Relationship between EMG-detected and ultrasound-detected fasciculations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A prospective cohort study

ObjectivesFasciculation potentials (FP) are an important consideration in the electrophysiological diagnosis of ALS. Muscle ultrasonography (MUS) has a higher sensitivity in detecting fasciculations than electromyography (EMG), while in some cases, it is unable to detect EMG-detected fasciculations. We aimed to investigate the differences of FP between the muscles with and without MUS-detected fasciculations (MUS-fas).MethodsThirty-one consecutive patients with sporadic ALS were prospectively recruited and in those, both needle EMG and MUS were performed. Analyses of the amplitude, duration, and number of phases of EMG-detected FPs were performed for seven muscles per patient, and results were compared between the muscles with and without MUS-fas in the total cohort.ResultsThe mean amplitude and phase number of FP were significantly lower in patients with EMG-detected FP alone (0.39 ± 0.25 mV and 3.21 ± 0.88, respectively) than in those with both FP and MUS-fas (1.22 ± 0.92 mV and 3.74 ± 1.39, respectively; p < 0.0001 and p = 0.017, Welch’s t-test).ConclusionSmall FP may be undetectable with MUS. MUS cannot replace EMG in the diagnostic approach for ALS.SignificanceClinicians should use a combination of EMG and MUS for the detection and quantitative analysis of fasciculation in ALS.     

肿瘤性复杂性胸壁缺损的修复策略及对肿瘤治疗的积极影响

复杂性胸壁缺损的修复一直是一项极具挑战性的工作。肿瘤性复杂性胸壁缺损的修复决策及其执行困难是限制胸壁肿瘤治疗方法选择及影响预后的重要因素之一。皮瓣解剖学研究的深入、胸壁支持结构重建技术的进步、显微外科技术的发展、麻醉护理的发展、对综合治疗的重视和治疗手段的进步等,使传统认为不可切除的胸壁肿瘤得以彻底地切除和安全有效地修复,从而使与缺损修复相关的肿瘤切除及辅助治疗的禁忌证缩减到最小程度,有效地提高了胸壁肿瘤患者的生存质量,并很大程度上延长了生存率。作者以湖南省肿瘤医院整形外科15年565例胸壁肿瘤切除后修复重建的临床资料为依据,充实了胸壁肿瘤切除及修复的策略:(1)可靠的胸壁骨性支架重建;(2)有效的软组织修复;(3)麻醉及护理与手术团队的合作;(4)系统有序的综合治疗。并进一步明确了复杂胸壁肿瘤切除及重建的细节理念,包括胸部肿瘤治疗中加强多学科合作的密切性和科学性,整形外科医生参与肿瘤治疗整体规划的主动性和时机前移等。     

Fundamentals about onset and progressive disease character of type 2 diabetes mellitus

ResearchGate is a world wide web for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. As one of the more than 15 million members, the author uploads research output and reads and responds to some of the questions raised, which are related to type 2 diabetes. In that way, he noticed a serious gap of knowledge of this disease among medical professionals over recent decades. The main aim of the current study is to remedy this situation through providing a comprehensive review on recent developments in biochemistry and molecular biology, which can be helpful for the scientific understanding of the molecular nature of type 2 diabetes. To fill up the shortcomings in the curricula of medical education, and to familiarize the medical community with a new concept of the onset of type 2 diabetes, items are discussed like: Insulin resistance, glucose effectiveness, insulin sensitivity, cell membranes, membrane flexibility, unsaturation index (UI; number of carbon-carbon double bonds per 100 acyl chains of membrane phospholipids), slow-down principle, effects of temperature acclimation on phospholipid membrane composition, free fatty acids, energy transport, onset of type 2 diabetes, metformin, and exercise. Based on the reviewed data, a new model is presented with proposed steps in the development of type 2 diabetes, a disease arising as a result of a hypothetical hereditary anomaly, which causes hyperthermia in and around the mitochondria. Hyperthermia is counterbalanced by the slow-down principle, which lowers the amount of carbon-carbon double bonds of membrane phospholipid acyl chains. The accompanying reduction in the UI lowers membrane flexibility, promotes a redistribution of the lateral pressure in cell membranes, and thereby reduces the glucose transporter protein pore diameter of the transmembrane glucose transport channel of all Class I GLUT proteins. These events will set up a reduction in transmembrane glucose transport. So, a new blood glucose regulation system, effective in type 2 diabetes and its prediabetic phase, is based on variations in the acyl composition of phospholipids and operates independent of changes in insulin and glucose concentration. UI assessment is currently arising as a promising analytical technology for a membrane flexibility analysis. An increase in mitochondrial heat production plays a pivotal role in the existence of this regulation system.     

甘肃省和政县农村老年性白内障防盲项目的卫生经济学评价研究

目的 对2014-2016年在甘肃省和政县开展的白内障综合防盲干预项目进行卫生经济学评价。设计 横断面调查。 研究对象 甘肃省和政县2014-2016年老年性白内障手术前407例患者及术后半年109例患者。方法 对所有调查对象进行卫生经济学问卷调查。通过净效益法、成本效益分析法和成本效果分析法评价项目产生的经济效益和总成本。主要指标 直接成本、间接成本、直接经济效益、间接经济效益、总成本、总效益、净效益、成本效益比、成本效果比。结果 2014-2016年项目期间甘肃省和政县白内障所致总体疾病经济负担为2142.28万元。白内障手术产生的总效益为3398424.98元，总成本为2939125.20元，净效益为459299.78元，效益成本比为1.16:1。项目每投入1万元可降低50岁以上白内障患者导致的0.027%的致盲率和0.164%致残率；项目每降低1%的50岁以上白内障患者的盲率，需投入36.47万元；每降低1%50岁以上白内障患者的残率，需投入6.11万元。结论 在甘肃省和政县开展的老年性白内障防盲综合干预项目具有较好的产出回报比和较高的防盲技术效率。（眼科，2020，29： 298-303）     

Morphological,Functional, and Tissue Characterization of Silent Myocardial Involvement in Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis

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How structural and functional MRI can inform dual-site tACS parameters: A case study in a clinical population and its pragmatic implications

BackgroundAbnormalities in frontoparietal network (FPN) were observed in many neuropsychiatric diseases including substance use disorders. A growing number of studies are using dual-site-tACS with frontoparietal synchronization to engage this network. However, a computational pathway to inform and optimize parameter space for frontoparietal synchronization is still lacking. In this case study, in a group of participants with methamphetamine use disorders, we proposed a computational pathway to extract optimal electrode montage while accounting for stimulation intensity using structural and functional MRI.MethodsSixty methamphetamine users completed an fMRI drug cue-reactivity task. Four main steps were taken to define electrode montage and adjust stimulation intensity using 4x1 high-definition (HD) electrodes for a dual-site-tACS; (1) Frontal seed was defined based on the maximum electric fields (EF) predicted by simulation of HD montage over DLPFC (F3/F4 in EEG 10–10), (2) frontal seed-to-whole brain context-dependent correlation was calculated to determine connected regions to frontal seeds, (3) center of connected cluster in parietal cortex was selected as a location for placing the second set of HD electrodes to shape the informed montage, (4) individualized head models were used to determine optimal stimulation intensity considering underlying brain structure. The informed montage was compared to montages with large electrodes and classic frontoparietal HD montages (F3-P3/F4-P4) in terms of tACS-induced EF and ROI-to-ROI task-based/resting-state connectivity.ResultsCompared to the large electrodes, HD frontoparietal montages allow for a finer control of the spatial peak fields in the main nodes of the FPN at the cost of lower maximum EF (large-pad/HD: max EF[V/m] = 0.37/0.11, number of cortical sub-regions that EF exceeds 50% of the max = 77/13). For defining stimulation targets based on EF patterns, using group-level head models compared to a single standard head model results in comparable but significantly different seed locations (6.43 mm Euclidean distance between the locations of the frontal maximum EF in standard-space). As expected, significant task-based/resting-state connections were only found between frontal-parietal locations in the informed montage. Cue-induced craving score was correlated with frontoparietal connectivity only in the informed montage (r = ?0.24). Stimulation intensity in the informed montage, and not in the classic HD montage, needs 40% reduction in the parietal site to reduce the disparity in EF between stimulation sites.ConclusionThis study provides some empirical insights to montage and dose selection in dual-site-tACS using individual brain structures and functions and proposes a computational pathway to use head models and functional MRI to define (1) optimum electrode montage for targeting FPN in a context of interest (drug-cue-reactivity) and (2) proper transcranial stimulation intensity.     

Five-year clinical outcomes using the bioresorbable vascular scaffold: Insights from the FRANCE ABSORB registry

Central illustration: cumulative major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) thrombosis rates after 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years.