Application of Ultrasonography in Thyroid Cysts

Thyroid ultrasonography has been used to detect thyroid lesions since the 1960s. In early 1970s, thyroid cyst had been reported to present as thyroid nodules. With over one-third of all isolated thyroid nodules being cystic, over half exhibit cystic degeneration and approximately 17–32% of the cystic thyroid nodules are malignant. The pathogenesis of thyroid cysts is unknown. Possible causes include infarcts and other destructive processes including hemorrhaging in the thyroid follicle, clustering of thyroid follicles followed by cystic degeneration, and benign or malignant tumor necrosis. Cystic fluid analysis for amylase, lactate dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase reveals substantially higher levels than in the serum. Immunoreactive endothelin, vascular epithelial growth factor and β2-microglobulin were investigated in the cystic fluid of developing and recurrent thyroid nodules. Ultrasound-guided aspiration near the solid part of the thyroid cysts, combined with cytologic study by experienced endocrine cytopathologists, constitutes the best form of preoperative diagnosis of malignant thyroid cysts. Of the malignant cysts, most are papillary thyroid carcinoma. However, medullary cystic carcinoma and anaplastic thyroid carcinoma with cystic changes are also reported. Observation, repeated aspiration, thyroid hormone therapy, percutaneous ethanol injection, ultrasound-guided interstitial laser photocoagulation and surgical treatment are the most common treatment for thyroid cysts. Depending on the definition of response rate and the period of follow-up, the response rate to ethanol injection for thyroid cysts ranges from 72.1% to 93.9%. In conclusion, the pathogenesis of the thyroid cysts requires further investigation. Recurrent thyroid cysts larger than 3 cm may require surgical treatment

Genome Sequencing and Comparative Transcriptomics of the Model Entomopathogenic Fungi Metarhizium anisopliae and M. acridum

Metarhizium spp. are being used as environmentally friendly alternatives to chemical insecticides, as model systems for studying insect-fungus interactions, and as a resource of genes for biotechnology. We present a comparative analysis of the genome sequences of the broad-spectrum insect pathogen Metarhizium anisopliae and the acridid-specific M. acridum. Whole-genome analyses indicate that the genome structures of these two species are highly syntenic and suggest that the genus Metarhizium evolved from plant endophytes or pathogens. Both M. anisopliae and M. acridum have a strikingly larger proportion of genes encoding secreted proteins than other fungi, while ∼30% of these have no functionally characterized homologs, suggesting hitherto unsuspected interactions between fungal pathogens and insects. The analysis of transposase genes provided evidence of repeat-induced point mutations occurring in M. acridum but not in M. anisopliae. With the help of pathogen-host interaction gene database, ∼16% of Metarhizium genes were identified that are similar to experimentally verified genes involved in pathogenicity in other fungi, particularly plant pathogens. However, relative to M. acridum, M. anisopliae has evolved with many expanded gene families of proteases, chitinases, cytochrome P450s, polyketide synthases, and nonribosomal peptide synthetases for cuticle-degradation, detoxification, and toxin biosynthesis that may facilitate its ability to adapt to heterogenous environments. Transcriptional analysis of both fungi during early infection processes provided further insights into the genes and pathways involved in infectivity and specificity. Of particular note, M. acridum transcribed distinct G-protein coupled receptors on cuticles from locusts (the natural hosts) and cockroaches, whereas M. anisopliae transcribed the same receptor on both hosts. This study will facilitate the identification of virulence genes and the development of improved biocontrol strains with customized properties

Early Identification and Localization Algorithm for Weak Seedlings Based on Phenotype Detection and Machine Learning

It is important to propose the correct decision for culling and replenishing seedlings in factory seedling nurseries to improve the quality of seedlings and save resources. To solve the problems of inefficiency and subjectivity of the existing traditional manual culling and replenishment of seeds, this paper proposes an automatic method to discriminate the early growth condition of seedlings. Taking watermelon plug seedlings as an example, Azure Kinect was used to collect data of its top view three times a day, at 9:00, 14:00, and 19:00. The data were collected from the time of germination to the time of main leaf growth, and the seedlings were manually determined to be strong or weak on the last day of collection. Pre-processing, image segmentation, and point cloud processing methods were performed on the collected data to obtain the plant height and leaf area of each seedling. The plant height and leaf area on the sixth day were predicted using an LSTM recurrent neural network for the first three days. The R squared for plant height and leaf area prediction were 0.932 and 0.901, respectively. The dichotomous classification of normal and abnormal seedlings was performed using six machine learning classification methods, such as random forest, SVM, and XGBoost, for day six data. The experimental results proved that random forest had the highest classification accuracy of 84%. Finally, the appropriate culling and replenishment decisions are given based on the classification results. This method can provide some technical support and a theoretical basis for factory seedling nurseries and transplanting robots

Operational strategies to alleviate thermal impacts of the large-scale borehole heat exchanger array in Beijing Daxing Airport

Abstract Large-scale ground source heat pump (GSHP) systems are increasingly used for space heating and cooling. In comparison with smaller ones, large GSHP systems are often coupled with much more borehole heat exchangers (BHEs). Because of the intense thermal interactions between BHEs, they are more susceptible to significant ground temperature changes. Meanwhile, they possess the advantage that their operational strategies can be applied with a high degree of freedom, which presents chances to alleviate intense thermal interactions. In this study, we used a new performance indicator to access the effectiveness of GSHP operational strategies on alleviating thermal anomalies. The Daxing Airport GSHP system, contains 10,497 BHEs and is the largest in the world; therefore, it was selected as the test case for performance enhancement through operational strategies. We established a 2D model to predict ground temperature changes during the 50-year operation of the BHEs. First, it was revealed that the most severe thermal anomalies in the study area mainly occurred both within and between the BHE arrays, which should be mitigated. To alleviate the thermal anomalies caused by the thermal interactions of BHEs, operational strategies were applied by adjusting the cooling/heating starting sequence, setting time-dependent thermal loads, and reallocating thermal loads according to the position of the BHEs. Our study demonstrates that only the operation strategy that adjusts the cooling/heating starting sequence is beneficial for different BHE layouts, while the operational strategy that reallocates the thermal loads depending on BHEs position may be only effective for specific BHE layouts. In addition, our new performance indicator can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the operational strategies and determine the spacing of adjacent BHE arrays. Therefore, it benefits the operation management of BHE array and design of BHE layout, and further guarantees the sustainable operation of the GSHP system

Shenqi Fuzheng Injection Combined with Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

. Purpose. To evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness and safety of shenqi fuzheng injection (SFI) in the associated chemotherapy of breast cancer. Methods. 1247 subjects were included in this study for meta-analysis with RevMan 5. Conclusion. SFI combined with chemotherapy, to some extent, can improve the effectiveness and the security in the treatment of breast cancer; the mechanism may be related to the elevated immunity