Research progress on the health effects of occupational noise exposure on cardiovascular system of workers / 中国职业医学

@#Noise is a common occupational hazardous factor in the workplace. In addition to the specific damage to the auditory ， system of workers it can also harm the cardiovascular system and cause a serious disease burden. The mechanism of ， occupational noise on the cardiovascular system of workers is mainly oxidative stress inflammation and vascular endothelial ， - - - damage. As a stressor noise mainly leads to the changes of sympathoadrenal medullary system and hypothalamic pituitary ， ， ， - ， adrenal axis. The substances that play an important role include catecholamines cortisol angiotensin Ⅱ endothelin 1 - endothelial nitric oxide synthase and interleukin 6. The population epidemiological studies have shown that occupational noise ， exposure can lead to elevated blood pressure abnormal electrocardiogram and elevated blood lipids in workers. The influencing （ ， ， ） factors include noise characteristics intensity cumulative noise exposure and frequency and noise combined with other （ ， ， ， - ， occupational hazards such as high temperature welding fumes organic solvents hand transmitted vibration and work ） ， ， ， shifts . However due to the influence of research conditions experimental design and other factors some research conclusions still have limitations. More prospective and comprehensive studies are needed to verify the relevant conclusions in the future.

Assisting Role of Pulmonary Hypostasis Phenomenon in Diagnosis of Drowning / 法医学杂志

OBJECTIVES@#To study the phenomenon of pulmonary hypostasis in corpses of various causes of death, and to explore the potential value of this phenomenon in assisting forensic pathological diagnosis of drowning.@*METHODS@#A total of 235 cases with clear cause of death through systematic autopsy were collected from January 2011 to June 2021 in Guangzhou. According to the location of body discovery, the cases were divided into the water body group (97 cases) and the non-water body group (138 cases), and the water body group was further divided into the water drowning group (90 cases) and the water non-drowning group (7 cases). Non-water body group was further divided into the non-water drowning group (1 case) and the non-water non-drowning group (137 cases). Three senior forensic pathologists independently reviewed autopsy photos to determine whether there was hypostasis in the lungs. The detection rate of pulmonary hypostasis was calculated.@*RESULTS@#The detection rate of pulmonary hypostasis in the water drowning group (90 cases) was 0, and the negative rate was 100%. The detection rate of pulmonary hypostasis in the water non-drowning group (7 cases) was 100% and the negative rate was 0. The detection rate of pulmonary hypostasis in the water body group and in the non-water body group (after excluding 2 cases, 136 cases were calculated) was 7.22% and 87.50%, respectively. There were statistically significant differences in the detection rate of pulmonary hypostasis between water body group and non-water body group, and between water drowning group and water non-drowning group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The disappearance of pulmonary hypostasis can be used as a specific cadaveric sign to assist in the forensic pathological diagnosis of drowning.

The Expression of CD40/CD40L in MM Patients and Its Significance to the Prognosis of MM Patients / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the expression of CD40/CD40L in multiple myeloma(MM) patients and its influence on prognosis.@*METHODS@#Thirty patients with MM treated in Cangzhou People's Hospital from May 2016 to June 2017 were selected and divided into MM group, then 30 healthy people with a physical examination in our hospital at the same time were selected as the normal group. The serum CD40/CD40L levels of the patients in the two groups was detected by flow cytometry, and its correlation with the lymphocyte population, pathological grade and prognostic significance of MM patients was anaysis.@*RESULTS@#The expression of CD40 in serum of the patients in MM group was significantly higher than those in normal group (P0.05). The levels of CD40 and CD40L in the patients before and after chemotherapy showed no difference(P>0.05). The levels of Ts and NK cells in the patients of MM group were lower than those in normal group (P0.05). The CD40 level was correlated with the serum total B lymphocyte level of the patients in MM group (r=0.877, P=0.005). There was a correlation with CD40L and Th cells in the serum of MM patients (r=-0.783, P=0.035). The expression of serum CD40 in the patients at phase III-IV was higher than those of the patients at phase I-II, the levels of serum CD40L in MM patients at different periods showed no significant difference(P>0.05). The survival rate of MM patients with high CD40 expression was lower than that of MM patients with low CD40 expression (χ@*CONCLUSION@#The increasing of CD40 level in MM patients is related to the pathological grade of the patients. Chemotherapy can reduce the level of CD40. The increasing of CD40 is an important factor for the poor prognosis of MM patients. CD40L level is not meaningful for MM treatment and prognosis.

Differential proteomic analysis of children infected with respiratory syncytial virus

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the main cause of lower respiratory tract infection in children. However, there is no effective treatment for RSV infection. Here, we aimed to identify potential biomarkers to aid in the treatment of RSV infection. Children in the acute and convalescence phases of RSV infection were recruited and proteomic analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). Subsequently, promising candidate proteins were determined by functional enrichment and protein-protein interaction network analysis, and underwent further validation by western blot both in clinical and mouse model samples. Among the 79 DEPs identified in RSV patient samples, 4 proteins (BPGM, TPI1, PRDX2, and CFL1) were confirmed to be significantly upregulated during RSV infection. Functional analysis showed that BPGM and TPI1 were mainly involved in glycolysis, indicating an association between RSV infection and the glycolysis metabolic pathway. Our findings provide insights into the proteomic profile during RSV infection and indicated that BPGM, TPI1, PRDX2, and CFL1 may be potential therapeutic biomarkers or targets for the treatment of RSV infection.

Effects of intraoperative graft flow measurements on the early mid-term outcomes after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting / 北京大学学报(医学版)

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate and analyze the relationship between intraoperative graft flow measurements and the early mid-term outcomes after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB).@*METHODS@#Patients who underwent isolated OPCAB in the Department of Cardiac Surgery of Peking University People's Hospital from January 2013 to June 2016 were included. Perioperative characteristics, graft flow measurements and postoperative follow-up outcomes were retrospectively collected. Comparison was made between flow measurements of grafts and the early mid-term outcomes. Flow measurements of grafts included the mean flow (MF) and the pulsatility index (PI). The early outcomes included peri-operative myocardial infarction (PMI), use of an intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP), reoperation for all causes, new-onset atrial fibrillation and in-hospital or 30-day mortality.@*RESULTS@#A total of 463 patients were included in the study. Mean age was (62.80±8.36) years, and 24.8% were females. The total number of grafts was 1 435, which averaged 3.10 grafts per patient. The MF and PI were separately (32.34±14.45) mL/min and 2.87±0.92. Of all the patients, 23(5%) had PMI, and 11 used IABP. Observed in-hospital or 30-day mortality was 0.86% (4 patients). Compared with non-PMI group, the MF was lower and the PI was higher in the PMI group (P<0.05). However, the differences of other early outcomes had no statistical significance between the PMI group and the non-PMI group. The lower MF (Wald=5.684, P=0.017, 95%CI: 0.894-0.989) and the higher PI (Wald=9.040, P=0.003, 95%CI: 1.252-2.903) were risk factors of PMI in multivariable Logistic regression modeling. The longest follow-up time was 37 months, and 7 patients died. The differences of graft flow measurements between the surviving group and the nonsurvivors had no statistical significance, but overall mid-term survival was lower in patients with poor left internal mammary artery (LIMA) to left anterior descending artery (LAD) graft flow (MF<10 mL/min; OR=9.6, P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Intraoperative graft flow parameters during OPCAB can predict the early mid-term outcomes. The lower MF and the higher PI should increase the rate of PMI. A lower flow of LIMA to LAD graft (<10 mL/min) should increase the rate of midterm mortality, but further research will be needed to confirm and explore the findings.

Impact of Cannulation Strategies on Veno-arterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Complications--A Single Center Retrospective Study / 中国循环杂志

Objectives: To observe the impact of cannulation strategies on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) complications. Methods: A total of 37 patients with refractory heart failure (HF) treated in our hospital from 2007 to 2016 were enrolled. All patients received VA-ECMO with ipsilateral femoral artery and vein cannulation and they were divided into 2 groups: Direct cannulation group, patients received open surgery for femoral artery and vein cannulation directly, based on downstream leg ischemia condition, ARROW sheath was used in ECMO pipeline to establish collateral circulation, n=21 and "Chimney technique" group, patients received femoral vessel cannulation as a graft of 8 mm Dacron artificial vessel was end-to-side anastomosed to the host femoral artery, then was connected to the host femoral vein directly, n=16. Prior ECMO clinical condition, time of cannulation, duration of VA-ECMO, the mean amounts of daily bleeding and transfusion, downstream leg ischemia condition and in-hospital mortality were observed and compared between 2 groups. Results: Compared with Direct cannulation group, "Chimney technique" group showed the longer time of cannulation (83.54±13.2) min vs (67.33±22.4) min, P<0.05, less patients with downstream leg ischemia (6.2% vs 23.8%), less amounts of daily bleeding (210.78±180.22) ml vs (560.76±220.23) ml and transfusion (3.11±1.65) U vs (6.37±2.44) U, all P<0.01; the in-hospital mortality was similar between 2 groups (62.5% vs 61.9%), P>0.05. Conclusions: "Chimney technique" of VA-ECMO improved the downstream leg ischemia and bleeding, while the in-hospital mortality was similar to direct cannulation in relevant patients.

Progress in mechanism and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops after individual exposure to one or more traumatic events.Natural disasters and war are the major primers of PTSD.Tt is affracting more attention due to the high prevalence in war veterans and natural disasters.The risk factors range from gender,environment to physiology.Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis plays an important role in stress reaction and dysfunction of HPA axis leads to disorder of neuroendocrine.In addition,chronic inflammation,including adaptive and innate immune response disorder,has been reported in many PTSD studies.Neural imaging studies have found that there are significant changes in the brain structure and neural circuits of PTSD patients.However,the biological mechanism underlying PTSD is largely unknown.Currently,based on the clinic symptoms of PTSD patients,anti-depression and anxiety drugs are the first choice for treatment,but the outcomes are diverse.Some potential therapeutic drugs or avenues that are derived from the identified targets are still under investigation.In this review,we overview and summarize the biological changes of PTSD,focusing on disorder of neuroendocrine,chronic inflammation,brain structure and circuits changes and therapeutic strategies in clinical and preclinical trials.This review aims to will provide new ideas for revelation of PTSD mechanisms and develop novel therapies.

Suprapubis-assisted umbilical laparoendoscopic mini-dual-site surgery for varicocele: a report of 80 cases / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the safety, effectiveness and feasibility of suprapubis-assisted umbilical laparoendoscopic mini-dual-site surgery (SAU-LEMDS) in the treatment of varicocele.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This study included 80 varicocele patients aged 24 - 44 (mean 28.5 +/- 2.6) years, 25 cases of grade I, 45 cases of grade II and 10 cases of grade III, 58 cases in the left side, 6 in the right and 16 in both sides, and all with asthenospermia. The patients were treated by SAU-LEMDS under subarachnoid anesthesia combined with general anesthesia in a supine position with a head-down-feet-up slope of 15 degrees. Two 5 mm trocars were inserted bilaterally at the umbilical edge, one with a 5 mm 30 degrees laparoscope placed in it, and another into the abdominal cavity below the pubic hairline with a 5 mm laparoendoscopic clipper placed in it. The operation procedure was similar to that of standard laparoscopic ligation of spermatic veins, with reservation of the spermatic artery and double-ligation of spermatic veins. And the procedure was repeated for the contralateral lesion in the bilateral cases. Postoperative follow-up was conducted for the incidences of orchiatrophy and testicular hydrocele and changes of seminal parameters.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All the operations were successful, with the mean operation time of (10 +/- 5.0) min (range 8 to 25 min) for the unilateral cases and (18 +/- 6.5) min (range 15 to 30 min) for the bilateral cases, the mean blood loss of (1.5 +/- 0.5) ml (range 1 to 2 ml), and the mean postoperative hospital stay of (2 +/- 0.5) d (range 1.5 to 3 d). The patients were followed up for 6 -24 (12 +/- 2.5) months, which showed significant improvement in sperm motility as compared with the baseline ([28.53 +/- 5.21] vs [19.62 +/- 3.56]%, P < 0.05), with 28 cases (35.0%) restored to normal. Recurrence was found in 4 cases (5.0%). Testicular hydrocele occurred in 7 cases (8.75%), but orchiatrophy in none. The scars in the umbilicus and suprapubis were invisible because of the wrinkles and pubic hair.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>SAU-LEMDS is safe, effective and feasible for the treatment of varicocele. It is superior to umbilical laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (U-LESS) for its less invasiveness, simpler operation, and better cosmetic appearance.</p>

Impact of hepatitis B virus infection on liver function after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation / 中国实验血液学杂志

To analyze the impact of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection on liver function of patients after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), the transplantation outcome of 48 patients infected with HBV prior to transplantation among 185 patients received HSCT was investigated retrospectively. The results showed that during a follow-up for 6 months after HSCT, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) peak average values of the patients with HBsAg(+), HBsAb(+) and control groups were (281.6 ± 414.6), (95.4 ± 79.9) and (65.1 ± 44.2) U/L, respectively. The incidences of abnormal liver function of the patients with HBsAg(+), HBsAb(+) and control groups were 61.54%, 40.00% and 30.23% respectively. There were no significant differences between any two groups (P > 0.05). The lethality of those patients at late period after transplantation was not related to HBV infection. The hepatocirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma caused by HBV infection have not become major problems in long-term survivors. It is concluded that in HBsAg(+) patients received HSCT, the damage of liver function is more severe than control group, possibly increasing the development of abnormal liver function. The measures against the liver function damage should be taken. The prophylactic administration of ganciclovir for virus may be effective to prevent the activation of HBV.

Percent body fat is a better predictor of cardiovascular risk factors than body mass index

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the predictive values of percent body fat (PBF) and body mass index (BMI) for cardiovascular risk factors, especially when PBF and BMI are conflicting. BMI was calculated by the standard formula and PBF was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. A total of 3859 ambulatory adult Han Chinese subjects (2173 males and 1686 females, age range: 18-85 years) without a history of cardiovascular diseases were recruited from February to September 2009. Based on BMI and PBF, they were classified into group 1 (normal BMI and PBF, N = 1961), group 2 (normal BMI, but abnormal PBF, N = 381), group 3 (abnormal BMI, but normal PBF, N = 681), and group 4 (abnormal BMI and PBF, N = 836). When age, gender, lifestyle, and family history of obesity were adjusted, PBF, but not BMI, was correlated with blood glucose and lipid levels. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for cardiovascular risk factors in groups 2 and 4 were 1.88 (1.45-2.45) and 2.06 (1.26-3.35) times those in group 1, respectively, but remained unchanged in group 3 (OR = 1.32, 95%CI = 0.92-1.89). Logistic regression models also demonstrated that PBF, rather than BMI, was independently associated with cardiovascular risk factors. In conclusion, PBF, and not BMI, is independently associated with cardiovascular risk factors, indicating that PBF is a better predictor.

Latest progress in postmortem interval estimation / 法医学杂志

Accurate estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) has been one of the most important and complicated issues in the forensic practice. In order to provide novel perspectives for the future research concerning PMI, the advantages and disadvantages of related traditional methods, postmortem degradation of nucleic acid and tissue, the componential change of vitreous humor and histological biochemistry since 2002 have been introduced and compared in this review.

Study of molecular subtypes of biotype 1A Yersinia enterocolitica in Shandong province from 2008 to 2009 / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the molecular subtypes of 73 strains of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A isolated in Shandong province by PFGE, and thereby to analyze the relationship between PFGE typing and biological characteristics.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-three strains of Yersinia enterocolitica biotype 1A were isolated from animal feces and meat products in Gaomi city and Wulian county in Shandong province from 2008 to 2009. Motility test, serum agglutination and virulent genes detection by PCR were used to learn the biological characteristics of the isolated strains. The molecular subtypes were determined by PFGE, whose relationships with motility, serotypes and virulent genotypes were also analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Out of the 73 strains of Yersinia enterocolitica, 5 showed medium-active motility while the other 68 showed well-active motility. The dominated serotypes were O:5(17/73) and O:8(14/73), followed by O:9(5/73) and O:7, 8(1/73), and there was no O:3 serotype found. Meanwhile, 36 strains couldn't be serotyped. All the strains were negative with the gene ail, ystA, yadA and virF, yet the positive rate of ystB gene was 72.6% (53/73). The 73 strains of Yersinia enterocolitica isolated could be subtyped into 54 PFGE patterns (K6GN11SD0001-K6GN11SD0054), most of which only had 1 or 2 isolated strains, and no pattern was dominant. The strains in the same or similar cluster were from different hosts; each serotype and toxic genotype scattered in the clustering trees, without specific correlation with PFGE subtypes. 4 out of 5 strains, which showed medium-active motility, belonged to one branch, with the similarity coefficient at 80.9% - 100.0%; while all the toxic genotype belonged to type B.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Biotype 1A Yersinia enterocolitica has many clones, whose PFGE types had relations with motility, but no relations with virulent genotype and host.</p>

Oral epidemic diseases of exposure personnel in long-term low dose radiation / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

Oral epidemic diseases of exposure personnel in long-term low-dose radiation yet have rarely been studied. Referred to WHO oral health survey method and symptom grading standard, data of 341 exposure persons in long-term low-dose radiation including α particle, β particle, and γ rays, etc., were collected from one camp in China in 2011 with cluster sampling and analyzed? with Foxpro 6.0 and SPSS 16.0 software. The exposure persons worked in low-dose radiation for a long time aged between 23 and 56, whose average age were 27.1 years old.In addition, their lengths of service were from 2 to 34 years (average 7.9 years) and average exposure time was 8 hours a day each year for more than three months. Average annual radiation dose equivalent was from 1.8 to 16.5 mSv (average 7.3 mSv). Total radiation dose equivalent was from 3.8 to 425.0 mSv (average 97.3 mSv).

A study on the neuronal mechanism of retrieval of long-term digital memory in human by functional magnetic resonance imaging / 生理学报

To investigate the neuronal mechanism of retrieval of long-term digital memory in healthy volunteers, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technique was used in the study. Twenty-two right-handed volunteers were subjected to a long-term digital memory test with block-design. The memory task and control task were adopted in the experiment alternatively. The fMRI data were recorded by a Siemens 1.5T MR machine and analyzed by SPM99. The activated brain regions were shown in the Talairach coordinate. The results showed that the Brodmann's area (BA) 9 region in left middle frontal gyrus was the most activated cortex during the long-term digital memory task. The left medial frontal gyrus, left inferior frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, left superior parietal lobule, right superior parietal lobule, right middle temporal gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, right middle brain, cerebellum and right caudate nucleus tail were also involved. The activation in cortices showed obvious left predominance. It is suggested that a series of brain regions with left predominance are involved in long-term digital memory. Left lateral frontal cortex would be the most important structure for information extraction, while the other cortices and their connections may be important for processing and long-term storage of digital information.

Comparison of three HIV antibody confirmatory assay kits in confirming early HIV infection / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was to compare the performance of three HIV antibody confirmatory assay kits in confirming early HIV infection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Five HIV antibody-positive plasma specimens were ten-fold serially diluted and then detected by ELISA. The above diluted specimens were detected with the following three HIV antibody confirmatory assay kits to analyze their sensitivity, including Wantai-RIBA (Recombinant immunoblot assay, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy, China), MP-WB (HIV Blot 2.2 WB, MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Singapore) and INNO-LIA (INNO-LIA(TM) HIV I/II Score, Innogenetics N.V., Belgium), respectively. These kits were further used to detect 48 ELISA-reactive specimens from 11 sets of HIV seroconversion specimens (a total of 48 samples) which were previously detected as HIV antibody-positive by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>When 5 samples were diluted to 100 fold, Wantai-RIBA still can detect them positive. Among the 48 HIV antibody-positive specimens detected with ELISA, the confirmation positive rate for Wantai-RIBA, MP-WB and INNO-LIA were 97.92% (47/48), 81.25% (39/48) and 91.67% (44/48), respectively. There was statistically significant difference between the confirmatory results of Wantai-RIBA and MP-WB (χ(2) = 6.13, P < 0.05), as well as between those of INNO-LIA and MP-WB (χ(2) = 5.48, P < 0.05); however, there was no statistically significant difference between those of Wantai-RIBA and INNO-LIA (χ(2) = 1.33, P > 0.05). For other six HIV seroconversion panels containing indeterminate specimens, the average seroconversion period of time for Wantai-RIBA, MP-WB and INNO-LIA were 0.7, 13.3 and 3.7 days, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compared with MP-WB, Wantai-RIBA and INNO-LIA could reduce the window period to confirm early HIV infection.</p>

Tumor-induced osteomalacia with elevated fibroblast growth factor 23: a case of phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor mixed with connective tissue variants and review of the literature / 癌症

Tumor-induced osteomalacia (TIO), or oncogenic osteomalacia (OOM), is a rare acquired paraneoplastic disease characterized by renal phosphate wasting and hypophosphatemia. Recent evidence shows that tumor-overexpressed fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is responsible for the hypophosphatemia and osteomalacia. The tumors associated with TIO are usually phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor mixed connective tissue variants (PMTMCT). Surgical removal of the responsible tumors is clinically essential for the treatment of TIO. However, identifying the responsible tumors is often difficult. Here, we report a case of a TIO patient with elevated serum FGF23 levels suffering from bone pain and hypophosphatemia for more than three years. A tumor was finally located in first metacarpal bone by octreotide scintigraphy and she was cured by surgery. After complete excision of the tumor, serum FGF23 levels rapidly decreased, dropping to 54.7% of the preoperative level one hour after surgery and eventually to a little below normal. The patient's serum phosphate level rapidly improved and returned to normal level in four days. Accordingly, her clinical symptoms were greatly improved within one month after surgery. There was no sign of tumor recurrence during an 18-month period of follow-up. According to pathology, the tumor was originally diagnosed as "lomangioma" based upon a biopsy sample, "proliferative giant cell tumor of tendon sheath" based upon sections of tumor, and finally diagnosed as PMTMCT by consultation one year after surgery. In conclusion, although an extremely rare disease, clinicians and pathologists should be aware of the existence of TIO and PMTMCT, respectively.

Expression of bone morphogenetic protein-2 during midfacial sutural distraction osteogenesis in dogs / 第二军医大学学报

Objective: To study the expression of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 during midfacial sutural distraction osteogenesis in dogs and to probe the mechanism of sutural distraction osteogenesis. Methods: Eighteen mongrel dogs (12-week old) were randomly divided into distraction osteogenesis group(n = 12) and the control group(n = 6). Rigid external distractor was used for sutural distraction of the midfacial skeleton in the experimental animals. Two experimental and one control dogs were sacrificed at defined time points (on the 5th,10th and 15th day of distraction, the 10th and 20th day of fixation, and 30th day after completion of fixation). The expression of BMP-2 was observed by means of immunohistochemistry. Results: During the period of distraction and fixation, positive staining of BMP-2 was found in the proliferated preosteoblasts, the mesenchymal cells and the newly formed bone matrix at the sutural margin of the experimental dogs; weak expression was also noticed in the control dogs. Compared with that in the control group, the expression of BMP-2 in the experimental group increased and reached the peak on the 15th of distraction, then gradually decreased, the expression of BMP-2 nearly restored to the normal level 1 month after the removal of the distractor. Conclusion: The mechanical strain can lead to the generation of endogenous BMP-2, which may play an important role in the new bone formation.

Association between nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 gene mutation and simple congenital heart disease in children / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To elucidate association between the mutation of nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATC1) gene in IPT-NFAT region and simple congenital heart disease (CHD) in children.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the sequencing reaction to detect the mutations on the patients and their parents and (or) siblings.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>PCR amplification of the exon 7 region showed that 2 bands are obtained in 58% of patients with CHD and in 74% of their healthy parents and (or) siblings. Sequencing of the 2 bands revealed that both are amplicons of the exon 7 region, and that the additional band harbors an additional 44 nucleotides segment in the intronic region. The homozygous form of this allele was only present in patients with ventricular septal defect (2/24), atrial septal defect (3/18) and bicuspid aortic valve (1/4) in which G to A transition at nucleotide 17 of the third 44 bps was found. Neither the unrelated non-CHD individuals nor the ones with other CHD showed positive presence for the homozygous form of this allele.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There is a differential amplification of a tandem repeat region in intron 7 of NFATC1 and homozygous form of this allele in patients with ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and bicuspid aortic valve. NFATC1 gene may be an a susceptibility marker for ventricular septal defect, atrial septal defect and bicuspid aortic valve.</p>

Activated brain areas during simple and complex mental calculation--a functional MRI study / 生理学报

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study the activated brain areas of human during simple and complex digital calculation, and to investigate the role of cortical and subcortical structures involved in the mental calculation. Sixteen right-handed healthy volunteers performed mental calculation of simple and complex addition/subtraction respectively, while the fMRI data were recorded by a Seimens 1.5 T MR machine. Block-design was used in the tasks. Two calculation tasks and one base-line tasks were performed for the block-design. Simple calculation task was single-digit addition and subtraction, while the complex was multi-digit addition and subtraction. The base-line task was to tell whether the two numbers were the same in every trial. Statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) was employed to process data and localize functional areas. We compared the average activation intensity of each activated brain regions in the same calculation task and the activation intensity of the same regions in both tasks respectively. Both the cortex and the subcortical structures including basal ganglia and thalamus were activated during simple and complex mental calculations. Similar brain regions in subjects including frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, cingulate gyrus, thalamus and cerebellum were engaged in simple and complex addition/subtraction. In the same task, activation intensity of all activated brain areas differed insignificantly. Compared with the complex task, the right parietal lobe was not activated in the simple one. The subcortical structures such as the caudate nucleus and the left marginal division of the striatum (MrD) were activated in both two calculation tasks. The cortical regions involved in both simple and complex addition/subtraction were similar. In conclusion, both the cortex and the subcortical structures were activated during the mental calculation. The cortex including the frontal cortex, parietal cortex, and cingulate gyrus were activated during mental calculation, while the subcortical structures such as the caudate nucleus, the globus pallidum and the left marginal division of the striatum also played a critical role in the neural networks of the calculation at the same time. Right parietal lobe (supramarginal gyrus) was engaged only in the complex task, which suggested that this region might be involved in the visuospatial memory and processing.

Soft-tissue pyogenic infection in neonates caused by Staphylococcus aureus carrying Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the pathogen causing soft-tissue pyogenic infection in neonate.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The isolates of Staphylococcus aureus were obtained from liquor puris and blood by routine method. The Automated Microbiology Analyzer was used for identification and antimicrobial susceptibility test of the isolates. Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes were determined by multiplex PCR in the isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was used to determine the sequence types (STs) of the isolates. The genotypes of SCCmec were also determined by another multiplex PCR in the isolates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In 3 cases of neonate with soft-tissue pyogenic infection, 2 strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from liquor puris in 2 cases. 2 strains of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from liquor puris and blood from another case. All 4 isolates were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains carrying PVL genes. Their SCCmec types were SCCmec IIIA. The STs of 4 isolates were ST88. The antimicrobial-resistance profile of the isolates were the same except erythromycin.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Soft-tissue pyogenic infection in the 3 neonates was caused by the same clone of MRSA carrying PVL genes.</p>