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Background: Extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) is a significant health problem which can lead to severe morbidity and mortality. In clinical practice, EPTB can have a variety of nonspecific clinical manifestations and can be concurrent with other types of EPTB. As information pertaining to concurrent EPTB is scarce, research efforts are needed to find concurrent EPTB types and to explore the association networks and rules of concurrent EPTB. Materials and Methods: An observational multicenter study was carried out at 21 hospitals from 15 provinces in China from Jan 1, 2011 to Dec 31, 2017. All the adult EPTB inpatients (≥15years) were included. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations of gender and age group for concurrent EPTB. The association network and rules for concurrent EPTB were analyzed by the Apriori algorithm. Results: A total of 75,993 adult EPTB inpatients (not including EPTB concurrent with PTB) were included. The ratio of male: female was 1.32. The most common types of EPTB lesions were tuberculous pleurisy (46.47%). In the fully adjusted multivariable logistic regression models, it was found that female EPTB patients (aOR=1.129,95%CI: 1.081-1.178) were more likely to have concurrent EPTB. As age increased, the risk of concurrent EPTB decreased (aORConclusion: The present study revealed the occurrence of concurrent EPTB types and analyzed the association network and rules among adult EPTB for the first time in a large sample population. Clinicians should be alert to the incidence of concurrent EPTB and that these patients require administration of customized treatment regimens in order to achieve the best outcomes.

Endogenous pollutants such as cyanobacteria have an essential impact on the global carbon cycle and climate. Finding a reasonable way to dispose of them has become an urgent task for current watershed management and ecological restoration. According to the engineering practice of cyanobacteria treatment by aerobic fermentation, the carbon emissions of three typical cyanobacterial resource utilization processes, aerobic fermentation without auxiliary materials, aerobic fermentation with auxiliary materials, and incineration for power generation, are compared in this paper, using the mandatory guidelines by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results show that the treatment of cyanobacterial mud through aerobic fermentation without auxiliary materials can realize the goal of the harmless recycling of cyanobacterial resources with less carbon emissions, at 175.3 kg CO2·t−1. In addition, each link’s impact on the overall carbon emission process was analyzed. In aerobic fermentation with auxiliary materials, the carbon emissions were significantly contributed by the auxiliary materials, which was accounted for 46.3% of the carbon emission of the whole process and 32.77% of the drying-incineration process. In contrast, with the lowest carbon emission level, aerobic fermentation without auxiliary materials can avoid the production of carbon emissions caused by auxiliary fermentation materials.

Objective Lysosomal protein transmembrane 4 beta (LAPTM4B) is selectively expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells and thus a potential biomarker for diagnosing HCC. In this study, we designed a novel 18F-labeled PET probe to non-invasively visualize LAPTM4B expression in mouse model of HCC tumor. Methods A PET targeting tracer named [18F]FP-LAP2H was radio-synthesized using a LAPTM4B targeting peptide, LAP2H, coupled with 4-nitrophenyl-2-[18F]fluoropropionate ([18F]NFP). Radio-stability, cell uptake, micro PET/CT imaging and ex vivo biodistribution were performed for determining its stability, cell binding specificity, and tumor targeting in vivo. Results [18F]FP-LAP2H was successfully synthesized with radiochemical yields of 6–14% (decay-corrected yield) and molar activity of 10–44 GBq/μmol. The tracer showed stable (~90%) in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4, and in human serum (~80%) for 2 h. In vitro cell uptake studies indicated the radioactivity accumulation in HCC cells was LAPTM4B protein-specific. Micro PET/CT demonstrated that implanted LAPTM4B positive HepG2 and BEL7402 tumors could be clearly visualized. The ex vivo biodistribution studies demonstrated that the tumor/liver ratio were 1.80 ± 0.65 and 2.09 ± 0.68 in implanted HepG2 and BEL7402 tumors respectively. Negative control and blocking experiments revealed that the radioactivity uptake in the HCC tumor was LAPTM4B protein-specific. Conclusions [18F]FP-LAP2H appears to be a potential PET tracer for imaging LAPTM4B-positive HCC tumor. Further endeavors need to do to improve tumor/liver ratio.

As a reliable preoperative predictor for microvascular invasion (MVI) and disease-free survival (DFS) is lacking, we developed a radiomics nomogram of [18F]FDG PET/CT to predict MVI status and DFS in patients with very-early- and early-stage (BCLC 0, BCLC A) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients (N = 80) with BCLC0-A HCC who underwent [18F]FDG PET/CT before surgery were enrolled in this retrospective study and were randomized to a training cohort and a validation cohort. Texture features from patients obtained using Lifex software in the training cohort were subjected to LASSO regression to select the most useful predictive features of MVI and DFS. Then, the radiomics nomogram was constructed using the radiomics signature and clinical features and further validated. To predict MVI, the [18F]FDG PET/CT radiomics signature consisted of five texture features from the PET and six texture features from CT. The signature was significantly associated with MVI status in the training cohort (P = 0.001). None of the clinical features was independent predictors for MVI status (P > 0.05). The area under the curve value of the M-PET/CT model was 0.891 (95% CI: 0.799–0.984) in the training cohort and showed good discrimination and calibration. To predict DFS, the [18F]FDG PET/CT radiomics nomogram (D-PET/CT model) and a clinicopathologic nomogram were built in the training cohort. The D-PET/CT model, which integrated the D-PET/CT radiomics signature with INR and TB, provided better predictive performance (C-index: 0.831, 95% CI: 0.761–0.900) and larger net benefits than the simple clinical model, as determined by decision curve analyses. The newly developed [18F]FDG PET/CT radiomics signature was an independent biomarker for the estimation of MVI and DFS in patients with very-early- and early-stage HCC. Moreover, PET/CT nomogram, which incorporated the radiomics signature of [18F]FDG PET/CT and clinical risk factors in patients with very-early- and early-stage HCC, performed better for individualized DFS estimation, which might enable a step forward in precise medicine.

Background To analyze the features of CT, MRI and PET/CT and their diagnostic value for spinal osteoblastomas (OBs). Methods The radiological and clinical data of 21 patients with histopathologically-confirmed spinal OBs were analyzed retrospectively. Results Sixteen of the 21 cases were benign and 5 were aggressive OBs. Tumors were located in the lumbar (n = 11), cervical (n = 4), thoracic (n = 5), and sacral (n = 1) spinal regions. Nineteen cases were centered in the posterior elements of the spine, 13 of which extended into the vertebral body. Punctate or nodular calcifications were found in all cases on CT with a complete sclerotic rim (n = 12) or incomplete sclerotic rim (n = 8). The flare phenomenon (indicative of surrounding tissue inflammation) was found in 17/21 cases on CT, thin in 11 cases and thick in 6 cases, and in 19/19 cases on MRI, thin in 1 case and thick in 18 cases. On 18F-FDG PET/CT, all cases (8/8) were metabolically active with the SUVmax of 12.3–16.0; the flare sign was observed in 8 cases, including 7 cases of hypometabolism and 1 case of coexistence of hypermetabolism and hypometabolism. Based on CT, 3, 12, and 6 cases were classified as Enneking stage 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Of 19 cases with MRI, 1 and 18 cases were classified as Enneking stage 2 and 3, respectively. Conclusions Spinal OB has multiple unique characteristic radiological features. Although a larger sample size is needed, combining CT, MRI and PET may be beneficial to optimize preoperative diagnosis and care of patients with OBs.

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As a reliable preoperative predictor for microvascular invasion (MVI) and disease-free survival (DFS) is lacking, we developed a radiomics nomogram of [Patients (N = 80) with BCLC0-A HCC who underwent [To predict MVI, the [The newly developed [

AIM To investigate the relationship between glucose metabolism and glypican-3 (GPC3) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS Immunohistochemical staining of pathological samples for GPC3 and glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), and whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT for measuring tumour glucose uptake were performed in 55 newly diagnosed HCC patients. The maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) and tumour-to-non-tumourous liver uptake (T/NT) ratio were used to quantify 18F-FDG uptake. In vitro 18F-FDG uptake assay of GPC3-expressing HepG2 and non-GPC3-expressing RH7777 cells was used to examine the effect of GPC3 in cellular glucose metabolism. The relationships between GPC3 expression and 18F-FDG uptake, GLUT1 expression, tumour differentiation, and other clinical indicators were analysed using Spearman rank correlation, univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS Positive GPC3 expression was observed in 67.3% of HCC patients, including 75.0% of those with well or moderately differentiated HCC and 36.4% of those with poorly differentiated HCC. There was an inverse relationship between GPC3 expression and SUVmax (Spearman correlation coefficient = -0.281, P = 0.038) and a positive relationship between GLUT1 expression and SUVmax (Spearman correlation coefficient = 0.681, P < 0.001) in patients with HCC. Univariate analysis showed that two glucose metabolic parameters (SUVmax and T/NT ratio), tumour differentiation, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage were all significantly associated with GPC3 expression (P < 0.05), whereas GLUT1 expression, sex, age, tumour size, intrahepatic lesion number, and distant metastasis showed no statistical association (P > 0.05). Further multivariate analysis revealed that only the T/N ratio was significantly correlated with GPC3 expression in patients with HCC (P < 0.05). In vitro assay revealed that the uptake of 18F-FDG in GPC3-expressing HepG2 cells was significantly lower than that of non-GPC3-expressing RH7777 cells (t = -20.352, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION The present study demonstrated that GPC3 expression is inversely associated with glucose metabolism, suggesting that GPC3 may play a role in regulating glucose metabolism in HCC.

The exploitation of cost-effective bifunctional seawater electrocatalyst is an attractive technology to generate hydrogen fuel. Sustainable seawater splitting requires catalysts with robust hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity as well as superior chloride corrosion resistance in the salty electrolyte. Here we designed a sandwich-like Ni3S2-MoS2-Ni3S2@Ni foam (NMN-NF) catalyst on the surface of Ni foam by stacking Ni3S2 coatings as top and bottom protective layers (chloride anti-corrosion), and MoS2 as an interlayer to trigger both HER and OER in salty water. The unique sandwich structure endowed NMN-NF catalysts with excellent bifunctional catalytic activity and long-term durability in alkaline seawater electrolytes. Taking advantage of the synergistic effect between MoS2 and Ni3S2, NMN-NF delivered a current density of 100 mA/cm2 at a low voltage of 1.82 V under operating over 100 h in alkaline seawater, allowing them a promising catalyst towards practical application for efficient seawater splitting.

Objective Although whole-body fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) ( 18 F-FDG PET/CT) is commonly used for M staging of newly diagnosed nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), some patients may not benefit from this procedure. The present study investigated which patients require this modality for M staging. Methods Whole-body 18 F FDG PET/CT results and clinical data were collected for 264 patients with newly diagnosed NPC. The relationships between distant metastasis and age, gender, pathological type, lesion size, SUVmax-T, T staging, N staging, SUVmax-N and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) quantity were retrospectively analysed to identify factors associated with increased risk. Results Of the 264 patients, only 37 (14.0%) were diagnosed with distant metastasis. Using multiple logistic regression analysis, EBV-positivity (OR=13.1; 95% CI:1.61,106.80), N staging (OR=3.05; 95% CI:1.41,6.63) and T staging (OR=2.16; 95% CI:1.10, 4.24) were significantly related to distant metastasis (all P 0.05 ). EBV DNA levels≥9000copies/ml, N3 stage and T4 stage were identified as high risk factors. A low risk of distant metastasis was found in patients with 0–1 risk factors and in those with 2 specific risk factors, T3/T4 and N2/N3 staging. Patients with EBV DNA levels ≥9000copies/ml and N3 or T4 staging and those with 3 risk factors had a medium or high risk, with a much higher incidence of distant metastasis (χ 2 =29.896, P =0.000), and needed a whole-body 18 F FDG PET/CT for M staging. Conclusions Due to the low incidence of distant metastasis, only patients with medium or high risk need to undergo a whole-body scan.

PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains one of the most challenging diseases worldwide. Glypican-3 (GPC-3) is a cell surface proteoglycan that is overexpressed on the membrane of HCC cells. The purpose of this study was to develop a target-specific radiofluorinated peptide for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of GPC3 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma. PROCEDURES: New GPC3-binding peptides (GP2076 and GP2633) were radiolabeled with F-18 using Al[(18)F]F labeling approach, and the resulting PET probes were subsequently subject to biological evaluations. A highly hydrophilic linker was incorporated into GP2633 with an aim of reducing the probe uptake in liver and increasing tumor-to-liver (T/L) contrast. Both GP2076 and GP2633 were radiolabeled using Al[(18)F]F chelation approach. The binding affinity, octanol/water partition coefficient, cellular uptake and efflux, and stability of both F-18 labeled peptides were tested. Tumor targeting efficacy and biodistribution of Al[(18)F]F-GP2076 and Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 were determined by PET imaging in HCC-bearing mice. Immunohistochemistry analyses were performed to compare the findings from PET scans. RESULTS: Al[(18)F]F-GP2076 and Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 were rapidly radiosynthesized within 20 min in excellent radiochemical purity (> 97 %). Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 was determined to be more hydrophilic than Al[(18)F]F-GP2076 in terms of octanol/water partition coefficient. Both Al[(18)F]F-GP2076 and Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 demonstrated good in vitro and in vivo stability and binding specificity to GPC3-positive HepG2 cells. For PET imaging, Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 exhibited enhanced uptake in HepG2 tumor (%ID/g 3.37 ± 0.35 vs. 2.13 ± 0.55, P = 0.031) and reduced accumulation in liver (%ID/g 1.70 ± 0.26 vs. 3.70 ± 0.98, P = 0.027) at 60 min post-injection (pi) as compared to Al[(18)F]F-GP2076, resulting in significantly improved tumor-to-liver (T/L) contrast (ratio 2.00 ± 0.18 vs. 0.59 ± 0.14, P = 0.0004). Higher uptake of Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 in GPC3-positive HepG2 tumor was observed as compared to GPC3-negative McA-RH7777 tumor (%ID/g 3.37 ± 0.35 vs. 1.64 ± 0.03, P = 0.001) at 60 min pi, confirming GPC3-specific accumulation of Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 in HepG2 tumor. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 is a promising probe for PET imaging of GPC3 expression in HCC. Convenient preparation, excellent GPC3 specificity in HCC, and favorable excretion profile of Al[(18)F]F-GP2633 warrant further investigation for clinical translation. PET imaging with a GPC3-specific probe would provide clinicians with vital diagnostic information that could have a significant impact on the management of HCC patients.

Purpose Cys-Arg-Glu-Lys-Ala (CREKA) is a pentapeptide which can target fibrin-fibronectin complexes. Our previous study has built a probe called iCREKA which was based on CREKA and has proved the feasibility and specificity of iCREKA by the fluorescence experiment. The purpose of this study is to achieve the 18F-labeled iCREKA and make preclinical evaluation of the 18F-iCREKA with comparison of its contrasted linear peptide (LP). Methods CREKA, LP, and iCREKA were labeled by the Al18F labeling method, respectively. These 18F-labeled peptides were evaluated by the radiochemistry, binding affinity, in vitro stability, in vivo stability, micro-PET imaging, and biodistribution tests. Results 18F-NOTA-iCREKA was stable both in vitro and in vivo. However, 18F-NOTA-CREKA and 18F-NOTA-LP were both unstable. The FITC or 18F-labeled iCREKA could be abundantly discovered only in matrix metalloproteinases- (MMPs-) 2/9 highly expressed U87MG cells, while the FITC or 18F-labeled LP could also be abundantly discovered in MMP-2/9 lowly expressed Caov3 cells. Biodistribution and micropositron emission tomography (PET) imaging revealed that the U87MG xenografts showed a higher uptake of 18F-NOTA-iCREKA than 18F-NOTA-LP while the Caov3 xenografts showed very low uptake of both 18F-NOTA-iCREKA and 18F-NOTA-LP. The tumor-to-muscle (T/M) ratio of 18F-NOTA-iCREKA (9.93 ± 0.42) was obviously higher than 18F-NOTA-LP (2.69 ± 0.35) in U87MG xenografts. Conclusions The novel CREKA-based probe 18F-NOTA-iCREKA could get a high uptake in U87MG cells and high T/M ratio in U87MG mice. It was more stable and specific than the 18F-NOTA-LP.

The gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor is overexpressed in the majority of tumors of the human reproductive system. The purpose of this study was to develop an 18F-labeled peptide for tumor GnRH receptor imaging. In this study, the GnRH (pGlu1-His2-Trp3-Ser4-Tyr5-Gly6-Leu7-Arg8-Pro9-Gly10-NH2) peptide analogues FP-D-Lys6-GnRH (FP = 2-fluoropropanoyl) and NOTA-P-D-Lys6-GnRH (P = ethylene glycol) were designed and synthesized. The IC50 values of FP-D-Lys6-GnRH and NOTA-P-D-Lys6-GnRH were 2.0 nM and 56.2 nM, respectively. 4-Nitrophenyl-2-[18F]fluoropropionate was conjugated to the ε-amino group of the D-lysine side chain of D-Lys6-GnRH to yield the new tracer [18F]FP-D-Lys6-GnRH with a decay-corrected yield of 8 ± 3% and a specific activity of 20−100 GBq/µmol (n=6). Cell uptake studies of [18F]FP-D-Lys6-GnRH in GnRH receptor-positive PC-3 cells and GnRH receptor-negative CHO-K1 cells indicated receptor-specific accumulation. Biodistribution and PET studies in nude mice bearing PC-3 xenografted tumors showed that [18F]FP-D-Lys6-GnRH was localized in tumors with a higher uptake than in surrounding muscle and heart tissues. Furthermore, the metabolic stability of [18F]FP-D-Lys6-GnRH was determined in mouse blood and PC-3 tumor homogenates at 1 h after tracer injection. The presented results indicated a potential of the novel tracer [18F]FP-D-Lys6-GnRH for tumor GnRH receptor imaging.

Objective To describe three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) pelvimetry methods and to establish the pelvimetric reference in a large population of Chinese females at term pregnancy. Methods Three-hundred one pregnant women at term who underwent MRI were included. Three-dimensional pelvic models were reconstructed using Mimics. 10.0 software based on MRI data sets, and measurements of these models were made. Pelvimetric results according to delivery modality were presented. Additionally, the previously described CT 3D pelvimetry method for predicting cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD) was used to validate its accuracy. Results Two hundred ten women underwent vaginal delivery, and 13 underwent caesarean delivery for CPD. 3D modelling of the pelvis of pregnant women was feasible using MR data sets. Pelvimetric parameters in the vaginal delivery group were as follows: transverse diameter, 134.7 mm ± 7.5; obstetric conjugate, 126.9 mm ± 8.3; interspinous distance, 113.4 mm ± 8.2; sagittal midpelvis, 117.8 mm ± 8.1; intertuberous distance, 127.1 mm ± 10.4; sagittal outlet, 110.2 mm ± 8.9, and posterior sagittal outlet, 59.7 mm ± 8.1. According to the previously described CT 3D pelvimetry method for predicting CPD, 67.6% (142/210) of women in the vaginal delivery group were diagnosed with CPD. Conclusion 3D MR pelvimetry is a novel method for determining pelvic dimensions at term pregnancy. A prospective trial is needed to establish a useful value for predicting CPD in Chinese females at high risk of CPD.

Based on the orthogonality between the signal subspace and the noise subspace, we propose a sparse recovery method for the direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. With the assumption of uncorrelated sources, signal covariance matrix fitting is achieved by embedding the MUSIC-like weights into a quadratic minimization, which is capable of prompting the sparsity of the solution. Numerical results show that the proposed method outperforms some other sparse recovery methods.

We propose a weighted l 2,1 minimization algorithm for retrieving high resolution range profile with the stepped frequency radar. Based on the sliding window technique the raw stepped frequency pulse train is split into subsequences to for-m the jointly sparse signature. By using the Hadamard product of two Pisarenko framework cepstrums a support-related weighting scheme is designed to control the priority class of bases in the reconstruction process so that those bases whose indices are inside the support are likely selected. Experiments on simulated and real data demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs better range profile reconstruction in comparison with existing homogeneous algorithms.

To run the deep sea stepping wheel steadily, the phase reference model adaptive control algorithm was presented. This algorithm obtained the reference phase models according to the step response data of this control system, and with the guidance of these models, the fuzzy controller calculated the corresponding control signal according to the error between the factual output and the reference models. Simulation showed that the control effect of this algorithm is comparatively ideal.

The control strategy of fuel cell engine included turnoff and starting was researched in subfreezing, and The flow chart of turnoff and starting was formulated. The thermal management system of fuel cell engine was designed in subfreezing. Periodic and nonperiodic staring and running of fuel cell automotive was studied in subfreezing. The conclusion that solved the cold start problem of fuel cell automotive by managing its energy and considering synthetically the control strategy of turnoff and starting of fuel cell engine.

Different methods to improve the cold start of a stack were studied under the different conditions using experiments and simulations. The heat storage period of the stack was analyzed contrastively with / without heat storage. The stack not sealed by heat storage material needs merely 3 hours and 7 hours to drop to 0 °C from initial 80 °C in the ambient condition of - 20 °C, respectively, whereas the heat storage period of the stack sealed by the thick polystyrene and vacuum insulation plate with thickness 20 mm are 26 hours and 34.8 hours. The stack was heated by coolant using the different power of electric heater. When the initial temperature of the coolant was 20 °C and 40 °C and the power of the electric heater was 2.4 KW, it took 323 s and 165 s to heat the stack up to 0 °C. The larger the power of electric heater is, the shorter the time of the stack's temperature which rises to 0 °C is. In a word, it is the proper plan is to employ both heat storage and electric heating.