Photoacoustic detection of follicular thyroid carcinoma using targeted Nano-Au-Tripods

Follicular thyroid carcinoma(FTC)is the second most common form of thyroid malignancy,and it is associated with more aggressive growth and worse long-term survival outcomes relative to papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC).Reliable approaches to preoperative FTC detection,however,remain to be established.Herein,a targeted Affibody-Au-Tripod nanoprobe was developed and successfully utilized to facilitate the targeted photoacoustic imaging(PAI)of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)-positive cells and tumors.These Affibody-Au-Tripods were found to be highly sensitive and specific for cells expressing EGFR when used as a PA contrast agent in vitro,and studies conducted in an FTC-133 subcutaneous tumor model system in mice further revealed that these Affibody-Au-Tripods were able to specifically target these EGFR-expressing tumors while providing a strong photoacoustic signal in vivo.Importantly,these nanoprobes exhibited negligible cytotoxicity and robust chemical and physical stability,making Affibody-Au-Tripods promising candidates for targeted PAI-based FTC diagnosis.In addition,these nanoprobes have the potential to facilitate the individualized treatment of patients harboring EGFRpositive tumors.

Cross-sectional study on AIDS knowledge and condom use in rural areas

Objective:To understand AIDS knowledge and condom use in rural areas,and to analyze theinfluencing factors of condom use.Methods:This is a cross-sectional study using the cluster-sampling method.4,800 subjects,randomly selected from six counties in China,were questioned using an anonymous survey.Results:36% of the subjects knew that tooth extraction could transmit AIDS.38.4% of thesubjects knew that the use of public razors could transmit AIDS.27.1% of the subjects had useda condom in the last year.The influencing factors of condom use were:sex(OR=1.325),age(OR=1.419),AIDS counseling(OR=2.181),educational level(OR=0.622),location of regis-tered permanent residence(OR=0.732),AIDS knowledge score(OR=0.736),and resident ofhigh AIDS prevalent province(OR=0.354).Conclusion:AIDS knowledge in rural areas is still lacking.The rate of condom use was verylow.The main influencing factors of low condom use were being female,elderly,and no AIDScounseling.Higher educational level,registered permanent resident in town,high AIDS knowl-edge score,and resident of high AIDS prevalent provinces were the propitious factors for condomuse.

Value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound combined with percutaneous ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in the diagnosis of solid pancreatic lesions

Background:Contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)can detect lesions hidden in inflammatory regions and find necrosis or areas of severe fibrosis within the lesion.This retrospective study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of solid pancreatic lesions using percutaneous ultrasound(US)-guided fine-needle aspiration(FNA)with or without CEUS assessment.Methods:Clinical,imaging,and pathologic data of 181 patients from January 2014 to December 2018 in Pecking Union Medical College Hospital,with solid pancreatic masses who underwent percutaneous US-FNA and ThinPrep cytologic test were retrospectively evaluated.Patients were divided into CEUS and US groups according to whether CEUS was performed before the biopsy.According to FNA cytology diagnoses,we combined non-diagnostic,neoplastic,and negative cases into a negative category.The positive category included malignant,suspicious,and atypical cases.The final diagnosis was confirmed by pathology or clinical and radiological follow-up for at least 12 months.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value(PPV),negative predictive value(NPV),and accuracy of US-FNA were evaluated between the two groups.Results:This study enrolled 107 male and 74 female patients(average age:60 years).There were 58 cases in the US group and 123 cases in the CEUS group.No statistically significant differences in age,gender,or lesion size were found between the two groups.The diagnostic accuracy of the CEUS group was 95.1%(117/123),which was higher than the 86.2%(50/58)observed in the US group(P=0.036).The sensitivity,specificity,PPV,and NPV of the CEUS group were increased by 7.5%,16.7%,3.4%,and 18.8%,respectively,compared with the US group.However,the differences of the two groups were not statistically significant.Conclusions:Compared with the conventional US,the use of CEUS could improve the biopsy accuracy and avoid the need for a repeat biopsy,especially for some complicated FNA cases.