The gold standard evaluation criteria of radiotherapeutic effect at the present time is the three-level classification of X-ray barium meal.However,this method has certain limitations.Morphological changes in esophagus wall and metastases after radiotherapy can be observed on computed tomography scanning.A positron emission tomography scan is a sensitive imaging test to observe the metabolic activity in pathologic cells and tissues.And diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging could provide the esophageal tumor necrosis information after radiotherapy by observing the changes of water molecular diffusion.With the development of medical imaging techniques,using various means in a comprehensive way to evaluate radiotherapeutic effect for esophageal carcinoma patients may become a trend.

Objective To evaluate the agreement between contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging and histopathology in rabbit model of abdominal aortic atherosclerosis (AS)in early and development period.Methods Twenty-four healthy Japanese white rabbits were randomly divided into three groups:control group,hypercholesterolemic diet group for 8 weeks and 16 weeks (each for 8 rabbits).Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for abdominal aorta was performed using sonicated perfluorocarbon albumin contrast agent.Imaging characteristics of abdominal aorta plaque of rabbits were monitored by two-dimensional mode,ultrasound visual grades were analyzed quantitatively before and after injection of contrast agent.Histopathologic changes were observed by HE staining.Results Contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging allowed early detection of AS and showed gradual progression of atherosclerosis over time.After contrast agent injected,intimal indentification and plaques checking-out ratio were improved.The ultrasound visual grades were increased after contrast imaging in hypercholesterolemic diet group for 8 weeks [(2.26± 0.27)vs.(1.79 ±0.25)] and 16 weeks [(3.54 ±0.43) vs.(3.20 ±0.25)] (all P＜0.05).The plaque detection rate was improved after contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging than before angiography in hypercholesterolemic diet group for 8 weeks [77.8％ (7/9) vs.55.6％ (5/9)] and 16 weeks [88.2％ (15/17) vs.70.6％ (12/17)](P ＞ 0.05).The imaging of ultrasound agreed well with pathological examination results.Conclusions Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography can effectively improve intimal and plaque imaging,and increase the detection accuracy of early and progressive pathology.

Aim To evaluate the effect of expression inhibition of spermine oxidase(SMO)on the actitumor activity of polyamine analogue CPENSpm (N~1-cyclopropylmethyl-N~(11)-ethylnorspermine).Methods siRNA technique was used to inhibit expression of SMO in human lung cancer line A549.QT-RT-PCR and enzyme activity assay was performed to determine the expression level of SMO.The cell proliferation was detected by MTT assay.The apoptosis of A549 cells were evaluated by DNA degradation and Sub-G_1/flow cytometry assay.Results The A549 cell line with silenced SMO expression was successfully obtained.Basic SMO mRNA and enzyme activity levels in the SMO-siRNA plasmid transfected cells were 0.53% and 14% lower than that in the control cells respectively. Treating A549 control cells by 10 μmol·L~(-1) CPENSpm for 24 hours resulted in a 10-folds up-regulation of SMO in mRNA level and 20-fold increase in enzyme activity,but this drug-induced SMO expression was obviously prevented in SMO-siRNA plasmid transfected cells.MTT assay demonstrated that SMO expression inhibition decreased the sensitivity of A549 cells to CPENSpm exposure(0～20 μmol·L~(-1)).DNA degradation and sub-G_1 assay proved a deceased ability of CPENSpm to induce apoptosis in SMO-siRNA plasmid transfected cells.Conclusion Up-regulation of SMO by CPENSpm is possibly one of the molecular basics for its antitumor activity.

No abstract available.
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne* ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin M*

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS)is a rare liver disease,and there are mutual influences between BCS and pregnancy.The rela-tionship between BCS and pregnancy is systematically discussed,and the points we should pay attention to in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease are pointed out as follows:First,pregnancy is a risk factor for BCS;pregnant women with the clinical manifestations of portal hy-pertension and (or)inferior vena cava hypertension should be highly suspected of having BCS.Second,pregnancy is risky in BCS patients;pregnancy is allowable in BCS patients who have a stable condition after treatment,but they should be kept under rigorous surveillance dur-ing pregnancy and after delivery to avoid thrombosis recurrence.Third,BCS may lead to infertility in women;patients with unexplained in-fertility should be evaluated by abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography to clarify the diagnosis of BCS.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a kind of mental disorder that usually occurs after life-threatening and strong mental traumas .Clinical studies showed that the PTSD patients are 3 times more likely to have can-nabis as compared with the healthy people .The use of cannabinoids has a close relationship with the occurrence and clini-cal manifestations of PTSD .Experimental studies revealed that endocannabinoid ( eCB) signal alterations in animal models of PTSD influenced fear memory of the animals , suggesting a close correlation between the eCB system and the pathogenesis of PTSD.Given that the eCB system was reported to regulate affective states and participate in memory consolidation , re-trieval and extinction , targeting the eCB system may improve the emotional and cognitive features of PTSD , thereby holding out great promise for the development of novel approaches for clinical treatment of PTSD .

BACKGROUND:The meniscus injury is one of the most common sports injuries of knee joint. The treatment after injury is always a difficult problem in the clinic. Researchers have been trying to apply the method of using tissue-engineering to solve the problem of meniscus repair after injury.
OBJECTIVE:To summarize tissue-engineered meniscus-related basic research.
METHODS:The first author retrieved China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Medline for literatures on tissue-engineered meniscus. The key words were“meniscus, tissue engineering, basic research”. Articles with unrelated objective and repeated articles were excluded. Final y, 35 articles were included.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:There was some controversy about the classification of the cel of the meniscus. The outer tissue of the meniscus is mainly composed of the fibrous cartilage cel s and the extracel ular matrix. The inner tissue of the meniscus is mainly composed of a smal atypical class of cartilage cel s. The biomechanical properties of the meniscus can be properly adjusted when it is subjected to external pressure. The lateral meniscus is assumed to bear al the pressure of the outer part of the knee joint during knee flexion, but the medial meniscus is assumed to bear 50%of the medial part of the knee joint. The etiology and pathophysiology of meniscus injury are not the same, which is highly dependent on the age of onset of the patient. However, in each age group, right knee meniscus injury was the majority. The way of surgical repair of the meniscus tear can be divided into the technology from inside to outside, and that from outside to inside, total internal repair under arthroscopy and open repair technology.

Progestagen-associated endometrial protein (PAEP) gene mainly expresses in the secretory phase endometrium and decidua in early trimester of pregnancy.In recent years,it is reported that PAEP is abnormally expressed in many kinds of tumors,such as breast cancer,endometrial carcinoma,ovary cancer,stomach cancer and melanoma.PAEP gene plays an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor development.The application of PAEP gene as an indicator for clinical diagnosis,prognostic and therapy needs further studies on the influence of PAEP gene on tumor biological behaviour.

Objective To explore the differences of intelligence ，ability of social adaptation and behavior problems between patients of benign epilepsy childhood and those of normal controls .Methods Sixty children of benign epilepsy were investigated. Results The intelligence of children showed no significant differences between two groups ( P＞0.05), while the rate of ability of social adaptation among the children of benign epilepsy patients was less than that of nomal controls （P<0.01) . There were no significant differences in the total rate of behavior problems between two groups except that some factors were different . Conclusions We should create methods to enhance the ability of social adaptation in order to avoid the abnormal behavior when the children patients of benign epilepsy are treated by drugs.

ObjectiveTo explore the characteristics of neuro-electrophysiology and clinical value in patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome.MethedsWe performed retrospective analysis of the clinical date of 46 patients with Guillain-Barre syndrome in our hospital.Hughes grades and neuro-electrophysiological measure including motor conduction velocity (MCV),complex muscle action potential (CMAP),sensory conduction velocity (SCV) and F wave,were investigated as the related factors with the prognosis of GBS.Results The rate of abnormal F wave was higher than the rate of abnormal MCV.The rate of abnormal SCV was lower than the rate of abnormal F wave and MCV( P ＜0.05).The prognosis of the acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) group was superior to the acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) group,and there had significant difference( P ＜0.05).ConclusionsThe neuro-electrophysiological investigation is an important way to diagnose the GBS.F wave is a sensitive and specify index in the early diagnosis of GBS.The neuro-electrophysiological observation of MCV and CMAP may be served as cues for diagnosis,determination of the subtype and evaluation of the treatment effect in GBS.