Objective To investigate the processing characteristics of locative prepositions in patients with Chinese aphasia,and to provide the theoretical evidence for the rehabilitation of aphasia.Methods Twenty aphasic patients caused by left-hemisphere stroke and twenty matched normal controls were studied.Using the locative prepo- sition repeating task(single words,locative preposition phrases and words in sentences),the comprehension task, filling-gap task,the visual-spatial function task and the short-term memory task,we compared the performance be- tween these two groups.Results The aphasic patients had more difficulty in repeating locative prepositions in sen- tences,in comprehension task and filling-gap task,their short term memory was impaired.Both groups did well in re- peating single words and phrases.Conclusion The processing of locative prepositions was impaired in Chinese aphasics.The repetition of locative prepositions was more difficult than that of phrases and single words.The preposi- tions were often omitted.It might be due to the impairment of their short-term memory,or it might have something to do with role they played in the syntactic structure.The latter might also impact the comprehension and filling-gap score.We should make plans before rehabilitation therapy.

Objective To provide a theoretical foundation for language rehabilitation by investigating the characteristics of verb impairment in Chinese agrammatism(CA)and exploring its mechanism.Methods Fifteen CA patients and 15 normal subjects(control group)were recruited and evaluated using a standardized aphasia battery in Chinese,the Chinese agrammatism battery,a verb comprehension and production task and a short-term memory task.Results Compared with the control group,verb comprehension and production,as well as working memory were significantly damaged among the CA patients,and it was more difficult for the agrammatic aphasics to produce than to comprehend verbs(P＜0.01).Verbs with a more complex argument structure(in terms of the number and type of arguments)were more difficult for the agrammatie aphasics to produce than those with a less complex argu- ment structure.But the complexity of the argument structure did not influence the agrammatic aphasics'verb compre- hension.Conclusion The semantic entry of a verb,shared by both comprehension and production,was intact,but the verb's grammar entry was impaired.Poor working memory together with the complexity of the argument structure accounted for the impaired verb production of the agrammatic patients.

Metastasis is the main cause of cancer-related death. Growing evidence has shown that changes in glucose metabolism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells affect the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma through many pathways. This review summarizes the molecular mechanism underlying abnormal glucose metabolism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and analyzes its relationship with the invasion and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, including aerobic glycolysis, aerobic oxidation, and pentose phosphate pathway. The aim is to provide novel approaches using the relationships among glucose metabolism, invasion, and metastasis in the targeted therapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Computer Graphics ; Computer-Assisted Instruction ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Pathology ; education ; Pathology, Clinical ; Specimen Handling ; methods

In the present study, isoelectronic focusing with different pH gradients (pH 3-5, 2-6) or migrating distances (8.5, 12 and 17 cm) and SDS-PAGE was used to separate continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA), recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO), darbepoetin and endogenous EPO spiked in human urine with 37 degrees C overnight incubation. Double blotting and chemiluminescent visualization were used to detect the IEF and SDS-PAGE profiles. The bands of CERA profile were detected and well separated from the endogenous EPO and the other two EPO preparations with both SDS-PAGE and the IEF method using a gradient pH 3-5 and a migrating distance of 17 cm, and a significant particular band of CERA profile was found in the IEF result. These preliminary results indicated that the methods were reliable and reproducible for detecting CERA, and could be used as a routine procedure for anti-doping analysis.
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Erythropoietin ; urine ; Humans ; Isoelectric Focusing ; methods ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Recombinant Proteins

Objective To prepare quality control material of β2-microglobulin (β2 MG),then evaluate the quality of it.Methods The quality control material of β2-MG was prepared with pooled serum from patients.Then according to Guidance on Evaluating the Homogeneity and Stability of Samples Used for Proficiency Testing and ISO Guide 35,the homogeneity and stability of it was evaluated.Results According to the result of homogeneity test,there was no statistically significant difference between within groups and between-groups (F=0.699,2.091,all P＞0.05) for 2 levels of quality control materi al.What was more,the stability test showed that it could stabilize for at least 5 days at 25 ℃ (t=-1.76,-2.64,all P＞ 0.05),28 days at 4 ℃ (t=-1.86,-2.44,all P＞0.05),4 months at-20 ℃ (t=0.26,-2.68,allP＞0.05),and 1 yearat -80℃ (t=-0.96,0.01,all P＞0.05).Conclusion Quality control material of β2-MG has simple preparation.The homogeneity and stability of it meets the standard requirements.

RNA interference (RNAi) is an ancient intra-cellular mechanism that regulates gene expression and cell function. Large-scale gene silencing using RNAi high-throughput screening (HTS) has opened an exciting frontier to systematically study gene function in mammalian cells. This approach enables researchers to identify gene function in a given biological context and will provide considerable novel insight. Here, we review RNAi HTS strategies and applications using case studies in cancer biology and virology.
Animals ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; genetics ; Humans ; Molecular Targeted Therapy ; methods ; trends ; Neoplasms ; genetics ; therapy ; RNA Interference ; Viral Proteins ; genetics ; Virus Diseases ; genetics ; therapy ; virology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the feasibility of whole body diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) in bone metastasis detection using bone scintigraphy as comparison.

METHODSForty-five patients with malignancy history were enrolled in our study. All the patients received the whole body DWI and bone scintigraphy scan within 1 week. The magnetic resonance (MR) examination was performed on 3.0T MR scanner using embedded body coil. The images were reviewed separately by two radiologists and two nuclear medicine physicians, who were blinded to the results of the other imaging modality. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the two techniques for detecting bone metastasis were analyzed.

RESULTSA total of 181 metastatic lesions in 77 regions of 34 patients were detected by whole body DWI, and 167 metastatic lesions in 76 regions of 31 patients were identified by bone scintigraphy. The patient-based sensitivity and PPV of whole body DWI and bone scintigraphy were similar (89.5% vs. 81.6%, 97.1% vs. 91.2%), whereas, the patient-based specificity and NPV of whole body DWI were obviously higher than those of bone scintigraphy (85.7% vs. 57.1%, 60.0% vs. 36.4%). Ten regions negative in scintigraphy but positive in whole body DWI, mainly located in spine, pelvis, and femur; nine regions only detected by scintigraphy, mainly located in skull, sternum, clavicle, and scapula. The region-based sensitivity and specificity of whole body DWI were slightly higher than those of bone scintigraphy (89.5% vs. 88.4%, 95.6% vs. 87.6%).

CONCLUSIONWhole body DWI reveals excellent concordance with bone scintigraphy regarding detection of bone metastasis, and the two techniques are complementary for each other.

Aged ; Bone Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; pathology ; secondary ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; instrumentation ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Whole Body Imaging ; instrumentation ; methods

Aim To investigate the effects of Bigelovii A on autophagy and its mechanism.Methods Fluorescence microscope,flow cytometry and Western blot were employed to analyze autophagy.Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of mTOR pathway.MTT colorimetry was used to assay cell viability after treatment with 3-MA and Bigelovii A or Bigelovii A alone.Results Bigelovii A-treated MCF7 cells displayed a dramatic increase in the number of MDC-labeled vesicles and the expressions of LC3-Ⅱ,indicating cell autophagy.Ⅰt was proved that in MCF7 cells,Bigelovii A inhibited mTOR signaling by decreasing Akt and p-ERK.Consistently,Bigelovii A decreased phosphorylation levels of mTOR,p70S6K (Ser371,Thr389) and 4EBP1 proteins.Inhibiting Bigelovii Ainduced autophagy with the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine significantly decreased cell viability,which suggested that Bigelovii A-induced autophagy played a pro-survival role.Conclusion Bigelovii A is likely to induce autophagy through inhibiting mTOR pathway.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biological behavior of stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) in migration, adhesion and apoptosis as well as the related signaling transduction pathways in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 37 patients with MDS, 10 patients with de novo AML and 14 patients with non-clonal cytopenia diseases were chosen for this study. The expression level of CXCR4 on CD34(+) cells and apoptosis of CD34(+) cells in bone marrow were detected by flow cytometry; the chemotaxis of SDF-1 on bone marrow mononuclear cells in 4 patients with low risk MDS (IPSS score ≤ 1.0) and 5 patients with high risk MDS (IPSS score ≥ 1.5) was assayed by transwell migration test of cells. The effect of SDF-1 on cell adhesion capability was measured by using CCK-8 method. The results indicated that the apoptosis rate of CD34(+) cells was significantly higher in MDS patients with low risk (IPPS score < 1.0) than that in MDS patients with high risk (IPSS score ≥ 1.5) (21.55% vs 7.52%, p < 0.001); as well, the apoptosis rate of CD34(+) cells was significantly higher in MDS patients with low risk than that in de novo AML patients (21.55% vs 7.33%, p < 0.001), no relation of CD34(+) cell apoptosis with age and sex of patients was found. SDF-1 could promote the cells of patients with CXCR4 high expression to adhere to the stroma cells, and induce migration of these cells, as well as, SDF-1 could trigger the polarization of the cells which highly expressed CXCR4. After addition of pertussis toxin, wortmannin and AMD3100, the ability of adhersion and migration of the cells with highly expressed CXCR4 decreased, but there was no above-mentioned phenomenon in patients who lowly expressed CXCR4. It is concluded that the SDF-1/CXCR4 axis enhances the ability of cell adhesion and migration through PI3K signaling pathway, thereby plays antiapoptosis role, moreover the above-mentioned effects can be blocked by PI3K pathway inhibitor and G protein inhibitor.
Apoptosis ; Bone Marrow Cells ; metabolism ; Cell Adhesion ; Cell Line ; Chemokine CXCL12 ; metabolism ; Humans ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; metabolism ; Receptors, CXCR4 ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction