Dental Pulp Cavity ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Humans ; Radiography ; Root Canal Therapy

Objective To evaluate alendronate with regards to its effect s on trabecular bone structural properties. Methods Alendronate was administered at a daily p.o. dose of 0.5 mg?kg－1?d－1 over a 12 weeks period in Hound do gs (n=8 ＋ 8 for control and treated group), the structural indices of the lumba r vertebral (L 1 and L 2) trabecular bone were assessed directly from 3 D image s. Results Treatment with alendronate increased bone volume fraction by 9.5％ a nd 7.7％ respectively, in the L 1 and L 2. Trabecular thickness significantly in creased after alendronate treatment, whereas trabecular separation remained cons tant. The degree of anisotropy for the alendronate treated group was decreased compared with that of the control group. Bone surface to volume ratio declined s ignificantly in the alendronate treated group, whereas alendronate induced a hi gher value of bone surface density. Conclusion Alendronate increased the struct ural properties of canine trabecular bone after short-term treatment at a dose of 0.5 mg?kg－1?d－1. Thus, alendronate could increase the structural properti es of healthy trabecular bone in a short-term period.

Angiotensin II ; pharmacology ; Blotting, Western ; Cells, Cultured ; Glomerular Mesangium ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; I-kappa B Kinase ; NF-kappa B ; analysis ; Peptide Fragments ; pharmacology ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; analysis

Objective To expore CT diagnostic values for hyaline-vascular type of giant lymph node hyperplasia(GLNH).Methods CT findings in 4 patients with hyaline-vascular type of GLNH confirmed by surgery and pathology were respectively analyzed and relevant literatures were reviewed.CT examination included plain and enhanced scan with contrast medium bolus injection.Results Lesions were located 2 at the posterior mediastinum,1 at the restroperitonum and 1 at the neck.The characteristic CT appearances were a large soft tissue mass round or oval in shape with homogenous density,well and regular margin.The masses were all markedly enhanced after contrast,their attenuation were similar to but slightly lower than the larger arteries in the same section.Conclusion GLNH is an uncommon disease and it′s clinical diagnosis is difficult.But CT scanning could showed some features.When CT found a mass with benign characters locating in lymph node regions,especially marked enhancement,Hyaline-vascular type of GLNH should be considered.

Objective: To evaluate the role of the MAPK subtypes (p38MAPK, ERK and JNK) in ANG Ⅱ induced apoptosis of cultured human podocytes. Methods: The cultured podocytes were incubated in media containing either vehicle, SB202190(5 ?mol/L, an inhibitor of p38MAPK), PD98059 (1 ?mol/L, an inhibitor of ERK), SP600125 (5 ?mol/L, an inhibitor of JNK), ANG Ⅱ (10 -8 mol/L) with or without SB202190、PD98059 and SP600125 for 18 hours; the cells were assayed for apoptosis by morphologic staining with H 33342 and propidium iodide and DNA fragmentation assays; the cell proteins were probed for phosphorylated MAPKs to determine the activation of specific MAPK subtypes. Results: ANG Ⅱ promoted podocyte apoptosis in a time and dose dependent manner; ANG Ⅱ stimulated p38MAPK, but inhibited JNK; SB202190 inhibited both ANG Ⅱ induced podocyte apoptosis and p38MAPK phosphorylation; Inhibition of ERK by PD98059 had no effect on ANG Ⅱ induced cell apoptosis. Conclusion: ANG Ⅱ induced apoptosis through stimulation of p38MAPK and inhibition of JNK in human podocytes.

OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic differences among scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking, body acupuncture and western medication for treatment of vascular dementia (VD).

METHODSNinety cases were randomly divided into a combined therapy group (31 cases), a body acupuncture group (29 cases) and a western medication group (30 cases). The combined therapy group was treated with scalp acupuncture at forehead middle line, parieral middle line, temporal front line and temporal rear line as well as auricular point sticking at naogan (AT3,41), shen (CO10), shenmen (TF4), zhen (AT3), once a day; the body acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Zusanli (ST 36) and so on, once a day; the western medication group was treated with oral administration of aniracetam tablets, 0.2 g per time, twice a day. Fourteen days were considered as a treatment course, and totally 3 courses were required. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living (ADL) were applied to assess the changes of cognitive behavior ability before and after treatment among three groups. Also the efficacy among three groups were compared.

RESULTSOne case dropped out in the body acupuncture group and western medication group, respectively. The total effective rate was 90.334 (28/31) in the combined therapy group, which was superior to 85.734 (24/28) in the body acupuncture group and 79.3% (23/29) in the western medication group (both P < 0.05). After the treatment, the scores of MMSE and ADL were all improved among three groups, which was the most significant in the combined therapy group (MMSE: 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 21.23 +/- 4.13, P < 0.05; 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 20.41 +/- 4. 01, P < 0.01; ADL: 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 51.92 +/- 20.42, P < 0.05; 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 49.42 +/- 19.43, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking could improve the clinical symptoms and cognitive behavior ability in patients with vascular dementia, which has superior total efficacy to body acupuncture and western medication aniracetam tablets.

Activities of Daily Living ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Cognition ; Dementia, Vascular ; psychology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Scalp

Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neurilemmoma ; pathology

Background Normal adult optic disc rim width follows inferior ≥ superior ≥ nasal ≥ temporal (ISNT) rule.Analysis of the optic disc structural parameters with Heidelberg retina tomograph (HRT) can understand whether ISNT principle is suitable to other optic disc structure parameters.Objective This study was to investigate the characteristics of optic nerve head structure parameters in normal Chinese adults.Methods The parents of twins who participated Guangzhou Twin Eye Study were enrolled in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from 2006 June to 2011 August.All subjects received the routine eye examinations,including visual acuity,slit lamp microscope,direct ophthalmoscope examination,auto-refraction examination and HRT Ⅲ examination.All data from the right eyes were collected and analyzed.HRT values from different quadrants of optical nerve head were compared with one-way analysis of variance,and the multiple comparison between quadrants was carried out by Bonferroni test.The differences of optical nerve head parameters in different gender were analyzed using independent sample t test and Bland-Altman test.Results In this study,1672 eyes of 1672 subjects were included,with the 759 male and 913 female persons and average age of (41.8±5.3)years.No significant differences were seen in the disc area (DA)between the superior and inferior,as well as the nasal and temporal quadrants among the subjects (P＞0.05).In addition,there were not significantly different in the rim area (RA) between the superior and nasal disc as well as the rim volume (RV) among the inferior,superior and nasal disc (P＞O.05).However,significant differences were found in the cup area (CA),cup/disk area ratio (C/DAR),cup volume (CV),mean cupdepth (MCD),maximum cup depth (MxCD),height variation contour (HVC),cup shape measure (CSM),mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (mRNFLT) and retinal nerve fiber layer cross section area (RNFLcsa) among the different quadrants (P＜0.001).The local differences from only DA and RA complied with an ordination of the ISNT rule.The values of DA,CA,C/DAR,CV,MCD,MxCD from male individuals were higher,but those of the RV,HVC,mRNFLT RNFLcsa were lower in comparison with female individuals.Nevertheless,all the differences were ＜ 0.1 with a maximal mean difference in DA and CA (both 0.07 mm2).Conclusions The optical nerve head configurations measured by HRT have different distributing characteristics in four quadrants in normal adults.Most parameters show the higher values in the inferior and superior than those in nasal and temporal of disc,but DA and RA meet ISNT rule.The differences of most parameters between male and female subjects can be ignored.

Background Heidelberg Retinal Tomograph (HRT) has been widely used in clinical diagnosis of glaucomatous optic neuropathy,importantly,the measurement results of HRT may be affected by myopia.Therefore,studying the effect of different refractive status and axial length on structural parameters of the optic disc is important.Objective This study was to evaluate the influence of refractive error and axial length to optic nerve head parameter measured by HRT.Methods The parents who participate in Guangzhou Twin Study were enrolled in this investigation from July 2006 to August 2011.The regular eye examinations,including visual acuity,slit lamp,fundus,auto-refraction,HRT-Ⅲ and intraocular lens (IOL) Master,were performed on all the subjects.Thc data from right eyes of subjects were collected and analyzed.The linear correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were applied to analyze the correlation between HRT optic papilla configuration parameter and equivalent sphere and ocular axis length.Results A pilot prospective series cases observational study was designed.1748subjects were enrolled in this study.The disc area (DA) (P=0.021),rim area (RA) (P＜0.001),rim volume (RV) (P＜0.001),mean retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (mRNFLt) (P＜0.001) and retinal nerve fiber layer cross section area (RNFLcsa) in the high myopia were greater than those of the emmetropic group,with significant difference between the two groups (P＜0.001).However,the cup area (CA),cup/disk area ratio (C/DAR) and cup volume (CV) were less in the high myopic group than those of the emmetropic group (P=0.004,P＜0.001 and P＜O.001),respectively.In the mild-moderatc myopic group,the RV,mRNFLt and RNFLcsa were greater than those of the emmetropic group (all of the P value less than 0.001),but the numbers of DA,CA,C/DAR,and CV were less than those of the emmetropic group,the differences were significant and their P valuables were 0.038,＜ 0.001,＜0.001 and 0.001 respectively.The differences of structure parameters between the hyperopia group and the emmetropic group were not statistically significant (P＞0.05).The DA,CA,RA,C/DAR,CV,RV,mean cup depth (MCD),maximum cup depth (MxCD),cup shape measure (CSM),mRNFLt and RNTLcsa were (2.04±0.43) mm2,(0.49±0.34) mm2,(1.55 ± 0.34) mm2,0.23-0.13,(0.11 ± 0.12) mm3,(0.45 ± 0.19) mm3,(0.21 ± 0.09) mm,(0.60±0.21) mm,-0.21 ± 0.07,(0.29 ± 0.07) mm and (1.46 ± 0.36)mm2,respectively,in the 1748 eyes of 1748 subjects.No significant correlation was found between the DA value with SE (r=-0.032,P =0.186).However,weaker positive correlations were seen between the CA,C/DAR,CV,MCD,MxCD with SE (r=0.139,0.163,0.130,0.004,0.054,P＜ 0.05) and negative correlation between RA,RV,mRNFLt and RNFLcsa with SE (r =-0.178,-0.331,0.241,-0.239,P＜0.001).With the increase of the ocular axial length,the DA,RA,RV,mRNFLt and RNFLcsa values were enlarged,and the CV value was smaller.With the increase of CA,the RA,C/DAR,CV,RV,MCD,MxCD,CSM and RNFLcsa values elevated,but mRNFLt value was decreased.Conclusions Refractive error is not associated with DA,but the measuring results are different among various refractive groups.Refractive error,ocular axial length and DA affect the measuring result of HRT.