Objective To evaluate the left ventricular systolic synchrony in hemodialysis depended(HD)patients by tissue synchronization imaging(TSI).Methods GE Vivid 7 ultrasound system with TSI and Q-analyze software was performed in 70 HD patients and 35 control individuals.According to the left ventricular enddiastolic diameter(LVDd),HD patients were divided into left ventricular enlarged group(HD1,LVDd＞55 mm)and non-left ventricular enlarged group(HD2,LVDd≤50 mm).Systolic asynchrony was determined by measuring the time to peak systolic velocity of all 12 segments corrected by the heart rate(Tc).Results ①The mean Tc and the Tc of most segments were greater in both the HD1 and HD2 groups than in controls(both P＜0.05).②The Tc was prolonged in 463(463/840)segments in HD group and left ventricular systolic asynchrony was detected in all patients(70/70).③The mean peak systolic velocity(PSV)and the PSV of most segments in HD group were lower than those in the control group(P＜0.05).④Compared with HD2 group,Tc was increased and PSV was decreased in partial segments of HD1 group(P＜0.05),but no significant differences in mean Tc and mean PSV were found between HDI and HD2 groups(P＞0.05).Conclusions Left ventricular systolic synchronicity was impaired in hemodialysis depended patients.TSI was shown to be useful for the detection of myocardial abnormalities and asynchrony in such patients and provided reliable parameters for clinical therapy.

In the present study, the effects of adriamycin on antioxidant enzymes, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and superoxide dismutase(SOD), and cardiac lesions were studied, furthermore, the protective influence of supplementation of copper and/or zinc on cardiac toxicity induced by adriamycin were investigated. Fourty four wistar rats weighing 130-160g were randomly divided into I-IV groups. All animals were fed on basic ration. The group I was given zinc sulphate 0.60mg/kg weight intraperitoneally once every third day for 49 days. The group I was given zinc 0.60mg + copper carbonate 0.14mg/kg weight intraperitoneally once every third day for 49 days. Groups I and I were given adriamycin 12mg/kg weight intraperitoneally. Group I was given adriamycin 12mg/kg weight intraperitoneally. Group IV was given physiological saline. The results suggested that the activities of GSH-Px and SOD were significantly decreased and cardiac lesions were characterized by numerous intracellular vesicles formed by dilation of the sarco-plasmic reticulum and lysis of myofiber accompanied by focal necrosis in group III. The activities of GSH-Px and SOD were apparently higher and cardiac lesions were much milder in the groups I and II, compared with those in the group VI.It may be concluded that trace elements (zinc and copper) can exert protective effects on cardiac lesions induced by adriamycin. Comparatively, much better results were observed in group I than that in group I.

AIM: To predict MHC class Ⅰ binding peptides by using neural network ensembles. METHODS: As a combination of neural networks, neural network ensemble (NNE) was here used to improve the predictive performance. Based on a database of 628 nonamers and their classified binding capacities, the generalized NNEs were used to classify peptides respectively with non, low, moderate and high binding capacities to MHC class I molecule encoded by gene HLA-A*0201. The predictive power of NNE was further evaluated by running generalized NNE on a set of actual T-cell epitopes. RESULTS: The generalized NNEs achieved an average predictive hit rate of 0.8 for the above classifications. In addition, NNE was also efficient in the prediction of the potential T-cell epitopes, and about 84% of the actual T-cell epitopes were among the potentially antigenic peptides with high and moderate affinities. CONCLUSION: The NNEs can be applied in the prediction of MHC class Ⅰ binding peptides, and moreover, after proper modifications, they can be conveniently extended to cover peptides with any length and thus suitable for the prediction of peptides binding to other MHC class Ⅰ or even class Ⅱ molecules.

Objective To evaluate the predictive value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and hemoglobinto-white blood cell ratio (HWR) prior to treatment in prognosis of non-operative esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients.Methods From October 2009 to November 2014,a total of 362 non-operative ESCC patients were enrolled in this prospective study.x2 test was used to analyze the relationship between NLR,HWR and general clinical features;Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between variables and prognosis of non-operative ESCC patients.Results The optimal cutoff level of 1.23 for NLR and 24.92 for HWR were identified by X-title software.x2 test indicated NLR was significantly associated with gender,tumor length,T stage,TNM stage and fasting blood glucose level.Moreover,univariate and multivariate analyses showed that high NLR and high HWR were all associated with a poor prognosis in non-operative ESCC.However,when patients were specifically stratified by treatment modus,subset analysis showed that NLR was only predictive of prognosis in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group (HR =4.080,95％ CI:1.074-15.497,P =0.039),whereas the influence of HWR on prognosis was just existed in the sequential chemoradiotherapy group (HR =2.625,95％ CI:1.311-5.254,P =0.006).Conclusions In this investigation,we found that high NLR and high HWR were associated with poor prognosis in non-operative ESCC.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of umbilical therapy with herbal cakes made of Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang prescription of different dosages in treating damp-heat diarrhea in young children. Methods: Seventy-two kids with diarrhea of damp-heat pattern were recruited and divided into a high-dosage group and a low-dosage group using the random number table method, with 36 cases in each group. They all received conventional antidiarrheal treatment and umbilical application with herbal cakes. However, the herbal cakes for the high-dosage group were made of the mixture of Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang powder and water, and those for the low-dosage group consisted of 10％ Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang powder and 90％ auxiliary materials (corn starch) plus water. The treatment duration was 3 d. The clinical efficacy, antidiarrheal rate, effective rate for symptoms and signs of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), TCM symptoms score, and safety indicators were compared between the two groups. Results: After the treatment, the TCM symptoms scores dropped significantly in both groups (P<0.01) and were lower in the high-dosage group than in the low-dosage group (P<0.05). The clinical efficacy was more significant in the high-dosage group than in the low-dosage group after the treatment, and the between-group difference was statistically significant (P<0.05); the antidiarrheal rate was markedly higher in the high-dosage group than in the low-dosage group (P<0.05). Regarding the TCM symptoms and signs, the high-dosage group showed better results in improving the greasy and yellowish tongue coating, bowel movement frequency, watery excrement, short and dark urine, red tongue body, red anus, vomiting, bowel sounds, and abdominal bloating compared with the low-dosage group, and the between-group differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). Conclusion: Umbilical therapy with herbal cakes made of Ge Gen Qin Lian Tang is safe, reliable, and effective in treating damp-heat diarrhea in young children; the high-dosage herbal cakes produce more significant efficacy than the low-dosage ones and are worth further investigation.

AIM: To investigate the effect of enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) gene transfection on the cell cycle distribution of primary cultured human chondrocytes in order to establish a tracking method of cultured human nasoseptal chondrocytes. METHODS: pEGFP-N1 plasmid was amplified in E.coli, and purified by high purity kit. Primary cultured human chondrocytes,which were initially obtained from the nasoseptal cartilage, were cultured in vitro and transferred with pEGFP-N1 by means of electroporation with Amaxa nucleofector device. Transfering process and transient expression were evaluated by laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM), the transfer efficiency and the cell cycle distribution were evaluated by flow cytometry. RESULTS: There was significant expression of EGFP at 24 h after transferring. The transfection efficiency of pEGFP-N1 into primary cultured human chondrocytes reached 35 37% at 48 h. It didn't affect the process of cell adherance and had no effect on the cell cycle distribution. CONCLUSION: Primary cultured human chondrocytes, which were transfected with pEGFP, are alive in vitro, and the transferring process doesn't affect the cell cycle distribution. These results suggest that pEGFP-N1 is an ideal transient expression vector for primary cultured human chondrocytes and it might be a well tracer in construction tissue engineered cartilage.

AIM To investigate the effect of recipient kidney function by CsA coadministration Ber used to induce immune tolerance in rats of allogenic cardiac transplantation. METHODS The authors established the SD to Wistar rats heterotopic cardiac transplantation model by Onos methods.Observe the cardiac allograft survival and levels of BUN and Cr in the recipients plasma. The recipients were classified into 5 groups randomly after heterotopic cardiac transplantation were performed. Group A (Wistar to Wistar)): Received placebo intraperitoneal injected for 21 days; Group B (SD to Wistar): Saline intraperitoneal injected for 21 days; Group C (SD to Wistar):CsA 2 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 intraperitoneal injected for 21 days; Group D(SD to Wistar):Ber 16 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 gastrointubation for 21 days; Group E(SD to Wistar): Ber 16 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 gastrointubation coadministration CsA 2 mg?kg -1 ?d -1 ip for 21 days. RESULTS The levels of BUN and Cr in recipint plasma is lower evidently compare with the group with CsA ip simply. CONCLUSION Ber can reduce the renal toxicity in recipients by CsA which was intraperitoneal injected (ip) over a long period time.

Objective:To discuss the causes and effective measures of prevention and treatment of chylous fistula after central lymph node dissection (CLND) of thyroid cancer. Methods:A total of 6 127 patients who underwent CLND of thyroid cancer in the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between July 2013 and June 2015 were analyzed;of which, 14 patients acquired the complication of postoperative chylous fistula. The following conservative treatments were initially performed:systemic therapy, local pressure bandaging, normal pressure drainage, 50%glucose injection, or pingyangmycin injection through a drainage tube. Surgical op-eration was then conducted when the efficacy of the treatment was poor. Results:After the conservative treatment of the 14 patients, the drainage volume gradually decreased in 12 patients, and surgery was performed on the remaining two patients. Conclusion:The CLND of thyroid cancer must be carefully conducted to prevent postoperative chylous fistula. An active conservative treatment must be the first option when chylous fistula occurs. Surgery must only be performed if the treatment is invalid.