The new costimulatory molecule B7-H4,also called V-set domain containing T cell activa-tion inhibitor 1(VTCN-1),is a member of the B7 family.B7-H4 can negatively regulate the immune response of T lymphocytes through inhibiting their proliferation and cytokine production .The expression of B7-H4 plays an important role in initiation ,progression and regression of malignant tumors ,including female malignant tumor , such as breast cancer ,ovarian cancer and uterine neoplasm .The association between the female tumors and B 7-H4 causes great concern in recent years .In this review,the function of B7-H4 in female tumor research and the potential target of B7-H4 in the diagnosis and treatment of female tumor are summarized .

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of intratympanic dexamethasone injections combined with prednisone in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. Methods A total of 71 patients diagnosed with sudden hearing loss were treated with intratympanic dexamethasone injections plus prednisone (B group) or prednisone alone (A group). Hearing was evaluated by pure tone audiogram performed before initial treatment and at 4 weeks following the final treatment. Results The total recovery rate after the treatment was 81.8% in the B group and 55.3% in the A group. The diflference between two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion The present study suggests that sudden sensorineural hearing loss patients treated with intratympanic dexamethasone combined with prednisone have a higher likelihood of hearing recovery than those treated with prednisone alone.

Objective To explore the possible correlation between periodontal disease and carotid arteries atherosclerosis in old people,and to study the diagnostic value for periodontal disease using three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technique of multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT).Methods Patients underwent multi-detector row CT angiography with carotid arteries atherosclerosis (control group) and without carotid arteries atherosclerosis (case group) were evaluated with the stereoscopic configuration of teeth,and the number of decayed teeth and lost teeth were recorded.Results Bythe 3D reconstruction technique,the number of decayed teeth and lost teeth between two groups were significantly different (P＜0.05).The number of dental integrity patients was higher in control group (19 cases) than in case group(7 cases).The mean of dental caries was higher in control group(7.3±3.0) than in case group(6.0±2.1).The mean of hypodontia was higher in control group(45 cases) than in case group(39 cases) (P＜0.05).Conclusions The 3D reconstruction technique of MSCT is a new method to display the stereoscopic configuration of teeth.The periodontal disease is significantly related with carotid arteries atherosclerosis in old people.

Objective: To a evaluate the effectiveness of comprehensive nutrition interventions among primary school students in Yiwu City, so as to provide insights into malnutrition control among children. Methods: Grade 3 to 5 students were sampled from four primary schools in Yiwu City using a random cluster sampling method and randomly assigned into the intervention group and the control group. Students in the intervention group received comprehensive interventions, including nutritional health education, promotion of physical activities, nutritional meal support and creation of a nutritional campus, while students in the control group were given no interventions. The awareness of nutritional health knowledge, dietary behaviors and nutritional status were compared in students between the two groups prior to interventions and one year following interventions, and the effectiveness of interventions was evaluated using generalized estimating equations. Results: Totally 879 students were enrolled. There were 440 students in the intervention group, including 243 males and 197 females, with a male to female ratio of 1︰0.81 and a mean age of (10.47±0.99) years; and there were 439 students in the control group, including 244 males and 195 females, with a male to female ratio of 1︰0.80 and a mean age of (10.35±1.02) years. Following comprehensive interventions, the awareness of “type of food”, “seven nutriments from food”, “eating at least 12 types of food daily”, “less than 6 g of daily salt intake”, “food composition in nutritional breakfast”, “nutritional labels of pure milk”, “no less than 60 min of daily exercise duration” and “too fat or too thin may threaten health” and the increase in the proportion of 3 and more types of food in breakfast were significantly higher among students in the intervention group than in the control group (all P<0.05); however, there was no statistical difference in the proportion of normal nutrition between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion The comprehensive nutritional interventions may effectively increase the awareness of nutrition health knowledge and improve dietary behaviors among primary school students.

Objective To explore the influence of whole-course individualized nursing intervention on treatment compliance among intractable epilepsy children with ketogenic diet therapy.Methods 80 intractable epilepsy patients with ketogenic diet therapy were divided into the control group and the experimental group with 40 cases in each group.The routine nursing was given to the control group.On basis of routine nursing,whole-course individualized nursing intervention was given to the experimental group.The investigation was carried out before and after intervention in two groups by using self-designed questionnaire.The treatment compliance and therapeutic effect were compared between two groups.Results The treatment compliance and therapeutic effect were significantly alleviated in the experimental group compared with the control group in the third,sixth and twelfth months.Conclusions The whole-course individualized nursing intervention can improve the parental awareness of the disease,enhance their confidence and determination to adhere to the treatment,improve their treatment compliance,thereby improve the effect of treatment.

To investigate the herbal medicines which play a main role in Chinese herbal formula Jianpi Huoxue Decoction for improving intestinal permeability and protect alcohol-induced liver injury and intestine damage, and to explore the analysis method for the material base of pharmacological effects of the Chinese herbal compound.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of serum brain natriuretic peptide(BNP)in chron-ic cor pulmonale of different period.Methods According to the inclusion criteria,we recruited 216 cases from heart and respiratory medicine(including outpatients and inpatients)of Qingyuan People 's Hosptial from April 2013 to December 2014.All the cases were divided into healthy control group(group A,n =48),cor pulmonale heart function compensatory period group(group B,n =43),cor pulmonale right heart failure group(group C,n =45),the simple left heart failure group(D group,n =40)and the whole heart failure group(group E,n =40).The serum BNP value,pul-monary function,echocardiography were detected.We compared the differences amomg them with correlation analysis, and drew the ROC curves to obtain the best cutoff point.Results The BNP value was higher in group C(495.44 ± 219.90)ng/L than group B[(182.44 ±69.71)ng/L,P <0.001],while the value was higher in group D(882.57 ± 288.56)ng/L and E(891.78 ±256.45)ng/L than group C(P <0.001).In cor pulmonale groups,BNP was positive-ly correlated with RV,RVOT,and PASP,negatively correlated with FEV1 ,and not correlated with LVEF %.In group D and E,BNP was negatively correlated with LVEF %.The best cutoff point of BNP was 285.3ng/L between cor pul-monale heart function compensatory period group(group B)and cor pulmonale right heart failure group(group C). The best cutoff point of BNP was 764.2ng/L between cor pulmonale right heart failure group(group C)and the whole heart failure group(group E).Conclusion There is certain correlation between serum BNP level and the progress of chronic cor pulmonale.Dynamic monitoring of serum BNP level in the judgement of treating cor pulmonale is of certain reference significance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effectiveness of endoscopic tragus cartilage-perichondrium in the treatment of large tympanic membrane perforations. METHOD: Patients with large tympanic membrane perfortations who had underwent cartilage-perichondrium myringoplasty were retrospectively retrieved from our department. Those with a follow-up of equal to or greater than 12 months after surgery were included in the study. Hearing test results were reported using a four-frequency air conduction and bone-air conduction gap. Patients were labeled as treatment success if the tympanic membrane was intact without lateralization or anterior blunting after surgery. RESULT: Of the 35 patients with large tympanic membrane perforations treated by endoscopic tragus cartilage-perichondrium, 33 (94.3%) were treatment success. There was no graft lateralization, anterior blunting, neocholesteatoma, and sensorineural hearing loss in these patients after surgery. The air conduction and bone-air conduction gap before surgery in the study cohort were (43.8 ± 5.7) dB and (28.5 ± 3.1) dB, respectively. Postoperative air conduction and bone-air conduction gap of the cohort were (31.4 ± 6.4) dB HL and (16.2 ± 4.1) dB, respectively. The postoperative air conduction and bone-air conduction gap decreased significantly after surgery (P < 0.01). Overall postoperative air-bone gap in 27 of the 35 patients (77%) were less than 20 dB after surgery. CONCLUSION Endoscopic cartilage-perichondrium myringoplasty is an effective procedure in the treatment of large tympanic membrane perforations.
Bone Conduction ; Cartilage ; Cohort Studies ; Ear Auricle ; Endoscopy ; Hearing ; Hearing Tests ; Humans ; Myringoplasty ; Postoperative Period ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Tympanic Membrane ; Tympanic Membrane Perforation ; surgery ; Tympanoplasty

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of B lymphocyte stimulator (Blys) and its receptor BAFF (BAFF-R) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods The expression of Blys and BAFF-R was measured by flow cytometry in 90 pa-tients with SLE,which was compared with that of 45 healthy controls. The relationships between the expression of Blys, BAFF-R and other laboratory parameters as well as disease activity were analyzed. Results The expression of Blys and BAFF-R in PBMCs from patients with SLE was significantly elevated compared to healthy controls (P <0.001), so did the active group (P < 0.001) and inactive group (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01). The expression of Blys in PBMCs from active SLE patients was higher than that of inactive patients (P <0.05). However,there was no statisti-cal difference of BAFF-R between the two groups. The expression of Blys in PBMCs was positively related to SLEDAI (r =0.728,P <0.001) ,IgG and IgM(r=0.691,P<0.001 and r =0.453,P<0.01) ,but negatively related to C3 and CA (r = -0.510, P < 0.001 and r = -0.312, P < 0.05). The expression of Blys in dsDNA positive group was higher than those of dsDNA negative group (P < 0.01). The expression of Blys and BAFF-R in Cl qAb positive group was higher than those of ClqAb negative group as well (P <0.01). Conclusion The expression of Blys and its receptor BAFF-R in PBMCs from SLE is elevated ,which may reflect the disease activity and is related to the pro-duction of autoantibody. They might be involved in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of intratympanic dexamethasone injection as a protec-tion agent against cisplatin ototoxicity.Methods Fifty five healthy guinea pigs were randomly divided into four groups.The guinea pigs groups received (group I)0.9% NaCl solution(16 ml/kg)intraperitoneally (IP),(group II)dexamethasone (10 mg/ml)intratympanically(IT),(group III)cisplatin (16 mg/kg)only intraperitoneally(IP) and (group IV)dexamethasone (10 mg/ml)IT followed after 1h by 16 mg/kg cisplatin.Before and 7 days following injections,the ototoxic effect was measured with auditory brainstem response(ABR).The contents of malondiade-hyde(MDA)and activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD)were also measured.Results ABR thresholds before and after dosing were 28.50±4.74,29.00±3.94 dB nHL and 28.67±5.82,31.33±5.81 dB nHL in group I and group II,respectively,with no significant differences (P>0.05).The contents of MDA and activities of SOD were 2.01 ±0.07 mmol/L ,234.10±13.09 U/ml and 2.06±0.09 mmol/L,233.20±13.24 U/ml in the group I and group II, respectively,with no significant differences (P>0.05).ABR thresholds after dosing were 55.33±4.81,and 40.67 ±3.72 dB nHL in the group III and group IV,which were significantly increased,but ABR thresholds in the group IV were significantly lower than that in the group III (P<0.05).The contents of MDA were 5.74±0.17,3.51± 0.18 mmol/L in the group III and group IV,which were significantly increased.SOD activities were 107.90 ± 14.21,and 162.70±11.25 U/ml,which significantly decreased.Nevertheless,in the group IV dexamethasone rela-tively reduced the contents of MDA(P<0.001)while increased the activities of SOD(P<0.001)compared with group III.Conclusion Intratympanic dexamethasone injection presents as an effective treatment modality to prevent cisplatin ototoxicity without any ototoxic effect.