Objective:To identify the differences in clinical manifestations between Chinese giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) patients.Methods:Twelve GCA patients were included during September 2010 to September 2019 in our hospital. Clinical and laboratory data were collected. Twenty-four age and sex-matched pure PMR patients were selected as control. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical product and service solutions (SPSS) software. The categorical variables were tested by chi square test, and the continuous variables were expressed by mean and standard deviation ( ± s). The comparison between groups was conducted by t-test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:In these 12 GCA patients, the onset age was 55-70 (67±7) years old, and male to female ratio was 1∶11. The most common initial symptom of GCA was the same as PMR (7/12, 58%) . Compared with PMR patients, the specific clinical manifestations of GCA patients were scalp pain ( P=0.031), mandibular claudication ( P=0.031) and migraine ( P=0.000). The creatine kinase of GCA (60±27) U/L patients was higher than that in PMR (41±15) patients ( t=1.098, P=0.029). There was no significant difference in other laboratory tests including erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C reactive protein level. Seven of 12 GCA patients were first diagnosed with PMR, then were diagnosed with GCA during follow-up. No obvious differences could be found in clinical manifestations between these 7 patients and 24 pure PMR patients. Through imaging examinations, we found that 9 of the 12 GCA patients had arterial stenosis, 5 had thickened vascular walls, 5 had atherosclerosis, and 2 had rough endometrium. Conclusion:GCA patients and PMR may have similar clinical presentations. The presence of scalp pain, mandibular claudication and migraine during the course of the disease implies that GCA is more likely. Vascular ultrasound, arterial CTA, and positron emission tomograph (PET)/CT play an increasingly important role in the diagnosis of GCA.

Objective To investigate the consistency in 18F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) examination and histopathological analyses in the diagnoses of resectable lung tumors. Methods Retrospective reviews over the clinical data of lung tumor patients by preoperative PET-CT diagnosis and postoperative histopathological diagnosis were conducted to investigate the effects of the two diagnostic methods in terms of lung tumor properties , mediastinal lymph node metastasis , and pulmonary hilar lymph node metastasis. Results The diagnoses by preoperative PET-CT was consistent in differentiation of non-malignancy and malignancy of pathologic lung tumors by 87.3%, at a medium level (κ = 0.401, P < 0.001). McNemar test showed P = 0.508, indicating the two diagnostic methods were insignificantly different in the diagnosis of pulmonary tumors. The preoperative PET-CT was consistent in the diagnosis of the metastasis of pathologic mediastinal lymph node by 85.9%, at a medium level (κ = 0.697, P < 0.001). McNemar test showed P =0.754, indicating no significant difference between the diagnostic methods. The preoperative PET-CT was consistent with postoperative pathological examinations in the differentiations of the metastasis of pulmonary and hilar lymph node by 77.4%, at a medium level (κ=0.523, P < 0.001). McNemar test showed P = 0.454, indicating the two diagnostic methods were no significantly different. Conclusion Preoperative PET-CT and histopathologic examinations may be consistent in lung tumor diagnosis , which provides a basis for a certain significance in the surgical options.

This paper presents to you the principles, composition, features and applications of ET-100 measuring-training device for eustachian tube opening function.
Computers ; Deglutition ; physiology ; Equipment Design ; Eustachian Tube ; physiology ; Humans ; Otolaryngology ; instrumentation ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Software ; Sound

In this study, heparin ionically coated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material was prepared by heparin-benzalkonium chloride complex (Group A), heparin-benzalkonium bromide complex (Group B) and heparin-polyethyleneimine compound (Group C). Cytotoxicity evaluation was conducted by direct cell contact evaluation and MTT colorimetry method. The results showed Group A and Group B caused L-929 cells to die out while Group C showed good compatibility with cells. The OD levels of Group A and B were lower than that of the Group C in MTT test. Method A and method B of heparin coating had remarkable cytotoxicity, while method C had little cytotoxicity and could be further studied for clinical use.
Animals ; Cells, Cultured ; Coated Materials, Biocompatible ; toxicity ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; Heparin ; toxicity ; Materials Testing ; Mice ; Polyvinyl Chloride ; toxicity

Objective:To analyze the relationship between maternal mutations in basal core promoter region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C and intrauterine transmission.Methods:We collected information on general demographic characteristics and process of delivery among 399 pairs of consecutive HBsAg-positive mothers and their neonates, from the Third People’s Hospital of Taiyuan in Shanxi province, China. Fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) and Electro-chemiluminescence immuno-assay (ECLIA) kits were used to detect both maternal and neonatal HBV DNA and serological markers in the peripheral blood. From 113 mothers with HBV DNA load ≥10 6 IU/ml, we selected 22 mothers whose neonates were with intrauterine transmission and randomly selected the same number of mothers whose neonates were without intrauterine transmission, as controls. The whole-length HBV DNA were extracted, amplified, cloned, sequenced and genotyped. Finally, a total of 39 mothers with genotype C of HBV were selected for mutation analysis. Results:Thirty-nine cases of genotype C (88.63 %) were finally included in the study, with 19 cases in the intrauterine transmission group and 20 cases as controls. Rates of A1762T/G1764A double mutations were significantly different between the intrauterine transmission group and the control group (7.53 % vs. 27.72 %, P<0.001). Results from the multivariate analysis showed that the A1762T/G1764A double mutations had reduced the risk of intrauterine transmission (a OR=0.065, 95 %CI: 0.006-0.746, P=0.028). Maternal A1762T/G1764A double mutations appeared to be possibly associated with neonatal HBeAg ( P=0.050). Conclusion:A1762T/G1764A double mutations of HBV DNA from the genotype C of those HBsAg-positive mothers could reduced the risk of HBV intrauterine transmission during pregnancy.

BACKGROUND: ANXA2 plays a very important role in cancer progression. chemokine ligand 18 (CCL18) is associated with the invasion, migration, metastasis and poor prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, we aimed to explore whether CCL18 promotes LUAD invasion through ANXA2, and its role and molecular mechanism in LUAD invasion. METHODS: Western blot was used to detect ANXA2 expression in LUAD tissues and adjacent non-tumor tissues, the transfection efficiency of SiANXA2#2 in cells and the role of ANXA2 as an upstream regulator in the AKT/cofilin signaling pathway. In vitro cytological experiments such as chemotaxis experiment and transwell invasion test was used to explore the mechanism of ANXA2 on LUAD metastasis. F-actin polymerization experiment and Western blot were used to detect whether invasion ability alteration of SiANXA2#2 A549 cells are related to F-actin. RESULTS: Western blot analysis showed that compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues, the protein expression level of ANXA2 in cancer tissues increased (P<0.05). In the chemotaxis experiment and invasion experiment, the chemotaxis and invasion ability induced by CCL18 decreased when ANXA2 knockdowned (P<0.05). Compared with the control group, F-actin polymerization was significantly lower in ANXA2 knockdown group, while phosphorylation of AKT at Ser473 and Thr308 and phosphorylation of Cofilin and LIMK were reduced in ANXA2 knockdown group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS ANXA2 knockdown can reduce the invasive effect of CCL18 on LUAD cells by reducing phosphorylation of AKT and downstream pathways.

OBJECTIVE： To investigate the effects of Dendrobium officinale polysaccharides on gene expression profile of HUVEC. METHODS： HUVEC was selected as objects. MTS method was used to detect the effects of different doses of D. officinale polysaccharides （50， 100， 200， 400， 800 μg/mL） on the proliferation activity of HUVEC. The growth inhibitory concentration of 30％ cells （IC30） was calculated to screen the dose of follow-up tests. cDNA microarray assay was used to detect the changes of gene expression profile for HUVEC after treated with D. officinale polysaccharides for 24 h， so as to screen differentially expressed genes. GO enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed for top 5 differentially expressed genes by using DAVID bioinformatics resource database. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR） was used to validate the results of microarray detection with immunity-related differentially expressed genes as objects. RESULTS： After treated with 100， 200， 400， 800 μg/mL D. officinale polysaccharides， survival rate of HUVEC  were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. IC30 value was 408 μg/mL. After treated with 400 μg/mL （by IC30） D. officinale polysaccharides， there were 91 differentially expressed genes in HUVEC cells， of which 84 were up-regulated and 7 were down-regulated. Top 5 genes of up-regulated and down- regulated expression were SELE， CCL2， CXCL6， IL8， ICAM1 as well as VWCE， CPT1A， CLU， CCL14， CINS4， which may be mainly associated with immune conditions and inflammatory responses. The differentially expressed genes mainly distributed in extracellular domain， and were enriched in biological processes such as production and response of cytokines and stimulus response， and played molecular functions such as chemokine and its receptor activity. The up-regulated genes as SELE， ICAM1 and CXCL2 were mainly enriched in TNF signaling pathway， influenza A （H1N1）， herpes simplex virus infection and other pathways. The down-regulated gene CCL14 was mainly enriched in chemokine signaling pathway. Results of qRT-PCR validation tests showed that relative expression of ICAM1 was increased significantly， while that of CCL14 was decreased significantly （P＜0.05）， which was in agreement with microarray detection results. CONCLUSIONS： After treated with D. officinale polysaccharides， the expression of 91 genes in HUVEC cells are different significantly， mainly being up-regulated. The differentially expressed genes may participate in immune regulation through TNF signaling pathway， influenza A （H1N1） and herpes simplex virus infection.