Objective:To explore the relationship between triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index with plaque components, plaque burden and characteristics of vulnerable plaque using coronary plaque analysis based on coronary artery computed tomography (CCTA).Methods:A total of 498 patients(male 296, female 202), the age ranged from 33 to 87 (63±9) years who underwent CCTA from January 2020 to September in Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University were included. The enrolled patients were divided into three groups according to the tertiles of TyG index: T 1 group (the lowest one-third), T 2 group (middle one-third) and T 3 group (the highest one-third). The plaque burden, volume and ratio of calcified, lipid and fibrous components of plaques as well as the incidence of vulnerable plaques were measured based on CCTA images. Chi-square test, ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare whether the differences of indexes among the three groups were statistically significant. Multiple stepwise regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden and multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the risk factors of CT high-risk plaque. Finally, ROC curve was used to evaluate the value of TyG index in the diagnosis of CT high-risk plaque, and the best diagnostic threshold of TyG index was determined. Results:The plaque burden, non-calcified plaque volume and ratio had positive relationship with TyG index ( P<0.001).TyG index was significantly correlated with plaque burden according to multiple stepwise regression analysis (regression coefficient 7.267, P<0.001). The results of CT vulnerable characteristics of plaques showed that positive remodeling, low-attenuation plaque sign and the incidence of vulnerable plaque increased with TyG index ( P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that TyG index was an independent risk factor for CT vulnerable plaque(OR=2.324,95 %CI 1.533-3.523, P<0.001). The cut-off value of TyG index that can predict vulnerable plaque was 8.43(sensitivity 77.24%, specificity 45.60%, AUC 0.645, P<0.001). Conclusions:With the increase of TyG index, the burden of coronary atherosclerosis plaque and the incidence of CT vulnerable plaque increased. TyG index is expected to be a simple and effective predictor of cardiovascular disease and adverse cardiovascular events.

Objective:To investigate the value of CT features in predicting the invasion and degree of invasiveness of lung pure ground-glass nodules (pGGN) in the new histological classification in 2021.Methods:A total of 281 patients (304 lesions) with pGGN confirmed by surgical pathology from December 2018 to January 2021 in Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. According to the pathological types, the patients were divided into prodromal lesion group [atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH) and adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS), 129 cases], minimally invasive group [minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA), 116 cases] and invasive group [invasive adenocarcinoma (IAC), 59 cases]. Clinical data (age, gender, smoking history, family history of cancer), and CT parameters [shape, boundary, lobulation, burr, vacuolar sign, bronchial abnormality sign, internal vessel sign, pleural traction sign, longest diameter, shortest diameter, unenhanced CT value, contrast-enhanced CT value in arterial phase, contrast-enhanced CT values in venous phase, the degree of enhancement (ΔCT A-N, ΔCT V-N)] were recorded and measured. The ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis H and χ 2 test were used to compare the differences among the three groups. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the independent risk factors of nodular invasion [prodromal lesion and invasive lesion (MIA and IAC)] and the degree of nodular invasion (MIA and IAC), and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed for each parameter. Results:There were statistically significant differences in age, pGGN morphology, lobulation, vacuolar sign, bronchial abnormality sign, internal vascular sign, pleural traction sign, longest diameter, shortest diameter, unenhanced CT value, contrast-enhanced CT value in arterial phase, contrast-enhanced CT value in venous phase among the precursor lesion group, minimally invasive group and invasive group ( P<0.05). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that vacuole sign (OR=2.832, 95%CI 1.363-5.887, P=0.005), internal vascular sign (OR=3.021, 95%CI 1.909-4.779, P<0.001) and unenhanced CT value (OR=1.003, 95%CI 1.001-1.006, P=0.019) were independent risk factors for invasion. Lobulation (OR=5.739, 95%CI 2.735-12.042, P<0.001), internal vascular sign (OR=1.968, 95%CI 1.128-3.433, P=0.017) and unenhanced CT value (OR=1.004, 95%CI 1.001-1.008, P=0.012) were independent risk factors for the degree of invasiveness. ROC curve analysis showed that the efficiency of internal vascular sign was the highest in distinguishing precursor lesion and the invasive, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.757, the sensitivity was 50.3%, the specificity was 89.8%. The efficiency of lobulation was the highest in distinguishing MIA and IAC (AUC=0.702), with a sensitivity of 61.0% and specificity of 79.3%. Conclusions:CT features are of certain value in predicting the invasion and degree of invasiveness of lung pGGN in the new histological classification in 2021, and internal vascular sign is more effective in predicting the invasion of lung pGGN. Lobulation can predict the degree of invasiveness of pGGN better.

With the continuously increasing demands of plastic products in the current society, the challenge of disposing plastic waste is constantly increasing, leading to the urgent need of mitigating plastic pollution. As a consequence, much attention has been paid to biodegradable plastics due to their degradability in a bio-active environment under certain conditions. Biodegradable plastics herald vast development potentials and considerable market prospects. The degradation of numerous types of biodegradable plastics will be affected by many factors. A thorough understanding of degradation mechanisms as well as functional microbial strains and enzymes is the key to comprehensive utilization and efficient treatment and disposal of biodegradable plastics. The article summarized the types, properties, advantages and disadvantages, and main applications of common biodegradable plastics. The degradation mechanisms, functional microbial strains and enzymes, as well as the degradation degree and duration under different environmental conditions, were also summarized. This review may help better understand the degradation of biodegradable plastics wastes.
Biodegradable Plastics ; Biodegradation, Environmental