Differentiating benign from malignant cardiac tumors with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging

Background

The purpose of this analysis is to describe the differences in cardiac magnetic resonance characteristics between benign and malignant tumors, which would be helpful for surgical planning.

Stage 1 acute kidney injury is independently associated with infection following cardiac surgery

ObjectivesSevere acute kidney injury (AKI) is a known risk factor for infection and mortality. However, whether stage 1 AKI is a risk factor for infection has not been evaluated in adults. We hypothesized that stage 1 AKI following cardiac surgery would independently associate with infection and mortality.MethodsIn this retrospective propensity score–matched study, we evaluated 1620 adult patients who underwent nonemergent cardiac surgery at the University of Colorado Hospital from 2011 to 2017. Patients who developed stage 1 AKI by Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes creatinine criteria within 72 hours of surgery were matched to patients who did not develop AKI. The primary outcome was an infection, defined as a new surgical-site infection, positive blood or urine culture, or development of pneumonia. Secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality, stroke, and intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital length of stay (LOS).ResultsStage 1 AKI occurred in 293 patients (18.3%). Infection occurred in 20.9% of patients with stage 1 AKI compared with 8.1% in the no-AKI group (P < .001). In propensity-score matched analysis, stage 1 AKI independently associated with increased infection (odds ratio [OR]; 2.24, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.37-3.17), ICU LOS (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.71–3.31), and hospital LOS (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.17-1.45).ConclusionsStage 1 AKI is independently associated with postoperative infection, ICU LOS, and hospital LOS. Treatment strategies focused on prevention, early recognition, and optimal medical management of AKI may decrease significant postoperative morbidity.     

Geographical Origin and Level Identification of Frankincense Based on Hyperspectral Image

Background: As the demand for traditional Chinese medicinal materials increases in China and even the world, there is an urgent need for an effective and simple identification technology to identify the origin and quality of the latter and ensure the safety of clinical medication. Mineral element analysis and isotope finger-printing are the two commonly used techniques in traditional origin identification. Both of these techniques require the use of stoichiometric methods in the identification process. Although they have high accuracy and sensitivity, they are expensive and inefficient. In addition, near-infrared spectroscopy is a fast, nondestructive, and widely used identification technique developed in recent years, but its identification results are susceptible to samples’ states and environmental conditions, and its sensitivity is low. Hyperspectral imaging combines the advantages of imaging technology and optical technology, which can simultaneously access the image information and spectral information which reflect the external characteristics, internal physical structure, and chemical composition of the samples. Hyperspectral imaging is widely applied to agricultural product inspection, but research into its application in origin and quality identification of TCM materials is rare. Methods: In this study, the algorithm framework discriminative marginalized least squares regression (DMLSR) was used for feature extraction of frankincense hyperspectral data. The DMLSR with intraclass compactness graph and manifold regularization can efficiently learn the projective samples with higher separability and less redundant information than the original samples. Then, the discriminative collaborative representation with Tikhonov regularization (DCRT) was applied for classifying the geographical origin and level of frankincense. DCRT introducesthe discriminant regularization term and incorporates SID, which is more sensitive to the spectrum as the measurement method and is more suitable for the frankincense spectral data compared with SVM. Results: For the origin classification task, samples of all levels from each origin were, respectively, selected for three?way classification. We used 10-fold cross-validation to select a model parameter in the experiment. When obtaining the optimal parameters, we randomly selected the training set and testing set, where the training set accounts for 70% and the training set for 30%. After repeating this random process 10 times, we obtained the final average classification accuracy, which is higher than 90%, and the standard deviation fluctuation is usually small. For the level classification task, samples of each level from three origins were separately selected for multiclassification. We randomly selected the training set and testing set from each origin. The level classification results of the three origins are good on D4350 data, and the classification accuracy of each level is basically above 80%. Conclusion: Experiments and analysis show that our algorithm framework has excellent classification performance, which is stable in origin classification and has potential for generalization. In addition, the experiments show that in our algorithm framework, different classification tasks need to combine different data sources to achieve better classification and recognition, as the origin classification task uses frankincense’s D3000 data, and level classification task uses frankincense’s D4350 data.     

影响重型肝炎预后的因素分析

目的研究重型肝炎的各种预后因素的重要性。方法选择2000年1月至2004年12月我院收治的重型肝炎患者358例,分为好转治愈组和恶化死亡组,将两组的临床资料进行单因素和多因素分析。结果两组之间在凝血酶原活动度、肝性脑病、总胆红素和天冬氨酸氨基转移酶/丙氨酸氨基转移酶等方面有显著性差异(P<0.05)。结论凝血酶原活动度、肝性脑病、总胆红素和天冬氨酸氨基转移酶/丙氨酸氨基转移酶比值等可以作为判断重型肝炎预后的指标,对指导临床有一定价值。     

Comparison of diagnostic usefulness of predictive models in preliminary differentiation of adnexal masses

The purpose of this study was to compare prognostic models evaluating the probability of an ovarian cancer occurrence based on a number of clinical and ultrasonographic data in women with adnexal masses. A total of 686 women with adnexal masses underwent the examinations between 1994 and 2002. The recorded parameters included: age, menopausal status, body mass index, the grayscale and Doppler ultrasonographic examination, and selected markers concentration levels. In order to find the best combination of features, which significantly influences the probability of malignancy, stepwise logistic regression analysis, as well as artificial neural network, was used. The diagnostic efficiency of received models was estimated and compared using receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve. The results indicate that 431 and 255 patients had a benign and malignant ovarian tumor, respectively. Application of stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed statistically significant importance of eight features. The sensitivity and specificity for the received model were 65.71% and 77.59%, respectively. Three-layer perceptron network shows 13 features as significant predictors of malignancy. The network gave a sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 93.1%. Comparison of area under ROC curve for received models was 0.9679 vs 0.9716. Prognostic values of the analyzed neural model are not optimal but seem to surpass logistic regression model in terms of the predictive possibilities.     

Preventing heart disease: is treating the high risk sufficient?

Monte Carlo simulation was used to assess the effects of several intervention strategies on coronary heart disease mortality rates in a Finnish and a North American cohort. Lowering total serum cholesterol by 4%, smoking by 15%, and diastolic blood pressure by 3% for the whole cohort would be expected to reduce the incidence of non-fatal myocardial infarction by at least 13% and coronary heart disease deaths by at least 18%. Lowering serum cholesterol by 34%, diastolic blood pressure to 90 mmHg, and reducing smoking by 20% in the subset of the population with all three risk factors in the highest quartile would result in a 6-8% reduction in non-fatal myocardial infarction and a 2-9% reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease in these cohorts. These data demonstrate that in populations with a relatively high incidence of heart disease, treating the entire population will produce larger effects than focusing only on high-risk populations.     

Multiple regression analysis of twin data obtained from selected samples

The multiple regression analysis of twin data in which a cotwin's score is predicted from that of a proband (the member of a twin pair selected because of a deviant score) and the coefficient of relationship provides a powerful test of genetic etiology (DeFries and Fulker: Behav Genet 15:467-473, 1985). Moreover, when an augmented model containing an interaction term is fitted to the same data set, direct estimates of heritability (h2) and the proportion of variance owing to shared environmental influences (c2) are also obtained. In the present paper, the expected partial regression coefficients estimated from these models are derived, and the flexibility of the general approach is illustrated. An extended model is formulated for the analysis of data from combined samples of affected and control twin pairs that yields tests for differential h2 and c2 in the two groups as well as pooled estimates of these parameters. The application of these models is illustrated by an analysis of data from reading-disabled and control twin pairs. Because of the ease, flexibility, and utility of the multiple regression analysis of twin data, it is an appealing alternative to more traditional model-fitting approaches.     

影响利培酮治疗精神分裂症疗效因素分析

目的　探讨影响利培酮对精神分裂症疗效的关键因素。方法　对 57例单用利培酮治疗的精神分裂症患者 ,采用一系列标准评定工具对 39个临床指标进行定量或半定量评估。并作Logistic回归分析。将治疗后简明精神病评定量表 (BPRS)减分率≥ 30 %者确定为“有效”。结果　单因素分析显示 :服药依从性 ,MMPI中Sc、Si、D因子 ,治疗前BPRS 2和BPRS 4因子 ,TESS 3因子 ,家族史 ,起病形式 ,意识模糊 ,住院时间与利培酮疗效有关 ;经多因素分析有服药依从性 ,MMPI(Sc) ,BPRS 2 ,家族史 ,意识模糊等 5个指标选入回归方程。结论　影响利培酮对精神分裂症疗效的关键因素依次为服药依从性 ,MMPI中精神分裂因子 ,阴性症状 ,家族史及意识模糊     

Spontaneous regression of a temporal arachnoid cyst

Surgery is considered to be the standard therapy for arachnoid cysts (ACs). We report the case of a 13-year-old boy in whom a right temporal AC disappeared spontaneously over a period of 10 years. Bulging of the right temporal skull led to the detection of the cyst by computed tomography (CT) scan at the age of 3 years. There were no other clinical symptoms. Subsequent CT scans showed spontaneous regression of the cyst without surgical intervention. The question as to how ACs should be treated is discussed.