Objective:To investigate the levels of serum leptin and their effect on Th 1/Th2 balance and the association between serum leptin levels and clinical manifestations in obese children with asthma.Methods: All 56 children with physician-diagnosed moderate-to-severe persistent asthma and 56 healthy controls were included.The children with asthma and without asthma were divided into two groups,obese (n=28) and non-obese (n=28) by body mass index,respectively.Asthma severity was assessed by the asthma symptom score.Peripheral blood samples were collected to determine the levels of leptin , IFN-gamma and IL-4.The results were correlated with the parameters studied.Results:Serum leptin levels were significantly higher in the obese asthma group than in the non -obese asthma group ,as well as being significantly higher in the children with asthma than in the controls ( P<0.01 ) , whereas IFN-gamma levels were significantly higher and IL-4 levels were significantly lower in the obese asthma group than in the non-obese asthma group( P<0.01 ).In addition, the obese asthma group showed higher asthma symptom scores and significantly lower FEV 1 (% of predicted) than did the non-obese asthma group(P<0.01).There was a significantly positive correlation between leptin ,IFN-gamma and IL-4 levels only in the obese asthma group ( P<0.01 ).Conclusion:Leptin is involved in the pathogenesis of asthma in obese and non-obese children ,and its effect is more pronounced in the former.In the presence of high leptin levels , only obese children with asthma exhibited Th1 polarization,with higher IFN-gamma levels and greater asthma severity.

Objective To assess the efficacy of percutaneous transhepatie variceal embolization (PTVE) in treating esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding after esophageal-gastric devascularization with splenectomy in patients with liver cirrhosis. Methods Twenty-two patients, who had history of esophageal-gastric devascularization with splenectomy, were either underwent PTVE with TH glue (n=10) or endoscopic injection of sclerosis (EIS, n = 12) for treatment of esophageal or gastric variceal rebleeding between Nov. 2006 and Sep. 2008. The patients were followed-up for recurrent bleeding, mortality, grade of esophageal and gastric varices and liver function. Portal vein pressure was measured before and after collateral embolization in PTVE group. Results ① The patients were followed-up for 12.5 months in PTVE group and 13.4 months in EIS group. There was significant difference (P<0.05) between PTVE and EIS groups in rebleeding rate (1/10 vs 7/12) and mortality (0 vs 3/12). ② The degree of esophageal and gastric varices after embolization or EIS was improved significantly. ③ For patients with portal vein thrombosis, combination of PTVE with portal vein balloon plasty could markedly improve portal vein blood supply. ④ Neither PTVE nor EIS aggravated the liver cirrhosis. Conclusion Compared with EIS, PTVE with TH glue may be a more effiective method in the treatment of rebleeding of patients with liver cirrhosis who had accepted esophagealgastric devascularization with splenectomy.

To solve the problem that mostly gait analysis is independent from the treatment, this work proposes a system that integrates the functions of gait training and assessment for foot drop treatment. The system uses a set of sensors to collect gait parameters and designes multi-mode functional electrical stimulators as actuator. Body area network technology is introduced to coordinate the data communication and execution of the sensors and stimulators, synchronize the gait analysis and foot drop treatment. Bluetooth 4.0 is applied to low the power consumption of the system. The system realizes the synchronization of treatment and gait analysis. It is able to acquire and analyze the dynamic parameters of ankle, knee and hip in real-time, and treat patients by guiding functional electrical stimulation delivery to the specific body locations of patients.
Electric Stimulation ; Electric Stimulation Therapy ; Exercise Therapy ; Gait ; Humans ; Wireless Technology

Objective To study the effects of rhubarb on the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) sig-naling transducfon pathway in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP),and to investigate the treatment mecha-nism of rhubarb on SAP. Method One hundred SD rats were provided by from the Animal Center of Nanjing Uni-versity. All animals were randomly divided into sham operation (n=33), SAP (n=33) and rhubarb groups (n=34). SAP model was induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodittm taurocholate. Rhubarb was given with 10% rhubarb decoction (2 mi/100 g) at the time of pancreafitis induction in the rhubarb groups. At 1, 3, 6, and 12 h after the models were established,animals were killed. MAPK activity in pancreatic tissue was examined by West-em blotting and the mRNA levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in pancreatic tissues were detected by RT-PCR. All data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software and statistical differences between values from two sroups were determined by the Student's t -test. Results MAPK activity, TNF-α and IL-6 mRNA levels in pancreatic tissues were signifi-cantly enhanced in the SAP group compared with the sham operation group (all P<0.01). Rhubarb treatment markedlyinhibited MAPK activation,TNF-α,IL 6 mRNA (all p<0.01). Conclusions Rhubarb can alleviate the inflammatory response of SAP by down-regulating MAPK activity.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of intraductal ultrasonography for the quality of biliary stricture.Methods Data of the patients who had received operation because of biliary stricture after IDUS examination from 2006 to 2010 were collected.IDUS results were compared with those of operation.Results There were 43 cases of malignant strictures and 6 benign strictures in total.The sensitivity,specificity,positive predictive value,negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of intraductal uhrasonography for the quality of biliary stricture were 97.7％ ( 42/43 ),83.3％ ( 5/6 ),97.7％ ( 42/43 ),83.3％ (5/6) and 95.9％ (47/49),respectively,which were significantly higher than conventional imaging like ultrasound B,CT and MRCP.Twenty one cases in 32 were diagnosed as malignant biliary stricture with cytological brushing,with the diagnostic accuracy of 65.6％.All cases had been diagnosed by IDUS.Conclusion Intraductal ultrasonography is of high diagnostic value for biliary stricture.However,cytological brushing based on IDUS is of limited diagnostic value for malignant biliary stricture.

Objective:To determine the effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on resting-state brain functional changes in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Methods:Participants including 10 adults with ADHD aged 18-65 years,diagnosed with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition (DSM-Ⅳ) and 12 age-and gender-matched healthy controls.The ADHD symptoms and executives functions were assessed using the ADHD Rating Scale (ADHD-RS) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) respectively and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging were acquired before and after 12-session,CBT for ADHD patients.The healthy controls were also scanned.We used the regional homogeneity (ReHo) to capture the changes of regional brain function between pre-and post-CBT in ADHD for measuring the effects of CBT.Results:After CBT,the total scores of ADHD-RS [(43 ± 7) vs.(31 ± 7),P ＜ 0.01],the subscale of inattention and subscale of hyperactivity/impulsivity were decreased in ADHD adults.As for the executive functions,the subs cales of monitor [(15 ± 2) vs.(11 ± 2),P ＜ 0.01] and organization [(19 ± 5) vs.(14 ± 4),P ＜ 0.01] in BRIEF were reduced significantly in adults with ADHD after CBT training.The ReHo was increased in the regions involved in default mode network and fronto-parietal network,i.e.,right parahippocampa gyrus,fight precentral gyms,fight postcentral gyms and left postcentral gyrus (Voxels with P ＜ 0.05 and cluster size ＞3051mm3,which resulted in a corrected threshold of P ＜ 0.01 determined by AlphaSim).Conclusion:These findings support that CBT could selectively modulate the regional brain function in the default mode network and fronto-parietal network which may contribute to the improvement of ADHD symptoms and executive functions.

Objective:To explore the parenting characteristics of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and conduct problems.Methods:This was a cross-sectional study involving 84 ADHD children with conduct problems and 75 ADHD children without conduct problems treated in the Outpatient Department of Children′s Health and Mental Health Center, Shenzhen Children′s Hospital from September 2017 to December 2019, and 54 healthy control children (healthy children in ordinary primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen) were included.The Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppfostran (EMBU) scale was used to access the parenting styles of participants. ANCOVA was used to compare the different score of all factors in EMBU among these 3 groups and Tukey′s post-hoc comparisons were also performed.All comparisons were corrected for age and sex. Results:Among the factor scores of EMBU scale, ADHD children with conduct problems scored significantly higher on parental and maternal harsh/punishment [Parental (22.10±4.92) scores vs.(19.40±4.01) scores vs.(17.40±2.51) scores; Maternal (15.10±3.54) scores vs.(13.70±2.78) scores vs.(12.40±1.97) scores] and the reject/deny factors [Parental(10.60±2.49)scores vs.(9.40±2.06)scores vs.(8.90±1.61)scores, Maternal(13.90±3.28)scores vs.(12.40±2.64)scores vs.(11.60±2.19)scores] than ADHD children without conduct problems and the healthy control group (all P<0.001). On parental overprotection factors, both ADHD groups scored higher than the healthy control group [(10.30±2.03) scores vs.(9.80±2.13) scores vs.(8.70±1.92) scores, P<0.001], while on maternal over-interference factor, ADHD children with conduct problem scored significantly higher than ADHD children without conduct problems and the healthy controls [(36.00±4.64) scores vs.(34.60±4.38) scores vs.(33.30±4.92) scores, P=0.009]. Conclusions:Parents of ADHD children with conduct problems tend to use more negative parenting skills like punishment, over-interference, rejection and denial.This kind of negative parenting style, to some extent, causes the conduct problems in children with ADHD.

【Objective】 To investigate the relationship between ABO blood types and the risk of malignant tumors in Chaoshan area, Guangdong. 【Methods】 Chi-square test was used to analyze the distribution of ABO blood types between 45 890 patients with malignant tumors from the Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College and 42 465 healthy blood donors from Shantou Central Blood Bank. 【Results】 Among the main types of malignant tumors, the distributions of ABO blood types in patients with esophageal cancer or head and neck cancer were significantly different from that in the normal population (χ²=11.16, P<0.05; χ²=74.36, P<0.05; respectively). People with type B were identified with high risk of esophageal cancer and head and neck cancer (OR=1.09, 95% CI=1.03-1.15, P<0.05; OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.34-1.60, P<0.05), whereas those with type A or O were identified with low risk of head and neck cancer (OR=0.87, 95% CI=0.79-0.96, P<0.05; OR=0.83, 95% CI=0.76-0.90, P<0.05). 【Conclusion】 ABO blood type distribution in patients with esophageal cancer or head and neck cancer in Chaoshan area may be different from that in normal population, suggesting that different ABO blood types may be associated with the risk of esophageal cancer and head and neck cancer.