Objective To evaluate the use of ductography.Method A review of 51 patients with presenting complaints of nipple discharge from January 1998 to May 2000 was conducted. Pathology and ductograms were reviewed.Result Ductography had a definite value in the diagnosis of nipple discharge, the sensitiveity was 84.3%.Conclusion Ductography had value to locate and identify leisions, especially multiple leisions and leisions in the periphery of the breast, but it did not exclude pathology.

Autophagy is a cellular catabolic pathway that is essential for survival,differentiation,development and homeostasis.The dual roles of autophagy as a tumor-promoting mechanism and a tumor suppressor mechanism have been elucidated in the recent cancer research.The double function is accomplished by some neoplasms-associated signaling pathways which include mTOR-dependent signaling pathway,Beclin1 network,LKB1-AMPK signaling pathway,p53 and p53-related regulators of autophagy.Thus it can be seen that these signaling pathways function dependently and correlatively as inducing and inhibiting autophagy and play different roles in the process that involves growth and development of neoplasms.

Objective To investigate the clinicial significance of continuous glucose monitoring(CGM)of patients with severe traumatic brain injury(sTBI). Methods By glucose monitoring method,80 patients with sTBI〔Glasgow coma score(GCS)3-8〕in Department of Critical Care Medicine of Qingyuan People's Hospital in Guangdong Province from January 2012 to December 2012 were divided into two groups:41 patients in CGM group and 39 in regular glucose monitoring(RGM)group. The continuous glucose monitoring system(CGMS)was applied to monitor glucose level in the CGM group,and the finger blood was taken by portable blood glucose meter in the RGM group. The two groups were treated with insulin on the basis of glucose level,respectively. The relationships between the condition of glycemic excursions and the acute physiology and chronic health evaluationⅡ(APACHEⅡ)score or prognosis and between the incidence of hypoglycemia and prognosis were seen in the two groups. Results The close linear correlations between APACHEⅡ score and glycemic excursion in two groups,i.e. mean amplitude of glycemic excursions(MAGE)and coefficient of variation of glucose(GluCV),were documented(both P<0.05). The MAGE of the especially severe patients(GCS 3-5)was obviously higher than that of severe ones(GCS 6-8),and with the increase of APACHEⅡ score,the MAGE of patients was gradually elevated,the difference being statistically significant(both P<0.05). The incidence of hypoglycemia(7.32%vs. 23.08%)and fatality rate of 30 days(12.20%vs. 30.77%)in CGM group were lower than those of RGM group(both P<0.05). The MAGE and fatality rate of 30 days were positively correlated in CGM group(r=0.597,P=0.007),and the GLuCV and fatality rate of 30 days were positively correlated in RGM group(r=0.622,P=0.019). Conclusion CGM is beneficial to timely observe condition of glycemic excursions in sTBI patients and avoid occurrence of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia,guiding the treatment of insulin and improving patients' prognosis.

Objective To investigate the protective effect of taurine on HK-2 cells exposed to oxalate (Ox) and calcium oxalate monohydrate crystal (COM) in vivo.Methods HK-2 cells,a proximal tubular epithelial cell line,were cultured.Five groups were divided in this study:control group (only HK-2 cells) ; Ox and COM group (HK-2 cells + Ox + COM) ; Taurine group (HK-2 cells + Ox + COM + Taurine) ; Apocynin group (HK-2 cells + Ox + COM + Apocynin) ; Catalase group (HK-2 cells + Ox + COM +Catalase).After 6 hrs,the cultures medias from each group were tested for LDH,H2O2,8-isoprostane,and MCP-1 protein.Cellular expression of MCP-1 mRNA and P47phox mRNA were determined by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.After 24 hrs,cells livability was investigated by MTT.Results Compared with the control,cells livability was reduced when exposed to Ox and COM (P ＜ 0.05),Treatment with Taurine,Apocynin and Catalase significantly increased the cells livability (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with the control,the expression of LDH,H2O2,8-isoprostane,and cellular expression of MCP-1 mRNA and P47phox mRNA were increased following exposure to Ox and COM (P＜0.01,P＜0.01,P＜0.01,P＜0.01,P ＜0.05).Treatment with Taurine,Apocynin and Catalase significantly reduced the expression of LDH,H2O2,8-isoprostane,as well as the cellular expression of MCP-1 mRNA.Expression of P47phox mRNA in Taurine group was not reduced significantly (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions This study showed that Taurine protected the HK-2 cells from oxidative injury exposed to Ox and COM by the pathway that may not be in relation to the inhibition of P47phox mRNA expression.

Magnetic resonance (MR) images can be used to detect lesions in the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). An automatic method is presented for segmentation of MS lesions using multispectral MR images in this paper. Firstly, a Pd-w image is subtracted from its corresponding T1-w images to get an image in which the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) is enhanced. Secondly, based on kernel fuzzy c-means clustering (KFCM) algorithm, the enhanced image and the corresponding T2-w image are segmented respectively to extract the CSF region and the CSF-MS lesions combinatoin region. A raw MS lesions image is obtained by subtracting the CSF region from CSF-MS region. Thirdly, based on applying median filter and thresholding to the raw image, the MS lesions were detected finally. Results were tested on BrainWeb images and evaluated with Dice similarity coefficient (DSC), sensitivity (Sens), specificity (Spec) and accuracy (Acc). The testing results were satisfactory.
Algorithms ; Brain ; pathology ; Humans ; Image Enhancement ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Multiple Sclerosis ; diagnosis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

AIM:To investigate the autophagy induced by sepsis and acute kidney injury , and the regulation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway in this process.METHODS: The rats were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture ( CLP) or sham operation .Histopathologic changes of the renal tissues were examined by HE staining .Blood urea nitrogen ( BUN) and serum creatinine ( SCr) were measured by chemical colorime-try.The protein expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 I/II (LC3 I/II), beclin-1 and p-Akt at different time points after CLP was detected by Western blotting .In vitro, human proximal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 were treated with LPS to induce autophagy .The protein expression of LC 3 I/II and p-Akt in the HK-2 cells after LPS treatment at different time points and different concentrations was detected by Western blotting .These molecules in HK-2 cells and apoptosis of HK-2 cells treated with LPS plus PI3K inhibitor or Akt inhibitor were also detected .RESULTS: Compared with sham group , the severe changes of renal histopathological injuries in CLP groups were observed , the levels of BUN and SCr in CLP groups were significantly increased .LC3 I/II, beclin-1 and phosphorylation of Akt gradually increased after CLP.After treatment with LPS, the expression of p-Akt (308) in the HK-2 cells gradually increased in a dose-and time-dependent fashion.The expression of beclin-1 and p-Akt (472) reached a peak at 8 h or 10 mg/L LPS treatment.Treat-ment with PI3K or Akt inhibitor down-regulated the expression of LC3 and promoted the apoptosis of HK-2 cells.CON-CLUSION:Autophagy in the kidney is induced by sepsis and acute kidney injury .PI3/Akt signaling pathway may be in-volved in this process .

Background It has not been reported that if the visual cortex M receptor changed during the development of myopia and how it changed if given acupuncture treatment.Objective The aim of this study was to observe the effect of electroacupuncture stimulation on the expression of acetylcholine receptors M1 (AchRM1) in visual cortex of guinea with lens-induced myopia (LIM).Methods Forty-eight three-week-old healthy guinea pigs were randomized into the normal control group,the LIM model group and the LIM electroacupuncture group.The right eyes of the guinea pigs were selected as the experimental eyes.LIM was created by monocularly wearing of-10 D lens for 4 weeks in the right eyes in the LIM model group and LIM electroacupuncture group,and then the acupuncture at the temple and hegu point was performed for 30 minutes per day for consequent 4 weeks,in the LIM electroacupuncture group.The fellow eyes of the guinea pigs were used as the self-control eyes.The refractive power and axial length were examined with retinoscopy and A-type sonography before and 4 weeks after modeling,respectively.The animals were sacrificed by excessive anesthesia at the fourth week after acupuncture and visual vertex tissue was obtained.The expression of M1 receptor mRNA in visual vertex was detected by fluorescence quantitative PCR,and the content of M1 receptor protein in visual vertex was assyed by ELISA.The study protocal was approved by Animal Ethic Committee of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,and the use and care complied with Statement of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.Results At the fourth week after modeling,the mean diopters were (-3.24±0.28) D and (-3.30±0.45) D in the LIM model group and the LIM eleetroacupuncture group,which were significantly higher than (0.83 ±0.86)D in the normal control group (both at P=0.000),and there was no significant difference in the diopter between the LIM model group and the LIM electroacupuncture group (t =0.200,P =0.659).The mean axial lengths were (8.67 ±0.14) mm and (8.60±0.06) mm in the LIM model group and the LIM electroacupuncture group,which were considerably increased in comparison with (8.33±0.08)mm in the normal control group (both at P＜0.05).The relative expression levels of AchRM1 mRNA in visual cortex were 0.79±0.18,1.36±0.23 and 1.13±0.13 in the normal control group,LIM model group and LIM electroacupuncture group,and the relative expression level of AchRM1 mRNA in the LIM electroacupuncture group was significantly higher than that of the normal control group and lower than that of the LIM model group (both at P＜0.05).In addition,the contents of AchRM1 receptor protein in the visual cortex were 248.00±33.31,455.17±42.40 and 396.17±47.57 in the normal control group,LIM model group and the LIM electroacupuncture group,with a similar pattern among the groups (both at P＜0.05).Conclusions A electroacupuncture stimmulation do not affect the myopic diopter and axial length in LIM model.The AchRM1 and AchRM1 receptor in the visual cortex up-regulate in LIM eyes,infering that electroacupuncture stimmulation can improve vision by decreasing the level of AchRM1 receptor in visual cortex in LIM eyes in guinea pigs.

Objective To investigate the effect of hypercapnia on hypoxic-ischemic brain injury in rats.Methods Forty-eight adult male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham group (group S), hypoxic ischemic group (group HI) and hypercapnia group (group HP), n=16 in each group.Levine`s model was used to cause hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.In group S, the left common carotid artery was separated without ligation for 1 h, then ventilation with air maintaining the normal levels of PaO2 and PaCO2 for 3 h.In group HI, the left common carotid artery was separated and ligated for 1 h, PaO2 was maintained at 30-49 mm Hg by ventilating with low concentration (11%-13%) O2 for 3 hours.Based on group HI, PaCO2 in group HP was maintain at 60-80 mm Hg by inhalation of mixture gas containing (11%-13%) O2-8%CO2-N2 for 3 hours.FITC-dextran was used to measure the permeability of blood-brain barrier, TUNEL staining were used to observe the changes in the structure of the cerebral cortex.The expressions of aquaporin AQP4 and RECA-1 in cerebral cortex were detected by immunofluorescence and western blot.Results The level of brain water content, permeability of blood brain barrier and AQP4 expression were significantly increased in group HP as compared with group S and group HI (P<0.05).The histopathologic damage,as well as neuronal apoptotic index were aggravated in group HP as compared with group HI (P<0.05).Conclusion Hypercapnia may aggravate the brain damage during severe hypoxic-ischemic brain injury.This may associate with the increased expression AQP4 and the damage of blood-brain barrier.

Objective To evaluate diagnosis and surgical treatment of carotid body tumors.Methods It was retrospectively reviewed that the diagnostic approaches, surgical operation methods and its related complications in 70 carotid body tumor cases treated in our hospital from May 1986 to May 2008.Results Diagnosis was established by computer tomography angiography (CTA) or magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Surgical excision was successfully performed in 63 cases with 72 tumours. There were no postoperative deaths. Two cases developed hemiplegia following surgery. Temporary cranial nerve palsy occurred in 17 cases while permanent nerve palsy occurred in 4 cases. Sixty-two cases were followed-up from 6 months to 5 years. There were no deaths in operative cases, with local tumor recurrence in 2 cases and 3 cases died due to remote metastasis. Conclusion CTA or MRA is sufficient for the diagnosis and preoperative assessment of carotid body tumor and its related structures. Surgical modality should be adjusted according to the relationship between the tumor and the carotid artery. Full exposure of the surgical area,careful control of intraoperative bleeding and persistent maintainance of blood flow to the brain are important measures for successful surgery.

Adult ; Air Pollutants, Occupational ; analysis ; Dust ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Occupational Exposure ; adverse effects ; Occupational Health ; Welding ; Young Adult