Objective To investigate the relationship between peripheral blood circularRNA oxysterol binding protein-like 2 (circOSBPL2), circularRNA catenin beta 1 (circCTNNB1) and frequent acute exacerbations of patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Patients with stable COPD admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Hebei North University between January 2021 and March 2023 were retrospective selected. Based on the time of acute exacerbations during the 1-year follow-up period, the included patients were divided into the frequent acute exacerbation group and the control group. The expression levels of circOSBPL2 and circCTNNB1 in peripheral blood and the clinical data of the two groups were compared. The influencing factors of frequent acute exacerbations were analyzed by binary logistic multivariate regression, and the predictive value of each indicator for frequent acute exacerbations was analyzed by receiver operator characteristic curve. Results A total of 109 patients were included. Among them, there were 42 cases in the frequent acute exacerbation group and 67 cases in the control group. The expression level of circOSBPL2 in peripheral blood and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test (CAT) score of patients in the frequent acute exacerbation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), and the expression level of circCTNNB1 in peripheral blood and serum albumin levels were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in other clinical data between the two groups (P>0.05). The results of binary logistic multiple regression analysis showed that circOSBPL2 and CAT score were risk factors for frequent acute exacerbations, and circCTNNB1 was protective a factor for frequent acute exacerbations (P<0.05). The receiver operator characteristic curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve predicted by the combination of circOSBPL2, circCTNNB1, and CAT scores was higher than that predicted by circOSBPL2, circCTNNB1, and CAT scores alone [0.948 (0.907, 0.989) vs. 0.811 (0.733, 0.889) vs. 0.833 (0.758, 0.907) vs. 0.738 (0.640, 0.835), P<0.05]. Conclusions The increase of circOSBPL2 expression and the decrease of circCTNNB1 expression in peripheral blood of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are associated with frequent acute exacerbations. CircOSBPL2 and circCTNNB1 combined with CAT score have good predictive value for frequent acute exacerbations.
In the study of oral orthodontics, the dental tissue models play an important role in finite element analysis results. Currently, the commonly used alveolar bone models mainly have two kinds: the uniform and the non-uniform models. The material of the uniform model was defined with the whole alveolar bone, and each mesh element has a uniform mechanical property. While the material of the elements in non-uniform model was differently determined by the Hounsfield unit (HU) value of computed tomography (CT) images where the element was located. To investigate the effects of different alveolar bone models on the biomechanical responses of periodontal ligament (PDL), a clinical patient was chosen as the research object, his mandibular canine, PDL and two kinds of alveolar bone models were constructed, and intrusive force of 1 N and moment of 2 Nmm were exerted on the canine along its root direction, respectively, which were used to analyze the hydrostatic stress and the maximal logarithmic principal strain of PDL under different loads. Research results indicated that the mechanical responses of PDL had been affected by alveolar bone models, no matter the canine translation or rotation. Compared to the uniform model, if the alveolar bone was defined as the non-uniform model, the maximal stress and strain of PDL were decreased by 13.13% and 35.57%, respectively, when the canine translation along its root direction; while the maximal stress and strain of PDL were decreased by 19.55% and 35.64%, respectively, when the canine rotation along its root direction. The uniform alveolar bone model will induce orthodontists to choose a smaller orthodontic force. The non-uniform alveolar bone model can better reflect the differences of bone characteristics in the real alveolar bone, and more conducive to obtain accurate analysis results.
For patients with partial jaw defects, cysts and dental implants, doctors need to take panoramic X-ray films or manually draw dental arch lines to generate Panorama images in order to observe their complete dentition information during oral diagnosis. In order to solve the problems of additional burden for patients to take panoramic X-ray films and time-consuming issue for doctors to manually segment dental arch lines, this paper proposes an automatic panorama reconstruction method based on cone beam computerized tomography (CBCT). The V-network (VNet) is used to pre-segment the teeth and the background to generate the corresponding binary image, and then the Bezier curve is used to define the best dental arch curve to generate the oral panorama. In addition, this research also addressed the issues of mistakenly recognizing the teeth and jaws as dental arches, incomplete coverage of the dental arch area by the generated dental arch lines, and low robustness, providing intelligent methods for dental diagnosis and improve the work efficiency of doctors.
Soft tissue defects resulting from head and neck tumor resection seriously impact the physical appearance and psychological well-being of patients. The complex curvature of the human head and neck poses a formidable challenge for maxillofacial surgeons to achieve precise aesthetic and functional restoration after surgery. To this end, a normal head and neck volunteer was selected as the subject of investigation. Employing Gaussian curvature analysis, combined with mechanical constraints and principal curvature analysis methods of soft tissue clinical treatment, a precise developable/non-developable area partition map of the head and neck surface was obtained, and a non-developable surface was constructed. Subsequently, a digital design method was proposed for the repair of head and neck soft tissue defects, and an in vitro simulated surgery experiment was conducted. Clinical verification was performed on a patient with tonsil tumor, and the results demonstrated that digital technology-designed flaps improved the accuracy and aesthetic outcome of head and neck soft tissue defect repair surgery. This study validates the feasibility of digital precision repair technology for soft tissue defects after head and neck tumor resection, which effectively assists surgeons in achieving precise flap transplantation reconstruction and improves patients’ postoperative satisfaction.