Objective To improve the recognition of various CT appearances of hepatoblastoma(HB) and evaluate the role of CT in diagnosis. Method In a total of 24 cases, abdominal scan was performed. In 12 of them contrast enhanced CT was available. The CT manifestions of the 24 HB cases were retrospectively analyzed and correlated with clinical pathological findings. Results Fourteen tumors involved the right lobe, 4 tumors involved the left lobe,and 6 both liver lobes. One case invaded the liver diffusely.Most of HB appeared as an intrahepatic well circumscribed round or lobulated solid mass with or without pseudocapsule.Three of them manifested as multiple nodules and distributed in one or both liver lobes.Exophytic growing of tumor was seen in 7 cases. The tumor mass usually exhibited inhomogeneous density and heterogeneous enhancement,some associated with reticular and curvilinear density.Peripheral rim enhancement was present in 3 cases.Calcified foci were found in 6 cases.The hepatic parenchyma outside the tumor was normal in all cases.Two subdiaphragmatic and greater omentum tumor infiltrations could not be found on CT scan. Rare findings included tumor thrombus in one case in IVC, lymphnode metastasis in one case. Conclusion The various CT patterns described in this study are helpful in recognizing and evaluating the prognosis of HB.CT scan could acurately localize and characterize the mass,while not always correct in tumor staging.

Objective To investigate does intracellular protein degradation pathway play an important role in decrease of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).MethodsTo establish a primary HUVECs culture methods,the HUVECs were incubated with concentration gradient group of TNF-α(0.01,0.1,1 and 10 ng/mL) in different time periods (24,48 and 72 h).The HUVECs were pretreated with NH4Cl or treated with caspase inhibitor or MG-132 1.5 h prior to incubation for an additional 24 h with TNF-α.The expression of eNOS was detected via Western blot assay.Results Treatment of the HUVECs with TNF-α(0.01-10 ng/mL) led to a dose-dependent reduction of eNOS expression.And treatment with TNF-α(1 ng/mL) reduced the eNOS expression in a time-depended manner.Compared with the TNF-α group,the protein expression level of eNOS was obviously increased in the co-working group of MG-123 and TNF-α.Conclusions TNF-α induces degradation of eNOS through a ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

OBJECTIVES: The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) is a commonly used self-reporting tinnitus questionnaire. We undertook this study to determine the reliability and validity of the Chinese-Mandarin version of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI-CM) for measuring tinnitus-related handicaps. METHODS: We tested the test-retest reliability, internal reliability, and construct validity of the THI-CM. Two-hundred patients seeking treatment for primary or secondary tinnitus in Southwest China were asked to complete THI-CM prior to clinical evaluation. Patients were evaluated by a clinician using standard methods, and 40 patients were asked to complete THI-CM a second time 14+/-3 days after the initial interview. RESULTS: The test-retest reliability of THI-CM was high (Pearson correlation, 0.98), as was the internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha, 0.93). Factor analysis indicated that THI-CM has a unifactorial structure. CONCLUSION: The THI-CM version is reliable. The total score in THI-CM can be used to measure tinnitus-related handicaps in Mandarin-speaking populations.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Humans ; Reproducibility of Results ; Tinnitus ; Surveys and Questionnaires