Calcaneus ; diagnostic imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Radiography ; Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Young Adult

To explore the application value of low-dose CT in lung cancer after operation in a short-term review by comparing conventional and low-dose CT. Methods:In 83 cases of lung cancer during the immediate postoperative period review, 50 cases (group A) underwent conventional CT scanning, whereas 33 cases (group B) underwent low-dose CT scanning. All CT scans were scored on the basis of image quality and clinical needs. The radiation dose indexes CTDIvol and DLP were recorded for each case. A comparison of the score and radiation dose between the two groups helped determine the existence of significant differences. Results:The average image quality scores of the two groups were 3.705±0.314 and 3.311±0.442, those for clinical demand were 2.670±0.373 and 2.561±0.410, those for CTDIvol were (19.248±1.532) mGy and (10.138±1.113) mGy, and those for DLP were (170.180±19.259) mGy*cm and (99.061±14.504) mGy*cm. The two groups exhibited significant differences in image quality, CTDIvol, and DLP but revealed no significant dissimilarity in clinical demand. Conclusion:Low-dose CT completely meets the clinical requirements for short-term follow-up after resection of lung cancer and significant reduction in radiation dose.

To discuss the influence of dexamethasion on lL-1β and TNF - α expression in suture - induced rabbit corneal neovascularization ( CNV ) and analyze the potential mechanism.
●METHODS: For 43 healthy rabbits, 40 were randomly selected for establishing CNV model in corneal stroma. The right eyes (group A) were received no medicine and the left eyes ( group B) were injected dexamethasone after successfully establishing the model. The no modeling 3 rabbits were normal control group. The morphologic change of corneal was observed with slit lamp microscope and the areas of CNV was calculated every day, then 8 rabbits were randomly chosen for sacrificing at 1, 4, 7, 14, 21d respectively. The pathological characteristics of CNV were observed after HE staining, and lL - 1β and TNF - α expression was detected by immunohistochemistry.
●RESULTS: CNV was grown at the 4d after suture, and the 7-14d was vigorous growth period. inflammatory cell infiltration appeared after HE staining, and CNV was located at the superficial stroma of cornea. lmmunohistochemistry results showed that lL - 1β and TNF - α expression was gradually increased with prolonged suture time. Compared with corneal stitch group, the rabbits cured by dexamethasone were found with less inflammatory cells infiltrating and neovescularization, moreover, the expression of lL - 1βand TNF-α decreased. There were statistical significance between the two groups (P<0. 05).
● CONCLUSlON: Dexamethasone can inhibit the CNV growth by controlling the inflammation of corneal and restraining lL-1β and TNF-α expression.

Objective To explore the roles of autoantibodies against ?1 adrenoceptor(?1-receptor)and M2 cholinergic receptor(M2-receptor)in patients with chronic renal insufficiency.Methods The epitopes of the second extracellular loop of ?1 receptor and M2 receptor were synthesized and used respectively to detect the sera autoantibodies against ?1 receptor and M2 receptor by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in 76 patients with chronic renal insufficiency,60 cases with hypertension and 40 healthy controls.Results In patients with chronic renal insufficiency,the positive rates of the autoantibodies against ?1-receptor and M2-receptor were 56.7% and 38.1% respectively,which were much higher than those of patients with hypertension(18.3% and 11.7%) and higher than those of healthy controls(17.5% and 15.0%)(all P

Objective To explore the role of the autoantibodies against ?_1-adrenergic receptor(?_1-receptor)in the development of hypertension with renal failure.Methods The epitopes of the second extracellular loop of ?_1-receptor were synthesized and used respectively to screen sera autoantibodies from patients with hypertension with renal failure(61 cases),hypertension without renal failure(58 cases) and healthy blood donors(40 cases,control) by ELISA method.Results The positive rates of the autoantibodies ?_1-receptor(69%,42/61) in patients with hypertension with renal failure were higher than those of patients with hypertension without renal failure(19%,11/58) respectively(P

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation of the deleted azoospermia (DAZ) gene copy related to gr/gr and b2/b3 deletions in the AZFc region with male spermatogenic impairment.

METHODSThis study included 121 infertile men with different de- grees of spermatogenic impairment and 95 healthy donors from the sperm bank. Using PCR, PCR-RFLP, and Y chromosome specific sequence tagged sites (STS) , we analyzed the association of DAZ gene copy deletions related to gr/gr and b2/b3 deletions in the AZFc region with spermatogenic impairment.

RESULTSThere were 15 cases of gr/gr deletion (12. 40% ) and 6 cases of b2/b3 deletion (4.96%) in the infertility group as compared with 13 cases of gr/gr deletion (13.68%) and 1 case of b2/b3 deletion (1.05%) in the control. Analysis of the DAZ-specific single nucleotide variant (SNV) loci revealed 11 gr/gr-DAZI/DAZ2 deletions (9.09%), 4 gr/gr-DAZ3/DAZ4 deletions (3.31%), and 6 b2/b3-DAZ1/DAZ2 deletions (4.96%) in the infertile men in comparison with 3 gr/ gr-DAZ1/DAZ2 deletions (3.16%), 10 gr/gr-DAZ3/DAZ4 deletions (10.53%), and 1 b2/b3- DAZ3/DAZ4 deletion (1.05%) in the control.

CONCLUSIONPartial deletions of gr/gr and b2/b3 exist in both healthy men and male patients with different degrees of spermatogenic impairment and cannot be considered as a risk factor for spermatogenesis impairment. However, deletions of different DAZ duplicons in gr/gr and b2/b3 deletions have different effects on spermatogenesis. DAZ1/DAZ2 instead of DAZ3/DAZ4 deletions might be associated with spermatogenesis impairment.

Deleted in Azoospermia 1 Protein ; Gene Deletion ; Gene Dosage ; Humans ; Male ; RNA-Binding Proteins ; genetics ; Spermatogenesis ; genetics

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant tumors as well as a frequent cause of cancer-related mortality in men worldwide. The test of serum markers has dramatically improved the early diagnosis of PCa, but its underlying molecular mechanisms are not yet completely identified. Long noncoding RNA (IncRNA) is emerging as a new player in the PCa paradigm demonstrating its potential roles in both oncogenic and tumor suppressive pathways. LncRNA is frequently aberrantly expressed in the majority of PCa cases. This review highlights recent findings of the aberrant expression of lncRNA in PCa and discusses its novel roles in the diagnosis, prediction, prognosis, metastasis, and potential clinical treatment of PCa.
Humans ; Male ; Prognosis ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; RNA, Long Noncoding ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo investigate the factors influencing the prognosis of penis-sparing surgery (PSS) for early-stage penile cancer.

METHODSWe retrospectively studied the clinical data about 45 cases of early-stage penile cancer treated by PSS from January 2007 to December 2014. We calculated the rate of local recurrence-free survival by the Kaplan-Meier method, and conducted univariate and multivariate COX regression analyses on the relevant factors including the patient's age, marital status, tumor location, tumor size, postoperative sexual life, histological grade, and TNM stage.

RESULTSOne-year and three-year local recurrence-free survival rates were 95.5% and 52.2%, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the histological grade (P = 0.039) and postoperative sexual life (P = 0.049) were independent factors for the prognosis of PSS. Logistic regression showed the patients age to be significantly associated with histological grade (P = 0.014).

CONCLUSIONHistological grade and postoperative sexual life are important independent prognostic factors of PSS for early-stage penile cancer, and the patients age is associated with the prognosis of PSS through its influence on the tumor grade.

Age Factors ; Disease-Free Survival ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Grading ; Organ Sparing Treatments ; Penile Neoplasms ; surgery ; Penis ; surgery ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Quality of Life ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVETo study the effects of dihydroartemisinin on the apoptosis of and the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in prostate cancer cell line PC-3M in androgen-independent prostate cancer.

METHODSPC-3M cells were treated with different doses (0, 25, 50 and 100 micromol/L) of dihydroartemisinin for 48 hours, their growth activity analyzed by MTT colorimetric assay and flow cytometry, and changes in the activities of caspase-3 and -8 detected by colorimetric assay. The expression of VEGF mRNA was determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, and that of the VEGF protein by Western blotting.

RESULTSCompared with the 0 micromol/L control group, the 25, 50 and 100 micromol/L dihydroartemisinin groups showed significantly increased apoptosis of PC-3M cells ([2.92 +/- 0.45]% vs [8.85 +/- 0.74]%, [12.83 +/- 0.84]% and [18.65 +/- 1.24]%, P < 0.01), and dose-dependent increase in the activities of caspase-8 ([0.47 +/- 0.05 ] U/microg vs [1.22 +/- 0.15], [1.76 +/- 0.07] and [2.91 +/- 0.24] U/microg, P < 0.01) and caspase-3 ([0.44 +/- 0.07] U/microg vs [0.95 +/- 0.08], [1.48 +/- 0.14] and [2.92 +/- 0.45] U/microg, P < 0.01). The expressions of VEGF mRNA and protein were decreased in a concentration-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONDihydroartemisinin can significantly suppress the growth of PC-3M cells, promote their apoptosis and reduce the expressions of VEGF mRNA and protein, which may serve to explain its inhibitory effect on tumor and angiogenesis.

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Artemisinins ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

Objective This study aimed to explore the epidemiological characteristics and related factors of overweight and obesity in Tianjin adults. Methods With multi-stage randomized cluster sampling, 19 271 people aged 18 years and over were selected from both urban and rural areas of six geographical regions of Tianjin in 2006, using a cross-sectional methodology. Data from these residents was collected, using a questionnaire by face-to-face interview conducted by trained interviewers. Demographic, anthropometric data were collected in all participants. Data was analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software. For diagnosis of overweight and obesity, we adopted the standard of overweight and obesity recommended for Chinese adults. Age, gender and area distribution of overweight and obesity in the population of Tianjin were described, and the related factors were analyzed. Results Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults from Tianjin were 32.8%(95%CI: 32.1%-33.5%) and 11.7% (95% CI: 11.2%-12.2%), with the standardized rates as 33.1% and 12.2%, respectively. Those figures were higher than the national average levels. The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were increasing with age. The overweight rate in 50-59 year olds and the obesity rate in 60-69 year olds reached their peak values. The prevalence rate of obesity was higher in rural (13.5%,with 95%CI: 12.8%-14.2%) than in the urban areas (11.1%,with 95%CI: 10.4%-11.7%) and in females (12.6%,95%CI: 11.9%-13.2%) than in males (10.9%,95%CI: 10.3%-11.5%). Results from logistic regression model analyses indicated that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Tianjin were statistically associated with age, gender, educational level, smoking, alcohol consumption and exercises. Conclusion As the urbanization progressing, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was much higher in the population of Tianjin city. Many factors were related to adults overweight and obesity. An active community-based public health intervention should be taken.