Background The hearing of Chinese young adults is far less sensitive than 0 dB defined by international standards, with the threshold values mostly being at double digits, which is worthy of investigation. Objective To study the influencing factors of hearing threshold measurement. Methods The hearing measurements were conducted in two different ways, one was a standard method performed in a specialized audiometry experiment room, and the other one was an on-site audiometry test which included a daily examination of hearing and an onsite hearing test. From the workers who participated in the occupational health examination, 300 people were randomly selected as experimental subjects, and their hearing was measured in the hearing examination room of the Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment Institute according to standard methods. A total of 9 766 workers from the General Motors factory were included in the daily group, and their hearing thresholds were measured in the hearing examination room in the factory. There were 4 617 people in the onsite group, and their hearing was measured in the test chamber of our mobile medical vehicle in their factories. The hearing threshold data of the three groups, i.e. experiment, daily examination and on-site, was compared and analyzed. In addition, the environmental noise in the hearing examination room and the mobile test chamber was measured. Results The hearing threshold value of the experimental group was the lowest. Despite this, its dB value remained at double digits at any frequency band. The hearing value of the daily group was in the middle. The onsite group had the highest hearing threshold, which was 58.2% higher than that of the experimental group. As the hearing data was not normally distributed, Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test was conducted for statistical analysis. It was found that the hearing threshold difference among the three groups was statistically significant at all the frequency band (P< 0.01). The ambient noise level was 23.9-28.3 dB(A) in the hearing examination room, and 32.5 - 67.9 dB (A) in the mobile test chamber. Age and gender were not confounding factors to the results. Conclusion The hearing test method and its environmental noise were able to make the threshold measurements shift up significantly. The environmental noise of the mobile test chamber in the examination vehicle has exceeded the standard and needs to be improved.

This study investigated the effects of ginkgolide B on the long-chain fatty acid metabolism-related enzyme protein peroxisome proliferators-activated receptors α (PPARα), long-chain specific acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCAD), carnitine palmitoyl transterase-1 (CPT-1), and acyl coenzyme A oxidase 1 (ACOX1) expression in the liver of rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). All the animal welfare and experimental procedures are in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of Yunnan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. After successfully building the rat model of non-alcoholic abnormal liver disease, the rats were divided into the model group, the simvastatin group, and the low-dose, middle-dose, and high-dose groups of ginkgolide B according to random number method, and were given corresponding drug treatment 4 weeks. We detected liver pathological indicators and determined blood lipids, transaminase and anti-oxidation indexes. Western blot and RT-PCR assays were used to detect the protein and mRNA levels of PPARα, LCAD, CPT-1, and ACOX1 in livers. The results showed that: ① the liver histopathology showed that the liver slices of the model group had obvious structural disorder, the nucleus was squeezed, and there were obvious fat vacuoles. The treatment groups improved significantly compared with the model group; ② compared with the normal group, the liver function and blood lipid indexes of the model group increased significantly, while the anti-oxidation indexes decreased significantly. Compared with the model group, each treatment groups were significantly improved; ③ compared with the normal group, the protein and mRNA expression levels of PPARα, ACOX1, CPT-1, and LCAD in the model group were significantly reduced, compared with the model group, those indexes in the treatment groups were significantly up-regulated. This study found that ginkgolide B could regulate the expression of long-chain fatty acid metabolism-related proteins PPARα, ACOX1, CPT-1, and LCAD, meanwhile improve the body's antioxidant capacity, thereby reduce blood lipids, further improve liver function and protect the liver.

Objective: To investigate the current status of HIV-related stigma among college students in Guilin,and to explore the impact of perspective-taking and empathy on HIV-related stigma among college students. Methods: The stratified cluster sampling method was used to select college students from 4 universities in Guilin city. Stratified randomization was used to assign all subjects into a control group (410) and an experimental group (396) for randomized controlled trials,and the HIV-related Stigma Questionnaire and the Basic Empathy Scale were used before and after the intervention. Results: Before the intervention of perspective-taking,there were no statistically significant differences between two groups in subscale scores and total scores of HIV-related stigma (t=0.80，0.35，-0.62，-0.10，P>0.05); However, signiticant differences in subscale scores and total score in HIV-related stigma were found after intervention (t=3.53，2.21，2.30，3.98，P<0.05). There was no statistically singnificant in the scores of all dimensions of empathy level and the total score before the intervention (t=0.10,-0.27,-0.08,P>0.05), dimensional score and total score in empathy were statistically significant after intervention (t=-2.15，-3.06，P<0.05). Empathy played an intermediary role of 14.08% between opinion selection and HIV stigma. Conclusion HIV-related stigma exists among college students in Guilin,and perspective-taking intervention effectively reduces its AIDS stigma. Empathy plays an intermediary role between them.

Objective: To intensively study the chemical constituents from the seed cake of Camellia oleifera and its pharmacological activities,in order to provide scientific basic for its further development and utilization. Method: All kinds of column chromatography and spectral methods were employed to isolate and identify the monomeric compounds from its ethyl acetate portion of ethanol extract. The in vitro anti-inflammatory effects were evaluated by LPS-induced inflammatory model in RAW264.7 macrophages. Result: Eight phenolic acids and two flavonoids were isolated from the ethyl acetate soluble portion and identified as p-hydroxybenzoic acid(1),protocatechuic acid(2),gallic acid(3),methyl gallate(4),ethyl gallate(5),isovanillic acid(6),ethyl 3,4-dihydroxylbenzoate(7),2-(3',4'-dihydroxyphenyl)-1,3-benzodioxole-5-aldehyde(8),quercetin(9),rutoside(10). Among them, compounds 4-8 were first isolated from this plant. These compounds had good anti-inflammatory activities against NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages in an obvious dose-dependent manner. Among them, compound 8 showed a strongest activity. Conclusion: The above results show that the phenolic acids and flavonoids from seed cake of C. oleifera have good prospects for the development and application of anti-inflammatory drugs.

Background: Our previous studies have shown that regulatory factor X5 (RFX5), a classical transcription regulator of MHCII genes, was obviously overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumors. However, the role of RFX5 in the carcinogenesis and progress of HCC remains unknown. This study aimed to reveal its biological significance and the underlying mechanism in HCC. Methods: RFX5 mRNA expression level and copy number variation in HCC tumors and cell lines were determined by analyzing deposited data sets in the Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus database. The biological significance of RFX5 in HCC was investigated by monitoring the colony formation and subcutaneous tumor growth capacity when RFX5 was silenced with lentiviral short hairpin RNA and CRISPR/Cas9 system in HCC cell lines. The downstream gene transcriptionally activated by RFX5 in HCC cells was determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay. The involvement of tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein theta (YWHAQ) in HCC development was further determined by performing colony formation rescue assay and subcutaneous tumor growth rescue experiment. The association of YWHAQ with recurrence-free survival of patients with HCC was assessed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Moreover, apoptosis level and the protein level of p53 pathway were determined to reveal the mechanism of RFX5 in driving HCC development. Results: RFX5 was amplified and highly overexpressed in HCC tumor tissues compared with the corresponding non-tumor tissues. The mRNA expression level of RFX5 was significantly correlated with its DNA copy number (r = 0.4, P < 0.001). Functional study demonstrated that RFX5 was required for both clonogenic forming in vitro and subcutaneous tumor growth in vivo of HCC cells. Further study identified YWHAQ, namely 14-3-3 tau, as a key downstream transcriptional target gene of RFX5, which was tightly regulated by RFX5 in HCC. Moreover, overexpression of YWHAQ largely rescued the clonogenic growth of HCC cells that was suppressed by RFX5 knockdown. In addition, overexpression of YWHAQ in primary tumor was linked to poor prognosis of patients with HCC. These results demonstrated that YWHAQ was a downstream effector of RFX5 in HCC. Notably, RFX5-YWHAQ pathway could protect cells from apoptosis by suppressing the p53 and Bax in HCC. Conclusion RFX5 is a putative HCC driver gene that plays an important role in the development and progression of HCC by transactivating YWHAQ and suppressing apoptosis.

Drainage ; Humans ; Pancreas ; surgery ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Stents

OBJECTIVETo detect disease-causing mutations in a patient with hereditary elliptocytosis.

METHODSSodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electropheresis (SDS-PAGE) was used to identify the type of erythrocyte membrane protein defect. Potential mutations of the exons and adjacent introns of relevant genes were analyzed by Sanger sequencing.

RESULTSSDS-PAGE has failed to detect any difference between the patient and healthy controls. However, Sanger sequencing has detected three mutations in the SPTA1 gene in the patient, which included c.5077A>C (p.Lys1693Gln) missense mutation in exon 36, c.5572C>G (p.Leu1858Val) missense mutation in exon 40, and a IVS45nt-12C>T in intron 45. The father and grandmother of the patient were both heterozygous for c.5077A>C mutation, while her mother was heterozygous for c.5572C>G and IVS45nt-12C>T mutations.

CONCLUSIONThe hereditary elliptocytosis in the patient may be attributed to the synergistic action of c.5077A>C, c.5572C>G and IVS45nt-12C>T mutations of the SPTA1 gene.

Background: DNA replication and sister chromatid cohesion 1 (DSCC1) (also called DCC1) is a component of an alternative replication factor C complex that loads proliferating cell nuclear antigen onto DNA during S phase of the cell cycle. It is located at 8q24 and frequently amplified in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the role of DSCC1 in the carcinogenesis and progress of HCC has not been fully investigated. Here, we aimed to assert the importance of DSCC1 in the HCC. Methods: In this study, copy number variation data and RNA sequencing data were used to calculate the DNA copy number and mRNA expression of DSCC1 in HCC. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to determine the mRNA and protein level of DSCC1 in HCC. The Kaplan-Meier analysis and univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis were used to assess the association of DSCC1 with the overall survival (OS) of HCC patients. Moreover, lentiviral shRNA was used to knockdown DSCC1, and then, colony-forming assay, cell cycle assay, and cell proliferation assay were performed to evaluate the impact of DSCC1 silencing on HCC cell lines. Results: We found that DSCC1 was amplified and highly expressed in HCC tumor tissues than in nontumor tissues. We then found that the overexpression of both mRNA and protein of DSCC1 was linked to the bad prognosis of HCC patients. Astonishingly, the protein level of DSCC1 was an independent prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio, 1.79; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-2.74; P = 0.007). Furthermore, the clonogenic capacity of DSCC1-amplified HCC cell lines (MHCC-97H, MHCC-97L, and Hep3B) was significantly inhibited by transduction of a lentiviral shRNA that targets DSCC1. We also showed that knockdown of DSCC1 induced G0-G1 cell cycle arrest (increased from 60% to more than 80%) and greatly inhibited the proliferation of HCC cell lines. Conclusion These results suggest that DSCC1 is a putative HCC driver gene that promotes proliferation and is associated with poor prognosis in HCC.
Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; genetics ; pathology ; Cell Cycle ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Cycle Checkpoints ; genetics ; physiology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; genetics ; physiology ; DNA Replication ; genetics ; physiology ; Female ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

A rapid quantitative evaluation method for Siraitia grosvenorii cells was successfully developed based on plant cells' capacitance value detected by a viable cell mass monitor and the cryopreservation of S. grosvenorii suspension cells was optimized. The survival rate of S. grosvenorii cells was quantitatively measured by viable cell mass monitor and 2, 3, 5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC). An optimum cryoprotectant recipe is that the growth medium contained 10% sucrose and 10% DMSO. The experimental results also showed higher cell survival rates and cell viabilities were achieved when suspension cells were treated with pretreatment of 0.2 mol/L sucrose. With the increase of concentration of sucrose, however, the cell survival rate was decreased. And the cell survival rate represented a bell shape with the increase of pretreatment time. The highest cell survival rate and cell viability were obtained with the 9 h' s pretreatment. In addition, there was a good correlation between the cell survival rate measured by cell recovery test and that measured by viable cell mass monitor, while there were no significant differences in the cell morphology and the ability of mogrosides V production by S. grosvenorii cells cultured in suspension after cryopreservation. Therefore, the evaluation method developed based on the viable cell mass monitor has good feasibility and reliability.

To establish a new quantitative method for simultaneous determination of multi-components in Scrophularia root by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and validate its feasibilities．Meanwhile,using catalpol as one chemical reference substance to establish the relative correct factors and relative retention values of aucubin,harpagide,acteoside,angoroside C,harpagoside and cinnamic acid．Then using the quantitative analysis of multi-components by single-marker (QAMS)model,the six analytes can be quantitatively determined in Scrophularia root．The method was evaluated by comparison of the quantitative results to external standard method．No significant differences were observed between the quantitative results of the two methods．The obtained RCFs were credible．It is feasible and suitable to evaluate the quality of Scrophularia root.