Objective To evaluate the application value of the MR three-dimensional double inversion recovery(3D DIR)sequence in the diagnosis of optic neuritis(ON).Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on MRI images from 40 patients with sus-pected ON.All patients underwent conventional T2 WI fat suppression(FS)and 3D DIR sequences.The lesion detection rate and diag-nostic accuracy of the intraorbital,intracanalicular,and intracranial segments of the optic nerve were compared between the two sequences,respectively.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were used to assess the diagnostic performance,and the intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)were used to analyze interobserver consistency.Imaging assessments were independently performed by two senior and two junior radiologists.Results The sensitivity(SEN),specificity(SPE),and accuracy(ACC)in lesion detection of 3D DIR sequence were significantly better than those of conventional T2 WI FS sequence[odds ratio(OR)221 vs 104,P＜0.001].Notably,3D DIR sequence exhibited superior performance in detecting lesions in the intraorbital segment[area under the curve(AUC)0.915,OR=102]and intracanalicular segment(AUC 0.858,OR=51)compared with conventional T2WI FS sequence.Additionally,3D DIR sequence significantly improved diagnostic consistency among junior radiologists(ICC value increased from 0.469 to 0.655),bring-ing their diagnostic performance closer to that of senior radiologists(AUC improved to 0.883,ACC reached 90.1％).Conclusion The 3D DIR sequence has outstanding diagnostic efficacy in detecting ON lesions,significantly improving ACC and interobserver consistency,thereby offering strong support for the precise diagnosis of ON.

Objective To evaluate the application value of the MR three-dimensional double inversion recovery(3D DIR)sequence in the diagnosis of optic neuritis(ON).Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on MRI images from 40 patients with sus-pected ON.All patients underwent conventional T2 WI fat suppression(FS)and 3D DIR sequences.The lesion detection rate and diag-nostic accuracy of the intraorbital,intracanalicular,and intracranial segments of the optic nerve were compared between the two sequences,respectively.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were used to assess the diagnostic performance,and the intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)were used to analyze interobserver consistency.Imaging assessments were independently performed by two senior and two junior radiologists.Results The sensitivity(SEN),specificity(SPE),and accuracy(ACC)in lesion detection of 3D DIR sequence were significantly better than those of conventional T2 WI FS sequence[odds ratio(OR)221 vs 104,P＜0.001].Notably,3D DIR sequence exhibited superior performance in detecting lesions in the intraorbital segment[area under the curve(AUC)0.915,OR=102]and intracanalicular segment(AUC 0.858,OR=51)compared with conventional T2WI FS sequence.Additionally,3D DIR sequence significantly improved diagnostic consistency among junior radiologists(ICC value increased from 0.469 to 0.655),bring-ing their diagnostic performance closer to that of senior radiologists(AUC improved to 0.883,ACC reached 90.1％).Conclusion The 3D DIR sequence has outstanding diagnostic efficacy in detecting ON lesions,significantly improving ACC and interobserver consistency,thereby offering strong support for the precise diagnosis of ON.

Objective To observe the serum level of lipoprotein(a) in high blood pressure patients with low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) standards and its association with carotid atherosclerotic plaques.Methods Five hundred and thirty patients with history of hypertension for over 5 years were recruited for the study.They were stratified by depending on whether or not they reached the LDL-C standards.Then,by depending on whether there was presence of carotid plaques in each layer,they were divided into 4 groups:Group A with LDL-C standards and plaques,Group B with LDL-C standards but without plaques,Group C without LDLC standards but with plaques,Group D without LDL-C standards but without plaques.Close observations were made on the levels of Lp (a) in each groups.Results (1) The Lp (a) levels of the groups with LDL-C standards were lower than those of the groups without LDL-C standards.Statistical significance could be noticed when comparisons were made between them(P ＜ 0.01).(2) In the group with LDL-C standards,the Lp (a) level in the patients of Group A was higher than that in the patients of Group B,but there was no statistical significance when comparisons were made between them (P ＞ 0.05).In the group without LDL-C standards,the Lp (a) level in the patients of Group C was higher than that in the patients of Group D,with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion For the patients with LDL-C level reaching the required standards at the admission,baseline level of Lp (a) seemed to have no obvious correlation with carotid atherosclerotic plaques.However,for the patients without LDL-C level reaching the required standards at the admission,elevated baseline LDL-C level might be a predicting factor in the formation of carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

Objective To explore the cardiovascular function in type 2 diabetic patients by echo tracking (ET) and instanta-neous wave intensity ( WI) .Methods One hundred and thirty-six retired male veterans were divided into the diabetic group ( n=54) and the control group (n=72), by depending upon whether they had diabetes mellitus .They all received blood lipid detection and ul-trasonography .Echo tracking was used to measure stiffness index (β) , Peterson′s pressure modulus ( Ep) , arterial compliance ( AC) , augmentation index (AI), pulse wave velocity derived from β(PWVβ) on ET curve.Wave intensity was employed to detect accelera-ting wave intensity (W1), decelerating wave intensity (W2) and negative area (NA) on WI curve, as well as the interval between the maximum of R wave and that of W1, and the interval between the maximum of W1 and that of W2(1st-2nd).Results (1) No statisti-cal differences could be seen in age , blood pressure , body mass index , left ventricular ejection fraction and blood lipid , when compari-sons were made between the 2 groups.Blood glucose level [(8.28 ±1.19)mmol/L] in the diabetic group was higher than that [(6.14 ±0.60) mmol/L] of the control group, all with statistical significance(p<0.05).(2) No statistical differences could be noticed in the levels of β, Ep, Ac, AI and PWVβ, when comparisons were made between the 2 groups.(3) W1 and W2 [(10.08 ±6.76) × 103,(1.35 ±1.57) ×103 mmHg· m· s-3] for the diabetic group were significantly lower than those [(13.09 ±11.17) ×103,(2.04 ±1.19) ×103 mmHg· m· s-3] of the control group, all with statistical significance(P<0.05).No statistical differences could be seen in NA, R-1st and 1st-2nd, when comparisons were made between the two groups .Conclusion ET index indicated that carotid e-lasticity in type 2 diabetic patients was not decreased , but W1 could detect early subclinical myocardial lesion in diabetic patients .

Objective To explore the cardiovascular function in type 2 diabetic patients by echo tracking (ET) and instanta-neous wave intensity ( WI) .Methods One hundred and thirty-six retired male veterans were divided into the diabetic group ( n=54) and the control group (n=72), by depending upon whether they had diabetes mellitus .They all received blood lipid detection and ul-trasonography .Echo tracking was used to measure stiffness index (β) , Peterson′s pressure modulus ( Ep) , arterial compliance ( AC) , augmentation index (AI), pulse wave velocity derived from β(PWVβ) on ET curve.Wave intensity was employed to detect accelera-ting wave intensity (W1), decelerating wave intensity (W2) and negative area (NA) on WI curve, as well as the interval between the maximum of R wave and that of W1, and the interval between the maximum of W1 and that of W2(1st-2nd).Results (1) No statisti-cal differences could be seen in age , blood pressure , body mass index , left ventricular ejection fraction and blood lipid , when compari-sons were made between the 2 groups.Blood glucose level [(8.28 ±1.19)mmol/L] in the diabetic group was higher than that [(6.14 ±0.60) mmol/L] of the control group, all with statistical significance(p<0.05).(2) No statistical differences could be noticed in the levels of β, Ep, Ac, AI and PWVβ, when comparisons were made between the 2 groups.(3) W1 and W2 [(10.08 ±6.76) × 103,(1.35 ±1.57) ×103 mmHg· m· s-3] for the diabetic group were significantly lower than those [(13.09 ±11.17) ×103,(2.04 ±1.19) ×103 mmHg· m· s-3] of the control group, all with statistical significance(P<0.05).No statistical differences could be seen in NA, R-1st and 1st-2nd, when comparisons were made between the two groups .Conclusion ET index indicated that carotid e-lasticity in type 2 diabetic patients was not decreased , but W1 could detect early subclinical myocardial lesion in diabetic patients .

BACKGROUND:Human amniotic epithelial cells are an important source of cells in regenerative medicine as its multipotentation, but new studies mainly focused on differentiation features and there were little research oneffect of culture in vitro on biological property of amniotic epithelial cells.
OBJECTIVE:To analyze the effects of in vitro culture on growth, cellphenotype and differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells, and explore the correlation of primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells marker SSEA-4 expression level and the change of biological characteristics of human amniotic epithelial cells.
METHODS:Primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells were obtained from amniotic tissues by using the same separation protocol. Human amniotic epithelial cells were cultured in vitro. The proliferation, cellphenotype and the differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells were evaluated by means of cellcounting kit-8, flow cytometry and real-time PCR.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The SSEA-4 positive cells in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells from different fetal tissues were between 26.7%-97%, which indicated that there was great individual difference among amniotic tissue samples. Moreover, with passage, the SSEA-4 expression in human amniotic epithelial cells decreased significantly, which did not correlate with the SSEA-4 expression in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells. Results indicated that there was great individual difference in SSEA-4 expression level in primarily cultured human amniotic epithelial cells from different amniotic tissue samples. Thus, it is necessary to set up clinical screening indexes to get samples with higher SSEA-4 expression stably and to control the quality of human amniotic epithelial cells. In addition, during culture period, SSEA-4 expression level was affected by culture conditions. The culture conditions of human amniotic epithelial cells should be optimized to maintain SSEA-4 expression at a high level. In addition, the differentiation capacity of human amniotic epithelial cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells was also affected by individual difference among different samples and culture conditions, which wil be further studied in the future.

In order to meet the requirements of ultrasound bone density measurement, we proposed a software solution to improve the accuracy and speed of measurement of bone mineral density of the ultrasound bone densitometer. We used a high-speed USB interface chip FT232H, along with a high-speed AD converter chip to calculate speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA ) and other bone density parameters in the PC software. This solution improved the accuracy of the measurement data, reduced the measurement time and increased the quality of the displayed image. It is well concluded that the new software can greatly improve the accuracy and transmission speed of bone density measurement data through a high-speed USB interface and a software data processing technology.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Bone Density ; Software ; Sound ; Ultrasonics

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of the demonstration for morphologic characteristics of pulmonary vein(PV)and left atrium(LA)with 64-multislice computed tomography(MSCT).Methods Between February 2006 and February 2007,we studied morphologic characteristics of the pulmonary vein and left atrium in 88 patients undergone 3D imaging and virtual endoscopy with 64-slice MSCT scanner.46 patients in atrial frillation(AF)group and 42 subjects without history of AF in control group.Results 1.64-slice MSCT can reconstruct properly the morphology,number,size of orifice and flow route of pulmonary veins;among them,the sizes of orifice of pulmonary veins in AF group and control group showed no significant difference.2.The reconstruction images of left atrial appendages(LAA)showed that there were two kinds of morphologic variation existing at the crista between left auricle and left superior pulmonary vein with the continuatum of the left superior and inferior pulmonary veins.3.The reconstruction images,also revealed 3 types of left atrial top;including convex type(9%),concave type(32.9)and plateau type(58.1%);with approximately 12.5% of local convexity.Conclusion Clear demonstration of pulmonary vein and left atrium through 3D reconstruction of MSCT provides higher successful rate of RFCA for AF with simultaneous decrease of complications