Objective To reduce the screening positive rate (SPR) and improve clinical efficiency of maternal serum screening for Down's syndrome.Methods Nine thousand and thirty-three cases of second trimester maternal serum screening for Down's syndrome were included from Apr.2013 to Apr.2014 in the present study.The screening results,all basic data and equation curves were analyzed retrospectively.Based on the data from the authors' laboratory,the important adjustment parameters were simulated.Combined with postnatal follow-up results,the quality and clinical performance of second trimester serum screening for Down's syndrome were evaluated.Results The SPR of second trimester serum screening for Down's syndrome was 6.69％(604/9033),the detection rate (DR) was 75％(3/4),and FPR was 6.65％(601/9033).The median multiple of median (MOM) of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was low and SPR was high,and MOM of free human chorionic gonadotropin β subunit (free hCGβ) were high and SPR was high,while MOM of unconjugated estriol (uE3) were a little bit low,and SPR was slightly high.Considering these three factors,it is believed that the screening positive rate is high.By the simulation adjustments of MOM value equations (AFP and free hCGβ) and weight correction equation,the SPR reduced to 4.11％(371/9033) after recalculating the risk,FPR declined to 4.07％(368/9033),and no more Down's syndrome fetus were missed compared with postnatal follow-up results.Conclusion Based on a localized setting depending on the local laboratory data,we suggest that the MOM value distributions(AFP,free hCGβ and uE3) and maternal weight should be regularly adjusted since it is a useful way to reduce the false-positive rate and improve clinical efficiency of maternal serum screening for Down's syndrome.

OBJECTIVETo observe autophagy induced by starvation in non-small cell lung cancer A459 and 95D cells.

METHODSA549 and 95D cells in logarithmic growth in 1640 medium were cultured in Earle's balanced salt solution (EBSS) for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 h. Autophagosome formation in the cell culture was observed by MDC fluorescent staining, and the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) and Beclin1 in the cells were detected using Western blotting.

RESULTSCompared with the control cells, the cells with prolonged starvation showed increased MDC-positive cells and autophagosome formation. The expression of Beclin-1 and the LC3-II/LC3-I ratio also increased as the starvation prolonged, reaching the peak levels at 3 h and 4 h, respectively.

CONCLUSIONAutophagy can be induced by starvation in A549 and 95D cells in correlation with the expression of autophagy-related proteins LC3 and Beclin-1. These cell models of nutritional deficiency-induced autophagy may allow for a better understanding of the role of autophagy in the development of non-small cell lung cancer.

Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins ; metabolism ; Autophagy ; Beclin-1 ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Humans ; Membrane Proteins ; metabolism ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; metabolism