ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between Cystatin C levels change and the clinical outcomes of critically ill patients.METHODS: There were altogether 4642 patients in intensive care unit(ICU)of West China Hospital of Sichuan university from 28 th August 2009 to 16 th April 2010,and their general conditions were recorded,including sex,age,and being with or without diabetes mellitus;then the database was established accordingly.The patients were divided into four groups according to the change of Cys C values in ICU:high increase(>1 mg/L),slight increase(≤1 mg/L),high decrease(>1 mg/L)and slight decrease(≤1 mg/L).The difference in 30-day mortality in patients were compared.The patients were followed up for 8 years.RESULTS: One thousand and thirty-six patients were included in this study,272 cases died within 30 days,with the highest in patients of the group with high increase of Cystatin C(77.9%),followed the high-decrease group(33.3%);the mortality rate of group with slight decrease was the lowest among the four groups(16.5%).The 8-year survival of 764 patients who did not die within 30 days was 54.58%.CONCLUSION: The change of Cystatin C value is closely related to the 30-day mortality of critically ill patients.The lowest 30-day mortality of critically ill patients is the group with slight decrease of Cystatin C.
ABSTRACT
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is considered to play a crucial role in many high-level functions, such as cognitive control and emotional regulation. Many studies have reported that the DLPFC can be activated during the processing of emotional information in tasks requiring working memory. However, it is still not clear whether modulating the activity of the DLPFC influences emotional perception in a detection task. In the present study, using transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS), we investigated (1) whether modulating the right DLPFC influences emotional face processing in a detection task, and (2) whether the DLPFC plays equal roles in processing positive and negative emotional faces. The results showed that anodal tDCS over the right DLPFC specifically facilitated the perception of positive faces, but did not influence the processing of negative faces. In addition, anodal tDCS over the right primary visual cortex enhanced performance in the detection task regardless of emotional valence. Our findings suggest, for the first time, that modulating the right DLPFC influences emotional face perception, especially faces showing positive emotion.
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Young Adult , Emotions , Facial Recognition , Physiology , Neuropsychological Tests , Prefrontal Cortex , Physiology , Social Perception , Transcranial Direct Current StimulationABSTRACT
Superior colliculus-pulvinar-amygdala pathway is one of the subcortical visual pathways in mammalian brain. Some recent studies suggest that this pathway is involved in processing emotion-related visual information. This review discusses the possibility that this pathway is more related to visual alert rather than simply the early visual information processing. The biological significance of this pathway is also discussed. Instead of detecting "where" or "what" the visual target is, the task of this early visual stage is to send out a warning signal, i.e., "something appears", so that the brain can be set up in a state of alert, which is important for the survival of animals. Thus, in the early visual information process, detection of new object "emerging" or "disappearing" takes priority over the acquisition of its feature information of "texture" and "shape", etc. The subcortical pathway may provide the neural basis of early visual warning in topological perception, a biological significance critical for animal survival.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Alcohol has been used for treating simple renal cysts since 1981. Since then, various observational studies have examined the technique, but they differ significantly in the details of the procedures and efficacy measures used. This has made it difficult to assess the safety and efficacy of this technique. We carried out a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided alcohol sclerotherapy involving single-session multiple injections to treat simple renal cysts.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 144 patients with simple renal cysts were randomly allocated to either the treatment group (ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage and alcohol sclerotherapy with single-session multiple injections) or control group (ultrasound-guided simple percutaneous drainage). Follow-up CT scans of ablated cysts were collected 3 and 6 months after the procedure. The outcome was considered successful if cyst volume between baseline and 6 months decreased by at least 87.5%.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Intention-to-treat analysis revealed an average volume reduction of 94.2% in the treatment group and 50.8% in the control group (P < 0.0001). The percentage of patients achieving successful outcomes was 88.9% (95%CI 77.0% - 100.0%) in the treatment group and 22.2% (95%CI 6.54% - 37.9%) in the control group (P < 0.0001). The corresponding results in the per-protocol analysis were an average volume reduction of 96.4% in the treatment group and 50.8% in the control group (P < 0.0001). The percentage of patients achieving a successful outcome was 94.3% (95%CI 85.6% - 100.0%) in the treatment group and 22.2% (95%CI 6.54% - 37.9%) in the control group (P < 0.0001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Alcohol sclerotherapy involving single-session multiple injections is safe and efficacious in the treatment of renal cysts.</p>
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Kidney Diseases, Cystic , Therapeutics , Sclerosing Solutions , Therapeutic Uses , Sclerotherapy , Methods , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the antibacterial activity of six kinds of natural herbs in Yunnan on normal oral predominant bacteria in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Agar dilution method, the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of anaerobes which was recommended by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standard (NCCLs), was used to determine the antimicrobial susceptibility of herbs to 21 kinds of oral model strains and clinical isolates. The results were expressed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All six kinds of herbs were effective to the oral predominant bacteria. For the ten kinds of cariogenic bacteria, the MIC of caesalpinia sappan lignum was between 5-10 mg x mL(-1), and the MIC of other herbs was above 20 mg x mL(-1). For the eleven kinds of predominant bacteria which normally involved in pulp periapical disease and periodontitis, the MIC of caesalpinia sappan lignum was below 0.062 5 mg x mL(-1), and the MIC of the terminalia chebula retz was between 10-20 mg x mL(-1), and the others were above 20 mg x mL(-1).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The six kinds of herbs in Yunnan could be used in treatment or prevention of oral bacterial diseases.</p>