Association Between Heart Rate at Diagnosis and Long-Term Recurrence Risk of Pulmonary Embolism in a Historical Cohort Study of Elder Women.

To investigate the association between heart rate (HR) at diagnosis and long-term pulmonary embolism (PE) recurrence among elderly (≥ 50 year-old) female patients after acute PE (APE). Hospitalized patients with APE were grouped separately according to whether they experienced recurrent PE and whether the HR was  < 80 beats/min. Logistic regression and COX regression analysis were employed to assess the risk of PE recurrence.

Prediction of breast cancer and axillary positive-node response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy based on multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging radiomics models.

Purpose: Accurate identification of primary breast cancer and axillary positive-node response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is important for determining appropriate surgery strategies. We aimed to develop combining models based on breast multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging and clinicopathologic characteristics for predicting therapeutic response of primary tumor and axillary positive-node prior to treatment.

Materials And Methods: A total of 268 breast cancer patients who completed NAC and underwent surgery were enrolled.

Path Analysis of Self-Efficacy, Coping Style and Resilience on Depression in Patients with Recurrent Schizophrenia.

Purpose: Based on the two mediating variables of self-efficacy and coping style, a multiple mediating model was constructed to explore the mechanism by which psychological resilience affects depression in patients with recurrent schizophrenia.

Methods: A total of 210 patients with recurrent schizophrenia who were hospitalized in a tertiary hospital in Hunan Province, China, were enrolled. The Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS), General Self-Efficacy Energy Scale (GSES) and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire (SCSQ) were used to evaluate resilience, self-efficacy, coping style and depression.

New insights into breast microcalcification for poor prognosis: NACT cohort and bone metastasis evaluation cohort.

Objectives: The study aimed to analyze the poor prognosis of microcalcification in breast cancer (BC), including the pathological complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and the risk of bone metastases.

Materials And Methods: 313 breast cancer patients received NACT to evaluate pCR and 1182 patients from a multicenter database to assess bone metastases were retrospectively included. Two groups were divided according to the presence or absence of mammography microcalcification.

AlbB remains stable in over 15 years but exhibits genetic background-dependent variation in virus blocking.

The ability of the maternally transmitted endosymbiotic bacterium to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and virus blocking makes it a promising weapon for combatting mosquito-borne diseases through either suppression or replacement of wild-type populations. Recent field trials show that both approaches significantly reduce the incidence of dengue fever in humans. However, new questions emerge about how -mosquito associations will co-evolve over time and whether -mediated virus blocking will be affected by the genetic diversity of mosquitoes and arboviruses in the real world.

Mediating Effect of Self-Efficacy on the Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Resilience in Patients with Recurrent Schizophrenia in China.

Purpose: To explore the mediating effect of self-efficacy on the relationship between perceived social support and resilience in patients with recurrent schizophrenia in China.

Patients And Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 176 patients with recurrent schizophrenia who were hospitalized in a tertiary hospital in Hunan Province, China, completed a general data questionnaire, the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS) and the General Self-Efficacy Energy Scale (GSES).

Results: Among the 176 patients, the mean GSES score was 2.

Metabolomics and Cytokine Analysis for Identification of Schizophrenia with Auditory Hallucination.

Purpose: To investigate the metabolic profile and biomarkers of schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations (AHs).

Methods: A total of 18 schizophrenic patients with the symptom of pure AHs (pAHs), 28 without AH (nAHs) and 43 age-matched healthy persons (Con) were enrolled in this study. Participants in pAHs and nAHs groups had relapsed into exacerbations of psychosis after self-discontinuing antipsychotics for at least one month; blood samples were drawn prior to restarting anti-psychotic treatment.

Elevated Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in People Living with HIV.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been generally considered as a highly adaptive and rapidly evolving virus. It still constitutes a major public health problem all over the world despite an effective outcome in the prevention and reversal of the development and prognosis by using antiretroviral therapy. The salient question lies in the more frequent emergence of a series of comorbidities along with the prolongation of the life, which deeply affects the survival in such group.

Relationship between stressful life events, coping styles, and schizophrenia relapse.

This study aimed to explore the relationship between stressful life events, coping styles, and schizophrenia relapse. The sample for this study included 248 patients with schizophrenia from a psychiatric outpatient clinic in Hunan Province, China. Stressful life events, occurrence of schizophrenia relapse, and coping style were assessed by the Scale for the Social Readjustment Rating, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, respectively.

Prevalence of simian malaria parasites in macaques of Singapore.

Plasmodium knowlesi is a simian malaria parasite currently recognized as the fifth causative agent of human malaria. Recently, naturally acquired P. cynomolgi infection in humans was also detected in Southeast Asia.

Down-regulation of lysosomal protein ABCB6 increases gossypol susceptibility in Helicoverpa armigera.

Cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) is the major insect herbivore of cotton plants. As its larvae feed and grow on cotton, H. armigera can likely tolerate gossypol, the main defense metabolite produced by cotton plants, through detoxification and sequestration mechanisms.

Characteristics of vascular anastomoses in monochorionic twin 587 placentas with selective intrauterine growth restriction via 89 three-dimensional computed tomography angiography.

Objective: To determine the characteristics of the choriovascular anatomy, especially the potential role of arteriovenous perfusion imbalance in the pathogenesis of selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) using three-dimensional computed tomography angiography (3D-CTA).

Method: Computed tomography angiography of the placental choriovascular tree from 15 twins with sIUGR and 15 twins without sIUGR were analyzed, and inter-twin vascular anastomoses were compared between the placentas from these two groups. The parameters evaluated were the presence and measures of artery-to-artery anastomoses (AAA), vein-to-vein anastomoses (VVA) or artery-to-vein anastomoses (AVA).

Is waist circumference a negative predictor of calcaneal bone mineral density in adult Chinese men with normal weight?

Background: Our study aimed to evaluate the association between waist circumference (WC) and calcaneal bone mineral density (BMD) in adult Chinese men with normal weight.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 4,663 male participants aged 40 years or older residing in Ningde and Wuyishan, two cities locating in Fujian province of China, were randomly recruited between 2011 and 2012.

EXPOSURE TO FAMINE IN EARLY LIFE AND THE RISK OF OSTEOPOROSIS IN ADULTHOOD: A PROSPECTIVE STUDY.

To assess the association between famine exposure in early life and osteoporosis in adulthood. A total of 2,292 participants born between 1955 and 1965 in Fujian Province were selected; after 3 years, 1,378 participants attended a follow-up research visit. Calcaneus bone mineral density and bone quality were measured by quantitative ultrasound.

Is Retinal Microvascular Abnormalities an Independent Risk Factor of Vertebral Fractures? A Prospective Study From a Chinese Population.

Low bone mineral density (BMD) and microvascular diseases (MVD) share various common risk factors; however, whether MVD is an independent risk factor of vertebral fractures is incompletely understood. The aim of this study is to clarify whether MVD is an independent risk factor of vertebral fractures. In this prospective study, calcaneal BMD and retinal microvascular abnormalities were assessed at baseline from June 2011 to January 2012.

Association Between Bone Mineral Density and Pancreatic -Cell Function in Elderly Men and Postmenopausal Women.

Purpose: To explore the association between bone mineral density (BMD) and -cell function.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in Fujian, China, from 2011 to 2012. The study included 572 elderly men older than age 60 years and 1558 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 86 years, excluding those with diabetes and insulin resistance.

wMel limits zika and chikungunya virus infection in a Singapore Wolbachia-introgressed Ae. aegypti strain, wMel-Sg.

Background: Zika (ZIKV) and Chikungunya (CHIKV) viruses are emerging Aedes-borne viruses that are spreading outside their known geographic range and causing wide-scale epidemics. It has been reported that these viruses can be transmitted efficiently by Ae. aegypti.

Diagnostic challenges and case management of the first imported case of Plasmodium knowlesi in Sri Lanka.

Background: Sri Lanka has achieved 'malaria-free' status and is now in the phase of prevention of re-introduction of malaria. Imported malaria remains a challenge to resurgence of the disease. The diagnostic challenges encountered and the rapid response initiated to manage a Plasmodium infection, which was later confirmed as Plasmodium knowlesi, the first reported case from Sri Lanka, is discussed.

Placental characteristics in monochorionic twins with selective intrauterine growth restriction assessed by gradient angiography and three-dimensional reconstruction.

Objective: To investigate the placental characteristics in selective intrauterine growth restriction (sIUGR) using gradient angiography and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction from computed tomography (CT) scan data.

Methods: This study included 23 sIUGR cases and 16 monochorionic twin-pregnancies without sIUGR. We injected nonionic iodinated contrast agents into the umbilical arteries and veins.

Evaluation of the sacral nerve plexus in pelvic endometriosis by three-dimensional MR neurography.

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of three-dimensional MR neurography (3D MRN) for the sacral plexus using sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip angle evolution (SPACE) sequences, and to demonstrate structural abnormalities in the pelvic nerve of women with pelvic endometriosis.

Materials And Methods: Twenty patients with pelvic endometriosis and 20 healthy controls were examined by contrast-enhanced 3D short time inversion recovery T2-weighted imaging (CE 3D STIR T2WI) SPACE sequences on 3 Tesla MRI. Image quality and diagnostic confidence of the sequences in identifying abnormalities of the sacral plexus were analyzed and compared with conventional three-plane images of 2D turbo-spin echo T2-weighted images (2D TSE T2WI).

Adjunctive targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for the work-up of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 3 and 4 lesions.

Introduction: The assessment and management of Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System category 3 and 4 lesions (BI-RADS 3 and 4 lesions respectively) present numerous challenges for breast radiologists and physicians due to the ambiguity in the classification guidelines. Different imaging modalities have been investigated for their ability to provide additional aid in classification and management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of targeted contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) as an adjunctive modality to mammography plus conventional ultrasound (MG + US) in the decision of whether further diagnostic work-up is needed for BI-RADS 3 and 4 lesions.

Membrane feeding of dengue patient's blood as a substitute for direct skin feeding in studying Aedes-dengue virus interaction.

Background: Understanding the interaction between Aedes vectors and dengue viruses (DENV) has significant implications in determining the transmission dynamics of dengue. The absence of an animal model and ethical concerns regarding direct feeding of mosquitoes on patients has resulted in most infection studies using blood meals spiked with laboratory-cultured DENV. Data obtained from such studies may not reflect the natural human-mosquito transmission scenario.

Functional Connections of the Vestibulo-spino-adrenal Axis in the Control of Blood Pressure Via the Vestibulosympathetic Reflex in Conscious Rats.

Significant evidence supports the role of the vestibular system in the regulation of blood pressure during postural movements. In the present study, the role of the vestibulo-spino-adrenal (VSA) axis in the modulation of blood pressure via the vestibulosympathetic reflex was clarified by immunohistochemical and enzyme immunoassay methods in conscious rats with sinoaortic denervation. Expression of c-Fos protein in the intermediolateral cell column of the middle thoracic spinal regions and blood epinephrine levels were investigated, following microinjection of glutamate receptor agonists or antagonists into the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) and/or sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced hypotension.