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Background Survivors in motor vehicle accident (MVA) may have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yoga is a complementary approach for PTSD therapy. Methods This randomized controlled trial explored whether yoga intervention has effects on reducing the symptoms of PTSD in women survived in MVA. Participants (n = 94) were recruited and randomized into control group or yoga group. Participants attended 6 45-minuite yoga sessions in 12 weeks. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) were used to assess psychological distress. Results Post-intervention IES-R total score of yoga group was significantly lower than that of control group (p = 0.01). At both post-intervention and 3-months post intervention, the DASS-21 total scores of yoga group were both significantly lower than those of control group (p = 0.043, p = 0.024). Yoga group showed lower anxiety and depression level compared to control group at both post-intervention (p = 0.033, p Conclusion Results illustrate that yoga intervention may alleviate anxiety and depression and improve the symptoms of PTSD in women with PTSD following MVA.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in the pathogenesis of certain renal diseases, however, the function and mechanism of them in renal fibrosis remains largely unknown. In the present study, RNA expression data in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) kidneys was obtained from our previous circRNA Microarray and public Gene Expression Omnibus datasets to construct a ceRNA network. The effects of target circRNA as long as the homologous human circRNA on renal fibrosis was examined in vitro and in vivo. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis was further performed among genes regulated by the human circRNA. We found that circRNA_37492, showing well connection degree in the ceRNA network, was abundant expression and high sequence conservation. We observed that the expression of circRNA_37492 was induced by the TGF-β1 or UUO in BUMPT cells and C57BL/6 mice, respectively. In vitro, cytoplasmic circRNA_37492 inhibited type I, III collagen and fibronectin deposition by sponging miR-7682-3p and then upregulated its downstream target Fgb. In vivo, overexpression of circRNA_37492 attenuated fibrotic lesions in the kidneys of UUO mice via targeting miR-7682-3p/Fgb axis. Furthermore, hsa_circ_0012138, homologous with circRNA_37492, may potentially target miR-651-5p/FGB axis in human renal fibrosis. Not only that, GO and KEGG enrichment revealed that hsa_circ_0012138-regulated genes were previously demonstrated to related to the fibrosis. In conclusion, we for the first time demonstrated that circRNA_37492 attenuated renal fibrosis via targeting miR-7682-3p/Fgb axis, and the homologous hsa_circRNA_0012138 was speculated as a possible ceRNA to regulate multiple gene expressions and involve in human renal fibrosis, suggesting that circRNA_37492/hsa_circ_0012138 may serve as potent therapy target for obstructive renal fibrosis disease.

It is imperative to understand the influence of second-generation cryoballoon (CB-2) and contact-force sensing radiofrequency ablation (CF-RF) on clinical outcomes in atrial fibrillation (AF). This updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examined the efficacy and safety of CB-2 vs. CF-RF in patients with AF. RCTs on the use of CB-2 vs. CF-RF in patients with AF were included. The primary outcome was the recurrence of AF, and the key secondary outcomes included serious complications, acute pulmonary vein isolation (PVI), procedure duration, and fluoroscopy time. A total of 261 articles were identified, and five studies with a total of 845 participants were included in the study. A total of 93% of participants had paroxysmal AF, 7% of participants had persistent AF, and none of participants had permanent AF. There were 499 participants in the CB-2 arm and 346 in the CF-RF arm. AF recurrence was comparable in the CB-2 group (30.3%) and the CF-RF group (29.2%) (OR = 0.93; 95%CI = 0.56–1.54; P = 0.79; I2 = 48%). There were no statistical differences in acute PVI (P = 0.92; I2 = 0%) and serious complications (P = 0.87; I2 = 47%) between the two groups. The procedure duration was shorter in the CB-2 group than in the CF-RF group (MD = − 13.39; 95%CI = − 15.58, − 7.19; P

Although many researches have explored the prognostic factors associated with length of hospital stay (LOS) of adult burn patients, fewer reports concerning pediatric burn patients have been conducted. The present study employed pediatric burn data to identify factors related to LOS and developed a novel model to assess the possibility of requiring surgery. A total of 750 children admitted for burns met the criteria for enrollment. We have analyzed the medical records using multivariable linear regression and logistic regression. The pediatric patients were stratified into medical (nonsurgical) and surgical groups, respectively. The median LOS was 27.11 ± 17.91 days (range: 6–107 days). Following multiple linear regression, surgery (P < .001; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 6.485, 11.918), percent total BSA (%TBSA) (P < .001; 95% CI: 0.271, 0.459), days to surgery (P < .001; 95% CI: 0.349, 0.648), etiology (P < .001; 95% CI: −15.801, −9.422), infection (P < .001; 95% CI: 4.163, 8.329), and erythrocyte loss (P < .001; 95% CI: 1.923, 4.017) were significantly associated with LOS. After logistic regression, the percent full thickness (%FT) (P < .001; odds ratio [OR]: 2.358; 95% CI: 1.680, 3.311), infection (P < .001; OR: 2.935; 95% CI: 2.014, 4.278), and erythrocyte loss (P < .001; OR: 0.572; 95% CI: 0.470, 0.696) within 5 days postadmission were independently related to the probability of requiring surgery. In conclusion, in pediatric patients admitted with burn size of TBSA ≥20%, factors independently influencing LOS were surgery, %TBSA, days to surgery, etiology, erythrocyte loss, and infection. Furthermore, the pivotal predictors of probability requiring surgery were %FT, infection, and erythrocyte loss.

Due to the heterogeneity and high frequency of genome mutations in cancer cells, targeting vital protumour factors found in stromal cells in the tumour microenvironment may represent an ideal strategy in cancer therapy. However, the regulation and mechanisms of potential targetable therapeutic candidates need to be investigated. An in vivo study demonstrated that loss of pentraxin 3 (PTX3) in stromal cells significantly decreased the metastasis and growth of cancer cells. Clinically, our results indicate that stromal PTX3 expression correlates with adverse prognostic features and is associated with worse survival outcomes in triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC). We also found that transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF‐β1) induces PTX3 expression by activating the transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein delta (CEBPD) in stromal fibroblasts. Following PTX3 stimulation, CD44, a PTX3 receptor, activates the downstream ERK1/2, AKT and NF‐κB pathways to specifically contribute to the metastasis/invasion and stemness of TNBC MDA‐MB‐231 cells. Two types of PTX3 inhibitors were developed to disrupt the PTX3/CD44 interaction and they showed a significant effect on attenuating growth and restricting the metastasis/invasion of MDA‐MB‐231 cells, suggesting that targeting the PTX3/CD44 interaction could be a new strategy for future TNBC therapies., Graphical Highlights TGF‐β1 stimulates PTX3 transcription by activating the transcription factor CEBPD in breast CAFs.The PTX3/CD44 interaction contributes to the metastasis/invasion and stemness of MDA‐MB‐231 via TWIST2, MMP2, RANKL and NANOG in response to AKT‐ and ERK1/2‐activated NF‐κB.PTX3 antibodies and synthetic peptides can disrupt the PTX3/CD44 interaction and attenuate and restrict the stemness and metastasis/invasion of TNBC.

Rationale: Lhermitte–Duclos disease (LDD) is a rare tumor of the nervous system with a typical “tiger striped’” sign, but its features on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are still inconclusive. Patient concerns: To explore the characteristics of LDDs using fMRI. Diagnoses: We report 3 cases of pathologically confirmed LDDs. Interventions: Three patients underwent brain tumor surgery. Outcomes: All the patients had a good prognosis. Lessons: Magnetic resonance spectroscopy and susceptibility-weighted imaging combined with conventional MRI can be used to better diagnose LDDs. Perfusion-weighted imaging is not specific for distinguishing cerebellar tumors. The combined application of fMRI and conventional MRI can improve the accuracy of LDD diagnoses.

The spread of multidrug-resistant and virulent

To further examine the feasibility of using pigs as an animal model for the study of dermal fibroblast heterogeneity and to explore the proliferative capacity of dermal fibroblasts from different layers of pig skin in vitro and in vivo.Cultured superficial and deep dermal fibroblasts were subjected to cell growth assay, cell cycle analysis, immunocytochemical staining and western blotting for proliferating cell nuclear antigens. Moreover, skin samples autografted with superficial/deep dermal fibroblasts were subjected to immunohistochemical staining and western blotting for proliferating cell nuclear antigen.The cell growth assay showed that the growth curve of the superficial dermal fibroblast was progressively higher than that of the deep layer. The cell cycle analysis showed that the (G2+S) percentage of the superficial dermal fibroblasts was significantly higher than that of the deep layer fibroblasts. The immunocytochemical staining and western blotting showed that the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the cultured superficial dermal fibroblast was significantly higher than that of the deep layer cells. The immunohistochemical staining showed that the positive rate of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the skin samples autografted with the superficial dermal fibroblast was significantly higher than that of the deep layer.This study has demonstrated that similar to human dermal fibroblasts, dermal fibroblasts from different layers of pig skin exhibit distinct proliferative capacity, which increases the feasibility of using pigs as an animal model for future studies on the heterogeneity of dermal fibroblasts.

The first-line treatment options for high-risk prostate cancer (PCa) are definitive external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) with or without androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and radical prostatectomy (RP) with or without adjuvant therapies. However, few randomized trials have compared the survival outcomes of these two treatments. To systematically evaluate the survival outcomes of high-risk PCa patients treated with EBRT- or RP-based therapy, a comprehensive and up-to-date meta-analysis was performed. A systematic online search was conducted for randomized or observational studies that investigated biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and/or overall survival (OS), in relation to the use of RP or EBRT in patients with high-risk PCa. The summary hazard ratios (HRs) were estimated under the random effects models. We identified heterogeneity between studies using Q tests and measured it using I2 statistics. We evaluated publication bias using funnel plots and Egger's regression asymmetry tests. Seventeen studies (including one randomized controlled trial [RCT]) of low risk of bias were selected and up to 9504 patients were pooled. When comparing EBRT-based treatment with RP-based treatment, the pooled HRs for bRFS, CSS, and OS were 0.40 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.24–0.67), 1.36 (95% CI: 0.94–1.97), and 1.39 (95% CI: 1.18–1.62), respectively. Better OS for RP-based treatment and better bRFS for EBRT-based treatment have been identified, and there was no significant difference in CSS between the two treatments. RP-based treatment is recommended for high-risk PCa patients who value long-term survival, and EBRT-based treatment might be a promising alternative for elderly patients.

Introduction Stent thrombosis (ST) is a known complication after intracranial stent implantation. The pathophysiology of ST is multifactorial, and standardized treatments for ST remain uncertain. Case Description A patient harboring an unruptured aneurysm of the posterior communicating segment of the left internal carotid artery was treated with stent-assisted coil embolization while on dual antiaggregation therapy. Despite adherence to medication, ST occurred 8 days after the intervention. Following tirofiban infusion, the thrombus dissolved and clinical symptoms improved. However, after tirofiban was stopped, the patient experienced again ischemic symptoms. The patient underwent high-flow extracranial-to-intracranial bypass with good patency of the graft and resolution of symptoms. Conclusions In case of refractory ST, high-flow extracranial-to-intracranial bypass proved to be in this case a feasible and effective rescue option.

Aim: To improve the bioactivity and antibacterial activity of titanium (Ti) implants. Materials & methods: Magnesium (Mg)-doped titanium dioxide microporous coatings (Mg-TiO2) were prepared on the surface of Ti implants by plasma electrolytic oxidation. Results: Ti surfaces were covered with porous Mg-TiO2, and Mg was evenly distributed throughout the coating. Mg-TiO2 could not only promote osteoblast adhesion, proliferation and differentiation but also inhibit the colonization and growth of Staphylococcus. In addition, Mg-TiO2 may promote osteogenesis through the ERK/c-Fos signaling pathway as well as the early osseointegration of Ti implants. Conclusion: Mg-TiO2 has both osteogenic and antibacterial effects and thus presents important theoretical significance and clinical potential.

Deep learning may be able to use patient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to aid in brain tumor classification and diagnosis.To develop and clinically validate a deep learning system for automated identification and classification of 18 types of brain tumors from patient MRI data.This diagnostic study was conducted using MRI data collected between 2000 and 2019 from 37 871 patients. A deep learning system for segmentation and classification of 18 types of intracranial tumors based on T1- and T2-weighted images and T2 contrast MRI sequences was developed and tested. The diagnostic accuracy of the system was tested using 1 internal and 3 external independent data sets. The clinical value of the system was assessed by comparing the tumor diagnostic accuracy of neuroradiologists with vs without assistance of the proposed system using a separate internal test data set. Data were analyzed from March 2019 through February 2020.Changes in neuroradiologist clinical diagnostic accuracy in brain MRI scans with vs without the deep learning system were evaluated.A deep learning system was trained among 37 871 patients (mean [SD] age, 41.6 [11.4] years; 18 519 women [48.9%]). It achieved a mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.92 (95% CI, 0.84-0.99) on 1339 patients from 4 centers' data sets in diagnosis and classification of 18 types of tumors. Higher outcomes were found compared with neuroradiologists for accuracy and sensitivity and similar outcomes for specificity (for 300 patients in the Tiantan Hospital test data set: accuracy, 73.3% [95% CI, 67.7%-77.7%] vs 60.9% [95% CI, 46.8%-75.1%]; sensitivity, 88.9% [95% CI, 85.3%-92.4%] vs 53.4% [95% CI, 41.8%-64.9%]; and specificity, 96.3% [95% CI, 94.2%-98.4%] vs 97.9%; [95% CI, 97.3%-98.5%]). With the assistance of the deep learning system, the mean accuracy of neuroradiologists among 1166 patients increased by 12.0 percentage points, from 63.5% (95% CI, 60.7%-66.2%) without assistance to 75.5% (95% CI, 73.0%-77.9%) with assistance.These findings suggest that deep learning system-based automated diagnosis may be associated with improved classification and diagnosis of intracranial tumors from MRI data among neuroradiologists.

Background The hypoxemia condition after mechanical ventilation (MV) weaning is not rare among sepsis patients, so we compared the efficacy in two different intervention groups: high-flow nasal cannula device group and non-invasive positive pressure ventilation (NPPV) group. Methods This is a retrospective cohort study. Participants were patients with sepsis receiving high-flow nasal catheter (HFNC) device or NPPV within 24 hours after weaning from MV. The primary outcome was tracheal re-intubation within 72 hours after extubation. Secondary outcomes included: oxygenation index, complication rate, patient comfort evaluation, HFNC/NPPV treatment time, ICU length of stay (LOS), ICU mortality, and in-hospital 28-day mortality. Results A total of 283 patients were included in the study with 167 in the HFNC group and 116 in the NPPV group. The re-intubation rates after extubation in both groups were respectively 4.2% and 5.2% without significant difference. Patients in the HFNC group experienced lower incidence of delirium, reflux aspiration, facial pressure ulcer and other complications, and higher score of patients comfort than that in the NPPV group. There was no significant difference in ICU LOS, ICU mortality and in-hospital 28-day mortality between the two groups. Conclusions HFNC and NPPV have similar efficacy in the sequential treatment of sepsis patients after weaning from MV. Compared with NPPV, those extubated to HFNC had lower rate of complications such as reflux aspiration and facial pressure ulcers. The patients extubation to HFNC is more comfortable (and associated with less delirium) than to NPPV.

Rationale: Some diseases contribute to hypopituitarism without clinical manifestations and the glucocorticoid therapy may unveil central diabetes insipidus. The condition is rare and usually causes problems for clinical physicians. Patient concerns: A 59-year-old woman presented to our hospital due to facial numbness and persistent eyelid heaviness. Diagnosis: Physical examination and cerebrospinal fluid examination supported a diagnosis of Guillain–Barré syndrome. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an empty sella. Hormone test indicated hypopituitarism. Interventions: The patient received intravenous immunoglobulin and glucocorticoid. Central diabetes insipidus appeared after 20 days. Subsequently, the patient was prescribed 1-desamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin and prednisone. Outcomes: During 6 months’ follow-up, the patient's urine output was gradually reduced to normal level. Lessons: This case indicated that hypopituitarism may be caused by an empty sella and be masked by adrenal insufficiency. Central diabetes insipidus may present after glucocorticoid therapy.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the joints and other organs for which there is currently no effective treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have therapeutic potential due to their immunomodulatory and differentiation effects. While extensive experimental studies and clinical trials have demonstrated the effects of MSCs in various diseases, MSCs have been found to cause abnormal differentiation and tumor formation. Therefore, extracellular vesicles derived from MSCs (MSC-EVs) are more effective, less toxic, and more stable than the parental cells. MSC-EVs transfer various nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids from parent cells to recipient cells, and thus participate in chronic inflammatory and immune processes. In this review, we summarize the properties and biological functions of MSCs and MSC-EVs in RA. Improvement in our understanding of the mechanisms underlying MSC and MSC-EVs in RA provides an insight into potential biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for RA.

Negative-pressure wound therapy is widely used in burn populations. Traditionally, negative-pressure devices use persistent vacuum suction, requiring a longer hospital stay. In this study, we applied a novel negative-pressure wound dressing for burn wounds, which eliminates the hospital stay. The medical records of 39 patients with partial-/full-thickness burns treated by negative-pressure wound dressing were retrospectively analyzed. The average burn area, burn degree, healing duration, cost, and incidents during treatment were determined and compared with previous data for conventional therapies. In conclusion, for patients diagnosed with partial-thickness or full-thickness burns and a burn area 2, the negative-pressure wound dressing is a reliable option, especially for burnt children. Moreover, the negative-pressure wound dressing treatment was not only much cheaper than conventional therapies, but also eliminated hospital stay in patients with small-area deep burn wounds.

Introduction: Prostate cancer refers to an epithelial malignant tumor that occurs in the prostate area. In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards, the incidence of prostate cancer has gradually increased, which has greatly affected people's life and health and quality of life. Acupuncture has its unique advantages in treating cancer pain. We will evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of pain caused by prostate cancer using a clinical randomized parallel control method. Methods/design: This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will recruit 120 patients who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Simple randomization to conventional drug treatment with a 1:1 allocation ratio will be used. Based on the patient's pain location and the primary lesion, the acupuncture needle insertion position was determined according to the principle of local selection of acupoints. All participants will continue to receive conventional drug treatment. Discussion: This trial may provide evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for pain caused by prostate cancer. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ChiCTR2000029801, Registered on 14 February 2020.

Introduction: Kidney stone is caused by abnormal accumulation of crystalline substances in the kidneys. Kidney stone is one of the urinary system diseases with a high incidence. In this study, we will use the research method of randomized controlled trials to explore the effects of Traditional Chinese medicine combined with western medicine on renal function and urine metabolism in women with kidney stones. We hope that the results of this study will provide more evidence-based medical evidence for TCM to treat kidney stones, and also provide patients with more treatment options. Methods/design: This pragmatic randomized controlled trial will recruit 100 patients who are diagnosed with kidney stone. Simple randomization to conventional drug treatment with a 1:1 allocation ratio will be used. The participants will continue to receive ESWL treatment and TCM therapy. The selection of outcomes will be evaluated by the overall effectiveness of clinical efficacy. Discussion: This trial may provide evidence regarding the clinical effectiveness, safety, and cost-effectiveness of Traditional Chinese medicine for patients with Female kidney stone.

Background: Endovascular coiling and surgical clipping are routinely used to treat unruptured cerebral aneurysms (UCAs). However, the evidence to support the efficacy of these approaches is limited. We aimed to analyze the efficacy of endovascular coiling compared with surgical clipping in patients with UCAs. Method: A systematic search of 4 databases was conducted to identify comparative articles involving endovascular coiling and surgical clipping in patients with UCAs. We conducted a meta-analysis using the random-effects model when I2> 50%. Otherwise, a meta-analysis using the fixed-effects model was performed. Results: Our results showed that endovascular coiling was associated with a shorter length of stay (WMD: −4.14, 95% CI: (−5.75, −2.531), P 2 between the 2 groups. Conclusions: The latest evidence illustrates that surgical clipping resulted in lower retreatment rates and was associated with a higher incidence of complete occlusion, while endovascular coiling was associated with shorter LOS and a lower rate of complications, especially ischemia.

Increasing data demonstrate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in tumorigenesis. However, the mechanisms in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain unclear. Here, hundreds of significantly expressed circRNAs, and thousands of lncRNAs as well as mRNAs were identified. By qRT-PCR, one abnormal circRNA, lncRNA, and three mRNAs were verified in 24 pairs of tissues and blood samples, respectively. Then, by GO analysis, we found that the gene expression profile of linear counterparts of upregulated circRNAs in human CRC tissues preferred positive regulation of GTPase activity, cellular protein metabolic process, and protein binding, while that of downregulated circRNAs of CRC preferred positive regulation of cellular metabolic process, acetyl-CoA metabolic process, and protein kinase C activity. Moreover, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis showed that p53 signaling pathway was an important pathway in upregulated protein-coding genes, whereas cyclic guanosine monophosphate-protein kinase G (cGMP–PKG) signaling pathway was the top enriched KEGG pathway for downregulated transcripts. Furthermore, lncRNA–mRNA co-expression analysis demonstrated that downregulated lncRNA uc001tma.3 was negatively with CDC45 and positively with ELOVL4, BVES, FLNA, and HSPB8, while upregulated lncRNA NR_110882 was positively with FZD2. In addition, lncRNA–transcription factor (TF) co-expression analysis showed that the most relevant TFs were forkhead box protein A1 (FOXA1), transcription initiation factor TFIID submint 7 (TAF7), and adenovirus early region 1A(E1A)-associated protein p300 (EP300). Our findings offer a fresh view on circRNAs and lncRNAs and provide the foundation for further study on the potential roles of circRNAs and lncRNAs in colorectal cancer. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10142-018-0641-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Inflammation is characterized by early influx of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs), followed by a second wave of monocyte recruitment. PMNs mediate monocyte recruitment via their release of heparin binding protein (HBP), which activates CCR2 (CC-chemokine receptor 2) on monocytes. However, the pathways for such signal transmission remain unknown. Accumulating evidences have highlighted the importance of leukocyte-endothelial cell interactions in the initiation of inflammation. In this study, an interesting finding is that HBP enhances the secretion of monocyte chemotactic protein 1(MCP-1), ligand of CCR2, from a third party, the endothelial cells (ECs). HBP-induced increase in MCP-1 production was demonstrated at the protein, mRNA and secretion levels. Exposure of ECs to HBP elicited rapid phosphorylation of FAK/PI3K/AKT and p38 MAPK/NF-κB signaling. MCP-1 levels were attenuated during the response to HBP stimulation by pretreatment with a FAK inhibitor (or siRNA), a PI3K inhibitor, an AKT inhibitor, a p38 inhibitor (or siRNA) and two NF-κB inhibitors. Additionally, pretreatment with inhibitors to FAK, PI3K and AKT led to a decrease in HBP-induced phosphorylation of p38/NF-κB axis. These results showed that HBP induced MCP-1 expression via a sequential activation of the FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway and p38 MAPK/NF-κB axis. Interestingly, the patterns of HBP regulation of the expression of the adhesion molecular VCAM-1 were similar to those seen in MCP-1 after pretreatment with inhibitors (or not). These findings may help to determine key pharmacological points of intervention, thus slowing the progress of inflammatory-mediated responses in certain diseases where inflammation is detrimental to the host.

Background: Epididymitis is a common disease in nonspecific infections of the male reproductive system according to the clinical incidence of acute epididymitis and chronic epididymitis. Many clinical trials have proven that Chinese medicine has a significant effect in the treatment of epididymitis. In this systematic review, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for epididymitis. Methods: We will search for PubMed, Cochrane Library, AMED, Embase, WorldSciNet, Nature, Science online, China Journal Full-text Database (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature CD-ROM Database (CBM), and related randomized controlled trials included in the China Resources Database. The time is limited from the construction of the library to November 2018. We will use the criteria provided by Cochrane 5.1.0 for quality assessment and risk assessment of the included studies, and use the Revman 5.3 and Stata13.0 software for meta-analysis of the effectiveness, recurrence rate, and symptom scores of epididymitis. Ethics and dissemination: This systematic review will evaluate the efficacy and safety of TCM for treating epididymitis. Because all of the data used in this systematic review and meta-analysis has been published, this review does not require ethical approval. Furthermore, all data will be analyzed anonymously during the review process. Registration number: PROSPERO CRD42019130569

Background: Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) is a common urinary system disease in the male population. Recent studies have shown that acupuncture can alleviate the pain caused by CP/CPPS to a certain extent and improve the quality of life of patients. This study used a network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the effectiveness and safety of different forms of acupuncture on CP/CPPS. Methods and analysis: We will search for PubMed, Cochrane Library, AMED, EMbase, WorldSciNet; Nature, Science online and China Journal Full-text Database, China Biomedical Literature CD-ROM Database, and related randomized controlled trials (RCTs) included in the China Resources Database. The time is limited from the construction of the library to December 2018. The quality of the included RCTs will be evaluated with the risk of bias tool and evidence will be evaluated by grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation. STATA 13.0 and WinBUGS 1.4.3 through the GeMTC package will be used to perform a NMA to synthesize direct and indirect evidence. Results: The results of this NMA will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal for publication. Trial registration number: PROSPERO CRD42018111408.

Background Sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by fibrin deposition, which indicates the local activation of coagulation. Tissue factor (TF), expressed in the pulmonary microvasculature, acts as a critical initiator of blood coagulation and ALI in sepsis. The molecular mechanism of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TF expression in endothelial cells (ECs), however, has not been determined. In this study, we implicate the Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK)/Yes associated protein (YAP)/early growth response (Egr-1) signaling pathway in LPS-induced TF expression in vitro and in sepsis-induced ALI in vivo. Methods Human umbilical vein ECs incubated with LPS were pretreated with or without the ROCK inhibitor Y-27632, a YAP small, interfering RNA (siRNA) and an Egr-1 siRNA. ROCK, YAP and Egr-1 signaling–induced protein expression was investigated by Western blot. The LPS-induced activation of YAP was analyzed by an immunofluorescent assay. Furthermore, we intratracheally injected YAP siRNA to assess septic ALI in mice by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Results LPS rapidly induced ROCK activation and increased TF expression in ECs. LPS caused YAP shuttling into the nuclei of ECs and combined with Egr-1 via the activation of ROCK. Furthermore, the LPS-mediated TF expression increase was prevented by ROCK inactivation, YAP knockdown and Egr-1 depletion, suggesting that LPS-induced TF expression is closely associated with the ROCK/YAP/Egr-1 signaling pathway in ECs. Finally, an intratracheal injection of YAP siRNA relieved lung injury in septic mice. Conclusion This study not only suggests that ROCK/YAP/Egr-1 signaling regulates TF expression after stimulation with LPS in ECs, but it also indicates that LPS-induced activation of YAP signaling plays an important role in septic ALI in mice. Our findings provide a new insight into the pathogenic mechanism of TF expression, which is closely linked to septic ALI, and YAP signaling is considered to be a novel target for therapeutic intervention under septic conditions.

Lungs are the most common extra-abdominal site of metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC), in which long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) may serve a role. In the present study, a high-throughput microarray assay was performed to detect lncRNA expression and identify novel targets for further study of lung metastasis in CRC. In the CRC tissues from patients with lung metastasis, 7,632 lncRNA (3,574 upregulated and 4,058 downregulated) and 6,185 mRNA (3,394 upregulated and 2,791 downregulated) were detected to be differentially expressed with a fold change ≥2 and P

Rupture of vulnerable plaque with subsequent thrombus formation has been implicated as the most common pathogenic mechanism responsible for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Angiographic coronary lesion complexity has been reported to reflect plaque vulnerability. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a proinflammatory cytokine and might be involved in the pathophysiology of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization.This study was designed to investigate if serum MIF levels are associated with angiographic coronary lesion complexity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).A total of 232 consecutive CAD patients and 76 controls were recruited. CAD patients were subdivided according to the presence of ACS (n=138) or stable angina pectoris (SAP) (n=98). Coronary lesion morphology was assessed by coronary angiography. Serum MIF levels were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.SAP patients had significantly higher serum MIF levels compared with healthy controls, and ACS patients had significantly higher serum MIF levels compared with SAP patients. In SAP patients, serum MIF levels were independently associated with the presence of complex coronary lesion. In ACS patients, serum MIF levels increased in conjunction with the extent of complex lesions.Serum MIF levels are a potential biomarker for reflecting the presence and severity of angiographically complex coronary lesion in CAD patients.

Background Microtubules (MTs) play an important role in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced overexpression of inflammatory cytokines and vascular barrier dysfunction; however, the mechanisms behind MT dynamics changes in the vascular endothelium under septic conditions are still not well understood. Methods Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) stimulated with LPS were pretreated with or without the specific p38/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) inhibitor, SB203580. p38/MAPK cascade-induced signaling events and proteins expression were investigated by Western blotting assay. The interaction between p38/MAPK and microtubule-associated protein 4 (MAP4) was examined by immunoprecipitation. Furthermore, the effects of agonists on LPS-induced MT disruption and alteration of acetylated alpha-tubulin (Acet-tubulin) were analyzed by double-immunofluorescent assay and Western blotting analysis. Results In the present study, our results indicated that LPS induced MT depolymerization, but the effects of LPS could be reversed in endothelial cells pretreated with taxol. Furthermore, phosphor-p38 and MAP4 interacted to form a complex after exposure to LPS. LPS-induced MAP4 phosphorylation was greatly suppressed by SB203580, suggesting that activation of p38/MAPK signaling affected MAP4 phosphorylation linked to MT acetylation after stimulation with LPS. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that the p38/MAPK signaling pathway might disrupt MT dynamics via phosphorylation of MAP4 in vascular endothelial cells challenged by LPS. Our findings provide novel insights into the pathogenic mechanism of MT disassembly and consider new targets for therapeutic intervention under sepsis or septic shock conditions.

Background Prostate cancer is known to have ethnic and regional differences. The study aimed to clinically evaluate the detection rate of prostate cancer on transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy and analyze its characteristics among the northern Han Chinese population at a single center. Methods Between October 2009 and September 2016, a total of 1027 Chinese men, who had undergone TRUS-guided prostate biopsy at Qingdao Municipal Hospital, were retrospectively analyzed. Prostate biopsies were performed in the case of an abnormally elevated serum PSA level, and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) findings, and/or suspicious prostatic imaging findings. Results Of the 1022 men enrolled in the analysis, 438 patients (42.8%) were diagnosed with prostate adenocarcinoma histologically. When serum PSA levels were divided into five subgroups (less than 4.0, 4.0 to 10.0, 10.0 to 20.0, 20.0 to 100.0, and ≥ 100.0 ng/ml), the detection rates of prostate cancer were 12.4, 15.9, 34.1, 66.2, and 93.8%, respectively. With serum PSA levels of 4.0 to 10.0 ng/ml, the cancer detection rates for a normal DRE and a suspect DRE finding were 13.5 and 58.2%, respectively. Accordingly, the cancer detection rates for a normal imaging and a suspect imaging finding were 13.5 and 58.2%, respectively. Besides, a large proportion of the patients were in the clinically advanced stage. Conclusions The present study data reported a relatively higher prostate cancer detection rate of 42.8% and that the majority of the patients presented with clinically advanced prostate cancers within a local clinical urologic practice. An early detection and screening program for prostate cancer is of great need to reduce the burden from this disease among the northern Han Chinese population.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proved as important regulators in many diseases, including cancers. HOXA11 antisense RNA (HOXA11-AS) is a novel identified lncRNA associated with cancer progression. However, the role of HOXA11-AS in glioma remains poorly understood and needs to be elucidated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role and regulating mechanism of HOXA11-AS on gliomagenesis. Expression of HOXA11-AS was significantly upregulated in glioma tissue and cell lines compared with the adjacent normal tissue and cells. Moreover, patients with high HOXA11-AS expression had a shorter survival and poorer prognosis than that of lower expression. Loss-of-function experiments revealed that HOXA11-AS knockdown inhibited the proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest at G0/G1 phase, and enhanced the apoptosis. Bioinformatics prediction forecast that miR-140-5p directly targeted HOXA11-AS at 3'-UTR, which was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. In vitro rescue experiment assays, miR-140-5p inhibitor transfection, could reverse the function of HOXA11-AS knockdown on the proliferation, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. Taken together, the present study illustrates that the pathway of HOXA11-AS sponging miR-140-5p might play a vital regulating role in the development and progression of glioma.

The bacterial endotoxin or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) leads to the extensive vascular endothelial cells (EC) injury under septic conditions. Guanine nucleotide exchange factor-H1 (GEF-H1)/ROCK signaling not only involved in LPS-induced overexpression of pro-inflammatory mediator in ECs but also implicated in LPS-induced endothelial hyper-permeability. However, the mechanisms behind LPS-induced GEF-H1/ROCK signaling activation in the progress of EC injury remain incompletely understood. GEF-H1 localized on microtubules (MT) and is suppressed in its MT-bound state. MT disassembly promotes GEF-H1 release from MT and stimulates downstream ROCK-specific GEF activity. Since glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3beta) participates in regulating MT dynamics under pathologic conditions, we examined the pivotal roles for GSK-3beta in modulating LPS-induced activation of GEF-H1/ROCK, increase of vascular endothelial permeability and severity of acute lung injury (ALI). In this study, we found that LPS induced human pulmonary endothelial cell (HPMEC) monolayers disruption accompanied by increase in GSK-3beta activity, activation of GEF-H1/ROCK signaling and decrease in beta-catenin and ZO-1 expression. Inhibition of GSK-3beta reduced HPMEC monolayers hyper-permeability and GEF-H1/ROCK activity in response to LPS. GSK-3beta/GEF-H1/ROCK signaling is implicated in regulating the expression of beta-catenin and ZO-1. In vivo, GSK-3beta inhibition attenuated LPS-induced activation of GEF-H1/ROCK pathway, lung edema and subsequent ALI. These findings present a new mechanism of GSK-3beta-dependent exacerbation of lung micro-vascular hyper-permeability and escalation of ALI via activation of GEF-H1/ROCK signaling and disruption of intracellular junctional proteins under septic condition.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of ezetimibe combined with atorvastatin in treatment of carotid artery plaque in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus complicated with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS A total of 100 patients with carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) confirmed by ultrasound and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus and CHD were randomly assigned to atorvastatin group (atorvastatin 20 mg/day) or combined treatment group (ezetimibe 10 mg/day and atorvastatin 20 mg/day). All those patients were followed for 12 months. Serum lipid, ALT, AST, and CK were measured before and after treatment. Ultrasonography was used to evaluate the stability of carotid artery plaques. RESULTS After 12 months of treatment, the level of TC, TG, LDL-C, hs-CRP, FPG and HbA1c decreased in both groups compared with before treatment. TC, TG, LDL-C and hs-CRP in the combined treatment group were much lower than that in the atorvastatin group (P

Gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induces a pathologic increase in lung vascular leakage under septic conditions. LPS-induced human pulmonary micro-vascular endothelial cell (HPMEC) apoptosis launches and aggravates micro-vascular hyper-permeability and acute lung injury (ALI). Previous studies show that the activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway is vital for LPS-induced EC apoptosis. Yes-associated protein (YAP) has been reported to positively regulate intrinsic apoptotic pathway in tumor cells apoptosis. However, the potential role of YAP protein in LPS-induced HPMEC apoptosis has not been determined. In this study, we found that LPS-induced activation and nuclear accumulation of YAP accelerated HPMECs apoptosis. LPS-induced YAP translocation from cytoplasm to nucleus by the increased phosphorylation on Y357 resulted in the interaction between YAP and transcription factor P73. Furthermore, inhibition of YAP by small interfering RNA (siRNA) not only suppressed the LPS-induced HPMEC apoptosis but also regulated P73-mediated up-regulation of BAX and down-regulation of BCL-2. Taken together, our results demonstrated that activation of the YAP/P73/(BAX and BCL-2)/caspase-3 signaling pathway played a critical role in LPS-induced HPMEC apoptosis. Inhibition of the YAP might be a potential therapeutic strategy for lung injury under sepsis.

Background The primary auditory cortex, which was previously considered to be unisensory, has been shown to be multisensory. However, the temporal details of processing nonauditory stimuli in the human auditory cortex remain unclear, owing to the low temporal and spatial resolution of the adopted imaging techniques. Methods Using intraoperative optical imaging of intrinsic signals recording techniques, detailed cortical activations within the auditory cortex in response to auditory and somatosensory stimulation were recorded from 3 intraoperative anesthetized patients with brain tumors located in the superior temporal gyrus. Results At both green-light (545 nm ± 13) and red-light (610 nm ± 10) illumination, the primary and secondary auditory cortices responded significantly to the somatosensory stimulation. As induced by the somatosensory stimulus, the average overlapping rate of the activated region was 74.51% ± 0.15, and the peak responding time occurred at poststimulus 7–8 seconds. There was no significant difference in the peak responding time between auditory and somatosensory stimuli (P

The substrates and mechanisms of ubiquitin specific peptidase 7 (USP7) in glioma remain unclear. Lysine‑specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) may undergo proteasomal degradation; however, a reciprocal mechanism that stabilizes LSD1 in glioma has not been dertermined. Here co-immunoprecipitation and GST pull-down assays revealed that LSD1 is associated with USP7 in vivo and in vitro. USP7 inhibited LSD1 ubiquitination and stabilized LSD1 in A172 and T98G cells. MTT, EdU proliferation, flow cytometry and Transwell assays indicated that LSD1 played a critical role in the proliferation and invasion of glioblastoma (GBM) cells. We defined the mechanism of USP7 in GBM, through counterbalanced LSD1 ubiquitylation. USP7 caused G0/G1 arrest, promoted tumorigenesis and invasion of A172 and T98G cells. We also uncovered the suppression of the p53 signaling pathway that mediated the activity of USP7 and LSD1. Furthermore, USP7 and LSD1 expression levels were higher in the 150 glioma patients than these levels in normal brain tissues and were correlated with glioma progression. LSD1 was increased concurrently with USP7 during glioblastoma progression and both were predictors for worsened prognosis. Collectively, our study suggested that USP7-LSD1 affects GBM cell proliferation and invasion and may be valuable as novel therapeutic targets and prognostic tools for GBM.

Rictor upregulation and mTORC complex 2 (mTORC2) over-activation participate in glioma cell progression, yet the underling mechanisms are not known. We here identified microRNA-153 (miR-153) as a potential anti-Rictor miRNA, which was downregulated in multiple human glioma tissues and glioma cell lines (U87MG, T98G, U373MG and U251MG). miR-153 downregulation was correlated with Rictor (mRNA and protein) upregulation and p-Akt Ser473 (the mTORC2 indicator) over-activation in the glioma tissues and cells. Our in vitro evidences suggested that Rictor could be one primary target of miR-153 in glioma cells. Exogenous overexpression of miR-153 downregulated Rictor (mRNA and protein) and decreased p-Akt Ser473 in U87MG cells, leading to significant growth inhibition and apoptosis activation. Notably, U87MG cells with Rictor shRNA knockdown showed similar phenotypes of cells with miR-153 overexpression. More importantly, in Rictor-silenced U87MG cells, miR-153 expression failed to further affect cell growth nor apoptosis. In vivo, we showed that miR-153 overexpression dramatically inhibited U87MG tumor growth in nude mice. Together, these results suggest that miR-153 downregulation could be one important reason of Rictor upregulation and mTORC2 over-activation in glioma cells. Further, miR-153-induced anti-glioma cell activity is possibly via downregulating Rictor.

Recently, a membrane-based estrogen receptor (ER), ER-α36, was identified and cloned that transduces membrane-initiated estrogen signaling such as activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) signaling pathway. Here we show that the postmenopausal level of estradiol (E2) induces mitogenic, antiapoptotic, and antiosteogenic effects and proapoptotic effects in postmenopausal osteoblasts and osteoclasts with high levels of ER-α36 expression, respectively. We also found that ER-α36 mediated the effects of postmenopausal-level E2 on proliferation, apoptosis, and differentiation of osteoblasts through transient activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway, whereas ER-α36-mediated postmenopausal-level E2 induces apoptosis of osteoclasts through prolonged activation of the MAPK/ERK pathway with the involvement of reactive oxygen species. We also show that the levels of ER-α36 expression in bone are positively associated with bone mineral density but negatively associated with bone biochemical markers in postmenopausal women. Thus the higher levels of ER-α36 expression are required for preserving bone mass in postmenopausal and menopausal women who become osteoporotic if ER-α36-mediated activities are dysregulated. © 2011 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Rationale: Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a special type of chronic pancreatitis, which is rarely associated with pseudocyst. Patient concerns: A 48-year-old man complained of a recurrent upper abdominal pain in our hospital. Diagnoses: A cystic mass of size 4 × 3 cm in his pancreatic tail was found by computed tomography. The concentrations of serum carbohydrate antigen19–9 (81 U/mL) and serum immunoglobulin G4 (181 mg/dL) were elevated. Interventions: The patient received partial pancreatectomy with splenectomy and partial esophagectomy. Outcomes: Further histopathological examination revealed a pseudocyst, significant lymphoplasmatic infiltration, and fibrosis in the pancreas and esophagus. We report a rare case of AIP complicated with a pancreatic pseudocyst and invasion of lower esophagus. Lessons: Our study demonstrated that surgical therapy should be considered for the refractory AIP complicated with a pancreatic pseudocyst and invasion of lower esophagus.

Quantitative assessment of ventricular function in children with single ventricles is both difficult and subjective because of asymmetric ventricular geometry. The Doppler myocardial performance index (MPI) allows the assessment regardless of ventricular shape. This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of MPI in assessing ventricular function in children with single ventricles before and after total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC).Subjects consisted of 161 pediatric patients with single ventricles and 80 normal children without heart disease. The maximum positive rate of ventricular pressure change (Max dp/dt) was obtained in 58 patients by cardiac catheterization. Sixty-eight children with single ventricles received TCPC. MPI was calculated from Doppler tracings of ventricular inflow and outflow, then MPI of single ventricles before and after surgery and normal heart were compared.Normal MPI value was 0.30+/-0.08 in the left ventricle and 0.26+/-0.08 in the right ventricle. Compared to normal children, MPI was significantly higher in 161 children with single ventricles (0.54+/-0.11, P0.001). MPI correlated inversely with Max (dp/dt) (r=-0.77, P0.01), and was positively related to age (r=0.54, P0.01) in patients with single ventricles. MPI did not differ significantly before and after surgery in 68 patients with single ventricles (0.55+/-0.21 vs 0.51+/-0.20, P0.05). However, MPI in 48 patients of6 years old decreased significantly (0.55+/-0.21 vs 0.48+/-0.18, P0.05), suggesting improved ventricular function.Compared to normal children, ventricular function is impaired in patients with single ventricles and may worsen with age. MPI provides an accurate method for assessing ventricular function in children with single ventricles before and after TCPC.

To investigate whether polymorphisms of angiotensin converting enzyme gene (ACE) and angiotensin II receptor type 1 gene (AT1R) are associated with etiology of preeclampsia and renal impact in women with preeclampsia.DNA was extracted from peripheral blood of 133 patients with preeclampsia and 105 healthy pregnant women. The I/D polymorphism of the ACE gene was assessed by polymerase chain reaction, and the A1166C polymorphism of the AT(1)R gene was additionally assessed by DdeI digestion. The level of proteinuria, fasting serum urea, creatinine and uric acid were investigated according to different genotypes of ACE and AT1R genes.The frequency of genotypes of the ACE gene and the AT1R gene was similar in preeclampsia and normal pregnancy. DD and ID genotype predominated in patients with severe proteinuria, as well as increased serum urea and uric acid. Serum creatinine was also increased, but no significant difference was found among three genotypes. The level of proteinuria, serum uric acid, urea, and creatinine did not vary between different AT1R genotypes. Compared with patients without renal dysfunction, the frequency of DD and ID genotypes of ACE gene was much higher in those with renal dysfunction, but AC and CC genotypes of AT1R gene were not.We found no association of the two gene polymorphisms with preeclampsia. However, ACE gene I/D polymorphisms were associated with the severe proteinuria and renal dysfunction seen in preeclampsia. Preeclampsia patients carrying the D allele may be susceptible to renal dysfunction.

Neuroimage registration is crucial for brain morphometric analysis and treatment efficacy evaluation. However, existing advanced registration algorithms such as FLIRT and ANTs are not efficient enough for clinical use. In this paper, a GPU implementation of FLIRT with the correlation ratio (CR) as the similarity metric and a GPU accelerated correlation coefficient (CC) calculation for the symmetric diffeomorphic registration of ANTs have been developed. The comparison with their corresponding original tools shows that our accelerated algorithms can greatly outperform the original algorithm in terms of computational efficiency. This paper demonstrates the great potential of applying these registration tools in clinical applications.

To investigate the inhibition effect of polyethylene glycol interferon α-2b and imatinib alone or combination on imatinib-resistant GIST cell lines, and to explore the possible mechanism. Imatinib resistant GIST cell lines (GIST-R) were exposured to either Peg-IFNα-2b or imatinib alone or combination. The proliferative inhibition rates and the combination index (CI) values of GIST-R cells were detected by MTT assay. The apoptotic rates of GIST-R cells were detected by flow cytometry. The expression levels of phospho-mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR), and Bcl-2 of GIST-R cells were analyzed by Western blot. GIST-R cells presents remarkable resistance to imatinib, and the resistance index (RI) were (P

This study aimed to assess pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) efficacy on atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence and to determine a predictive dispersion of atrial refractoriness (dERP) value for performing PVI in paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) patients. Of 67 PSVT patients with past AF episodes who underwent accessory pathway (AP) or slow pathway of atrioventricular node ablation, 63 (4 lost to follow-up or death) were assigned into two groups (A and B; 29 and 34 patients, respectively) based on whether they underwent or not subsequent PVI, and all were followed-up up to 3 years. Atrial effective refractory period (AERP) and dERP were measured during the ablation procedure. In receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, dERP = 74.5 ms effectively predicted AF recurrence in PSVT patients (p = 0.003). Difference in AF recurrence rate between groups did not reach statistical significance (17.2 %, 5/29 vs. 29.4 %, 10/34, p = 0.203). AF recurrence rate was lower in patients with dERP >74.5 ms who underwent AP or slow-pathway ablation with vs. without PVI (18.2 %, 2/11 vs. 77.8 %, 7/9, p = 0.012). PVI addition after successful AP or slow pathway of atrioventricular node ablation significantly reduced AF recurrence in PSVT patients with high atrial vulnerability (dERP >74.5 ms).

To evaluate therapeutic effects of Wallis interspinous dynamic stabilization in treating ASD after lumbar spinal fusion.Totally 40 patients (included 16 males and 24 females, aged 25 to 60 years old) with degenerative disc disease were treated with posterior interbody fusion. Among them, 20 cases (treatment group) were treated with posterior interbody fusion combined with Wallis interspinous dynamic stabilization, while other 20 cases (control group) only treated with posterior interbody fusion. JOA score and VAS score were compared after inserted Wallis interspinous dynamic stabilization at 1 month and 3 years, and changes of intervertebral disc height of adjacent segment and cross-sectional area of the canal were tested and compared.All patients were followed up from 3 to 5 years with an average of 3.6 years. All injuries were healed at stage I and the pain were released after treatment. There were no significant meaning in JOA score and VAS score at 1 month after treatment between two groups (P0.05), while had meaning at 3 years (P0.05). There were no statistical significane in intervertebral disc height of adjacent segment and cross-sectional area of the canal at 1 month after treatment (P0.05), while had statistical meaning at 3 years (P0.05).There is no difference in immediate effects between two groups. Both of them can obtain good results for effective decompression. Medial-term effectiveness of treatment group is obviously better than control group, which depends on Wallis interspinous dynamic stabilization to plays good biology effects and effective accelerate adjacent degeneration caused by lumbar fusion.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia in the general population; yet, the precise mechanisms resulting in AF are not fully understood. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), the principal structural component of caveolae organelles in cardiac fibroblasts, is involved in several cardiovascular conditions; however, the study on its function in atrium, in particular, in AF, is still lacking. This report examines the hypothesis that Cav-1 confers an anti-AF effect by mediating atrial structural remodeling through its anti-fibrotic action. We evaluated the expression of Cav-1, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), and fibrosis in atrial specimens of 13 patients with AF and 10 subjects with sinus rhythm, and found that the expression of Cav-1 was significantly downregulated, whereas TGF-β1 level, collagens I/III contents and atrial fibrosis were markedly increased, in AF. Western blot analysis demonstrated that treatment of human atrial fibroblasts (HAFs) with TGF-β1 resulted in a concentration- and time-dependent repression of Cav-1. Downregulation of Cav-1 with siRNA increased the TGF-β1-induced activation of Smad signal pathway and collagens production in HAFs. Furthermore, incubation of HAFs with the peptides derived from Cav-1 to achieve Cav-1 gain-of-function abolished the TGF-β1-induced production of collagens I/III and decreases of MMP-2/-9 expression. Therefore it was concluded that Cav-1 is an important anti-AF signaling mediator by conferring its anti-fibrotic effects in atrium.

To investigate the risk factors of prostate cancer in urban Qingdao and provide some theoretical evidence for the scientific prevention and treatment of the disease.We performed a hospital-based matched case-control study in Qingdao Municipal Hospital. The cases and controls were matched in age, gender, nationality and the place of residence. All the subjects were interviewed face to face in the hospital using a questionnaire, and the data analyzed by the conditional logistic regression method.According to the 258 valid questionnaires collected, the prostate cancer risk was significantly higher in the cases with a family history of cancer than in those without (OR = 2.58), and so was it in the men with the first spermatorrhea at the age ofor = 15 years than in those at the age ofor = 18 years (OR = 2.27). A decreased risk of prostate cancer was found among the men with the first experience of sexual intercourse between 25 to 30 years of age (OR = 0.76). An increased risk was shown in those with sexual intercoursesor = 4 times per week before 35 years old (OR = 2.57), masturbationsor = 3 times per week (OR = 2.30) and a drinking history (alcoholor = 150 g/d) ofor = 10 years (OR = 2.83).Positive family history of cancer, earlier age of the first spermatorrhea, sexual intercoursesor = 4 times per week before 35 years old, frequent masturbations, and heavy drinking for more than 10 years are risk factors for prostate cancer.

To investigate the effect of tea polyphenols on the proliferation of human prostate cancer cells and its possible mechanism.We cultured androgen-independent prostate cancer DU145 cells in the medium with different concentrations (50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml) of tea polyphenols, and those in the normal medium as the control. After 48 hours of culture, we detected the survival rate of the cells by MTT assay and determined the expression of survivin by Western blot and quantitative RT-PCR.At 48 hours, the survival rates of the prostate cancer DU145 cells were 0.97 +/- 0.12, 0.71 +/- 0.07, 0.20 +/- 0.03 and 0.08 +/- 0.01 in the 50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml tea polyphenols treatment groups, all significantly reduced as compared with the control group (P0.01) except that of the 50 microg/ml group (P = 0.42). Furthermore, the survival rate continued to decrease with the prolonging of time, dropping below 5% at 96 hours except in the 50 microg/ml group. The grey values of the survivin expression in the 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml tea polyphenols groups were 13 425 +/- 34, 2 017 +/- 24 and 1 274 +/- 22, respectively, at 48 hours, significantly lower than 15 075 +/- 48 in the control group (P0.01). Moreover, the content of survivin mRNA at 48 hours was markedly lower in the 50, 100, 250 and 500 microg/ml treatment groups (0.74 +/- 0.03, 0.64 +/- 0.02, 0.52 +/- 0.01 and 0.21 +/- 0.02) than in the control (P0.01).Tea polyphenols can inhibit the proliferation of human prostate cancer DU145 cells, which may be associated with the decreased expression of the survivin gene.

Most previous studies investigating relational reasoning have used visuo-spatial materials. This fMRI study aimed to determine how relational complexity affects brain activity during inductive reasoning, using numerical materials. Three numerical relational levels of the number series completion task were adopted for use: 0-relational (e.g., "23 23 23"), 1-relational ("32 30 28") and 2-relational ("12 13 15") problems. The fMRI results revealed that the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) showed enhanced activity associated with relational complexity. Bilateral inferior parietal lobule (IPL) activity was greater during the 1- and 2-relational level problems than during the 0-relational level problems. In addition, the left fronto-polar cortex (FPC) showed selective activity during the 2-relational level problems. The bilateral DLPFC may be involved in the process of hypothesis generation, whereas the bilateral IPL may be sensitive to calculation demands. Moreover, the sensitivity of the left FPC to the multiple relational problems may be related to the integration of numerical relations. The present study extends our knowledge of the prefrontal activity pattern underlying numerical relational processing.

To develop a new small molecular probe for discovering an antitumor lead compound from the replacement of carboxylic group of two molecular antibacterial fluoroquinolones with a heterocyclic ring, a series of the C3/C3 bis-fluoroquinolones tethered with an 1, 3, 4-oxadiazole ring were synthesized as their respective HCl salts, and their structures were characterized by elemental analysis and spectral data. The in vitro antitumor activity against L1210, CHO and HL60 cell lines was also evaluated via the respective IC50 values by methylthiazole trazolium (MTT) assay.

To investigate the impacts of interferon alpha-2b (IFN alpha-2b) on the oxidative stress states in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with different genotypes.Thirty-five patients with chronic hepatitis B and 18 healthy volunteers as a control were enrolled in this present study. In control and patients group, the serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, serum total antioxidative stress capacity (TAC) were measured spectrophotometrically. After the therapy with interferon alpha-2b at the dose of 300 million units via intramuscular injection thrice a week for 12 weeks, these parameters were measured again in the patient group. The genotypes of hepatitis B virus were detected by polymerase chain reaction and hybridization. The effective group was defined as the patients with complete response and partial response.The elevated concentrations of MDA and impaired levels of TAC in the patients with CHB were observed as compared to the healthy controls (P0.05 for both). There were no significant differences in serum levels of MDA and TAC in CHB patients with various genotypes (P0.05). The serum levels of MDA after the treatment with IFN alpha-2b were significantly lower than the pretreatment levels (P0.05), which even returned to the normal concentration (P0.05) in the effective group. There were significant increases in the TAC after the IFN alpha-2b therapy in the effective group. However, the significant differences in the TAC levels before and after the INFalpha-2b treatment were not observed in the non-responsive group.The oxidative stress could be improved with IFN alpha-2b treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients. The results suggest that antioxidant treatment for chronic hepatitis B patients may help improve the effect of anti-virus therapy.