Objective To investigate the calculation method and its inlfuencing factors of Z scores in the aortic root diameters measured by echocardiography in children. Methods A total of 105 children with median age 19 months, who came to Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from March 2012 to October 2012 were included. The diameters of aortic ring (ARD) and aortic sinus (ASD) were measured by two dimension echocardiography, Z scores of ARD and ASD were calculated using two different normal reference values regression equation and mean square error derived from Shenzhen children′s hospital (C method) and Pettersen et al (P method). The regression equation from C method and body surface area (BSA) formula from P method were adopted to calculate Z scores of ARD and ASD (ZH method). The Z results of ARD and ASD calculated by those three methods were compared and were analyzed for their normality probability distributions. Results Z scores of ARD and ASD derived from C method were all showed as normal distribution (P=0.067 and 0.650). Z scores of ARD and ASD derived from P method were all showed as normal distribution (P=0.208 and 0.970). Z score of ARD derived from ZH method was showed as non-normal distribution (P=0.027), but Z score of ASD was normal distribution (P=0.430). There were no significant differences in ARD-Z calculated by C method (0.41±0.89), P method (0.23±0.85) and ZH method (0.36±0.94) (F=1.117, P=0.309). There were signiifcant differences in the Z scores of ASD calculated by C method (0.38±0.89), P method (0.58±0.71) and ZH method (0.36±0.84) (F=5.443, P=0.005). Z scores of ARD (r=0.917, P=0.000) and ASD (r=0.900, P=0.000) calculated by C method correlated well with that by P method. Conclusions Calculation method of BSA and normal reference values regression equation were the main influencing factors of Z score value in quantifying children aortic root diameters by echocardiography. For the clinical applications. The normal reference value should be used which is suitable for the Chinese children.

0.05).Conclusion Coverage of medical insurance and effective antiviral therapy for the patients with CHB could affect their QOL.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of urothelial carcinoma in renal allograft re- cipients and to investigate its diagnosis and treatment.Methods A retrospective study was undertaken on 1293 renal allograft recipients in our center between 1998 and 2003.Of them ,21 cases(72.4% )had urothe- lial carcinoma(4 males and 17 females).All the cases had not had tumor before transplantation.In 17 cases the protopathy was chronic interstitial nephritis(CIN).The mean interval between tumorigenesis and trans- plantation was 26 months(range,6-62 months).Of the 21 cases,6 had bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC);6 had unilateral pelvic or ureter TCC;8 had unilateral pelvic or ureter and bladder TCC;1 had bilat- eral pelvic and ureter TCC.In 10 cases,the ipsilateral upper urinary tract of the graft was involved;and in 4 cases,the contralateral upper urinary tract was involved.Painless gross hematuria and iterative urinary tract infection were the cardinal symptoms.Surgical treatment was performed in 19 cases.Postoperatively,all the cases received immunosuppressants at one third reduction dose in combination with intravesical instillation chemotherapy.Results Two cases receiving palliative treatment died 5 and 8 months after diagnosis.The other 19 cases were followed for 2-5 years.Of them,13 cases had tumor recurrence.The recurrence sites were bladder and the contralateral upper urinary tract.All the cases had no acute rejection at reduced dose of immunosuppressants,and all had normal renal function except for 2 cases,who underwent removal of the graft and had dialysis again.Conclusions Renal allograft recipients whose protopathy is CIN and female recipients have the risk of urothelial carcinoma after renal transplantation.Urothelial carcinoma occurs more often in ipsilateral upper urinary tract of the graft than in contralateral upper urinary tract.Considering the high possibility of bilateral upper urinary tract involvement by TCC,prophylactic bilateral nephroureterectomy with bladder cuff excision should be considered in renal allograft recipients who have involvement of contra- lateral upper urinary tract of the graft.

ObjectiveTo investigate whether neuronal intermediate filament protein(NF-66) could be used as a molecular marker for the determination of malignancy of insulinoma.MethodsThe expression of NF-66 protein was detected in insulinoma and pana - cancerous tissues and 3 insulinoma cell lines by immunohistochemistry staining. The relationship between the expression of NF-66 protein and the clinicopathological characteristics,survival was analyzed by univariate and multivariate statistical analysis.ResultsExpression of NF-66 was found in 102(77％ ) out of 132 insulinomas and none of 98 paired control (P =4.86 × 10-31 ).NF-66 was highly expressed in 3 insulinoma cell lines.The expression of NF-66 was found in 96 (81％) out of 118 benign tumors (P =0.003),while out of 14 malignant insulinomas,6(43％ ) were found to express NF-66 ( P =0.003 ).The expression of NF-66 was significantly associated with tumor size (3 cm as the cut-off point),distant metastasis (38％ vs 81％,P =0.013) and distant plus lymph node metastasis (46％ vs 81％,P =0.009),respectively.The expression of NF-66 was not correlated with age,gender,recurrence and overall survival.ConclusionsDown-regulation of NF-66 was significantly associated with tumor malignancy,suggesting that NF-66 could be a potentially novel molecular bionarker to distinguish malignancy from benign insulinoma.

In order to obtain an efficient screening procedure for identification of succinate producing anaerobic strains,a semi-quantitative paper chromatography method was developed. Lactic acid and acetic acid were identified as the main byproducts in the process of succinate production by the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Succinic acid was completely separated from the byproducts of lactic acid and acetic acid in the same broth developed by paper chromatography.The content of succinic acid was calculated by a semi-quantitative method.The results showed that paper chromatography was a simple and cost effective method that could be utilized to screen anaerobic strains producing succinic acid.

Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Female ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Humans ; Microscopy, Fluorescence ; Paraffin Embedding ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; metabolism ; Quantum Dots ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Stomach Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology

Objective To investigate the level of CD73 expression in CD4+ regulatory T(Treg) cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE ) and explore its role in the pathogenesis of SLE.Methods We selected 29 untreated/active SLE patients and 22 healthy controls. Frequencies of CD4+ CD25+CD73+ T cells and levels of FOXP3 protein expressed in CD4+ CD73+ CD4+ CDhi25, CD4+ CDhi25, CD4+ CD25+ T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. Meanwhile, the levels of SLE disease activity index ( SLEDAI), C reactive protein (CRP), ESR,immunoglobulin and complement were measured. Results The percent of CD4+ CD25+ CD73+ T cells was decreased in new-onset SLE compared with healthy controls[(1.25±1.32) % vs (2.35±1.09) %, P ＜0. 01], and it had no correlation with the levels of SLEDAI, CRP, ESR, et al and anti-C1qand anti-nucleosome antibodies ( P ＞ 0.05 for each). Both in groups of new-onset SLE and healthy controls, CD73 level expressed in CD4+ CDhi25CDhi25T cells[(29.05 ± 12. 53)%, (43.35 ± 10. 09)%]was higher than that expressed in CD4+ CD25+ T cells[( 17.48 ± 6. 92 ) %, ( 29. 98 ± 10. 39 ) %, P ＜ 0.01]. In both SLE patients and healthy controls, levels of FOXP3 protein expressed in CD4+ CD73+ T cells[(65. 36 ± 14. 40)%,(63.80±14.05)%]and CD+4 CDhi25CD4+ CDhi25 T cells[(67. 30 ± 13.04)%, (56. 30 ±9. 21 )%]were higher than those in CD4+ CD25+T cells[(45.70 ± 12. 74)%, (43.98 ±5. 17)% ,P ＜0. 001], while it had no significant difference between the CD4+ CDhi25CD4+ CDhi25 and CD4+ CD73+ T cells(P＞0.05). Conclusion These results demonstrate that CD73 may be a new surface marker of regulatory T cells, and the abnormal expression of CD73 in Treg cells may participate in the pathogenesis of SLE.

Objective To evaluate the value of lung ultrasound score (LUS) in the quantitative assessment of the severity of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) and the value of clinical diagnosis and treatment.Methods Totally 74 NRDS cases and 30 normal neonates were studied.LUS was compared with X-ray examination,clinical data,ventilator assisted ventilation and ventilator parameters.ROC curve was used to calculate sensitivity and specificity of LUS to predict the severity of NRDS and application of invasive ventilator treatment.Results The main findings of the lung ultrasound in NRDS included diffuse distribution of dense B line,disappeared A line,pleural line abnormalities,decreased pulmonary slip sign and pulmonary consolidation.LUS in patients with NRDS was significantly correlated with X ray grades,clinical grades,assisted ventilation mode grades,number of days on ventilator and ventilator parameters (all P＜0.05).LUS value to predict mild,moderate and severe NRDS were 13.0,22.5,and 29.5,respectively.The best cutoff point for LUS to predict the adoptation of invasive assisted ventilation was 22.5,which had sensitivity of 86.0 ％ and specificity of 64.5 ％.Conclusion LUS can be used to diagnose and evaluate the severity of the desease,and to guide the clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: To investigate the effect of endocannabinoid system on cardiac hypertrophy in experimental rats with chronic intermittent hypoxia and to study the impact of endocannabinoid antagonist, rimonabant in such pathological processing.
Methods: A total of 48 male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups. 4 and 6 weeks of Normal control group, 4 and 6 weeks of Hypoxia group, 4 and 6 weeks of Hypoxia with rimonabant intervention group. n=8 in each group. The rats were sacrificed to measure left ventricular mass index (LVMI), the myocardial cell morphological changes were observed by optical microscope, the expression of cardiac calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) were detected by immunohistochemistry at 4 and 6 weeks respectively.
Results: Compared with 4 and 6 weeks of Normal control group, the LVMI, cardiac hypertrophy condition, CaMKII and CT-1 were increased in 4 and 6 weeks of Hypoxia group, all P<0.001. Compared with Normal control group and Hypoxia group, the above indexes in Hypoxia with rimonabant intervention group were higher than those in Normal control group while lower than those in Hypoxia group, all P<0.001.
Conclusion: The Chronic intermittent hypoxia could induce myocardial hypertrophy via endocannabinoid system disorders, such pathological processing could be reduced by rimonabant intervention.

Objective To explore the incidence and associated factors of aortic artery calcification (AAC) by lateral lumbar X-ray score in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients.Mehtods A total of 155 MHD patients with complete clinical data in our hospital were enrolled in the study.Lateral lumbar X-ray score of the abdominal aorta was used to determine AAC in MHD patients.Results Aortic calcification was most severe in front of the fourth lumbar segment and ameliorated in higher lumbar levels.63.63％ of MHD patients presented visible calcification in the abdominal aorta,and 28.39％ had severe calcification with more than three segments.Age (OR=1.094,P＜0.01),dialysis vintage (OR=1.013,P=0.022),triglyceride (OR=1.261,P=0.030) and phosphate level (OR=1.324,P=0.023) were risk factors of abdominal aorta calcification,however serum albumin level (OR =0.239,P=0.013) was protect factor of aortic calcification.Conclusions Incidence of AAC is quite high in MHD patients and associated with increasing of age,duration of hemodialysis,serum triglyceride,phosphate level and plasma albumin.The semi-quantitative X-ray method of determining vascular calcification is less expensive and may be widely available clinically.