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Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elasticity imaging. Materials and Methods One hundred and twenty-seven thyroid nodules were examined by both ARFI elastography and B-mode sonography. Virtual Touch tissue quantification (VTQ) values of the thyroid nodules were measured. Scoring of B-mode sonographic findings of each thyroid nodules was performed. The sums of these VTQ and the B-mode scores were determined. The comparative diagnostic performances of the VTQ value, the B-mode score, and the combined score were analyzed. Results The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of each scoring mode were: B-mode score, 84%, 85%, 66%, 94%, and 85%; VTQ, 75%, 91%, 73%, 92%, and 86%; and combined score, 88%, 87%, 70%, 95%, and 88%. The areas under the curves for B-mode, VTQ, and combined score were 0.895, 0.837, and 0.912, respectively. Pairwise comparisons of receiver-operating characteristic curves showed no statistical differences between B-mode and VTQ, and B-mode and combined score. Combined score showed better diagnostic performance than VTQ value (p = 0.0023). Conclusion ARFI VTQ value is a good diagnostic modality for differentiating malignant thyroid nodules from benign nodules. However, ARFI evaluation is not superior to B-mode sonographic evaluation, but only has a better diagnostic performance when combined with B-mode sonographic findings.

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the effects of acute cold stress (10℃, 0℃) compared with ordinary temperature (20℃) on exercise performance and physiological response at rest and during exercise. Methods A total of 10 healthy men (21.55 ± 2.16) were selected. In each environmental condition (20℃, 10℃, 0℃), the three testing order was randomly selected at crossover, and there was a week interval between the graded exercise test (GXT). On the testing day, they remained resting for 30 min in each environmental condition. Dependent variables (body temperature, energy metabolism parameters, skeletal muscle oxygenation profiles, and exercise performance parameters) were measured at rest and during GXT. Results In body temperature, at each environmental condition, there was a significant decrease (p