Objective To analyze the correlation between emphysema extent measured by high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and pulmonary function tests, symptom score in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD ) , and to study the value of HRCT in the emphysema quantification in the clinical evaluation of COPD patients. Methods 78 patients with stable COPD were recruited to take the HRCT scan , and emphysema extent was qualified by measuring the proportion of low attenuation area in the whole lung (LAA%). Correlations between LAA% and indices of pulmonary function test, bronchial dilation test, mMRC scale, CAT score and six minutes walking distance (6MWD) were assessed. Results LAA% was negatively correlated with FEV1/FVC and DLCO%pred, and the correlation coefficients were -0.759 and -0.589 (P <0.01), respectively. LAA% was positively related to mMRC score (r = 0.342, P < 0.01), and negatively asso-ciated with 6MWD (r = -0.365,P< 0.01). There was no association between LAA% and indices of bronchodila-tion test (⊿FVC, ⊿FVC%, ⊿FEV1, ⊿FEV1%) (P > 0.05). Conclusions The severity of emphysema measured by HRCT is well correlated with the clinical symptoms , pulmonary function tests and exercise capacity in COPD patients. It can be used to diagnose emphysema early and to evaluate the severity of the disease com-prehensively. Thus, the risk factors of COPD can be controlled and the prognosis of the patients can be im-proved.

Objective To survey the quality of life and mental health status of pre-post household service workers who held a high school graduation certificate or above and had been engaged in different work.Methods A total of 254 household service workers completed Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief (WHOQL-BREF).Statistical analyses of variance and correlation were carried out to evaluate mental health status and quality of life of the participants.Results Abnormal score of SCL-90 was found in 8％ of household service workers who had graduated from high school.The psychological score of household service workers who had worked as workers(60.59± 2.18)was lower than those who had worked as service workers (66.23 ± 12.13) or peasants (65.40 ± 12.24) (P ＜0.05).Almost all factors of SCL-90 were negatively correlated with WHOQL-BREF (correlation coefficient -0.140 to-0.376).Conclusions Our data suggest that mental health status can be well in pre-post household service workers who held a high school graduation certificate or above.Special training should be given to the household service workers in accordance with their working experience.

Acute kidney injury (AKI), associated with significant morbidity and mortality, is widely known to involve epithelial apoptosis, excessive inflammation, and fibrosis in response to ischemia or reperfusion injury, which results in either chronic pathological changes or death. Therefore, it is imperative that investigations are conducted in order to find effective, early diagnoses, and therapeutic targets needed to help prevent and treat AKI. However, the mechanisms modulating the pathogenesis of AKI still remain largely undetermined. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), small non-coding RNA molecules, play an important role in several fundamental biological and pathological processes by a post transcriptional regulatory function of gene expression. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) is a recently identified, typical miRNA that is functional as a regulator known to be involved in apoptosis as well as inflammatory and fibrotic signaling pathways in AKI. As a result, miR-21 is now considered a novel biomarker when diagnosing and treating AKI. This article reviews the correlative literature and research progress regarding the roles of miR-21 in AKI.
Acute Kidney Injury ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; genetics ; pathology ; Animals ; Apoptosis ; Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Humans ; MicroRNAs ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Targeted Therapy