Objective To discuss manifestations of neurogenic tumors on chest wall on CT imaging and pathology.Methods 7 patients with neurogenic tumors on chest wall confirmed surgically and pathologically were reviewed.To facilitate differential diagnosis,3 cases of malignant sarcoma were reviewed for their features on CT.Results 4 out of 5 cases of neurinoma were benign,with one case showing even density on plain CT scan,3 were poorly even,one case showed obvious evenness after enhancement,and 1 case was poorly evenly enhanced,2 benign cases had compression absorption of surrounding bone of scapula or ribs.One case of moderate malignancy was uneven in plain scan and slightly enhanced after enhancement procedure,and neighboring bone of scapula and rib were compressed and destroyed and absorbed,and neighboring muscular interspace and upper mediastinum were involved.One case showed single lesion of neurofibroma,displaying relatively even density on plain scan and moderate unevenness after enhancement procedure,as well as compression and absorption of neighboring ribs.One case of neurofibroma had multiple lesions,showing uneven density on plain scan.This case did not undergo enhanced scan.The remaining 3 cases were all sarcoma including 2 cases of fibrosarcoma and one case of synovial sarcoma.Conclusion Mass of soft tissues that are situated on chest wall or paravertebral area and with smooth edge are suggestive for benign neurogenic tumor.On the contrary,rough edge and coarse shape and infiltration into neighboring tissues are characteristic for malignant ones.

Objective To explore the effects of early hospital-family comprehensive rehabilitation on the development of pretenn infants. Methods A total of 256 premature infants were chosen and divided into an early intervention group (n = 148) and a control group (n =108). Besides being given the conventional mothering instruction , the early intervention group was given early assessment, regular visits and hospital-family comprehensive rehabilitation treatment. The control group was only given the conventional mothering instruction. The fine and gross motor growth quotients, adaptation, verbalisation and social behavior and general growth quotient of all the premature infants were assessed periodically using the infant neuropsychology growth scale. Results The growth quotient assessment indicators of the infants receiving the intervention were obviously better at the 6th, 12th, 18th and 24th month after birth, and the differences between the two groups were statistically significant. The incidence of cerebral palsy in the early intervention group was 0.71% (1/148), with only one cerebral palsy infant in the early intervention group who was at level Ⅲ of the gross motor function classification system ( GMFCS) , while the incidence of cerebral palsy in the control group was 5.1% (5/98) , with 5 cerebral palsy infants, one of whom was at GMFCS level Ⅲ and 4 of whom were at level Ⅳ. Conclusions Early systematic hospital-family comprehensive rehabilitation can improve the general growth of premature infants, decrease the incidence of cerebral palsy, and neurobehavior deficits.

An improved edge detection algorithm is proposed in this paper for the medical images with strong noises and fuzzy edges. The algorithm modified the combination of morphological operations, so that the unclear edges of the images are avoided. In this paper is also introduced the algorithm of multi-structure elements which can reserve integrated edges from different directions of the images. Furthermore, the contrast enhancement and morphological filter processing are implemented. This method can detect the edges efficiently, keep the detected edges smooth and obtain coherent image edges. Experiments demonstrate that this edge detector has a better performance of noise reduction and keeps the edges more accurate than do the traditional edge detectors; thus its practicality is enhanced.
Algorithms ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

The mosquito vector of filariasis malayi and its vectorial capacity was investigated In 5 endemic villages in Leshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. The results showed that the man-biting rate, numan blood index and vectorial capacity of An. lesteri anthropophagus were 0.7, 5.1 and 10.63 times higher than those of An. sinensis. Besides, the natural infection by microfilaria in An, lesteri anthropophagus was also higher than that in An. sinensis by 5 times.From the above result, the authors concluded that An. lesteri anthropophagus was the main vector for transmitting filariasis malayi in the area under study.

Objective:To summarize the patient profiles and therapeutic efficacies of ABO-incompatible living-related kidney transplantations at 19 domestic transplant centers and provide rationales for clinical application of ABOi-KT.Methods:Clinical cases of ABO-incompatible/compatible kidney transplantation (ABOi-KT/ABOc-KT) from December 2006 to December 2009 were collected. Then, statistical analyses were conducted from the aspects of tissue matching, perioperative managements, complications and survival rates of renal allograft or recipients.Results:Clinical data of 342 ABOi-KT and 779 ABOc-KT indicated that (1) no inter-group differences existed in age, body mass index (BMI), donor-recipient relationship or waiting time of pre-operative dialysis; (2) ABO blood type: blood type O recipients had the longest waiting list and transplantations from blood type A to blood type O accounted for the largest proportion; (3) HLA matching: no statistical significance existed in mismatch rate or positive rate of PRA I/II between two types of surgery; (4) CD20 should be properly used on the basis of different phrases; (5) hemorrhage was a common complication during an early postoperative period and microthrombosis appeared later; (6) no difference existed in postoperative incidence of complications or survival rate of renal allograft and recipients at 1/3/5/10 years between ABOi-KT and ABOc-KT. The acute rejection rate and serum creatinine levels of ABOi-KT recipients were comparable to those of ABOc-KT recipients within 1 year.Conclusions:ABOi-KT is both safe and effective so that it may be applied at all transplant centers as needed.