The purpose of this study was to use the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Reporting and Data System (CO-RADS) to evaluate the chest computed tomography (CT) images of patients suspected of having COVID-19, and to investigate its diagnostic performance and interobserver agreement. The Dutch Radiological Society developed CO-RADS as a diagnostic indicator for assessing suspicion of lung involvement of COVID-19 on a scale of 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). We investigated retrospectively 154 adult patients with clinically suspected COVID-19, between April and June 2020, who underwent chest CT and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The patients’ average age was 61.3 years (range, 21–93), 101 were male, and 76 were RT-PCR positive. Using CO-RADS, four radiologists evaluated the chest CT images. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were calculated. Interobserver agreement was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) by comparing the individual reader’s score to the median of the remaining three radiologists. The average sensitivity was 87.8% (range, 80.2–93.4%), specificity was 66.4% (range, 51.3–84.5%), and AUC was 0.859 (range, 0.847–0.881); there was no significant difference between the readers (p > 0.200). In 325 (52.8%) of 616 observations, there was absolute agreement among observers. The average ICC of readers was 0.840 (range, 0.800–0.874; p < 0.001). CO-RADS is a categorical taxonomic evaluation scheme for COVID-19 pneumonia, using chest CT images, that provides outstanding performance and from substantial to almost perfect interobserver agreement for predicting COVID-19.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a major threat to public health since the outbreak in Wuhan in 2019. Chest computed tomography is recommended for COVID-19 cases for evaluation and follow up of pneumonia and related complication. We report the case of a 66-year-old man with underlying hypertension and a history of smoking 76 packs a year; he was frequently monitored by computed tomography for pulmonary changes during the period from early symptom onset to death. Furthermore, he developed a pneumothorax during the course. The occurrence of pneumothorax in COVID-19 patients is not common, and there have been only a few previous reports. This is a valuable case of pneumothorax in a patient with COVID-19 treated with a ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. This case and previous reports suggest that pneumothorax occurs in COVID-19 with a relatively late onset (3–8 weeks). Long-term pneumonia morbidity, steroid therapy, positive pressure ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation can cause pneumothorax, leading to capillary and alveolar damage.

Esterases in normal hamster pancreas and pancreatic tubular adenocarcinoma of ductal origin induced by N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amine were stained in cryostat sections with mixtures of a diazonium salt (fast blue RR) and with each of the enantiomers of alpha-naphthyl N-methoxycarbonylalaninate, N-methoxycarbonylvalinate, and N-acetylprolinate. Azo coupling of alpha-naphthol formed by enzymatic hydrolysis with the diazonium salt gives an azo dye that indicates the presence and amount of the enzyme activity in situ. Comparison between the color intensities obtained with each of the enantiomers of a chiral alpha-naphthyl ester shows the stereoselectivity, or enantiomeric preference, of the enzyme. Esterases in acinar cells of the normal pancreas showed slight stereoselectivity for N-methoxycarbonylalaninate, while esterases in fat cells scattered throughout the exocrine pancreas showed high stereoselectivity for (R)-N-acetylprolinate. These esterase activities were not found in the tumor, but another prominent esterase activity with high stereoselectivity for (S)-N-methoxycarbonylvalinate was found. Similar results were obtained by staining after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showing that the bands of esterases in the adenocarcinoma stained only with the S enantiomer of the N-methoxycarbonylvalinate. The present method is a valuable tool for designing anticancer prodrugs that are activated by tumor-specific esterases.

This paper describes "Six-axis Fame Sensing Foamear." which is a sensor designed a n a g e the natural ilolking dvnaniics of a Iiuman being. The system fixes 10 the shank link and uses prostlwticfeer, iriiich have/7e.rible solesfor walking. We iar-ifed the system in a comparison e.rpel?nienl of force plate u,illi foonsear. Most a/ the icalking data tising the system can be considered as the same as normal data because of manient and force pattern We conducted the iialk esperinient also on uneven ground. Measuves of walking patterns such as knee joint iiiomenl are the sanie uheri wearing the sensor as d e n walking iiatural!i~. The comparison showed that the :wem can be used for natitral waking aiia!isis.