Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of black blood computed tomography(BBCT)in vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation.Methods The imaging data of 73 patients with suspected carotid atherosclerosis were retrospectively analyzed.The signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)and contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR)of conventional computed tomography angiography(CTA)ima-ges and BBCT images were compared by paired sample t-test.The 5-level scoring method was applied to evaluate the image quality subjectively,and the Friedman test was used to compare the differences in the subjective evaluation of image quality among the groups.Taking high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)as the gold standard,the diagnostic value between BBCT and conventional CTA was compared,and the consistency of BBCT and HRMR-VWI in the evaluation of vulnerable plaques was calculated.Results The standard deviation(SD)value of BBCT images was lower than that of conventional three-phase CTA images,indicating better quality of BBCT images(P＜0.001).The mean CT value and CNRplaque-lumen of non-calcified plaques were higher in BBCT images than those in conventional three-phase CTA images,suggesting that BBCT had a higher contrast with sur-rounding tissues and could better display the fine structure of non-calcified plaques(P＜0.001).BBCT images achieved the highest scores in the subjective evaluation of image quality(P＜0.001).Compared with conventional CTA images,BBCT had higher sensi-tivity(88.2％vs 29.4％)and accuracy(90.9％vs 54.5％)in identifying vulnerable plaques(P＜0.001).The Kappa value between BBCT and HRMR-VWI was 0.813,showed good consistency.Conclusion The image quality of neck BBCT is superior to that of conventional CTA.BBCT has a better effect than conventional CTA in identifying vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation,which is comparable to HRMR-VWI.

Objective To evaluate the application of high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)in identifying high-risk features of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques,and to analyze the correlation between plaque characteristics and stroke recurrence under varying degrees of stenosis.Methods The data from 368 patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis(ICAS)across two centers were retrospectively analyzed.Based on the degree of stenosis,all patients were categorized into mild-to-moderate stenosis group(luminal stenosis<70%,n=155)and severe stenosis group(luminal stenosis≥70%,n=213).HRMR-VWI images and clinical information of the patients were collected and analyzed,and the culprit plaques were quantitatively analyzed.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the risk factors for stroke recurrence,and the predictive performance was evaluated using the area under the curve(AUC)of the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Higher normalized wall index(NWI)[odds ratio(OR)=1.082,95%confidence interval(CI)1.050-1.118,P<0.05]and the presence of intraplaque hemorrhage(IPH)(OR=1.843,95%CI 1.120-3.036,P<0.05)were risk factors for stroke recurrence in all patients.And these two factors were also significant in the mild-to-moderate stenosis group(NWI:OR=1.088,95%CI 1.009-1.186,P<0.05;IPH:OR=4.049,95%CI 1.227-16.065,P<0.05).A predictive model for stroke recurrence was constructed using the combination of IPH and NWI,with the best performance in the mild-to-moderate stenosis group(AUC=0.813,95%CI 0.723-0.906).Conclusion In patients with luminal stenosis<70%,the increase of NWI and the presence of IPH have been validated as significant and effective indicators for predicting stroke recurrence,demonstrating notable predictive performance.In contrast,among patients with luminal stenosis≥70%,the utility of plaque characteristics in predicting stroke recurrence is relatively lower,indicating that the correlation between plaque characteristics and stroke recurrence varies across different degrees of stenosis.

Objective To observe the value of T1WI deep learning models for evaluating brain injury of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia(NHB).Methods Totally 106 NHB(defined as newborns with neonatal behavioral neurological assessment≤37,NHB group)and 119 non-NHB newborns(control group)in center A,as well as 34 NHB and 18 non-NHB newborns in center B were collected.ROI was delineated based on bilateral globus pallidus on T1WI.A total of 690 slices were obtained by preprocessing data of center A and then were divided into training set(n=552)and test set(n=138)at a ratio of 8∶2.ResNet18,DenseNet121 and EfficientNetB0 models was established,respectively.External validation was performed based on data of center B.Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn,area under the curves(AUC)were calculated to evaluate the performance of models for assessing NHB brain injuries compared with traditional visual analysis.Results The AUC of ResNet18 model for evaluating NHB brain injury was 0.910-0.990,significantly higher than that of DenseNet121 model(0.710-0.820)and EfficientNetB0 model(0.640-0.740)(all P＜0.001).The accuracy,sensitivity and precision of ResNet18 model for evaluating NHB brain injury were all higher than those of visual analysis(all P＜0.05),while no significant difference of specificity was found between the above two(P＞0.05).Conclusion T1WI ResNet18 model showed excellent performance and generalization ability for evaluating NHB brain injury.

Objective To observe the value of the integrated model of MR high-resolution vascular wall imaging(HR-VWI)and attention mechanism for predicting stroke recurrence in symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis(sICAS)patients.Methods A total of 363 patients with sICAS who underwent HR-VWI were enrolled and stratified into training set(n=254)and validation set(n=109)according to their origins.Employing a radiomics model that utilized HR-VWI T1 and contrast-enhanced sequences for feature extraction,image data were captured from relevant plaques.Subsequently,a Trans model was developed by integrating the Transformer attention mechanism.The predictive performance and clinical utility of conventional radiomics models and Trans models for forecasting stroke recurrence among patients with sICAS were evaluated.Results In training set and validation set,the area under the curve of Trans model for predicting stroke recurrence in sICAS patients was 0.992 and 0.988,respectively,both superior to that of T1 model,T1 enhanced model and dual sequence model(all P＜0.05).The calibration curve and decision curve analysis showed that Trans model had good predictive probability and clinical practicality.Conclusion The obtained integrated model of HR-VWI radiomics combined with attention mechanism had certain value for predicting stroke recurrence in patients with sICAS.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of Zi Zhu Ointment combined with herbal fumigation on wound heal-ing,oxidative stress and microribonucleic acid(miR)-200b of the patients with diabetic foot infection.METHODS A total of 102 patients with diabetic foot infection who were treated in Heping Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College from Sep.2020 to Sep.2023 were enrolled in the study and were divided into the control group with 48 cases and the study group with 54 cases according to the treatment program.The control group was trea-ted with conventional therapy and herbal fumigation,the study group was given additional Zi Zhu Ointment on ba-sis of the treatment of the control group,and both groups were persistently treated for 1 month.The clinical cura-tive effect,wound healing status,hemodynamics indexes of dorsal foot,pain score,oxidative stress indexes and miR-200b expression levels were observed and compared between the two groups of patients.RESULTS The effec-tive rate of clinical treatment of the study group was higher than that of the control group after the treatment(Z=2.138,P=0.033).The wound area of the study group was(0.42±0.05)cm2 after the treatment,smaller than that of the control group;the cover area of neoplastic granulation tissue of the study group was(16.87±3.21)cm2,larger than that of the control group;the coverage fraction of the neoplastic granulation tissue of the study group was(55.23±6.17)％,greater than that of the control group;there were significant differences between the two groups(P＜0.05).The blood vessel diameter of dorsal foot of the study group was greater than that of the control group after the treatment,the blood flow velocity of the study group was greater than that of the control group,and the visual analogue scale(VAS)score of the study group was lower than that of the control group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the expression levels of advanced oxidative protein product(AOPP),superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA)and miR-200b between the two groups of pa-tients before the treatment;the expression levels of AOPP,MDA and miR-200b of the study group were lower than those of the control group after the treatment,while the SOD level of the study group was higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS Zi Zhu Ointment combined with herbal fumigation can remarkably improve the clinical curative effect on the patients with diabetic foot infection,promote the wound healing,im-prove the arterial hemodynamics of dorsal foot,and relieve the pain.The mechanism may be associated with the improvement of oxidative stress response and downregulated expression level of miR-200b.

Objective To observe the value of the integrated model of MR high-resolution vascular wall imaging(HR-VWI)and attention mechanism for predicting stroke recurrence in symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis(sICAS)patients.Methods A total of 363 patients with sICAS who underwent HR-VWI were enrolled and stratified into training set(n=254)and validation set(n=109)according to their origins.Employing a radiomics model that utilized HR-VWI T1 and contrast-enhanced sequences for feature extraction,image data were captured from relevant plaques.Subsequently,a Trans model was developed by integrating the Transformer attention mechanism.The predictive performance and clinical utility of conventional radiomics models and Trans models for forecasting stroke recurrence among patients with sICAS were evaluated.Results In training set and validation set,the area under the curve of Trans model for predicting stroke recurrence in sICAS patients was 0.992 and 0.988,respectively,both superior to that of T1 model,T1 enhanced model and dual sequence model(all P＜0.05).The calibration curve and decision curve analysis showed that Trans model had good predictive probability and clinical practicality.Conclusion The obtained integrated model of HR-VWI radiomics combined with attention mechanism had certain value for predicting stroke recurrence in patients with sICAS.

Objective To observe the value of T1WI deep learning models for evaluating brain injury of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia(NHB).Methods Totally 106 NHB(defined as newborns with neonatal behavioral neurological assessment≤37,NHB group)and 119 non-NHB newborns(control group)in center A,as well as 34 NHB and 18 non-NHB newborns in center B were collected.ROI was delineated based on bilateral globus pallidus on T1WI.A total of 690 slices were obtained by preprocessing data of center A and then were divided into training set(n=552)and test set(n=138)at a ratio of 8∶2.ResNet18,DenseNet121 and EfficientNetB0 models was established,respectively.External validation was performed based on data of center B.Receiver operating characteristic curves were drawn,area under the curves(AUC)were calculated to evaluate the performance of models for assessing NHB brain injuries compared with traditional visual analysis.Results The AUC of ResNet18 model for evaluating NHB brain injury was 0.910-0.990,significantly higher than that of DenseNet121 model(0.710-0.820)and EfficientNetB0 model(0.640-0.740)(all P＜0.001).The accuracy,sensitivity and precision of ResNet18 model for evaluating NHB brain injury were all higher than those of visual analysis(all P＜0.05),while no significant difference of specificity was found between the above two(P＞0.05).Conclusion T1WI ResNet18 model showed excellent performance and generalization ability for evaluating NHB brain injury.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of black blood computed tomography(BBCT)in vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation.Methods The imaging data of 73 patients with suspected carotid atherosclerosis were retrospectively analyzed.The signal-to-noise ratio(SNR)and contrast-to-noise ratio(CNR)of conventional computed tomography angiography(CTA)ima-ges and BBCT images were compared by paired sample t-test.The 5-level scoring method was applied to evaluate the image quality subjectively,and the Friedman test was used to compare the differences in the subjective evaluation of image quality among the groups.Taking high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)as the gold standard,the diagnostic value between BBCT and conventional CTA was compared,and the consistency of BBCT and HRMR-VWI in the evaluation of vulnerable plaques was calculated.Results The standard deviation(SD)value of BBCT images was lower than that of conventional three-phase CTA images,indicating better quality of BBCT images(P＜0.001).The mean CT value and CNRplaque-lumen of non-calcified plaques were higher in BBCT images than those in conventional three-phase CTA images,suggesting that BBCT had a higher contrast with sur-rounding tissues and could better display the fine structure of non-calcified plaques(P＜0.001).BBCT images achieved the highest scores in the subjective evaluation of image quality(P＜0.001).Compared with conventional CTA images,BBCT had higher sensi-tivity(88.2％vs 29.4％)and accuracy(90.9％vs 54.5％)in identifying vulnerable plaques(P＜0.001).The Kappa value between BBCT and HRMR-VWI was 0.813,showed good consistency.Conclusion The image quality of neck BBCT is superior to that of conventional CTA.BBCT has a better effect than conventional CTA in identifying vulnerable plaques at the carotid bifurcation,which is comparable to HRMR-VWI.

OBJECTIVE To explore the effect of Zi Zhu Ointment combined with herbal fumigation on wound heal-ing,oxidative stress and microribonucleic acid(miR)-200b of the patients with diabetic foot infection.METHODS A total of 102 patients with diabetic foot infection who were treated in Heping Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College from Sep.2020 to Sep.2023 were enrolled in the study and were divided into the control group with 48 cases and the study group with 54 cases according to the treatment program.The control group was trea-ted with conventional therapy and herbal fumigation,the study group was given additional Zi Zhu Ointment on ba-sis of the treatment of the control group,and both groups were persistently treated for 1 month.The clinical cura-tive effect,wound healing status,hemodynamics indexes of dorsal foot,pain score,oxidative stress indexes and miR-200b expression levels were observed and compared between the two groups of patients.RESULTS The effec-tive rate of clinical treatment of the study group was higher than that of the control group after the treatment(Z=2.138,P=0.033).The wound area of the study group was(0.42±0.05)cm2 after the treatment,smaller than that of the control group;the cover area of neoplastic granulation tissue of the study group was(16.87±3.21)cm2,larger than that of the control group;the coverage fraction of the neoplastic granulation tissue of the study group was(55.23±6.17)％,greater than that of the control group;there were significant differences between the two groups(P＜0.05).The blood vessel diameter of dorsal foot of the study group was greater than that of the control group after the treatment,the blood flow velocity of the study group was greater than that of the control group,and the visual analogue scale(VAS)score of the study group was lower than that of the control group(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in the expression levels of advanced oxidative protein product(AOPP),superoxide dismutase(SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA)and miR-200b between the two groups of pa-tients before the treatment;the expression levels of AOPP,MDA and miR-200b of the study group were lower than those of the control group after the treatment,while the SOD level of the study group was higher than that of the control group(P＜0.05).CONCLUSIONS Zi Zhu Ointment combined with herbal fumigation can remarkably improve the clinical curative effect on the patients with diabetic foot infection,promote the wound healing,im-prove the arterial hemodynamics of dorsal foot,and relieve the pain.The mechanism may be associated with the improvement of oxidative stress response and downregulated expression level of miR-200b.

Objective To evaluate the application of high-resolution magnetic resonance vessel wall imaging(HRMR-VWI)in identifying high-risk features of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques,and to analyze the correlation between plaque characteristics and stroke recurrence under varying degrees of stenosis.Methods The data from 368 patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis(ICAS)across two centers were retrospectively analyzed.Based on the degree of stenosis,all patients were categorized into mild-to-moderate stenosis group(luminal stenosis<70%,n=155)and severe stenosis group(luminal stenosis≥70%,n=213).HRMR-VWI images and clinical information of the patients were collected and analyzed,and the culprit plaques were quantitatively analyzed.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the risk factors for stroke recurrence,and the predictive performance was evaluated using the area under the curve(AUC)of the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Results Higher normalized wall index(NWI)[odds ratio(OR)=1.082,95%confidence interval(CI)1.050-1.118,P<0.05]and the presence of intraplaque hemorrhage(IPH)(OR=1.843,95%CI 1.120-3.036,P<0.05)were risk factors for stroke recurrence in all patients.And these two factors were also significant in the mild-to-moderate stenosis group(NWI:OR=1.088,95%CI 1.009-1.186,P<0.05;IPH:OR=4.049,95%CI 1.227-16.065,P<0.05).A predictive model for stroke recurrence was constructed using the combination of IPH and NWI,with the best performance in the mild-to-moderate stenosis group(AUC=0.813,95%CI 0.723-0.906).Conclusion In patients with luminal stenosis<70%,the increase of NWI and the presence of IPH have been validated as significant and effective indicators for predicting stroke recurrence,demonstrating notable predictive performance.In contrast,among patients with luminal stenosis≥70%,the utility of plaque characteristics in predicting stroke recurrence is relatively lower,indicating that the correlation between plaque characteristics and stroke recurrence varies across different degrees of stenosis.