Objective To study the effects of Huazhi Rougan granule in treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and its effect on level of adiponectin, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α.Methods 88 patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease from October 2014 to September 2015 in our hospital were selected,and divided into observation group and control group according to the order of admission.The control group were taken silibinin meglumine tablets for treatment on the basis of aerobic exercise , dietary guidance.The observation group on the basis of aerobic exercise , dietary guidance were given Huazhi Rougan granule for treatment.The observation group were taken aerobic exercise and metformin for treatment.Two groups of patients with clinical efficacy were evaluated, blood parameters, adiponectin, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-αwere measured before and 30 days after treatment between the two groups of patients.Results After treatment, the total clinical efficacy of the observation group was significantly higher than the control group ( P<0.05 ) .The levels of adiponectin in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05).The level of IL-6, TNF-αin the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).Low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).Conclusion Huazhi Rougan granule can effectively reduce the levels of TNF-αand IL-6 and increase the level of adiponectin in nonalcoholic fatty liver patients, and the clinical curative effect is good.

Objective To discuss manifestations of neurogenic tumors on chest wall on CT imaging and pathology.Methods 7 patients with neurogenic tumors on chest wall confirmed surgically and pathologically were reviewed.To facilitate differential diagnosis,3 cases of malignant sarcoma were reviewed for their features on CT.Results 4 out of 5 cases of neurinoma were benign,with one case showing even density on plain CT scan,3 were poorly even,one case showed obvious evenness after enhancement,and 1 case was poorly evenly enhanced,2 benign cases had compression absorption of surrounding bone of scapula or ribs.One case of moderate malignancy was uneven in plain scan and slightly enhanced after enhancement procedure,and neighboring bone of scapula and rib were compressed and destroyed and absorbed,and neighboring muscular interspace and upper mediastinum were involved.One case showed single lesion of neurofibroma,displaying relatively even density on plain scan and moderate unevenness after enhancement procedure,as well as compression and absorption of neighboring ribs.One case of neurofibroma had multiple lesions,showing uneven density on plain scan.This case did not undergo enhanced scan.The remaining 3 cases were all sarcoma including 2 cases of fibrosarcoma and one case of synovial sarcoma.Conclusion Mass of soft tissues that are situated on chest wall or paravertebral area and with smooth edge are suggestive for benign neurogenic tumor.On the contrary,rough edge and coarse shape and infiltration into neighboring tissues are characteristic for malignant ones.

This paper proposes a new method of non-contact pulse measurement by analyzing a clip of human facial video. The method is based on photo plethysmography (PPG) and independent component analysis (ICA) model. A clip of color facial video shot under normal lighting condition is firstly discomposed into RGB channel sequences. Secondly, by applying ICA to the 3 channel sequences, 3 new independent signals are obtained, among which one signal is close to human pulse wave. Thus the pulse can be measured. In this paper, the principles of PPG and ICA are briefly described and the measurement framework is proposed. The experimental results showed that this novel approach was reasonable and feasible.
Algorithms ; Analysis of Variance ; Facies ; Humans ; Models, Statistical ; Photoplethysmography ; methods ; Principal Component Analysis ; methods ; Pulse ; Video Recording ; methods

OBJECTIVEThe research aimed to investigate the entophytic fungal community of Vitex negundo var. cannabifolia, including the biodiversity from different organs and the correlations with habitations.

METHODPDA medium was used to isolate and purify the endophytic fungi in V. negundo var. cannabifolia. The purified strains were identified by morphology together with similarity of 5.8S gene and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence.

RESULTNinety-seven strains of endophytic fungi were isolated from V. negundo var. cannabifolia. They were identified belonging to 12 species, 10 genera, 8 families and 6 orders, while 60 isolations identified into 9 species, 9 genus ,7 families and 6 orders were obtained from the wild plants and 37 belonging to 7 species, 5 genus, 3 families and 3 orders were from the cultivated ones.

CONCLUSIONIt indicated that the entophytic fungi in V. negundo var. cannabifolia were diverse, and there were some differences at quantity and species in different sites and organs of V. negundo var. cannabifolia.

Biodiversity ; Fungi ; classification ; growth & development ; isolation & purification ; Phylogeny ; Symbiosis ; Vitex ; microbiology

Objective:To investigate the effect of miR-106a on osteoarthritis.Methods:Twenty-four S-D female rats were randomly divided into three groupsaccording to the random number table: the sham operation group, the osteoarthritis (OA) group and the miR-106a mimic group. Eightweeks after operation, all rats were killed and articular cartilage was separated from the medial tibial plateau of each rat. Histopathology was used to observe the morphological changes and denatured quantity of chondrocytes, the level of inflamm-atory cytokines [interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-β 1], the expression of apoptosis receptor p65, DR6 protein and the expression of mir-106a RNA. The mean between groups was compared by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the least significant difference (LSD)- t test was used for the comparison between the two groups. Results:Histopathological staining results showed that the articular surface and synovium of rats in the sham operation group were intact, the chondrocytes were arranged horizontally, and the articular cartilage edge was smooth.In the OA group, the articular cartilage edge was seriously damaged and the arrangement of chondrocytes was disordered.In the miR-106a simulation group, the cartilage structure tended to be normal, occasionally uneven, and the articular cartilage surface was not smooth. Compared with sham operation group, the expression of miR-106a in OA group was significantly decreased ( F=918.02, P<0.01); the expression of inflammatory mediators (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-β) in OA group was also signifi-cantly increased ( F=41 914.86, P<0.01; F=64 85.16, P<0.01; F=8 873.31, P<0.01). The expression levels of DR6 and p65 in OA group were higher ( F=2 319.338, P<0.01; F=1 253.882, P<0.01). Compared with OA group, the levels of inflammatory mediators (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-β) in miR-106a mimetic group were significantly decreased (1.270±0.020, 6.040±0.170, 5.690±0.080), and the expressions of DR6 and p65 were decreased (1.53±0.09, 0.41±0.04). Conclusion:miR-106a can reduce the inflammatory changes and the degeneration of chondrocytes in osteoarthritis rats.

Objective Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the fibrosis score (i.e., the combined extent of reticulation and honeycombing) is associated with worse survival. The aim of this study was to identify high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) patterns and patient characteristics that could predict poor prognosis in rheumatoid arthritis-related ILD (RA-ILD). Methods We retrospectively analyzed 130 patients with newly diagnosed RA-ILD from 2011 to 2017 at Shanxi People's Hospital. The Pearson correlation analysis was used for the correlation between the fibrosis score and the worse survival of RA-ILD, and Using Cox regression analysis was used to identify the associations with mortality. A value of P less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results During a median follow-up of 65 months, 32/130 (24.6％) patients died. Univariate analysis identified 6 significant poor prognostic factors: lower baseline ％ predicted forced vital capacity [HR=0.97, 95％CI(0.94, 0.99);P=0.008], total interstitial disease score [HR=1.06, 95％CI(1.03, 1.08);P<0.01], reticulation score [HR=1.07, 95％CI (1.04, 1.09); P<0.01], traction bronchiectasis score [HR=2.04, 95％CI (1.21, 3.40);P=0.008], fibrosis score [HR=1.07, 95％CI (1.01, 1.13);P<0.01], and definite UIP pattern [HR=4.18, 95％CI (1.40, 12.51); P=0.010]. Fibrosis score remained to be an independent significant poor prognostic factor of survival on bivariate analysis [HR=8.136, 95％CI (2.87, 28.35); P=0.001]. Patients with a fibrosis score>20％ had high mortality. Conclusion This study has shown that fibrosis score is strongly associated with worse survival in RA-ILD, and patients with fibrosis score>20％ have a 8.136-fold increased risk of mortality.

Objective: To compare the clinical features, ultrasonic imaging manifestations and therapeutic evaluations between elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) and EORA with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: Eighty-eight patients with rheumatoid arthritis were divided into two groups: group EORA (n=36) and group EORA+OA (n=52). The onset age of all patients was 60 years or older. General conditions, joint involvement distribution, ultrasonic manifestations and disease activity scores (DAS28-3) of patients in the two groups were analyzed. The χ² test/Fisher's exact probability test and the Student's t test/Mann-Whitney U test were used to analyze data. Results: There was no significant difference in the proportion of male and female patients and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) between the two groups (P>0.05). The onset age of patients in group EORA+OA [(68±4) years old] was higher than that in group EORA [(65±4) years old], and the difference was statistically significant (t=-3.465, P=0.001). Duration of the disease and body mass index in group EORA+OA were significantly higher respectively than those in group EORA. Joint involvement in the two groups was mainly found in shoulder, wrist, Metacarpophalangeal joint (MCP)2, MCP3, proximal inter-phalangeal joint (PIP)2, PIP3, PIP4, and knee joint (34.7%-86.5%). The percentage of MCP2[36.5%(38/104), 70.8%(51/72); χ²=20.02, P<0.01], MCP3[33.7%(35/104), 59.7%(43/72); χ²=11.72, P=0.001], MCP4[4.8%(5/104), 22.2%(16/72); χ²=12.28, P<0.01], PIP2[69.2%(72/104), 83.3%(60/72); χ²=4.51, P=0.034] and PIP3[53.8%(56/104), 70.8%(51/72); χ²=5.15, P=0.023] in the EORA+OA group was lower while the percentage of MCP1, DIP 2, DIP3, DIP4 and knee joints were higher than that in the EORA group (P<0.05). In group EORA+OA, the synovial thickness of the wrist joints [(4.2±0.5) mm] and knee joints [(7.7±0.8) mm] were significantly thicker than those in group EORA [(3.2±0.9) mm; (6.3±0.8) mm, t=-5.82, P<0.01; t=-7.22, P<0.01]; The proportion (70.0%) of level 2 and 3 of patients' wrist joint synovium pannus blood flow and knee joint synovium pannus in group EORA+OA were increased than group EORA (51.9%; 52.3%), the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (χ²=4.64, P=0.031; χ²=4.43, P=0.035). There was no significant difference in DAS28-3 scores between the two groups before patients received treatment. After 2 weeks and 12 weeks of glucocorticoid treatment, DAS28-3 scores in group EORA [3.62(2.88, 4.03); 2.35(2.26, 2.62) points] were significantly lower than group EORA+OA [5.01(4.68, 5.26); 3.38(2.28, 3.83) points] (Z=-7.766, P<0.01; Z=-3.461, P<0.01). Conclusion Compared with patients of EORA alone, patients of EORA with OA have more obvious joint symptoms, MCP1, DIP and knee joint are susceptible to the co-involvement among them, longer duration of disease, and were prone to synovial hyperplasia and pannus flow formation. The therapeutic effects of glucocorticoid on joint inflammation in patients of EORA alone are superior to those patients of EORA with OA.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic splenectomy plus pericardial devascularization combined with gastroscopic (double endoscopy) treatment of patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension presenting with bleeding esophagogastric varices.Methods:To retrospectively analyze 108 patients who presented with bleeding esophageal and gastric varices at the First Hospital of Jiaxing from March 2013 to March 2018. Of 108 patients, there were 61 males and 47 females, with an average age of 61 years. According to the disease and desires of patients and family members, 28 patients underwent laparoscopic splenectomy plus devascularization (the laparoscopic group), 43 endoscopic treatment (the endoscopic group) and 37 double endoscopic treatment (the double endoscopic group). The liver function, renal function, hemoagglutination and degrees of recurrence of the three groups were compared after operation.Results:The renal function, coagulation function, HbA1c in the double endoscopic group was significantly better than that in the other two groups ( P<0.05). In the laparoscopic group, there were 4 patients who presented with rebleeding within 36 months, compared with 3 in the endoscopic group, and no patients in the combined group. At 36 months after operation, gastroscopy performed in the laparoscopic group showed mild varices in 8(28.6%) patients, moderate in 9(32.1%), and severe in 11(39.3%). In the endoscopic group, there were 7(16.3%) patients with mild, 26(60.5%) with moderate, and 10(23.2%) with severe. In the double endoscopic group, there were 32(86.5%) patients with mild and 5(13.5%) with moderate. The degrees of recurrence and postoperative esophageal and gastric varices rebleeding in the double endoscopic group were significantly better than those in the laparoscopic group and the endoscopic group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Laparoscopic combined with endoscopic treatment was more effective in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension who presented with bleeding esophageal varices.

OBJECTIVETo investigate methylation status of Wif-1 and β-catenin expression in colorectal serrated lesions.

METHODSVarious colorectal lesions were collected including 52 cases of hyperplastic polyps, 41 cases of sessile serrated adenoma, 23 cases of traditional serrated adenoma, 24 cases of colorectal cancer and 24 cases of normal mucosa. All specimens were subject to immunohistochemical staining of β-catenin.SYBR Green PCR analysis of Wif-1 promoter methylation was performed in 29 cases of hyperplastic polyps, 29 cases of sessile serrated adenoma, 19 cases of traditional serrated adenoma, 14 cases of colorectal cancer and 16 cases of normal mucosa.

RESULTSAbnormal expression rates of β-catenin in normal mucosa, hyperplastic polyps, sessile serrated adenoma, traditional serrated adenoma and colorectal cancer were 12.5% (3/24), 59.6% (31/52), 63.4% (26/41), 73.9% (17/23) and 100.0% (24/24), respectively. The corresponding methylation rates of Wif-1 promoter were 2/16, 10/29 (34.5%), 16/29 (55.2%), 15/19 and 13/14 (P < 0.05), respectively. Abnormal β-catenin expression was positively correlated with Wif-1 promoter methylation in traditional serrated adenomas (r = 0.536, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSAbnormal β-catenin expression and methylation rate of Wif-1 promoter are significantly higher in colorectal serrated lesions. Methylation of Wif-1 promoter may be related to the abnormal expression of β-catenin through activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which may contribute to the development of colorectal serrated lesions.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing ; genetics ; metabolism ; Adenoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; DNA Methylation ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Immunohistochemistry ; Intestinal Mucosa ; metabolism ; Intestinal Polyps ; pathology ; Repressor Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Wnt Signaling Pathway ; beta Catenin ; metabolism

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Magnolia officinalis cortex for constipation-type irritable bowel syndrome（IBS-C） rats before and after sweating. MethodIBS-C rat model was established by gavage of ice water， and rats were randomly divided into the blank group， model group， mosapride group（1 mg·kg^-1）， M. officinalis cortex group（10 g·kg^-1） and sweated M. officinalis cortex group（10 g·kg^-1）. The changes of body weight， fecal number and fecal water content of rats were observed， 16S rRNA sequencing was used to detect the structural changes of fecal intestinal flora in rats， the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine（5-HT） and substance P（SP） in colonic tissues of rats were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. ResultCompared with the model group， the fecal water content and fecal number of mosapride group， M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group were significantly increased（P<0.05）. At the phylum level， the top four species of flora abundance were Firmicutes， Bacteroidetes， Spirochaetes and Proteobacteria. Compared with the blank group， the proportion of Firmicutes in the model group was significantly reduced（P<0.05）， while the proportion of Spirochaetes was significantly increased（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， the proportion of Firmicutes and Spirochaetes in M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group tended to be similar to that in the blank group， and the proportion of Spirochaetes in sweated M. officinalis cortex group was lower than that of M. officinalis cortex group. At the family level， the top four species of flora abundance were Lactobacillaceae， S24_7， Ruminococcaceae， Bacteroidaceae， compared with the blank group， the proportion of Lactobacillaceae in the model group decreased significantly（P<0.05）， and its proportion in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group increased significantly after administration（P<0.05）， and the flora structure of the two groups tended to be similar to that of the blank group. At the genus level， the top four species of flora abundance were Lactobacillus， Unspecified_S24_7， Bacteroides and Treponema. Compared with the blank group， the proportion of Lactobacillus in the model group decreased significantly（P<0.05）， while the proportion of Treponema increased significantly（P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， ratio of bacterial structure of Lactobacillus and Treponema in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group tended to be similar to those in the blank group， indicating that M. officinalis cortex could restore the intestinal microbial structure of IBS-C rats before and after sweating. Compared with the model group， the 5-HT content in mosapride group was significantly reduced（P<0.05）， the contents of 5-HT and SP in the M. officinalis cortex group and sweated M. officinalis cortex group were significantly increased（P<0.01）， and the sweated M. officinalis cortex group was higher than the M. officinalis cortex group. ConclusionM. officinalis cortex can play a therapeutic role on IBS-C rats by regulating 5-HT pathway and intestinal flora structure before and after sweating.