The Role of Imaging in Current Treatment Strategies for Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

In pancreatic cancer, imaging plays an essential role in surveillance, diagnosis, resectability evaluation, and treatment response evaluation. Pancreatic cancer surveillance in high-risk individuals has been attempted using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging diagnosis and resectability evaluation are the most important factors influencing treatment decisions, where computed tomography (CT) is the preferred modality. EUS, MRI, and positron emission tomography play a complementary role to CT. Treatment response evaluation is of increasing clinical importance, especially in patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. This review aimed to comprehensively review the role of imaging in relation to the current treatment strategy for pancreatic cancer, including surveillance, diagnosis, evaluation of resectability and treatment response, and prediction of prognosis.11Nsciescopu

Radiologic features of hepatocellular carcinoma related to prognosis

The cross-sectional imaging findings play a crucial role in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent studies have shown that imaging findings of HCC are not only relevant for the diagnosis of HCC, but also for identifying genetic and pathologic characteristics and determining prognosis. Imaging findings such as rim arterial phase hyperenhancement, arterial phase peritumoral hyperenhancement, hepatobiliary phase peritumoral hypointensity, non-smooth tumor margin, low apparent diffusion coefficient, and the LR-M category of the Liver Imaging-Reporting and Data System have been reported to be associated with poor prognosis. In contrast, imaging findings such as enhancing capsule appearance, hepatobiliary phase hyperintensity, and fat in mass have been reported to be associated with a favorable prognosis. Most of these imaging findings were examined in retrospective, single-center studies that were not adequately validated. However, the imaging findings can be applied for deciding the treatment strategy for HCC, if their significance can be confirmed by a large multicenter study. In this literature, we would like to review imaging findings related to the prognosis of HCC as well as their associated clinicopathological characteristics

factor 1α in precancerous nodules with telomere

Increased expression of stathmin and elongatio

Vessels Encapsulating Tumor Clusters (VETC) Is a Powerful Predictor of Aggressive Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

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Evaluating the Sensitivity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Biotin Deprivation Using Regulated Gene Expression

In the search for new drug targets, we evaluated the biotin synthetic pathway of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and constructed an Mtb mutant lacking the biotin biosynthetic enzyme 7,8-diaminopelargonic acid synthase, BioA. In biotin-free synthetic media, ΔbioA did not produce wild-type levels of biotinylated proteins, and therefore did not grow and lost viability. ΔbioA was also unable to establish infection in mice. Conditionally-regulated knockdown strains of Mtb similarly exhibited impaired bacterial growth and viability in vitro and in mice, irrespective of the timing of transcriptional silencing. Biochemical studies further showed that BioA activity has to be reduced by approximately 99% to prevent growth. These studies thus establish that de novo biotin synthesis is essential for Mtb to establish and maintain a chronic infection in a murine model of TB. Moreover, these studies provide an experimental strategy to systematically rank the in vivo value of potential drug targets in Mtb and other pathogens

ERS: A simple scoring system to predict early recurrence after surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

peer reviewed[en] BACKGROUND: Surgical resection (SR) is a potentially curative treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) hampered by high rates of recurrence. New drugs are tested in the adjuvant setting, but standardised risk stratification tools of HCC recurrence are lacking. OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a simple scoring system to predict 2-year recurrence after SR for HCC. METHODS: 2359 treatment-naïve patients who underwent SR for HCC in 17 centres in Europe and Asia between 2004 and 2017 were divided into a development (DS; n = 1558) and validation set (VS; n = 801) by random sampling of participating centres. The Early Recurrence Score (ERS) was generated using variables associated with 2-year recurrence in the DS and validated in the VS. RESULTS: Variables associated with 2-year recurrence in the DS were (with associated points) alpha-fetoprotein (100: 3), size of largest nodule (≥40 mm: 1), multifocality (yes: 2), satellite nodules (yes: 2), vascular invasion (yes: 1) and surgical margin (positive R1: 2). The sum of points provided a score ranging from 0 to 11, allowing stratification into four levels of 2-year recurrence risk (Wolbers' C-indices 66.8% DS and 68.4% VS), with excellent calibration according to risk categories. Wolber's and Harrell's C-indices apparent values were systematically higher for ERS when compared to Early Recurrence After Surgery for Liver tumour post-operative model to predict time to early recurrence or recurrence-free survival. CONCLUSIONS: ERS is a user-friendly staging system identifying four levels of early recurrence risk after SR and a robust tool to design personalised surveillance strategies and adjuvant therapy trials

Entry space in housing, inspiration by the concept of Korean entrance, 'Hyun Gwan'

In architecture, the entry space plays a very significant role in terms of not only as a practical function but also as a symbolic meaning. Particularly, in the case of residential facilities, the perspective of the entry space as a transitional and experiential place is very essential due to the connection and separation of sharply contrasting two different areas, the internal living space and the external public space. In this context, the main purpose of this study is to explore the fundamental attributes and roles of the entry space in housing. To this end, it firstly identifies the intrinsic values and characteristics of the entry space, secondly analyzes the correlation between design elements that make up the entry space, and lastly proposes the new design for the residential entry space. The thesis is largely divided into three parts: ‘theoretical part’, ‘analytical part’ and ‘design part’. The theoretical part begins with a conceptual study on the entry space itself, and as an inspirational research subject, intensively examines the concept of ‘Hyun-Gwan’, the entrance of Korean traditional housing. Through this, key perspectives are derived to define the entry space more systematically. In the following analytical part, several entry spaces are analyzed by applying the specific criteria subdivided from the above key perspectives. Through the comparison of analysis results, various design types are categorized and characterized, which determines the unique spatial form and features of each entry space. In conclusion, the series of analysis provides the opportunity to rethink the residential entry space based on the comprehensive interpretations. On the basis of it, the design part experiments the possibility to create alternative ideas for the new entry space in housing

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opening control using the multi-fingered roboti

Preoperative cephalhematoma size measured with computed tomography predicts intraoperative bleeding in pediatric patients undergoing cranioplasty

Background Cranioplasty for the treatment of cephalhematomas in small infants with limited blood volume is challenging because of massive bleeding. This study aimed to elucidate the correlation between cephalhematoma size and intraoperative blood loss and identify criteria that can predict large intraoperative blood loss. Methods We reviewed the medical records of 120 pediatric patients aged less than 24 months who underwent cranioplasty for treatment of a cephalhematoma. The cephalhematoma sizes in preoperative brain computed tomography (CT) were measured using ImageJ. Results Pearson correlation showed that the cephalhematoma size in the pre-operative brain CT was weakly correlated with intraoperative blood loss (Pearson coefficient = 0.192, P = 0.037). In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, a cephalhematoma size greater than 113.5 cm3 was found to be a risk factor for large blood loss. The area under the curve in the receiver operating characteristic plot of the multivariable model was 0.714 (0.619–0.809). Conclusions A cephalhematoma size cutoff value of 113.5 cm3, as measured in the preoperative CT imaging, can predict intraoperative blood loss exceeding 30% of the total body blood volume. The establishment of a transfusion strategy prior to surgery based on cephalhematoma size could be useful in pediatric cranioplasty