Survey of chest radiography systems: Any link between contrast detail measurements and visual grading analysis?

PurposeTo evaluate image quality of chest radiography for a number of systems in Belgium, using a contrast-detail (c-d) test object and Visual Grading Analysis (VGA) of an anthropomorphic phantom.MethodsThe study comprised 22 chest imaging systems in Belgium. C-d data were measured using Leeds TO20 test object, imaged using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) thicknesses of 9, 13 and 16 cm. Images of the Lungman phantom, with additional tissue-equivalent chest plates to represent different patient sizes, were then acquired. Perceived image quality was evaluated using VGA by three radiologists. Images were acquired at a patient equivalent position with system-specific exposure settings for Posterior-Anterior chest protocol. Incident air kerma (IAK) was measured using a solid-state dosemeter.ResultsC-d results showed large differences between the systems. Total number of visible discs ranged from 38 to 83 (for 9 cm PMMA) with a consistent average drop of 10% as PMMA thickness was systematically increased. However, no correlation was found between number of visible discs and IAK. Perceived image quality scored by the readers from the Lungman images decreased with increasing phantom thickness, however no correlation of VGA score with IAK was seen. Moderate correlation was found between the VGA score of one of the readers and the TO20 results, and no correlation for the rest.ConclusionsThe spread in dose and image quality measures was high and no correlation was seen between either image quality measure and IAK, suggesting the need for optimization. A more powerful tool is required for task-based optimization in chest radiography.     

Effect of latanoprost on intraocular pressure,visual acuity and C-reactive protein

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of latanoprost on intraocular pressure (IOP), visual acuity and C-reactive protein (CRP) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).MethodsA total of 163 POAG patients (266 eyes) admitted to our hospital from February 2015 to July 2017 were selected and divided into observation group (81 cases, 132 eyes, latanoprost eye drops) and control group (82 cases, 134 eyes, timolol maleate eye drops) according to different treatment plans. The clinical efficacy of the two groups after treatment was evaluated. The IOP, visual acuity and CRP level were compared between the two groups before and after treatment. Then the adverse reactions of the two groups were observed and recorded.ResultsAfter treatment, the total effective rate was 92.59% (75 cases) in the observation group and was 80.49% (66 cases) in the control group, with statistic difference between groups (P < 0.05); The IOP, visual acuity and CRP level between the two groups before treatment showed no statistic difference, the mentioned three indexes of the two groups were significantly improved after treatment, and statistic difference was found before and after treatment (P < 0.05); Moreover, the above three indicators had statistically significant differences between groups after treatment (P < 0.05); The difference of intraocular pressure and visual acuity between the two groups before and after treatment were statistically different (P < 0.05); After treatment, the incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group such as allergy, vomiting, breathlessness and tachycardia were not significantly different from those in the control group (P > 0.05).ConclusionLatanoprost can improve IOP, visual acuity, and CRP levels. It improves eye hemodynamics, and has significant efficacy in treating primary open-angle glaucoma. Also, it has good security.     

Efficient screening of predictive biomarkers for individual treatment selection

The development of molecular diagnostic tools to achieve individualized medicine requires identifying predictive biomarkers associated with subgroups of individuals who might receive beneficial or harmful effects from different available treatments. However, due to the large number of candidate biomarkers in the large‐scale genetic and molecular studies, and complex relationships among clinical outcome, biomarkers, and treatments, the ordinary statistical tests for the interactions between treatments and covariates have difficulties from their limited statistical powers. In this paper, we propose an efficient method for detecting predictive biomarkers. We employ weighted loss functions of Chen et al. to directly estimate individual treatment scores and propose synthetic posterior inference for effect sizes of biomarkers. We develop an empirical Bayes approach, namely, we estimate unknown hyperparameters in the prior distribution based on data. We then provide efficient screening methods for the candidate biomarkers via optimal discovery procedure with adequate control of false discovery rate. The proposed method is demonstrated in simulation studies and an application to a breast cancer clinical study in which the proposed method was shown to detect the much larger numbers of significant biomarkers than existing standard methods.     

Crumbs proteins stabilize the cone mosaics of photoreceptors and improve vision in zebrafish

Although the unique organization of vertebrate cone mosaics was first described long ago,both their underlying molecular basis and physiological significance are largely unknown.Here,we demonstrate that Crumbs proteins,the key regulators of epithelial apical polarity,establish the planar cellular polarity of photoreceptors in zebrafish.Via heterophilic Crb2a-Crb2b interactions,the apicobasal polarity protein Crb2b restricts the asymmetric planar distribution of Crb2a in photoreceptors.The planar polarized Crumbs proteins thus balance intercellular adhesions and tension between photoreceptors,thereby stabilizing the geometric organization of cone mosaics.Notably,loss of Crb2b in zebrafish induces a nearsightedness-like phenotype in zebrafish accompanied by an elongated eye axis and impairs zebrafish visual perception for predation.These data reveal a detailed mechanism for cone mosaic homeostasis via previously undiscovered apical-planar polarity coordination and propose a pathogenic mechanism for nearsightedness.     

微血管减压术联合感觉根部分切断术对原发性三叉神经痛患者疼痛评分、生活质量及睡眠状况的影响

目的:探讨微血管减压术(MVD)联合感觉根部分切断术(PSR)对原发性三叉神经痛(TN)患者疼痛评分、生活质量及睡眠状况的影响。方法:回顾性分析2015年2月~2019年3月期间我院收治的80例原发性TN患者的临床资料,根据手术方式的不同将患者分为对照组(n=40,MVD治疗)和研究组(n=40,MVD联合PSR治疗),比较两组患者疼痛评分、生活质量、围术期指标、睡眠状况、并发症发生情况以及复发率。结果:两组患者治疗后视觉疼痛模拟量表(VAS)评分均较治疗前下降,且研究组低于对照组(P<0.05)。两组患者治疗后生活质量量表(SF-36)各维度评分均较治疗前升高,且研究组高于对照组(P<0.05)。两组患者治疗后匹兹堡睡眠质量指数表(PSQI)各项目评分均较治疗前升高,且研究组高于对照组(P<0.05)。研究组住院时间短于对照组,手术时间长于对照组(P<0.05);两组术中出血量比较无统计学差异(P>0.05)。研究组的并发症总发生率低于对照组(P<0.05)。两组随访期间复发率比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论:MVD联合PSR治疗原发性TN,虽然手术时间较长,但是在减轻患者疼痛、改善患者生活质量及睡眠状况等方面效果显著,能够降低并发症发生率。     

Interaction of CP levels in maternal and nursery diets,and its effect on performance,protein digestibility,and serum urea levels in piglets

Reduced protein levels in nursery diets have been associated with a lower risk of postweaning diarrhea, but the interaction with CP levels in maternal diet on the performance of the offspring remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of protein content in sow gestation and piglet nursery diets on the performance of the piglets until slaughter. This was studied in a 2 × 2 factorial trial (35 sows, 209 piglets), with higher or lower (H or L) dietary CP in sow diets (168 vs 122 g CP/kg) during late gestation. A standard lactation feed was provided for all sows (160 g CP/kg). For both sow treatments, half of the litters received a higher or lower CP in the piglet nursery diet (210 vs 166 g CP/kg). This resulted in four possible treatment combinations: HH, HL, LH and LL, with sow treatment as first and piglet treatment as second letter. For each phase, all diets were iso-energetic and had a similar level of essential amino acids. P_s*p is the p-value for the interaction effect between sow and piglet treatment. In the nursery phase (3.5–9 weeks of age), a tendency toward interaction between piglet and sow treatments with feed efficiency (P_s*p = 0.08) was observed with HH having the highest gain:feed ratio (G:F) (0.74 ± 0.01), LH the lowest (0.70 ± 0.01) and the other two groups intermediate. In the growing-finishing phase, an interaction was observed between the piglet and sow diets with decreased G:F for LH (P_s*p = 0.04) and a tendency toward interaction with increased daily feed intake for LH (P_s*p = 0.07). The sow diet showed a tendency toward a long-lasting effect on the dressing percentage and meat thickness of the offspring, which was higher for the progeny of H sows (P_s < 0.01 and P_s = 0.02, respectively). At 23 weeks, serum urea concentrations tended to be lower for the HH and LL groups (P_s*p = 0.07). Fecal consistency scores were higher at day 10–day 14 after weaning for piglets from L sows (P_s = 0.03 and P_s < 0.01, respectively). At day 7 after weaning, fecal consistency score was higher for piglets fed the higher protein diet (P_p < 0.01). At 8 weeks of age, the apparent total tract digestibility of CP (ATTD_CP) interacted between piglet and sow diet (P_s*p = 0.02), with HH showing the highest digestibility values. In conclusion, the protein levels in sow late-gestation and piglet nursery diets interacted with feed efficiency, ATTD_CP and serum urea concentrations in the nursery phase.     

Using vaginal discharge score (VDS) grading system to evaluate the effect of clinical endometritis on reproductive performance of dairy cows in China

Clinical endometritis (CE) is a major cause in affecting the reproductive performance of dairy cows. The objectives of this study were to ascertain the prevalence of CE and to evaluate the effect of CE on reproductive performance in dairy cows using vaginal discharge score (VDS) grading system. 803 dairy cows were examined by vaginoscope with 4-point VDS at 26 ± 3 days in milk (DIM) and classified into six groups: non-endometritis with VDS 0 (control; CON), endometritis with VDS 1 (MEM), non-treated endometritis with VDS 2 (NTME), treated endometritis with VDS 2 (TME), non-treated endometritis with VDS 3 (NTPE), and treated endometritis with VDS 3 (TPE). Cows in TME and TPE groups were treated with 200 mL of 50% dextrose solution by intrauterine infusion. The prevalence of CE was 33% at 26 ± 3 DIM. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed cows in MEM, NTME and NTPE groups had a less likelihood of first artificial insemination (AI) pregnancy than those in CON group (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival curves for days open were statistically different (P = 0.004). In Cox regression model, cows in NTME and NTPE groups had a reduced pregnancy rate than those in CON group (P < 0.05). The hazard of pregnancy in NTME group was lower than that in TME group (P = 0.044). Similarly, it was lower for the hazard of pregnancy in NTPE group than in TPE group (P = 0.048). Cows in MEM, NTME, and NTPE groups required more services per pregnancy than those in CON group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, CE examined by the VDS grading system impaired reproductive performance, and mild endometritis with VDS 1 should be treated in the early postpartum period to ameliorate fertility in dairy herds.