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Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the level and role of serum irisin in elderly patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) using case-control study. Methods: A total of 71 patients with T2DM were selected as the case group according to the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria; and the ratio of 1:1 was calculated according to the inclusion rate of the residents. The cohort established in Guankou Town, Jimei District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China and the residents of this cohort were selected at the age of 60 and above. A total of 71 healthy subjects were included as the control group with the same gender and the age with a difference of ± 5 years old. The clinical data of the subjects were collected to determine their previous history, blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin (HB), liver function test, renal function test, fasting blood glucose and serum lipid. The irisin level in serum was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data were analyzed by using SPSS17.0 software. Single factor analysis using Chi-square test or t -test was performed to compare the differences between T2DM patients with the control group of the general data, clinical indicators and irisin level in serum. Logistic regression was used to analyze the protective factors and risk factors of diabetes mellitus. Results: The results of single factor analysis showed that the level of irisin in T2DM group was significantly lower than that in the control group (703.37 ± 241.51 ng/mL and 800.22 ± 275.59 ng/mL, respectively). The levels of BMI, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglyceride (TG) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) in T2DM group were higher than those in control group, and differences were statistically significant. Logistic regression analysis indicated that irisin may be a protective factor for type 2 diabetes (odds ratio (OR) = 0.997, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.994 - 0.999). Conclusions: The serum irisin level in T2DM group was significantly lower than that in control group, suggesting that irisin may be a protective factor for type 2 diabetes. J Clin Med Res. 2020;12(9):612-617 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr4261

To study the composition characteristics and source apportionment of PM

Achieving a high decoding throughput using a successive cancellation list (SCL) decoder for polar codes is difficult due to its sequential decoding architecture. In this work, combining the local sorter from a single parity check (SPC) node with a shift-based path memory, a modified fast simplified successive cancellation list (Fast-SSCL) decoder is proposed, in order to provide a high-throughput using a low-complexity implementation. The proposed modified Fast-SSCL decoder can be operated at 470 MHz and was synthesized with an area of 5.26 mm2 using a TSMC 90 nm CMOS process. The decoder presented in this work is able to improve the throughput to area ratio (TAR) by more than 30% compared with the previous designs.

Chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) is the most common cause of chronic graft dysfunction leading to graft failure, our study investigates the expression and significance of p-Akt in the pathogenesis of CAN in rats. Kidneys of Fisher (F344) rats were orthotopically transplanted into Lewis (LEW) rats. The animals were evaluated at 4, 8, 12, 16, and 24 weeks post-transplantation for renal function and histopathology. Phosphorate Akt (p-Akt) protein expression was determined by Western blot and immunohistological assays. Our data show that 24-h urinary protein excretion in CAN rats increased significantly at week 16 as compared with F344/LEW controls. Allografts got severe interstitial infiltration of mononuclear cells at week 4 and week 8, but it was degraded as the time went on after week 16. Allografts markedly presented with severe interstitial fibrosis (IF) and tubular atrophy at 16 and 24 weeks. p-Akt expression was upregulated in rat kidneys with CAN, and the increase became more significant over time after transplantation. p-Akt expression correlated significantly with 24-h urinary protein excretion, serum creatinine levels, tubulointerstitial mononuclear cells infiltration, smooth muscle cells (SMCs) migration in vascular wall, and IF. It was concluded that p-Akt overexpression might be the key event that involved mononuclear cells infiltration and vascular SMCs migration at early stage, and IF and allograft nephroangiosclerosis at the late stage of CAN pathogenesis in rats.

A high-speed field-programmable gate array (FPGA) design is proposed to calculate angles and distances for biped robots in real time. A low-complexity and high-accuracy hardware-oriented algorithm based on CORDIC was developed. To reduce hardware cost, a hardware sharing technique was used to realise a CORDIC scaling factor generator and three hardware sharing machines. Moreover, the multipliers and dividers were replaced by cost-efficiency components, such as adders and shifters to further reduce hardware cost. In addition, the proposed design was implemented with a fully pipelined architecture, which achieved improved operating frequency and throughput efficiency. The proposed design was realised and verified by an FPGA device with a maximum operating frequency of 127 MHz, which achieved the calculation of angles and distances for biped robots in real time. Compared with the previous design, this work not only reduced hardware cost by at least 49.6% and average errors by at least 67.2%, but also improved the average executing performance by 62.7% when calculating ten angles for the biped robots.

Background and purpose To investigate the American Joint Commission on Cancer (AJCC) sixth edition staging system of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Patients and methods One hundred and fifty-nine non-disseminated biopsy-proven NPC patients were studied with MRI before treatment. Retrieval of MRI information enabled us to restage all patients accurately according to the sixth edition of the AJCC staging system. Splitting the respective T and N stages by the significant defining factors identified, the cancer death hazard ratios were modeled by the Cox model in SPSS 10.0 for windows (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). Results Single site of skull base abnormality (HR=3.91, 95% CI: 0.74–20.56) has a superior result to others involved in T3 (HR=5.83, 95% CI: 1.24–27.29). Involvement of either anterior or posterior cranial nerves solely (HR=6.02, 95% CI: 1.55–35.60) was not found to be as a poor prognostic indicator as others involved in T4 (HR=7.81, 95% CI: 1.81–33.63). Less than or equal to 3 cm of N1 (HR=4.01, 95% CI: 0.48–33.83) and N2 (HR=4.72, 95% CI: 0.62–35.78) have a better result than >3 cm of N1 (HR=8.09, 95% CI: 0.95–68.97) and N2 (HR=10.58, 95% CI: 1.32–84.62), respectively. Conclusions Perhaps, it is better to down-stage single site of skull base abnormality from T3 to T2, and involvement of either anterior or posterior cranial nerves solely from T4 to T3, meanwhile, ≤3 cm of N2 down-stage to N1, >3 cm of N1 up-stage to N2.

Purpose. – To evaluate the influence of skull base bone (SBB) abnormality showed by MRI on prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Patients and methods. – From March 1993 to December 1998, 122 NPC patients received prime radiotherapy treatment. All of them were proved pathologically and checked by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Every patient received radiation through conjoint facio-cervical field and conventional dose-fractionation schedules. The total dose to the primary tumor was 60–75 Gy (median, 70 Gy). The Kaplan–Meier method, the Log-rank test and the Cox regression model were used to evaluate the significance of prognostic factors on NPC patient survival. Results. – The overall median survival period was 50 (6–92) months, and the 1, 3 and 5 year-survival rates were, respectively, 99.2%, 87.9%, and 73.3%. The 1, 3, and 5 year-survival rates of abnormality and normality of the SBB on MRI were 98.9%, 87.2%, 71.9%, and 100.0%, 89.8%, 77.0%, respectively ( P = 0.4233). Gender, age, head pain, SBB abnormality, cranial nerve palsy, cervical lymphadenopathy and primary tumor extent were analyzed with the Cox regression model and SBB abnormality on MRI did not prove to have statistical significance ( P = 0.6934). According to the analysis of regrouping, patients with SBB abnormalities ≥2 sites have a worse prognosis ( P = 0.0427). Then, the above seven factors are analyzed by Cox regression model and the result had statistical significance ( P = 0.0385). Conclusion. – The SBB abnormality on MRI is of no obvious influence on prognosis of NPC. However, when SBB abnormality sites were ≥2, there is obvious statistical significance on the prognosis.

To investigate the prevention of Danhong Injection (DHI) on contrast-induced renal impairment after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).Eighty patients receiving PCI were randomly assigned to the control group and the treatment group, 40 in each. All patients used loperamide injection as the contrast media, and received routine medicines such as enteric coated aspirin and Betaloc, as well as routine rehydration therapy. As for patients in the treatment group, 20 mL DHI was intravenously dripped by adding in 250 mL 0.9% sodium chloride injection from 2 -3 days before PCI to 3 days after PCI, once daily. The levels of serum creatinine (SCr), cystatin C (CysC), urine micro-albumin (mAlb), and beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MG) were measured before PCI, and 24, 48, 72 h after PCI. The occurrence of radio contrast-induced nephropathy (RCIN) of the two groups was observed.The serum SCr and CysC levels of the two groups reached the peak 24 h after PCI (P0.05, P0.01). But they respectively restored to the pre-PCI levels at 48 and 72 h after PCI in the treatment group. In the control group the serum SCr level basically restored to the pre-PCI level at 72 h after PCI. The urinary mAlb and beta2-MG levels of the two groups reached the peak at 24 and 48 h after PCI (P0.05, P0.01), and basically restored to the pre-PCI level at 72 h after PCI. But they did not restore in the control group (P0.05). Seven patients suffered from RCIN in the two groups, of them 5 (12.5%) in the control group and 2 (5.0%) in the treatment group, with no statistical difference (P0.05).DHI could effectively prevent contrast-induced renal impairment and shorten the recovery time of renal impairment. It was worth further studies.

To observe the morphological changes and the regenerating ability of the fungiform papillae and taste buds after 60Co radiation with clinical doses in rats.The heads, faces and necks of 30 SD rats were radiated with a large dose and one time of 60Co in the clinical radiation. The general living condition and the number and shape of the fungiform papillae and taste buds of the tongues were observed after the radiation in rats.In the group of 60Co radiation, the animals had wilting, decreasing appetite, losing weight. The heads, faces and necks of animals appeared redness, peeling of hair, increasing of secretions in 5 days after the 60Co radiation. The changes reached the summit in 10 days and the general living condition of the animals recovered in 60 days. The fungiform papillae and taste buds of the animals appeared degeneration, atrophy and collapsing in 5 days after the 60Co radiation. The injuries reached the summit in 10-20 days and the fungiform papillae and taste buds regenerated partially, and the some atrophied fungiform papillae and taste buds were not regenerated in 60 days.The damage to fungiform papillae and taste buds of tongue following the 60Co radiation with the clinical doses was very serious. The damaged fungiform papillae and taste buds can regenerate partially, but not completely.