Acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) is one of the triterpenes in the gum resin of the Boswellia serrata and Boswellia carterii,also known as Salai guggal or Indian frankincense.There has been growing interst in anti-tumor activity of AKBA.This review will summarize the latest advances of AKBA on anti-tumor activity for the better understanding of this compound and its further applications.

Objective To evaluate the main scanning technique and clinical value of 16-slice spiral CT coronary angiography(CTCA).Methods Plain and enhanced imaging were performed by retrospective ECG gating in 76 patients,including 65 cases suspected coronary artery disease,8 cases of coronary stent and 3 cases of coronary bypass graft.Post-processing was conducted with VesselView soft package,in which MPR,MIP,VRT and section plane of conoray artery were made in all cases,among them 35 cases underwent selective coronary angiography(SCA) as a comparision.These main segments(vessel diameter≥2 mm) in CTCA were compared with SCA,and≥50% reduction of vessel diameter was defined as significant disease.Results 85.1% of the coronary segments in CTCA were accessible and could accurately displaye the patency of the coronary arteries and the pathological changes in vessel walls.In comparison with SCA,the sensitivity and specificity were 86.5% and 95.1% respectively. When 46 coronary artery segments judged unevaluable were included in the analysis,the sensitivity was 78.0%(32/41).Conclusion 16-slice CTCA can display long segment of coronary artery and assess coronary artery disease with high accuracy,which has highly clinical value.

YKL-40, a newly found inflammatory marker, is belonged to the mammals′chitinase family.It showed that YKL-40 can participate in a variety of inflammatory diseases such as airway inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular and neurological inflamma-tory diseases, and arthritis etc.It could be used to diagnose and evaluate these inflammatory diseases.Since its specific receptor has not been identified, the exact biological role of YKL-40 in inflammatory response still remains unclear.This article reviews the function of YKL-40 in inflammatory response and its related signaling pathways.

Objective To observe the characteristics of vertical cast-off bloodstain pattern by different hitting-tools. Methods The regular hitting tools, a kitchen knife, a dirk, a plane set-hammer and an iron pipe, were selected. At a distance of 30 cmaway fromthe wall, the hitting tool with 5 mL fresh chick-en blood made the cast-off bloodstain fromtop to bottom. Then the holistic distribution characteristics ( length , width and density ) of cast-off bloodstain and morphology characteristics ( length , width and contact angle) of first single cast-off bloodstain were analyzed. Results The distribution length of cast-off bloodstain formed by dirk was minimum( P<0 .05 ) . The distribution width of cast-off bloodstain formed by kitchen knife was minimum(P<0.05). Except the pair of kitchen knife and plane set-hammer, the distribution density between each two tools had statistical differences (P<0.05). The length of first single cast-off bloodstain formed by plane set-hammer was longest compared (P<0.05). The width of first single cast-off bloodstain had statistical differences between kitchen knife and plane set-hammer, and between dirk and plane set-hammer (P<0.05). Conclusion The type of hitting tool could be inferred by the specific characteristics of cast-off bloodstain pattern formed by every specific type of hitting tool in crime scene.

Objective To investigate epidemiologically the prevalence of obesity and overweight in Mongolian and Han residents aged over 55 years old in pastoral area of Inner Mongolia,China.Method From 2008 to 2009,with diagnostic criteria of overweight and obesity adopted by Chinese and World Health Organization (WHO),an epidemiological investigation was carried out in 9 146 subjects.Result The incidences of obesity and overweight in Mongolian and Han residents were 32.43％ (32.25％ by WHO criteria),19.09％ (9.91％),and 33.60％ (29.85％),15.19％ (7.66％),respectively.The prevalence of obesity in Mongolian residents was higher than that in Han residents (x2 =16.272,P＜0.01).The status of obesity in Mongolian and Han female residents was more marked than that in male residents (P ＜ 0.05).Overweight between male and female of Han population was different(x2 =5.541,P =0.019).The prevalence of obesity between Mongolian and Han was statistically different (x2 =16.272,P＜0.01).Waist circumference,waist/height ratio,and body mass index between Mongolian and Han were also different (all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion Differences in prevalence of overweight and obesity were found between Mongolian and Han ethnics among residents aged over 55 in pastoral area of Inner Mongolia,China.

Objective To explore the best way for clinical screening of primary aldosteronism (PA).Methods Three hundred and three suspected cases of PA were collected and divided into groups of primary aldosteronism group, essential hypertension group, and nonsecreting cortical adrenal tumor group.The plasma aldosterone concentration/plasma renin concentration ratio ( ARR) was used to draw the receiver operating characteristic ( ROC) curve and obtain the best cut-off point.Furthermore, the current screening schemes for PA were compared.Results Upright ARR yield had larger areas under the ROC curve than plasma aldosterone concentration or plasma renin concentration under all conditions of testing. The best cut-off point of upright ARR[(pg/ml)/(μIU/ml)] for the diagnosis of PA was 43.45.During the two postural stimulation tests,the two upright ARR exceeded 43.45 with the highest diagnostic sensitivity of PA reaching 0.94.During the two upright tests ARR was less than 43.45, with a sensitivity of 0.74, and a specificity of 0.94.Conclusion To screen for PA in high-risk populations, twice postural stimulation test is recommended.As long as the upright ARR is above 43.45, PA may be considered and further confirmation is needed to prevent misdiagnosis.

Objective: To understand the health-related quality of life status of ethnic Korean children and adolescents and its relationship with social support and negative emotions, and to provide assistance to the healthy development of ethnic Korean children and adolescents. Methods: From April to June 2018 in Jilin Province, 4 024 ethnic Korean children and adolescents were selected for the survey of quality of life, social support, and negative emotion, and multiple linear regression analysis was used to understand the relationships between them. Results: The average score of the quality of life of ethnic Korean children and adolescents was (81.01±12.64)points. The average scores for school function, emotional function, social function and physiological function were (80.16±15.36) points, (73.07±19.85) points, (88.52±14.03) points and (82.65±14.17) points, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the negative emotions of ethnic Korean primary and middle school students had a negative association with effect on quality of life (β=-0.24, P<0.01), social support had a positive predictive effect on quality of life (β=0.17, P<0.01), and the interaction between negative emotions and social support played a negative role in quality of life of ethnic Korean primary and middle school students (β =-0.19, P<0.01). Conclusion The health-related quality of life of ethnic Korean children and adolescents is acceptable. Social support can alleviate negative emotions to reduce the impact of negative emotions on quality of life.

Objective Midkine ( MK ) and nuclear factor-kappa B ( NF-kB ) play pivotal roles in tumorigenesis, which are considered as promising cancer biomarkers. The efficacy of MK and NF-kB as markers for diagnosis and prediction of synchronous metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer ( PTC ) was the aim of present investigation. Methods Seventy six cases of PTC and seventy cases of multi-nodular goiter ( MNG ) were retrieved. The PTC group was further divided into subgroup 1 (16 cases with synchronous metastasis) and subgroup 2 (60 cases without metastases). A retrospective review of clinical information, radiological examinations,131 I treatments and post-131 I-therapy scans were done. Immunohistochemistry of MK, NF-kB p65, and Ki-67 was performed on paraffin-embedded specimens and results were quantified. Diagnostic values of the parameters were conducted by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were determined. Protein levels of MK and NF-kB p65 were then confirmed by Western blot. Results Immunoreactivities of MK and NF-kB p65, and positive percentage of Ki-67 were significantly higher in PTC group than in MNG group (all P<0. 01). ROC showed good differential diagnostic capabilities of all three parameters with diagnostic accuracies of 82. 192% , 80. 137% , and 84. 091%respectively. Moreover, all three parameters were significantly higher in subgroup 1 than those in subgroup 2 (all P<0. 01). ROC showed good predicting efficacies in synchronous metastasis of all three parameters with diagnostic accuracies of 82. 895% , 80. 263% , and 76. 316% respectively. By one-way analysis of variance, Western blot showed that MK and NF-kB p65 protein levels in lesions from subgroup 1 were significantly higher than those from subgroup 2, both were significantly higher than those in MNG lesions ( P<0. 01). Conclusion MK and NF-kB immunohistochemistry can potentially be used for differential diagnosis between PTC and MNG, and for prediction of synchronous metastases.

This study investigated the anti-angiogenic activities of two diarylheptanoids, together with a structure analogue, curcumin. The activity and toxicity of these three compounds were compared using transgenic zebrafish as in vivo model and human umbilical vein endothelial cell(HUVEC)as in vitro model. Anti-angiogenic index(AI)was used as the ratio between LC50 and EC50. The results suggested that in both in vitro and in vivo assay, curcumin exerted the most potent anti-angiogenic effect but with lowest toxicity among these compounds; Yakuchinone A was the second potent; Yakuchinone B has the lowest activity but with the highest toxicity in all three compounds. Taken together, curcumin was the best angiogenic inhibitor in these three diarylheptanoids.

Background: Cervical cancer is still present a major public health problem, especially in developing countries. In International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics 2018, allowing assessment of retroperitoneal lymph nodes by imaging and/or pathological findings and, if deemed metastatic, the case is designated as stage IIIC (with r and p notations). Patients with lymph node metastases have lower overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), and survival after recurrence, especially those who have unresectable macroscopical positive lymph nodes. Retrospective analysis suggests that there may be a benefit to debulking macroscopic nodes that would be otherwise difficult to sterilize with standard doses of radiation therapy. However, there are no prospective study reporting that resecting macroscopic nodes before concurrent chemoradiation therapy (CCRT) would improve PFS or OS of cervical cancer and no guidelines for surgical resection of bulky lymph nodes. The CQGOG0103 study is a prospective, multicenter and randomized controlled trial (RCT) evaluating lymph node dissection on stage IIICr of cervical cancer. Methods Eligible patients are histologically confirmed cervical squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, adeno-squamous cell carcinoma. Stage IIICr (confirmed by computed tomography [CT]/magnetic resonance imaging/positron emission tomography/CT) and the short diameter of image-positive lymph node ≥15 mm. 452 patients will be equally randomized to receive either CCRT (pelvic external-beam radiotherapy [EBRT]/extended-field EBRT + cisplatin [40 mg/m2] or carboplatin [the area under curve=2] every week for 5 cycles + brachytherapy) or open/minimally invasive pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection followed by CCRT. Randomization is stratified by status of para-aortic lymph node. The primary endpoint is PFS. Secondary endpoints are OS and surgical complications. A total of 452 patients will be enrolled from multiple hospitals in China within 4 years and followed up for 5 years.