Medical image segmentation is a classical puzzle for researchers.Image segmentation is the method to delineate anatomic structures or other interested regions automatically or semi-automatically,which is helpful to diagnosis and plays a crucial role in many medical imaging applications.In this article,a rather complete survey to medical image segmentation methods and their characteristics are given,especially to the new methods or improvement of the classical methods which was put forward recently.The prospects and the challenge of medical image segmentation is discussed.

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of neonatal tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).Methods A total of 134 patients were admitted and diagnosed as TSC in Beijing Children′s Hospital,Capital Medical University from September 2006 to September 2015.The clinical characteristics of TSC in 8 patients who had clinical symptoms initiating from the neonatal period (skin lesion,neurologic abnormality,etc.) were analyzed,so as to conduct the auxiliary examinations (skin biopsy,ultrasonic cardiogram,cranial imaging) and the follow-up results.Results Among 8 patients,4 were diagnosed as TSC in the neonatal period while other 4 were diagnosed at later period from 4 months to 14 years old.Six patients had skin lesions in neonatal period,accounting for 75% of 8 patients,with predominant symptoms:hypomelanotic macules (5 cases),angiofibroma (2 cases),and shagreen patch (1 case).Cardiac abnormalities in neonatal period mainly included cardiac rhabdomyoma,which were characterized by high incidence,multi-regional occurrence,and wide distribution,noticed in 4 patients (50%).Ultrasonic cardiogram showed a mass in 4 patients with moderate-strong echo,uniform texture and clear boundary,and slight effect on tricuspid valve blood flows (in 1 case).Electrocardiogram abnormalities were found in 1 case,like atrial premature beats with intraventricular aberrant conduction,and accelerated atrial escape.Neurologic abnormality of neonatal TSC could present convulsive seizures.Cranial imaging lesions showed subependymal nodules (3 cases),leukodystrophy (2 cases),and giant-cell astrocytoma (1 case).Evidence for TSC2 gene positive and heterozygous mutation was identified in 1 case.The nucleic acid mutation site was at c.268C>T (E4),and the amino acid mutation was p.90Q>X.The mutant effect was nonsense mutation,which could lead to premature termination of protein translation.Conclusion The clinical characteristics of neonatal TSC may involve multi-system lesions,most commonly seen in the skin,cardiac,and ner-vous system.Neonatal physical examinations,cranial CT/magnetic resonance imaging and cardiac ultrasound screening should be done for the suspected TSC patients,and genetic diagnosis may contribute to the early diagnosis of the disease.

Objective To explore the clinical significance of platelet count, C-reaction protein and D-dimer in Kawasaki disease children with coronary artery lesion. Methods 54 cases of children with KD treated in our hospital from January 2013 to December 2015 were divided into coronary artery injury (CAL) group (n=15) and without coronary artery injury (NCAL) group (n=39), according to the cardiac ultrasound examination. The relationship between the changes of platelet count, C reactive protein and D- two and coronary artery lesion in the 2 groups of acute and convalescent stages were detected. Platelet count, C-reaction protein and D-dimer of 54 healthy children were measured as a control. Results The levels of the platelet count, C-reaction protein and D-dimer of the KD children during acute stage are significantly higher than the control group (P<0.05), while the levels of C-reaction protein and D-dimer of the KD children during recovery stage was significantly decreased after treatment (P<0.05), the platelet count is remarkably increased (P<0.01). The platelet count, C-reaction protein and D-dimer for the KD children with coronary artery malformation, either at acute stage or recovery stage, compared with the control group were significantly different (P<0.05), with statistical significance. Conclusion The changes of the platelet count, C-reaction protein and D-dimer levels have close relations with the cardiovascular damage to the KD children.

Objective To investigate the therapeutic effects of botulinum toxin type A injection and acupuncture on periorbital wrinkles.Methods From May to September in 2015,24 patents were randomly divided into experimental and control group according to random number table:the patients in experimental group were treated with disposable acupuncture needles,20 min for each treatment,once a day,five times each course for courses,2 days interval between the two courses;the patients in control group were treated with 20 units of hotulinum toxin type A injection.The therapeutic results were observed 2 weeks after the treatment by the third-party doctor according to skin wrinkles grading.Results The periorbital wrinkles in both groups improved remarkably,and the wrinkle grading in control group was significantly lower than that in the experimental group (0.67±0.67 vs 1.33±0.61,P＜0.05).The skin quality and facial expression sensation in the experimental group improved significantly when compared with those in the control group.Conclusions Acupuncture can be used as a complementary treatment of periorbital wrinkles,and it improves the skin quality in terms of elasticity and color and keeps the natural facial expression sensation.

Colitis, Ulcerative ; immunology ; therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Immunity, Cellular ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

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Objective To preliminarily analyze the credibility and validity of Chinese Medical Constitution Questionnaire(CMCQ).Methods CMCQ was used to investigate the distribution of Chinese medical constitution types of 450 women inpatients with postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after gynecologic laparoscopic surgery from March to October of 2013.Credibility and validity were analyzed by Cronbach's α coefficient and factor analysis.Results Mixed constitution was identified in 184 (40.9％) patients.Cronbach's α coefficient of two dimensions (yang deficiency and qi stagnation) of CMCQ was proper,being 0.815 and 0.803 respectirely,while that of the dimension of harmony type was the lowest (0.514).The total variance explained by 9 common factors extracted from the results of factor analysis was only 48.5％.Conclusion CMCQ may need further revision based on the results of clinical application.

Dengue is the most common vector borne viral disease of humans globally.Detection of viral RNA from suspected patient specimens is rapid,specific and confirmative in laboratory diagnosis of dengue infections during the acute phase.In this study,a multiplex nested reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) system was established for clinical specimens.While other nucleic acid amplification tests showed relatively low sensitivity,the multiplex nested RT PCR assay detected 4 cases among blood clots from 8 serologically confirmed dengue patients.These results suggested that blood clots of dengue patients could be used in laboratory diagnosis,and that the multiplex nested RT PCR assay,which simplified the detection procedure,could facilitate viral RNA detection of specimens in clinical laboratories.

Agmatine was first identified and characterized as a candidate for CDS (clonidine displacing substance) in the bovine brain in 1994. The following researches demonstrated that agmatine was a widely distributed endogenous substance and performed a lot of biological functions in the central nervous system. The evidences revealed its targets were diverse and its mechanisms were complicated. Now it is well accepted that agmatine is a new neurotransmitter and/or neuromodulator and it might be an endogenous ligand of imidazoline receptor.

tralateral parietal lobe. Conclusions CIMT can improve the patients' upper-limb function effectively. The constraint-induced movement of the affected arm during CIMT appears to induce cortical reorganization and compensation as measured by fMRL