Objective To investigate the changes of brain volumes in neuromyelitis optica (NMO)patients using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method, and preliminarily explore the pattern of cerebral anatomical impairment. Methods Twenty-three clinically defined NMO patients and 15 gender and age matched healthy volunteers underwent 3-dimensional (3D) fast spoiled gradient echo (FSPGR) sequence scanning on 3.0 Tesla MR systen. Raw data was processed and analyzed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) 5. Whole brain volumes included grey matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), total intracranial volume (TIV), grey matter fraction (GMF), white matter fraction (WMF),brain tissue fraction (BTF) and regional brain volumes between the two groups were compared by independent samples t-test and an Pearson were performed to compare the regional brain volumes and the ages. Results GMV of NMO group[(610. 2 ± 55.0) ml] was significantly decreased comparing to healthy control group[(657. 2 ± 36. 3) ml] (t = - 2. 915, P ＜ 0. 05). The age of NMO patients [(40 ± 9) years old] showed negative correlation with GMF [(42. 5 ± 2. 6) %] (r = - 0. 673, P ＜ 0. 05). Regional brain volume analysis showed decreased GMV in left insula and bilateral posterior cingutates in NMO patients,while decreased WMV was found in left frontal and left parietal white matter. Conclusion VBM could detect brain volume changes sensitively. Total grey matter volume in NMO patients was decreased comparing to HC group. Regional grey matter atrophy in NMO patients occurred in left insular and bilateral posterior cingutates, regional white matter atrophy occurred in left frontal and left parietal lobe.

With wide range applications of the ultra-large-scale integrated circuits, multilayer circuit board and components surface welding technology, clinical medical engineers have been confronted with challenges in the service and maintenance of largescale medical equipments and the traditional model has faced the great challenges too. The clinical medical engineers should be actively get involved in operation, maintenance and service of large-scale medical equipment, in the same time; it's necessary for buying suitable service supply, protecting the smooth function of large- scale equipment and meets the clinical needs.

As the development of clinical medicine has depended on modern medical equipment increasingly,clinical medical engineers have become the bridges between modern clinical medicine and engineering.They keep the normal running of hospitals and promote the hospital modernization.The equipment service & maintenance isn't the only responsibility of medical engineers.In fact,engineers should be responsible for all medical activities relevant to engineering equipment.The main tasks of engineers should shift from the equipment service & maintenance to the application safety and quality control in the whole process of the equipment usage,which include equipment application safety and risk control,failure service and preventive maintenance,quality control and management,measurement and monitor of adverse event,etc.

Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of ADC histogram obtained from MR DW imaging for stage ⅠB cervical cancer. Methods Seventy three patients diagnosed by cervical smear screening as cervical cancer without priortreatment were included prospectively in the patient group, and staged according to the international federation of gynecology and obstetrics (FIGO) staging system. Forty three patients with uterine leiomyoma detected by gynecologic examination, ultrasonography or CT and with negative result of cervical smear screening who were scheduled for hysterectomy were included prospectively in the control group. The patients of both groups underwent routine pelvic MR sequences, dynamic contrast enhanced imaging and DWI before hysterectomy. ADC histograms of the entire tumor and cervix volume were generated by post-processing software. Features of ADC histogram for the 2 groups were observed. Histogram parameters such as mean ADC (ADCmean), median ADC (ADCmedian), the 25th percentile of ADC (ADC_25th), the 75th percentile of ADC (ADC_75th), skewness and kurtosis were recorded. Student's t test or Mann-Whitney U test depending on homogeneity of variance was employed for the comparison of
those parameters. ROC analysis was employed for assessing the diagnostic performance of ADC histogram in distinguishing the 2 groups. Results Thirty five patients in the patient group were staged as FIGO IB. Five patients in the control group ended up with pathologic findings of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3. Therefore 38 patients in the control group were investigated. ADC histograms of the patient group were mostly skewed positively, while the curves were largely skewed negatively. ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC_25th, ADC_75th, skewness and kurtosis for the IB stage patient group were (1.10±0.21)×10-3mm2/s, (1.05±0.21)× 10-3 mm2/s, (0.90 ± 0.19) × 10-3mm2/s, (1.26 ± 0.23) × 10-3mm2/s, 0.83 (median) and 1.25 (median) respectively. ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC_25th, ADC_75th, skewness and kurtosis for the control group were (1.62 ± 0.25)×10-3mm2/s, (1.64±0.24)×10-3mm2/s, (1.42±0.24)×10-3mm2/s, (1.84±0.27)×10-3mm2/s,-0.11(median) and 0.29 (median) respectively. All parameters showed statistically different (t values were -9.693,- 11.117, -10.255, and -9.988 for ADCmean, ADCmedian, ADC_25th and ADC_75th respectively;Z values were -6.360 and -4.445 for skewness and kurtosis respectively; P< 0.01). ROC analysis indicated that ADCmedian had the highest diagnostic accuracy for differentiating the 2 groups, with the area under the curve being 0.97, a cutoff value of 1.21×10-3mm2/s, and a sensitivity of 95.6%and a specificity of 89.3%. Conclusion ADC histogram of DWI may be valuable for diagnosing stage IB cervical cancer by distinguishing stage IB cervical cancer from normal cervix or cervical benign lesions.

Objective To improve the quality standard of compound Chaihu tea. Methods Pupleuri Radix, Puerariae Lobatae Radix and Forsythiae Fructus were identified by thin layer chromatography (TLC).HPLC method was used to determine the content of puerarin.The determination was performed on a Shimadzu VP-ODS-C18column (250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm) with the mobile phase of methanol-0.2% H3PO4(23:77).The flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1, the column temperature was set at 30 ℃ and the detection wavelength was 250 nm. Results The TLC spots were clear and well-separated without negative interference.The good linear correlation existed within the range of 1.340 8-56.632 8μg· mL-1 for puerarin (r=0.999 9, n=6) and the average recovery was 102.98% with RSD being 1.48% (n=6). Conclusion The method is simple and accurate.It can be used for quality control of compound Chaihu tea.

Objective:To investigate the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)symptoms in middle school students after Wenchuan earthquake.Methods:The PTSD Checklist-Civilian version( PCL-C),which included three symptom groups(A,B,and C),was used to assess the PTSD symptoms in 1960 middle school students in the disaster region through self-questionnaire.Results:(1)The general positive rate of PTSD symptoms was 78.3%,and that of B group was the highest(68.9%).(2)The rates of general PTSD and three symptom groups of PTSD were higher in girls,high grade students,minority groups,rural students,injured in earthquake and those who lost family property than in boys,low grade students,the Han nationality,urban students,not injured in earthquake and those who did not lost family property[such as,the general positive rate of PTSD symptoms:girls 82.2%,boys 73.9%,P<0.05].(3)The rates of severe PTSD symptoms in girls and rural students were higher than that in boys and urban students(27.9% vs.19.9%,26.7% vs.21.4%,Ps<0.05).Conclusions:PTSD symptoms are common among middle school students in earthquake region.Targeted measures should be taken to protect middle school students from PTSD in earthquake region.

BACKGROUND:Previous animal studies have shown that riluzole can inhibit neuroinflammatory response after spinal cord injury and promote functional recovery in injured rats,but the study on whether it can regulate the expression of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3)inflammasome in the acute stage is lacking. OBJECTIVE:To observe whether riluzole can reduce microglial pyroptosis and promote functional recovery after spinal cord injury by modulating NLRP3 inflammasome through animal experiments,histological experiments and molecular biology experiments. METHODS:Female SD rats were divided into sham operation,model and riluzole groups,with 12 rats in each group.In addition to the sham operation group,T10 spinal cord injury was conducted in rats.The model group was treated with intraperitoneal administration of riluzole with solvent cyclodextrin.The riluzole group was treated with a 4 mg/kg dose of riluzole injection.The effect of riluzole on motor function recovery was assessed using the BBB score and inclined plane test.The recovery of sensory-evoked potential and motor-evoked potential was measured by electrophysiology.Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to evaluate spinal cord tissue repair.The regulatory effects of riluzole on NLRP3,Caspase-1 and gasdermin D protein expression in spinal cord tissues were detected by western blot assay.ELISA was utilized to detect the expression levels of inflammatory factors interleukin-1β and interleukin-18.The effects of riluzole on the expression of NLRP3,Caspase-1,gasdermin D and interleukin-1β in microglial cells of the injured spinal cord were determined by immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)At 35 days after spinal cord injury,BBB score and inclined plane test score in the riluzole group were higher than those in the model group(P<0.05).(2)At 3 days after spinal cord injury,the protein expressions of NLRP3,cleaved Caspase-1,gasdermin D-N(N-terminal domain),interleukin-1β,and interleukin-18 in the spinal cord homogenate of the riluzole group were significantly lower than those of the model group(P<0.05).(3)At 3 days after spinal cord injury,the fluorescence intensity of NLRP3,Caspase-1,gasdermin D and interleukin-1β in the riluzole group was significantly lower than that in the model group(P<0.05).(4)At day 35 after spinal cord injury,hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the area of spinal cord injury in the riluzole group was smaller than that in the model group.Electrophysiological tests showed that the latency periods of sensory-evoked potential and motor-evoked potential in the riluzole group were shorter than those in the model group,and the latency period of wave amplitude in the riluzole group was higher than that in the model group.(5)These results suggest that riluzole can promote the repair of injured spinal cord tissue,promote the repair of nerve conduction function,and further promote the recovery of motor function in rats with spinal cord injury,which may be achieved through the regulation of NLRP3 inflammasome and the reduction of microglial pyroptosis.

BACKGROUND:Neuroinflammation is an important factor leading to secondary spinal cord injury,and microglia/macrophage pyroptosis is a significant part of post-spinal cord injury neuroinflammation.Studies have shown that microglia/macrophage undergoes pyroptosis after spinal cord injury,but the regulatory mechanism of circular RNA(circRNA)in microglia/macrophage pyroptosis after spinal cord injury remains unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the role and mechanism of circRNA0005512 in regulating microglia/macrophage pyroptosis after spinal cord injury. METHODS:Female Wistar rats were divided into sham group and spinal cord injury group.Motor function was evaluated using the Basso,Beattie,and Bresnahan(BBB)scale.Cavity volume was assessed by hematoxylin-eosin staining.Differential expression of circRNA in spinal cord tissue was screened using RNA-sequencing and circ0005512 was validated by real-time PCR.Immunofluorescence,western blot assay,ELISA,and real-time PCR were performed to detect cell pyroptosis in the rats and lipopolysaccharide-induced microglial cell line HAPI cell models.Gene knockdown was used to confirm the regulatory role of circRNA0005512 in microglia/macrophage pyroptosis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Seven days after spinal cord injury,evident cavities were observed at the injury site.Immediately after spinal cord injury,the motor function of rats was completely lost.Over time,the motor function of rats in the spinal cord injury group gradually partially recovered,and there was a significant difference in BBB scores compared to the sham group.(2)Circ0005512 was significantly upregulated according to the results of the RNA-sequencing and confirmed in both the animal and cell models.(3)Immunofluorescence,western blot assay,real-time PCR,and ELISA confirmed the significant upregulation of cell pyroptosis markers(NLRP3,GSDMD,and caspase-1)in spinal cord injury tissue and lipopolysaccharide-induced HAPI cells.(4)In the cell model,knockdown of circ0005512 resulted in significantly decreased levels of cell pyroptosis marker-NLRP3.(5)The results above indicate that circ0005512 promotes pyroptosis in microglia/macrophages after spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of aloin on apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells and explore the molecular mechanism.

METHODSGastric cancer MKN-28 and HGC-27 cells were cultured routinely in 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 10% non-essential amino acids (for HGC-27 cells) and treated with different concentrations of aloin for different durations. The cell viability, cell nuclear morphology, and apoptotic rate of the cells were detected using CCK-8 assay, DAPI staining and AnnexinV-FITC/PI, respectively; Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of PARP, procaspase 3 and the phosphorylation of p38, ERK and JNK. The cells were treated with specific inhibitors of p38, ERK and JNK, and the inhibitory effects on these pathways were detected with Western blotting; DAPI staining was used to detect the effects of inhibitors on apoptosis of gastric cancer cells.

RESULTSAloin dose-dependently inhibited the viability and induced apoptosis of HGC-27 and MKN-28 cells. Alion treatment obvious enhanced the phosphorylation of p38 and JNK but decreased ERK phosphorylation in the cells. Blocking ERK activation with the ERK inhibitor obviously enhanced aloin-induced cell apoptosis, where inhibiting p38 and JNK activation partly reversed alion-induced apoptosis in the cells.

CONCLUSIONSAloin induces apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells by activating p38 and JNK signaling pathways and inhibiting ERK signaling pathway.