Background: To investigate the value of ultrasound elastography (UE) in the differentiation between benign and malignant enlarged cervical lymph nodes (LNs). Methods: B-mode ultrasound, power Doppler imaging and UE were examined to determine LN characteristics. Two kinds of methods, 4 scores of elastographic classification and a strain ratio (SR) were used to evaluate the ultrasound elastograms. Results: The cutoff point of SR had high utility in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant of cervical lymph nodes, with good sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. Conclusion: UE is an important aid in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant cervical LNs.

The aim of the study was to investigate the value of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (IVIM-DWI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in predicting the early and short-term responses to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).Forty-three NPC patients underwent IVIM-DWI and DCE-MRI at baseline (pretreatment) and after the first cycle of induction chemotherapy (posttreatment). Based on whether locoregional lesions were identified, patients were divided into the residual and nonresidual groups at the end of CRT and into the good-responder and poor-responder groups 6 months after the end of CRT. The pretreatment and posttreatment IVIM-DWI parameters (ADC, D, D∗, and f) and DCE-MRI parameters (Ktrans, Kep, and Ve) values and their percentage changes (Δ%) were compared between the residual and nonresidual groups and between the good-responder and poor-responder groups.None of perfusion-related parametric values derived from either DCE-MRI or IVIM-DWI showed significant differences either between the residual and nonresidual groups or between the good-responder and poor-responder groups. The nonresidual group exhibited lower pre-ADC, lower pre-D, and higher Δ%D values than did the residual group (all P <0.05). The good-responder group had lower pre-D and pre-ADC values than did the poor-responder group (both P <0.05). Based on receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, pre-D had the highest area under the curve in predicting both the early and short-term responses to CRT for NPC patients (0.817 and 0.854, respectively).IVIM-DWI is more valuable than DCE-MRI in predicting the early and short-term response to CRT for NPC, and furthermore diffusion-related IVIM-DWI parameters (pre-ADC, pre-D, and Δ%D) are more powerful than perfusion-related parameters derived from both IVIM-DWI and DCE-MRI.

In response to injury, synapse alteration may occur earlier than the changes in the cell body of neurons. Although retinal ganglion cell death and thinning of the inner part of retina were found after acute high intraocular pressure (HIOP), the structural and functional changes of synapses in the retina remain unknown. In the present study, we investigated the protein and mRNA expression of synaptophysin (SYN), an important molecule closely related to synaptic activities, synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity. In addition, we also studied the ultrastructural changes of the retinal synapses. We found that (1) synaptophysin was upregulated transiently at both protein and mRNA level following HIOP; (2) broadened distribution of synaptophysin protein was present within the outer nuclear layer at the early stage following HIOP; (3) in the outer nuclear layer bouton-like vesicle-containing structures were observed by electron microscopy. This data suggested that, besides degeneration, synapses in rat retina may undergo regenerative events following HIOP.

No abstract

We demonstrated that the applied modified PT with BMP-7 promotes excellent subchondral bone regeneration and may serve as a novel approach for osteochondral defects repair.

Artemisinin and related compounds (artemisinins), as a frontline treatment for malaria, have been used to save millions of lives. Their potential application in cancer treatment is promising. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms of action of artemisinins are still controversial. In particular, the system-level influence of artemisinins on protein interactions and regulatory networks remains unknown, limiting progress in development of this class of compounds as anticancer drugs. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of action of artemisinins in cancer therapy through an analysis based on biological networks. According to experimental evidence from more than 400 literature studies, 558 key proteins were derived and the artemisinins-rewired protein interaction network was constructed. Topological properties were analyzed to show that the protein network was a scale-free biological system. And the modularity analysis and pathway identification were performed. Five key pathways including PI3K-Akt, T cell receptor, Toll-like receptor, TGF-beta and insulin signaling pathways were involved in artemisinins-mediated anticancer effects; their identification was confirmed by microarray data. Based on these results, predictions were made about the targets of artemisinins in various pathways. These results provide a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of action of artemisinins and will contribute to the development and application of this class of compounds in cancer treatment.

No abstract

This study aimed to determine the most suitable site for diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) by examining an 8-site measurement of the median nerve's cross-sectional area (CSA). A total of 36 wrists of 26 patients with nerve conduction study (NCS) proven CTS, along with 34 wrists of 23 controls whose age and gender were matched with the patients, were evaluated with ultrasonography. The CSAs of the median nerve at eight predetermined sites including at the sites of 3, 2, and 1 cm proximal to the wrist crease, wrist crease, as well as at the sites of 1, 2, 3. and 4 cm distal to the wrist crease were obtained. The correlation between CSA and NCS severity, and duration of clinical CTS symptoms was analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves was applied to determine the optimum cut-off point and to evaluate the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of sonographic measurements. The CSAs of the median nerves at the eight sites were significantly higher in the CTS subjects, relative to the controls. Moreover, anatomical variation of the median nerve was found in the CTS group. ROC results indicated the areas under curve (AUC) at the site of 4 cm distal to the wrist crease were the largest with 0.874 cm(2), and an optimal cut-off value of 0.095 yielded a sensitivity of 88.9 % and a specificity of 76.5 %. The CSAs of "CTS-wrists" positively correlated with NCS severities and the CTS symptoms duration. Using 8-site CSAs measurement of the median nerve from inlet to outlet has positive correlations with NCS severity and duration of CTS symptoms.