The role of National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAG) in strengthening health system governance: Lessons from three middle-income countries—Argentina,Jordan, and South Africa (2017–2018)

IntroductionToward the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2020 goal, almost 90% of countries have established a National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). However, little is known about NITAG's contributions to governance.MethodsIn 2017–2018, a two-step, qualitative retrospective study was conducted. Jordan (JO), Argentina (AR), and South Africa (SA) were selected owing to government-financed NITAGs from middle-income countries (MICs), geographic diversity, and a vaccine introduction with NITAG support. Country case studies were developed, collecting data through desk review and face-to-face key informant interviews (KIIs) from Ministry of Health (MoH) and NITAG. Case studies were analyzed together, to assess governance applying the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies framework focusing on transparency, accountability, participation, integrity, and policy capacity (TAPIC).ResultsDocument review and 53 KII (22 AR, 20 SA, 11 JO) showed NITAGs played a pivotal role as advisors promoting a culture of evidence-informed policies. NITAGs strengthened governance, although practices varied among countries. Meetings were conducted behind-closed-doors, participation restricted to members, only in one country agendas, and recommendations were public (AR). To increase participation, policy capacity, and transparency, countries considered adding experts in communications, advocacy, and economics. AR and SA contemplated including community members. NITAGs functioned autonomously from the government, with no established internal or external monitoring or supervision. NITAG meeting minutes allowed the review of integrity, adherence to terms of reference, standard operating procedures, and conflict of interest (CoI). For the most part, NITAGs abided by their mandates. Significant issues were related to the level of MoH support and oversight of CoI declaration and documentation.ConclusionsSystematically implementing governance approaches could improve processes, better tailor policies, and implementation. The long-term survival and resilience of NITAGs in these countries showed they play a significant role in strengthening governance. Lessons learned could be useful to those promoting country-driven evidence-informed decision-making.     

Morphological imaging and CT histogram analysis to differentiate pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor grade 3 from neuroendocrine carcinoma

PurposeTo compare morphological imaging features and CT texture histogram parameters between grade 3 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (G3-NET) and neuroendocrine carcinomas (NEC).Materials and methodsPatients with pathologically proven G3-NET and NEC, according to the 2017 World Health Organization classification who had CT and MRI examinations between 2006-2017 were retrospectively included. CT and MRI examinations were reviewed by two radiologists in consensus and analyzed with respect to tumor size, enhancement patterns, hemorrhagic content, liver metastases and lymphadenopathies. Texture histogram analysis of tumors was performed on arterial and portal phase CT images. images. Morphological imaging features and CT texture histogram parameters of G3-NETs and NECs were compared.ResultsThirty-seven patients (21 men, 16 women; mean age, 56 ± 13 [SD] years [range: 28-82 years]) with 37 tumors (mean diameter, 60 ± 46 [SD] mm) were included (CT available for all, MRI for 16/37, 43%). Twenty-three patients (23/37; 62%) had NEC and 14 patients (14/37; 38%) had G3-NET. NECs were larger than G3-NETs (mean, 70 ± 51 [SD] mm [range: 18 - 196 mm] vs. 42 ± 24 [SD] mm [range: 8 - 94 mm], respectively; P = 0.039), with more tumor necrosis (75% vs. 33%, respectively; P = 0.030) and lower attenuation on precontrast (30 ± 4 [SD] HU [range: 25-39 HU] vs. 37 ± 6 [SD] [range: 25-45 HU], respectively; P = 0.002) and on portal venous phase CT images (75 ± 18 [SD] HU [range: 43 - 108 HU] vs. 92 ± 19 [SD] HU [range: 46 - 117 HU], respectively; P = 0.014). Hemorrhagic content on MRI was only observed in NEC (P = 0.007). The mean ADC value was lower in NEC ([1.1 ± 0.1 (SD)] × 10⁻³ mm²/s [range: (0.91 - 1.3) × 10⁻³ mm²/s] vs. [1.4 ± 0.2 (SD)] × 10⁻³ mm²/s [range: (1.1 - 1.6) × 10⁻³ mm²/s]; P = 0.005). CT histogram analysis showed that NEC were more heterogeneous on portal venous phase images (Entropy-0: 4.7 ± 0.2 [SD] [range: 4.2-5.1] vs. 4.5 ± 0.4 [SD] [range: 3.7-4.9]; P = 0.023).ConclusionPancreatic NECs are larger, more frequently hypoattenuating and more heterogeneous with hemorrhagic content than G3-NET on CT and MRI.     

基层药品不良反应监测体系建设的实践和探讨

目的 探讨基层药品不良反应监测网络建设模式,为药品不良反应监测组织体系的完善提供参考.方法 通过建立山东省基层药品不良反应监测网络的实践,研究、分析基层药品不良反应监测网络的建设模式.结果 建立了高效、快捷的三级药品不良反应监测网络,促进了山东省药品不良反应监测工作的全面发展.结论 建立健全机构设施完备、职责明确、运作规范的基层监测网络,有利于完善我国药品不良反应监测组织体系,推动药品不良反应监测工作的深入开展.     

枕骨大孔区腹侧脑膜瘤的显微手术技术探讨

目的探讨远外侧入路在治疗枕骨大孔区腹侧脑膜瘤中的应用。方法对14例脑膜瘤患者采用远外侧入路显微手术治疗,其中枕髁后入路8例,经部分枕髁入路3例,经C1、2关节面侧方联合部分枕髁入路2例,经完整枕髁入路1例。结果肿瘤全切11例,次全切除3例;1例行枕颈融合,无手术死亡病例。所有患者术后均未出现寰枕关节不稳定的症状,手术并发症主要是后组颅神经损伤、椎动脉损伤、脑脊液漏以及脑干缺血。结论远外侧入路是手术治疗下斜坡区和上段颈髓腹侧、腹外侧病变的理想入路,可以理想显露肿瘤及其基底部并减少术中出血,但手术操作比较复杂且具有一定的风险。     

Real-time automatic extraction of lumen region and boundary from endoscopic images

A new approach to the automatic extraction of the lumen region and its boundary for gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopic images is presented. First, a quasi region of interest, the darker regions of the image, is segmented using a region splitting scheme termed progressive thresholding. The centre of mass of this segmented region acts as a seed for further processing. Then the lumen region is obtained using a region growing technique called the integrated neighbourhood search (INS). A new quad structure based technique is introduced to enhance the INS speed significantly. A back projection algorithm is suggested to optimise the search for pixels belonging to the lumen region and boundary. A boundary-thinning algorithm is also proposed to remove the redundant pixels from the lumen boundary and to generate a connected single pixel width boundary. The proposed approach does not need a priori knowledge about the image characteristics. The experimental results indicate that the proposed technique enhances the speed of conventional INS by 45.5% to 28.6% based on the lumen size varying from 22,709 pixels to 4947 pixels. The main advantage of the proposed technique is its high-speed response that facilitates real-time analysis of endoscopic images.     

2012—2018年澳门新确诊HIV感染病例流行病学特征

目的了解澳门新确诊艾滋病病毒(HIV)感染病例流行病学特征。方法回顾性分析2012—2018年澳门卫生局的艾滋病感染情况统计有关数据。结果澳门总体HIV报告发病率从2012年的5.67/10万下降至2018年的5.54/10万,男性HIV报告发病率从2012年的7.14/10万升至2018年的9.91/10万,女性则由4.31/10万降至1.69/10万,但变化趋势均无统计学差异。男性HIV报告发病率高于女性,澳门新确诊HIV病例以澳门本地居民、男性为主,主要分布于20~39岁。2012—2018年,≤19岁新确诊HIV病例构成比有下降趋势。2013—2015年澳门新确诊HIV病例传播途径以异性性接触为主,2016年异性性接触与同性性接触所占比例相等,2017—2018年则以同性性接触为主。新确诊HIV病例共用针筒注射传播的构成比呈下降趋势。结论澳门HIV报告发病率低于全球水平,澳门HIV感染防控关键人群为男男性行为者。     

多发性骨髓瘤浆细胞核中AgNOR检测的临床意义

为研究多发性骨髓瘤（MM）与反应性浆细胞增多症（RP）、MMIB与MMNA以及MM治疗前后的骨髓浆细胞嗜银蛋白染色（AgNOR）形态颗粒数量的变化,用AgNOR技术．测定各级AgNOR形态及颗粒数量。结果显示,AgNOR形态在MM组中有单一型、弥漫型、聚集型、核仁形,在RP组中只有单一型,AgNOR颗粒均数在MM组中为6．21±4．12,RP组为202±063,两组间有非常显著性差异（P＜0．001）;MMⅢB和ⅢA组,形态及颗粒均数无差异。17例MM治疗前、后各种形态中颗粒比较差别有显著性（P＜0．001）。提示骨髓中浆细胞AgNOR形态及颗粒数量对鉴别良、恶性浆细胞具有一定临床意义,同时也证实了AgNOR法对了解MM中浆细胞增殖水平及预后是一个简单有效的参考指标。     

激光心肌血运重建联合大网膜移植的研究

目的采用激光心肌血运重建术(TMLR)联合大网膜移植作用于犬的缺血心脏,观察缺血心肌血供的变化和新生毛细血管的增生情况。方法将24条实验犬随机分为缺血组(I组)、激光打孔组(L组)、大网膜移植组(O组)、激光打孔联合大网膜移植组(L O组)。3个月后再行99~m锝(Tc)心肌同位素灌注显像。然后处死,取心肌组织,观察各组新生毛细血管的增生情况。结果L O组干预后同位素图像上感兴趣区(region of interest,ROI)比值(ROI比值=干预区ROI同位素计数/正常区ROI同位素计数)明显提高(P＜0．01),其增幅明显高于其他3组(P值均＜0．05)。L组干预后ROI比值明显高于干预前(P＜0．001),但其增幅与I组、O组的差异无显著性(P值均＞0．05)。I组、O组干预前、后ROI比值的差异无显著性(P值均＞0．05)。高倍镜下,L O组和L组孔道区(孔道为中心0．5mm范围)的新生毛细血管数明显多于孔道周围区(离开孔道1个低倍视野以上,P＜0．01、0．05)。L O组与L组孔道区的差异无显著性(P＞0．05)。结论以TMLR联合大网膜移植较单一使用这两种方法能够更明显改善缺血心肌的灌注。     

Anatomical Regurgitant Orifice Detection and Quantification from 3-D Echocardiographic Images

The vena contracta and effective regurgitant orifice area (EROA) are currently used for the clinical assessment of mitral regurgitation (MR) from 2-D color Doppler imaging. In addition to being highly user dependent and having low repeatability, these methods do not represent accurately the anatomic regurgitant orifice (ARO), which affects the adequate assessment of MR patients. We propose a novel method for semi-automatic detection and quantitative assessment of the 3-D ARO shape from 3-D transesophageal echocardiographic images. The algorithm was tested on a set of 25 patients with MR, and compared with EROA for validation. Results indicate the robustness of the proposed approach, with low variability in relation to different settings of user-defined segmentation parameters. Although EROA and ARO exhibited a good correlation (r = 0.8), relatively large biases were measured, indicating that EROA probably underestimates the real shape and size of the regurgitant orifice. Along with the higher reproducibility of the proposed approach, this highlights the limitations of current clinical approaches and underlines the importance of accurate assessment of the ARO shape for diagnosis and treatment in MR patients.