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Optical microfibers and nanofibers are fabricated from ordinary fibers. Due to their unique structure and properties, they been used in many fields for various types of measurements. Moreover, the sensitivity has been enhanced because of the evanescent field induced by the micro- and nano-structures. This review summarizes the basic concepts and fabrication methods of optical microfibers and nanofibers, along with recent progress and relevant applications of these devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of permutation dynamics is introduced to study the impact on the dynamical properties giv-en by the maps when they have changed their order. A sufficient condition is given to the periodic non-autonomous dynamical dynamics' feature that is the trajectories of the periodic non-autonomous dynamical dynamics' periodic points will remain unchanged in its specific permutation dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumors are rarely reported with limited imaging findings.The current study reported two case of uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumors and described the detailed MRI findings,which would provide valuable imaging evidence for the diagnosis of such tumors.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Xuanfu Daizhe decoction on the stemness of esophageal cancer cells. Methods: The BALB/c nude mice were randomly divided into the control group and experimental group, 5 mice in each group, which were continuously administered with normal saline and Xuanfu Daizhe decoction (9.89 g/kg) by gastrogavage, respectively. Human esophageal carcinoma cells ECA-109 (5×10 6 ) were subcutaneously injected into the mice on the 8th day. Tumor volume was measured twice a week. The mice were sacrificed 4 weeks after injection, and the tumor tissue and mouse serum were collected. The expressions of the major stemness-regulating transcription factors, i.e., NANOG, OCT4 and SOX2, were detected by RT-qPCR, Western Blot and immunohistochemistry. ECA-109 cells were treated with 10% fetal bovine serum and serum from the above two groups of mice for 48 hours respectively, and three replicate wells were set in each group, and the expressions of NANOG, OCT4, SOX2 and the levels of AKT and p-AKT were detected by RT-qPCR and Western Blot, respectively. ALDH activity in tumor cells was detected by flow cytometry; the number of spheroids of tumor cells was detected by the spheroidization experiment. Results: Compared with the control group, the growth and size of esophageal cancer tumors were significantly inhibited by Xuanfu Daizhe Decoction; the expressions of NANOG, OCT4, SOX2, the ALDH activity, the number of spheroids, and the levels of AKT and phosphorylated AKT (p-AKT) in esophageal cancer cells were significantly reduced by Xuanfu Daizhe Decoction both in vivo and in vitro. Conclusion: Xuanfu Daizhe Decoction inhibits the stemness of esophageal cancer cells, it may be a potentially effective drug for the treatment of esophageal cancer and provides a theoretical basis for the exploration of new effective drugs for the treatment of esophageal cancer.

Pituitary metastasis,a rare kind of intracranial malignant tumor,is characterized by metastasis from all parts of the body to the pituitary.The common tumors metastatic to pituitary are abundant with blood supply,located in the posterior pituitary lobe and/or the pituitary stalk.The lesion shows infiltrative growth,and mainly demonstrates low signal on T1 weighted imaging and high signal on T2 weighted imaging.It is usually enhanced significantly after iodinated contrast administration.The metastatic tumor with poor blood supply is similar to pituitary macroadenoma on magnetic resonance image,which makes it difficult to be differentiated.We reported two cases of pathologically diagnosed pituitary metastasis with poor blood supply and reviewed related papers,aiming to provide the imaging differentiation points of hypovascular pituitary metastasis.

Objective To investigate effect of MR field strength on texture features of cerebral T2 fluid attenuated inversion recovery (T2-FLAIR) images. Methods We acquired cerebral 3D T2-FLAIR images of thirty patients who were diagnosed with ischemic white matter lesion (WML) with MR-1.5T and MR-3.0T scanners. Histogram texture features which included mean signal intensity (Mean), Skewness and Kurtosis, and gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) texture features which included angular second moment (ASM), Contrast, Correlation, Inverse difference moment (IDM) and Entropy, of regions of interest located in the area of WML and normal white matter (NWM) were measured by ImageJ software. The texture parameters acquired with MR-1.5T scanning were compared with MR-3.0T scanning. Results The Mean of both WML and NWM obtained with MR-1.5T scanning was significantly lower than that acquired with MR-3.0T ( P <0.001), while Skewness and Kurtosis between MR-1.5T and MR-3.0T scanning showed no significant difference ( P >0.05). ASM, Correlation and IDM of both WML and NWM acquired with MR-1.5T revealed significantly lower values than those with MR-3.0T ( P <0.001), while Contrast and Entropy acquired with MR-1.5T showed significantly higher values than those with MR-3.0T ( P <0.001). Conclusion MR field strength showed no significant effect on histogram textures, while had significant effect on GLCM texture features of cerebral T2-FLAIR images, which indicated that it should be cautious to explain the texture results acquired based on the different MR field strength.

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a malignant tumor of the biliary tract. The main problem affecting the treatment of gallbladder cancer is late diagnosis and poor prognosis. EIF5A2 is one of two isoforms of the EIF5A family and is reported to be a new oncogenic protein in many human cancers. In this study, our results showed for the first time that EIF5A2 was overexpressed in GBC samples compared with non-tumor tissue. Overexpression of EIF5A2 was associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor differentiation, UICC (Union for International Cancer Control) staging, histological type, metastasis, and tumor size. Overexpression of EIF5A2 in gallbladder carcinoma tissues is also associated with poor prognosis in patients. The interference of EIF5A2 significantly inhibited the proliferation, cell cycle, migration and colony formation of GBC-SD cells in vitro. Our results suggest that EIF5A2 is a target oncogene and may be an important prognostic biomarker in the pathogenesis of gallbladder cancer.

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and prognostic factors of high-dose and short-course modified LMB regimen ± Rituximab in the treatment of newly diagnosed children with Burkitt lymphoma, soas to provide more reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment with follow-up., Methods: 91 newly diagnosed children with Burkitt lymphoma treated in our hospital from January 2007 to August 2016 were chosen. High-dose and short-course modified LMB regimen were used to treat children at different risk levels- Rituximab were added in treatment of high-risk group. The clinical characteristics and efficacy of the treatment were analyzed, and the related prognostic factors were evaluated., Results: The overall survival rate and event-free survival rate in 5-year with follow-up of 91 children were separately（89.27±2.69）%， （87.16±2.30）%; the event-free survival rate of patients in 5-year with follow-up in low-risk, moderate-risk and high-risk group were separately 100%，（94.51±2.97）%，（84.60±3.40）%. The event-free survival rate in 5-year with follow-up of high-risk group were significantly lower than that of moderate-risk group（P<0.05）. Univariate analysis showed that the combination of maxillofacial and central nervous system invasion, LDH >1000 U/L, proportion of bone marrow tumor cell >25%, organ involvement number >4, St. Jude stage for IV stage, early chemotherapy insensitivity and tumor lesion in mid-term evaluation were risk factor for poor prognosis in newly diagnosed children with Burkitt lymphoma（P<0.05）.Multivariate analysis showed that the combination of maxillofacial and central nervous system invasion, early chemotherapy insensitivity and tumor lesion in mid-term evaluation were the independent risk factor for poor prognosis of children with Burkitt lymphoma（P<0.05）. The EFS rate in 5-year with follow-up of high-risk children treated with chemotherapy+rituximab was significantly higher than that of chemotherapy alone（P<0.05）., Conclusion: High-dose and short-course modified LMB regimen in the treatment of newly diagnosed children with Burkitt lymphoma shows satisfactory clinical efficacy. The children with central nervous system involvement, early chemotherapy insensitivity and tumor lesion in mid-term evaluation show the worse prognosis, while Rituximab added is more helpful to improve the long-term prognosis for high-risk children with Burkitt lymphoma.

Pituitary metastasis is a rare intracranial malignant tumor originated from other malignant tumors at other parts of the body.Pituitary metastases are typically hypervascular,while hypovascular pituitary metastasis is rare.Radiologically,hypovascular pituitary metastasis is difficult to be distinguished from pituitary adenoma.This article reports one case of pathologically confirmed hypovascular pituitary metastasis,with the main diagnostic clues including history of malignant tumor,presence of normal pituitary in the intrasellar region,and isointensity on T1 and T2 sequence.

Objective To investigate the difference in texture features on diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) images between breast benign and malignant tumors.Methods Patients including 56 with mass-like breast cancer, 16 with breast fibroadenoma, and 4 with intraductal papilloma of breast treated in the Hainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively enrolled in this study, and allocated to the benign group (20 patients) and the malignant group (56 patients) according to the post-surgically pathological results. Texture analysis was performed on axial DWI images, and five characteristic parameters including Angular Second Moment (ASM), Contrast, Correlation, Inverse Difference Moment (IDM), and Entropy were calculated. Independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were performed for intergroup comparison. Regression model was established by using Binary Logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency.Results The texture features ASM, Contrast, Correlation and Entropy showed significant differences between the benign and malignant breast tumor groups (P ASM =0.014, P contrast =0.019, P correlation =0.010, P entropy =0.007). The area under the ROC curve was 0.685, 0.681, 0.754, and 0.683 respectively for the positive texture variables mentioned above, and that for the combined variables (ASM, Contrast, and Entropy) was 0.802 in the model of Logistic regression. Binary Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that ASM, Contrast and Entropy were considered as the specific imaging variables for the differential diagnosis of breast benign and malignant tumors.Conclusions The texture analysis of DWI may be a simple and effective tool in the differential diagnosis between breast benign and malignant tumors.

Objective To investigate the difference in tumor conventional imaging findings and texture features on T2 weighted images between glioblastoma and primary central neural system (CNS) lymphoma.Methods The pre-operative MRI data of 81 patients with glioblastoma and 28 patients with primary CNS lymphoma admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital and Hainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital were retrospectively collected. All patients underwent plain MR imaging and enhanced T1 weighted imaging to visualize imaging features of lesions. Texture analysis of T2 weighted imaging (T2WI) was performed by use of GLCM texture plugin of ImageJ software, and the texture parameters including Angular Second Moment (ASM), Contrast, Correlation, Inverse Difference Moment (IDM), and Entropy were measured. Independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were performed for the between-group comparisons, regression model was established by Binary Logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to compare the diagnostic efficacy.Results The conventional imaging features including cystic and necrosis changes (P=0.000), 'Rosette' changes (P=0.000) and 'incision sign' (P=0.000), except 'flame-like edema' (P=0.635), presented significantly statistical difference between glioblastoma and primary CNS lymphoma. The texture features, ASM, Contrast, Correlation, IDM and Entropy, showed significant differences between glioblastoma and primary CNS lympoma (P=0.006, 0.000, 0.002, 0.000, and 0.015 respectively). The area under the ROC curve was 0.671, 0.752, 0.695, 0.720 and 0.646 respectively, and the area under the ROC curve was 0.917 for the combined texture variables (Contrast, cystic and necrosis, 'Rosette' changes, and 'incision sign') in the model of Logistic regression. Binary Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that cystic and necrosis changes, 'Rosette' changes and 'incision sign' and texture Contrast could be considered as the specific texture variables for the differential diagnosis of glioblastoma and primary CNS lymphoma.Conclusions The texture features of T2WI and conventional imaging findings may be used to distinguish glioblastoma from primary CNS lymphoma.

Objective To evaluate the value of texture features derived from intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) parameters for differentiating pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (pNET) from pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC).Methods Eighteen patients with pNET and 32 patients with PAC were retrospectively enrolled in this study. All patients underwent diffusion-weighted imaging with 10 b values used (from 0 to 800 s/mm 2 ). Based on IVIM model, perfusion-related parameters including perfusion fraction (f), fast component of diffusion (D fast ) and true diffusion parameter slow component of diffusion (D slow ) were calculated on a voxel-by-voxel basis and reorganized into gray-encoded parametric maps. The mean value of each IVIM parameter and texture features [Angular Second Moment (ASM), Inverse Difference Moment (IDM), Correlation, Contrast and Entropy] values of IVIM parameters were measured. Independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test were performed for the between-group comparison of quantitative data. Regression model was established by using binary logistic regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency.Results The mean f value of the pNET group were significantly higher than that of the PAC group (27.0% vs. 19.0%, P = 0.001), while the mean values of D fast and D slow showed no significant differences between the two groups. All texture features (ASM, IDM, Correlation, Contrast and Entropy) of each IVIM parameter showed significant differences between the pNET and PAC groups (P=0.000-0.043). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that texture ASM of D fast and texture Correlation of D slow were considered as the specific imaging variables for the differential diagnosis of pNET and PAC. ROC analysis revealed that multiple texture features presented better diagnostic performance than IVIM parameters (AUC 0.849-0.899 vs. 0.526-0.776), and texture ASM of D fast combined with Correlation of D slow in the model of logistic regression had largest area under ROC curve for distinguishing pNET from PAC (AUC 0.934, cutoff 0.378, sensitivity 0.889, specificity 0.854).Conclusions Texture analysis of IVIM parameters could be an effective and noninvasive tool to differentiate pNET from PAC.

We reported a case of supratentorial extra-axial hemangioblastoma diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As a simple solid mass,this tumor has its unique MRI features due to its tissue structures.