Emerging data indicated that HCV subverts the antiviral activity of interferon (IF); however,whether HCV core protein contributes to the process remains controversial. In the present study, we examined the effect of HCV core protein on interferon-induced antiviral gene expression and whether the effect is involved in the activation and negative regulation of the Jak/STAT signaling pathway. Our results showed that, following treatment with IFN-α, the transcription of PKR, MxA and 2'-5'OAS were down-regulated in HepG2 cells expressing the core protein. In the presence of HCV core protein,ISRE-dependent luciferase activity also decreased. Further study indicated that the core protein could inhibit the tyrosine phosphorylation of STAT1, whereas the level of STAT1 expression was unchanged.Accordingly, SOCS3, the negative regulator of the Jak/STAT pathway, was induced by HCV core protein. These results suggests that HCV core protein may interfere with the expression of some interferon-induced antiviral genes by inhibiting STAT1 phosphorylation and induction of SOCS3.

OBJECTIVEThis study aimed to investigate the value of child oral health for Chengdu parents, their intentions, and factors influencing their decision to acquire oral insurance coverage for their childrens.

METHODSA total of 562 Chengdu parents were interviewed using questionnaires by convenient sampling, and the results were analyzed using SPSS 20.0.

RESULTSThe age of children (B = -1.741, P = 0.004), age of parents (B = 2.031, P = 0.003), level of oral discomfort (B = 0.569, P = 0.000), incurring/not incurring oral care expenses in the previous year (B = 1.897, P = 0.014), the last time parents' had teeth cleaned (B = 0.777, P = 0.006), and acquiring/not acquiring commercial insurance coverage (B = 1.632, P = 0.031) significantly influenced the intention of acquiring child oral insurance.

CONCLUSIONChild oral health, health and insurance awareness of parents, and other factors influenced the intention of parents to purchase oral insurance coverage for their children, which were significant to establish pediatric dental insurance.

Child ; China ; Dental Care ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Insurance, Dental ; economics ; Oral Health ; economics ; Parents ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective:To investigate the incidence trends and clinicopathologic characteristics of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). Methods:A retrospective analysis was conducting using the following data:3,766 cases with thyroid disease in the People's Hospital of Wuhan University between January 2001 and July 2013;and 977 cases with thyroid cancer in the Hubei Cancer Hospital between Janu-ary 2006 and July 2013. Results:The incidence of thyroid cancer increased significantly since 2008, ranging from 14.94%to 18.10%(P<0.05). In particular, the PTC cases ranged from 85.33%to 90.89%(P<0.05). A total of 1,416 cases were diagnosed as PTC with a male to female ratio of 1:3.75. The positive rate of neck lymph node metastasis (NLNM) was significantly different in terms of gender and age (P<0.05). Significant differences were also found between the unifocal group and the multifocal group;the positive rate of NL-NM was 77.94%in the latter group. The rate of NLNM in PTC was 72.29%, which had higher significance compared with Hashimoto's thyroiditis or with nodular goiter. Conclusion: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing. Cases involving males aged below 45 years old and with>1 cm tumor diameter and multifocal PTC are more likely to be complicated with NLNM.

Abstract?AIM: To investigate the effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate ( EGCG ) against oxidative stress induced by high glucose in human lens epithelium ( HLE) cells.? METHODS: The HLE cell oxidative damage model induced by high concentration glucose was established, and was intervented with different concentrations of EGCG. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay, cell morphology was investigated by convert microscope, cells apoptosis was assayed by flow cytometry with Hoechst-PI staining. Moreover, the levels of super oxide dismutase ( SOD) , glutathione peroxidase ( GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde ( MDA) in supernatant were also tested after different treatment either with high concentration glucose or with different concentrations of EGCG.?RESULTS: MTT results showed that HLE cells activity increased to 50. 33%± 3. 52% and 63. 33%± 4. 63% after treated with 10 μmol/L and 100 μmol/L EGCG respectively, the difference was statistically significant compared with oxidative injury group(32. 67%±3. 10%)(P<0. 05 ); HLE cells maintained better morphology intervented with EGCG under high glucose conditions, the number of apoptotic cells reduced, SOD and GSH-Px level within HLE cells increased and MDA levels decreased.?CONCLUSION:EGCG plays its strong antioxidant effect by increasing SOD, GSH-Px content and decreasing MDA content in cells, therefore provides a reliable experimental basis for the search for effective prevention and treatment of cataract drug.

The water-soluble polysaccharide PNM isolated from the submerged culture of Phellinus nigiricans by hot water extraction and ethanol precipitation, was purified by freeze thawing, methods of Sevag, and then fractionated by Sepharose CL-6B gel filtration chromatography, giving a polysaccharide fraction named as PNMⅠ. HPLC analysis showed that PNMⅠwas a homogeneous polysaccharide, with a weight-average molecular weight of 29 kDa. GC analysis indicated that PNMⅠis a heteropolysaccharide composed of mannose, galactose and glucose with a ratio of 0.35:0.44:1.00. Pharmaceutical experiments showed both PNM and PNMⅠ have a significant effect on the immunomodulatory activities of murine splenic lymphocytes in vitro. Also PNMⅠ could inhibit the growth of sarcoma 180 solid tumor in vivo.

The effects of four kinds of carbon sources and nine kinds of nitrogen sources on the fungus Phellinus nigricans mycelia were studied.The four kinds of carbon source are sucrose,lactose,glucose,soluble starch.The nine kinds of nitrogen source are corn meal,wheat bran,potato,soybean meal,yeast extract powder,peptone,potassium nitrate,ammonium nitrate,and urea.Polysaccharides were extracted from different generations of mycelia and the contents,monosaccharide components and molecular weight were analyzed.The results were that the optical carbon source and nitrogen source were starch and corn meal.The optical combination was sucrose and corn meal.The properties of polysaccharides from different generations of mycelia were stable.

Objective To investigate the effect of ropiyacaine combined with intra-spinal epidural anesthesia by using the same volume but different injection speed on anaesthetic level.Methods 80 cases of patients of ASA～Ⅱdegree suitable to use intra-spinal epidural combined anesthesia for gynecologic operation were selected and ran- domly divided into three groups,0.75 % ropivacaine 2mg(15mg)administered,group A the speed of injection was 10 seconds,group B injection speed was 20 seconds,group C injection speed was 30 seconds,the anaesthetic level reached T_(10).The time of highest level in spinal anesthesia,30 minutes after spinal anesthesia MAP,and number of cases need to add epidural drug were all recorded.Results The best effect of anesthesia was found in group B,the block level of anesthesia was satisfactory,blood dynamic was stable,and there was no need to add epidural drug.Conclusion The speed of 0.75 % ropivacaine 2ml spinal epidural combined with anesthesia was suitable at the speed of 20 seconds.

BACKGROUND: Sepsis is a common complication of infections, burns, traumas, surgeries, poisonings, and post-cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The present study aimed to investigate prognostic value of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) in peripheral blood of patients with sepsis. METHODS: Periphery blood from 28 patients diagnosed with sepsis was collected on day 1 and 7 after hospitalization in the ICU of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital between December 2013 to April 2014. The blood was used for analyses of Treg ratio using flow cytometry and for analyses of blood routine test, C-reactive protein (CRP), bilirubin, procalcitonin (PCT), and coagulation. APACHE II and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scores were also investigated. The results were compared between two outcome groups of survival or death to evaluate prognostic value for sepsis. RESULTS: The patients had an average age of 60.36±15.03 years, APACHE II score 16.68±7.00, and SOFA score 7.18±3.78. Among the 28 patients, 12 had severe trauma (42.9％), 10 had septic shock (35.7％), and 9 (32.2％) died. The median ratio of Tregs was 2.10％ (0.80％, 3.10％) in the survival group vs. 1.80％ (1.15％, 3.65％) in the death group (Z=–0.148, P=0.883) on day 1; however it was significantly changed to 0.90％ (0.30％, 2.80％) vs. 5.70％ (2.60％, 8.30％) (Z=–2.905, P=0.004). CONCLUSION: With better prospects for clinical application, dynamic monitoring of Tregs ratio in peripheral blood has potential value in predicting prognosis of sepsis.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the short-term effectiveness of tension-free vaginal tapeobturator system(TVT-O) on the type Ⅰ,Ⅱ stress urinary incontinence(SUI) in the elderly female patients. Methods Elderly female patients (73 cases) with SUI type Ⅰ and Ⅱ were selected in 0.5-3.0 years after TVT-O surgical treatment,and they reached the age over 60 years before TVT-O.Difference of daily life and lower urinary tract symptoms before and after surgery were compared by the incontinence impact questionnaire ( Ⅱ Q-7) and the urogenital distress inventory (UDI-6) through telephone survey.Results Totally 73 patients were followed up successfully,aged 60 to 72 years (mean 64.0±4.5).Preoperative patients' daily life quality such as making housework,activities,entertainment,go-out,social contact and emotion had obviously been affected with a score of 9 to 25 by their own scoring (mean 17.0±6.7).Lower urinary tract symptoms including urgency,frequent urination,movement,leakage of urine volume,odynuria and dysuria were from 8 to 21 (mean 14.0±4.7) scores.Mild urinary frequency was 8.2％ (6 cases).Urinal pad usage was in 71 cases (97.3％)After TVT-O,patients' symptoms improved by their own scoring.The Ⅱ Q-7 scores were ranging from 2 to 13 (mean 6.4±3.2),and lower urinary tract symptoms scores from 1 to 9 (mean 5.4±3.2).Mild urinary frequency after surgery was 1.4 ％ (1 case).The urinary incontinence in 39 cases completely disappeared (53.4 ％ ),urinal pad usage were in 34 cases (46.6 ％ ).18 cases (24.7 ％ ) had suprapubic area pain or discomfort postoperatively.Conclusions TVT-O is an ideal choice for type Ⅰ and Ⅱ SUI in elderly female patients.

Objective To investigate the expression of microRNA-224 in HepG2 cells and analyze its target genes to reveal its role in the carcinogenesis of hepatoma. Methods The genes with differential expression in HepG2 cells and LO2 cells were obtained by gene expression microarray analysis. The up-regulated target genes of microRNA-224 were predicted by bioinformatics method, and their functions were analyzed. Results Compared with LO2 cells, microRNA-224 was highly expressed in HepG2 cells. A total of 264 target genes of microRNA-224 were predicted, including genes involved in cell cycle, signal transduction, cell differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. Conclusions MicroRNA-224 is highly expressed in HepG2 cells. MicroRNA-224 plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of hepatoma via regulating the expression of its target genes directly or indirectly.