Poly[(6-carboxy­picolinato-κ3 O 2,N,O 6)(μ3-pyridine-2,6-dicarboxyl­ato-κ5 O 2,N,O 6:O 2′:O 6′)dysprosium(III)]

In the title complex, [Dy(C7H3NO4)(C7H4NO4)]n, one of the ligands is fully deprotonated while the second has lost only one H atom. Each DyIII ion is coordinated by six O atoms and two N atoms from two pyridine-2,6-dicarboxyl­ate and two 6-carboxy­picolinate ligands, displaying a bicapped trigonal-prismatic geometry. The average Dy—O bond distance is 2.40 Å, some 0.1Å longer than the corresponding Ho—O distance in the isotypic holmium complex. Adjacent DyIII ions are linked by the pyridine-2,6-dicarboxyl­ate ligands, forming a layer in (100). These layers are further connected by π–π stacking inter­actions between neighboring pyridyl rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.827 (3) Å] and C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, assembling a three-dimensional supra­molecular network. Within each layer, there are other π–π stacking inter­actions between neighboring pyridyl rings [centroid–centroid distance = 3.501 (2) Å] and O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions, which further stabilize the structure

Endoscopic video defogging using luminance blending.

Endoscopic video sequences provide surgeons with direct surgical field or visualisation on anatomical targets in the patient during robotic surgery. Unfortunately, these video images are unavoidably hazy or foggy to prevent surgeons from clear surgical vision due to typical surgical operations such as ablation and cauterisation during surgery. This Letter aims at removing fog or smoke on endoscopic video sequences to enhance and maintain a direct and clear visualisation of the operating field during robotic surgery. The authors propose a new luminance blending framework that integrates contrast enhancement with visibility restoration for foggy endoscopic video processing. The proposed method was validated on clinical endoscopic videos that were collected from robotic surgery. The experimental results demonstrate that their method provides a promising means to effectively remove fog or smoke on endoscopic video images. In particular, the visual quality of defogged endoscopic images was improved from 0.5088 to 0.6475

No relationship between the distribution of mast cells and the survival of stage IIIB colon cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mast cells promote the progression of experimental tumors and might be a valuable therapeutic target. However, the relevant clinical evidence is still controversial. This study analyzed the relationship between the distribution of mast cells and the survival of patients with colon cancer to study whether mast cells contribute to tumor progression.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Ninety-three cases of pathologically confirmed primary cancer tissues matched with adjacent normal mucosa, metastases of regional-draining lymph nodes and regional-draining lymph nodes without metastases were collected from stage IIIB colon carcinoma patients between January 1997 and July 2004 at the Cancer Center of Sun Yat-Sen University. Tryptase-positive mast cells were counted. The relationships of the distribution of mast cells with clinicopathologic parameters and 5-year survival were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Although the mast cell count in the mucosa adjacent to the primary colon cancer was significantly higher than that in the stroma of the primary colon cancer, no difference in mast cell counts was observed between the stroma in lymph node metastasis and the lymph tissue adjacent to the metastasis. Additionally, the mast cell count in the regional-draining lymph node without the invasion of cancer cells was significantly higher than that in the stroma of lymph node metastasis and adjacent lymph tissue. However, none of those mast cell counts was related to 5-year survival.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although mast cell count varied with location, none of the mast cell counts was related to 5-year survival, suggesting that mast cells do not contribute to the progression of stage IIIB colon cancer.</p

Endoscopic Vision Augmentation Using Multiscale Bilateral-Weighted Retinex for Robotic Surgery

医疗机器人手术视觉是微创外科手术成功与否的关键所在。由于手术器械医学电子内镜自身内在的局限性，导致了手术视野不清晰、光照不均、多烟雾等诸多问题，使得外科医生无法准确快速感知与识别人体内部器官中的神经血管以及病灶位置等结构信息，这无疑增加了手术风险和手术时间。针对这些手术视觉问题，本论文提出了一种基于双边滤波权重分析的多尺度Retinex模型方法，对达芬奇医疗机器人手术过程中所采集到的病患视频进行处理与分析。经过外科医生对实验结果的主观评价，一致认为该方法能够大幅度地增强手术视野质量；同时客观评价实验结果表明本论文所提出方法优于目前计算机视觉领域内的图像增强与恢复方法。 厦门大学信息科学与技术学院计算机科学系罗雄彪教授为本文第一作者。【Abstract】Endoscopic vision plays a significant role in minimally invasive surgical procedures. The visibility and maintenance of such direct in-situ vision is paramount not only for safety by preventing inadvertent injury, but also to improve precision and reduce operating time. Unfortunately, endoscopic vision is unavoidably degraded due to illumination variations during surgery. This work aims to restore or augment such degraded visualization and quantitatively evaluate it during robotic surgery. A multiscale bilateral-weighted retinex method is proposed to remove non-uniform and highly directional illumination and enhance surgical vision, while an objective noreference image visibility assessment method is defined in terms of sharpness, naturalness, and contrast, to quantitatively and objectively evaluate endoscopic visualization on surgical video sequences. The methods were validated on surgical data, with the experimental results showing that our method outperforms existent retinex approaches. In particular, the combined visibility was improved from 0.81 to 1.06, while three surgeons generally agreed that the results were restored with much better visibility.The authors thank the assistance of Dr. Stephen Pautler for facilitating the data acquisition, Dr. A. Jonathan McLeod and Dr.Uditha Jayarathne for helpful discussions

The density of macrophages in the invasive front is inversely correlated to liver metastasis in colon cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although an abundance of evidence has indicated that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are associated with a favorable prognosis in patients with colon cancer, it is still unknown how TAMs exert a protective effect. This study examined whether TAMs are involved in hepatic metastasis of colon cancer.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>One hundred and sixty cases of pathologically-confirmed specimens were obtained from colon carcinoma patients with TNM stage IIIB and IV between January 1997 and July 2004 at the Cancer Center of Sun Yat-Sen University. The density of macrophages in the invasive front (CD68TF_Hotspot) was scored with an immunohistochemical assay. The relationship between the CD68TF_Hotspotand the clinicopathologic parameters, the potential of hepatic metastasis, and the 5-year survival rate were analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TAMs were associated with the incidence of hepatic metastasis and the 5-year survival rate in patients with colon cancers. Both univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the CD68TF_Hotspotwas independently prognostic of survival. A higher 5-year survival rate among patients with stage IIIB after radical resection occurred in patients with a higher macrophage infiltration in the invasive front (81.0%) than in those with a lower macrophage infiltration (48.6%). Most importantly, the CD68TF_Hotspotwas associated with both the potential of hepatic metastasis and the interval between colon resection and the occurrence of hepatic metastasis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study showed evidence that TAMs infiltrated in the invasive front are associated with improvement in both hepatic metastasis and overall survival in colon cancer, implying that TAMs have protective potential in colon cancers and might serve as a novel therapeutic target.</p

The development and evaluation of individualized templates to assist transoral C2 articular mass or transpedicular screw placement in TARP-IV procedures: adult cadaver specimen study

OBJECTIVES: The transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate system treats irreducible atlantoaxial dislocation from transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate-I to transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate-III. However, this system has demonstrated problems associated with screw loosening, atlantoaxial fixation and concealed or manifest neurovascular injuries. This study sought to design a set of individualized templates to improve the accuracy of anterior C2 screw placement in the transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate-IV procedure. METHODS: A set of individualized templates was designed according to thin-slice computed tomography data obtained from 10 human cadavers. The templates contained cubic modules and drill guides to facilitate transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate positioning and anterior C2 screw placement. We performed 2 stages of cadaveric experiments with 2 cadavers in stage one and 8 in stage two. Finally, guided C2 screw placement was evaluated by reading postoperative computed tomography images and comparing the planned and inserted screw trajectories. RESULTS: There were two cortical breaching screws in stage one and three in stage two, but only the cortical breaching screws in stage one were ranked critical. In stage two, the planned entry points and the transverse angles of the anterior C2 screws could be simulated, whereas the declination angles could not be simulated due to intraoperative blockage of the drill bit and screwdriver by the upper teeth. CONCLUSIONS: It was feasible to use individualized templates to guide transoral C2 screw placement. Thus, these drill templates combined with transoral atlantoaxial reduction plate-IV, may improve the accuracy of transoral C2 screw placement and reduce related neurovascular complications

Poly[tetra­aqua-μ4-bromido-di-μ2-bromido-μ2-hydroxido-di-μ3-iso­nicotinato-tetra-μ2-isonicotinato-tetra­copper(I)dithulium(III)]

A new thulium(III)–copper(I) heterometallic coordination polymer, [Cu4Tm2Br3(C6H4NO2)6(OH)(H2O)4]n, has been prepared by a hydro­thermal method. The Tm and both Cu atoms lie on mirror planes. The Tm atom is seven-coordinate with a capped distorted trigonal–prismatic coordination geometry, while the Cu atoms adopt trigonal CuBrN2 and tetra­hedral CuBr3N coordination modes, respectively. The Cu atom in the trigonal coordination environment is disordered over two sites of equal occupancy. The crystal structure is constructed from two distinct units of dimeric [Tm2(μ2-OH(IN)6(H2O)4] cores (IN = isonicotinate) and one-dimensional inorganic [Cu4Br3]n chains, which are linked together, forming heterometallic Cu–halide–lanthanide–organic layers

Changes of outer retinal thickness with increasing age in normal eyes

AIM:To comprehensively investigate the relationship between outer retinal layer thickness and age in normal eyes.METHODS: One hundred normal eyes of 100 subjects who underwent spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT)were included in this retrospective study. The distances between the external limiting membrane(ELM)line and the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment(IS/OS)line(ELM-IS/OS), the IS/OS line and the cone outer segment tips(COST)line(IS/OS-COST), the COST line and the retinal pigment epithelium(RPE)complex(COST-RPE)and the full retinal thickness(RT)were measured at the fovea and on four quarters. The relationship between thickness and age or sex was then analysed.RESULTS: A thinner RT was observed in women in a multiple regression analysis(men: 234.47±16.79 μm; women: 223.13±15.43 μm). The RT on the nasal quarter and the ELM-IS/OS thickness at the fovea and on the four quarters were significantly and negatively correlated with age. The IS/OS-COST and COST-RPE thicknesses at the fovea and on the four quarters were not significantly correlated with age or sex, respectively. The RT at the fovea was significantly thinner than on the four quarters. The ELM-IS/OS, IS/OS-COST and COST-RPE thicknesses at the fovea were significantly thicker than on the four quarters. CONCLUSION: In normal eyes, the RT thickness on the nasal quarter and the ELM-IS/OS thickness were significantly and negatively correlated with age. The IS/OS-COST and COST-RPE thicknesses were not significantly correlated with age or sex

A Google Earth-based surveillance system for schistosomiasis japonica implemented in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Due to the success of the national schistosomiasis control programme in China, transmission has been sufficiently reduced in many areas to severely limit identification of areas at risk by conventional snail surveys only. In this study, we imported Google Earth technology and a Global Positioning System (GPS) into the monitoring system for schistosomiasis surveillance of the banks of the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 45 sites were selected and the risk was assessed monthly by water exposure of sentinel mice at these sites from May to September in 2009 and 2010. The results were assembled and broadcast via the Google Earth platform.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The intensity of schistosomiasis transmission showed peaks of risk in June and September of 2009, while there was only one small peak in June in 2010 as the number of detected positive transmission sites dropped dramatically that year thanks to improved mollusciciding. River ports were found to be areas of particular risk, but ferry terminals and other centres of river-related activities were also problematic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results confirm that the surveillance system can be rapidly updated and easily maintained, which proves the Google Earth approach to be a user-friendly, inexpensive warning system for schistosomiasis risk.</p