Objective:To investigate the impact of ginseng alcohol extract(GEE)on improving sleep quality in the aged Drosophila model by regulating the redox balance,and to elucidate its associated mechanism.Methods:Thirty-two male drosophila melanogaster(7-days-old)were randomly selected as young group,while 64 male Drosophila melanogaster flies(35-days-old)were randomly assigned to aged model group(n=32)and GEE group(n=32).The sleep parameters,including total sleep duration,daytime sleep duration,night sleep duration,0-4 h of sleep duration after lights off(ZT0-4 sleep duration),deep sleep duration,sleep episodetimes,sleep fragmentation,and the activity parameters such as the total number of locomotor activity daytime locomotor activity amount and nighttime locomotor activity amount were analyzed using the DAM2 Drosophila behavioral analysis system 7 d after administration.The grouping of the drosophila was as above,and there were 100 drosophila ineach group.The differentially expressed proteins in drosophila brain tissue were screened,identified,and functionally analyzed using two-dimensional fluorescence difference gel electrophoresis(2D-DIGE)and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS)proteomic methods.The grouping of the drosophila was as above,and there were 100 drosophila in each group.The activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),catalase(CAT),and glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)and the levels of lipid peroxidation product(MDA)in brain tissue of the drosophila were determined using assay kits.Results:Compared with young group,the total sleep duration daytime sleep duration and night sleep cluration of the drosophila in agaed group were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01);and the sleep rhythm amplitude was shortened.Compared with aged group,the total sleep duration and daytime and nighttime sleep durations of the drosphila in GEE group were lengthened(P<0.01).Compared with young group,the ZT0-4 sleep duration deep sleep duration and sleep fragment of the drosophila in aged group were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),and the sleep rhythm amplitude was shortened.Compared with young group,the ZT0-4 sleep duration,deep sleep duration,and single sleep fragment of the drosphila in GEE group were significantly prolonged(P<0.01),and the sleep amplitude was increased.Compared with young group,there was no significant difference in diurnal spontaneous activity or total spontaneous activity of the drosophila in aged group(P>0.05),while the nocturnal spontaneous activity was significantly increased(P<0.05).Compared with aged group,the diurnal spontaneous activity,nocturnal spontaneous activity,and total spontaneous activity of the drosophila in GEE group were significantly decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).A total of 47 differentially expressed proteins were selected in the 2D-DIGE electrophoretic mapping.Compared with young group,the expressions of 47 differentially expressed protein sites in aged group were down-regulated mainly including glutathione S-transferase,peroxiredoxin 1 and dihydrolipoic dehydrogenase,which were related to redox balance.Compared with young group,the activities of SOD,CAT and GSH-Px in brain tissue of the drosophila in aged group were decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),and the level of MDA was increased(P<0.01);compared with aged group,the activities of SOD,CAT and GSH-Px in brain tissue of the drosphila in GEE group were increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01),and the MDA level was decreased(P<0.05).Conclusion:GEE has improvement effect on the sleep quality of aged drosophila,and its possible mechanism may be related to upregulating the activities of antioxidant enzymes,inhibiting the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products,and maintaining redox balance.

Objective:To examine the effect of surgical treatment in children with pulmonary artery sling and the surgical treatment strategy.Methods:Relevant data of 110 children with pulmonary artery sling admitted to the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University from February 2017 to July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 55 males and 55 females, aging ( M(IQR)) 9.0 (10.6) months (range: 1 to 96 months). The weight was 7.8 (3.5) kg (range: 2.5 to 25.0 kg). Of the 110 patients, 108 had different degrees of tracheal stenosis and 2 had normal trachea. Left pulmonary artery transplantation and tracheoplasty were performed in 78 patients. Left pulmonary artery transplantation was performed in 30 patients (11 in our hospital and 19 in other hospitals) due to the lack of an early tracheoplasty technique, in which 24 patients needed stage Ⅱ tracheoplasty due to obvious respiratory symptoms and limited activity endurance, and 6 cases did not intervene. Two children with normal trachea only underwent left pulmonary artery transplantation. Results:Among the 78 children who underwent surgery in the same period, 70 cases recovered smoothly after surgery, of whom respiratory symptoms were significantly reduced or disappeared during the 1 to 65 months follow-up, with similar activity endurance to normal children of the same age. Eight cases died, including 4 cases of postoperative multi-drug resistant bacteria infection, died from tracheal anastomotic opening or septic shock, 1 cases with severe congenital heart disease died from postoperative low cardiac output syndrome difficult to correct, 1 case died from blood pressure could not be maintained due to the compressed left pulmonary artery after transplantation, 2 cases of postoperative digestive system diseases (adhesive intestinal obstruction, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc.). The 24 patients in the staging group were followed for 1 to 84 months. All patients needed stage Ⅱ tracheoplasty due to respiratory symptoms and decreased endurance to activity. Eight cases of the non-intervention tracheal group were successfully separated from the ventilator, cured and discharged in a short period of time.Conclusions:Most children with pulmonary artery sling have tracheal stenosis. Children with low degree of tracheal stenosis and inconspicuous respiratory symptoms can only undergo left pulmonary artery transplantation by lateral thoracotomy. For patients combined with severe tracheal stenosis or obvious respiratory symptoms, a simultaneous left pulmonary artery transplantat and tracheoplasty is recommended.

Objective:To examine the effect of surgical treatment in children with pulmonary artery sling and the surgical treatment strategy.Methods:Relevant data of 110 children with pulmonary artery sling admitted to the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Children′s Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University from February 2017 to July 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 55 males and 55 females, aging ( M(IQR)) 9.0 (10.6) months (range: 1 to 96 months). The weight was 7.8 (3.5) kg (range: 2.5 to 25.0 kg). Of the 110 patients, 108 had different degrees of tracheal stenosis and 2 had normal trachea. Left pulmonary artery transplantation and tracheoplasty were performed in 78 patients. Left pulmonary artery transplantation was performed in 30 patients (11 in our hospital and 19 in other hospitals) due to the lack of an early tracheoplasty technique, in which 24 patients needed stage Ⅱ tracheoplasty due to obvious respiratory symptoms and limited activity endurance, and 6 cases did not intervene. Two children with normal trachea only underwent left pulmonary artery transplantation. Results:Among the 78 children who underwent surgery in the same period, 70 cases recovered smoothly after surgery, of whom respiratory symptoms were significantly reduced or disappeared during the 1 to 65 months follow-up, with similar activity endurance to normal children of the same age. Eight cases died, including 4 cases of postoperative multi-drug resistant bacteria infection, died from tracheal anastomotic opening or septic shock, 1 cases with severe congenital heart disease died from postoperative low cardiac output syndrome difficult to correct, 1 case died from blood pressure could not be maintained due to the compressed left pulmonary artery after transplantation, 2 cases of postoperative digestive system diseases (adhesive intestinal obstruction, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc.). The 24 patients in the staging group were followed for 1 to 84 months. All patients needed stage Ⅱ tracheoplasty due to respiratory symptoms and decreased endurance to activity. Eight cases of the non-intervention tracheal group were successfully separated from the ventilator, cured and discharged in a short period of time.Conclusions:Most children with pulmonary artery sling have tracheal stenosis. Children with low degree of tracheal stenosis and inconspicuous respiratory symptoms can only undergo left pulmonary artery transplantation by lateral thoracotomy. For patients combined with severe tracheal stenosis or obvious respiratory symptoms, a simultaneous left pulmonary artery transplantat and tracheoplasty is recommended.

BACKGROUND: Thoracolumbar segments (T11-L2) prone to damage due to its special anatomical and biomechanical characteristics. Therefore, fully understanding the shape of pedicle of vertebral arch and finding the visible, constant, and the point of insertion of the pedicle axis is very important to the safety of pedicle screw placement.OBJECTIVE: To measure the surgically relevant parameters of thoracolumbar pedicles between Han and Uygur males using computed tomography (CT) scan to provide some anatomic reference data for pedicle screw fixation.METHODS: The vertebral bodies and pedicles of adult males were scanned (60 cases of Han people and 60 cases of Uygur people) from T10-L3 with CT. The parameters were processed by three-dimensional reconstruction. Transverse pedicle width, pedicle axis length, transverse pedicle angle, and sagittal pedicle angle were measured by using length and angle measurement tool of browser in bone-window CT images. The age and stature information were recorded. All the data above were processed by SPSS 13.0 software.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The mean transverse pedicle width of T12 and L1 in Han was bigger than that in the Uygur. (2) The mean transverse pedicle angle of T12 and L2 in Han was bigger than that in the Uygur. (3) The mean pedicle axis length and sagittal pedicle angle of T11 and L1 in Han were bigger than that in the Uygur (P < 0.05). (4) There were some differences among some parameters of the thoracolumbar pedicles between the Han and Uygur people.Data from any study only can be used as a guide for pedicle screw fixation. Preoperative CT evaluation may provide an individualized strategy to reduce the incidence of postoperative complications caused by misplacement.

The arginyl-tRNA synthetase (ArgRS) catalyzes the esterification reaction between L-arginine and its cognate tRNA(Arg). Previously reported structures of ArgRS shed considerable light on the tRNA recognition mechanism, while the aspect of amino acid binding in ArgRS remains largely unexplored. Here we report the first crystal structure of E. coli ArgRS (eArgRS) complexed with L-arginine, and a series of mutational studies using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Combined with previously reported work on ArgRS, our results elucidated the structural and functional roles of a series of important residues in the active site, which furthered our understanding of this unique enzyme.
Arginine ; chemistry ; Arginine-tRNA Ligase ; chemistry ; Binding Sites ; Catalytic Domain ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Escherichia coli ; Ligands ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Protein Binding ; Protein Conformation ; RNA, Transfer ; chemistry ; Structure-Activity Relationship

ObjectiveTo compare the advantages,disadvantages and clinical value of the improved loop the jejunum behalf of the stomach surgery and the P - type jejunum on behalf of stomach surgery.Methods56 patients with gastric cancer were divided into two groups by different ways of gastrectomy alimentary tract after gartrectomy.Patients in observation group( n =35 ) were given the modified loop jejunum on behalf of gastric surgery and patients in control group( n =31 ) received P-type jejunum on behalf of the stomach surgery.The clinical effects were compared between two groups.ResultsThere were no significant differences in surgical time and bleeding volume in 2 groups ( P ＞ 0.05 ).Emptying time [(61 ± 3 ) min] of observation group was longer than that of control group (37 ± 19) min]( t =3.03,P ＜ 0.05 ) ; Each food intake [( 308 ± 44 ) ml] in observation group was significiantly improved compared with control group [(262 ± 34) ml (t =2.55,P ＜ 0.05) ; The times of daily diet [(4.2 ± 1.2) times] in observation group was lower than that of control group [( 5.7 ± 2.3 )] ( t =2.46,P ＜ 0.05 ).The incidence of postoperative complications( 14.3％ ) of the observation group was significantly lower than the control group (42.9％) ( x2 =5.71,P ＜ 0.05).ConclusionOn the terms of 2 ways of digestive tract reconstruction,the improved loop the jejunum behalf of the stomach surgery is superior to the P-type jejunum on behalf of the stomach surgery,which can effectively improve the quality of life of patients and reduce the incidence of complications,but have no complex surgical procedures.

Objective To investigate the effects and mechanism of IL-6 on invasion and metastasis of human pancreatic cancer cells. Methods IL-6 was added into the culture media of human pancreatic cancer cells Capan-2 and SW1990. Cell growth was measured by MTT assay. Western blot and immunocytochemistry were performed to detect Phosphorylated STAT3 (P-STAT3) protein. VEGF and MMP-2 mRNA and protein expression were examined using fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively. The invasion ability of SW1990 and Capan2 cells was determined by cell invasion assay in vitro. Results 100 ng/mL IL-6 significantly promoted growth and invasion ability of Capan-2 and SW1990 cells (P＜0.05). The use of IL-6 not only markedly increased the protein expression of P-STAT3, VEGF and MMP-2, but also greatly increased the mRNA expression of MMP-2 and VEGF. Conclusions STAT3 signal transducer pathway activation with IL-6 can promote the invasion ability of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro through up-regulation of MMP-2 and VEGF expression. STAT3 signal transducer may provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

In this study, the automatic segmentation of the irregular lesion region in the image of fundus fluorescence angiography was actualized by means of the modified Back Propagation (BP) neural network method. Combining the transfer scaling coefficient between pixel of the image and the actual size, the area of the irregular lesion region was measured. The results may provide valuable data for the clinical diagnosis, treatment and prognostic evaluation.
Algorithms ; Fluorescein Angiography ; methods ; Nerve Net ; Retinal Diseases ; diagnosis ; pathology

Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH), a method used to detect gains or losses of genetic material, has recently been applied to prenatal diagnosis of genomic imbalance in the clinical laboratory setting. This new and exciting diagnostic tool represents a major technological step forward in cytogenetic testing and addresses many of the limitations of current cytogenetic methods.Conventional chromosome analysis, the current gold standard in prenatal diagnosis, focuses primarily on the detection of common aneuploidies and is limited by its capacity to detect only those copy number changes that are large enough to be microscopically visible (typically 5-6 Mb in size at the 500 band level). In contrast, array CGH analysis simultaneously evaluates regions across the entire genome and al-lows for detection of unbalanced structural and numerical chromosome abnormalities of less than one hun-dred kb. Array CGH analysis also overcomes some of the limitations of chromosome analysis, such as the requirement for cell culture and longer reporting time, by using direct uncultured fetal specimens. With many diagnostic laboratories now embracing this technology, the past year has seen tremendous growth in the use of array CGH analysis for prenatal diagnosis. This review aims to summarize array CGH methodology and its current applications in prenatal diagnosis.

OBJECTIVETo detect occult metastases in lymph nodes from patients with colorectal carcinoma and its clinical significance.

METHODSThe metastases in 260 lymph nodes from 39 histologically verified colorectal cancer patients were studied by both hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and cytokeratin-20 (CK20) specific RT-PCR. Ten normal lymph nodes were served as negative controls, and HT29 colon cancer cell line and 5 colorectal cancer specimens as positive controls.

RESULTSTen normal lymph nodes were CK20-negative, HT29 cells and 5 tumor specimens were all CK20-positive. All 29 lymph nodes from 16 patients which confirmed metastases by HE staining exhibited CK20 positive expression; an additional 28 lymph nodes from 5 patients with no histologically detectable metastases expressed CK20 mRNA, i.e. presence of metastases. The difference of the positivity was significant (11.1% vs 21.9%, P < 0.01). According to the HE staining, the cases of Dukes' A, B, C and D were 3, 20, 12 and 4, respectively. In the 20 patients of Dukes' B stage, 5 of them had CK20-positive lymph nodes.

CONCLUSIONCK20-specific RT-PCR is a highly sensitive, specific and simple method for detecting occult metastases in lymph nodes. The detection of CK20 mRNA expression in lymph nodes is recommended to precisely determine tumor stage and postoperative adjuvant therapy for patients with colorectal cancer, and further studies should be done in future to confirm the findings.

Adult ; Aged ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; genetics ; pathology ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; HT29 Cells ; Humans ; Intermediate Filament Proteins ; genetics ; Keratin-20 ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymph Nodes ; metabolism ; pathology ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; genetics ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction