OBJECTIVETo study the inhibition effect of HIF-1α specific siRNA expression vector pSUPERH1-siHIF-1α on retinal neovascularization in a mouse model of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

METHODSThe mouse model of ROP was prepared by the method Smith described. Forty-eight ROP mice were randomly divided into two groups: an experimental group that was intravitreously injected with pSUPERH1-siHIF-1α and a control group that was injected with pSUPER retro vector. The levels of HIF-1α and vascular endothelia growth factor (VEGF) in the retina were examined by Western blot. The retinal neovascularization was evaluated by angiography using FITC Dextran and quantitated histologically.

RESULTSThe levels of HIF-1α and VEGF in the retina in the experimental group were reduced 90% and 65% respectively compared with those in the control group. Meanwhile, the number of retinal neovascular endothelial nucleus outbreaking the inner limit membrane in the experimental group was significantly reduced compared with that in the control group.

CONCLUSIONSThe development of retinal neovascularization of ROP can be markedly inhibited by RNA interference targeting HIF-1α.

Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; analysis ; antagonists & inhibitors ; genetics ; Infant, Newborn ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; RNA, Small Interfering ; genetics ; Retinal Neovascularization ; prevention & control ; Retinopathy of Prematurity ; therapy ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; analysis

BACKGROUNDThe blood supply to the eye comes from the retinal central vascular system of the ophthalmic artery and the ciliary vascular system. The ophthalmic artery stems from the ipsilateral internal carotid artery. If occlusion or stenosis occurs in the carotid artery, the blood perfusion to the ophthalmic artery becomes insufficient, leading to signs and symptoms of anterior and posterior ocular ischemia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and risk factors of ocular ischemic diseases caused by carotid artery stenosis.

METHODSThis study was a retrospective review of 145 patients with carotid artery stenosis. Fifty-eight patients who had symptoms of ocular ischemic disease caused by carotid artery stenosis formed group A and the other 87 patients who only had carotid artery stenosis formed group B. We analyzed the causes and course of disease, and relative risk factors, by comparing the two groups.

RESULTSThe degree of carotid artery stenosis in group A was higher than that in group B. And group A had a greater decrease of ophthalmic artery flow. Male, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and smoking were significantly related to carotid artery stenosis. Amaurosis fugax was the most common ocular symptom in group A. The ocular ischemic diseases mainly included ischemic optic neuropathy, central/branch retinal artery occlusion, ophthalmoplegia externa, and ocular ischemic syndrome.

CONCLUSIONSCarotid artery stenosis correlates with ocular ischemic diseases. Ophthalmologists must observe for ocular symptoms, which were the onset symptoms in some patients.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carotid Stenosis ; etiology ; physiopathology ; Eye Diseases ; etiology ; Female ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; physiopathology ; Hypertension ; physiopathology ; Ischemia ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Smoking ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVE: To derive regression formulae for stature estimation using forensic radiography from the tibia and fibula of Chinese Han teenagers in Sichuan Province. METHODS: To construct equations, measurements were conducted on the training sample (412 adults, 201 males and 211 females). The whole length of the fibula and four measurements of tibia were determined using CR radiography, rectified through theoretical magnification. The regression formulae were relatively constructed to the real stature measured in an erect position. Through using the testing sample (40 adults) for the regression formulae, the reliability of the regression formulae was assessed. RESULTS: The range of correlation coefficients of four measurements for tibia was 0.880-0.895 in the sex-unknown group, 0.869-0.893 in the male, and 0.845-0.855 in the female. The five measurements were found to be better correlated with stature in the male than in the female. CONCLUSION The digital X-ray of the tibia and fibula for stature estimation is proved to be effective in forensic individual identification; therefore, these equations can be of great assistance to the stature estimation of the contemporary Chinese Han teenagers.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anthropometry ; Asian People/ethnology* ; Body Height ; Bone and Bones/diagnostic imaging* ; China ; Female ; Fibula/diagnostic imaging* ; Forensic Anthropology ; Humans ; Male ; Regression Analysis ; Sex Characteristics ; Tibia/diagnostic imaging* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/methods* ; Young Adult

AIM: Accommodation is one of the most important functions of human eye, while its mechanism is still under discussion. This paper aimed to study accommodation mechanism with numerical simulation.METHODS: A simulation model was constructed to study the mechanism of accommodation based on the experimental data derived from published resources. The displacement and pressure are applied on the model to study the deformation of lens during accommodating.RESULTS: The simulation showed that, as the eye was accommodating, the thickness of the lens increased linearly,and the lens diameter decreased linearly. The optical power of the lens increased as the accommodation increased. This result was accord with the public facts in accommodation.Furthermore, the pressure was found to have a great influence on the shape of the lens and the optical power. The lens became thinner and flatter as the pressure increased and the pressure caused a remarkable increase of lens' optical power.CONCLUSION: The outcome of this paper is consistent with the Helmholtz's hypothesis on accommodation to some extent. The analytical model presented in this paper can be used in the theoretical study of the accommodation mechanism of the human lens.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the infection of hepatitis B virus(HBV) in blood donors, and to evaluate the effectiveness and necessity of TMA technology for HBV-DNA screening in blood donors. METHODS: Using the ELISA/NAT model, routine serology test and NAT were performed in the 169 160 donors，including voluntary blood donors and some of donors returned to donor team. For some donors with test positive NAT, nucleic acid identification test was performed. And the HBsAg neutralized and confirmed assay would conduct in blood donors with unilateral HBsAg positive and HBV-DNA negative result. RESULTS: Among 169 160 donation cases-times, the donors of bilateral positive of HBsAg detection was 803, accounted for 0.476%; donors of unilateral positive was 243, accounted for 0.144%. For 40 specimens with HBV-DNA negative, unilateral HBsAg positive, the neutralization and confirmed assay was performed.In result, only 4 specimens were confirmed to be HBsAg positive, the confirmed positive rate was 10%. Among detected 1003 specimens with HBV-DNA positive specimens, both HBsAg and HBV-DNA positive were 739, the consistency rate between 2 kinds of detection was 73.7%. The comparision of positive rate detected by using 3 kinds of reagents showed that there were statistical differences (P＜0.05); moreover, there were statistical difference in positive rate detected by using Murex reagent and In Tec reagent (P＜0.0125). The comparison of detected rate of HBsAg and HBV-DNA during March 2016-February 2017 showed no statistical difference (P＞0.05). Among 60 blood donors with HBsAg and HBV-DNA who has retured to the donor team, 1 donor presented the transformation of HBsAg from negative to positive, suggesting the HBV infection of window period, HBsAg of the other 59 was negative. The detection of HBV-DNA showed that the HBV-DNA in 28 donors was negative, and the HBV-DNA in 31 donors was positive, 1 donor showed HBV-DNA was uncertain. CONCLUSION The routine TMA technology combined with ELISA HBsAg can effectively shorten the window period for detection of HBV infection, effectively detect the occult HBV infection, and reduce the potential risk of hepatitis B spread due to blood transfusion.
Blood Donors ; DNA, Viral ; Hepatitis B ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans

Objective:To explore the difference of emotion recognition ability between impulsive violent criminals and the controls.Methods:Fifty-nine impulsive violent criminals were selected from 90 violent criminals in a prison.The control group consisted of 35 service workers and security guards recruited from a university.The 2 group (impulsive violent criminals group, control group) ×4 emotion (happiness, anger, sadness, fear) hybrid design was used in this study.The emotion recognition score, errors number and changed response number for each of the four emotions, including happiness, anger, sadness and fear, were obtained through an emotional expression multimorph task to investigate the difference of emotion recognition ability between the two groups.Results:Four participants with error rate more than 30％ were excluded.The effective data involved 58 impulsive violent criminals and 32 control subjects.The impulsive violent criminals had significant higher recognition scores of happiness [ (18.6±3.4) vs. (16.4±4.0), P＜0.01] and anger [ (16.2±2.4) vs. (14.1±3.2), P＜0.01] than the control group.In impulsive violent criminals, the recognition scores of facial expressions ranked from high to low were that of happiness, anger, fear and sadness (Ps＜0.05).In the control group, the recognition scores of facial expressions ranked from high to low were that of happiness, anger, fear/sadness (Ps＜0.05), but there was no significant difference between recognition scores of fear and sadness (P＞0.05).Conclusion:It suggests that the impulsive violent criminals might have a higher sensitivity to happy and angry facial expressions.

BACKGROUNDAlthough previous clinical study revealed that bortezomib combined with dexamethasone had improved the outcomes of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), the optimal dose combinations of bortezomib and dexamethasone remain unknown. This trial aimed to observe the efficacy and safety of different dose combinations of bortezomib and dexamethasone in the treatment of RRMM patients in China.

METHODSA total of 168 patients with relapsed multiple myeloma (MM) who were refractory to at lest two prior treatments were enrolled in this multicenter, open-label, non-randomized, prospective clinical trial. Twenty patients received 1.3 mg/m(2) of bortezomib twice weekly for 2 weeks of a 3-week cycle for up to 8 cycles and oral or intravenous dexamethasone 20 mg on the day of and after each bortezomib dose (group 1); 66 patients received less than 1.3 mg/m(2) (0.7 - 1.0 mg/m(2)) of bortezomib and dexamethasone 20 mg on the same schedule (group 2); 37 patients received 1.3 mg/m(2)2 of bortezomib and dexamethasone 40 mg (group 3) and 45 patients received less than 1.3 mg/m(2) (0.7 - 1.0 mg/m(2)) of bortezomib and dexamethasone 40 mg (group 4). The response was evaluated according to the criteria of the European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation and confirmed by an independent review committee. Adverse events were graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Toxicity Criteria, version 3.0.

RESULTSThe median age of groups 1 to 4 was 61, 62, 56, and 60 years, respectively. Most patients were in stages II/III of MM and the most common subtype was IgG. The rate of overall response to bortezomib and dexamethasone of group 1 to 4 was 72.2% (13/18), 73.8% (48/65), 78.8% (26/33) and 78.0% (32/41) (P = 0.91), including a complete response rate of 22.2% (4/18), 20.0% (13/65), 33.3% (11/33) and 29.3% (12/41) (P = 0.67), respectively. There was no statistical significance in time to progression and overall survival among these 4 groups (P > 0.05). The most commonly adverse events of any grade in the entire 4 groups were fatigue, gastrointestinal effects, peripheral neuropathy and thrombocytopenia, and there was no significance in the number of adverse events among the 4 groups (P > 0.05) except that peripheral neuropathy was reported more frequently in group 3 (36.3%) than in group 2 (13.8%, P < 0.05) and group 4 (14.6%, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe combination of bortezomib and dexamethasone was associated with high responses in Chinese RRMM patients. No significant differences of efficacy were detected in different dose combinations of bortezomib and dexamethasone. Moreover, low dose of bortezomib reduced the incidence of peripheral neuropathy without affecting outcome in the treatment of patients with RRMM in China.

Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; administration & dosage ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Boronic Acids ; administration & dosage ; Bortezomib ; China ; Dexamethasone ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; drug therapy ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prospective Studies ; Pyrazines ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlations of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) with the clinicopathological characteristics, prognostic events, and survival outcomes in esophageal cancer (EC) patients.

METHODSThe PubMed, Web of Science, Embase database and Cochrane database were searched for studies reporting the outcomes of interest. The studies were selected according to established inclusion/exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of the studies was performed using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata12.0 software with the odds ratio (OR), risk ratio (RR) , hazard ratio (HR) , and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) as the effect indexes.

RESULTSNineteen studies involving a total of 1766 patients were included in the analysis. Significant correlations of CTCs and DTCs were found with the clinicopathological parameters including the tumor stage (OR=1.95), depth of invasion (OR=1.99), lymph node metastasis (OR=2.44), distal metastasis (OR=5.98), histological differentiation (OR=1.67) and lymphovascular invasion (OR=4.48). CTCs and DTCs were also correlated with the prognostic events including relapse (RR=6.86) and metastasis (RR=3.22) and with the survival outcomes including the overall survival (OS) overall analysis (HR=3.46) and disease-free survival/progression-free survival (DFS/PFS) overall analysis (HR=3.00).

CONCLUSIONCTCs and DTCs are significantly associated with an advanced tumor stage, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis before therapy, differentiation, lymphovascular invasion, relapse and metastasis in patients with EC. They are also significantly correlated with a poorer survival for OS and DFS/PFS to serve as clinical and prognostic predictors in patients with EC.

Disease-Free Survival ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; Odds Ratio ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Survival Analysis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effecacy and safety of CHOEP mobilization regimen, and the effect and tolerance of sequential chemotherapy combined with tandem autotransplants of peripheral blood stem cells for aggressive lymphoma. The clinical data of 5 patients with recurrent, aggressive lymphoma treated with of sequential chemotherapy combined with tandem autotransplants were analyzed retrospectively. The patients included 1 HD and 4 NHL. Mobilization regimen was CHOEP combined with G-CSF 5 microg/(kg x d). The conditioning regimen for the tandem transplantation was high-dose CHOEP. The interval of the tandem autotransplantation was 9 (5 - 31) weeks. In tandem autotransplant, the cell number of MNC transfused was 3.05 (1.91 - 4.14) x 10(8)/kg and 3.55 (2.23 - 6.0) x 10(8)/kg; CD34(+) cells were 4.11 (2.59 - 4.94) x 10(6)/kg and 5.70 (2.77 - 10.6) x 10(6)/kg; CFU-GM was 2.96 (2.01 - 4.54) x 10(5)/kg and 2.44 (1.78 - 2.9) x 10(5)/kg respectively (P > 0.05). The results showed that all patients gained prompt and sustained hemotopoietic reconstitution. The interval of ANC >or= 0.5 x 10(9)/L was 10 (8 - 12) days and 10.5 (9 - 12) days; Pt >or= 2.0 x 10(9)/L was 11 (10 - 14) days and 12.5 (10 - 15) days respectively (P > 0.05). Four patients survived, three patients among them were alive in disease-free for median of 46 (9 - 88) months. The overall survival was 80%, and the disease-free survival was 60%. In conclusion, the method of sequential high-dose CHOEP chemotherapy combined with autotransplants of peripheral blood stem cells in tandem for aggressive lymphoma is probably safe and effective.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Cyclophosphamide ; therapeutic use ; Doxorubicin ; therapeutic use ; Etoposide ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Prednisolone ; therapeutic use ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Analysis ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome ; Vincristine ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of short-term forest bathing on human health.

METHODSTwenty healthy male university students participated as subjects and were randomly divided into two groups of 10. One group was sent on a two-night trip to a broad-leaved evergreen forest, and the other was sent to a city area. Serum cytokine levels reflecting inflammatory and stress response, indicators reflecting oxidative stress, the distribution of leukocyte subsets, and plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) concentrations were measured before and after the experiment to evaluate the positive health effects of forest environments. A profile of mood states (POMS) evaluation was used to assess changes in mood states.

RESULTSNo significant differences in the baseline values of the indicators were observed between the two groups before the experiment. Subjects exposed to the forest environment showed reduced oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory level, as evidenced by decreased malondialdehyde, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor a levels compared with the urban group. Serum cortisol levels were also lower than in the urban group. Notably, the concentration of plasma ET-1 was much lower in subjects exposed to the forest environment. The POMS evaluation showed that after exposure to the forest environment, subjects had lower scores in the negative subscales, and the score for vigor was increased.

CONCLUSIONForest bathing is beneficial to human health, perhaps through preventive effects related to several pathological factors.

Baths ; China ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Humans ; Hydrocortisone ; blood ; Life Style ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Male ; Nature ; Recreation ; Stress, Physiological ; Testosterone ; blood ; Trees ; Young Adult