Opportunities,Challenges and Pitfalls of Using Cannabidiol as an Adjuvant Drug in COVID-19 †

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may lead to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which, in turn, may be associated with multiple organ dysfunction. In this review, we present advantages and disadvantages of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating phytocannabinoid from the cannabis plant, as a potential agent for the treatment of COVID-19. CBD has been shown to downregulate proteins responsible for viral entry and to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication. Preclinical studies have demonstrated its effectiveness against diseases of the respiratory system as well as its cardioprotective, nephroprotective, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective and anti-convulsant properties, that is, effects that may be beneficial for COVID-19. Only the latter two properties have been demonstrated in clinical studies, which also revealed anxiolytic and antinociceptive effects of CBD (given alone or together with Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol), which may be important for an adjuvant treatment to improve the quality of life in patients with COVID-19 and to limit post-traumatic stress symptoms. However, one should be aware of side effects of CBD (which are rarely serious), drug interactions (also extending to drugs acting against COVID-19) and the proper route of its administration (vaping may be dangerous). Clearly, further clinical studies are necessary to prove the suitability of CBD for the treatment of COVID-19.     

多模态影像学检查在诊断早期强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节疾病中的效果

目的:探究在早期强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节疾病诊断中不同放射影像学检查方法的应用效果。方法:抽取2018年5月-2020年1月本院收治的早期强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节疾病患者65例作为研究对象,所有患者均开展X线、CT、MRI影像学检查,对比三种不同影像学检查方法的检出率、影像学特征。结果:X线、CT、MRI检出率分别为38.46%(25/65)、60.00%(39/65)、76.92%(50/65),检出率相比,MRI、CT明显高于X线,P<0.05;X线、CT、MRI影像学特征,发现关节间隙出现不同的异常,如关节面出现侵蚀、骨质囊变现象,关节面下骨质出现硬化与关节软骨出现肿胀,其中MRI、CT检查,阳性率高于X线,P<0.05。而对于软组织肿胀、骨髓水肿、滑膜炎症、关节滑膜增厚等现象,只能通过MRI检查才能诊断。结论:在早期强直性脊柱炎骶髂关节疾病诊断中,X线、CT、MRI影像学检查均具有一定的指导意义,而MRI不仅可以提高检出率,还能准确反映微小病灶及其软组织病变,对于早期发现骶髂关节炎值得推荐。     

基于秩序与非秩序理论的文创产品卡通形象设计研究

目的 从秩序与非秩序理论出发,研究文创产品卡通形象的设计方法.方法 对秩序与非秩序理论的视觉机制和创制理论进行梳理,结合实例,阐述了其与文创产品卡通形象设计之间的联系,分析文创产品卡通形象中的秩序与非秩序的表现形式,提出基于秩序与非秩序理论文创产品卡通形象设计的主要原则,归纳出一套基于秩序与非秩序理论的文创产品卡通形象设计流程与方法,指导设计实践,并验证这些理论方法在设计实践中有效性与可行性.结论 通过对秩序与非秩序理论的研究,文创产品卡通形象设计时应注意提高辨识度、亲和力和便于衍生设计的原则.探索基于秩序与非秩序理论的设计流程与方法,按照界定主题、主体形象设计、主体形象拓展、衍生品应用四个环节开展整体方案设计,为文创产品卡通形象设计提供新的思路与方法.     

Sub-band coding of hexagonal images

According to the circle-packing theorem, the packing efficiency of a hexagonal lattice is higher than an equivalent square tessellation. Consequently, in several contexts, hexagonally sampled images compared to their Cartesian counterparts are better at preserving information content. In this paper, novel mapping techniques alongside the wavelet compression scheme are presented for hexagonal images. Specifically, we introduce two tree-based coding schemes, referred to as SBHex (spirally-mapped branch-coding for hexagonal images) and BBHex (breadth-first block-coding for hexagonal images). Both of these coding schemes respect the geometry of the hexagonal lattice and yield better compression results. Our empirical results show that the proposed algorithms for hexagonal images produce better reconstruction quality at low bits per pixel representations compared to the tree-based coding counterparts for the Cartesian grid.     

基于乙酰胆碱酯酶和氧化应激研究海胆酮对阿尔茨海默症的作用机制

海胆酮是一种酮式类胡萝卜素，主要从海胆及藻类等海洋生物中提取。本文研究海胆酮对乙酰胆碱酯酶（acetylcholinesterase，AChE）的抑制作用，应用酶动力学、荧光光谱、圆二色光谱和分子对接技术研究海胆酮对AChE的抑制机理，并用淀粉样β蛋白片段25～35（amyloid beta-peptide 25-35，Aβ25-35）诱导大鼠肾上腺嗜铬细胞瘤细胞（PC12细胞）建立阿尔茨海默症（Alzheimer’s disease，AD）模型，研究海胆酮对AD细胞模型氧化应激损伤的作用。结果表明，海胆酮有很强的AChE抑制活性，其半抑制质量浓度为（16.29±0.97）μg/mL，抑制常数Ki为3.82 μg/mL，表现为竞争性抑制；海胆酮可诱导AChE二级结构改变，更容易与AChE活性中心氨基酸Ser200、His440、Trp84和Tyr121结合，阻碍底物碘代硫代乙酰胆碱（acetylthiocholine iodide，ATCI）与酶结合，从而引起酶活力降低。海胆酮能有效抑制Aβ25-35诱导PC12细胞的AChE活力，降低丙二醛含量，增加超氧化物歧化酶、过氧化氢酶和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活力，减轻Aβ25-35诱导的PC12细胞氧化应激损伤。本研究基于AChE和氧化应激阐明了海胆酮对AD的潜在作用机制，为海胆酮在功能食品、生物医药等领域的应用提供了数据支持和理论根据。     

An AW-HARIS Based Automated Segmentation of Human Liver Using CT Images

In the digestion of amino acids, carbohydrates, and lipids, as well as protein synthesis from the consumed food, the liver has many diverse responsibilities and functions that are to be performed. Liver disease may impact the hormonal and nutritional balance in the human body. The earlier diagnosis of such critical conditions may help to treat the patient effectively. A computationally efficient AW-HARIS algorithm is used in this paper to perform automated segmentation of CT scan images to identify abnormalities in the human liver. The proposed approach can recognize the abnormalities with better accuracy without training, unlike in supervisory procedures requiring considerable computational efforts for training. In the earlier stages, the CT images are pre-processed through an Adaptive Multiscale Data Condensation Kernel to normalize the underlying noise and enhance the image’s contrast for better segmentation. Then, the preliminary phase’s outcome is being fed as the input for the Anisotropic Weighted–-Heuristic Algorithm for Real-time Image Segmentation algorithm that uses texture-related information, which has resulted in precise outcome with acceptable computational latency when compared to that of its counterparts. It is observed that the proposed approach has outperformed in the majority of the cases with an accuracy of 78%. The smart diagnosis approach would help the medical staff accurately predict the abnormality and disease progression in earlier ailment stages.