No abstract

Idiopathic ON patients in Taiwan have an older age at onset and a higher percentage of optic disc edema than reported in previous literature. The characteristic features of ON patients associated with a high risk of developing MS are female sex, retrobulbar type ON, CNS imaging abnormalities, elevated CSF IgG index, and recurrence. Idiopathic ON patients in Taiwan display a significantly lower conversion rate to MS.

We successfully demonstrate the first solid-state sensor to have reliable responses to breath ammonia of rat. For thioacetamide (TAA)-induced hepatopathy rats, we observe that the proposed sensor can detect liver that undergoes acute-moderate hepatopathy with a p-value less than 0.05. The proposed sensor is an organic diode with vertical nanojunctions produced by using low-cost colloidal lithography. Its simple structure and low production cost facilitates the development of point-of-care technology. We also anticipate that the study is a starting point for investigating sophisticated breath-ammonia-related disease models.

Although gastric tumors have overlapping radiologic appearances, some unusual tumors may present specific imaging features. Using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT), with water as a negative oral contrast agent and intravenous contrast medium, can provide critical information for the diagnosis of gastric diseases. In addition, MDCT can evaluate the involvement of the gastric wall and extragastric extent of the disease, as compared with gastroenteroscopy and double-contrast upper gastrointestinal study. Regarding lesion location and size, enhancing and growth patterns, presence of calcification or fat, and involvement of the gastric wall and adjacent structures, CT may provide useful information. In this review article, we review the relevant literature and discuss the CT features and the histopathologic findings of different types of gastric lesions. The lesions are divided into benign (glomus tumors, schwannomas, leiomyomas, and lipomas), malignant (gastrointestinal stromal tumors, mucinous carcinomas, lymphomas, and carcinoid tumors), and tumor-like lesions (ectopic pancreas and bezoar). Familiarity with imaging appearances and pathologic findings can help physicians make an accurate diagnosis.