Clinical evaluation of cardiac function is routine and important. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) cine sequence can obtain dynamic images of the whole cardiac cycle. Based on echocardiographic techniques, CMR has been used to establish a set of scanning sequences and an evaluation index system to evaluate cardiac function, including ejection fraction, ventricular mass index, strain, interventricular septum curvature ratio, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and vascular compliance. Understanding the principles, significance and indications of these indicators is helpful to optimize the scanning sequence and make timely and effective diagnosis, which is of great significance for clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation. This review sums up the status and progress of clinical application of CMR in evaluation of cardiac function.

OBJECTIVETo explore the working mechanism and age-related change of the conflict processing system of the frontal cortex.

METHODSFifteen normal elderly people and 15 youth were performed a modified Eriksen flanker paradigm, while event-related potential (ERPs), which include 32 systerm electroencephalography, reaction time and correct rate were recorded.

RESULTSThe elderly group showed a distinct effect of reaction time and effect of conflict in the respond level compared with the youth group. The elderly group had a longer time window of N380 and same amplitude as the youth group. Low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (LORETA) showed the bilateral temporal lobe and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (especially right) were activated in the youth group, while the left temporal lobe, the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left medial frontal gyrus were activated in the elderly group.

CONCLUSIONWhen conflict stimuli existed in the response level, old people showed frontal interference control hypofunction. N380 reflected the activation of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the left temporal lobe during response selection and executive control processing in older people.

Adolescent ; Aged ; Aging ; Electroencephalography ; Evoked Potentials ; Frontal Lobe ; physiology ; Humans ; Prefrontal Cortex ; physiology ; Reaction Time ; Temporal Lobe ; physiology

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) can bind to and specifically neutralize lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. In order to evaluate potent LPS-neutralizing activity of bovine BPI, the full-length coding sequence (1 449bp) or 714 bp N-terminal coding sequence (BPI714) of bovine BPI was transfected into mHEK293 cells and the expression of LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines was studied. First, we constructed the lentiviral expression vectors and generated mHEK293 cells stably expressing recombinant bovine BPI or BPI714. Then, we detected the expression of IL-8, IL-1β, TNF-α, NF-κB-1 and NF-κB-2 genes by real-time PCR at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h post of LPS induction in cells with or without recombinant bovine BPI or BPI714 ectopic expression, respectively. In response to LPS, the robust abundance of inflammatory cytokines including IL-8, IL-1β, TNF-α and NF-κB-2 was observed in wild type mHEK293 cells at eachtime point. On the contrary, mRNA abundance of IL-8, TNF-α and NF-κB-2 in transfected mHEK293 cells showed no significant changes at each indicated time point. Our results demonstrated that recombinant bovine full length BPI or BPI714 down-regulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines and revealed that either of bovine BPI or BPI714 was able to inhibit the immune respond stimulated by LPS. This study provides evidence for further investigating the mechanisms and application of BPI/LPS-neutralizing activity and also documents a reliable approach for analysis of the efficacy of antibacterial proteins.
Animals ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; chemistry ; Blood Proteins ; chemistry ; Cattle ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Interleukins ; biosynthesis ; Lipopolysaccharides ; chemistry ; NF-kappa B ; biosynthesis ; Transfection ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; biosynthesis

Objective To establish small-for-size (SFS) graft injury models in miniature pigs with high standardization, reproducibility and similarity to clinical situation. Methods Ba-Ma miniature pigs were introduced in this study and orthotopic liver transplantations (OLTs) were performed in 12 pigs with 30% liver volume allogeneil grafts (small portion of right paramedian lobe, right lateral lobe and caudate lobe) without veno-venous bypass. The profiles of intra-operational hemodynamics and metabolism were investigated. Animals were observed for 7 days with daily serum biochemistry and coagulation function exam. The survival rate related to operation itself and the SFS grafts were respectively calculated as well as the graft regenerative ratio at post-operational day (POD) 7. Results Graft weight as a percentage of the recipient's native liver weight (GW/RLW) and the total body weight (GW/BW) were (28. 63±4. 42)% and (0. 73±0.06)%. The mean operation time, anhepatic phase, and the time of blockage of infra-hepatic IVC were (191. 7±14. 2) min, (28. 3±3. 6) min, and (45. 0±5. 8) min. The survival rate related to the operation itself and the SFS graft were 83. 33% (10/12) and 40% (4/10), and the graft regenerative ratio at POD7 was (278. 06±42. 95) %. Contrast to the remarkable increase of heart rate and serum potassium during anhepatic phase, the mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, rectal temperature, PH value and buffer excess had a significant decrease (P<0.01) with a gradual recovery after reperfusioa Serum ALT, AST, PT, Cr, and TB were significantly increased with a peak level at POD1 for the former 4 and POD2 for TB, and then began to decrease and favorably recovered at POD7, but TB, PT, and AST levels were still high when compared to those of prereperfusion (P<0. 05). Conclusion This model of OLT performed with 30% liver volume graft without veno-venous bypass was an ideal large animal model for series studies related to SFS graft injury.

Objective The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency of depression and quality of life(QoL)in lung cancer patients before and after diagnosis , and to investigate the potential related factors. Methods The subjects consisted of 115 consecutive adult patients newly diagnosed for lung cancer in Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital between April 2008 and October 2008. Depression and QoL were evaluated before the diagnosis for baseline; the same evaluation was repeated after surgery. The median interval was 34.6 days (ranged 28-44 days). Patients' biomedical characteristics were noted from patients' medical records, while the demographic factors were obtained during the interview at the out-patients department. Statistical analysis was used to identify the significant predictors. Results The overall incidence of depression before final diagnosis and after surgery was 22.6% and 17.4 %, respectively. No significant change in the prevalence of depression was found in our study. Education, cost of hospitalization, and smoking status were associated with an increased risk of depression before final diagnosis. Age, having confidant, performance status, and type of surgery were found related with postoperative depression. Patients' QoL had a decrease in every subscale after surgery. Changes in role, social functioning scales and fatigue, pain symptom scales were found significantly. In QoL subsc ales, preoperative dyspnea, postoperative role functioning, fatigue , and pain were associated with changes of depression. Conclusion Depression may be present prior to final diagnosis in lung cancer patients and it does not seem to decrease significantly after surgery, indicating the need for psychological screening and appropriate intervention during theperioperative period. A poorer QoL was detected after surgery, which maybe partly contributed to depression symptoms.

AIM:To observe the influence of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on the PI3K/Akt/eNOS signaling pathways in ovariectomized rat myocardium .METHODS:Female SD rats (n=30) were divided into sham oper-ation group , ovariectomized group , progynova group , high-dose LBP group and low-dose LBP group .The serum levels of estradiol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK) were measured by ELISA.The myocardial contents of H2 S and oxidative stress injury-related indicators were also detected .The morphological changes of the myocardium were observed with HE staining.The expression of eNOS and PI3K/Akt pathway-related proteins in the myocardium was deter-mined by Western blot .RESULTS: Compared with sham operation group , the serum level of estradiol , the content of H2 S, the activity of GSH-Px, and the expression of eNOS and PI3K/Akt pathway-related proteins in the myocardium in ovariectomized group were all decreased , and the levels of ROS and MDA in the myocardium were increased (P<0.05). The serum levels of LDH and CK were also increased .The arrangement of the myocardial cells was disordered , and the in-tercellular space was also increased in the ovariectomized group .Compared with ovariectomized group , the serum level of estradiol, the myocardial levels of H2S and GSH-Px, and the protein levels of eNOS and phosphorylated Akt were all in-creased in high dose group, while the levels of ROS and MDA in the myocardium were decreased (P<0.05).The serum levels of LDH and CK were also decreased .The morphological changes of the rat myocardium were improved in high dose group.CONCLUSION: LBP prevents and treats postmenopausal cardiovascular lesions through regulating PI 3K/Akt/eNOS signaling pathways in ovariectomized rats .

Objective To investigate the role of ski in proliferation of astrocytes and the molecular mechanisms in rats. Methods Astro-cytes were obtained from cerebral cortex of a three-day old rat and cultured in vitro. siRNA targeted to ski and negative control sequences were prepared. The astrocytes were divided into ski-siRNA group, siRNA negative control group and untreated control group, while the spe-cific siRNA targeting ski negative control sequences were transfected into astrocytes with Lipofectamine? RNAiMAX Reagent. The protein levels of ski, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and Cyclin D1 were determined with Western blotting. The proliferation of astrocytes were measured with CCK8 assay. The cell-cycle of astrocytes were analyzed with flow cytometer. Results The protein level of ski (F=38.611, P<0.01), GFAP (F=7.547, P<0.05) and Cyclin D1 (F=3.901, P<0.05) reduced in ski-siRNA group, the proliferation of astrocyte was significantly inhibited since twelve hours after culture (F>30.507, P<0.01), and less cells were in S phase and more in G1/G0 phase (F>48.425, P<0.01), compared with the control groups. Conclusion ski knocking down by siRNA significantly inhibits the proliferation of astro-cytes, which may associate with the down-regulation of Cyclin D1 expression.

Objective To investigate the effect of adenosine A2A receptor on pituitary-adrenal axis response in acute phase of moderate craniocerebral trauma.Methods Eighteen adenosine A2A receptor knock-out mice in a C57BL/6 background and another eighteen their wild-type littermates were divided into normal control group and craniocerebral trauma for 4 hours group,and craniocerebral trauma for 24 hours group according to random number table,with siμ mice per group.Plasma levels of adrenocorticotropic-hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone at hours 4 and 24 postinjury were determined using ELISA method.Results At 4 and 24 hours,brain water content in wild-type mice [(80.950 ± 0.184) ％,(82.178 ± 0.255)％ respectively] was higher than that in gene knock-out mice [(80.006 ± 0.199)％,(81.091 ± 0.295)％ respectively,P ＜ 0.01].Besides,brain water content in both wild-type and gene knock-out mice increased after injury (P ＜ 0.01).Plasma levels of ACTH and corticosterone were higher in geneknock-out sham mice than in wild-type sham mice [(120.214 ± 2.472) ng/L vs (91.767 ±7.395) ng/L,(27.814 ±0.888) μg/L vs (11.430 ±0.644) μg/L respectively,P ＜0.0l].At 4 and 24 hours,plasma levels of ACTH [(174.776-± 5.040) ng/L,(189.613 ± 4.802) ng/L respectively] in geneknock-out mice showed a higher increase than those in wild-type mice [(119.594 ± 6.945) ng/L,(124.93-± 11.001 7) ng/L respectively,P ＜ 0.05].Moreover,plasma levels of corticosterone [(40.138 ±-0.805) μg/L] at 4 hours and [(37.440-0.485)μg/L] at 24 hours in gene knock-out mice showed a same result as compared with that in wild-type mice [(19.702 ± 0.804) μg/L,(17.602 ± 0.743) μg/L respectively,P ＜ 0.05].Conclusions Knock-out of adenosine A2A receptor increases the release of ACTH and corticosterone in acute stage of moderate craniocerebral trauma and promotes pituitary-adrenal stress response.This may provide a novel explanation for the neuroprotective effect of A2A receptor deficiency.

Liquid chip technology have been licensed to be used in clinic because of its advantage of high-throughput, high-sensitivity, good signal to noise ratio, reaction in liquid phase, convenient operation and short time consuming, etc. The optimization of a liquid chip system for the detection of serum biomarkers of colorectal tumour and initial application in the detection of CEA were studied. The optimized reaction conditions of liquid chip were determined through orthogonal design after it was prepared. The results showed that the consuming reaction time of the coated antibody and the antigen was 1hour. The microspheres, biotinylated detecion antibody and the consuming complexes and avidin-PE time of the microspheres and the biotinylated tested antibody was 1hour, 1hour and 15minutes respectively.the consuming time of the complexes and avidin-PE was fifteen minutes, The optimized dilution of the biotinylated tested detection antibody was 1∶300 and the optimized concentration of avidin-PE was 12?g/ml. Totally 55 clinical samples were detected by the liquid chip and by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) simultaneously and the results of the two methods were compared. The results of the two methods showed good correlation between positive and negative samples but the detection limits and the dynamic ranges of the liquid chip method were more sensitive and wider than those of the ELISA. The multiple tumour biomarkers may be detected simultaneously and the time of clinical test and manpower requirements were reduced by the liquid chip method.

The event-related potential (ERP) is considered as one of the most effective methods to study and analyze objectively human mental activity based on nerve electrophysiology. At present, ERP is not only used in the study of lie detection, but also in the clinical medicine for the cognitive assessment on patients with cerebrovascular disease, dementia or traumatic brain injury and auxiliary diagnosis of mental illness. With the further development of ERP detection technology, it would have a wider application prospect in the field of forensic medicine.
Evoked Potentials/physiology* ; Forensic Medicine/trends* ; Humans