A study of knowledge on Alzheimer's disease and attitudes of Chinese social residents toward Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional survey in China.

OBJECTIVE: Social residents become increasingly concerned about Alzheimer's dementia (AD) as a global public health crisis. China's AD population is the largest and growing fastest. However, no study has examined Chinese social residents' knowledge and attitudes concerning Alzheimer's illness. This study examined Chinese social residents' AD knowledge and attitudes using the Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Scale (ADKS) and dementia attitudes scale (DAS). DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SAMPLE: 338 social residents over 18 years old from various Chinese regions were recruited using convenient sampling. MEASUREMENTS: The ADKS (Chinese) and the Dementia Attitude Scale (Chinese) were used to assess their knowledge and attitude regarding AD. RESULTS: A total of 328 respondents (97.04%) completed the survey. ADKS = 19.44 ± 3.33; DAS = 86.98 ± 12.7. Age and education levels can have a substantial impact on ADKS scores, and education levels can have a substantial impact on DAS scores. CONCLUSIONS: Low levels of awareness and acceptance of AD exist among Chinese residents. The results indicate that China must immediately implement comprehensive AD education for its social residents.

Microwaves as modulators of membrane stability parameters during hepatic cancer.

PURPOSE: The present study explored the potential of microwaves on membrane fluidity changes in diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in vivo. METHODS: Rats were segregated into four groups: normal control, DEN-treated, microwave-treated, DEN+microwave-treated. Brush border membranes (BBM) were isolated from the rats and, using the membrane extrinsic fluorophore pyrene, we assessed the viscosities as well as fluidity parameters. RESULTS: DEN treatment resulted in a significant rise in lipid peroxidation (LPO). Reduced glutathione levels (GSH) and the activities of glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione transferase (GST), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were found to be significantly decreased following DEN treatment. On the other hand, microwave treatment in DEN-treated rats resulted in a significant decrease in the levels of lipid peroxidation but caused a significant rise in the levels of GSH as well in the activities of GR, GST, SOD, CAT and GPx. The results further demonstrated a marked decrease in membrane microviscosity following DEN treatment. On the other hand, a significant increase was observed in the excimer/monomer ratio and fluidity parameter of DEN-treated rats when compared to normal control rats. However, the alterations in membrane microviscosity and the fluidity parameters were significantly restored after microwave treatment. CONCLUSION: The study, therefore, concludes that microwave proved quite useful in the modulation of membrane stability parameters following DEN-induced hepatic cancer.

Elevated Fas expression is related to increased apoptosis of circulating CD8+T cell in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma / 中华肝脏病杂志

Objective@#To investigate the mechanism of apoptosis of CD8+T lymphocyte in peripheral blood of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).@*Methods@#The proportion and apoptosis of peripheral blood CD8+T lymphocytes in 30 healthy controls, 30 patients with cirrhosis and 60 HCC patients were detected by Flow cytometry, and the expression of Fas on the surface of CD8+T lymphocytes was reported. The differences between groups were compared using independent sample t-test, and data of variance were tested with Mann-Whitney U non-parametric test, P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.@*Results@#The proportion of CD8+T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with HCC was 26.4% ± 9.2%, higher than that of 24.5% ± 7.1% in cirrhosis (t = 0.783, P = 0.489), and and healthy control 19.7% ± 4.7% (t = 2.920, P = 0.004). The proportion of apoptotic CD8+T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of HCC patients was 25.3% ± 6.5%, of the total CD8+T lymphocytes, which was significantly higher than that of healthy controls 12.1%±6.5% (t = 7.555, P < 0.001) and cirrhotic 13.6% ± 5.8% (t = 5.213, P < 0.001), the differences were statistically significant. The proportion of Fas+CD8+T lymphocytes in the HCC group was 62.2% ± 18.5%, higher than that in the healthy control group 42.6%±16.5% (t = 4.127, P < 0.001) and 46.1% ± 14.5% (t = 2.561, P < 0.01)of the cirrhosis group, the differences were statistically significant. Fas expression was positively correlated with the apoptosis of CD8+T lymphocytes (r 2 = 0.113, P < 0.05).@*Conclusion@#The proportion of CD8+T lymphocytes in peripheral blood of patients with HCC is higher than that of healthy controls, but the proportion of CD8+T lymphocyte apoptosis based on Fas/FasL pathway increased, which may be an important mechanism for tumor cell immune escape.

Preliminary experience with real-time shear wave elastography monitoring of thermal ablation of liver cancer / 中国癌症杂志

Background and purpose:Thermal ablation (radiofrequency ablation, RFA/microwave ablation, MWA) is the most commonly used minimally invasive technique for the treatment of liver cancer. Real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) is a new type of ultrasonic imaging technology, which was used in our study to monitor thermal ablation of liver cancer. This study aimed to investigate the stiffness change of liver cancer and that of surrounding liver parenchyma before and after thermal ablation, and to evaluate the application of SWE for monitoring thermal ablation for liver cancer.Methods:From Oct. 2014 to Apr. 2015, a total number of 36 patients, with 39 lesions, were treated with RFA or MWA and got complete response. SWE examination was performed before and after ablation. The SWE-mean, SWE-min, SWE-max, SWE-SD of lesions and the surrounding liver parenchyma were measured. Statistical analysis was made to compare the stiffness changes of liver cancer with those of the surrounding liver parenchyma before and after thermal ablation, and to determine whether there were differences between two different ablation modes.Results:Before and after ablation, the SWE-mean of lesions was (30.09±11.67) kPavs (52.11±17.56) kPa,SWE-min was (10.46±8.22) kPavs (20.57±11.42) kPa, SWE-max was (51.50±20.84) kPavs (88.54±27.75) kPa, SWE-SD was (10.63±4.30) kPavs (16.89±7.72) kPa; There were statistically signiifcant differences (P0.05). After ablation, the SWE-mean of RFA and MWA was (45.55±10.91) kPavs (60.59±20.99) kPa, SWE-min was (18.95±8.86) kPavs (25.93±10.93) kPa, SWE-max was (76.58±15.51) kPavs (104.01±32.59) kPa, SWE-SD was (13.82±3.52) kPavs (20.85±9.77) kPa; There were statistically signiifcant differences (P<0.05).Conclusion:SWE can quantitively analyze the stiffness of lesions. The ablation zone became stiffer after RFA or MWA, and the ablation zone of MWA was stiffer than that of RFA. Two kinds of ablation methods did not signiifcantly affect the stiffness of liver parenchyma around the lesion. SWE could potentially be used to monitor thermal ablation of liver cancer.

Exploration of the relationship between ultrasonographic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma and lat-eral cervical lymph node metastasis / 实用肿瘤学杂志

Objective To investigate the relationship between ultrasonographic features of papillary thy-roid carcinoma(PTC)and lateral cervical lymph node metastasis (LCLNM).Methods A total of 449 eligible ca-ses with 633 PTC nodules was selected and divided into two groups:LCLNM group included 135 nodules(91 pa-tients);Without metastatic groups included 498 nodules(135 patients).Ultrasonographic features of PTC nodules and the relationship with LCLNM were analyzed by χ2 test and logistic regression analysis .Results In univariate analysis,the significant factors were male,age1 cm),multi-microcal-cificaltion(d<2 mm),mixed flow,wider than tall,CCLNM,extrathyroid extension,located in upper(P<0.05 or P<0.017).Multivariate analysis showed that multi -microcalcificaltion(d<2 mm),wider than tall,CCLNM,ex-trathyroid extension,located in upper pole were predictive factors of LCLNM (P<0.005,OR=1.626,2.644, 0.479,2.579).Conclusion High-frequency ultrasound can accurately describe the sonographic appearance of thyroid nodules;it can be used to remind the risk of LCLNM before operation ,and will be informative for the treat-ment of surgery .