Objective To investigate the clinical features of chronic hepatitis C(CHC)patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 3(HCV GT3)infection and the risk factors for disease progression.Methods A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted among 1 002 CHC patients from 11 clinical centers in Northwest China from December 2017 to November 2023,and according to their genotype,they were divided into GT1,GT2,GT3,and GT6 groups.Clinical features were compared between the patients with different genotypes.The one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups,and the Scheffe test was used for further comparison between two groups.The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of data with skewed distribution between groups;the chi-square test or Fisher test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups.The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors for the progression of CHC to liver cirrhosis.Results In terms of the genotype,there were 427 patients with GT1 infection,242 with GT2 infection,299 with GT3 infection(210 patients with GT3a infection,87 with GT3b infection,and 2 with unclassified genotype),and 34 with GT6 infection.The patients with GT3 infection had a significantly younger age than those with GT1 infection(51.3±0.5 years vs 53.2±0.6 years,P<0.05)or GT2 infection(51.3±0.5 years vs 53.7±0.8 years,P<0.05),and for the patients with liver cirrhosis,the patients with GT3 infection had a significantly younger age than those with GT1 infection(52.1±0.5 years vs 59.4±0.9 years,P<0.001)or GT2 infection(52.1±0.5 years vs 58.1±1.1 years,P<0.001).Among the patients with GT3 infection,male patients accounted for 77.9%and the patients with liver cirrhosis accounted for 46.2%,which were significantly higher than those among the patients with GT1,GT2 or GT6 infection(all P<0.001).At baseline,the patients with GT3 infection had significantly higher levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)than those with GT1 or GT2 infection,significantly higher aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index(APRI)and fibrosis-4(FIB4)than those with GT1,GT2 or GT6 infection,a significantly lower platelet count(PLT)than those with GT2 or GT6 infection,a significantly higher level of alpha-fetoprotein than those with GT2 or GT6 infection,and a significantly lower level of albumin(Alb)than those with GT6 infection(all P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the patients with GT3a infection and those with GT3b infection in age,sex,the proportion of patients with liver cirrhosis,comorbidities,HCV RNA quantification,PLT,ALT,AST,alkaline phosphatase,Alb,APRI,and FIB-4(all P>0.05).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PLT≤150×109/L(odds ratio[OR]=10.72,95%confidence interval[CI]:5.76-35.86,P<0.001)and Alb≤35 g/L(OR=3.74,95%CI:1.22-11.45,P=0.021)were risk factors for liver cirrhosis.Conclusion Most CHC patients with GT3 infection are male in Northwest China,and compared with the patients with other genotypes,such patients tend to have a younger age of onset and higher degrees of liver inflammation activity and fibrosis.Low PLT and a low level of Alb are risk factors for progression to liver cirrhosis in CHC patients with GT3 infection.

Objective To investigate the clinical features of chronic hepatitis C(CHC)patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 3(HCV GT3)infection and the risk factors for disease progression.Methods A multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted among 1 002 CHC patients from 11 clinical centers in Northwest China from December 2017 to November 2023,and according to their genotype,they were divided into GT1,GT2,GT3,and GT6 groups.Clinical features were compared between the patients with different genotypes.The one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between groups,and the Scheffe test was used for further comparison between two groups.The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used for comparison of data with skewed distribution between groups;the chi-square test or Fisher test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups.The multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors for the progression of CHC to liver cirrhosis.Results In terms of the genotype,there were 427 patients with GT1 infection,242 with GT2 infection,299 with GT3 infection(210 patients with GT3a infection,87 with GT3b infection,and 2 with unclassified genotype),and 34 with GT6 infection.The patients with GT3 infection had a significantly younger age than those with GT1 infection(51.3±0.5 years vs 53.2±0.6 years,P<0.05)or GT2 infection(51.3±0.5 years vs 53.7±0.8 years,P<0.05),and for the patients with liver cirrhosis,the patients with GT3 infection had a significantly younger age than those with GT1 infection(52.1±0.5 years vs 59.4±0.9 years,P<0.001)or GT2 infection(52.1±0.5 years vs 58.1±1.1 years,P<0.001).Among the patients with GT3 infection,male patients accounted for 77.9%and the patients with liver cirrhosis accounted for 46.2%,which were significantly higher than those among the patients with GT1,GT2 or GT6 infection(all P<0.001).At baseline,the patients with GT3 infection had significantly higher levels of alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)than those with GT1 or GT2 infection,significantly higher aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index(APRI)and fibrosis-4(FIB4)than those with GT1,GT2 or GT6 infection,a significantly lower platelet count(PLT)than those with GT2 or GT6 infection,a significantly higher level of alpha-fetoprotein than those with GT2 or GT6 infection,and a significantly lower level of albumin(Alb)than those with GT6 infection(all P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the patients with GT3a infection and those with GT3b infection in age,sex,the proportion of patients with liver cirrhosis,comorbidities,HCV RNA quantification,PLT,ALT,AST,alkaline phosphatase,Alb,APRI,and FIB-4(all P>0.05).The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that PLT≤150×109/L(odds ratio[OR]=10.72,95%confidence interval[CI]:5.76-35.86,P<0.001)and Alb≤35 g/L(OR=3.74,95%CI:1.22-11.45,P=0.021)were risk factors for liver cirrhosis.Conclusion Most CHC patients with GT3 infection are male in Northwest China,and compared with the patients with other genotypes,such patients tend to have a younger age of onset and higher degrees of liver inflammation activity and fibrosis.Low PLT and a low level of Alb are risk factors for progression to liver cirrhosis in CHC patients with GT3 infection.

Objective To evaluate and analyze the accuracies of 3 software solutions based on deep learning techniques in the automatic segmentation of head and neck organs at risk(OAR).Methods The automatic segmentation accuracies of 3 software(PV-iCurve,RT-Mind,and AccuContour)were evaluated with Dice similarity coefficient(DSC),Hausdorff distance(HD),center of mass deviation(COMD),false negative rate(FNR),false positive rate(FPR),Jaccard coefficient(JC),sensitivity index(SI),and inclusive index(II)using the manual contours of head and neck OAR as the gold standard.Results The FNR,JC,SI of brain,the FPR,II of brainstem,the FPR,FNR,JC,SI of eye_L,the FPR,FNR,SI,II of mandible,the FPR,FNR,SI,II of parotid_L,and the DSC,FPR,JC,II of spinal cord manifested significant differences among the 3 software(P<0.05);but the HD,FNR,SI of brainstem,and the HD of spinal cord revealed trivial differences among the 3 software(P>0.05).Conclusion Through the comparison of multiple parameters,it is found that the accuracies of 3 software are different in OAR segmentation,which makes it difficult to make overall horizontal comparisons.Therefore,these parameters are for reference only and cannot be used as criteria for evaluating the segmentation results in clinic.Although all 3 software achieve preferable segmentation outcomes,scrutiny and manual modifications before clinical practice are still necessary.

Objective To develop a convolution neural network (CNN) model to classify multi?sequence MR images of the prostate. Methods ResNet18 convolution neural network (CNN) model was developed to classify multi?sequence MR images of the prostate. A deep residual network was used to improve training accuracy and test accuracy. The dataset used in this experiment included 19 146 7?sequence prostate MR images (transverse T1WI, transverse T2WI, coronal T2WI, sagittal T2WI, transverse DWI, transverse ADC, transverse PWI), from which a total of 2 800 7?sequence MR images was selected as a training set. Three hundred and eighty eight 7?sequence MR images were selected as test sets. Accuracy was used to evaluate the effectiveness of ResNet18 CNN model. Results The classification accuracy of the model for transverse DWI, sagittal T2WI, transverse ADC, transverse T1WI, and transverse T2WI was as high as 100.0% (44/44,52/52), and the accuracy for transverse PWI was also as high as 96.7% (116/120). The accuracy for coronal T2WI was 77.5% (31/40). 0.8% (1/120) of transverse PWI was incorrectly assigned to transverse T2WI, and 2.5% (3/120) incorrectly assigned to sagittal T2WI. 15.0% (6/40) of coronal T2WI was incorrectly assigned to transverse T2WI, and 7.5% (3/40) to sagittal T2WI. Conclusion The experimental results show the effectiveness of our deep learning method regarding accuracy in the prostate multi?sequence MR images detection.

Objective: To investigate whether CD137-CD137L signaling could affect the secretion of mouse vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) -derived exosomes through autophagy mediated Rab7 pathway. Methods: Primary thoracic aorta VSMCs from C57BL/6J mouse were obtained by tissue block adherence method. VSMCs between the third to fifth passages were used and VSMCs were divided into 4 groups: control group, CD137 agonist group, lentivirus control group, Rab7 lentiviral interference group. VSMCs in CD137 agonist group were treated with recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml), VSMCs in lentivirus control group were treated with lentiviral followed by recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml), VSMCs in Rab7 lentiviral interference group were treated with Rab7 lentiviral intervention followed by recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml). Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of LC3Ⅱ, p62, Rab7, CD9, CD81 and Hsc70. Fluorescence microscopy was used to track the changes of autophagy in cells infected with mRFP-GFP-LC3. Transmission electron microscope was used to observe the morphology and size of VSMCs-derived exosomes. The nanoparticle tracking analysis(NTA) was used to detect the concentration and size of exosomes in each group. Results: (1) The expressions of Rab7, LC3Ⅱ and p62 protein in VSMCs of CD137 activation group were significantly higher than those in control group (all P<0.05). The expressions of Rab7, LC3Ⅱ and p62 protein in Rab7 lentivirus interference group was lower than in CD137 activation group (all P<0.05), while the expressions were similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (all P>0.05). (2) The total number of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in the VSMCs of the CD137 activation group were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05), and the number of yellow fluorescent spots was higher than that of the red fluorescent spots in the VSMCs of the CD137 activation group ((50.3±0.9) vs. (10.3±1.5)/cell). The total numbers of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in VSMCs of Rab7 lentivirus interference group were lower than those of CD137 activation group (both P<0.05), and the number of red fluorescent spots in VSMCs was higher than that of yellow fluorescent spots ((40.7±4.0) and (10.7±1.2)/cell) in the Rab7 lentiviral interference group. The total numbers of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in the VSMCs were similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (all P>0.05). (3) Under transmission electron microscopy, the size of the VSMCs-derived exosomes was about 30-150 nm. The exosome markers (CD9, CD81) could be detected in vesicles by Western blot. NTA results showed that the concentration of VSMCs-derived exosomes was significantly higher in the CD137-activated group than in the control group (P<0.05), which was significantly lower in the Rab7 lentiviral interference group than in the CD137-activation group (P<0.05) and was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). The expression of Hsc70 protein in exosomes secreted by CD137 activation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The expression of Hsc70 protein in exosomes was lower in Rab7 lentivirus interference group than in the CD137 activation group (P<0.05), which was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). The expression of LC3Ⅱ protein in exosome was higher in CD137 activation group than in control group (P<0.05), which was lower in Rab7 lentivirus interference group than in CD137 activation group (P<0.05), which was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). Conclusion The CD137-CD137L signaling may affect the secretion of mouse VSMCs-derived exosomes through modulating the Rab7 pathway mediated autophagy.

Objective: To develop a convolution neural network (CNN) model to classify multi-sequence MR images of the prostate. Methods: ResNet18 convolution neural network (CNN) model was developed to classify multi-sequence MR images of the prostate. A deep residual network was used to improve training accuracy and test accuracy. The dataset used in this experiment included 19 146 7-sequence prostate MR images (transverse T₁WI, transverse T₂WI, coronal T₂WI, sagittal T₂WI, transverse DWI, transverse ADC, transverse PWI), from which a total of 2 800 7-sequence MR images was selected as a training set. Three hundred and eighty eight 7-sequence MR images were selected as test sets. Accuracy was used to evaluate the effectiveness of ResNet18 CNN model. Results: The classification accuracy of the model for transverse DWI, sagittal T₂WI, transverse ADC, transverse T₁WI, and transverse T₂WI was as high as 100.0% (44/44,52/52), and the accuracy for transverse PWI was also as high as 96.7% (116/120). The accuracy for coronal T₂WI was 77.5% (31/40). 0.8% (1/120) of transverse PWI was incorrectly assigned to transverse T₂WI, and 2.5% (3/120) incorrectly assigned to sagittal T₂WI. 15.0% (6/40) of coronal T₂WI was incorrectly assigned to transverse T₂WI, and 7.5% (3/40) to sagittal T₂WI. Conclusion The experimental results show the effectiveness of our deep learning method regarding accuracy in the prostate multi-sequence MR images detection.

Objective To investigate whether CD137?CD137L signaling could affect the secretion of mouse vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs)?derived exosomes through autophagy mediated Rab7 pathway. Methods Primary thoracic aorta VSMCs from C57BL/6J mouse were obtained by tissue block adherence method. VSMCs between the third to fifth passages were used and VSMCs were divided into 4 groups: control group, CD137 agonist group, lentivirus control group, Rab7 lentiviral interference group. VSMCs in CD137 agonist group were treated with recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml), VSMCs in lentivirus control group were treated with lentiviral followed by recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml), VSMCs in Rab7 lentiviral interference group were treated with Rab7 lentiviral intervention followed by recombinant protein of CD137L (10 μg/ml). Western blot was used to detect the protein expression of LC3Ⅱ, p62, Rab7, CD9, CD81 and Hsc70. Fluorescence microscopy was used to track the changes of autophagy in cells infected with mRFP?GFP?LC3. Transmission electron microscope was used to observe the morphology and size of VSMCs?derived exosomes. The nanoparticle tracking analysis(NTA) was used to detect the concentration and size of exosomes in each group. Results (1) The expressions of Rab7, LC3Ⅱand p62 protein in VSMCs of CD137 activation group were significantly higher than those in control group (all P<0.05). The expressions of Rab7, LC3Ⅱ and p62 protein in Rab7 lentivirus interference group was lower than in CD137 activation group (all P<0.05), while the expressions were similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (all P>0.05). (2) The total number of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in the VSMCs of the CD137 activation group were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05), and the number of yellow fluorescent spots was higher than that of the red fluorescent spots in the VSMCs of the CD137 activation group ((50.3 ± 0.9) vs. (10.3 ± 1.5)/cell). The total numbers of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in VSMCs of Rab7 lentivirus interference group were lower than those of CD137 activation group (both P<0.05), and the number of red fluorescent spots in VSMCs was higher than that of yellow fluorescent spots ((40.7 ± 4.0) and (10.7 ± 1.2)/cell) in the Rab7 lentiviral interference group. The total numbers of fluorescent spots and yellow fluorescent spots in the VSMCs were similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (all P>0.05). (3) Under transmission electron microscopy, the size of the VSMCs?derived exosomes was about 30-150 nm. The exosome markers (CD9, CD81) could be detected in vesicles by Western blot. NTA results showed that the concentration of VSMCs?derived exosomes was significantly higher in the CD137?activated group than in the control group (P<0.05), which was significantly lower in the Rab7 lentiviral interference group than in the CD137?activation group (P<0.05) and was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). The expression of Hsc70 protein in exosomes secreted by CD137 activation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). The expression of Hsc70 protein in exosomes was lower in Rab7 lentivirus interference group than in the CD137 activation group (P<0.05), which was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). The expression of LC3Ⅱprotein in exosome was higher in CD137 activation group than in control group (P<0.05), which was lower in Rab7 lentivirus interference group than in CD137 activation group (P<0.05), which was similar between the lentivirus control group and the CD137 activation group (P>0.05). Conclusion The CD137?CD137L signaling may affect the secretion of mouse VSMCs?derived exosomes through modulating the Rab7 pathway mediated autophagy.

Objective To assess the significance and the relationship of BODE index score and inflammation factors in stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods Sixty COPD patients in their stable condition were evaluated for BODE index score and the level of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-8(IL-8) and C reactive protein (CRP) were determined.Results BODE index score in COPD patients was positively correlated with serum concentrations of TNF-α,IL-8 (r =0.455,P ＜ 0.01 ; r =0.303,P ＜0.05),but not with CRP (r =0.111,P =0.398).IL-8 and TNF-α were both significantly negatively correlated to body mass index(BMI),force exhale volume of the first second (FEV1) and 6 minute walking distance (6MWD) (r=-0.417,P ＜0.01;r=-0.538,P＜0.01;r =-0.419,P＜0.01 for IL-8;and r=-0.262,P＜0.05;r=-0.348,P＜0.01;r=-0.334,P＜0.01 for TNF-α).Conclusion The BODE index,as a simple multidimensional grading system for COPD,is closely related to system inflammation,which indicates that system inflammation may contribute to the systemic development of COPD.

Objective To improve the different diagnosis between autoimmune pancreatitis(AIP) and pancreatic cancer(PC) by a retrospective analysis of clinical symptoms and serological features.Methods The analysis included 36 patients who had postoperative pathological,serological findings consistent with Asian AIP standards and 95 patients who had postoperative pathological consistent with PC pathological standards.All patients were admitted by the surgery department of our hospital from January,2003 to October,2011.A retrospective comparative analysis of the clinical manifestations,serology data of these AIP and PC patients was conducted.And summary the differential diagnosis characteristics of AIP and pancreatic cancer in the clinical symptoms,the serology.Results The features of different diagnosis:(1) The age of patients with PC was higher than AIP((60.9 ±9.0) years vs.(53.56 ± 14.6) years,t =3.48,P ＜0.05),and AIP preferred to male groups (x2 =2.88,P =0.09).(2) The clinical features of AlP and PC with the age characteristics were easily confused.Both clinical features were relatively typical in younger age which could be found earlier and relatively insidious in the older age which might be found with delay.(3) AIP were often complicated by biliary system inflammations(AIP =47.2％,PC =12.6％,x2 =18.12,P ＜ 0.05),while PC were usually complicated by the cysts in liver and kidney (PC =29.5％,AIP =0,x2 =13.50,P ＜ 0.05).(4) The high titer in CA199 had a higher value in the diagnosis of PC (concentration:group AIP =20.51 (9.55,86.5) kU/L,group PC =326.50 (94.38,10393.00) kU/L; positive rate:group AIP =35.70％ (10/28),group PC =86.70％ (65/75),P =0.000).The high titers in amylase (concentration:group AIP =103.50 (72.00,252.00) U/L,group PC =46.50 (21.65,96.90) U/L; positive rate:group AIP =45.00％ (9/20),group PC =19.40％ (7/36),P =0.043),lipase(concentration:group AIP =340.50(152.05,495.80) U/L,group PC =107.40(23.40,177.26) U/L,P =0.005 ; aspartate aminotransferase (positive rate:group AIP =75.00％ (27/36),group,PC =55.90％ (52/93),P =0.046) andγ-glutamyltranspeptidase (positive rate:group AIP =79.40％ (27/34),group PC =57.10％ (52/91),P =0.022) had higher values in the diagnosis of AIP.The significant increases in CA199 were not the basis which excluding AIP.Conclusion AIP as a unique type of chronic pancreatitis can be distinguished from PC on distinctive clinical,serological characteristics.

ObjectiveTo observe the relationship between neuronal function score,brain edema and aquaporin4(AQP4) expression of fluid percussion brain injury in rats.MethodsThe fluid percussion models of brain injury of rats were established by using the improved device.Nervous function score,brain water content,histological changes,AQP4 expression were observed by Shapira and Wahld method,dry-wet measure,light microscopy,immunohistochemistry and western blot at 1 h,6 h,12 h,24 h,3 d and 7 d after operation respectively.ResultsNervous function score in TBI group decreased at 12 h( 11.17 ± 1.32),reached its minimum at 24 h( 10.17± 0.75),and recoved partially at 3rd day( 10.66 ± 1.37 ).The water content obviusly increased in those of TBI group at 12h( (80.27 ±1.47)％ ),reached its peak at 24h( (82.19 ±0.97)％ ),and then began to drop at 3d ( (8 1.74 ± 1.69 ) ％ ),while Western blot showed that AQP4 immunoreactive expression obviusly increased at 12 h (OD:0.65 ±0.05),reached its maximum at 24h( OD:0.72 ±0.08),and decreased at 3d( OD:0.56 ±0.07),and immunohistochemistry showed the same trendency of AQP4 expression as that of Western blot.The linear regression analysis indicated that nervous function score had a negtive correlation with expression of AQP4 in edematous brain and change of brain water content respectively ( r =- 0.615,P ＜ 0.01 ; r =- 0.605,P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionNervous function score of fluid percussion brain injury in rats decrease,has negative relationship with brain edema and AQP4 expression,and possible mechanisms is that AQP4 is indirectly involed in nerve function impairment by mediating brain edema.