Early Assessment of Response to Radiofrequency Ablation With CT Perfusion Imaging in Rabbit VX2 Liver Tumor Model.

Objectives: To discriminate viable tumors from benign periablational enhancement (BPE) in early stage after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a major confounding problem. The goal of this study is to evaluate quantitative assessment and diagnostic value of CT perfusion between viable tumors and BPE after RFA in the rabbit liver VX2 tumor model, with pathological results as the standard.

Methods: Twenty-eight VX2 liver tumors were treated with RFA, on days 1, 3, 7, and 14, seven rabbits were randomly chosen for CT perfusion and performed pathology examinations immediately.

The circular RNA expression profile in ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma reveals a complex circRNA-miRNA regulatory network.

Background: Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma is one of the most serious gynecological malignancies. Circular RNA (circRNA) is a type of noncoding RNA with a covalently closed continuous loop structure. Abnormal circRNA expression might be associated with tumorigenesis because of its complex biological mechanisms by, for example, functioning as a microRNA (miRNA) sponge.

A high-throughput pipeline for scalable kit-free RNA extraction.

An overreliance on commercial, kit-based RNA extraction in the molecular diagnoses of infectious disease presents a challenge in the event of supply chain disruptions and can potentially hinder testing capacity in times of need. In this study, we adapted a well-established, robust TRIzol-based RNA extraction protocol into a high-throughput format through miniaturization and automation. The workflow was validated by RT-qPCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection to illustrate its scalability without interference to downstream diagnostic sensitivity and accuracy.

Microbolometer with a salicided polysilicon thermistor in CMOS technology.

The metal-type microbolometers in CMOS technology normally suffer low resistivity and high thermal conductivity, limiting their performance and application areas. In this paper, we demonstrate a polysilicon microbolometer fabricated in 0.18 µm CMOS and post-CMOS processes.

Type I Interferon Promotes Antitumor T Cell Response in CRPC by Regulating MDSC.

Background: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is the leading cause of death among prostate cancer patients. Here, our aim was to ascertain the immune regulatory mechanisms involved in CRPC development and identify potential immunotherapies against CRPC.

Methods: A CRPC model was established using Myc-CaP cells in immune-competent FVB mice following castration.

Prognostic value of preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in histological variants of non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Purpose: Many studies identified that the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (PNLR) was associated with patient prognosis in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). We hypothesized that PNLR could be prognostic in patients with histological variants of NMIBC (VH-NMIBC).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included patients with VH-NMIBC admitted at our center between January 2009 and May 2019.

Identification of key genes for HNSCC from public databases using bioinformatics analysis.

Background: The cause and underlying molecular mechanisms of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are unclear. Our study aims to identify the key genes associated with HNSCC and reveal potential biomarkers.

Methods: In this study, the expression profile dataset GSE83519 of the Gene Expression Omnibus database and the RNA sequencing dataset of HNSCC of The Cancer Genome Atlas were included for analysis.

Clinical Efficacy of Functional Electrical Stimulation-assisted Rehabilitation Cycling on the Function of Lower Limbs in Patients with Stroke.

Objective: To explore the efficacy of functional electrical stimulation (FES)-assisted rehabilitation cycling on the functional recovery of lower limbs in patients with hemiplegic stroke and the assessment value of surface electromyography (sEMG).

Methods: A total of 66 patients with stroke accompanied by hemiplegia of the lower limbs were enrolled in the present prospective study and randomly divided into the experimental group and control group, with 33 patients in each group. FES-assisted rehabilitation cycling was applied in the experimental group, while only rehabilitation cycling was performed without setting the stimulation parameters in the control group.

The Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Functional Electrical Stimulation on the Lower Limb Function of Stroke Patients.

This study aimed to research the effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and functional electrical stimulation (FES) on the lower limb function of post-convalescent stroke patients. A total of 122 patients in the stroke recovery stage who suffered from leg dysfunction were randomly divided into two groups: a tDCS group ( = 61) and a FES group ( = 61). All patients received same routine rehabilitation and equal treatment quality, the tDCS group was treated with tDCS, while the FES group received FES.

Retroperitoneal bronchogenic cyst in suprarenal region treated by laparoscopic resection: A case report.

Background: Bronchogenic cysts (BCs) are benign congenital foregut malformations that are mostly present in the mediastinum and pulmonary parenchyma but rarely seen in the retroperitoneum.

Case Summary: We report the case of 17-year-old girl who complained of epigastric pain. A cystic lesion was found in the left suprarenal region on spectral computed tomography.

Corrigendum: Distribution and Diversity of Comammox in Coastal Wetlands of China.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.

Impact of Soil Disinfestation on Fungal and Bacterial Communities in Soil With Cucumber Cultivation.

Soil treatment with disinfectants has been used for controlling soilborne phytopathogens. Besides suppressing specific pathogens, how these disinfectants impact soil health, especially soil microbial communities, is yet to be systemically determined. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of three representative disinfectants, including the dazomet fumigant, fenaminosulf fungicide, and kasugamycin antibiotic on chemical properties, enzymatic activities, and microbial communities in soil for cucumber cultivation.

SRT1720 inhibits the growth of bladder cancer in organoids and murine models through the SIRT1-HIF axis.

There are unmet clinical needs for novel therapeutic targets and drugs for bladder cancer. Majority of previous work relied on limited bladder cancer cell lines, which could not well represent the tumor heterogeneity and pathology of this disease. Recently, it has been shown that cancer organoids can recapitulate pathological and molecular properties of bladder cancer.

Artificial Intelligence Applications in Intracranial Aneurysm: Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities.

Intracranial aneurysms present in about 3% of the general population and the number of detected aneurysms is continuously rising with the advances in imaging techniques. Intracranial aneurysm rupture carries a high risk of death or permanent disabilities; therefore assessment of the intracranial aneurysm along the entire course is of great clinical importance. Given the outstanding performance of artificial intelligence (AI) in image-based tasks, many AI-based applications have emerged in recent years for the assessment of intracranial aneurysms.

Protein arginine methyltransferases and hepatocellular carcinoma: A review.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers with a high mortality rate worldwide. The complexity of HCC initiation and progression poses a great challenge to the diagnosis and treatment. An increasing number of studies have focused on the emerging roles of protein arginine methylation in cancers, including tumor growth, invasion, metastasis, metabolism, immune responses, chemotherapy sensitivity, etc.

Crab bioturbation alters nitrogen cycling and promotes nitrous oxide emission in intertidal wetlands: Influence and microbial mechanism.

Intertidal wetlands provide important ecosystem functions by acting as nitrogen (N) cycling hotspots, which can reduce anthropogenic N loading from land to coastal waters. Benthic bioturbations are thought to play an important role in mediating N cycling in intertidal marshes. However, how the burrowing activity of benthos and their microbial symbionts affect N transformation and greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (NO) emission remains unclear in these environments.

Disrupted Topological Organization in White Matter Networks in Unilateral Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is a sudden-onset hearing impairment that rapidly develops within 72 h and is mostly unilateral. Only a few patients can be identified with a defined cause by routine clinical examinations. Recently, some studies have shown that unilateral SSNHL is associated with alterations in the central nervous system.

A hypoxia related long non-coding RNA signature could accurately predict survival outcomes in patients with bladder cancer.

Hypoxia plays a significant role in tumor progression. This study aimed to develop a hypoxia-related long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) signature for predicting survival outcomes of patients with bladder cancer (BC). The transcriptome and clinicopathologic data were downloaded from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database.

Inverse Association Between Infection and Unexplained Isolated Terminal Ileitis: A Retrospective Study.

Background: Isolated terminal ileitis (ITI) is a phenomenon often observed during colonoscopy, but in most cases, the specific etiology of ITI is unclear. () infection has been reported to be associated with a wide variety of diseases, especially gastrointestinal diseases. Here, we conducted a retrospective study to explore a potential correlation between infection and unexplained ITI (UITI).

Salinity gradients shape the nitrifier community composition in Nanliu River Estuary sediments and the ecophysiology of comammox Nitrospira inopinata.

The recent discovery of complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), which convert ammonia to nitrate in a single organism, revolutionized the conventional understanding that two types of nitrifying microorganisms have to be involved in the nitrification process for more than 100 years. However, how different types of nitrifiers in response to salinity change remains largely unclear. This study not only investigated nitrifier community (including ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), comammox and nitrite-oxidizing Nitrospira) in the Nanliu estuary to find the ecological relationship between salinity and functional communities and also studied the physiology of a typical comammox Nitrospira inopinata in response to a salinity gradient.

Development and Validation of a Hypoxia-Related Signature for Predicting Survival Outcomes in Patients With Bladder Cancer.

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and validate a hypoxia signature for predicting survival outcomes in patients with bladder cancer.

Methods: We downloaded the RNA sequence and the clinicopathologic data of the patients with bladder cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (https://portal.gdc.

Association of sex hormones with hepatic steatosis in men with chronic hepatitis B.

Background: No study on the relationship between hepatic steatosis and sex hormone levels in male patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection has been conducted.

Aims: We aimed to investigate the association between serum sex hormones and hepatic steatosis among a cohort of males with CHB.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 268 male patients with CHB were enrolled.

Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma at CT: A Combined Nomogram Model to Preoperatively Predict Cancer Stage and Survival Outcome.

Objectives: To construct a nomogram model that combines clinical characteristics and radiomics signatures to preoperatively discriminate pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in stage I-II and III-IV and predict overall survival.

Methods: A total of 135 patients with histopathologically confirmed PDAC who underwent contrast-enhanced CT were included. A total of 384 radiomics features were extracted from arterial phase (AP) or portal venous phase (PVP) images.

Quantitative dual-energy CT for evaluating hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization.

We aimed to investigate the role of the quantitative parameters of dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) in evaluating patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). We retrospectively identified 80 HCC patients (mean age, 56 years; 61 men) treated by TACE who received contrast-enhanced DECT and were retreated by TACE within 7 days between November 2018 and December 2019. Taking digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and CT images as reference standard, two readers measured and calculated the values of normalized iodine concentration at arterial phase (NICAP), normalized iodine concentration at portal venous phase (NICPP), iodine concentration difference (ICD), arterial iodine fraction (AIF) and slope of the spectral Hounsfield unit curve (λ) by placing matched regions of interests (ROIs) within the tumor active area (TAA), adjacent normal hepatic parenchyma (ANHP) and tumor necrotic area (TNA).