MICA的基因多态性及其临床意义

经典的主要组织相容性复合体(MHC)在排斥反应的发生、发展方面具有重要作用,但越来越多的研究表明某些非经典MHC基因在此过程中,乃至在其他疾病的免疫机制方面同样意义显著。主要组织相容性复合体Ⅰ类分子链相关基因A(major histocompatibility complex class I related chain A,MICA)即属于非经典MHC-I类基因。大量研究表明,作为最具多态性的非经典MHC-I类基因,其表达产物可借助NKG2D与自然杀伤细胞、某些特定T细胞亚群等多种免疫细胞相互作用,从而在病毒感染的免疫监视、自身免疫性疾病与器官移植排斥反应的发生发展方面均具有重要意义。     

Fuxin decoction attenuates doxorubicin-induced heart failure in rats via oxidizing suppression and regulating immune responses

OBJECTIVE:To observe the effects of Fuxin decoction in rats with heart failure induced by doxorubicin injections.METHODS:We employed a doxorubicin-induced heart failure model to investigate the effect of Fuxin decoction.Rats were orally administered with Fuxin decoction from 10 to 40 mg/kg.Organization structure changes were assessed by histology,circulating levels of oxidative stress-related biomarkers and inflammatory cytokines were detected via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.RESULTS:Administration of Fuxin decoction improved the growth retardation in doxorubicin hydrochloride injection rats.Cardiac involvement was alleviated by Fuxin decoction,as well as changes of congestion systemic circulation in this rat models.Furthermore,Fuxin decoction regulates immune responses and suppresses oxidation reaction in doxorubicin hydrochloride-induced rats.CONCLUSION:Fuxin decoction might be an interesting candidate for congestive heart failure.     

TAp73 depletion accelerates aging through metabolic dysregulation

Aging is associated with impaired scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, we show that TAp73, a p53 family member, protects against aging by regulating mitochondrial activity and preventing ROS accumulation. TAp73-null mice show more pronounced aging with increased oxidative damage and senescence. TAp73 deletion reduces cellular ATP levels, oxygen consumption, and mitochondrial complex IV activity, with increased ROS production and oxidative stress sensitivity. We show that the mitochondrial complex IV subunit cytochrome C oxidase subunit 4 (Cox4i1) is a direct TAp73 target and that Cox4i1 knockdown phenocopies the cellular senescence of TAp73-null cells. Results indicate that TAp73 affects mitochondrial respiration and ROS homeostasis, thus regulating aging.     

Effects of visual-haptic asynchronies and loading-unloading movements on compliance perception

Spring compliance is perceived by combining the sensed force exerted by the spring with the displacement caused by the action (sensed through vision and proprioception). We investigated the effect of delay of visual and force information with respect to proprioception to understand how visual-haptic perception of compliance is achieved. First, we confirm an earlier result that force delay increases perceived compliance. Furthermore, we find that perceived compliance decreases with a delay in the visual information. These effects of delay on perceived compliance would not be present if the perceptual system would utilize all force-displacement information available during the interaction. Both delays generate a bias in compliance which is opposite in the loading and unloading phases of the interaction. To explain these findings, we propose that information during the loading phase of the spring displacement is weighted more than information obtained during unloading. We confirm this hypothesis by showing that sensitivity to compliance during loading movements is much higher than during unloading movements. Moreover, we show that visual and proprioceptive information about the hand position are used for compliance perception depending on the sensitivity to compliance. Finally, by analyzing participants’ movements we show that these two factors (loading/unloading and reliability) account for the change in perceived compliance due to visual and force delays.     

Efficacy of rapid maxillary expansion in children with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome: 36 months of follow-up

Purpose  

In view of the positive outcome of orthodontic treatment using rapid maxillary expansion (RME) on sleep-disordered breathing, we generated data on RME in children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) by evaluating objective and subjective data over a 36-month follow-up period, to determine whether RME is effective in the long-term treatment of OSA. We selected all patients with dental malocclusions and OSA syndrome (OSAS) confirmed by polysomnography.     

包头地区人群骨密度影响因素研究

目的 研究影响包头地区人群骨密度的相关因素。方法 采用病例-对照研究方法。收集来自包头医学院第一附属医院进行健康体检的596例女性和230例男性流行病学资料，用双能X线吸收仪对研究对象进行骨扫描，按骨密度检测值分为正常对照组和骨质疏松及骨量流失组。采用 Logistic回归法分析影响骨密度的相关因素。结果 经Logistic回归分析，饮酒是女性发生骨质疏松的危险因素，吸烟、饮酒是男性发生骨质疏松的危险因素。补钙是人群保护因素。结论 包头地区 男、女性通过补钙均可预防骨质疏松；饮酒与女性骨量流失及骨质疏松显著相关，吸烟、饮酒与男性骨量流失及骨质疏松显著相关。     

Accuracy of algorithms for detection of atrial fibrillation from short duration beat interval recordings

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is characterised by highly variable beat intervals. The aims of the study were to assess the accuracy of AF detection algorithms from short analysis durations and to validate prospectively the accuracy on a large community-based cohort of elderly subjects. Three algorithms for AF detection were evaluated: coefficient of variation (CV), mean successive difference (Δ) and coefficient of sample entropy (COSEn), using two databases of beat interval recordings: 167 recordings of 300 s duration for a range of rhythms acquired in a hospital setting and 2130 recordings of 10 s duration acquired in the community. Using the longer recordings receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to identify optimal algorithm thresholds and to evaluate analysis durations ranging from 5 s to 60 s. An ROC area of 93% was obtained at recording duration of 60 s but remained above 90% for durations as low as 5 s. Prospective analysis on the 2130 recordings gave AF detector sensitivities from 90.5% (CV and Δ) to 95.2% (COSEn), specificities from 89.3% (Δ) to 93.4% (COSEn) and accuracy from 89.3% (Δ) to 93.4% (COSEn), not significantly different to those obtained on the initial database. AF detection algorithms are effective for short analysis durations, offering the prospect of a simple and rapid diagnostic test based on beat intervals alone.     

Association between trauma and cancer of the testis: the importance of self-palpation of the testis for the early detection: two case reports

introduction: Cancer of the testis is not always early detected and recognised, both by the physician and by the patient: sometimes physicians do not make an accurate genitals exam while patients often underestimate this problem. Case reports: Case I: 42-year-old man accepted from another hospital's Emergency, because of pain and edema of the right testis after a recent trauma on the gonad. At US, evidence of increased volume of the right testis with a large intraparenchymal hematoma. The markers were higher than normal. We performed a right orchiecthomy. The pathologist noted the presence of a mixed cancer of the testis (95% embryonal, 5% seminoma). Case II: 49-year-old man with hematuria, accepted from Emergency. The abdominal US revealed the presence of a voluminous neoformation (diameter of 12 cm) of the right kidney with neoplastic thrombosis of the right kidney vein. At the general physical exam, we detected the presence of an increased right testis, that at the US appared to be suspicious for cancer. Tumor markers were normal with the exception of αFP. We performed right nephro-adrenalectomy, right orchiectomy and removal of local nodes. The definitive histological examination demonstrated the presence of a seminoma of the testis and papillary carcinoma of the kidney with node metastasis. Discussion: Current studies showed an association between trauma and cancer of the testis, even if some authors did not find this association because they consider that patients with trauma undergo US and in that occasion cancer is incidentally detected. Conclusions: The association between trauma and cancer of the testis is controversial in current studies. Furthermore screening for the cancer of the testis does not seem to be useful, even if the self- and the physician's palpation of the testis seem to be very important because in these two cases they should allow the early detection of the condition, with a resulting better prognosis.