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Abnormal expression of miR‐409‐3p has been found in several neurodevelopmental disorders, but whether it is dysregulated in the patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI) has not been evaluated. The current study mainly focused on the clinical significance and the underlying mechanism of plasma miR‐409‐3p in the progression of ACI. The level of plasma miR‐409‐3p was determined in ACI patients (n = 80) and healthy controls (n = 30). Pearson correlation assay was performed to evaluate the association and cardiovascular risk factors. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of plasma miR‐409‐3p levels in patients with ACI. Dual luciferase reporter assay and western blot were performed to determine the possible target gene of miR‐409‐3p. Our data showed that the expression of plasma miR‐409‐3p in the ACI group was higher than that in the healthy controls. Furthermore, Pearson correlation analysis indicated a positive correlation between plasma miR‐409‐3p and the NIHSS score. ROC analysis indicated that plasma miR‐409‐3p could differentiate plasma miR‐409‐3p in ACI patients from healthy controls. Then, we explored the possible target genes of miR‐409‐3p. Interestingly, C1q and TNF‐related 3 (CTRP3), a novel adipose tissue‐derived secreted factor, was found to be a target gene of miR‐409‐3p. We found that knockdown of CTRP3 significantly induced PC12 cell apoptosis, even in PC12 cells transfected with miR‐409‐3p inhibitor. These data suggested that miR‐409‐3p induced PC12 cell apoptosis by targeting CTRP3. Altogether, elevated plasma miR‐409‐3p is correlated with disease severity and may be efficient for the early diagnosis of ACI.

The aim of this study was to review the ultrasonographic features of secondary intussusception (SI) in children and assess the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of pediatric SI. The authors performed a retrospective analysis on the ultrasound findings of 1977 cases of primary intussusception (PI) and 37 cases of SI in children. The SI cases were diagnosed by ultrasonography and confirmed by laparotomy or histopathologic diagnosis. The clinical and ultrasonographic features were analyzed and compared between these two groups. The age, no flatus or defecation, position, diameter and length of intussusception, the presence of free intraperitoneal liquid, and intestinal dialation at the proximal end present, all contributed to the differentiation between PI and SI (all P < 0.05). Ultrasound was able to demonstrate the pathological lead point (PLP) shadows in all of the 37 SI cases, either in the cervical part or intussusceptum of the intussusception. Among the 37 SI patients, 21 cases (56.8 %) were accurately categorized with lesions, including intestinal polyps, cystic intestinal duplication, intestinal wall lymphoma, and a small part of Meckel's diverticulum. Ultrasound can be used as a feasible and effective method to discriminate PI from SI. Once the PLP is detected, a definite diagnosis can be made. • The clinical and ultrasonographic features were compared between SI and PI. • The age, location, diameter and length of intussusception, and intestinal dilation were distinguishing features. • The causes of SI were found to be polyps, intestinal duplication, lymphoma, and Meckel's diverticulum. • Ultrasound can be used as an important method to diagnose SI. • Demonstration and confirmation of PLP are vital to diagnosing SI.

In this paper, we study lag synchronization between two coupled networks and apply two types of control schemes, including the open-plus-closed-loop (OPCL) and adaptive controls. We then design the corresponding control algorithms according to the OPCL and adaptive feedback schemes. With the designed controllers, we obtain two theorems on the lag synchronization based on Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat's lemma. Finally we provide numerical examples to show the effectiveness of the obtained controllers and see that the adaptive control is stronger than the OPCL control when realizing the lag synchronization between two coupled networks with different coupling structures.

Aims We explored α and β species diversity, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity distribution patterns in three tropical cloud forests along environmental gradients in air temperature and precipitation. Methods We sampled plots in three tropical cloud forests which are located in the west (Bawangling, 21 plots, BWL), the southwest (Jianfengling, 12 plots, JFL), and the central of Hainan Island (Limushan, 15 plots, LMS). We collected species data and functional trait data including plant height, specific leaf area, chlorophyll content, leaf thickness and wood density. We assessed the differences withinand among-community species diversity, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity in these three tropical cloud forests using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Important findings The tropical cloud forests in JFL had the highest species abundance and richness whereas the lowest in LMS. However, the Bray-Curtis and Jaccard dissimilarity coefficients showed the opposite distribution patterns (i.e. the highest in LMS whereas the lowest in BWL). Distinct distribution patterns in species diversity across the three tropical cloud forests may be explained by the air temperature and relative humidity. The functional evenness (FEve) within communities was the highest while functional richness (FRic), Rao’s quadratic ©植物生态学报 Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology 470 植物生态学报 Chinese Journal of Plant Ecology 2016, 40 (5): 469–479 www.plant-ecology.com entropy (RaoQ) and the mean pairwise trait distance among communities were the lowest in JFL, indicating that habitat filtering plays an important role in community assembly. BWL had the highest RaoQ and mean pairwise trait distance among communities, and the lowest FEve, which demonstrated that limiting similarity would be prevalent in forest communities assembled. LMS had the highest FRic within communities and mean nearest trait distance among communities, leading to a limiting similarity influencing forest communities. BWL had the highest Faith phylogenetic diversity (PD) within communities and mean nearest phylogenetic distance among communities, reflecting an overdispersed pattern in phylogenetic structures. LMS had the lowest PD and mean pairwise phylogenetic distance within and among communities, suggesting that a clustered pattern in phylogenetic structures. The mean pairwise phylogenetic distance within and across communities were the highest in JFL while the mean nearest phylogenetic distance within communities was the lowest, indicating that phylogenetic clustering and overdispersion patterns co-occur in this forest. We conclude that both plant species interactions and environmental filtering determine the distribution patterns of plant species diversity, functional diversity and phylogenetic diversity both within and among three tropical cloud forests in Hainan Island.

The present study aimed to evaluate the renoprotective effects of chelerythrine (CHE), a protein kinase C inhibitor, on neonatal rats after partial unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) surgery. New born Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to partial UUO 48 h after birth and received a daily intraperitoneal injection of 5 mg/kg CHE. At 21-day age, the rats were scarified and the kidneys were collected for analysis. Results showed that CHE treatment significantly increased kidney weight and restored renal function in the obstructed kidney. Histological examination demonstrated that CHE attenuated renal injury by reducing renal parenchymal loss and preventing glomerular and tubular degeneration. In addition, CHE inhibited partial UUO-induced upregulated kidney injury molecule-1 expression and apoptosis and renal fibrosis. Moreover, as a PKC inhibitor, CHE significantly inhibited PKCα and PKCβ membrane translocation. This action may be associated with its effects of anti-apoptosis and anti-fibrosis and contribute to the renoprotection. This short-term study suggests that CHE is beneficial for obstructive nephropathy in neonatal rats and provides foundation for further studies to reveal the long-term effects of CHE on obstructive nephropathy in children and infants.

The current study mainly aims to evaluate the expression pattern and underlying mechanism of upstream stimulating factor 1 (USF1) in the muscle tissues of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients. In accordance with previous findings, our data showed that muscle strength was significantly decreased in KOA patients compared with controls. Furthermore, several inflammatory factors, including tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), IL-8, IL-6 and MCP-1, were associated with reduced muscle strength in KOA patients. Not surprisingly, NF-κB signaling was significantly activated in the muscle tissues of KOA patients compared with control individuals. Furthermore, we showed that USF1 was increased in the muscles of KOA patients compared with controls. More importantly, overexpression of USF1 in primary human skeletal muscle cells significantly increased the activation of NF-κB signaling as well as the levels of pro-inflammatory factors. In summary, we showed novel data that the upregulation of USF1 promoted NF-κB activation-induced inflammatory responses in muscle tissues of KOA patients.

This paper consider the (BMAP1, BMAP2)/(PH1, PH2)/N retrial queue with finite-position buffer. The behavior of the system is described in terms of continuous time multi-dimensional Markov chain. Arriving type I calls find all servers busy and join the buffer, if the positions of the buffer are insufficient, they can go to orbit. Arriving type II calls find all servers busy and join the orbit directly. Each server can provide two types heterogeneous services with Phase-type (PH) time distribution to every arriving call (including types I and II calls), arriving calls have an option to choose either type of services. The model is quite general enough to cover most of the systems in communication networks. We derive the ergodicity condition, the stationary distribution and the main performance characteristics of the system. The effects of various parameters on the system performance measures are illustrated numerically.

This paper investigates generalized outer synchronization between two uncertain dynamical networks with a novel feature that the couplings of each network are unknown functions. With nonlinear control schemes, two sufficient criteria for generalized outer synchronization with or without time delay are obtained by Lyapunov stability theory and Barbalat’s lemma. Our results are valid for many studies of the couplings inside each network being linear or nonlinear. Finally, numerical simulations are given to verify the effectiveness of the control schemes.

The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic value of ultrasonography for juvenile polyps in children and their sonographic characteristics. A retrospective analysis was performed of the ultrasound findings in 27 children who were diagnosed preoperatively with juvenile polyp within the intestinal tract by ultrasonography and then confirmed by colonoscopy, laparotomy and histopathology. The ultrasonic finding common to all polyps was an isolated intraluminal nodular or massive protrusion, associated with multiple mesh-like fluid areas of different sizes. In 25 children, surrounding pedicle-like low echoes of varying lengths were seen connecting with the polyps to form “mushroom” sign. The color Doppler showed abundant blood flow signals within all polyps and pedicles in a shape of a branch or an umbrella. For seven children with an intussusception, the polyp shadow was detected in the cervical part or interior of the intussusception. Ultrasonography is, thus, considered to be a feasible method for diagnosing intestinal juvenile polyp.

In this paper, we study anti-synchronization between two coupled networks where the node dynamics has an unknown system parameter. By designing adaptive and pinning control schemes, we realize the anti-synchronization. By Lyapunov stability theory, we obtain two theorems on the appearance of anti-synchronization. In addition, we derive a criterion for the pinning number of nodes. Finally we provide two numerical examples to show the effectiveness of our proposed control schemes. When the anti-synchronization is achieved, we successfully identify the unknown system parameter.

Background At present, little information has been made available in the evaluation of renal volume in pediatric groups of different ages. Purpose The purposes of the study are to evaluate the relationship between anthropometric measurements and renal volume measured with three-dimensional ultrasonography in Chinese children who have normal kidneys, and to attempt to develop reliable reference values of renal volume to estimate the renal sizes. Methods A total of 1572 Chinese Han children suffering from stomachache, cryptorchidism and neurogenic enuresis with no history of renal disease or pathological abnormalities that might affect measurements, aged 1month to 12years (mean, 5.64years) were examined bilateral kidneys by ultrasonography. The measurements of renal volume were determined using QLAB software in IU22 units (Philips Medical Systems, Holland). Anthropometric indices including sex, age, height and weight were collected for reviewed analysis. Results A total of 1683 children were included, and renal volume of 1572 cases (93.4%) was accepted. There was no significant difference between renal volumes of male and female separately in left and right kidneys ( P =0.844 and P =0.621, respectively), whereas there was a significant difference between mean left and right renal volumes ( P =0.000). Age, height and weight were all significant correlations with renal volume (R 2 , 0.885 and 0.913 for the left and right kidneys, respectively, both P =0.000), and age was the strongest correlation with renal volume (r, 0.472 and 0.399 for the left and right kidneys, respectively) among the anthropometric indices. We drew regression equations to estimate renal volume as follows: left renal volume (cm 3 )=0.441×age+0.156×height+0.398×weight+6.677 and right renal volume (cm 3 )=0.256×age+0.195×height+0.632×weight+1.788, and developed reference values of renal volume separately for the left and right kidneys in different age groups. Conclusions Regression equations have been developed, which define the renal volume from three-dimensional ultrasonography and may assist pediatricians in monitoring renal growth and detecting of unsuspected bilateral increases or decreases in renal size.

We have investigated the expression and role of the 58-kDa micro-spherule protein (MSP58) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Immunohistochemistry was performed in 252 samples from patients with HCC to detect the expression level of MSP58. Results indicated that the expression level of MSP58 in the cancer samples was significantly higher than that in adjacent normal tissues. The Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test showed significant difference in the expression of MSP58 in patients with serum AFP, tumor size, histological differentiation, and universal integrated circuit card (UICC) stage (P < 0.001, P = 0.004, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, respectively). A total of 252 HCC patients were followed up for five consecutive years, and Kaplan–Meier survival analysis demonstrated that the survival time of HCC patients with low expression of MSP58 was longer than those with high expression during the 5-year follow-up period (P < 0.001). Cox regression analysis indicated that high expression of MSP58 (++ or +++), serum AFP (≥25 μg/L), tumor size (≥3 cm), and UICC stage (III or IV) were the independent poor prognostic factors of HCC (P = 0.008, 0.0290, 0.001, 0.047, respectively). Furthermore, down-regulation of MSP58 was introduced to HCC cell lines (HepG2 and Huh7) by plasmid transfection. In vivo and in vitro studies indicated that MSP58si markedly reduced proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of HepG2 and Huh7 cells. In summary, our results demonstrated that MSP58 played an important role in the proliferation and apoptosis of HCC cells and the expression of MSP58 in HCC patients was closely related to the prognosis.

At present, the diagnostic criteria of congenital cholangiectasis are still vague.The aim of this study was to assess the diameter references of the common bile duct (CBD) in pediatric population in different age groups with ultrasound.The diameter of the common bile duct was measured with ultrasound in 343 Chinese Han children aged 1 day to 14 years (mean: 3.2 years, median: 2.8 years) who were all free of hepatic and biliary tract disease. The ultrasound records, gender, and age were collected for reviewed analysis.A total of 343 children were included, and the CBD was clearly detected in 322 cases (93.9%). The mean diameter of this population was 1.58 ± 0.70 mm. (ranging from 0.4 to 4.4mm). Spearman correlation analysis showed that the diameter of CBD was positively associated with age (r=0.573, P0.001). The percentile method demonstrated that the diameter references of CBD was as follows: ≤ 1 years: ≤ 2.26 mm; ≤ 4 years: ≤ 2.99 mm; ≤ 7 years: ≤ 3.03 mm; and ≤ 14 years: ≤ 4.10mm.There was a close correlation between CBD width and the age. The range of CBD widths in each age group will be helpful in the diagnosis of biliary dilatation in childhood.

Objective To investigate the clinical value of high-resolution ultrasonography (US) in the diagnosis of neonatal congenital esophageal atresia. Materials and Methods Longitudinal or oblique mediastinal and abdominal scans were performed using a high-frequency, linear array Philip IU22 probe of 5–13MHz to measure the length and diameter of the upper and lower esophageal pouches, as well as the gap length. Results Three neonates with esophageal atresia received surgical treatment. For each case, the length and diameter of the blind upper and/or lower esophageal pouches were measured by ultrasonography. The gaps in two of three cases were long (>3cm), and in one case, it was short ( Conclusions High-resolution ultrasonography can demonstrate clearly the upper and lower pouches, as well as wall features, and has a clear advantage in measuring the length of the lower esophageal pouch and the gap, which is impossible with plain radiography and esophagography. The drawback is that ultrasonography failed to clearly demonstrate the fistula between the esophagus and the trachea. Despite this, high-resolution ultrasonography is a promising modality in the clinical diagnosis of esophageal atresia.

This study aims to evaluate ultrasound findings that are predictive of the need for surgical management in pediatric patients with small bowel intussusceptions (SBIs). A retrospective review of pediatric patients with SBIs treated from 2004 to 2009 was conducted. Patients were divided into surgical and non-surgical groups. Demographic data, ultrasound findings, treatments, and outcomes were collected and analyzed. There were 56 cases of SBIs in 31 males and 25 females ranging in age from 4 months to 9 years; 39 patients were managed conservatively and 17 patients underwent surgery. The mean length and diameter of the intussusception in the surgical group were 6.53 and 2.78 cm, respectively, and 3.21 and 1.81 cm, respectively in the non-surgical group (both, P

AIM: To investigate the clinical value of ultrasonographic diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA), a retrospective analysis of the sonogram of 20 children with BA was undertaken. METHODS: Ultrasonography (US) was performed in 20 neonates and infants with BA, which was confirmed with cholangiography by operation or abdominoscopy. The presence of triangular cord, the size and echo of liver, the changes in empty stomach gallbladder and postprandial gallbladder were observed and recorded. RESULTS: The triangular cord could be observed at the porta hepatis (thickness: 0.3-0.6 cm) in 10 cases. Smaller triangular cord (0.2-0.26 cm) can be observed in 3 cases. The gallbladder was not observed in 2 cases, and 1 case showed a streak gallbladder without capsular space. The gallbladders of 15 cases were flat and small. The gallbladders of 2 cases were of normal size and appearance, however, there was no postprandial contraction. The livers of all cases showed hepatomegaly and heterogeneous echogenicity. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the hepatomegaly and heterogeneous echogenicity and the stage of hepatic fibrosis. CONCLUSION: The presence of the triangular cord at the porta hepatis is specific. However, it is not the only diagnostic criterion, since flat and small gallbladder and poor contraction are also of important diagnostic and differential diagnostic significance. The degree of hepatomegaly and heterogeneous echogenicity is proportional with liver fibrosis, and able to indicate the duration of course and prognosis.