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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the early intellectual developmental outcome of late preterm infants. METHODS: A total of 106 late preterm infants with a gestational age of 34-36(+6) weeks who were admitted to the neonatal ward between January 2012 and January 2015, cured, discharged, and regularly followed up at the outpatient service for high-risk children were enrolled as the preterm group. A total of 120 healthy full-term infants during the same period were randomly selected as the term group. Neonatal behavioral neurological assessment (NBNA) was performed for late preterm infants at a corrected gestational age of 40 weeks and full-term infants at a gestational age of 40 weeks. The Gesell Developmental Scale was used for late preterm infants at a corrected age of 3, 6, and 12 months and full-term infants at an age of 3, 6, and 12 months. RESULTS: The preterm group had an NBNA score of < 37 and a significantly lower NBNA score than the term group (P < 0.05). At the corrected age of 3 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of gross motor, fine motor, and social competence than the term group (P < 0.05). At the corrected age of 6 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of adaptability, gross motor, and fine motor than the term group (P < 0.05). At the corrected age of 12 months, the preterm group had significantly lower scores of adaptability, gross motor, and social competence than the term group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Late preterm infants have early intellectual developmental delay. It is necessary to perform neurodevelopmental monitoring for late preterm infants.

WNT1-inducible signaling pathway protein-1 (WISP-1) is an extracellular matrix-related protein that plays multiple roles in cellular physiology and pathology. Accumulating evidence shows that WISP-1 is involved in the process underlying fibrotic diseases. However, the correlation between WISP-1 and renal fibrosis is unknown. In this study, we hypothesized that WISP-1 levels might be correlated with renal fibrosis and could be used as a noninvasive biomarker to screen for renal fibrosis in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We first measured the WISP-1 expression levels using a transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β)-induced renal fibrosis tubular epithelial cell (TEC) model and a mouse model of obstructive nephropathy. We then evaluated the correlation between serum WISP-1 levels and fibrosis scores in biopsy-proven renal fibrosis of patients with CKD. Based on the findings from both in vivo and in vitro studies, the levels of WISP-1 and fibrotic parameters (collagen I, fibronectin and α-smooth muscle actin) were significantly increased in the fibrotic models. Consistently, patients with focal proliferative IgA nephropathy, focal segmental glomerular sclerosis and diabetic nephropathy displayed markedly elevated serum WISP-1 levels and fibrosis scores of renal biopsies compared with normal subjects and patients with minimal change disease (P

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.

A glassy carbon electrode modified with copper doped poly (methyl red) coated hydroxyl multiwalled carbon nanotube film (Cu-PMR/MWCNTs), was developed to serve as a sensor for simultaneous determination of Hydroquinone (HQ) and catechol (CC) in this paper. The fabricated electrode showed excellent electrocatalytic behaviors towards the oxidation of HQ and CC with the enhancement of the redox peak current and the decrease of the peak-to-peak separation. Under the optimized condition, the individual determination of HQ or CT in their mixtures was performed, the response peak currents of the modified electrodes were linear over ranges of 8.0´10-7~4.0´10-4 M (R2=0.999) for CT and 5.0´10-7~2.0´10-4 M (R2=0.993) for HQ. The sensor also exhibited good sensitivity with the detection limit of 1.0´10-8 mol/L and 5.0´10-8 mol/L for HQ and CT, respectively. The simultaneous determination of HQ and CC was demonstrated by simultaneously changing their concentrations. The reduction peak currents of HQ and CC increased linearly with the concentration of their own in the range of 8´10-7 and 2.0´10-4 M for HQ and CC, with correlation coefficients of 0.994 and 0.995 (S/N=3), respectively. This study provides a new kind of composite modified electrode for electrochemical sensors with good selectivity and strong anti-interference. It has been applied to simultaneous determination of HQ and CT in water sample with high selectivity.

Uniform football-like anatase TiO2 particles exposed by {0 0 1} facets were successfully synthesized by an environment-friendly, facile and low-temperature hydrothermal method in water solution without any additional capping agent. The crystallographic structure and the growth mechanism of anatase TiO2 particles were investigated systematically by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), respectively. The formation mechanism of football-like anatase TiO2 particles exposed by {0 0 1} facets is investigated. It was found that there existed a selective adsorption of F− ions on different facets by analyzed with the density functional theory (DFT) computer simulation results, and it would lead to a selective nucleation and crystal growth of anatase football-like TiO2 particles. Additionally, this type of exposed {0 0 1} facets football-like TiO2 microspheres were used as a scattering overlayer on a transparent P25 film for fabrication of photoanodes for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The results showed that an overall light conversion efficiency of this film was 6.31%, which is higher than that of the overall efficiency (5.13%) obtained from the P25 photoanode owing to the superior light scattering effect of microspheres and excellent light reflecting ability of the mirror-like plane {0 0 1} facets.

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 Super-hydrophobic surface can be obtained easily by pollution accumulation on room temperature vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber coating surface. The photos taken by digital camera show that the amount of pollution on the RTV coating surface was increased with time, and after one year, the RTV coating surface nearly could hardly be seen. The water state contact angle (CA) measurement, which was investigated by the static contact angle instrument, reveals that the CA value of RTV coating surface is increased with increasing the pollution accumulation, and in suitable amount of pollution accumulation, the super-hydrophobic surface (water contact angle of 152o and roll-off angle smaller than 5 o) was obtained. The scanning electric microscope (SEM) of RTV coating with different pollution accumulation was investigated. It shows that the continuous micro-nanobinary structure can be formed with enough dust particles on the RTV surface. The mechanism of the effect of pollution accumulation on the wetting property was analyzed, the migration of hydrophobic molecular in RTV coating onto the pollution surface and the formation of micro-nanobinary structure on the RTV coating surface have synergistic effect on the super-hydrophobic surface formation caused by the pollution accumulation.

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.

Paper spray (PS) ionization, an ambient ionization method, has previously been explored as a direct and fast method for mass spectrometric analysis of complex mixtures. It has been applied to the analysis of a wide variety of compounds, mostly small molecules. The work reported here extends the application of PS ionization to noncovalent protein complexes on an ion mobility tandem mass spectrometer. Similar mass spectra for protein complexes were obtained by PS ionization and nanoflow electrospray ionization (nESI), indicating that intact protein complexes can be preserved in PS ionization. In addition, collisional cross sections measured by ion mobility provide evidence that the protein assemblies may remain compact by PS ionization. With PS, it is possible to detect hemoglobin tetramer from a blood sample with minimal sample preparation. This is the first report to show that PS ionization is a promising ionization method for nonconvalent protein complexes.

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.

The effect of UV radiation and surface leakage current on the hydrophobic behavior of the RTV(room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber )silicone rubber was investigated. It's found that the ultraviolet radiation and surface leakage current both could weaken the hydrophobicity of the RTV surface in different degree.

XRD measurements were conducted on an α + β Mg–10.2Li–1.2Al–0.4Zn (LAZ1010) alloy. In 80% cold-rolled plate, strong (0 0 0 2) α peak intensity is found on the rolling plane, and 2 θ values of θ–MgLi 2 Al peaks are shifted slightly to higher angle, indicating that Mg atoms in θ phase are partly replaced by Al atoms during severe cold-rolling. Solid–solution treated specimens aged at room temperature reach the maximal hardness after ≈20 h of aging. XRD tests show that θ precipitates is much smaller in size than α ones, which may be attributed to the hardening phenomenon observed in the solid–solution treated and aged LAZ1010 alloy. During aging, the decrease in hardness of solid–solution treated specimens with severe cold-rolling at its maximal hardness is slower than that without. It is because specimens with severe cold-rolling have abundant nucleus sites and thus have θ precipitates of smaller size.

Extinction of aversive memories has been a major concern in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as anxiety disorders and drug addiction. However, the mechanisms underlying extinction of aversive memories are not fully understood. Here, we report that extinction of conditioned place aversion (CPA) to naloxone-precipitated opiate withdrawal in male rats activates Rho GTPase Rac1 in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) in a BDNF-dependent manner, which determines GABA(A) receptor (GABA(A)R) endocytosis via triggering synaptic translocation of activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc) through facilitating actin polymerization. Active Rac1 is essential and sufficient for GABA(A)R endocytosis and CPA extinction. Knockdown of Rac1 expression within the vmPFC of rats using Rac1-shRNA suppressed GABA(A)R endocytosis and CPA extinction, whereas expression of a constitutively active form of Rac1 accelerated GABA(A)R endocytosis and CPA extinction. The crucial role of GABA(A)R endocytosis in the LTP induction and CPA extinction is evinced by the findings that blockade of GABA(A)R endocytosis by a dynamin function-blocking peptide (Myr-P4) abolishes LTP induction and CPA extinction. Thus, the present study provides first evidence that Rac1-dependent GABA(A)R endocytosis plays a crucial role in extinction of aversive memories and reveals the sequence of molecular events that contribute to learning experience modulation of synaptic GABA(A)R endocytosis. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT This study reveals that Rac1-dependent GABA(A)R endocytosis plays a crucial role in extinction of aversive memories associated with drug withdrawal and identifies Arc as a downstream effector of Rac1 regulations of synaptic plasticity as well as learning and memory, thereby suggesting therapeutic targets to promote extinction of the unwanted memories.

Repeated exposure to methamphetamine (METH) can cause severe neurotoxicity to the cortical neurons. In the present study, we investigated the effect of METH on cognitive function deficits, and determined the neuroprotective effects of memantine (MEM) on memory impairment induced by METH. The protein levels of Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3 in prefrontal cortex (PFC) were further examined to exploring the underlying mechanism. We found that repeated METH administration impaired long term (24h) memory retention without affecting short term (5min) memory retention. Co-administration of MEM with METH before training session significantly improved METH-induced cognitive function. METH significantly decreased expression level of Bcl-2 and increased expression level of cleaved caspase-3 in the PFC. The changes can be prevented by MEM pretreatment. Thus, these results demonstrated that MEM pretreatment reversed METH-induced changes of protein levels of apoptotic-related gene, and produced protective effects against METH-induced cognitive deficits, suggesting the effectiveness of MEM may be due to its anti-apoptotic activity.

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.

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.

A numerical simulation approach of ventilated cavity considering the compressibility of gases is established in this paper, introducing the gas state equation into the calculation of ventilated supercavitating flow. Based on the comparison of computing results and experimental data, we analyzes the differences between ventilated cavitating flow fields with and without considered the compressibility of gases. The effect of ventilation on the ventilated supercavitating flow field structure is discussed considering the compressibility of gases. The results show that the simulation data of cavity form and resistance, which takes the compressibility of gases into account, accord well with the experimental ones. With the raising of ventilation temperature, the gas fraction in the front cavity and the gas velocity in the cavity increase, and the cavity becomes flat. The resistance becomes lower at high ventilation temperature, but its fluctuation range becomes larger than that at low temperature.

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.

J Oral Pathol Med (2011) 40: 567–575 Background: Histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) expressions in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) had been implicated in advanced stage and poor prognosis. It suggests a possible link between the migration/invasion potential of oral cancer cells and the prevalent expression of HDAC2. Methods: Five head and neck cancer (HNC) cell lines, including Ca9-22, Cal-27, HSC-3, SAS, and TW2.6, were used. Cells stably overexpressing HDAC2 and shRNA against HDAC2 were established to investigate migration/invasion ability in vitro and tumorigenesis and progression in vivo. Results: We found that alterations in the HDAC2 level in OSCC cell lines modulated their invasive ability with a positive correlation. Animal model also showed that knockdown of HDAC2 expression in SAS cells, originally containing high endogenous HDAC2 expression, resulted in decrease in tumor initiation and progression. Using high-throughput transcriptome analysis, numerous genes involved in HIF-1α-associated pathways were found. At the mechanism levels, using agents to block de novo protein synthesis or prevent protein degradation by ubiquitination, we found the stability of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) protein was maintained in OSCC cells with HDAC2 overexpression. In addition, co-immunoprecipitation assay also revealed that HDAC2-mediated HIF-1α protein stability is because of direct interaction of HIF-1α with von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) protein. Conclusions: Our work demonstrates that HDAC2 maintains HIF-1α stability, probably at the level of protein modification, which in turn leads to the increase in cell invasion/migration ability in oral cancer progression. These findings implicate the potential of HDAC inhibitors for oral cancer therapy.

Fuzzy association rules (FARs) can be powerful in assessing regional soil quality, a critical step prior to land planning and utilization; however, traditional FARs mined from soil quality database, ignoring the importance variability of the rules, can be redundant and far from optimal. In this study, we developed a method applying different weights to traditional FARs to improve accuracy of soil quality assessment. After the FARs for soil quality assessment were mined, redundant rules were eliminated according to whether the rules were significant or not in reducing the complexity of the soil quality assessment models and in improving the comprehensibility of FARs. The global weights, each representing the importance of a FAR in soil quality assessment, were then introduced and refined using a gradient descent optimization method. This method was applied to the assessment of soil resources conditions in Guangdong Province, China. The new approach had an accuracy of 87%, when 15 rules were mined, as compared with 76% from the traditional approach. The accuracy increased to 96% when 32 rules were mined, in contrast to 88% from the traditional approach. These results demonstrated an improved comprehensibility of FARs and a high accuracy of the proposed method.

Site-specific recombination technology provides an important means for regulating transgene expression and improving efficiency of gene transformation. This technique can lead to the translocation, inversion, deletion, and integration, and the expression of the affected genes can be manipulated in different tissues and organs at different developmental periods. Using site-specific recombination system in gene transformation, we can not only acquire plenty of transformants with precise structural fidelity and faithful expression, but also understand the function of new genes efficiently. Gene stacking technology based on the site-specific recombination can produce transgenic crops with good complex traits, which will accelerate the process of research and development of elite cultivars and provide technical support for the exploration of transgenic crops in China.

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.

To study the effects of postnatal growth retardation on early neurodevelopment in premature infants with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR).A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 171 premature infants who were born between May 2008 and May 2012 and were followed up until a corrected gestational age of 6 months. These infants were classified into two groups: IUGR group (n=40) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA) group (n=131). The growth retardation rates at the corrected gestational ages of 40 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months, as well as the neurodevelopmental outcome (evaluated by Gesell Developmental Scale) at corrected gestational ages of 3 and 6 months, were compared between the two groups.The growth retardation rate in the IUGR group was significantly higher than in the AGA group at the corrected gestational ages of 40 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months. All five developmental quotients evaluated by Gesell Developmental Scale (gross motor, fine motor, language, adaptability and individuality) in the IUGR group were significantly lower than in the AGA group at the corrected gestational ages of 3 months. At the corrected gestational age of 6 months, the developmental quotients of fine motor and language in the IUGR group were significantly lower than in the AGA group, however, there were no significant differences in the developmental quotients of gross motor, adaptability and individuality between the two groups. All five developmental quotients in IUGR infants with catch-up lag in weight were significantly lower than in IUGR and AGA infants who had caught up well.Growth retardation at early postnatal stages may adversely affect the early neurodevelopment in infants with IUGR.

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

To study the incidence and risk factors for extrauterine growth retardation (EUGR) at discharge in premature infants.A retrospective analysis was performed on 596 premature infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit between 2006 and 2010. These subjects were classified into EUGR (n=217) and non-EUGR groups (n=379) based on the body weight at discharge. The risk factors for the occurrence of EUGR were studied by multivariate logistic regression analysis.Based on the body weight, length, and head circumference, the incidence of EUGR at discharge was 36.4% (217 cases), 42.0% (250 cases), and 22.8% (136 cases), respectively. Low gestational age, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), delayed enteral feeding and complications of the respiratory system were identified as risk factors for EUGR (OR=6.508, 14.522, 5.101, 1.366, and 1.501, respectively).The incidence of EUGR might be greatly decreased by strengthening the perinatal care, reducing the incidence of premature delivery and IUGR, undertaking early enteral feeding, and actively preventing postnatal complications.

Glycolysis machinery regulates cancer cell behavior. However, the roles of these glycolysis enzymes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) progression remain unknown.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.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.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 38: E1075-E1085, 2016.

Quartz in the veins at the Shenxigou section of Wenchuan earthquake fault zone was investigated by micro-Raman spectroscopic measurement, and the distribution of compressive stress in the fault zone was estimated by the frequency shifts of the 464 cm-1 vibrational mode of quartz grains in the veins. It was showed that the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins near the fault plane shifts by 3. 29 cm-1 , and the corresponding compressive stress is 368. 63 MPa, which is significantly lower than the stress accumulation on both sides due to multi-stage events. Stress accumulation increased with moving away from the fault plane in the footwall with the offset of the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins increasing, which can reach 494. 77 MPa at a distance of 21 m with a high offset of 4. 40 cm-1 of the 464 cm-1 peak. The compressive stress gets the maximum value of 519.87 MPa at a distance of 10 m from the fault plane in the hanging wall with the offset of the 464 cm-1 peak arising from the quartz grains in the veins being 4. 62 cm-1, followed by a sudden drop in stress accumulation, and it drops to 359. 59 MPa at a distance of 17 m. Because of moving away from the foult plane at the edge of the foult zone, the stress drops to 359. 59 MPa with a small value of 464 cm-1 peak offset 3. 21 cm-1 at a distance of 27 m from the fault plane in the hanging wall due to the little effect by the fault activity. Therefore, the stress of Wenchuan earthquake fault zone is partially released, but the rest of the stress distribution is uneven, and there is also a high stress accumulation in somewhere in the fault zone, which reflects that the mechanical properties of the rocks in the fault zone have a characteristic of unevenness in space.

To explore the potential correlation between creatine kinase and the long-term patency of coronary drug eluting stents.The clinical data of 74 patients who had undergone coronary computed tomography angiography after drug eluting stents implantation were retrospecpectively analyzed. Based on the computed tomography angiography findings,these patients were divided into patency group and non-patency group. The mean follow-up time was (20.5 ± 13.1) months. The serum levels of creatine kinase and creatine kinase isoenzyme were measured to determine the relationship of stent patency with these oxidative-related biomarkers after long-term follow-up. The T test or non-parametric test was adopted to compare the intergroup difference of measurement data,whereas chi-square test was conducted to test the difference of enumeration data. Logistic regression was adopted to analyze the biochemical indexes and clinical information. Only variables with a P value of less than 0.05 in the univariable analyses entered the multivariate Logistic regression model.Patients in the non-patency group had significantly higher serum creatine kinase level compared with patients in patency group [(115.5 ± 51.5)U/L vs.(75.9 ± 29.4)U/L, P=0.012] and significantly higher level of creatine kinase isoenzyme [(3.5 ± 5.3)U/L vs.(1.7 ± 1.3)U/L,P=0.034]. Furthermore,the Logistic analysis showed that serum creatine kinase level (odds ratio=1.573,95% CI=1.022-2.421, P=0.039)was an independent predictor of stent patency.Creatine kinase is an independent risk factor associated with stent non-patency.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) coupled with affinity capture is a well-established method to extract biological analytes from complex samples followed by label-free detection and identification. Many bioanalytes of interest bind to membrane-associated receptors; however, the matrices and high-vacuum conditions inherent to MALDI-TOF MS make it largely incompatible with the use of artificial lipid membranes with incorporated receptors as platforms for detection of captured proteins and peptides. Here we show that cross-linking polymerization of a planar supported lipid bilayer (PSLB) provides the stability needed for MALDI-TOF MS analysis of proteins captured by receptors embedded in the membrane. PSLBs composed of poly(bis-sorbylphosphatidylcholine) (poly(bis-SorbPC)) and doped with the ganglioside receptors GM1 and GD1a were used for affinity capture of the B subunits of cholera toxin, heat-labile enterotoxin, and pertussis toxin. The three toxins were captured simultaneously, then detected and identified by MS on the basis of differences in their molecular weights. Poly(bis-SorbPC) PSLBs are inherently resistant to nonspecific protein adsorption, which allowed selective toxin detection to be achieved in complex matrices (bovine serum and shrimp extract). Using GM1-cholera toxin subunit B as a model receptor-ligand pair, we estimated the minimal detectable concentration of toxin to be 4 nM. On-plate tryptic digestion of bound cholera toxin subunit B followed by MS/MS analysis of digested peptides was performed successfully, demonstrating the feasibility of using the PSLB-based affinity capture platform for identification of unknown, membrane-associated proteins. Overall, this work demonstrates that combining a poly(lipid) affinity capture platform with MALDI-TOF MS detection is a viable approach for capture and proteomic characterization of membrane-associated proteins in a label-free manner.

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

To explore the potential correlation between apolipoprotein (Apo) levels and coronary atherosclerosis and investigate its predictive value for coronary artery lesions in asymptomatic population without diabetes.We performed a retrospective analysis of data collected from 401 asymptomatic patients who took health check-ups. They were divided into atherosclerosis group (n=224)and control group (n=177) based on the outcome of CT angiography and blood biochemical findings. The risk factors, lipid profiles, and Apo levels were compared between these two groups. The best biochemical indicators for predicting the coronary atherosclerosis were explored.The levels of ApoB, ApoC2,ApoC3,and ApoE and ApoB/ApoA1 ratio were significantly higher in the atherosclerosis group than in the control group (all P0.01), whereas the ApoA1,ApoA2, and lipoprotein a levels showed no such significant difference (all P0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, male, hypertension,ApoC3(OR=1.572,95%CI 1.200-2.061) and ApoB/ApoA1 ratio (OR=1.767,95% CI 1.335-2.338) were independently correlated with coronary atherosclerosis (all P0.01). In the prediction of the presence of plaque, ApoB had the largest area under curves, and the optimal cutoff point was 1.005 g/L.ApoC3 is closely associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis,while the decrease of ApoA1 level is not obvious during this period. Compared with other lipid indicators, ApoB is the strongest predictor for coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic non-diabetic population.