Search

Nianlan Cheng, Shuo Wu, Xianli Luo, Chunyan Xu, Qin Lou, Jin Zhu, Lu You, Bangguo Li Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Bangguo LiDepartment of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, Zunyi, Guizhou Province, People’s Republic of ChinaTel +86 13511816288Email lbg6288@163.comPurpose: To investigate the CT features of drug-resistant pulmonary tuberculosis (DR-PTB) and the diagnostic value of CT in DR-PTB diagnosis to provide imaging evidence for the timely detection of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.Materials and Methods: A total of 1546 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) with complete clinical data, chest CT images and defined drug sensitivity testing results were consecutively enrolled; 516 cases of DR-PTB were included in the drug-resistant group, and 1030 cases of drug-sensitive pulmonary tuberculosis (DS-PTB) were included in the drug-sensitivity group. Comparative analyses of clinical symptoms and imaging findings were conducted. Univariate and logistic regression analyses were performed, a regression equation model was developed, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed.Results: In the univariate analysis, some features, including whole-lung involvement, multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, collapsed lung, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, bronchiectasis, emphysema, atelectasis, calcification, proliferative lesions, encapsulated effusion, etc., were observed more frequently in the DR-PTB group than in the DS-PTB group, and the differences were statistically significant (p< 0.05). Exudative lesions and pneumoconiosis were observed more frequently in the drug-sensitivity group than in the drug-resistant group (p< 0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that whole-lung involvement, multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, bronchiectasis, and emphysema were independent risk factors for DR-PTB, and exudative diseases were protective factors. The total prediction accuracy of the regression model was 80.6%, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 82.6%.Conclusion: Chest CT manifestations of DR-PTB had certain characteristics that significantly indicated the possibility of drug resistance in tuberculosis patients, specifically when multifarious imaging findings, including multiple cavities, thick-walled cavities, disseminated lesions along the bronchi, whole-lung involvement, etc., coexisted simultaneously. These results may provide imaging evidence for timely drug resistance detection in suspected drug-resistant cases and contribute to the early diagnosis of DR-PTB.Keywords: pulmonary tuberculosis, drug resistance, tomography, X-ray computed, imaging findings, diagnosis, Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Qingquan Wei,1,2,* Rui Chen,1,2,* Qiyang Lou,1,2 Jing Yu1,2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Ninghai First Hospital, Zhejiang 315600, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital Affiliated with Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Purpose: The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy and safety of corticosteroid implant and intravitreal ranibizumab for the treatment of macular edema (ME).Materials and methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were comprehensively searched for studies comparing dexamethasone implant with ranibizumab in patients with ME. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central subfield thickness (CST), and adverse events were extracted from the final eligible studies. RevMan 5.3 software was used to analyze the data, and the modified Jadad assessment tool was used to access the quality of outcomes.Results: Three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included in our analysis. The types of causes of ME include central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), and diabetic retinopathy (DR). The ranibizumab treatment group had significantly better BCVA compared with the corticosteroid treatment group (standard mean difference [SMD] -0.80; 95% CI -1.08, -0.53; P

Fan Li,1,* Ping Yao,2,* Cunyi Hsue,3 Jin Xu,4 Qingqing Lou11Department of Health Education, Jiangsu Province Hospital on Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Endocrinology, Jiangsu Province Hospital on Integration of Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China; 3Hangzhou 9th Middle School, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA*These authors contributed equally to this workAbstract: The objective was to compare Diabetes Conversation Maps-based education and traditional education in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. A total of 53 outpatients were randomized to the intervention group (Diabetes Conversation Maps-based education) and control group (traditional education). In the intervention group, six 1-hour sessions covering diabetes overview, living with diabetes, risk factors and complications of diabetes, starting insulin treatment, foot care, and healthy eating and exercise were provided during 4weeks. The participants had to attend at least four sessions, followed by a monthly follow-up telephone call in the subsequent 3 months. In the control group, six 1-hour diabetes classes covering similar topics as those in the intervention group were provided over 4 weeks. Each participant needed to attend at least four sessions. A1C was assessed at baseline, 3 months and 6months after the last educational session/class. Psychosocial metrics and self-care activities were evaluated at baseline and 6 months after the last educational session/class. Forty-six participants finished the study. After 6 months, the total score of diabetes distress scale was significantly lower and total score of diabetes empowerment scale-short form was significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group. The 3 months A1C was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group. However, the 6 months A1C did not reach a statistically significant difference between groups. Compared to traditional education, Diabetes Conversation Maps were more effective in improving psychosocial metrics and 3-month A1C.Keywords: type 2 diabetes, education, conversation map, psychosocial metrics

Bounding the partition function is a key inference task in many graphical models. In this paper, we develop an anytime anyspace search algorithm taking advantage of AND/OR tree structure and optimized variational heuristics to tighten deterministic bounds on the partition function. We study how our priority-driven best-first search scheme can improve on state-of-the-art variational bounds in an anytime way within limited memory resources, as well as the effect of the AND/OR framework to exploit conditional independence structure within the search process within the context of summation. We compare our resulting bounds to a number of existing methods, and show that our approach offers a number of advantages on real-world problem instances taken from recent UAI competitions.

The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (HP) seropositivity among gastroenterology nurses and technicians with that of the general population. Nurses attending the 1996 Indiana Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates Spring and Fall Education Courses were asked to complete a checklist regarding employment, current symptoms, and use of universal precautions, and to have 3 ml blood drawn. These 138 blood specimens as well as 112 serum samples from generally age- and sex-matched blood donors (representing the general population) underwent qualitative HP antibody testing. Results showed that the prevalence of seropositivity for immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody for HP among the gastroenterology nurses and technicians was 19 of 138 (13.8%), which was less than that of the blood donor control group, whose seropositivity was 20 of 112 (17.9%). However, this difference failed to reach statistical significance. Seropositivity tended to increase with age, but there was no association between clinical symptomatology and seropositivity. Likewise, there was no difference in seropositivity between nurses assisting with endoscopic procedures for more than 10 years and those assisting for less than 10 years. Although the differences were not significant, these findings refute those of an earlier study in which the researchers found 122 gastroendoscopists and endoscopy nurses significantly more likely to be positive for HP antibodies. Therefore, the findings reported here provide important information.

Marginal MAP is a key task in Bayesian inference and decision-making. It is known to be very difficult in general, particularly because the evaluation of each MAP assignment requires solving an internal summation problem. In this paper, we propose a best-first search algorithm that provides anytime upper bounds for marginal MAP in graphical models. It folds the computation of external maximization and internal summation into an AND/OR tree search framework, and solves them simultaneously using a unified best-first search algorithm. The algorithm avoids some unnecessary computation of summation sub-problems associated with MAP assignments, and thus yields significant time savings. Furthermore, our algorithm is able to operate within limited memory. Empirical evaluation on three challenging benchmarks demonstrates that our unified best-first search algorithm using pre-compiled variational heuristics often provides tighter anytime upper bounds compared to those state-of-the-art baselines.

Dysregulated intracellular Ca 2+ signaling is implicated in a variety of cardiac arrhythmias, including catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. Spontaneous diastolic Ca 2+ release (DCR) can induce arrhythmogenic plasma membrane depolarizations, although the mechanism responsible for DCR synchronization among adjacent myocytes required for ectopic activity remains unclear. We investigated the synchronization mechanism(s) of DCR underlying untimely action potentials and diastolic contractions (DCs) in a catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia mouse model with a mutation in cardiac calsequestrin. We used a combination of different approaches including single ryanodine receptor channel recording, optical imaging (Ca 2+ and membrane potential), and contractile force measurements in ventricular myocytes and intact cardiac muscles. We demonstrate that DCR occurs in a temporally and spatially uniform manner in both myocytes and intact myocardial tissue isolated from cardiac calsequestrin mutation mice. Such synchronized DCR events give rise to triggered electrical activity that results in synchronous DCs in the myocardium. Importantly, we establish that synchronization of DCR is a result of a combination of abbreviated ryanodine receptor channel refractoriness and the preceding synchronous stimulated Ca 2+ release/reuptake dynamics. Our study reveals how aberrant DCR events can become synchronized in the intact myocardium, leading to triggered activity and the resultant DCs in the settings of a cardiac rhythm disorder.