Purpose To investigate the multi-slice spiral CT (MSCT) features ofchromophobe renal cell carcinoma (CCRC),renal oncocytoma (RO) and clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) for the improvement of its diagnostic accuracy.Materials and Methods The MSCT data of 15 CCRC cases,8 RO cases,and 29 CCRCC cases confirmed by surgery or pathology at Dong H ua Hospital from October 2012 to April 2016 were retrospectively studied.The CT signs of different tumors were compared.Results Most CCRCC cases had cystic degenerations,which showed significant difference with CCRC and RO cases (P＜0.05);RO cases were found mostly with star-shaped scars,which had significant difference with CCRCC cases (P＜0.05);the enhanced scanning showed most of CCRC were enhanced homogeneously,which presented significant difference from CCRCC (P＜0.05).The lesion-kidney-ration (LKR) of CCRCC at cortical phase,parenchymal phase or excretory phase was significantly different from that of CCRC (P＜0.05);the LKR of CCRCC at cortical phase was significantly different from that of RO (P＜0.05);the LKR of CCRC at the three phases were all significantly different from that of RO (P＜0.05).The average △ LKR value of CCRCC was significantly different from that of CCRC and RO (P＜0.05);there was a certain degree of difference distribution of their △ LKR among the three kinds of cases.Taking CCRCC as object,when the LKR at cortical phase was 0.693 or △ LKR was 0.068,the sensitivity reached 93.3％ and the specificity reached 72.2％ or 88.9％ respectively in evaluating the differential diagnosis of CCRC and RO.Taking RO as object,when the LKR was 0.656 at cortical phase or was 0.595 at parenchymal phase,the sensitivity reached 83.3％ and 91.7％ respectively,and the specificity was 75.0％ and 58.3％ respectively,in evaluating the differential diagnosis of CCRC.Conclusion Enhanced MSCT at different phases,especially the calculation of LKR and △ LKR value,can benefit the diagnosis of CCRC,RO and CCRCC.

Osteoporosis is a common metabolic bone disease in the elderly. It may be one of the factors which contributes to instrumentation failure in spinal surgery. Bone cement augmentation of the pedicle screw is a technique to enhance fixation strength, and it is now mainly applied in patients with osteoporosis and revision surgery, as well as spinal tumor surgery. According to clinical studies, bone cement augmentation can decrease screw loosening rate, prevent correction loss of the spine deformity, and increase the fusion rate. Pedicle screw fracture and pulloutare rare following screw augmentation surgery. The pedicle screw loosening rates following screw augmentation surgery with bone cement are higher in patients with osteoporotic vertebral fracture and lower in patients with spinal degenerative diseases. The main material for bone cement augmentation is Polymethylmethacrylate, and the volume for each screw is about 1-3 ml. Some researchers suggest less volume use in thoracic vertebrae than lumbar vertebrae. Both traditional and cannulated screws can be applied as the augmented pedicle screws, as well as the expandable pedicle screw. Cannulated screws can decrease the risk of bone cement extravasation compared with traditional screws. The mini-mally invasive technique of screw augmentation with bone cement can be used both in primary spinal surgery and augmentation of loosed screws. The main complications of the bone cement augmentation technique are cement leakage and pulmonary cement em-bolism. X-ray fluoroscopy is generally used to detect cement extravasation during the bone cement procedure. The 3D navigation and neurological monitoring are also recommended to reduce cement leakage in some studies. Most local cement leakage events are asymptomatic and need no treatment. Management of pulmonary cement embolism depends on the clinical presentation and the position of the emboli, including regular follow-up, oxygen inhalation, anti-coagulation therapy and embolectomy.

Transglutaminase (TG) is a kind of calcium-dependent enzymes. The TGase family found in rodents and human contains 9 types, including TG1-7, blood coagulation factor XIIIa and erythrocyte membrane protein 4.2, with the former 8 types possessing catalytic activity. TG catalyzes various conversion reactions of glutamine, including transamination, deamination and esterification, and participates in post-transcriptional modification of proteins such as cross-linking peptides glutamine residue and lysyl-residue, stabilizing protein structure and catalyzing formation of protein aggregates. TGase has been found to contribute to a variety of important physiological and pathological processes and play a role in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases. Notably, neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, have a close connection with TGase's role in the human body.
Animals ; Brain ; enzymology ; Humans ; Neurodegenerative Diseases ; enzymology ; genetics ; Transglutaminases ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective To analyze fungal isolates from patients with superficial fungal infections during 1960-2006.Methods Fungal strains isolated from patients with superficial (mucocutaneous and cutaneous)fungal infections and identified in the Medical Mycology Clinical Laboratory,Department of Dermatology and Venereology,Union Hospital,from 1960 to 2006 (data from September 1991 to July 1992 were unavailable),were subjected to a classification and statistical analysis.Clinical samples for mycological examination were taken from outpatients or inpatients of different departments in hospitals of Hubei province and surrounding areas.Morphological,physiological and biochemical methods were applied for species identification.Results A total of 11 989 Candida strains were isolated,which belonged to 23 species and 16 genera.They fell into 3 groups,i.e.,dermatophytes,Candida and yeasts (including Malassezia),and non-dermatophyte moulds.Since 287 strains of moulds were suspected to be contaminating fungi,11 702 residual isolates were analyzed.Of the analyzed isolates,Candida species (5642/11 702,48.2％ )and dermatophytes (5279/11 702,45.1％ )predominated,followed by yeasts (449/11 702,3.8％) and Malassezia species (332/11 702,2.8％).The most frequently isolated species was Trichophyton rubrum (3865/11 702,33.0％),Candida albicans (3110/11 702,26.6％ ) and non-albicans Candida species (2532/11 702,21.6％ ).Dermatophyte strains were mostly isolated from lesions of smooth skin with an exception of palmoplantar and interdigit regions (1787/5279,37.7％).The most common dermatophyte species was Trichophyton rubrum,followed by Trichophyton violanceum.Candida was mainly isolated from mucous membrane lesions (4099/5642,72.7％),with Candida albicans being the predominant species.Conclusions Candida species and dermatophytes predominate in patients with superficial fungal infections during 1960-2006,with Trichophyton rubrum being the most common species.