Objective To investigate the effectiveness of organ dose modulation (ODM) technology with respect to dose reduction and image quality of the sensitive organs during CTA of craniocervical arteries. Methods Ninety one patients suspected of arterial vascular disease and evaluated by CTA of craniocervical arterires were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into group A (n=46) and group B (n=45) according to the order of examination. All patients hadCTA examination of craniocervical arteries. The ODM technique was used only in plain phase in group A and was used both in the plain phase and enhanced phase in group B. The tube current in the four direction (anterior,posterior,left,right) of thyroid and orbital area and radiation dose were recorded. The image quality of group A and group B was evaluated by objective indicators [CT attenuation values and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of vessels in the thyroid area and orbital region ]and the subjective score. The independent samples t test was used for the statistical analysis of the objective indicators and nonparametric rank sum Mann-Whitney U test were used for subjective score. Results For A group, There were significant differences for the tube current at all directions of the thyroid gland and orbital area between the plain phase and the enhanced phase except the current at the posterior of the thyroid gland area(P value all<0.05),and the current in plain phase lower than that in enhanced phase. The mean current of thyroid gland and the orbital area were (604±43) mA and (656± 22) mA in the plain phase and (341±54) mA and (409±63) mA in enhanced phase. The differences were significant (t values were -10.909 and -38.454,P<0.01).CTDIvol and ED were (15.6±1.4) mGy and (1.44± 0.17) mSv in the plain phase and (17.4 ± 1.4) mGy and (1.60 ± 0.18) mSv in the enhanced phase, the differences were significant (t values were - 42.008 and - 32.130, P<0.01) . There was no significant differences for the objective indicators and the subjective score between group A and group B(P>0.05). Conclusion ODM technique can provide protective effect on the sensitive organs during craniocervical CTA examination without compromising the image quality.

Neurology is one of the most difficult subjects in clinical medical education.How to improve the teaching model of neurology is a crucial problem.The systematic instructional design and problem-based learning (PBL) emerge as mature teaching techniques,and having a broad application prospect.However,simple PBL teaching model has not achieved the desired results,because PBL teaching method pays excessive attention to the subjective initiative of students,but ignores the supervision and assessment mechanisms,such as assessment,feedback,adjustment,which are the major concerns of systematic instructional design.This research tries to combine systematic instructional design with PBL teaching model,and explore the position in neurology teaching.By determining the teaching target,analysis of PBL teaching,writing teaching plans,organization of PBL teaching,feedback to adjust teaching design method,the final summative evaluation is done and the teaching,was completed.After practice tips may bring progress on neurology teaching mode.

Objective To investigate the diagnosis and treatment of isolated celiac artery (CA) dissection and superior mesenteric artery (SMA) dissection.MethodsIntegrating clinical data of 119 cases with isolated dissection of the visceral arteries ( IDVA ) reported in literature and 2 patients with spontaneous isolated dissections of both CA and SMA treated in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University,the diagnosis and treatment of IDVA were analyzed retrospectively.Results Among 119 cases reported in the literature,69 cases were symptomatic.All of the cases were diagnosed by contrast-enhanced abdominal CT or MRI.After IDVA was discovered,surgical treatment and endovascular stent placement was performed in 8 and 5 patients respectively,although the remaining 106 patients were managed conservatively with good results.In our 2 cases,the diagnosis of CA and SMA dissection was established by contrastenhanced CT and confirmed by conventional angiograghy.One patient was treated with anticoagulation and antihypertension,and the other patient was treated with endovascular stenting.Both of the patients didn't have discomfort during the follow-up period of 12 and 3 months respectively.ConclusionsContrastenhanced abdominal CT is the main tool for detection of IDVA.Most of the patients with IDVA can be managed conservatively,but close surveillance with imaging studies is necessary for early recognition of dissection progression.Patients with persistent or relapsed symptoms,and dissection progression,should undergo surgical or endovascular treatment.

Objective To investigate the effect of gastrodin on rat vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) migration induced by platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) and its possible mechanisms.Methods Enzyme digestion method wasused to obtain rataorticVSMCs and be purified bypassage.Immunofluorescence staining was used to identify VSMC marker proteins.A PDGF-BB induced cell migration model was established.Transwell chamber assay was used to evaluate the effect of gastrodin on PDGF-BB induced VSMC migration.Western blots were performed to detect the phosphohorylation levels of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK).Results The purity of primary cultured VSMC was more than 99％.The VSMC migrated number in the PDGF-BB group was 85.2 ± 3.486 per field.It was significantly more than 42.5 ± 1.927 per field in the control group (t =9.981,P＜0.001),and gastrodin was enable to make PDGF-BB induced the number of VSMC migration significantly reduce to 71.3 ± 1.783 per filed (t=3.550,P =0.002).Western blots analysis showed that gastrodin inhibited PDGF-BB induced JNK phosphorylation (0.190 ± 0.015 vs.0.190 ± 0.015; t =14.548,P =0.000).Conclusions Gastrodin inhibits PDGF-BB induced VSMC migration,its mechanisms may be associated with the inhibition of the JNK signaling pathway activation.

Onset with fever and back pain, an 81-year-old man had sudden oliguria and progressively elevated serum creatine from normal range to 660 μmol/L within 1 week after receiving contrast agents, various antibiotics, and several nonsteroidal anti-inflammation drugs. Urine output recovered after supportive treatment. However, his serum creatinine level rose again soon after a temporary decline accompanied by gross hematuria with almost normal morphology, nephrotic proteinuria, and hypoalbuminemia. Renal biopsy revealed necrotizing glomerulonephritis. Methylprednisolone was intravenously administrated 500 mg per day for 3 days, followed by oral glucocorticoids and cyclophosphamide. Gradually the patient′s serum creatinine descended to 144 μmol/L.

The central nervous system (CNS) plays a key regulatory role in glucose homeostasis. In particular, the brain is important in initiating and coordinating protective counterregulatory responses when blood glucose levels fall. This may due to the metabolic dependency of the CNS on glucose, and protection of food supply to the brain. In healthy subjects, blood glucose is normally maintained within a relatively narrow range. Hypoglycemia in diabetic patients can increase the risk of complications, such as heart disease and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The clinical research finds that the use of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a positive effect on the treatment of hypoglycemia. Here the authors reviewed the current understanding of sensing and counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia, and discuss combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine and the theory of iatrogenic hypoglycemia in diabetes treatment. Furthermore, the authors clarify the feasibility of treating hypoglycemia on the basis of TCM theory and CNS and have an insight on its clinical practice.

To obtain oleaginous yeast mutants with improved lipid production and growth rates, an atmospheric and room temperature plasma (ARTP) jet was used with a 96-well plate for high throughput screening. Mutants with changes in growth rates and lipid contents were obtained. At a lethality rate of 99%, the positive mutation rate of the yeast cells was 27.2% evaluated by the growth rates of the mutants and the comparison with the wild strain. The fermentation in a medium composed of yeast extract (10 g/L), peptone (10 g/L) and D-glucose (20 g/L) resulted in the lipid yield of the mutant (C4) with 4.07% (W/W) compared with that of the wild strain (1.87%).
Atmosphere ; Biofuels ; Culture Media ; Fermentation ; Glucose ; pharmacology ; Lipids ; biosynthesis ; Mutation ; Peptones ; pharmacology ; Temperature ; Yeasts ; genetics ; growth & development ; metabolism

Objective:To explore any effect of mechanical vibration on the expression of estrogen and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in ovariectomized rats with an osteoporotic fracture.Methods:Thirty 3-month-old female Wistar rats were divided randomly into a control group, an ovariectomy group and a vibration group, each of 10. Fractures were induced in the rats of all three groups. Twenty minutes of whole-body vertical vibration was applied to the vibration group at a frequency of 35Hz, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. After 2 and 6 weeks the fracture healing of each group was evaluated using X-rays, the levels of hippocampal estrogen were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and fracture-end BDNF was quantified by immunoblotting.Results:After 2 and 6 weeks of vibration the average fracture healing in the vibration group was significantly greater than in the other 2 groups. The average estrogen content in the hippocampus of the vibration group was significantly higher than in the other 2 groups after both 2 and 6 weeks, while the average BDNF content in their fracture ends was significantly lower. The BDNF expression at the fracture end was significantly correlated with the fracture healing.Conclusion:Mechanical vibration can promote the expression of estrogen and BDNF in the hippocampus and accelerate fracture healing in osteoporotic rats.

Objective:To quantify any correlation between serum levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3-PUFAs) and post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI).Methods:The clinical data of 77 patients hospitalized after a first stroke were analyzed. The Minimum Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to divide them into impaired (PSCI) and unimpaired (non-PSCI) cohorts. The serum levels of ω3-PUFAs, α-linolenic acid (ALA), eieosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and dueosahexenoie acid (DHA) were compared between the two groups and correlated with the individuals′ MMSE scores.Results:The average ALA, EPA, DHA and total ω3-PUFAs levels of PSCI group were in most cases significantly lower than those of the non-PSCI group. Spearman correlation analysis showed that serum DHA level was a weak positive predictor of the MMSE scores (R=0.32, P≤0.05). Logistic regression analysis indicated that low serum DHA level was an independent risk factor for PSCI ( P≤0.01). Conclusions:Cognitively impaired stroke survivors tend to have lower serum ω3-PUFAs levels than those without cognitive impairment. There is a weak positive correlation between serum DHA levels and MMSE scores. Low serum DHA level is an independent risk factor for PSCI. The serum level of ω3-PUFAs is of high value in the auxiliary diagnosis and evaluation of PSCI.