Objective: To investigate the differences of biochemical markers between the patients with pulmonary hypertension related to left heart disease (PH-LHD) and LHD; to explore the sensitive bio markers which may predict PH in LHD patients. Methods: A total of 355 LHD patients admitted to our hospital from 2014-01 to 2015-05 were enrolled. According to 2009 ESC/ERS guidelines, PH was deifned by pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP)>50 mmHg and patients were divided into 2 groups: LHD group,n=224 and PH-LHD group,n=131. The basic information with blood levels of biomarkers was recorded and their accuracy for predicting PH was analyzed. Results: The pathogenesis of LHD included 184 (51.83%) patients of coronary heart disease, 90 (25.35%) of dilated cardiomyopathy and 81 (22.81%) of cardiac valve heart disease. Compared with LHD group, PH-LHD group had increased ratio of NYHA III and IV degree (89.31% vs 45.54%), decreased LVEF [42.0 (33.0, 59.0) % vs 60.0 (42.0, 65.0) %], all P<0.001; PH-LHD group presented elevated blood levels of BNP, bilirubin, red cell distribution width (RDW), uric acid and cystatin C, while reduced lipoprotein (HDL), allP<0.001. PASP was positively related to biomarkers as BNP, bilirubin, RDW, uric acid and cystatin C, while negatively related to HDL. With the combination of BNP, direct bilirubin and RDW, the predictive value for PH-LHD under ROC curve was 0.828 with the sensitivity at 0.813, speciifcity at 0.708. Conclusion: Blood levels of biochemical markers were statistically different between the patients of PH-LHD and LHD; the combination of BNP, direct bilirubin and RDW showed the higher accuracy for predicting PH occurrence in LHD patients.

Objective To select an optimal non-specific antigen blocking method by using immuno-infiltration assay so as to suit protein chip preparation. Methods Human papillomavirus type 16 L1 protein expressed by insect-baculovirus espressin system was incubated with skimmed milk powder, calf serum, bovine serum albumin (BSA) combinations of five kinds of methods to block the non-specific antigen. PBS was used as control. The effect of eliminating non-specific stain was detected by immuno-infiltration assay. Results After repeated tests, the results showed that the stability and repeatability of blocking effects were poor for the fixing up antigen first and then blocking method, and the blank control was prone to false positive. The infiltration rate of NC membrane would be affected by using skimmed milk powder as a blocking agent because the pore of NC membrane was easily plugged by milk powder particles. The use of calf serum as a blocking agent made it very difficult to determine the result because the calf serum absorbed by NC membrane produced the background; however, when 20g/L BSA was used to blocking before fixing up antibody, the results became satisfactory. Conclusion Fixing up antibody after blocking in immuno-infiltration assay showed that the blocking effect against non-specific antigen was satisfactory, stable and repeatable, indicating this method is a novel optimal blocking method compared with others.

As a treasure resource of novel drug lead compounds, how to rapidly and high-efficiently screen and isolate active components from natural products is critical. Thanks to its high resolution, high automation and flexible integration, online two-dimensional liquid chromatography has great potential for screening active ingredients from complex matrices by integrating a highly specific bio-recognition process into a two-dimensional liquid chromatography system before, on or after the column separation. This review comprehensively summarized recent developments, applications and shortcomings of online two-dimensional liquid chromatography for natural product screening from different integration modes, including pre-column, on-column and post-column screening methods.

0.05 ). It is indicated that both eight extra-meridians acupuncture therapy and Jin Sanzhen therapy can improve intelligence index of VD, and the possible mechanism is related to the regulation of central nervous system function, elimination of SOD and reduction of NE and NO secretion.

AIM: To investigate the effect of venous marker chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor Ⅱ (COUP-TFⅡ) expression on vascular endothelial cell senescence and its molecular mechanism.METHODS: The mRNA expression of COUP-TFⅡ in the human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCAEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was detected by RT-qPCR.After transfection with a COUP-TFⅡ siRNA (siCOUP-TFⅡ) to inhibit COUP-TFⅡ expression in the HUVEC, the senescence and proliferation of endothelial cells were evaluated by β-galactosidase staining, Western blot, CCK-8 assay and cell counting after treatment with 10-5 mol/L angiotensin Ⅱ (AngⅡ).The protein levels of Akt and p-Akt were determined by Western blot.RESULTS: Compared with the HCAEC, COUP-TFⅡ was significantly highly expressed in the HUVEC.Knockdown of COUP-TFⅡ via siCOUP-TFⅡ significantly induced endothelial cell senescence and inhibited endothelial cell proliferation and p-Akt level after treatment with AngⅡ at 10-5 mol/L.Furthermore, an Akt activator SC79 at 4 mg/L partly reversed the effect of siCOUP-TFⅡ on AngⅡ-induced endothelial cell senescence and proliferation.CONCLUSION: Knockdown of COUP-TFⅡ promotes endothelial cell senescence and inhibits endothelial cell proliferation, which might be partly regulated by Akt signaling.

Objective To investigate the correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)value of MR diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)and Ki-67 expression in rectal cancer.Methods The data of 47 patients with rectal cancer confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed.Pelvic MRI,rectum DWI and enhanced examination were performed preoperatively.According to the Ki-67 index,the patients were divided into A-D four Groups:Group A with Ki-67 <10% (-),Group B with Ki-67 10%-25%(+),Group C with Ki-67 26%-50%(++);and Group D Ki-67 > 50%(+++).ADC values were calculated in each group to analyze the correlation with the Ki-67 expression levels.Results The mean ADC value were (1.280 ± 0.200 )× 10 -3 mm2/s in Group A (13 cases),(1.044±0.046)×10 -3 mm2/s in Group B (14 cases),(0.987 ±0.256)×10 -3 mm2/s in Group C (9 cases), and (0.85 1±0.099)×10 -3 mm2/s in Group D (1 1 cases).The mean ADC values were significantly different in the different groups with different levels of Ki-67 expression (P =0.001).ADC value and Ki-67 expression were moderate negatively correlated (r = -0.577, P=0.000).Conclusion DWI and ADC measurement can evaluate indirectly the cell proliferation and prognosis of rectal tumor to some extent.

The general characteristics, outcomes and risk factors of the patients with aortic dissection (AD) were evaluated in a single medical center. From January 2002 to December 2008, 284 patients with AD were treated and followed-up at our institution, including 105 cases of type A AD and 179 cases of type B AD. The patients in each type were divided into three groups according to management: medical treatment group (A or B), open surgery group (A or B), and stent-graft group (A or B). The characteristics and follow-up outcomes were compared between the groups or subgroups. The results showed that there was significant difference in the prognosis for type A AD between medical treatment group and open surgery group, but there was no significant difference in the prognosis for type B AD between medical treatment group and stent-graft group. Independent risk factors of follow-up mortality for patients with type A AD included a history of atherosclerosis (HR, 3.807; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.489 to 7.611; P=0.003), in-hospital hypotension/shock (HR, 4.687; 95% CI, 1.846 to 11.900; P=0.001), in-hospital myocardial ischemia or infarction (HR, 3.734; 95% CI, 1.613 to 8.643; P=0.002), pleural effusion (HR, 2.210; 95% CI, 1.080 to 4.521; P=0.030), branch vessel involvement (HR, 2.747; 95% CI, 1.202 to 6.278; P=0.016) and surgical treatment (HR, 0.177; 95% CI, 0.063 to 0.502; P=0.001). And there were insignificant independent predictors for mortality of the patients with type B AD. It was concluded that there were significant differences in characteristics and one year mortality between type A AD and type B AD, but after one year, there was no significant difference in the mortality and complications of them. There were several discordant risk factors of AD, such as female gender, age, thrombus, abrupt onset of pain that were considered as the risk factors in some papers. And there was no definite risk factor of mortality in this study in the patients with type B AD.

Objective To investigate the correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC)of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)and prognostic factors in rectal cancer.Methods 5 5 patients with rectal cancer were confirmed pathologically.Conventional pelvic MRI and DWI examination were performed,and the mean ADC values of tumor were measured preoperatively.The patients were divided into two groups with or without lymph node metastasis,and were also divided into four groups with negative,weakly positive,positive or strongly positive expression of EGFR in rectal cancer.The ADC values were calculated in each group,and the correlation of ADC values with the lymph node status and EGFR expression classification were analyzed.Results In 5 5 patients with colorectal cancer,there were 13 lesions with lymph node metastasis and the positive expression rate of EGFR was 67.2%.There were no significant difference in mean ADC value between the groups with and without lymph node metastasis (P=0.342).The number of lesions with negative,weakly positive,positive and strongly positive EGFR expression were 18,15,12 and 10.The difference in the mean ADC values among negative,weakly positive,positive and strongly positive expression groups of prognostic factor EGFR was not significantly different (P=0.412).There were also no correlations in the prognostic factors mentioned above (r=0.183 and -0.324,all P>0.05).Conclusion The ADC value can not be used to predict the prognosis and to provide more valu-able information for individualized therapy in patients with rectal carcinoma,which needs further studiy in the future.

Objective To investigate the association of MRI features with HER-2 expression in non-mass-like breast carcinoma. Methods 74 patients with breast cancers diagnosed by pathology underwent MRI prior to surgery,and all lesions were non-mass-like enhancement on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI.The expression of HER-2 in tumor tissue was detected by immunohistochemical staining.Chi-square test,Fisher’s exact test and spearman rank correlation were used to evaluate the correlations between the morphological characteristics, dynamic enhanced MR parameters,ADC value and HER-2 expression.Results The tumor size was correlated positively with the expression degree of HER-2 (r=0.341,P =0.003).The ADC value was also correlated positively with the positive expression degree of HER-2 (r=0.31 7,P =0.006).However,the time to peak was correlated negatively with that (r =-0.244,P =0.036).No significant correlations between the distribution/internal enhancement manner,the type of time signal intensity curve and HER-2 expression were found (all P >0.05).Conclusion Tumor size,time to peak and ADC value are correlated with the expression of HER-2 in non-mass-like breast carcinoma,which is helpful for the treatment plan and prognosis evaluation for this cancer.

OBJECTIVETo develop directly molecular evolution of nitrite oxido-reductase using DNA-shuffling technique because nitrobacteria grow extremely slow and are unable to nitrify effectively inorganic nitrogen in wastewater treatment.

METHODSThe norB gene coding the ndtrite oxido-reductase in nitrobacteria was cloned and sequenced. Then, directed molecular evolution of nitrite oxido-reductase was developed by DNA-shuffling of 15 norB genes from different nitrobacteria.

RESULTSAfter DNA-shuffling with sexual PCR and staggered extension process PCR, the sequence was different from its parental DNA fragments and the homology ranged from 98% to 99%. The maximum nitrification rate of the modified bacterium of X16 by DNA-shuffling was up to 42.9 mg/L x d, which was almost 10 times higher than that of its parental bacteria. Furthermore, the modified bacterium had the same characteristics of its parental bacteria of E. coli and could grow rapidly in normal cultures.

CONCLUSIONDNA-shuffling was successfully used to engineer E. coli, which had norB gene and could degrade inorganic nitrogen effectively.

Cloning, Molecular ; DNA Shuffling ; Deltaproteobacteria ; enzymology ; genetics ; Directed Molecular Evolution ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Gammaproteobacteria ; enzymology ; genetics ; Nitrite Reductases ; chemistry ; genetics ; Nitrogen ; metabolism ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Analysis, DNA