Association of peripheral axial length, retinal curvature with refraction in school-aged children / 中华实验眼科杂志

Objective:To investigate the association of peripheral axial lengths and retinal curvatures with refractive status.Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted out.Two hundred and eighty-seven eyes of 287 consecutive children aged 6-15 years old who recieved eye examinations at Beijing Tongren Hospital from July to October 2021 were enrolled, including 154 males and 133 females.Uncorrected and best corrected visual acuity were tested with a standard logarithmic visual acuity chart.Spherical equivalent (SE) was measured via an auto refractometer after cycloplegia with tropicamide.The hyperopic, emmetropic and myopic groups were defined with a SE >+ 0.5 D, SE >-0.5 D to ≤+ 0.5 D and SE≤-0.5 D, respectively.Central and 30° peripheral eye lengths (nasal, temporal, superior, inferior) were obtained using the Lenstar LS900.Retinal coordinates were derived from partial coherence interferometry modeling and converted to retinal curvatures.According to the median horizontal peripheral eye length differences (absolute difference between nasal and temporal), participants were assigned to H1 group (absolute difference <0.35 mm) or H2 group (absolute difference ≥0.35 mm). According to the median vertical peripheral eye length differences (absolute difference between superior and inferior), participants were assigned to V1 group (absolute difference <0.32 mm) or V2 group (absolute difference ≥0.32 mm). Four groups of V1H1, V1H2, V2H1 and V2H2 were constructed according to the grouping methods in both directions above.This study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki.The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University (No.TRECKY2021-162). Written informed consent was obtained from guardians of each subject prior to any medical examination.Results:The central axial length was 23.53(22.93, 24.10)mm.Peripheral eye lengths of temporal, nasal, superior and inferior were 22.75(22.11, 23.22)mm, 22.99(22.32, 23.45)mm, 23.24(22.58, 23.75)mm and 23.12(22.52, 23.56)mm, respectively.Temporal eye length was shorter than nasal, showing a statistically significant difference ( Z=-3.58, P<0.01). Compared with H2 group, H1 group had shorter central, nasal, superior and inferior eye lengths, showing statistically significant differences (all at P<0.05). Compared with V2 group, V1 group had shorter central, nasal and superior eye lengths, showing statistically significant differences (all at P<0.05). SE of H1 group was + 0.06 (-1.06, + 0.75) D, which was significantly greater than -0.32 (-1.64, + 0.56) D of H2 group ( Z=-2.10, P=0.04). SE of V1 group was + 0.13 (-0.81, + 0.80) D, which was significantly greater than -0.56 (-1.83, + 0.48) D of H2 group ( Z=-3.39, P<0.01). The myopia ratio of V1 group was 33.5% (58/173), which was significantly lower than 50.5% (53/105) of V2 group ( χ2=7.83, P<0.01). There was a significant overall difference in SE among VIH1, V1H2, V2H1 and V2H2 groups ( H=24.79, P<0.01). SE was greater in V1H1 group than V1H2, V2H1 and V2H2 groups (all at P<0.01). There was a significant difference in both horizontal and vertical retinal curvatures among different refractive groups ( H=22.34, 19.30; both at P<0.01). The retical curvature in both directions of hyperopic and emmetropic groups were significantly larger than those of myopic group (both at P<0.01). Conclusions:Peripheral eye lengths are asymmetric in school-aged children.Higher asymmetry is associated with myopic shifts.Myopic children have a steeper retina than the hyperopic and emmetropic children.

From Community Acquired Pneumonia to COVID-19: A Deep Learning Based Method for Quantitative Analysis of COVID-19 on thick-section CT Scans

BackgroundThick-section CT scanners are more affordable for the developing countries. Considering the widely spread COVID-19, it is of great benefit to develop an automated and accurate system for quantification of COVID-19 associated lung abnormalities using thick-section chest CT images. PurposeTo develop a fully automated AI system to quantitatively assess the disease severity and disease progression using thick-section chest CT images. Materials and MethodsIn this retrospective study, a deep learning based system was developed to automatically segment and quantify the COVID-19 infected lung regions on thick-section chest CT images. 531 thick-section CT scans from 204 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were collected from one appointed COVID-19 hospital from 23 January 2020 to 12 February 2020. The lung abnormalities were first segmented by a deep learning model. To assess the disease severity (non-severe or severe) and the progression, two imaging bio-markers were automatically computed, i.e., the portion of infection (POI) and the average infection HU (iHU). The performance of lung abnormality segmentation was examined using Dice coefficient, while the assessment of disease severity and the disease progression were evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the Cohens kappa statistic, respectively. ResultsDice coefficient between the segmentation of the AI system and the manual delineations of two experienced radiologists for the COVID-19 infected lung abnormalities were 0.74{+/-}0.28 and 0.76{+/-}0.29, respectively, which were close to the inter-observer agreement, i.e., 0.79{+/-}0.25. The computed two imaging bio-markers can distinguish between the severe and non-severe stages with an AUC of 0.9680 (p-value< 0.001). Very good agreement ({kappa} = 0.8220) between the AI system and the radiologists were achieved on evaluating the changes of infection volumes. ConclusionsA deep learning based AI system built on the thick-section CT imaging can accurately quantify the COVID-19 associated lung abnormalities, assess the disease severity and its progressions. Key ResultsA deep learning based AI system was able to accurately segment the infected lung regions by COVID-19 using the thick-section CT scans (Dice coefficient [≥] 0.74). The computed imaging bio-markers were able to distinguish between the non-severe and severe COVID-19 stages (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.968). The infection volume changes computed by the AI system was able to assess the COVID-19 progression (Cohens kappa 0.8220). Summary StatementA deep learning based AI system built on the thick-section CT imaging can accurately quantify the COVID-19 infected lung regions, assess patients disease severity and their disease progressions.

Effects of mechanical stimulation on proliferation and differentiation in MG-63 osteoblast-like cells / 生物医学工程学杂志

This paper is aimed to explore the effects of mechanical stimulation on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. Cultured MG-63 osteoblast-like cells were strained by the four-point bending cell mechanics loader. In the study, we observed the effects of different magnitudes and duration of mechanical strain on the markers of proliferation and differentiation in osteoblasts. The protein levels and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity were determined by western blot and alpha-nitrophenyl phosphate assay respectively. The mineralization nodules were stained using Alizarin Red-S method. We found: (1) the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), ALP activity in strained group were significantly increased compared to those in the control group, but the role did not increase with the increase of the magnitude of the stimulation; and (2) under appropriate stimulation (2000 microstrain), the expression of PCNA, COL I protein and ALP activity increased gradually with the increase of loading time, and appropriate stimulation promoted the formation of mineralization nodules. It indicated that appropriate mechanical stimulation could promote proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts.

Transthyretin-down-regulation in sera of cholangiocarcinoma / 中华肝胆外科杂志

Objective As SELDI-TOF-MS (Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry) has been broadly used to screen biomarkers for a variety of diseases, the identification and validation of the revealed biomarkers requires more focused attention.Method In this paper, the serum samples from 60 cholangiocarcinoma, 146 lung cancer, 65 LGC and 58 LPC, 49 benign diseases of hepatobiliary and 53 normal individuals were analyzed by SELDI-TOF-MS. Results Among a set of proteins automatically selected as specific biomarkers by Biomarker Wizard software, three protein peaks, with molecular weights of 13. 71 × 103 , 13.83 × 103 and 13. 99 ×103 , were found significantly decreased in cholangiocarcinoma samples. The candidate biomarkers obtained from Tricine-SDS-PAGE gel bands by matching the molecular weight with peaks on CM10 chips were identified by Mass spectrometry as the native transthyretin(native TTR),cysTTR and glutTTR.These preliminary results were further proven by immunoprecipitation using commercial TTR antibodies. This allowed us to re-measure the TTR levels in all the groups more simply by ELISA assay. It showed a firm consistency between ELISA and SELDI analysis. In addition, while TTR levels in cholangiocarcinoma were found to be lower than those in normal healthy controls, TTR levels in benign diseases of the hepatobiliary system were found to be higher than those in healthy controls.Conclusion TTR could be a biomarker that better discriminates cholangiocarcinoma patients from the benign diseases compared to other biomarkers presently available.

Serum HSP90α in the clinical stage of non-small cell lung cancer / 国际外科学杂志

Objective To investigate whether HSP90α could be a sensitive and specific serum biomarker for the diagnosis and progression of lung cancer. Methods In the present study, different secretomic analy-ses on the two human lung adenocarcinoma cell lines CL1-0 and CL1-5 with low and high metastatic poten-tial, respectively, were performed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and ma-trix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The candidate biomarker was con-firmed by Western blotting, and was further analyzed in 224 serum samples including 141 lung cancer, 37 benign pulmonary diseases, as well as 46 healthy individuals using ELISA assay. Results HSP90α was sig-nificantly upregulated in the CM of CL1-5 cells. It was found that the levels of HSP90α were specifically ele-vated in the sera of non-small cell lung cancer compared with other groups. At the cut-off point 0.535 on the receiver operating oharacteristie curve, HSP90α could comparatively discriminate lung cancer from benign lung disease and healthy control groups with sensitivity of 0. 817, specificity 0. 919 and total accuracy 80. 14%. Conclusion HSP90α may be a potential useful serum biomarker for discriminating lung cancer from benign lung diseases and healthy individuals and staging of non-small cell lung cancer.

Effect of cyclic mechanical stimulation on expression of connective tissue growth factor in MG63 osteoblast-like cells / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

Objective To investigate cyclic mechanical stimulation on expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) in osteoblast-like cells (MG63) and to explore the rote of MAPK involved in the process.Methods Expressions of CTGF protein and mRNA in MG63 cells were detected by Western blot and RT-PCR,respectively. Phosphorylation levels of p38, ERK, JNK were examined by Western blot. Results Cyclic mechanical stimulation upregulated expressions of CTGF protein and mRNA. The levels reached a maximal response of 2-3 fold after 3-6 h. ERK and JNK signal pathways were activated by cyclic mechanical stimulation, the phosphorylated proteins increased within 10 min of stretch, phosphorylated ERK reached maximal levels by 60 min of stretch, phosphorylated JNK reached maximal levels by 15-30 min of stretch, but not for p38 signal pathway.Only the inhibitior of JNK signal pathway (SP600125) markedly suppressed stretch-induced CTGF expression,meanwhile the inhibitors of ERK (PD98059) and p38 (SB203580) did not show such effect. Conclusion Cyclic mechanical stimulation upregulates CTGF expression via JNK-dependent pathway in MG63 cells.

The effects of aminoguanidine and Vitamin C on blood lipid of streptozotocin-induced diabetes rats / 中国医师杂志

Objective To observe the effects of aminoguanidine and Vitamin C on lipid of streptozotocin-induced didbetic rats.Methods Diabetic nephropathy rats were induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin.Fifty Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into normal control group,model group,Vitamin C group,aminoguanidine group and Vitamin C associated with aminoguanidine group.All the rats were treated for 16 weeks.During and after the treatment,the general state of the rats was observed and the levels of blood sugar,triglyceride,total cholesterol,low density lipoprotein,high density lipoprotein,glycosylated hemoglobin,and glycated low density lipoprotein in different groups were detected.Results The rats in the four groups suffered diabetes mellitus and renal function lesion.Aminoguanidine and Vitamin C could improve the general state of the rats,but had no effect on the blood sugar.Vitamin C could decrease the levels of triglyceride,serum cholesterol,low density lipoprotein,glycosylated hemoglobin,and glycated low density lipoprotein,and increase the level of high density lipoprotein.There was a synergistic effect with the combination of the two drugs. Conclusion Aminoguanidine and Vitamin C have no effect in the decrease of blood sugar level but have a certain effect on regulating blood lipid.There is a synergistic effect with the combination of the two drugs.