Objectives Discussing the significance of ultrasound exploration for inferior epigastric arteries in the differential diagnoses between direct and indirect inguinal hernias.Methods Exploring both flanks inferior epigastric arteries for 105 cases of inguinal hernias with color Doppler ultrasound instrument and making sure of diagnoses for the patients based upon the relations of inferior epigastric arteries with hernia vesicle necks and hernia vesicles.Results (1) Inferior epigastric arteries from 102 patients can be revealed distinctly, but those from 3 cases can't; (2) 16 patients were diagnosed as direct inguinal hernias and 86 patients as indirect inguinal hernias according to ultrasound explorations, which accorded with outcomes offered by surgical operations. Conclusions Ultrasound explorations for inferior epigastric arteries is a brief?accurate and feasible examining management to differential diagnoses between direct and indirect inguinal hernias,which deserves clinic application.

Nowadays, proteomics focuses on quantitative analysis rather than qualitative. In the field of quantitative proteomics, Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) is one of the most widely used techniques. The advantage of iTRAQ is high throughput, high stability and free of the restriction of sample property. iTRAQ is suitable for almost all kinds of samples, and up to 8 samples can be analyzed simultaneously by commercially available kit. Along with the development of techniques, more and more mass spectrometry (MS) platforms are used in iTRAQ experiments and the accuracy of iTRAQ has been improved. iTRAQ has been applied to studies of microorganism, animal, plant, medical and protein post-translational modification. Here we review the recent progress in the development of iTRAQ and its applications in quantitative proteomics.
Animals ; Humans ; Mass Spectrometry ; Proteomics ; methods

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided polyglycol in patients with scar pregnancy. Methods Thirty-six patients with scarring treated in Third People's Hospital of Hangzhou from November 2014 to November 2016 were selected as subjects. All patients underwent ultrasound-guided polyglycol administration. The results were analyzed and analyzed. The results were analyzed. Gonadotropin (β-HCG) returned to normal time and the occurrence of adverse symptoms. Results The average recovery time, treatment cost, average recovery time and adverse reaction rate of blood β-HCG in the study group were lower than those in the control group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The effect of ultrasound on the injection of polyphenols in patients with scar pregnancy is safe, feasible and easy to be accepted by patients and their families. It has clinical significance.

In proteomic research, to improve protein solubility of membrane proteins and nuclear proteins, buffers containing high concentration of detergent, such as 4% SDS, were widely used. However, high concentration of detergent might severely interfere with the downstream proteomic analysis, including protein quantitation and trypsin digestion. To improve the proteomic compatibility of buffers with high concentration of detergent, we used short gel method to pretreat buffers containing detergent. Protein samples were first separated by a short (2-2.5 mm) SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, and proteins were quantitated by comparing with bovine serum albumin standards via optical density analysis. The gel was then cut and peptides were recovered using in-gel digestion. The quantitative linearity range of this method was 1 to 8 μg. The quantitation was accurate and reproducible. After short gel analysis, recovered peptides generated high mass spectrometry signals. In conclusion, short gel method eliminated the interference of high concentration detergent in the proteomics analysis, and it was suitable for protein samples' pretreatment, and was worth to apply in proteomic research.
Detergents ; chemistry ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; methods ; Mass Spectrometry ; Membrane Proteins ; chemistry ; Nuclear Proteins ; chemistry ; Proteins ; chemistry ; Proteomics ; methods ; Trypsin

Objective Stathmin, a microtubule-destabilizing protein , has high expression in esophageal squamous cell carci-noma(ESCC), while taxol is a common chemotherapy microtubule-targeted drug for esophageal cancer .This study aimed to investigate the impact of stathmin expression and its influence on taxol sensitivity in ESCC . Methods We established 2 cell models with ST-MN1 gene overexpression in KYSE 510 and KYSE 170 cell lines, including KYSE 510-Stathmin, KYSE 170-Stathmin, KYSE 510-Control and KYSE 170-Control.MTT assay and colony formation were applied to compare the taxol sensitivity between experimental group and control group .Flow cytometry was used to measure the apoptosis of KYSE 510-Stathmin and KYSE 510-Control after taxol treatment.Western blot was used to test the changes of related factors to apoptosis and autophagy . Results ①Stathmin protein ex-pressions in KYSE 510-Stathmin and KYSE 170-Stathmin cells were higher than those of control cells (P<0.01).② The percentages of inhibition were significantly decreased in KYSE 510-Stathmin and KYSE 170-Stathmin cells 24 h after 50, 100,250 nmol/L taxol treat-ment compared with KYSE 510-Stathmin cells(P <0.01).③The percentages of inhibition were significantly reduced in KYSE 510-Stathmin and KYSE 170-Stathmin cells after 250 nM taxol treatment for 24, 48, 60 h (P<0.01).④After taxol treatment,the number of colony formation in KYSE 510-Stathmin cells was higher com-pared with KYSE 510-Control cells (P<0.01).⑤The percentage of cell apoptosis in KYSE 510-Stathmin was significantly lower than that of KYSE 510-Control cells by flow cytometry (11.90%±0.78%vs 29.63%±3.26%, P<0.05).Western blot showed the ap-optosis of associated proteins such as the activation of Caspase 8 and Caspas9. Conclusion The result indicates that overexpression of stathmin inhibits taxol sensitivity in ESCC cell lines .

Objective To evaluate and recognize the dynamic and morphological MRI charactristics of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast and provide imaging information for the early detection and treatment planning Methods All MRI data in 71 patients with histollogically proved DCIS were analyzed retrospectively. The 71 patients were divided into two groups, NI ( pure DCIS, 44 patients) and N2 ( DCIS with microinvasion, 27 patients). According to the BI-RADS descriptors, all lesions were defined as a focus (smaller than 5 mm in diameter), mass and no-mass-like three enhancement types. The morphological features (M1 = focus, M2 = linear or linear-branched, M3 = branching-ductal, M4 = segmental, M5 = focal,M6 = regional, M7 = diffuse, M8 = mass) and the time-intensity curve (TIC) pattern [type l ( persistent enhancement curves), type Ⅱ( plateau), type Ⅲ(washout) and type Ⅳ (the same enhancement as glandular tissue)] were described. Chi-square test was used for the morphological characteristics of lesions.Results The 73 DCIS lesions were found in 71 patients, and 5.5% (n =4) were stippled lesions, 87.7%( n =64) were no-mass-like lesions, 6.8%(n=5) were mass-like lesions. In no-mass-like lesions (n=64), M3 was found in 15 cases, M4 in 34 cases, M5 in 9 cases and M6 in 6 cases, respectively, M3 and M4 were the most common distribution patterns. In N1 group(n =45) and N2 group (n =28), M3, M4,M5, M6 were found in 7 and 8, 21 and 13, 7 and 2, 3 and 3 cases, respectively. There were no statistic differences between two groups (P＞0.05). In 31 showed heterogeneous enhancement, both M3 and M4 were observed in 35.5% (11/31). In 26 clustered ring enhancement lesions, M4 was observed in 88.5% (23/26). Four lesions showed reticular enhancement,2 lesions showed a clumped enhancement and 1 lesion showed homogeneous enhancement. In 5 mass-like lesions, N1 group had 3 cases, N2 group had 2 cases.Four lesions showed lobulated margin, 4 lesions showed speculated margin, 1 mass showed smooth margin.Five mass showed heterogeneous enhancement. Type Ⅰ , type Ⅱ , type Ⅲ and type Ⅳ TIC ( n = 25) were demonstrated in 8, 11, 3 and 3 lesions, respectively. Conclusions M3, M4, especially segmental clustered ring enhancement, are the most common morphological characteristics of DCIS. Type Ⅰ and type Ⅱ TIC are the most common types.

Objective To explore the value of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) and age in predicting outcomes of patients undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer treatment. Methods In this retrospective study, 6 328 Chinese patients who underwent the first in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection and embryo transfer treatment in Henan Provincial People′s Hospital between July 2016 and July 2018 were analyzed. All the patients were categorized into two groups according to pregnancy or not. Baseline data and outcomes of two groups were compared. The regression analysis was conducted to identify the independent factors of clinical pregnancy rates. Furthermore, correlation analysis was performed between AMH and other factors. Results (1) The total clinical pregnancy rate was 56.86% (3 547/6 238). Age, AMH, basal FSH, antral follicle number (AFC), starting dose of gonadotropin (Gn), total doses of Gn, duration of Gn, number of oocytes, transferable cleavage embryos and transferred embryos were significantly different (all P<0.01). (2) Correlation analysis showed that AMH had significant passive correlation with age, basal FSH, starting dose of Gn and total doses of Gn (all P<0.01), while showed significant positive correlation with AFC, body mass index, duration of Gn, number of oocytes and transferable cleavage embryos (all P<0.01). Of all the factors, AMH had the strongest correlation with AFC (P<0.01). (3) Multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that age was the independent influencing factor of clinical pregnancy rate ( OR=0.938, 95%CI : 0.824-0.952, P<0.01), while AMH not ( OR=1.004, 95%CI : 0.984-1.024, P=0.687). In the subgroups according to age, the advanced group (age>35 years old) had lower clinical pregnancy rate and higher cancellation rate for no available embryos. Conclusions AMH has no predictive value of clinical pregnancy outcomes for patients with in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer treatment, while age has certain predictive value of pregnancy outcomes. AMH level may have indictive value for the evaluation of ovarian reserve.

Coronaviruses are the causative agent of respiratory and enteric diseases in animals and humans. One example is SARS, which caused a worldwide health threat in 2003. In coronaviruses, the structural protein N (nucleocapsid protein) associates with the viral RNA to form the filamentous nucleocapsid and plays a crucial role in genome replication and transcription. The structure of N-terminal domain of MHV N protein also implicated its specific affinity with transcriptional regulatory sequence (TRS) RNA. Here we report the crystal structures of the two proteolytically resistant N- (NTD) and C-terminal (CTD) domains of the N protein from murine hepatitis virus (MHV). The structure of NTD in two different crystal forms was solved to 1.5 Å. The higher resolution provides more detailed structural information than previous reports, showing that the NTD structure from MHV shares a similar overall and topology structure with that of SARS-CoV and IBV, but varies in its potential surface, which indicates a possible difference in RNA-binding module. The structure of CTD was solved to 2.0-Å resolution and revealed a tightly intertwined dimer. This is consistent with analytical ultracentrifugation experiments, suggesting a dimeric assembly of the N protein. The similarity between the structures of these two domains from SARS-CoV, IBV and MHV corroborates a conserved mechanism of nucleocapsid formation for coronaviruses.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Binding Sites ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Murine hepatitis virus ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Nucleocapsid Proteins ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Phosphoproteins ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Protein Binding ; Protein Folding ; Protein Multimerization ; Protein Structure, Secondary ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; RNA ; metabolism ; Sequence Alignment

Arsenic is a systemic poison ubiquitously distributed in the nature. Long-term arsenic exposure can lead to a variety of cancers. Oxidative stress is a well-recognized mechanism underlying arsenic carcinogenesis. Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a key transcription factor in cellular antioxidant defense. However, accumulating evidences suggest that environmental arsenic exposure may cause and promote arsenic-related cancers through Nrf2-mediated adaptive antioxidant response, which constitutively induces the expression of antioxidant enzymes and detoxification enzymes and confers survival advantage to the cell under stress. Therefore, elucidating the role of Nrf2 and its medicated antioxidant response in arsenic carcinogenesis is vital to prevention and treatment of cancers related to arsenic exposure.

Objective: To observe the relationship between impaired myocardial untwisting and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in patients with autoimmune diseases (AD). Methods: In this retrospective study, 95 AD patients (27 males, (38.6±14.2) years old) were enrolled as AD group and 71 gender and age matched healthy subjects (24 males, (37.6±12.2) years old) were enrolled as control group, all underwent transthoracic echocardiography and two-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE) in our hospital between January 2014 and June 2018. Left ventricular untwisting and diastolic function parameters were measured. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify related factors of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to identify the diagnosis value of untwisting parameters for left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients. Results: Compared with control group, left ventricular ejection fraction was lower (58(47, 66)% vs. 67 (62, 71) %, P<0.001), E/e′ was higher (10.78 (7.28, 13.65) vs. 6.30 (5.55, 7.25) , P<0.001), isovolumic relaxation time was longer (73.5 (56.5, 88.0) ms vs. 62.0 (58.0, 68.5) ms, P<0.001),and untwist slope during isovolumic relaxation period (USIR) was lower (31.92 (14.09, 54.92) °/s vs. 59.90 (40.09, 87.18) °/s, P<0.001) in AD group than in control group. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed heart rate (OR=0.885, 95%CI 0.840-0.931, P<0.001), E/e′ (OR=0.655, 95%CI 0.537-0.798, P<0.001) and USIR (OR=0.986, 95%CI 0.974-0.998, P=0.020) were independently related with left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients. ROC curve showed that area under the curve (AUC) was 0.919 (P<0.001), sensitivity was 87.6%, and specificity was 88.7%, when combining the heart rate, E/e′, and USIR as assessment parameters for the diagnosis of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients at a cutoff of 0.51. Conclusions Impairment of myocardial untwisting indicates the presence of early stage left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients. USIR may be a sensitive parameter to evaluate early stage left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in AD patients.