Objective:To investigate the value of the virtual monoenergetic image (VMI) obtained by a new dual-layer detector spectral CT combined with metal artifact reduction algorithms(O-MAR) in reduction of different types of artifacts caused by 125I seeds implantation and in improvement of the post-operative CT image quality. Methods:This was a cross-sectional study. Thirty-five patients who underwent dual-layer detector spectral CT scanning of the chest and abdomen after 125I seeds implantation were retrospectively included at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March to September 2022. The spectral data were collected and reconstructed into conventional CT image (CI), VMI image (50-150 keV, 20 keV/level), CI+O-MAR image, and VMI+O-MAR image (50-150 keV, 20 keV/level). The artifacts′ removal effects and image quality improvement in each group were evaluated. Two slices with the strongest artifacts were selected for analysis for each patient, resulting in a total of 70 slices. Objective indicators including artifact index (AI), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of soft tissue regions affected by artifacts were measured and calculated. Subjective indicators including the overcorrected artifacts and new artifacts, the different forms of artifacts, the diagnosis of artifacts, and the image quality were assessed. One-way analysis of variance was used for comparisons among multiple groups. Paired t test was used to compare the quantitative indicators between the combined O-MAR group and the non-O-MAR group. Kappa statistics was used to evaluate the consistency between observers. Results:In high/low-density artifacts (ROI H/L), the AI values in all groups showed decrease with increasing VMI keV. In artifact-affected tissue (ROI T), SNR of the CI/VMI (70-150 keV)+O-MAR group were significantly higher than those of the CI/VMI group ( P<0.05), CNR of the CI/VMI(50-150 keV)+O-MAR group were significantly higher than those of the CI/VMI group ( P<0.05). Both overcorrection and new artifacts mainly presented in VMI 50 keV and VMI 70 keV groups; Compared with VMI (50-70 keV) group, significantly less numbers of overcorrection and new artifacts were found in VMI (50-70 keV)+O-MAR group ( P<0.05); regarding the comparison of artifact types, with the VMI keV increasing, the number of a-type banded artifacts gradually decreased on images with high-density artifacts, reaching a minimum of 3 in the VMI 150 keV+O-MAR group; while the number of e-type artifacts with little or no artifacts increased, with the highest number of 23 in the VMI 150 keV+O-MAR group. The total number of high-density artifacts in each type decreased with increasing VMI keV. As VMI keV increased, the diagnostic and image quality scores of high-density artifacts in each group were significantly higher than those of low-density artifacts in the VMI+O-MAR group ( P<0.05). Conclusions:VMI combined with O-MAR can significantly improve the objective and subjective image quality of follow-up CT imaging after 125I seed implantation, enhancing lesion visibility and diagnostic confidence. Additionally, VMI+O-MAR showed more pronounced correction effect on high-density artifacts.

BACKGROUND:Inherited heart disease has a high prevalence and mortality rate,but its pathogenesis has not yet been clarified.Although relevant animal models have been established to provide a foundation for the pathogenesis research of inherited heart disease,the value of these research results has been significantly reduced due to differences among species.Therefore,a new model is needed to explore its occurrence and development. OBJECTIVE:To review the current role of induced pluripotent stem cells in disease modeling and potential application prospects in various inherited heart diseases. METHODS:The first author searched the relevant articles published nearly 13 years in PubMed from January to March 2023.The search terms were"induced pluripotent stem cell,inherited heart disease,congenital heart disease".Finally,76 articles were included for analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Since 2007,when induced pluripotent stem cells were induced from human somatic cells,many studies have been reported on disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells.Due to the ability of disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cells to reproduce disease phenotypes,they are expected to become a new research tool for in vitro disease modeling,used to analyze pathogenesis and develop auxiliary drugs.In the research of cardiovascular genetic diseases,cardiomyocytes derived from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells contain gene mutations that are involved in cardiac dysplasia.Therefore,it can be used as a new tool to study the potential mechanisms of inherited heart disease.Up to now,induced pluripotent stem cells-derived cardiomyocytes have been widely used to study the molecular mechanisms of various genetic heart diseases,such as cardiac electrophysiological diseases,cardiomyopathy,and some syndromic inherited heart diseases.

Objective : To investigate the current status of hearing loss in a fastener manufacturing enterprise, and to analyze its influencing factors, so as to provide insights into occupational disease prevention and control. Methods: The occupational health examination data of noise exposed workers and the workplace occupational disease hazard factors detection data in a fastener manufacturing enterprise in Jiaxing City in 2022 were collected through the Occupational Disease and Occupational Health Hazard Factors Detection System of China Disease Prevention and Control Information System, and factors affecting the development of high-frequency noise-induced hearing loss (HFNIHL) and speech-frequency noise-induced hearing loss (SFNIHL) were analyzed. Results: Totally 625 workers were investigated, with a median age of 44.00 (interquartile range, 13.00) years and a median length of service of 8.00 (interquartile range, 9.00) years, and including 519 men (83.04%) and 106 women (16.96%). There were 309 workers with single noise exposure (49.44%) and 316 workers with joint noise exposure (50.56%), and 518 workers exposed to noise with the normalized continuous A-weighted sound pressure level equivalent to a 40 h working week (LEX,40 h) that exceeded the national standard (82.88%). The detection rates of HFNIHL and SFNIHL were 49.12% and 35.04%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that males (OR=10.528, 95%CI: 5.271-21.025), length of service of 10 years and longer (OR=2.451, 95%CI: 1.599-3.759), LEX,40 h of >85 dB (A) (OR=2.227, 95%CI: 1.318-3.764) and joint noise exposure (OR=3.002, 95%CI: 2.080-4.334) were associated with an increased risk of HFNIHL, and male (OR=9.400, 95%CI: 4.211-20.985), LEX,40 h of >85 dB (A) (OR=2.305, 95%CI: 1.345-3.951), and joint noise exposure (OR=3.880, 95%CI: 2.677-5.623) were associated with an increased risk of SFNIHL. Conclusion Gender, length of service, noise intensity and exposure mode are factors affecting the risk of HFNIHL, while gender, noise intensity and exposure mode are factors affecting the risk of SFNIHL.

Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) with inferior vena cava thrombosis is rare and has a poor prognosis, and the current literature overwhelmingly supports aggressive surgical intervention. This article summarizes the management of a patient with ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis, and discusses the feasibility of detailed preoperative imaging data and intraoperative ultrasound to assess the superior and inferior boundaries of ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis, while describing the intraoperative ultrasound-guided surgical planning and procedure for ACC with retrohepatic inferior vena cava tumor thrombus. Furthermore, it also demonstrates that it is feasible to accurately assess the superior and inferior boundaries of ACC with inferior vena cava thrombosis by preoperative multimodal imaging and intraoperative ultrasound, determine the mode of flow blockage during the operation, and obtain radical resection of the tumor.

Background: Bovine papillomatosis is a type of proliferative tumor disease of skin and mucosae caused by bovine papillomavirus (BPV). As a transboundary and emerging disease in cattle, it poses a potential threat to the dairy industry. Objectives: The aim of this study is to detect and clarify the genetic diversity of BPV circulating in dairy cows in Xinjiang, China. Methods: 122 papilloma skin lesions from 8 intensive dairy farms located in different regions of Xinjiang, China were detected by polymerase chain reaction. The genetic evolution relationships of various types of BPVs were analyzed by examining this phylogenetic tree. Results: Ten genotypes of BPV (BPV1, BPV2, BPV3, BPV6, BPV7, BPV8, BPV10, BPV11, BPV13, and BPV14) were detected and identified in dairy cows. These were the first reported detections of BPV13 and BPV14 in Xinjiang, Mixed infections were detected, and there were geographical differences in the distribution of the BPV genotypes. Notably, the BPV infection rate among young cattle (< 1-year-old) developed from the same supply of frozen sperm was higher than that of the other young cows naturally raised under the same environmental conditions. Conclusions Genotyping based on the L1 gene of BPV showed that BPVs circulating in Xinjiang China displayed substantial genetic diversity. This study provided valuable data at the molecular epidemiology level, which is conducive to developing deep insights into the genetic diversity and pathogenic characteristics of BPVs in dairy cows.

Background: Bovine papillomatosis is a type of proliferative tumor disease of skin and mucosae caused by bovine papillomavirus (BPV). As a transboundary and emerging disease in cattle, it poses a potential threat to the dairy industry. Objectives: The aim of this study is to detect and clarify the genetic diversity of BPV circulating in dairy cows in Xinjiang, China. Methods: 122 papilloma skin lesions from 8 intensive dairy farms located in different regions of Xinjiang, China were detected by polymerase chain reaction. The genetic evolution relationships of various types of BPVs were analyzed by examining this phylogenetic tree. Results: Ten genotypes of BPV (BPV1, BPV2, BPV3, BPV6, BPV7, BPV8, BPV10, BPV11, BPV13, and BPV14) were detected and identified in dairy cows. These were the first reported detections of BPV13 and BPV14 in Xinjiang, Mixed infections were detected, and there were geographical differences in the distribution of the BPV genotypes. Notably, the BPV infection rate among young cattle (< 1-year-old) developed from the same supply of frozen sperm was higher than that of the other young cows naturally raised under the same environmental conditions. Conclusions Genotyping based on the L1 gene of BPV showed that BPVs circulating in Xinjiang China displayed substantial genetic diversity. This study provided valuable data at the molecular epidemiology level, which is conducive to developing deep insights into the genetic diversity and pathogenic characteristics of BPVs in dairy cows.

Imipenem is a carbapenem antibiotic. However, Imipenem could not be marketed owing to its instability and nephrotoxicity until cilastatin, an inhibitor of renal dehydropeptidase-I (DHP-I), was developed. In present study, the potential roles of renal organic anion transporters (OATs) in alleviating the nephrotoxicity of imipenem by cilastatin were investigated and in rabbits. Our results indicated that imipenem and cilastatin were substrates of hOAT1 and hOAT3. Cilastatin inhibited hOAT1/3-mediated transport of imipenem with IC values comparable to the clinical concentration, suggesting the potential to cause a clinical drug-drug interaction (DDI). Moreover, imipenem exhibited hOAT1/3-dependent cytotoxicity, which was alleviated by cilastatin and probenecid. Furthermore, cilastatin and probenecid ameliorated imipenem-induced rabbit acute kidney injury, and reduced the renal secretion of imipenem. Cilastatin and probenecid inhibited intracellular accumulation of imipenem and sequentially decreased the nephrocyte toxicity in rabbit primary proximal tubule cells. Renal OATs, besides DHP-I, was also the target of interaction between imipenem and cilastatin, and contributed to the nephrotoxicity of imipenem. This therefore gives in part the explanation about the mechanism by which cilastatin protected against imipenem-induced nephrotoxicity. Thus, OATs can potentially be used as a therapeutic target to avoid the renal adverse reaction of imipenem in clinic.

The genomic diversity of Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) was investigated in an experimentally infected chicken. ALV-J variants in tissues from four different organs of the same bird were re-isolated in DF-1 cells, and their gp85 gene was amplified and cloned. Ten clones from each organ were sequenced and compared with the original inoculum strain, NX0101. The minimum homology of each organ ranged from 96.7 to 97.6%, and the lowest homology between organs was only 94.9%, which was much lower than the 99.1% homology of inoculum NX0101, indicating high diversity of ALV-J, even within the same bird. The gp85 mutations from the left kidney, which contained tumors, and the right kidney, which was tumor-free, had higher non-synonymous to synonymous mutation ratios than those in the tumor-bearing liver and lungs. Additionally, the mutational sites of gp85 gene in the kidney were similar, and they differed from those in the liver and lung, implying that organ- or tissue-specific selective pressure had a greater influence on the evolution of ALV-J diversity. These results suggest that more ALV-J clones from different organs and tissues should be sequenced and compared to better understand viral evolution and molecular epidemiology in the field.
Animals ; Avian Leukosis Virus* ; Avian Leukosis* ; Birds ; Chickens* ; Clone Cells ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Silent Mutation

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) in the radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer.Methods The clinical data of 140 patients undergoing radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer at the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from April 2011 to June 2013 were prospectively analyzed.A double-blind,randomized,controlled study was performed in the 140 patients,and all of them were divided into the ERAS group (patients undergoing perioperative management according to enhanced recovery rehabilitation program) and the control group (patients undergoing perioperative management) based on a random numble table.The inflammatory markers,nutritional index and postoperative recovery of patients were observed.Patients of the ERAS group were followed up by telephone interview within the first 24 hours after discharge,and by outpatient examination since the second week after discharge.The follow-up was ended at postoperative day 30.Patients of the control group were reexamined at the third week after discharge.The measurement data with normal distribution was presented as x ± s.The comparison between groups was evaluated with an independent sample t test.The trend analyses for variables were done using repeated measures ANOVA.The count data were analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability.Results Eighty patients were screened for eligibility,and were allocated into the ERAS group (40 patients) and the control group (40 patients).The total protein in serum (TP),albumin (Alb),prealbumin,TNF-α,IL-6,c-reactive protein,resting energy expenditure (REE),glycemic index,insulin index and Insulin resistance index in the 2 groups showed a range of variations at postoperative day 1,3,and 5,and these were (61 ±5)g/L,(34 ±3)g/L,(160 ± 18)g/L,(12.3 ±2.3)mmol/L,(101 ±34)ng/L,(43 ± 11)g/L,(1 336 ± 105)kal/d,(7.6 ±0.8)mmol/L,(16.8 ±3.5)mU/L and 5.7 ±1.3 in the ERAS group at postoperative day 1,and (58 ± 4) g/L,(31 ± 4) g/L,(147 ± 18) g/L,(15.3 ± 2.2) mmol/L,(122 ±37)ng/L,(56 ±27) g/L,(1 450 ± 164)kal/d,(9.3 ± 1.4) mmol/L,(30.5 ±6.8) mU/L and 12.5 ±3.2 in the control group,respectively,showing a significant difference between the 2 groups (F =31.63,8.03,67.36,147.04,9.63,6.84,16.10,54.85,104.51,139.47,P ＜0.05).The duration of fever,time to flatus,duration of hospital stay,hospital expenses,numeric rating scale and quality of life (QOL) were (2.9 ±0.9) days,(2.9 ± 0.6) days,(7.6 ± 2.1) days,(28 495 ± 4 722) yuan,1.4 ± 1.0 and 15.4 ± 0.9 in the ERAS group after operation,and (3.8 ±0.6)days,(3.5 ±0.7)days,(8.9 ±2.6)days,(35 318 ±7 610)yuan,2.4 ± 1.1 and 14.4 ± 1.2 in the control group,respectively,with a significant difference between the 2 groups (t =-0.91,-3.66,-2.85,-4.82,-4.20,3.92,P ＜0.05).Two patients were complicated with respiratory diseases,1 patient received reoperation and 1 was readmitted to the hospital at postoperative day 30 in the ERAS group.Three patients had respiratory diseases,1 received reoperation and 2 were readmitted to the hospital at postoperative day 30 in the control group,with no significant difference between the 2 groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions ERAS is safe and feasible for the perioperative treatment of patients with gastric cancer,meanwhile it could reduce the surgical stress,shorten the duration of hospital stay and improve QOL and postoperative complications,ERAS might take effects by reducing insulin resistance and decreasing REE.Registry This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry with the registry number of ChiCTR-TRC-10001611.

Objective To discuss the clinical features of immunocompetent patients with Penicilliosis marneffei.Methods To analyze and summarize the clinical data of 4 immunocompetent patients with Penicilliosis marneffei.Results Clinical manifestation of patients centered on intermittent slight or mild fever,lymphadenectasis,skin eruptions,osteolytic destruction,anaemia,and leukocytosis.The cultural Penicillium marneffei in specimen such as blood,pus showed a higher positive rate.Amphotericin B and itraconazole was available in treatment.Conclusion Immunocompetent people can be infected by Penicillium marneffei,and they appear nonspecific in clinical manifestation after infection.A timely and effective antifungal therapy can improve the prognosis of patients.