Accumulation and Depuration of Cd and its Effect on the Expressions of Metallothionein and Apoptotic Genes in Litopenaeus vannamei.

We investigated cadmium (Cd) accumulation in muscles, gills and hepatopancreas of Litopenaeus vannamei following 48 h exposure to 5.25 mg/L, and depuration of Cd in these tissues on 1, 5 and 15 d post exposure. We also detected the expressions of metallothionein (MT), caspase-3 and p53 in hepatopancreas of shrimp exposed to 0, 5.25 and 10.5 mg/L Cd (the 24 h median lethal concentration, 24 h LC50) at 0, 3, 12, 24 and 48 h. Cd accumulated with high concentration in hepatopancreas, and low concentration in muscles. Cd depurated fast in hepatopancreas and gills. MT expression increased in a time-dependent manner after Cd exposure. The p53 and caspase-3 increased at 12 and 24 h in 10.5 mg/L group. In conclusion, the accumulation and depuration of Cd in three tissues were tissues-specific. The changes of the expressions of MT, p53 and caspase-3, were stress response of L. vannamei under Cd exposure.

[Enhancement pattern of thyroid carcinoma with contrast-enhanced ultrasound].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the enhancement pattern of thyroid carcinoma with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for the diagnostic value. METHODS: Thirty-one cases with thirty-five thyroid Occupied were retrospectively reviewed. The final diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy pathology. Contrast agent SonoVue and contrast pulse sequencing (CPS) technique were used in this study. RESULTS: Thirty-five thyroid carcinoma presented three enhancement patterns with CEUS. Type I: twenty-three lesions enhanced in a pattern of ring with centripetal fill-in, however, the central part of no contrast agent filling. Type II: five lesions enhanced regularly and homogeneously. Type III: seven lesions enhanced irregularly and homogeneously. Thyroid benign and malignant lesions perfusion time curve, compared to papillary thyroid carcinoma with nodular goiter in the AT, TTP and WT indicators P < 0.05; papillary thyroid carcinoma and thyroid adenoma, compared to WT alone an indicator of P < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Identification of the different enhancement patterns of thyroid carcinoma could improve the diagnostic ability of CEUS.

Combined use of choledochoscope and duodenoscope in treatment of bile peritonitis after removal of T-tube.

BACKGROUND: Biliary leakage after removal of a T-tube has significant morbidity and mortality. Its etiology is multifactorial. The treatment and outcome of this complication vary. In the present study we evaluated the procedures and efficacy of combined use of choledochoscope and duodenoscope in the treatment of bile peritonitis after T-tube removal. METHODS: The procedures and results of 11 cases of biliary leakage after removal of T-tube who had been treated from January 1998 to June 2004 by combined use of choledochoscope and duodenoscope were analyzed retrospectively. RESULT: After the treatment, 9 patients were cured, and 2 were reoperated on and cured. CONCLUSIONS: Biliary leakage after removal of T-tube can be cured successfully by combined use of choledochoscope and duodenoscope. Importantly, the method is simple, effective and safe, and mostly reoperation can be avoided.

Scaling of horizontal and vertical fixational eye movements.

Eye movements during fixation of a stationary target prevent the adaptation of the visual system to continuous illumination and inhibit fading of the image. These random, involuntary, small movements are restricted at long time scales so as to keep the target at the center of the field of view. Here we use detrended fluctuation analysis in order to study the properties of fixational eye movements at different time scales. Results show different scaling behavior between horizontal and vertical movements. When the small ballistic movements, i.e., microsaccades, are removed, the scaling exponents in both planes become similar. Our findings suggest that microsaccades enhance the persistence at short time scales mostly in the horizontal component and much less in the vertical component. This difference may be due to the need for continuously moving the eyes in the horizontal plane, in order to match the stereoscopic image for different viewing distances.