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Objective To explore the predictive value of different machine learning models based on MRI radiomics combined with clinical features for histological grade of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. Methods Clinical data of 150 patients with cervical squamous cell carcinoma confirmed by pathological biopsy were retrospectively analyzed. They were randomly divided into the training set and validation set at a ratio of 4∶1. Features were extracted from the regions of interest of T2WI fat suppression sequence （FS-T2WI） and enhanced T1WI （delayed phase）. After dimensionality reduction and feature selection， logistic regression （LR）， support vector machine （SVM）， naïve Bayes （NB）， random forest （RF）， Light Gradient Boosting Machine （LightGBM）， K-nearest neighbor （KNN） were used to construct a radiomics model for predicting the histological grade of cervical squamous cell carcinoma. The area under the receiver operating characteristic （ROC） curve （AUC） was used to evaluate the predictive performance of the six models. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to predict the independent risk factors， and a combined model of clinical and radiomics was established. The differences of each model were compared by AUC， and the clinical value of the model was evaluated by decision curve （DCA）. Results In the radiomics model， the LightGBM model had the largest AUC （0.910 in the training set， and 0.839 in the validation set）. The AUC of clinical features combined with LightGBM model was the largest （0.935 in the training set， and 0.888 in the validation set）， which was higher than those of clinical model （0.762 in the training set， and 0.710 in the validation set） and LightGBM radiomics model. Conclusions The LightGBM model has a high predictive value in the radiomics model. The combined model has the optimal DCA effect and the highest clinical net benefit. The combined prediction model combining radiomics and clinical features has good predictive value for cervical squamous cell carcinoma with low differentiation， providing a non-invasive and efficient method for clinical decision-making.

Die Legende Weiße Schlange zählt zu den vier berühmtesten Legenden des chinesischen Altertums, die im chinesischen Volksmund seit mehr als tausend Jahren tradiert sowie literarisch gestaltet wurden und daher bis heute lebendig sind. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über ihre Verbreitung und Variation in Deutschland in den letzten zwei Jahrhunderten. Dabei wird das Qiao-Yi-Phänomen besonders in den beiden deutschen Versionen, Die Schlange von Herman Grimm und Im Zauber der weißen Schlange von Helmut Matt, im Vergleich mit der chinesischen Originallegende analysiert. Darüber hinaus wird einerseits die dualistische Interaktion der Legende Weiße Schlange zwischen China und Deutschland in der Literatur aus der Perspektive der Qiao-Yiologie aufgezeigt und andererseits werden die dahinterstehenden sozio-historischen Gründe für das Qiao-Yi-Phänomen und die Motive der Autoren näher erforscht.

Using genome-wide data from 253,288 individuals, we identified 697 variants at genome-wide significance that together explained one-fifth of the heritability for adult height. By testing different numbers of variants in independent studies, we show that the most strongly associated ∼2,000, ∼3,700 and ∼9,500 SNPs explained ∼21%, ∼24% and ∼29% of phenotypic variance. Furthermore, all common variants together captured 60% of heritability. The 697 variants clustered in 423 loci were enriched for genes, pathways and tissue types known to be involved in growth and together implicated genes and pathways not highlighted in earlier efforts, such as signaling by fibroblast growth factors, WNT/β-catenin and chondroitin sulfate-related genes. We identified several genes and pathways not previously connected with human skeletal growth, including mTOR, osteoglycin and binding of hyaluronic acid. Our results indicate a genetic architecture for human height that is characterized by a very large but finite number (thousands) of causal variants.

Meta-analyses of European populations has successfully identified genetic variants in over 100 loci associated with lipid levels, but our knowledge in other ethnicities remains limited. To address this, we performed dense genotyping of ∼2,000 candidate genes in 7,657 African Americans, 1,315 Hispanics and 841 East Asians, using the IBC array, a custom ∼50,000 SNP genotyping array. Meta-analyses confirmed 16 lipid loci previously established in European populations at genome-wide significance level, and found multiple independent association signals within these lipid loci. Initial discovery and in silico follow-up in 7,000 additional African American samples, confirmed two novel loci: rs5030359 within ICAM1 is associated with total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (p = 8.8×10(-7) and p = 1.5×10(-6) respectively) and a nonsense mutation rs3211938 within CD36 is associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (p = 13.5×10(-12)). The rs3211938-G allele, which is nearly absent in European and Asian populations, has been previously found to be associated with CD36 deficiency and shows a signature of selection in Africans and African Americans. Finally, we have evaluated the effect of SNPs established in European populations on lipid levels in multi-ethnic populations and show that most known lipid association signals span across ethnicities. However, differences between populations, especially differences in allele frequency, can be leveraged to identify novel signals, as shown by the discovery of ICAM1 and CD36 in the current report.

Intrinsic polymer dielectrics with high discharge energy density and discharge efficiency at elevated temperatures have unique advantages for the film capacitors in power electronics in a severe environment (e.g., electric vehicles). In this work, a novel polyetherimide with hydroxy groups and a twisted spirane structure was synthesized based on 3,3,3′,3′-tetramethyl-1,1′-spirobisindane-5,5′-diamino-6,6′-diol (SPDD). Owing to the polar hydroxyls and twisted spirane structure, desirable physical properties are obtained: high glass transition temperatures (281–302 °C), relatively high dielectric constant (4.2–5.1), and very low dielectric loss (dissipation factor <0.002). As a result, this kind of PEIs possessed excellent high temperature dielectric properties. Among them, the PEI with 50% of spirane units exhibited a high discharge energy density of 2.24 J cm−3 at 200 °C and 350 MV m−1 and with a high discharge efficiency of 90%. This is attributed to the twisted spirane structures that break the π–π stacking of the aromatic rings of PEI polymers, thus decreasing both AC and DC electronic conductions at high fields and high temperatures. Based on these performances, spirane-based PEIs are suitable for high temperature capacitive energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]