Objective To develop a novel PET probe (¹⁸F-JR-1002) targeting the cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2R) for the molecular imaging diagnosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Methods ¹⁸F-JR-1002 was designed and synthesized based on a CB2R inverse agonist structure. Radiolabeling was performed using an automated synthesizer (OnePlatform V3.1s), and its radiochemical yield, molar activity, and in vitro stability were determined. An orthotopic PDAC mouse model was established using PANC-2-luc cells. MicroPET/CT imaging was utilized to assess probe uptake in tumor tissues, which was compared with that in normal mice. Results The radiochemical yield of 1?F-JR-1002 was 34.7%±8.1%, with a molar activity of 264.5±41.2 GBq/μmol. It demonstrated excellent in vitro stability (>95% over 3 h). MicroPET imaging revealed significantly higher probe uptake in the pancreatic region of PDAC mice compared to the normal group (P=3.34×10^-9), indicating the probe's specific recognition of CB2R, which is highly expressed in PDAC tissues. Conclusion This study successfully developed a highly stable and affine CB2R-targeted PET probe that specifically identifies PDAC, providing a new molecular imaging tool for early diagnosis and treatment efficacy evaluation.

Objective To investigate regional alterations in gray matter volume (GMV) among patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and to explore the association between these structural changes and clinical cognitive assessment scores. Methods A total of 61 participants were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database. Based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, subjects were categorized into two groups: 32 individuals diagnosed with AD (AD group) and 29 cognitively healthy controls (HC group). VBM was applied to calculate and compare GMV across groups. Significant intergroup differences in brain regions were identified using a dual-threshold statistical approach involving voxel-level family-wise error (FWE) correction and cluster-level false discovery rate (FDR) correction (P<0.05). Brain regions exhibiting significant atrophy were further analyzed for correlations with clinical scale scores, specifically, the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), using Pearson correlation analysis. Results Total GMV was significantly reduced in the AD group compared to the HC group (P<0.05). Regional analyses revealed three clusters showing significant GMV reductions in AD patients, with peak coordinates located in the right superior temporal pole, left amygdala, and left middle cingulate gyrus. As anticipated, the AD group performed significantly worse on both MMSE and CDR assessments (P<0.001). Correlation analyses demonstrated that, within the AD group, higher MMSE scores were positively associated with GMV in all three affected regions (P<0.05). In contrast, CDR scores showed negative correlations with GMV in the right superior temporal pole and left amygdala (P<0.05). Conclusion VBM analysis confirms characteristic patterns of gray matter atrophy in AD, predominantly affecting the temporal pole, amygdala, and cingulate cortex. The significant associations between regional GMV loss and cognitive performance suggest that such structural changes may represent key neuroanatomical substrates underlying the clinical symptoms and pathophysiological progression of AD.

Objective To investigate an attention gate-enhanced adversarial-pixel-structural consistency (AG-APS) model for synthesizing high-quality synthetic CT (sCT) images from magnetic resonance images, enabling precise generation of intracranial calcification components. Methods A total of 134 subjects with intracranial calcifications, including both physiological and pathological cases, were retrospectively collected from Nanfang Hospital and Nanfang Hospital Zengcheng Branch of Southern Medical University from January 2022 to December 2024. In total, 1478 paired axial MR-CT slices were obtained. An AG-APS model was proposed by incorporating attention gate (AG) modules into the generator. The quality of the generated sCT images was quantitatively evaluated against real CT (rCT) using mean absolute error (MAE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), and structural similarity index (SSIM), and compared with CycleGAN, U-Net, Pix2Pix, and LSeSim. Ablation experiments were conducted, and statistical analyses were performed. Results In the whole-image synthesis task, the AG-APS achieved superior performance (MAE=0.032, PSNR=21.352 dB, SSIM=0.821) compared with U-Net, Pix2Pix, LSeSim, and CycleGAN (P<0.05), demonstrating the best overall performance. For local evaluation of calcified regions, AG-APS also outperformed competing methods in image quality, structural fidelity, and textural consistency (MAE=0.102, PSNR=32.360 dB, SSIM=0.986), with significant improvements (P<0.05). In false-positive detection of calcification regions, the false-positive rate (FPR) was 2.11% and 0% when tolerance thresholds were set at 5% and 10%, respectively. Furthermore, ablation studies confirmed the effectiveness and necessity of introducing the AG module into the generator for enhancing synthesis quality. Conclusion The AG-APS model enables high-quality sCT generation from brain MR images, achieving precise reconstruction of intracranial calcifications. This approach facilitates calcification identification, reduces reliance on CT imaging, and lowers radiation exposure, underscoring its strong clinical potential.

Objective To explore the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer based on MRI radiomics features, clinical parameters, and pathological data. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 123 breast cancer patients who underwent neoadjuvant therapy at the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University from January 2021 to December 2023. Based on the Miller-Payne (MP) grading system, patients were stratified into the major histological response group (MHR, n=71) and the non-major histological response group (NMHR, n=52). Clinical parameters,pathological data and MRI radiomics features were collected and compared between the two groups.Statistical analyses were performed using R software, and the predictive performance of the model was assessed using ROC curves and area under the curve (AUC). Results Analysis of clinical characteristics demonstrated no statistically significant differences between the MHR and NMHR groups regarding age,tumor long-axis diameter,pre-NAC clinical N stage,pre-NAC clinical T stage, and pre-NAC clinical stage (P>0.05). Following the extraction and dimensionality reduction of MRI radiomics features, a support vector machine (SVM) was employed to develop predictive models distinguishing the two groups. The models achieved an AUC of 0.783 in the training sets and 0.727 in the validation sets for both groups. Conclusion This study indicates that conventional clinical factors, including lesion size and lymph node metastasis, have limited value in predicting the response to neoadjuvant therapy, whereas MRI radiomics effectively predicts the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer and may guide individualized treatment, with the potential to improve patient prognosis.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of quantitative parameters of dual-layer detector spectral CT combined with morphological features in differentiating primary benign and malignant tumors of the parotid gland. Methods A retrospective study was conducted in 82 cases with parotid gland primary tumors confirmed by pathology from June 2021 to June 2025 at Nanxishan Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. All patients underwent dual-layer detector spectral CT contrast-enhanced examination within 2 weeks before the operation. The cases were classified into benign group (n=64) and malignant group (n=18) according to pathology. The clinical data of the patients were recorded. The morphological features (including tumor amount, location, maximum diameter, margin, cystic change, mucinous change, and calcification) and quantitative parameters of spectral CT (including iodine concentration, normalized iodine concentration, effective atomic number, virtual non-contrast CT value, spectral curve slope, and monoenergetic CT values at 40, 70, 100, 140 keV level during arterial and venous phases) of benign and malignant tumors were recorded. Differences between the two groups were compared. Binary multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen out independent predictors. The diagnostic efficacy of each independent predictor and their combined diagnostic efficacy were evaluated with ROC curve. Results In terms of morphological features, significant differences were found in maximum diameter, margin, and location between benign group and malignant group (P=0.041, 0.004, 0.043), and margin was an independent predictor (P<0.05); In terms of quantitative parameters of spectral CT, significant differences were found in CT values at arterial phase 70, 100, 140 keV, and iodine concentration during venous phase (IC_v) between the two groups (P=0.030, 0.003, 0.004, 0.029), and IC_v was an independent predictor (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the model (AUC=0.822) constructed by combining tumor margin and IC_v was superior to the tumor margin model (AUC=0.685) and the IC_v model (AUC=0.741). Conclusion Compared with quantitative parameters of spectral CT or morphological features, the combination of them has better diagnostic efficacy in differentiating primary benign and malignant tumors of the parotid gland.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of an early open wound negative therapy protocol for high-risk wounds after open intestinal surgery. Methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted. Clinical data of 57 abdominal-surgery patients judged to be at high risk for impaired wound healing who underwent open intestinal procedures at the Department of General Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital,Southern Medical University from June 2022 to August 2024 were reviewed. Thirty-five patients received conventional postoperative wound care (standard dressing changes), whereas 22 patients were managed with early open wound negative therapy.The two groups were compared for wound-healing time,number of dressing changes, time to first postoperative ambulation, comfort during first ambulation, 1-week postoperative pain (visual analogue scale), scar score, and incidence of adverse wound events (fat liquefaction, surgical-site infection, enterocutaneous fistula, etc.). Results Baseline characteristics did not differ significantly between the groups (P>0.05). All 57 wounds healed. Compared with the conventional-care group, the early open wound negative pressure group showed significantly better outcomes in wound-healing time, number of dressing changes, incidence of adverse wound events, and scar score (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed in time to first ambulation,comfort during first ambulation, or 1-week postoperative pain scores (P>0.05). Conclusion Early open wound negative pressure therapy for high-risk abdominal wounds after open intestinal surgery provides reliable wound healing, is practical to perform, yields superior cosmetic results, and is well accepted by patients; it merits wider clinical adoption.

Objective To explore the clinical value of MRI quantitative technology in evaluating the inflammatory response of patients with allergic rhinitis after allergen challenge. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 21 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis admitted to Dongguan Songshan Lake Central Hospital Affiliated to Guangdong Medical University from June 2023 to June 2024. The patients were intervened with cetirizine hydrochloride, cetirizine hydrochloride combined with pseudoephedrine (Cet+PE), and placebo, respectively. After intranasal allergen challenge, the Total Nasal Symptom Score (TNSS), Peak Nasal Inspiratory Flow (PNIF), nasal nitric oxide (nNO), acoustic rhinometry parameters, and MRI detection indicators were measured. Results After allergen challenge, all indicators except nNO changed significantly, with statistically significant differences (P<0.05). MRI detection indicators were more consistent and stable than PNIF and acoustic rhinometry in reflecting the changes. As the most sensitive and repeatable MRI measurement indicator, the total nasal cavity volume decreased by an average of 5.37 cm3 (P<0.05), reaching the maximum variation at 60 min after challenge. Each 1-point change in TNSS corresponded to a 0.57 cm3 change in MRI volume. Compared with the placebo group, there were no statistically significant differences in all indicators except nNO in the Cet+PE group (P>0.05). Conclusion MRI technology provides a new perspective for revealing the anatomical and inflammatory changes of the nasal cavity after allergen challenge, and it is an effective new method for evaluating nasal patency and objectively measuring inflammatory responses.

Objective To explore the clinical value of the strain ratio (SR) technique in strain elastography (SE) for evaluating the stiffness of perilesional tissue around breast masses. Methods A total of 195 female patients with 195 breast masses who underwent surgical treatment at the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical University from September 2023 to July 2025 were prospectively enrolled. All patients underwent both conventional ultrasound and SE examinations. The strain ratio method was used to semi-quantitatively assess the stiffness of breast masses and their perilesional tissues at 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm distances. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to examine the correlation between the strain ratios of the masses and their corresponding perilesional tissues. ROC curves were constructed to compare the diagnostic performance of conventional ultrasound, individual SE parameters, and the combination of conventional ultrasound with the optimal SE parameter. Results Among the 195 masses, 91 were malignant and 104 were benign. The strain ratios of malignant masses and their 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm perilesional tissues were significantly higher than those of the benign group (P<0.001). Correlation analysis revealed that in the malignant group, the strain ratio between the mass and its 1 mm perilesional tissue exhibited the strongest correlation (r=0.91, P<0.001). ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the SE parameter (B/shell 1) achieved the best diagnostic performance, with a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 82.7%, accuracy of 85.6%, and an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.921. The combination of BI-RADS classification and B/shell 1 further improved diagnostic efficacy, yielding an AUC of 0.944. Conclusion The perilesional tissue surrounding malignant breast masses exhibits higher stiffness than that around benign masses, and the strain ratio between the mass and its 1 mm perilesional tissue shows a significant correlation. The strain ratio of the 1 mm perilesional tissue (B/shell 1) is the optimal SE parameter for differentiating benign and malignant breast masses, and its combination with BI-RADS classification can further enhance diagnostic performance.

Objective To explore the predictive value of ultrasound combined with adult appendicitis score (AAS) for the occurrence of complicated acute appendicitis (CAA) in adults. Methods This retrospective study was conducted on 104 patients with acute appendicitis who underwent appendectomy at Baotou Central Hospital from January 2021 to September 2024. According to the results of postoperative pathological examination, the patients were divided into a CAA group (n=55) and an uncomplicated acute appendicitis (UAA) group (n=49). The preoperative ultrasonic characteristics of the appendix and AAS were compared between the two groups. After screening out the indicators that may affect the occurrence of CAA through univariate analysis, a predictive model based on multivariate logistic regression was developed using the backward stepwise regression method. The model was internally validated using the bootstrap method (with 1000 resamplings), and ROC curves and calibration curves were plotted to evaluate performance of the model, and robustness across different stratified subgroups was analyzed. Results Results of multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age, AAS, appendiceal fecalith, and periappendiceal effusion were independent risk factors for predicting the occurrence of CAA in adults (P<0.05). The combined regression model developed based on the above four risk factors showed good predictive performance, with a sensitivity of 85.5% and a specificity of 91.8%. Meanwhile, the combined model also had excellent discriminative ability, with the area under the curve (AUC) of 0.928 (95% CI: 0.875-0.982). DeLong test results show that the AUC value of the combined model is higher than that of the individual predictive models of age, AAS, appendiceal fecalith and periappendiceal effusion. Internal validation showed that the average AUC of the validation set was 0.917 (95% CI: 0.879~0.984), which was similar to the AUC of the original dataset. The results of both the calibration curve and Hosmer-Lemeshow test (χ ² =11.442, P=0.178) indicate that good agreement between the predicted probability of the model and the actual occurrence probability. The AUC values of the age and appendiceal fecalith were similar to the overall AUC, indicating that the model has good robustness. Conclusion The combined model developed by ultrasound combined with AAS shows good discriminative ability and stability in the current dataset, which can provide a reference for clinicians to conduct rapid risk stratification of suspected patients.

Objective To investigate alterations in brain function in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) prior to their first dialysis using the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) and functional connectivity (FC) analyses of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI), and to further analyze the correlation between these brain functional changes and cognitive scores. Methods Forty-eight ESRD patients (ESRD group) scheduled for renal replacement therapy were recruited from our hospital from April 2023 to March 2025, along with 44 matched healthy volunteers (control group) . All participants underwent rs-fMRI scanning and cognitive assessment using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). fALFF differences between the two groups were compared. Brain regions showing significant differences were used as regions of interest (ROIs) for subsequent FC analysis to investigate the functional integration patterns between these ROIs and whole-brain voxels. After controlling for the effects of age, gender, and education level, partial correlation analyses were conducted between the fALFF values/FC values of the identified brain regions and the MoCA scores. Results The MoCA scores were significantly lower in the ESRD group compared to the control group (P<0.001). Compared with controls, ESRD patients showed decreased fALFF values in PCUN.R (t=-5.445,Cluster-level FWE correction, P<0.05, with clusters comprising a minimum of 67 voxels). FC analysis revealed that ESRD patients had decreased FC between PCUN.R and SMG.R (P<0.001, uncorrected) as well as DCG.R (P<0.001, uncorrected), but increased FC between PCUN.R and MFG.R (P<0.001, uncorrected). After controlling for gender, age, and education level, the FC value between PCUN.R and SMG.R showed a significant positive correlation with the MoCA score of ESRD patients(r=0.346, P<0.05, FDR-corrected, k=4). Conclusion Patients with ESRD exhibit altered spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity within the default mode network (DMN) at rest, which are closely associated with cognitive function. These findings provide novel neuroimaging evidence for understanding the neuropathophysiological mechanisms underlying cognitive impairment associated with ESRD prior to the initiation of dialysis.