Background: The diagnosis performance of B-mode ultrasound (US) for focal liver lesions (FLLs) is relatively limited. We aimed to develop a deep convolutional neural network of US (DCNN-US) for aiding radiologists in classification of malignant from benign FLLs. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in 13 hospitals and finally 2143 patients with 24,343 US images were enrolled. Patients who had non-cystic FLLs with pathological results were enrolled. The FLLs from 11 hospitals were randomly divided into training and internal validations (IV) cohorts with a 4:1 ratio for developing and evaluating DCNN-US. Diagnostic performance of the model was verified using external validation (EV) cohort from another two hospitals. The diagnosis value of DCNN-US was compared with that of contrast enhanced computed tomography (CT)/magnetic resonance image (MRI) and 236 radiologists, respectively. Findings: The AUC of Model LBC for FLLs was 0.924 (95% CI: 0.889À0.959) in the EV cohort. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of Model LBC were superior to 15-year skilled radiologists (86.5% vs 76.1%, p = 0.0084 and 85.5% vs 76.9%, p = 0.0051, respectively). Accuracy of Model LBC was comparable to that of contrast enhanced CT (both 84.7%) but inferior to contrast enhanced MRI (87.9%) for lesions detected by US. Interpretation: DCNN-US with high sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing FLLs shows its potential to assist less-experienced radiologists in improving their performance and lowering their dependence on sectional imaging in liver cancer diagnosis.

The present meta-analysis indicated that preoperative NLR had significant association with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and may be an effectively prognostic indicator.

The signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway has been implicated in cell apoptosis and inflammatory processes. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and ischemic postconditioning (IPTC) inhibit both of these processes. In the present study, we investigated the role of phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3)-mediated apoptosis and inflammation following non-invasive remote limb IPTC (NRIPoC) using a classic rat model of focal cerebral ischemia. Forty-five adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into 3 groups (n=15 per group): the sham-operated, ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) and NRIPoC groups. NRIPoC was implemented at the beginning of reperfusion. At 24 h after cerebral reperfusion, we evaluated the neurological deficit score (NDS), assessed the cerebral infarct size and tissue morphology, and evaluated neuronal apoptosis. The protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and p-STAT3 in the penumbra region were assessed by western blot analysis. The cerebral infarct volume, the number of apoptotic cells and the protein expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, NF-κB and TNF-α were all found to be increased in the I/R group compared with the sham-operated group. However, these levels were decreased in the NRIPoC group compared with the I/R group. The number of apoptotic cells in the penumbra in the I/R group was increased compared with that in the NRIPoC and sham-operated groups. The protein expression of p-STAT3 was increased in the NRIPoC group compared with the sham-operated and I/R groups. These results indicate that the protective effects of NRIPoC against cerebral I/R injury may be related to the attenuation of neuronal apoptosis and inflammation through the activation of STAT3.

VASCULAR AND INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGYR enal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a heterogeneous group of kidney cancers mostly of proximal tubule origin (1) and represents more than 90% of all kidney cancers (2). The global yearly incidence of RCC is estimated at six per 100 000 men and three per 100 000 women (3). Patients with T1a RCC are considered to have a good prognosis, with a frequency of distant metastasis of 0.7%-7.2% (4).Current treatment guidelines recommend partial nephrectomy as the preferred treatment for patients with clinical T1a (ie, cT1a) RCC and who are good surgical candidates (5). Thermal ablation is an appropriate option for elderly patients with comorbidities who are unfit for surgery, mainly because of the benefit of renal preservation and minimal invasion (6-8). Indeed, several studies have concluded that the oncologic control was similar between partial nephrectomy and cryoablation or radiofrequency ablation (RFA) (9-13). Microwave ablation (MWA) is one of the most recent and exciting advances among thermal ablation techniques and has been widely used for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (14). Compared with the passive heating of RFA, the potential benefits of MWA include a larger ablation zone and higher intratumoral temperatures achieved through active heating (15). Therefore, MWA offers optimistic outcomes for small RCC (16)(17)(18). Previous studies by our group concluded that the oncologic outcomes with percutaneous MWA were comparable to those with radial nephrectomy (19,20). A study comparing open or laparoscopic MWA with open partial nephrectomy showed that the two modalities achieved similar results (21).Percutaneous MWA and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) are two modalities indicated for early-stage

Resveratrol has been showed to relieve neuropathic pain through its anti-inflammatory effects on the peripheral nerve system. However, it is not clear whether resveratrol, especially when administered systemically, is effective in alleviating the peripheral neuropathy-induced imbalance between pro-and anti-inflammatory responses in the central nervous system. To test this, we used a rat neuropathic pain model resulting from chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. Resveratrol (200 mg/kg) or vehicle (dimethylsulfoxide) were administered intraperitoneally once daily for 14 consecutive days after chronic constriction injury. We found that resveratrol attenuated mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia in rats with chronic constriction injury. After 14 days of resveratrol treatment, expression of several anti-inflammatory cytokine receptors, including IL-1RA and IL-1R2, was increased in the dorsal spinal cord of rats with chronic constriction injury, and IL-4Ra was increased in dorsal spinal cord neurons. Knockdown of IL-4Ra in a neuronal cell line reversed the resveratrol-induced upregulation of IL-1RA and IL-1R2. These results indicate that resveratrol enhances IL-4 receptor-mediated anti-inflammatory responses in the spinal cord and thus might contribute to the alleviation of central sensitization following peripheral nerve injury.