Objective To investigate the changes of the white matter in adolescent depression by using the method of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Methods We employed TBSS to examine WM microstructure in 35 treatment-naive adolescents with clinical depression and in 40 matched controls. By using the TBSS, we compared the difference of fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD) between theadolescent patients with depression and the controls. Results Our analysis revealed the abnormal WM microstructures in the clinically depressed adolescents. The whole-brain analysis revealed that patients, with lower FA values in the body of the corpus callosum (CC) (P < 0.01), had elevated RD and MD (P < 0.01), and preserved AD (P > 0.05). The FA values in the body of the corpus callosum was negatively correlated with the severity of depression (P < 0.01). Conclusions Our findings suggest that WM abnormalities are involved in the path-physiology of depression. Importantly , our findings show that these WM abnormalities present early in the course of the disorder.

Objective To explore the brain biochemical changes in the frontal lobe of adolescents with depression using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Methods Twenty-four patients and twenty-three healthy subjects matched for age, sex and education level were enrolled in the study. All the subjects underwent multivoxel 1H MRS to measure the bilateral metabolic levels of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr) in the prefrontal lobes. Results The NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr ratios in the left dorsolateral prefrontal white matter of the depressive adolescents were significantly lower than those of the healthy subjects [NAA/Cr: 1.67 ± 0.32, t = 3.126, P = 0.004; Cho/Cr: 1.28 ± 0.30, t = 2.362, P = 0.024], and the ratios of NAA/Cr in the right dorsolateral prefrontal white matter of the depressive adolescents was also significantly lower than that of the healthy subjects [NAA/Cr:1.65 ± 0.26, t=2.969, P=0.006]. There was no significant difference in the metabolic ratios in the bilateral anterior cingulate gray matter between the depressive adolescents and the healthy controls. Conclusions Biochemical abnormalities in prefrontal white matter are involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Importantly , these abnormalities are already present early in the course of the disorder.

Duodenum-and bile duct-preserving pancreatic head resection is rarely carried out in China due to its complexity.From September 2013 to May 2014,5 patients (1 with mass-forming pancreatitis of the head of the pancreas,2 with mucinous cystadenoma of the pancreatic duct combined with focal cancerous,2 with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic duct stones) received duodenum-and bile duct-preserving pancreatic head resection at the Zhangzhou Zhengxing Hospital.The lesions of the 5 patients were resected by the Takada method and then the pancreatic duct was reconstructed in situ.One patient received T-tube drainage of the bile duct.The operation time was 210-330 minutes,and the mean volume of intraoperative blood loss was 300 mL (range,100-500 mL).The stones of 2 patients were antler-shaped,and the other 3 patients were with tumor.No patients died intraoperatively.One patient was complicated by pancreatic leakage and 1 by bile leakage after the operation,respectively,and they were cured by non-surgical treatment.Patients were followed up for 3-11 months,and no abnormal glucose metabolism,common bile duct stricture,chronic indigestion and tumor recurrence occurred.The Takada method is safe and effective for the treatment of mass-forming pancreatitis of the head of the pancreas,benign lesions of the head of the pancreas and low-grade malignant tumor of the head of the pancreas.

Objective To summarize the first experience with ultrasound-guided percutaneous ab lation treatment (PAT) for recurrent hepatoblastoma (HB) after liver resection in children.Methods From August 2013 to April 2015,PAT was used to treat 6 children with a total of 9 recurrent HB,including 5 patients with 8 tumors in the liver and 1 patient with 1 tumor in the lung.The mean size of ablated tumors was (1.5 ± 0.8) cm,and the tumor size range was 0.7 cm to 3.1 cm.Results Four patients were performed percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for recurrent HB;and 2 patients were performed percutaneous ethanol injection (PEI).Ablation success was achieved in all patients (6/6,100％).The complete ablation rate after the first ablation session was 88.9％ (8/9) on a tumor-by-tumor basis.Only 1 patient developed a fever with temperature ＞ 39 ℃;it was resolved by conservative therapy.During the follow-up period of 5-30 months,3 patients died to tumor progression.The 1-and 2-year overall survival rates after ablation were 83.3％ and 41.7％,respectively.Conclusions PAT is a safe and promising therapy for children with recurrent HB after liver resection,and further investigation in large-scale randomized clinical trials is required to determine its role in the treatment of this disease.

A subcellular proteomic method was applied to investigate the protein expression profiles of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell lines,CNE1 and CNE2,at various differentiation levels.Plasma membrane (PM) proteins were obtained by Percoll density grade centrifugation and subjected to twodimensional electrophoresis (2DE) followed by PDQuest software analysis.Nine proteins expressed with more than two folds difference were identified by MALDI-TOF-TOF,of which functions involved in cell differentiation,signal transduction,and metabolism.Half of these proteins,such as galectin-1 and annexin Ⅱ,were analyzed with real-time quantitative PCR or Westem blotting.We have tested a proteomic method to study differentiated NPCs at different levels and found several proteins that might be related to their biological characteristics.

Objective To evaluate the role of cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway in dexmedeto-midine pretreatment-induced reduction of acute lung injury in a rat model of intestinal ischemia-reperfusion ( I∕R) . Methods Twenty-four healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 2-3 months, weighing 200-250 g, were divided into 4 groups ( n=6) using a random number table method: sham operation group ( S group) , intestinal I∕R group ( II∕R group ) , dexmetomidine group ( DEX group) and α7 nicotinic acetyl-choline receptor antagonistα-bungarotoxin (α-BGT) group (α-BGT group) . Intestinal I∕R was produced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery ( SMA) for 60 min followed by 120 min of reperfusion in anesthe-tized rats. Dexmetomidine 5 μg·kg-1 ·h-1 was injected via the tail vein at 1 h before operation in DEX group andα-BGT group. α-BGT 1μg∕kg was intraperitoneally injected at 15 min before dexmetomidine in-jection in α-BGT group. Rats were sacrificed at 120 min of reperfusion, and lung tissues were obtained for microscopic examination of pathological changes ( with a light microscope) and for determination of wet∕dry weight ratio ( W∕D ratio) , tumor necrosis factor-alpha ( TNF-α) and interleukin-6 ( IL-6) contents ( using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) , malondialdehyde ( MDA) content ( using thiobarbital acid method) and superoxide dismutase ( SOD) activity ( by xanthine oxidase method) . Results Compared with group S, the W∕D ratio and contents of MDA, TNF-αand IL-6 were significantly increased, and the SOD activi-ty was decreased in II∕R and α-BGT groups, and TNF-α and IL-6 contents were significantly increased in group DEX ( P<0. 05) . Compared with group II∕R, the W∕D ratio and contents of MDA, TNF-αand IL-6 were significantly decreased, SOD activity was increased (P<0. 05), and the pathological changes were significantly attenuated in group DEX. Compared with group DEX, the W∕D ratio and contents of MDA, TNF-α and IL-6 were significantly increased, SOD activity was decreased ( P<0. 05) , and the pathological changes were accentuated in group α-BGT. Conclusion Activation of cholinergic anti-inflammatory path-way is involved in the mechanism by which dexmedetomidine pretreatment reduces acute lung injury in a rat model of intestinal I∕R.

Objective:To solve the difficult problem of experimental teaching of MRI equipment by independently designing a virtual simulation teaching system for performance testing of medical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment.Methods:A total of 202 students of Batch 2016 majoring in 4-year medical imaging technology and 5-year medical imaging of Binzhou Medical University. According to the teaching requirements of MRI equipment in Medical Imaging Equipment Science, a 3D experimental simulation model and experimental scenes were established based on Unity3D engine by using Unity3D, 3D Studio Max, Maya and Visual Studio technology to design experimental learning content and assessment content, develop the teaching system software and perform Web-based online learning. Then, the satisfaction survey on experimental learning was conducted, the statistics of the experimental results of the teaching system on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching platform was collected and the learning effects were evaluated in multiple dimensions. Results:The virtual simulation teaching system was a comprehensive experiment with 12 knowledge points, 12 experimental items and a total of 81 interactive contents and steps. The overall satisfaction rate of 202 students in our school was 96.82%(2 347/2 424). Among the 499 subjects who participated in the learning of the teaching system on the national virtual simulation experiment teaching platform and submitted the experimental report, the average score of the experiment was 78.07 points (the full score of online learning assessment was 90 points), and the overall passing rate was 96.79%(483/499). The average learning time of the 18 students who got 90 points was 54 min.Conclusion:This virtual simulation teaching system possesses comprehensive experimental contents with high fidelity of experimental scenes and strong interactivity of experimental operation, prospecting great learning effects and promotion value.

Understanding the regulatory networks for germ cell fate specification is necessary to developing strategies for improving the efficiency of germ cell production in vitro. In this study, we developed a coupled screening strategy that took advantage of an arrayed bi-molecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) platform for protein-protein interaction screens and epiblast-like cell (EpiLC)-induction assays using reporter mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Investigation of candidate interaction partners of core human pluripotent factors OCT4, NANOG, KLF4 and SOX2 in EpiLC differentiation assays identified novel primordial germ cell (PGC)-inducing factors including BEN-domain (BEND/Bend) family members. Through RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, and ATAC-seq analyses, we showed that Bend5 worked together with Bend4 and helped mark chromatin boundaries to promote EpiLC induction in vitro. Our findings suggest that BEND/Bend proteins represent a new family of transcriptional modulators and chromatin boundary factors that participate in gene expression regulation during early germline development.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation/genetics* ; Chromatin/metabolism* ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; Germ Cells/metabolism* ; Germ Layers/metabolism* ; Mice