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Objective: To build T2WI-based multiregional radiomics for predicting tumor deposit (TD) and prognosis in patients with resectable rectal cancer. Materials and methods: A total of 208 patients with pathologically confirmed rectal cancer from two hospitals were prospectively enrolled. Intra- and peritumoral features were extracted separately from T2WI images and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator was used to screen the most valuable radiomics features. Clinical-radiomics nomogram was developed by radiomics signatures and the most predictive clinical parameters. Prognostic model for 3-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) was constructed using univariate and multivariate Cox analysis. Results: For TD, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for intratumoral radiomics model was 0.956, 0.823, and 0.860 in the training cohort, test cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. AUC for the peritumoral radiomics model was 0.929, 0.906, and 0.773 in the training cohort, test cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. The AUC for combined intra- and peritumoral radiomics model was 0.976, 0.918, and 0.874 in the training cohort, test cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. The AUC for clinical-radiomics nomogram was 0.989, 0.777, and 0.870 in the training cohort, test cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. The prognostic model constructed by combining intra- and peritumoral radiomics signature score (radscore)–based TD and MRI-reported lymph nodes metastasis (LNM) indicated good performance for predicting 3-year RFS, with AUC of 0.824, 0.865, and 0.738 in the training cohort, test cohort and external validation cohort, respectively. Conclusion: Combined intra- and peritumoral radiomics model showed good performance for predicting TD. Combining intra- and peritumoral radscore-based TD and MRI-reported LNM indicated the recurrence risk. Clinical relevance statement: Combined intra- and peritumoral radiomics model could help accurately predict tumor deposits. Combining this predictive model-based tumor deposits with MRI-reported lymph node metastasis was associated with relapse risk of rectal cancer after surgery. Key Points: • Combined intra- and peritumoral radiomics model provided better diagnostic performance than that of intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics model alone for predicting TD in rectal cancer. • The predictive performance of the clinical-radiomics nomogram was not improved compared with the combined intra- and peritumoral radiomics model for predicting TD. • The prognostic model constructed by combining intra- and peritumoral radscore-based TD and MRI-reported LNM showed good performance for assessing 3-year RFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Chemical Constituents from Balanophora involucrata" discusses the chemical compounds found in Balanophora involucrata, a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. The plant contains triterpenoids, lignans, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, which have various medicinal effects such as anti-tumor, anti-HIV, and anti-inflammatory properties. The article explains the methods used to extract and identify these compounds, providing detailed information on each compound's properties. This research contributes to our understanding of the medicinal properties of Balanophora involucrata and expands our knowledge of its chemical composition. The article also acknowledges the financial support received for the research. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic performance of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from intratumoral and peritumoral zones for assessing pathologic prognostic factors in rectal cancer. Materials and methods: One hundred forty-six patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative MRI were prospectively enrolled. Two radiologists independently placed free-hand regions of interest (ROIs) in the largest tumor cross section and three small ROIs on the peritumoral zone adjacent to the tumor contour. Maximum values of tumor ADC (ADCtmax), minimum values of tumor ADC (ADCtmin), mean values of tumor ADC (ADCtmean), mean values of peritumor ADC (ADCpmean), and ADCpmean/ADCtmean (ADC ratio) were obtained on ADC maps and correlated with prognostic factors using uni- and multivariate logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Results: Interobserver agreement was excellent for ADCtmax and ADCtmean (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.915–0.958), and were good for ADCtmin, ADCpmean, and ADC ratio (ICC, 0.774–0.878). The ADC ratio was significantly higher in the poor differentiation, T3–4 stage, lymph node metastasis (LNM)–positive, extranodal extension (ENE)–positive, tumor deposit (TD)–positive, and lymphovascular invasion (LVI)–positive groups than that in the well–moderate differentiation, T1–2 stage, LNM-negative, ENE-negative, TD-negative, and LVI-negative groups (p = 0.008, < 0.001, < 0.001, 0.001, < 0.001, and < 0.001, respectively). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the ADC ratio was the highest for assessing poor differentiation (0.700), T3–4 stage (0.707), LNM-positive (0.776), TD-positive (0.848), and LVI-positive (0.778). Both the ADC ratio (AUC = 0.677) and ADCpmean (AUC = 0.686) showed higher diagnostic performance for assessing ENE. Conclusion: The ADC ratio could provide better predictive performance for assessing preoperative prognostic factors in resectable rectal cancer. Key Points: • Both the peritumor/tumor ADC ratio and ADCpmeanare correlated with important prognostic factors of resectable rectal cancer. • Both peritumor ADC and peritumor/tumor ADC ratio had higher diagnostic performance than tumor ADC for assessment of prognostic factors in resectable rectal cancer. • Peritumor/tumor ADC ratio showed the most capability for the assessment of prognostic factors in resectable rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of extended light/dark (L/D) cycle period (relative to the diurnal L/D cycle) on lettuce and explore potential advantages of abnormal L/D cycles, butter leaf lettuce were grown in a plant factory with artificial light (PFAL) and exposed to mixed red (R) and blue (B) LED light with different L/D cycles that were respectively 16 h light/8 h dark (L16/D8, as control), L24/D12, L48/D24, L96/D48 and L120/D60. The results showed that, all the abnormal L/D cycles increased shoot dry weight (DW) of lettuce (by 34–83%) compared with the control, and lettuce DW increased with the L/D cycle period prolonged. The contents of soluble sugar and crude fiber in lettuce showed an overall upward trend with the length of L/D cycle extended, and the highest vitamin C content as well as low nitrate content were both detected in lettuce treated with L120/D60. The light use efficiency (LUE) and electric use efficiency (EUE) of lettuce reached the maximum (respectively 5.37% and 1.76%) under L120/D60 treatment and so were DW, Assimilation rate (A), RC/CS, ABS/CS, TRo/CS and DIo/CS, indicating that longer L/D cycle period was beneficial for the assimilation efficiency and dry matter accumulation in lettuce leaves. The highest shoot fresh weight (FW) and nitrate content detected in lettuce subjected to L24/D12 may be related to the vigorous growth of root, specific L/D cycle seemed to strengthen root growth and water absorption of lettuce. The openness level of RC in PSII (Ψo), ETo/CS, and PIabs were all the highest in lettuce treated with L24/D12, implying that slightly extending the L/D cycle period might promote the energy flowing to the final electron transfer chain. In general, irradiation modes with extended L/D cycle period had the potential to improve energy use efficiency and biomass of lettuce in PFAL. No obvious stress or injury was detected in lettuce subjected to prolonged L/D cycles in terms of plant growth and production. From the perspective of shoot FW, the optimal treatment in this study was L24/D12, while L120/D60 was the recommended treatment as regards of the energy use efficiency and nutritional quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since red (R) and blue (B) LED light has different quantum efficiency and photoelectric conversion efficiency, mixed RB with different proportions of R and B results in varied energy consumption. In order to improve the energy use efficiency of the closed-type plant production systems, the effects of R and B proportions on the electric use efficiency (EUE), light use efficiency (LUE) as well as the quality of butter leaf lettuce were evaluated in this study. Lettuce seedlings were cultivated in a plant factory with artificial lighting (PFAL) and subjected to eleven combinations of R and B (100%R, 90%R, 80%R, 70%R, 60%R, 50%R, 40%R, 30%R, 20%R, 10%R, 0%R; the rest of the photons in each treatment were B) with the same total photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) and photoperiod (200 ± 3 μmol·m−2·s−1, 16 h) for 35 days. The results showed that palpable petiole distortion appeared when R proportion was more than 70% and the distortion was aggravated with the increase of R proportion. The highest EUE and LUE were both detected in lettuce under 90%R treatment, which were respectively 3.64% and 1.20%. The least number of photons and the least electricity amount required to produce 1 g dry weight of lettuce was respectively 2.92 mol and 1.67 MJ, which were both detected in lettuce treated with 90%R. The sucrose content in lettuce treated with more than 50%R was significantly higher than those treated with less than 50%R (50%R included). Lettuce treated with 80%R possessed the highest soluble sugar content as well as the lowest crude fiber and nitrate content (not significantly different with the minimum values). R proportion exceeding 50% in mixed RB light was beneficial to the accumulation of hexose and sucrose, as well as the decomposition of nitrate in lettuce. The vitamin C content in lettuce treated with 100%R was significantly higher than that in lettuce under other treatments in the study. On the whole, the study indicated that the proportions of R and B affected the energy use efficiency and quality of lettuce in closed plant factory, however the responses of plants to the proportions of R and B varied according to different indexes. Thus, some indexes of top priority should be determined before choosing the optimal proportions of R and B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) are important vision-threatening diseases worldwide. For effective treatment, the risk factors for the diseases merit investigation. This study aimed to compare the risk factors for nAMD vs. PCV in Chinese patients.Methods: A total of 946 participants were recruited in this case-control study, including 281 patients with nAMD, 306 patients with PCV, and 359 controls. All participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. Information on risk factors were collected by questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the difference in risk factors between nAMD and PCV. In a subgroup of subjects, serum lipid data were obtained and analyzed.Results: Risk factors for nAMD included older age (OR 1.03, P = 0.001), male gender (OR 1.55, P = 0.020), asthma (OR 2.50, P = 0.028), smoking (OR 1.92, P = 0.001), and family history (OR 6.82, P = 0.001), while smoking (OR 1.67, P = 0.013) was the only risk factor for PCV. Compared to patients with PCV, patients with nAMD were more likely to be older and suffer from hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, rheumatism, and tumor. Interestingly, higher levels of high-density lipoprotein were positively associated with PCV in the subgroup analysis (OR 7.74, P = 0.011). Besides, results were quite different between the combination of patients with nAMD and PCV and patients with nAMD or PCV alone.Conclusions: The risk factors for nAMD and PCV is varying with the exception of smoking. Our findings suggest that different strategies might be applied in the clinical management and scientific research on nAMD and PCV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigative the performance of MRI-radiomics analysis derived from T2WI and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) images before and after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (nCRT) separately or simultaneously for predicting post-nCRT lymph node status in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Materials and Methods: Eighty-three patients (training cohort, n = 57; validation cohort, n = 26) with LARC between June 2017 and December 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. All the radiomics features were extracted from volume of interest on T2WI and ADC images from baseline and post-nCRT MRI. Delta-radiomics features were defined as the difference between radiomics features before and after nCRT. Seven clinical-radiomics models were constructed by combining the most predictive radiomics signatures and clinical parameters selected from support vector machine. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the performance of models. The optimum model-based LNM was applied to assess 5-years disease-free survival (DFS) using Kaplan–Meier analysis. The end point was clinical or radiological locoregional recurrence or distant metastasis during postoperative follow-up. Results: Clinical-deltaADC radiomics combined model presented good performance for predicting post-CRT LNM in the training (AUC = 0.895,95%CI:0.838–0.953) and validation cohort (AUC = 0.900,95%CI:0.771–1.000). Clinical-deltaADC radiomics-postT2WI radiomics combined model also showed good performances (AUC = 0.913,95%CI:0.838–0.953) in the training and (AUC = 0.912,95%CI:0.771–1.000) validation cohort. As for subgroup analysis, clinical-deltaADC radiomics combined model showed good performance predicting LNM in ypT0-T2 (AUC = 0.827;95%CI:0.649–1.000) and ypT3-T4 stage (AUC = 0.934;95%CI:0.864–1.000). In ypT0-T2 stage, clinical-deltaADC radiomics combined model-based LNM could assess 5-years DFS (P = 0.030). Conclusion: Clinical-deltaADC radiomics combined model could predict post-nCRT LNM, and this combined model-based LNM was associated with 5-years DFS in ypT0-T2 stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "A comparison of risk factors for age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in Chinese patients" has been retracted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study evaluated the growth response and sugar accumulation of lettuce exposed to different lighting modes of red and blue LED light based on the same daily light integral (7.49 μmol·m−2). Six lighting treatments were performed, that were monochromatic red light (R), monochromatic blue light (B), simultaneous red and blue light as the control (RB, R:B = 1:1), mixed modes of R, B and RB (R/RB/B, 4 h R to 4 h RB and then 4 h B), and alternating red and blue light with alternating intervals of 4 h and 1 h respectively recorded as R/B(4 h) and R/B(1 h). The Results showed that different irradiation modes led to obvious morphological changes in lettuce. Among all the treatments, the highest fresh and dry weight of lettuce shoot were both detected with R/B(1 h), significantly higher than the other treatments. Compared with plants treated with RB, the contents of fructose, glucose, crude fiber as well as the total sweetness index (TSI) of lettuce were significantly enhanced by R treatment; meanwhile, monochromatic R significantly promoted the activities of sucrose degrading enzymes such as acid invertase (AI) and neutral invertase (NI), while obviously reduced the activity of sucrose synthesizing enzyme (SPS). Additionally. The highest contents of sucrose and starch accompanied with the strongest activity of SPS were detected in plants treated with R/B(1 h). The alternating treatments R/B(4 h) and R/B(1 h) inhibited the activity of SS, while enhanced that of SPS compared with the other treatments, indicating that different light environment might influence sugar compositions via regulating the activities of sucrose metabolism enzymes. On the whole, R/B(1 h) was the optimal lighting strategy in terms of lettuce yield, taste and energy use efficiency in the present study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, whether endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is superior to conventional TBNA (cTBNA) in the diagnosis of mediastinal lymphadenopathy remains controversial. We undertook a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the diagnostic yield of EBUS-TBNA versus cTBNA in the diagnosis of mediastinal lymphadenopathy, both in benign and malignant etiologies. Computer-based retrieval was performed on PubMed and EMBASE. The quality was evaluated according to the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies-2, and Meta-Disc was adopted to perform meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The summary receiving operating characteristic curve as well as the areas under curve (AUC) was measured. Four studies with a total of 440 patients met the inclusion criteria. Our results showed that the pooled sensitivity was 0.90 (95 % CI 0.85-0.94) and 0.76 (95 % CI 0.68-0.82), pooled specificity was 0.75 (95 % CI 0.60-0.87) and 0.94 (95 % CI 0.86-0.98), DOR was 75.38 (95 % CI 16.38-346.97) and 108.17 (95 % CI 13.84-845.35), and AUC was 0.9339 and 0.9732 for EBUS-TBNA group and cTBNA group, respectively. Although EBUS-TBNA with a higher sensitivity performs better than cTBNA, there is lack of enough evidence regarding EBUS-TBNA being superior to cTBNA in the diagnosis of mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Considering the limitations of methodology and limited data, further robust RCTs are needed to verify the current findings and investigate the optimal choice in patients receiving TBNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two coordination polymers, [M(cbdc)(bipy)(HO)] [M = Zn ( 1), Cd ( 2)]. (Hcbdc = 1,1-cyclobutane dicarboxylic acid, bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine), have been synthesized by using Zn(II)/Cd(II) acetate with cbdc and bipy ligands under hydrothermal conditions. Their structures have been characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectroscopy, single-crystal X-ray crystallography and powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Complexes 1 and 2 are isostructural and show a 3D pillared-layer network with (3,4)-connected InS topology. The luminescent properties of the complexes and the free ligand have been investigated. Graphical Abstract: Two novel coordination polymers based on the flexible alicyclic dicarboxylic acid ligand 1,1-cyclobutane dicarboxylic acid (Hcbdc) ligand have been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions. Complexes 1 and 2 are isostructural and show a 3D pillared-layer network with (3,4)-connected InS topology. The luminescent properties of the complexes and the free ligand have been investigated.[Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) volume and apparent diffusion coefficient values (ADCs) for assessing lymph node metastases (LNM) and good response after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). Materials and methods: This retrospective study consisted of 61 patients with LARC who underwent pre- and post-CRT DW images. Two radiologists independently placed free-hand regions of interest in each tumor-containing section on DW images to calculate pre- and post-CRT tumor volume and tumor volume reduction rates (Δvolume). Regions of interest were drawn to include tumor on maximum cross-sectional slice to obtain ADCs. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated to evaluate diagnostic performance in identifying LNM and good response after CRT using these parameters. Results: Inter-observer agreement and intra-observer agreement were excellent for pre- and post-CRT DW MR volume (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.889–0.948) and moderate for pre- and post-CRT ADCs (ICC, 0.535–0.811). AUCs for identifying LNM were 0.508 for pre-CRT DW MR volume versus 0.705 for pre-CRT ADC, 0.855 for post-CRT DW MR volume versus 0.679 for post-CRT ADC, and 0.887 for Δvolume versus 0.533 for ΔADC. AUCs for identifying good response were 0.518 for pre-CRT volume versus 0.506 for pre-CRT ADC, 0.975 for post-CRT volume versus 0.723 for post-CRT ADC, and 0.987 for Δvolume versus 0.655 for ΔADC. Conclusion: DW MR Δvolume provided high diagnostic performance in discriminating LNM after CRT. DW MR Δvolume was equally as accurate as post-CRT DW MR volume for evaluating good response. Key Points: • Inter-observer agreement and intra-observer agreement were excellent for pre- and post-CRT DW MR volume (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.889–0.948) and moderate for pre- and post-CRT ADCs (ICC, 0.535–0.811). • DW MR Δvolume provided high diagnostic performance in identifying LNM after CRT (AUC, 0.887) and good response (AUC, 0.987) and was significantly more accurate than pre-CRT DW MR volume (AUC, 0.508 and 0.518, respectively) and ADCs (AUC, 0.705 and 0.506, respectively). • DW MR Δvolume (AUC, 0.987) was equally as accurate as post-CRT DW MR volume (AUC, 0.975) for evaluating good response, while pre-CRT DW MR volume and ADCs were not reliable for evaluating LNM and good response after CRT (AUC, 0.506–0.723). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to investigate optimum apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) parameter for predicting lymphovascular invasion (LVI), lymph node metastasis (LNM) and histology type in resectable rectal cancer. 58 consecutive patients with resectable rectal cancer were retrospectively identified. The minimum, maximum, average ADC and ADC difference value were obtained on ADC maps. Maximum ADC and ADC difference value increased with the appearance of LVI (r = 0.501 and 0.495, P < 0.001, respectively) and development of N category (r = 0.615 and 0.695, P < 0.001, respectively). ADC difference value tended to rise with lower tumor differentiation (r = − 0.269, P = 0.041). ADC difference value was an independent risk factor for predicting LVI (odds ratio = 1.323; P = 0.005) and LNM (odds ratio = 1.526; P = 0.005). Maximum ADC and ADC difference value could distinguish N0 from N1 category, N0 from N1–N2, N0–N1 from N2 (all P < 0.001). Only ADC difference value could distinguish histology type (P = 0.041). ADC difference value had higher area under the receiver operating characteristic curve than maximum ADC in identifying LVI (0.828 vs 0.797), N0 from N1 category (0.947 vs 0.847), N0 from N1–N2 (0.935 vs 0.874), and N0–N1 from N2 (0.814 vs 0.770). ADC difference value may be superior to the other ADC value parameters to predict LVI, N category and histology type of resectable rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many mutations in the retinoschisis (RS1) gene have been identified, but there are limited clinical data relating to the different genotypes. This study investigated the genotype, clinical phenotype and therapies for X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS) patients in China to evaluate the effects of gene mutations and therapies on the prognosis of the disease. Thirty patients were recruited in the study. Genetic examination identified 8 novel RS1 gene mutations. Twenty-four patients were identified as missense mutation, which was the most common gene mutation in XLRS patients. Amino acids 102 and 209 were the most common mutation areas, accounting for a total 35.7% of all patients. Mutations affecting amino acid 102 were associated with poor results on the flash electroretinogram (ERG). Sixteen patients had various complications. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drugs were given to four patients with hemorrhage or other complications, and serious adverse events did not occur. Our outcome demonstrates that missense mutation was the leading cause of XLRS and more than half of the patients with this missense had various complications. Anti-VEGF drugs may be an effective and safe way to prevent deterioration of XLRS with certain complications. There is wide genotypic and phenotypic variability in Chinese patients with XLRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine whether and how tumour size of resectable oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) measured with multidetector CT could predict regional lymph node metastasis (LNM) and N stage.Methods: Two hundred five patients with ESCC underwent radical oesophagectomy with three-field lymphadenectomy less than 3 weeks after contrast-enhanced CT. Tumour size of the ESCC (tumour length, maximal thickness and gross tumour volume, GTV) was measured on CT. Statistical analyses were performed to identify whether tumour size could predict regional LNM and N stage, and to determine how to use the size of ESCC to predict N stage.Results: Univariate analysis showed that tumour size could predict regional LNM (all P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that GTV could independently predict regional LNM (P = 0.021, odds ratio = 1.813). Mann-Whitney tests showed that tumour size could distinguish grouped N stages (all P < 0.05). GTV might be a differentiating indicator between N0 and N1-3 stages (cutoff, 14.4 cm(3)), between N0-1 and N2-3 (cutoff, 15.9 cm(3)), and between N0-2 and N3 (cutoff, 26.1 cm(3)), with sensitivity of 76%, 63% or 75%, and specificity of 75%, 61% and 81%, respectively.Conclusions: The GTV of ESCC measured with CT could be an indicator for predicting regional LNM and grouped N stages.Key Points: • Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) allows accurate assessment of oesophageal tumour size • For resectable squamous cell tumours, size helped predict regional lymph node involvement • Gross tumour volume may predict the N stage of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]