Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal her-nia. Methods Sixty-one patients underwent laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernia, all having laparo-scopic Toupet fundoplication. Results Laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernia was completed success-fully in all the 61 patients. The average operation time was 110 min and the blood loss 10～50 ml. Postopera-tive oral feedings were resumed 24～48 h after surgery, and no postoperative complication occurred. The me-dian postoperative hospital stay was 5.7 d. Conclusion Laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal hernia is an effective and safe surgical procedure of minimal invasion.

Objective: To examine the emotional states of asthmatic children with different degrees of severity, as well as the effects of emotion on change of cytokines in airway. Methods: Asthmatic children were divided into two groups according to the degrees of severity: moderate and mild. Their emotional states were measured and results were compared. Correlation analysis was conducted between scores on emotional scales and sputum levels of IL-8.Results: Total scores on anxiety and depression were higher in the moderate group than in the mild group. Negative correlation was found between levels of anxiety and IL-8 during acute exacerbation of asthmatic condition. Conclusion: Emotional distress was found to be increased with severity of asthmatic condition in children. Anxiety contributed to the decreased concentration of IL-8 in asthmatic children's airway.

The progress and clinical application of medical image post-processing technology are introduced from the aspects of image preprocessing, image segmentation; registration-fusion and 3D reconstruction. Correlated problems and development trends are put forward.

GDF-15,a distant member of the TGF-superfamily,is identified as an apoptotic accelerat- ing,anti-tumorigenesis and nerve2nutritional factor in varied injures and tumors and has cardioprotective ac- tivity.The characteristics and roles of GDF-15 gene/protein and antibodies are expounded besides the rela- tionship between GDF-15 serum level/genetypes and CRC.It is also discussed here that some antitumorigenic substances inducing GDF-15 in CRC tissues and CRC cells.

Objective To explore the role of integrin αvβ6 in mediating the tolerance of gastric cancer AGS cells to 5-fluorouracil, and to determine whether direct β6-extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase(ERK) binding is involved. Methods Gastric cancer AGS cells in the logarithmic phase were incubated with either 5-fluorouracil for 24 hours ( control group), with 0.1 g/L of mouse anti-αvβ6 monoclonal antibody 10D5 for 6 hours and then with 5-fluorouracil for24 hours ( 10D5 group), with IgG2a and 5-fluorouracil ( IgG2a group), or with 5-fluorouracil and 20 μnol/L of ERK inhibitor PD98059 for 24 hours ( PD98059 group). Cell proliferation,apoptosis and the expression of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 protein were detected by MTT assay, flow cytometry and western blotting, respectively. All data were analysed by one-way analysis of variance and LSD test. Results The cell inhibition rates of the control group, 10D5 group, IgG2a group and PD98059 group were 28.1% ±2.7%,84.5% ± 1.6%, 31.4% ±5.2%, 86.7% ±5.2%, respectively, with a significant difference ( F = 342. 5, P ＜0.05). The apoptosis rates of the control group, 10D5 group, IgG2a group, and PD98059 group were 6.6% ±1.4%, 30.6% ± 2.4%, 8.1% ± 1.3%, 36.0% ±4.0%, respectively, with a significant difference among the four groups (F = 105.4, P ＜0.05 ). There was a significant difference in the expression of caspase-3 and Bcl-2 among the four groups (F=292.1, 181.6, P＜0.05). Conclusion Integrin αvβ6 can mediate the tolerance of gastric cancer AGS cells to 5-fluorouracil through direct β6-ERK binding.

Objective To investigate the feasibility and safety of transvaginal endoscopic cholecystectomy.Methods The clinical data of 88 female patients who underwent cholecystectomy at the Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from May to November, 2009 were retrospectively analysed. Among all the patients, 32 received transvaginal endoscopic cholecystectomy ( NOTES group) and the remaining 56 patients received laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Thirty-two patients who received LC at the same period were selected (LC group)acccording to age, body mass index, type and severity of disease to conduct a matched case-control study. The differences in time span of postoperative pain, anodyne dose, enterokinesia recovery time, operation time, out-ofbed activity time, average hospital stay and hospitalization expenses between the two groups were compared using the paired t test. Results Cholecystectomies were successfully carried out for all the patients. The intraoperative blood loss, operation time, degree of pain, anodyne doses, enterokinesia recovery time, out-of-bed activity time,average hospital stay and hospitalization expenses were (5.7 ± 1.5 ) ml, ( 76 ± 27 ) minutes, 2.2 ± 0.6, ( 10 ±6) mg, (25±5) hours, (9±3) hours, (2.1 ±1.2) days and (1.12±0.34) ×104 yuan in NOTES group, and they were ( 13.9 ± 3.1 ) ml, (38 ± 16) minutes, 6.7 ± 1.5, (28 ± 8) mg, (45 ± 8) hours, (26 ± 6) hours,(4.3 ± 2.1 ) days and ( 1.54 ± 0.18 ) × 104 yuan in the LC group. There were significant differences between the two groups (t = 5.098, - 4.712, 2.417, 3.203, 3.089, 4.136, 4.786, 3.917, P ＜ 0.05 ). Conclusion Transvaginal endoscopic cholecystectomy is safe and feasible, and it is superior to tranditional LC.

Objective: To construct a polycistron tandem repeated Echistatin (Ecs) gene. Methods: Three Ecs genes with independent initiation and termination codon were ligated tandem through restriction enzyme sites after amplified with 3 pairs of primers using pMD18T-Ecs as template. The polycistron Ecs gene was inserted into pET30a and expressed in E.coli BL21(DE3) with IPTG induction. The expression results were identified by 18% SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Results: The expression of Ecs polycistron was accomplished with 18% expression level of total protein determined by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Conclusion: The successful expression of Ecs polycistron provided a new method for the preparation of low molecular weight protein.

Objective To investigate association of the ER22/23EK polymorphism of the glucocorticoid receptor gene(GR) with natural longevity in the XinJiang Uygur nationality people and the race difference.Methods One hundred and nintyone healthy individuals over 90 years old from Uighur people were recruited as the longevity group at the same time,82 Han nationality people aged between 65～70 who immigrated in Xinjiang Hetian for more than 30 years were randomly selected and investigated.Genotyping was performed by PCR-SSP,PCR-RELP and PCR-sequencing.ResultsThe frequencies of ER22/23EK alleles and genotypes showed no significant difference between the longevity group and the controls in Uygur,but the carriers of ER22/23EK of GR gene in Xinjiang Han old folkswere significantly more than those in Uygurs,the frequencies of WM, MM genotypes and M allele were significantly higher in Han nationality,while the frequencies of WW genotype and W allele were significant lower.Conclusion There is possibly no association between ER22/23EK polymorphism and XinJiang Uygur natural longevity,but there are significant differences between the two ethnic groups.

Objective To clone human autoimmune antigen SSA/Ro60 and to purify its expression to provide the material basis for the assisted diagnosis of human autoimmune diseases .Methods The SSA/Ro60 gene was cloned by RT‐PCR and directionally inserted into expression vector pPICZ .The recombinant plasmid was transformed into Pichia SMD1168 .The obtained recombinant protein was identified by SDS‐PAGE and Western blotting .Results The amplified full‐length sequence was about 1 .5 kb in size . The pPICZ‐SSA positive clone produced a 60 × 103 recombinant protein which had natural immunogenicity of human autoimmune antigen SSA/Ro60 by SDS‐PAGE and Western blot .Conclusion Human autoimmune antigen SSA/Ro60 is successfully cloned and expressed ,which lays a foundation for diagnosing autoimmune diseases .

Objective To investigate the effects of 5-Aza-CdR( methylation transferase inhibitor) on the expression levels of leptin gene in chondrocytes and methylation states of leptin promoter region between osteoarthritis (OA) group and control. Methods The chondrocytes in osteoarthritis group were treated with 5-Aza-CdR with different doses and time-points, and the expression level of leptin was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction for picking up the optimum dose and time-point. Next, the chondrocytes in 5 osteoarthritis patients and 5 control patients (amputation due to severe trauma) were treated with 5-Aza-CdR. Lastly, leptin mRNA expression levels in the four groups osteoarthritis and control chondrocytes treated with/without 5-Aza-CdR were measured by real-time PCR and the methylation state of promoter region ( - 280- + 79) was detected by epityper quantitative DNA methylation analysis. Results ( 1 ) After treating the chondrocytes in OA groups with 10 μmol/L 5-Aza-CdR for 72 h, the mRNA expression levels of leptin were increased significantly. ( 2 ) The mRNA expression levels of leptin were significantly different among the four groups ( P ＜ 0. 05 ), and the chondrocytes in osteoarthritis groups treated with 5-Aza-CdR showed a marked induction of leptin mRNA expression. (3) Analysis of quantitative methylation data using an unsupervised hierarchical clustering algorithm, showed that methylation patterns of leptin promoter was different between control and osteoarthritis chondrocyte treated with/without 5-Aza-CdR. Conclusion Demethylation of leptin promoter might up-regulate leptin gene expression level and it might contribute to osteoarthritis.