Objective To demonstrate the feasibility of DTI in human calf with body phased-array coil and surface coil of spine as receiving coil on 3 T system, and to optimize the parameters of sequence, including slice thickness and b-value. Methods Fifteen healthy volunteers were recruited in this study and randomly divided into three groups. The DTI sequence for head was performed on calf in the first group (5 cases), and the sequence parameters were optimized based on the deficits of the raw and the post-processed DTI images. Then, different slice thickness were applied in the senond group (5 eases) to optimize the slice thickness, and this optimized parameter with the highest score based on quality of the post-processed DTI images was applied in the next step. Finally, different b values were applied in the last group to optimize this parameters. The b value with the highest score based on the quality of the pest-processed was the proper one. Results Three problems existed in the raw and the pest-processed images, when the DTI sequence for brain was used for the calf. First, the SNR of raw images is extremely low. Second, the muscle were unclear on the image with parts of signal lose, especially in the anterior tibialis muscle. Finally, the artifacts due to chemical shift and ghost are quite serious. The scores for muscle display quality with slice thickness of 4 mm , 5 mm and 6 mm were (7.0±0. 0), (8.6±0. 9) and (9.0±0. 0) score respectively, the signal less scores were (5.0±0. 0) and ( 12. 8±2. 6) and ( 13. 8±2. 2) score respectively, and the general score were (22. 0±0. 0) and (30. 1±3.8) and (31.0±4. 1 ) score respectively. The differences of above scores were significant among different slice thickness (F-value were 21. 000 and 30. 544 and 12. 390 respectively, P <0. 05 ). The muscle displaying quality, signal loss and general scores were lowest in group with 4 mm slice thickness (q-value were 4. 896.6. 120,6. 327,7. 138,3. 863 and 4. 043, P < 0. 05 ) o The scores of muscle display quality, signal loss and general for b =400 s/mm2 were (9. 0±0. 0), ( 14. 0± 2. 2 ) and ( 33.0±2. 2 ) score respectively, which were lower than those with b = 800 s/ram2 [(7.0±0.0), (6.2±2.2), (21.8±3.4) score] and b=1000 s/mm2[(7.0±0.0), (5.0±0.0), (20.6±2.2) score] (q-value were 3.873,3.873,6.650,7.672,7. 101 and 5.917, P <0.05)o The scores of muscle displaying quality, signal loss and general for b =600 s/mm2 were (8.2±1.1 ), ( 13.0± 2. 3) and ( 30. 8±3. 8 ) score respectively, which were higher than those with b = 800 s/mm2 and b= 1000 s/nun2 (q-value were 3.873, 3.873, 5.797, 6.820, 5.326 and 5.917, P <0.05).There is no significant difference between b = 600 s/ram2 and 400 s/ram2 ( q-value were 2. 582 and 0. 852 and 1. 775, P > 0. 05 ). Conclusion Our preliminary findings indicate that it is feasible to perform DTI on human calf with 3 T MR. With body phased-array coil and surface coil of spine as receiving coil, the DTI sequence were optimized to acquire enough SNB with slice thickness of 5 mm and b-value of 400 s/mm2.

Objective:To further understand the etiological distribution of fever of unknown origin (FUO) in patients underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging, and to explore the significance of 18F-FDG PET/CT in the diagnosis of different types of diseases in FUO patients. Methods:From January 2013 to August 2019, the clinical and PET/CT image data of 466 FUO patients (194 males, 272 females, age: 3-91(52.7±20.9) years) in Peking University People′s Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The etiological distribution of FUO patients was analyzed according to the final clinical diagnosis. PET/CT imaging manifestations were analyzed for different types of diseases in FUO patients. The role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in differential diagnosis for FUO was evaluated through clinical questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using χ2 test. Results:The common disease types in FUO patients were rheumatic and immune disease (48.7%, 227/466), infection (28.5%, 133/466) and malignant tumor (11.2%, 52/466). For PET/CT imaging, 95.5% (445/466) of the patients were positive, of which 313 (70.3%, 313/445) were found to have focal lesions, and the other 132 (29.7%, 132/445) showed only nonspecific abnormal uptake. Lesions in different types of diseases were varied in the location, morphological changes as well as FDG uptake. The results of the questionnaire showed that PET/CT imaging could benefit 95.9% (447/466) of the patients in the FUO diagnosis and treatment. PET/CT reached direct etiological diagnosis of malignant tumors more frequently than other types of diseases ( χ2 values: 14.408-25.466, all P<0.001). PET/CT helped or directly reached the etiological diagnosis of rheumatologic diseases more frequently than infection and unknown cause group( χ2 values: 7.922, 9.647, both P<0.05). Conclusion:18F-FDG PET/CT imaging has high clinical value in the diagnosis of FUO etiology and can provide multilevel diagnostic information.

Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of plasminogen activator inhibi-tor-1(PAI-1),transforming growth factor-β(TGF-β),vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF),and inter-leukin-6(IL-6)in patients with tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis.Methods A total of 103 patients with tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis who were treated in a hospital from July 2020 to July 2023 were selected as the research subjects.After 2 weeks of treatment,they were divided into a significant effect group and a non-significant effect group based on the therapeutic efficacy of glucocorticoid treatment.The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion were compared before treatment,after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment.The correlation between the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion and the therapeutic efficacy was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.Pearson correlation analy-sis was used to analyze the correlation between the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleu-ral effusion and the levels of these indicators in pleural effusion after 2 weeks of treatment.A receiver operat-ing characteristic curve was drawn to analyze the predictive value of the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion for the efficacy of tuberculous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis patients after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment.Results The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment in both groups were lower than those before treatment,and the levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment in the significant effect group were lower than those in the non-significant effect group,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.05).The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment were negatively correlated with the efficacy(P＜0.05).The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion after 2 weeks of treatment were positively correlated(r=0.761,0.783,0.812,0.741,all P＜0.05).The area under the curve(AUC)of combined detection of serum and pleural effusion in-dicators after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment was greater than the AUC of individual indicators(P＜0.05).Con-clusion The levels of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion of patients with tubercu-lous pleurisy and pleural fibrosis are related to the efficacy of treatment.The combined detection of PAI-1,TGF-β,VEGF,and IL-6 in serum and pleural effusion has good predictive value and can provide reference for clinical intervention.

In order to help the standardized residency training of nuclear medicine residents, the standardized residency training base of nuclear medicine residents in Peking University People's Hospital, combined with forty-five nuclear medicine departments of teaching hospital, established the WeChat official account of "Standardized Residency Training of Nuclear Medicine" and submitted one teaching case per week. The appearance of the WeChat official account of "Standardized Residency Training of Nuclear Medicine" has made up for the shortcomings of insufficient teaching cases in a single training base, strengthened the training of residents' imaging diagnostic thinking, and promoted mutual learning among the bases. By writing teaching cases, instructors and residents have opened up ideas, increased knowledge, improved self-learning ability, and cultivated imaging diagnostic thinking. With the flexible and practical features of the WeChat official account, the consciousness and sustainability of residents' learning have been enhanced.

Edema， as a common pathological phenomenon， is essentially the abnormal accumulation of body fluids in the interstitial spaces of human tissues and is often a direct manifestation of various underlying diseases， such as heart failure， impaired renal filtration function， or liver metabolic disorders. In the Western medical system， strategies for treating edema primarily focus on the use of diuretics to promote the excretion of excess fluid in the body， while simultaneously addressing the underlying causes through targeted treatment. However， long-term reliance on the use of diuretics may lead to a decrease in drug sensitivity and induce side effects， including electrolyte disorders such as hypokalemia and hypercalcemia， posing a potential threat to patients' overall health. Compared with Western medicine， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has demonstrated well-recognized and sustained efficacy in treating edema with its unique theoretical system. Zhulingtang， as a classic and commonly used TCM formula， is widely applied as it can effectively relieve edema and related symptoms. In recent years， ongoing in-depth studies on the treatment of edema with Zhulingtang have revealed multiple mechanisms of action of Zhulingtang， including the regulation of water metabolism and the reduction of inflammatory responses， thereby providing a solid theoretical basis for clinical practice. This review summarized the research progress on the treatment of edema with Zhulingtang in recent years and analyzed the active ingredients and action pathways of Zhulingtang. Additionally， the primary mechanisms of action and efficacy were systematically analyzed， so as to provide references for the clinical application of Zhulingtang in treating various types of edema， such as cardiogenic edema， renal edema， and hepatogenic edema. This review aims to offer theoretical support and practical guidance for clinicians in deciding treatment approaches， as well as references for subsequent in-depth studies， thereby promoting further development of TCM in the treatment of edema.

Edema， as a common pathological phenomenon， is essentially the abnormal accumulation of body fluids in the interstitial spaces of human tissues and is often a direct manifestation of various underlying diseases， such as heart failure， impaired renal filtration function， or liver metabolic disorders. In the Western medical system， strategies for treating edema primarily focus on the use of diuretics to promote the excretion of excess fluid in the body， while simultaneously addressing the underlying causes through targeted treatment. However， long-term reliance on the use of diuretics may lead to a decrease in drug sensitivity and induce side effects， including electrolyte disorders such as hypokalemia and hypercalcemia， posing a potential threat to patients' overall health. Compared with Western medicine， traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has demonstrated well-recognized and sustained efficacy in treating edema with its unique theoretical system. Zhulingtang， as a classic and commonly used TCM formula， is widely applied as it can effectively relieve edema and related symptoms. In recent years， ongoing in-depth studies on the treatment of edema with Zhulingtang have revealed multiple mechanisms of action of Zhulingtang， including the regulation of water metabolism and the reduction of inflammatory responses， thereby providing a solid theoretical basis for clinical practice. This review summarized the research progress on the treatment of edema with Zhulingtang in recent years and analyzed the active ingredients and action pathways of Zhulingtang. Additionally， the primary mechanisms of action and efficacy were systematically analyzed， so as to provide references for the clinical application of Zhulingtang in treating various types of edema， such as cardiogenic edema， renal edema， and hepatogenic edema. This review aims to offer theoretical support and practical guidance for clinicians in deciding treatment approaches， as well as references for subsequent in-depth studies， thereby promoting further development of TCM in the treatment of edema.

Artificial conduits, including ureteral stents and catheters, are used widely as drainage tools in the urinary system. However, various bacteria in the urine and long duration of insertion can arouse the biofilm formation on the pipeline surface, which calls for effective antibacterial strategy. In this article, the mechanism of Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTI) is explained from the perspective of etiology. Then, the biofilm formation conditions and the features of urine are analyzed, the antibacterial agents and approaches suitable for ureteral stents and catheters are introduced and their pros and cons are discussed respectively.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Catheters ; Drainage ; Humans ; Stents ; Urinary Catheterization ; instrumentation ; Urinary Tract Infections