BACKGROUND: The augmenter of liver regeneration (ALR) is a kind of important secondary liver regeneration factors, and it can particularity promote the liver regeneration. OBJECTIVE: To clone the RNA extracted from neonatal rat liver to ALR gene, and to analyze the gene using the bioinformatics. DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: The study, gene molecule in vitro experiment, was performed at the Laboratory of Neurobiology, College of Life Science of Henan University between March 2008 and May 2008. MATERIALS: The liver tissues were harvested from 3-day-old Wistar rat of SPF grade. METHODS: Total RNA was exacted from rat liver tissues using guanidinium isothiocyanate-phenol-chloroform extraction method. According to the guideline of molecular biology experiment, the target fragment was amplified using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Alter purified, the target gene was recovered with gel recovery kit and subcloned to pGEM-T easy, and then was transformed to E.coli. The extracted piasmid was sequenced by Shanghai Sangon Biological Engineering Technology And Service Co., Ltd. The sequence was analyzed with molecular biological software. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Polymerase chain reaction amplification band; analysis of gene sequence; sedne, threonine and tyrosine phosphorylation predictions; phytogenetic analysis of ALR. RESULTS: The potymerase chain reaction product was in concordance with target fragment. The analysis of the gene sequence proved it is the ALR gene. The overall length of the ALR gene was 378 bp, it was highly conservative in many species, for instance the Homo sapiens, the Mus musculus, the Bos Taurus and the Danio redo. CONCLUSION: In this experiment, we have cloned the ALR gene successfully.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and toxicity of chemoradiation of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer by intensity modulated irradiation combined with pemetrexed and cisplatin. Methods Fourty-two patients presented with Ⅲ - stage non-small cell lung cancer(Ⅲ、 25 patients, ⅢB 17 patients)received concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Intensity modulated irradiation technique was used to the total dose of 66 Gy and concurrent chemotherapy consisted of pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 on Day 1 and cisplatin 75 mg/m2 on Day 1 by intravenous infusion once every 3 weeks at the initiation of radiation.Patients received 4 cycles of chemotherapy. Results Thirty-four patients finished the whole of therapeutic schedule. And 2 patients received radiation with total dose of 54 Gy, 2 patients 56 Gy;3 patients received 2 cycles of chemotherapy, 1 patients 3 cycles of chemotherapy. Total effective rate was 79%. There were 2 patients with ≥3 grade marrow depression, 3 patients with 3 grade radiation esophagitis, 4 patients with ≥2 radiation pneumonitis, and 1 patient with 3 grade mucositis. The 1-year survival rate was 65%.Conclusion Recent effect was favourable and toxicity was tolerable for chemoradiation of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer by intensity modulated irradiation combined with pemetrexed and cisplatin.

A polydimethylsiloxane ( PDMS )/glass microfluidic chip consisting of a three-layer sandwich structure and three-parallel micro-electrode system was fabricated for the separation of polystyrene microspheres according to the particle size in high conductive solution by electric field produced by alternating current. The principle of electrokinetics of microspheres directional movement was investigated. The results showed that, when the applied voltage was 14 V at 100 kHz, the separation efficiency of 10 and 25 μm polystyrene microspheres was the best. Similarly, with a voltage of 10 V at 2 MHz, the separation efficiency of 5 and 25 μm polystyrene microspheres could achieve the highest value. Meanwhile, the voltage of 11 V at 1 MHz was suitable for the separation of 5 , 10 and 25 μm polystyrene microspheres with the separation efficiency of over 90%. At the same time, the formation of the laminar region in the middle of the electrode gap was the key role of microsphere separation.

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a high-risk signal of acute ischemic cerebrovascular diseases, indicates a significant increase in the risk of ischemic stroke, especially within 7 days.Risk assessment and stratification are important in patients with TIA.A variety of simple prediction scales were developed based on the risk factors for stroke in patients with TIA, such as the California scale, ABCD scale, and ABCD2 scale.Among them, the ABCD scale score is used most commonly, but as its application becomes more and more common, the defects of this scale are also increasingly apparent.In recent years, some derived scales of ABCD score were introduced in order to improve the sensitivity and specificity of prediction.This article reviews the evolution, contents, characteristics, and predictive value of the ABCD score and its derived scales in the prediction of stroke risk in patients with TIA.

Objective To study the characteristics of microscopic spread of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) and the influence of clinicopathological features on it to help define the clinical target volume (CTV) margin in radiotherapy.Methods Sixty-four surgical specimens of ESCC were observed for longitudinal microscopic spread per centimeter both proximally and distally from the tumor.The shrinkage ratio of each specimen was calculated and used for tissue incision.Results The further the distance beyond the tumor, the lower the incidence there was of microscopic spread.Positive rates of microscopic spread in group 3 cm of proximal and distal were 4.8% and 6.9%, respectively, and in group 4 cm were both 3.6%.Tumors longer than 5 cm in length,with poorer differentiation, lymph nodes metastasis and more aggressive phase had higher positive rates (79.3% vs 45.7%,77.4% vs 45.5%,76.0% vs 51.2%,70.5% vs 40.0%,χ2=7.52,6.86,3.91,5.36;P=0.006,0.009,0.042,0.021).Differentiation and tumor length were main factors contributing to microscopic spread (χ2=0.19,4.82;P=0.020,0.017).Conclusions To cover 95% of the microscopic spread,a margin of 3.0 cm proximal and 4.0 cm distal beyond gross tumor volume is needed and as to 90%, a margin of 3.0 cm both proximal and distal is needed.Moreover, the influence of pathological features should be taken into account.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To explore the effect of dexmedetomidine ( DEX) on the CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-homologous protein ( CHOP) pathway during lung ischemia-reperfusion ( I/R) in mice.METHODS:C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into sham operation group ( sham group) , lung ischemia/reperfusion group ( I/R group) , ischemia/reperfusion +normal saline group ( I/R+NS group ) and ischemia/reperfusion+dexmedetomidine group ( I/R+DEX group) .Dexmedetomidine was infused intraperitoneally with 25 μg/kg for 30 min prior to the ischemia period in I/R+DEX group, the normal saline was administrated with the same volume of dexmedetomidine in I/R+NS group.After fini-shed the 3 h-reperfusion period , the left lung tissues were harvested to determine lung wet/dry weight ( W/D) , the total lung water content ( TLW) , and index of quantitative evaluation for alveolar damage ( IQA) .Morphological observation and terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling ( TUNEL) were applied to evaluate the structure changes and the apoptosis index (AI) of the lung tissues.The expression of CHOP and glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) at mRNA and protein levels in the lung tissues was detected by Western blot and RT-PCR.RESULTS:Compared with sham group, the W/D, TLW, IQA, AI, the mRNA and protein expression of CHOP and GRP78 obviously increased, and the left lung tissues structure were damaged more obviously both in I/R group and I/R+NS group.Compared with I/R group, the W/D, TLW, IQA, AI and the protein and mRNA expression of CHOP in I/R+DEX group decreased, the injury of the left lung tissue structures induced by I/R in I/R+DEX group were also alleviated .CONCLUSION:DEX alleviates the
lung I/R injury, which may be related to inhibition of apoptosis mediated by CHOP pathway.

Objective To explore humam cytomegalovirus(HCMV) encoded microRNAs during latent infection in order to help study HCMV virology and latent infection mechanisms.Methods A model of HCMV latent infection via THP-1 cells infected with HCMV was constructed.Deep-sequencing was performed using high-resolution Solexa sequencing platform.The secondary structure of the newly sequenced miRNA was predicted by RNAFold bioinformatics software. Results HCMV encoded various miRNAs during latent infection, including miR-US25-2-3p, miR-US25-2-5p, miR-UL112, miR-US25-1, miR-UL22A and PC-5p-148467 with a predicted length of 25 bp, named hcmv-miR-US33as-5p.Conclusion HCMV can express many types of miRNAs during latent infection.

Objective:To explore the relationship between family cohesion and suicide tendency among gradu-ate student and the role of resilience and coping style between them.Methods:A total of 3 945 graduate students were assessed with the Adolescents'Suicide Tendency(AST),Family Environment Scale(FES),Connor-David-sonResilience Scale(CD-RISC),and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire(TCSQ).The mediating effect of resilience and the moderating effect of positive coping style were examined by using latent moderate structural equations.Results:The degree of AST was negatively associated with the family cohesion scores(β=-0.22).The scores of CD-RISC played a partial mediating role between the scores of family cohesion and AST,and the media-ting effect was-3.92(95％CI:-4.44--3.41),the mediating effect accounted for 43.41％of the total effect.The scores of positive coping style played a moderating role in the relationship between the scores of gradu-ate student'AST and family cohesion(β=0.06).Conclusion:The suicide tendency of graduate students may be related to family cohesion,resilience and positive coping style.

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection may affect serum hormones levels and male sexual function. This study aims to provide evidence for the causal relationship between COVID-19 infection, serum testosterone levels and the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED) using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. Materials and Methods: Summary-level data for serum testosterone levels (199,569 samples and 12,321,875 single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) were obtained from Rebecca’s study, while data for ED (6,175 cases and 217,630 controls) were sourced from Bovijn’s study. Genetic variations linked to COVID-19 were used as instrumental variables (IVs) in meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) involving 6,406 cases and 902,088 controls from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative.The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was primarily employed to evaluate the potential associations between COVID-19 infection, serum testosterone levels, and the risk of ED. The weighted mode, weighted-median and simple-median method were employed to evaluate the sensitivity. Heterogeneity and pleiotropic outlier were assessed using Cochran’s Q test and MREgger regression. Results: The MR analysis demonstrated that COVID-19 infection was associated with reduced serum testosterone levels (odds ratio [OR] 0.966, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.938–0.993, p=0.016) and an increased risk of ED (OR 1.205, 95% CI 1.063–1.367, p=0.004) when using IVW methods. Sensitivity analyses utilizing various IV sets and MR approach remained consistent. Conclusions COVID-19 infection is associated with a decrease in serum testosterone levels and an increased risk of ED. Male patients recovering from COVID-19 need to pay special attention to their sex hormone levels and sexual health.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between menopausal status at different FPG levels and the risk of new onset of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Female subjects were selected from the females who joined in the epidemiological survey between May and September in 2009 in six counties of Guanlin Village and Xushe Village in Yixing City in Jiangsu Province by cluster sampling method. Subjects with diabetes at baseline or pre-menopause with age above 65 years old or surgical menopause were excluded. Finally there were 2 084 eligible subjects included in this study. According to FPG at baseline, subjects were categorized into two groups as normal FPG group (FPG<5.6 mmol/L) and IFG group (5.6≤FPG≤6.9 mmol/L). Follow-up study was conducted from May in 2014 to January in 2016. Cox regression model was used to investigate the association between menopausal factors and IFG and T2DM among groups based on FPG. Results: The average age of subjects at baseline was 58.08 (51.74-65.82) years old, and the number of post-menopausal women was 1 631 (78.3%). The number of subjects in normal FPG group was 1 569 (75.3%), and in IFG group was 515 (24.7%). There were 104 subjects with new onset T2DM among which 34 subjects from normal FPG group and 70 subjects from IFG group. And there were 199 subjects with new onset IFG in normal FPG group. Among subjects with normal FPG, the incidence density of IFG in post-menopausal women (2 752/100 000 person-years) was statistically higher than that in premenopausal women (1 670/100 000 person-years) (P<0.001). After age and BMI adjusted, post-menopausal women had a higher risk of having IFG in normal FPG subjects with hazard ratio (HR) at 2.60 (P<0.001). Among subjects with normal FPG, the risk of new onset IFG decreased in post-menopausal women with menopause age increasing after age and BMI adjusted, with HR at 0.96 (P=0.046). No statistical association was found between menopausal factors and risk of T2DM either in the overall subjects or in the subgroups(P>0.05). Conclusion Menopause can increase the risk of IFG incidence in subjects with normal FPG. The incidence of IFG decreases with the menopause age increasing.