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A novel laser feedback interferometer with double diffraction system is proposed in this paper. A beam emitted from the laser is incident onto a transmission grating. The mth order beam is vertically reflected by a mirror and diffracted again by the grating. The double-diffracted beam returns into the laser cavity and mixes with the light inside the active cavity, thus generating a modulation of both the amplitude and the frequency of the lasing field. Theoretical analysis and experimental observations show that the output signal of the proposed system depends on the grating pitch and the direction of the phase movement can be obtained from inclination of the interference signal. It provides a potential displacement sensor with high stability and quite a compact configuration.

The permeability and tension of fetal membranes (FMs) is associated with extracellular matrix proteins produced largely by myofibroblasts (MFBBs). α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) is involved in the contraction of MFBBs and has been implicated as a special biomarker of MFBBs in non-vessel FM. The present study demonstrated, by using immunohistochemistry, reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, that MFBBs were mainly distributed in chorioamniotic mesoderm at 16-21 weeks and in chorionic mesoderm at 22-40 weeks, respectively, while overlapping with each other at 16-40 weeks. In addition, a quantity of MFBBs were identified in chorionic epithelia at 16-40 weeks. The MFBBs were distributed parallel to the FMs. The quantities of MFBBs and the expression levels of α-SMA were negatively associated with increasing gestational progress and of amniotic fluid indexes in full-term females (those from oligohydramnios were higher than polyhydramnios); however, the thickness of the FM's mesoderm remained unchanged. Of note, the number of MFBBs in early-onset severe pre-eclampsia (EOSP) was significantly decreased in comparison with that in EOSP controls and late-onset severe pre-eclampsia (LOSP), while that in LOSP was higher than that in LOSP controls. The present data indicated that the changes in the quantity and distribution of MFBBs in the FM affects the permeability and tension of the FM. In addition, the findings suggested that the expression levels of α-SMA in the FM also contributed to the properties of the FM. Simultaneously, the number and distribution of MFBBs and the expression levels of α-SMA in the FM may be involved in the mechanisms of development, apoptosis and trophoblast-MFBB transformation of the FM.

The current case report presents a patient with acute monocytic leukemia (AML-M5) occurring 14 years following the successful treatment of severe aplastic anemia (SAA) with immunosuppressants and androgens. The patient was treated with induction chemotherapy, but did not achieve remission. The patient succumbed to central nervous system bleeding 2 weeks following the first cycle of chemotherapy. Chromosomal examination revealed 47,XX,+21[10]/46,XX[1]. To the best of our knowledge the present case is the first to be reported of SAA 14 years preceding AML-M5 with acquired trisomy 21.

Imatinib is a powerful protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) inhibitor that specifically targets BCR-ABL, KIT, and PDGFR kinases, has become the current first-line therapy for all newly diagnosed chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Beside PTKs, PTK inhibitors alter the activity of a large number of voltage-dependent ion channels. hERG1 K(+) channels are highly expressed in leukemia cells and appear of exceptional importance in favoring leukemogenesis. The present study explored a possible regulatory effect of imatinib upon hERG1 K(+) channels as a means to uncover new molecular events involved in the antileukemic activity of this PTK inhibitor in CML. The results demonstrated that hERG1 was highly detected in K562 cells and primary CML cells, and down-regulated by imatinib at mRNA and protein levels. Furthermore, imatinib markedly reduced hERG currents in HEK293T-hERG cells, this effect was accompanied by inhibition of CML cell proliferation and apoptosis, as well as suppression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) secretion. Moreover, these antileukemia effects of imatinib were potentiated by E-4031, a specific hERG1 inhibitor. Together, these results provide evidence of a novel potential molecular mechanism of antileukemic activities by imatinib which, independent of targeting tyrosine kinase, highlight hERG1 K(+) channels as a therapeutic target for CML treatment.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a type of inflammation-related cancer that usually follows chronic inflammations. Leukotriene D4 (LTD4) is a potent biologically active arachidonic acid-derived lipid mediator that is intimately involved in inflammations and cancers. Although previous researches found overexpression of LTD4 in several other cancers, the circulating LTD4 level in HCC remains unknown. The aim of this study was to examine concentrations of LTD4 and analyze its roles in HCC. The results showed that remarkably high circulating LTD4 in HCC versus healthy subjects (p < 0.001). The levels of LTD4 were neither associated with parameters expressing tumor burden, such as AFP, nor with inflammation factors AST and γ-GT. In addition, the significant increase of circulating LTD4 levels was obtained in patients with HCC accompanied by chronic hepatitis B (CHB), compared with those patients suffering HCC alone(P < 0.05). Furthermore, although the slightly lower levels of LTD4 were detected in HCC patients with non-metastasis and therapy compared with metastasis and non-therapy, no significant differences were detected. Taken together, the levels of circulating LTD4 are elevated in HCC and it may participate in the pathogenesis of HCC as an inflammatory factor from CHB disease to HCC.

Background and Aim: Berberine, an herbal alkaloid, has been reported to have promotion potential of apoptosis and anticancer effect on a variety of human tumor cells. To obtain more specific understanding of those consequences of berberine on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the tumor microenvironment, we conducted in vitro experiments to investigate the inhibitory effect of berberine on tumor-induced angiogenesis using HCC cells and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)., Methods: Human umbilical vein endothelial cell growth was quantified with the CCK-8 cell proliferation assay; cell migration was observed with a Boyden chamber (Transwell, Corning, Lowell, MA, USA), and angiogenesis was assessed by endothelial tube formation in Matrigel in vitro. In addition, VEGF level was determined by ELISA and VEGF mRNA expression by RT-PCR., Results: Berberine inhibited the capacity of HCC to stimulate HUVEC's proliferation, migration and endothelial tube formation, suggesting that berberine could influence the cross-talk between the HCC cell and vascular endothelial cells. These results demonstrate berberine's antiangiogenesis property and its clinical potential as an inhibitor of tumor angiogenesis. Subsequently analyses reveal that berberine prevents secretion of VEGF from HCC and down-regulates VEGF mRNA expression., Conclusion: These findings strongly suggest that berberine is a potential antiangiogenic agent and a promising antitumor drug for HCC., (© 2010 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

Notch signaling plays a critical role in determining cell fate such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Accumulating evidence indicates that aberrant Notch signaling has tumor-promoting function in breast cancer. We hypothesized that Notch signaling may be a potential therapeutic target for human breast cancer. To address this issue, we down-regulated the expression of the Notch-1 receptor by siRNA in human breast cancer cells. We found that the down-regulation of Notch-1 signaling caused cancer cell growth inhibition by apoptosis induction. The effect of the down-regulation of Notch-1 may be through the inactivation of NF-kappaB. In addition, the down-regulation of Notch-1 signaling increased chemosensitivity to doxorubicin and docetaxel. Our results suggested that Notch signaling may be a promising target for breast cancer treatment.

Objective: A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of theanine in puer tea without derivatization and HPLC for EGCG and caffeine with ingredient elution system was put forward., Methods: The theanine in the tea was extracted with water. The EGCG and caffeine was extracted with water: ethanol (3:7) by ultrasonic oscillation. After centrifugation, the extract was analyzed by HPLC-PDAD with a C18column and at the flow rate 1 ml/min. The theanine was determinated with 5 mmol/L SDS-acetonitrile mobile phase system (72:28), and both EGCG and caffeine with 0.05 mmol/L KH2PO4-methonal mobile phase system (80:20)., Results: The calibration of three ingredients was in good linearity. The recovery range is 85%-110%. The RSD is less than 10%., Conclusion: The method is accurate and stable.

In this paper, a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system for the classification of rat liver lesions from MR imaging is presented. The proposed system consists of two modules: the feature extraction and the classification modules. 40 rats are used for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) induction with Diethylnitrosamine via drinking water. After Resovist is administrated by tail vein the animals are scanned by a 1.5-T MR scanner with T2-weighted FRFSE sequence. SPIO-enhanced images of 106 nodules (RNs(:) 24, HCCs: 82) are acquired, and 161 regions of interest (ROIs) are taken from the MR images .Six parameters of texture characteristics including Angular Second Moment, Contrast, Correlation, Inverse Difference Moment, Entropy, and Variance of 161 ROIs are calculated and assessed by gray-level co-occurrence matrices, then fed into a BP neural network (NN) classifier to classify the liver tissue into two classes: cirrhosis and HCC. Difference of each texture parameter between cirrhosis and HCC group is significant. The accuracy of classification of HCC nodules from cirrhosis is 91.67%. It indicates the ANN classifier based on texture is effective for classifying HCC nodules from cirrhosis on rat SPIO-enhanced imaging.

Gain-of-function mutations in Notch-1 are common in T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL), making this receptor a promising target for drugs such as gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs). However, GSIs seem to be active in only a small fraction of T-ALL cell lines with constitutive Notch-1 activity and the downstream response of Notch signaling is only partially understood. To further investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying proliferation suppression and apoptosis and explore effective downstream target genes, we used RNA interference (RNAi) technology to down-regulate the expression of Notch-1 in GSIs-resistant T-ALL cell lines. Results showed that down-regulation of Notch-1 by transfection of a small interfering RNA (siRNA) could cause SupT1 cells proliferation inhibition by inducing G(0)/G(1) cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The proliferation inhibitory and apoptotic effects resulting from down-regulation of Notch-1 may be mediated through regulating the expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins cyclin D1, CDK2 and p21 and the activity of Akt signaling. In addition, our results demonstrated that down-regulation of Notch-1 signaling could sensitize SupT1 cells to adriamycin. Taken together, cell cycle regulatory proteins and Akt signaling may be attractive targets in T-ALL.

A new, to the best of our knowledge, method for the measurement of the absolute distance of a remote target based on the laser diode self-mixing interferometry is presented. A double-modulation technique is introduced to improve the measurement resolution. Wavelength modulation of the laser beam is obtained by modulating the injection current of the laser diode. Phase modulation of the laser beam is obtained by an electro-optic crystal in the external cavity. Absolute distance of the external target is determined by the Fourier analysis method. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations are given. Experimental results show that a resolution of +/-0.3 mm can be achieved for absolute distance ranging from 277 to 477 mm.

Evoked potentials (EPs) have been widely used to quantify neurological system properties. Traditional EP analyses are developed under the condition that the background noise in EP analysis are Gaussian distributed. Alpha stable distribution, a generalization of Gaussian, is better for modeling impulsive noise than Gaussian distribution in biomedical signal processing. Conventional blind separation and estimation method of evoked potentials is based on second order statistics (SOS). In this paper, we modify our conventional algorithms and analyze the stability and convergence performance s of the new algorithm. The simulation experiments show that the proposed algorithm based on fractional lower order statistics is more robust than the conventional algorithm based on second order statistics.

Objective: To investigate the indications, safety and effectiveness of intracranial deployment of stents in treatment of systematic intracranial artery stenosis., Methods: Stent-assisted angioplasty was performed upon 7 consecutive patients with symptoms of intracranial artery stenosis unresponsive to anticoagulant therapy and antiplatelet therapy. The lesions involved the middle cerebral artery in 3 cases, distal end of internal carotid artery in one case, basilar artery in one case, and intracranial section of vertebral artery in 2 cases. Short-term clinical and angiographic data were obtained., Results: Symptoms of procedure-related intracranial hemorrhage and intracranial haematoma developed later were found in one patient. Emergency craniotomy was performed 5 hours after the stenosis-assisted angioplasty. The remaining patients experienced alleviation of symptoms without transient ischemic attack and apoplexy during the short-term follow-up. Angiography showed that the stenosis degree reduced from 83% to 5%. 0 - 3 months of follow-up by transcranial Doppler showed good patency of stented lesions., Conclusion: Stent-assisted angioplasty effectively treats atherosclerotic intracranial stenosis lesions. Long-term follow-up and further clinical/technical research are still needed.