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Objective To compare the characteristic of cognitive function, behavioral and psychological symptoms and different cerebral glucose metabolism between patients with progressive supranuclear palsy(PSP) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Methods Twenty PSP patientsand 65 bvFTD patients wererecruited afterfollow⁃upfor morethan 36 months. The Mini⁃Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL) and Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) were used to evaluate the degree of cognitive impairments, the abilities of daily living, and behavioral and psychological symptoms, respectively. Part of the atypical patients, including 18 bvFTD and 17 PSP, were examined by 18F⁃FDG PET to analyze the difference of cerebralglucose metabolism between 2 groups. Results The MMSE scores(P=0.046)and MoCA scores (P=0.009) were higherin PSP groupthan bvFTD group. A detailanalysisof MoCA sub⁃item showedthe scores of naming (P=0.038), language (P=0.006), abstraction (P=0.011), delayed recall (P=0.001) and orientation (P=0.004) were higher in PSP group than those in bvFTD group, while the score of executive function/visuospatial ability and attention had no difference between both 2 groups. And there was no significant difference in ADL score and NPI score between 2 groups. In respect of the 12 items of NPI, the 16 PSP patients (88.89%) and 63 bvFTD patients (96.92%) had one or more neuropsychiatric behavior symptoms, respectively. The incidence of agitation (P=0.015) and irritability (P=0.036) was significantly lower in PSP group than in bvFTD group, while the incidence of apathy (P=0.047) and depression (P= 0.024) was higher than in bvFTD group. The 18F⁃FDG PET imaging of all the patients in 2 groups presented decreased metabolism in frontal lobe, insular lobe and caudate nucleus, and PSP group also showed hypometabolism in thalamus and midbrain. Conclusions The PSP patients showed obvious cognitive impairment and psychological symptoms, combined with 18F⁃FDGPET imaging, which were helpful for distinguishing PSP from bvFTD. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2020.09.010

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) reside in the perivascular niche and modulate tissue/organ homeostasis; however, little is known about whether and how their localization and function are linked. Particularly, whether specific MSC subsets couple with and regulate specialized vessel subtypes is unclear. Here, we show that Gli1+ cells, which are a subpopulation of MSCs couple with and regulate a specialized form of vasculature. The specific capillaries, i.e., CD31hiEMCNhi type H vessels, are the preferable vascular subtype which Gli1+ cells are adjacent to in bone. Gli1+ cells are further identified to be phenotypically coupled with type H endothelium during bone growth and defect healing. Importantly, Gli1+ cell ablation inhibits type H vessel formation associated with suppressed bone generation and regeneration. Mechanistically, Gli1+ cells initiate angiogenesis through Gli and HIF-1α signaling. These findings suggest a morphological and functional framework of Gli1+ cells modulating coupled type H vasculature for tissue homeostasis and regenerative repair.

Background To summarize the clinical, genotype and olfactory characteristic in patients with 11 C⁃Pittsburgh compound B (11C⁃PIB)⁃positive cognitive impairment. Methods Twenty⁃seven patients with 11C ⁃ PIB ⁃ positive cognitive impairment, including 19 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 8 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), were recruited from January 2015 to February 2016 in Tianjin Huanhu Hospital. The clinical, genotype and olfactory profiles were retrospectively analyzed. Mini ⁃ Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Clock Drawing Test (CDT), Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), Activity of Daily Living Scale (ADL), and Hamilton Depression Scale ⁃ 21 (HAMD ⁃ 21) were used to evaluate cognitive function, behavioral and psychological symptoms, activities of daily living, and symptoms of depression, respectively. Polymerase chain reaction ⁃ restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR ⁃ RFLP) was used to determine ApoE genotype, and T ＆ T olfactometer was used to test threshold of detection and recognition. Results Compared with MCI patients, AD patients had lower MMSE score (P = 0.000), orientation to time (P = 0.031), short ⁃ term memory (P = 0.021), recall (P = 0.009), calculation (p = 0.000), repetition (P = 0.038), reading (P = 0.021), writing (P = 0.002), visual ⁃ spatial ability (P = 0.039), MoCA score (P = 0.000) and CDT score (P = 0.020), and higher ADL score (P = 0.000). But there was no significant difference in orientation to place, naming, comprehension, NPI score and HAMD⁃21 score between 2 groups (P > 0.05, for all). There were no statistical differences in incidence of olfactory dysfunction, threshold of detection and recognition between 2 groups (P > 0.05, for all). There were statistical differences in the incidence of olfactory disorders among different ApoE genotypes Fisher's exact probability : P = 0.000). To further evaluate the effect of ApoE ε 4 allele on the olfactory function, subjects were additionally dichotomized according to the presence or absence of at least one ApoEε4 allele. Comparing with the subjects without ApoE ε 4 allele, the olfactory function decreased significantly in those with ApoE ε 4 allele (0/11 vs. 12/13; Fisher's exact probability : P = 0.000). Conclusions The patients with 11 C⁃PIB ⁃ positive cognitive impairment (AD and MCI) had significant olfactory isturbance, which was related to ApoE ε 4 allele. The assessment of clinical, genotype and olfactory characteristic was helpful in early diagnosis of AD patients. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672⁃6731.2020.05.013

Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) remains a therapeutic challenge and improvements in chemotherapy are needed. 4‐Amino‐2‐trifluoromethyl‐phenyl retinate (ATPR), a novel all‐trans retinoic acid (ATRA) derivative designed and synthesized by our team, has been proven to show superior anticancer effect compared with ATRA on various cancers. However, its potential effect on AML remains largely unknown. Lactate dehydrogenase B (LDHB) is the key glycolytic enzyme that catalyses the interconversion between pyruvate and lactate. Currently, little is known about the role of LDHB in AML. In this study, we found that ATPR showed antileukaemic effects with RARα dependent in AML cells. LDHB was aberrantly overexpressed in human AML peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) and AML cell lines. A lentiviral vector expressing LDHB‐targeting shRNA was constructed to generate a stable AML cells with low expression of LDHB. The effect of LDHB knockdown on differentiation and cycle arrest of AML cells was assessed in vitro and vivo, including involvement of Raf/MEK/ERK signalling. Finally, these data suggested that ATPR showed antileukaemic effects by RARα/LDHB/ ERK‐glycolysis signalling axis. Further studies should focus on the underlying leukaemia‐promoting mechanisms and investigate LDHB as a therapeutic target.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the dental calcification stage (DCS) of the mandibular teeth and the cervical vertebral maturation stage (CVMS) in patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate (UCLP). One hundred sixty-two UCLP patients (100 males and 62 females) between 8–16 years old were included in this study. The DCS was estimated by the Demirjian method and was converted to the dental age (DA). The CVMS was evaluated by the Baccetti method. The DA of mandibular teeth on two sides of the cleft were analyzed using a t-test. Spearman correlation was used to study the association between CVMS and DCS. The correlation coefficient between the two sides of the cleft was then compared. The total DA was significantly smaller on the cleft side than on the noncleft side in males (p = 0.022). The Spearman rank correlation coefficient revealed a significant correlation between the DCS of each examined tooth and the CVMS (r = 0.627–0.793 in males and r = 0.806–0.899 in females). Additionally, the correlation of the two sides was not significantly different (p > 0.05). The DCS of the first premolar showed the strongest correlation with the CVMS. The results confirm the utility of the DCS on both sides of the mandible in male UCLP patients as a simple first-level diagnostic test to evaluate growth and development. The findings also indicate that both the DCS and the CVMS should be assessed if the maturity stage of a growing UCLP patient is relevant to clinical practice.

Processed walnuts including hot air-dried and roasted walnuts were prepared. Volatiles in raw and processed walnuts were analyzed using head-space solid phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Oxidative stability of hot air-dried walnuts in different antioxidants, with or without vacuum package was studied to find a proper package for oxidation stability of hot air-dried walnuts. The results showed that there were 14 volatiles in raw walnuts, 28 in hot air-dried walnuts and 38 in roasted walnuts. The changes of oil quality indices, total phenols, malondialdehyde and free radical scavenging activities during storage at 60 °C showed that the oil oxidation increased with storage time. The addition of antioxidants and vacuum package could slow down the oxidation. Vacuum aluminum foil package (14 × 20 cm) can delay the oil oxidation and extend the shelf life to ~ 230 days of hot air-dried walnuts at 20 °C. With added antioxidant this was extended to ~ 257 days. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s13197-020-04305-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

AIM: To analyze the impacts of the shape of uveal melanoma on retinal structure.METHODS: Histopathological sections and clinical data from patients with uveal melanoma were retrospectively observed and analyzed, and key indicators including the tumor's shape, size, height-to-base ratio, retinal thinning and retinal invasion were analyzed.RESULTS: The study included 102 patients(102 eyes)with a mean age of 45.6±12.4 years, with 76(75%)uveal melanomas showing the spindle cell type, 6(6%)showing the epitheloid cell type, 16(16%)showing the mixed cell type and 4(4%)showing predominantly other cell types. Differentiated by tumor locations: 3 cases of ciliary body melanoma(2.9%), 28 cases of ciliary body and choroid melanoma(27.5%), 71 cases of choroid melanoma(69.6%). Retinal thinning was detected in 43(43%)eyes and retinal invasion by the tumor cells in 86(84%)eyes. Maximal tumor height ranged between 1.2 and 15.6(mean: 8.3±3.6)mm, and mean maximal tumor base diameter was 17.3±6.5(range: 4.8-31.2)mm. Mean R-value as ratio of tumor peak height to maximal tumor base diameter was 0.53±0.32. Mean R-value was significantly higher in the group with retinal thinning(n=43)than in the group without retinal thinning(n=59)(0.69±0.31 vs 0.42±0.27; PR-value was slightly, however statistically not significantly higher in the group with retinal tumor invasion(n=86)than without retinal tumor invasion(n=16)(0.56±0.33 vs 0.41±0.25; P=0.09).CONCLUSION: A high R-value indicating a prominent tumor is associated with tissue thinning in the adjacent retina, and marginally significantly with intra-retinal tumor cell invasion. Shape of uveal melanomas's corss section is of importance for the secondary involvement of the adjacent retina.

LAG-3 is one of the common tumor immune checkpoints. LAG-3 can inhibit the activation and proliferation of T cells, and can also suppress immunity by regulating other immune-related cell functions. FGL1 was recently discovered to be the main ligand of immune checkpoint LAG-3 and play a critical role in the inhibition of T cells. However, the FGL1 expression in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and its clinical significance in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. Therefore, this bioinformatics analysis was performed to assess the expression of FGL1 in various tumors and its association with immune infiltration. After that, CTCs from 109 HCC patients were detected and the immunofluorescence staining was performed (CD45, EpCAM, CK8/18/19, Vimentin, Twist, DAPI and FGL1). Then, we investigated FGL1 expression and EMT of CTCs and analyzed its relationship with patient survival and clinical relevance. Bioinformatic results showed that FGL1 expression was abnormal in various tumor and it was correlated with the infiltration level of several immune cells. FGL1 expression was detected in CTCs of 40 patients (36.7%). The proportion of advanced TNM stage (P

In view of the fact that the existing methods are easy to be affected by nonlinear factors in the incident process of the light source, resulting in the received shock wave inconsistent with the reality and large calculation error, a two-color laser field imaging waveform simulation and enhancement method based on the Internet of things is proposed. According to the automatic transformation characteristics of augmented reality technology, the waveform simulation control process of two-color laser field imaging is constructed. The Gaussian distribution characteristics are used to analyze the target, the optical grid and double oscillation device are used to control the results, the spectrum Fourier transform is used to adjust the phase of the waveform, and finally the simulated modulated laser waveform is output. Through the comparison of laser waveform spectrum and peak value, the results show that this method is closest to the actual laser waveform, saves calculation time, and has good practical application effect.

Innervation and extracellular vesicle secretion co-exist in the local tissue microenvironment for message transfer, but whether they are interconnected to regulate organ homeostasis remains unknown. Sympatho-adrenergic activation is implicated in stress-induced depression and leads to bone loss, but the mechanisms and therapeutics are incompletely elucidated. Here, it is revealed that sympathetic neurostress through the β

Patients with persistent positive hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), even with a low HBV-DNA load, have a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than those without HBV infection. Given that tumor stemness has a critical role in the occurrence and maintenance of neoplasms, this study aimed to explore whether HBsAg affects biological function and stemness of HCC by regulating microRNA, and to explore underlying mechanisms.We screened out miR-203a, the most significant down-regulated microRNA in the microarray analysis of HBsAg-positive samples and focused on that miRNA in the ensuing study.MiR-203a was significantly down-regulated in HBsAg-positive HCC with the sharpest decrease shown in microarray analysis. The negative correlation between miR-203a and HBsAg expression was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR after stimulation or overexpression/knockdown of HBsAg in cells. We demonstrated the function of miR-203a in inhibiting HCC cell proliferation, migration, clonogenic capacity, and tumor developmentHBsAg may promote the development of HCC and tumor stemness by inhibiting miR-203a, resulting in poor prognosis. miR-203a may serve as a crucial treatment target in HBsAg-positive HCC. More explicit mechanistic studies and animal experiments need to be conducted as a next step.

Deep metric learning methods aim to transform data features from original scattered space to a discriminative subspace in an end-to-end way, and they have shown promising results on wide applications. Triplet loss functions are the most popular models to tackle deep metric learning problem as they simultaneously enhance separability between different classes and compactness of each class in the embedded subspace. Therefore, effective triplets selection is crucial to the classification performance. However, most of these methods only focus on mining hard negative pairs, which refer to the nearest sample pairs of different classes, while fail to take subtle cluster structure of each class into consideration. To take such information into the metric learning model, a novel scheme based on subtype fuzzy clustering is proposed in this paper. By defining a new clustering degree, we conduct fuzzy clustering for each class to mine classification-oriented subtype structure. The new clustering degree is inversely proportional to the pairwise distance, thus, we can choose the positive pairs of the highest clustering degrees directly based on the farthest distances within each class. This new sampling approach avoids off-line clustering step, for which the network weights update procedure has to be temporarily paused. In other words, our method builds positive pairs without explicit clustering degree computation or off-line clustering. Our method inputs the selected positive pairs and negative pairs into the standard triplet loss to achieve network feature learning. Experimental results show competitive metric learning performance on three benchmark datasets.

PURPOSE To assess the potential role of amphiregulin as messenger molecule in ocular axial elongation. METHODS The experimental study included guinea pigs (total n = 78) (age: 3-4 weeks) which underwent bilateral lens-induced myopization and received 15 days later three intraocular injections in weekly intervals of amphiregulin antibody (doses:5 μg, 10 μg, 20 μg) into their right eyes, and three phosphate-buffered saline injections into their left eyes; and guinea pigs without lens-induced myopization and which received three unilateral intraocular injections of amphiregulin antibody (dose: 20 μg) or amphiregulin (doses: 1 ng; 10 ng; 20 ng) into their right eyes, and three phosphate-buffered saline injections into their left eyes. Seven days later, the animals were sacrificed. Intravitally, we performed biometry, and histology and immunohistochemistry post-mortem. RESULTS In animals with bilateral lens-induced myopization, the right eyes receiving amphiregulin antibody showed reduced axial elongation in a dose-dependent manner (dose: 5 μg: side difference: 0.14 ± 0.05 mm;10 μg: 0.22 ± 0.06 mm; 20 μg: 0.32 ± 0.06 mm; p

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance and lack of alternative drugs have posed an increasing threat to public health. Here, we prepared β-Ga2O3:Cr3+ nanoparticles modified with ICAM1-antibody-conjugated TPGS (I-TPGS/Ga2O3) as a novel antibiotic carrier for the treatment of drug-resistant infections. Methods: I-TPGS/Ga2O3 were firstly characterized by measuring particle size, morphology, crystal structure, drug loading capacity, and in vitro drug release behaviors. The in vitro antibacterial activities of I-TPGS/Ga2O3/TIG were evaluated using standard and drug-resistant bacteria. The internalization of I-TPGS/Ga2O3 was observed by fluorescence confocal imaging, and the expression levels of the efflux pump genes of TRKP were analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. In vitro cellular uptake and in vivo biodistribution study were performed to investigate the targeting specificity of I-TPGS/Ga2O3 using HUEVC and acute pneumonia mice, respectively. The in vivo anti-infective efficacy and biosafety of I-TPGS/Ga2O3/TIG were finally evaluated using acute pneumonia mice. Results: It was found that TPGS could down-regulate the over-expression of the efflux pump genes, thus decreasing the efflux pump activity of bacteria. I-TPGS/Ga2O3 with small particle size and uniform distribution facilitated their internalization in bacteria, and the TPGS modification resulted in a significant reduction in the efflux of loaded antibiotics. These properties rendered the encapsulated tigecycline to exert a stronger antibacterial activity both in vitro and in vivo. Additionally, targeted delivery of I-TPGS/Ga2O3 mediated by ICAM1 antibodies contributed to a safe and effective therapy. Conclusion: It is of great value to apply I-TPGS/Ga2O3 as a novel and effective antibiotic delivery system for the treatment of drug-resistant infections.

In this work, we have searched for quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the 15 GHz light curve of the FSRQ PKS J0805--0111 monitored by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) 40 m telescope during the period from 2008 January 9 to 2019 May 9, using the weighted wavelet Z-transform (WWZ) and the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram (LSP) techniques. This is the first time to search for a periodic radio signal in the FSRQ PKS J0805–0111 by these two methods. Both methods consistently reveal a repeating signal with a periodicity of 3.38 ± 0.8 yr (>99.7% confidence level). In order to determine the significance of the periods, the false alarm probability method was applied, and a large number of Monte Carlo simulations were performed. As possible explanations, we discuss a number of scenarios including the thermal instability of thin disks scenario, the spiral jet scenario and the binary supermassive black hole scenario. We expect that the binary black hole scenario, where the QPO is caused by the precession of binary black holes, is the most likely explanation. FSRQ PKS J0805-0111 thus could be a good binary black hole candidate. In the binary black hole scenario, the distance between the primary black hole and the secondary black hole is about 1.71 × 1016 cm.

Background The modified polycystic ovary syndrome health-related quality-of-life questionnaire (MPCOSQ) is a 30-item instrument measuring quality-of-life in English-speaking patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). We aimed to: 1) cross-culturally adapt the MPCOSQ into Chinese, and 2) assess the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the MPCOSQ (Chi-MPCOSQ). Methods The MPCOSQ was translated using the forward-backward method, and its validity and reliability were assessed among 283 Chinese patients with PCOS. Internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability were assessed by Cronbach’s α and intra-correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. Construct validity was tested through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Discriminant validity was assessed by Mann-Whitney U test to compare the scores on the Chi-MPCOSQ between 283 women with PCOS and 93 women without PCOS. Results Exploratory factor analysis generated a 7-factor structure of the 30-item version of the Chi-MPCOSQ, which accounted for 77% of the overall variance. The Chi-MPCOSQ had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.88) and good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.89). Compared to PCOS patients, women without PCOS had consistently lower scores for every dimension of the Chi-MPCOSQ, demonstrating its good discriminant validity. Conclusion The Chi-MPCOSQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring quality-of-life among Chinese women with PCOS.

Summary Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) reside in the perivascular niche and modulate tissue/organ homeostasis; however, little is known about whether and how their localization and function are linked. Particularly, whether specific MSC subsets couple with and regulate specialized vessel subtypes is unclear. Here, we show that Gli1+ cells, which are a subpopulation of MSCs couple with and regulate a specialized form of vasculature. The specific capillaries, i.e., CD31hiEMCNhi type H vessels, are the preferable vascular subtype which Gli1+ cells are adjacent to in bone. Gli1+ cells are further identified to be phenotypically coupled with type H endothelium during bone growth and defect healing. Importantly, Gli1+ cell ablation inhibits type H vessel formation associated with suppressed bone generation and regeneration. Mechanistically, Gli1+ cells initiate angiogenesis through Gli and HIF-1α signaling. These findings suggest a morphological and functional framework of Gli1+ cells modulating coupled type H vasculature for tissue homeostasis and regenerative repair., Highlights • Gli1+ cells regulate the neighbored specialized vessels in bone • Upon bone defect Gli1+ cells emerge and induce type H vessel formation for healing • Gli1+ cell ablation reduces type H vessels associated with suppressed osteogenesis • Gli and HIF-1α signaling mediate Gli1+ cell regulation of endothelial angiogenesis, In this article, Jin and colleagues show that skeletal Gli1+ cells represent a subpopulation of MSCs characterized by perivascular location, which spatially and phenotypically couple with a neighbored specialized vessel subtype, i.e., type H vessels. Functionally, Gli1+ cell-mediated regulation of type H vessel formation is indispensable for bone growth and regeneration.

Image set recognition has been widely applied in many practical problems like real-time video retrieval and image caption tasks. Due to its superior performance, it has grown into a significant topic in recent years. However, images with complicated variations, e.g., postures and human ages, are difficult to address, as these variations are continuous and gradual with respect to image appearance. Consequently, the crucial point of image set recognition is to mine the intrinsic connection or structural information from the image batches with variations. In this work, a Discriminant Residual Analysis (DRA) method is proposed to improve the classification performance by discovering discriminant features in related and unrelated groups. Specifically, DRA attempts to obtain a powerful projection which casts the residual representations into a discriminant subspace. Such a projection subspace is expected to magnify the useful information of the input space as much as possible, then the relation between the training set and the test set described by the given metric or distance will be more precise in the discriminant subspace. We also propose a nonfeasance strategy by defining another approach to construct the unrelated groups, which help to reduce furthermore the cost of sampling errors. Two regularization approaches are used to deal with the probable small sample size problem. Extensive experiments are conducted on benchmark databases, and the results show superiority and efficiency of the new methods.

To assess the dimensions of Brucke’s muscle, as the longitudinal portion, and of Muller’s muscle and Iwanoff’s muscle combined as circular and radial/reticular portions of the ciliary muscle. The histomorphometric study included human globes that had been enucleated due to an ocular tumor or end-stage glaucoma. After immunohistochemical staining of the ciliary muscles, the histology slides were examined under a light microscope applying a digitized image analysis system. The study included 55 globes [axial length 25.6 ± 3.0 mm (range 21.0 mm–36.0 mm)] from 55 patients [mean age, 33.7 ± 18.3 years (range:1–66 years)]. Length of Brucke’s muscle (mean 3.40 ± 0.76 mm) increased with longer axial length (P

Purpose To compare the benefits and harms of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and hepatic resection (HR) and to test the consistency of currently available evidence. Materials and Methods PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the effects of HR and RFA for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer very early or early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The primary outcome was overall survival, and secondary outcomes were recurrence rate, complication rate, and hospitalization duration. A random- or fixed-effects model according to the level of heterogeneity was applied. The meta-analysis was performed by using software, and trial sequential analysis (TSA) was performed. Results Five trials examining 742 patients were included in this study (sizes of trials: 161, 230, 168, 120, and 63 patients). The meta-analysis showed that RFA and HR had similar overall survival at 1 year (relative risk [RR], 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.36, 5.33; P = .63) and 3 years (RR, 1.40; 95% CI: 0.75, 2.62; P = .29), whereas RFA resulted in decreased overall survival compared with HR at 5 years (RR: 1.91; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.79; P = .001). The TSA showed that more trials were needed to control random errors. The incidence of overall recurrence was markedly higher and the hospitalization duration was significantly shorter in the RFA group than in the HR group, which was confirmed by TSA. Complications may have been less frequent in the RFA group, but TSA showed that additional trials were necessary to confirm this conclusion. Conclusion The indication for RFA as a primary treatment for patients who are eligible for HR with early stage HCC is unclear, and additional well-designed RCTs are needed. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Background The main causes of intracerebral hemorrhage differ between young adults and older adults. Data regarding potential targets for early intervention in young adult patients with intracerebral hemorrhage are lacking. Methods We retrospectively analysed data for 196 young adult patients with intracerebral hemorrhage who were admitted to Tianjin Huanhu Hospital and died within 30 days of admission between June 2005 and June 2015. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to calculate survival rate, and the log-rank test was used to determine survival rate significance. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used for univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Univariate analysis revealed a statistically significant association of age, disturbance of consciousness, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and Glasgow Coma Scale scores, seizure occurrence, infratentorial hemorrhage, intraventricular extension, hernia, glucose level, white blood cell count, albumin level, creatinine level, uric acid level, and surgical treatment with early mortality (P Conclusions Our results suggest that young adult patients who exhibit infratentorial hemorrhage and intraventricular extension in the early stages of intracerebral hemorrhage onset exhibit an increased risk of early mortality.

Glioma, with varying malignancy grades and histological subtypes, is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are non-protein-coding transcripts and have been proven to play an important role in tumorigenesis. Our study aims to elucidate the combined effect of lncRNA maternally expressed gene 3 (MEG3) and microRNA-19a (miR-19a) in human glioma U87 and U251 cell lines. Real-time PCR revealed that MEG3 was downregulated and miR-19a was upregulated in malignant glioma tissues and cell lines. Bioinformatics analyses (TargetScan, miRanda, and starBase V2.0) showed that phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a target of miR-19a with complementary binding sites in the 3′-UTR. As expected, luciferase results verified the putative target site and also revealed the complementary binding between miR-19a and MEG3. miR-19a represses the expression of PTEN and promotes glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. However, MEG3 could directly bind to miR-19a and effectively act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-19a to suppress tumorigenesis. Our study is the first to demonstrate that lncRNA MEG3 suppresses glioma cell proliferation, migration, and invasion by acting as a ceRNA of miR-19a, which provides a novel insight about the pathogenesis of glioma.

Clinical observations have shown that the boundary of tumor ablation is often less than safe border and that the use of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may probably accelerate its recurrence and metastasis. RFA can cause the formation of a transition zone between normal liver tissues and necrotic coagulation, where blood stagnation and thrombosis expose residual cancer cells to a hypoxic microenvironment. As the blocked vessels are slowly reperfused, the oxygen supply is gradually restored. Here, HCC cells underwent heat treatment and were cultured under hypoxic conditions to mimic the aforementioned situation, and morphological changes were observed in the surviving cells. Compared with their parental cells, hypoxic HCC cells showed changes that include enhanced invasive, metastatic, and chemoresistant abilities as well as mesenchymal characteristics. There was also a higher percentage of stem-like cells. However, either improving the hypoxic microenvironment or silencing hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α signaling significantly reduced the invasive, metastatic, and chemoresistant potential and reversed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition to varying degrees. Together, these results indicated that a sustained hypoxic microenvironment after RFA may exert a negative impact on the prognosis of HCC patients, and minimizing exposure to a hypoxic microenvironment and targeting HIF-1α signaling might be effective strategies for patients who experience insufficient RFA therapy.

Objective To study the clinical manifestations, imaging and pathological features, treatment and prognosis of 5 patients diagnosed as demyelinating pseudotumor (DPT) by pathology. Methods The data of clinical features, radiological and histological examination of 5 patients with DPT were retrospectively analyzed, and relevant literatures were reviewed. Results All patients were male. Main symptoms included limb weakness in 3 cases, dizziness and impaired memory in 2 cases, seizures in one case. Head MRI examination revealed space-occupying lesions with hypointense signal on T1WI, hyperintense signal on T2WI and FLAIR. Enhanced MRI showed obvious enhancement of lesions (open-ring enhancement in 3 cases). The lesion were totally (4 cases) or partially (one case) removed, and postoperative histological examination showed inflammatory demyelination. One case died after twice relapse, and others had favorable prognosis. Conclusions DPT is an inflammatory demyelination with mass effect. It should be differentiated from central nervous system tumors in order to avoid unnecessary resection or radiotherapy. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2017.03.010

To investigate the symmetry of nasal maxillary complex in the three-dimensional directions of patients with unilateral complete cleft lip and palate(UCLP) at the stage of mixed dentition.Craniofacial cone-beam CT(CBCT) images of 20 UCLP patients at the stage of mixed dentition were selected. Three-dimensional reconstruction of bone tissue was carried out by Mimics software, nasal root point and 32 markers with the same name of the healthy side and the cleft side of the nasal maxillary complex were traced, three-dimensional reference planes were set up, then the distances between the points to the three-dimensional planes were measured respectively. SPSS 22.0 software package was used to analyze the data.In the horizontal direction, compared with the non-cleft side, the width of the cleft side of the maxilla at INM and SPC was smaller, the width of maxilla at LPA and SPr was larger, the differences were statistically significant (P0.05). In the sagittal direction, compared with the non-cleft side, the depth of LPA, Maz and SPr at the cleft side was larger, the depth of SPM and SPC was smaller, the differences were statistically significant (P0.05).In the vertical direction, the positions of LPA, INM and Maz at the cleft side was lower than the non-cleft side, SPC and SPr were higher, the differences were statistically significant(P0.05). The remaining points had no significant difference (P0.05).The nasal maxillary complex of UCLP patients at the stage of mixed dentition is asymmetric in three directions. The asymmetric locations were mainly located in the nasal cavity and alveolar bone. No obvious asymmetry is found in the orbital region and the maxillary region far from the cleft.

In this paper, the stability of networked control systems with channel noise, bandwidth, packet dropouts and delay constraints are studied. The stability of networked control system is analyzed by frequency domain method. The performance of a communication network is reflected by time delay, noise, packet dropouts and network bandwidth. By frequency domain analysis and spectrum decomposition technique, the minimum SNR expression of stable networked control systems is obtained. In addition, the minimum value of system stability is determined by the time delay, packet dropouts, bandwidth of the communication network, and the locations of unstable poles and non-minimum phase zeros of the given model. The final results show the relationship between the stability of the networked control systems, the structural characteristics of the given model (such as the position of non-minimum phase zero and unstable poles) and the parameters of the communication network (delay, packet dropouts and bandwidth). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed method is illustrated by a numerical example.

To assess anatomical changes in eyes with progressive myopia, we morphometrically examined the eyes of guinea pigs with lens-induced axial elongation. Starting at an age of 3–4 weeks, guinea pigs in the experimental group (n = 20 animals) developed unilateral lens-induced axial elongation by wearing goggles for 5 weeks compared to a control group of 20 animals without intervention (axial length:8.91 ± 0.08 mm versus 8.74 ± 0.07 mm; P P = 0.41), equator (P = 0.41), midpoint between equator and posterior pole (MBEPP) (P = 0.13) or posterior pole (P = 0.89). Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cell density decreased with longer axial length at the MBEPP (P = 0.04; regression coefficient beta = −0.33) and posterior pole (P = 0.01; beta = −0.40). Additionally, the thickness of the retina and sclera decreased with longer axial length at the MBEPP (P = 0.01; beta = −0.42 and P P P P

The CAN bus is widely used in the industrial field and its terminal resistance has an important influence on the bus signal. In this paper, a particle swarm optimization based on the joint simulation of Saber and MATLAB is proposed to address this problem. First, we transform the terminal resistor matching problem into a minimisation multi-objective optimization problem and formulate the objective function by considering three objectives: bus voltage, rise time and overshoot. Then, we establish a network topology model of CAN bus in Saber, and combine saber and MATLAB. Finally, virtual simulation and physical verification are conducted and the results demonstrate that the optimized terminating resistor has a significant improvement on the signal quality of the bus, and algorithm has engineering applicability.

Background/Aims: An enriched environment (EE) ameliorates learning and memory impairments induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) signaling pathway exerts both beneficial and deleterious effects on the nervous system during the progression of ischemia. Methods: The present study investigated whether p38 MAPK participates in the process by which EE exposure ameliorates the cognitive deficits induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion. Results: EE exposure significantly enhanced the cognitive performance of vascular dementia (VD) model rats, and p38 MAPK protein decreased in parallel with cognitive improvements. Inhibition of p38 MAPK function by its selective inhibitor SB203580 improved the cognition index of VD rats and upregulated p38 MAPK expression with p38 MAPK antisense oligodeoxynucleotides. This impaired cognition in VD rats could not be rescued by EE exposure. Conclusion: p38 MAPK participates in the process by which EE exposure ameliorates cognitive deficits induced by chronic cerebral hypoperfusion.

Objective To summarize the clinical manifestations, laboratory and MRI examinations, treatment and prognosis of 4 patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Methods The clinical data of 4 patients with HIV-associated PML was retrospectively analyzed. Results All of the 4 cases presented with progressive neurological function deficit and limb weakness. One case was accompanied by dysphasia, and one by dizziness. These symptoms got worsened as time went on. Cranial MRI revealed demyelination, hypointense signal in T1WI, hyperintense signal in T2WI and FLAIR. DWI revealed central hypointense and peripheral hyperintense signal. Enhanced scan revealed no contrast enhancement. Two cases were treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and the longest survival was 20 months. Patients who did not take standard anti-HIV therapies had a poor long-term prognosis. Conclusions Patients with HIV-associated PML mainly present progressively worsened neurological function deficit. The imaging manifestations are typical. Early and timely HAART may play a role in the treatment. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2016.08.005

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the leading causes of malignancy-related death in China. Its therapy in clinics is a big challenge. Ginsenoside Rh2 is one of the most notable cancer-preventing components from red ginseng and it has been reported that ginsenoside Rh2 exhibited potent cytotoxicity against human hepatoma cells. Rh2 exists as two different stereoisomeric forms, (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2. Previous reports showed that the Rh2 epimers demonstrated different pharmacological activities and only (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 showed potent proliferation inhibition on cancer cells in vitro. However, the in vivo anti-hepatoma activity of (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 has not been reported yet. This work assessed and compared the anti-hepatoma activities of (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2 using H22 a hepatoma-bearing mouse model in vivo. In addition, hematoxylin and eosin staining, the deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay, and the semiquantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction method were used to further study the apoptosis of the tumors. The results showed that both (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2 suppressed the growth of H22 transplanted tumors in vivo, and the highest inhibition rate could be up to 42.2 and 46.8 %, respectively (p 0.05). Further, hematoxylin/eosin staining and the deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay indicated that both (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 could induce H22 hepatoma tumor cell apoptosis, with apoptosis indexes of 3.87 %, and 3.80 %, respectively (p 0.05). Moreover, this effect was accompanied by downregulating the level of Bcl-2 mRNA. In conclusion, both (20S)-ginsenoside Rh2 and (20R)-ginsenoside Rh2 can suppress the growth of H22 hepatomas without causing severe side effects, and this effect is associated with the induction of apoptosis.

Purpose Adenomas of the ciliary pigment epithelium (CPE) are rare benign tumours which have mainly to be differentiated from malignant ciliary body melanomas. Here we report on a consecutive series of patients with CPE adenomas and describe their characteristics. Methods The retrospective hospital-based case series study included all patients who were consecutively operated for CPE adenomas. Results Of the 110 patients treated for ciliary body tumours, five patients (4.5%) had a CPE adenoma. Mean age was 59.0 ± 9.9 years (range: 46–72 years). Mean tumour apical thickness was 6.6 ± 1.7 mm. Tumour colour was mostly homogenously brown to black, and the tumour surface was smooth. The tumour masses pushed the iris tissue forward without infiltrating iris or anterior chamber angle. Sonography revealed an irregular echogram with sharp lesion borders and signs of blood flow in Color Doppler flow imaging. Ultrasonographic biomicroscopy demonstrated medium-low internal reflectivity and acoustic attenuation. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the tumours as compared to brain were hyperintense on T1-weighted images and hypointense on T2-weighted images. Tumour tissue consisted of cords and nests of pigment epithelium cells separated by septa of vascularized fibrous connective tissue, leading to a pseudo-glandular appearance. The melanin granules in the cytoplasm were large and mostly spherical in shape. In four patients, the tumours were hyperpigmented. Tumour cells were large with round or oval nuclei and clearly detectable nucleoli. Conclusions These clinical characteristics of CPE adenomas, such as homogenous dark brown colour, smooth surface, iris dislocation and anterior chamber angle narrowing but no iris infiltration, segmental cataract, pigment dispersion, and, as compared to brain tissue, hypointensity and, as compared to extraocular muscles or lacrimal gland, hyperintensity on T2-weighted MRI images, may be helpful for the differentiation from ciliary body malignant melanomas.

Ferroptosis, a newly discovered form of non-apoptotic cell death, is induced by an excessive degree of iron-dependent lipid peroxide. ATPR, a novel all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) derivative, has been extensively developed to show superior anticancer effect than ATRA in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). However, whether ferroptosis exists during ATPR treatment of AML remains unclear. Herein, we found that ferroptosis occurred in an AML xenograft mouse model of ATPR treatment. In vitro, ATPR was verified to induce ferroptosis in a dose-dependent manner by proferroptotic protein marker, lipid peroxidation, and lipid ROS, which could be significantly reversed by ferrostatin-1. Using lysosomal inhibitor chloroquine and iron chelator desferrioxamine, we further revealed that ATPR-induced ferroptosis was regulated by autophagy via iron homeostasis, especially Nrf2. Furthermore, targeting ferroptosis contributes to ATPR-induced AML differentiation. In conclusion, these results indicated that ferroptosis play an important role in ATPR-induced differentiation, and suggested that ATPR would provide a potential therapeutic value for AML treatment.

Learning domain adaptive features aims to enhance the classification performance of the target domain by exploring the discriminant information from an auxiliary source set. Let ${X}$ denote the feature and ${Y}$ as the label. The most typical problem to be addressed is that ${P} _{\textit {XY}}$ has a so large variation between different domains that classification in the target domain is difficult. In this paper, we study the generalized conditional domain adaptation (DA) problem, in which both ${P} _{Y}$ and ${P} _{X|Y}$ change across domains, in a causal perspective. We propose transforming the class conditional probability matching to the marginal probability matching problem, under a proper assumption. We build an intermediate domain by employing a regression model. In order to enforce the most relevant data to reconstruct the intermediate representations, a low-rank constraint is placed on the regression model for regularization. The low-rank constraint underlines a global algebraic structure between different domains, and stresses the group compactness in representing the samples. The new model is considered under the discriminant subspace framework, which is favorable in simultaneously extracting the classification information from the source domain and adaptation information across domains. The model can be solved by an alternative optimization manner of quadratic programming and the alternative Lagrange multiplier method. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to exploit low-rank representation, from the source domain to the intermediate domain, to learn the domain adaptive features. Comprehensive experimental results validate that the proposed method provides better classification accuracies with DA, compared with well-established baselines.

Salidroside administration improves memory in different models of learning. However, its influence on models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has not been widely studied. In the present study, the therapeutic effect of salidroside was investigated in an animal model of AD. APPswe/PS1ΔE9 mouse (n=20) were randomly divided into either the AD model group or the salidroside + AD model group (n=10 in each group), and C57BL/6J mouse (n=20) of identical age and genetic background were randomly divided into either the normal control (NC) group or the salidroside + NC group (n=10 in each group). The Morris water maze behavioral test was applied to all mice in order to investigate the effects of salidroside administration on learning and memory functions. The concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH) and nitrate in the hippocampus of the mice were determined, and hippocampal superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was also determined. In addition, terminal deoxynucleotidyl‑transferase‑mediated dUTP nick end labeling was used to investigate the rate of neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampus. Furthermore, the concentrations of interleukin‑6 (IL‑6) and tumor necrosis factor‑α (TNF‑α) were tested for in the brain tissues of AD mice. Learning and memory functions in AD mice were revealed to improve following administration of salidroside. Furthermore, salidroside administration was revealed to decrease the concentrations of MDA and nitrate in the hippocampus, decrease the apoptotic rate of hippocampal neurons, and increase the activity of SOD and the concentration of GSH in hippocampal tissue. In addition, it was demonstrated that salidroside administration suppressed the expression levels of IL‑6 and TNF‑α. In conclusion, this study revealed that the administration of salidroside could attenuate the effects of AD‑associated memory and learning impairment in mice. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the effects of salidroside administration on AD mice were, at least partially, via inhibition of brain oxidative/nitrosative damage, suppression of both IL‑6 and TNF‑α expression levels, and suppression of the hippocampal neuronal apoptotic rate.

Prostate cancer presents high occurrence worldwide. Medicinal plants are a major source of novel and potentially therapeutic molecules; therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible anti-prostate cancer activity of afzelin, a flavonol glycoside that was previously isolated from Nymphaea odorata. The effect of afzelin on the proliferation of androgen-sensitive LNCaP and androgen-independent PC-3 cells was evaluated by performing a water soluble tetrazolium salt-1 assay. In addition, the effect of afzelin on the cell cycle of the LNCaP and PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines was evaluated. Western blot analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of afzelin on the kinases responsible for the regulation of actin organization. Afzelin was identified to inhibit the proliferation of LNCaP and PC3 cells, and block the cell cycle in the G0 phase. The anticancer activity of afzelin in these cells was determined to be due to inhibition of LIM domain kinase 1 expression. Thus, the in vitro efficacy of afzelin against prostate cancer is promising; however, additional studies on different animal models are required to substantiate its anticancer potential.

Thrombolytic treatment with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is an effective treatment for acute ischemic stroke. However, its effectiveness and risks in patients with hypothyroidism have not been reported. Here, we report the case of hemorrhagic transformation after intravenous rtPA thrombolysis treatment in a patient with acute ischemic stroke and hypothyroidism. An apparent edema formed around the hematoma and progressively worsened. He also developed lung infection, electrolyte imbalance, and abnormal liver and kidney functions, and eventually died within 1 month of symptom onset. Thus, our observations suggest that caution should be exercised for the administration of intravenous rtPA thrombolysis to patients with hypothyroidism.

Acquired hepatocerebral degeneration (AHD) is a rare chronic encephalopathy, and its etiology is usually correlated with cirrhosis and portal hypertension. In this study, clinical and radiological data of 326 patients with cirrhosis of the liver were retrospectively analyzed, among whom 11 patients were diagnosed as AHD, with the incidence of 3.37% . The most common neurological symptoms were static tremor (9 cases) and ataxia (7 cases). Cerebral MRI showed T1WI hyperintensity in bilateral globus pallidus of all 11 patients. The lesions were also involved in bilateral thalamus (one case), tegment of midbrain (one case), bilateral posterior crus of internal capsule (one case) and bilateral putamen (one case). Anti-Parkinson's disease drugs, such as levodopa and benserazide, had not presented satisfactory clinical effect. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.02.014

To study the effect of enamel matrix derivative(EMD) on root repair and tooth movement relapse after orthodontic tooth movement in rats.Twenty 10-weeks old male rats were divided into experimental and control group randomly (n=10). 100 g force was exerted to the left maxillary first molars for 14 days and then removed. EMD was injected in rats in the experimental group since appliance was removed. The control group received no injection. Micro-CT was taken to analyze the changes of root resorption volume and distance of tooth movement. The differences were analyzed by SPSS19.0 software package.Fourteen days after device removal, the repair volume of root resorption lacunae in the experimental group and the control group were (0.0295±0.0052)×10EMD can enhance the effect of root repair and decrease early relapse after orthodontic tooth movement in a certain extent.

Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is regarded as a leading cause of acute kidney failure and renal dysfunction. Previous studies show that kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists can attenuate IRI in cardiomycytes and neuronal cells. In this study we explored the effects of a KOR agonist on renal IRI and the underlying mechanisms in vivo and in vitro. An IRI model was established in SD rats, which were intravenously pretreated with a KOR agonist U50448H (1 mg/kg), a KOR antagonist Nor-BNI (2 mg/kg) followed by U50448H (1 mg/kg), or the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin (1.4 mg/kg) followed by U50448H (1 mg/kg). U50448H pretreatment significantly decreased the serum levels of creatinine (Cr) and BUN, the renal tubular injury scores and the apoptotic index (AI) in IRI model rats. Furthermore, U50448H significantly increased SOD activity and NO levels, and reduced the MDA levels in the kidney tissues of IRI model rats. Moreover, U50448H significantly increased the phosphorylation of Akt, eNOS and PI3K in the kidney tissues of IRI model rats. All the beneficial effects of U50448H were blocked by Nor-BNI or wortmannin pre-administered. Similar results were observed in vitro in renal tubular epithelial NRK-52E cells subjected to a hypoxia-reoxygenation (HR) procedure. Our results demonstrate that the KOR agonist U50448H protects against renal IRI via activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

Amylose is a promising nanocarrier for gene delivery in terms of its good biocompatibility and high transfection efficiency. Small interfering RNA against survivin (survivin-siRNA) can cause tumor apoptosis by silencing a hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-specific gene at the messenger RNA level. In this study, we developed a new class of folate-functionalized, superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-loaded cationic amylose nanoparticles to deliver survivin-siRNA to HCC cells. The cellular uptake of nanocomplexes, cytotoxicity, cell apoptosis, and gene suppression mediated by siRNA-complexed nanoparticles were tested. The results demonstrated that folate-functionalized, SPIO-loaded cationic amylose nanoparticles can mediate a specific and safe cellular uptake of survivin-siRNA with high transfection efficiency, resulting in a robust survivin gene downregulation in HCC cells. The biocompatible complex of cationic amylose could be used as an efficient, rapid, and safe gene delivery vector. Upon SPIO loading, it holds a great promise as a theranostic carrier for gene therapy of HCC.

Purpose To assess a potential role of Bruch´s membrane (BM) in the biomechanics of the eye, we measured its thickness and the density of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells in various ocular regions in eyes of varying axial length. Methods Human globes, enucleated because of an ocular tumor or end-stage glaucoma were prepared for histological examination. Using light microscopy, the histological slides were histomorphometrically examined applying a digitized image analysis system. Results The study included 104 eyes with a mean axial length of 27.9±3.2 mm (range:22.6mm-36.5mm). In eyes without congenital glaucoma, BM was significantly thickest (P

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of genetic polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene polymorphism -629C/A on the therapeutic effect of atorvastatin and clinical outcome in Han Chinese patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). MATERIAL AND METHODS From October 2011 to December 2012, 348 patients with angiographically confirmed CHD were recruited. CETP gene polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Serum level of CETP was determined with enzyme-1inked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Lipid 1evel in all patients was determined at baseline and after 12 months of treatment with 20 mg/d of atorvastatin. All the patients were followed-up at least 12 months. Major adverse cardiac events, including death, non-fatal infarction, revascularization, and stroke (MACE), were recorded. RESULTS The frequency of the -629A allele was 0.412. Compared with CC or CA genotypes, individuals with AA genotype had lower CETP levels (P=0.026) and higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels (P=0.035). After 12 months of atorvastatin therapy, carriers with CC genotype had greater reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P

In evaluation and decision-making, for an object system with multiple attributes and indicators, it is a typical pattern to calculate an assessment value on each object using some methods to get the ranking of objects, so as to choose the best according to sorting result of the values.The paper establishes the evaluation ranking model on the basis of multi-user attribute comprehensive evaluation method which focuses on how to give a comprehensive evaluation on objects taking the users’ preferences on different attributes in an evaluation group into account,and thereby produce evaluation values and sorting results of objects.Simulation verifies the ranking model in evaluation and decision-making.

Objective This article aims to present clinical manifestations and to discuss the clinical features and management of 4 patients with limbic encephalitis (LE). Methods The clinical presentation, MRI examination, laboratory results and treatment of 4 patients with limbic encephalitis were retrospectively analyzed, and relevant literature was reviewed. Results All the 4 cases presented with short-term memory deficits, psychiatric symptoms, while 2 cases were complicated with seizures. None of them had history of infection. MRI showed the involvement of limbic system, with little enhancement. T2WI and FLAIR revealed high-intensity signal. Tumor screenings were negative, and patients improved greatly after treatment. The long-term prognosis was favorable. Conclusions Patients with limbic encephalitis present with symptoms and signs of limbic system. Imaging examinations reveal involvement of limbic system, including hippocampus, amygdala and insular lobe, with little enhancement. Cancer screenings are negative, and immunotherapy is successful. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.07.006