Child, Preschool ; Hearing Disorders ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Infant

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) for nonpalpable breast masses.Methods Two hundred and one nonpalpable breast masses in 176 women who had been scheduled for a sonographically guided core biopsy or operation were examined with the B-mode sonography and VTQ.The pathologic diagnosis was used as the golden standard.The diagnostic performances of the two methods were evaluated with receiver operating characteristic curve(ROC).Results The mean shear wave velocity (SWV) measurement values were (6.17 ± 1.95)m/s in malignant masses and (3.39± 1.82)m/s in benign masses(P ＜0.01),respectively.The area under the ROC curve was 0.789 for the VTQ and 0.840 for the BI-RADS-US,respectively.No statistically difference was found between them.The area under the ROC curve of the combination of the two methods was 0.934,the diagnostic performance of the combination was better than that of BLRADS-US(P ＜0.01)and VTQ alone (P ＜0.01).Conclusions VTQ is a good method for diagnosing nonpalpable breast lesions.The combination of BI-RADS-US and VTQ has better diagnostic perform ance for differentiation of nonpalpable breast lesions,which has important value in clinical application.

Objective The discovery of microRNA (miRNA) in maternal serum has opened up new possibilities for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.However,our understanding of these pregnancy-related miRNA in the serum of pregnant women with fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs) is still limited.This article is to study the dysregulated expression of microRNA-423 (miR-423) in the serum of pregnant women with neural tube defect(NTD) fetuses and its potential role as a biomarker for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal NTD.Methods Thirty-three pregnant women whose fetuses were diagnosed as neural tube defects by ultrasound (22 cases of spina bifida and 11 cases of anencephaly)and 33 normal pregnant women were selected.Peripheral venous blood of each pregnant woman was obtained early in the morning,the serum was purified from blood by centrifugation,then total RNA was isolated from serum and the miR-423 levels were detected by real-time RT-PCR.The ROC curve was used for assessing the diagnostic accuracy of miR-423 for fetal NTD.Results We revealed miR-423 with signifcant down-regulation in expression in serum of pregnant women with NTD fetuses (0.96 ±0.14) compared as women with normal pregnancies(2.28 ±0.43) (P ＜0.05).We performed ROC analysis of data from the 33 case-control pairs.The expression of miR-423 could distinguish NTD cases from normal controls,with an AUC of 0.711 (95 ％ CI:0.566 ～ 0.856) (P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,the expression of miR423 decreased only in serum of pregnant women with anencephaly fetuses(0.58 ±0.08)by the analysis in different forms of NTD.Conclusion miR-423 is deregulated in the serum of pregnant women with NTD fetuses and highlight the clinical potential of miR-423 as biomarker for diagnosis and prognostication of fetal NTD.

Adult ; Arterio-Arterial Fistula ; pathology ; Coronary Vessels ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; pathology

Anthracyclines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Cardiomyopathies ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; Cardiotonic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Echocardiography ; Heart ; drug effects ; Heart Diseases ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Risk Factors ; Survival Analysis ; Troponin I ; analysis

This paper aims to develop a method for the determination of aloe-emodin, rhein, chrysophanol and physcion and study the pharmacokinetic properties of four anthraquinones in rat plasma after oral administration of gardenia and rhubarb decoction. The plasma concentrations at different time points of four anthraquinones were determined by HPLC-FLD method. Plasma samples were extracted with liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Plasma samples were separated on a C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 μm), using 0.2% acetic acid and methanol as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min(-1) with gradient elution. The excitation and emission wavelengths were set at 430, 525 nm, respectively. DAS 2.0 software was applied to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters. The results showed four anthraquinones can be absorbed. The main parameters of aloe-emodin, rhein, chrysophanol and physcion were as follows: C(max) for aloe-emodin was (0.085 ± 0.058), (3.772 ± 1.152), (0.464 ± 0.267), (0.028 ± 0.008) mg x L(-1) respectively; t(max) for rhein was (1.042 ± 0.510), (0.805 ± 0.307), (1.167 ± 0.283), (0.616 ± 0.162) h respectively; t½ for chrysophanol was (3.557 ± 1.250), (6.879 ± 1.126), (5.196 ± 2.032), (4.337 ± 1.816) h; AUC(0-t) for physcion was (0.504 ± 0.130), (9.558 ± 1.106), (2.545 ± 1.554), (0.052 ± 0.018) mg x h x L(-1). This paper developed a selective, accurate and sensitive HPLC-FLD method for the simultaneous determination of four anthraquiones in rat plasma.
Animals ; Anthraquinones ; blood ; pharmacokinetics ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; instrumentation ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; pharmacokinetics ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective To study the characteristics and difference of speech rate in monologue and reading in normal adults .Methods Through the acquisition of spontaneous speech and reading from 30 normal adults ,the syl‐lables per minute (SPM ) and the words per minute (WPM )were separately calculated .The monologue materials in‐clude ten topics :self introduction hobby ,hometown and so on;the reading material was the stars in the sky written by Ba Jin .We also analyzed whether there was a significant difference in genders and types of expression for speech rates .Results With the expression of monologue :SPM (male)=226 .13 ± 25 .97 ,SPM (female)=198 .73 ± 40 .With the expression of reading :SPM (male)= 208 .93 .13 ± 29 .35 ,SPM (female)= 220 .53 .± 26 .52 ,WPM (male)=104 .67 ± 13 .43 ,WPM (female)=111 .80 ± 12 .73 .Pearson correlation coefficient of SPM and WPM had reached 0 .926(r=0 .926) in the spontaneous speech and 0 .969 (r=0 .969) in reading .There were no significant differences in both genders (P=0 .42) and types of expression(P=0 .72) .The interaction effect of genders and types of ex‐pression was significant (P=0 .006) .For females ,the rate of reading was significantly higher than monologue (P=0 .025);for monologue ,there was a significant difference between males and females(P=0 .035) .The male was higher than the female in the speed of monologue .Conclusion The statistics revealed a high correlation between SPM and WPM .Genders and types of expression did not play an important role on the speech rate .The interactioneffect of gender and type of expression was significantly high (P=0 .006) .

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of phosphorylated protein kinase R-like ER kinase(p-PERK) and C/EBP homologous protein(CHOP) after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage ( HIBD) . Methods Neonatal 7-day-old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into sham-operation control group and HIBD group( n=30 per group) . Each group was divided into 0 h,6 h and 24 h subgroup after operation ( n=10 per group) . The ratio of apoptosis of brain cell was measured by flow cytometer and the expression of p-PERK and CHOP were detected by Western blot. Results (1)Apoptosis cell appeared at 6 h in HIBD group,the ratio of cell apoptosis was(2. 17 ± 0. 19)%. The apoptosis cell obvious increased at 24 h,the ratio of cell apoptosis was(13. 42 ± 0. 83)%. There was a significant increase in the ratio of apoptosis after HIBD 6 h and 24 h, as compared with sham-operation control group [ ( 0. 57 ± 0. 06 )%( P <0. 01 ) ] . ( 2 ) The expression of both p-PERK and CHOP was very low in sham-operation control group. In the HIBD group,the expression of both p-PERK and CHOP began to increase at 6 h and increased furthermore at HIBD 24 h. The differences in the expression levels of p-PERK and CHOP in HIBD group among different time points were significant( P<0. 01 ) . ( 3 ) The expression of p-PERK positively correlated with the expression of CHOP (r=0. 997,P< 0. 05). Conclusion With the emerging of apoptosis after HIBD,the expression of both p-PERK and CHOP increases. The imbalance in the expression of PERK induces the apoptosis of brain cells in the HIBD of neonatal rats by regulation of CHOP expression.

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture at Zusanli, Sanyinjiao and Danzhong on mammary estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) expressions in rats with dimethylbenzanthracine (DMBA)-induced mammary cancer. Methods One hundred and twenty female SD rats aged 6-8 weeks were randomized into a model group of 60 rats and a blank group of 30 rats. The model group received an oral gavage of DMBA for model making. The blank group received an oral gavage of equal volume of sesame oil. At 15 weeks after model making, the model group of rats was randomized into treatment and control groups. The treatment group received acupuncture at Zusanli, Sanyinjiao and Danzhong, and the control and blank groups, only the same grasp and release. After the completion of acupuncture treatment (twenty-seventh week), abdominal venous blood was taken and serum tumor markers were determined by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. Tumor masses were counted and their shapes were recorded. The mass was taken and its height, maximum diameter and vertical diameter were measured using a 1 mm precision vernier caliper. Pathological changes in tumor tissues, and ER and PR positive areas and mean optical densities were observed under an Olympus optical microscope.Results There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the average number and volume of mammary tumors between the treatment group and the control or blank group (P<0.01,P<0.05) and between the control and blank groups (P<0.01). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the concentrations of various tumor markers (CA724, CA125, CA199, AEP, CA15-3, CEA and CA50) between the treatment or control group and the blank group (P<0.01,P<0.05) and between the control and blank groups (P<0.01). There was a statistically significant post-treatment difference in CA15-3 concentration between the treatment and control groups (P<0.01). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in ER and PR positive areas and mean optical densities between the treatment group and the control or blank group (P<0.01) and between the control and blank groups (P<0.01).Conclusions Acupuncture can reduce the occurrence of rat DMBA-induced mammary tumor (including the number and volumes of the tumors). The mechanism of its action may be related to decreasing the concentrations of tumor markers CA724, CA125, CA199, CA15-3, AEP, CEA and CA50 and especially to decreasing CA15-3 concentration, and ER and PR positive areas and mean optical densities.

Objective To observe the clinical effect of combination of Tongxiening granule and Mesalazine on treating mild and moderate ulcerative colitis(UC) .Methods Totally 380 patients with mild‐to‐moderate UC diagnosed through endoscopy were allocated to the control group (n=190) and observation group(n=190) .For the observation group ,patients were remedied with the combination of Tongxiening Granules and the Mesalazine by oral administration for eight weeks ,meanwhile the control group only received the Mesalazine for eight weeks .The total effective rate of the two groups were statistically analyzed ,and the levels of ser‐um MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 before and after treatment in the two groups were measured .The expression of S100A12 and RAGE were detected by immunohistochemistry SP method .Results The total effective rate of the observation group and the control group was 94 .74% and 89 .47% respectively ,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0 .01) .After treatment ,the expression levels of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 in the two groups were decreased ,additionally the expression levels in the observation group was lower than those in the control group ,and the difference was statistically significant (P< 0 .01) .After treatment ,the expression levels of RAGE and S100A12 in the observation group were decreased ,and there was a significant difference when compared with the control group(P<0 .01) .Conclusion Combined application of Tongxiening Granules and Mesalazine in treating patients with mild‐to‐mod‐erate UC could better improve clinical symptoms and bring better therapeutic effect than single use of Mesalazine .