Objective Based on the radiomics features extracted from the unenhanced CT images of the lower abdomen, a variety of machine learning models were constructed to explore their application value in the assessment of split renal function. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the unenhanced CT images from 240 single kidneys in patients with clinically suspected renal dysfunction. Based on the results of single-photon emission computed tomography renal dynamic imaging, the cases were classified into the normal glomerular filtration rate group (n=118) and the decreased glomerular filtration rate group (n=122). The region of interest was outlined on the unenhanced CT images and the radiomics features were extracted. The features were selected by correlation analysis and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, and the machine learning models were constructed based on the algorithms of decision tree, support vector machine, random forest, logistic regression, and extreme gradient boosting. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated to compare the performance of different models. Results Sixteen radiomics features were selected for constructing the machine learning models. The support vector machine model showed relatively high performance for the assessment of split renal function on the test set, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of 0.883 (95% confidence interval: 0.804-0.961), an accuracy of 0.778, a sensitivity of 0.811, and a specificity of 0.743. Conclusion The machine learning models constructed based on unenhanced CT radiomics can be used to preliminarily assess split renal function, which provides an innovative, convenient, and safe method for clinical diagnosis and has positive significance for treatment.

Objective:To investigate the CT image characteristics of anterior ethmoidal artery（AEA） through CT scan and its significance in nasal endoscopic surgery. Methods:A retrospective study of 82 patients（164 sides） with chronic sinusitis was conducted. All patients underwent CT scan and the images were reconstructed. The AEA classification was used and calculate the rate of AEA suspension. The AEA was classified, and the suspension rate of the AEA was calculated. The height of the lateral lamella of the cribriform plate （LLCP） was measured, and Keros classification was performed. The relationship between Keros classification and AEA suspension was analyzed. The supraorbital ethmoidal cell （SOEC） was identified, and its relationship with AEA suspension was analyzed. Results:Type Ⅰ AEA accounted for 42.07%（69/164）. Type Ⅱ AEA accounted for 22.56%（37/164）. Type Ⅲ AEA accounted for 35.37%（58/164）. The suspension rate was 35.37%. The average height of the LLCP was （3.7±1.8） mm. In the Keros classification, type Ⅰaccounted for 53.05%（87/164）, Type Ⅱaccounted for 37.80%（62/164）. Type Ⅲ accounted for 9.15%（15/164）. The results of the Spearman analysis showed that there was a moderate positive correlation between the Keros classification and the suspension of the AEA（r=0.526, P<0.01）. Among 164 sides, SOEC was present in 15 sides. The suspension rate of AEA in the group with SOEC was significantly higher than that in the group without SOEC（P<0.01）. Conclusion:Sinus CT and multiplanar reconstruction can clarify the image characteristics of AEA and its relationship with surrounding structures. When the level of Keros classification is higher or SOEC is present, the suspension rate of AEA increases significantly. It is of great significance to clarify the characteristics of AEA before surgery in order to avoid injury during surgery.
Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Endoscopy ; Ethmoid Sinus/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Arteries/diagnostic imaging* ; Sinusitis/diagnostic imaging* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Aged

Objective To observe the therapeutic efficacy of Jisheng Shenqi Pills combined with endocrine therapy in alleviating lower urinary tract obstruction symptoms of patients with advanced prostatecancer(PCa).Methods A total of 68 patients with advanced PCa complicated by lower uri-nary tract obstruction symptoms were randomly divided into observation group and control group,with 34 cases in each group.The control group received endocrine therapy alone,while the observation group received Jisheng Shenqi Pills on the basis of the control group.Both groups underwent a course of 3-month treatment.The total therapeutic effectiveness rate,traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores,maximum urinary flow rate(Qmax),residual urinary volume(RUV),International Prostate Symptom Score(IPSS),prostate-specific antigen(PSA)levels,and Quality of Life(QOL)Scale scores were compared between the two groups.Results The total therapeutic effectiveness rate in the observation group was 94.12％,which was significantly higher than 82.35％in the control group(P＜0.05).After treatment,TCM syndrome scores decreased in both groups,with the obser-vation group had significantly lower scores than the control group(P＜0.05).Both groups exhibited an increase in Qmax and a decrease in RUV after treatment,with the observation group had significant-ly higher Qmax and lower RUV compared to the control group(P＜0.05).PSA level decreased signif-icantly in both groups after treatment(P＜0.05),but no significant difference was observed between the two groups(P＞0.05).IPSS score was decreased while QOL score was increased in both groups after treatment,with the observation group had significantly lower IPSS score and higher QOL score compared to the control group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Jisheng Shenqi Pills combined with endo-crine therapy effectively alleviates urinary obstruction symptoms,improves TCM syndromes,and en-hances quality of life in patients with advanced PCa.

Objective To assess the clinical value of a novel surgical technique—Tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with percutaneous suspension technique via balance-shaped sternal elevation device in the resection of anterior mediastinal masses. Methods Patients who underwent tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery via balance-shaped sternal elevation device in anterior mediastinal masses process at the Department of Thoracic Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University from March to April 2025 were included, and their clinical data were analyzed. Results A total of 4 patients were included, with 2 males and 2 females, aged 58-75 years. The diameter of the tumor was 2.5-3.0 cm. The operation time was 60.0-150.0 min, intraoperative blood loss was 5-10 mL, pain score on the 3rd day after surgery was 0 points, and postoperative hospital stay was 2-3 days. All patients achieved complete resection of the masses and thymus without perioperative complications. Conclusion The tubeless subxiphoid uniportal video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery with percutaneous suspension technique via balance-shaped sternal elevation device technique optimizes surgical visualization and instrument maneuverability while avoiding complications related to conventional anesthesia and tubing, thereby markedly enhancing the minimally invasive profile of anterior mediastinal masses resections. In addition to maintaining procedural safety, this approach effectively reduces postoperative pain and accelerates patient recovery, highlighting its potential for widespread clinical adoption.

Objective:To investigate the risk factors and their warning effectiveness for postoperative intestinal barrier dysfunction (IBD) in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI).Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted to analyze the clinical data of 101 patients with sTBI admitted to Wuxi Branch of Zhongda Hospital Affiliated to Southeast University from May 2020 to February 2023, including 63 males and 38 females, aged 21-81 years [(53.4±14.2)years]. All the patients underwent emergency surgery. The patients were divided into IBD group ( n=67) and non-IBD group ( n=34) according to whether or not they had IBD after surgery. The gender, age, basic diseases (hypertension and diabetes), types of intracranial hematoma (subdural, epidural, and intracerebral hematoma), preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), cerebral hernia, intraoperative initial intracranial pressure (iICP), operation time, removal of bone flap, treatment time in ICU, initiation time of enteral nutrition, and use of broad-spectrum antibiotics were recorded in the two groups. Univariate and multivariate binary Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the correlations between above-mentioned indicators and incidence of postoperative IBD in sTBI patients and determine the independent risk factors for sTBI. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the warning effectiveness of each risk factor for IBD. Results:The results of the univariate analysis showed that preoperative GCS, cerebral hernia, intraoperative iICP, removal of bone flap, treatment time in ICU, initiation time of enteral nutrition, and use of broad-spectrum antibiotics were significantly correlated with the incidence of IBD in sTBI patients ( P<0.05 or 0.01), while there were no correlations of IBD with gender, age, basic diseases, types of intracranial hematoma and operation time ( P>0.05). The results of the multivariate binary Logistic regression analysis showed that preoperative GCS≤5 points ( OR=2.49, 95% CI 1.17, 5.32, P<0.05), intraoperative iICP>23 mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa)( OR=1.20, 95% CI 1.03, 1.39, P<0.05), and initiation time of enteral nutrition>24 hours ( OR=10.03, 95% CI 1.26, 80.21, P<0.05) were highly correlated with postoperative IBD in sTBI patients. The results of the ROC curve analysis showed that intraoperative iICP had the highest warning value (AUC=0.91, 95% CI 0.85, 0.96), followed by preoperative GCS (AUC=0.88, 95% CI 0.82, 0.95), and initiation time of enteral nutrition had the lowest warning value (AUC=0.78, 95% CI 0.69, 0.87). Conclusions:Preoperative GCS≤5 points, intraoperative iICP>23 mmHg, and initiation time of enteral nutrition>24 hours are independent risk factors for postoperative IBD in sTBI patients. The warning value of intraoperative iICP ranks the highest for postoperative IBD in sTBI patients, followed by preoperative GCS, with initiation time of enteral nutrition having the lowest warning value.

Objective:To evaluate the acute effects of different foot-strike patterns of running on knee cartilage in amateur marathon runners using the T 2* mapping technique. Methods:From November 2021 to February 2022, 29 amateur marathon runners were recruited in Hangzhou. The gait analysis was performed to determine their landing patterns, then the runners were divided into the fore-foot strike (FFS) group (11 cases) and the rear-foot strike (RFS) group (18 cases). The MRI of the knee joint of the dominant leg was performed before and 30 min after running, and the volume, thickness, and T 2* value of each division of knee cartilage were measured. Independent samples t-tests were used to compare the differences in baseline data before running between the groups, and paired samples t-tests were used to compare the differences before and after running within the groups. Results:The difference in knee cartilage volume and thickness between the FFS and RFS groups before running was not statistically significant ( P>0.05), and the T 2* value of the femur medial posterior in the RFS group was higher than that of the FFS group ( t=-2.47, P=0.020). Compared with pre-running, cartilage thickness of the tibia lateral posterior decreased in the FFS group after running ( t=-2.96, P=0.016), and cartilage thickness of the tibia lateral posterior and patella lateral central decreased in the RFS group ( t=-3.25, -3.02, P=0.004, 0.007). Cartilage volume of the tibia lateral posterior decreased in the FFS group after running ( t=-2.58, P=0.030), and the cartilage volume of the patella lateral central decreased in the RFS group ( t=-2.74, P=0.013). The differences in T 2* values of cartilage in each region before and after running were not statistically significant in the FFS group ( P>0.05), whereas in the RFS group, the cartilage T 2* values in the femur medial posterior, femoral trochanter central, femoral trochanter lateral, femur lateral central, tibia lateral anterior, tibia medial posterior, tibia medial central, and tibia medial anterior decreased ( P<0.05). Conclusions:After running, FFS showed changes in morphology and biochemical composition only in some subregions of tibial cartilage, whereas most of the femoral cartilage, patellar cartilage, and tibial cartilage regions were altered by RFS. The RFS pattern introduces greater acute changes in cartilage in the knee joint.

Objective:To compare the genetic spectrums of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients with different prognosis after postoperative radiotherapy and to screen the genetic variants associated with radiotherapy resistance.Methods:A total of 32 ESCC patients who received radical surgery and postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from January 2015 to December 2019 were selected as the study objects. According to whether there was any recurrence in the radiation field within 1 year, they were divided into a recurrence group (radiotherapy resistance group, n=16) and a stable group (radiotherapy sensitive group, n=16). Genomic DNA was extracted from patients and high-throughput sequencing was performed using whole exome sequencing (WES) technology. Biological information analysis software Trimmomatic, BWA and Picard were used to process the data and the alignment files were obtained by GATK comparison, then Vardict software was used to screen out various genetic variants from the sequencing data. The disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were estimated by Kaplan-Meier method. Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to analyze the independent risk factors of DFS and OS of ESCC patients. Results:After quality control of the sample data, 26 patients were finally included in this study for follow-up analysis, 13 in each of the recurrence and stable groups. The median tumor mutation burden of non-silent tumors in the whole group was 0.95 mutations/Mb. The substitution types of mutant bases were mainly C>T conversion, followed by C>G transmutation. The genetic variants with the highest frequency were single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (75.1%), deletion mutation (13.7%) and insertion mutation (10.5%). The number of tumor-specific mutations in the recurrence group was slightly higher than that in the stable group (median mutation number was 36 and 34, respectively), and the top ten gene profiles of mutation frequency were significantly different between the two groups. In the recurrence group, 392 unique mutated genes were detected, and the top five were MUC19, NPIPA5, EPPK1, FLG and FOXG1. In the stable group, 192 unique mutation genes were detected, and the top five were TCHH, WNK1, AIM1L, COL6A5 and DPCR1. The median DFS and OS were 15.0 months (95% CI: 10.1 months-not reached) and 26.2 months (95% CI: 19.8 months-not reached) in the recurrence group respectively, and no recurrence or metastasis occurred in the stable group. Univariate analysis showed that GRIK2 ( χ2=6.81, P=0.009), MUC4 ( χ2=4.25, P=0.039), MUC5B ( χ2=4.03, P=0.045), PRRG1 ( χ2=5.15, P=0.023) gene mutations, 3p deletion ( χ2=4.16, P=0.041) and 14q deletion ( χ2=7.09, P=0.008) were correlated with DFS. FLG ( χ2=6.41, P=0.011), NPIPA5 ( χ2=4.57, P=0.033), PKD1L2 ( χ2=6.41, P=0.011), FOXG1 ( χ2=4.57, P=0.033) gene mutations, 3p deletion ( χ2=3.88, P=0.049), 14q deletion ( χ2=5.66, P=0.017) and 18p deletion ( χ2=3.85, P=0.050) were associated with OS. Multivariate analysis showed that 14q deletion ( HR=3.65, 95% CI: 1.18-11.32, P=0.025) was an independent risk factor for DFS of ESCC patients with postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy, and FLG ( HR=8.94, 95% CI: 1.52-52.74, P=0.016), NPIPA5 ( HR=6.36, 95% CI: 1.23-33.03, P=0.028) gene mutation and 14q deletion ( HR=3.82, 95% CI: 1.18-12.31, P=0.025) were independent risk factors for OS of ESCC patients with postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy. Conclusion:The WES results suggest that the types and rates of gene mutations of the ESCC patients with postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy in the recurrence and stable groups are basically the same, but the mutation spectrum of the two groups is significantly different. FLG, NPIPA5 gene mutations and 14q deletion can be used as molecular markers to predict the prognosis of ESCC patients treated with postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy.

Hepatic fibrosis is a pathological process in which the liver is subjected to various acute and chronic injuries for a long time, resulting in activation of hepatic stellate cells, the imbalance between the production and degradation of extracellular matrix, and the deposition of extracellular matrix in the liver, and it is jointly controlled by multiple cellular signal transduction pathways and a series of cellular information molecular networks. If there is no effective treatment, with the progression of the disease, liver fibrous nodules will form, destroy normal liver structure and function, and finally develop into liver cirrhosis, the decline of liver function, and even liver cancer. This article summarizes the research advances in the signaling pathways, receptors, and non-coding RNAs involved in liver fibrosis and the corresponding anti-hepatic fibrosis drugs/molecules.

Objective: Evidence supports the efficacy of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)-based risk scores in cardiovascular risk stratification of patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). We aimed to compare two CCTAbased risk score algorithms, Leiden and Confirm scores, in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and suspected CAD. Materials and Methods: This single-center prospective cohort study consecutively included 1241 DM patients (54.1% male, 60.2 ± 10.4 years) referred for CCTA for suspected CAD in 2015–2017. Leiden and Confirm scores were calculated and stratified as < 5 (reference), 5–20, and > 20 for Leiden and < 14.3 (reference), 14.3–19.5, and > 19.5 for Confirm. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were defined as the composite outcomes of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and unstable angina requiring hospitalization. The Cox model and Kaplan–Meier method were used to evaluate the effect size of the risk scores on MACE. The area under the curve (AUC) at the median follow-up time was also compared between score algorithms. Results: During a median follow-up of 31 months (interquartile range, 27.6–37.3 months), 131 of MACE were recorded, including 17 cardiovascular deaths, 28 nonfatal MIs, 64 unstable anginas requiring hospitalization, and 22 strokes. An incremental incidence of MACE was observed in both Leiden and Confirm scores, with an increase in the scores (log-rank p < 0.001). In the multivariable analysis, compared with Leiden score < 5, the hazard ratios for Leiden scores of 5–20 and > 20 were 2.37 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.53–3.69; p < 0.001) and 4.39 (95% CI: 2.40–8.01; p < 0.001), respectively, while the Confirm score did not demonstrate a statistically significant association with the risk of MACE. The Leiden score showed a greater AUC of 0.840 compared to 0.777 for the Confirm score (p < 0.001). Conclusion CCTA-based risk score algorithms could be used as reliable cardiovascular risk predictors in patients with DM and suspected CAD, among which the Leiden score outperformed the Confirm score in predicting MACE.

Understanding the regulatory networks for germ cell fate specification is necessary to developing strategies for improving the efficiency of germ cell production in vitro. In this study, we developed a coupled screening strategy that took advantage of an arrayed bi-molecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) platform for protein-protein interaction screens and epiblast-like cell (EpiLC)-induction assays using reporter mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Investigation of candidate interaction partners of core human pluripotent factors OCT4, NANOG, KLF4 and SOX2 in EpiLC differentiation assays identified novel primordial germ cell (PGC)-inducing factors including BEN-domain (BEND/Bend) family members. Through RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and ATAC-seq analyses, we showed that Bend5 worked together with Bend4 and helped mark chromatin boundaries to promote EpiLC induction in vitro. Our findings suggest that BEND/Bend proteins represent a new family of transcriptional modulators and chromatin boundary factors that participate in gene expression regulation during early germline development.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation/genetics* ; Chromatin/metabolism* ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Germ Cells/metabolism* ; Germ Layers/metabolism* ; Mice