HK-2 cells were cultured with various concentrations of glucose and insulin for 12,24,48,72 h.Transforming growth factor-?_1(TGF-?_1) protein in supematant was measured by ELISA,while TGF-?_1 mRNA expression was assessed by RT-PCR.Data showed that high concentration of glucose and insulin up-regulated the expression of TGF-?_1 in HK-2 cells through different pathways.

Quality education and innovative ability cultivation of students are a new position in higher education.Exploring exper- iment was applied in teaching of microbiological experiment for enhancing integrative diathesis and cultivating innovative spirit and ability of students.The practice has been proved that learning fervor of students was increased adequately.Unaided operation abili- ty,integrative analysis ability and innovative idea were enhanced,too.Accordingly,teaching quality of microbiological experiment was improved.

Objective To assess prenatal heart disease screening program by ultrasound. Methods A total of 11 544 second-trimester screening scans were performed before 24 weeks′ gestation on 11 410 women between February 2004 and May 2007 in Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University. Fetal heart screening was based on four-chamber and outflow tract views( left ventricular outflow + three vessel view). The sensitivity and specificity of different views were evaluated. Follow-up data of newborns was obstained. Results (1) Among 11 544 cases, 48 cases of congenital heart disease (CHD) were diagnosed in utero. Six cases were false negative, and 2 cases were false positive. The incidence of CHD was 0.47% (54/11 544). (2) Thirty-three CHDs were detected based on the four-chamber view, including 18 ventricular septal defect (9 with conotroncal anomalies),6 anomalous atrioventricle valve, 9 disproportion of left/right ventricle. The sensitivity of the four-chamber view alone was 61.11% (33/54), and the specificity was 99. 98% ( 11 488/11 490). Fifteen CHDs were detected based on the left ventricular outflow and three vessel views, including 1 pulmonary atresia, 3 pulmonary valve stenosis, 2 transposition of the great arteries ( TGA ), 1 pulmonary stanosis with TGA, 6 tetralogy of Fallot, and 2 pulmonary stenosis. The sensitivity of the combination of the four-chamber and outflow tract views was 88. 89% (48/54), and the specificity was 99. 98% (11 488/11 490). (3)Of 48 CHDs,11 cases were eceompanied by other malformations. Eleven cases were performed amniocentesis, amony whom 5 cases were trisemy 21. Conclusion The screening program based on four-chamber and outflow tract views shows good sensitivity and excellent specificity. Our prenatal heart screening program is clinically feasible.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the detection and accuracy of fetal echocardiography for congenital heart defects among high-risk populations.

METHODSA prospective observational study of prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease was conducted in two tertiary obstetrics and gynecology hospitals between January 2003 and December 2004. Consecutive fetuses at risk of congenital heart disease underwent detailed fetal echocardiography during the study period. B-mode and colour/pulsed Doppler flow imaging were used in all cases. Follow-up was sought for all pregnancies. Indications for referral, maternal and gestational age at diagnosis, as well as prenatal and postnatal diagnosis were recorded prospectively. By comparing prenatal and postnatal diagnoses, sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were estimated.

RESULTSA series of 2063 high-risk fetuses underwent detailed fetal echocardiography during the study period. The mean gestational age at examination was 26.5 weeks, ranging from 16 to 42 weeks. The most common indications for fetal echocardiography were advanced maternal age (31.7%), fetal arrhythmias (13.5%) and maternal infections (10.4%). Forty-three cases of fetal congenital heart disease were detected. The mean gestational age at prenatal diagnosis was 27.3 weeks ranging from 16 to 40 weeks. There were 3 false-negatives and 1 false-positive. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 92.1%, 99.9%, 97.2%, and 99.8%, respectively. Diagnostic accuracy was 86.1%. A cardiac defect suspected on routine prenatal sonography accounted for the highest proportion of abnormal cases (67.4%). As for pregnancy outcome, there were 24 (52.1%) terminations; 2.2% died in utero, 13% postnatally, and 28.3% survived.

CONCLUSIONS(1) Fetal congenital heart disease can be identified reliably by prenatal echocardiography. (2) Possible congenital heart disease or suspected heart defect noted on a screening obstetric sonogram is an important indication for fetal echocardiography. (3) A sequential segmental approach is critical for correct evaluation of the cardiac malformation. (4) The outcome of the patients with congenital heart disease is poor and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to the parental counseling and perinatal management planning.

China ; epidemiology ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fetal Heart ; abnormalities ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Fetus ; abnormalities ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gestational Age ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Pregnancy ; Prospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal

BACKGROUNDSerum sodium predicts prognosis in chronic severe hepatitis B and may improve the prognostic accuracy of the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, but the available information is limited. The present study was undertaken to study the clinical use of the serum sodium incorporated MELD (MELD-Na) and assess its validity by the concordance (c)-statistics in predicting the prognosis of the patient with chronic severe hepatitis B.

METHODSA total of 426 adult patients with a diagnosis of chronic severe hepatitis B between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2007 at a single center were studied. The scores of serum sodium, MELD, MELD-Na, and DeltaMELD-Na (DeltaMELD-Na = MELD-Na at 14 days after medical treatment -MELD-Na score on admission) of the patients with chronic severe hepatitis B were calculated. The 3-month mortality in the patients was measured, and the validity of the models was determined by means of the concordance (c) statistics.

RESULTSThe average MELD, MELD-Na scores of survival group were 25.70 +/- 5.08 and 26.60 +/- 6.90, and those of dead group were 35.60 +/- 6.78 and 42.80 +/- 9.57 on admission. There was a significant difference in MELD and MELD-Na between the survival and dead groups (P < 0.01). The average DeltaMELD-Na score of the survival group was -0.97 +/- 3.51, and that of the dead group was 3.45 +/- 2.38 at 2 weeks after the treatment. There was a significant difference in DeltaMELD-Na between the survival and dead groups (P < 0.01). The areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves of Na, MELD and MELD-Na for the occurrence of death in 3 months were 0.742, 0.875 and 0.922. The 3-month mortality of the MELD-Na scores group < 25, 25-30, 31-34, 35-40 and > 40 were 2.0%, 5.4%, 35.4%, 53.8 % and 86.9%, respectively. There was a significant difference in the 3-month mortality between the five groups (P < 0.05). The 3-month mortality of the DeltaMELD-Na > 0 group was 65.9%, and that of the DeltaMELD-Na = 0 group was 15.8%; there was a significant difference in the 3-month mortality between the two groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSMELD-Na score is a valid model to predict the 3-month mortality in patients with chronic severe hepatitis B. DeltaMELD-Na is a clinically useful parameter for predicting the therapeutic effect of chronic severe hepatitis B.

Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; mortality ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; mortality ; Liver Failure ; mortality ; Male ; Prognosis ; ROC Curve ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sodium ; blood

Objective To evaluate the characteristics of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin and explore its feasibility in early detection of secondary infectious foci of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).Methods Ciprofloxacin was labeled with 99Tcm.The labeling efficiency and radiochemical purity of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin were calculated and its biodistribution in normal pigs was measured.The recruited baby pigs were divided into three groups:normal control group (6), non-infected group (6) and infected group (16).370-400 MBq of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin was injected into each pig intravenously.SPECT scanning was performed at 0.5, 1,2, 3, 4 and 6 h after administration.The differences of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin uptake among groups were calculated and the tracer activity ratio of lesion-to-background was recorded at each time point.The diagnostic value of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin SPECT imaging for the dectection of secondary infection of SAP was assessed using histopathological results as the gold standard.Variance analysis and least significant difference test were used to analyze the data.Results Both the labehing efficiency and radiochemical purity of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin were over 90% within 6 h.Organs with rich blood supply, such as kidney, liver and spleen were the target organs for the accumulation of 99Tcm-ciprofloxacin; while no significant uptake was found in gastrointestinal tract or normal pancreas tissue of SAP.Rapid plasma clearance and renal excretion were observed.In the infected group, the lesion was visualized at 1 h after administration.The highest radioactivity ratio of lesion-to-background (3.36 ± 0.33) was at 3 h after administration, which was significantly higher than that of the other time point ( F =99.570, P ＜0.001 ).The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, Youden's index (YI) and Kappa value of 99Tc%ciprofloxacin imaging were 88.2% (15/17), 83.3% (5/6), 93.8% ( 15/16), 71.4% (5/7), 0.715 and 0.667 respectively.Conclusions The biodistribution of99Tcm-ciprofloxacin is suitable for imaging infectious focus of SAP.The optimal imaging time for the detection of secondary infection of SAP is 3 h after administration, with high sensitivity and specificity.

OBJECTIVETo build three-dimensional (3-D) visible model for surgical treatment of infection of fascial spaces of hand.

METHODSSerial thin cross-sections (0.2 mm) of hand were made by cryomicrotome, and the thin cross-sections of metacarpal parts were observed. A personal computer was employed to reconstruct 3-D model of metacarpal fascial space.

RESULTSThe shapes, locations and adjacent relations of the mid-palmar space, thenar space and metacarpal bones were displayed clearly from computerized 3-D model, which could be the cross-reference of the cross-sections expediently.

CONCLUSIONThe computerized 3-D reconstruction of metacarpal fascial spaces can provide some guidance for surgical treatment of infection and other diseases of metacarpal fascial spaces.

Anatomy, Cross-Sectional ; Hand ; anatomy & histology ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional

Humans ; Liver Transplantation

AIMTo investigate the mechanism through which insulin affect the learning and memory abilities of the Alzheimer's disease-like rats.

METHODSOkadaic acid (OA) was injected into the CA1 region of the rat hippocampus and the insulin was injected into the lateral cerebral ventricle of the rats. The learning and memory abilities of the rats were assessed through Morriswater maze behavioral test, and the expressions of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and GFAP were observed by Westem blotting and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

RESULTSCompared with the control rats, the abilities of learning and memory were lowered significantly (P < 0.01) and the expressions of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors were decreased and the GFAP positive astrocytes were increased greatly in the model rats (P < 0.05). In the rats injected with insulin, it was found that their learning and memory abilities were improved significantly (P < 0.01) and that the expression of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors were increased and GFAP positive astrocytes were decreased obviously (P < 0.05), as compared with the model rats.

CONCLUSIONInsulin is able to enhance the learning and memory abilities of the Alzheimer's disease-like rats, possibly by improving the function of the acetylcholine system and decreasing the astrocytes proliferation in the brain.

Alzheimer Disease ; physiopathology ; Animals ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein ; metabolism ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Learning ; drug effects ; Male ; Memory ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prognosis evaluation and treatment strategy of chronic severe hepatitis (CSH) patients using a model of end-stage liver disease (MELD).

METHODSThe MELD scores of 135 CSH patients on the day of their admittance to our hospital and the DeltaMELD scores after two-weeks of medical treatment were retrospectively analyzed. They were also compared with the scores of the three-month mortality rate of the patients.

RESULTSThe mean MELD score calculated on the first day of the patients who died after their admission to the hospital was 37.00+/-6.50, while that of the living group was 25.80+/-5.20. The difference was highly significant (chi(2)=72.00, P < 0.01). MELD score after two-weeks medical treatment of the patients who died was 1.57+/-0.89, while that of the living group was -0.99+/-0.73; the difference was also highly significant (chi(2)=56.35, P < 0.01). The area under the ROC curve of MELD score (c-statistic) was 0.90, while the c-statistic for DeltaMELD score was 0.76. On the first day of their admission, when the MELD score was < 25, the three-month mortality rate was 2%; when it was 25 or= 35, the three-month mortality rate was 81%; the differences between these groups were all highly significant (P less than 0.01). When MELD scores were above zero, the three-month mortality was 51%, and when DeltaMELD scores were less than or equal to zero, the three-month mortality rate was 13%. All the differences were highly significant (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONA high MELD score and a high Delta MELD score herald high three-month mortality rates in patients with CSH. MELD is quite usable in assessing the prognosis in patients suffering CSH. The choice of treatment for the CSH patients could be made by integrating the MELD score calculated on the first day of being admitted to a hospital and the Delta MELD score after their medical treatment.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Hepatitis, Chronic ; mortality ; therapy ; Humans ; Liver Failure ; mortality ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Statistical ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate ; Young Adult