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In Cu wire technology, it is observed that the Cu–Al IMC formation increases from a very thin layer of a few nm to a few μm after subjected to annealing process. The identified IMC phases are mainly CuAl2, CuAl and Cu9Al4, whereas the other three phases which are less reported are Cu4Al3, Cu3Al2 and Cu3Al. The reliability risk of Cu–Al IMC is commonly known, with the degradation of voids or crack propagation from ball periphery to internal ball bond direction after long duration of annealing. However, the cause of the degradation is not well established. This paper will focus on the study of the degradation of Cu–Al IMC layers with and without the presence of a mold compound by using ex-situ post annealing and in-situ annealing method on the same assembled sample. The ex-situ post annealing sample is studied using focus ion beam (FIB) after the molded sample had underwent a standard High Temperature Storage (HTS) at 150 °C for 1000 h. The in-situ annealing sample is studied using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) on a lamella with Cu–Al interface but without the presence of a mold compound. The result shows that the IMC formed are identified as CuAl2, CuAl and Cu9Al4 via Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDX). These IMC are seen to grow increasingly with the duration of annealing process for both methods. The native Al oxide lines are seen for both methods and were embedded in between the IMC. The degradation starts at the ball periphery with cracks and voids at IMC are seen for the ex-situ postannealing sample but it is not observed under in-situ annealing sample. It is found that the degradation of the IMC is not caused by propagation of microcrack; instead it is assumed to be the influence of additive within the mold compound itself.

Aim To summarize the ultrasonic features of isolated fallopian tube torsion (IFTT) by retrospectively analyzing cases presenting at our hospital. Methods This analysis was approved by the ethical committee of our hospital. Medical records of surgically proven IFTT patients admitted to our hospital since 2002 were collected. Clinical features and preoperative diagnoses of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. Ultrasonic images were reviewed and characteristics, including location, size, shape, echo and vascularity of the fallopian tube, were summarized. Results Eleven patients with IFTT were studied. No obvious association was found between the torsion and menstruation cycle. Only four accurate diagnoses were made before the operation. Degrees of torsion ranged 360–2160°. Most of them (9/11, 81.8%) were greater than 720°. Sonograms of the 11 patients could be classified into four types: cystic masses, tube-like structures, heterogeneous masses and whirlpool signs. Cystic masses were the most commonly seen type (4/11, 36.4%), followed by tubular structures (3/11, 27.3%). Whirlpool sign was believed to be the most specific sign in diagnosing IFTT. Conclusion Through review of the authors' experiences, it is possible to diagnose IFTT preoperatively by ultrasound. Sonograms of the IFTT could be divided into four types while clinical significance of this classification requires further confirmation.

To assess the clinical value of strain ratio in differentiating thyroid solid nodules and explore its distribution characters based on pathological results.The study was approved by the ethic committee and the informed consents were signed. Ninety nine solid thyroid nodules (67 benign and 32 malignant) from 71 female (mean age 46.3 ± 9.8 years) and 28 male (mean age 54.9 ± 11.7 years) patients were evaluated. Five radiologists evaluated the nodules based on a four-degree elastography score system. Strain ratio was calculated on-line. Diagnostic performances of the two evaluations were compared using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. Values of different pathological nodules were compared by one-way ANOVA.Areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of the five readers were 0.82, 0.81, 0.79, 0.73 and 0.83, respectively. The AUC of strain ratio evaluation was higher (0.88 vs. 0.79, p0.001) than that of the ES score evaluation. Best cut-off points of the two evaluations were 3.5 (82% sensitivity, 72% specificity) and 4.225 (81% sensitivity, 83% specificity), respectively. Both the ES score and strain ratio were higher for malignant nodules than that for benign ones (p0.001).Strain ratio was a useful index in differential diagnosis of thyroid solid nodules. It can provide quantitative information on thyroid nodule characterization and improve diagnostic confidence. The best cut-off point for benign and malignant nodules was 4.2.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the blood flow characteristics of intracranial vertebral-basilar artery (V-BA) in healthy Chinese adults with transcranial color Doppler flow imaging (TCDFI) and provide reference values of healthy people of different ages and genders.Three hundred healthy Chinese adults were divided into three groups based on their ages: Group I: 20-39 years, Group II: 40-59 years, Group III:/=60 years. Each group was subdivided into two subgroups according to their gender. Peak systolic velocity (Ps), end-diastolic velocity (Vd), time average maximum velocity (TAMAX), pulsatility index (PI), and resistance index (RI) were measured from intracranial V-BA scanning.Ps, Vd, and TAMAX decreased with age, while PI and RI increased in all groups. Flow velocity in women was slightly higher than that of men, and there was significant differences in group III between men and women (P.05). However, no difference was found in the flow parameters between left and right vertebral arteries.This study offered reference values of intracranial V-BA flow parameters in healthy Chinese adults and indicated that these parameters varied with age and gender.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate regional myocardial dyssynchronicity and velocity of the left ventricle in patients with coronary artery disease.Tissue synchronization imaging analysis of the time to peak velocity (Tp) and peak velocity (Vp) of left ventricular longitudinal myocardial segments was performed for 60 patients with coronary artery disease and 40 healthy subjects.Tissue synchronization imaging revealed synchronous myocardia in the control group and disturbed myocardial synchrony in patients, with greater dyssynchrony than in the control group (P.005). Compared with the control group, patients showed a higher Tp of the left ventricular anterior wall and interventricular septum (P.001). The apex-to-base gradient of tissue velocity was absent in patients. The mean Vp of all segments except the apical segment of the interventricular septum in patients was decreased significantly (P.05).Tissue synchronization imaging is a novel and noninvasive technique for quantitatively assessing regional myocardial Tp and Vp and can directly and quickly determine ischemia or infarction in myocardial segments.

The aims of this prospective study were to investigate the manifestations of the hemodynamics and morphology of a normal intracranial vertebral artery (VA) and diffusely severe or localized critical vertebral artery stenosis (VAS) on transcranial color Doppler flow imaging (TCDFI) and to discuss the criteria of TCDFI in detecting severe VAS.There were 30 patients suspected of having an intracranial VAS in a patient group and 30 healthy volunteers in a control group. All the patients underwent both TCDFI and digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The intracranial VA was imaged through the suboccipital window by TCDFI. The size and tortuousness of the vessels were observed. The hemodynamics of those vessels were measured by means of peak systolic velocity (PSV) and pulsatility index (PI).In the control group, the VA junction with basilar artery appeared as Y shaped and filled with well-distributed blue coded on color imaging, which showed flow below the baseline with fast early systolic acceleration, and normal PSV ranged from 0.42 to 0.80 m/s on pulse wave Doppler. In the patients with diffusely severe VAS (70% lumen reduction, the length of plaque1 cm or multiple plaques) or localized critical VAS (90% lumen reduction) diagnosed by TCDFI and confirmed with DSA, a narrowed and tortuous VA was demonstrated with minimal flow on color Doppler imaging and decreased 50% of normal PSV and PSV0.30 m/s accompanied by slow early systolic acceleration on Doppler spectrum. There was a significant difference (P.05 or P.01) in the hemodynamic parameters (PSV and PI) between patients with severe VAS and healthy subjects.TCDFI is a useful noninvasive tool in assessing the hemodynamics of intracranial arteries. The sensitivity was 90.9% and the specificity was 75.0% by using PSV0.30 m/s and 50% reduction of normal PSV as low cutoff criteria in the diagnosis of diffusely severe or localized critical VAS with TCDFI.

Cerebral atherosclerosis vascular stenosis is a common etiology for ischemic stroke and a major factor in recurrent stroke and vascular mortality. Recent studies suggest that renalase plays a role in hypertension and ischemic stroke, and may be involved in atherosclerosis. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether there were correlations between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the renalase gene and severity of intracranial cerebral atherosclerotic vascular stenosis in ischemic stroke patients as determined by imaging. A total of 212 ischemic stroke patients and 244 healthy controls from the north Chinese Han population were enrolled in this study. Polymerase chain reaction and ligase detection reaction were used for SNP analysis. We classified the case samples by severity of the intracranial cerebral atherosclerotic vascular stenosis. Allele, genotype, and haplotype were analyzed in cases and controls, and logistic regression was used to adjust for bias due to conventional stroke risk factors. The allele and the genotype of rs10887800 in the renalase gene were both associated with severe intracranial cerebral atherosclerotic vascular stenosis (p = 0.013 and p = 0.049, respectively). No association was observed with severity for SNP rs2576178 or SNP rs2296545. Our findings show that the SNP rs10887800 in the renalase gene is closely associated with severe intracranial cerebral atherosclerotic vascular stenosis in ischemic stroke patients of north Chinese Han origin.

Objective Although recent evidence has implicated that 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (ALOX5AP) gene is associated with ischemic stroke (IS) risk, the underlying molecular mechanism remains to be defined. This study aimed to investigate the role of ALOX5AP rs4073259 in ischemic stroke in a Northeastern Chinese Han population. Methods A total of 501 IS patients and 497 healthy controls were enrolled for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligase detection reaction (LDR) analysis of ALOX5AP rs4073259 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Results There were no statistically significant differences in ALOX5AP rs4073259 allele and genotype frequencies between IS or subtypes of IS and controls. There was no significant difference in genotype and allele frequencies of atherosclerosis degree between ischemic subjects with carotid artery plaque or absence. However, total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) in women patients were significantly higher than those in men ( p =0.015, 0.000, and 0.008, respectively). Total homocysteine (tHcy) was higher in men patients than that in women ( p =0.021). Conclusion There was no statistically significant association of ALOX5AP rs4073259 SNP with ischemic stroke in this northeastern Chinese Han population living in Heilongjiang province, China.

Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and adult disability worldwide. Recent research suggests that renalase is strongly associated with heart disease and hypertension and may play a role in ischemic stroke. In this study, we investigate the genetic association between renalase and ischemic stroke in a northern Chinese Han population. We genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the renalase gene in 507 ischemic stroke patients and 503 gender-matched controls from a northern Chinese Han population, and we classified these case samples in depth by complications with diabetes or hypertension and by ischemic stroke subtypes. We undertook allele, genotype, and haplotype association studies in all the cases and in the subgroups, as well as multiple factor analysis by logistic regression. rs10887800 and rs2576178 were significantly associated with ischemic stroke with hypertension by logistic regression (p = 0.041 and p = 0.038, respectively). The recessive model showed a strong association of rs2296545 with ischemic stroke patients in hypertension subgroups (OR = 1.927, 95 % CI = 1.012–3.669, p = 0.046). The renalase gene is closely related to ischemic stroke in this northern Chinese Han population, suggesting that renalase may be mechanistically involved in stroke pathology.

To evaluate the clinical value of transvaginal elastography (TVES) in diagnosing cervical malignancies by detecting changes of tissue stiffness.One hundred and ten consecutive patients with cervical lesions were enrolled. Pathological results were used as the gold standards. TVES was employed to detect the stiffness changes of the cervix. Strain ratio was calculated and compared between the benign and malignant lesions. Depth of invasion into stromas of 56 cases of cervical cancers measured by TVES were recorded and compared with the pathological results. Interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to analyze the reproducibility.Strain ratio of malignant lesions were much higher than that of the benign lesions (8.19±5.66 vs. 2.81±2.24, P0.01). Area under the curve (AUC) was 0.905 with a 95% CI (0.835-0.976). The best cut-off point of strain ratio value was 4.53. Specificity and sensitivity for the best cut-off point were 0.788 and 0.897, respectively. Mean depth of the 56 malignant lesions was 17.8±7.4mm measured by TVES (range 5.4-43.1mm) and 11.5±8.8mm measured by pathological samples (range 3.7-38.4mm). ICC of the 2 methods were 0.87 (95% CI 0.863-0.947) and 0.931 (95% CI 0.902-0.952) for the 2 observers.TVES was a useful technique in confirming the diagnoses of cervical cancer and in estimating the infiltrating region. When the strain ratio of a cervical lesion was higher than 4.53, it is confidential to be diagnosed as malignant.

目的:比较经门静脉和股静脉注入扩血管药物后对肝硬化大鼠门脉血流动力学紊乱的差异,从而寻找更合适的途径降低门脉压力,改善肝脏血流.方法:采用酒精联合CCl4法建立肝硬化门脉高压大鼠模型,42只大鼠随机化平均分成6组,分别为硝酸甘油门脉组和硝酸甘油股静脉组(NG门和NG股)、前列腺素E1门脉组和前列腺素E1股静脉组(PGE1门和PGE1股)、生理盐水门脉组和生理盐水股静脉组(NaCl门和NaCl股).使用超声多普勒测定给药前后不同时间段门静脉内径(PVD)、门静脉血流速度(PFR)和肝门静脉血流量(PVF)的变化情况.结果:NaCl门组和NaCl股组给药前后PVD、PFR、PVF均无显著性差异(P=0.1742,P=0.2372,P=0.6566),而NG门、NG股和PGE1门、PGE1股4组给药后PVD均明显扩张,但不同给药方式和不同药物之间无显著差异(P=0.0516,P=0.1225);给药后PVF增加,NG股和PGE1股组增加量明显大于NG门和PGE1门组,且差异具有显著性(P