Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in evaluating the severity of renal artery stenosis.Methods:Eighty six patients with suspected renal artery stenosis admitted to Shanxi Provincial People′s Hospital from January 2018 to July 2021 were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA), Doppler ultrasonography (DUS) and CEUS examinations. With DSA results as gold standard the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of CEUS and DUS in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis were analyzed. The consistency between CEUS and DSA in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis was evaluated. The accuracy of DUS and CEUS in diagnosis of renal artery stenosis was assessed by the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) and compared between groups.Results:Among 153 renal arteries from 86 patients examined by DSA, 101 showed the stenosis ≥30% (49 left and 52 right renal arteries), and there were 31, 45, 20 and 5 renal arteries with grade I, II, III and IV stenosis. The sensitivity and specificity of DUS in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis were 74.3% (75/101) and 76.9% (40/52),respectively. DUS showed 21, 42, 20 and 4 renal arteries with grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ stenosis, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of CEUS in the diagnosis of renal artery stenosis were 88.1% (89/101) and 86.5%(45/52), respectively. CEUS showed 26, 43, 23 and 4 renal arteries with grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ stenosis, respectively. There was a significant difference between DUS and DSA in grading of renal artery stenosis (χ2=4.447, P=0.03),and there was a moderate consistency between DUS and DSA ( Kappa=0.480). There was no significant difference between CEUS and DSA in grading renal artery stenosis (χ2=0.842, P=0.36) with a good consistency ( Kappa=0.730). The AUC of CEUS in diagnosis of renal artery stenosis was higher than that of DUS [0.873 (95% CI: 0.808-0.938) vs. 0.756 (95% CI:0.673-0.839); Z=4.361, P<0.01]. Conclusion:The study suggests that contrast-enhanced ultrasonography may be used as a diagnostic method for grading renal artery stenosis.

OBJECTIVETo perform genetic analysis for 7 patients with Waardenburg syndrome.

METHODSPotential mutation of MITF, PAX3, SOX10 and SNAI2 genes was screened by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing. Functions of non-synonymous polymorphisms were predicted with PolyPhen2 software.

RESULTSSeven mutations, including c.649-651delAGA (p.R217del), c.72delG (p.G24fs), c.185T>C (p.M62T), c.118C>T (p.Q40X), c.422T>C (p.L141P), c.640C>T (p.R214X) and c.28G>T(p.G43V), were detected in the patients. Among these, four mutations of the PAX3 gene (c.72delG, c.185T>C, c.118C>T and c.128G>T) and one SOX10 gene mutation (c.422T>C) were not reported previously. Three non-synonymous SNPs (c.185T>C, c.128G>T and c.422T>C) were predicted as harmful.

CONCLUSIONGenetic mutations have been detected in all patients with Waardenburg syndrome.

Adolescent ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor ; genetics ; Mutation ; PAX3 Transcription Factor ; Paired Box Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; SOXE Transcription Factors ; genetics ; Waardenburg Syndrome ; genetics

In recent years,there has been a considerable research effort concerning the application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the external radiotherapy.This paper reviewed the progress of MRI in radiotherapy for cancer,such as magnetic resonance simulator,target volumes,dose calculation and efficacy evaluation.Furthermore,the potential applications of 4D-MRI and MRI guided radiotherapy are summarized.

OBJECTIVETo explore the common causative genes and mutation sites for hereditary non-syndromic deafness in Shanxi.

METHODSPeripheral blood samples were collected from regional schools for children with deafness. The samples were analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization of flight mass spectrometry, and the results were verified by DNA sequencing.

RESULTSFor all samples, the 20 mutational sites of the 4 common causative genes were tested. As revealed, c.235delC of GJB2 gene has the highest mutational rate (13.67%). c.IVS7-2A>G of SLC26A (PDS) gene has a mutation rate of 17.67%, and c.1555A>G of mitochondrial 12S rRNA has a mutation rate of 2.00%. No mutations have been found with GJB3 gene. Sequencing analysis has suggested that the above results have a consistency rate of 99%.

CONCLUSIONAnalysis of mutations of the 4 common deafness-related genes can facilitate early diagnosis and treatment for the disease. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry is a reliable method for such a task.

Adolescent ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Base Sequence ; Child ; China ; Connexin 26 ; Connexins ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Deafness ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Mutation ; RNA, Ribosomal ; genetics ; Young Adult

Objective To analyze the normal reference values of the right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction of healthy adults measured by single-beat real-time three-dimensional echocardiography (sRT-3DE).Methods The subjects of this study included three hundred and thirty-four healthy adults,and were divided into 2 groups by gender and 6 groups by age.The sRT-3DE was chosen to measure their right ventricular volumes and ejection fraction.The parameters of right ventricular volumes were standardized by body surface area (BSA)and lean body mass (LBM)to calculate the ranges of their normal value.The correlation between these parameters and genders as well as the physical characteristics (height,weight, body mass index,BSA and LBM)was also clarified.Results Three hundred and thirty-four (96%)of the 348 subjects had been tested.Before standardizing,men had larger right ventricular volumes compared with women,and the differences of the right ventricular end diastolic volume (RVEDV),right ventricular end systolic volume (RVESV)and right ventricle stroke volume (RVSV)were statistically significant(P <0.001 ),but it had no statistical significance in the difference of the right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF)(P >0.05 ).After standardizing by LBM,the RVEDV,RVESV and RVSV in male group were significantly lower than those in women group (P < 0.001 ).In different age groups,the difference of RVEDV,RVESV,RVSV ,but no RVEF were statistically significant (P < 0.05 ).Positive correlations between the RVEDV,RVESV,RVSV and the BSA,height,weight,body mass index and LBM had been detected,and it showed a negative relation between RVEDV,RVESV,RVSV with age.Noticeably,RVEF had no correlation with them.Conclusions sRT-3DE can provide a preliminary range for normal reference values of right ventricular volumes and RVEF in healthy adults according to gender and age and finds that LBM has certain impact on adult cardiac structure,which offers valuable evidence for the diagnosis of right heart diseases in clinical practices.

Mechanical properties and biological evaluation of buffalo horn material were examined in this study. The effects of sampling position of buffalo horn on mechanical properties were investigated with uniaxial tension and micron indentation tests. Meanwhile, the variation of element contents in different parts of buffalo horn was determined with elemental analysis, and the microstructure of the horn was measured with scanning electron microscopy. In addition, biological evaluation of buffalo horn was studied with hemolytic test, erythrocyte morphology, platelet and erythrocyte count, and implantation into mouse. Results showed that the buffalo horn had good mechanical properties and mechanical characteristic values of it gradually increased along with the growth direction of the horn, which may be closely related to its microstructure and element content of C, N, and S in different parts of the buffalo horn. On the other hand, because the buffalo horn does not have toxicity, it therefore does not cause hemolysis of erythrocyte and has a good affinity with it. Buffalo horn has good histocompatibility but meanwhile it may induce the platelet adhesion and aggregation. Even so, it does not continue to rise to induce a large number of platelet to aggregate with resulting blood clotting. Therefore, the buffalo horn material has been proved to possess good blood compatibility according to the preliminary evaluation.
Animals ; Biocompatible Materials ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Buffaloes ; Erythrocytes ; Horns ; chemistry ; ultrastructure ; Mice ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning

Objective To evaluate the clinical superiority of transumbilical mini pure single-port laparoscopic Palomo's surgery on the treatment of primary teenage varicocele.Methods All operations were successfully completed using mini pure single-port laparoscopic Palomo's surgery.Its clinical effects were evaluated by the operative time,blood loss volume,intra-or post-operative complications,and hospital stay.Six to eighteen months after surgery,follow-up was made in 78 patients.Results All the operations were successful.The operation time was 5-15 (mean 8) minutes,the intra-operative loss blood was 1-5 (mean 1.5) mL,and the post-operative hospital stay was 2-4 (mean 3) days.No intra-operative or post-operative complications happened.Sperm analysis of 95％ patients came back to normal in 6-18 months.Conclusions The transumbilical mini pure single-port laparoscopic Palomo's technique has more obvious superiority and it is worthy of clinical application and generalized widely.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of sodium aescinate adjuvant in treatment with tibial plateau fracture. Method According to the principle of random draw, 160 cases of tibial plateau fractures patients were divided into observation group and control group, each had 80 cases. All cases were given the improved bilateral plate internal ifxation with conventional interventions, besides, the observation group were added intravenous infusion of sodium aescinate after surgery. Results The differences of operative time, blood loss and clinical fracture healing time between two groups were not signiifcant. After intervention, the overall incidence of complications with arthritis, deep vein thrombosis, joint stiffness and joint instability in observation group were signiifcantly lower than that in control group, but the value of joint activity with the HSS values were signiifcantly higher(P<0.05). The plasma TNF-αlevels between two groups before the intervention was not signiifcant, and the values were signiifcantly decreased after the intervention (P<0.05), and had signiifcant differences between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Sodium aescinate has good effect on prognosis in treatment with tibial plateau fractures, the mechanism may be related to reducing the level of plasma TNF-α.

Objective To study the microsatellite instability (MSD) of D310 and D16184 located in mitochondrial D-loop region in acute leukemia (AL). Methods The HV-1 and HV-2 regions in D-loop region of 100 persons with the untreated and treated acute leukemia was amplificated and screened by PCR-SSCP,then the abnormal samples was amplificated and sequenced directly and compared with revised Cambridge reference sequence (rCRS) and mtDB. The mutation rates of D310 and D16184 was measured by SPSS11.5 statistics software, x2-test. Results The total mutation rate of D310 was found in 49.0 % (49/100) of our patients. Its mutation rates in untreated group and treated group were 32.5 % (13/40) and 60.0 % (36/60)respectively. The mutation rate of treated group is higher than that in untreated group (P ＜ 0.05). The total mutation rate of D16184 was found in 32.0 % (32/100) of our patients. Its mutation rates in untreated group and treated group were 20.0 % (8/40) and 40.0 % (24/60) respectively. The mutation rate of treated group is higher than that in untreated group (P ＜ 0.05). Conclusion There was a high mutation rate with various types of mutations of microsatellite D310 and D16184 located in mitochondrial D-loop region in AL, which led to a doughty MSI. Chemotherapy could cause a more doughty MSI.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligands (EGF and TGFalpha) are over-expressed in a variety of tumors. Immunization EGF-carrier protein inhibits tumor growth through abrogating binding of EGF to EGFR. Here, a chimeric protein of EGF and TGFalpha (E5T) was genetically fused to Staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), a bacterial superantigenic protein which promotes humoral B cell response through enhancement of Ag-specific CD4 T cells activity. The resulted fusion proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified though metal chelating affinity chromatography. Immunization of E5T-mSEA fusion protein in mice induced production of high titers antibodies, which recognize both EGF and TGFalpha. Anti- E5T-mSEA serum at dilution of 1:10 significantly inhibited growth of A431 cell lines but had little effect on 293T cell lines.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Cancer Vaccines ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Enterotoxins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Escherichia coli ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunization ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Random Allocation ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology ; Recombinant Fusion Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; immunology ; Transforming Growth Factor alpha ; biosynthesis ; genetics