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Blood vessel dysfunction causes several retinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, macular degeneration and choroidal neovascularization in pathological myopia. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-neutralizing proteins provide benefits in most of those diseases, yet unsolved haemorrhage and frequent intraocular injections still bothered patients. Here, we identified endothelial CD146 as a new target for retinal diseases. CD146 expression was activated in two ocular pathological angiogenesis models, a laser-induced choroid neovascularization model and an oxygen-induced retinopathy model. The absence of CD146 impaired hypoxia-induced cell migration and angiogenesis both in cell lines and animal model. Preventive or therapeutic treatment with anti-CD146 antibody AA98 significantly inhibited hypoxia-induced aberrant retinal angiogenesis in two retinal disease models. Mechanistically, under hypoxia condition, CD146 was involved in the activation of NFκB, Erk and Akt signalling pathways, which are partially independent of VEGF. Consistently, anti-CD146 therapy combined with anti-VEGF therapy showed enhanced impairment effect of hypoxia-induced angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Given the critical role of abnormal angiogenesis in retinal and choroidal diseases, our results provide novel insights into combinatorial therapy for neovascular fundus diseases.

Since coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a new disease, very less is known about the disease, and guidance for the treatment are often being made on the basis of an experiences or expert opinions. Now it is known that COVID-19 is caused by a new Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus which elicit infection to the cells by binding of the spike protein to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Given the high transmissibility rate of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and known to have cytokine dysregulation by inducing an immune-mediated systemic inflammation, patients with underlying liver disease might be at an increased risk of severe infection and death. Here we report different mechanisms based on the organ cross-talk and other causes that how COVID-19 patients are prone to have liver injury.

The chronicle backdrop of liver transplantation (LT) is an intricate story to reveal- it is an adventure of extraordinary achievement and catastrophic disappointments. Historically, controversies and LT seems to be synonymous. Despite the improvements in results, LT is still facing lots of challenges and controversies, whereby demand is high but the resources, primarily concerned to donor, are very limited. We have focused our perspective on LT for HCV-related cirrhosis and nutritional support for cachectic patients awaiting LT.

Cross-sectional studies have supported the association among depression, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, but the causality remains controversial in Chinese adults. In this longitudinal study, we evaluated the synergistic effect of depression and obesity on the risk of type 2 diabetes.This study included 2809 participants randomly selected from the Qingdao Diabetes Prevention Program, and their type 2 diabetes incidence was determined over a follow-up period of 3 years. The WHO 2006 criteria and the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale score were employed to identify type 2 diabetes and depression at baseline, respectively. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression was used to evaluate the synergistic effects of depression and obesity indicators on type 2 diabetes, with adjustment for age, sex, family history of diabetes, and other potential risk factors.During 3-year follow-up, 316 new incident cases were identified. The relative risk and 95% confidence interval of depression for diabetes incidence was 1.52 (1.05-2.21), after controlling for potential confounders. Sensitivity analysis showed that depression was significantly associated with diabetes incidence in women, younger people, and obese people (1.82 [1.14-2.92], 1.94 [1.25-3.02], and 4.29 [1.44-12.78], respectively]. The synergistic effects of positive depression and body mass index ≥30 kg/mDepression was associated with a 52% increased risk of type 2 diabetes incidence and exerts synergistic effects with obesity on diabetes incidence in Chinese adults. Early identification and intervention for depression and obesity can reduce the risk of diabetes.背景: 横断面研究证实抑郁、肥胖和糖尿病的相关性, 而它们之间的因果关系在中国人群中还未确定。在这项纵向性研究, 我们评估了抑郁和肥胖的交互作用对糖尿病发生风险的影响。 方法: 本研究纳入了青岛糖尿病预防项目的2809名随机调查者, 随访时间为3年, 并统计糖尿病的发生率。根据2006年世界卫生组织糖尿病诊断标准和Zung氏抑郁自评量表, 分别判定调查者基线的糖尿病和抑郁情况。借助多因素校正logistic回归模型评估抑郁和肥胖交互作用对糖尿病发病的影响, 校正因素包括年龄、性别、糖尿病家族史和其它潜在危险因素。 结果: 3年随访期间发现316名新诊糖尿病患者。校正可能的混杂因素后, 抑郁阳性者发生糖尿病的相对风险为1.52(1.05-2.21)。敏感性分析显示, 抑郁与糖尿病发病的相关性在女性、年轻人以及肥胖人群中有显著统计学意义, 相对风险分别为1.82(1.14-2.92)、1.94(1.25-3.02)和4.29(1.44-12.78)。抑郁阳性和体重指数≥ 30 kg/m

Severe uterine injuries may lead to infertility or pregnancy complications. There is a lack of effective methods to restore the structure and function of seriously injured uteri. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), which plays a crucial role in blastocyst implantation, promotes the process of regeneration after injury in several different tissues. In this study, we explored the effect of LIF on the regeneration of rat uterine horns following full-thickness injury. One hundred and twenty four female Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to three groups, including a sham-operated group (n = 34 uterine horns), a PBS/collagen group (n = 90 uterine horns), and a LIF/collagen group (n = 124 uterine horns). The regenerated uterine horns were collected at 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 weeks after the surgery. The results showed that LIF/collagen scaffolds increased the number of endometrial cells and neovascularization 2 weeks after uterine full-thickness defect in excision sites (p < 0.001 vs PBS/collagen). Eight weeks after the surgery, the number of endometrial glands was dramatically higher in the LIF/collagen scaffolds group (35.2 ± 4.1/field) than in the PBS/collagen scaffolds (15.1 ± 1.4/field). The percentage of a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA)-positive areas in the LIF/collagen scaffolds (88.8% ± 9.8%) was also significantly higher than that in the PBS/collagen group (52.9% ± 3.7%). Moreover, LIF improved the pregnancy rate and fetus number. We also found that LIF inhibited the infiltration of inflammatory cells and down-regulated the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-12 expression while up-regulating the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 expression in the injured part of the uterine horns. Our results indicate that LIF promotes regeneration of the uterus after injury, and this is at least partially due to its immunomodulatory properties. In addition, it is worth to explore further the possibility for LIF/collagen to be an alternative therapeutic approach for uterine damage in the clinic in near future.

Early diagnosis is essential for the control and prevention of tuberculosis (TB). The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and performance of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in the diagnosis of pulmonary TB in county-level microscopy centers in Qingdao, Eastern China. A total of 523 presumptive TB patients were consecutively recruited between July 2017 and April 2018, and 22 patients were excluded from the analysis. Of 102 culture-positive cases, TB-LAMP identified 91 cases, demonstrating a sensitivity of 89.2%. In comparison, the sensitivity of routine smear microscopy was 69.6% (71/102), which was significantly lower than that of TB-LAMP (P=0.001). In addition, TB-LAMP sensitivities in smear-positive and smear-negative samples were 98.6% and 67.7%, respectively. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that TB-LAMP outperforms conventional smear microscopy in TB diagnosis, which could be used as an alternative method for smear microscopy in resource-limited settings in China.

PurposeThe prognostic value of caveolin-1 in prostate cancer remains uncertain. Hence, this meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the prognostic value of caveolin-1 in prostate cancer, as well as ascertain the relationship between caveolin-1 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of prostate cancer patients.MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Chinese Biology Medicine databases were electronically searched to retrieve published studies on caveolin-1 expression in prostate cancer. After study selection and data extraction, the meta-analysis was conducted using Review manager 5.3 software. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to estimate the pooled effect. Funnel plot was used to assess publication bias.ResultsA total of ten studies were enrolled, which included 3976 cases of prostate cancer, 72 cases of high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN), and 157 normal controls. Results of the meta-analysis showed that the positive rate of caveolin-1 expression in prostate cancer was 18.28 times higher than that in normal control (OR= 18.28, 95% CI: 9.02–37.04, p10 vs. ≤ 10 (OR=2.09, 95% CI: 1.35–3.22, pConclusionCaveolin-1 is overexpressed in prostate cancer, which can serve as a risk factor and adverse clinicopathological feature of prostate cancer. Caveolin-1 can also predict poor survival in prostate cancer patients after radical prostatectomy.

Background Hyperandrogenism (HA), inflammation, and oxidative damage play key roles in the pathophysiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Whether vitamin D adjuvant therapy improves hormonal, inflammation, and oxidative damage in PCOS patients has aroused widespread interest, but the results are controversial. To evaluate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on hormonal, oxidative stress, and inflammatory parameters in patients with PCOS. Methods A literature search was conducted in Medline, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science for studies related to PCOS and vitamin D supplementation. All reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published before December 2019 were identified. The fixed-effects model or random-effects model was used to calculate pooled estimates of standardized differences in means (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results A total of 956 identified studies were retrieved, and eighteen RCTs involving 1,060 participants were ultimately included in the current meta-analysis. The pooled results demonstrated that vitamin D supplementation in patients with PCOS resulted in a significant improvement in serum total testosterone (TT), high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and malondialdehyde (MDA). No significant effect on free testosterone (FT), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), free androgen index (FAI), nitric oxide (NO), and total glutathione (GSH) levels was found. Subgroup analysis showed that vitamin D supplementation reduced hs-CRP and MDA irrespective of the treatment course, type of vitamin D intervention, supplementation frequency, and dosage. Twelve weeks of vitamin D supplementation improved TT and TAC while low-dose vitamin D supplementation (≤1,000 IU/day) improved TT and DHEA-S. Vitamin D co-supplementation reduced TT, FT, and DHEA-S, while a daily supplementation regime improved TT, DHEA-S, and TAC in patients with PCOS. Conclusions The current meta-analysis demonstrates that vitamin D supplementation in patients with PCOS resulted in an improvement in the levels of TT, hs-CRP, TAC, and MDA, but did not affect FT, DHEA-S, SHBG, FAI, NO, and GSH levels. Vitamin D co-supplementation, low-dose vitamin D supplementation (≤1,000 IU/day), and daily supplementation frequency appeared to be more conducive to improving hormones, inflammation, and oxidative stress in PCOS patients.

BACKGROUND Caveolin-1 (CAV1) is an essential structural component of caveolae, regulates cellular processes through complex cellular signaling pathways, and influences tumorigenicity. However, the role of the CAV1 (rs7804372) polymorphism in digestive cancers remains inconclusive. The meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of CAV1 polymorphism on digestive cancer susceptibility and to provide a basis for precise treatment. METHODS The databases of PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and CNKI were used to retrieve the published studies on CAV1 (rs7804372) polymorphism and susceptibility to digestive cancers up to June 2020. Two researchers conducted study screening, data extraction, and methodological quality evaluation separately according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Review Manager 5.3 software was used to conduct the meta-analysis. RESULTS Six case-control studies were enrolled, including 2477 patients with digestive cancers and 2477 healthy controls. The pooled results showed that the CAV1 rs7804372 (T29107A) polymorphism increased the risk of digestive cancer occurrence in the allele (T vs. A: odds ratio (OR) 1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15-1.53, P

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of primary liver cancer, and occurs in people with chronic liver diseases. Current treatment methods include surgery, transplant, and chemotherapy. Our study demonstrates runt-related transcription factor 1 (RUNX1) as a novel molecule in the initiation and development of HCC, and the role of its interaction with vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) in HCC. We showed the suppressive role of RUNX1 in the proliferation and migration of hepatocytes. In addition, the repressor RUNX1 functioned as a transcription factor on the promoter of VEGFA to inhibit the expression of VEGFA. Study in the HCC cells demonstrated that the suppression of HCC proliferation and migration was masked in the presence of overexpressed VEGFA. Introduction of RUNX1 into HCC mice model significantly limited the tumor growth. In summary, our study demonstrated that RUNX1 functions as a repressor in the HCC and this suppressive function was dependent on its effect on VEGFA.

Background Infantile fever is a common symptom of the pediatric diseases, which is often caused by cold, food accumulation, or other pathogenic factors. Pediatric tuina is regarded as an acceptable non-pharmaceutical therapy for children with optimal effects, which has been widely used for infantile fever around China. But there is still a lack of systematic evaluation and research on its safety and effectiveness during the treatment of infantile fever. Thus the protocol is to collect clinical evidence and demonstrate the efficacy and safety of antipyretic manipulation by pediatric tuina. Methods The systematic electronic search will be executed in Cochrane Library (1991-2020.6), EMBASE (1980-2020.6), PubMed (1996-2020.6), WHOICTRP (2004-2020.6), Web of Science (1900-2020.6), CNKI (1994-2020.6), CBM (1994-2020.6), WANFANG (1980-2020.6), and VIP (2000-2020.6) Database. The Review Manager (V.5.3) will be use to assess the risk of bias and data analyses. The methodological quality will be assessed by using the online GRADEpro tool. If the quality of numeric data is favorable, a meta-analysis will be carried out. Results A high-quality evidence of pediatric tuina for the treatment of infantile fever. Conclusion The systematic review will provide a reliable basis for judging whether pediatric tuina is safe and effective in the treatment of pediatric fever. Inplasy registration number INPLASY202060032.

Given the challenges in exploring lifelong therapy with little side effect for human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cases, there is increasing interest in developing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments based on specific TCM syndrome. However, there are few objective and biological evidences for classification and diagnosis of HIV/AIDS TCM syndromes to date. In this study, iTRAQ-2DLC-MS/MS coupled with bioinformatics were firstly employed for comparative proteomic profiling of top popular TCM syndromes of HIV/AIDS: accumulation of heat-toxicity (AHT) and Yang deficiency of spleen and kidney (YDSK). It was found that for the two TCM syndromes, the identified differential expressed proteins (DEPs) as well as their biological function distributions and participation in signaling pathways were significantly different, providing biological evidence for the classification of HIV/AIDS TCM syndromes. Furthermore, the TCM syndrome-specific DEPs were confirmed as biomarkers based on western blot analyses, including FN1, GPX3, KRT10 for AHT and RBP4, ApoE, KNG1 for YDSK. These biomarkers also biologically linked with the specific TCM syndrome closely. Thus the clinical and biological basis for differentiation and diagnosis of HIV/AIDs TCM syndromes were provided for the first time, providing more opportunities for stable exertion and better application of TCM efficacy and superiority in HIV/AIDS treatment.

Background and aims: We aimed to evaluate the association between famine exposure during early life and obesity and obesity(max) (obese at the highest weight) in adulthood. Methods and results: Data were from two population-based cross-sectional surveys conducted in 2006 and 2009 in Qingdao, China. A total of 8185 subjects born between 1/1/1941 and 12/31/1971 were categorized into unexposed (born between 01/01/1962 and 12/31/1971), fetal/ infant exposed (born between 01/01/1959 and 12/31/1961), childhood exposed (born between 01/01/1949 and 12/31/1958) and adolescence exposed (born between 01/01/1941 and 12/31/1948) according to their age when exposed to the Chinese famine from 1959 to 1961. Obesity was defined as BMI (body mass index) >= 28.0 and obesitymax was defined as BMImax (BMI at the highest weight) >= 28.0. We compared fetal/ infant exposed, childhood exposed and adolescence exposed to the unexposed using logistic regression models to assess the effect of famine exposure on later obesity and obesitymax. Fetal/infant exposed (OR = 1.59, P

To determine the pattern of muscle edema occurring in the lower limb muscles of Asian hypokalaemic periodic paralysis (hypoPP) patients using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Specifically, the relationship between muscle edema and muscle activity during daily use was examined by comparing the lower limb muscle MRI of healthy subjects following exercise and hypoPP patients.Twenty Asian patients (mean age: 29·3±7·53 years) clinically diagnosed with hypoPP were enrolled in the present study. Ten healthy subjects were also enrolled. Direct automated DNA sequencing of the S4 regions of CACNA1S and SCN4A in all hypoPP patients was performed. The upper and lower legs of all hypoPP patients during the time interval between attacks and healthy subjects pre- and post-exercise were examined on a 3 T system with T2-weighted fat saturation sequence. Images were evaluated by means of a region of interest analysis. A scoring from 0 to 3 was used to compare the degree of muscle edema among individual muscles.Three hypoPP patients were identified with mutations in the screened genes: R1239H and R900S of CACNA1S and R672H of SCN4A. The lower leg muscles of both hypoPP patients and healthy subjects after exercise displayed significantly higher MRI signal intensities compared to healthy subjects before exercise (P0·0001 and P0·0001, respectively). In contrast, there was no significant change in the upper leg muscle signal intensities of hypoPP patients and healthy subjects following exercise compared to pre-exercise healthy subjects (P = 0·7598 and P = 0·9651, respectively). In the hypoPP patient group, high signal intensity in the upper leg muscles was seen only in the patient with the R1239H mutation. In the lower legs, muscle edema was most frequently seen in the gastrocnemius lateralis, soleus, and gastrocnemius medialis in the hypoPP patient group. Furthermore, the degree of muscle edema was the greatest in these muscles. This similar pattern of muscle edema was also seen in healthy subjects after exercise.In Asian hypoPP patients, muscle edema as well as the underlying abnormal ion distributions across the muscle membrane is present even during the time interval between attacks of muscle weakness. The muscles of the lower leg are more likely to be edematous than muscles of the upper leg since these muscles are more actively used in daily life. Thus, muscles subjected to high activity are more likely to be edematous and sodium-overloaded.

Magnetic Resonance (MR) images can be considered as multispectral images so that MR imaging can be processed by multispectral imaging techniques such as maximum likelihood classification. Unfortunately, most multispectral imaging techniques are not particularly designed for target detection. On the other hand, hyperspectral imaging is primarily developed to address subpixel detection, mixed pixel classification for which multispectral imaging is generally not effective. This paper takes advantages of hyperspectral imaging techniques to develop target detection algorithms to find lesions in MR brain images. Since MR images are collected by only three image sequences, T1, T2 and PD, if a hyperspectral imaging technique is used to process MR images it suffers from the issue of insufficient dimensionality. To address this issue, two approaches to nonlinear dimensionality expansion are proposed, nonlinear correlation expansion and nonlinear band ratio expansion. Once dimensionality is expanded hyperspectral imaging algorithms are readily applied. The hyperspectral detection algorithm to be investigated for lesion detection in MR brain is the well-known subpixel target detection algorithm, called Constrained Energy Minimization (CEM). In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed CEM in lesion detection, synthetic images provided by BrainWeb are used for experiments.

Complex multiple arteriovenous fistula (AVF) of the scalp is an extremely rare disease and the traditional treatment is either endovascular embolization or surgical resection with preoperative endovascular embolization. Here, a 34-year-old male with pulsating mass and multiple tortuous vessels in front of the left tragus and scalp who was diagnosed as complex multiple arteriovenous fistula of the scalp is presented. Nearly total surgical resection of the lesion without preoperative intervention was performed. The deformity appearance and the buzzing sound in the patient's left ear were eradicated after operation. Therefore, surgical resection without preoperative embolization is still a promising method to treat complex multiple scalp AVF.

1. Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), is often coprescribed with clopidogrel for the treatment of ischemic vascular diseases. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of fluvoxamine on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of clopidogrel. 2. Twelve male rats were employed to investigate the effect of fluvoxamine on the pharmacokinetics of clopidogrel in vivo. Clopidogrel carboxylic acid was used for the pharmacokinetic study of clopidogrel. 3. After pretreatment with high dose of fluvoxamine (27 mg/kg), there were significant increases in the AUC0-t (from 9850±4060 to 27,300±6910 µg/l h; p0.05), AUC0-∞ (from 9850±4060 to 27,600±6800 µg/l h; p0.05) and t1/2 (from 2.07±0.0942 to 7.49±1.22 h; p0.05) of clopidogrel carboxylic acid. The pharmacokinetic data for clopidogrel carboxylic acid showed significant decreases in VLz/F (from 0.765±0.299 to 0.256±0.0594 l/kg; p0.05) after pretreatment with high dose of fluvoxamine. Pharmacodynamic studies that measure platelet aggregation percentage (from 21.63±6.05% to 45.98±5.11%; p0.01) show that high doses of fluvoxamine significantly inhibit the effect of clopidogrel. 4. In conclusion, the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of clopidogrel were significantly affected by high doses of fluvoxamine. This study indicated that potential drug-drug interaction between fluvoxamine and clopidogrel should be taken into consideration in clinical use.

BC-3781, a pleuromutilin antimicrobial agent, is being developed for the treatment of patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia. Data from a phase 2 study of patients with ABSSSI were used to refine a previous population pharmacokinetic (PK) model and explore potential predictors of PK variability. The previously derived population PK model based on data from three phase 1 studies was applied to sparse sampling data from a phase 2 ABSSSI study and modified as necessary. Covariate analyses were conducted to identify descriptors (e.g., body size, renal function, age) associated with interindividual variability in PK. All population PK analyses were conducted by using Monte Carlo parametric expectation maximization implemented in S-ADAPT 1.5.6. The population PK data set contained 1,167 concentrations from 129 patients; 95% of the patients had 5 or more PK samples (median, 11). The previous population PK model (three-compartment model with first-order elimination and nonlinear protein binding) provided an acceptable and unbiased fit to the data from the 129 patients. Population PK parameters were estimated with acceptable precision; individual clearance values were particularly well estimated (median individual precision of 9.15%). Graphical covariate evaluations showed no relationships between PK and age or renal function but modest relationships between body size and clearance and volume of distribution, which were not statistically significant when included in the population PK model. This population PK model will be useful for subsequent PK-pharmacodynamic analyses and simulations conducted to support phase 3 dose selection. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under registration no. NCT01119105.)

As surgical skills develop in spinal field, transpedicular screw fixation of the lower thoracic, thoracolumbar, and lumbar spines have already been performed successfully, even using freehand technique by trained surgeons. The benefits of transpedicular screw fixation are widely accepted in the thoracolumbar spinal region for very stable fixation effect. Abumi et al first introduced transpedicular screw fixation in the subaxial cervical spinal region in 1991 and reported their initial clinical results in 1994 [1]. Since then, some other spinal surgeons began to accept transpedicular screw fixation in the subaxial cervical region as one choice [5]. But whether this fixation method can be accepted widely as a routine choice has been disputed till now. The main concern comes from the potential violation of the pedicle cortices and following damages to adjacent neurovascular structures [6][12]. To diminish subaxial cervical pedicle (SCP) screw malposition ratio as low as possible and to ensure successful clinical results, the complex morphologic features and projections of subaxial cervical pedicles should be clearly understood. That is, the exact diameter, inclinations at transverse and sagittal plane, cortical thicknesses at different orientations, and cortical thicknesses adjacent to pedicle entrance should be determined before any transpedicular screw fixation was performed, even by experienced surgeons using meticulous surgical techniques[Fig.1]. Although morphologic studies of the cervical spine have been reported as a way to evaluate the feasibility and safety of the technique, many have focused on transverse diameter of the pedicles, which is far from enough [3].Thorough understanding of the subaxial cervical spinal pedicle anatomy is mandatory to avoid injury to the vertebral artery, spinal cord or a nerve root [8][11][14]. Because of their inherent ability to render bony anatomy in three dimensions, CT scans can provide the best osseous detail of subaxial cervical pedicles. Volumetric CT could reconstruct multiplanar CT images based on raw sequential transaxial CT images [7]. Multiple planar reconstruction (MPR) CT images could provide vivid anatomic data of subaxial cervical pedicles at different planes and different orientations for further detailed study. MPR CT images can be reconstructed using the CT-machine attached Advantage Workstation. If time permitted, quantitative measurement of MPR CT images can be fulfilled using the measurement tools of the CT machine-attached Advantage Workstation. But in clinical practice, large clinical CT scanning tasks are under schedule,the Advantage

Objective To investigate the association of fresh vegetable consumption with the risk of diabetes in a Chinese population. Methods Data from 2386 individuals aged 35–74 years who participated in a population-based cross sectional diabetes survey in Qingdao, China were analyzed. Frequency of vegetable intake was obtained using a food frequency questionnaire. Diabetes was defined as self-reported diabetes or undiagnosed diabetes determined by 2-h 75 g oral glucose tolerance test or fasting capillary blood glucose test. Multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for the presence (vs. the absence) of diabetes in association with the frequency of fresh vegetable intake was estimated using logistic regression analysis. Results The OR for the presence of diabetes was 1.17 (95% CI 0.66, 2.05) in men and 0.50 (95% CI 0.33, 0.77) in women who ate fresh vegetables more than 14 times/week as compared with those who ate fresh vegetables less than 7 times/week after adjustment for age, family history of diabetes, BMI, systolic blood pressure, 24-h energy intake, physical activity and smoking and drinking. Conclusions Consumption of fresh vegetables was associated with a low risk of having diabetes in women but not in men in this Chinese population.

A fast and efficient method for quantifying photoreceptor density in images obtained with an en-face flood-illuminated adaptive optics (AO) imaging system is described. To improve accuracy of cone counting, en-face images are analyzed over extended areas. This is achieved with two separate semiautomated algorithms: (1) a montaging algorithm that joins retinal images with overlapping common features without edge effects and (2) a cone density measurement algorithm that counts the individual cones in the montaged image. The accuracy of the cone density measurement algorithm is high, with >97% agreement for a simulated retinal image (of known density, with low contrast) and for AO images from normal eyes when compared with previously reported histological data. Our algorithms do not require spatial regularity in cone packing and are, therefore, useful for counting cones in diseased retinas, as demonstrated for eyes with Stargardt's macular dystrophy and retinitis pigmentosa. © 2007 Optical Society of America.

Purpose: To demonstrate the efficacy of low-dose DX9065a, catheter-directed ultrasound-accelerated thrombolysis (USAT) on the reversal of right ventricle RV dysfunction in patients with pulmonary embolism. Methods: The analysis of 45 pulmonary embolism PE patients, aged 69 ± 13.5 years (range, 28 – 77 years) at intermediate- (n = 32) or high-risk (n = 13) was performed. The patients were treated with USAT and DX9065a (mean dose 35 ± 8.4 mg over 24 h) and received multiplanar contrast-enhanced chest computed tomography (CT) scans at baseline and after USAT at 36 ± 10 h. CT measurements were then performed. Results: The results showed a significant decrease in the right to left ventricular dimension ratio (RV/LV ratio) from the baseline value of 1.42 ± 0.30 to 1.00 ± 0.02 at follow-up (p ˂ 0.001). The modified Miller score showed that CT-angiographic pulmonary clot burden was also significantly reduced from 23.2 ± 4.7 to 6.2 ± 2.5 (p ˂ 0.001). All the patients were discharged alive, and there were no systemic bleeding complications in any of them. Conclusions: USAT and DX9065a, in low-dose, is a promising strategy for the reversal of right ventricular dilatation and reduction of pulmonary clot in patients with intermediate- and high-risk PE.

To investigate into the impact of renal dysfunction on admission on in-hospital major adverse cardiac events and adverse long-term survival across the standford type B aortic dissection spectrum. We performed an observational, retrospective study, including 241 consecutive patients hospitalized

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) regulates many neurological functions and plays a vital role during the recovery from central nervous system injuries. However, the changes in BDNF expression and associated factors following hypoxia-ischemia induced neonatal brain damage, and the significance of these changes are not fully understood. In the present study, a rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage was established through the occlusion of the right common carotid artery, followed by 2 hours in a hypoxic-ischemic environment. Rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage presented deficits in both sensory and motor functions, and obvious pathological changes could be detected in brain tissues. The mRNA expression levels of BDNF and its processing enzymes and receptors (Furin, matrix metallopeptidase 9, tissue-type plasminogen activator, tyrosine Kinase receptor B, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, and Sortilin) were upregulated in the ipsilateral hippocampus and cerebral cortex 6 hours after injury; however, the expression levels of these mRNAs were found to be downregulated in the contralateral hippocampus and cerebral cortex. These findings suggest that BDNF and its processing enzymes and receptors may play important roles in the pathogenesis and recovery from neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the University of South Australia (approval No. U12-18) on July 30, 2018 Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a fatal disease that can cause severe disability. Cortical reorganization subserved the recovery of spontaneous function after SCI, although the potential molecular mechanism in this remote control is largely unknown. Therefore, using proteomics analysis, RNA interference/overexpression, and CRISPR/Cas9 in vivo and in vitro, we analyzed how the molecular network functions in neurological improvement, especially in the recovery of motor function after spinal cord transection (SCT) via the remote regulation of cerebral cortex. We discovered that the overexpression of pyridoxal kinase (PDXK) in the motor cortex enhanced neuronal growth and survival and improved locomotor function in the hindlimb. In addition, PDXK was confirmed as a target of miR-339 but not miR-124. MiR-339 knockout (KO) significantly increased the neurite outgrowth and decreased cell apoptosis in cortical neurons. Moreover, miR-339 KO rats exhibited functional recovery indicated by improved Basso, Beattie, and Bresnehan (BBB) score. Furthermore, bioinformatics prediction showed that PDXK was associated with GAP43, a crucial molecule related to neurite growth and functional improvement. The current research therefore confirmed that miR-339 targeting PDXK facilitated neurological recovery in the motor cortex of SCT rats, and the underlying mechanism was associated with regulating GAP43 in the remote cortex of rats subjected to SCT. These findings may uncover a new understanding of remoting cortex control following SCI and provide a new therapeutic strategy for the recovery of SCI in future clinical trials.