Atomic force microscopy is a powerful new tool to investigate the structure and measure the relationship between structure of surfaces and functions in microorganisms. Comparing with conventional electron microscope, atomic force microscope has higher resolution and can image real-time structures from atomic to molecular scale in three-dimensional mode under physiological condition. Therefore, atomic force microscope is being used in almost every aspect of microbiology and has gotten many exciting findings.

Objective To investigate the value of partial hepatectomy and vascular resection in the treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Methods Seventy four patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma who underwent hepatectomy of Chinese People' s Liberation Army from January 2008 through December 2011 were analyzed retrospectively.Results Of the 74 patients,33 underwent radical resection and 19 palliative resection,22 received internal or external drainage.In the radical resection group,the median survival time was 27 months,and the overall survival rate at 1,2 and 3 years were 79％,64％ and 49％.In the palliative resection group,the median survival time was 14 months and the overall survival rate at 1,2 and 3 years were 56％,25％,and 19％.In the drainage group,the median survival time was 9 months and the overall survival rate at 1,2 and 3 years were 23％,15％,0.Conclusions Hepatectomy combined with hilar vascular resection helps increase survival rate of patients in radical excision of hilar cholangiocarcinoma and Surgical resection is the most elective method for treatment of hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma,and the radical resection might improve the prognosis of the patients with hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility,safety and efficacy of laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods Sixty-eight cases of liver cancer lesions were underwent laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation,and their postoperative recovery state,focal necrosis rate were observed.Results All the 68 cases were successfully performed operation,114 lesions were treated including 20 missed lesions at preoperative imaging diagnosis.There were no serious postoperative complications,the average hospital stay was (2.5 ± 1.2) days,focal necrosis rate 3 months after operation was 85.9％,lesion recurrence rate 6 months after operation was 12.2％,the 1-year survival rate was 76.47％.Conclusions Laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation in treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma has high security,few complications,short hospital stay and remarkable clinical effects.It's well worth clinical outreach.

Abstract In order to achieve the goal of reducing the smoking rate among Chinese adults at ages of 15 years and above to below 20% by 2030, smoking cessation services require to be reinforced. The current Chinese smoking cessation service system includes short-term smoking cessation interventions and smoking cessation hotlines at the population level, and smoking cessation clinics at the individual level; however, these smoking cessation services suffer from problems of low awareness, low accessibility and low utilization rate. Based on the publications pertaining to smoking cessation services and released policy documents in China until June 2022, this review analyzes the current status, problems and causes of smoking cessation services, and proposes suggestions for improving the smoking cessation service system construction in China.

Double Outlet Right Ventricle ; complications ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Pentalogy of Cantrell ; diagnosis ; etiology

Objective To investigate the feasibility of ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide- enhanced(USPIO)-enhanced MR imaging for monitoring synovitis of antigen-induced arthritis in rabbit model and explore the optimal MR imaging sequences.Methods Nine female white rabbits with antigen(0.5 ml mBSA,2 mg/ml)induced arthritis of the right knees were used in the study.The left knees of these rabbits and both knees of another 3 rabbits served as the control.Nine to 28 days(mean 21.3 d)after successful model induction,all knees were imaged before and 24 h after intravenously injection of USPIO (0.3 ml/kg),among which 2 rabbits were also imaged at 48 and 72 h after administration of USPIO respectively.The MR protocol included spin-echo(SE) T_1WI,fast spin-echo(FSE)T_2WI,gradient echo (GRE)T_2~* WI and short tau inversion recovery(STIR).Images were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively based on signal characteristics and patterns of the synovium.Paired t-test was used for the analysis of the signal intensity of inflammatory synovial membrane before and 24 h after injection of USPIO. MR findings were correlated with histopathology.Results Arthritis was successfully induced in all 9 right knees with intraarticular injection of mBSA.Pathological examination revealed hyperplasia of synovium with infiltration of USPIO-loaded-macrophages.MR depicted synovial thickening(thickness 2.07?0.97 mm) and joint effusion.Synovium and joint fluid appeared as slightly hypo- or iso-intense on T_1 WI and hyper- intense on T_2 WI or T_2~* WI.Twenty four hours after USPIO injection,significant T_1 enhancement(ASNR 41.91%?27.94%),negative T_2 and T_2~* enhancement(△SNR -34.92%?11.77% and -57.24%? 16.05%)were demonstrated in the region of synovial inflammation respectively.The signal at 48 h and 72 h changed less than that at hour 24.No signs of arthritis occurred in all left knees and in all knees of the artificial model group.Conclusion Iron oxide phagocytized into macrophages can be a root cause resulted in signal change on USPIO-enhanced MR images.The gradient echo sequence should be the optimal sequence to be used in USPIO-enhanced MR imaging in antigen-induced arthritis.

OBJECTIVETo explore the feasibility of transfecting recombinant Sp1 into hypertrophic scar fibroblasts and investigate the proliferation and collagen I, III synthesis in the transfected cells.

METHODSRecombinant human Sp1 was transfected into hypertrophic scar fibroblasts with the karyocyte expressive vector. The expression of Sp1, collagen I, III mRNA was tested by real time PCR. The change of cell proliferation was observed with CCK8 colorimeter.

RESULTSAbout 30% of transfected hypertrophic scar fibroblasts showed green fluorescence positive. The relative expression of Sp1 mRNA in transfected cells, empty-vector cell or untransfected cells group was 5.26 +/- 0.76, 1.08 +/- 0.18, 1.09 +/- 0.15, respectively, showing a significant difference between thansfected and untransfected cells or between the transfected cells and empty-vector group (P <0.01, n = 5). Expression of collagen I, III mRNA was 2.49 +/- 0.40 and 1.88 +/- 0.30 in transfected cells, 0.96 +/- 0.18 and 0.95 +/- 0.18 in empty-vector cell, and 0.97 +/- 0.15 and 0.93 +/- 0.13 in untransfected cells, respectively, showing a significant difference between thansfected and untransfected cells or between the transfected cells and empty-vector group (P < 0.01, n = 5).

CONCLUSIONSThe hypertrophic scar fibroblasts could be as the target cells of Sp1 gene transfection. Sp1 gene may play an important role in abnormal collagen metabolism in hypertrophic scar.

Cell Proliferation ; Cells, Cultured ; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; Collagen ; metabolism ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; Fibroblasts ; metabolism ; pathology ; Humans ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; Recombinant Proteins ; genetics ; Skin ; metabolism ; Sp1 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Transfection

OBJECTIVETo study the inhibitory effect of antisense oligonucleotides against telomerase RNA on the growth of human choriocarcinoma transplant in nude mice.

METHODSChoriocarcinoma xenografts were established by transplanting JAR cells subcutaneously to female nude mice, and were treated with high and low doses of antisense oligonucleotides. Control groups were treated with NS, random sequence and actinomycin D (Act-D). Tumor growth was monitored once every other day. Telomerase relative activity was assayed by TRAP-ELISA. Western blotting was used to detect expression of hTERT.

RESULTSLow and high doses antisense oligonucleotides, and Act-D inhibited tumor growth by 76.6%, 93.8% and 85.4% respectively, which were significantly different when compared with random sequence and NS groups. Expression of telomerase relative activity and hTERT were decreased as well. But the differences among the first three groups had no significance.

CONCLUSIONTelomerase RNA antisense oligonucleotide inhibits growth of human choriocarcinoma xenografts in nude mice. It may be a novel approach to the treatment of choriocarcinoma.

Animals ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Choriocarcinoma ; enzymology ; pathology ; DNA-Binding Proteins ; metabolism ; Dactinomycin ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Female ; Humans ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Nude ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Pregnancy ; Telomerase ; genetics ; metabolism ; Uterine Neoplasms ; enzymology ; pathology

BACKGROUNDRetinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has become one of the leading causes of visual loss in children. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is the principal stimulator of angiogenesis. VEGF was differentially spliced from exon 8 to exons 8a and 8b to form two families: the pro-angiogenic VEGFxxx family and the anti-angiogenic VEGFxxxb family. Previous research has shown variable effeteness of bevacizumab in inhibiting retinal neovascularization in ROP. This study aimed to investigate whether the effectiveness of this inhibition depends on the relative ratio of the two VEGF isoforms.

METHODSIntravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB) was performed in the oxygen-induced-retinopathy (OIR) mice on postnatal day 12 (P12) (intravitreal phosphate buffered saline (PBS) injection as control). The Evans blue perfused retina were used to test the retinal neovascularization-leakage (NVL) area and non-perfusion (NP) area.

RESULTSThe retinal NVL and NP area in the IVB group were significantly smaller than the intravitreal PBS injection group (IVP group). On P17, the protein level of total VEGF isoforms was significantly inhibited compared to IVP group (P < 0.05) while VEGF(165)b isoform was slight reduced (P > 0.05). The switch from pro-angiogenic isoforms to anti-angiogenic isoforms after IVB could be found. The relative protein expression of VEGF(165)b isoform was significantly higher in IVB group than in IVP group (P < 0.05) on P17 which was correlated with the reduced ischemia-induced angiogenesis in OIR mice after IVB.

CONCLUSIONSThe anti-angiogenic effectiveness might depend on the relative high expression of VEGF(165)b after intravitreal bevacizumab injection. Anti-angiogenic therapy is a more effective therapy for ROP.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors ; administration & dosage ; Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; administration & dosage ; Bevacizumab ; Disease Models, Animal ; Intravitreal Injections ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Protein Isoforms ; analysis ; Retinal Neovascularization ; prevention & control ; Retinopathy of Prematurity ; drug therapy ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; analysis

BACKGROUNDCarotid stenosis is one of the common reasons for patients with ischemic stroke, and the two invasive options carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) are the most popular treatments. But the relative efficacy and safety of the methods are not clear.

METHODSAbout 521 articles related to CAS and CEA for carotid stenosis published in 1995 - 2011 were retrieved from MEDLINE, Cochrane Library (CL), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) China Journal Full-Test database. Of them, eight articles were chosen. Meta-analysis was used to assess the relative risks.

RESULTSThe eight studies included 3873 patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis, including 1941 cases in the carotid stent angioplasty group, and 1932 cases in the carotid endarterectomy group. Fixed effect model analysis showed that within 30 days of incidence of all types of strokes, surgery was significantly highly preferred in CAS patients (CAS group) than the CEA patients (CEA group), and the difference was statistically significant (relative ratio (RR) = 1.80, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.380 - 2.401, P < 0.0001). But the incidence of death in the two groups is not showed and is not statistically significant after 30 days (RR = 1.52, 95%CI: 0.82 - 2.82, P = 0.18). The rate of cranial nerve injury in the CAS group is lower than the CEA group (RR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.05 - 0.43, P = 0.0005). The incidence of CAS patients with myocardial infarction is lower than the CEA group after 30 days, but statistically meaningless (RR = 0.22, 95%CI: 0.05 - 1.02, P = 0.05). The stroke or death in CAS patients were higher than the CEA group after 1 year of treatment (RR = 2.58, 95%CI: 1.03 - 6.48, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONSCompared to CAS, carotid endarterectomy is still the preferred treatment methodology of symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. Future meta-analyses should then be performed in long-term follow-up to support this treatment recommendation.

Carotid Stenosis ; surgery ; therapy ; Endarterectomy, Carotid ; Humans ; Stents