Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder causing great distress to individuals, families and even society, and there is not yet effective way of unified prevention and treatment up till now. Lots of neuroimaging techniques, however, such as the magnetic resonance imaging, are widely used to the study of the pathogenesis of PTSD with the development of medical imaging. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be applied to detect the abnormalities not only of the brain morphology but also of the function of various cerebral areas and neural circuit, and plays an important role in studying the pathogenesis of psychiatric diseases. In this paper, we mainly review the task-related and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of the PTSD, and finally suggest possible directions for future research.
Brain ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neuroimaging ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic ; physiopathology

Objective To provide an automatical method for quality assurance (QA) of magnetic resonance imaging. Methods Digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) protocol was used to control the process of QA calculation and storage;the region of interest was auto delineated by process. Results The parameters of stability calculated by process reflected the equipment states in a certain extent and avoided the subjectivity which referring to the region of interest. Conclusion Automatical QA method brings the convenience to QA work on aspects of acquiring, analysis and data saving.

In this paper, a new method of combining translation invariant (TI) and wavelet-threshold (WT) algorithm to distinguish weak and overlapping signals of proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is presented. First, the 1H-MRS spectrum signal is transformed into wavelet domain and then its wavelet coefficients are obtained. Then, the TI method and WT method are applied to detect the weak signals overlapped by the strong ones. Through the analysis of the simulation data, we can see that both frequency and amplitude information of small-signals can be obtained accurately by the algorithm, and through the combination with the method of signal fitting, quantitative calculation of the area under weak signals peaks can be realized.
Algorithms ; Computer Simulation ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Protons ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Wavelet Analysis

Objective To explore changes of gray matter volume in patients with obsessivecompulsive disorder (OCD) in Chinese Han population using optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) ,and investigate its relationship with clinical symptoms. Methods Twenty patients with OCD and 20 age,sex and handedness matched healthy controls were scanned using 3D-T1 images on a 3.0 T MR system. The high resolution T1WI was preprocessed according to the optimized VBM protocol in Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM5). Two-sample t test was performed to characterize the differences of the gray matter volume (GMV) between the OCD patients and healthy controls, and the correlations between the GMV and symptom severity and cumulative illness duration were examined using Pearson correlation in SPSS 16. 0, respectively.Results Compared to controls, OCD patients demonstrated increased GMV in left thalamus, right thalamus and left cerebellum after false discovery rate (FDR) correction. No areas of significantly decreased GMV was observed in OCD patients in relative to healthy controls. The mean eigenvalue ranged from 0. 5782 to 0. 889 representing the left thalamus volume of OCD patients was 0. 6813 ± 0. 0718, and that ranged from 0. 5546 to 0. 9062 was 0. 6869 ± 0. 0808 tor right thalamus. The mean eigenvalues were positively correlated in bilateral thalamus (r = 0. 94, P ＜ 0. 01). Conclusion Using optimized VBM, the current research indicates that the pathophysiology of OCD is associated with GMV abnormalities not only in corticostriato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuit, but also in the cerebellum.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of cardioplegic solution enriched with different doses of glutathione on myocardial injury in children undergoing cardiac surgery under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB).MethodsForty-eight ASA [Ⅱ or Ⅲ patients aged 2-5 yr undergoing repair of ventricular septal defect under CPB were randomly divided into 4 groups (n ＝ 12 each):control group (group C) and cardioplegic solution containing 3 different-dose of glutathione groups ( group G1-3 ).Glutathione 50,75,100 mg/kg were added to cardioplegic solution in group G1-3 respectively.Blood samples were collected before operation (T0),at 30 min after release of aortic cross-clamp (T1),at 6,12,24 h after termination of CPB (T2-4) for determination of plasma cTnI concentration.Myocardial specimens were obtained from right auricle before aortic cross-clamp and 15 min after release of aortic cross-clamp.The ultrastructure of myocardium was examined with scanning electron microscope.A mitochondrial FlaMeng semiquantitative analysis was done.ResultsThe plasma concentration of cTnI at T3,4 were significantly lower in groups G1,2 than in group C.The plasma concentration of cTnI at T1-4 were significantly lower in group G3 than in group C and group G1,2.The quantization score of myocardial mitochondria at 15 min after release of aortic cross-clamp were significantly lower in group G3 than in group C and group G1,2.Micorscopic examination showed that the injury to myocardial ultrastructure was attenuated in group G3 compared with group C.Conclusion Cardioplegic solution enriched with glutathione can reduce myocardial injury induced by CPB in a dose dependent manner.Glutathione 100 mg/kg can exert a visibly protective effect on myocardium.

ObjectiveTo investigate the change in brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)during noxious electric stimu lation of forepaw and tail in rats.MethodsForty-eight healthy SD rats of both sexes weighing 300-450 g which responded sensitively to electrical stimulation as shown by Y-maze were randomly divided into 2 groups ( n =24 each) receiving nociceptive electric stimulation of left forepaw (group LF) and tail (group T) respectively.The animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 10％ chloral hydrate 250-300 mg/kg.Brain fMRI was performed at 30 min after disappearance of righting reflex in both groups when electric stimulations were delivered intermittently to forepaw or tail.The images were analyzed with SPM2 software.ResultsPrimary and secondary somatosensory cortex,posterior cingutate cortex,amygdaloid nucleus and ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus were activated in group T.Right accumbens nucleus,right primary somatosensory cortex,right ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus and right posterior cingutate cortex were activated in group LF.ConclusionDifferent brain areas are activated by noxious electric stimulation of different parts of body as shown by brain fMRI.

Objective Present study aimed to characterize the alteration of cortical thickness in first-episode, never-medicated, adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), and explore whether such deficits were related with their disease duration and clinical symptom severity. Methods Thirty-seven adult MDD patients were recruited from March 2013 to August 2015 as patient group, and 41 healthy volunteers were as control group. All the patients underwent three-dimensional spoiled gradient recalled (3D-SPGR) sequences, and the images were acquired. Constructions of the cortical surface were developed from 3D-SPGR images using FreeSurfer software, and the thickness of the entire cortex was measured according to the automated surface reconstruction, transformation, and high-resolution inter-subject alignment procedures. Finally, cortical thickness was compared between the two groups, and the relativity between clinical symptom severity, disease progression and clinical scores were analyzed using the General Linear Model (GLM). Results Our results revealed a significant increase in cortical thickness(P<0.05, false discovery rate corrected) in the left anterior and middle cingulate cortex, bilateral precentral cortex, left paracentral cortex, bilateral superior parietal cortex, left temporal pole, and right lateral occipital cortex (cortical thickness 1.89-2.87 mm, cortical volume 34-384 mm2, P<0.05) in MDD patients compared to healthy controls, while no reversed alternation was found. In addition, clinical symptom severity and disease progression showed no correlation with the cortical thickness abnormalities in MDD group(P>0.05). Conclusion Excluding the impact of treatment, our study showed that the cortical thickness change was mainly located in the prefrontal-limbic system in the in early course of MDD.

Objective To assess the diagnostic capability of spiral CT for giant pure seminoma in intraabdominal undescended testis.Methods Spiral CT of 6 cases with pure seminoma of inabdominal testes as proved by surgery and pathology were analyzed.All patients were male,and the age ranged from 31 to 45 years old with the mean of 35.2 years old.Results All tumors were located along the path of testicular descent on CT images.The arterial-supply of tumors all came from the testicular artery ipsilaterally.The draining vein could be seen between the mass and inferior vena cava or left renal vein in 5 cases.Isolaterally spermatic cord was absent in the inguinal region.Isolateral kidney was shifted upward.CT scans typically demonstrated a unilateral,mixed solid and cystic mass,with areas of solid located at the lateral aspect and areas of necrosis at the medial aspect.Contrast-enhanced CT scan showed mild enhancement of solid areas and band-like septal enhancement in areas of necrosis.There is no evidence of calcification or fat within the mass.Conclusion Spiral CT proves to be a very useful preoperative imaging modality for the giant intraabdominal seminoma.

Objective To evaluate the clinical value of whole-brain diffusion tensor imaging(DTI) in diagnosing patients with social anxiety disorder(SAD) using an automated method based on support vector machine(SVM) classification.Methods Whole brain DTI data were collected from 19 patients with SAD and 19 age-,gender-and education-matched healthy control(HC) subjects.Fractional anisotropy(FA) of whole brain was obtained by input all tensor images into Diffusion Toolkit software.Based upon the characteristics of brain FA,the pattern recognition of brain image data(PROBID) toolbox on the grounds of SVM algorithm was employed to classify the subjects,evaluate the diagnostic value of whole-brain FA data based SVM in diagnosing SAD patients and verify the robustness of the diagnostic results using permutation test with the threshold at P≤0.001.The weight vector score of each voxel was calculated according to the ratio between this voxel and whole brain in FA differences of the two groups.The white matter regions identified by setting the threshold to the top 30％ of the weight vector scores with at least 10 contiguous voxels were demonstrated by MRIcro software.Results Diagnostic accuracy of whole-brain FA based SVM in diagnosing SAD was 92.11％ (35/38) in which the specificity was 94.44％ (17/18),the sensitivity was 90.00％(18/20),the positive likelihood ratio was 17.01,the negative likelihood ratio was 0.11 and the diagnostic index was 184.22％.Permutation test suggested that the diagnostic results were significantly reliable.White matter regions showing major contributions favoring SAD over HC were located in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum,the left uncinate fasciculus,the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus,the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus,bilateral frontal gyri and the left occipital lobe.Whereas,white matter in bilateral anterior cingula,the left middle cerebellar peduncle and the left inferior parietal lobule showed more contributions to diagnose HC than to diagnose SAD.Conclusions As whole brain FA data based on SVM showing a high accuracy in diagnosing SAD,brain DTI characteristics have the potential to be the specific indicators in the diagnosis of SAD.SVM might be used as a tool to verify the reliability of white matter abnormalities and provide regions of interest in DTI study of neurological and psychiatric diseases.

AIM:To investigate the autophagy induced by sepsis and acute kidney injury , and the regulation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway in this process.METHODS: The rats were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture ( CLP) or sham operation .Histopathologic changes of the renal tissues were examined by HE staining .Blood urea nitrogen ( BUN) and serum creatinine ( SCr) were measured by chemical colorime-try.The protein expression of microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 I/II (LC3 I/II), beclin-1 and p-Akt at different time points after CLP was detected by Western blotting .In vitro, human proximal tubular epithelial cell line HK-2 were treated with LPS to induce autophagy .The protein expression of LC 3 I/II and p-Akt in the HK-2 cells after LPS treatment at different time points and different concentrations was detected by Western blotting .These molecules in HK-2 cells and apoptosis of HK-2 cells treated with LPS plus PI3K inhibitor or Akt inhibitor were also detected .RESULTS: Compared with sham group , the severe changes of renal histopathological injuries in CLP groups were observed , the levels of BUN and SCr in CLP groups were significantly increased .LC3 I/II, beclin-1 and phosphorylation of Akt gradually increased after CLP.After treatment with LPS, the expression of p-Akt (308) in the HK-2 cells gradually increased in a dose-and time-dependent fashion.The expression of beclin-1 and p-Akt (472) reached a peak at 8 h or 10 mg/L LPS treatment.Treat-ment with PI3K or Akt inhibitor down-regulated the expression of LC3 and promoted the apoptosis of HK-2 cells.CON-CLUSION:Autophagy in the kidney is induced by sepsis and acute kidney injury .PI3/Akt signaling pathway may be in-volved in this process .