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Abstract Objectives This study attempts to compare the predictive effects of several prediction models on obstructive coronary artery disease (OCAD) in young patients (30–50 years old), with a view to providing a new evaluation tool for the prediction of premature coronary artery disease (PCAD). Methods A total of 532 hospitalized patients aged 30–50 were included in the study.All of them underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) for suspected symptoms of coronary heart disease.Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) combined with traditional risk factors and pre-test probability models are the prediction models to be compared in this study.The PTP model was selected from the upgraded Diamond-Forrester model (UDFM) and the Duke clinical score (DCS). Results All patients included in the study were aged 30–50 years. Among them, women accounted for 24.4%, and 355 patients (66.7%) had a CACS of 0. OCAD was diagnosed in 43 patients (8.1%). The CACS combined with traditional risk factors to predict the OCAD area under the curve of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) (AUC = 0.794,p 0,p

In order to use intelligent gel systems to realize deep source water control in medium and high water cut reservoirs, and also to solve the shortcomings of conventional gels, such as the high chemical dose required, large profile control radius, poor temperature resistance, shear resistance, and plugging performance, a temperature-sensitive gel based on natural cellulose was developed, and the temperature resistance, rheological performance, and plugging performance of the temperature-sensitive gel were tested and evaluated. The results show that the system can maintain a viscosity retention rate of up to 95% after high-temperature aging at 90–120 °C for 50 days. When using medium- to low-salinity calcium chloride formation water for preparation, the gelation effect is good. The rheometer oscillation frequency scanning test shows that the system gel is a strong elastic body dominated by elasticity. The core displacement experiment shows that the highest sealing rate of the system is 97%, and the breakthrough pressure can reach 2.5 MPa at this time. The microstructure of the gel system was tested by infrared, and it was found that the gel system had strong hydrogen bonding and the gel had good stability. The research results contribute to improving the recovery rate of high water cut oil reservoirs.

Abstract Background The addition of coronary artery calcium score (CACS) to prediction models has been verified to improve performance. Machine learning (ML) algorithms become important medical tools in an era of precision medicine, However, combined utility by CACS and ML algorithms in hypertensive patients to forecast obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is rare. Methods This retrospective study was composed of 1,273 individuals with hypertension and without a history of CAD, who underwent dual-source computed tomography evaluation. We applied five ML algorithms, coupled with clinical factors, imaging parameters, and CACS to construct predictive models. Moreover, 80% individuals were randomly taken as a training set on which 5-fold cross-validation was done and the remaining 20% were regarded as a validation set. Results 16.7% (212 out of 1,273) of hypertensive patients had obstructive CAD. Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) posted the biggest area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.83 in five ML algorithms. Continuous net reclassification improvement (NRI) was 0.55 (95% CI (0.39–0.71), p

Objectives: From March to June 2021, the reported number of clinically diagnosed endemic typhus in Anhui and Hubei provinces of China nearly increased four-fold compared with the monthly average numbers in last 5 years. An etiological and epidemiological investigation was initiated. Methods: The clinical specimens from the reported patients and the potential vector ticks were collected for molecular and serological detection, as well as cell culturing assay to identify the potential pathogen. Results: Polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis of rrs and groEL showed that the pathogen from these patients was Ehrlichia sp., isolated from Haemaphysalis longicornis attached to these patients. The phylogenetic analysis based on 39 Ehrlichia genomes suggested that it should be taxonomically classified as a novel species, tentatively named “Candidatus Ehrlichia erythraense”. A total of 19 of 106 cases were confirmed as Candidatus Ehrlichia erythraense infections by polymerase chain reaction, sequencing, and/or serological tests. The most frequent symptoms were fever (100%), rashes (100%), asthenia (100%), anorexia (100%), and myalgia (79%). Conclusion: The occurrence of the disease presenting with fever and rashes in Anhui and Hubei provinces was caused by a novel species of the genus Ehrlichia; physicians need to be aware of this newly-discovered pathogen to ensure appropriate testing, treatment, and regional surveillance.

Abstract Coronary artery occlusion (CAO) is a rare but life‐threatening complication of transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The mechanism of CAO is the displacement of the native calcified valve leaflet over the coronary ostium. Here, we report on a woman who experienced sudden cardiac arrest and abrupt CAO during TAVI, which was caused by two different original obstructions, a rupture of aortic plaque or a partial tear of the aortic intima blocking the upper 2/3 of the left main trunk (LMT) ostium, and the transcatheter heart valve (THV) blocking the lower 1/3 of the LMT ostium. She was eventually successfully treated with the chimney stenting technique. Aortography other than coronary angiography was used to ascertain CAO. In patients presenting with abrupt cardiac arrest or cardiogenic shock with LMT occlusion, there must be prompt identification, and the causes of CAO may be various and rare. The identification of CAO relies not only on CAG but also on aortography, especially if the locations and origins of obstructions are special. Supportive therapy with an attempt at percutaneous revascularization is necessary. Pre‐procedural assessment is crucial prior to TAVI interventions. In cases with high risk of CAO, upfront coronary artery protection can be provided.

Abstract Background Hypertension is a leading risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). Triglyceride glucose index (TyG) is a surrogate of insulin resistance (IR). Few studies explore the association between TyG and the incidence of obstructive CAD (OCAD) in hypertensive patients. Methods We retrospectively screened 1841 hypertensive subjects who were free of a history of CAD and underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) because of chest pain. TyG index was calculated as ln (fasting TG [mg/dL] * fasting glucose [mg/dL]/2). The outcome of this research was OCAD, which was defined as the presence of diameter stenosis ≥ 50% in any of the four major epicardial coronary arteries detected on CCTA. Results A total of 310 (16.8%) patients developed obstructive CAD. The restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis showed a J-shaped relationship between TyG and OCAD and the OR for OCAD increased as the TyG rose over 8.61 (OR perSD) 1.64, 95% CI 1.13–2.54, p = 0.008). After full adjustments for confounding covariates, patients with TyG index in tertile 3 (T3) had 2.12 times (95% CI 1.80 to 3.81) and in T2 had 2.01 times (95% CI 1.40 to 2.88) as high as the risk of OCAD compared with patients in T1 (p for trend = 0.001). When regarding TyG as a continuous variable, 1-SD increase elevated 49% (OR (95%CI), 1.49 (1.30–1.74)) risk of obstructive CAD (p = 0.007). This positive effect was still consistent across the subgroups (p for interaction > 0.05). Conclusion TyG index was associated with the incidence of obstructive CAD in hypertensive patients.

Abstract Objective We investigated the predictive value of clinical factors combined with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score based on a machine learning method for obstructive coronary heart disease (CAD) on coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in individuals with atypical chest pain. Methods The study included data from 1,906 individuals undergoing CCTA and CAC scanning because of atypical chest pain and without evidence for the previous CAD. A total of 63 variables including traditional cardiovascular risk factors, CAC score, laboratory results, and imaging parameters were used to build the Random forests (RF) model. Among all the participants, 70% were randomly selected to train the models on which fivefold cross-validation was done and the remaining 30% were regarded as a validation set. The prediction performance of the RF model was compared with two traditional logistic regression (LR) models. Results The incidence of obstructive CAD was 16.4%. The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) for obstructive CAD of the RF model was 0.841 (95% CI 0.820–0.860), the CACS model was 0.746 (95% CI 0.722–0.769), and the clinical model was 0.810 (95% CI 0.788–0.831). The RF model was significantly superior to the other two models (p

Modern life is making people infertile. Giving birth later in life is wreaking havoc on our fertility and threatening human survival. Smart cities intend to optimize the quality of life of their citizens by utilizing technology for smarter living. This research first identifies the requirements and business opportunities of using advanced technology for smarter fertility preservation and assisted reproduction in smart cities. A federated blockchain approach is proposed for the alliance of integrated commercial egg banks (ICEBs). In particular, we designed a membership fee rebate (MFR) mechanism that offers incentives for blockchain creations in the egg banking alliance. We formulated the MFR problem into a leader–followers Stackelberg game whose objectives are (1) to maximize the benefits of forming the alliance (the leader) and (2) to maximize the benefits in each ICEB (the follower). We developed an iterative scheme that utilizes mathematical programming techniques to solve the two-level, Stackelberg game problem. With a given set of parameters of the alliance and membership fee function, and the average number of blocks generated for an oocyte, the iterative scheme achieves the optimal solution for the MFR rate per block created. A numerical example demonstrates the feasibility and applicability of the proposed iterative scheme. Numerical results show that it achieves good solutions in adding a small to medium-sized new ICEB to the existing alliance. The proposed federated approach lays the foundation for developing a blockchain-based egg banking platform.

Abstract Background A honeycomb-like structure (HLS) is a rare abnormality characterized by a braid-like appearance. Angiograph and intravascular examination, including coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), can further confirm the multiple intraluminal channels or honeycomb structure, which can also be described as looking like ‘swiss cheese’, a ‘spider web’ or a ‘lotus root’. Previous studies have mostly reported this abnormality in coronary arteries, with a few cases in renal arteries. More information about the characteristics and development of HLS is needed. Case presentation A 69-year-old Han man with resistant hypertension received abdominal enhanced computerised tomography and was revealed to have left renal artery stenosis with the possibility of left renal infarction. Renal artery angiography confirmed a 95% stenosis located in the proximal segment of the left renal artery, and the middle segment was blurred with multi-channel-like blood flow. Further IVUS was performed and identified multiple channels surrounded by fibrous tissue. It was a rare case of HLS in the renal artery secondary to the thrombus, with organisation and recanalisation. Balloon dilatation and stent implantation at the proximal segment of the left renal artery were performed successfully. Blood pressure was well controlled after the procedure. Conclusions The IVUS findings are helpful for forming interventional therapeutic strategies for HLS lesions in the renal artery.

Convolutional neural network (CNN) has great potentials in holographic reconstruction. Although excellent results can be achieved by using this technique, the number of training and label data must be the same and strict paired relationship is required. Here, we present a new end-to-end learning-based framework to reconstruct noise-free images in absence of any paired training data and prior knowledge of object real distribution. The algorithm uses the cycle consistency loss and generative adversarial network to implement unpaired training method. It is demonstrated by the experiments that high accuracy reconstruction images can be obtained by using unpaired training and label data. Moreover, the unpaired feature of the algorithm makes the system robust to displacement aberration and defocusing effect.

Although the first line of therapy for epithelial ovarian cancer typically consists of taxane-platinum combination therapy, many patients develop a platinum-resistant tumor within a year. Several previous studies have looked at this cross-resistance between cisplatin and anti-microtubule drugs, but their findings have been somewhat conflicting. Here, we developed cisplatin-resistant cell lines that are resistant to low and high levels of cisplatin and explored the effects of three anti-microtubule drugs (paclitaxel, vincristine, and colchicine) on the parental and cisplatin-resistant cells. We found that cells resistant to lower levels of cisplatin were no more resistant to anti-microtubule drugs than parental cells, while cells that were resistant to higher levels of cisplatin had a subpopulation of cells that were cross-resistant to anti-microtubule drugs, clarifying discrepancies within the field. We then isolated this subpopulation by applying selective pressure with anti-microtubule drugs and performed RNA sequencing and gene set enrichment analysis to identify resistance mechanisms. This subpopulation was found to express increased levels of pro-survival TNF/NFκB signaling, among other enriched pathways, suggesting that cross-resistance was due to more general survival mechanisms found in the cisplatin-selected cells.