Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Carcinoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Fibroma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Keratins ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Vimentin ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the mechanical behavior of lumbar spine loaded by stress and provide the mechanical basis for clinical analysis and judgement of lumbar spine fracture classification, mechanical distribution and static stress.

METHODSBy means of computer simulation method, the constructed lumbar spine three-dimensional model was introduced into three-dimensional finite element analysis by software Ansys 7.0. The lumbar spine mechanical behavior in different parts of the stress loading were calculated. Impact load is 0-8000 N. The peak value was 8000 N. The loading time is 0-40 minutes. The values of the main stress, stress distribution and the lumbar spine unit displacement in the direction of main stress were analyzed.

RESULTSThe lumbar spine model was divided into a total of 121 239 nodes, 112 491 units. It could objectively reflect the true anatomy of lumbar spine and its biomechanical behavior and obtain the end-plate images under different stress. The stress distribution on the lumbar intervertebral disc (L(3)-L(4)) under the axial, lateral flexion and extension stress, and the displacement trace of the corresponding processus articularis were analyzed.

CONCLUSIONIt is helpful to analyze the stress distribution of lumbar spine and units displacement in static stress loading in the clinical research of lumbar spine injury and the distribution of internal stress.

Adult ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Female ; Finite Element Analysis ; Humans ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; physiology ; Sacrum ; physiology ; Stress, Mechanical

OBJECTIVETo investigate the advantage of CT and MRI image fusion in determining the target precisely during 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for cranial carcinoma.

METHODSTwenty-five patients received CT and MRI examination simultaneously for localizing the tumor and defining target before 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy. The target defined by MRI image was used as gross tumor volume, whereas CT value was used to calculate dose, making plan for radiotherapy. The difference between the target defined by CT and MRI was compared.

RESULTSAll the 25 patients underwent CT and MRI image fusion for localizing the tumor and defining the target in order to make anatomic symbol and surface symbol superposed. The number of tumor nodual detected by CT was as same as that found by MRI in 23 cases except two. Compared with the GTV defined by MRI image, it was larger in 10 cases by CT image, whereas smaller in 15 cases. The response rate assessed by MRI image was 64.0% (CR + PR) at the end of radiotherapy.

CONCLUSIONCT and MRI image fusion technique is more precise than either by CT or MRI alone in defining the GTV of 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy for cranial carcinoma.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Brain Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; radiotherapy ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted ; Radiotherapy, Conformal ; methods ; Remission Induction ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; methods ; Tumor Burden ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDSericin peptide (SP) has shown a powerful anti-oxidant property in a host of studies. The present study was designed to investigate the possible protective effects of SP against alcohol-induced gastric lesions in mice and to explore the potential mechanisms.

METHODSAnimals were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, alcohol (56%, 14.2 ml/kg), SP-treated mice (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 g/kg). Mice were pretreated with SP before administering alcohol, the concentration of ethanol in serum and urine, the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and the glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities in the gastric mucosa were measured, subsequently, the pathological evaluation of stomach was also observed.

RESULTSOf the animals pre-treated with SP (0.4, 0.8 g/kg), the concentration of ethanol in serum was significantly decreased, while increased in urine as compared to the alcohol-administered alone animals. Alcohol administration caused severe gastric damage as indicated by markedly increased MDA levels and decreased antioxidants, such as reduced GSH, GSH-PX and SOD in the gastric tissue while the CAT activity was not altered. On SP administration there was a reversal in these values towards normal. Histopathological studies confirmed the beneficial role of SP, which was in accordance with the biochemical parameters.

CONCLUSIONSSP could protect gastric mucosa from alcohol-induced mucosal injury. These gastroprotective effects might be due to increasing 'first-pass metabolism' in the stomach and hastening ethanol elimination directly through the urine. SP might also play an important role in the protection of the structure and function of gastric mitochondria, at least partly based on their anti-oxidant effect.

Amino Acids ; analysis ; Animals ; Cytoprotection ; Ethanol ; blood ; toxicity ; urine ; Gastric Mucosa ; drug effects ; pathology ; Glutathione ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred ICR ; Sericins ; analysis ; pharmacology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo discuss the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral nerve injury in the earthquake.

METHODSFourteen patients with peripheral nerve injury injured in the earthquake were involved the retrospective study. All cases accepted the timely diagnosis and treatment including anastomosis and repair of the nerve and other conservative treatments. Then the therapeutic effects were observed.

RESULTSAll 14 patients got short-term follow-up and attained the improvement in their symptoms of nerve injury.

CONCLUSIONPeripheral nerve injury has a high incidence in the earthquake. Prevention is very important. The timely and effective treatment should be taken according to spot situations and traumatic conditions of casualties in earthquake.

China ; Earthquakes ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries ; Peripheral Nerves ; surgery ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; surgery ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies

Objective To investigate the effects of hyperfractionated radiotherapy versus hypofractionated radiotherapy combined with concurrent chemotherapy on the prognosis of limited-stage small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).Methods A total of 188 patients with limited-stage SCLC were enrolled in this study and divided into hyperfractionated group (n=92) and hypofractionated group (n=96).The hyperfractionated group received thoracic radiotherapy at 45 Gy in 30 fractions twice a day, while the hypofractionated group received 55 Gy in 22 fractions once a day.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate survival rates, and the Cox model was used for multivariate prognostic analysis.Results There were not significant differences in 1-, 2-, and 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) rates and 1-, 2-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates between the hyperfractionated group and the hypofractionated group (82% vs.85%, 61% vs.69%, 59% vs.69%, P=0.27;85% vs.77%, 41% vs.34%, 27% vs.27%, P=0.37).The multivariate analysis showed that the time from the initiation of chemotherapy to the initiation of thoracic radiotherapy ≤43 days was favorable prognostic factor for PFS (P=0.005).The time from the initiation of chemotherapy to the end of thoracic radiotherapy ≤63 days and prophylactic cranial irradiation were favorable prognostic factors for OS (P=0.044;P=0.000).There were significant differences in incidence rates of grade 2 and 3 acute radiation esophagitis between the two groups (28% vs.16%, 9% vs.2%, P=0.009).Conclusions Both hyperfractionated radiotherapy and hypofractionated radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy can improve the PFS and OS of patients with limited-stage SCLC.The time from the initiation of chemotherapy to the initiation of thoracic radiotherapy ≤43 days and the time from the initiation of chemotherapy to the end of thoracic radiotherapy ≤63 days are favorable prognostic factors for PFS and OS, respectively.However, the hyperfractionated group has significantly higher incidence rates of grade 2 and 3 acute radiation esophagitis than the hypofractionated group.

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of prostate imaging reporting and data system version 1 (PI-RADS V1) and version 2 (PI-RADS V2) for detection of prostate cancer (PCa) in the transition zone (TZ).Methods Seventy-seven patients with suspicious lesions in TZ on mpMRI were scored according to the PI-RADS system (V1 and V2) before MR-TRUS fusion guided biopsy prospectively.In all of the patients with suspicious tumors,respectively at least one lesion with a PI-RADS V1 assessment category of ≥3,was selected for biopsy.Independent sample t test was used to compare scores of PI-RADS V1 and V2 between PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).The diagnostic performance of PI-RADS V 1 and V2 for detection of PCa in the transition zone was compared by analyzing ROC basing on the results of MR-TRUS fusion guided biopsy.Results A cohort of 77 patients was performed including 31 cases of PCa (32 cores) and 46 cases of BPH (51 cores).PCa (V1:1 1.50±2.79;V2:4.28±0.99) had significantly higher scores of both PI-RADS V1 and PI-RADS V2 than BPH(V1:7.51± 1.63;V2∶2.61 ±0.67) (P＜0.05).Using a PI-RADS V1 score cut-off ≥ 11,sensitivity and specificity in group PCa and BPH were calculated,which were 68.8％(22/32) and 96.1％(49/51) with a area under curve of 0.869;using a PI-RADS V2 score cut-off ≥4,which were 75.0％ (24/32) and 90.2％ (46/51) with a area under curve of 0.888,respectively.Conclusions PI-RADS system can indicate the likelihood of PCa of suspicious lesions in TZ on Mp-MRI.PI-RADS V2 perform better than V 1 for the assessment of prostate cancer in TZ.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between the exons 2 to 4 of the MICA gene and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODSBy PCR-SSOP, DNA samples from 56 AS patients and 112 random healthy individuals, as normal control were genotyped to analyse the polymorphism in exons 2, 3, 4 of the MICA alleles.

RESULTSMICA*008 was dominant in MICA allele,accounted for 32.14% and 30.36% in AS patients and normal controls respectively. The frequency of MICA*007 was significantly increased in AS patients, when compared with normal controls (chi-square=10.18, P<0.05, RR=2.50). No difference was found in the other MICA alleles. The haplotype analysis revealed that there were the strong linkage disequilibrium between MICA and HLA-B of AS patients, and normal controls. There was a difference in MICA*007-B27 between two groups (chi-square=18.46, P<0.05, RR=7.47). Both HLA-B27 and MICA*007 were strongly associated with AS. Stratified analysis showed that HLA-B27 was significantly relative to AS,while it was not found between MICA*007 and AS.

CONCLUSIONThe increased frequency of MICA alleles may be due to its strong linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B27.

Alleles ; Exons ; genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; HLA-B Antigens ; genetics ; HLA-B27 Antigen ; genetics ; Histocompatibility Antigens Class I ; genetics ; Humans ; Linkage Disequilibrium ; genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; genetics ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo develop a computer assisted CT scanning system for 3D dental cast measurement and to study its reliability.

METHODS20 dental stone casts were scanned by helical CT and captured a series digital sliced radiographs of them. The program which was developed by Visual C 6.0 language and run under the Windows surroundings rebuilt the 3D graphics and measured the coordinate of the dental cast. These dental casts were scanned and measured to test the reliability of the system, contrasting with manual measurement.

RESULTSThere was no significant difference between 3D CT scanning and manual measurement (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe system is a valuable computer assisted system for clinical diagnosis and treatment of malocclusion.

Dental Models ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Malocclusion ; Reproducibility of Results

Four main flavonoids of the Chinese medicine Rhododendri Daurici Folium were studied using the density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP method with 6-311 + + G (d, p) basis set．Their activities were analyzed based on molecular structure, bond dissociation energy (BDE) and the energy gap between HOMO and LUMO. As a result, the antioxidant ability order of the four flavonoids compounds is farrerol