Objective To evaluate the imaging features of CT and MR in patients with intraductal papillary mucinous tumor of the pancreas (IPMT).Methods Imaging findings of 10 patients with histopathologically proved IPMT were retrospectively analyzed.Of 10 cases,CT was performed in 8 patients,and MR in 6 patients.Results Eight lesions were in pancreatic head and neck,and 2 lesions were in pancreatic body and tail.The images showed the dilated pancreatic duct in all the patients,and the diameter was (0.8 ± 0.2) cm.Three patients had the dilation of branch duct,and 4 patients showed atrophy of pancreatic body and tail.The CT showed 6 cases had cystic masses with septa and mural nodules;and 2 cases had the dilation of the main pancreatic duct with intraductal mural nodules.Lesions showed low signal intensities on T1WI and high signal intensities on T2WI with septa and mural nodules,which showed moderate hypointensity on T1WI and T2WI and heterogeneous enhancement on enhanced T1WI.Conclusions There are some characteristics in CT and MR manifestation of IPMT:common in pancreatic head and neck,dilated pancreatic duct,cystic tumors with septa and mural nodules,and the enhancement of cystic wall,septa and mural nodules.The disease might be correctly diagnosed with these characteristic imaging features.

Objective To identify novel mutations in the GATA6 gene associated with congenital atrial septal defects (ASD).Methods This was a case-control study.A cohort of 220 unrelated Han-race patients with congenital ASD and 200 unrelated ethnically matched healthy individuals used as controls,who were admitted to Tongji University Affiliated Tongji Hospital from January,2007 to October,2011,were recruited.The peripheral venous blood samples from the participants were prepared.All the coding exons and their flanking sequences of the GATA6 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced using the di-deoxynucleotide chain termination technique.The acquired sequences were aligned with the sequences derived from GenBank by BLAST to identify the sequence variations.The software ClustalW was used to analyze the conservation of the altered amino acids.Results Three novel heterozygous missense GATA6 mutations,c.250G ＞A (p.A84T),c.649G ＞C (p.G217R) and c.1270A ＞C (p.S424R),were identified in 3 of 220 ASD patients,respectively.None of the three mutations was detected in 200 healthy control individuals.A cross-species alignment of GATA6 encoded protein sequences showed that the mutated amino acids were relatively conserved evolutionarily.Conclusion The identification of novel GATA6 mutations associated with ASD contributes to the reveal of the mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of ASD.

Objective To understand the species diversity of ectoparasites on Niviventer confucianus in the surrounding areas of Erhai Lake.Methods Small mammals were randomly captured in 12 investigated sites surrounding Erhai Lake with baited mouse cages.The cage-traps were examined and re-baited each morning.Trapped small mammals were brought to the laboratory for identification according to color, body length, ear length, hind foot length.All ec-toparasites on the surface of the hosts were collected and identified.The constituent ratio(C), prevalence(P) and average ectoparasite abundance(A) were used to evaluate the prevalence and density of ectoparasites.Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test was used to test differences in the abundance and richness of ectoparasites between female and male hosts.Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between ectoparasites and the body param-eters of hosts.Results Eighty-nine individuals of N.confucianus were captured, of which 79% were found infested with 51 species of ectoparasites, including 31 species of chigger mites, 13 species of mesostigmatid(gamasid) mites, 4 species of fleas and 3 species of sucking lice.Walchia ewingi Fuller(66.2%), Laelaps turkestanicus Lange(38.5%), Paradoxopsyllus custodies Jordan(42.9% ) and Hoplopleura pacifica(80.1% ) were the most predominant species of chigger mites, gamasid mites, fleas, and sucking lice, respectively.Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test showed that there was no significant difference between male and female hosts on the species richness and abundance of total ec-toparasites, chigger mites, sucking lice, fleas or gamasid mites.Spearman correlation analysis showed that the abun-dance and species of total ectoparasites, chigger mites, sucking lice, fleas or gamasid mites were not correlated with the body weight of hosts.Conclusion There is a high speices diversity of ectoparasites on N.confucianus.Sucking lice, fleas, chiggers and gamasid mites are the main ectoparasites.

Objective To understand the species,species distribution,the dominant species and their interspecies interaction of chigger mites on Eothenomys miletus(a dominant species of rats)in Yunnan.Method The rats were captured with mouse traps in 16 counties(or cities)during 2000-2004.All mites on the surface of two auricles of the hosts were collected and identified.The patch index(m*/m)and the coefficient of association(V)were adopted to judge the spatial distribution patterns and interspecies interaction of the dominant chigger mite species among different individuals of the rats(E.miletus).Results 1157 individuals of E.miletus were captured from 16 counties(citys).37613 chigger mites(belonging to 3 subfamily,9 genus and 80 species)were collected from the auricles(body surface)of 1157 rat hosts with a high “overall mite infestation rate”(68.2%)and “overall mite index”(32.5).Six species of mites were found dominant on E.miletus:Leptotrombidium scutellare,Leptotrombidium sinicum,Helenicula simena,Leptotrombidium eothenomydis,Herpetacarus hastoclavus and Leptotrombidium hiemalis.The distribution of the chigger mites among different individuals of E.miletus showed an aggregation pattern.Both positive and negative association existed between each two dominant species of chigger mites.Conclusion The species composition of chigger mites on Eothenomys miletus is complex with abundant individuals,which reflects a high species diversity of the mites.The main species of chigger mites tend to an aggregation on the body surface of E.miletus.

Objective To design a new cancer vaccine by using alpha-galactosylceramide (α-Galcer,α-GC) loaded tumor cells in combination with TLR 9 ligand and to evaluate its therapeutic effects on colon canc-er in mice.Methods MC38 cells were transfected with lentivirus (GFP-CD1d) to prepare CD1d-MC38 cells. The expression of CD1d molecules in CD1d-MC38 cells was detected by fluorescence microscopy , RT-PCR and flow cytometry.The sorted CD1d-MC38 cells were loaded with α-Galcer to prepare CD1d-MC38/α-GC complex. Flow cytometry was performed to evaluate the efficiency of combination .A mouse model of colon cancer was es-tablished to investigate the therapeutic effects of α-Galcer loaded tumor cells in combination with TLR 9 ligand ( CD1d-MC38/α-GC+CpG1826) on colon cancer in mice by analyzing tumor growth and mice survival time .Im-munohistochemical staining was used to detect CD 4+T and CD8+T infiltrating lymphocytes in tumor tissues .Re-sults The MC38 cancer cells that expressed CD 1d and GFP were successfully constructed , among which 98.10%±2.53%were positive for CD1d.Moreover, the CD1d-MC38 cells could combine with α-Galcer effec-tively in a dose and time dependent manner .Compared with PBS treated group ,α-GC treated group and TLR9 ligand treated group , the experimental vaccine strategy was sufficient to inhibit the growth of established tumors and prolong survival of tumor-bearing mice (P<0.01).Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that levels of CD4+T cells and CD8+T cells in experiment group were significantly higher than those in groups treated with PBS,α-GC and TLR9 ligand (P<0.01).Conclusion CD1d-MC38/α-GC in combination with CpG1826 could efficiently inhibit the growth of established tumors and prolong survival of tumor-bearing mice .Immunohisto-chemistry analysis revealed that CD 4+T cells and CD8+T cells played important roles in anti-tumor immunity.

Objective:To investigate and analyze the clinical characteristics of chronic liver injury and glutathione treatment in patients with coal-burning-borne arsenism.Methods:A total of 71 patients with liver injury caused by coal-burning-borne arsenism admitted to Binzhou People's Hospital from March 2017 to December 2018 were randomly divided into observation group (37 cases) and control group (34 cases) by lottery. Both groups of patients were given routine treatment, including intravenous infusion of compound amino acids, oral administration of B vitamins, etc., and intravenous infusion of 5.0 g of vitamin C mixture dissolved in 250 ml of 5% glucose, once a day, treatment for 4 weeks. In addition, the observation group was given an intravenous infusiondrip of 1.8 g of glutathione dissolved in 250 ml of 5% glucose, once a day, for 4 weeks. The clinical characteristics of the patients were observed, and the changes of liver function [alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total bilirubin (TBIL), direct bilirubin (DBIL)], serum antioxidant indexes [malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px)], and clinical efficacy before and after the treatment were compared between the two groups.Results:In 71 coal-burning-borne arsenism patients with liver injury, the abnormal rate of electrocardiogram (ECG) examination was 64.79% (46/71), and the abnormal rate of chest X-ray examination was 26.76% (19/71). After treatment, the liver function indexes ALT, AST, TBIL and DBIL decreased in both groups [observation group before treatment: (131.82 ± 25.62), (109.84 ± 26.28) U/L, (81.47 ± 20.93), (57.38 ± 15.25) μmol/L; observation group after treatment: (58.93 ± 12.03), (51.20 ± 10.57) U/L, (25.66 ± 7.94), (16.49 ± 4.92) μmol/L; control group before treatment: (128.95 ± 31.20), (107.39 ± 29.81) U/L, (83.21 ± 17.95), (55.39 ± 16.30) μmol/L; control group after treatment: (76.42 ± 15.73), (74.33 ± 14.80) U/L, (36.72 ± 9.32), (23.74 ± 7.35) μmol/L, P < 0.05], and the liver function indexes in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group after treatment ( P < 0.05). The serum antioxidant indexes MDA, SOD and GSH-Px in the two groups were significantly increased after treatment [observation group before treatment: (25.47 ± 3.98) μmol/L, (85.72 ± 23.54), (1 729.84 ± 379.50) U/L; observation group after treatment: (46.31 ± 7.49) μmol/L, (122.31 ± 28.53), (2 410.29 ± 512.31) U/L; control group before treatment: (26.02 ± 4.11) μmol/L, (84.95 ± 21.03), (1 749.52 ± 405.28) U/L; control group after treatment: (38.92 ± 6.27) μmol/L, (103.12 ± 25.68), (2 097.42 ± 478.52) U/L, P < 0.05], and the serum antioxidant indexes in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group after treatment ( P < 0.05). The total effective rate of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group [91.89% (34/37) vs 76.47% (26/34), χ 2 = 4.254, P < 0.05]. Conclusions:Coal-burning-borne arsenism patients with chronic liver injury may have multiple system injury at the same time. Glutathione can effectively improve the clinical symptoms and liver function of patients. Its effect may be related to the improvement of antioxidant function, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze variation of ISL1 gene and explore its functional characteristics in relation with congenital heart defect (CHD). METHODS: Clinical data and peripheral blood samples of 194 CHD patients and 232 healthy controls were collected for the extraction of genomic DNA. The coding exons and flanking intronic regions of the ISL1 gene were sequenced. Expression plasmid for the wild-type ISL1 gene ISL1-pcDNA3.1 was constructed, and the corresponding variants were obtained by site-specific mutagenesis. The gene expression plasmid was transfected into CHO cells with liposome, and the functional characteristics of ISL1 variant were studied by double luciferase reporter gene analysis. RESULTS: A novel variant of the ISL1 gene c.499C>T (p.Q167X) was detected in a patient with sporadic CHD. Functional study showed that the variant has lost its transcriptional activation function for the MEF2C promoter. CONCLUSION A novel variant of the ISL1 gene related to CHD has been identified. The defect of ISL1 gene may underlay the pathogenesis for a proportion of CHD.

Renal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma is a rare malignant soft tissue tumor. This paper reports a patient who was admitted to hospital because of left renal tumor, and underwent robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. The patient was diagnosed as left renal mesenchymal chondrosarcoma by pathological and genetic examination after operation. There was no local recurrence and metastasis six months after operation.