnosis, cell survival, angiogenesis and nutritional support in patients with oral cancer.Methods: 50 patients with oral cancer treated in our hospital from June 2016 to September 2017 were selected as the observation group and 50 healthy people as the control group. The expression levels of auxiliary diagnosis [including secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA), catalase (CAT)], cell survival [including survivin, focal adhesion kinase (FAK)], angiogenesis [including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), hepatocyte growth (HGF), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA)] and nutritional support [including lead (Pb), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and copper (Cu)] related indicators in the two groups were observed and compared.Results:The levels of SIgA [(83.30±6.05) ug/mL], Mg [(1.21±0.17) mmol/L], Fe [(6.75±1.03)mmol/L] and Zn [(87.11±15.31) ug/L] in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05), while the levels of CAT [(39.87±9.18) U/mL], survivin [(131.63±10.53) ng/L], FAK [(62.27±5.20) ng/mL], VEGF[(533.73±150.63)ng/L], HGF[(411.32±181.72)ng/L], uPA[(5.12±1.31)mg/L], Pb[(65.55±20.76)μg/L], Ca[(1.55±0.20)mmol/L] and Cu[(14.90±5.30)μmol/L] were significantly higher than that of the control group. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).Conclusions:Patients with oral cancer, the immune function of salivary mucosa decreased and cell survival was abnormal. Oral cancer patients are easy to regenerate tumor blood vessels. Tumor cells and vascular endothelial cells are active in proliferation, migration and invasion. The expression of trace elements is also abnormal, which is not conducive to the nutritional support of the body. The relevant indicators should be strengthened in clinical practice, so as to provide evidence for early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

The clinical effectiveness of reflectance optical spectroscopy for the in vivo diagnosis of oral lesions

Optical spectroscopy devices are being developed and tested for the screening and diagnosis of oral precancer and cancer lesions. This study reports a device that uses white light for detection of suspicious lesions and green–amber light at 545 nm that detect tissue vascularity on patients with several suspicious oral lesions. The clinical grading of vascularity was compared to the histological grading of the biopsied lesions using specific biomarkers. Such a device, in the hands of dentists and other health professionals, could greatly increase the number of oral cancerous lesions detected in early phase. The purpose of this study is to correlate the clinical grading of tissue vascularity in several oral suspicious lesions using the IdentafiH system with the histological grading of the biopsied lesions using specific vascular markers. Twenty-one patients with various oral lesions were enrolled in the study. The lesions were visualized using IdentafiH device with white light illumination, followed by visualization of tissue autofluorescence and tissue reflectance. Tissue biopsied was obtained from the all lesions and both histopathological and immunohistochemical studies using a vascular endothelial biomarker（CD34） were performed on these tissue samples. The clinical vascular grading using the green–amber light at 545 nm and the expression pattern and intensity of staining for CD34 in the different biopsies varied depending on lesions, grading ranged from 1 to3. The increase in vascularity was observed in abnormal tissues when compared to normal mucosa, but this increase was not limited to carcinoma only as hyperkeratosis and other oral diseases, such as lichen planus, also showed increase in vascularity. Optical spectroscopy is a promising technology for the detection of oral mucosal abnormalities; however, further investigations with a larger population group is required to evaluate the usefulness of these devices in differentiating benign lesions from potentially malignant lesions.

Difficult and complicated oral ulceration:an expert consensus guideline for diagnosis

The complexity of oral ulcerations poses considerable diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to oral specialists.The expert consensus was conducted to summarize the diagnostic work-up for difficult and complicated oral ulcers,based on factors such as detailed clinical medical history inquiry,histopathological examination,and ulceration-related systemic diseases screening.Not only it can provide a standardized procedure of oral ulceration,but also it can improve the diagnostic efficiency,in order to avoid misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis.

In vivo subsite classification and diagnosis of oral cancers using Raman spectroscopy

Oral cancers suffer from poor disease free survival rates due to delayed diagnosis.Noninvasive,rapid,objective approaches as adjuncts to visual inspection can help in better management of oral cancers.Raman spectrosoopy(RS)has shown potential in identification of oral premalignant and malignant conditions and also in the detection of early cancer changes like cancer field ffects(CFE)at buccal mucosa subsite.Anatomic differences between different oral subsites have also been reported using RS.In this study,anatomical differences between subsites and their possible infuence on healthy vs pathological classification were evaluated on 85 oral cancer and 72 healthy subjects.Spectra were acquired from buccal mucosa,lip and tongue in healthy,contralateral(internal healthy control),premalignant and cancer conditions using fiber optic Raman spec-trometer.Mean spectra indicate predominance of lipids in healthy buccal mucosa,contribution of both lipids and proteins in lip while major dominance of protein in tongue spectra.From healthy to tumor,changes in protein secondary structure,DNA and heme related features were observed.Principal component linear discriminant analysis(PC-LDA)followed by leave one out CrOoss-validation(LOOCV)was used for data analysis.Findin gs indicate buccal mucosa and tongue are distinct entities,while lip misclassifies with both these subsites.Additionally,the diagnostic algorithm for individual subsites gave improved classification efficiencies with respect to the pooled subsites model.However,as the pooled subsites model yielded 98%specifcity and 100%sensitivity,this model may be more useful for preliminary screening applications.Large-scale validation studies are a pre requisite before envisaging future clinical applications.

Echographic imaging of tumoral cells through novel nanosystems for image diagnosis

Since the recognition of disease molecular basis,it has become clear that the keystone moments of medical practice,namely early diagnosis,appropriate therapeutic treatment and patient follow-up,must be approached at a molecular level.These objectives will be in the near future more effectively achievable thanks to the impressive developments in nanotechnologies and their applications to the biomedical field,starting-up the nanomedicine era.The continuous advances in the development of biocompatible smart nanomaterials,in particular,will be crucial in several aspects of medicine.In fact,the possibility of manufacturing nanoparticle contrast agents that can be selectively targeted to specific pathological cells has extended molecular im-aging applications to non-ionizing techniques and,at the same time,has made reachable the perspective of combining highly accurate diagnoses and personalized therapies in a single theranostic intervention.Main developing applications of nanosized theranostic agents include targeted molecular imaging,controlled drug release,therapeutic monitoring,guidance of radiationbased treatments and surgical interventions.Here we will review the most recent findings in nanoparticles contrast agents and their applications in the field of cancer molecular imaging employing non-ionizing techniques and disease-specific contrast agents,with special focus on recent findings on those nanomaterials particularly promising for ultrasound molecular imaging and simultaneous treatment of cancer.

Oral lichenplanus: Etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management

Oral Lichen planus(OLP) is a common chronic mucocutaneous disorder with an immune mediated pathogenesis. Its appearance may vary from presence of keratotic to erythematous areas. Etiology of OLP is unknown, but it is thought to be the result of an autoimmune process with an unknown predisposing factor. Oral lichen planus is a complex and poorly understood clinicalcondition with periods of remissions and exacerbations. Management of the OLP is diversified with few lesions requiring treatment for years and few others are mild, requiring no treatment.

Covid-19 Diagnosis by Artificial Intelligence Based on Vibraimage Measurement of Behavioral Parameters

The hypothesis of behavioral parameters dependence measured from person’s head movements in quasi-stationary state on COVID-19 disease is discussed. Method for determining the dependence of vestibular-emotional reflex parameters on COVID-19, various diseases and pathologies are proposed. Micro-movements of a head for representatives of the control group (with a confirmed absence of COVID-19 disease) and a group of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 were studied using vibraimage technology. Parameters and criteria for the diagnosis of COVID-19 for training artificial intelligence (AI) on the control group and the patient group are proposed. 3-layer (one hidden layer) feedforward neural network (40 + 20 + 1 sigmoid neurons) was developed for AI training. AI was firstly trained on the primary sample of patients and a control group. Study of a random sample of people with trained AI was carried out and the possibility of detecting COVID-19 using the proposed method was proved a week before the onset of clinical symptoms of the disease. Number of COVID-19 diagnostic parameters was increased to 26 and AI was trained on a sample of 536 measurements, 268 patient measurement results and 268 measurement results in the control group. The achieved diagnostic accuracy was more than 99%, 4 errors per 536 measurements (2 false positive and 2 false negative), specificity 99.25% and sensitivity 99.25%. The issues of improving the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method for diagnosing COVID-19 are discussed. Further ways to improve the characteristics and applicability of the proposed method of diagnosis and self-diagnosis of COVID-19 are outlined.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency Combining Ultrasound and Computer Tomography

Four cases of proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD) in an otherwise healthy infant are described. Antenatal diagnosis was made at 27, 23, 23 and 18 weeks of gestation by routine ultrasound (US) examination. Computer Tomography (CT) was performed after 30 weeks of gestation and confirmed the images obtained by US. The diagnosis was confirmed after delivery. These cases illustrate the importance of combining US and CT to improve accuracy of prenatal diagnosis of skeletal disorders.

Signif icance of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Immunohistochemistry in Diagnosis and Staging of Stage-cN0 Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To assess the significance of sentinel lymph node biopsy （SLNB）, serial section and cytokeratin immunohistochemical staining in the diagnosis and staging of Stage-cNO oral squamous cell carcinoma （OSCC）, METHODS A blue stain, 99mTc-dextran SPECT lymphoscintigrapgy and intraoperative y-ray probes were used to examine the sentinel nodes in 31 cases with Stage-oNO oral cancer, The H＆E staining and a cytokeratin AE1/ AE3 immunohistochemistry （IHC） assessment, with serial sections, were conducted to provide results obtained from a routine pathological examination of lymph nodes, The value of the routine pathological examination of the sentinel lymph node （SLN）, serial sections and IHC determination for cervical lymph node metastasis of Stage-cN0 OSCC was appraised, RESULTS A total of 45, 55 and 51 SLNs were examined in 25 （80%）, 31 （100%） and 30 （96,5%） of the cases, by using the blue stain, y-ray probes, and SPECT lymphoscintigraphy, respectively, The average SLNs found in each case of the groups was 1,4 （1 to 3） and there were 1,302 non-NSLNs, Six positive SLN metastases were detected by routine pathological examination, among which 1 case was found to be an accompanied positive metastasis of non-SLN, One positive SLN metastasis was found after examination of serial sections plus routine H＆E staining and 2 were detected using serial sections plus AE3 immunohistochemical staining methods, No positive NSLNs were found in the study, CONCLUSION In order to make more progress in accurate SLNB diagnosis, serial sections and IHC （AE1/AE3） methods can be used for examination of the micrometastases which are difficult to identify by routine pathological sections and H＆E staining.

Clinical application of oral contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluating the preoperative T staging of gastric cancer

BACKGROUND Oral contrast-enhanced ultrasound(OCEUS)is widely used in the noninvasive diagnosis and screening of gastric cancer(GC)in China.AIM To investigate the clinical application of OCEUS in evaluating the preoperative T staging of gastric cancer.METHODS OCEUS was performed before the operation,and standard ultrasound images were retained.The depth of infiltration of GC(T-stage)was evaluated according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition of the tumor-nodemetastasis staging criteria.Finally,with postoperative pathological staging as the gold standard reference,the sensitivity,specificity,negative predictive value,positive predictive value,and diagnostic value of OCEUS T staging were evaluated.RESULTS OCEUS achieved diagnostic accuracy rates of 76.6%(T1a),69.6%(T1b),62.7%(T2),60.8%(T3),88.0%(T4a),and 88.7%(T4b),with an average of 75.5%.Ultrasonic T staging sensitivity exceeded 62%,aside from T1b at 40.3%,while specificity was over 91%,except for T3 with 83.5%.The Youden index was above 60%,with T1b and T2 being exceptions.OCEUS T staging corresponded closely with pathology in T4b(kappa>0.75)and moderately in T1a,T1b,T2,T3,and T4a(kappa 0.40-0.75),registering a concordance rate exceeding 84%.CONCLUSION OCEUS was effective,reliable,and accurate in diagnosing the preoperative T staging of GC.As a noninvasive diagnostic technique,OCEUS merits clinical popularization.

Novel insights on oral squamous cell carcinoma management using long non-coding RNAs

Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC)is one of the most prevalent forms of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas(HNSCC)with a poor overall survival rate(about 50%),particularly in cases of metastasis.RNA-based cancer biomarkers are a relatively advanced concept,and non-coding RNAs currently have shown promising roles in the detection and treatment of various malignancies.This review underlines the function of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)in the OSCC and its subsequent clinical implications.LncRNAs,a class of non-coding RNAs,are larger than 200 nucleotides and resemble mRNA in numerous ways.However,unlike mRNA,lncRNA regulates multiple druggable and non-druggable signaling molecules through simultaneous interaction with DNA,RNA,proteins,or microRNAs depending on concentration and localization in cells.Upregulation of oncogenic lncRNAs and downregulation of tumor suppressor lncRNAs are evident in OSCC tissues and body fluids such as blood and saliva indicating their potential as valuable biomarkers.Targeted inhibition of candidate oncogenic lncRNAs or overexpression of tumor suppressor lncRNAs showed potential therapeutic roles in in-vivo animal models.The types of lncRNAs that are expressed differentially in OSCC tissue and bodily fluids have been systematically documented with specificity and sensitivity.This review thoroughly discusses the biological functions of such lncRNAs in OSCC cell survival,proliferation,invasion,migration,metastasis,angiogenesis,metabolism,epigenetic modification,tumor immune microenvironment,and drug resistance.Subsequently,we addressed the diagnostic and therapeutic importance of lncRNAs in OSCC pre-clinical and clinical systems,providing details on ongoing research and outlining potential future directions for advancements in this field.In essence,this review could be a valuable resource by offering comprehensive and current insights into lncRNAs in OSCC for researchers in fundamental and clinical domains.