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Constant DNA damage occurs in cells, and the cells are programmed to respond constitutively. This study explored the roles of ataxia-telangiectasia mutated interactor (ATMIN), one of the impaired pathways involving the DNA damage response (DDR) in mismatch repair-deficient [microsatellite instability (MSI)-high] colorectal carcinoma (CRC). Expression of ATMIN messenger RNA (mRNA) was detected in CRC specimens with microsatellite instability (MSI) characteristics. The effects of ectopic ATMIN expression and ATMIN knockdown on invasion abilities were evaluated in MSI-high cell lines, and liver metastasis ability was investigated in vivo. Protein-protein interactions were assessed by coimmunoprecipitation analyses in vitro. Decreased ATMIN expression was positively correlated with advanced stage of disease (P < 0.05), lymph node metastases (P < 0.05), and deeper invasion (P < 0.05) in MSI-high tumors. Transient or stable ATMIN knockdown significantly increased cell motility. Moreover, in the high-throughput microarray and gene set enrichment analysis, ATMIN was shown to act on the Wnt-signaling pathway via PARP1. This cascade influences β-catenin/transcription factor 4 (TCF4) binding affinity in MSI-high tumors, and PARP1 inhibition significantly decreased the number of metastases from ATMIN knockdown cancer cells. The results not only indicated the critical role of ATMIN, but also shed new light on PARP1 inhibitors, providing a basis for further clinical trials of MSI-high CRC.

Background Age-related bone loss plays a vital role in the development of osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture. Bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC) senescence is highly associated with osteoporosis and limits the application of BMSCs in regenerative medicine. Hypoxia is an essential component for maintaining the normal physiology of BMSCs. We have reported that activation of hypoxia-induced factor by deletion of von Hippel-Lindau gene in osteochondral progenitor cells protected mice from aging-induced bone loss. However, whether pharmacologically manipulation of hypoxic niche would attenuate age-related bone loss and dysfunction of BMSCs is not well understood. Methods Twelve-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats were used as an aged model and were intraperitoneally injected with Desferal® (20, 60 mg/kg weight or vehicle), three times a week for a continuous 8-week period. Two-month-old young rats were set as a reference. After 8 weeks, micro-CT and HE staining were performed to determine the effect of Desferal® on bone loss. In order to investigate the effects of Desferal® on BMSC senescence, 12-month-old rats were treated with high-dose Desferal® (60 mg/kg weight) daily for 10 days. BMSCs were isolated and evaluated using CCK-8 assay, colony-forming cell assay, cell differentiation assay, laser confocal for reactive oxygen species (ROS) level, senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining, and molecular expression test for stemness/senescence-associated genes. Results Micro-CT and HE staining showed that high-dose Desferal® significantly prevented bone loss in aged rats. Compared with vehicle group, the ex vivo experiments showed that short-term Desferal® administration could promote the potential of BMSC growth (proliferation and colony formation ability) and improve the rebalance of osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation, as well as rejuvenate senescent BMSCs (ROS level and SA-β-gal staining) and revise the expression of stemness/senescence-associated genes. The potential of BMSCs from 12M-H-Desferal® group at least partly revised to the level close to 2-month-old group. Conclusions The current study suggested that Desferal®, an iron-chelating agent, could alleviate age-related bone loss in middle-aged rats. Meanwhile, we found that short-term intraperitoneal injection of Desferal® partly rejuvenate BMSCs from aged rats. Overall, we demonstrated a novel role of Desferal® in rejuvenating aged BMSCs and preventing age-related bone loss.

Objective This study aimed to explore the effect of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) on the early intellectual development of preterm infants. Methods From 2011 to 2015, 83 preterm infants diagnosed with BPD were recruited to the BPD group, and 89 preterm infants without BPD and 98 healthy term infants were randomly recruited to the non-BPD and term group, respectively. Neural and intellectual development according to the Gesell Development Scale were evaluated and compared between groups at 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months, and 9-12 months of adjusted age for preterm infants and real age for term infants. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the associations between BPD and adverse neurological outcomes at 9-12 months of adjusted age. Results Compared to term infants, preterm infants had significantly lower developmental quotients for adaptability, gross motor, fine motor, language and social intercourse skills. At follow-up, deficits in one or more neurofunctions related to adaptability, gross motor, fine motor, language and social intercourse skills were significantly more frequent in preterm children with BPD than in those with no history of BPD. BPD was independently associated with adverse neurological outcomes at 9-12 months of adjusted age in preterm infants. Conclusions Early intelligence disturbances occurred significantly more frequently in BPD infants than non-BPD infants. Monitoring of the development of the nervous system in BPD infants should be strengthened. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Background: Metastasis is a severe problem in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), which is the fifth most common cancer worldwide. Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) has been studied in different cancers, while the role of LIF in OSCC remains unclear. Methods: LIF expression was detected in 100 OSCC samples by immunohistochemistry. Effects of LIF on cell motility were evaluated in OSCC cell lines. High-throughput microarray analysis was also conducted. The correlation between LIF and the downstream effector was analyzed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. Results: Patients with OSCC who had lymph node metastasis or advanced cancer stages showed high LIF expression. OSCC patients with higher LIF expression, advanced stage, large tumor size, or lymph node metastasis had significantly shorter overall survival. LIF regulated cancer cell motilities through outside-in signaling. The inhibin beta A subunit (INHBA) gene was identified as a crucial downstream effector of LIF-promoted OSCC progression and restored migration and invasion abilities in LIF knockdown transfectants. Conclusion: LIF enhances regional lymphatic spread, thus leading to an advanced cancer stage. Regulation of LIF downstream molecules such as INHBA inhibits the invasion or migration ability of cancer cells. Thus, LIF can be a potential target in preventing cancer metastasis and spread.

// Shih-Wen Chen 1, * , Chiang-Ting Chou 2, 3, * , Cheng-Chi Chang 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 , Yue-Ju Li 4 , Szu-Ta Chen 9, 10 , I-Ching Lin 11, 12, 13 , Sang-Heng Kok 14, 15 , Shih-Jung Cheng 1, 4, 15 , Jang-Jaer Lee 7 , Tai-Sheng Wu 4 , Min-Liang Kuo 17 , Been-Ren Lin 16 1 Graduate Institute of Oral Biology, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 2 Department of Nursing, Division of Basic Medical Sciences, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Chiayi Campus, Chiayi, Taiwan 3 Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion Research Center, Chang Gung University of Science and Technology, Chiayi Campus, Chiayi, Taiwan 4 Graduate Institute of Clinical Dentistry, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 5 Angiogenesis Research Center, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 6 Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 7 Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 8 Department of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan 9 Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 10 Graduate Institute of Toxicology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 11 School of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 12 Department of Family Medicine, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan 13 School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan 14 Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan 15 Department of Dentistry, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 16 Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 17 Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Been-Ren Lin, email: beenrenlin@ntu.edu.tw Keywords: HMGCS2, PPARα, metastasis, CRC, OSCC Received: May 31, 2016 Accepted: October 21, 2016 Published: November 01, 2016 ABSTRACT Mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase (HMGCS2) is the rate-limiting enzyme of ketogenesis. Growing evidence indicates that HMGCS2 may be involved in cancer progression, but its exact role is largely unknown. In this study, we demonstrate that HMGCS2 mRNA expression is associated with poor clinical prognosis and outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In vitro , ectopic expression of HMGCS2 enhanced cancer cell motility in a ketogenesis-independent manner. Moreover, HMGCS2 promoted Src activity by directly binding to peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα), a transcriptional activator of Src. Taken together, these results suggest that HMGCS2 may serve as a useful prognostic marker and vital target for future therapeutic strategies against advanced cancer.

Background Glycolysis machinery regulates cancer cell behavior. However, the roles of these glycolysis enzymes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression remain unknown. Methods Fructose-bisphosphate aldolase C (ALDOC) expression in OSCC patients and cell lines was detected using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The functions of ALDOC in migration and invasion were determined using gain and loss of function approaches. An orthotopic OSCC animal model was performed to investigate the effects of ALDOC on metastasis and tumorigenesis in vivo. Results ALDOC expression is negatively significantly correlated with clinical outcome and cell migration in vitro and in vivo. ALDOC blocks adenosine triphosphate generation and lactate production, and mutation constructs of Arg42 and Lys146 functionally restore ALDOC-inhibited cell migration and invasion. Conclusion ALDOC functions as an OSCC prognosis marker clinically, and suppresses migration and invasion by its catalytic domain of Arg42 and Lys146. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2015

The aim of this study is to introduce a self-designed, minimally invasive technique for repairing an acute Achilles tendon rupture percutaneously. Comparing with the traditional open repair, the new technique provides obvious advantages of minimized operation-related lesions, fewer wound complications as well as a higher healing rate. However, a percutaneous technique without direct vision may be criticized by its insufficient anastomosis of Achilles tendon and may also lead to the lengthening of the Achilles tendon and a reduction in the strength of the gastrocnemius. To address the potential problems, we have improved our technique using a percutaneous Kirschner wire leverage process before suturing, which can effectively recover the length of the Achilles tendon and ensure the broken ends are in tight contact. With this improvement in technique, we have great confidence that it will become the treatment of choice for acute Achilles tendon ruptures.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the therapeutic response and toxicity of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or conventional radiotherapy (c-RT) as adjuvant therapy in patients with pelvic locoregional recurrence of cervical cancer after radical surgery.MethodsThis retrospective study included 161 patients with unresectable pelvic locoregional recurrence of cervical cancer after radical surgery between March 2003 and May 2012. All patients were initially diagnosed with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IB-IIA cervical cancer and received radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. A total of 82 patients were treated with c-RT, whereas the remaining 79 patients underwent IMRT. Intracavitary brachytherapy and concurrent chemotherapy were performed during external irradiation.ResultsThe mean dose delivered to the planning target volume was significantly higher in the IMRT group than in the c-RT group (61.8 vs 50.3 Gy,P= 0.029). Intensity-modulated radiation therapy plans yielded better dose sparing of small bowel, bladder, and rectum than did c-RT (P< 0.05). Moreover, the IMRT patients experienced less acute and chronic toxicities (P< 0.05) and better short-term effects (complete response + partial response) than did those treated with c-RT (89.9% vs 63.4%,P= 0.03). Three- and 5-year overall survival rates were significantly higher in the IMRT group than in the c-RT group (3-year: 58.4% vs 39.1%,P= 0.012; 5-year: 35.4% vs 21.4%,P= 0.007). Furthermore, 5-year progression-free survival rates were significantly higher in the IMRT group than in the c-RT group (26.1% vs 15.1%,P= 0.031).ConclusionsIntensity-modulated radiation therapy achieved outcomes superior to c-RT in patients with pelvic locoregional recurrence of cervical cancer after radical surgery. The acute and chronic toxicities were acceptable, and the adjacent organs at risk were well protected.

To analyze the CT characteristics and pathological classification of early lung adenocarcinoma (T1N0M0) with pure ground-glass opacity (pGGO). Ninety-four lesions with pGGO on CT in 88 patients with T1N0M0 lung adenocarcinoma were selected from January 2010 to December 2012. All lesions were confirmed by pathology. CT appearances were analyzed including lesion location, size, density, uniformity, shape, margin, tumour-lung interface, internal and surrounding malignant signs. Lesion size and density were compared using analysis of variance, lesion size also assessed using ROC curves. Gender of patients, lesion location and CT appearances were compared using χ2-test. There were no significant differences in gender, lesion location and density with histological invasiveness (P > 0.05). The ROC curve showed that the possibility of invasive lesion was 88.73 % when diameter of lesion was more than 10.5 mm. There was a significant difference between lesion uniformity and histological invasiveness (P = 0.01). There were significant differences in margin, tumour-lung interface, air bronchogram with histological invasiveness ( P = 0.02,P = 0.00,P = 0.048). The correlation index of lesion size and uniformity was r = 0.45 (P = 0.00). The lesion size and uniformity, tumour-lung interface and the air bronchogram can help predict invasive extent of early stage lung adenocarcinoma with pGGO. • CT characteristics and pathological classification of pGGO lung adenocarcinoma smaller than 3 cm • The optimal cut-off value for discriminating preinvasive from invasive lesions was 10.5 mm • Uniformity was significant difference between histological subtypes and correlated with lesion size • Tumour margin, tumour-lung interface and air bronchogram showed different between histological types • No significant difference in gender, lesion location and density with histological subtypes

The abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) has become a global public health issue in recent years, these new-type drugs can cause addiction and serious cognitive impairment . However, there are no effective methods for the prevention and treatment of ATS addiction at present. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a painless and non-invasive new therapeutic approach that has been used for the treatment of depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders , but whether it can be used to treat drug addiction is unclear. In the present study, we investigated the possible effects of rTMS on methamphetamine(METH)-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). High-frequency (10 Hz) and low-frequency stimulation patterns (1 Hz) were applied to test the effect of rTMS on METH-induced CPP. The results showed that low-frequency but not high-frequency rTMS could block METH-CPP, accompanied with a downregulation of gamma-aminobutyric acid type B receptor subunit 1 (GABA BR1) expression in rat dorsolateral striatum. These results suggested that low-frequency rTMS could effectively inhibit the development of METH addiction and shed light on the rTMS as a potential approach for the prevention of drug addiction.

Hybrid measurement method is proposed to solve the problem that the partial or whole three-dimensional reconstruction accuracy of aviation engine parts is high. The point clouds of the aviation engine part are captured first using contact and non-contact measuring method. Feature-based parametric modeling strategy is adopted to reconstruct the aviation engine part so that it is easy to be modified in the future. Then, the point cloud data obtained by contact measurement and the reconstructed model are registrated to the same coordinate system to detect the deviation. The point cloud registration method is based upon the feature-based registration method and standard Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm, which help to improve the accuracy of registration. According to the result of deviation, the three-dimensional model can be modified. The accuracy of the modified model is controlled within 0.02mm, satisfying the requirement of aviation engine parts. Three-dimensional reconstruction results have verified the feasibility of the method.

Objective To identify the optimal ratio of free femur for minimizing the risks of periprosthetic fracture. Methods Three dimensional models of the femur with hip and knee stem elongation were constructed. With the distal femoral condylar surface fixed in a three dimensional model, the femoral head loading was performed according to the methods described by Huiskes and van Rietbergen in the models of hip replacement, knee replacement with or without hip stem or knee stem elongation. The maximum principal stress (MPS) and maximum principal elastic strain (MPES) of the femur were recorded and their relationships to the free femur ratio were analyzed using Pearson's correlation analysis. Results There were no obvious changes in MPS and MPES with hip stem elongation from 100 to 180 mm. In ipsilateral hip and knee replacement, the MPS and MPES had a tendency to decrease with knee and hip stem elongation. The MPS and MPES were mainly located in the anterior medial side of the middle to distal femur post-hip replacement and distalized with stem elongation. When the knee stem had been elongated more than 120 mm, the stress and strain concentrated strongly in the middle of the femoral shaft. There was a positive correlation between MPS and MPES to the free femur ratio (P < 0.01); however, no optimal ratio of free femur that would minimize the risks of periprosthetic fracture was identified. Conclusion Positive correlations were found between implant free femur and stress and strain changes in total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty and ipsilateral hip and knee replacement.

The transmission tower is one of the largest equipment facilities in the transmission and distribution line network. It is mainly used to support the connection of overhead conductors to ensure the safe and stable transmission of power transmission lines. Due to the vast territory of China and the wide distribution of transmission towers, the operating environment faced by transmission towers is also extremely complex. In addition to the pulling force given by the transmission line, rain, snow, dust, salt spray, acid rain and other substances cause erosion and corrosion on the transmission tower. The use of anti-corrosion coatings is an effective way to avoid erosion and corrosion of transmission tower. Therefore, it is very important to prepare an anti-corrosion coating suitable for transmission towers for the safe operation of transmission towers. Graphene is a new type of functional nano-material that attracts attention. Its special layered structure can effectively shield the material, reduce the internal stress of the coating, and improve the adhesion, mechanical properties, anti-corrosion effect and other properties of the coating.

Combined with the advantages of good protection of global robot, self-equilibrium, easy control of wheeled robot and strong obstacle surmounting ability of turbofan robot, a variable structure mobile robot which has three kinds of basic modalities of global, turbofan and three-wheel is designed. The balancing leg is retracted and the two polymorphic wheels of the robot are closed into a sphere while in the global state, and it could be conveniently threw, carried and make all directional movements on the flat grounds. When confronted with the complicated terrain environments of sand, slopes etc., the two polymorphic wheels will be outspread to the turbofan state, and the balancing leg will be opened out as a third supporting wheel so as to strengthen the ability to adapt to the environment. When the two polymorphic wheels are expanded into two wheels, the robot motions are more smoothly and easily to be controlled. A virtual prototype of the robot is designed by three-dimensional technology, as well as the motion simulation. Rationality of the mechanism design scheme of the variable structure mobile robot is verified.

Based on the current driving recorder with satellite positioning function technical standards, a pure electric vehicle driving state data collection terminal is designed in this paper. Through the interface technology, the terminal reads batteries, motor speed, current, power and other information of pure electric vehicles that is different from traditional driving recorder data from traditional power vehicles, and then establish the corresponding monitoring platform. Comparing the content of telematics services with the traditional vehicles and pure electric vehicles, this paper illustrates the basic application and market of pure electric vehicle driving state data collection terminal.

The structure designing and working principle simulating of a multi-locomotion mode spherical robot which has two basic movement patterns-globule mode and three-wheel mode is proposed in this paper. When the two hemispherical shells are closed, the robot is in a globule mode, which is easy to carry, throw and achieve all directional movements on the ground. When faced with sand and slope, it can expand to a three-wheel mode, and enhance the ability to adapt to the environment. Three-dimensional technology is used for building a virtual prototype of the spherical robot, as well as the motion simulation of the spherical robot. Compared with the traditional designing and analyzing methods, the way based on three-dimensional technology is more economical, more convenient and faster.

Based on the technical standards for driving recorder with satellite positioning function, this paper designs a driving status data acquisition terminal for hybrid electric vehicle that could increase the data collection of battery, motor speed, current, power, etc. by the interface technology, and establishes appropriate monitoring platform at the same time. The test results show that, the driving status data acquisition terminal for hybrid electric vehicle meets to the application requirements.

Based on agricultural machinery body posture detection parameters and wheels gesture detection parameters collected by gyro inertial measurement unit, an agricultural machinery operation posture rapid detection method is proposed in this paper. The test results calibrated by RBF neural network show that, the test results of the method are accurate and available, and the method is effective and available for real-time body and wheel status data to further understand the agricultural machinery.

Based on agricultural machinery body posture detection parameters and wheels gesture detection parameters collected by gyro inertial measurement unit, an agricultural machinery operation posture rapid detection method is proposed in this paper. The test results show that, the test results of the method are accurate and available, and the method is effective and available for real-time body and wheel status data to further understand the agricultural machinery.

CCN family members are involved in many physiologic and pathological functions, and be detected in many different cancer types. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an important diagnostic pathology tool to demonstrate protein expression in clinical and research fields. Here, we explain the preparation of sample slides, staining procedure, and the problems that might be met during the time. The differential staining of CCN proteins is shown in breast cancer, oral cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, and gastric cancer.

Flexible organic light-emitting devices (FOLEDs) based on multiple quantum well (MQW) structures, which consist of alternate layers of 2,3,5,6-Tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8,-tetracyano-quinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) and 4,4′,4″-tris-(3-methylphenylphe-nylamino)tripheny-lamine (m-MTDATA) have been fabricated. The Alq 3 -based device with double quantum well (DQW) structure exhibits the remarkable electroluminescent (EL) performances for the brightness of 23,500 cd/m 2 at 14 V and the maximum current efficiency of 7.0 cd/A at 300.3 mA/cm 2 , respectively, which are greatly improved by 114% and 56% compared with the brightness of 10,958 cd/m 2 at 14 V and the maximum current efficiency of 4.5 cd/A at 174.0 mA/cm 2 for the conventional device without MQW structures. These results demonstrate that the EL performances of FOLEDs could be greatly improved by utilizing the novel MQW structures, and the reason for this improvement has also been explained by the effect of interfacial dipole and interfacial doping between F4-TCNQ and m-MTDATA in this article.

Land evaluation factors often contain continuous-, discrete- and nominal-valued attributes. In traditional land evaluation, these different attributes are usually graded into categorical indexes by land resource experts, and the evaluation results rely heavily on experts' experiences. In order to overcome the shortcoming, we presented a fuzzy neural network ensemble method that did not require grading the evaluation factors into categorical indexes and could evaluate land resources by using the three kinds of attribute values directly. A fuzzy back propagation neural network (BPNN), a fuzzy radial basis function neural network (RBFNN), a fuzzy BPNN ensemble, and a fuzzy RBFNN ensemble were used to evaluate the land resources in Guangdong Province. The evaluation results by using the fuzzy BPNN ensemble and the fuzzy RBFNN ensemble were much better than those by using the single fuzzy BPNN and the single fuzzy RBFNN, and the error rate of the single fuzzy RBFNN or fuzzy RBFNN ensemble was lower than that of the single fuzzy BPNN or fuzzy BPNN ensemble, respectively. By using the fuzzy neural network ensembles, the validity of land resource evaluation was improved and reliance on land evaluators' experiences was considerably reduced.

To investigate the feasibility of low-tube-voltage (80 kVp) coronary CT angiography (CCTA) combined with contrast medium (CM) reduction and iterative model reconstruction (IMR) on patients with standard body mass index compared with clinical routine protocol.Retrospectively gated helical CCTA scans were acquired using a 256-slice multi-slice CT (Brilliance iCT; Philips Healthcare, Cleveland, OH) on 94 patients with standard body mass index (20-25 kg m(-2)) who were randomly assigned into 2 groups. The scan protocol for Group 1 was 100 kVp and 600 mAs with 70 ml CM at an injection rate of 4.5-5.5 ml s(-1); images were reconstructed by a hybrid iterative reconstruction technique (iDose(4); Philips Healthcare). Group 2 was scanned at 80 kVp and 600 mAs with 35 ml CM at an injection rate of 3.5-4.5 ml s(-1); images were reconstructed with IMR. Objective measurements such as the mean image noise and contrast-to-noise ratio of the two groups were measured on CT images and compared using the paired t-test. In addition, a subjective image quality evaluation was performed by two radiologists who were blinded to the scan protocol, using a 5-point scale [1 (poor) to 5 (excellent)]. The results of the two groups were compared using Mann-Whitney U test.The iodine delivery rate of Group 2 was 1.0 ± 0.5 gI s(-1) compared with 2.1 ± 0.5 gI s(-1) in Group 1 resulting in a reduction of 52.4%. In addition, an effective radiation dose reduction of 56.4% was achieved in Group 2 (2.4 ± 1.2 mSv) compared with Group 1 (5.5 ± 1.4 mSv). The mean CT attenuation, contrast-to-noise ratio and image quality of all segments in Group 2 were significantly improved compared with those in Group 1 (all, p 0.01).The use of IMR along with a low tube voltage (80 kVp) combined with a low CM protocol for CCTA can reduce both radiation and CM dose with improved image quality.In this study, we used a novel knowledge-based IMR which remarkably reduced the image noise. We compared the quality of the images obtained when the tube voltage was reduced to 80 kVp and that of those obtained according to the clinical routine protocols to determine whether ultra-low-dose imaging plus IMR is feasible in CCTA scans. We found that a low dose protocol combined with 80 kVp and reduced CM for CCTA can reduce both radiation dose and CM dose with improved image quality by the use of IMR in non-obese patients.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays an important role in learning and memory in multiple brain areas. In the present study, we investigated the roles of BDNF in aversive memories associated with conditioned drug withdrawal in acute morphine-dependent rats.Conditioned place aversion (CPA) was induced in male SD rats exposed to a single dose of morphine (10 mg/kg, sc) followed by naloxone (0.3 mg/kg, sc). In some rats, BDNF receptor antagonist K252a (8.5 ng per side) or BDNF scavenger TrkB-FC (0.65 μg per side) was bilaterally microinjected into amygdala before naloxone injection. BDNF mRNA and protein expression levels in amygdala were detected after the behavior testing.CPA behavior was induced in rats by the naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal, which was accompanied by significantly increased levels of BDNF mRNA and protein in the amygdala. Bilateral microinjection of TrkB-FC or K252a into the amygdala completely blocked CPA behavior in the rats.Formation of aversive memories associated with conditioned drug withdrawal in acute morphine-dependent rats requires BDNF expression in the amygdala.

Background Anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) has long been the preferred treatment for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). However, few studies have focused on surgical results of CSM in patients with developmental canal stenosis (DCS). The purpose of this study was to investigate DCS as a comorbidity in patients with CSM and the correlation between surgical results and DCS. Methods From January 1995 to December 2005, 122 patients treated with ACDF for CSM were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pavlov’s ratio was used to evaluate cervical spinal canal size, with a value of

Background To study the distribution pattern of lymph node metastases of stage IA to IIA cervical cancer and to clarify the individualized clinical target volume delineation of regional lymph nodes (CTVn). Methods A total of 665 cases with International Federation Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IA to IIA cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy were retrospectively reviewed. The clinicopathological factors related to lymph node metastases were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. Results Pelvic lymph node metastases were found in 168 of 665 patients resulting in a metastasis rate of 25.3%. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that age, lymph vascular space involvement, and deep stromal invasion statistically influenced pelvic lymph node metastases (p = 0.017

ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the metastatic rate of circumflex iliac node distal to the external iliac node (CINDEIN) and its associations with clinicopathological factors in patients with stage IA to IIA cervical cancer to determine whether dissection of CINDEIN had a role in surgery of these patients.MethodsSix hundred thirty-three patients with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage IA to IIA cervical cancer who underwent radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy were retrospectively reviewed. The metastatic rate and distribution of the pelvic lymph nodes (PLNs) and CINDEINs were analyzed.ResultsThe PLN metastatic rate was 25.6% (162 of 633 patients). Sixteen of 162 node-positive patients had CINDEIN metastases. Only 1 patient without PLN metastases had positive CINDEIN nodes. Univariate analysis revealed that other PLNs (including lymph nodes collected from obturator, external iliac, and internal iliac regions) and lymph vascular space involvement were the risk factors of CINDEIN metastases (P < 0.05). Other PLN metastasis (odds ratio, 50.6; 95% confidence interval, 6.6–386.7) was an independent risk factor for metastasis to CINDEIN by binary logistic regression analysis.ConclusionsCircumflex iliac node distal to the external iliac node metastases seemed to occur secondarily to widespread PLN metastases. In early stage cervical cancer, removal of the CINDEIN as a routine surgical procedure might be omitted to reduce operation time and minimize surgical morbidity.

Full article available online at ORTHOSuperSite.com. Search: 20120123-09 Surgical decision making for femoral neck fractures is currently based on factors such as patient age, fracture type, and medical condition, lacking a quantitative standard. The treatment protocol based on such qualitative assessment has poor operability, greatly affected by the surgeon’s subjective factors. As a result, a quantitative score system (QSS) focusing on 5 factors—age, fracture type, bone mineral density, activities of daily living, and medical comorbidities—with a total score of 25 is designed to deal with adult femoral neck fractures. The higher the score, the worse the patient’s physiological condition. According to our clinical experience, patients with 1 to 11 points should be treated with internal fi xation; patients with 12 to 17 points with total hip arthroplasty (THA), and patients with 18 to 22 points with hemiarthroplasty. Patients with 22 to 25 points should be treated with internal fi xation due to the high surgical risk of arthroplasty caused by poor physiological condition. Three hundred seventy-fi ve adult femoral neck fractures were treated on the basis of QSS for this 2-year prospective study. Of these, 242 were treated with low-score internal fi xation, 60 with THA, 55 with hemiarthroplasty, and 18 with high-score internal fi xation. The revision rates 2 years postoperatively in the low-score internal fi xation, THA, and hemiarthroplasty groups were 15.3%, 5.0%, and 5.5%, respectively, which were lower than those from a meta-analysis (internal fi xation, 35%; THA, 16%). This QSS helps surgical decision making regarding the treatment choice for adult patients with femoral neck fractures, and good results in preliminary clinical practice have been achieved.

Endogenous lipopolysaccharide has been implicated as a cofactor in the hepatocellular injury and death resulting from toxic liver injury. To prevent this lipopolysaccharide-induced injury and to further understand the mechanism of this effect, an anti-lipopolysaccharide antibody was administered to rats in which toxic hepatocellular injury was induced. Rats were given the hepatotoxin galactosamine together with an isotypic control antibody B55 or the anti-lipopolysaccharide antibody E5. E5 treatment resulted in reductions of serum AST levels of 43% at 36 hr (p

To evaluate the features of stent gap (SG) and the long-term impact of SG on in-stent restenosis (ISR) in patent stents.A total of 347 consecutive patients with 781 stents who underwent MDCT were assessed for SG and ISR. Clinical and stent features were compared between the SG and non-SG groups. In the follow-up study, among 82 patients with 175 patent stents [26 assessed by conventional coronary angiography (CCA) including 6 contacted in a telephone survey, 46 assessed by computed tomography angiography (CTA) and 10 by both], the incidence of ISR was compared between stents with and without SG.Three patients and 13 stents were excluded. SG was observed in 12.5% of patients and 8.6% of stents. ISR detected by CTA was noted in 21.2% of SG, and SG accounted for 23.7% of ISR. Stent number, length, location, overlapping pattern, tortuosity and in-out angle were predisposing factors for SG. During a mean follow-up period of 15 months after detection of SG, the incidence of ISR was significantly higher in the SG group than in the non-SG group (43.8/14.9% by CCA, 33.3/10.1% by CTA and CCA).Patent stents with SG detected by CTA had a higher incidence of late restenosis, indicating that long-term follow-up or further intervention is necessary.

Low-carbon, the only way to the sustainable development of all countries around the world, has become a hot topic. Carbon flux (FC) is closely related to many factors in ecological environment as an index of global carbon emissions. Therefore, it is very important to find effective methods to study the relationship between FC and environmental factors. A predicted model based on wavelet networks is proposed in this paper. And it is compared with BP neural network and support vector machine (SVM) on network structure, predicable accuracy, convergence rate, and so on. The experimental results show that wavelet network is more stable and accurate, and can get higher convergence rate.

Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) has been implicated in tumor development and progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of TWEAK in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression.To investigate the involvement of TWEAK in the progression of human CRC, normal, and tumor specimens from 174 patients were analyzed immunohistochemically for the expression of TWEAK. TWEAK recombinant protein treatment, transfection of expression plasmids, and small interfering RNA to knockdown TWEAK expression were performed to test invasive ability with a Boyden chamber. The mRNA expression profile in recombinant TWEAK treatment was compared to a control group by microarray analysis. To identify downstream effectors, Raf kinase inhibitor (RKIP) and its correlation with TWEAK in vitro and in vivo were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and invasion assays.CRC patients whose tumors displayed high TWEAK expression had a statistically significantly higher overall survival and a disease-free advantage over those with a low TWEAK expression. In in vitro invasion assays, alterations in TWEAK expression in CRC cell lines inversely modulated their invasive ability. By means of integrated genomics, we identified RKIP as a downstream effector in TWEAK-mediated invasion inhibition. Knockout of RKIP expression in HCT116 cells by short hairpin RNA (shRKIP) resulted in increased invasiveness. Clinically, RKIP and TWEAK mRNA expression showed strong positive correlations in CRC patient samples.Our results implicate TWEAK as a key regulator of CRC invasion, and it appears to be a useful prognostic factor for patients with CRC.

The driving voltage of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is lowered by employing molybdenum trioxide (MoO3)/N, N'-bis(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N'-bis(phe-nyl)-benzidine (NPB) multiple quantum well (MQW) structure in the hole transport layer. For the device with double quantum well (DQW) structure of ITO/ [MoO3 (2.5 nm)/NPB (20 nm)]2/Alq3(50 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (120 nm)], the turn-on voltage is reduced to 2.8 V, which is lowered by 0.4 V compared with that of the control device (without MQW structures), and the driving voltage is 5.6 V, which is reduced by 1 V compared with that of the control device at the 1000 cd/m2. In this work, the enhancement of the injection and transport ability for holes could reduce the driving voltage for the device with MQW structure, which is attributed not only to the reduced energy barrier between ITO and NPB, but also to the forming charge transfer complex between MoO3 and NPB induced by the interfacial doping effect of MoO3.

Oxide transistor is the basic device to construct the oxide electronic circuit that is the backing to develop integrated oxide electronics with high efficiency and low power consumption. By growing the perovskite oxide integrated layers and tailoring them to lead semiconducting functions at their interfaces, the development of oxide transistors may be able to perform. We realize a kind of p-i-n type integrated layers consisting of an n-type cuprate superconductor, p-type colossal magnetoresistance manganite, and a ferroelectric barrier (i). From this, bipolar transistors were fabricated at the back-to-back p-i-n junctions, for which the Schottky emission and p-n junction barriers, as well as the ferroelectric polarization, were integrated into the interfaces to control the transport properties; a preliminary but distinct current gain greater than 1.6 at input current of microampers order was observed. These results present a real possibility to date for developing bipolar all perovskite oxide transistors.

We fabricate a kind of novel efficient blue fluorescent organic light emitting device (OLED) based on p-n hetero-junctions composed of hole transporting layer (HTL) N, N'-bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N, N'-bis(phenyl)-benzidine (NPB) and electron transporting layer (ETL) 4,7-diphnenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BPhen), into which a new blue material, DNCA (a derivation of N6, N6, N12, N12-tetrap-tolylchrysene-6,12-diamine), is partially doped simultaneously, and double emitting layers are configured. With a turn-on voltage of 2.6 V at 1 cd/m2, this type of OLED presents a maximum luminance efficiency (ηmax) of 8.83 cd/A at 5.818 mA/cm2 and a maximum luminance of over 40000 cd/m2. Meanwhile, the Commission Internationale De L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of this device change slightly from (0.13, 0.27) to (0.13, 0.23) as the driving voltage increases from 3 V to 11 V. This improvement in the electroluminescent characteristics is attributed mainly to the ideal p—n heterojunction which can confine and distribute excitons evenly on two sides of the heterojunction interface so as to improve the carrier combination rate and expand the light-emitting region.

The efficiency of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) based on N,N'-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenyl-N,1'-biphenyl-4,4'-diamine (NPB) (the hole transport layer) and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) (both emission and electron transport layers) is improved remarkably by inserting a LiF interlayer into the hole transport layer. This thin LiF interlayer can effectively influence electrical performance and significantly improve the current efficiency of the device. A device with an optimum LiF layer thickness at the optimum position in NPB exhibits a maximum current efficiency of 5.96 cd/A at 215.79 mA/cm2, which is about 86% higher than that of an ordinary device (without a LiF interlayer, 3.2 cd/A). An explanation can be put forward that LiF in the NPB layer can block holes and balance the recombination of holes and electrons. The results may provide some valuable references for improving OLED current efficiency.