Objective To explore the clinical value of artificial intelligence (AI) quantitative parameters of pulmonary ground-glass nodules (GGN) in predicting the degree of infiltration. Methods A retrospective analysis of 168 consecutive patients with 178 GGNs in our hospital from October 2019 to May 2021 was performed, including 43 males and 125 females, aged 21-78 (55.76±10.88) years. Different lesions of the same patient were analyzed as independent samples. Totally, 178 GGNs were divided into two groups, a non-invasive group (24 adenocarcinoma in situ and 77 minimally invasive adenocarcinoma), and an invasive group (77 invasive adenocarcinoma). We compared the difference of AI quantitative parameters between the two groups, and evaluated predictive valve by receiver operating characteristic curve and binary logistic regression model. Results (1) Except for the gender (P=0.115), the other parameters, such as maximal diameter [15.10 (11.50, 21.60) mm vs. 8.90 (7.65, 11.15) mm], minimum diameter [10.80 (8.85, 15.20) mm vs. 7.40 (6.10, 8.95) mm], proportion of consolidation/tumor ratio [13.58% (1.61%, 63.76%) vs. 0.00% (0.00%, 0.67%)], mean CT value [–347.00 (–492.00, –101.50) Hu vs. –598.00 (–657.50, –510.00) Hu], CT maximum value [40.00 (–40.00, 94.50) Hu vs. –218.00 (–347.00, –66.50) Hu], CT minimum value [–584.00 (–690.50, –350.00) Hu vs. –753.00 (–786.00, –700.00) Hu], danger rating (proportion of high-risk nodules, 92.2% vs. 66.3%), malignant probability [91.66% (85.62%, 94.92%) vs. 81.81% (59.98%, 90.29%)] and age (59.93±8.53 years vs. 52.04±12.10 years) were statistically significant between the invasive group and the non-invasive group (all P<0.001). (2) The highest predictive value of a single quantitative parameter was the maximal diameter (area under the curve=0.843), the lowest one was the risk classification (area under the curve=0.627), the combination of two among the three parameters (maximal diameter, mean CT value, and consolidation/tumor ratio) improved the predictive value entirely. (3) Logistic regression analysis showed that maximal diameter and mean CT value both were the independent risk factor for predicting invasive adenocarcinoma. (4) When the threshold of v was 1.775%, the diagnostic sensitivity of invasive adenocarcinoma was 0.753 and the specificity was 0.851. Conclusion AI quantitative parameters can effectively predict the degree of infiltration of GGNs and provide a reliable reference basis for clinicians.
ObjectiveTo explore the application value of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) quantitative parameters and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value in evaluating the differentiation degrees and T stages of rectal cancer.MethodsThe patients with rectal cancer from November 2017 to November 2019 in the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital were collected. The volume transfer constant (Ktrans), flux rate constant (Kep), and extravascular extracellular volume fraction (Ve), and ADC values of the tumors were measured and compared in the patients with the different differentiation degrees and T stages. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed.ResultsAll of 53 eligible patients were included, including 13 cases of high differentiation, 30 cases of medium differentiation, and 10 cases of low differentiation; 5 cases of T1 stage, 8 cases of T2 stage, 24 cases of T3 stage, and 16 cases of T4 stage. ① There were statistical differences in the Ktrans and ADC values among the different differentiation degrees of rectal cancer (P=0.004, P<0.001), and no statistical differences in the Kep and Ve values (P>0.050) among them. The Ktrans value was increased with decreased differentiation degree (P<0.050), the ADC value was decreased with decreased differentiation degrees (P<0.050). ② There were statistical differences in the Ktrans and ADC values among the different T stages of rectal cancer (P=0.002; P=0.007), and no statistical differences in the Kep and Ve values (P>0.050) among them. The Ktrans and ADC values were statistically different between the T2 and T3 stages of rectal cancer (P=0.009, P=0.013). ③ The Ktrans and ADC values could distinguish the high and medium differentiation degrees of rectal cancer, its area under ROC curve (AUC) values were 0.677 and 0.763, respectively, and the corresponding best thresholds were 0.180/min and 1.179 mm2/s; The Ktrans and ADC values could distinguish the medium and low differentiation degrees of rectal cancer, its AUC values were 0.693 and 0.967, and the corresponding best thresholds were 0.281/min and 0.906 mm2/s; The Ktrans and ADC values could distinguish the T2 and T3 stages of rectal cancer, its AUC values were 0.862 and 0.742, and the corresponding best thresholds were 0.204/min and 1.579 mm2/s.ConclusionDCE-MRI quantitative parameters and ADC value before surgery to determine the different differentiation degrees and T stages of rectal cancer have certain reference value, the best Ktrans and ADC thresholds to distinguish different differentiation degrees and T2 to T3 stages can be obtained through statistical analysis.
ObjectiveTo establish a method that can eliminate the pollution of endogenous nucleic acid in the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reaction system, which can be used to reduce or eliminate the false positive rate of real-time PCR assay in detection of postoperative intracranial bacteria infection.MethodsAt first, eliminated the pollution of endogenous nucleic acid in the real-time PCR reaction system. Then, with mixed bacteria DNA as a template, multiple PCR was used to specifically identify the gram-negative bacteria. Meanwhile, evaluated the text line and sensitivity of the multiple PCR after eliminating pollution in detecting the DNA of the mixed bacteria.ResultsThe method established could quickly eliminate the pollution of endogenous nucleic acid in the real-time PCR reaction system, and it didn’t affect the Taq enzyme activity and the amplification efficiency in PCR system, with the minimum detection limit of 102 CFU/mL (Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa), which was the same to the culture method. The enzyme cutting method had no significant effect on the activity and amplification efficiency of the enzyme in PCR system, It had no effect on PCR reaction system and primer specificity (Ct=32, ΔRn=200). However, the filtration method significantly reduced the PCR amplification efficiency (Ct=32, ΔRn=150).ConclusionsThis method can easily and rapidly eliminate the pollution of endogenous nucleic acid in the real-time PCR reaction system, and greatly reduce the false positive of PCR detection. It is able to timely and accurately diagnose the intracranial bacteria infection, which is significant for clinical testing.
At present the parkinsonian rigidity assessment depends on subjective judgment of neurologists according to their experience. This study presents a parkinsonian rigidity quantification system based on the electromechanical driving device and mechanical impedance measurement method. The quantification system applies the electromechanical driving device to perform the rigidity clinical assessment tasks (flexion-extension movements) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, which captures their motion and biomechanical information synchronously. Qualified rigidity features were obtained through statistical analysis method such as least-squares parameter estimation. By comparing the judgments from both the parkinsonian rigidity quantification system and neurologists, correlation analysis was performed to find the optimal quantitative feature. Clinical experiments showed that the mechanical impedance has the best correlation (Pearson correlation coefficient r = 0.872, P < 0.001) with the clinical unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) rigidity score. Results confirmed that this measurement system is capable of quantifying parkinsonian rigidity with advantages of simple operation and effective assessment. In addition, the mechanical impedance can be adopted to help doctors to diagnose and monitor parkinsonian rigidity objectively and accurately.
Objective To investigate the gene expression of beta-defensin-4 (mBD-4) and mBD-6 in acute lung injury (ALI) mouse.Methods Sixty adult mice were randomly divided into a control group and a ALI group.ALI was induced by intraperitoneal injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the ALI group.The control group was treated with same dose of normal saline.The lung tissues were harvested at different time point after stimulation.The expression of mBD-4 and mBD-6 mRNA was measured by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction.DNA sequencing was used to confirm the specificity of mBD-4 and mBD-6 cDNA fragment.Results There were no obvious mBD-4 and mBD-6 mRNA expression in mouse lung in the control group at all time points and ALI 6 h group.In the ALI group a marked increasing expression was found on 12 h，1 d and 3 d after LPS stimulation.The mBD-4 mRNA expression was significant higher in the ALI groups of 1 d and 3 d points than that of ALI 12 h group with no obvious difference between each other.There were no significant differences of mBD-6 mRNA expression between ALI groups of 12 h，1 d and 3 d points Conclusion mBD-4 and mBD-6 mRNA is not constitutive expressed in mouse lung and show a up-regulative expression pattern after ALI.
Objective To observe whether Cyclo-RGDfK (Arg-Gly-Asp-D-Phe-Lys) could enhance the adhesion of myofibroblast to decellularized scaffolds and upregulate the expression of Integrin αVβ3 gene. Methods Myofibroblast from the rat thoracic aorta was acquired by primary cell culture. The expression of Vimentin and α-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA) has been detected by immunoflurescent labeling. Decellularized valves have been randomly divided into three groups (each n=7). Group A (blank control): valves do not receive any pretreatment; Group B: valves reacted with linking agent NEthylN(3dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) for 36 hours before being seeded; Experimental group: Cyclo-RGD peptide has been covalently immobilized onto the surface of scaffolds by linking agent EDC. The fifth generation of myofibroblast has been planted on the scaffolds of each group. The adhesion of myofibroblast to the scaffolds was evaluated by HE staining and electron scanning microscope. The expression of Integrin αVβ3 was quantified by halfquantitative reverse transcriptionpolymerase china reaction (RT-PCR). Results We can see that myofibroblast has exhibited b positive staining for Vimentin and α-SMA. Besides, it has been shown that the expression of Integrin αVβ3 was much higher in the experimental group than that of the group A and group B(Plt;0.05). There was no statistically difference in group A and group B (P=0.900). Conclusion RGD pretreatment does enhance the adhesive efficiency of seeding cells to the scaffolds and this effect may be related to the upregulation of Integrin αVβ3.
To study the quantitative detection method of T-wave alternans (TWA), we analyzed the relationship between the graphic mode of Poincare scatter and TWA, and proposed ‘horizontal search algorithm' to complete graphic processing. Then, based on the shape of Poincare scatter, we took Axial_ratio as the final index. Through Matlab simulation, Axial_ratio was compared with the results of spectral method (SM) and appropriate threshold value was selected to recognize the TWA. The results showed that Axial_ratio could accurately detect the TWA.
More and more medical devices can capture different features of human body and form three dimensional (3D) images. In clinical applications, usually it is required to fuse multiple source images containing different and crucial information into one for the purpose of assisting medical treatment. However, traditional image fusion methods are normally designed for two dimensional (2D) images and will lead to loss of the third dimensional information if directly applied to 3D data. Therefore, a novel 3D magnetic image fusion method was proposed based on the combination of newly invented beyond wavelet transform, called 3D band limited shearlet transformand (BLST), and four groups of traditional fusion rules. The proposed method was then compared with the 2D and 3D wavelet and dual-tree complex wavelet transform fusion methods through 4 groups of human brain T2* and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) images. The experiments indicated that the performance of the method based on 3D transform was generally superior to the existing methods based on 2D transform. Taking advantage of direction representation, shearlet transform could effectively improve the performance of conventional fusion method based on 3D transform. It is well concluded, therefore, that the proposed method is the best among the methods based on 2D and 3D transforms.
Objective To analyze the variation of intestinal microflora in patients with colorectal cancer by SYBR GreenⅠreal-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and reveal the role and significance of intestinal microflora in the colorectal cancer-associated molecular pathogenesis. Methods A set of 16S rRNA gene group of species-specific primers for Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus group, Escherichia coli, and ddl gene-targeted species-specific primers for Enterococcus faecalis and feces Enterococcus were designed. Patients with colorectal cancer (colorectal cancer group, n=30) and healthy volunteers (normal control group, n=30) were included and whose feces were collected to extract bacterial genome DNA. SYBR GreenⅠ real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to analyze the five mentioned bacterial amounts. Results Level of Bifidobacterium spp. (4.52±0.49) and Lactobacillus group (5.46±0.12) in colorectal cancer group were significantly lower than those （9.25±0.83 and 7.45±0.37） of normal control group (Plt;0.05), whereas levels of Escherichia coli (5.82±0.47), Enterococcus faecalis (10.6±0.30) and feces Enterococcus (5.74±0.16) in colorectal cancer group were significantly higher than those （4.68±0.32, 4.95±0.24, and 5.03±0.43） of normal control group (Plt;0.05). Conclusions The fecal microflora composition of patients with colorectal cancer is significantly decreased in Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus group, whereas increased in Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and feces Enterococcus. These data underline that the occurrence and progress of colorectal cancer may be related to intestinal microflora.
Histological studies and morphometry quantitative analysis have been performed on trial rabbit’s dilated common bile duct(CBD),which does not dilate simultaneously.The results shows:①Epithelia of rabbit’s CBD have a ber reparable function,which is fairly significant to the prevention of bile duct’s further injure under the pathogenic situation.②The smooth muscle cell(SMC)of the CBD is the histological basis of contraction,some SMC can be seen in contracting state under light microscope.This indicates that the SMC in rabbit’s CBD possess contracting function.③The collagenous and elastic fibers have the normal histological morphometric characteristics and quantity in it’s dilatation process,and no breekdown and degeneration of the fibers can be detected.Because of the morphological structure of these sections is quite similiar with normal ones,theoretically,we suspect that when pathological change of bile duct’s distal portion is relieved and the bile pressure is normal again.It is possible for this dilating bile duct to return to its formal shape and size.