Objective To investigate the clinic pathologic features of young patients with renal malignant tumour by comparing with older patients. Methods The clinical data of 83 younger adults(age,≤40 years) with renal cell carcinoma and 703 cases of older renal cell carcinoma (age＞40 years)was analyzed and compared retrospectively. All of the patients were surgically treated between 1986and 2007. Results Among patients with symptoms, younger female patients were more likely to have abdominal pain(12/27, 44.4% vs. 154/703, 21.9%)and mass (2/27, 7.4% vs. 154/703,1.3%)than older (P＜0.05). The older groups were more likely to have dear cell carcinoma than in the younger(501/703, 71.3% vs. 47/83, 56.6%)(P＜0.05). The rate of PRCC has the trends to be higher in young patients than that in older patients (21/83, 25.3% vs. 118/703, 16.8%) (P=0.054),especially in male patients (17/56, 30.4 %) (P=0.011). The rate of MFH and leiomyosarcoma was significantly higher in young patients than that in older patients (6/83, 7.2% vs. 12/703,1.7%) (P＜ 0.05), especially in female patients (4/27,14.8%). Younger male patients were more likely to have a higher incidence of small tumors (T≤4 cm)(24/56,42.9 % vs. 173/703,24.6 % )(P＜0.05)and a lower incidence of big RCC(T＞7 cm) than older patients(12/56,21.4% vs. 295/703,42.0%) (P＜0.05). Conclusion Younger female renal cell carcinoma patients tends to have worseprognosis than older patients, while younger male patients have better prognosis due to different pathology.

Objective To investigate the effects of aquatic Taiji Quan on balance function of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury. Methods From March to December, 2015, 30 patients with incomplete spinal cord injury received aquatic Taiji Quan exercise based on rou-tine rehabilitation, 30 minutes every day, five times a week for five weeks. They were assessed with Berg Balance Scale (BBS) before and after exercise. Dynamic balance function and static balance function were also assessed with Active Balancer assessment. Results The BBS score significantly improved after exercise (t=-9.652, P<0.001). The track length and area of gravity movement with eyes open and closed decreased (t>3.528, Z>-2.590, P<0.01). No improvement was observed in the deflection center displacement of X and Y axes (P>0.05). The dynamic stability limit range enlarged (t=-4.516, P<0.01), and the time to target significantly shortened (t=4.530, P<0.001). Conclusion Aquatic Taiji Quan can improve the balance function of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on the oocyte quality in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET).

METHODSTotally 217 PCOS patients undergoing IVF-ET were assigned to two groups by random digit table, the EA group (119 cases) and the control group (98 cases). All patients received long program ovarian hyperstimulation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist. Patients in the EA group received EA treatment in the process of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation till the oocyte retrieval day. The position relation of the spindle to the polocyte, the number of retrieved oocytes, the fertilization rate,the cleavage rate,the high quality embryo rate, the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) incidence rate, the clinical pregnancy rate, the early abortion rate, the gonadotropins (Gn) dose and time, levels of estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), and luteinizing hormone (LH) on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) were observed between the two groups.

RESULTSThe ratio of oocytes in which the meiotic spindle deviation angle was < 60 degrees to the all oocytes was obviously higher in the EA group than in the control group (P < 0.05). The oocytes in which the meiotic spindle deviation angle was < 60 degrees was positively related to level of E2 on the HCG day and the high quality embryo rate (r = 0.19,P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, the high quality embryo rate increased significantly (P < 0.05), the dose and days of Gn decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the EA group. The clinical pregnancy rate was improved by 8.36%.

CONCLUSIONSThe spindle was positively correlated with the oocyte quality. EA could improve the quality of oocytes and the clinical pregnancy rate in PCOS patients undergoing IVF-ET.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Embryo Transfer ; Estradiol ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone ; Gonadotropins ; Humans ; Luteinizing Hormone ; Oocytes ; Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ; therapy ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Progesterone

Objective To translate the Water Orientation Test of Alyn 1 (WOTA1) into Chinese and investigate the test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability and validity of this Chinese Version. Methods The Water Orientation Test of Alyn 1 was translated from English into Chinese. 25 children with cerebral palsy were tested with Chinese Version of WOTA1 by 2 raters. One of the raters accessed the same children again after 2 days. While the children were assessed with Brief Assessment of Motor Function (BAMF). The scores from both raters, twice of one rater, and of WOTA1 and of BAMF were analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient. Results The correlation coefficient of test-retest of WOTA1 total score is 0.992 (95% CI: 0.982-0.996), and it was 0.887 to 1.000 of the scores of items. The correlation coefficient of inter-rater of total score is 0.992 (95% CI: 0.980-0.998), and it was 0.748 to 1.000 of the scores of items. The correlation coefficient between scores of WOTA1 and BAMF was 0.926 (P<0.01). Conclusion The Chinese Version of WOTA1 is good reliable and valid to assess the motor function in hydrotherapy pool.

Chondrosarcoma ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To set up a new diagnostic platform based on microarray exon-capture and next-generation sequencing for detecting small mutations in dystrophin gene.The sensitivity and specificity of the method were assessed in clinical settings and the distribution of small mutations in Chinese Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) patients were also analyzed.Methods Forty-one DMD/BMD patients diagnosed by the clinical criteria without large deletion or duplication (≥ 1exon) were recruited from Peking Union Medical College Hospital consecutively.Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples.The libraries were prepared.Then exon and intron-exon flanking sequences of DMD gene were captured by custom microarray.Targeted next-generation sequencing and Sanger Sequencing were conducted.The patients who were not detected any disease-causing mutation were performed muscle biopsy.Results Thirty-eight subjects were detected small mutations in DMD gene.All single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and insertion & deletions (INDELs) were validated by Sanger sequencing.Twenty-one novel mutations were reported.The distribution of SNVs and INDELs was similar to other international DMD databases.Upon immunohistochemistry staining of dystrophin protein,1 of 3 mutation-undetected patients was diagnosed as DMD,2 of them were excluded.The specificity of the method was 100％,while the sensitivity was 97.4％.Conclusions Our microarray-captured next-generation sequencing assay could detect SNVs and INDELs with high sensitivity and specificity.Its advantages are economic,time-saving and stable.The platform is suitable for clinical gene diagnosis.

Objective To investigate the expression of c-kit and analyze its relationship with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in RCC subtypes and its clinical progression. Methods Expression of c-kit protein was retrospectively studied with immunohistochemistry in paraffin sections from 137 cases of clear renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), 82 papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC), 51 chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC). Results The positive rate of c-kit in ChRCC was 94.1%(48/51), it was statistically higher than that in CCRCC (16. 1%, 22/137) and PRCC (28.1 %, 23/82)(P=0. 001 ). In ChRCC, the positive expression of c-kit was related with TNM stages. The positive expression of PCNA was related with the grade in CCRCC and PRCC. But there was no relationship between PCNA expression and grade of ChRCC. It also had the relationship with the metastasis in CCRCC. Conclusions The expression of c-kit in ChRCC is higher than in other subtype of RCC, and associated with tumor local progression. That makes c-kit as a helpful marker to discriminate different subtypes of kidney cancer.

Objective:To construct an evaluation index system for the perioperative medical service efficiency.Methods:From September to November 2023, this study conducted literature search and research group discussions to select initial indicators for evaluating the efficiency of perioperative medical services guided by value-based healthcare; 2-round Delphi methods were used to construct an evaluation index system for perioperative medical service efficiency, and the weights of the indicators were determined using the analytic hierarchy process.Results:The expert motivation for both rounds of Delphi method was 100.00%, the expert authority coefficient was 0.94, and the Kendall coordination scores were 0.56 and 0.75, respectively. The final established evaluation index system for perioperative medical service efficiency included 2 primary indexes, 9 secondary indexes, and 41 tertiary indexes. The first level indexes included medical quality and medical cost, with relative weights of 66.67% and 33.33%, respectively. Among them, medical quality included 7 secondary indexes: medical management, medical safety, service mode, information construction, patient outcomes, service efficiency, and satisfaction; Medical costs include 2 secondary indiexes: patient costs and medical institution costs.Conclusions:The evaluation index system for the efficiency of perioperative medical services reflected the connotation of value-based healthcare and could comprehensively and objectively evaluate the efficiency of perioperative medical services.

OBJECTIVETo detect sperm plasma membrane integrity (PMI) of cigarette smoking infertile males using SYBR-14/ PI fluorescent staining and flow cytometry and investigate its clinical significance.

METHODSWe collected semen samples from 132 cigarette smoking infertile men and 70 normal fertile controls, the former divided into a heavy-smoker group (> 20 cigarettes a day, n = 68) and a light-smoker group (< or = 20 cigarettes a day, n = 64). We performed computer-assisted semen analysis of the semen samples, and determined sperm PMI by flow cytometry after rinsing with PBS and staining by SYBR-14/PI, the sperm with normal PMI indicated as the percentage of those emitting green fluorescence (SYBR-14+/PI- %), dead sperm as the percentage of those emitting red (SYBR-14-/PI+), and moribund sperm as the percentage of those emitting both green and red (SYBR-14+/PI+).

RESULTSBoth the heavy- and light-smoker groups showed significant differences in SYBR-14-/PI+ % and SYBR-14+/PI- % from the normal controls (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). SYBR-14+/PI- % was remarkably lower, while SYBR-14-/PI+ % markedly higher in the heavy-smoker than in the light-smoker group (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between SYBR-14+/PI- % and sperm motility (r = 0.938, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONSYBR-14/PI fluorescent staining and flow cytometry analysis could quickly and exactly detect sperm PMI. Cigarette smoking reduces sperm PMI and consequently sperm motility, which might be an important factor of male infertility.

Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Cell Membrane ; pathology ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Infertility, Male ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Smoking ; adverse effects ; Spermatozoa ; cytology ; pathology

The modulation of ACh on delayed rectifier-like potassium currents (I(K)) was studied in freshly dissociated cerebral cortical neurons using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Wistar rats between 10- and 14-day old of both sexes were used. After rats were decapitated, their brains were quickly removed, iced, and then manually cut into 400 mum slices. Slices were then incubated for 0.5 h at 32 degrees C in a buffered artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) bubbled with 95% O2, 5% CO2. Slices were then removed into buffered ACSF containing protease (0.5 mg/ml) at 32 degrees C. After 30 min of enzyme digestion, tissue was rinsed three times in the buffered saline. Then the enzyme-treated slices were mechanically dissociated with a graded series of fire-polished Pasteur pipettes. The cell suspension was then plated into a 35 mm dish and placed on the stage of a Olympus inverted microscope. For whole-cell recordings of currents, standard voltage-clamp techniques were used. Neurons were held at -80 mV, and the I(K) was evoked by 2 000 ms depolarizing voltage commands to potential between -40 mV and +60 mV in 10 mV steps applied at a frequency of 0.5 Hz. It was found that the inhibitory effect of ACh (0.1, 1, 10, 100 mumol/L) on I(K) was dose-dependent. It was also found that ACh affected the activation process of I(K) significantly, i.e., the activation curve of I(K) was characterized by half-activation potential of (-41.8+/-9.7) mV and a slope factor of (30.7+/-7.2) mV in the cortical neurons and they were changed to (-122.4+/-38.6) mV and (42.4+/-7.0) mV, respectively, after giving ACh (10 mumol/L). Tubocurarine (100 mumol/L) antagonized the inhibitory effect of ACh on I(K), and the drop of currents varied from the control value of (36.5+/-7..8)% to (16.9+/-13.8)% (n=8, P<0.01). 4-DAMP (10 mumol/L) blocked the inhibitory effect of ACh on I(K), and the currents reduced from the control value of (36.5+/-7.8)% to (26.8+/-4.7) % (n=6, P<0.05). Pirenzepin did not antagonize the inhibition of ACh on I(K) (n=7, P>0.05). Chelerythrine (20 mumol/L) blocked the inhibitory effect of ACh on I(K) and the currents reduced from the control value of (36.5+/-7.8)% to (11.7+/-17.3)% (n=6, P<0.05). On the contrary, PDBu (10 mumol/L) strengthened the inhibition of ACh on I(K) and the drop of currents changed from the control value of (36.5+/-7.8)% to (59.2+/-14.0)% (n=5, P<0.05). PDBu abolished the antagonism of chelerythrine on ACh in cortical neurons. It is suggested that the ACh-induced depolarization of neurons in the cortex is attributed to the inhibition of I(K) that is most likely evoked by the activation of nicotinic ACh receptors and muscarinic M3 receptor via protein kinase C (PKC) signal transduction pathway.
Acetylcholine ; physiology ; Animals ; Cell Separation ; Delayed Rectifier Potassium Channels ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Female ; Male ; Neurons ; metabolism ; physiology ; Patch-Clamp Techniques ; Protein Kinase C ; metabolism ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Receptor, Muscarinic M3 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Nicotinic ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; physiology ; Somatosensory Cortex ; cytology ; physiology