Objective To explore the normal range of cingulate cortex volumes of Chinese adults of the Han nationality and its relationship with age, which provide morphological data for the construction of database for Chinese Standard Brain.Methods This is a clinical multi-center study.One thousand Chinese healthy volunteers ( age range = 18 to 70) recruited from 15 hospitals were divided into 5 groups, i.e.,Group A (age range = 18 to 30), B (age range=31 to 40), C (age range =41 to 50), D (age range =51 to 60), and E (age range =61 to 70).Each group contained 100 males and 100 females.All of the volunteers were scanned by MR using T1 weighted three-dimensional magnetization prepared rapid acquisition gradient echo sequence.Cingulate cortex volume (including bulk volume and the left/right volume) was measured semi-manually using 3D volume analysis software.Cingulate cortex volumes among age groups were compared by one-way ANOVA.Right and left cingnlate cortex volumes between sexualities were analyzed by paired samples t test.The relationship between cingulate cortex volume and age was analyzed by Pearson correlations and regression analysis.Results Cingulate cortex volumes of male and female were (20 347 ± 2504) and ( 19 432 ± 2184) mm3 respectively, and the male's was significantly larger than that of female's (two sample t'-test for independent samples, t'= 6.156, P < 0.05 ).Right and left cingnlate cortex volumes of male were ( 10 717 ± 1629) and (9630 ± 1498) mm3 respectively, and those of female's were ( 10 064 ± 1407 ) and ( 9368 ± 1441 )mm3 respectively.The volumes of cingulate cortex were significantly different between right and left in male or female ( t = - 12.960, - 8.511, P < 0.05 ),and right was larger than left.Bilateral cingulate cortex volume in male among group A, B, C, D and E[left: ( 10 132 ± 1291 ), ( 10 113 ± 1638), (9599 ± 1576), (9594 ± 1288), (8710 ± 1212) mm3 ; right:(11 212±1442), (11 096±1602), (11 040±1403), (10 633±1638), (9604±1522) mm3] had statistical differences (F = 16.738, 18.707, P < 0.01 ) ; and those in female among five age groups[left:(9689 ± 1426), (9652 ± 1676), (9347 ± 1500), (9098 ± 1225), (9053 ± 1233) mm3 ; fight: ( 10 558 ±1325), ( 10 266 ± 1463), ( 10 100 ± 1497), (9779 ± 1304), (9617 ± 1254) mm3] also had significant differences (F = 16.859,7.528,P <0.01 ).Bilateral cingnlate cortex volume in both male and female were negatively correlated with age ( r = - 0.330, - 0.324, - 0.169, - 0.243, P < 0.05 ), though the correlation coefficient is not high.Conclusions Cingnlate cortex volume could be accurately measured on the high-resolution MRI with 3D volume analysis software, which can provide morphological data for the construction of database for Chinese Standard Brain.The results may provide normal range for the diagnosis of the volumetric deficits of cingulate cortex.

BACKGROUND: The quality of chest compressions can be significantly improved after training of rescuers according to the latest national guidelines of China. However, rescuers may be unable to maintain adequate compression or ventilation throughout a response of average emergency medical services because of increased rescuer fatigue. In the present study, we evaluated the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in training of military medical university students during a prolonged basic life support (BLS). METHODS: A 3-hour BLS training was given to 120 military medical university students. Six months after the training, 115 students performed single rescuer BLS on a manikin for 8 minutes. The qualities of chest compressions as well as ventilations were assessed. RESULTS: The average compression depth and rate were 53.7±5.3 mm and 135.1±15.7 compressions per minute respectively. The proportion of chest compressions with appropriate depth was 71.7％±28.4％. The average ventilation volume was 847.2±260.4 mL and the proportion of students with adequate ventilation was 63.5％. Compared with male students, significantly lower compression depth (46.7±4.8 vs. 54.6±4.8 mm,P<0.001) and adequate compression rate (35.5％±26.5％ vs. 76.1％±25.1％,P<0.001) were observed in female students. CONCLUSIONS: CPR was found to be related to gender, body weight, and body mass index of students in this study. The quality of chest compressions was well maintained in male students during 8 minutes of conventional CPR but declined rapidly in female students after 2 minutes according to the latest national guidelines. Physical fitness and rescuer fatigue did not affect the quality of ventilation.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of Compound Qingqin Liquid (CQL) on the expression level of angiotensin II (Ang II) and COX-2 mRNA transcription and protein expression in the renal tissue of rats with uric acid nephropathy.

METHODSSD rats were randomly divided into the blank control group, the model group, the positive drug group, the high, moderate, and low dose CQL group according to number randomization principle. The model was established by gastrogavage of adenine, accompanied with yeast feeding. Distilled water was given by gastrogavage to rats in the blank control group and the model group. Allopurinol at the daily dose of 9.33 mg/kg was given by gastrogavage to rats of the positive control group. CQL at the daily dose of 3.77 g/kg, 1.89 g/kg, and 0.09 g/kg was respectively given by gastrogavage to rats in the high, moderate, and low dose CQL groups. All treatment lasted for 6 weeks. Rats were randomly divided at week 4 (3 in the blank control group, and 6 in the rest groups), and the rest rats were killed at week 6. The renal tissue was extracted. The expression level of Ang II and COX-2 mRNA transcription were detected by RT-PCR. The expression level of Ang II was detected by ELISA. The expression level of COX-2 protein was detected by Western blot and immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTSCompared with the blank control group, except the mRNA expression of Ang II at week 4, the mRNA and protein expression of Ang II and COX-2 obviously increased at week 4 and 6 in the model group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The COX-2 protein expression at week 4 was obviously lower in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the model group and the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05); the average integral of optical density value was obviously lower in the positive control group than in the model group. Except the mRNA expression of Ang II in the high dose CQL group at week 6, the mRNA and protein expression of Ang II obviously decreased in the positive control group and each dose CQL group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Of them, the effects were better in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the positive control group and the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Besides, the mRNA expression of COX-2, the average integral of optical density value were obviously lower in the positive control group and each dose CQL group than in the model group (P < 0.05). The protein expression of COX-2 was obviously lower in the high and moderate dose CQL groups than in the model group (P < 0.05). Of them, the mRNA expression of COX-2 was better in the moderate dose CQL group than in the positive control group (P < 0.05); the protein expression of COX-2 was better in the high dose CQL group than in the low dose CQL group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONCQL was capable of lowering the expression level of Ang II, COX-2 mRNA transcription and protein expression, thus suppressing the inflammatory pathological injury of the renal tissue.

Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Kidney ; metabolism ; Kidney Diseases ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Uric Acid

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of compound qingqin liquid (CQL) on Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in rats with urate nephropathy, and to explore its renal protection mechanism.

METHODSTotally 55 SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, i.e., the normal control group (n =5), the model group (n =10), the positive drug group (n=10), and the high-, medium-, low-dose CQL groups (n=10) respectively. The urate nephropathy model was induced by intragastrically administering adenine and feeding yeast. Distilled water was intragastrically administered at the daily dose of 10 mL/kg to rats in the normal control group and the model group. Allopurinol was intragastrically administered at the daily dose of 9.33 mg/kg to rats in the positive control group. CQL was intragastrically administered at the daily dose of 3.77, 1.89, 0.94 g/kg to rats in the high-, medium-, and low-dose CQL groups. Rats of each group were executed in batches at the 4th and 6th week respectively. Their kidney tissues were taken out to determine the mRNA transcription level of TLR2 and TLR4 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The protein expression level of TLR2 and TLR4 were determined by Western blot. The protein expression level of TLR4 was also detected by immunohistochemical assay.

RESULTSAt week 4 and 6, the protein expression of TLR2 and TLR4 as well as the mRNA transcription of TLR4 increased in the model group, when compared with the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the model group, there was no statistical difference in the transcription level of TLR2 mRNA or TLR4 mRNA among the 3 CQL groups (P > 0.05) at week 4 and 6. Additionally, at week 6, the protein expression of TLR4 and TLR2 could be reduced by CQL (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONCQL might protect kidney tissue against inflammatory injury by inhibiting the protein expression levels of TLR2 and TLR4.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Kidney ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Kidney Diseases ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Male ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Toll-Like Receptor 2 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Uric Acid

OBJECTIVEThe activity of deer serum albumin on proliferation of rat osteogenic-like cells UMR-106 and the IGF-I secretion were investigated in order to elucidate pilose antler's bone-strengthening mechanism.

METHODDeer serum albumin was isolated from freeze-dry pilose antler powder extract. The methods were Sephacryl S-200HR gel filtration, POROS 20QE ion-exchange and TSK G3000SW chromatographies. The effect of deer serum albumin on proliferatio of UMR-106 cells was assaied by MTT, and the secretion of IGF-I of UMR-106 cells was assaied by RIA.

RESULTDeer serum albumin, with the molecular weight of 56.3 kDa, significantly increased the proliferation rate of the osteoblast-like UMR-106 cell and IGF-I secretion. When concentration of deer serum albumin reached 0.149 microg x mL(-1), UMR-106 cell proliferation rate was 241.03% and IGF-I secretion was 66.89 ng x mL(-1).

CONCLUSIONThe concentration of deer serum albumin, from 14.9 ng x mL(-1) to 14.90 microg x mL(-1), significantly increased the proliferation rate of the osteoblast-like UMR-106 cell and IGF- I secretion.

Animals ; Antlers ; chemistry ; Bone Neoplasms ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Deer ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; secretion ; Materia Medica ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Osteoblasts ; metabolism ; pathology ; Osteosarcoma ; pathology ; Rats ; Serum Albumin ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

Triterpenes, which have large application potential in the treatment of cancer, are the main active components of genuine medicinal material Alisma orientale (Sam.) Juzep. Farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase (FPPS) is one of the important rate-limiting enzymes in the synthetic pathway of triterpenes. In this study the FPPS full length cDNA of the A. orientale, was cloned via homology-based cloning approach and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). The full length of the FPPS cDNA was 1 531 bp (accession no. HQ724508), which contained a full 1 032 bp ORF that encoded 343 amino acids. The deduced protein sequence exhibited five conserved motifs, two of which is riched of Asp (DDXXD). The result of real-time quantitative PCR (QRT-PCR) showed that FPPS gene was expressed in different organs of A. orientale. The expression increased from October to the first ten-day period of December, and then decreased. The FPPS gene expression was higher in leaves but lower in leafstalk, tuber and root. HPLC analysis of active components 23-acetyl-alismol B of A. orientale. during different periods indicated that its change trend should be consistent with FPPS gene expression. It can be primarily deduced that FPPS gene should be an important control point in the synthetic pathway of Alisma terpenes. This study may facilitate the quality of medicinal plants through gene engineering in the future.
Alisma ; enzymology ; genetics ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Cloning, Molecular ; Computational Biology ; Conserved Sequence ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; DNA, Plant ; genetics ; Gene Amplification ; Geranyltranstransferase ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Plant Leaves ; enzymology ; genetics ; Plant Roots ; enzymology ; genetics ; Plants, Medicinal ; enzymology ; genetics ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods

Objective To explore the mechanism of hypoxia on the expressions of airway remodeling-associated factors matrix metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9)and transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1)in human airway epithelial cells(16HBE)under hypoxia.Methods We cultured 16HBE cells under normoxia or hypoxia (20 mL/L O2)for 6,12 and 24 hours.MMP-9 and TGF-β1with higher expression were pretreated with epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)inhibitor AG1478 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α)inhibitor Lificiguat (YC-1).Cell survival rate was measured by CCK-8 method.The mRNA levels of MMP-9 and TGF-β1were detected by RT-PCR.The levels of HIF-1α,MMP-9 and TGF-β1protein expressions were measured by Western blot. Results In hypoxia group,the levels of MMP-9 and TGF-β1mRNA as well as protein expressions increased compared with those in the control group(all P＜ 0.05).Pretreatment with AG1478 and YC-1 could inhibit the above-mentioned changes(P＜ 0.05).AG1478 suppressed the high expression of HIF-1α induced by hypoxia. Conclusion Hypoxia can up-regulate the expressions of airway remodeling-associated factors MMP-9 and TGF-β1 via EGFR's induction of HIF-α signaling pathway.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic efficiency and result of prostate biopsy for patients with t -PSA between 4.0 and 10 ng/ml.Methods This analysis was based on 20 qualified research papers from such lectronic databases as PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane from January 2010 until September 2017.Data extracted was analyzed using classic Meta-analysis with R software .The random or fixed effect model analysis was used to estimate the rate.Heterogeneity was analyzed using I 2 statistic.Results Totally 5481 patients were included in the 20 research papers. The positive rate of prostate biopsy was 20.6％, with t-PSA between 4.0 and 10 ng/ml, which was higher than the rate in the data from CUA Guide(2014).The difference was statistically significant .Conclusion Patients should be subjected to prostate biopsy if their t-PSA ranges 4.0 from 10 ng/ml regardless of the rate of f/t-PSA.The Gleason grade is relatively low when PSA is in the gray area , and the risk is also low.

Background: Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) infection is ubiquitous around the world.Diagnosis of the porcine circovirus-associated disease requires clinic-pathological elements together with the quantification of viral loads. Furthermore, given pig farms in regions lacking access to sufficient laboratory equipment, developing diagnostic devices with high accuracy, accessibility, and affordability is a necessity. Objectives: This study aims to investigate two newly developed diagnostic tools that may satisfy these criteria. Methods: We collected 250 specimens, including 170 PCV2-positive and 80 PCV2-negative samples. The standard diagnosis and cycle threshold (Ct) values were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Then, two point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms, convective polymerase chain reaction (cPCR, qualitative assay: positive or negative results are shown) and EZtargex (quantitative assay: Ct values are shown), were examined and analyzed. Results: The sensitivity and specificity of cPCR were 88.23% and 100%, respectively; the sensitivity and specificity of EZtargex were 87.65% and 100%, respectively. These assays also showed excellent concordance compared with the qPCR assay (κ = 0.828 for cPCR and κ = 0.820 for EZtargex). The statistical analysis showed a great diagnostic power of the EZtargex assay to discriminate between samples with different levels of positivity. Conclusions The two point-of-care diagnostic platforms are accurate, rapid, convenient and require little training for PCV2 diagnosis. These POC platforms can discriminate viral loads to predict the clinical status of the animals. The current study provided evidence that these diagnostics were applicable with high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of PCV2 infection in the field.

We present here the case of a 40-year-old woman with a greater than 10 year prior history of bilateral breast silicone injection and saline bag implantation. Bilateral palpable breast nodules were observed, but the ultrasound scan was suboptimal and the magnetic resonance imaging showed no gadolinium-enhanced tumor. The 18F-FDG PET/CT scan showed a hypermetabolic nodule in the left breast with a 30% increase of 18F-FDG uptake on the delayed imaging, and this mimicked breast cancer. She underwent a left partial mastectomy and the pathology demonstrated a siliconoma.
Adult ; Breast Implants/adverse effects ; Breast Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; *False Positive Reactions ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/diagnostic use ; Granuloma, Foreign-Body/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Injections ; *Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiopharmaceuticals/diagnostic use ; Silicones/administration & dosage/*adverse effects ; *Tomography, X-Ray Computed