Using 133Xe-inhalation technique quantitative measurements the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was performed in 20 patients with unilateral ischemic lesion in one hemisphere according to cranial CT scan and in 10 normal subjects. Twenty patients had an Ultrasound Doppler examination of neck vessels half a day after rCBF examination. The results showed that rCBF in ischemic hemisphere before and during 3% CO, stimulation was lower than that in normal subjects or in non-ischemic hemisphere of the patients. It suggests that dilative responsibility to CO, in cerebral artery of stroke hemisphere is reduced. That is to say the cerebrovascular reserve capacity in stroke hemisphere was reduced too, but cerebrovascular reserve capacity in the non-stroke hemisphere and in normal subject of control group was normal. We also found cerebrovascular responsibility to CO, or cerebrovascular reserve capacity correlated with severity of clinical cerebral thrombotic illness and extent and degree of internal carotid artery obstruction. It was poor in severe illness or internal carotid obstruction and/or narrow in both sides of the patient group taken by Ultrasound Doppler examination of neck vessels.

Amyloidosis ; complications ; pathology ; Heart Diseases ; etiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo study the clinical features, treatment and diagnosis of parapelvic cyst.

METHODSTwenty-three patients of parapelvic cyst of the kidney were reviewed retrospectively. Fourteen cases (61%) complained of lumbar pain or discomfort, and 4 patients (17%) accompany hematuria and hypertension.

RESULTSIn 15 patients receiving surgery, 2 were treated by nephrectomy, one by radical nephrectomy for misdiagnosis. Postoperative diagnosis confirmed a cyst. Eight patients were treated conservatively for cyst being small and without clinical symptoms. Nineteen cases were followed up for 0.5 - 12.0 years.

CONCLUSIONSUltrasonography and CT scan are the main diagnostic methods. Enhanced CT is extremely helpful in differential diagnosis of hydronephrosis. Surgical management is suitable for big cysts, lumbar pain, hematuria, hypertension and other complications.

Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases, Cystic ; diagnosis ; etiology ; surgery ; Kidney Pelvis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUNDBone age development is one of the significant indicators depicting the growth status of children. However, bone age assessment is an heuristic and tedious work for pediatricians. We developed a computerized bone age estimation system based on the analysis of geometric features of carpal bones.

METHODSThe geometric features of carpals were extracted and analyzed to judge the bone age of children by computerized shape and area description. Four classifiers, linear, nearest neighbor, back-propagation neural network, and radial basis function neural network, were adopted to categorize bone age. Principal component and discriminate analyses were employed to improve assorting accuracy.

RESULTSThe hand X-ray films of 465 boys and 444 girls served as our database. The features were extracted from carpal bone images, including shape, area, and sequence. The proposed normalization area ratio method was effective in bone age classification by simulation. Besides, features statistics showed similar results between the standard of the Greulich and Pyle atlas and our database.

CONCLUSIONSThe bone area has a higher discriminating power to judge bone age. The ossification sequence of trapezium and trapezoid bones between Taiwanese and the atlas of the GP method is quite different. These results also indicate that carpal bone assessment with classification of neural networks can be correct and practical.

Age Determination by Skeleton ; Carpal Bones ; anatomy & histology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Neural Networks (Computer)

To investigate the relationship between nm23-H1 gene and human chronic myeloblastic leukemia we designed siRNAs which target nm23-H1 gene. According to the principles of designing siRNA, we selected three siRNAs and transfected them into K562 cells by lipofectamine2000. The expression levels of nm23-H1 mRNA were detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction after transfection for 24 hours. The expression levels of nm23-H1 protein were assayed by immunocytochemical method after transfection for 48 hours. And after transfection for 24, 48 and 72 hours, cell proliferation was determined by MTT method. Among the three siRNAs, siNM526 can effectively inhibit the expression of nm23-H1 on mRNA and protein levels. The growth of K562 cells was suppressed after transfection of siNM526. These results suggest that low expression level of nm23-H1 in K562 cells inhibited cell proliferation, namely reduced malignant degree of them. Therefore nm23-H1 gene might be a potential target of leukemia treatment.
Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute ; genetics ; pathology ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA Interference ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Transfection

To purify recombinant human nucleoside diphosphate kinase A (rhNDPK-A) efficiently in pilot scale, cells of rhNDPK-A producing E. coli were homogenized by high pressure under 4 degrees C, 950 Pa. The insoluble debris was removed by microfiltration and the soluble portion was concentrated by ultrafiltration. The resulted crude sample was loaded on DEAE-sepharose Fast Flow. The target fraction was collected and then load on Cibacron Blue 3GA Sepharose CL-4B. Eluted with buffer containing ATP from the AC column, rhNDPK-A was polished with ultrafiltration. The results showed that after homogenized 2 rounds, 1500g cells of E. coli brought crude sample containing 47.6g NDPK-A. Treated with microfiltration and ultrafiltration, 27.3g of NDPK-A were recovered from this bacteria homogenate. After 2-step purification with column chromatography and then polished with ultrafiltration, 17.2 g rhNDPK-A were collected with purity of 96.3%. The recovery of the whole purification process was 36.2%, and the productivity of rhNDPK-A was 1.15 g per 100 g wet cells. Comparing the recovery of each purification step, it was found that the recovery of polish is higher than that of affinity chromatography, which is higher than that of ion exchange chromatography. The limit step was the process of sample pretreatment among the 4 purification steps. Combine with the fermentation results reported before, it was deduced that the productivity of rhNDPK-A was 510 mg/L. In conclusion, an easily controlled purification condition with high yield provides material for the translation researches of NDPK; In addition, it was suggested the crucial step determine the recovery of non-secretive recombinant proteins might be the process of sample pretreatment, not be the process of column chromatography.
Chromatography, Affinity ; Chromatography, Ion Exchange ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Humans ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Pilot Projects ; Recombinant Proteins ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Ultrafiltration

Objective To evaluate the level of regional public health development in Zhejiang Province,and to learn the development problems in order to provide suggestions for developing public health strategies.Methods The index system established for evaluation included 30 indexes of public health in 4 aspects,namely the health level of residents,the allocation of public health resource,the level of public health service and public health security.Based on the data in 2010,the comprehensive development index was calculated to evaluate the level and speed of public health development. Results The comprehensive development index of Zhejiang Province was 127. 31 in 2012,which was 9. 97 higher than thatof2011.Thespeedofdevelopmentwas108.50%,andthelevelofpublichealthdevelopmentinZhejiangProvincehas increased continuously.Among 1 1 cities,the highest and lowest comprehensive development index of public health development was 146. 35 and 101. 55 respectively.The fastest and slowest speed of development was 122. 76% and 104. 95% respectively.Conclusion The public health in Zhejiang Province kept the good momentum of development,but the unbalanced development still existed among different regions.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between -1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene and schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population. METHODS: A sample of 184 Korean patients with schizophrenia and 96 Korean healthy normal controls and 96 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia and 96 Han-Chinese healthy normal controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism with in 5-HT2A receptor gene (promoter region, A-1438G) by Msp I Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: There was no difference in allelic frequencies and genotype frequencies of -1438A/G polymorphism between Korean schizophrenics and controls (p=0.13) and Han Chinese schizophrenics and controls (p=0.40). Also, -1438A/G polymorphism did not show ethnical difference between Korean and Han Chinese controls. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores showed no significant differences between genotypes of -1438A/G polymorphism in both of Korean and Han Chinese schizophrenics. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that -1438A/G polymorphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene is not causally related to the development of schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population, and there no ethnic difference between Korean and Han Chinese population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A* ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between -1438A/G polymorphism of 5-HT2A receptor gene and schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population. METHODS: A sample of 184 Korean patients with schizophrenia and 96 Korean healthy normal controls and 96 Han Chinese patients with schizophrenia and 96 Han-Chinese healthy normal controls were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism with in 5-HT2A receptor gene (promoter region, A-1438G) by Msp I Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP). RESULTS: There was no difference in allelic frequencies and genotype frequencies of -1438A/G polymorphism between Korean schizophrenics and controls (p=0.13) and Han Chinese schizophrenics and controls (p=0.40). Also, -1438A/G polymorphism did not show ethnical difference between Korean and Han Chinese controls. The Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) scores showed no significant differences between genotypes of -1438A/G polymorphism in both of Korean and Han Chinese schizophrenics. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that -1438A/G polymorphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene is not causally related to the development of schizophrenia in Korean and Han Chinese population, and there no ethnic difference between Korean and Han Chinese population.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Receptor, Serotonin, 5-HT2A* ; Schizophrenia*

OBJECTIVETo construct a stable nm23-H1-knock-down cell model with K562 cell line and study its differentiation toward megakaryocyte.

METHODSEukaryotic expression vector pSilencer 4.1-CMV-sinm23 expressing siRNA targeting nm23-H1 was transfected into K562 cells with lipofectamine2000. Cells with stably nm23-H1 silence were screened out by G418. Real-time quantitative PCR, immunocytochemistry, western blot were used to confirm the nm23-H1-knock-down K562 model. Cell differentiation capacity was detected by NBT reduction assay. Surface antigen Gp IIb-IIIa (CD41) of knock-down cells treated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate was analyzed by flow cytometry. Western blot was used to detect the ERK1/2 signal pathway after the stimulation of phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate.

RESULTSEndogenous nm23-H1 was silenced by pSilencer 4.1-CMV-sinm23 and the silence efficiency was up to 75% and 70% in mRNA and protein levels respectively compared with the mock cells. Under phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate treatment, the knock-down cells displayed a significantly increased differentiation ability toward megakaryocyte compared with control. The NBT reduction values were (0.31 +/- 0.07) and (0.23 +/- 0.05) respectively. Further results revealed that nm23-H1 gene regulating the megakaryocytic differentiation was due in part to the increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation.

CONCLUSIONSA stable nm23-H1-knock-down K562 cell model is successfully constructed. nm23-H1 involves in regulating the megakaryocytic differentiation of K562 cell line.

Cell Differentiation ; genetics ; Gene Knockdown Techniques ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Megakaryocytes ; cytology ; NM23 Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinases ; genetics ; RNA Interference