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Objective@#Ultrasound imaging is well known to play an important role in the detection of thyroid disease, but the management of thyroid ultrasound remains inconsistent. Both standardized diagnostic criteria and new ultrasound technologies are essential for improving the accuracy of thyroid ultrasound. This study reviewed the global guidelines of thyroid ultrasound and analyzed their common characteristics for basic clinical screening. Advances in the application of a combination of thyroid ultrasound and artificial intelligence (AI) were also presented.@*Data sources@#An extensive search of the PubMed database was undertaken, focusing on research published after 2001 with keywords including thyroid ultrasound, guideline, AI, segmentation, image classification, and deep learning.@*Study selection@#Several types of articles, including original studies and literature reviews, were identified and reviewed to summarize the importance of standardization and new technology in thyroid ultrasound diagnosis.@*Results@#Ultrasound has become an important diagnostic technique in thyroid nodules. Both standardized diagnostic criteria and new ultrasound technologies are essential for improving the accuracy of thyroid ultrasound. In the standardization, since there are no global consensus exists, common characteristics such as a multi-feature diagnosis, the performance of lymph nodes, explicit indications of fine needle aspiration, and the diagnosis of special populations should be focused on. Besides, evidence suggests that AI technique has a good effect on the unavoidable limitations of traditional ultrasound, and the combination of diagnostic criteria and AI may lead to a great promotion in thyroid diagnosis.@*Conclusion@#Standardization and development of novel techniques are key factors to improving thyroid ultrasound, and both should be considered in normal clinical use.
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OBJECTIVE@#Ultrasound imaging is well known to play an important role in the detection of thyroid disease, but the management of thyroid ultrasound remains inconsistent. Both standardized diagnostic criteria and new ultrasound technologies are essential for improving the accuracy of thyroid ultrasound. This study reviewed the global guidelines of thyroid ultrasound and analyzed their common characteristics for basic clinical screening. Advances in the application of a combination of thyroid ultrasound and artificial intelligence (AI) were also presented.@*DATA SOURCES@#An extensive search of the PubMed database was undertaken, focusing on research published after 2001 with keywords including thyroid ultrasound, guideline, AI, segmentation, image classification, and deep learning.@*STUDY SELECTION@#Several types of articles, including original studies and literature reviews, were identified and reviewed to summarize the importance of standardization and new technology in thyroid ultrasound diagnosis.@*RESULTS@#Ultrasound has become an important diagnostic technique in thyroid nodules. Both standardized diagnostic criteria and new ultrasound technologies are essential for improving the accuracy of thyroid ultrasound. In the standardization, since there are no global consensus exists, common characteristics such as a multi-feature diagnosis, the performance of lymph nodes, explicit indications of fine needle aspiration, and the diagnosis of special populations should be focused on. Besides, evidence suggests that AI technique has a good effect on the unavoidable limitations of traditional ultrasound, and the combination of diagnostic criteria and AI may lead to a great promotion in thyroid diagnosis.@*CONCLUSION@#Standardization and development of novel techniques are key factors to improving thyroid ultrasound, and both should be considered in normal clinical use.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish a new method for rapid and quantitative measurement of orbital fat volume based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We collected MRI data from normalized mold and patients with the diagnosis of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO). The cross-sectional areas of the orbital fat on each MR image slice were measured to calculate the fat volume on each slice and then the total orbital fat volume. We recorded the time for completing the measurement and assessed the precision, reliability, repeatability and interoperator variations of the results.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>This MRI data-based method allowed precise measurement of the orbital fat volumes with an absolute value of the mean percentage difference <1%. This method was fast and the results showed a good repeatability (with CVs <1%), a high reliability (ICC=0.996, 95%CI: 0.985-0.999) and a high interoperator concordance (95%CI of the Bland-Altman: -0.54-0.90).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The novel method we established for orbital fat volume measurement is rapid, accurate, reliable and reproducible with a low learning cost for clinical use.</p>
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the relationship between orbital fat volume and the progression and prognosis of thyroid- associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) and determine the optimal treatment timing for TAO.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data were collected from 35 patients (70 orbits) with a definite diagnosis of TAO between January, 2016 and December, 2016. The correlation between orbital fat volume and the clinical parameters was evaluated. We also analyzed the correlation of the signal intensity ratio (SIR) of the extraocular muscles with the clinical parameters. The orbital fat volume was compared between patients with TAO and 12 control subjects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The orbital fat volume was significantly correlated with the duration of TAO (r=0.480, P<0.01), but showed no significant difference between patients with a disease course within 6 months and those with a disease course of 6 to 12 months (P=0.084). The patients with a disease course beyond 12 months had a significantly greater orbital fat volume than those with a disease course of 6 months (P<0.01) or 6 to 12 months (P<0.05). The orbital fat volume was correlated with the degree of proptosis (r=0.622, P<0.01), and an increase of exophthalmos by 1 mm was associated with a total orbital volume increment of 0.88 mL. The clinical activity score was correlated with the SIR of the extraorbital muscles (r=0.536, P<0.01) and levels of anti-thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (r=0.416,P<0.01). The orbital fat volume was significantly greater in TAO patients than in the healthy individuals (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In patients with TAO, the peak increase of orbital fat volume occurs one year after the disease onset. Measurement of the orbital fat volume combined with SIR of the extraorbital muscles can serve as an indicator for determining the optimal timing for intervention of TAO and helps in the evaluation of prognosis of the patients.</p>
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AIM: To analyze the results of phacovitrectomy with internal limiting membrane(ILM) peeling to treat foveoschisis in ultra-high myopia.METHODS: Totally 32 eyes of 32 ultra-high myopia patients with foveoschisis were selected retrospectively.The preoperative refractive errors ranged from-12.00D to-20.00D with the mean of-15.78±2.16D.The best corrected visiual acuity(BCVA) were converted to LogMAR acuity, and the average BCVA was 4.1±0.4.Conventional phacovitrectomy with ILM peeling by ICG dying were performed.Gas tamponade were performed to end the operation.The BCVA and the foveoschisis cavity were observed by 1-9mo after the surgery, with the mean of 4.5mo.RESULTS: The foveoschisis cavity of 30 eyes were healed with BCVA increased and visual distortion alleviated distinctly (94%)(t=-7.91, P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Phacovitrectomy with ILM peeling is useful in treating foveoschisis in ultra-high myopia with visual function preserving.
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<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>There are definite gender differences in patients with macular holes. Menopausal women over 50 years are most affected. We aimed to observe the effect of estrogen on collagen gel contraction by cultured human retinal glial cells. It is speculated that estrogen could strengthen the tensile stress of the macula by maintaining the correct morphology and contraction.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Estrogen was used to determine its effects on collagen gel contraction, and its function was measured using morphological changes in cells. Human retinal glial cells were cultured in collagen solution. The cells were then exposed to collagen gels and the degree of contraction of the gel was determined.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Estrogen at differing concentrations had no effect on the growth of human retinal glial cells. However, after exposed to collagen gel block, less contraction was noted in the estrogen-treated group than in the control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Estrogen can inhibit collagen gel contraction by glial cells. These results suggest a mechanism for macular hole formation, which is observed in menopausal females.</p>
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Cells, Cultured , Collagen , Metabolism , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Estrogens , Pharmacology , Neuroglia , MetabolismABSTRACT
Apoptosis is a physiologically essential mechanism of cell and plays an important role in reducing the development and progression of tumors. The appealing strategy for cancer therapy is to target the lesions that induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Survivin, the smallest member of the mammalian inhibitors of the apoptosis protein family, is upregulated in various malignancies to protect cells from apoptosis. Survivin knockdown could induce cancer cell apoptosis and inhibit tumor-angiogenesis. Survivin expression would be silenced by microRNA (miRNA)-mediated RNA interference. However, noninvasive and tissue-specific gene delivery techniques remain absent recently and the utilizations of miRNA expression vectors have been limited by inefficient delivery technique, especially in vivo. On the other hand, safe and promising technologies of gene transfection would be valuable in clinical gene therapy. Successful treatment of gene transfer method would lead to a new and readily available approach in the anticancer research. Sonoporation is an alternative technique of gene delivery that uses ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction to create pores in the cell membrane. Based on our previous studies, in this article, we postulated that the transfection of miRNA could be mediated by the combination of sonoporation and polyethylenimine (PEI) which was one of the most effective poly-cationic gene vectors and enhance the endocytosis of plasmids DNA and hypothesized that the gene silencing and apoptosis induction with miRNA targeting human Survivin would be improved by this novel technique. In our opinion, this novel combination of sonoporation and PEI could enhance targeted gene delivery effectively and might be a feasible, novel candidate for gene therapy.
Subject(s)
Humans , Genetic Therapy , Methods , Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins , Genetics , MicroRNAs , Genetics , Neoplasms , Therapeutics , Polyethyleneimine , Chemistry , Transfection , MethodsABSTRACT
The full length sequence of the promoter and gfp gene were obtained respectively by PCR with two pairs unique primers PxyF/R and primers gfpF/R, which were designed according to the gfp gene and promoter sequence of xylase operon from Bacillus subtilis 168, and the DNA template plasmids pHT315-xyIR and pGFPuv. Furthermore, the fused translational expression cassette PxylR-gfp was constructed using overlapping PCR technique with the primers pair PxyF/gfpR and the mixture of above PCR production. After being digested by Kpn I and Sph I , PxylR-gfp expression cassette was inserted into E. coli-B. thuringiensis shuttle vecter pHT315 and E. coli-B. subtilis shuttle vecter pRP22, and the resulted recombinant plasmids were named as pGFP315 and pGFP22 respectively. Both recombinant plasmids were transferred into B. subtilis lab strain 168 and the resulted transformants are bright green performance under 365 nm UV light. However, only pGFP22 can be introduced into the natural strain B916. The transformants containing pGFP22 have bright green performance under 365 nm UV light and was named B916-gfp. Antifungal activities testing results proved that there is no obvious difference between B916 and the engineered strains B916-gfp. Research results also showed that the stability of B916-gfp was 94% after growth about 175 generations at 37 degrees C, and the losing rate of plasmid was less than 3.5 x 10(-4) per generation.