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Just how ICT may give rise to comprehend any sustainable society down the road: a CGE method.
The implementation of radiomics in radiology is gaining interest due to its wide range of applications. To develop a radiomics-based model for classifying the etiology of liver cirrhosis using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI, 248 patients with a known etiology of liver cirrhosis who underwent 306 gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI examinations were included in the analysis. MRI examinations were classified into 6 groups according to the etiology of liver cirrhosis alcoholic cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, cholestatic liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), autoimmune hepatitis, and other. MRI examinations were randomized into training and testing subsets. Radiomics features were extracted from regions of interest segmented in the hepatobiliary phase images. The fivefold cross-validated models (2-dimensional-(2D) and 3-dimensional-(3D) based) differentiating cholestatic cirrhosis from noncholestatic etiologies had the best accuracy (87.5%, 85.6%), sensitivity (97.6%, 95.6%), predictive value (0.883, 0.877), and area under curve (AUC) (0.960, 0.910). The AUC was larger in the 2D-model for viral hepatitis, cholestatic cirrhosis, and NASH-associated cirrhosis (P-value of 0.05, 0.05, 0.87, respectively). In alcoholic cirrhosis, the AUC for the 3D model was larger (P = 0.01). The overall intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) estimates and their 95% confident intervals (CI) for all features combined was 0.68 (CI 0.56-0.87) for 2D and 0.71 (CI 0.61-0.93) for 3D measurements suggesting moderate reliability. Radiomics-based analysis of hepatobiliary phase images of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI may be a promising noninvasive method for identifying the etiology of liver cirrhosis with better performance of the 2D- compared with the 3D-generated models.Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide with a 5-year survival of only 65%. Targeting compensatory signaling pathways may improve therapeutic responses and combat resistance. Utilizing reverse phase protein arrays (RPPA) to assess the proteome and explore mechanisms of synergistic growth inhibition in HNSCC cell lines treated with IGF1R and Src inhibitors, BMS754807 and dasatinib, respectively, we identified focal adhesion signaling as a critical node. Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) and Paxillin phosphorylation were decreased as early as 15 min after treatment, and treatment with a FAK inhibitor, PF-562,271, was sufficient to decrease viability in vitro. Treatment of 3D spheroids demonstrated robust cytotoxicity suggesting that the combination of BMS754807 and dasatinib is effective in multiple experimental models. Furthermore, treatment with BMS754807 and dasatinib significantly decreased cell motility, migration, and invasion in multiple HNSCC cell lines. Most strikingly, treatment with BMS754807 and dasatinib, or a FAK inhibitor alone, significantly increased cleaved-PARP in human ex-vivo HNSCC patient tissues demonstrating a potential clinical utility for targeting FAK or the combined targeting of the IGF1R with Src. This ex-vivo result further confirms FAK as a vital signaling node of this combinatorial treatment and demonstrates therapeutic potential for targeting FAK in HNSCC patients.High-throughput phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene analysis has permitted to thoroughly delve into microbial community complexity and to understand host-microbiota interactions in health and disease. The analysis comprises sample collection and storage, genomic DNA extraction, 16S rRNA gene amplification, high-throughput amplicon sequencing and bioinformatic analysis. Low biomass microbiota samples (e.g. biopsies, tissue swabs and lavages) are receiving increasing attention, but optimal standardization for analysis of low biomass samples has yet to be developed. Here we tested the lower bacterial concentration required to perform 16S rRNA gene analysis using three different DNA extraction protocols, three different mechanical lysing series and two different PCR protocols. A mock microbiota community standard and low biomass samples (108, 107, 106, 105 and 104 microbes) from two healthy donor stools were employed to assess optimal sample processing for 16S rRNA gene analysis using paired-end Illumina MiSeq technology.DNA isolation and a semi-nested PCR protocol improve the analysis of low biomass samples. Using the improved protocol we report a lower limit of 106 bacteria per sample for robust and reproducible microbiota analysis.Lipid goal achievement and statin consumption were estimated at extreme/very-high/high/moderate and low cardiovascular risk categories. In the cross-sectional study, 585 patients treated with statin therapy referring to the heart clinic of Birjand were recruited. Patients were classified and examined LDL-C values and the proportion reaching targets according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists guideline. Three patterns of statin use (high/moderate/low-intensity statin therapy) in all patients were examined and attainments of LDL-C goal in cardiovascular risk groups have been demonstrated. Over half the populations (57.6%) were in the very-high CVD risk group. The results showed that the proportion of patients meeting total LDL-C goal values according to the guidelines was 43.4%. The frequency of patient had achievement LDL goal lower in high-intensity pattern (N = 13, 2.3%), compared with moderate (N = 496, 86.1%) and low-intensity patterns (N = 67, 11.6%). In general, LDL-C goal achievement was greatest with moderate-intensity statin use. LDL-C reduction after statin consumption was estimated about one-third of the studied population. It seems likely that the achievement of a therapeutic target for serum lipids such as LDL-C improved is far more cost-effective and would be able to reach the target LDL as well changing the type and intensity of statins.Physicians taking care of patients with COVID-19 have described different changes in routine blood parameters. However, these changes hinder them from performing COVID-19 diagnoses. We constructed a machine learning model for COVID-19 diagnosis that was based and cross-validated on the routine blood tests of 5333 patients with various bacterial and viral infections, and 160 COVID-19-positive patients. We selected the operational ROC point at a sensitivity of 81.9% and a specificity of 97.9%. The cross-validated AUC was 0.97. The five most useful routine blood parameters for COVID-19 diagnosis according to the feature importance scoring of the XGBoost algorithm were MCHC, eosinophil count, albumin, INR, and prothrombin activity percentage. t-SNE visualization showed that the blood parameters of the patients with a severe COVID-19 course are more like the parameters of a bacterial than a viral infection. The reported diagnostic accuracy is at least comparable and probably complementary to RT-PCR and chest CT studies. Patients with fever, cough, myalgia, and other symptoms can now have initial routine blood tests assessed by our diagnostic tool. All patients with a positive COVID-19 prediction would then undergo standard RT-PCR studies to confirm the diagnosis. We believe that our results represent a significant contribution to improvements in COVID-19 diagnosis.Leaf trichomes play vital roles in plant resistance and the quality of tea. Basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors (TFs) play an important role in regulating plant development and growth. In this study, a total of 134 CsbHLH proteins were identified in the Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (CSS) genome. They were divided into 17 subgroups according to the Arabidopsis thaliana classification. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that members of subgroups IIIc-I and IIIc-II might be associated with trichome formation. The expression patterns of CsbHLH116, CsbHLH133, CsbHLH060, CsbHLH028, CsbHLH024, CsbHLH112 and CsbHLH053 from clusters 1, 3 and 5 were similar to the trichome distribution in tea plants. CsbHLH024 and CsbHLH133 were located in the cell nucleus and possessed transcriptional activation ability. They could interact with CsTTG1, which is a regulator of tea trichome formation. This study provides useful information for further research on the function of CsbHLHs in trichome formation.One of the most challenging complications of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). There is growing evidence of a good anti-infective effect of intrawound vancomycin powder in total joint arthroplasty. At the same time, various different locally applied substances have become popular in total joint arthroplasty. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate a possible inhibition of the bactericidal effect of vancomycin by tranexamic acid, adrenalin, lidocaine, or dexamethasone. The bactericidal effect of vancomycin was quantified using the established method of the agar diffusion test. The plates were incubated with Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus epidermidis and four wells were stamped out. The wells were filled with vancomycin alone, the tested substance alone or a mixture of the two. The fourth well remained empty as a control. The plates were incubated overnight at 37 °C and the zone of inhibition in each field was measured on the next day. All tests were run three times for each pathogen and mean values and standard deviations of the measurements were calculated. Differences between the substances were tested using the t-test at a level of significance of 0.05. The bacterial growth was homogeneous on all plates. The baseline value for the zone of inhibition of vancomycin was on average 6.2 ± 0.4 mm for Staphylococcus aureus and 12 ± 0.3 mm for Staphylococcus epidermidis. In all other substances, no inhibition was detected around the well. The combination of vancomycin and each other substance did not show any different result compared to vancomycin alone. The bactericidal effect of vancomycin on staphylococci is not altered by tranexamic acid, adrenalin, dexamethasone, or lidocaine in vitro.Entrapments of the intrapelvic portions of the lumbosacral plexus are an important extraspinal cause of sciatica and pudendal neuralgia. They can be treated using Laparoscopic Neuronavigation (LANN), a minimally invasive technique that has set the foundations of an emerging field in Medicine-Neuropelveology. This retrospective-prospective study analyzes the outcomes of 63 patients treated with the LANN technique over a 10 year time period. One year after surgery, 78.3% of patients reported clinically relevant pain reduction, defined as ≥ 50% reduction in Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score; these results were maintained for a mean follow up of 3.2 years. Preoperative chronic opioid use (≥ 4 months of ≥ 10 mg morphine equivalents/day) was a predictor of poor surgical outcome-clinically relevant pain reduction was observed in only 30.8% in this group of patients, compared to 91.5% in patients not regularly taking opioids preoperatively (p  less then  0.01). Perioperative complication rate was 20%. Our results indicate that the LANN technique is an effective and reproducible approach to relieve pain secondary to intrapelvic nerve entrapments and that preoperative chronic opioid therapy significantly reduces the likelihood of a successful surgical outcome. selleck chemicals llc This study provides detailed information on perioperative complication and postoperative course, which is essential for patient consenting.
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