Objective To evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of plain radiography in the diagnosis of vascular calcification in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients. Methods Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) was used as the reference standard in the assessment of vascular calcification in MHD patients. A total of 54 MHD patients, 26 male and 28 female, mean age (60.4±13.3) years, underwent both MSCT and plain radiography of lateral abdomen and pelvis to evaluate abdominal aortic calcification, bilateral iliac and femoral artery calcification. Abdominal aorta was divided into upper and lower segment by L2-L3 intervertebral space. The severity of vascular calcification by MSCT was graded from score 0 to 5. Two independent radiologists analyzed the results of plain radiography and MSCT, and inter-observer agreements were calculated by using K statistics. Results According to the results of MSCT, the calcification rate of abdominal aorta was 86.1%, and the calcification rate of iliac and femoral artery was 74.5%. There was significant difference of the calcification rate between large artery and muscular arteries. Inter-observer agreement of calcification was excellent (K =0.864-0.893). Compared with MSCT, the specificity of plain radiography with regard to detection of abdominal aortic, iliac and femoral calcification were 100%. The sensitivity of plain radiography was different according to the different MSCT score, which was as follows: MSCT score ≥ grade 1: 60.2% and 24.8% for lateral abdomen radiography to detect abdominal aortic calcification and pelvic radiography to detect iliac, femoral calcification respectively; MSCT score ≥ grade 2: 76.9% and 43.5% respectively; MSCT score grade 3: 100% and 74.4% respectively. Conclusions The sensitivity of plain radiography in the assessment of vascular calcification increases with the severity of calcification. The sensitivity in the assessment of abdominal aortic calcification is higher than that of iliac and femoral artery calcification. Plain radiography can be used to detect moderate to severe vascular calcification in MHD patients.

Objective To explore the necessity and effectiveness of type-based acupuncture treatment for cervical spondylosis. Method Two hundred and forty patients with clinically common cervical spondylosis, cervical spondylotic radiculopathy or cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy, 80 cases each type, were enrolled. Every type of patients was randomly allocated to observation and conventional groups. The observation group (120 patients) received type-based acupuncture treatment. Cervical spondylosis was treated by syndrome differentiation; cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, from the spleen and stomach; cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy, with nape five-needle acupuncture. Every type of the conventional group (120 patients) received the same therapeutic method (conventional selection of acupoints). Before and after five and ten sessions of treatment, cervical spondylosis and cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were scored using the CSAS and the VAPS and cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy was scored using the ESCV. The overall therapeutic effects were evaluated after ten treatments. Result Of the patients with cervical spondylosis, there were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the CSAS and VAPS scores in the two groups (P<0.05, P<0.01) but no statistically significant differences in the scores between the groups (P>0.05). Of the patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy, there were statistically significant differences in the CSAS and VAPS scores in the two groups after five treatments compared with before (P<0.05) but no statistically significant differences in the scores between the groups (P>0.05);after ten treatments there were statistically significant differences in the scores in the two groups compared with before (P<0.01) and also between the groups (P<0.05). Of the patients with cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy, there was a statistically significant difference in the ESCV score in the observation group after five treatments compared with before (P<0.01);the score also decreased in the conventional group (P<0.05);there was a statistically significant difference between the groups (P<0.05);after ten treatments there was a statistically significant difference in the ESCV score in the two groups compared with before (P<0.01) and also between the groups (P<0.05). After ten treatments, the cure and marked efficacy rate and the total efficacy rate were 76.6%and 92.8%, respectively, in the observation group and 54.2%and 86.0%, respectively, in the conventional group. There was a statistically significant difference in the cure and marked efficacy rate between the two groups (P<0.01). Conclusion Type-based acupuncture can markedly improve the clinical therapeutic effect on cervical spondylosis.

WRKY transcription factors are novel transcriptional regulatory factors, which play an important role in regulating plant development, metabolism and other physiological processes. In this study, a new Dendrobium officinale WRKY transcription factor, designated as DoWRKY1 was cloned by using RT-PCR and RACE (GenBank Accession No. KF953910). Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that, the full-length cDNA of DoWRKY1 was 1,704 bp. And DoWRKY1 contained a 1,629 bp open reading frame (ORF) that encoding a peptide of 542 amino acid residues. The putative DoWRKY1 protein contained two conserved WRKY domains and it belonged to the group I WRKY family protein. Yeast one-hybrid experiment showed that DoWRKY1 had transcriptional activation ability in yeast, and it could activate the expression of downstream report genes (His3 and Ade2). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR experiment showed that DoWRKY1 expressed in roots, stems, leaves and protocorm-like bodies. Real-time qRT-PCR proved that DoWRKY1 could be induced by methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and chitosan (Chitosan), and the expression level of this gene can reach the expression peak at 2 h and 1 h, respectively. These results are useful for further determination of the regulation function of this gene in secondary metabolism of D. officinale.
Cloning, Molecular ; Dendrobium ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; Transcription Factors ; genetics

AIM: To explore the nursing cooperation highlights of eight osteopetrosis patients underwent optic nerve decompression via transsphenoidal microsurgical approach instead of routine pathway, and to improve the quality of nursing cooperation. ·METHODS: We enrolled 8 cases ( left eye in 3 cases, right eye in 5 cases ) of osteopetrosis patients referred from the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University during February 2012 to November 2016. Patients received ophthalmic examinations including visual acuity and diagnostic imaging tests in pre-operation and post -operation. All eyes were performed surgical optic nerve decompression through endoscopic approach in assist of image guidance system. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data and surgical cooperation procedure of these cases and summarized nursing cooperation experience. ·RESULTS:The operations of 8 patients were completed successfully without massive hemorrhage. Mean visual acuity improved from pre-operation (2. 5±2. 1) to post-operation (3. 4±1. 9). Cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in 1 patient and was instantly repaired during the operation. We performed the nursing strategy as postural drainage, condition monitoring and conscious assessment intra-and post-operation. ·CONCLUSION: It is the critical for this kind of surgery that both circulating nurse's high-skilled cooperation to the connection and operation of the navigation system, to treat with complication during the surgery, and scrub nurse's sufficient preparation of surgical instruments and consumables, proficient equipment delivery, meticulous management, use and maintenance of equipment.

Objective To explore the molecular mechanisms of primary amenorrhea by using arrayCGH technology. Methods Ten patients with primary amenorrhea and 10 female volunteers with regular menstrual cycles as healthy controls were selected. All patients and control samples were analyzed by conventional chromosome analysis (G-banding technology) and array-CGH technology, respectively. ArrayCGH was performed using Affymetrix Cytogenetic 2. 7M arrays following the manufacturer's standard protocol. Results Both the patient group and control group analyzed by conventional G-banding karyotype technology showed a negative result with a normal female karyotype: 46, XX. The result of array-CGH analysis demonstrated a microdeletion of approximately 110 000 bp located at the end of the short arm of X chromosome [46, X, del (X) (p22. 33 )] were identified in 5 patients, which was not detected in the control group. All healthy control samples by array-CGH analysis showed no pathological DNA copy number variation. Conclusions Array-CGH technology can improve the diagnosis rate of chromosomal disease at the DNA level. It is necessary to provide array-CGH for higher resolution genetic analysis of idiopathic primary amenorrhea patient who can not be identified by conventional technology.

Aim To study the apoptosis effect of Sir-aitia grosvenorii extract on human lung cancer cells A549 and its mechanisms.Methods MTT assay was applied to determine A549 cell proliferation.Hoechst 33258 staining was applied to investigate morphological changes in A549 cells.To find out the cause of cell growth inhibition,several experiments on cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were performed by flow cy-tometry analysis.The expression of p21 and Bcl-2 was determined by Western blot.Results Flow cytometry analysis showed that treatment with mogrol arrested A549 cells in the G0 /G1 phase and induced apoptosis. After treatment with Siraitia grosvenorii extract,West-ern blot experiment showed cell cycle regulator p21 was up-regulaed,while the apoptosis inhibitor Bcl-2 was down-regulated.Conclusion Treatment with Siraitia grosvenorii extract arrests the A549 cells at G0 /G1 phase and induces apoptosis that may contribute to the anti-proliferation activity of mogrol through the regula-tion of p21 and Bcl-2 expression.

Aim To investigate the antioxidant capacity of crocetin and crocin in an in vivo system.Methods Column chromatography was applied to the seperation of crocetin and crocin-1 from gardenia.Crocetin(6.25,12.5 and 25.0 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)) and crocin (18.7,37.5 and 75.0 mg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)) were orally administered to kunming mice.Then,superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px),total antioxidant capacity(TAOC)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in mice were determined for the comparison of antioxidant activity of crocetin and crocin-1.Results Oral administration of crocetin and crocin for six weeks could enhance SOD of liver and kidney,GSH-Px of liver and TAOC of heart and kidney.In addition,it could decrease MDA of serum in mice.Conclusions The comparison of results suggests the evidence supporting the comparable antioxidant activity of crocetin and crocin.The results of the research also indicate that liver and kidney are two organs targeted for protection concerning endogenous antioxidant among various tissues.

Objective To investigate the role of preoperative peripheral blood neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR),platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR),prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in the prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical operation.Methods This is a retrospective study,involving 426 surgically resected hepatitis B related hepatocellular carcinoma cases in a single center from 2003 to 2012.Results Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients in NLR ≤ 1.62 group achieve higher rate of recurrence-free and overall survival than that in the NLR ＞ 1.62 group,the difference was statistically significant (P ＜ 0.005);Also PNI ＞ 49.42 group showed higher rate of overall survival significantly than PNI≤49.42 group (P ＜ 0.005).The results of Cox regression multivariate analysis further suggested that both NLR ＞ 1.62 (HR 1.74,P =0.007) and PNI ≤49.42 (HR 0.70,P =0.021) were independent risk factors for overall survival,NLR ＞ 1.62 (HR 1.45,P =0.03) was also an independent risk factor for recurrence-free survival.Conclusion The preoperative NLR and PNI may be independent risk factors for prognosis of patients with HBV-related HCC after radical operation.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the expression of aquaporin 4 (AQP4) in diffuse brain injury (DBI) of rats and to explore the corresponding effect of AQP4 for brain edema. METHODS: The rat model of DBI was established using Marmarou's impact-compression trauma model. Brain water content was measured by dry-wet weight method. Blood-brain barrier permeability was evaluated by Evans blue (EB) staining. Immunohistochemical method was used to observe the expression of AQP4. RESULTS: Brain water content increased after 3 h and peaked at 24 h after DBI. Brain EB content significantly increased and peaked at 12 h after DBI. The expression of AQP4 significantly increased after 3 h and peaked at 24 h after DBI, and the number of AQP4 positive astrocytes increased. CONCLUSION The increment of the permeability of blood-brain barrier and the expression of AQP4 may contribute to the development of brain edema in rat DBI. The change of AQP4 expression in astrocytes may also contribute to determine DBI.
Animals ; Aquaporin 4/metabolism* ; Astrocytes ; Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism* ; Brain ; Brain Edema/metabolism* ; Brain Injuries/metabolism* ; Cell Membrane Permeability/genetics* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Permeability ; Rats ; Water

Objective To evaluate the effect of the esophagus invert stripping without opening the thoracic cavity on carci- noma in the inferior pharynx, cervical esophagus or the cardia. Method Eighteen patients with carcinoma in the inferior pharynx, cervical esophagus or the cardia were treated surgically with invert stripping of the exophagus without opening the thoracic cavity. Ten patients received antidromic esophagus invert stripping and the other 8 underwent orthodromic esophagus invert stripping. The esophagus of these patients were replaced with either the stomach (in 15 cases) or the colon (in 3 cases), and complete removal of the pharynx and larynx were performed in 2 cases, both of which received permanent fistulization. Result No death occurred during the operation and the complications included anastomotic leakage (2 cases), injury of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (2 cases), pulmonary infection (3 cases), and incision infection (1 case). The follow-up survey showed that the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rates were 77%, 44% and 22%, respectively. Conclusions This surgical approach reduces the damage of the cardiopulmonary function, which can be meaningful for senior patients and those with cardiac or pulmonary problems. The carcinoma in the inferior pharynx or cervical part of the esophagus should be treated surgically to improve the survival rate, but this approach should be avoided in patients with carcinoma in thoracic part of the esophagus.