Objective To assess the rotational set-up errors in patients with thoracic neoplasms. Methods 224 kilovohage cone-beam computed tomography (KVCBCT) scans from 20 thoracic tumor pa-tients were evaluated retrospectively. All these patients were involved in the research of " Evaluation of the residual set-up error for online kilovohage cone-beam CT guided thoracic tumor radiation". Rotational set-up errors, including pitch, roll and yaw, were calculated by 'aligning the KVCBCT with the planning CT, using the semi-automatic alignment method. Results The average rotational set-up errors were -0.28°±1.52°, 0.21°± 0.91° and 0.27°± 0. 78° in the left-fight, superior-inferior and anterior-posterior axis, respective-ly. The maximal rotational errors of pitch, roll and yaw were 3.5°, 2.7° and 2.2°, respectively. After cor-rection for translational set-up errors, no statistically significant changes in rotational error were observed. Conclusions The rotational set-up errors in patients with thoracic neoplasms were all small in magnitude. Rotational errors may not change after the correction for translational set-up errors alone, which should be e-valuated in a larger sample future.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; epidemiology ; Dyslipidemias ; epidemiology ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Smoking ; epidemiology

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) and physical therapy on shoulder pain after stroke. Methods60 patients of shoulder pain after stroke were randomly divided into treatment group (30 cases) and control group(30 cases). The patients in the treatment group were treated with TENS and physical therapy. The cases in the control group were treated with TENS only. All patients were evaluated with visual analogous score of pain (VAS) and Fugl-Meyer measure (FM) before and after treatment. ResultsThe scores of VAS and FM improved more significantly in treatment group than in control group(P<0.01).ConclusionTranscutaneous electric nerve stimulation combined with physical therapy showed more effective on shoulder pain after stroke.

Objective:To explore the application of speckle tracking imaging (STI) stratification strain technique in the assessment of circumferential myocardial function and the myocardial protection of ATP-postconditioning (ATP-PostC) in a rabbit model of acute myocardial infarction.Methods:A total of 40 rabbits were randomly divided into 2 groups: pure ischemia reperfusion group (IR group)and ATP-PostC group. STI images were recorded before and 45 min after occlusion of coronary artery, post low-dose dobutamine stress echocardiography, 60 and 120 min after reperfusion, respectively. The following parameters were obtained: left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF), heart rate (HR), endocardial circumferential systolic strain (CSsys-endo), mid-myocardial circumferential systolic strain (CSsys-mid) and epicardial circumferential systolic strain (CSsys-epi) at left ventricular short-axis level. At different time points after occlusion and reperfusion, 5 experimental rabbits were killed in each group for pathological examination.Results:①Forty-five min after coronary artery occlusion in both groups, the values of LVEF and HR were decreased( P<0.05), and the absolute values of CSsys-endo, CSsys-mid and CSsys-epi were significantly reduced( P<0.01). After LDDSE, the absolute values of CSsys-endo, CSsys-mid and CSsys-epi were increased, which were different from those after blockade( P<0.05). ②After reperfusion, the circumferential strains were not significantly different from those after blockade in IR group ( P>0.05). After blockade, the absolute values of circumferential strains were increased significantly in the ATP-PostC group compared with IR group( P<0.05). In the ATP-PostC group, the absolute values of CSsys-endo at different time points after reperfusion increased significantly compared with that after blockade ( P<0.05). The absolute values of CSsys-endo and CSsys-mid 120 min after reperfusion continued to increase significantly compared with those 60 min after reperfusion( P<0.05). ③Pathological examination: After 60 min of blockade, there was no significant difference in myocardial infarction area between the IR group and the ATP-PostC group( P>0.05). The percentage of infarct areas at each time point of reperfusion in the ATP-PostC group was decreased compared with that after blockade( P<0.05). Compared with the IR group, the percentage of infarct area in the ATP-PostC group was smaller after 120 minutes of reperfusion and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:The applications of STI stratification strain technique and LDDSE can assess left ventricular circumferential strains at each of myocardial layers before and after reperfusion in rabbit myocardial ischemia ATP-PostC model, identify and evaluate the function of viable myocardium, and exhibit the significant protective effects of ATP-PostC on myocardial reperfusion injury.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of formula of removing both phlegm and blood stasis (TYTZ) in inhibiting the inflammatory reaction in Chinese mini-swine with coronary atherosclerosis.

METHODTotally 36 Chinese mini-swine were randomly divided to six groups: the normal control group, the model group, the Shujiangzhi group and TYTZ groups with does of 2.0, 1.0 and 0.5 g x kg(-1), and six each in every group. Except for the normal control group, all of other groups were fed with high-fat diet for 2 weeks. Interventional balloons are adopted to injure their left anterior descending artery endothelium. After the operation, they were fed with high-fat diet for 8 weeks to prepare the coronary atherosclerosis model. In the 8th week after the operation and administration, the intravascular ultrasound was adopted to observe the coronary artery plaque burden of each group and the pathological morphology of coronary artery. Such inflammatory factors as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 were detected by ELISA. The expression of NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation was observed by the immunohistochemical method.

RESULTCompared with the normal control group, the model group showed significant increase in the coronary artery plaque burden at the end of the experiment (P < 0.01), notably abnormal structural changes in atherosclerotic vascular tissues, luminal stenosis, a large number of foam cells and inflammatory cell infiltration, remarkable growth of hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels (P < 0.01). The immunohistochemical staining also showed the significant increase in the NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation of coronary artery of Chinese mini-swine in the model group. Compared with the model group, TYTZ could significantly attenuate atherosclerotic plaque burden (P < 0.01), inhibit the coronary luminal stenosis, reduce inflammatory cell infiltration, decrease such inflammatory cell factors as hs-CRP, TNF-alpha and IL-6 in serum, and inhibit the NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation of coronary artery (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONTYTZ can reduce the downstream inflammatory reaction by controlling NF-kappaB p65 nuclear translocation, so as to inhibit the occurrence and development of coronary atherosclerotic plaque in Chinese mini-swine.

Animals ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Coronary Artery Disease ; blood ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Female ; Inflammation ; complications ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Mucous Membrane ; drug effects ; secretion ; Swine ; Swine, Miniature ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

Objective To observe effect of scalp acupuncture combined with cognitive rehabilitation training in ameliorating cognitive dysfunction in stroke patients. Methods Eighty-four stroke patients with cognitive dysfunction were randomly divided into a treatment group ( n = 42) and a control group (n = 42 ) . All of the patients in both groups received routine therapy including cognitive rehabilitation training by professional therapists aimed at improving their orientation, perception, attention and thinking. The patients in the treatment group also received prolonged scalp acupuncture, in which the acupuncture needle remained in the scalp for 6 hours. All cases were evaluated using Loewenstein's occupational therapy cognition assessment (LOTCA) before and 10 weeks after treatment. Results The LOTCA scores were significantly different before and after treatment in both groups. The effect in the treatment group was significantly better than in the control group. Conclusions Prolonged scalp acupuncture combined with cognitive rehabilitation training can significantly improve the cognitive ability of stroke patients.

The aim was to construct a prokaryotic expression plasmid encoding the fusion gene of single-chain variable fragment and monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3). The cDNAs of immunoglobulin (Ig) VH and Ig VL were amplified by RT-PCR and assembled into the single-chain variable fragment (scFv) by recombinant PCR method. The cDNAs of Ig VH and Ig VL were connected by a (Gly4Ser)3 linker. Then, the fragments of scFv and MCP-3 were connected with a NDAQAPKS spacer, using recombinant PCR method again. The results indicated that the fusion gene of scFv-MCP-3 were constructed correctly and cloned into the prokaryotic expression plasmid successfully identified by sequencing and restriction endonucleases examination. Finally, the fusion protein was expressed in E coli DH5alpha under induction by arabinose. And the fusion protein was 65 kD and account for 30% of the total protein of the bacteria. In conclusion, a prokaryotic plasmid, encoding the fusion gene of single-chain variable fragment with MCP-3 and expressing idiotype protein vaccination against B cell lymphoma, was constructed correctly.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Cancer Vaccines ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Chemokine CCL7 ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Genetic Vectors ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin Idiotypes ; immunology ; Immunoglobulin Variable Region ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Lymphoma, B-Cell ; immunology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Prokaryotic Cells ; metabolism ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Vaccines, DNA ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology

The SH2 domain containing inositol 5'-phosphatase (SHIP) was initially described as a 145 kD protein phosphorylated on tyrosines upon growth factor and cytokine stimulation. SHIP is predominately expressed in hematopoietic cells, and is a crucial negative regulator in the development of hematopoietic cells. To evaluate the role of the SHIP gene in human leukemogenesis, expression and mutation of SHIP gene in bone marrow and/or peripheral blood from 32 patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 9 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), as well as human hematopoietic cell lines were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) and sequencing. The RT-PCR showed that all samples expressed SHIP gene. Mutations of SHIP gene were detected in 7 out of 32 AML patients (22%) and one out of 9 ALL patients (12%). Interestingly, two missense mutations that had been observed in one AML patient at diagnosis disappeared after complete remission (CR). In addition, Akt phosphorylation was prolonged and increased following IL-3 stimulation in this patient sample. In conclusion, data of this study demonstrate the mutation of the SHIP gene in acute leukemia for the first time and suggest a possible role of the mutation of this gene in the development of acute leukemia. SHIP serves as a tumor suppressor by negatively regulating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in hematopoietic cells.
Cell Line ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; Mutation ; PTEN Phosphohydrolase ; Phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-Trisphosphate 5-Phosphatases ; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases ; genetics ; physiology ; Phosphorylation ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; genetics ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins ; metabolism ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; physiology

OBJECTIVEThe aim of this study was to investigate the expression of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and its signaling pathway molecules in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and analyze the association between these factors and genesis and metastasis of OSCC.

METHODSThe express of TGF-beta1, TbetaRI, TbetaRII and Smad4, a pivotal downstream molecule of its signaling, in 10 normal oral mucosa tissues and 108 OSCC was detected by SP immunohistochemistry, and thier correlation with genesis and metastasis of OSCC were assessed.

RESULTSThe expressions of TbetaRII and Smad4 were lower in the tumors (34.3%, 38.9%) than those in the normal oral epithelium (80.0%, 100.0%, P < 0.05). The positive expression rates of TGF-beta1 and TbetaRI in the normal oral epithelium and OSCC were not significantly different (P > 0.05). There was an inverse correlation between TGF-beta1, Smad4, TbetaRII, TbetaRI expression and clinical stages (P < 0.01). The expression of TGF-beta1 was related with histological differentiation and tumor localization (P < 0.05). There was a relationship beteween Smad4 expression and histological differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). The expression of TbetaRII in the samples with lymph node metastasis was less than that in the ones without lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01), although there was no association between expression of TbetaRII and lymph node metastasis status.

CONCLUSIONThere is an important relationship between the abnormal TGF-beta1/Smad4 signal pathway and genesis and development of OSCC, while the low expressed Smad4 and TbetaRII may promote the metastasis of OSCC.

Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Membrane ; metabolism ; Cytoplasm ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mouth Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplasm Staging ; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases ; metabolism ; Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Smad4 Protein ; metabolism ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; metabolism

Humans ; Immunosuppressive Agents ; administration & dosage ; therapeutic use ; Liver Transplantation ; methods ; Postoperative Period