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Purpose: This case report aims to present a rare case of endometrial carcinosarcoma, a highly malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. The primary objective is to describe this unique case's clinical presentation, multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features, typical histopathological characteristics and surgical treatment., Methods: A detailed analysis of the patient's medical history, preoperative imaging evaluation, and treatment approach was conducted. This case report includes high-resolution images and figures, showcasing MRI scans, surgical treatment, and histopathology slides related to the case., Results: The case report outlines imaging findings of a rare case of endometrial carcinosarcoma. Multimodal imaging such as T1-weighted imaging (T1WI), T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and multi-b-value diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) scanning could accurately identify the histopathological features of the case. Surgical resection is the best treatment, and preoperative imaging evaluation should be particularly important., Conclusion: This case report highlights endometrial carcinosarcoma's rarity and diagnostic challenges. Multimodal MRI has significant value in diagnosing endometrial carcinosarcoma. This technology not only improves the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of diagnosis, but also helps to more accurately evaluate the staging and grading of tumors. By comparing imaging features and pathological results, studies have found that multimodal MRI can clearly show the anatomical structure, pathological nature, and extent of the tumor, with a high degree of consistency with the pathological diagnosis. In particular, when differentiating endometrial carcinosarcoma from low-risk endometrial cancer, multimodal MRI combined with serum carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) and E-box binding zinc finger protein 1 (ZEB1) detection can further improve the sensitivity and specificity of differential diagnosis. In addition, research has found that the ADC value of the tumor tissue in different pathological grades is related to the multimodal MRI, which helps to better understand the biological behavior and prognosis of the tumor. In summary, multimodal MRI is an effective diagnostic tool that can provide important evidence for the precise diagnosis and treatment of endometrial carcinosarcoma., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors do not have any possible conflicts of interest. Ethical approval: The study did not require ethics approval. Consent to participate: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient. Consent to publication: The authors affirm that human research participants provided informed consent for publication of the images in Fig. 1., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objectives: To investigate the factors influencing the levels of fear regarding psychotherapy in adolescents with depression., Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 258 adolescents with depression who were treated in the outpatient service and inpatient department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from September 2023 to March 2024. A questionnaire survey was performed. The questionnaires used included General Information Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Self-Compassion Scale, Self-Concealment Scale, Depression Self-Stigma Scale, and Thoughts About Psychotherapy Survey. The factors influencing the levels of fear regarding psychotherapy were analyzed among the adolescents with depression., Results: The levels of fear regarding psychotherapy in the adolescents with depression were positively associated with the scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Self-Concealment Scale, and Depression Self-Stigma Scale ( P <0.05), and were negatively associated with the score on the Self-Compassion Scale ( P <0.05). Concerns about therapist responsiveness were negatively associated with the score on the Self-Compassion Scale ( P <0.05), and were positively associated with the scores on the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Depression Self-Stigma Scale ( P <0.05). The adolescents from one-child families had significantly higher levels of concerns about therapist responsiveness than those from non-one-child families ( P <0.05). The levels of image concerns were positively associated with the scores on Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Self-Concealment Scale, and Depression Self-Stigma Scale ( P <0.05); the levels of coercion concerns were positively associated with the scores of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Self-Concealment Scale ( P <0.05) and were negatively associated with the score on the Self-Compassion Scale ( P <0.05). Middle school students had a significantly higher risk of coercion concerns than university students ( P <0.05)., Conclusions: In adolescents with depression, the levels of fear regarding psychotherapy are associated with educational levels, only-child status, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, self-compassion, self-concealment, and depression self-stigma.

Background: Few reports have described living foreign bodies in the human body. The current manuscript demonstrates that computed tomography (CT) is an effective tool for accurate preoperative evaluation of living foreign bodies in clinic. The three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technology could clearly display anatomical structures, lesions and adjacent organs, improving diagnostic accuracy and guiding the surgical decision-making process., Case Summary: Herein we describe a 68-year-old man diagnosed with digestive tract perforation and acute peritonitis caused by a foreign body of Monopterus albus . The patient presented to the emergency department with complaints of dull abdominal pain, profuse sweating and a pale complexion during work. A Monopterus albus had entered the patient's body through the anus two hours ago. During hospitalization, the 3D reconstruction technology revealed a perforation of the middle rectum complicated with acute peritonitis and showed a clear and complete Monopterus albus bone morphology in the abdominal and pelvic cavities, with the Monopterus albus biting the mesentery. Laparoscopic examination detected a large (diameter of about 1.5 cm) perforation in the mid-rectum. It could be seen that a Monopterus albus had completely entered the abdominal cavity and had tightly bitten the mesentery of the small intestine. During the operation, the dead Monopterus albus was taken out., Conclusion: The current manuscript demonstrates that CT is an effective tool for accurate preoperative evaluation of living foreign bodies in clinic., Competing Interests: Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article., (©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.)

Processed electroencephalogram (EEG) has been considered a useful tool for measuring the depth of anesthesia (DOA). However, because of its inability to detect the activities of the brain stem and spinal cord responsible for most of the vital signs, a new biomarker for measuring the multidimensional activities of the central nervous system under anesthesia is required. Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) is a new technique for detecting the scaling properties of nonstationary heart rate (HR) behavior. This study investigated the changes in fractal properties of heart rate variability (HRV), a nonlinear analysis, under intravenous propofol, inhalational desflurane, and spinal anesthesia. We compared the DFA method with traditional spectral analysis to evaluate its potential as an alternative biomarker under different levels of anesthesia. Eighty patients receiving elective procedures were randomly allocated different anesthesia. HRV was measured with spectral analysis and DFA short-term (4-11 beats) scaling exponent (DFAα1). An increase in DFAα1 followed by a decrease at higher concentrations during propofol or desflurane anesthesia is observed. Spinal anesthesia decreased the DFAα1 and low-/high-frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio). DFAα1 of HRV is a sensitive and specific method for distinguishing changes from baseline to anesthesia state. The DFAα1 provides a potential real-time biomarker to measure HRV as one of the multiple dimensions of the DOA.

This study examined elementary school teachers' attitudes toward immigrant students and their families in Russia and Taiwan. Qualitative methodology was used for data collection. Teachers' attitudes and conceptual orientations toward cultural diversity in the classroom were identified. Teachers' attitudes were categorized into three groups: Attitudes toward children, parents, and diverse ethnic groups. The study found that country-specific attitudes were similar. Both countries prioritize cognition. The Russian teacher may not acknowledge cultural variance (personal attitude) and hold all students to the same standards (professional attitude). Prior experiences have made the Taiwanese instructor more accepting of cultural variety. Teachers of immigrant children often tackle language concerns. Some instructors are less welcoming of immigrants at home. Educators judge immigrants depending on their natal country. These impressions may encourage prejudice, some say. Many teachers dislike minority students. Negative attitudes concerning student achievement lead to low expectations. Instructors use more tolerant approaches with more multicultural engagement., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Wang J-S, Lan JY-C, Khairutdinova RR and Gromova CR.)

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the use of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology to detect chromosomes in chorionic villus samples of missed abortion embryos and investigate its utility in the genetic diagnosis of missed abortion., Patients and Methods: HTS was used to assess chorionic villus samples obtained from 169 patients with missed abortions from August 2020 to March 2022, at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University. The test results were statistically analyzed. To investigate the impact of advanced age on the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities, the patients were divided into two groups: elderly (≥35 years) and nonelderly pregnant women (<35 years)., Results: (1) Among the samples of 169 patients, 100 (59.17%) cases of chromosomal abnormalities were detected. Among these 100, 90 (90%) had chromosomal numerical abnormalities and 10 (10%) had chromosomal structural abnormalities. (2) Chromosomal numerical abnormality was abnormalities mainly included aneuploidy (92.22%, 83/90), with trisomy (62.22%, 56/90) and monosomy (22.22%, 20/90) accounting for the majority. The top three numerical abnormalities included 18 cases of Turner syndrome (monosomy X; 20%, 18/90), 10 cases of trisomy 16 (11.11%, 10/90), and 10 cases of trisomy 22 (11.11%, 10/90). (3) Villous chromosomal abnormalities were found in 48 (70.59%) elderly pregnant women, and 52 (51.48%) nonelderly pregnant women, with statistically significant differences (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: (1) Chromosomal abnormality is an important cause of missed abortion, it majorly includes chromosomal numerical abnormality, of which most cases are of aneuploidy. (2) Advanced age may increase the risk of embryonic chromosomal abnormalities. (3) Villus chromosome detection using HTS has a positive value and can be used for analyzing and determining the causes of missed abortion.

Background: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put the world in a crisis regarding both physical and psychological health. Simultaneously, a myriad of unverified information flowed on social media and online outlets. The situation was so severe that the World Health Organization identified it as an infodemic in February 2020., Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the propagation patterns and textual transformation of COVID-19-related rumors on a closed social media platform., Methods: We obtained a data set of suspicious text messages collected on Taiwan's most popular instant messaging platform, LINE, between January and July 2020. We proposed a classification-based clustering algorithm that could efficiently cluster messages into groups, with each group representing a rumor. For ease of understanding, a group is referred to as a "rumor group." Messages in a rumor group could be identical or could have limited textual differences between them. Therefore, each message in a rumor group is a form of the rumor., Results: A total of 936 rumor groups with at least 10 messages each were discovered among 114,124 text messages collected from LINE. Among 936 rumors, 396 (42.3%) were related to COVID-19. Of the 396 COVID-19-related rumors, 134 (33.8%) had been fact-checked by the International Fact-Checking Network-certified agencies in Taiwan and determined to be false or misleading. By studying the prevalence of simplified Chinese characters or phrases in the messages that originated in China, we found that COVID-19-related messages, compared to non-COVID-19-related messages, were more likely to have been written by non-Taiwanese users. The association was statistically significant, with P<.001, as determined by the chi-square independence test. The qualitative investigations of the three most popular COVID-19 rumors revealed that key authoritative figures, mostly medical personnel, were often misquoted in the messages. In addition, these rumors resurfaced multiple times after being fact-checked, usually preceded by major societal events or textual transformations., Conclusions: To fight the infodemic, it is crucial that we first understand why and how a rumor becomes popular. While social media has given rise to an unprecedented number of unverified rumors, it also provides a unique opportunity for us to study the propagation of rumors and their interactions with society. Therefore, we must put more effort into these areas., (©Andrea W Wang, Jo-Yu Lan, Ming-Hung Wang, Chihhao Yu. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (https://medinform.jmir.org), 23.11.2021.)

Objective: To observe the effeicacy and safety of percutaneous endoscopic translaminar lumbar interbody fusion (PE-TLIF) in the treatment of L 5 S 1 intervertebral disc herniation., Methods: The clinical data of 37 patients with L 5 S 1 intervertebral disc herniation underwent PE-TLIF from January 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 16 males and 21 females, aged from 30 to 68 years old, with a mean of (45.62±13.57) years;body mass index was from 19.5 to 28.8 kg/m 2 , with a mean of (24.33±3.51) kg/m 2 ;the course of disease was from 18 to 48 months, with a mean of (27.18±6.65) months. Operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative drainage and complication rate were recorded; visual analogue scale(VAS), Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score and Oswestry Disability Index(ODI) before operation, 1 week, 6 months, 1 year after operation were observed., Results: The operation time ranged from 78 to 171 min, with a mean of (120.74±41.19) min;intraoperative blood loss ranged from 61 to 102 ml, with a mean of (85.26±25.44) ml;and postoperative drainage ranged from 35 to 98 ml, with a mean of (40.75±12.17) ml. Complications occurred in 8 patients, including 2 cases of nerve injury, 4 cases of pain aggravated, 1 case of internal fixation loosening, and 1 case of intervertebral space nonfusion. The VAS, JOA score and ODI significantly improved after 1 week, 6 months, and 1 year after operation (P<0.05)., Conclusion: PE-TLIF for the treatment of L 5 S 1 intervertebral disc herniation has the advantages of less intraoperative blood loss, less trauma, and satisfactory short-term curative effect. It can effectively improve the symptoms of patients. However, the incidence of complications in the actual clinical practice is frequent, and surgical indications need to be strictly grasped.

Hydrogen and formic acid have been considered as the intermediate electron transporters among microbes for a long time. In recent years, however, it has been found that direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) might be an alternative beyond hydrogen/formic acid to transfer electron among microbes. As a new way of electron transfer among microbes, the electron transfer efficiency of DIET is higher than that of traditional hydrogen/formate transfer. The discovery of DIET has changed the traditional understanding that the growth and metabolism of microbial syntrophism must rely on electron carriers such as hydrogen or formic acid, and also has opened a new perspective for the study of microbial interaction. Although great progress has been made in the study of DIET, in-depth studies are still lacking on the microbes that can form co-culture via DIET, the mechanism of DIET, and the factors affecting DIET. In this review, we summarized the microbes that can form DIET, the mechanism underlying the extracellular electron transfer of microbe acted as electron donor in DIET, as well as the mechanism underlying the extracellular electron transfer of microbe acted as electron acceptor in DIET. The effects of conductive materials on DIET were elaborated, and several research directions for DIET were proposed, with the aim to mitigate performance degradation and facilitate research and development in this area.

Background: Genome-wide association study (GWAS) studies have showed that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in OCA2 gene were associated with the survival of breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. To further explain the association between OCA2 SNPs and breast cancer survival, we investigated the predictive value of rs4778137 located in OCA2 in local advanced breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy., Patients and Methods: A case-cohort with 150 breast cancer patients was performed to evaluate the effects of the OCA2 rs4778137 on breast cancer survival. The association between rs4778137 genotypes and pathological complete response (pCR, defined that the postoperative pathology indicating no residual invasive breast cancer in the breast or the axillary lymph node) were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of pCR. Survival was assessed by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis according to the rs4778137 genotypes., Results: The differences between pCR and the rs4778137 genotypes were statistically significant (p < 0.05). The patients with genotype GG harbored a better disease-free survival (HR: 2.358, p = 0.000) and overall survival (HR: 1.578, p = 0.008) than the patients with genotype CC in rs4778137. The further Univariate and Multivariate survival analysis revealed that SNP rs4778137 was an independent predictive factor of disease-free survival (p = 0.000/p = 0.001) and overall survival (p = 0.006/p = 0.045)., Conclusion: The OCA2 rs4778137 may be a predictor for the clinical response and survival in local advanced breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The paper discusses the expansion of the universal health coverage (UHC) in Taiwan through the establishment of National Health Insurance (NHI), and the fiscal crisis it caused. Two key questions are addressed: How did the NHI gradually achieve universal coverage, and yet cause Taiwanese health spending to escalate to fiscal crisis? What measures have been taken to reform the NHI finance and achieve moderate success to date? The main argument of this paper is that the Taiwanese Government did try to implement various reforms to save costs and had moderate success, but the path-dependent process of reform does not allow increasing contribution rates significantly and thereby makes sustainability challenging.

Presented study aims to explore the predictive values of serum microRNA-22 (miR-22) and miR-126 levels for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) development and metastasis.A total of 127 NSCLC patients who were admitted in the First People's Hospital of Yancheng City from May, 2013 to May, 2015 were selected as the case group, including 71 cases of adenocarcinoma and 56 cases of squamous cell carcinoma. There were 112 healthy individuals selected as the control group. The qRT-PCR was performed to testify the serum miR-22 and miR-126 levels. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze independent factors influencing NSCLC metastasis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to analyze the sensitivity and specificity of serum miR-22 and miR-126 levels in predicting NSCLC developments and metastasis.The serum miR-22 level was significantly higher in the case group than that in the control group, while the serum miR-126 level was lower in the case group as compared with that in the control group. Compared with squamous cell carcinoma patients, serum miR-22 level significantly increased, while serum miR-126 level decreased in patients with adenocarcinoma. Patients at III + IV stage showed increased serum miR-22 level and relatively decreased serum miR-126 level as compared to patients at I + II stage. Serum miR-22 level elevated in patients with metastasis; in contrast serum miR-126 level reduced in comparison to those without metastasis. In patients with familial inheritance, serum miR-22 level increased but serum miR-126 level decreased as compared to those without familial inheritance. The specificity and sensitivity of serum miR-22 and miR-126 levels in predicting NSCLC development were 99.11%, 84.30%, 82.68% and 96.40%, respectively. The specificity and sensitivity of serum miR-22 and miR-126 levels in predicting NSCLC metastasis were 59.74%, 96.00%, 84.00% and 62.30%, respectively.Results indicated that serum miR-22 and miR-126 levels may be used as the predicative biomarkers for NSCLC development and metastasis.

Carbon nanodots (C-dots) have attracted great attention as a new class of luminescent nanomaterials due to their superior physical and chemical properties. In order to better understand the basic behavior of C-dots in biological systems, a series of photophysical measurements were applied to study the interactions of C-dots with human serum albumin (HSA) and γ-globulins. The fluorescence of proteins was quenched by the dynamic mechanism rather than the formation of a protein/C-dots complex. The apparent dissociation constants of the C-dots bound to HSA and γ-globulins were of the same order of magnitude. Furthermore, it is proven that C-dots showed little influence on the conformation of HSA and γ-globulins. In addition, Fourier transform infrared and fluorescence spectroscopic studies demonstrated that the interaction between C-dots and two kinds of serum proteins was driven by hydrophobic and van der waals forces. Since the bioavailability of drugs can be modulated by their interactions with proteins, the variations of binding constants of three drugs with HSA and γ-globulins in the presence of different concentrations of C-dots (0-84 μmol L(-1)) have also been analyzed in this work, to reflect the effect of C-dots on the transportation function of HSA and γ-globulins., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Highly photoluminescent (PL) (quantum yield = 54%) nitrogen doped carbon nanodots (C-dots) have been prepared through one-step carbonizing citric acid and tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane and using oleic acid as solvent. The synthesized C-dots are monodisperse with narrow size distribution (average 1.7 nm). The PL properties of C-dots are pH dependent, and hence, using C-dots as sophisticated pH sensor to detect pH values between 7 and 9 can be expected. In addition, the PL intensity of C-dots remains stable under high ionic strength. The C-dots can protect cells from oxidative stress, which shows potential to expand the biological application of C-dots, especially in medical treatment. The protective mechanism is associated with intracellular reactive oxygen species elimination and the intracellular superoxide dismutase production.

The pH-dependent photoluminescence (PL) behavior of carbon nanodots (C-dots) and its mechanism has been exhaustively studied in this work. The PL and UV-vis absorption spectra are reversible in the pH between 3 and 13. We speculate that two kinds of reactions (fast and slow) occurring at the surface of C-dots may contribute to this pH-dependent PL behavior. When C-dots solutions are switched to acidic conditions, they will quickly self-assembled aggregate into larger particles and surface oxygen-related groups of C-dots would be slowly oxidized at room temperature. Moreover, it should be noted that this is the first direct observation of self-assembled aggregation of C-dots under acidic conditions. In addition, the optimal PL spectra of C-dots blue-shift while their sizes increase, so-called 'inverse PL shift' phenomenon is also observed. Meanwhile, as the solution is adjusted to alkaline conditions, a structural tautomerization of C-dots rapidly takes place and hydrogenation/deoxygenation reaction proceeds in a much slower rate. Furthermore, through distinct decay dynamics as well as the characterizations of C-dots at different pHs, the PL properties are proposed to be mainly related to the surface states of C-dots., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.

The prediction of mine accident is the basis of aviation safety assessment and decision making. Gray prediction is suitable for such kinds of system objects with few data, short time, and little fluctuation, and Markov chain theory is just suitable for forecasting stochastic fluctuating dynamic process. Analyzing the coal mine accident human error cause, combining the advantages of both Gray prediction and Markov theory, an amended Gray Markov SCGM(1,1) c model is proposed. The gray SCGM(1,1) c model is applied to imitate the development tendency of the mine safety accident, and adopt the amended model to improve prediction accuracy, while Markov prediction is used to predict the fluctuation along the tendency. Finally, the new model is applied to forecast the mine safety accident deaths from 1990 to 2010 in China, and, 2011-2014 coal accidents deaths were predicted. The results show that the new model not only discovers the trend of the mine human error accident death toll but also overcomes the random fluctuation of data affecting precision. It possesses stronger engineering application.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally inhibit gene expression. In this study, we discovered that microRNA-370 (miR-370) was down-regulated in endometrioid ovarian cancer cells. In IGROV1 and TOV112D endometrioid ovarian cancer cells, miR-370 suppressed cellular viability and colony formation. miR-370 also enhanced endometrioid ovarian cancer cell chemosensitivity to cDDP. Endoglin (ENG) was directly and negatively regulated by miR-370. In addition, hypermethylation was a potential mechanism of miR-370 epigenetic silencing. We conclude that miR-370 acts as a tumor suppressor in endometrioid ovarian cancer via ENG regulation., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Cardiomyocytes (CMs) undergo a rapid transition from hyperplastic to hypertrophic growth soon after birth, which is a major challenge to the development of engineered cardiac tissue for pediatric patients. Resting membrane potential (V mem ) has been shown to play an important role in cell differentiation and proliferation during development. We hypothesized that depolarization of neonatal CMs would stimulate or maintain CM proliferation in vitro . To test our hypothesis, we isolated postnatal day 3 neonatal rat CMs and subjected them to sustained depolarization via the addition of potassium gluconate or Ouabain to the culture medium. Cell density and CM percentage measurements demonstrated an increase in mitotic CMs along with a ~2 fold increase in CM numbers with depolarization. In addition, depolarization led to an increase in cells in G2 and S phase, indicating increased proliferation, as measured by flow cytometry. Surprisingly depolarization of V mem with either treatment led to inhibition of proliferation in cardiac fibroblasts. This effect is abrogated when the study was carried out on postnatal day 7 neonatal CMs, which are less proliferative, indicating that the likely mechanism of depolarization is the maintenance of the proliferating CM population. In summary, our findings suggest that depolarization maintains postnatal CM proliferation and may be a novel approach to encourage growth of engineered tissue and cardiac regeneration in pediatric patients.

To understand the underlying pharmacological basis and the molecular mechanism of Taxol in therapy of cervical carcinoma (CC) disease, we need to explore the effect of Taxol on CC-related genes and pro-apoptosis and anti-apoptosis genes expression. Immunohistochemistry, western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were applied to examine postive expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax and Caspase-3, HGF, MACC1, Caspase-3 and C-met proteins and MACC1 mRNA expression in tumour of CC mice. Results showed that treatment of Taxol could increase the inhibition rate of tumour growth, positive expression levels of Caspase-3, Bax and decrease positive expression levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2/Bax, expression levels of HGF, MACC1 and C-met proteins and MACC1 mRNA in tumour tissue of CC mice. It can be concluded that inhibitory activity of Taxol against tumour growth in CC mice is closely associated with its modulating positive expression of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3, expression of HGF, MACC1, Caspase-3 and C-met proteins and MACC1 mRNA in tumour of CC mice. In conclusion, HGF, MACC1 and C-met genes involve into malignant cervical tumors occurrence, development and prognosis, and might become potential molecular target therapy site of cervical cancer. Taxol intervention may serve as a multi-targeted CC therapeutic capable of inducing selective cancer cell death.

Objective: To assess the association of TNF-α and IL-1RA SNPs with the risk of silicosis in Chinese workers exposed to silica particles., Methods: Case-control study design was used to enroll 68 silicotic patients induced by silica particles and 68 healthy workers matched for length of silica particle exposure as controls. Both cases and controls were from the same company in southwest China, and each of them was requested to complete a questionnaire. Blood samples were drawn for genomic DNA extraction from each participant. The genotyping of TNF-α (-238 and -308) and IL-1RA (+2018) was performed using polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and SYBR green-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), respectively. Unconditional logistic regression model was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidential intervals (CI) for SNPs., Results: No significant differences were found between cases and controls in particles exposure length, body mass index (BMI), and status of smoking and alcohol consumption except for age (P=0.001) and blood type (P=0.042). The frequencies of TNF-α (-238) and IL-1RA (+2018) genotypes in cases were significantly different from those in controls, (P=0.001 and P=0.002, respectively), while a borderline significant difference was found in the frequencies of TNF-α (-308) between cases and controls (P=0.063). The variants of three SNPs increased the risk of silicosis in the Chinese workers exposed to silica particles. The adjusted ORs of TNF-α (-308), TNF-α (-238) and IL-1RA (+2018) were 2.8 (95% CI: 1.1-7.5), 20.9 (95% CI: 1.8-236.4) and 4.0 (95% CI: 1.6-10.1), respectively., Conclusion: It is suggested that cytokine polymorphisms of TNF-α (-238, -308) and IL-1RA (+2018) are associated with the risk of silicosis in the Chinese workers exposed to silica particles. Further independent studies on the interaction between SNPs and exposure to silica particles with a larger sample size are therefore warranted., (Copyright © 2012 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Placenta accreta is associated with significant maternal morbidity and is the leading indication for peripartum hysterectomy. In our institution, occlusion balloon catheters are commonly placed in bilateral common iliac arteries in order to reduce blood loss and facilitate surgery in patients with this obstetric complication. Few studies, however, have evaluated the effect of different anesthetic methods for cesarean hysterectomy on neonatal outcome. In this study, we compared Apgar scores among neonates born to mothers under general anesthesia with those who received regional anesthesia., Case Reports: A retrospective analysis of 19 women with placenta accreta/percreta who underwent cesarean hysterectomy in our hospital, revealed that the 1-minute Apgar score was <7 in 4/12 neonates born to women who underwent general anesthesia and in 1/7 neonates born to mothers who received regional anesthesia. The 5-minute Apgar score was >7 after immediate resuscitation in all neonates. There were no significant differences in demographic data, induction-to-delivery period, or Apgar scores between the general and the regional anesthesia groups., Conclusion: We acknowledge that the retrospective nature of this study makes it difficult to conclude whether the different anesthesia management strategies had an impact on Apgar score; however, according to our clinical observation, regional anesthesia may be a better alternative in the induction-to-delivery period, especially for women with accreta/percreta and in situations in which poor neonatal outcome is expected., (Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Siraitia grosvenorii was an important Chinese traditional medicine. The spectra of leaf of diploid, triploid and tetraploid Siraitia grosvenorii were determined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with OMNI sampler directly, fast and accurately. And based on the indices of wave number-absorbance from different bands and through comparison of differences of these infrared spectra the ploidy difference and genetic relationship of Siraitia grosvenorii were studied by the methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis. The results showed that for the ploidy, the position relationship of PCA three-dimensional-plot and the distance coefficient of clustering analysis plot between diploid and tetraploid were most remarkbly different, and the triploid was basically between diploid and tetraploid, so the ploidy was more different, the position relationship of PCA and the distance coefficient of clustering analysis were further, and the law was: 2 X < 3 X < 4 X. At the same time, the genetic relationship was further with each other while the position relationship of PCA and distance coefficient of clustering analysis was further too. And the genetic relationship of triploid was affected by the different male parent while their female parent was the same one. Therefore, using FTIR based on PCA and cluster analysis we could reveal the difference of ploidy and the genetic relationship between Siraitia grosvenorii to a certain extent. FTIR could be used for excellently polyploidy species breeding of Siraitia grosvenorii.

Cervicofacial subcutaneous emphysema is an unusual complication following tonsillectomy. We present a 37-year-old male patient who, after receiving tonsillectomy, developed cervicofacial subcutaneous emphysema immediately following endotracheal extubation. Valsalva maneuvers evidenced by coughing and straining of the patient, and positive pressure ventilation by mask to alleviate laryngospasm in an emergency were believed to induce and exacerbate the emphysema. Fortunately, the patient was re-intubated and protected from further complication of pneumomediastinum or pneumothorax. The emphysema resolved 7 days later with conservative treatment, including broad-spectrum antibiotics and abstention from enteral intake. This case serves as a reminder that an unusual and unexpected complication can occur in a routine procedure. Methods to prevent this complication are discussed.

Pulmonary edema is a rare complication in preeclampsia patients without pre-existing cardiac disease, tocolytic therapy, infection, or multiple gestations. We present a preeclamptic patient complicated by overwhelming pulmonary edema just prior to cesarean section and the massive edematous fluid production made it an exceptional challenge to the anesthesiologist on airway management. Emergent classic laryngeal mask airway (cLMA) placement was an effective alternative means for ventilation to provide temperate oxygenation in this case.

Objective: To study the clinicopathologic features, prognostic indicators and possible etiology of primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of bone (PNHLB)., Methods: The clinicopathologic features of 17 cases of PNHLB were reviewed. In-situ hybridization for Epstein-Barr virus early RNA (EBER) and polymerase chain reaction for bcl-2/JH gene rearrangement were performed using paraffin-embedded materials. The correlation between serum lactic dehydrogenase level, treatment options, international prognostic indicator (IPI) and immunophenotype with clinical outcome were analyzed., Results: The majority of the 17 cases studied was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (94.1%). The 5-year survival rate was 68.8%. Unfavorable prognostic factors included high-risk IPI (P = 0.031) and bcl-2 overexpression (P = 0.028). Treatment options and expression of CD10, MUM-1 or bcl-6 did not correlate with clinical outcome (P > 0.05). Only 1 patient was positive for EBER, as demonstrated by in-situ hybridization., Conclusions: The clinical outcome of PNHLB is relatively favorable. IPI and bcl-2 expression may serve as useful prognostic indicators. EBV is likely not related to pathogenesis of this type of lymphoma.

Regulation of neuronal NMDA receptors (NMDARs) by group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) is known to play a critical role in synaptic transmission. The molecular mechanisms underlying mGluR1-mediated potentiation of NMDARs are as yet unclear. The present study shows that in Xenopus oocytes expressing recombinant receptors, activation of mGluR1 potentiates NMDA channel activity by recruitment of new channels to the plasma membrane via regulated exocytosis. Activation of mGluR1alpha induced (1) an increase in channel number times channel open probability, with no change in mean open time, unitary conductance, or reversal potential; (2) an increase in charge transfer in the presence of NMDA and the open channel blocker MK-801, indicating an increased number of functional NMDARs in the cell membrane; and (3) increased NR1 surface expression, as indicated by cell surface Western blots and immunofluorescence. Botulinum neurotoxin A or expression of a dominant negative mutant of synaptosomal associated protein of 25 kDa molelcular mass (SNAP-25) greatly reduced mGluR1alpha-mediated potentiation, indicating that receptor trafficking occurs via a SNAP-25-mediated form of soluble N-ethylmaleimide sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor-dependent exocytosis. Because group I mGluRs are localized to the perisynaptic region in juxtaposition to synaptic NMDARs at glutamatergic synapses in the hippocampus, mGluR-mediated insertion of NMDARs may play a role in synaptic transmission and plasticity, including long-term potentiation.

Regulation of neuronal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) by protein kinases is critical in synaptic transmission. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying protein kinase C (PKC) potentiation of NMDARs are uncertain. Here we demonstrate that PKC increases NMDA channel opening rate and delivers new NMDA channels to the plasma membrane through regulated exocytosis. PKC induced a rapid delivery of functional NMDARs to the cell surface and increased surface NR1 immunofluorescence in Xenopus oocytes expressing NMDARs. PKC potentiation was inhibited by botulinum neurotoxin A and a dominant negative mutant of soluble NSF-associated protein (SNAP-25), suggesting that receptor trafficking occurs via SNARE-dependent exocytosis. In neurons, PKC induced a rapid delivery of functional NMDARs, assessed by electrophysiology, and an increase in NMDAR clusters on the surface of dendrites and dendritic spines, as indicated by immunofluorescence. Thus, PKC regulates NMDAR channel gating and trafficking in recombinant systems and in neurons, mechanisms that may be relevant to synaptic plasticity.

Polyamines such as spermine are thought to be endogenous regulators of NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate)-type glutamate receptors. Polyamine block of NMDA receptors was studied in excised outside-out patches from rat hippocampal neurons and Xenopus oocytes expressing recombinant receptors. Extracellular spermine and arcaine reduced NMDA single-channel conductance in a voltage-dependent manner, with partial relief of block evident at large inside negative membrane potentials. Reducing extracellular Na+ concentration increased the apparent affinities for spermine and arcaine, indicating strong interaction between spermine and permeant ions. Internal spermine also blocked NMDA channels in a voltage-dependent manner, with relief of block evident at large inside positive potentials. The Woodhull model of channel block by an impermeant ion adequately described the actions of external spermine from -60 to +60 mV, but failed for more negative potentials. Eyring rate theory for a permeable blocker with two barriers and one binding site adequately described the voltage-dependent block and relief from block by both external and internal spermine over the range of -120 to +60 mV. These findings indicate that polyamines block and permeate neuronal NMDA receptor channels from the extracellular and intracellular sides, although sensitivity to internal spermine is probably too low to be physiologically relevant.