Objective To discuss the clinical application of C-arm CT in guiding Hook-wire localization of solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) before video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS).Methods The clinical data of 51 patients with SPN (51 lesions in total),who received C-arm CT-guided Hook-wire localization before VATS during the period from January 2011 to December 2015 at authors' hospital,were retrospectively analyzed.The technical success rate,the time spent for localization,the incidence of complications,the rate of VATS conversion to thoracotomy,the average size of SPN,the distance between SPN and visceral pleura,and the pathological findings were documented.Results The technical success rate of preoperative C-arm CT-guided Hook-wire localization was 100％.The mean time spent for localization was 16 minutes.Asymptomatic pneumothorax occurred in 4 patients (7.8％) and asymptomatic hemorrhage in 11 patients (21.6％).Intraoperative dislodgement of the hook-wire was seen in one patient (2.0％).The average size of SPN was 10.7 mm.The mean distance between SPN and visceral pleura was 25.3 mm,and the puncturing depth (the length from skin to pulmonary nodule) was 66.7 mm.Pathological examination revealed that 60.8％ of the 51 SPNs were malignant.Conclusion Preoperative C-arm CT-guided Hook-wire localization of SPN before VATS is an accurate,safe and fast technique.This technique is an efficient means to guide the puncturing,and it has high application value in clinical practice.

Objective:To explore the method of obtaining the key parameters of the average value articulator in healthy people based on mandibular movement trajectory data, with a view to providing a reference for the clinical application of the average value articulator.Methods:One hundred healthy volunteers (42 males and 58 females) with individual normal occlusion, aged 18-55 years old, who met the inclusion criteria were recruited from Beijing, and their mandibular movement trajectory data were collected. The left and right sagittal condylar inclination(SCI) and transversal condylar inclination(TCI) were obtained from the values of the articulator parameters which were generated in the mandibular movement analysis system.The SCI and TCI were grouped by gender and calculated separately for the two groups and the overall sample; the gender differences in the two parameters and the differences between the mean values of the two parameters and the average value articulator empirical values (35° for SCI and 15° for TCI) for the overall sample were compared.Results:The differences between SCI (35.8°±7.4°) and TCI [11.2° (11.3°)] in males and the corresponding parameters [35.6°±8.3° and 10.8° (9.5°), respectively] in females were not statistically significant ( t=0.10, P=0.922; Z=-0.60, P=0.552); the overall sample SCI (35.7°±7.9°) did not differ statistically from the average value articulator empirical value ( t=1.23, P=0.221), and the overall sample TCI [10.9° (10.3°)] was significantly smaller than the average value articulator empirical value ( W=5 825.00, P<0.001). Conclusions:The mandibular movement trajectory data of 100 adults with individual normal occlusion in this study shows that the gender factor does not affect the setting of the key parameters of the average value articulator, the SCI of the average value articulator empirical values is appropriate, and the TCI has the possibility of being on the large side. In the clinical use of the articulator to assist in the design of restorations, the parameter values should be rationally adjusted according to the actual situation of the patient′s dentition and mandibular movement.

In the nucleus, chromatin is folded into hierarchical architecture that is tightly linked to various nuclear functions. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that confer these archi-tectures remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the functional roles of H3 lysine 9 dimethylation (H3K9me2), one of the abundant histone modifications, in three-dimensional (3D) genome organization. Unlike in mouse embryonic stem cells, inhibition of methyltransferases G9a and GLP in differentiated cells eliminated H3K9me2 predominantly at A-type (active) genomic compartments, and the level of residual H3K9me2 modifications was strongly associated with B-type (inactive) genomic compartments. Furthermore, chemical inhibition of G9a/GLP in mouse hepatocytes led to decreased chromatin-nuclear lamina interactions mainly at G9a/GLP-sensitive regions, increased degree of genomic compartmentalization, and up-regulation of hundreds of genes that were associated with alterations of the 3D chromatin. Collectively, our data demonstrated essential roles of H3K9me2 in 3D genome organization.

Objective:To establish an intelligent registration algorithm under the framework of original-mirror alignment algorithm to construct three-dimensional (3D) facial midsagittal plane automatically. Dynamic Graph Registration Network (DGRNet) was established to realize the intelligent registration, in order to provide a reference for clinical digital design and analysis.Methods:Two hundred clinical patients without significant facial deformities were collected from October 2020 to October 2022 at Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology. The DGRNet consists of constructing the feature vectors of key points in point original and mirror point clouds (X, Y), obtaining the correspondence of key points, and calculating the rotation and translation by singular value decomposition. Original and mirror point clouds were registrated and united. The principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm was used to obtain the DGRNet alignment midsagittal plane. The model was evaluated based on the coefficient of determination (R 2) index for the translation and rotation matrix of test set. The angle error was evaluated on the 3D facial midsagittal plane constructed by the DGRNet alignment midsagittal plane and the iterative closet point (ICP) alignment midsagittal plane for 50 cases of clinical facial data. Results:The average angle error of the DGRNet alignment midsagittal plane and ICP alignment midsagittal plane was 1.05°±0.56°, and the minimum angle error was only 0.13°. The successful detection rate was 78% (39/50) within 1.50° and 90% (45/50) within 2.00°.Conclusions:This study proposes a new solution for the construction of 3D facial midsagittal plane based on the DGRNet alignment method with intelligent registration, which can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of treatment to some extent.

Objective This study proposes a chairside digital design and manufacturing method for band and loop space maintainers and preliminarily validates its clinical feasibility.Methods Clinical cases of 10 children requiring space maintenance caused by premature loss of primary teeth were collected.Intraoral scan data of the affected children were also collected to establish digital models of the missing teeth.Using a pediatric band and loop space maintainer de-sign software developed by our research team,a rapid personalized design of band and loop structures was achieved,and a digital model of an integrated band and loop space maintainer was ultimately generated.A chairside space maintainer was manufactured through metal computer numerical control machining for the experimental group,whereas metal 3D printing in the dental laboratory was used for the control group.A model fitting assessment was conducted for the space maintainers of both groups,and senior pediatric dental experts were invited to evaluate the clinical feasibility of the space maintainers with regard to fit and stability using the visual analogue scale scoring system.Statistical analysis was also performed.Results The time spent in designing and manufacturing the 10 space maintainers of the experimental group was all less than 1 h.Statistical analysis of expert ratings showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group with regard to fit and stability.Both types of space maintainers met clinical requirements.Conclusion The chairside digital design and manufacturing method for pediatric band and loop space maintainers proposed in this study can achieve same-day fitting of space maintainers at the first appointment,demonstrating good clinical feasibility and significant potential for clinical application.