Effects of mannan-oligosaccharide (MOS) on the growth of Lactobacillus were investigated by pure culture of three swine originated Lactobacillus strains or co-culture with swine pathogenic E. coli. The pure culture results revealed that OD values and lactic acid concentration of three Lactobacillus strains in the MOS supplemented cultures were higher than those of the control group without MOS supplementation, a lower pH was observed for MOS supplement compared with that of the control group. The co-culture results showed that MOS were utilized by both Lactobacillus strains and swine pathogenic E. coli strain. But Lac-tobacillus grew faster than the latter. A significant increase in lactic acid concentration (P

HPLC-ESI-MS technology was applied to determine the hydrolyzed peptides of red cubilose and white Abscubilose for the comparison of similarities and differences between different kinds of cubiloses' hydrolysis polypeptide primary structure.SDS-PAGE,capillary high-performance liquid chromatography and ESI-MS were used to detect the purity and peptide mapping of samples.Mascot 2.2 sof tware was used to search the database.The basepeak figure in mass spectrometry analysis showed good consistency of hydrolyzed peptides between red cubilose and white cubilose.The Mascot 2.2 sof tware was used to search the poultry database which had been downloaded from the UniProt.A total of 73 kinds of proteins from white cubilose were identified.And a total of 51 kinds of proteins from red cubilose were identified.There were 30 kinds of same proteins from both cubilose.It was concluded that the hydrolyzed peptides had relatively high similarity between red cubilose and white cubilose.The same proteins from both red and white cubilose can be used as the quality control characteristics of cubilose products.

Objective To quantify the normal range of the ultrasonically measured thickness of the masseter which is related to the variation of the facial morphology in different young individuals. Methods The masseter thickness of 50 young healthy adults (25 men and 25 women) was measured bilaterally under relaxed conditions and with maximal clenching by a real-time ultrasound imaging technique. The relation between masseter thickness and facial morphology was also observed. Results Under relaxed conditions, the mean thickness of the muscle in men was (11.83±1.19)mm, and under contracted conditions, (15.51 ±1.40)mm. In women, the respective measurements were(9. 84 ± 1. 03)mm and(13.02 ± 1.10)mm. In men thethickness of masseter had a negative linear correlation to the indices of FH/FWa (the ratio of the anteriorfacial height to the intergonial width) and FWz/FWa (the ratio of the bizygomatic facial width to the intergonial width). Conclusions The mean thickness of the masseter in men was larger than that in women,and the thickness of the mascle was related to the male facial morphology.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the diagnostic values of ultrasound (US) and (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG PET)/computerized tomography (CT) in diagnosing suspected thyroid carcinoma and lymph node metastasis.

METHODSThe clinical data of 28 patients who had undergone total or subtotal thyroidectomy with or without neck dissection from December 2011 to December 2012 in PUMC Hospital and had undergone US and FDG PET/CT before surgery were retrospectively analyzed. In each patient, US and FDG PET/CT images were retrospectively reviewed to determine the presence of carcinoma with or without loco-regional metastasis by level-by-level analysis. The potential correlation between imaging results and histopathology were analyzed.

RESULTSThere were 11 benign lesions,15 papillary carcinomas, one follicular carcinoma, and one medullary carcinoma. For thyroid carcinoma,the sensitivity and specificity were 88.2% and 63.6% for US and 76.5% and 54.5% for FDG PET/CT(P>0.05). For lymph node metastasis, the sensitivity was 68.0% for US and 60.0% for FDG PET/CT (P>0.05), and the specificity was 96.7% for US and FDG PET/CT.FDG PET/CT could provide more diagnostic information than US for patients with level 2 or 5 metastasis.

CONCLUSIONSCombination of US and FDG PET/CT is typically not needed for differentiating thyroid lesions.However, for patients with suspected lymph node metastasis of infrequently involved levels, the combination of US and FDG PET/CT may be a good choice.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlation between pathological characteristics of target organs and excess evil syndrome in IgA nephropathy.

METHODSData were collected in multicenter cooperation. Totally 266 IgA nephropathy patients were typed into exogenous wind-heat affection syndrome (49 cases), lower energizer damp-heat syndrome (100 cases), damp-phlegm syndrome (43 cases), and blood stasis syndrome (74 cases). Meanwhile, percutaneous renal biopsy was performed in all patients for Hass classification, Oxford classification, Katafuchi integral, and Jiang's classification methods. The correlation between excess evil syndrome and pathological index was analyzed.

RESULTSFour syndrome types were correlated with their Hass levels (r = 0. 341, P <0. 01). Affection of exogenous wind-heat syndrome was correlated with segmental proliferation of endothelial cells and damaged active lesions of segmental capillary loops. Lower-energizer damp-heat syndrome was associated with Hass III level, destroying active lesions of capillary loops, segmental proliferation of endothelial cells, glomerular segmental lesions, focal interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells, focal interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. Blood stasis syndrome was associated with Hass IV level, glomerular sclerosis, segmental glomerulosclerosis (S)/adhesion, mesangial hypercellularity (M), angiohyalinosis, multi-foci interstitial infiltration of inflammatory cells, multi-foci interstitial fibrosis and tubular atrophy. Phlegm-damp syndrome had higher proportions of Hass I and III levels, but with no association with other pathological parameters.

CONCLUSIONSExcess evil syndrome was associated with partial pathological characteristics of IgA nephropathy. It could reflect pathological damage degree of target organs, activities, chronic lesions, and prognosis of IgA nephropathy to certain extent. Correlated pathological characteristics and its evolution could indicate excess evil syndrome types and their evolution rules.

Capillaries ; Fibrosis ; Glomerulonephritis, IGA ; pathology ; Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental ; Humans ; Kidney Glomerulus ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Prognosis ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo study the relations between different feeding patterns and the body weight retention of the perinatal women living in rural areas of China.

METHODSA cluster sampling method was used to investigate 409 women, who are currently living in rural areas of Tianjin, at pregnant and perinatal status. While, their body weights and heights before pregnancy, antepartum and postpartum were measured, respectively. Body weight retention was the difference of the measured data after postpartum minus pre-pregnant weight. Variance analysis was used for statistic comparison.

RESULTSThe rate of exclusive breastfeeding was 70.9% (290/409) within four months. The net body weight retention of women (5.8 kg) using the exclusive breastfeeding was lower than that of the women (7.0 kg) using artificial feeding within 4 - 6 months, but there was no significantly statistic difference (F = 1.45, P = 0.236). However, there was the opposite result within 7 - 9 months, the data showed that the body weight retention in the women using the exclusive breastfeeding was 4.9 kg, which was significantly higher than that the women (2.9 kg) with artificial feeding (F = 3.17, P = 0.043). The food consumption of the women (901 g) using exclusive breastfeeding was the highest, followed by those (877 g) using mixed feeding and the women (750 g) using artificial feeding.

CONCLUSIONThe body weight retention after postpartum should be related to infant feeding patterns. After postpartum, the weight loss of women using the exclusive breastfeeding is relatively low. While, for the women using the exclusive breastfeeding, the net weight retention during pregnancy and after postpartum were lower than those with artificial feeding. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance health education and guidance on promoting exclusive breast-feeding as well as increasing awareness on pre-pregnant health.

Body Weight ; Breast Feeding ; Feeding Behavior ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Infant ; Rural Population ; Sampling Studies

Adult ; Antigens, CD34 ; Antiviral Agents ; therapeutic use ; Bone Marrow Cells ; virology ; DNA, Viral ; blood ; Female ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; physiology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; therapeutic use ; Lamivudine ; therapeutic use ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monocytes ; Postoperative Period ; Virus Replication

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy,toxicity,and prognostic factors of nab-paclitaxel as first-line treatment for elderly patients with advanced lung squamous carcinoma.Methods:This was a prospective study.Forty patients enrolled in the Second Affili-ated Hospital of Fujian Medical University were treated with nab-paclitaxel(260 mg/m2,ivggt d1),and a period of three weeks was considered as one session.The effects were evaluated after two cycles.Results:All 40 patients were followed up and appraised.Two patients achieved complete remission,13 achieved partial remission,13 achieved stable disease,and 12 achieved progressive disease. The objective response rate was 37.5% and the disease control rate was 70.0%.The progression-free survival(PFS),median overall sur-vival,and 1-year survival rate was 6.3 months,12.6 months,and 62.5%,respectively.The main hematologic toxicities were neutrope-nia and anemia,and the main non-hematologic adverse events were fatigue,constipation,nausea,vomiting,muscle aches,and hear-ing loss.Most patients could tolerate these toxic reactions.Moreover,Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that the neoplasm stage,Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status,response rate,and PFS were independent factors for the survival rate (P<0.05),while age was not related to patient prognosis(P>0.05).Conclusions:Nab-paclitaxel as single drug and first-line therapy for elderly patients with advanced lung squamous carcinoma is effective and safe.

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the relationship between the quantity of peripheral dendritic cell (DC) and of serum HBV DNA and the inflammatory level in chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

METHODSThe myeloid DC (DC1) and plasmacytoid DC (DC2) in fresh peripheral blood were enumerated by using three-color flow cytometry in chronic hepatitis B patients and healthy donors. The hepatic inflammatory levels were evaluated by percutaneous liver biopsy. The serum HBV DNA levels were determined by real-time PCR.

RESULTSCHB patients with serum HBV DNA < or = 10(6) copies/ml exhibited a significant increase in the percentage of circulating DC2 in comparison with those of CHB patients with serum HBV DNA > or = 10(6) and with healthy donors (P < 0.05). The two latter groups showed no significant differences between each other. There was also no significant difference in the relative quantity of peripheral blood DC1 among the three groups mentioned above (P = 0.162). No evidence was found to support that the relative quantity of peripheral blood DC2 was associated with the clinical severity of the disease or the inflammatory level in the liver (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe relative quantity of peripheral blood DC2 is associated with HBV DNA level. It is suggested that DC2 may play a pivotal role in inhibiting HBV replication in CHB patients. There was no relationship found between relative quantities of DCs and the inflammatory level in the liver.

DNA, Viral ; blood ; Dendritic Cells ; cytology ; immunology ; Female ; Hepatitis B virus ; physiology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; immunology ; pathology ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; pathology ; Male ; Virus Replication

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between p53 gene mutations and STK15 abnormal expression in the development of human laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma (LSCC).

METHODSLSCC tissues and matched normal tissues were taken during operation from 55 patients without previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Following polymerase chain reaction amplification direct sequencing single strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) combined with silver staining were used to detect mutations of p53 gene in exons 7 and 8 (p53E7 and p53E8) using genomic DNA from 110 specimens including 55 LSCC tissues and 55 matched normal tissues. STK15 expression were evaluated by RT-PCR with beta-actin as internal control.

RESULTSThe mutation rate of p53E7 was 30.9% (compared to normal tissues, chi(2) = 8.66, P < 0.01). There was no mutation in p53E8. In 38 of the 55 cases (69.1%), the STK15 mRNA expression level was higher than that of the paired normal tissue. The STK15 to beta-actin ratio of average density value was 1.22 +/- 0.49 in the cancer tissue, and 0.99 +/- 0.54 in the normal tissues (t = 4.539, P < 0.01). In 14 of the 17 cases (82.4%) with p53E7 mutations, the STK15 expression was higher than that of normal tissue. In the 38 cases with STK15 over-expression, p53E7 mutation was found in 14 cases (36.8%). The rate of concurrence of p53E gene mutations and STK15 over-expression (25.5%) was higher than that of only p53E gene mutations (chi(2) = 26.025, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThere is significant association between p53 gene mutation and STK15 over-expression in laryngeal squamous-cell carcinoma.

Actins ; metabolism ; Aurora Kinase A ; Aurora Kinases ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; genetics ; metabolism ; Exons ; Frameshift Mutation ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Genes, p53 ; genetics ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; Mutation, Missense ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics