Haitao Lu

Background: It is of great importance to predict the early recurrence (ER) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after hepatectomy using preoperative imaging modalities. Nevertheless, no comparative studies have been conducted to determine which modality, CT or MRI with radiomics analysis, is more effective. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 119 HCC patients who underwent preoperative CT and MRI. A total of 3776 CT features and 4720 MRI features were extracted from the whole tumor. The minimum redundancy and maximum relevance algorithm (MRMR) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression were applied for feature selection, then support vector machines (SVMs) were applied for model construction. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to construct combined models that integrate clinical–radiological–pathological (CRP) traits and radscore. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration curves, and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to compare the efficacy of CT, MRI, and CT and MRI models in the test cohort. Results: The CT model and MRI model showed no significant difference in the prediction of ER in HCC patients (p = 0.911). Radiomics^CT&MRI demonstrated a superior predictive performance than either Radiomics^CT or Radiomics^MRI alone (p = 0.032, 0.039). The combined CT and MRI model can significantly stratify patients at high risk of ER (area under the curve (AUC) of 0.951 in the training set and 0.955 in the test set) than the CT model (AUC of 0.894 and 0.784) and the MRI model (AUC of 0.856 and 0.787). DCA demonstrated that the CT and MRI model provided a greater net benefit than the models without radiomics analysis. Conclusions: No significant difference was found in predicting the ER of HCC between CT models and MRI models. However, the multimodal radiomics model derived from CT and MRI can significantly improve the prediction of ER in HCC patients after resection.

Objective: To compare the quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) susceptibility values and pathology composition with different types of thrombi in the middle cerebral artery (MCA), and assess the value of susceptibility weight imaging in thrombus component diagnosis in stroke. Materials and methods: This study included 15 patients (73.47 ± 10.7 years; 6 males and 9 females) who underwent magnetic resonance imaging before mechanical thrombectomy due to acute middle cerebral artery occlusion between January 2017 and December 2019. All patients had the susceptibility vessel sign (SVS) on SWI (susceptibility weighted imaging), and the thrombus susceptibility was measured by signal processing in nuclear magnetic resonance SPIN software. The retrieved thrombi underwent histopathologic analysis, and the correlation between thrombus susceptibility and the pathologic composition was analyzed by two independent Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests. The location and length of thrombi were evaluated on both SWI and DSA, and the correlation was explored using two independent samples Wilcoxon rank test. The correlations between susceptibility and the infarct core volumes (ADC < 620 mm²/s volume map), hypoperfusion volumes (Tmax > 6 s volume map), 90-day modified Rankin scale (mRS), and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) at admission were analyzed by Spearman’s correlation analysis. Results: Among the 15 retrieved thrombi, the mean thrombus susceptibility of RBC-dominant and fibrin-dominant thrombi were 209.88 ± 11.32 and 155.70 ± 28.20 (ppb), respectively (p = 0.037). The average distance of the proximal end of the thrombi to the midline was 24.67 ± 8.43 mm and 24.62 ± 8.44 mm, as measured by SWI and DSA (digital subtraction angiography), respectively (p < 0.001). The correlation between thrombus susceptibility was weakly negatively correlated with ADC < 620 mm²/s volume map (r = 0.356, p = 0.193) and poorly correlated with Tmax > 6 s volume map (r = 0.252, p = 0.365), 90-day mRS (r = 0.182, p = 0.517), and NIHSS at admission (r = 0.262, p = 0.345). Conclusions: The measurements of the Quantitative susceptibility value of thrombi may help predict the composition of thrombi in patients with acute middle cerebral artery occlusion. QSM provides a more accurate method to evaluate the thrombi.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) occurs frequently in many end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, may significantly worsen survival odds and prognosis. However, the exact neuropathological mechanisms of MCI combined with ESRD are not fully clear. This study examined functional connectivity (FC) alterations of the default-mode network (DMN) in individuals with ESRD and MCI. Twenty–four individuals with ESRD identified as MCI patients were included in this study; of these, 19 and 5 underwent hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD), respectively. Another group of 25 age-, sex- and education level-matched subjects were recruited as the control group. All participants underwent resting-state functional MRI and neuropsychological tests; the ESRD group underwent additional laboratory testing. Independent component analysis (ICA) was used for DMN characterization. With functional connectivity maps of the DMN derived individually, group comparison was performed with voxel-wise independent samples t-test, and connectivity changes were correlated with neuropsychological and clinical variables. Compared with the control group, significantly decreased functional connectivity of the DMN was observed in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and precuneus (Pcu), as well as in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) in the ESRD group. Functional connectivity reductions in the MPFC and PCC/Pcu were positively correlated with hemoglobin levels. In addition, functional connectivity reduction in the MPFC showed positive correlation with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score. Decreased functional connectivity in the DMN may be associated with neuropathological mechanisms involved in ESRD and MCI.

Melanoma is one of the most deadly skin cancers. T‑cadherin is an atypical member of the cadherin superfamily as it lacks the transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains and is anchored to cell membranes through glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchors. T‑cadherin downregulation is associated with a poorer prognosis in various carcinomas, such as lung, ovarian, cervical and prostate cancer, while in the majority of cancer cell lines, T‑cadherin re‑expression inhibits cell proliferation and invasiveness, increases susceptibility in apoptosis and reduces tumor growth in in vivo models. The functional relevance of T‑cadherin gene expression in melanoma progression remains to be clarified. The present study was designed for this purpose. The T‑cadherin gene was transfected into B16F10 melanoma cells to express T‑cadherin in the cells which were originally deficient in T‑cadherin expression. The proliferation, invasiveness, apoptosis and cell cycle of the transfected B16F10 melanoma cells were analyzed. The present study showed that the expression of T‑cadherin in B16F10 melanoma cells markedly reduced cell proliferation and permeation through Matrigel‑coated membranes, representing invasiveness. The percentage of early apoptotic cells and cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle was markedly increased compared with either parental B16F10 (without transfection) or empty pEGFP‑N1 (without T‑cadherin gene)‑transfected B16F10 cells, suggesting G2/M arrest, with similarity between the parental and empty pEGFP‑N1‑transfected B16F10 cells. T‑cadherin is important in melanoma progression and may be a possible target for therapy in melanoma and certain other types of cancer.