Association between High Diffusion-Weighted Imaging-Derived Functional Tumor Burden of Peritoneal Carcinomatosis and Overall Survival in Patients with Advanced Ovarian Carcinoma

ObjectiveTo investigate the association between functional tumor burden of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) derived from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and overall survival in patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma (OC).Materials and MethodsThis prospective study was approved by the local research ethics committee, and informed consent was obtained. Fifty patients (mean age ± standard deviation, 57 ± 12 years) with stage III–IV OC scheduled for primary or interval debulking surgery (IDS) were recruited between June 2016 and December 2021. DWI (b values: 0, 400, and 800 s/mm²) was acquired with a 16-channel phased-array torso coil. The functional PC burden on DWI was derived based on K-means clustering to discard fat, air, and normal tissue. A score similar to the surgical peritoneal cancer index was assigned to each abdominopelvic region, with additional scores assigned to the involvement of critical sites, denoted as the functional peritoneal cancer index (fPCI). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the largest lesion was calculated. Patients were dichotomized by immediate surgical outcome into high- and low-risk groups (with and without residual disease, respectively) with subsequent survival analysis using the Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank test. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate the association between DWI-derived results and overall survival.ResultsFifteen (30.0%) patients underwent primary debulking surgery, and 35 (70.0%) patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by IDS. Complete tumor debulking was achieved in 32 patients. Patients with residual disease after debulking surgery had reduced overall survival (p = 0.043). The fPCI/ADC was negatively associated with overall survival when accounted for clinicopathological information with a hazard ratio of 1.254 for high fPCI/ADC (95% confidence interval, 1.007–1.560; p = 0.043).ConclusionA high DWI-derived functional tumor burden was associated with decreased overall survival in patients with advanced OC.     

DECREASE WITH AGE IN FREQUENCY OF THE HOMOZYGOUS DELETIONAL ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME GENOTYPE IN HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS*

1. Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) genotypes in hypertensive patients were studied in order to delineate their cardiovascular risk due to the ACE gene. We hypothesized that the distribution of ACE genotypes may change with age because of the risk of myocardial infarction associated with the homozygous deletional (DD) genotype . 2. A total of 223 subjects were recruited from the Hypertension Outpatient Clinic of the Sai Ying Pun Hospital with consent. They consisted of 75 patients with newly diagnosed or documented hypertension, 46 patients with ischaemic heart disease and 102 normal controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral leucocytes and amplified by polymerase chain reaction. Insertion (I) or deletion (D) alleles were identified after electrophoresis. The frequencies of ACE genotypes and alleles were measured in three age groups: < 50 years, 50-59 years and > 60 years . 3. A significant correlation between ACE genotype and age was found (P= 0.03). The relative frequency of the D allele in those under 50 years of age was similar in controls and hypertensive patients (0.40 vs 0.41; P = 0.94), but was significantly lower in patients ≥ 50 years compared with those patients < 50 years of age (0.22 vs 0.41; P = 0.01) . 4. The observed decrease in frequency of the DD genotype in older hypertensive patients is consistent with the increase in cardiovascular risk associated with the D allele and raises the possibility that the DD genotype may increase the risk of premature death, at least in the population studied .     

Production of both IFN-gamma and IL-5 by Onchocerca volvulus S1 antigen- specific CD4+ T cells from putatively immune individuals

Protective immunity to the parasitic nematode Onchocerca volvulus (Ov) appears to be directed against molecules of invading L3 larvae. In this study, the cellular immune reaction to such an Ov L3 protein (S1) which is protective in an animal model was analyzed using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of individuals from a hyperendemic area in West Africa who were exposed to Ov but remained free from disease ('putatively immune individuals'). Despite seronegativity of these individuals against S1, proliferation of PBMC was inducible, allowing generation of an S1-specific T cell line which produced IFN-gamma upon stimulation with both Ov lysate and S1. However, S1 induced significantly more IL-5 than Ov lysate. S1-specific, DQ6 (DQA1*0103/DQB1*0603)-restricted T cell clones were generated which reacted against synthetic peptides comprising amino acids 99-111 of S1. These clones, which are the first generated against a recombinant fllarial antigen, produced both IFN-gamma and IL-5 as well as little IL- 4, suggestive of a Th0-like phenotype. In conclusion, in putative immunity, reactivity against a particular parasite protein can be detectable on the level of T but not B cells. Induction of both IFN- gamma and IL-5 by S1 suggests that it may trigger macrophage plus eosinophil dependent killing of L3 in vivo. The identification of a likely DQ6 (DQA1*0103/DQB1*0603)-restricted T cell epitope may be of more general relevance, given that allele combinations of DQ6, including DQA1*0103/DQB1*0603, are negatively associated with diabetes mellitus.      

应用Dextroscope软件系统三维重建腰椎及其相关结构的可视化模型

目的：利用Dextroscope软件系统重建腰椎及其相关结构的可视化模型. 方法：实验于2006-11/2007-04在南方医科大学生物力学实验室完成.①实验材料：资料来源为国家863虚拟中国人项目课题组采集的“虚拟中国人女性一号”数据集.螺旋CT（Siemens Somatom Plus4型,西门子）.②实验方法：采用螺旋CT对中国女1号数字人数据集进行轴位断面扫描,扫描技术参数为电压123.0 kV,电流260.0 mA,扫描层厚1.0 mm,进床速度与层厚同步,1 mm/s,螺距为1,连续扫描.扫描范围自第10胸椎至第5腰椎.把CT数据导入Dextroscope软件系统,并转换为8-bit格式,删除图像中多余的部分,缩小数据集,调节对比度.把数据加载到虚拟现实环境中,实现CT数据的可视化,分别对腰椎、竖脊肌、腰大肌、腰方肌、腹主动脉、下腔静脉进行重建,并赋予不同的颜色.重建各部分后将其合成到一个操作界面上.③实验评估：观察脊柱及其相关结构三维重建的结果. 结果：重建的脊柱及其相关结构图像能精确显示其三维空间结构,亦能沿任一轴完成连续旋转,并可进行横断面、矢状面和冠状面及任意方位剖面的实时虚拟切割. 结论：采用Dextroscope软件重建的三维图像成功地实现腰椎及其相关结构的可视化,反映了数字人腰椎部的解剖结构.