COVID-19 has developed into a worldwide pandemic; early identification of severe illness is critical for controlling it and improving the prognosis of patients with limited medical resources. The present study aimed to analyze the characteristics of severe COVID-19 and identify biomarkers for differential diagnosis and prognosis prediction. In total, 27 consecutive patients with COVID-19 and 75 patients with flu were retrospectively enrolled. Clinical parameters were collected from electronic medical records. The disease course was divided into four stages: initial, progression, peak, and recovery stages, according to computed tomography (CT) progress. to mild COVID-19, the lymphocytes in the severe COVID-19 progressively decreased at the progression and the peak stages, but rebound in the recovery stage. The levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the severe group at the initial and progression stages were higher than those in the mild group. Correlation analysis showed that CRP (R = .62; P < .01), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (R = .55; P < .01) and granulocyte/ lymphocyte ratio (R = .49; P < .01) were positively associated with the CT severity scores. In contrast, the number of lymphocytes (R = −.37; P < .01) was negatively correlated with the CT severity scores. The receiver-operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that area under the curve of CRP on the first visit for predicting severe COVID-19 was 0.87 (95% CI 0.10-1.00) at 20.42 mg/L cut-off, with sensitivity and specificity 83% and 91%, respectively. CRP in severe COVID-19 patients

).q RSNA, 2016 Purpose:To develop a magnetic resonance (MR) "fingerprinting" technique for quantitative abdominal imaging. Materials and Methods:This HIPAA-compliant study had institutional review board approval, and informed consent was obtained from all subjects. To achieve accurate quantification in the presence of marked B 0 and B 1 field inhomogeneities, the MR fingerprinting framework was extended by using a twodimensional fast imaging with steady-state free precession, or FISP, acquisition and a Bloch-Siegert B 1 mapping method. The accuracy of the proposed technique was validated by using agarose phantoms. Quantitative measurements were performed in eight asymptomatic subjects and in six patients with 20 focal liver lesions. A two-tailed Student t test was used to compare the T1 and T2 results in metastatic adenocarcinoma with those in surrounding liver parenchyma and healthy subjects. Results:Phantom experiments showed good agreement with standard methods in T1 and T2 after B 1 correction. In vivo studies demonstrated that quantitative T1, T2, and B 1 maps can be acquired within a breath hold of approximately 19 seconds. T1 and T2 measurements were compatible with those in the literature. Representative values included the following: liver, 745 msec 6 65 (standard deviation) and 31 msec 6 6; renal medulla, 1702 msec 6 205 and 60 msec 6 21; renal cortex, 1314 msec 6 77 and 47 msec 6 10; spleen, 1232 msec 6 92 and 60 msec 6 19; skeletal muscle, 1100 msec 6 59 and 44 msec 6 9; and fat, 253 msec 6 42 and 77 msec 6 16, respectively. T1 and T2 in metastatic adenocarcinoma were 1673 msec 6 331 and 43 msec 6 13, respectively, significantly different from surrounding liver parenchyma relaxation times of 840 msec 6 113 and 28 msec 6 3 (P , .0001 and P , .01) and those in hepatic parenchyma in healthy volunteers (745 msec 6 65 and 31 msec 6 6, P , .0001 and P = .021, respectively). Conclusion:A rapid technique for quantitative abdominal imaging was developed that allows simultaneous quantification of multiple tissue properties within one 19-second breath hold, with measurements comparable to those in published literature.q RSNA, 2016

Purpose The role of adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) or induction chemotherapy (IC) in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma is controversial. The individual patient data from the Meta-Analysis of Chemotherapy in Nasopharynx Carcinoma database were used to compare all available treatments. Methods All randomized trials of radiotherapy (RT) with or without chemotherapy in nonmetastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma were considered. Overall, 20 trials and 5,144 patients were included. Treatments were grouped into seven categories: RT alone (RT), IC followed by RT (IC-RT), RT followed by AC (RT-AC), IC followed by RT followed by AC (IC-RT-AC), concomitant chemoradiotherapy (CRT), IC followed by CRT (IC-CRT), and CRT followed by AC (CRT-AC). P-score was used to rank the treatments. Fixed- and random-effects frequentist network meta-analysis models were applied. Results The three treatments with the highest probability of benefit on overall survival (OS) were CRT-AC, followed by CRT and IC-CRT, with respective hazard ratios (HRs [95% CIs]) compared with RT alone of 0.65 (0.56 to 0.75), 0.77 (0.64 to 0.92), and 0.81 (0.63 to 1.04). HRs (95% CIs) of CRT-AC compared with CRT for OS, progression-free survival (PFS), locoregional control, and distant control (DC) were, respectively, 0.85 (0.68 to 1.05), 0.81 (0.66 to 0.98), 0.70 (0.48 to 1.02), and 0.87 (0.61 to 1.25). IC-CRT ranked second for PFS and the best for DC. CRT never ranked first. HRs of CRT compared with IC-CRT for OS, PFS, locoregional control, and DC were, respectively, 0.95 (0.72 to 1.25), 1.13 (0.88 to 1.46), 1.05 (0.70 to 1.59), and 1.55 (0.94 to 2.56). Regimens with more chemotherapy were associated with increased risk of acute toxicity. Conclusion The addition of AC to CRT achieved the highest survival benefit and consistent improvement for all end points. The addition of IC to CRT achieved the highest effect on DC.

Please cite this article as: Kitsara, M., Agbulut, O., Kontziampasis, D., Chen, Y., Menasché, P., Fibers for hearts: A critical review on electrospinning for cardiac tissue engineering, Acta Biomaterialia (2016), doi: http://dx.doi.org/ 10. 1016/j.actbio.2016.11.014 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. AbstractCardiac cell therapy holds a real promise for improving heart function and especially of the chronically failing myocardium. Embedding cells into 3D biodegradable scaffolds may better preserve cell survival and enhance cell engraftment after transplantation, consequently improving cardiac cell therapy compared with direct intramyocardial injection of isolated cells.The primary objective of a scaffold used in tissue engineering is the recreation of the natural 3D environment most suitable for an adequate tissue growth. An important aspect of this commitment is to mimic the fibrillar structure of the extracellular matrix, which provides essential guidance for cell organization, survival, and function. Recent advances in nanotechnology have significantly improved our capacities to mimic the extracellular matrix. Among them, electrospinning is well known for being easy to process and cost effective. Consequently, it is becoming increasingly popular for biomedical applications and it is most definitely the cutting edge technique to make scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix for industrial applications.Here, the desirable physico-chemical properties of the electrospun scaffolds for cardiac therapy are described, and polymers are categorized to natural and synthetic. Moreover, the methods used for improving functionalities by providing cells with the necessary chemical cues and a more in vivo-like environment are reported.

Purpose:To evaluate the prognostic value of variables including nodal size, level, laterality, extranodal neoplastic spread (ENS), and necrosis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and further explore the feasibility of an N-staging system using Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) guidelines for lymph node levels based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Experimental Design: The MRI scans of 924 patients with histologically diagnosed nondisseminated NPC were reviewed retrospectively. The distribution of the tumors was mapped using RTOG guidelines and laterality. The multiplicity of each tumor was calculated, as well as the size and status of ENS and the necrosis of individual nodes. Results: Nodal level, cervical lymph node laterality, and ENS were independent prognostic factors for disease failure and distant failure in multivariate analyses. There was no significant difference in the hazard ratios (HR) for distant failure between level II and retropharyngeal, level Ib, levelV, or level III involvement, whereas patients with level IVand supraclavicular fossa involvement had a significant increase in HRs. The subsets that made up a given N stage group had similar HRs for distant failure. Both the HRs for disease failure and distant failure by the proposed N staging system between one stage and the next were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The survival curves of disease-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival for all subclassifications of N stage showed significant difference from the adjacent stage (P < 0.05). The overall distribution pattern of the proposed N staging was more equitable than that of the 6th American Joint Committee on Cancer N staging. Conclusions: Nodal variables including level, cervical lymph node laterality, and ENS are independent prognostic factors for NPC. The proposed N staging system of NPC using RTOG guidelines based on MRI is highly predictive and may provide a more objective method for staging NPCs.

Background: Apathy, defined as decreased goal‐directed activity, has been observed in Parkinson's disease. A number of cognitive/psychiatric features have been documented in essential tremor, yet we are unaware of studies of apathy. Methods: Using the Apathy Evaluation Scale (range = 18–72 [more apathy]), we compared 79 essential tremor cases, 20 dystonia cases, and 39 Parkinson's disease cases with 80 normal controls. Results: The score of the Apathy Evaluation Scale was higher in essential tremor, dystonia, and Parkinson's disease cases than controls (all P ≤ .04). Parkinson's disease cases had the highest scores. Analyses stratified by presence/absence of depressive symptoms indicated the presence of a group of apathetic but nondepressed cases. Conclusions: Patients with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and dystonia had elevated apathy scores. Features of apathy seemed to occur in these conditions independent of depressive symptoms. The mechanistic basis for the apparent increased features of apathy in essential tremor and dystonia deserves further study. © 2011 Movement Disorder Society

This is the first study to demonstrate that technical scoring of a surgeon's performance independently predicts patient outcomes in pancreatic surgery. Future studies should consider how to validate and incorporate technical metrics.

Intra-arterial PLE embolization proves to be effective and safe in treating patients with CHL.