Objective:To train a deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) using a labeled data set to classify the metaphase chromosomes and test its accuracy for chromosomal identification.Methods:Three thousand and three hundred individuals undergoing surveillance for chromosomal disorders at the Laboratory for Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects, Ningbo Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital from January 2013 to July 2019 were enrolled. A total of 3 300×46 chromosome images were included, of which 70% were used as the training set and 30% were used as the test set for the deep CNN. The accuracy of chromosome counting and "cutting + recognition + arrangement + automatic analysis" of the model were respectively evaluated. Another 80 images were collected to record the time and accuracy of chromosome classification by geneticists and the model, respectively, so as to assess the practical value of the model.Results:The CNN model was used to count the chromosomes with an accuracy of 61.81%, and the "cutting + recognition + arrangement + automatic analysis" accuracy of the model was 96.16%. Compared with manual operation, the classification time of the CNN model has been greatly reduced, and its karyotyping accuracy was only 3.58% lower than that of geneticists.Conclusion:The CNN model has a high performance for chromosome classification and can significantly reduce the work load involved with the segmentation and classification and improve the efficiency of chromosomal karyotyping, thereby has a broad application prospect.

Background and Purpose:The early prediction of local tumor progression-free survival(LTPFS)after radiofrequency ablation(RFA)for colorectal cancer(CRC)lung metastases has significant clinical importance.The application of radiomics in the prediction of tumor prognosis has been explored.This study aimed to construct a radiomics-based nomogram for predicting LTPFS after RFA in CRC patients with lung metastases.Methods:This study retrospectively analyzed 172 CRC patients with 401 lung metastases admitted to Department of Interventional Radiology,Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center from August 2016 to January 2019.This study was reviewed by the medical ethics committee of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center(ethics number:2402291-24).After augmentation of pre-ablation and immediate post-ablation computed tomography(CT)images,the target metastases and ablation regions were segmented manually to extract the radiomic features.Maximum relevance and minimum redundancy algorithm(MRMRA)and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator(LASSO)regression models were applied for feature selection.The clinical model,the radiomics model,and the fusion model were constructed based on the selected radiomic features and clinical variables screened by the multivariate analysis.The Harrell concordance index(C-index)and area under receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves(AUC)were calculated to evaluate the prediction performance.Finally,the corresponding nomogram of the best model was drawn.Results:Among all the lung metastases,102(25.4%)had final recurrence,and 299(74.6%)had complete response(CR).The median follow-up time was 21 months(95%CI:19.466-22.534),and the LTPFS rates at 1,2,and 3 years after RFA were 76.5%(95%CI:72.0-80.4),72.1%(95%CI:66.6-76.9)and 69.9%(95%CI:64.0-75.1).In both the training and test dataset,the fusion model based on the final 12 radiomic features through the LASSO regression and 4 clinical variables screened by multivariate analysis achieved the highest AUC values for LTPFS,with C-index values of 0.890(95%CI:0.854-0.927)and 0.843(95%CI:0.768-0.916),respectively.Conclusion:The fusion model based on radiomic features and clinical variables is feasible for predicting LTPFS after RFA of CRC patients with lung metastases,whose performance is superior to the single radiomic and clinical model.At the same time,the nomogram of the fusion model can intuitively predict the prognosis of CRC patients with lung metastases after RFA,thus assisting clinicians in developing individualized follow-up review plans for patients and adjusting treatment strategies flexibly.

Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of non-drug interventions in hospice and palliative care(HPC)for improving cancer-related fatigue(CRF)in elderly individuals and its impact on quality of life.Methods:This study presents findings from a single-center randomized controlled trial conducted at Zhejiang Hospital, focusing on 40 elderly patients experiencing cancer-related fatigue(CRF)between February 2022 and February 2023.The participants were randomly assigned into a control group and an intervention group, each consisting of 20 individuals, using the random number table method.Both groups received routine comprehensive treatment, with the intervention group additionally receiving hospice and palliative care(HPC)non-drug intervention.Following 6 weeks of continuous treatment, the study compared the clinical efficacy, changes in CRF, and quality of life before and after treatment between the two groups.Results:Comparing the baseline data of the two groups of patients, the difference was not statistically significant(all P>0.05).After 6 weeks of treatment, patients in the intervention group reported lower levels of current fatigue, general fatigue, worst fatigue in the past 24 hours, and impact of fatigue on various aspects of their lives compared to the control group(all P<0.01).The clinical remission rate of cancer-related fatigue(CRF)in the intervention group was 60%, significantly higher than the 5% in the control group( P<0.01).Additionally, the intervention group showed improvement in overall quality of life and emotional function with decreased symptom areas scores(fatigue, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, sleep disorders, and loss of appetite)( P<0.01 for quality of life and emotional function, P<0.05 for symptom areas). Conclusions:Non-pharmacological interventions within the context of hospice and palliative care have been shown to alleviate cancer-related fatigue in elderly cancer patients, ultimately improving their quality of life.These interventions have demonstrated positive effects on various aspects such as overall quality of life, functional status, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, sleep disorders, and decreased appetite.Furthermore, these interventions are considered safe and effective in the treatment of elderly cancer patients experiencing fatigue.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a highly malignant and heterogeneous brain tumor, contains various types of tumor and non-tumor cells. Whether GBM cells can trans-differentiate into non-neural cell types, including mural cells or endothelial cells (ECs), to support tumor growth and invasion remains controversial. Here we generated two genetic GBM models de novo in immunocompetent mouse brains, mimicking essential pathological and molecular features of human GBMs. Lineage-tracing and transplantation studies demonstrated that, although blood vessels in GBM brains underwent drastic remodeling, evidence of trans-differentiation of GBM cells into vascular cells was barely detected. Intriguingly, GBM cells could promiscuously express markers for mural cells during gliomagenesis. Furthermore, single-cell RNA sequencing showed that patterns of copy number variations (CNVs) of mural cells and ECs were distinct from those of GBM cells, indicating discrete origins of GBM cells and vascular components. Importantly, single-cell CNV analysis of human GBM specimens also suggested that GBM cells and vascular cells are likely separate lineages. Rather than expansion owing to trans-differentiation, vascular cell expanded by proliferation during tumorigenesis. Therefore, cross-lineage trans-differentiation of GBM cells is very unlikely to occur during gliomagenesis. Our findings advance understanding of cell lineage dynamics during gliomagenesis, and have implications for targeted treatment of GBMs.
Mice ; Animals ; Humans ; Glioblastoma/pathology* ; Endothelial Cells/pathology* ; DNA Copy Number Variations ; Brain/metabolism* ; Brain Neoplasms/pathology*

Multiple sclerosis has a long course of disease, a high recurrence rate, and is disabling and fatal. Nurse practitioners play an important role in the management of patients with multiple sclerosis. This article reviews the role of nurse practitioners abroad in multiple sclerosis disease modifying treatment, medication nursing, psychological nursing, and assessment and management of palliative care, so as to provide a reference and inspiration for nurse practitioners in China to manage multiple sclerosis patients.

Objective: To assess the value of non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) for the identification of fetal chromosomal aneuploidies. Methods: For 9470 pregnant women with a moderate-to-high risk by conventional serological screening or advanced maternal age, peripheral venous blood samples were collected and, following extraction of free fetal DNA, subjected to large-scale parallel sequencing on a Illumina Hiseq2000 platform. Those with a high risk by NIPT were validated by invasive prenatal diagnosis. Results: Out of the 9470 samples, 194 cases (2.0%) were positive by NIPT testing. These included 50 trisomy 21, 11 trisomy 18, 17 trisomy 13, 44 other autosomal aneuploidies, 55 sex chromosomal aneuploidies, and 17 chromosomal copy number variations. As validated by amniotic fluid or umbilical blood chromosomal karyotyping analysis, NIPT has a false positive rate of 2.0%, 18.2%, 41.2%, 97.7%, 81.8%, 94.1%, respectively. The test has a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 98.79%. Conclusion For common chromosomal aneuploidies such as trisomy 21 and trisomy 18, NIPT has a good sensitivity and specificity, therefore has good value for clinical application.

OBJECTIVETo assess the value of combined chromosomal karyotyping and BACs-on-Beads(BoBs) assay for the prenatal diagnosis of high risk gravida from Ningbo.

METHODSFor 2779 women, results of conventional karyotyping analysis and BoBs assay were compared.

RESULTSFor common aneuploidies involving chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y, the two methods have yielded a concordance rate of 98.78%. Eight cases detected with microduplication by BoBs were missed by karyotyping analysis. On the other hand, 17 structural chromosomal abnormalities, 10 chimeras and 1 triploidy detected by karyotyping analysis were missed by BoBs.

CONCLUSIONThe BoBs technology has featured high throughput and rapidity, and can detect 9 microdeletion syndromes, which can improve the quality of prenatal diagnosis and provide an ideal complementary for conventional chromosomal karyotyping.

Adult ; Chromosome Aberrations ; Chromosome Deletion ; Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; methods ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods

Objective To explore the risk factors,prevention and treatments for liver failure after hepatectomy for hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.Methods Clinical data of 117 patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis admitted to the Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University from August 2016 to August 2017 were retrospectively analyzed.The informed consents of all patients were obtained and the local ethical committee approval was received.Among 117 patients,47 cases were male and 70 female,aged (36±13) years on average.According to whether liver failure occurred after operation,the patients were divided into liver failure group (n=28) and non-liver failure group (n=89).The risk factors of liver failure after hepatectomy were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression.Results The incidence of postoperative liver failure was 24％ (28/117) and its mortality was 21％ (6/28).21 patients were classified as Child-Pugh grade A,4 grade B and 3 grade C.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that Child-Pugh grading,complicated with primary liver diseases,AST,operation time,intraoperative blood loss and intraoperative blood transfusion were the independent factors affecting the occurrence of liver failure (OR=0.089,7.412,1.010,7.926,5.961,11.341;P＜0.05).Conclusions The risk of liver failure after hepatectomy is high in patients with hepatic alveolar echinococcosis.Child-Pugh liver function grading,complicated with primary liver diseases,AST,operation time,intraoperative blood loss and intraoperative blood transfusion are the independent factors for liver failure.Preoperative comprehensive assessment of liver function reserve,shortening the operation time,managing intraoperative bleeding and timely diagnosis and treatment after operation are important measures to prevent the postoperative liver failure.

Background and purpose: Current colorectal cancer patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) models were established by samples taken during surgery. However, metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients have less surgical opportunities, and it was difcult to obtain enough tumor fragment. The aim of the present study was to es-tablish mCRC PDXs by image-guided biopsy. Methods: A total of 12 patients with colorectal cancer who underwent surgery were included. All patients had recurrent lesions or metastatic lesions needed to be histologically confirmed, and none of them had contraindication to biopsy. Tumor tissues not required for clinical diagnosis were used to establish mCRC PDXs. Results: Seven PDXs grew sufficiently for transfer into mice. The success rate was 77.8%. Conclusion:The PDXs established by image-guided biopsy had the advantage of convenient operation, good reproducibility, high achievement ratio, short experimental periodicity and reliably retain specific genetic and morphological features of the primary patient tumors.