Objective To explore the related risk factors of central lymph node metastasis ( CLNM) of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma ( PTMC) and the application value of central lymph node dissection ( CLND) . Methods Totally 251 patients who were confirmed as PTMC by pathological biopsy were selected as the research object, and they were divided into the metastasis group (n=42) and the non-metastasis group (n=209) according to the status of lymph node metastasis. The general datum of the two groups were retrospectively analyzed, and the indexes with significant differences after univariate analysis were analyzed by non-conditional Logistic regression analysis. Treated the patients with lymph node metastasis through CLND, and the occurrence rate and recurrence rate of related complications were recorded during the 1 to 3 years of follow-up. Results The comparison of the location of the tumor, complicated adenoma, Hashimoto’ s thyroiditis, nodular goiter, and hyperthyroidism between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0. 05). In the metastasis group, the rate of patients aged less than 45 years old and the percentage of male patients were both significantly higher than the non-metastasis group, and the difference was of statistical significance (P<0. 05). There were 25 cases (59. 5%) whose tumor diameter were 5~10 mm, 12 cases (28. 6%) with multiple lesions, and 22 cases (52. 4%) breaking through the envelope in the metastasis group, which were significantly higher than 70 cases (33. 5%), 23 cases (11. 0%) and 67 cases (32. 1%) in the non-metastasis group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0. 05). In the metastasis group after operation, there was 1 cases (2. 3%) of hoarseness, 6 cases (14. 3%) of local numbness, 1 case (2. 3%) of nerve invasion, and 2 cases (4. 8%) of vascular invasion, and there was no choking cough report. During the period of 1 to 3 years of follow-up, there were only 2 cases of recurrence and the recurrence rate was 4. 8%. Conclusion Central lymph node metastasis mostly occurs in the male patients with PTMC who are less than 45 years old. And the main characteristics are diameter of tumor over 5 mm, multifocal lesions, with envelope penetration symptom and so on. In clinic, patients who meet the above-mentioned condition should be taken as the primary concern and given related prevention measures to reduce the occurrence risk of central lymph node metastasis. To treat patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma through central lymph node dissection can receive good curative effect and effectively improve the prog-nosis quality, and it is worthy of clinical promotion.

Objective To evaluate the ability of ultra-high-b-value diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in diagnosis of the prostate cancer (PCa) at 1.5T MR.Methods 12 patients with PCa and 17 patients with benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) proved by histopathology underwent MRI and DWI examinations (b=400, 800,1 400 s/mm2).The signal intensity and visual degree of region of interest (ROI) in all DWI with different b values were respectively measured.The signal intensity and visual degree of ROI between high-b-value DWI and ultra-high-b-value DWI were compared,respectively.Results The difference of signal intensity of PCa between high-b-value DWI and ultra-high-b-value DWI was statistically significant (χ2=220.957,P=0.000<0.05).The signal intensity of PCa was getting brighter in DWI with higher b value.The difference of visual degree between these two groups was also statistically significant (χ2=11.378,P=0.003<0.05).The difference among PCa, BPH and normal prostate peripheral zone was statistically significant in ultra-high-b-value DWI (χ2=25.913, P=0.000<0.05).The brightness of PCa in ultra-high-b-value DWI mainly was bright or grey-bright (71.4%), while the brightness of BPH and normal prostate peripheral zone were mainly dark or grey-dark (BPH 63.0%, normal prostate peripheral zone 73.3%).The difference of visual degree among PCa, BPH and normal prostate peripheral zone was statistically significant difference as well (Z=-6.908,-6.110,P=0.000<0.017).The diagnostic efficiency of the signal intensity and visual degree were highest with b=1 400 s/mm2.Conclusion DWI with ultra-high-b-value can improve the display rate of the PCa at 1.5T MR, making easier the detection and diagnosis of PCa.

Potato cultivar Atlantic is widely grown for potato chips in the world. However, this economically important potato cultivar exhibits very poor yields and traits under severe environmental stress. To develop an efficient plant transformation system that could be used to produce large scale transgenic potato plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stress and therefore would be beneficial for potato processing industry, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of internodal stem explants using both superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) genes under the control of an oxidative stress-inducible SWPA2 promoter was performed. Comparing to leaf explants, stem internodal explants were less liable to damage during manipulation, more amenable to in vitro conditions. The addition of silver thiosulfate to the selection medium considerably promoted the shoot induction from explant-derived callus. Seven to nine shoots per stem explant were obtained. By combining the best treatments, this system yielded shoot induction frequency of 94.2% and transformation frequency of 80% of internodal stem explants. Stable integration of the transgenes was confirmed by PCR and Southern blot analyses. In conclusion, short duration (7～8 weeks), high efficiency and easy process make this system well suited for wider commercial applications of transgenic Atlantic potato plants.

In plants, oxidative stress is one of the major causes of damage as a result of various environmental stresses and it is primarily due to the excessive accumulation of reactive oxygen species. To develop transgenic potato plants with enhanced tolerance to environmental stress, transgenic potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Atlantic) expressing the Cu/ZnSOD and APX genes in chloroplasts were generated under the control of the oxidative stress-inducible promoter. To investigate oxidative stress tolerance, transgenic plants were evaluated at the level of leaf discs and plantlets after methyl viologen (MV) and salt treatment. Leaf discs from transgenic potato plants showed 13% less membrane damage compared to non-transgenic (NT) plants suffering 10 μmol/L MV treatment of 48 h, and showed 1.6-fold higher chlorophyll contents than those of NT plants at 1.0mol/L NaCl treatment (31% vs. 19%). In addition, transgenic potato plants maintained higher rooting rates (75%) during 100mmol/L NaCl treatment than those (12%) from NT plants. Moreover, the tolerance to salt stress in transgenic plants was consistent to increased transcript levels and higher activities of SOD and APX compared to NT plants. These results suggest that expression of Cu/ZnSOD and APX in chloroplasts could be used in plants to enhance the tolerance to environmental stresses.

Moderate drought stress has been found to promote the accumulation of active ingredients in Glycyrrhiza uralensis root and hence improve the medicinal quality. In this study, the transcriptomes of 6-month-old moderate drought stressed and control G. uralensis root (the relative water content in soil was 40%-45% and 70%-75%, respectively) were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq 2000. A total of 80,490 490 and 82 588 278 clean reads, 94,828 and 305,100 unigenes with N50 sequence of 1,007 and 1,125 nt were obtained in drought treated and control transcriptome, respectively. Differentially expressed genes analysis revealed that the genes of some cell wall enzymes such as β-xylosidase, legumain and GDP-L-fucose synthase were down-regulated indicating that moderate drought stress might inhibit the primary cell wall degradation and programmed cell death in root cells. The genes of some key enzymes involved in terpenoid and flavonoid biosynthesis were up-regulated by moderate drought stress might be the reason for the enhancement for the active ingredients accumulation in G. uralensis root. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of auxin, ethylene and cytokinins by moderate drought stress might enhance the root formation and cell proliferation. The promotion of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid by moderate drought stress might enhance the drought stress tolerance in G. uralensis. The inhibition of the biosynthesis and signal transduction of gibberellin and brassinolide by moderate drought stress might retard the shoot growth in G. uralensis.
Droughts ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant ; Glycyrrhiza uralensis ; genetics ; Plant Roots ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; Stress, Physiological ; Transcriptome

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for rapid identification of micro-constituents in monoammonium glycyrrhizinate by high-pressure solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

METHODHPLC preparative chromatograph was adopted for determining the optimal method for high-pressure solid phase extraction under optimal conditions. 5C18-MS-II column (20.0 mm x 20.0 mm) was used as the extraction column, with 35% acetonitrile-acetic acid solution (pH 2. 20) as eluent at the speed of 16 mL x min(-1). The sample size was 0.5 mL, and the extraction cycle was 4.5 min. Then, extract liquid was analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) after being concentrated by 100 times.

RESULTUnder the optimal condition of high-pressure solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, 10 components were rapidly identified from monoammonium glycyrrhizinate raw materials. Among them, the chemical structures of six micro-constituents were identified as 3-O-[beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl]-30-0-beta-D-apiopyranosylglycyrrhetic/3-O- [P-D-glucuronopyranosyl-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl]-30-O-beta-D-arabinopyranosylglycyrrhetic, glycyrrhizic saponin F3, 22-hydroxyglycyrrhizin/18alpha-glycyrrhizic saponin G2, 3-O-[beta-D-rhamnopyranosyl]-24-hydroxyglycyrrhizin, glycyrrhizic saponin J2, and glycyrrhizic saponin B2 by MS(n) spectra analysis and reference to literatures. Four main chemical components were identified as glycyrrhizic saponin G2, 18beta-glycyrrhizic acid, uralglycyrrhizic saponin B and 18alpha-glycyrrhizic acid by liquid chromatography, MS(n) and ultraviolet spectra information and comparison with reference substances.

CONCLUSIONThe method can be used to identify chemical constituents in monoammonium glycyrrhizinate quickly and effectively, without any reference substance, which provides basis for quality control and safe application of monoammonium glycyrrhizinate-related products.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Glycyrrhiza ; chemistry ; Glycyrrhizic Acid ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Molecular Structure ; Solid Phase Extraction ; methods

Objective To explore the value of whole-lesion method measuring hepatic abscess lesions in ADC map.Methods 13 cases with hepatic abscess were measured by using three methods,drawing the outline of the lesion by manual operation,and placing the round ROI in the central area and the peripheral area in ADC map,respectively.The differences of the ADC values measured by the three methods were compared.The Friedman test was used for the mean of ADC values.The value differences of the groups were compared by the Bonferroni test.Results Among the 17 lesions,6 lesions located in the anterior segment of right lobe of liver,7 lesions in the posterior segment of right lobe of liver,1 lesion in the caudate lobe,1 lesion in the junction zone between the anterior segment of right lobe and the medial segment of left lobe,1 lesion in the medial segment of left lobe and 1 lesion in the lateral segment of left lobe of liver.The mean values from the three methods(×10-3 mm2/s) and the 95％ confidence intervalwere:1.27±0.33,1.23± 0.84,1.29±0.44 and (1.21,1.34),(1.06,1.40),(1.20,1.38),respectively.The results of the Friedman test were x2=2.176,P=0.337,and there was no statistical significance between the differences.There were also no statistical significance by the Bonferroni test (P values ＞0.05/3=0.017).The 95 ％ confidence interval of the whole-lesion method was the narrowest,and the accuracy was the highest.The 95％ confidence interval of the central method was the widest,and the accuracy was the lowest.Conclusion The whole-lesion measurement may be used as an analytical method for hepatic abscess in ADC map.

Objective To comparatively analyze the clinical effects of volar locking compression titanium plate and external fixation trestle for treating unstable type C distal radius fracture.Methods The clinical data of 78 patients with unstable type C distal radius fracture treated in this hospital from March 2014 to February 2016 were analyzed retrospectively.The patients were di-vided into the volar locking plate group and external fixattio trestle group according to different treatment methods,39 cases in each group.The clinical efficacies of different treatment methods were observed.Results The postoperative bleeding volume,operation time,hospitalization time and fracture healing time in the external fixation group were less than those in the volar locking plate frac-ture group(P<0.05).The palmar tilt angle,ulnar inclination angle and radial height on postoperative 3 d,6 weeks and 24 mopnths in the volar locking plate group were significantly better than those in the external fixation group(P<0.05).The last follow-up showed that the palmar flexion degree,dorsiflexion degree,VAS score and Gartland-Werley score had no statistical difference be-tween the two groups(P>0.05).The incidence rates of postoperative incision infection,carpal tunnel syndrome and thumb extensor tendon rupture had no statistical differences between the two groups(P>0.05).Conclusion The two kinds of treatment method all have better clinical curative effect.The external fixation trestle treatment has the advantages of shorter operation time and shorter hospitalization time,while the volar locking compression titanium plate can reset the fractures under direct vision,is significantly su-perior to the external fixation trestle treatment in the aspects of recovery of palmar tilt angle,ulnar inclination angle and radial height,and is more suitable for the patients with unstable type C distal radius fracture..

Objectives To address whether menopause affects outcome of catheter ablation (CA) for atrial fibrillation (AF) by comparing the safety and long-term outcome of a single-procedure in pre-and post-menopausal women. Methods A total of 743 female patients who underwent a single CA procedure of drug-refractory AF were retrospectively analyzed. The differences in clinical presentation and outcomes of CA for AF between the pre-menopausal women (PreM group, 94 patients, 12.7%) and the post-menopausal women (PostM group, 649 patients, 87.3%) were assessed. Results The patients in the PreM group were younger (P<0.001) and less likely to have hypertension (P<0.001) and diabetes (P=0.005) than those in the PostM group. The two groups were similar with regards to the proportion of concomitant mitral valve regurgitation coronary artery disease, left atrium dimensions, and left ventricular ejection fraction. The overall rate of complica-tions related to AF ablation was similar in both groups (P=0.385). After 43 (16-108) months of follow-up, the success rate of ablation was 54.3%in the PreM group and 54.2%in the PostM group (P=0.842). The overall freedom from atrial tachyarrhythmia recurrence was simi-lar in both groups. Menopause was not found to be an independent predictive factor of the recurrence of atrial tachyarrhythmia. Conclusions The long-term outcomes of single-procedure CA for AF are similar in pre-and post-menopausal women. Results indicated that CA of AF appears to be as safe and effective in pre-menopausal women as in post-menopausal women.

Objective To investigate ablation characteristics of PVC/VT originating from left ventricle anterior papillary muscles.Methods This study included 10 patients of PVC/VT originating from left ventricle anterior papillary muscles from January 2015 to June 2016 in Beijing Anzhen Hospital.Electrophysiological mapping and radiofrequency ablation were completed using three-dimensional anatomical mapping system combined with three-dimensional intracardiac ultrasound technology.ECG and abaltion target diagram characteristics as well as the special anatomy were explored.Results All the 10 patients were successfully ablated and followed up for 12 months.One patient had recurrence within 12 months and no complications were recorded.The target sites localized at the tip (n =1),middle portion(n =4)or the base (n =5) of the LV-APM.Among 7 patients,the target sites were located at the anterior septal papillary muscle and in 3 patients were located in the free papillary muscle.9 patients were successfully ablated via anterograde trans-septal catheterization after the failure of retrograde approach.Premature QRS wave time were 152.80 ± 11.72 ms and 6 patients presented sharp potential at the targets during PVC/VT.Conclusions PVC/VT originating from left ventricle anterior papillary muscles have similar ECG and diagram characteristics that is different from which originating from left anterior fascicle.It is recommended to get the target via transseptalpuncure approach.Ablation target could be clearly positioned by three-dimensional intracardiac ultrasound technology.