Technology and Health Care - Volume 32, issue 2

Authors: Yao, Xiaohui | Liu, Shan | Xia, Huan | Li, Hanhan | Wang, Zhijie | Su, Le | Guo, Wei | Chen, Hanrui

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Recurrence is the main cause of death in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients after liver resection. OBJECTIVE: The long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported participated in progression and prognosis of HCC, however, the vital role of lncRNA in postoperative recurrence of HCC has rarely been systematically identified. METHODS: RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed between orthotopic model of HCC and hepatoma postoperative recurrent model to comprehensively analyze the integrated transcriptome expression profiles of lncRNA and mRNA. Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was then conducted to quantify the expression levels of DElncRNAs and their …target mRNAs. RESULTS: In our study, 211 lncRNAs (P -value < 0.05) and 1125 mRNAs (P -adjust < 0.05) were significantly differentially expressed (DE) between two groups. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses showed that DElncRNAs and DEmRNAs were mainly enriched in lipid metabolism, including Arachidonic acid metabolism, PPAR signaling pathway, Steroid hormone biosynthesis, Linoleic acid metabolism, Inflammatory mediator regulation of TRP channels, and Fatty acid degradation. Furthermore, we constructed lncRNA-mRNA interaction networks and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, and verified by qRT-PCR, suggesting that increased DEIncRNAs (XLOC_063499 and XLOC_042016) may prevent HCC recurrence after surgery by upregulating on targeted cytochrome P450 (CYP) family genes in the lipid metabolism pathway, such as cyp3a16, cyp3a44, cyp2c39, cyp2c40 and cyp2c68. CONCLUSION: Overall, Our findings provided new insights for further investigation of biological function in lncRNA related HCC recurrence. Show more

Keywords: LncRNA, RNA-seq, postoperative recurrence of HCC, HCC recurrence, hepatoma postoperative recurrent model, CYP

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230123

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 735-747, 2024

Authors: Yuan, Gaoteng | Zhai, Yi | Tang, Jiansong | Zhou, Xiaofeng

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) reactivation is the most common complication for patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) after radiotherapy. How to reduce the reactivation of HBV has been a hot topic in the study of postoperative radiotherapy for liver cancer. OBJECTIVE: To find out the inducement of HBV reactivation, a feature selection algorithm (MIC-CS) using maximum information coefficient (MIC) combined with cosine similarity (CS) was proposed to screen the risk factors that may affect HBV reactivation. METHOD: Firstly, different factors were coded and MIC between patients was calculated to acquire the association …between different factors and HBV reactivation. Secondly, a cosine similarity algorithm was constructed to calculate the similarity relationship between different factors, thus removing redundant information. Finally, combined with the weight of the two, the potential risk factors were sorted and the key factors leading to HBV reactivation were selected. RESULTS: The results indicated that HBV baseline, external boundary, TNM, KPS score, VD, AFP, and Child-Pugh could lead to HBV reactivation after radiotherapy. The classification model was constructed for the above factors, with the highest classification accuracy of 84% and the AUC value of 0.71. CONCLUSION: Comparing multiple feature selection methods, the results showed that the effect of the MIC-CS was significantly better than MIM, CMIM, and mRMR, so it has a very broad application prospect. Show more

Keywords: HBV, MIC, cosine similarity, feature selection, classification

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230161

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 749-763, 2024

Authors: Zhang, Xuelan | Peng, Yuan | Li, Gaoyang | Li, Jiehua | Luo, Mingyao | Che, Yue | Zheng, Liancun | Anzai, Hitomi | Ohta, Makoto | Shu, Chang

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Acute type B aortic dissection (ATBAD) is a life-threatening aortic disease. However, little information is available on predicting and understanding of ATBAD. OBJECTIVE: The study sought to explore the underlying mechanism of ATBAD by analyzing the morphological and hemodynamic characteristics related to aortic length. METHODS: The length and tortuosity of the segment and the whole aorta in the ATBAD group (n = 163) and control group (n = 120) were measured. A fixed anatomic landmark from the distal of left subclavian artery …(LSA) to the superior border of sixth thoracic vertebra was proposed as the proximal descending thoracic aorta (PDTA), and the dimensionless parameter, length ratio, was introduced to eliminate the individual differences. The significant morphological parameters were filtrated and the associations between parameters were investigated using statistical approaches. Furthermore, how aortic morphology influenced ATBAD was explored based on idealized aortic models and hemodynamic-related metrics. RESULTS: The PDTA length was significantly increased in the ATBAD group compared with the control group and had a strong positive correlation with the whole aortic length (r = 0.89). The length ratio (LR2 ) and tortuosity (T2 ) of PDTA in the ATBAD group were significantly increased (0.15 ± 0.02 vs 0.12 ± 0.02 and 1.73 ± 0.48 vs 1.50 ± 0.36; P < 0.001), and LR2 was positive correlation with T2 (r = 0.73). In receiver-operating curve analysis, the area under the curve was 0.835 for LR2 and 0.641 for T2 . Low and oscillatory shear (LOS) was positive correlation with LR2 , and the elevated LOS occurred in the distal of LSA. CONCLUSION: Elongation of PDTA is associated with ATBAD, and the length ratio is a novel predictor. Elongated PDTA induced more aggressive hemodynamic forces, and high LOS regions may correspond to the entry tear location. The synergy of the morphological variation and aggressive hemodynamics creates contributory conditions for ATBAD. Show more

Keywords: Aortic dissection, aortic elongation, length ratio, hemodynamics, low and oscillatory shear

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230194

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 765-777, 2024

Authors: Mur, Linda | Annon-Eberharter, Natalee | Gombos, Petra | Wald, Martin

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Dead space is the part of the airway where no gas exchange takes place. Any increase in dead space volume has a proportional effect on the required tidal volume and thus on the risk of ventilation-induced lung injury. Inserts that increase dead space are therefore not used in small preterm infants. This includes end-tidal CO2 measurement. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the end-tidal CO2 measurement adapter on ventilation. METHODS: In an experimental setup, an end-tidal CO2 measurement adapter, three different pneumotachographs (PNT-A, …PNT-B, PNT-Neo), and a closed suction adapter were combined in varying set-ups. The time required for CO2 elimination by a CO2 -flooded preterm infant test lung was measured. RESULTS: PNT-A prolonged CO2 elimination time by 0.9 s (+ 3.3%), Neo-PNT by 3.2 s (+ 11.6%) and PNT-B by 9.0 s (+ 32.7%). The end-tidal CO2 measurement adapter prolonged the elimination time by an additional second without the pneumotachograph (+ 3.6%) and in combination with PNT-A (+ 3.1%) and PNT-Neo (+ 3.1%). In conjunction with PNT-B, the end-tidal CO2 measurement adapter reduced the elimination time by 0.3 seconds (- 1%). The use of a closed suction adaptor increased the CO2 elimination time by a further second with PNT-Neo (+ 3.1%) and by an additional two seconds with no flow sensor (+ 6.9%), with PNT-A (+ 6.4%) and with PNT-B (+ 5.5%). CONCLUSION: The flow sensor had the greatest influence on ventilatory effort, while end-tidal CO2 measurement had only a moderate effect. The increased ventilatory effort levied by the CO2 measurement was dependent on the flow sensor selected. The use of closed suctioning more negatively impacted ventilatory effort than did end-tidal CO2 measurement. Show more

Keywords: Neonatal intensive care units, tidal volume, extremely premature infant, ventilator-induced lung injury, mechanical ventilators

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230195

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 779-785, 2024

Authors: Elrashid, Afra Hassan | Alsarh, Sarah Ahmad | Alotaibi, Dalia Saleh | Albaqami, Majed Adi | Algadhi, Saleh Khalid | Alfaraj, Reham Ahmad | Cicciù, Marco | Minervini, Giuseppe

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Bleaching is a highly common method used nowadays to treat tooth discolouration because it is a significant cosmetic issue, particularly with anterior teeth, however bleaching itself results in microleakage. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the impact of in-office bleaching on class V restoration microleakage with type 1 and type 2 composite restorations. METHODS: Three hundred and twenty healthy, caries-free removed human anterior teeth were used in this in-vitro study. All extracted teeth had their buccal and lingual surfaces uniformly prepped for class V cavities. The 120 removed teeth were divided …into two groups, with Group 1 receiving Tetric N-Ceram nanohybrid composite restorations and Group 2 receiving 3 M Filtek Z350 XT nanohybrid composite restorations. Groups 1 and 2 were further broken into four more subgroups of four each. The restorations were sealed with a G-Coat Plus resin. The p -value was kept at 0.005 for the data analysis using the Chi-square and Fisher exact tests. RESULTS: Allocating microleakage among 320 study models revealed that 141 (44.1%) study samples had no microleakage, whereas 20 (6.3%), 54 (16.9%), and 105 (32.8%) study samples had microleakage up to, between, and greater than two-thirds of cavity depth. With a statistically significant p -value of 0.001, no microleakage was discovered in 85 (53.1%) lingual surfaces with Tetric N-Ceram nanohybrid composite restoration and 56 (35%) buccal surfaces with 3M Filtek Z350 XT nanohybrid composite restoration. 19.1% of samples of N-Ceram that were sealed and not bleached had no microleakage, according to analysis of microleakage across several groups. With a p -value of 0.001, the distribution of microleakage among various clusters was statistically notable. CONCLUSION: According to the findings of the study, hydrogen peroxide bleaching has an enhanced impact on micro escape during dye dispersion. Both with and without bleaching, resin coating can be utilised to minimise marginal microleakage. Show more

Keywords: Microleakage, resins, bleaching, composite restorations

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230213

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 787-798, 2024

Authors: Petrović, Nikola | Mandić, Sanja | Borojević, Svetlana | Gazivoda, Nemanja | Sovilj, Platon

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Cognitive neuroscience experiments require accurate and traceable methods of measuring cognitive phenomena, analyzing and processing data, and validating results, including measurement of impact of such phenomena on brain activity and consciousness. EEG measurement is the most widely used tool for evaluation of the experiment’s progress. To extract more information from the EEG signal, continuous innovation is necessary to provide a broader range of information. OBJECTIVE: This paper presents a new tool for measuring and mapping cognitive phenomena using time window-based multispectral brain mapping of electroencephalography (EEG) signals. METHODS: The tool was developed …using Python programming language and enables users to create brain maps images for six spectra (Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Mu) of EEG signal. The system can accept an arbitrary number of EEG channels with standardized labels based on the 10–20 system, and users can select the channels, frequency bandwidth, type of signal processing, and time window length to perform the mapping. RESULTS: The key advantage of this tool is its ability to perform short-time brain mapping, which allows for the exploration and measurement of cognitive phenomena. The tool’s performance was evaluated through testing on real EEG signals, and results demonstrated its effectiveness in accurately mapping cognitive phenomena. CONCLUSION: The developed tool can be used in various applications, including cognitive neuroscience research and clinical studies. Future work involves optimizing the tool’s performance and expanding its capabilities. Show more

Keywords: Biomedical engineering, cognitive neuroscience, electroencephalography, brain mapping, biomedical measurement and instrumentation

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230241

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 799-808, 2024

Authors: Li, Miao-Miao | Pan, Jian-Xia | Wang, Jin-Hang | Hu, Zi-Lei | Zhao, Jing | Wei, Hai-Cheng

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a chronic disease that can lead to a variety of complications and even cause death. The signal characteristics of the photoplethysmography signals (PPG) and electrocardiogram signals (ECG) can reflect the autonomic and vascular aspects of the effects of diabetes on the body. OBJECTIVE: Based on the complex mechanism of interaction between PPG and ECG, a set of ensemble empirical mode decomposition-independent component analysis (EEMD-ICA) fusion multi-scale percussion entropy index (MSPEI) method was proposed to analyze cardiovascular function in diabetic patients. METHODS: Firstly, the original signal was decomposed into multiple Intrinsic …Mode Function (IMFs) by ensemble empirical mode decomposition EEMD, principal components of IMF were extracted by independent component analysis (ICA), then the extracted principal components were reconstructed to eliminate the complex high and low frequency noise of physiological signals. In addition, the MSPEI was calculated for the ECG R-R interval and PPG amplitude sequence.(RRI and Amp) The results showed that, compared with EEMD method, the SNR of EEMD-ICA method increases from 2.1551 to 11.3642, and the root mean square error (RMSE) decreases from 0.0556 to 0.0067. This algorithm can improve the performance of denoising and retain more feature information. The large and small scale entropy of MSPEI (RRI,Amp) was significantly different between healthy and diabetic patients (p < 0.01). RESULTS: Compared with arteriosclerosis index (AI) and multi-scale cross-approximate entropy (MCAE): MSPEISS (RRI,Amp) indicated that diabetes can affect the activity of human autonomic nervous system, while MSPEILS (RRI,Amp) indicated that diabetes can cause or worsen arteriosclerosis. CONCLUSION: Multi-scale Percussion Entropy algorithm has more advantages in analyzing the influence of diabetes on human cardiovascular and autonomic nervous function. Show more

Keywords: Diabetes, electrocardiogram, photoplethysmography, empirical mode decomposition-independent component analysis, multi-scale percussion entropy

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230243

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 809-821, 2024

Authors: Pan, Liang | Shan, Rui-Ying | Gao, Su-Fang | Zhou, Yan | Bao, Yuan-Yuan | Fu, Wenjing

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In malignant tumours of the female reproductive system, cervical cancer is second only to breast cancer, seriously threatening the health and safety of most women. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical value of 3.0 T multimodal nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics’ (FIGO) staging of cervical cancer. METHODS: The clinical data of 30 patients with pathologically diagnosed cervical cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2018 to August 2022 were analysed retrospectively. Before treatment, all patients were examined with conventional MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging and multi-directional contrast-enhanced …imaging. RESULTS: The accuracy of multimodal MRI in the FIGO staging of cervical cancer (29/30, 96.7%) was significantly higher than the accuracy obtained in a control group (21/30, 70.0%), with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.013). In addition, there was good agreement between two observers applying multimodal imaging (kappa = 0.881) and moderate agreement between two observers in the control group (kappa = 0.538). CONCLUSION: Multimodal MRI can evaluate cervical cancer comprehensively and accurately to enable accurate FIGO staging, providing significant evidence for clinical operation planning and subsequent combined therapy. Show more

Keywords: Multimodal imaging, uterine cervical neoplasms, magnetic resonance imaging

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230252

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 823-830, 2024

Authors: Ju, Jieqin | Mao, Liqing | Wang, Yuejing | Xie, Haofen | Zhou, Shengjun

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Femoral artery puncture is still the most used surgical approach. Because the operation requires local anaesthesia, the patient may not be able to exert full self-control, and their upper and lower limbs and trunk need to be constrained by a protection device. OBJECTIVE: To explore the safe application effect of a new type of anti-movement protection device for upper and lower extremities, shoulders and chest in patients undergoing interventional therapy via the femoral artery approach. METHODS: This is a prospective randomised controlled study. A total of 230 patients were randomly divided into …two groups: the study group (n = 115) and the control group (n = 115). The time needed to implement the restraint operation and the loosening of the restraint device in the two groups was recorded, and the satisfaction of surgeons and nurses was investigated. RESULTS: The time needed to perform restraint operation in the study group was significantly less than that in the control group (4.06 ± 0.61 min vs. 7.01 ± 0.76 min, P < 0.05). The satisfaction of surgeons and nurses with the use of the new protective device was significantly better than that of the conventional restraint band (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The new anti-movement protection device for upper and lower limbs, shoulders and chest can conveniently and quickly achieve effective protection and braking of patients, ensure the safety of surgery and improve satisfaction. Show more

Keywords: Nursing safety, protective device, patient care, physical restraints, transfemoral intervention

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230254

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 831-840, 2024

Authors: Yue, Lei | Huo, Hai-Yang | Yang, Wei | Zhang, Ying-Huai

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Dental implant restoration is an effective therapy for missing teeth and is widely used in clinical practice to provide more treatment options for patients. OBJECTIVE: To explore the application of a positioning annular gingival cutter in minimally invasive stage II implant surgery and to evaluate its clinical effects. METHOD: Stage II implant surgery using a positioning annular gingival cutter was performed on 15 selected patients at 15 implant sites with sufficient keratinized gingival width in the posterior region. The patient underwent crown restoration 2 weeks after surgery and returned for follow-up 3 …months later. The surgical effects were recorded for each patient, including the duration of surgery, postoperative pain and swelling, keratinized gingiva width, probing depth (PD) measurements, and the percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) before surgery, during crown restoration, and 3 months after crown restoration. The data were subjected to a paired sample t-test using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 25.0. RESULTS: The duration of stage II implant surgery using a positioning annular gingival cutter was 9.23 ± 1.63 min, and the duration of postoperative pain and swelling was 0.73 ± 0.35 and 0.81 ± 0.35 d, respectively. The keratinized gingiva width was 2.93 ± 0.41 mm before surgery and 2.91 ± 0.46 mm after crown restoration, demonstrating no significant reduction (P > 0.05). The keratinized gingiva width remained stable 3 months after crown restoration, with an average of 2.85 ± 0.49 mm, without significant reduction (P > 0.05). No obvious inflammation is observed. PD was 2.60 ± 0.52 mm and BOP was 10%. CONCLUSION: The use of a positioning annular gingival cutter in stage II implant surgery achieves a positive and stable clinical effect within a short time. Show more

Keywords: Circumferential supracrestal fiberotomy, keratinized gingiva, stage II implant surgery

DOI: 10.3233/THC-230262

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 841-847, 2024