Characteristic of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient and Time Intensity Curve Analysis of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI in Osteosarcoma Histopathologic Subtypes

Background: According to WHO criteria, osteosarcoma (OS) consists of various histopathological subtypes. Thus, contrast-enhanced MRI is a very useful modality in the diagnosis and evaluation of osteosarcoma. Magnetic resonance imaging with dynamic contrast enhancement (DCE-MRI) studies was used to determine the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value and the slope of the time-intensity curve (TIC). This study aimed to determine the correlation between ADC and TIC analysis using %Slope and maximum enhancement (ME) of histopathological osteosarcoma subtypes.Methods: This was a retrospective study with observational analysis on OS patients. The obtained data were 43 samples. Moreover, the interpretation was conducted by placing three regions of interest (ROI) in determining ADC value. It was observed by two radiologist observers with more than 10 years of experience. In this case, as many as six obtained ROIs were averaged. The inter-observer agreement was evaluated by Kappa test. TIC curve was analyzed and slope value was obtained afterward. Through SPSS 21 software, the data was analyzed.Results: The mean of ADC values of OS was (1.031x10^-3±0.31mm²/s), where the highest value was found in chondroblastic subtype (1.470 x10^-3±0.31mm²/s). However, the mean of TIC %slope of OS was (45.3%/s), where the highest result was found in the osteoblastic subtype (70.8%/s) followed by small cell subtype (60.8%/s) and the mean of ME of OS was 100.55% with the highest values was in osteoblastic subtype 172.72% followed by chondroblastic subtype (144.92%). This study found a significant correlation between the mean of ADC value and the OS histopathologic results as well as the correlation between the mean of ADC value and ME.Conclusion: The various types of osteosarcoma have a characteristic of radiological appearances which may similar to some bone tumor entities. The analysis of ADC values and TIC curves using % slope and ME of osteosarcoma subtypes can improve the accuracy of diagnosis as well as the monitoring of the treatment response and the disease progression.     

针头斜面向下输液减轻阿奇霉素刺激痛的临床分析

目的:探讨减轻输液疼痛的方法,以提高患者满意度,顺利完成治疗。方法:310例阿奇霉素输液患者随机分成观察组155例和对照组155例,观察组采用头皮针斜面向下输液,对照组采用传统头皮针斜面向上输液,比较两组输液疼痛情况。结果:观察组阿奇霉素输液疼痛比对照组明显减轻,差异有统计学意义(P<0.01)。结论:头皮针斜面向下输液能有效减轻阿奇霉素刺激痛,提高患者的满意度,值得在临床推广。     

Can runners maintain a newly learned gait pattern outside a laboratory environment following gait retraining?

BackgroundPrevious peak tibial shock gait retraining programs, which were usually conducted on a treadmill, were reported to be effective on impact loading reduction in runners. However, whether the trained runners can translate the training effect at different running modes (treadmill/overground), or running slopes (uphill/downhill), remains unknown.Research questionIs the training effect from a treadmill-based gait retraining translatable to unconstrained running conditions, including overground and uphill/downhill running?MethodsThe peak tibial shock was measured during treadmill/overground running, as well as level/uphill/downhill running before and after a course of treadmill-based gait retraining. The 8-session training aimed to soften footfalls using real-time biofeedback of tibial shock data. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to examine the effect of training, running mode, and running slope, on a group level. Reliable change index of each participant was used to assess the individual response to the training protocol used in this study.ResultsEighty percent of the participants were responsive to the gait retraining and managed to reduce their peak tibial shock following training. They managed to translate the training effect to treadmill slope running (Level: p < 0.05, Cohen’s d = 1.65; Uphill: p = 0.001, Cohen’s d = 0.91; Downhill: p < 0.05; Cohen’s d = 1.29) and overground level running (p = 0.014, Cohen’s d = 0.85). However, their peak tibial shock were not reduced during overground slope running (Uphill: p = 0.054; Cohen’s d = 0.62; Downhill p = 0.12; Cohen’s d = 0.48).SignificanceOur findings indicated that a newly learned gait pattern may not fully translate to running outside of the laboratory environment.     

胸椎过度后凸老年女性患者竖脊肌及相关躯体功能特征研究

目的探讨胸椎过度后凸老年女性患者竖脊肌抗疲劳能力,以及肺功能、日常生活活动能力的特征。方法选取112例老年女性,其中胸椎过度后凸者56例为观察组,不伴胸椎过度后凸者56例为对照组。采集两组患者竖脊肌表面肌电信号,采用频域指标中位频率的斜率（MFs）评估竖脊肌抗疲劳能力,同时测量并比较两组患者胸椎后凸Cobb角、肺活量,并进行6min步行试验比较6min步行距离（6MWT）。结果观察组患者胸椎后凸Cobb角大于对照组（P＜0.05）,肺活量、6MWT均小于对照组（均P＜0.05）,竖脊肌|MFs|大于对照组（P＜0.05）。观察组患者竖脊肌|MFs|与胸椎后凸Cobb角呈正相关（r=0.879,P＜0.05）,即观察组患者竖脊肌抗疲劳能力与胸椎后凸Cobb角成负相关。结论胸椎过度后凸老年女性患者竖脊肌抗疲劳能力明显下降,肺活量、日常生活活动能力亦明显下降。     

Divergence Effect Analysis in Disease-Modifying Trials

ABSTRACT

In this article, we propose a novel slope analysis which we call the divergence effect analysis. The slope analysis has been used in disease-modifying neurodegenerative disorder trials to show whether two groups are parallel or two groups diverge. However, the analysis approach has been criticized because it requires the assumption that the disease progression is linear in either group. The proposed approach assesses the trend of treatment difference over time and does not require the linearity assumption in individual treatment groups. If the trend is upward, one concludes that two groups diverge. If the trend is flat, one concludes that two groups are parallel. A real clinical trial example is used to illustrate the challenges of the traditional slope analysis and advantages of the proposed approach.     

A breath sound analysis in children with cough variant asthma

Background

Cough variant asthma (CVA) is characterized by a chronic cough and bronchial hyperresponsiveness without confirmation of wheezing. Using a breath sound analyzer, we evaluate the characteristics of breath sound in children with CVA.

Characteristics of breath sound in infants with risk factors for asthma development

Background

Breath sound parameters have been suggested as biomarkers of the airway narrowing in children. Using a commercially available breath sound analyzer, the characteristics of the airway condition were investigated in infants with the risk factors for asthma development.

Development of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models to predict the carcinogenic potency of chemicals: I. Alternative toxicity measures as an estimator of carcinogenic potency

Determining the carcinogenicity and carcinogenic potency of new chemicals is both a labor-intensive and time-consuming process. In order to expedite the screening process, there is a need to identify alternative toxicity measures that may be used as surrogates for carcinogenic potency. Alternative toxicity measures for carcinogenic potency currently being used in the literature include lethal dose (dose that kills 50% of a study population [LD₅₀]), lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level (LOAEL) and maximum tolerated dose (MTD). The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between tumor dose (TD₅₀) and three alternative toxicity measures as an estimator of carcinogenic potency. A second aim of this study was to develop a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) between TD₅₀ and estimated/experimental predictor variables to predict the carcinogenic potency of new chemicals. Rat TD₅₀s of 590 structurally diverse chemicals were obtained from the Cancer Potency Database, and the three alternative toxicity measures considered in this study were estimated using TOPKAT^®, a toxicity estimation software. Though poor correlations were obtained between carcinogenic potency and the three alternative toxicity (both experimental and TOPKAT) measures for the CPDB chemicals, a CART developed using experimental data with no missing values as predictor variables provided reasonable estimates of TD₅₀ for nine chemicals that were part of an external validation set. However, if experimental values for the three alternative measures, mutagenicity and logP are not available in the literature, then either the CART developed using missing experimental values or estimated values may be used for making a prediction.     

针尖斜面方向对静脉输液速度的影响

目的研究针尖斜面方向对静脉输液速度的影响。方法随机将96例静脉输液患者分为两组,即针尖斜面朝下固定组（实验组）和针尖斜面朝上固定组（对照组）;连续10d,观察每天静脉输液1h后输液速度变化,输液速度每分钟增加或减少5滴以下为稳定,5-10滴为基本稳定,10滴以上为不稳定。结果实验组和对照组输液速度稳定率分别为11．98％、5．46％（P〈0．01）,基本稳定率分别为81．82％、82．35％（P〉0．05）,不稳定率分别为6．20％、12．18％（P〈0．05）。结论针尖斜面朝下,可减少针尖斜面与血管腔内上壁接触或贴附机会,提高输液速度稳定率,使临床输液更安全可靠。     

农村社区卫生服务对卫生服务公平性的影响

目的研究农村社区卫生服务对卫生服务公平性的影响。方法以现况调查资料作为调查组,既往调查数据为基线组。应用对比研究方法,从健康公平性、卫生服务利用公平性、卫生服务提供公平性3个方面对武陟县农村卫生服务公平性进行评价。结果调查组有关指标均好于基线组。结论农村社区卫生服务在改善健康公平性、卫生服务利用和提供公平性方面起到积极的作用。