OBJECTIVES: We propose a Contrastive Regional Attention and Prior Knowledge-Infused U-Transformer model (CRAKUT) to address the challenges of imbalanced text distribution, lack of contextual clinical knowledge, and cross-modal information transformation to enhance the quality of generated radiology reports. METHODS: The CRAKUT model comprises 3 key components, including an image encoder that utilizes common normal images from the dataset for extracting enhanced visual features, an external knowledge infuser that incorporates clinical prior knowledge, and a U-Transformer that facilitates cross-modal information conversion from vision to language. The contrastive regional attention in the image encoder was introduced to enhance the features of abnormal regions by emphasizing the difference between normal and abnormal semantic features. Additionally, the clinical prior knowledge infuser within the text encoder integrates clinical history and knowledge graphs generated by ChatGPT. Finally, the U-Transformer was utilized to connect the multi-modal encoder and the report decoder in a U-connection schema, and multiple types of information were used to fuse and obtain the final report. RESULTS: We evaluated the proposed CRAKUT model on two publicly available CXR datasets (IU-Xray and MIMIC-CXR). The experimental results showed that the CRAKUT model achieved a state-of-the-art performance on report generation with a BLEU-4 score of 0.159, a ROUGE-L score of 0.353, and a CIDEr score of 0.500 in MIMIC-CXR dataset; the model also had a METEOR score of 0.258 in IU-Xray dataset, outperforming all the comparison models. CONCLUSIONS The proposed method has great potential for application in clinical disease diagnoses and report generation.
Humans ; Radiology Information Systems ; Radiology

Objective:To explore the genetic etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia using whole exome sequencing (WES) and copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) techniques, and the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier method for such fetuses.Methods:Seventy four fetuses with skeletal dysplasia detected by prenatal ultrasound at the Genetic Testing Center of the Women and Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University from January 2020 to August 2024 were selected as the study subjects. Fetal muscle and peripheral blood samples of the pregnant women and their spouses were collected and subjected to WES analysis. CNV-seq was carried out on all fetal muscle tissue samples. And the results were compared with the CNVs indicated by WES. Genetic etiologies were analyzed across different subtypes of skeletal dysplasia. And the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier genetic test for similar fetuses was assessed, in addition with a systematic cost-effectiveness analysis. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Hospital (Ethics No.: QFELL-YJ-2024-201).Results:A total of 50 fetuses were diagnosed, which yielded a diagnostic rate of 67.57%. These included 6 chromosomal aneuploidies, 4 chromosomal CNVs and 40 monogenic disorders. The monogenic diseases had involved 46 variant sites in 23 pathogenic genes, among which 12 were unreported previously, including MYH3: c. 735T>C, ALPL: c. 1324C>T, NEK9: c. 1973G>A, MAGEL2: c. 2024_2025del, LMBR1: c. 423+ 4914A>C, NEB: c. 21273_21276del, COL1A1: c. 2651G>C and c. 2758G>C, ASPM: c. 2473delinsGA, TBX5: c. 704G>A, DYNC2H1: c. 10893del, and DYNC2I2: c. 1270C>T. Substantial concordance was reached between WES-derived CNV calls and CNV-seq findings. No clinically significant CNV was exclusively detected by CNV-seq. Cost-effectiveness modeling demonstrated that implementing WES as the first-tier genetic testing method could reduce the total expenditure when WES unit cost remained below 6.4 folds that of the CNV-seq. Conclusion:Genetic variants including single nucleotide variations (SNV) of monogenic disorders, chromosomal aneuploidies and genomic CNVs are important causes for fetal skeletal dysplasia. WES is an accurate and efficient method for analyzing the etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia, particularly in those with a family history of similar phenotype or maternal history of adverse pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia using whole exome sequencing (WES) and copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) techniques, and the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier method for such fetuses. METHODS: Seventy four fetuses with skeletal dysplasia detected by prenatal ultrasound at the Genetic Testing Center of the Women and Children's Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University from January 2020 to August 2024 were selected as the study subjects. Fetal muscle and peripheral blood samples of the pregnant women and their spouses were collected and subjected to WES analysis. CNV-seq was carried out on all fetal muscle tissue samples. And the results were compared with the CNVs indicated by WES. Genetic etiologies were analyzed across different subtypes of skeletal dysplasia. And the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier genetic test for similar fetuses was assessed, in addition with a systematic cost-effectiveness analysis. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Hospital (Ethics No.: QFELL-YJ-2024-201). RESULTS: A total of 50 fetuses were diagnosed, which yielded a diagnostic rate of 67.57%. These included 6 chromosomal aneuploidies, 4 chromosomal CNVs and 40 monogenic disorders. The monogenic diseases had involved 46 variant sites in 23 pathogenic genes, among which 12 were unreported previously, including MYH3: c.735T>C, ALPL: c.1324C>T, NEK9: c.1973G>A, MAGEL2: c.2024_2025del, LMBR1: c.423+4914A>C, NEB: c.21273_21276del, COL1A1: c.2651G>C and c.2758G>C, ASPM: c.2473delinsGA, TBX5: c.704G>A, DYNC2H1: c.10893del, and DYNC2I2: c.1270C>T. Substantial concordance was reached between WES-derived CNV calls and CNV-seq findings. No clinically significant CNV was exclusively detected by CNV-seq. Cost-effectiveness modeling demonstrated that implementing WES as the first-tier genetic testing method could reduce the total expenditure when WES unit cost remained below 6.4 folds that of the CNV-seq. CONCLUSION Genetic variants including single nucleotide variations (SNV) of monogenic disorders, chromosomal aneuploidies and genomic CNVs are important causes for fetal skeletal dysplasia. WES is an accurate and efficient method for analyzing the etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia, particularly in those with a family history of similar phenotype or maternal history of adverse pregnancies.
Humans ; Exome Sequencing/methods* ; Female ; Pregnancy ; DNA Copy Number Variations/genetics* ; Genetic Testing/methods* ; Prenatal Diagnosis/methods* ; Adult ; Male ; Fetus ; Bone Diseases, Developmental/diagnosis* ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

Aiming at the classification and lesion localization of giga-pixel pathology whole slide images of breast cancer,a bidirectional gated recurrent unit attention based multi-instance learning(ABMIL-BiGRU)model is proposed for interpretable prediction of H&E stained breast cancer lymph node metastasis images.The method uses two orthogonal bidirectional gated recurrent units to establish the long-short distance dependencies between the features in the row and column directions of the image block,thereby embedding the spatial position and context information of the image block,and then quantifies the attention score of each feature representation through attention multi-instance pooling,thereby achieving whole slide image-level feature aggregation and generating interpretable heat maps.The results show that ABMIL-BiGRU model has an average accuracy of 0.918 6 and an AUCof 0.9467 on the breast cancer metastasis dataset,realizing high-precision prediction of whole slide images and localization of regions of interest,and also providing human-interpretable features at the image block level.The proposed model solves the"accuracy-interpretability trade-off"problem to a certain extent,and its superior performance provides a new paradigm for the clinical application of computer-aided diagnosis and intelligent systems.

Background:Colorectal cancer(CRC)is a major cause of cancer death worldwide,and about 30%to 35%of CRC arises from the serrated pathway.Aims:To analyze the clinicopathological and histomorphological characteristics of colorectal superficially serrated adenoma(SuSA),and to investigate the malignant transformation potential of SuSA and further elucidate the role of RSPO2 and RSPO3 in its carcinogenic mechanism.Methods:A total of 169 serrated colorectal lesions confirmed pathologically and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were collected from Shanxi Bethune Hospital from February 2019 to May 2023.Among them,there were 84 cases of SuSA,23 sessile serrated lesions(SSL),32 traditional serrated adenomas(TSA),and 30 hyperplastic polyps(HP).Thirty-nine cases of tubular adenoma(TA),32 CRC,and 33 normal colorectal mucosal tissues were served as controls.The clinicopathological and histomorphological parameters were collected and recorded.Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the protein expressions of RSPO2,RSPO3,p53,MLH1 and β-catenin.Results:Patients with SuSA were male predominance,with a mean age of 51.89 years.The average diameter of the lesions was 0.20 cm,predominantly located in the left colon and rectum,and frequently complicated with other polyps/adenomas.The histomorphological features of SuSA were as follows:the glandular necks and crypt bases exhibited straight tubular structure with low-grade dysplasia;the superficial layer demonstrated a serrated architecture,with or without dysplasia,and contained a variable number of goblet cells.Immunohistochemically,there were no statistically significant differences in RSPO2,RSPO3,and p53 expressions between SuSA and TSA(all P>0.05).A strong positive correlation was observed between RSPO2 and RSPO3 in colorectal lesions,excluding HP.Expressions of MLH1 and β-catenin showed no statistically significant differences between SuSA and other colorectal lesions(all P>0.05).Conclusions:SuSAs are more common in males,occur mostly in the left colon and rectum,and are often associated with other polyps/adenomas.They might be precursors of KRAS-mutated TSA and microsatellite stable CRC with high malignant potential.RSPO2 and RSPO3 might play an important role in the carcinogenesis of SuSA.

Background:Colorectal cancer(CRC)is a major cause of cancer death worldwide,and about 30%to 35%of CRC arises from the serrated pathway.Aims:To analyze the clinicopathological and histomorphological characteristics of colorectal superficially serrated adenoma(SuSA),and to investigate the malignant transformation potential of SuSA and further elucidate the role of RSPO2 and RSPO3 in its carcinogenic mechanism.Methods:A total of 169 serrated colorectal lesions confirmed pathologically and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were collected from Shanxi Bethune Hospital from February 2019 to May 2023.Among them,there were 84 cases of SuSA,23 sessile serrated lesions(SSL),32 traditional serrated adenomas(TSA),and 30 hyperplastic polyps(HP).Thirty-nine cases of tubular adenoma(TA),32 CRC,and 33 normal colorectal mucosal tissues were served as controls.The clinicopathological and histomorphological parameters were collected and recorded.Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the protein expressions of RSPO2,RSPO3,p53,MLH1 and β-catenin.Results:Patients with SuSA were male predominance,with a mean age of 51.89 years.The average diameter of the lesions was 0.20 cm,predominantly located in the left colon and rectum,and frequently complicated with other polyps/adenomas.The histomorphological features of SuSA were as follows:the glandular necks and crypt bases exhibited straight tubular structure with low-grade dysplasia;the superficial layer demonstrated a serrated architecture,with or without dysplasia,and contained a variable number of goblet cells.Immunohistochemically,there were no statistically significant differences in RSPO2,RSPO3,and p53 expressions between SuSA and TSA(all P>0.05).A strong positive correlation was observed between RSPO2 and RSPO3 in colorectal lesions,excluding HP.Expressions of MLH1 and β-catenin showed no statistically significant differences between SuSA and other colorectal lesions(all P>0.05).Conclusions:SuSAs are more common in males,occur mostly in the left colon and rectum,and are often associated with other polyps/adenomas.They might be precursors of KRAS-mutated TSA and microsatellite stable CRC with high malignant potential.RSPO2 and RSPO3 might play an important role in the carcinogenesis of SuSA.

Aiming at the classification and lesion localization of giga-pixel pathology whole slide images of breast cancer,a bidirectional gated recurrent unit attention based multi-instance learning(ABMIL-BiGRU)model is proposed for interpretable prediction of H&E stained breast cancer lymph node metastasis images.The method uses two orthogonal bidirectional gated recurrent units to establish the long-short distance dependencies between the features in the row and column directions of the image block,thereby embedding the spatial position and context information of the image block,and then quantifies the attention score of each feature representation through attention multi-instance pooling,thereby achieving whole slide image-level feature aggregation and generating interpretable heat maps.The results show that ABMIL-BiGRU model has an average accuracy of 0.918 6 and an AUCof 0.9467 on the breast cancer metastasis dataset,realizing high-precision prediction of whole slide images and localization of regions of interest,and also providing human-interpretable features at the image block level.The proposed model solves the"accuracy-interpretability trade-off"problem to a certain extent,and its superior performance provides a new paradigm for the clinical application of computer-aided diagnosis and intelligent systems.

Objective:To explore the genetic etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia using whole exome sequencing (WES) and copy number variation sequencing (CNV-seq) techniques, and the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier method for such fetuses.Methods:Seventy four fetuses with skeletal dysplasia detected by prenatal ultrasound at the Genetic Testing Center of the Women and Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University from January 2020 to August 2024 were selected as the study subjects. Fetal muscle and peripheral blood samples of the pregnant women and their spouses were collected and subjected to WES analysis. CNV-seq was carried out on all fetal muscle tissue samples. And the results were compared with the CNVs indicated by WES. Genetic etiologies were analyzed across different subtypes of skeletal dysplasia. And the feasibility of using WES as the first-tier genetic test for similar fetuses was assessed, in addition with a systematic cost-effectiveness analysis. This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Hospital (Ethics No.: QFELL-YJ-2024-201).Results:A total of 50 fetuses were diagnosed, which yielded a diagnostic rate of 67.57%. These included 6 chromosomal aneuploidies, 4 chromosomal CNVs and 40 monogenic disorders. The monogenic diseases had involved 46 variant sites in 23 pathogenic genes, among which 12 were unreported previously, including MYH3: c. 735T>C, ALPL: c. 1324C>T, NEK9: c. 1973G>A, MAGEL2: c. 2024_2025del, LMBR1: c. 423+ 4914A>C, NEB: c. 21273_21276del, COL1A1: c. 2651G>C and c. 2758G>C, ASPM: c. 2473delinsGA, TBX5: c. 704G>A, DYNC2H1: c. 10893del, and DYNC2I2: c. 1270C>T. Substantial concordance was reached between WES-derived CNV calls and CNV-seq findings. No clinically significant CNV was exclusively detected by CNV-seq. Cost-effectiveness modeling demonstrated that implementing WES as the first-tier genetic testing method could reduce the total expenditure when WES unit cost remained below 6.4 folds that of the CNV-seq. Conclusion:Genetic variants including single nucleotide variations (SNV) of monogenic disorders, chromosomal aneuploidies and genomic CNVs are important causes for fetal skeletal dysplasia. WES is an accurate and efficient method for analyzing the etiology of fetal skeletal dysplasia, particularly in those with a family history of similar phenotype or maternal history of adverse pregnancies.

Colorectal serrated lesions are a group of polyps/adenomas with serrated architecture, including hyperplastic polyp, sessile serrated lesion and sessile serrated lesion with dysplasia, traditional serrated adenoma, and unclassified serrated adenoma. Sessile serrated lesion and traditional serrated adenoma are precursors of serrated lesions progressing to colorectal cancer. Serrated lesions are characterized by genetic (BRAF or KRAS gene mutations) and epigenetic (CpG island methylator phenotype) alterations that synergistically drive colorectal mucosa to develop polyps or adenomas, and with malignant transformation into colorectal cancer. The complexity of serrated lesion makes it difficult to diagnose, easy to miss diagnosis and has a high malignant rate. This article reviewed the advances in research on colorectal serrated lesions from the aspects of endoscopic, pathological and molecular features.

Vine tea has been used as an herbal tea by several ethnic minorities for hundreds of years in China.Flavonoids,a kind of indispensable component in a variety of nutraceutical,pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications,are identified to be the major metabolites and bioactive ingredients in vine tea.Interest-ingly,vine tea exhibits a wide range of significant bioactivities including anti-oxidant,anti-inflammatory,anti-tumor,antidiabetic,neuroprotective and other activities,but no toxicity.These bioactivities,to some extent,enrich the understanding about the role of vine tea in disease prevention and therapy.The health benefits of vine tea,particularly dihydromyricetin and myricetin,are widely investigated.However,there is currently no comprehensive review available on vine tea.Therefore,this report summarizes the most recent studies investigating bioactive constituents,pharmacological effects and possible mechanisms of vine tea,which will provide a better understanding about the health benefits and preclinical assessment of novel application of vine tea.