Dual-source dual-energy CT and deep learning for equivocal lymph nodes on CT images for thyroid cancer.

Objectives: This study investigated the diagnostic performance of dual-energy computed tomography (CT) and deep learning for the preoperative classification of equivocal lymph nodes (LNs) on CT images in thyroid cancer patients.

Methods: In this prospective study, from October 2020 to March 2021, 375 patients with thyroid disease underwent thin-section dual-energy thyroid CT at a small field of view (FOV) and thyroid surgery. The data of 183 patients with 281 LNs were analyzed.

Dual-energy computed tomography in a multiparametric regression model for diagnosing lymph node metastases in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) quantitative parameters in the identification of regional lymph node metastasis in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Methods: This retrospective diagnostic study assessed 145 patients with pathologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from August 2016-October 2020. Quantitative parameters for targeted lymph nodes were measured using DECT, and all parameters were compared between benign and metastatic lymph nodes to determine their diagnostic value.

Deep learning radiomics of dual-energy computed tomography for predicting lymph node metastases of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Purpose: Diagnosis of lymph node metastasis (LNM) is critical for patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). We aimed to build deep learning radiomics (DLR) models of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) to classify LNM status of PDAC and to stratify the overall survival before treatment.

Methods: From August 2016 to October 2020, 148 PDAC patients underwent regional lymph node dissection and scanned preoperatively DECT were enrolled.

Elevated serum neurofilament levels in young first-episode and medication-naïve major depressive disorder patients with alterative white matter integrity.

The mechanism of white matter (WM) microstructure alteration in major depressive disorder (MDD) is unknown. Serum neurofilament (NF) levels have been identified as promising biomarkers for axonal damage and degeneration in neurological disorders. Furthermore, elevated plasma NF levels were also reported in depressive patients with treatment resistance.

Application Experience and Patient Feedback Analysis of 3D Printed AFO with Different Materials: A Random Crossover Study.

Purpose: This study is aimed at analyzing the application experience and feedback of the patients with poststroke ankle dorsiflexion disorders for 3D printed AFO with three different materials.

Methods: 15 patients were randomly divided into three groups; 3D printed AFO with 3 different materials (PA2200, Somos NeXt, and PA12) was used to each group, according to the crossover study design, in order to ask the three groups of patients to use three different materials of 3D printed AFO. Assessment was taken by the end of each test round.

Cancer and stem cells.

Being the second leading cause of death globally, cancer has been a long-standing and rapidly evolving focus of biomedical research and practice in the world. A tremendous effort has been made to understand the origin of cancer cells, the formation of cancerous tissues, and the mechanism by which they spread and relapse, but the disease still remains mysterious. Here, we made an attempt to scrutinize evidences that indicate the role of stem cells in tumorigenesis and metastasis, and cancer relapse.

Childhood maltreatment with school bullying behaviors in Chinese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

Objective: Although childhood maltreatment and school bullying are common among Chinese adolescents, their possible connection remains severely under-discussed in this population. This study primarily aims to explore the association between childhood maltreatment experience and school bullying behaviors in a large sample of Chinese teenagers.

Method: A school-based sampling survey was implemented with 2579 adolescents in southwest China.

Resilience is inversely associated with self-harm behaviors among Chinese adolescents with childhood maltreatment.

Background: Abundant studies have identified the association between childhood maltreatment and self-harm (SH), but little has been discussed with regard to the role of resilience in SH behaviors of adolescents who had experienced childhood maltreatment. In this study, we investigated if resilience, as well as its five dimensions, could present negative associations with presence, repetition, and severity of SH among maltreated and neglected adolescents in China.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey including 2,084 maltreated teenagers aged from 10 to 17 years was conducted in southwest China Yunnan province.

Resilience mediates the association between school bullying victimization and self-harm in Chinese adolescents.

Objective: The association between school bullying and self-harm (SH) in adolescents has been extensively discussed. Nevertheless, little is known about the mechanism of this relationship, particularly the role of resilience. Our research aimed to explore and evaluate the potential moderation and mediation of resilience in the association between school bullying victimization and SH in a large sample of Chinese adolescents.

Effects of hypertension on cerebral cortical thickness alterations in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Aims: Although hypertension (HTN) is the high comorbidity of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and known to be a vascular risk factor for brain damage, the effects of HTN on brain function in T2DM patients are not well understood. Present study was performed to investigate whether HTN might accelerate the Cerebral cortical thickness (CT) alterations in patients with T2DM.

Methods: We enrolled 35 participants with only T2DM, 25 T2DM patients with HTN (HT2DM) and 28 healthy controls (HCs).

Tryptophan hydroxylase-2 polymorphism is associated with white matter integrity in first-episode, medication-naïve major depressive disorder patients.

Considerable evidence suggests that the tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (TPH2) gene is associated with the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder (MDD). In the present study, we investigated alterations of white matter (WM) integrity and the impact of TPH2 polymorphism on WM in a sample of 118 first-episode, medication-naïve, MDD patients and 118 well-matched healthy controls. Whole brain analyses of fractional anisotropy (FA) were performed using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS).

Support Vector Machine Classification of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Based on Whole-Brain Volumetry and Diffusion Tensor Imaging.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods have been used to detect cerebral anatomical distinction between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients and healthy controls (HC). Machine learning approach allows for the possibility of discriminating patients on the individual level. However, few studies have used this automatic technique based on multiple modalities to identify potential biomarkers of OCD.

Cortical thickness and white matter integrity abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A combined multimodal surface-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics study.

Background: Cerebral morphological abnormalities may play a key role in pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, few studies have used multimodal imaging strategies to investigate alterations of cortical morphometry and white matter (WM) integrity. This study aimed to evaluate cortical thickness, cortical and subcortical volume, and WM integrity characteristics in OCD patients comprehensively.

Association between abnormal serum myelin-specific protein levels and white matter integrity in first-episode and drug-naïve patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Although the structural abnormalities of white matter (WM) have been described in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), the neuropathological changes remain unclear. The current study aimed to investigate the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) levels and their correlations with WM integrity in first-episode, drug-naïve MDD patients.

Methods: We obtained diffusion tensor images of 102 first-episode, drug-naïve MDD patients and 81 age- and sex-matched controls.

Identify changes of brain regional homogeneity in early and later adult onset patients with first-episode depression using resting-state fMRI.

Objective: Previous work exhibited different brain grey matter volume (GMV) changes between patients with early adult onset depression (EOD, age 18-29) and later adult onset depression (LOD, age 30-44) by using 30-year-old as the cut-off age. To identify whether regional homogeneity (ReHo) changes are also different between EOD and LOD by using same cut-off age, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to detect the abnormal ReHo between patients with EOD and LOD in the present study.

Methods: Resting-state fMRI scans of 58 patients with EOD, 62 patients with LOD, 60 young healthy controls (HC), and 52 old HC were obtained.

Childhood maltreatment is associated with gray matter volume abnormalities in patients with first-episode depression.

Previous neuroimaging studies suggest that childhood maltreatment (CM) can affect brain function and structure and constitutes a potent risk of developing depression. The present study attempts to differentiate the effect of CM from the impact of depression diagnosis on brain structure. Eighty-four patients with first-episode depression and 84 controls participated in this study.

Spacer layer screening effect: a novel fluorescent film sensor for organic copper(II) salts.

A fluorescent film sensor was prepared by chemical assembly of pyrene on a glass plate surface via a long flexible spacer. It was found that the film is highly selective for some organic Cu2+ salts, such as copper acetate and copper propionate. The presence of inorganic Cu2+ salts and other metal(II) acetates, including Ni2+, Co2+, Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, etc.