Benzene ; adverse effects ; Hearing ; Humans ; Noise, Occupational ; adverse effects

Objective To study the prenatal diagnosis and clinical significance of fetal hyperechogenic kidneys.Methods Thirty one cases with fetal hyperechogenic kidneys were prenatally diagnosed with ultrasound.Autopsy was conducted and histological examination of the kidney was performed when pregnancy was terminated.A close follow-up was given for cases continuing pregnancy.Umbilical cord blood was collected for fetal chromosome analysis after delivery.Results(1)6 fetuses were complicated with other organ abnormalities,3 fetuses had abnormal chromosome,and 2 cases had a family history.(2) 12 cases chose to terminate pregnancy,10 of whom were oligohydromnios.Causes for fetal hyperechogenic kidneys were infantile polycystic kidney disease(IPKD,10 cases),adult polycystic kidney disease (APKD,1 case),polycystic kidney dysplasia(PKD,1 case)after postmortem histological examination. (3)Nineteen cases continued pregnancy,2 neonates with oligohydramnios died during neonatal period,both of them were IPKD;3 cases that were IPKD,IPKD and KPD respectively died 3 months,8 months and 1 year after birth,respectively;one case presented with hypertension symptom 26 months after birth,which was diagnosed as IPKD.The other 13 cases had no clinical manifestation and a close following-up is being undertaken for them at present.Conclusions(1)Fetal hyperechogenic kidneys could be caused by IPKD, APKD,or PKD,and are sometimes a normal variant.(2)Aminotic fluid volume is a key factor for prognosis;a suggestion for termination would be given to cases with fetal hyperechogenic kidneys and oligohydromnios.(3)For cases with fetal hyperechogenic kidneys,a complete and careful ultrasonography should be given to both parents and fetus,and fetal chromosomal analysis is suggested prenatally.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; secondary ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multimodal Imaging ; methods ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Whole Body Imaging ; methods

Abstract: Mosquitoes are involved in the transmission of serious diseases such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika virus disease, and filariasis, and their prevention and control have always been a research hotspot. Currently, mosquito control methods mainly include physical control, chemical control and biological control. Physical control methods are environmentally friendly, but they are slow to take effect and have unsatisfactory control effects; although chemical control can quickly eliminate mosquitoes, it has been eliminated due to its high pollution, high residual, and easy drug resistance; biological control uses natural enemies or pathogens to kill mosquitoes and reduce their ability to transmit disease. Therefore, environmentally friendly biological control has become the main measure for controlling and preventing mosquitoes. In recent years, significant progress has been made in bacterial mosquito control agents, among which Bacillus thuringiensis has been the most extensively studied. Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive soil microorganism, which is the pathogenic bacterium of a variety of agricultural pests such as Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera. During the sporulation process, its strains produce a variety of insecticidal crystal proteins (ICPs) or δ-endotoxins with insecticidal activity against mosquito larvae. This review firstly introduces the crystal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis, describes in detail the types and structures of crystal proteins in detail, and also reveals the mechanism of action of crystal proteins related to receptors.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Maxillary Sinus ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Young Adult

AIM: To compare the accuracy of intraocular lens(IOL)power calculations by using five formulas(Haigis, SRK-T, Hoffer Q, Holladay-1, SRK-Ⅱ)in eyes with long axial lengths in order to improve the accuracy of predicating IOL powers.METHODS: Fifty-one eyes of 51 cases of age-related cataract and with mild long axial(24.5mm27mm) were collected who`s optical biometry were performed by the Zeiss IOL Master500 before operation.They underwent regular phacoemulsification and posterior chamber IOL implantation.The actual postoperative refraction was measured with the methods of phoropter and subjective optometry 3mo after surgery.Then we compared the differences of the predicted and actual postoperative refraction of the five formulas in each group.RESULTS: In the mild axial lengths cases, the differences between SRK Ⅱ formula and the other four formulas were statistically significant (P<0.05), and the difference between Hoffer Q and SRK-T formula was statistically significant (P<0.05);there was no difference among the other formulas (P>0.05).In the moderate and severe long axial lengths cases, the differences between SRK Ⅱ formula and the other four formulas were statistically significant (P<0.05), and the difference between Hoffer Q and SRK-T formula, Hoffer Q and Haigis formula were statistically significant (P<0.05);there was no difference among the other formulas (P>0.05).The differences of all the five formulas between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: In the mild axial lengths cases, Haigis, SRK-T, Hoffer Q, Holladay-1 performed well.In the moderate and severe long axial lengths cases, Haigis, SRK-T and Holladay-1 performed better than other formulas.The accuracy of all the five formulas decreases as the axial length getting longer.

The purpose of the present work was to investigate the innovative self-assembling system, "beads", prepared by continuously shaking alpha-cyclodextrin and soybean oil without the use of organic solvents and surfactants at room temperature. Berberine hydrochloride previously dissolved in soybean oil was chosen as a model drug to explore the shape, structure, drug loading and in vitro release of beads. The particle size and drug loading of berberine hydrochloride-loaded beads were (2.25 +/- 0.23) mm and (67.02 +/- 0.64) microg x g(-1), respectively. Confocal microscopy showed that the core-shell structure of beads could contain poorly water soluble drugs or lipophilic drugs in the lipid core. The drug release rate and cumulative releases of beads were both higher than those of raw medicine of berberine hydrochloride in simulated intestinal fluid. These results suggested that beads were the novel and potential lipid-based drug delivery system for lipophilic or poorly water soluble traditional Chinese medicine.
Berberine ; administration & dosage ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Particle Size ; Solubility ; Soybean Oil ; administration & dosage ; alpha-Cyclodextrins ; administration & dosage

To investigate the effects of telmisartan on steatohepatitis (NASH) in rats by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (r). Thirty male SD rats were randomized into normal control group, NASH control group and telmisartan prevention group. Normal control group was given standard food and the other two groups were given high fat diet for 16 weeks to induce NASH. Prevention group was given telmisartan (5 mg.kg-1.d-1) for 4 weeks by intragastric adminstration after 12 weeks. At the end of the 16th week, all the rats were sacrificed. Pathological changes of liver were observed by optical microscopy. Serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), fasting blood glucose(FBG), fasting insulin(FINS), HOMA-IR(homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance), Serum TNF-a and adiponectin were detected and analyzed.Western blot and RT-PCR were used to detect PPARr expression in hepatic tissues on protein and mRNA levels. (1) Rats were successfully modeled. The liver tissue samples were divided into 4 degrees (F0 - 4) based on total fatty degeneration of liver cells.There was one rat reached F3 and nine rats reached F4 in NASH group, one rat reached F1, six rats reached F2 and three rats reached F3 in prevention group. Inflammatory activity scores of hepatic tissues in the model group were 2.67+/-0.25, while that in the control group was 0 (U=15 and P is less than to 0.01), in the prevention group were 2.67+/-0.25 and 1.36+/-0.12 (U=24 and P is less than to 0.05 ). (2) The levels of serum ALT, AST, FBG, FINS, TNFa and HOMA-IR in the model group were increased than those in the control group( the vaules of q were 13.130, 6.472, 6.909, 26.619, 14.591 and 49.683 respectively, P less than 0.01). The levels of serum ALT, FINS, FBG, TNFa and HOMA-IR in the prevention group were decreased as compared to the model group (the vaules of q were 7.024, 4.145, 14.829, 13.195 and 31.991 respectively, P less than 0.01 ). (3) The serum adiponectin, PPARrmRNA and protein in liver tissues of the model group were lower than those in the control group (q values were 10.696, 8.679 and 16.762 respectively, P is less than to 0.05).The data in the prevention group were higher as compared to the model group(q values were 3.879,3.079,6.400, P is less than to 0.05 respectively). HOMA-IR was positively correlated with the expression of TNFa but negatively correlated with the expression of adiponectin (r = 0.927, P is less than to 0.01; r = -0.891, P is less than to 0.01, respectively). Telmisartan may has preventive effect on rats with steatohepatitis (NASH) by a mechanism of activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor r.
Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Fatty Liver ; Insulin Resistance ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

The effects of presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on excitatory synaptic transmission in CA1 pyramidal neurons of the rat hippocampus were examined by blind whole-cell patch clamp recording from hippocampal slice preparations. Local application of the nAChRs agonist dimethylphenyl-piperazinium iodide (DMPP) did not induce a postsynaptic current response in CA1 pyramidal cells. However, DMPP enhanced the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic current (sEPSC) in these cells in a dose-dependent manner. This enhancement was blocked by the selective nicotinic alpha-7 receptor antagonist alpha-bungarotoxin, but not by the antagonist mecamylamine, hexamethonium or dihydro-beta-erythroidine. The frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic current (mEPSC) in CA1 pyramidal neurons was also increased by application of DMPP, indicating a presynaptic site of action of the agonist. Taken together, these results suggest that activation of presynaptic nAChRs in CA1 pyramidal neurons, which contain alpha-7 subunits, potentiates presynaptic glutamate release and consequently modulate excitatory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus.
Animals ; Bungarotoxins ; physiology ; Dimethylphenylpiperazinium Iodide ; pharmacology ; Glutamic Acid ; pharmacology ; Hippocampus ; physiology ; Male ; Neurons ; physiology ; Nicotinic Agonists ; pharmacology ; Pacemaker, Artificial ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; physiology ; Receptors, Presynaptic ; physiology ; Synapses ; physiology ; Synaptic Transmission ; alpha7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

OBJECTIVESTo explore the effects of insulin on the expression and the regulatory pathway of AQP9 in normal human liver cells.

METHODSNormal human liver cells L02 were cultured and treated with PI3K inhibitor LY294002, AKT inhibitor A-443654, MAPK inhibitors SB2030580 and insulin at different concentrations respectively. The AQP9 mRNA and protein expressions were detected with semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot respectively.

RESULTSThe insulin (100 nmol/L approximately 500 nmol/L) treatment decreased the expression of AQP9 in normal human liver cells (P less than 0.05) concentration dependently, and the expression of AQP9 began to reduce from 3 hours of insulin stimulation (P less than 0.05), especially at insulin treatment for 12 hours (P less than 0.05); Incubated with the selective inhibitor of PI3K (LY294002) and AKT (A-443654), the inhibitory effects of insulin on AQP9 expression decreased (P less than 0.05); but it did not change significantly by blocking the MAPK signaling pathway.

CONCLUSIONThe insulin treatment inhibited the expression of AQP9 and the PI3K/akt signal transduction pathway was involved in the mechanism.

Aquaporins ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Chromones ; pharmacology ; Hepatocytes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Morpholines ; pharmacology ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction