Clinical features of 2 cases of ectopic ACTH syndrome with manifestation of severe hypercortisonism are described with the aim of exploring effective therapies.

Objective To review the concepts of three common scales assessing upper limbs function of children with cerebral palsy, namely Fine Motor Function Measure (FMFM), Melbourne Assessment 2 of Unilateral Upperlimb Function (MA2) and Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST), from the framework of Chinese version of International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health-Child and Youth Version (ICF-CY). Methods Concepts of each item from FMFM, MA2 and QUEST were extracted independently by a rehabilitation doctor and a therapist with professional experience more than three years, and then linked with ICF-CY category accord-ing to the linking rules. The distribution of concepts of each scale linking to ICF-CY categories was investigated. Results A total of 62 con-cepts were extracted from these three scales, and 403 linkages to various ICF-CY categories. Concepts from FMFM were the most linked with ICF-CY category among them, in which nearly two-thirds (134/204) concepts linked with the categories of Activity And Participation. Concepts from QUEST principally linked with the category of joint and arm-supporting in Body Function. Concepts from MA2 linked to category of cognition function which reflected motor accuracy 7 times and motor fluency 9 times (more than 50%of the total amount of link-ages). Conclusion FMFM mainly evaluates the activity and participation associated with upper limb function in children with cerebral palsy, and may be more applicable for younger children. MA2 mainly evaluates the accuracy and fluency of upperlimb movement. QUEST mainly evaluates body function especially the joint and supporting function of upper limbs.

Objective The study is intended to examine changes in prefrontal cortex ATP concentrations over time in PCPA induced insomnia rats,and to examine the intervention effects of Suanzaoren decoction.Methods SD rats randomly assigned to normal control,control,model,SZRD control,SZRD treatment,5-HTP,and 5 HTP + SZRD groups.PCPA was injected intraperitoneally over three days to induce the insomnia model.One day after induction,at the fourth,fifth,sixth,eighth,and tenth days after experiment,subjects from each group were examined for prefrontal cortex ATP concentration using the HPLC method.Results Prefrontal cortex ATP concentrations in the PCPA Model group at the fourth,fifth,sixth,eighth,and tenth days were declined significantly compared with the Control group (P＜0.01).Compared with the PCPA Model group,the SZRD treatment group showed significant (P＜0.05) increase at the fourth,fifth,sixth,and eighth days after assay,and a significant increase (P＜ 0.01) on the tenth day.A comparison of the Control group with the Normal control group,and a comparison among the SZRD control group,the 5 HTP,and 5-HTP+SZRD groups showed no significant differences in prefrontal cortex ATP concentrations.Conclusion SZRD with 5 HTP itself has no significant effect on normal rats prefrontal cortex ATP levels,SZRD role of the prefrontal cortex appear to the ATP after PCPA caused insomnia.

To investigate the effect of C/EBP βon the neuroinflammation.Recently,neuroinflamma-tion research mainly focused on C/EBP β,more and more researches indicated that C/EBP βmay play an important role in neurodegenerative diseases.We searched the published papers in PubMed,CNKI,and Wan Fang date bases in June 2015.The key words were used asCCAAT enhancer binding protein beta,Neu-ron,Neuroinflammationand so on.According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we summaried and analyzed the literatures.Eventually,42 articles were adapted,most of which were foused on the functions and mechanisms of C/EBP βin neuroinflammation.C/EBP βparticipate in multiple signaling pathways of neu-roinflammation,and the regulation mechanism is complicated.Abrogation of C/EBPβexpression or its down-regulation by gene regulation may may serve as a therapeutic target to attenuate deleterious effects in neural tissue and ultimately prevent the development of neurodegenerative disorders.

To investigate whether glutamate and voltage-gated calcium channels-independent calcium influx exists during acute anoxic neuronal damage and its possible relationship to neuronal protective function of NGF. In in vitro model of acute anoxia, hippocampal cultures from newborn rats were exposed to 3 mmol/L KCN. Changes of intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) were monitored by con-focal imaging and cell viability was assayed by PI and cFDA staining. The results showed that after treatment with primary hippocampal cultures with 3 mmol/L KCN for 15 min, [Ca(2+)](i) was significantly increased 6.27-fold compared to pre-anoxia level and 73.3% of the cells died. When combination of 20 mumol/L MK-801 (glutamate receptor antagonist), 40 mumol/L CNQX (AMPA receptor antagonist) and 5 mumol/L nimodipine (voltage-gated calcium channel antagonist) (hereafter denoted as MCN) were administrated to hippocampal cultures, levels of [Ca(2+)](i) and cell death rate induced by KCN were partially reduced by 35.9% and 47.5% respectively. However, Gd(3+) (10 mumol/L) almost completely blocked KCN-mediated [Ca(2+)](i) elevation by 81.9% and reduced neuronal death by 88.8% in the presence of MCN. It is noteworthy that NGF, used in combination with MCN, inhibited KCN-induced [Ca(2+)](i) increase by 77.4% and reduced cell death by 87.1%. Only PLC inhibitor U73122 (10 mumol/L) abolished NGF effects. It is concluded that Gd(3+)-sensitive calcium influx, which is NMDA (glutamate receptor) and voltage-gated calcium channels-independent, is responsible for acute anoxic neuronal death. NGF can inhibit Gd(3+)-sensitive calcium influx and reduce anoxic neuronal death through activating PLC pathway.

Adenoma, Acidophil ; metabolism ; Adult ; Angiomyolipoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; metabolism ; Codon ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Exons ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gene Deletion ; Genes, p53 ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Melanoma-Specific Antigens ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 ; genetics ; metabolism

Anticoagulants ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Coagulants ; blood ; Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; blood ; drug therapy ; Signal Transduction ; Thromboplastin

Child ; Humans ; Lymphoma, T-Cell ; complications ; Panniculitis ; etiology ; Subcutaneous Tissue

Humans ; Infant ; Lead Poisoning, Nervous System, Childhood ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Male

OBJECTIVETo identify the Cynomorii Herba and its analogues species using DNA barcoding technique.

METHODTotal genomic DNA extracted from all materials using the DNA extraction kit. The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) regions were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and purified PCR products were sequenced bi-directionally. Sequence assembly and consensus sequence generation were performed using the CodonCode Aligner 3.7.1. The Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) distances and GC content were computed using MEGA 5. 0. Species identification analyses were conducted through the species identification system for traditional Chinese medicine and neighbor-joining (NJ) trees.

RESULTThe ITS2 sequence lengths of Cynomorii Herba were 229 bp. The average intra-specific genetic distances of Cynomorii Herba were 0.003. The average inter-specific genetic distances between Cynomorii Herba and its adulterants species were 0.760. The results showed that the minimum inter-specific divergence is larger than the maximum intra-specific divergence. The species identification system for traditional Chinese medicine and NJ trees results indicated that Cynomorii Herba and its adulterants species can be easily identification.

CONCLUSIONThe ITS2 region is an efficient barcode for identification of Cynomorii Herba, which provide a new technique to ensure clinical safety in utilization of traditional Chinese medicine.