The role of electrocochleography and the caloric test in predicting short-term recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo

ObjectiveThe study aimed to assess the value of physiological tests for evaluating inner ear function in predicting the short-term recurrence of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).Materials and methodsThe clinical information of all idiopathic BPPV patients who were treated in our clinic between February 2021 and December 2022 were reviewed. All patients included in the study had completed audiology examinations including pure tone audiometry, electrocochleography (EcochG), auditory brainstem response, and vestibular function examination such as the vestibular caloric test. The relationships between the results of the above tests and short-term recurrent BPPV were analyzed.ResultsA total of 96 patients with unilateral idiopathic BPPV were included for analysis. The numbers of non-recurrent patients and recurrent patients were 57 (59.4%) and 39 (40.6%), respectively. Only the results of EcochG and the caloric test showed significant differences between non-recurrent and recurrent patients (both P < 0.05). The results of these two tests were also found to be independently predictive of short-term recurrence (both P < 0.05). The non-recurrence rate for patients with normal results in both tests reached up to 78.3%, which was significantly higher than that for patients with abnormal results in both tests, 28.6% (P < 0.05).ConclusionEndolymphatic hydrops and canal paresis were independent risk factors for short-term recurrent BPPV. Additional treatments should be considered to reduce the recurrence rate, including dehydration treatment and vestibular rehabilitation

Comparison of A and B Starch Granules from Three Wheat Varieties

Three starches from the wheat varieties AK58, ZM18 and YZ4110 were separated into large (A) and small (B) granules, which were characterized structurally and evaluated for their functional properties. SEM results showed that the size of A-granules from ZM18 and YZ4110 were about the same, but the sizes of A-granules and B-granules from AK58 were larger than those of ZM18 and YZ4110. FTIR spectra showed that all the samples exhibited a similar pattern, with seven main modes with maximum absorbance peaks near 3,500, 3,000, 1,600, 1,400, 1,000, 800, 500 cm−1. The B-granules of ZM18 and YZ4110 had less amylose content, although the difference among the total amylose contents of the three unfractionated starches was not significant. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed predominantly A-type crystallinity for all the starches. The A-granules showed sharper XRD patterns than the other starches. DSC analysis showed that the A-granules had broader ranges of gelatinization temperatures than the B-granules from the same wheat variety. The gelatinization enthalpy (ΔH) of A-granules was higher than that of B-granules. AK58 exhibited the smallest enthalpy, while ZM18 showed the largest enthalpy. In pasting tests, the A-granule starch of AK58 had higher peak, final and setback viscosity, lower breakdown and pasting temperature, and the B-granule starch and unfractionated starch of AK58 had lower peak, breakdown, final and setback viscosity and higher pasting temperature than ZM18 and YZ4110

Genomic and Immune Features in an Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma Patient with Microsatellite Instability-High Suffered Rapid Acquired Resistance to PD-1 Inhibitor

Introduction: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly aggressive liver malignancy with poor prognosis. Recently, the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors, has emerged as a promising strategy in multiple tumor types, including ICC. Microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) is an important biomarker for ICIs in solid tumors. The response rate in patients with MSI-H is significantly higher than in those with microsatellite stability/ microsatellite instability-low (MSS/MSI-L). And approximately 80% to 90% of the patients with MSI-H could maintain sustained clinical benefits once they had an initial response. However, some patients could have primary resistance at the beginning, and some might have acquired resistance after long-term treatment. Case Presentation: We present the case of an ICC patient with MSI-H who suffered rapid progression after a short-term remission with Camrelizumab, a kind of PD-1 inhibitor, as second-line treatment. The patient’s genomic and immune features were analyzed by next-generation sequencing and multiplex immunofluorescence staining (mIF) to explore the possible mechanisms of the rapidly acquired resistance of ICIs in this MSI-H case. Discussion/Conclusion: The genomic and immunohistochemical analysis showed that TGFBR2 mutation, loss of HLA B44 supertype, carrying B62 supertype, and increased PD-L1+ cells, macrophages and Tregs in the tumor microenvironment might be related to the non-sustain benefit of ICIs in this MSI-H patient

Wheat Yield Prediction Based on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles-Collected Red–Green–Blue Imagery

Unmanned aerial vehicles-collected (UAVs) digital red–green–blue (RGB) images provided a cost-effective method for precision agriculture applications regarding yield prediction. This study aims to fully explore the potential of UAV-collected RGB images in yield prediction of winter wheat by comparing it to multi-source observations, including thermal, structure, volumetric metrics, and ground-observed leaf area index (LAI) and chlorophyll content under the same level or across different levels of nitrogen fertilization. Color indices are vegetation indices calculated by the vegetation reflectance at visible bands (i.e., red, green, and blue) derived from RGB images. The results showed that some of the color indices collected at the jointing, flowering, and early maturity stages had high correlation (R2 = 0.76–0.93) with wheat grain yield. They gave the highest prediction power (R2 = 0.92–0.93) under four levels of nitrogen fertilization at the flowering stage. In contrast, the other measurements including canopy temperature, volumetric metrics, and ground-observed chlorophyll content showed lower correlation (R2 = 0.52–0.85) to grain yield. In addition, thermal information as well as volumetric metrics generally had little contribution to the improvement of grain yield prediction when combining them with color indices derived from digital images. Especially, LAI had inferior performance to color indices in grain yield prediction within the same level of nitrogen fertilization at the flowering stage (R2 = 0.00–0.40 and R2 = 0.55–0.68), and color indices provided slightly better prediction of yield than LAI at the flowering stage (R2 = 0.93, RMSE = 32.18 g/m2 and R2 = 0.89, RMSE = 39.82 g/m2) under all levels of nitrogen fertilization. This study highlights the capabilities of color indices in wheat yield prediction across genotypes, which also indicates the potential of precision agriculture application using many other flexible, affordable, and easy-to-handle devices such as mobile phones and near surface digital cameras in the future

Dental caries status and related factors among 5-year-old children in Shanghai

Abstract Background Dental caries in young children is a difficult global oral health problem. In the last decade, China has put a great deal of effort into reducing the prevalence of dental caries. This study, which is part of the China Population Chronic Disease and Nutrition Surveillance 2021, aimed to investigate the prevalence of dental caries among children aged 5 in Shanghai, China, and its associated factors. Methods A total of 1281 children aged 5 years from 6 districts in Shanghai were selected by a stratified sampling method. The survey consisted of an oral health questionnaire and an oral health examination. The questionnaire included questions on oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. The oral health examination used WHO standards. After screening, the data were input and analysed. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were used to study the relevant factors affecting dental caries. Results The prevalence of dental caries among 1281 children was 51.0%, the dmft index score was 2.46, the Significant Caries Index (SiC) score was 6.39, and the SiC10 score was 10.35. Dental caries experience was related to the frequency of sweet drink consumption, the age of starting tooth brushing, eating habits after brushing, whether the children had received an oral examination provided by the government (p  0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the region of residence, eating after brushing and the age of starting brushing were associated with dental caries. Conclusions Dental caries remained prevalent among 5-year-old children in Shanghai, China. Prevention strategies that target the associated factors including region of residence, eating after brushing, and the age of starting brushing should be considered

Comparison of clinical manifestations between smokers and nonsmokers in SLE patients.

<p>F, female; M, male</p><p>Comparison of clinical manifestations between smokers and nonsmokers in SLE patients.</p

Chinese Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Treatment and Research Group Registry VI: Effect of Cigarette Smoking on the Clinical Phenotype of Chinese Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>Our study aimed to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on the clinical phenotype of patients registered in the Chinese Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) Treatment and Research (CSTAR) group registry database, the first online registry of Chinese patients with SLE.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A prospective cross-sectional study of Chinese SLE patients was conducted using the CSTAR. Our case-control analysis was performed on age- and gender-matched subjects to explore the potential effect of cigarette smoking on the clinical manifestation of SLE.</p><p>Results</p><p>Smokers comprised 8.9% (65/730) of patients, and the ratio of females/males was 19/46. Thirty-nine patients were current smokers, and 26 were ex-smokers. Data showed significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers in the following areas: nephropathy (58.5% vs. 39.2%; p = 0.003), microscopic hematuria (30.8% vs. 19.1%; p = 0.025), proteinuria (53.8% vs. 34.4%; p = 0.002), and SLE Disease Activity Index(DAI) scores (12.38±8.95 vs. 9.83±6.81; p = 0.028). After adjusting for age and gender, significant differences between smokers and nonsmokers were found with photosensitivity (35.9% vs. 18%; p = 0.006), nephropathy (59.4% vs. 39.8%; p = 0.011), and proteinuria (54.7% vs. 35.2%). Although smokers tended to have greater disease severity compared with nonsmokers (SLEDAI scores: 12.58±8.89 vs.10.5±7.09), the difference was not significant (p = 0.081).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Cigarette smoking triggers the development and exacerbation of SLE, especially with respect to renal involvement. Chinese smokers with SLE should be advised to discontinue cigarette use.</p></div

Chinese SLE Treatment and Research Group Registry: III. Association of Autoantibodies with Clinical Manifestations in Chinese Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

We investigated the characteristics of Chinese SLE patients by analyzing the association between specific autoantibodies and clinical manifestations of 2104 SLE patients from registry data of CSTAR cohort. Significant (P<0.05) associations were found between anti-Sm antibody, anti-rRNP antibody, and malar rash; between anti-RNP antibody, anti-SSA antibody, and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH); between anti-SSB antibody and hematologic involvement; and between anti-dsDNA antibody and nephropathy. APL antibody was associated with hematologic involvement, interstitial lung disease, and a lower prevalence of oral ulcerations (P<0.05). Associations were also found between anti-dsDNA antibody and a lower prevalence of photosensitivity, and between anti-SSA antibody and a lower prevalence of nephropathy (P<0.05). Most of these findings were consistent with other studies in the literature but this study is the first report on the association between anti-SSA and a lower prevalence of nephropathy. The correlations of specific autoantibodies and clinical manifestations could provide clues for physicians to predict organ damages in SLE patients. We suggest that a thorough screening of autoantibodies should be carried out when the diagnosis of SLE is established, and repeated echocardiography annually in SLE patients with anti-RNP or anti-SSA antibody should be performed