BACKGROUND: There are so many experimental and clinical researches on levels of nitrogen monoxide (NO) in serum and endothelins in plasma of patients with stroke; however, ratio and significance between them are still unclear.OBJECTIVE: To observe dynamic changes of levels of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma of patients with stroke.DESIGN: Case-controlled observation.SETTING: Neurological Department and Clinical Neurological Laboratory of the Second Hospital affiliated to Suzhou University.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 216 patients with acute cerebral infarction including 133 males and 83 females and 112 cases with cerebral hemorrhage including 68 males and 44 females were selected from Neurological Department of the Second Hospital affiliated to Suzhou University from September 1999 to December 2001. Another 106 subjects including 63males and 43 females were regarded as healthy control group.METHODS: Contents of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma were measured on 328 patients with stroke and 106 healthy subjects in the courses of 1-3 days, 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks with nitrate reductase and radio-immunity methods, respectively.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Contents of NO in serum and endothelins in plasma; ratio between NO in serum and endothelins in plasma (NO/endothelins).RESULTS: ① As compared with those in the control group, content of NO in serum of patients with cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage was decreased and reached the lowest value during acute period (within 1-3 days), and then increased gradually and closed to the normal level at about 4 weeks. In addition, content of endothelins in plasma was increased obviously during acute period, reached the peak at 2 weeks, and then decreased gradually. The level was still high at stage of recovery and closed to normal value within 4-8 weeks. ② As compared with that in the control group, NO/endothelins was decreased in cerebral infarction group at the courses of 1-3 days (P ＜ 0.05), reached the lowest value at 1 week (P ＜ 0.001), and increased to the normal level at 2 weeks. Moreover,NO/endothelins was remarkably decreased in cerebral hemorrhage group at the courses of 1-3 days (P ＜ 0.001), reached the lowest value at 1week (P ＜ 0.001), and increased gradually. The changes of course were great and the level reached above normal value at 8 weeks. There was significant difference of dynamic changes of NO/endothelins between cerebral hemorrhage group and cerebral infarction group (P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: NO and endothelins play an important role in onset and development of ischemic cerebrovascular disease and hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease, and their contents are related to prognosis.

Objective 　To investigate the factors associated with long-term efficacy of microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm. Methods　253 cases of hemifacial spasm treated with microvascular decompression were followed 13 to 144 months (mean 73 months). Results　Hemifacial spasms were obliterated in 232 cases (91.7%) and were partially relieved in 10 cases (4%). However, hemifacial spasm recurred 11 cases (4.3%). We re-operated on those who had recurrent hemifacial spasm and found that the material used for previous decompression had moved. The movement of decompression material could be the cause of spasm recurrence. Conclusions　Upholding of depression material around the blood vessels against movement near the facial nerve plays an important role for improving the long-term efficacy of MVD for hemifacial spasm.

Adenoma, Oxyphilic ; classification ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney ; pathology ; Kidney Neoplasms ; classification ; genetics ; pathology ; therapy ; Molecular Biology ; methods ; trends

Carcinoma, Papillary ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Urothelium ; pathology ; surgery ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVE To explore the toxic effects of zinc oxide nanoparticls (ZnO-NPs) on cardiac development of zebrafish embryos and rat myocardial cell lines (H9c2),as well as potential molecular mechanisms.METHODS ZnO-NPs were characterized.Zebrafish embryos were exposed to different doses of ZnO-NPs (0,0.5,2.5,5.0 and 10.0 mg· L-1) for 24 to 96 h at 4 h post fertilization (4 hpf).The embryo mortality was observed.The expressions of notochord homeobox (noto),T-box 6 (tbx16),T,brachyury homolog a(ta),and tbx6 which were related to cardiac mesoderm were investigated using real-time PCR at 17 hpf.The heart rate and number of cardiomyocytes of embryos [[Tg (cmlc2:nucdsRed)] exposed to 0,2.5 and 5 mg· L-1 ZnO-NPs were detected at 72 hpf.Rat myocardial cell lines (H9c2) were treated with ZnO-NPs (0.1,0.5,1.0,5.0 and 10.0 mg· L-1) for 24 h.Cell viability was measured with Alamar Blue method.Mitochondrial ultrastructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy.Cellular ATP was detected using chemiluminescence,and oxygen consumption rate (OCR) was examined with Seahorse instrument.RESULTS The particle size of ZnO-NPs was (331 ±3)nm.The ZnO-NPs LC50 of zebrafish embryos at 48 hpf was 21.81 mg· L-1.The mRNA expressions of noto,ta and tbx6 were reduced after ZnO-NPs 2.5 mg· L-1 treatment at 17 hpf.The heart rate of 72 hpf zebrafish was 153 min-1 in the ZnO-NPs 5 mg· L-1 group,12.6％ lower than that in the cell vehicle group (P＜0.01),and the number of cardiomyocytes decreased by 15.5％ (P＜0.01) compared with the cell vehicle group.Reduced cell viability and mitochondrial vacuolation were observed in H9c2 after ZnO-NPs 0.5 mg· L-1 exposure.Compared with the cell vehicle group,the cell ATP decreased by 25.7％ (P＜0.05),and OCR decreased by 27.2％ (P＜0.01).CONCLUSION Low-dose ZnO-NPs exposure has effect on the cardiac development of zebrafish,mainly due to reduced heart rate and decreased number of cardiomyocytes.These changes may be related to the decreased expressions of cardiac development-related genes and the impairment of mitochondrial structure and function.

Objective To study blood lipids levels of patients with ischemic cerebral vascular disease (ICVD).Methods The blood lipids levels were measured in 2886 subjects with ICVD enrolled from 1991 to 2004,in which 1430 subjects from 2000 to 2004 were classified into a sub-group;400 healthy persons receiving physical examination were enrolled as controls.Results The blood TC,TG and LDL-C levels were significantly higher in the sub-group than those in the control group.Both in males and females, the morbidity of abnormal blood lipid metabolism and blood lipids level gradually increased with the age and the lapse of decades.Total cholesterol level of male younger than fifty,averaging (4.43?0.51) mmol/L, increased to (4.96?0.85) mmol/L after fifty years old.The same thing happened to females,from (4.30?0.49) mmol/L to (5.01?0.90) mmol/L.TG and LDL-C increased in patients older than fifty compared with those younger than fifty.In the groups above 50 years old,the blood lipids levels of females were significantly higher than those of males.The morbidity of abnormal blood lipid metabolism of male increased from 24.5% in (1991 to 1994) to 38.1% (2001 to 2004) and of female from 22.3% (1991 to 1994) to 38.5% (2001 to 2004).Conclusions Abnormal blood lipid in Foshan is one of the most important reasons to ICVD.

RNA has received more attention in the field of forensic medicine and the development of the new biological markers based on RNA shows great significance in the analysis of complex cases. circular RNA (circRNA) is a kind of non-coding RNA which is widely reported recently. Although the regulatory mechanisms of generation and expression are not fully clear, the existing research indicates that circRNA has important biological functions. CircRNA has a cell-type-specific expression with great stability and a high expression level, which makes it meaningful in forensic applications potentially. In this paper, the research progress, the generation and regulation of circRNA as well as its biological characteristics and functions are summarized, which will provide references for related studies and forensic applications.
Forensic Sciences ; Humans ; RNA ; RNA, Circular

Objective:To investigate the influence of unilateral periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) on the bony birth canal (BBC) in female patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) by using pelvic 3D-CT maximum-inscribed-sphere (MIS) method.Methods:A total of 62 female DDH patients of childbearing age were included in the present study. The DICOM data of their pre- and post-operative pelvic CT was collected. The diameters of the MIS in 25 layers of the BBC were measured on the Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit (MITK) platform. Lateral center edge angle (LCE), T?nnis angle and the distance between the medial margin of the femoral head and Kohler's line were measured on standing anteroposterior pelvic radiographs before and after unilateral PAO. Patients were divided into severe (LCE≤0°) and non-severe group (0°0.05). The anterior margin of acetabular fragment (1-13th layer) narrowed significantly (4.23-5.95 mm) after unilateral PAO with the narrowest part (5.62-5.95 mm) locating at the inferior margin of pubic ramus and the region superior to the lateral margin of obturator foramen (5-10th layer). The narrowest part of BBC before and after the surgery occurred at the level of bilateral sciatic spines (20th layer). The diameter of MIS changed significantly from 105.34±7.16 mm pre-operatively to 104.47±7.06 mm post-operatively ( t=2.198, P=0.032). There was a positive correlation between the inward displacement of the hip center and the narrowing of the 1-20th layer of the BBC. The decrease of T?nnis angle was positively correlated with the narrowing of the 1-10th layer of the BBC. The increase of LCE was negatively correlated with the narrowing of 2-5th layer of the BBC ( P<0.05). The standardized coefficients were with statistical significance when comparing the distance between the Kohler's line and the medial margin of the femoral head to the size of the 1-20th layer of the BBC ( β=0.27-0.50, P<0.05). The height was positively correlated with the size of the narrowest part of the BBC before and after the surgery ( r=0.565, r=0.586, P<0.001). There was no difference between severe group and non-severe group in their extent of BBC narrowing before and after surgery ( t=-0.685-0.655, P>0.05). Conclusion:Unilateral PAO results in mild narrowing of the BBC superior to the sciatic spine. The narrowest part of the BBC is located at the sciatic spine. Unilateral PAO has slight effects on the narrowest position of the BBC. Normal delivery of a healthy fetus in female patients with DDH of childbearing age could not be affected by unilateral PAO in normal BBC settings.

Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Caspases ; metabolism ; physiology ; Enzyme Activation ; Fas Ligand Protein ; metabolism ; Humans ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Neoplasms ; metabolism ; therapy ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction