Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an intelligent handheld ultrasound (US) device for assisting non-expert general practitioners (GPs) in detecting carotid plaques (CPs) in community populations. Methods: This prospective parallel controlled trial recruited 111 consecutive community residents. All of them underwent examinations by non-expert GPs and specialist doctors using handheld US devices (setting A, setting B, and setting C). The results of setting C with specialist doctors were considered the gold standard. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and the features of CPs were measured and recorded. The diagnostic performance of GPs in distinguishing CPs was evaluated using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Inter-observer agreement was compared using the intragroup correlation coefficient (ICC). Questionnaires were completed to evaluate clinical benefits. Results: Among the 111 community residents, 80, 96, and 112 CPs were detected in settings A, B, and C, respectively. Setting B exhibited better diagnostic performance than setting A for detecting CPs (area under the curve, 0.856 vs. 0.749; P<0.01). Setting B had better consistency with setting C than setting A in CIMT measurement and the assessment of CPs (ICC, 0.731 to 0.923). Moreover, measurements in setting B required less time than the other two settings (44.59 seconds vs. 108.87 seconds vs. 126.13 seconds, both P<0.01). Conclusion Using an intelligent handheld US device, GPs can perform CP screening and achieve a diagnostic capability comparable to that of specialist doctors.

A portable multi-wavelength spectral detector was developed for on-site,rapid and accurate detection of organic pollutants in surface water using ultraviolet light-emitting diodes(UV-LEDs)and the corresponding spectral detection method was built.By measuring the fluorescence spectrum and absorption light intensity and combining with the multi-wavelength spectral correlation calculation method to analyze the target,the developed detector was able to qualitatively and quantitatively detect organic pollutants that responded in the UV-light range of 260-370 nm.The proposed detector was used to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs)and Rhodamine B.The linear ranges of anthracene and Rhodamine B in absorption mode were 10-100 and 8.5-100 mg/L,respectively.In fluorescence mode,the linear ranges for anthracene and Rhodamine B were 0.006-50 and 0.02-0.781 mg/L,correspondingly.The absorption/fluorescence concurrent mode could extend the detection ranges of anthracene and Rhodamine B to 0.006-100 and 0.02-100 mg/L,respectively.The recoveries of PAHs in surface water ranged from 97.4%to 105.1%for anthracene and 84.5%to 91.2%for anthracene,naphthalene,and pyrene in absorption and fluorescence modes,respectively.The method was accurate in both modes.The mixtures containing PAHs were identified by the proposed method under the optimized multi-wavelength spectral correlation calculation.The results demonstrated that the method could achieve a similarity of 75%or more when identifying two different concentrations of solutions containing a single or a mixture of targets within the linear concentration range of the targets.However,the similarity dropped to less than 25%when identifying two solutions of different substances.The proposed method had excellent recognition abilityof targets.The proposed detector and method combined fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy,which could expand the application of spectroscopy in the in situ rapid identification and detection of pollutants such as PAHs in surface water.

Humans ; RNA-Binding Protein EWS/genetics* ; Histiocytoma, Malignant Fibrous/pathology* ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/genetics* ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein/genetics*

Myeloma bone disease (MBD) is one of the most common complications of multiple myeloma (MM). MBD is considered to be caused by the activation of osteoclasts and suppression of osteoblasts resulting from the involvement of neoplastic plasma cells and the change of bone marrow microenvironment. It may be a feasible way to improve the treatment of MBD by promoting osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC), from which the osteoblasts mainly originate. Resveratrol (RES), a naturally occurring polyphenolic flavonoid compound, was reported to function in the modulation of bone metabolism. But the effects of RES on osteogenic differentiation of MM derived BMSC (MM-BMSC) and its underlying mechanism remains unknown. Totally 10 cases of MM-BMSCs were isolated, cultured and identified successfully in the present study. RES was found to promote osteogenic differentiation of MM-BMSC by alkaline phosphatase activity assay, qRT-PCR and alizarin red staining. SIRT1 was predicted to be the target gene of RES in promoting osteogenic differentiation with bioinformatic analysis. RES upregulated the expression of silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) in MM-BMSC (P<0. 001) and its osteogenic differentiation was inhibited in the SIRT1 small interfering RNA (si-SIRT1) transfected group. Furthermore, the mRNA (P<0. 001) and protein (P<0. 01) expression of runt related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2) was increased in the RES treated group and decreased (mRNA P < 0. 01, protein P < 0. 05) in si-SIRT1 transfected group, respectively. In conclusion, resveratrol promotes osteogenic differentiation of MM-BMSCs via upregulating SIRT1/RUNX2 and seems to be a potential therapeutic agent to counteract bone disease in MM patients.

Objective: Bioinformatics methods were used to annotate the suspicious pathogenic genes of congenital microtia in detail, and construct the protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks to clarify the function and interaction of pathogenic genes, so as to predict the potential pathogenic genes. Methods: The pathogenic genes of congenital microtia were searched using the mouse genome informatics (MGI). The results were summarized into the STRING database to construct PPI networks. The Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis were carried out. Results: Sixty-eight congenital microtia-related pathogenic genes such as FGF8, EYA1 and HOXA2 were searched by MGI. The PPI network contained 65 nodes and 174 edges. The average node degree was 5.35. The clustering coefficient was 0.437 and the PPI enrichment P = 0. The key node proteins were screened in PPI networks. The top ten were CTNNB1, FGF8, EGFR, BCL2, PAX6, FGF3, FGF10, WNT5A, FGFR1 and MAPK1. GO analysis and KEGG pathway analysis showed: the pathogenic genes were involved in the biological process of ear morphogenesis, ear development and embryonic organ morphogenesis. They also get involved in the molecular regulation, including sequence-specific DNA binding and regulatory region DNA binding. Expression of different genes were located in nucleus and other sub-microscopic cell components. Pathogenic genes were also involved in cancer pathway, melanoma, MAPK signaling pathways, RAS signaling pathways and other signaling pathways. Conclusions By using bioinformatics tools, we constructed the PPI networks of the congenital microtia pathogenic genes, and obtained detailed GO enrichment and KEGG pathway data. The key nodes contained the confirmed pathogenic genes of congenital microtia, which preliminarily proved the feasibility of the bioinformatics method in this study. We found some nodes were closely linked with FGF and WNT, which may be potential mutant genes of congenital microtia, although further study is needed.

Objective: To identify a pig model with bilateral external ear defects accompanied by aural atresia and investigate its application in plastic surgery. Methods: Erhualian×Shaziling F₂ pig inbreeding population was introduced, and examination of external ear morphology was conducted in all individuals. Temporal computed tomography scanning and mutational detection of HOXA1 gene were conducted in one affected and one normal individuals. Results: In Erhualian×Shaziling F₂ pig inbreeding population, there were 57 normal and 18 affected individuals among the 75 pigs. Affected subjects presented bilateral external ear defects accompanied by aural atresia; temporal computed tomography scanning showed bilateral aural atresia and dysplasiaof middle ear; and gene detection identified homozygous mutation of HOXA1 gene. Conclusions Pig model with HOXA1 gene homozygous mutation resembles human microtia at different levels. Our findings provide the theoretical basis for its application to study further pathological mechanism for human microtia.