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BACKGROUND: Early breast cancer diagnosis is of great clinical importance for selecting treatment options, improving prognosis, and enhancing the quality of patients' survival. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the value of virtual touch tissue imaging average grayscale values (VAGV) helper Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) in diagnosing breast malignancy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 141 breast tumors in 134 patients. All breast lesions were diagnosed pathologically by biopsy or surgical excision. All patients first underwent conventional ultrasound (US) followed by virtual touch tissue imaging (VTI). The measurement of the VAGV of the lesion was performed by Image J software. BI-RADS classification was performed for each lesion according to the US. We performed a two-by-two comparison of the diagnostic values of VAGV, BI-RADS, and BI-RADS + VAGV. RESULTS: VAGV was lower in malignant tumors than in benign ones (35.82 ± 13.39 versus 73.58 ± 42.69, P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) value, sensitivity, and specificity of VAGV was 0.834, 84.09%, and 69.07%, respectively. Among BI-RADS, VAGV, and BI-RADS + VAGV, BI-RADS + VAGV had the highest AUC (0.926 versus 0.882, P = 0.0066; 0.926 versus 0.834, P = 0.0012). There was perfect agreement between the two radiologists using VAGV (ICC = 0.9796) and substantial agreement using BI-RADS (Kappa = 0.725). CONCLUSION: Our study shows that VAGV can accurately diagnose breast cancer. VAGV effectively improves the diagnostic performance of BI-RADS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous neuroimaging studies have revealed abnormal brain networks in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in emotional processing. While any cognitive task consists of a series of stages, little is yet known about the topology of functional brain networks in MDD for these stages during emotional face recognition. To address this problem, electroencephalography (EEG)- based functional brain networks of MDD patients at different stages of facial information processing were investigated in this study. First, EEG signals were collected from 16 patients with MDD and 18 age-, gender-, and educationmatched normal subjects when performing an emotional face recognition task. Second, the global field power (GFP) method was employed to divide group-averaged event-related potentials into different stages. Third, using the phase transfer entropy (PTE) approach, the brain networks of MDD patients and normal individuals were constructed for each stage in negative and positive face processing, respectively. Finally, we compared the topological properties of brain networks of each stage between the two groups using graph theory approaches. The results showed that the analyzed three stages of emotional face processing corresponded to specific neurophysiological phases, namely, visual perception, face recognition, and emotional decision-making. It was also demonstrated that depressed patients showed abnormally decreased characteristic path length at the visual perception stage of negative face recognition and normalized characteristic path length in the stage of emotional decision-making during positive face processing compared to healthy subjects. Furthermore, while both the MDD and normal groups' brain networks were found to exhibit small-world network characteristics, the brain network of patients with depression tended to be randomized. Moreover, for patients with MDD, the centro-parietal region may lose its status as a hub in the process of facial expression identification. Together, our findings suggested that altered emotional function in MDD patients might be associated with disruptions in the topological organization of functional brain networks during emotional face recognition, which further deepened our understanding of the emotion processing dysfunction underlying MDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psoriasis can affect individuals of all age groups. While the epidemiology of psoriasis in adults has been extensively studied, there is limited research specifically investigating pediatric cases. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and incidence of skin psoriasis (PsO) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) among pediatric patients in Taiwan. A nationwide cohort of 17 535 patients with psoriatic diseases under the age of 18 was enrolled from the National Health Insurance Research Database for the period 2000–2013, including 16 129 PsO patients and 2022 PsA patients. The age‐ and sex‐standardized prevalence and incidence of pediatric PsO and PsA were calculated. The 2007 yearly reports of age‐ and sex‐specific distribution of the general population was adopted as a standard. The results showed that between 2000 and 2013, the prevalence for pediatric PsO increased from 0.03% to 0.07%, and from 0.003% to 0.014% for pediatric PsA. During the same period, the incidence slightly decreased from 19.81 to 17.55 per 100 000 for pediatric PsO but increased from 1.02 to 5.06 per 100 000 for pediatric PsA. Adolescents (12 to <18 years) had higher prevalence and incidence rates of PsO and PsA than children (aged ≤ 12 years), with no sex difference observed in either age group. PsA preceding PsO was more common among children than adolescents (27.07% vs. 13.46%). This study provides important insights into the prevalence and incidence of psoriatic diseases in the pediatric population. Further research is needed to identify risk factors for pediatric psoriasis and to investigate its long‐term health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to treat urological diseases has attracted great attention. This study investigated the impact of cytokine concentrations in PRP on the treatment outcome of patients with recurrent urinary tract infection (rUTI) and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). Forty patients with IC/BPS and twenty-one patients with rUTI were enrolled for four-monthly repeated PRP injections. PRP was collected at the first injection and analyzed with multiplex immunoassays for 12 target cytokines. In patients with IC/BPS, a Global Response Assessment (GRA) score ≥ 2 was defined as a successful outcome. In rUTI patients, ≤2 episodes of UTI recurrence during one year of follow-up was considered a successful outcome. Nineteen (47.5%) patients with IC/BPS and eleven (52.4%) patients with rUTI had successful outcomes. The IC/BPS patients with successful outcomes had significantly lower levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in their PRP than those with unsuccessful outcomes (p = 0.041). The rUTI patients with successful outcomes also had a lower level of TNF-α (p = 0.025) and a higher level of epidermal growth factor (p = 0.035) and transforming growth factor-β2 (p = 0.024) in PRP than those with unsuccessful outcomes. A lower level of TNF-α in PRP might be a potentially predictive factor of treatment outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alchemical free energy calculations hold increasing promise as an aid to drug discovery efforts. However, applications of these techniques in discovery projects have been relatively few, partly because of the difficulty of planning and setting up calculations. Here, we introduce lead optimization mapper, LOMAP, an automated algorithm to plan efficient relative free energy calculations between potential ligands within a substantial library of perhaps hundreds of compounds. In this approach, ligands are first grouped by structural similarity primarily based on the size of a (loosely defined) maximal common substructure, and then calculations are planned within and between sets of structurally related compounds. An emphasis is placed on ensuring that relative free energies can be obtained between any pair of compounds without combining the results of too many different relative free energy calculations (to avoid accumulation of error) and by providing some redundancy to allow for the possibility of error and consistency checking and provide some insight into when results can be expected to be unreliable. The algorithm is discussed in detail and a Python implementation, based on both Schrödinger's and OpenEye's APIs, has been made available freely under the BSD license.

This paper presents an innovative method of producing a low-density, high-strength, thin cement sheet. A seaweed powder was mixed with Portland cement, a foaming agent, calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA), and a quantity of water to create an A4-sized thin sheet with a thickness of 7 mm, which can withstand 1.5 kg in weight. This sheet was then covered with ethylene vinyl acetate and a backsheet to create a sandwiched cement sheet. The advantages of this sandwiched cement sheet are two-fold. First, it can support up to 13 kg in a static mechanical loading test, without bending, for over eight hours. Second, it can be quickly recovered at the end of its life cycle. This was a preliminary experiment to produce a large cement sheet that could satisfy the loading requirements for a solar panel. The purpose of the large, thin cement sheet is to replace the glass in a conventional solar panel and create a lightweight solar panel of less than 10 kg, which would mean that the installation of solar panels would become a one-person operation rather than a two-person operation. It would also increase the efficiency of the solar panel installation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogen and ammonia have attracted increasing attention as carbon-free fuels. Ammonia is considered to be an effective energy storage and hydrogen storage medium. However, a small amount of unremoved NH3 is still present in the product during the decomposition of ammonia to produce hydrogen. Therefore, it is very essential to investigate the self-ignition of hydrogen-ammonia mixtures in order to accommodate the various scenarios of hydrogen energy applications. In this paper, the effect of NH3 addition on the self-ignition of high-pressure hydrogen release is numerically investigated. The RNG k-ε turbulence model, EDC combustion model, and 213-step detailed NH3/H2 combustion mechanism are used. CHEMKIN-Pro programs for zero-dimensional homogeneous and constant volume adiabatic reactor models are used for sensitivity analysis and ignition delay time of the chemical reaction mechanism. The results showed that the minimum burst pressure required for self-ignition increased significantly after the addition of ammonia. The maximum temperature and shock wave intensity inside the tube decreases with increasing ammonia concentration. The ignition delay time and H, HO2, and OH radicals reduce with increasing ammonia concentration. H and HO2 radicals are suggested as indicators for tracking the second and third flame branches, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epiphytes are often considered to be significantly impacted by precipitation changes because their lack of direct access to soil water. However, few in situ studies have examined how reduction in water availability may affect epiphyte growth. Using a unique stemflow collection and diversion device, we examined the effects of stemflow reduction of 25% and 50% on the growth and leaf traits of two common but distinct epiphyte species in a subtropical forest. One species (Asplenium nidus) has a large substrate, and another (Haplopteris zosterifolia) without known water storage structure. The 25% stemflow reduction had limited effects on the growth and leaf traits of the two epiphytes, indicating that 25% stemflow reduction did not reach the water stress threshold for the two epiphytes. It is also possible that the actual reduction in water availability was less than 25% since epiphytes do not use all available stemflow and there could be other sources of water such as fog and throughfall. The 50% stemflow reduction reduced leaf number and leaf area of H. zosterifolia, but not A. nidus, likely because water stored in the large substrate of A. nidus mitigated the impact of stemflow reduction. The thinner leaves, smaller leaf dry matter content, and lower δ13C of A. nidus than H. zosterifolia support the role of water storage of the substrate of A. nidus on mitigating water stress. The 50% stemflow reduction increased leaf thickness, leaf dry matter content of H. zosterifolia, and thickness of abaxial cuticle layer of both epiphytes but had no effect on δ13C. Stemflow reduction had no effects on nutrient concentration and nutrient ratios of both epiphytes suggesting that the epiphytes were able to maintain stoichiometry. Our results indicate that the epiphytes minimized nonstomatal water loss when environmental dryness increased but maintained stomata conductance, which could be important in minimizing the impacts of drought on plant growth and quickly resuming growth once drought ends. Our study highlights that not all epiphytes are similarly vulnerable to drought and precipitation reduction may change the relative abundance of epiphytes with and without water storage structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]