Visualization of medical images has become an important method for the basic medical research as well as clinical diagnosis and treatment.Construction of the highly sophisticated three-dimensional(3D) models of the human body by computers has become an essential foundation for current medical research and disease treatment methods.Visualization Toolkit(VTK) is a kind of famous software in scientific visualization fields.It is convenient and efficient for programming.This paper implements three typical algorithms,Contour-connecting,Marching Cubes and Ray-casting,of medical image 3D visualization using VTK with VC++.Results show that VTK is a powerful tool with many advantages,such as simple operation,fast,and good interaction ability and can be widely used in 3D reconstruction of medical images.

Objective To study the roles of Toll-like receptor 2(TLR2)and Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)in the progress of pulmo-nary infection with candida glabrata in experimental mice .Methods The mice were divided into three groups ,the control group (group A) ,mice infected with candida glabrata(group B)and immunosuppressive mice infected with candida glabrata(group C) .6 mice in each group were killed at 1st and 3rd day after the success in pulmonary infection with candida glabrata .The lung tissues from each group were collected for pathological analysis and PT-PCR to detect the expression level of TLR2 and TLR4 .Protein TNF alpha(TNF-α)level was measured by ELISA method .Results The pathological analysis showed the structure was normal and there was no inflammatory reaction in lungs in group A .The infiltration of inflammatory cells ,weak injuries but no conidia or hyphae in lungs were found in group B .Most of the alveolar collapse and severe damage ,part of the expansion ,a large number of in-flammatory cells infiltration ,accompanying with conidia and hyphae accumulation were observed in group C .The expression levels of TLR2 mRNA and TNF-αprotein in mice lungs at the 1st day and the 3rd day in group C were significantly higher than in group A and B(P<0 .05) ,while group B was higher than group A(P<0 .05);The expression levels of TLR2 ,TLR4 mRNA and TNF-αprotein in group C at the 3rd day was higher than the 1st day(P<0 .01) ,meanwhile ,the expression of TLR4 was higher than in group A(P<0 .05) .Conclusion TNF-αand TLR2 expression maybe involve in the infection and process of candida glabrata ,and TLR4 may play a synergistic effect .

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics ,diagnosis and treatment of acute leukemia complicating deep ve‐nous thrombosis(DVT) to deepen the cognition on this complication .Methods The clinical data of consecutive patients with acute leukemia were performed the retrospective analysis .The occurrence situation of deep venous thrombosis was investigated and the a‐broad related literatures were reviewed .Results A total of 116 cases of acute leukemia in our department from July 2011 to March 2014 were treated ,in which 85 cases were acute myeloid leukemia and 31 cases were acute lymphoblastic leukemia;5 cases devel‐oped DVT with the proportion of 4 .31% (5/116) .Of these cases ,3 cases were acute promyelocytic leukemia and 2 cases were acute lymphoblastic leukemia .Conclusion The occurrence rate of DVT in the patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia is relatively higher ,if the patients have the corresponding symptom ,timely diagnosis and treatment should be conducted .

Feature extraction of event-related potentials (ERP) plays an important part in both basic and clinical researches for cerebral neurophysiology. ICA is a method for separating blind signals based on signal statistic characteristics. In this paper, the fundamental principle, the discrimination condition and the practical algorithm of Independent Component Analysis are discussed. Then, a fast Independent Component Analysis algorithm (Fast ICA) is introduced. But like Fast ICA, its convergence is dependent on initial weight. We bring in a revision factor into the algorithm; thus the new algorithm could implement convergence on a largescale. In this paper, the revision factor is calculated by gradient. By modifying kernel iterate course, several iterations of Fast ICA are merged into one iteration of Modified Fast ICA, so the convergence of ICA will be accelerated. Finally, Modified ICA is applied to ERP extraction. The simulation shows that the convergence speed can be increased by using the improved algorithm.
Algorithms ; Brain ; physiology ; Electroencephalography ; methods ; Evoked Potentials ; Humans ; Principal Component Analysis ; methods ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effect of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) treated with moxibustion at Gaohuang (BL 43).

METHODSWith stratified block randomization, 72 patients accorded with inclusive criteria were divided into a moxibustion at Gaohuang (BL 43) group (moxibustion group) and an acupuncture group, 36 cases in each one. In the moxibustion group, Gaohuang (BL 43) was treated with big moxa cones as the main acupoint, 10 cones a time; Qihai (CV 6) and Zusanli (ST 36) were added with big moxa cones, 7 cones a time. In the acupuncture group, acupoints were the same as those in the moxibustion group, and twirling reinforcing method was used after qi arriving, 60 times one minute and 360° with range. In the two groups, 10-day treatment was made into one course and there were two days between courses. The treatment was given once a day for 3 courses. Changes of fatigue assessment index (FAI) before and after treatment and clinical effects were observed.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 88.9% (32/36) in the moxibustion group, which was better than 72.2% (26/36) in the acupuncture group apparently (P < 0.05). After treatment in the two groups, FAI scores were obviously declined compared with those before treatment (both P < 0.01) and FAI score in the moxibustion group was apparently lower than that in the acupuncture group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONMoxibustion at Gaohuang (BL 43) can improve the FAI score of patients with CFS and the clinical efficacy is definite.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

Objective: To explore the relationship between NLRP3 inflammasome and atrial fibrillation (AF) by examining peripheral blood level of NLRP3 inlfammasome and other inlfammatory factors in relevant patients.
Method: A total of 60 AF patients were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: Paroxysmal AF (PAF) group and Non-paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (nPAF) group, n=30 in each group;in addition, there was a Control group including 26 healthy subjects from physical examination. NLRP3 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was measured by lfow cytometry;blood levels of IL-1β, IL-6, CRP and NT-proBNP were detected by ELISA. The correlations among different factors were studied by liner regression analysis and the differences were compared among groups.
Result:①Compared with Control group, PAF and nPAF groups had increased PBMCs level of NLRP3 and blood levels of IL-1β, IL-6, CRP, NT-proBNP, P<0.05, while NLRP3 level was similar between PAF group and nPAF group, P>0.05.②PAF and nPAF groups showed elevated blood level of NT-proBNP than Control group, P<0.05. ③PBMCs level of NLRP3 was positively related to left atrial diameter (r=0.579, P<0.05) and negatively related to left ventricular ejection fraction (r=-0.490, P<0.05) in both AF groups.
Conclusion: ① NLRP3 inflammasome was closely related to AF, which may provide a therapeutic target for AF treatment. ② AF was closely related to inflammatory response. ③ Downstream product of NLRP3 may cause the inlfammatory response which could induce the occurrence, development and maintenance of AF in relevant patients.

Objective To explore the effects of co‐cultured heat‐treated candida glabrata with rat tracheal epithelial (RTE) cells on the expression of Dectin‐1 and the production of IL‐6 and TNF‐α.Methods RTE cells in vitro were co‐cultured with heat‐treated candida glabrata bacteria liquid for 2 ,4 ,6 h ,while without co‐cultured RTE cells were used as control group .We observed the morphological changes of RTE cells ,detected the protein expressions of Dectin‐1 by Western blot ,used real‐time PCR to detecte the mRNA expressions of IL‐6 and TNF‐αand measured protein expression of IL‐6 and TNF‐αby ELISA .Results With the pass‐ing of time ,the RTE cells were damaged extensively and the expression of Dectin‐1 ,IL‐6 and TNF‐αbecame more and more signifi‐cant .Obviously ,there had significant difference in the expression of Dectin‐1 ,IL‐6 and TNF‐α between the co‐cultured 2 h group and the control group ,the co‐cultured 4 h group and the co‐cultured 2 h group ,the co‐cultured 6 h group and the co‐cultured 4 h group (P<0 .05) .Conclusion RTE cells have natural immune function .The Dectin‐1 involves in the recognition of heat‐treated Candida glabrata ,activating secretion of IL‐6 and TNF‐αand mediating inflammatory reaction .IL‐6 plays a negative regulation role .

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

Objective: To explore the expression of myocardial levels of connexin 43(Cx43), Cx40 in experimental dog model of sympathomimetic atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: 15 mongrels dogs were randomly divided into 3 groups: Control group, Rapid atrium pacing (RAP) group and RAP+isoprenaline (ISO) perfusion group. n=5 in each group. The hearts were taken to establish in vitro langendorff cardiac perfusion model. Atrial effective refractory period (AERP) and AF inducing rate were tested;intracellular expression and distribution of nerve growth factor (NGF) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) were examined by immunohistochemistry, total protein contents of Cx43 and Cx40 were measured by Western blot analysis, mitochondria morphology was observed by transmission electron microscope and mitochondria reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was detected by fluorescent colorimetric method. Results: AERP was similar between Control group and RAP group (166±5.1) ms vs (160±3.2) ms which cannot induce AF; while it was shortened in RAP+ISO group (148±3.7) ms, P<0.05 which may successfully induce AF.Compared with Control group, mitochondria was slightly swollen in RAP group and the matrix was intact, while mitochondria was obviously swollen in RAP+ISO group and part of matrix was transparent; total protein contents of Cx43 and Cx40 were lower in both RAP group and RAP+ISO group, P<0.05; in addition, they were even lower in RAP+ISO group than RAP group, P<0.05. Compared with Control group and RAP group, RAP+ISO group had increased expression and distribution of NGF, TH and mitochondria ROS generation, P<0.05; NGF, TH and ROS in RAP group were higher than Control group, P<0.05. Conclusion: Sympathetic AF has been related to the contents and changes of myocardial levels of CX43 and Cx40; sympathetic nerve might trigger AF by oxidative stress induced down-regulation of myocardial CX43 and Cx40 in experimental dog model.

In order to deal with the disadvantages in ECG waveform detection by wavelet harr transform at level 3, we put forward a new set of algorithm which combines wavelet transform (WT) and morphological peak and valley detection. The combination algorithm can make up the limitation in detecting ECG swing by WT and improve the accuracy of ECG waveform detection effectively.
Algorithms ; Electrocardiography ; Humans ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted