This paper presents the large-scale synthesis of SnO2 nanotube arrays on titanium substrate via ZnO nanowire arrays as sacrificial templates. The SnO2 nanotube arrays on titanium substrate feature ...the large surface area, good electronic conductivity, and adhesion with the current collector, leading to the enhanced performance in lithium-ion batteries.
A cluster of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia were discharged from hospitals in Wuhan, China. We aimed to determine the cumulative percentage of complete radiological ...resolution at each time point, to explore the relevant affecting factors, and to describe the chest CT findings at different time points after hospital discharge.
Patients with COVID-19 pneumonia confirmed by RT-PCR who were discharged consecutively from the hospital between 5 February 2020 and 10 March 2020 and who underwent serial chest CT scans on schedule were enrolled. The radiological characteristics of all patients were collected and analysed. The total CT score was the sum of non-GGO involvement determined at discharge. Afterwards, all patients underwent chest CT scans during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weeks after discharge. Imaging features and distributions were analysed across different time points.
A total of 149 patients who completed all CT scans were evaluated; there were 67 (45.0%) men and 82 (55.0%) women, with a median age of 43 years old (IQR 36-56). The cumulative percentage of complete radiological resolution was 8.1% (12 patients), 41.6% (62), 50.3% (75), and 53.0% (79) at discharge and during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd weeks after discharge, respectively. Patients ≤44 years old showed a significantly higher cumulative percentage of complete radiological resolution than patients > 44 years old at the 3-week follow-up. The predominant patterns of abnormalities observed at discharge were ground-glass opacity (GGO) (125 83.9%), fibrous stripe (81 54.4%), and thickening of the adjacent pleura (33 22.1%). The positive count of GGO, fibrous stripe and thickening of the adjacent pleura gradually decreased, while GGO and fibrous stripe showed obvious resolution during the first week and the third week after discharge, respectively. "Tinted" sign and bronchovascular bundle distortion as two special features were discovered during the evolution.
Lung lesions in COVID-19 pneumonia patients can be absorbed completely during short-term follow-up with no sequelae. Two weeks after discharge might be the optimal time point for early radiological estimation.
Contract grant sponsor
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Initiative for Innovative Medicine; Contract grant number: 2017‐I2M‐1‐001; Contract grant sponsor: Outstanding Youth Fund of Peking ...Union Medical College Hospital; Contract grant number: JQ201704; Contract grant sponsor: National Natural Science Foundation of China; Contract grant number: 81871512; Contract grant sponsor: National Public Welfare Basic Scientific Research Program of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; Contract grant numbers: 2018PT32003 and 2017PT32004.
Background
Both compressed‐sensing (CS) and gradient‐ and spin‐echo (GRASE) sequences can achieve 3D magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) with a single breath‐hold (BH). This work hypothesized that compared with conventional navigator‐triggered (NT)‐MRCP, the two BH‐MRCP protocols, GRASE and CS, may provide better imaging quality, especially for patients with irregular breathing.
Purpose
To evaluate and compare the image quality and diagnostic performance of three MRCP protocols.
Study Type
Prospective.
Subjects
Seventy‐four patients suspected to have duct‐related pathologies were enrolled.
Field Strength
3.0T.
Sequences
NT‐MRCP, BH‐CS‐MRCP, and BH‐GRASE‐MRCP.
Assessment
Breath regularity was evaluated subjectively according to the respiratory waves. The acquisition time was compared. The pancreaticobiliary system was divided into 12 segments and evaluated on a 5‐point scale. The diagnostic performance of the three MRCPs was evaluated and compared.
Statistical Tests
The Friedman test with a post‐hoc test, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, McNemar test, and Kendall's W test were used.
Results
The BH‐MRCP decreased the scan time significantly (P < 0.05). The overall imaging scores of GRASE‐MRCP and CS‐MRCP were significantly higher than that of NT‐MRCP for patients with irregular breathing (4.283 and 4.283 vs. 3.000, both P < 0.05). Compared with NT‐MRCP, the diagnostic performance of BH‐CS and BH‐GRASE MRCP was significantly improved for patients with irregular breathing (AUC = 0.860 and 0.863 vs. 0.572, both P < 0.001).
Data Conclusion
Compared with conventional NT‐MRCP, the overall imaging quality and diagnostic performance of BH‐CS and BH‐GRASE MRCP were not significantly different for patients with regular breathing and significantly superior for patients with irregular breathing.
Level of Evidence: 2
Technical Efficacy: Stage 2
J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:824–832.
This paper describes the synthesis of three-dimensionally porous Fe3O4 via template-assisted and subsequent electrochemical deposition methods. When used as anode materials of lithium-ion batteries, ...the porous Fe3O4 electrodes show better cyclability and enhanced rate capabilities compared to planar Fe3O4 electrodes. The superior performance can be attributed to improved electrical contact, fast electron transport and good strain accommodation of the porous electrodes. The effect of the thickness of the porous Fe3O4 electrodes on the lithium-ion battery performance has also been investigated.
When compared to the age-matched healthy controls, the remitting-relapsing multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients demonstrated significantly different patterns of fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, ...axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity in a range of brain areas, as revealed by Bao et al. using diffusion tensor imaging, suggesting demyelination and axonal injury in RRMS patients even in some normal-appearing white matter regions. ...Liu et al. applied chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI to Alzheimer's disease (AD), revealing higher glutamate concentration in AD mice than in wild type of the same age. With incremental clinical values revealed and validated by histological studies and with integrated development in both acquisition technology and AI-based image interpretation, the studies in this Research Topic have shed light on the potential clinical impacts of multiparametric MRI.
The increasing incidence and prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacter cloacae complex (CREC) poses great challenges to infection prevention and disease treatment. However, much remains unknown ...about the clinical characteristics of CREC isolates. Our objective was to characterize antimicrobial resistance and, carbapenemase production in CREC with 36 CREC isolates collected from a tertiary hospital in Shandong, China.
Three types of carbapenemases (NDM, IMP and VIM) were detected in these isolates. Among them, NDM carbapenemases were most prevalent, with a 61.2% (22/36) detection rate for NDM-1, 27.8% (10/36) for NDM-5 and 2.8% (1/36) for NDM-7. IMP-4 was found in two isolates and VIM-1 in only one isolate. The MLST analysis identified 12 different sequence types (STs), of which ST171 (27.8%) was the most prevalent, followed by ST418 (25.0%). ST171 isolates had significantly higher rates of resistance than other STs to gentamicin and tobramycin (Ps < 0.05), and lower rates of resistance to aztreonam than ST418 and other STs (Ps < 0.05). Among 17 carbapenemase-encoding genes, the bla
gene was more frequently detected in ST171 than in ST418 and other isolates (Ps < 0.05). In contrast, the bla
gene was more frequently seen in ST418 than in ST171 isolates. One novel ST (ST1965) was identified, which carried the bla
gene.
NDM-5 produced by ST171 and NDM-1 carbapenemase produced by ST418 were the leading cause of CREC in this hospital. This study enhances the understanding of CREC strains and helps improve infection control and treatment in hospitals.
Tight junction dysfunction plays a vital role in some chronic inflammatory diseases. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, especially tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), act as important factors in intestinal ...epithelial tight junction dysfunction during inflammatory conditions. Autophagy has also been shown to be crucial in tight junction function and claudin-2 expression, but whether autophagy has an effect on the change of claudin-2 expression and tight junction function induced by TNF-α is still unknown. To answer this question, we examined the expression of claudin-2 protein, transepithelial electrical resistance (TER), and permeability of cell monolayers, autophagy flux change, and lysosomal pH after TNF-α with or without PP242 treatment. Our study showed that claudin-2 expression, intestinal permeability, microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B II (LC3B-II) and sequestosome 1 (P62) expression largely increased while TER values decreased in TNF-α treated cell monolayers. Further research using 3-methyladenine (3-MA), bafilomycin A1, and ad-mCherry-GFP-LC3B adenovirus demonstrated that LC3B-II increase induced by TNF-α was attributed to the inhibition of autophagic degradation. Moreover, both qualitative and quantitative method confirmed the increase of lysosomal pH, and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitor PP242 treatment relieved this elevation. Moreover, PP242 treatment also alleviated the change of autophagy flux, TER, and claudin-2 expression induced by TNF-α. Therefore, we conclude that increase of claudin-2 levels and intestinal epithelial tight junction dysfunction are partly caused by the inhibition of autophagic degradation in TNF-α treated cell monolayers.
Bloodstream infection (BSI) caused by Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) can be life-threatening and pose a great challenge to infection control and clinical treatment. However, little information ...exists regarding the characterization of S. aureus in BSI patients in Shandong, China. To identify the clonality, virulence genes, and antibiotic resistance of S. aureus in blood, a total of 101 nonrepetitive blood isolates were collected. The antibiotic resistance phenotypes were determined, and virulence genes were analyzed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Finally, the genetic relatedness was investigated with Staphylococcus chromosomal cassette mec (SCCmec) typing for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates, Staphylococcal protein A (spa), and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) for all of 101 isolates.
Of the 101 S. aureus isolates, 24 MRSA isolates and 77 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) isolates were identified. Overall, MRSA isolates had higher resistance rates than MSSA isolates when exposed to any of the 15 antibiotics tested in this study except for trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Among the 17 virulence genes tested in this study, hla, hld, and hlg could be detected in all isolates. MRSA isolates were more likely to carry seb and hlb genes, while MSSA isolates were more likely to carry seg and sei genes. Thirty-five sequence types (STs) and 49 spa types were identified, of which ST59-t437 and ST398-t571 were the most abundant. These two genotypes were also the most abundant ST-spa types in MRSA and MSSA isolates, but their abundances shifted over time, with ST398-t571 being the predominant genotype from 2016 to 2017, and ST59-t437 from 2018 to 2020. Besides, all the ST59-t437 isolates harbored hlgb gene, whereas most (88.9%) ST398-t571 did not. In addition, twenty-four MRSA isolates were subject to SCCmec typing. SCCmec IVa was the most prevalent SCCmec type, and all the ST59-t437 MRSA isolates were SCCmec IVa. We also observed 15 new STs, and some of them were MRSA.
These findings provide additional observations and epidemiological data for blood S. aureus isolates, which can improve future infection-control measures and aid in potential clinical treatments in hospitals and other clinical settings.
PDF
