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Background Restoring the normal joint line (JL) is an important goal to achieve in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). We intended to study the veracity of several landmarks used to level the normal JL in Chinese people. Methods Two hundred fifteen standard CT scans of knee joint were included to measure the distances from landmarks to distal JL (DJL) and posterior JL (PJL), along with femoral width (FW) in order to calculate the ratios. Landmarks included adductor tubercle (AT), medial epicondyle (ME), lateral epicondyle (LE), tibial tubercle (TT), fibular head (FH) and the inferior pole of the patella (IPP). Ratios were calculated between distances and FW (e.g. FHDJL/FW). Linear regression analysis and t test were used to determine the accuracy and the differences amongst sides of the leg, genders and races. Results The average of IPPDJL/FW, TTDJL/FW, FHDJL/FW, LEDJL/FW, LEPJL/FW, MEDJL/FW, MEPJL/FW, ATDJL/FW and ATPJL/FW were 0.165, 0.295, 0.232, 0.297, 0.281, 0.327, 0.3PJL, 0.558 and 0.313, respectively. No significant difference had been found between the left and right leg. A gender difference was only found statistically on the ratio of IPP, and also, no linear correlation was observed only between IPP and FW. Most of the difference values lain in a 4-mm threshold for MEDJL (95.81%), LEDJL (94.88%), MEPJL (97.21%), LEPJL (94.88%), ATPJL (93.49%) and ATDJL (100%). Significant differences were observed amongst different races. Conclusions AT, ME and LE can be used as reliable landmarks to locate the normal JL in Chinese population intraoperatively. It is meaningful to come up with a set of ratios to different races. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To evaluate the macular sensitivity changes after half-dose photodynamic therapy (PDT) for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).Methods: Eighteen patients (26 eyes) with chronic CSCR were recruited in the same hospital between April 2011 and December 2012. All patients were treated with one session of half-dose PDT after complete ophthalmic examination. Macular sensitivity examination was performed at baseline and 1, 3 and 6 months post-treatment. Mean sensitivity (MS) of the central 10 degrees (10°) and 4 degrees (4°), mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) on automated static perimetry (Humphrey Field Analyzer II-750) were used for analysis.Results: There was significant improvement of the 10°MS from baseline (29.76 ± 1.51 dB) to 1 month (31.74 ± 1.56 dB), 3 months (31.51 ± 1.38 dB) and 6 months (31.19 ± 1.61 dB) after treatment (P < 0.001). The 4°MS was also significantly improved with half-dose PDT from baseline (28.96 ± 1.78 dB) to 1 month (32.41 ± 1.66 dB), 3 months (32.46 ± 1.50 dB) and 6 months (31.90 ± 1.84 dB) post-treatment (P < 0.001). MD was improved from baseline (-3.39 ± 0.89 dB) to 1 month (-1.96 ± 0.29 dB), 3 months (-1.94 ± 0.29 dB) and 6 months (-2.45 ± 0.13) post-treatment (P = 0.004). PSD also improved from 1.97 ± 0.24 dB at baseline to 1.47 ± 0.27 dB, 1.34 ± 0.24 dB, and 1.53 ± 0.24 dB (P = 0.001) at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment, respectively.Conclusion: Macular sensitivity in CSCR can be improved by half-dose PDT, along with improvement of visual acuity and retinal thickness. The treatment outcome at 1 month may be a predictor of the final treatment response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Extrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (EHCC) is one of the uncommon malignancies in the digestive system which is characterized by a poor prognosis. Aberrations of miRNAs have been shown involved in the progression of this disease. In this study, we evaluated the expression and effects of miR-34a on EHCC. Methods: miR-34a expression levels were detected in EHCC tissues, adjacent non-tumor tissues, normal bile duct (NBD) specimens of patients and cholangiocarcinoma (CC) cell lines by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Relationships between miR-34a with clinical characteristics of EHCC patients were further analyzed. Computational search, functional luciferase assay and western blot were further used to demonstrate the downstream target of miR-34a in CC cells. Immunohistochemistry was carried on to identify the downstream target gene of miR-34a in EHCC patients. Cell morphology, invasion and migration assays were further applied to confirm the anti-carcinogenic effects of miR-34a through the downstream target. Results: miR-34a expression was significantly decreased in human EHCC tissues and CC cell lines when compared with the adjacent non-tumor tissues and normal bile duct tissues. miR-34a was found correlated with the migration and invasion in EHCC patients. Smad4 was over-expressed in most of the EHCC patients and was further demonstrated as one of the downstream targets of miR-34a, which was involved in the progression of EHCC. Moreover, activation of miR-34a suppressed invasion and migration through TGF-beta/Smad4 signaling pathway by epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro. Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggest that miR-34a inhibits invasion and migration by targeting Smad4 to suppress EMT through TGF- beta/Smad signaling pathway in human EHCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: SELDI-TOF-MS (Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometry) has become an attractive approach for cancer biomarker discovery due to its ability to resolve low mass proteins and high-throughput capability. However, the analytes from mass spectrometry are described only by their mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) values without further identification and annotation. To discover potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of osteosarcoma, we designed an integrative workflow combining data sets from both SELDI-TOF-MS and gene microarray analysis. Methods: After extracting the information for potential biomarkers from SELDI data and microarray analysis, their associations were further inferred by link-test to identify biomarkers that could likely be used for diagnosis. Immuno-blot analysis was then performed to examine whether the expression of the putative biomarkers were indeed altered in serum from patients with osteosarcoma. Results: Six differentially expressed protein peaks with strong statistical significances were detected by SELDI-TOF-MS. Four of the proteins were up-regulated and two of them were down-regulated. Microarray analysis showed that, compared with an osteoblastic cell line, the expression of 653 genes was changed more than 2 folds in three osteosarcoma cell lines. While expression of 310 genes was increased, expression of the other 343 genes was decreased. The two sets of biomarkers candidates were combined by the link-test statistics, indicating that 13 genes were potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of osteosarcoma. Among these genes, cytochrome c1 (CYC-1) was selected for further experimental validation. Conclusion: Link-test on datasets from both SELDI-TOF-MS and microarray high-throughput analysis can accelerate the identification of tumor biomarkers. The result confirmed that CYC-1 may be a promising biomarker for early diagnosis of osteosarcoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]