Edge effect removal in Fourier ptychographic microscopy via perfect Fourier transformation (PFT)

Edge effect may degrade the imaging precision and is caused by the aperiodic image extension of fast Fourier transform (FFT). In this letter, a perfect Fourier transform algorithm termed PFT was reported to remove the artifacts with comparable efficiency to FFT. Although we demonstrated the performance of PFT in Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) only, it can be expanded in any occasion where the conventional FFT is used.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Efficacy and safety analysis of TACE + PEI + lenvatinib compared with TACE + lenvatinib for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma with PVTT: a retrospective study

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI) and lenvatinib in HCC patients with PVTT (Vp2-3), thus providing a safe and effective treatment strategy for advanced HCC patients.Materials and methodsClinical data of 227 patients with unresectable HCC and PVTT treated at the Union Hospital from January 2018 to December 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups according to their treatment methods: TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group (N=103) and TACE+lenvatinib group (N=124).ResultsThe proportion of patients with disappearance, shrinkage, or no change of PVTT after treatment was significantly higher in the TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group compared to the TACE+lenvatinib group, with statistical significance (P<0.001). The TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group had higher objective response rate (ORR) (50.5% vs. 25.8%, P<0.001) and disease control rate (DCR) (87.4% vs. 74.2%, P=0.013) than the TACE+lenvatinib group. The median progression-free survival (mPFS) of the TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group was longer than that of the TACE+lenvatinib group (8.1 months vs. 6.5 months, P<0.001). Consistently, the median overall survival (mOS) of the TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group was longer than that of the TACE+lenvatinib group (17.1 months vs. 13.9 months, P<0.001).ConclusionAmong HCC patients with PVTT (Vp2-3), TACE+PEI+lenvatinib is more effective comparing to TACE+lenvatinib in prolonging PFS and OS. The control of PVTT in the TACE+PEI+lenvatinib group was significantly more satisfactory than that in the TACE+lenvatinib group. TACE+PEI+lenvatinib is a safe and effective treatment strategy for HCC patients with PVTT (Vp2-3)

Multiple interactive memory representations underlie the induction of false memory.

Theoretical and computational models such as transfer-appropriate processing (TAP) and global matching models have emphasized the encoding-retrieval interaction of memory representations in generating false memories, but relevant neural mechanisms are still poorly understood. By manipulating the sensory modalities (visual and auditory) at different processing stages (learning and test) in the Deese-Roediger-McDermott task, we found that the auditory-learning visual-test (AV) group produced more false memories (59%) than the other three groups (42∼44%) [i.e., visual learning visual test (VV), auditory learning auditory test (AA), and visual learning auditory test (VA)]. Functional imaging results showed that the AV group's proneness to false memories was associated with (i) reduced representational match between the tested item and all studied items in the visual cortex, (ii) weakened prefrontal monitoring process due to the reliance on frontal memory signal for both targets and lures, and (iii) enhanced neural similarity for semantically related words in the temporal pole as a result of auditory learning. These results are consistent with the predictions based on the TAP and global matching models and highlight the complex interactions of representations during encoding and retrieval in distributed brain regions that contribute to false memories

TiAVox: Time-aware Attenuation Voxels for Sparse-view 4D DSA Reconstruction

Four-dimensional Digital Subtraction Angiography (4D DSA) plays a critical role in the diagnosis of many medical diseases, such as Arteriovenous Malformations (AVM) and Arteriovenous Fistulas (AVF). Despite its significant application value, the reconstruction of 4D DSA demands numerous views to effectively model the intricate vessels and radiocontrast flow, thereby implying a significant radiation dose. To address this high radiation issue, we propose a Time-aware Attenuation Voxel (TiAVox) approach for sparse-view 4D DSA reconstruction, which paves the way for high-quality 4D imaging. Additionally, 2D and 3D DSA imaging results can be generated from the reconstructed 4D DSA images. TiAVox introduces 4D attenuation voxel grids, which reflect attenuation properties from both spatial and temporal dimensions. It is optimized by minimizing discrepancies between the rendered images and sparse 2D DSA images. Without any neural network involved, TiAVox enjoys specific physical interpretability. The parameters of each learnable voxel represent the attenuation coefficients. We validated the TiAVox approach on both clinical and simulated datasets, achieving a 31.23 Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) for novel view synthesis using only 30 views on the clinically sourced dataset, whereas traditional Feldkamp-Davis-Kress methods required 133 views. Similarly, with merely 10 views from the synthetic dataset, TiAVox yielded a PSNR of 34.32 for novel view synthesis and 41.40 for 3D reconstruction. We also executed ablation studies to corroborate the essential components of TiAVox. The code will be publically available.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Efficacy and safety analysis of dexamethasone-lipiodol emulsion in prevention of post-embolization syndrome after TACE: a retrospective analysis

Abstract Background To investigate the efficacy and safety of dexamethasone-lipiodol emulsion in the prevention of post-embolization syndrome after TACE. Method The data of 255 patients who underwent TACE in the interventional department from June 2017 to June 2020 were collected. This is a retrospective assessment of patients who were non-randomly treated with dexamethasone in TACE. The patients were divided into two groups: TACE using lipiodol + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (TACE group, N = 133); TACE using lipiodol + dexamethasone + chemotherapeutic emulsion group (TACE + dexamethasone group, N = 122). Primary study endpoint: incidence of abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting 0–72 h after TACE in both groups. Secondary study endpoints: incidence of infection after TACE in both groups. Results Incidence of post-embolization syndrome after TACE (TACE group vs TACE + dexamethasone group): abdominal pain, 55.6% versus 36.1% (P value 0.002); fever, 37.6% versus 13.1% (P value 0.000); nausea, 60.9% versus 41.0% (P value 0.001); vomiting, 48.1% versus 21.3% (P value 0.000). Incidence of infection after TACE (TACE group vs TACE + dexamethasone group): 1.5% versus 2.5% (P value 0.583). Conclusion The lipiodol + dexamethasone emulsion can significantly reduce the incidence rate of post-embolization syndrome after TACE, with exact effect and high safety

Prognostic impact of sarcopenia in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with PD-1 inhibitor

Background: Sarcopenia is a progressive generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass commonly observed in advanced stages of cancer. Objective: To assess the relationship between sarcopenia and the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with a programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitor. Design: This is a retrospective study. Methods: This study included patients with HCC treated with camrelizumab between 1 March 2020 and 1 December 2021. The skeletal muscle area at the L3 vertebra middle level was used to calculate the skeletal muscle index. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to balance the variables between the two groups. Results: In all, 97 patients with HCC were included in the study, with 46 and 51 patients in the sarcopenia group and the non-sarcopenia group, respectively. The baseline characteristics of albumin, Child-Pugh class, albumin–bilirubin score, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio were significantly different between the two groups. In total, 26 patients from each group ( n  = 52) were selected after the PSM analysis. The progression-free survival (PFS) in the non-sarcopenia group was significantly longer than that in the sarcopenia group before and after PSM analysis (6.5 versus 4.8 months, p  = 0.038). In addition, the disease control rate was similar before and after PSM analysis (57.7% versus 69.2%, p  = 0.388). The objective response rate in the non-sarcopenia group tended to be higher than that in the sarcopenia group (11.5% versus 30.8%, p  = 0.090, after PSM), but no statistically significant difference was found. The median overall survival (OS) in the non-sarcopenia group tended to longer than it in the sarcopenia group before PSM without significant differences (16.3 versus 11.3 months, p  = 0.090) and the median OS was similar between the two groups after PSM (16.3 versus 16.8 months, p  = 0.735). Conclusions: HCC patients with sarcopenia tended to have higher levels of inflammation and lower levels of albumin than patients without sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is associated with a shorter PFS in HCC patients treated with PD-1 inhibitor

Reintervention after Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair of Uncomplicated Type B Aortic Dissection

Background: Data are scarce regarding the incidence, reasons, potential risk factors, and long-term outcomes of reintervention after thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) in patients with uncomplicated type B aortic dissection (TBAD). Methods: Between January 2010 and December 2020, 238 patients with uncomplicated TBAD who received TEVAR were analyzed retrospectively. The clinical baseline data, aorta anatomy, dissection characteristics, and details of the TEVAR procedure were evaluated and compared. A competing-risk regression model was used to estimate the cumulative incidences of reintervention. The multivariate Cox model was used to identify the independent risk factors. Results: The mean follow-up time was 68.6 months. A total of 27 (11.3%) cases of reintervention were observed. The competing-risk analyses showed that the 1-, 3-, and 5-year cumulative incidences of reintervention were 5.07%, 7.08%, and 14.0%, respectively. Reasons for reintervention included endoleak (25.9%), aneurysmal dilation (22.2%), retrograde type A aortic dissection (18.5%), distal stent-graft-induced new entry and false lumen expansion (18.5%), and dissection progression and/or malperfusion (14.8%). Multivariable Cox analysis demonstrated that a larger initial maximal aortic diameter (Hazard ratio [HR], 1.75; 95% Confidence interval [CI], 1.13–2.69, p = 0.011) and increased proximal landing zone oversizing (HR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.01–1.47, p = 0.033) were the significant risk factors for reintervention. Long-term survival rates were comparable between patients with or without reintervention (p = 0.915). Conclusions: Reintervention after TEVAR in patients with uncomplicated TBAD is not uncommon. A larger initial maximal aortic diameter and excessive proximal landing zone oversizing are associated with the second intervention. Reintervention does not significantly affect long-term survival

Association between sarcopenia and clinical outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: an updated meta-analysis

Abstract Although numerous studies have reported the association between sarcopenia and the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, there is lack of a newer and more comprehensive meta-analysis. Herein, a comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Embase databases to identify relevant studies published up to February 2022. The outcomes were overall survival (OS), recurrence, progression‐free survival, tumor response, severe postoperative complications, and toxicity of drugs. A total of 57 studies involving 9790 HCC patients were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of sarcopenia in HCC patients was 41.7% (95% CI 36.2–47.2%). Results demonstrated that sarcopenia was significantly associated with impaired OS (HR: 1.93, 95% CI 1.73–2.17, P < 0.001), higher risk of tumor recurrence (HR: 1.75, 95% CI 1.56–1.96, P < 0.001), lower objective response rate (OR: 0.37 95% CI 0.17–0.81, P = 0.012), and more drug-related adverse events (OR: 2.23, 95% CI 1.17–4.28, P = 0.015) in HCC patients. The subgroup analyses revealed that the OS of patients at the early stage of tumor was more severely affected by sarcopenia than for patients at other stages. Moreover, the presence of cirrhosis and Child Pugh class B increased the hazard of mortality from sarcopenia. This study has shown that sarcopenia is highly associated with poor prognosis in HCC patients. In addition, cirrhosis and poor liver functional reserve increase the danger of sarcopenia. OS was more impaired in HCC patients with sarcopenia at early stage of tumor than at other tumor stages