Objective To investigate the application of cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking(CMR-FT)in assessing myocardial strain in dilated cardiomyopathy(DCM)patients residing at high altitudes.Methods We retrospectively enrolled 29 DCM patients living at high altitudes(DCM-H),27 DCM patients living in a low-altitude plain environment(DCM-P),23 healthy volunteers living at a high altitude(HV-H),and 24 healthy volunteers living in a low-altitude plain environment(HV-P).All subjects underwent cine MRI scanning using a 3.0T rapid steady-state free precession sequence.The CMR images thus acquired were analyzed using cvi42,a post-processing software,to obtain left ventricular function and myocardial strain parameters.Results Compared with the HV-H group,the DCM-H group showed higher left ventricle end-diastolic volume(LVEDV)and left ventricle end-systolic volume(LVESV),and lower left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)and stroke volume(LVSV)(all P＜0.01).No significant difference was observed in cardiac function between the DCM-H and DCM-P groups(all P＞0.05).The absolute values of global radial strain(GRS),global circumferential strain(GCS),and global longitudinal strain(GLS)in the DCM-H group were lower than those in the HV-P group([14.5±6.5]％vs.[34.2±10.7]％,[-11.1±4.4]％vs.[-19.9±2.8]％,and[-7.7±3.2]％vs.[-13.6±4.1]％,respectively),with the differences being statistically significant(all P＜0.001).The DCM-H group had higher absolute GRS,GCS,and GCS values than the DCM-P group did([14.5±6.5]％vs.[7.0±2.7]％,[-11.1±4.4]％vs.[—5.4±2.2]％,and[—7.7±3.2]％vs.[—4.3±1.7]％,respectivley,all P＜0.01).Conclusion Myocardial strain in DCM patients living at a high altitude is lower than that in healthy volunteers living at a high altitude,but higher than that in DCM patients living in a low-altitude plain environment.CMR-FT can be used to quantitatively assess myocardial contractility in DCM patients living at a high altitude,showing promise for clinical application.

Objective:To investigate the role of YTHDF2 in cervical lesions and its potential molecular mechanism.Methods:Gene expression data of cervical tissue were obtained from the GEO database to analyze the expression of YTHDF2 mRNA and perform pathway enrichment analysis. Patients with cervical lesions diagnosed by thinprep cytologic test in Gynecological Outpatient Department of Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Jiexiu, Shanxi Province, were selected as the research subjects. Data of cervical lesions and cervical exfoliated cells were collected. HPV infection status was detected by flow-through hybridization, and the expression of YTHDF2 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression of YTHDF2 in cervical lesions and the mediating role of HPV infection in the relationship between YTHDF2 and squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) were evaluated. YTHDF2-related genes were screened from multiple datasets in the GEO and ENCORI databases, and their expression, immune infiltration, and survival analysis were performed to assess the association between YTHDF2 and prognosis. Results:Compared with normal cervical tissue, YTHDF2 was highly expressed in cervical lesion tissue ( P<0.05). A total of 3 672 differentially expressed genes were screened from the dataset GSE49339. Gene Ontology analysis showed that YTHDF2 was mainly involved in transcription regulation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that YTHDF2 might be related to HPV infection and other signaling pathways. In the mediation analysis, χ2 test results showed that the expression level of YTHDF2 was significantly different among groups ( χ2=22.47, P<0.001). Trend χ2 test further showed that the expression level of YTHDF2 was upregulated with the degree of cervical precancerous lesions (trend χ2=10.26, P=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that high YTHDF2 expression increased the risk of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions ( OR=3.15, 95% CI: 1.93-5.15) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions ( OR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.01-3.39). Mediation effect analysis revealed a partial mediating effect of HPV infection between YTHDF2 and SIL, accounting for 32.02% of the total effect. Twelve YTHDF2 related genes were screened by the intersection of multiple datasets. The immune infiltration analysis results showed that YTHDF2 and related genes KLF4, E2F3 and HOXC6 were associated with immune infiltration (all P<0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that low expression of KLF4 ( HR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.30-0.94) and high expression of RHOB ( HR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.04-3.13) were risk factors for the prognosis of cervical cancer. Conclusion:YTHDF2 is highly expressed in cervical lesions and may have been involved in the regulation of HPV infection-related pathways and its downstream related genes are related to immune infiltration and prognosis of cervical cancer, providing a theoretical basis for the study of mechanisms related to cervical lesions.

Objective:To investigate the role of YTHDF2 in cervical lesions and its potential molecular mechanism.Methods:Gene expression data of cervical tissue were obtained from the GEO database to analyze the expression of YTHDF2 mRNA and perform pathway enrichment analysis. Patients with cervical lesions diagnosed by thinprep cytologic test in Gynecological Outpatient Department of Maternal and Child Health Hospital in Jiexiu, Shanxi Province, were selected as the research subjects. Data of cervical lesions and cervical exfoliated cells were collected. HPV infection status was detected by flow-through hybridization, and the expression of YTHDF2 mRNA was detected by reverse transcription real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression of YTHDF2 in cervical lesions and the mediating role of HPV infection in the relationship between YTHDF2 and squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) were evaluated. YTHDF2-related genes were screened from multiple datasets in the GEO and ENCORI databases, and their expression, immune infiltration, and survival analysis were performed to assess the association between YTHDF2 and prognosis. Results:Compared with normal cervical tissue, YTHDF2 was highly expressed in cervical lesion tissue ( P<0.05). A total of 3 672 differentially expressed genes were screened from the dataset GSE49339. Gene Ontology analysis showed that YTHDF2 was mainly involved in transcription regulation. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that YTHDF2 might be related to HPV infection and other signaling pathways. In the mediation analysis, χ2 test results showed that the expression level of YTHDF2 was significantly different among groups ( χ2=22.47, P<0.001). Trend χ2 test further showed that the expression level of YTHDF2 was upregulated with the degree of cervical precancerous lesions (trend χ2=10.26, P=0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that high YTHDF2 expression increased the risk of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions ( OR=3.15, 95% CI: 1.93-5.15) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions ( OR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.01-3.39). Mediation effect analysis revealed a partial mediating effect of HPV infection between YTHDF2 and SIL, accounting for 32.02% of the total effect. Twelve YTHDF2 related genes were screened by the intersection of multiple datasets. The immune infiltration analysis results showed that YTHDF2 and related genes KLF4, E2F3 and HOXC6 were associated with immune infiltration (all P<0.05). Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression model analysis showed that low expression of KLF4 ( HR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.30-0.94) and high expression of RHOB ( HR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.04-3.13) were risk factors for the prognosis of cervical cancer. Conclusion:YTHDF2 is highly expressed in cervical lesions and may have been involved in the regulation of HPV infection-related pathways and its downstream related genes are related to immune infiltration and prognosis of cervical cancer, providing a theoretical basis for the study of mechanisms related to cervical lesions.

This article reported a patient with familial dysalbuminemic hyperthyroxinemia (FDH). A 38-year-old male occasionally found to have increased FT 4 level with normal FT 3 and TSH on routine physical examination was admitted to our hospital. Thyroid function was rechecked and found that the levels of TT 4, FT 4, rT 3 were increased, while TT 3, FT 3, TSH, TRAb, TPOAb and TGAb were normal. The patient had no other symptoms of thyrotoxicosis except occasional diarrhea. Gene sequencing revealed a heterozygous mutation of c. 653G>A (p.R218H) in exon 7 of albumin (ALB) gene, therefore the patient was confirmed as a case of FDH.

Objective To explore the value of methylation of SDC2 and SFRP2 genes promoter in fecal DNA for colorectal cancer ( CRC) screening. Methods All stool samples were enrolled from Changhai Hospital of Naval Medical University, the Tenth People' s Hospital of Tongji University and the Seventh Medical Center of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital. A total of 500 stool samples collected from March 2018 to December 2018 were allocated to CRC group ( 132 CRCs ) , adenoma group ( 38 advanced adenomas), healthy group (152 healthy individuals), interferential group (178 cases of benign colorectal disease or other non-colorectal tumors) and negative group (330 cases composed of healthy group and interferential group ) . The promoter methylation of fecal SDC2 and SFRP2 genes was detected by methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and compared with single gene methylation and the fecal immunochemical tests ( FIT) to evaluate its sensitivity and specificity. Results The stool sample analysis showed that the sensitivity of combined detection of SDC2 and SFRP2 in CRC group was 97. 73％ ( 129/132 ) , which was significantly higher than those of the single gene SDC2 test [ 70. 45％ ( 93/132) , P=0. 000] , single SFRP2 test [81. 82％ (108/132), P=0. 000] and FIT [69. 70％ (92/132), P=0. 000]. In adenoma group, the sensitivity of combined detection of SDC2 and SFRP2 was 57. 89％ (22/38), which was significantly higher than those of the single gene SDC2 test [ 15. 79％ ( 6/38 ) , P= 0. 000 ] and FIT [ 21. 05％ ( 8/38 ) , P=0. 021] , with no significant difference compared with that of SFRP2 test [ 47. 37％ ( 18/38) , P=0. 358] . In healthy group, the specificity of combined detection of SDC2 and SFRP2 was 98. 68％ (150/152), with no significant difference compared with those of single gene SDC2 test [ 100. 00％( 152/152) , P=0. 156] , single SFRP2 test [98. 68％ (150/152), P=1. 000] or FIT [95. 39％ (145/152), P=0. 091]. Specificities of combined detection of two genes in interferential and negative groups were 90. 45％ ( 161/178) and 94. 24％( 311/330) , which were significantly higher than 73. 03％( 130/178, P=0. 000) and 83. 33％( 275/330, P=0. 000) of FIT, respectively. Conclusion The combined detection test of methylation of SDC2 and SFRP2 is superior to single gene test, whose sensitivity of CRC and aggressive adenoma and specificity of distinguishing benign and malignant lesions are higher than FIT, which has potential application value.

Background and purpose:Parotid gland is rich in fat and has obvious contrast with bone and muscle in CT image.The preoperative examination of CT could help to evaluate the scale of tumor invasion and the relationship between tumor and normal tissues so that the proper therapy could be properly designed.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the roles of computer tomography(CT)in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant parotid tumors and to improve the diagnostic accuracy.Methods:CT images of 17 patients with benign parotid tumors and 15 patients with malignant parotid tumors proved by pathology were analyzed retrospectively.All patients underwent CT contrast-enhanced examination preoperatively.Images of all patients were retrospectively reviewed by two experienced radiologists in the diagnosis of head and neck tumors.Results:14 of 17 cases of benign tumors had round shapes and 9 of 15 cases of malignant tumors exhibited lobular or irregular masses(P