Objective To compare the diagnostic value of DWI and ultrasound elastography(UE) in staging hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B(CHB). Methods Fifteen healthy volunteers (control group) and 69 patients with CHB (disease duration more than 1 year) (patient group) were prospectively recruited. All of the subjects underwent DWI and UE experiments twice with the interval of less than 3 days. Liver ADC and shear wave velocity(SWV) values were obtained for subsequent analysis. Sixty?nine patients who had biopsy were grouped according to their pathological grading of fibrosis, from S0 to S4. One?way ANOVA was used to compare the ADC and SWV values between the five different fibrosis groups and control group. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlations between the ADC and SWV values and those staging factors. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performance of ADC and SWV values in discriminating different stages of hepatic fibrosis. Results Based on the pathological results, the 69 patients were reclassified to five subgroups with 11, 13, 12, 15 and 18 patients in the S0, S1, S2, S3 and S4 groups respectively. ADC values were(1.39±0.09)×10-3,(1.39±0.08)×10-3,(1.38±0.10)×10-3,(1.20±0.06)×10-3,(1.12±0.07)×10-3 and(1.01±0.07)×10-3mm2/s for the control group and stages S0 to S4 respectively.SWV values were(1.17±0.07),(1.16±0.08),(1.23±0.10),(1.48±0.14),(1.85±0.14)and(1.97±0.12)m/s for stages S0 to S4 and the control group respectively. Statistically significant differences were observed among them (P<0.01). Both ADC (r=-0.894,P<0.01) and SWV (r=0.904,P<0.01) values were highly correlated with the stages of liver fibrosis. The area under ROC(AUC) for predicting fibrosis stages (≥S1, ≥S2, ≥S3 and S4) with ADC values was 0.893, 0.991, 0.966 and 0.952 respectively. Accordingly, the AUC for SWV values were 0.937, 0.993, 0.994 and 0.914. Conclusions The two imaging methods of DWI and UE showed good and similar diagnostic performance in discriminating the different stages of hepatic fibrosis.

Objective To improve the diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary mucormycosis(PM) by investigating imaging appearances of PM,including CT and PET-CT.Methods A retrospective analysis of unenhanced MSCT(n=14),dynamic enhanced MSCT(n=10) and 18F-FDG PET-CT(n=3) examinations was conducted in 14 patients with surgically and pathologically proven PM.Results CT findings:13 patients had multiple patchy consolidation.Nine had thick-walled cavitiess(n=26) and 4 had pulmonary embolism,1 had solitary irregular masses,3 had adjacent bronchus invasion,4 had pleural effusion,14 had no mediastinal adenopathy.All the patients after renal transplantation had varied ground-glass opacifications and interlobular septal thickenings.The solid portion of lesions had strong enhancement with CT attenduation of (25±8) HU.PET-CT findings:3 cases were found with homogeneously or inhomogeneously increased 18F-FDG uptake(SUVmax 6.2,4.6,3.6).Conclusions PM presents with widespread but lacked specific imaging features.A suggestive diagnosis could be made in some patients with imaging appearances of multiple thick-walled cavities,rapid changes,and complicated with pulmonary embolism or invaded bronchus and sleevelet sign.

Objective To explore the property of brain functional networks and cognitive function changes in patients with frontal lobe low-grade gliomas (LGG).Methods 8 cases of suspected frontal lobe LGG patients were undergone with resting-fMRI scanning to analyze the small-world property of the LGG,meanwhile the LGG groups had Montreal (MoCA) cognitive score exam compared with the control group.Results The value of MoCA was 22.5 ± 1.5,21.8 ± 2.0,and 27.9 ± 2.1 respectively with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.05) in the LGG groups and the control groups.The LGG group cognitive score was significantly lower than that in the control group with statistical significance (P＜ 0.05).As to threshold,the two groups were consistent with the small world property.The LGG local efficiency was smaller than that of the controls,the postoperative small world properties (σ=2.49) were lower than that the pre-operative (σ =2.68),the largest brain function areas of preoperative information transmission were respectively the supramarginal gyrus,posterior cingulate,insula,and the postoperative being the precuneus,calcarine sulcus and superior frontal gyrus.The maximum cluster coefficient of the preoperative functional network were respectively the entorhinal cortex,transverse temporal gyrus and the calcarine sulcus,and postoperative were Wilson,transverse temporal gyri and occipital gyrus.Preoperative information transmission path was less than the postoperative,and the small world properties were positively correlated with MoCA.Conclusion LGG accompany by the changes of cognitive function,and with the small world network property preand post-operation.

There is a bidirectional relationship between intestinal flora and bile acids,and the imbalance of intestinal flora-bile acid axis metabolism is closely related to hypertension.Based on classical TCM literature and clinical practice,this article found that"earth deficiency"is the important pathological basis of hypertension,"wood depression"is the initiating factor of hypertension,and"earth deficiency and wood depression"is the key pathogenesis of hypertension.Combined with the research results of modern medicine and molecular biology,it is considered that the imbalance of intestinal flora and abnormal bile acid metabolism are closely related to the"earth deficiency"and"wood depression"of TCM respectively,and the imbalance of intestinal flora-bile acid axis coincides with the"earth deficiency and wood depression"of TCM in the process of hypertension.It is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the biological connotation of hypertension"earth deficiency and wood depression"from the perspective of intestinal flora-bile acid axis for guiding TCM to prevent and treat hypertension.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficiency of combined finasteride and metformin on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM).Methods Totally 106 patients with BPH plus T2DM received finasteride and metformin treatment for over 12months.Before and after treatment,the side effects and following parameters were measured:prostatic volume (PV),prostate-specific antigen(PSA),international prostate symptom score (IPSS),quality of life (QOL),the maximum flow rate of urinary (Qmax),residual urine(RU),body mass index (BMI),cholesterol (TG).Results There were obvious changes in the following:PV decreased from (56.40±18.75)ml to(42.40± 19.68) ml,PSA decreased from(3.65± 1.08) μg/L to (1.76±0.66)μg/L,IPSS decreased from(22.58±9.45)to(16.67±7.56),QOL decreased from(4.22± ±0.87) to (2.36 ± 0.74),Qmax increased from(8.32±2.42)ml/s to(15.48±3.61)ml/s,RU decreased form(68.36±19.25)ml to(36.42±13.91)ml,BMI decreased from(28.52±3.73)kg/m2 to (19.76± 1.88)kg/m2,TG decreased from (2.52 ± 0.43) mmol/L to (1.38 ± 0.52) mmol/L.The changes of PV,PSA,IPSS,QOL,Qmax,RU,BMI and TG were statistically significant (all P＜0.05).Conclusions Long term combined finasteride and metformin treatment for BPH plus T2DM is effective and safe.And the two drugs may be improve the efficacy each other.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of finasteride on hemorrhage in peri-operation of transurethral plasmakinetic enucleation of prostate (TUPKEP).Methods150 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were randomly divided into 3 groups:control group without finasteride (n= 50),treatment groupl 1 with finasteride 5 mg daily for 7 days(n= 50) and treatment group 2 with finasteride 10 mg daily for 7 days(n= 50) before and after operation.All patients received TUPKEP and the data were recorded,including total blood loss,operation time,amount of washing fluid during operation,blood loss of per gram tissue,blood loss per minute,washing time after operation,amount of washing fluid after operation,and rebleeding rate within 3 months after operation.ResultsThe 150 patients successfully received TUPKEP.The total blood loss,amount of washing fluid during operation,operation time,blood loss per gram tissue,amount of washing fluid after operation,washing time after operation and rebleeding rate within 3 months after operation in treatment group 1 and 2 significantly reduced as compared with control group (P＜0.05).The blood loss per minute were (1.77±0.89) ml/min,(1.71±0.82) ml/min and (1.70±0.81) ml/min in 3 groups,respectively,and there were no significant differences among groups (P＞ 0.05).There were no significant differences between treatment group 1 and 2 in the total blood loss,operation time,amount of washing fluid during operation,blood loss of per gram tissue,blood loss per minute,washing time and amount of washing fluid after operation (P＞0.05).The rebleeding rate within 3 months after operation in treatment group 1 (8/35) and treatment group 2 (3/26) decreased as compared with control group (17/39) (x2= 3.544 and 7.523,P=0.016 and 0.025)and it was lower in treatment group 2 than in treatment group 1 (x2 = 1.293,P = 0.044).Conclusions The application of finasteride in peri-operation of TUPKEP can reduce hemorrhage.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of over expression of miR-34a on cellular proliferation and migration in bladder cancer cell line J82 by targeting Notchl.MethodsmiR-34a was predicted as a putative gene which can target Notchl through bioinformatics analysis,qRT-PCR and Western blot were performed to measure the expression levels of Notchl and miR-34a in invasive transitional cell carcinoma of bladder (TCCB) tissues and J82 cells transfected with miR-34a.Luciferase assay was employed to determine if miR-34a could target Notchl through binding to the 3'-untranslated region (3'UTR) of Notchl mRNA.J82 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.0-miR-34a or pcDNA3.0 control plasmid.MTS colorimetry was used to evaluate the effect of miR-34a on cell proliferation.The effect of miR-34a on cell migration was assessed by transwell migration assay.ResultsThe expression level of miR-34 in invasive TCCB tissues was lower than in adjacent bladder tissues (0.016(0.018) vs 0.042 (0.059),N =16; P =0.0006).On the contrary,the average levels of Notchl mRNA and protein were higher in tumors than in adjacent bladder tissues (2.765(2.156) vs 2.312(1.365),N =16; P =0.0025 and 0.857 ±0.197 vs 0.648 ±0.171 ;P ＜0.0001 ).After the transfection of miR-34a,the expressive level of miR-34a in J82 was highly induced ( (2.408 ±0.789) × 10-4 vs(0.153 ±0.029) × 10-4; P =0.0026).However,the expressive levels of Notchl mRNA and protein were obviously decreased (3.001 ± 0.106 vs 4.998 ± 1.053 ; P =0.0308 and 0.747 ± 0.050 vs 0.988 ± 0.102 ; P =0.0215 ).The results of luciferase assay showed that firefly activity was highly dimished (0.422 ± 0.028 vs 2.392 ± 0.148 ; P ＜ 0.0001 ).Cellular proliferation was inhibited after the transfection of miR-34a in J82 (P ＜ 0.0001 ).Moreover,number of migration cells of J82 was significantly reduced after the ectopic expression of miR-34a ( 179.3 ± 21.02 vs 269.7 ± 23.71 ; P =0.0078 ).ConclusionsmiR-34a inhibits the cellular proliferation and migration of bladder cancer cell line J82 via binding to the 3UTR of Notchl mRNA.

Objective To study the effect of telmisartan combined with rosuvastatin on white matter lesion (WML) in elderly hypertensive patients.Metheds Three hundred and twenty-nine elderly patients with mild-moderate essential hypertension (EH) were divided into control group (n=167) and combined treatment group (n=162).The patients in control group were treated with telmisartan (40 mg/d) and those in combined treatment group were treated with telmisartan plus rosuvastatin (10 mg/d).Their white matter hyperintensivity (WMH),periventricular white matter hyperintensity (PWMH),and deep white matter hyperintensity (DWMH) were measured by head MRI.Results The total WMH,PWMH and DWMH were significantly higher in two groups in the third and fifth years than at the baseline (P＜0.05).The growth rate of total WMH,PWMH and DWMH was significantly lower in combined treatment group than in control group in the third and fifth years (P＜0.05).Conclusion Telmisartan combined with rosuvastatin plays an important role in stablizing blood pressure,regulating blood lipids,and delaying WML.

Objective To study the association between morning surge (MS) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and white matter lesions in elderly essential hypertensive (EH) patients.Methods Three hundred and thirty-seven elderly EH patients from Zhangqiu of Shandong Province were divided into MS group (n=150) and non-MS group (n=187).Their 24 h ambulatory SBP was monitored.Their white matter hyperintensity (WMH) was assessed according to their brain MRI.Results The total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH were significantly higher in MS group than in non-MS group (P＜0.01).The MS of SBP was positively related with the total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH (r=0.561,r=0.563,r=0.283,P＜0.01),and was an independent risk factor for total WMH,periventricular WMH,and deep WMH after adjustment for confunders (r=0.479,r=0.486,r=0.208,P＜0.01).Conclusion MS of SBP is an independently risk factor for WMH in elderly EH patients.

Pharmacological perturbation studies based on protein-level signatures are fundamental for drug dis-covery.In the present study,we used a mass spectrometry(MS)-based proteomic platform to profile the whole proteome of the breast cancer MCF7 cell line under stress induced by 78 bioactive compounds.The integrated analysis of perturbed signal abundance revealed the connectivity between phenotypic behaviors and molecular features in cancer cells.Our data showed functional relevance in exploring the novel pharmacological activity of phenolic xanthohumol,as well as the noncanonical targets of clinically approved tamoxifen,lovastatin,and their derivatives.Furthermore,the rational design of synergistic inhibition using a combination of histone methyltransferase and topoisomerase was identified based on their complementary drug fingerprints.This study provides rich resources for the proteomic landscape of drug responses for precision therapeutic medicine.