Objective To investigate whether the patients of stroke in basal ganglia have the selective deficit of recognition of disgust expression and to test the hypothesis that basal ganglia is involved in emotion processing, especially in disgust processing. Methods We developed six typical facial emotions (happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust and anger) and a neutral facial emotion. A labeling task with these emotional faces measured the ability to recognize emotional faces in 32 stroke patients in basal ganglia and in 30 normal controls.Results Compared with normal controls, patients of stroke in basal ganglia impaired in perception of facial emotion (correct identification scores, 106.73?7.62, P

Objective To verifying the characteristics of optical coherence tomography(OCT) in exudative age related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods The patients being investigated in this series included 16 cases (19 eyes) of exudative age related macular degeneration diagnosed by FFA and OCT examinations, among them 4 cases (6 eyes) were examined with ICGA. The color photographs of ocular fundi, FFA, ICGA and OCT were investigated by contrasting each other. Results As compared with the FFA and ICGA examinations, the characteristic findings found in OCT in patients with exudative AMD in this series were as the following:①serous detachment of neurosensory epithelium in 11 eyes,②retinal hemorrhage in 2 eyes,③serous detachment of retinal pigment epithelium in 5 eyes,④hemorrhagic detachment of retinal pigment epithelium in 10 eyes,⑤disciform scar in 4 eyes,⑥fibrovascular pigment epithelial detachment and occult CNV in 12 eyes. Conclusion OCT can supply a comprehensive survey of exudative AMD, in making the diagnosis as an important complementary examination of FFA and ICGA.

Objective To verify the pattern characteristics of optical coherance tomography (OCT) images in diabetic maculopathy (DM). Methods OCT were performed in sixty cases of DM and 30 cases of normal control group,and in 54 cases of DM,fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) was performed simutaneously.The results from 2 kinds of examinations were compared each other. Results The average retinal thickness at the central fovea was (314.54?154.13) ?m in DM group.The macular edema in the cases of DM accounted to 57.1% on OCT examination The rate of retinal swelling associated with cystoid macular edema (CME) was 38.5%,with retinal detachment (RD) 9.2%,and with both CME and RD was 16.9% Those with mormal macular thickness and mild macular edema primarily showed focal leakage in FFA exam,while those with moderate and severe macular edema showed diffuse leakage in FFA exam.The rate of CME was 28.6% presented in FFA and 58.9% in OCT examination (t=3.39,P

Objective To study the preventive and therapeutic effect of dexamethasone on communicating hydrocephalus following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), and explore the mechanism of communicating hydrocephalus following SAH. Methods SAH rat model was constructed by injecting auto blood through foramen magnum into subarachnoid space. There were two groups ( one control group and one experimental group) in this study with 16 rats each group. Sufficient doses of auto blood were injected into subarachnoid space of the rats of the control group and sufficient dose of auto blood together with sufficient dose of dexamethasone into subarachnoid space of the rats of the experimental group. The changes of rats transforming growth factor bata-1 (TGF-β_1 )in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)and thickness of pia mater collagen fibrosis( CF) following SAH were observed after 1 day and 20 days. The levels of TGF-β_1, in the CSF were quantitatively detected by the way of ABC-ELISA. The brain tissues were dyed through Massions technique, and then the average thicknesses of meningina CF were measured by the software of micrograph collection and analysis computer system. Results In later stage after SAH, TGF-β_1, concentrations of the experimental group was lower than control group( P <0. 01). At the same time, the average thicknesses of meningina CF of experimental groups was thinner than control group( P <0. 01). Moreover, the relationship between the level of TGF-β_1 in the CSF and the thickness of the CF of the rat's cerebral pia mate had positive correlation. Conclusions In the later stage after SAH, dexamethasone can inhibit the over expression of TGF-β_1 in rat CSF following SAH and also can inhibit the accrementition of rat collagenous fibers. Therefore, this study provided experimental and theoretical evidence for preventing and treating communicating hydrocephalus following SAH.

Objective To investigate the effects of Hedan tablet on serum adipocytokines and inflammatory factors in rats with metabolic syndrome.Methods The 24-rat model of metabolic syndrome were randomly divided into three groups(n=8,each):normal group were given normal diet,model group were given high-lipid and high-salt diet and intervention group were given high lipid and high salt dict plus Hedan tablet 6.0 g · kg-1 · d-1 by intragastric administration for 3 weeks.Body weight,blood pressure,blood levels of glucose,lipid,leptin,visfatin,adiponectin and CRP were measured in all rats at the beginning and the end of the study.Results Compared with normal group,model group (model versus normal) showed significantly increased serum levels (P ＜ 0.05) of weight,total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride (TG),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),glucose,leptin(5.5±0.1 vs.5.2±0.0 mmol/L),visfatin(17.5±0.5 vs.16.6±0.0 mmol/L and CRP(1 676.6 ± 74.8 vs.1 642.3 ± 52.2 mmol/L),and showed significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05) serum level of adiponectin(74.6±2.4 vs.81.3±2.1 mmol/L).Compared with 20 weeks of age group,the 23 weeks of age group(23 weeks versus 20 weeks)showed significantly decreased levels of weight,TC,TG,LDL-C,serum leptin(5.4±0.1 mmol/L vs.5.9±0.2 mmol/L),visfatin(16.7±0.4 mmol/L vs.17.7±0.6 mmol/L)and CRP(1 498.8±51.0 mmol/L vs.1 682.1±76.6 mmol/L(all P＜0.05),and showed significantly increased serum adiponectin level(81.2±3.0 mmol/L vs.73.9±3.1 mmol/L)(P＜0.05).But there was no significant change in model group between 20 weeks and 23 weeks of age.Conclusions Hedan tablet reduces the body weight and ameliorates blood lipid level in rats with metabolic syndrome.These effects may be related to regulation of Hedan tablet on adipocytokines and inflammatory factors.

Objective To quantify the incidental irradiation dose (ⅡD) to lymph node stations of esophagus when treating patients with T1-4N0 M0 thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with a dose of 60 Gy/30f.Methods Twenty-nine patients with medically inoperable T1-4N0M0 thoracic ESCC were treated with three-dimensional radiotherapy on involved-field.The conformal CTV was re-created using a 3 cm margin in the proximal and distal direction (following the course of the esophagus) beyond the barium esophagogram,endoscopic examination and CT defined GTV and a 0.5 cm margin in the lateral and anteroposterior directions of the CT defined GTV.The PTV encompassed 1 cm proximal and distal margins,0.5 cm radiaI margin on the basis of CTV.Cervical,mediastinal and abdominal lymph nodes were delineated respectively.Equivalent uniform dose (EUD) and other dosimetric paraneters were calculated for each nodal station.Nodal region whose metastasis rate is greater than 5％ was considered a high risk lymph node subgroups.Results Under a 60 Gy dose prescription,the median Dmean and EUD,V40 and V50 were ≥40 Gy,≥85％ and ≥75％ in most of the high risk nodal regions.For the subgroups whose EUD were less than 40 Gy,most of the ⅡD of these regions was significantly associated with the length and location of esophageal tumor (r =0.892,P =0.000).Conclusions Lymph node stations nearby of ESCC received considerable ⅡD with involved-field irradiation which could control subclinical lesions.But more clinical studies should be needed.

Objective To explore the prognostic value of the content of lentil lectin-reactive alphafetoprotein-L3(AFP-L3)in early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC).Methods According to the content of alpha.fetoprotein(AFP)and AFP-L3 before the treatment,97 patients with early-stage HCC were divided into group A(AFP＞20 μg/L & AFP-L3＜15%,n=29),group B(15%≤AFP-13≤50% & 20 μg/L≤AFP≤200 μg/L,n=16),group C(AFP-13＞50%& AFP＞200 μg/L,n=13),group D(AFP-L3＞50% & 20 μg/L≤AFP≤200 μg/L,n=24)and group E(15%≤AFP-L3≤50%& AFP＞200 μg/L,n=15).The degree of tumor differentiation,the 1-,2-,3-year survival rates and tumor-free survival rates of the patients were analyzed.Results The degree of tumor differentiation.3-year survival rate and tumor-free survival rate of patients in group A were significantly higher than those in the other 4 groups(χ2=21.051,10.043,4.450,6.977,25.566,P＜0.05).The degree of tumor differentiation,1-,2-,3-year survival rates and tumor-free survival rates of the patients in group C and D were significantly lower than those in other 3 groups(χ2=7.938,3.488,9.085.P＜0.05).Conclusions The increase of AFP-L3 content is closely related to poorly differentiated HCC and bad prognosis.especially when the AFP Ievel is low.The detection of AFP-L3 content before and after operation is beneficial to the evaluation of the prognosis of HCC patients.

In this paper, we propose an image-based key frame gating method to reduce motion artifacts in intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) longitudinal cuts. The artifacts are mainly caused by the periodic relative displacement between blood vessels and the IVUS catheter due to cardiac motion. The method is achieved in four steps as following. Firstly, we convert IVUS image sequences to polar coordinates to cut down the amount of calculation. Secondly, we extracted a one-dimensional signal cluster reflecting cardiac motion by spectral analysis and filtering techniques. Thirdly, we designed a Butterworth band-pass filter for filtering the one-dimensional signal clusters. Fourthly, we retrieved the extremes of the filtered signal clusters to seek key frames to compose key-frames gated sequences. Experimental results showed that our algorithm was fast and the average frame processing time was 17ms. Observing the longitudinal viewpictures, we found that comparing to the original ones, the gated sequences had similar trend, less saw tooth shape, and good continuity. We selected 12 groups of clinical IVUS sequences [images (876 +/- 65 frames), coronary segments length (14.61 +/- 1.08 mm)] to calculate vessel volume, lumen volume, mean plaque burden of the original and gated sequences. Statistical results showed that, on one hand, both vessel volume and lumen volume measured of the gated sequences were significantly smaller than those of the original ones, and there was no significant difference on mean plaque burden between original and gated sequences, which met the need of the clinical diagnosis and treatment. On the other hand, variances of vessel area and lumen area of the gated sequences were significantly smaller than those of the original sequences, indicating that the gated sequences would be more stable than the original ones.
Algorithms ; Artifacts ; Heart ; Humans ; Motion ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) protects the brain against unwanted substances, while, at the same time, limits the transport of many drugs into the brain. Aromatic refreshing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can induce resuscitation and modify the permeability of BBB, promoting other drugs entering into the brain with brain protection effect. This paper mainly reviews the research progress in regulation effects and mechanism of usual aromatic refreshing TCM, such as borneol, moschus, styrax, benzoinum and Tatarinow Sweetflag Rhizome, on BBB permeability. To broaden the application of these drugs in modern pharmaceutics in the future, the relatively research should emphasis on combining aromatic refreshing TCM with new formulations and technologies in pharmaceutics, providing novel promising strategies for brain diseases therapy.
Animals ; Blood-Brain Barrier ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Permeability ; drug effects