Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes,dyslipidemia, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome.It likely represents hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of NAFLD has been estimated to be 20％-30％ in the general population. However, it is much higher in type 2 diabetic patients. Several epidemiological studies indicate that NAFLD is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease( CVD), which is independent of underlying cardiometabolic risk factors. This suggests that NAFLD may also be actively involved in the pathogenesis. The possible molecular mediators linking NAFLD and atherosclerosis(AS) include the release of pro-atherogenic factors by oxidative stress and inflammation as well as atherogenic dyslipidemia, abnormal adipose factors, and insulin resistance, finally aggravating progression of CVD. In this article, the relationship and possible mechanisms between NAFLD and AS are reviewed.

As monosaccharide polymers,polysaccharides are widely distributed in nature,they are found in microorganisms,plants and animal cells and tissues.Glycosylation is of importance to maintain the structural stability and biological activity of protein molecules in eukaryotic cells.Polysaccharides represent the most important antigens recognized by immune system.The innate immune system senses invading microbes via their pathogen-associated molecular patterns,using pattern-recognition receptors on the surface of innate immune cells,many of which are polysaccharides uniquely expressed in certain microorganisms.Polysaccharides can also be processed intracellularly and presented to ??-T cells by MHC molecules.Polysaccharides can activate B lymphocytes,with or without T cell help,and induce production of specific antibodies.Amongst the polysaccharide-specific antibodies in human sera,some are products of adaptive humoral responses against microbial infection and others autoantibodies to glycan epitopes of host cells.Patients with autoimmune disorders tend to have higher titers of antibodies against various glycans.Immune clearance of senescence cells depends on the recognition of altered glycan epitopes on cell surface.Modification of glycan epitopes on tumour cell surface is at least partially responsible for activating antitumor immunity.Specific recognition of polysaccharides by the immune system is of importance to immunological defence,autoimmunity,anti-tumour immunity and immunological homeostasis,it will be the new focus of immunology research in the near future.

Recent advancements on interventional molecular imaging aimed to further complement the advantages of two imaging fields, namely, interventional radiology and molecular imaging. Interventional molecular imaging significantly improved the early diag-nosis of cancer, local treatment, and monitoring of tumor treatments. Interventional radiology has continuously extended the capabili-ties of the currently available molecular imaging techniques to (i) obtain deep-seated targets;(ii) thoroughly examine small targets;(iii) precisely guide the delivery of non-targeted imaging tracers or therapeutics;and (iv) selectively enhance the effectiveness of targeted imaging and treatment with high accuracy. Molecular imaging has been used to guide interventional therapies and assess the thera-peutic efficacies of medical interventions. The continuous efforts on interventional molecular imaging extend molecular imaging from benches or small animal laboratories to large animal suites and ultimately to certain clinical applications in humans and enhance the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Objective To investigate the significance of Qmax and residual urine in evaluation of bladder function in the patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).Methods The clinical data of 61 patients with BPH and 20 healthy persons in control group were evaluated.Bladder function,uroflowmetry and ultrasonic residual urine measurement were performed in the 2 groups.The correlation between Q max and residual urine in BPH group was investigated.Results There was significant difference in Qmax between the BPH group and control group (8 vs.21 ml/s,u=-6.090,P=0.007).There was significant difference in residual urine between the 2 groups (60 vs.9 ml,u =-6.718,P=0.005).And there was a negtive correlation between residual urine and Qmax in BPH group (r=-0.366,P=0.009).Conclusion It is useful to measure the Qmax and residual urine in evaluation of bladder function affected by bladder outlet obstruction caused by BPH.

The research of sleep staging is not only a basis of diagnosing sleep related diseases but also the precondition of evaluating sleep quality, and has important clinical significance. In recent years, the research of automatic sleep staging based on computer has become a hot spot and got some achievements. The basic knowledge of sleep staging and electroencephalogram (EEG) is introduced in this paper. Then, feature extraction and pattern recognition, two key technologies for automatic sleep staging, are discussed in detail. Wavelet transform and Hilbert-Huang transform, two methods for feature extraction, are compared. Artificial neural network and support vector machine (SVM), two methods for pattern recognition are discussed. In the end, the research status of this field is summarized, and development trends of next phase are pointed out.
Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Sleep Stages ; Support Vector Machine ; Wavelet Analysis

Objective To study the effects of deep hypothermia and L-arginine(NO precursor) pretreatment on cerebral protection after circulatory arrest and resuscitation in a canine model. Methods Ten healthy adult dogs of both sexes, weighing 14.45?2.3kg, were randomly divided into two groups(n=5): sham treatment group and L-arginine pretreatment group. Extracorporeal circulation was established routinely,circulatory arrest was induced when the nasopharyngeal temperature was reduced to 18℃, then the animals were resuscitated 90min later with extracorporeal circulation. SjvO2 was measured at 30min before circulatory arrest, 0min, 45min, 90min after circulatory arrest and at 60minutes after resuscitation. The ultrastructure changes in cerabral cortex were observed with transmission electron microscope (HITACHI 7500). The brain water content was also determined after the dogs were sacrificed. Results SjvO2 had decreased obviously after circulatory arrest, attaining the lowest level in CA 90min.After resuscitation it increased again in both groups. The levels of SjvO2 in dogs of L-arginine pretreatment group were markedly higher than that of control group at 45min and 90min after circulatory arrest (P

Objective To observe leptin level before and after rosiglitazone administration and to explore the possible mechanism of rosiglitazone's improving insulin sensitivity.Methods A total of 30 patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were separated into three groups at random,and treated with rosiglitazone(4mg/d),metform(750mg/d) and gliclazide(160mg/d),respectively.Serum leptin,insulin and GHbA1c were measured after 12 weeks.Results After 12 weeks' treatment,the fasting glucose and GHbA1c in each group declined sharply,while free insulin did not change.The leptin level in rosiglitazone group decreased and insulin sensitivity was improved after administration,but there was no change in metformin and sulfonylureas groups.Conclusion Leptin may play a role in rosiglitazone's mediating the insulin-sensitizing effects.

The research of sleep staging is not only the basis of diagnosing sleep related diseases, but also the precondition of evaluating sleep quality, and has important clinical significance. In recent years, the research of automatic sleep staging based on computer has become a hotspot and made some achievements. Feature extraction and feature classification are two key technologies in automatic sleep staging system. In order to achieve effective automatic sleep staging, we proposed a new automatic sleep staging method which combines the energy features and least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM). Firstly, we used FIR band-pass filter to extract the energy features of Pz-Oz channel sleep electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, and compared them with those from wavelet packet transform method. Then we designed an LS-SVM classifier to realize the automatic sleep stage classification. The research showed that FIR band-pass filter (with the Kaiser window) performed better than wavelet packet transform (WPT) for energy feature extraction just in terms of the data from the Sleep-EDF Database and the LS-SVM classifier (with the RBF Kernel function) designed was good, and the automatic sleep staging method proposed in this paper was better than many similar methods from other studies with an average accuracy of 88.89% and had a very prosperous application future.
Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Least-Squares Analysis ; Sleep Stages ; Support Vector Machine

Objective To evaluate the effect of total alkaloids of Sophora alopecuroides L on the nervous behavior and the expression of neurotransmitters in rats. Methods 48 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups:blank group,total alkaloids of Sophora alopecuroides L treatment with 4 mg·kg-1 ·d-1 ( low dose group) ,8 mg·kg-1 ·d-1( medium dose group) and 16 mg·kg-1 ·d-1( high dose group) groups. After successive intragastric administration for 30 days,the locomotor activity was applied to test the nervous behavior and emotional state of rats in each group. After behavioral tests were finished,the contents of trypto-phan (Trp),5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP),5-serotonin (5-HT),5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA), norepinephrine (NE),epinephrine (E) and dopamine (DA) were detected by ELISA in serum and brain. Results In the experiment of locomotor activity,compared with blank group ((95.33±12.75) times),the numbers of horizontal movement of Sophora alopecuroides L in medium and high dose group ( ( 61. 64 ± 5.91),(64.62±5.79)times both P<0.05) were significantly reduced (P<0.05, P<0.01).Compared with the blank group ((4.33±0.66) times),the numbers of vertical motion of Sophora alopecuroides L in medium and high dose group ((3.05±0.09)times,(3.77±0.69)times) were significantly reduced (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with blank group ((2.25±0.39) number),the granule number in high dose group ((3.38±0.40) number) were significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01),and emotional stress degree increased. Meanwhile,compared with blank group,the content detection of 5-HT,5-HIAA in different dose groups of the total alkaloids of Sophora alopecuroides L was improved obviously(P<0.01),but there was no significant effect on the content of Trp,5-HTP,NE,E,DA(P>0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that the degree of au-tonomic activity in rats with the content of 5-HT,5-HIAA and DA in serum was negatively correlated (P<0.05, P<0.01) ,the degree of emotional stress and the content of 5-HT,5-HIAA in brain was negatively cor-related (P<0.05, P<0.01) . Conclusion The total alkaloids of Sophora alopecuroides L can reduce the ac-tivity of rats and increase the degree of emotional stress. And the mechanism may be correlated with the in-creasing level of 5-HT and 5-HIAA in serum and brain.

OBJECTIVE:To discuss the effect of etomidate and propofol on early postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD)of elderly patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy(LC)and significance of serum protein S100β to the occurrence of early POCD in total intravenous anesthesia. METHODS:60 patients aged 65 years old above undergoing LC in total LMA intrave-nous anesthesia were selected and randomly divided into etomidate group(group E)and propofol group(group P),with 30 cases in each group. Anesthesia was induced by etomidate 0.3 mg/kg (group E) or propofol 1.5 mg/kg (group P),and additionally in-duced by sufentanil 0.4 μg/kg and vecuronium 0.12 mg/kg. Anesthesia was maintained with intravenous pump of remifentanil 0.15 μg/(kg·min),continuous target controlled infusion of etomidate(target concentration 1.0-1.5 μg/ml)(group E)or propofol(target concentration 3.0-4.0 μg/ml)(group P);the dual brain index(BIS)values were maintained between 40 and 50 throμgh adjusting target concentration of etomidate or propofol. The blood samples were collected 1 h before operation(T0),2 h(T1),24 h(T2), 48 h(T3)after operation,and the content of S100βprotein was detected and mini-mental state examination(MMSE)score were re-corded. Meanwhile,recovery time,laryngeal mask removal time,intraoperative dosage and the occurrence of intraoperative aware-ness were observed and recorded in 2 groups. RESULTS:There was no statistically significant difference in MMSE score between 2 groups at different time points(P>0.05);MMSE score of 2 groups at T1 and T2 was significantly lower than at T0,with statisti-cal significance(P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the content of S100β protein between 2 groups at dif-ferent time points(P>0.05);The contents of S100β protein in 2 groups at T1 and T2 were significantly higher than at T0,with sta-tistical significance(P<0.05). The recovery time and larynge-al mask removal time were both short in 2 groups,with statis-tical significance (P>0.05). The amount of ephedrine in group P was significantly higher than in group E,with statisti-cal significance (P<0.05). No intraoperative awareness oc-curred in 2 groups throμgh postoperative follow-up. CONCLUSIONS:Etomidate and propofol total intravenous anesthesia can be safely used in elderly patients with LC,and they can cause short-term POCD at different degrees. The amount of S100β protein has some relevance with the occurrence of early POCD .