Objective To compare the degree of trauma, postoperative pain, and cosmetic outcomes of endoscopic-assisted thyroidectomy (EAT), transthoracic endoscopic thyroidectomy (TET), and conventional thyroidectomy (CT), and to explore the characteristics of EAT and TET. Methods Forty-five patients with thyroid nodules were divided into three groups (n=15 in each) to underwent EAT, TET, or CT. The plasma levels of C-reactive protein(CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-?), and T-lymphocyte subgroups (CD3, CD4+, CD8+, and CD4+/CD8+) were determined before and 24 and 72 hours after the operations. The degree of operative trauma was compared after the operation. Postoperative pain and cosmetic outcomes were evaluated by visual analogue score (VAS) and 5-degree evaluation respectively. Results The VAS in the EAT group was 2.2?1.7 and 1.1?1.1 on the first and third day postoperation, which were significantly lower than those in the TET group (3.6?1.4 and 2.2?0.7, respectively; q=3.698, P0.05).Compared to preoperation, the level of CD4+/CD8+ lymphocyte in the CT group was decreased at 24 hours after the operation (q=4.076, P0.05). The levels of CRP determined at 24 and 72 hours postoperation were both significantly higher than that before the operation in the three groups (EAT group: m=21, P

Objective To explore whether living in rural areas may reduce the risk of atopic sensitization. Methods The standardized questionnaires were answered by the parents of 2 986 school children during 2004 to 2005. Radioallergosorbent technique-fluorescence enzyme immunoassay (RAST-FEIA) was used to determine the level of specific IgE in the serum of the children. The risk factors were analyzed by Logistic regression. Results Compared with the subjects living in the towns from birth, the risk of atopic sensitization was lowest in the subjects living in the villages from birth (OR=0.32, 95%CI: 0.11-0.62) and it was moderate in the subjects who had relocated from village to town (OR=0.51, 95%CI: 0.28-0.92), there was a significant trend among them (P for trend

[Objective] To observe the effect of medical ozone on cartilage in the model of osteoarthritis(OA)to explore its therapeutic mechanism.[Method] Forty healthy adult SD rats were randomly divided into five groups :A(group normal)、B(group model)、C(group air),D(group O2~O3 35 ?g/ml)and E(group O2~O3 70 ?g/ml)(n=8 in each group).The OA model was duplicated by performed anterior eruciate ligament transection(ACLT)and partial meniscectomy of 1/3 inside.Air was injected into joints of group C,according to concentration different,which O2~O3 35 ?g/ml and O2~O3 70 ?g/ml were respectively injected into joints to D and E group every other day,every time 1～1.5 ml,and after a week injected again.After the model was successfully made,the condylar cartilage of femur was excised after 4 weeks for the observation by transmissive microscope of HE staining.Mankin's index was recorded.At the end of the experiment,douche fluid of the diseased joints were obtained for the measurements of superoxide dismutase(SOD)and malondialdehyde(MDA).[Result]The OA model in B group founded obviously degenerative changes under microscopy,resulting in mostly blue and green color destaining of Masson staining at superficial cartilage.The activity of SOD in the douche fluid of the diseased joints degraded and the quantity of MDA in the serum in the OA model group increased.The Mankin's index in the group D was significantly higher than that in the group B、 C(P

Objective To explore the effect of shRNA silenced aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) on WNT signaling path-way during the differentiation of P19 cells into cardiac myocytes. Methods The eukaryotic expression vector of mouse AHR gene was designed and constructed. The interference plasmid was transfected into P19 cell and the positive stains to AHR gene silencing were screened by G418. The mRNA expression of important genes GSK3βandβ-catenin were evaluated by real-time fluorescent quantita-tive PCR during the differentiation of P19 cells. Results The constructed AHR-shRNA plasmid significantly inhibited the expression of AHR gene. Along with the differentiation of P19 cell into cardiac myocytes, in the interference group the expression ofβ-catenin gene was lower whereas the expression of GSK3βgene was elevated than those of control group with significant differences (all P<0.01). Conclusions The interference of AHR gene expression can regulate WNT signaling pathway in the development of heart.

Objective To investigate neural correlates of the generation,execution and inhibition of motor intention. Methods Behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERP) of 14 participants were recorded when they performed a two-staged Go-Nogo task. At the stage of intention preparation,three kinds of the "what" cues were presented separately to the participants : (1) to press a response key by the left or the right hand (the instructed) ,(2) to decide freely which hand will be used (the free) ,(3) to wait for the second cue (the control). At the stage of intention execution,the "whether" cue suggested the participants execute (Go) or withdraw (Nogo) the previous intention either voluntarily or forcedly. Results The interaction effect between the "what" and the "whether" was significant(F(2,26) = 8.262, P=0.002). The forced responses were faster than those of voluntary action under both the instructed condition ((468.52 ±105.87)ms vs (546.67 ±146.33)ms) and the control condition ((536.78 ± 83.28) ms vs (589.75 ± 140.80) ms). No significant difference was found for the free condition((538.71 ± 127. 39) ms vs (561. 44 ± 146. 51) ms). At the stage of intention preparation,significant ERP effects between the instructed intention and the freely intention were revealed in bilateral frontal regions (150～200 ms) , frontoparietal area (300～700 ms)and right temporal area. At the stage of intention execution,ERP effects between voluntary inhibition and voluntary action were observed in left prefrontal area (160～220 ms) ,fro-nto-cento-parietal area and right frontoparietal area. (300～550 ms). Conclusion The motor intention may be generated in the prefrontal area and maintained in the frontoparietal network. The left prefrontal and fronto-centro-parietal areas inhibit intention in the early stage and the right frontoparietal area involves response inhibition lately.

Objective To investigate neural correlates of the retrieval of temporal order.Methods ERP of 19 channels was recorded from 17 healthy young students while they performed a recency judgment task,a recognition task and a visual discrimination task separately,which were based on Sternberg paradigm.One-way ANOVA of repeated-measurement and post-hoc paired comparisons were carried out for both the task factor(temporal order,recognition and control)and the temporal distance factor correspondingly.The latter contains 3 intervals (1,2 and 3)between the targets.Results The temporal distance effect was significant:the closer targets correspond to longer reaction time((745.5±106.1)ms,(711.7±102.2)ms,(653.7±81.5)ms;F_((1.28,20.48))=43.37,P=0.00]and higher error rate((62.8±7.0)%,(72.5±5.4)%,(84.5±6.4)%;F_((1.32,21.11))=135.99,P=0.00].Significant behavioral effect of the task factor was also found for both reaction time(F_((1.32,21.11))=135.99,P=0.00)and error rate(F_((2,32))=200.31,P=0.00).No significant behavioral difference was found between the temporal order group and the recognition group.The spatiotemporal pattern of statistical parametric mapping(SPM)suggested the ERP effects of temporal order were presented in left temporal region (260～270 ms),bilateral parietal-occipital areas(280～290 ms),and bilateral parietal lobes(300～400 ms)prominently.No ERP effect was found between the temporal order task and the recognition task.Conclusions The neural correlates of the temporal distance effect exist in bilateral parietal regions.Temporal order as well as object information processing involves similar cerebral regions during the retrieval period.

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells are few in human bone marrow, and their number will decrease with aging or body weakening, so a large amount of amplification is necessary. However, the biological characteristics of human mesenchymal stem cells of each passage remain poorly understood.OBJECTIVE: To analyze and compare the biological characteristics of each passage of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) so as to provide a basis for clinical demands of tissue engineering.DESIGN,TIME AND SETTING: Cytological observation in vitro. The experiment was performed at the Department of Orthopedics and Central Laboratory, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from March to October 2008.MATERIALS: From bone marrow of patients with non-hematopoietic disease, MSCs were provided by Department of Orthopedics, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine.METHODS: Bone marrow was collected form posterior superior iliac spine of patient, MSCs were isolated and cultured by Percoll method. When the cells were confluent at 90%, they were trypsinized and observed by inverted miscroscopy. The second passage of cells were collected for index detection.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cell morphological characteristics and immunophenotype; cell activity was detected by MTT; cell division and apoptosis in the proportion of necrosis were analyzed by flow cytometry analysis.RESULTS: The passaged MSCs exhibited uniform appearance in fusiform shape, and their growth was slowed down after 9 passages, exhibiting cytoplasm vacuolization and body enlarging. The second passage of MSCs was positive for CD44, CD106,and CD105, but negative for CD34 and CD45. MTT values peaked at passage 9, and gradually decreased since passage 10. At passage 11, the number of MSCs at division stage was increased, but from the sixth passage, the number of apoptotic cells increased significantly, reaching more than 60% at passage 8.CONCLUSION: According to biological characteristics analysis of MSCs at each passage, the third to the sixth passage cells are recommend for clinical therapy.

Objective To explore the expression of heat shock protein 90?(HSP90?)in colon carcinoma tissues and HCT-8 cell line,and to investigate the relationship of HCT-8 cells to chemoresistance.Methods The expression of HSP90 ? in colon carcinoma tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry and the relationship of HSP90? expression with the Dukes stage and pathological grade was analyzed,The medium effective concentration(IC50)of vincristine(VCR)to colon cancer parent cells HCT-8 and drug resistance cells HCT-8/VCR was detected by MTT method.The expression difference of HSP90?mRNA in of HCT-8 cells and HCT-8/VCR cells was detected by RT-PCR to investigate its relationship to the chemoresistance.Results The positive expression rate of HSP90 ? was higher in colon carcinoma tissues(41.67%)than non-cancerous colon tissues(16.67%)(P0.05).The drug resistance of HCT-8/VCR cell line to VCR was significantly higher than that of HCT-8 cell line(P

Objective To investigate the expression of human leukocyte antigen F (HLA-F) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and to evaluate its relation to clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC.Methods HLA-F expression of tumor lesions and their adjacent normal liver tissues from 115 HCC patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry,and its relationship between HLA-F expression and the clinicopathological features and prognosis of HCC patients was also analyzed.Results HLA-F expression was positive in 47.0％ (54/115) of the HCC lesions and in 10.6％ (7/66) of the normal liver tissues (x2 =24.799,P ＜ 0.05).HLA-F expression in HCC lesions was significantly correlated with portal vein invasions (x2 =7.644,P =0.006),tumor number (x2 =4.210,P =0.040) and patient sex (x2 =6.759,P =0.009).The mean survival time of the HLA-F positive HCC patients was 34.0 months(95％ CI:27.5-40.5 months),which was significantly shorter than that of HLA-F negative HCC patients(44.6 months,95％ CI:38.3-50.9months) (x2 =5.148,P =0.023).HLA-F expression was an independent predictor of overall survival of HCC patients.Conclusions Positive HLA-F expression is negatively correlated with the prognosis of HCC patients.

Aim To elucidate the polymorphism of hepatic lipasegene gene and the relation to coronary heart disease. Methods CHD group had one hundred and fifty-six patients, and each subgroup was: myocardium infarction CHD subgroup included eighty-four patients; non-myocardium infarction subgroup included seventy-two patients; pure CHD subgroup comprised sixty-five patients and hypertension and CHD subgroup comprised ninety-one patients. Phenol-Chloroform method was used to extract DNA from human peripheral blood, and a combination of polymerasechain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism were used to analyze the distribution of genotypes and alleles of the polymorphism site of hepatic lipase. Results The genotype and allele distribution of HL-514C/T polymorphism were significantly different between the whole CHD group and control group(P