Objective To investigate the inhibition of lymphoid enhancer factor-1 (LEF-1) expression in human malignant melanoma cell line A375 by RNA interference method. Methods Sense and antisense oligonucleotides with hairpin structures, targeted specifically at LEF-1 mRNA, were designed, synthesized, then linked to the expression vector psilencer3.1-H1 neo after annealing. After identification, the re-combinant psilencer3.1-H1/LEF-1 siRNA was used to transfect the cultured A375 cells by a liposome-medi-ated method. The cells expressing the recombinant RNA was detected by G418 screening. The mRNA and protein levels were detected by RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry, respectively. Results The expression vector psilencer3.1-H1/LEF-1 siRNA was successfully constructed, and its stable expression in cell clones was achieved. The mRNA and protein levels of LEF-1 were both down-regulated in the trans-fected cells. Conclusion The recombinant of psilencer3.1-HI/LEF-1 siRNA can inhibit the mRNA and protein expression of LEF-1 in A375 cells.

Objective To investigate the hepatoprotective effects of total flavonoids in Scorzonera austriaca Wild (TFSA) in vivo and in vitro. Methods In vivo, ICR mice were randomly divided into negative, model, positive, TFSA’s low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups,and acute chemical liver injury models were constructed with CCl4 and acute autoimmune liver injury models with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine ( BCG ) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS).The activity of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was detected and liver tissue was used as biopsy.In vitro, liver cells of Wistar rat were extracted and isolated by orthotopic collagenase digestion method, and liver cell damage was induced with CCl4.Then the liver cells were cultured with TFSA solution and the contents of AST, ALT, LDH, nitric oxide (NO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the supernatant and malondialdehyde (MDA) in rat hepatocyte were detected.Results The results of CCl4-and BCG+LPS-induced acute chemical liver injury models in mice showed that there were less microstructures damage of liver tissue in TFSA groups compared with model group in liver pathological sections (HE), AST, ALT and LDH levels in model group were significantly higher than those in negative group (P<0.01), the above indexes in positive drug group were significantly lower than those in negative group (P<0.01,P<0.05), and the above indexes in TFSA’s low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups were significantly lower than those in model group(P<0.01,P<0.05).The results of CCl4-induced rat hepatocyte injury in vitro showed that AST, ALT, LDH, MDA and NO levels were significantly higher and SOD level was lower in model group than those in negative group (P<0.01), AST, ALT, LDH, MDA and NO levels were significantly lower and SOD level was higher in positive drug group than those in model group (P<0.01, P<0.05), and AST, ALT, LDH, MDA and NO levels were significantly lower and SOD level was higher in TFSA ’ s low-dose, medium-dose and high-dose groups were significantly lower than those in model group ( P <0.01, P <0.05 ) .Conclusion TFSA have hepatoprotective effects on CCl4-induced chemical liver injury and BCG+LPS-induced immune liver injury in mice, and rat hepatocyte damage.This study provides experimental data for the development and utilization of Scorzonera austriaca Wild resources and new hepatoprotective medicines.

Content-based image retrieval aims at searching the similar images using low level features,and medical image retrieval needs it for the retrieval of similar images. Medical images contain not only a lot of content data, but also a lot of semantic information. This paper presents an approach by combining digital imaging and communications in medicine (DICOM) features and low level features to perform retrieval on medical image databases. At the first step, the semantic information is extracted from DICOM header for the pre-filtering of the images, and then dual-tree complex wavelet transfrom(DT-CWT) features of pre-filtered images and example images are extracted to retrieve similar images. Experimental results show that by combining the high level semantics (DICOM features) and low level content features (texture) the retrieval time is reduced and the performance of medical image retrieval is increased.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Information Storage and Retrieval ; Radiology Information Systems ; Systems Integration ; User-Computer Interface

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy of oxycodone hydrochloride controlled-release tablets (OHCT) and pa-tient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) in the treatment of intractable cancer pain. Methods:Retrospective analysis was conduct-ed to evaluate the intractable cancer pain of 89 elderly patients who were admitted to the medical oncology departments of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University and the Fuzhou General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command between September 2012 and March 2014. Among the 89 patients, 47 were treated with OHCT, and 42 received PCIA. The total dosage ranged from 60 mg/d to 400 mg/d PO q12h for patients in the OHCT group, whereas abackground dose+patient-controlled dosemode was adopted for patients in the PCIA group. The therapeutic efficacy, presence of adverse reactions, cost of treatment, and degree of patient satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results:The average dosages of analgesics in the two groups were almost the same (P>0.05). Visual analogue scale (VAS) values and daily average VAS values were both lower in the PCIA group than in the OHCT group at 24 h after analgesia (P<0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions, such as nausea and vomiting, was also lower in the PCIA group than in the OHCT group (P<0.05). The cost of treatment and degree of patient satisfaction were the same in both groups (P>0.05). Conclusion:Pa-tients who received PCIA attained better analgesia and exhibited less adverse reactions than those who received OHCT whereas the treatment cost and patient satisfaction did not differ in both groups.

Objective To study the clinical features and risk factors of acute pulmonary reperfusion injury after operation in neonates with severe pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia.Method From February 2014 to February 2018,a retrospective analysis was performed in patients with critical pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia who received percutaneous balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (PBPV) in the neonatal intensive care unit of our hospital.Clinical characteristics,perioperative cardiac structure,hemodynamic data and biochemical results were collected.The neonates were assigned into injury group if they had acute lung reperfusion injury,and non-injury group if not.The risk factors of acute lung reperfusion injury were analyzed using multi-variate Logistic regression model.Result A total of 32 patients (24 prenatal diagnosis and 8 postnatal diagnosis) with severe pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum were enrolled.The main manifestations were dyspnea and cyanosis.Intravenous prostaglandin E was administered to keep the ductus arteriosus open.The age of operation ranged from 1 to 52 days and the median age was 7.5 days.Postoperative acute lung reperfusion injury occurred in 7 cases (21.9％).Preoperative and intraoperative pulmonary valve annulus diameter,balloon diameter,preoperative hemoglobin,hematocrit and blood albumin were significantly lower in the injury group.The operation duration,total length of hospital stay and postoperative duration were longer than in the non-injury group,the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05).Multi-variate Logistic regression analysis showed that the diameter of pulmonary valve annulus (OR =5.814,95％CI 1.106 ～30.568),preoperative blood albumin (OR =1.361,95％ CI 1.063 ～ 1.742),and hematocrit (OR =1.173,95％ CI 1.010 ～ 1.363) were risk factors of acute lung reperfusion injury,with statistically significant differences (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Acute lung reperfusion injury is one of the common complications after the operation of severe pulmonary stenosis or pulmonary atresia.The severity of pulmonary valve annulus stenosis,preoperative hematocrit and blood albumin level may be the risk factors of postoperative acute lung reperfusion injury.

Objective:To assess the value of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography in the diagnosis of children with biliary atresia.Methods:A prospective survey of infants with hepatitis syndrome and hyperbi-lirubinemia in Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine from January 2017 to December 2018 was performed.The children with hepatitis syndrome were divided into the biliary atresia group( n=45) and non- biliary atresia group( n=30). Thirty children with hyperbilirubinemia were selected as the control group.Shear wave speed (SWS) of all infants was collected by ARFI ultrasound and compared among 3 groups.Receiver ope-rating characteristic curve(ROC curve) was used to analyze the optimal threshold value for SWS in the diagnosis of biliary atresia. Results:The mean SWS values in the biliary atresia group, non-biliary atresia group and the control group were (1.79±0.29) m/s, (1.26±0.12) m/s and (1.08±0.06) m/s, respectively.Compared with the control group, the mean SWS values in the biliary atresia group and non-biliary atresia group were significantly higher ( t=165.43, 15.75, all P<0.05). The mean SWS value in the non-biliary atresia group was significantly lower than that in the biliary atresia group ( t=90.27, P<0.05). With the non-biliary atresia group as reference, the area under the ROC curve of SWS for diagnosis of biliary atresia was 0.98(95% CI: 0.95-1.00), the optimal threshold was 1.45 m/s, and the sensitivity and specificity were 88.9% and 96.7%, respectively. Conclusions:Rapid non-invasive ARFI elastography is effective in the diagnosis of biliary atresia, and thus has important value for early diagnosis and treatment in clinical practice.

Recently, with the development of RNA research techniques, a wide variety of circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been discovered and some of them are confirmed to have crucial biological functions. CircRNAs arise from exons (i.e. exonic circRNAs) or introns (i.e. intronic circRNAs). Acting as microRNA sponges or combining with proteins, circRNAs participate in the regulation of gene expression and influence the activity of some proteins. In addition, some circRNAs even encode proteins. More importantly, several circRNAs play a key role in the occurrence and progression of some tumors, including stomach, liver, colon, breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers. Therefore, circRNAs may be a novel type of diagnostic marker and therapeutic target of cancers.

Acute liver failure （ALF） is one of the most critical liver diseases in clinical practice and seriously affects the life and health of Chinese people. Due to its high morbidity and mortality rates， unclear pathogenesis， and limited treatment methods， ALF has become a major problem that needs to be solved urgently in the field of liver diseases. In recent years， more and more studies have shown that endoplasmic reticulum stress is a key biological process in the progression of ALF， and the IRE1α/TRAF2/JNK pathway， as a part of endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling， plays a role in amplifying inflammatory response， promoting hepatocyte apoptosis， and inhibiting liver regeneration ability during the progression of diseases. As a traditional treasure of China， traditional Chinese medicine has become a research hotspot in search for effective prevention and treatment drugs for ALF from monomers of Chinese herbs. This article elaborates on the mechanism of action of the IRE1α/TRAF2/JNK pathway in the progression of ALF and summarizes the potential value of several monomers of Chinese herbs in regulating this pathway， such as salidroside， Fructus Broussonetiae， Fructus Psoraleae+Schisandra chinensis， baicalein， genipin， kaempferol， resveratrol， sea buckthorn polysaccharide extract， and luteol， in order to provide a reference for further research and clinical practice of ALF.