Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features and the magnetic resonance imaging of brain of children with Japanese encephalitis (JE) and whether this relationship can be used in early diagnosis.MethodsMRI was performed in 145 children with JE.T1-weighted,T2-weighted and FLAIR of brain were obtained in 98 patients with 0.35 T MRI system and conventional MRI and DWI were performed in 47 patients with 1.5 T MRI system.The position,range and MRI features were analyzed.ResultsMR imaging studies of 106 patients showed hyperintensity in the thalamic with 87 patients involved the caudex cerebri,as seen on T2-weighted images.The lesions were also seen in basal ganglia (32 cases),cerebral cortex (43 cases),cerebellum (2 cases),and white matter (15 cases).Lesions showed high intensity signal on T2WI and T2-FLAIR,and iso- or low intensity on T1WI.The number of the lesions in FLAIR were more than T2WI.The positive rate on 1.5 T MRI (87.2%) was higher than that on 0.35 T MRI(66.3%,χ2＝7.06,P＜0.01).ConclusionsMultiple brain tissues can be involved and the thalamic and the caudex cerebri involvement are the conspicuous characteristics in children with JE.T2-FLAIR and DWI are helpful in the early diagnosis of JE.

OBJECTIVEWe used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the effects of noxious coldness and non-noxious warmth on the magnitude of cerebral cortex activation during intraoral stimulation with water.

METHODSSix male and female subjects were subjected to whole-brain fMRI during the phasic delivery of non-noxious hot (23 °C) and no- xious cold (4 °C) water intraoral stimulation. A block-design blood oxygenation level-dependent fMRI scan covering the entire brain was also carried out.

RESULTSThe activated cortical areas were as follows: left pre-/post-central gyrus, insula/operculum, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbital frontal cortex (OFC), midbrain red nucleus, and thalamus. The activated cortical areas under cold condition were as follows: left occipital lobe, premotor cortex/Brodmann area (BA) 6, right motor language area BA44, lingual gyrus, parietal lobule (BA7, 40), and primary somatosensory cortex S I. Comparisons of the regional cerebral blood flow response magnitude were made among stereotactically concordant brain regions that showed significant responses under the two conditions of this study. Compared with non-noxious warmth, more regions were activated in noxious coldness, and the magnitude of activation in areas produced after non-noxious warm stimulation significantly increased. However, ACC only significantly increased the magnitude of activation under noxious coldness stimulation.

CONCLUSIONResults suggested that a similar network of regions was activated common to the perception of pain and no-pain produced by either non-noxious warmth or noxious coldness stimulation. Non-noxious warmth also activated more brain regions and significantly increased the response magnitude of cerebral-cortex activation compared with noxious coldness. Noxious coldness stimulation further significantly increased the magnitude of activation in ACC areas compared with noxious warmth.

From the perspective of compound type,the bioactive metobolites from Gliocladium are reviewed,and the research advancement in future are proposed.

Objective To study the possible relationships between expression of matrix metalloproteinase(MMP)2,9 and the pathogenesis of preeclampsia in which trophoblast invasion is impaired. Methods MMP-2,9 expression were detected by immunohistochemistry streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC)method in 20 normal term placentae and 20 preeclampsia placentae,respectively.In addition, mRNAs for MMP-2,9 were analyzed by real time PCR in both groups.Results The intensities of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 immunostaining in preeclampsia placentae were significantly declined compared to those of normal term placentae(P

Objective To test the hypothesis that homocysteine can decrease MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression in cultured trophoblasts of early pregnancy and that homocysteine can prevent trophoblasts invasion in the early stage of preeclampsia.Methods Cytotrophoblasts from early pregnancy were isolated and cultured.Trophoblasts were treated with or without Hcy(1 mmol/L)for 48 hour,and real time RT-PCR and gelatin zymography were used to quantify the mRNA and protease activity of MMP-2,-9.Results Treatment with Hcy(1 mmol/L)induced a decrease in MMP-2 mRNA by 21% and MMP-9 mRNA by 11%.At protein level MMP-2 expression decreased 14% and MMP-9 expression decreased 52% compared with control.Conclusions Homocysteine can decrease MMP-2,-9 expression in trophoblasts of early pregnancy and influence its invasion process.

Objective To explore the patterns of motor and linguistic activation in cortical and its correlations with abnormal gray matter in patients with malformations of cortical development(MCD)and epilepsy.Methods Seven MCD patients with epilepsy(2 patients with focal cortical dysplasia,2 heterotopia,2 schizencephaly,and 1 polymicrogyria)underwent blood-oxygen-level-dependent(BOLD)functional MRI(fMRI)in a 3 T MR scanner when practicing bilateral fingers tapping,toes twisting,verb generation,and picture naming.Functional images were post-processed by using SPM 5 software based on a general linear model(GLM)to generate activations above a uniform threshold with the cluster size (≥30 voxels,P ＜0.001 corrected).The activations were recognized and classified by two experienced neuroradiologists,and then compared with that in abnormal gray matter.Results The clusters and intensities of motor activations were mainly located in the sensormotor cortex(SMC)and premotor area (PMA).In linguistic tasks,activations produced by verb generation were found in language-associated cortical regions and PMA with higher activation in Wemicke area,picture naming significantly in the visual cortex,and language in Broca area.Combination of the two linguistic tasks produced significant clusters and intensities in language cortex.For MCD patients with abnormal cortical abnormalities,motor and language task could produce neuronal activities within normal as well as abnormal cortex regions.In 6 patients who underwent resective surgery,epileptic seizures decreased significantly,and the follow-up images demonstrated no new neurological dysfunctions and cognitive impairments.Conclusions fMRI can visualize neuronal activities in patients with MCD and epilepsy and demonstrate the motor and linguistic activations occurring in normal and abnormal gray matter.It should be cautious for surgery in patient with MCD and epilepsy.

The expressions of estrogen receptor (ER) α,ERβ1,and ERβ2 in thyroid carcinoma,thyroid adenoma,and adjacent normal thyroid tissue were determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry,and the relationship of expression levels of three ERs and the main clinical pathologic parameters were evaluated.The result showed that ERα mRNA expression in papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC) tissues was significantly higher than adjacent normal tissue,while,ERβ2 mRNA expression in PTC tissues was significantly lower than normal tissue ( P＜0.05 ).The positive expression of ERβ1 and ERβ2 in the thyroid carcinoma was related with the histological variant of carcinomas; the ERβ2 expressions were related with the lymph node metastasis and TNM staging of the carcinomas.These results suggest that the decreased ERβ2 expression may induce proliferation and carcinogenesis of thyroid follicular epithelial cells as well as progression of the carcinoma,and is a powerful prognostic indicator.

Burnout, Professional ; Humans

ObjectiveTo analyze the characteristics of left ventricular (LV) twist and discuss the relationship between LV ejection fraction (LVEF) and LV twist in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI).MethodsForty-six patients with CKD and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. After conventional echocardiography, LV end-diastolic volume (LVEDV) and LV end-systolic volume (LVESV) were measured by Biplane Simpson method and the LVEF was calculated. And relevant parameters of LV rotation and twist were measured by speckle tracking imaging. Correlation analysis of LVEDV, LVESV and LV peak rotation and twist were analyzed respectively. ResultsCompared with the control group, LV peak twist and the apical rotation were decreased in CKD patients, which was statistically significant (t=0.002 and 0.020, bothP<0.05). The inferior wall and posterior intermediate septum of basal segment were significantly decreased (t=0.044 and 0.041, both P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis revealed LV apical peak rotation had a relationship with LVEDV and LVESV (r= 0.355 and 0.409, bothP<0.01).Conclusion2D-STI is an practical noninvasive method which can analyze LV twist accurately and recognize LV systolic dysfunction of CKD patients sensitively.

Objective To observe the influence of taurine supplementation during early postnatal life on body weight and ultrastructure of islet ? cells in neonatal rats with low birth weight(LBW).Methods LBW neonatal rats were made by feeding 20%(C group) or 10%(R group) protein diet to fetal rats during gestation and lactation.Half of femal rats in group R were given a supplementation with 2.5% taurine drinking water(RT group) only during lactation,while other femal rats freely drunk.At postnatal day 1 and 21,the neonatal rats were weighted and their pancreas were removed.The ultrastructural changes of ? cells were observed by electron microscopy.Results At postnatal 21 days,the body weight of offsprings in group RT was significantly highter than that in group R(P=0.003);and the ultrastructure of ? cells in group RT got more improvement than that in group R.Conclusion Taurine supplementation can improve the growth-catch-up and the ultrastructure of islet ? cells of neonateal rats with LBW.