Prevalence, predictors, and outcomes of acute respiratory distress syndrome in severe stroke.

Objectives: Patients with severe stroke are at high risk of developing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), but this severe complication was often under-diagnosed and rarely explored in stroke patients. We aimed to investigate the prevalence, early predictors, and outcomes of ARDS in severe stroke.

Methods: This prospective study included consecutive patients admitted to neurological intensive care unit (neuro-ICU) with severe stroke, including acute ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The clinical value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) for predicting the occurrence and severity of pneumonia in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.

Background: Inflammatory mechanisms play important roles in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and have been linked to the development of stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP). The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic inflammation response index (SIRI) are inflammatory indexes that influence systemic inflammatory responses after stroke. In this study, we aimed to compare the predictive value of the NLR, SII, SIRI and PLR for SAP in patients with ICH to determine their application potential in the early identification of the severity of pneumonia.

Clinical features of actinomycosis: A 20-year experience of a single institute in Southern China.

Background: Actinomycosis is a rare indolent infectious disease with nonspecific clinical presentations that delay diagnosis. Although actinomycosis is thought to be more prevalent in developing countries, data from developing countries are scarce. This study aimed to profile actinomycosis in developing countries and identify how it differed from profiles of developed countries.

[Association of genetic polymorphism of 14 STR loci on chromosome 2 with Kashin-Beck disease].

Objective: To analyze the differences of genetic polymorphism of 14 STR loci on chromosome 2 between KBD patients and controls living in and outside of KBD catchment areas.

Methods: Blood samples anticoagulated with EDTA were collected from 135 unrelated individuals of Han population in Shaanxi Province, which included 45 samples from KBD patients, 45 from normal residents living in the KBD catchment areas, and 45 from normal residents outside of the KBD catchment areas. The DNA was extracted from the blood samples for PCR amplification of relevant fragments.

Inhibition of mouse embryonic carcinoma cell growth by lidamycin through down-regulation of embryonic stem cell-like genes Oct4, Sox2 and Myc.

Lidamycin (LDM, also known as C-1027) as an anti-cancer agent inhibits growth in a variety of cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In this study we demonstrated that inhibition of mouse embryonic carcinoma (EC) cell growth using LDM at low concentrations can be attributed to a loss of the cell's self-renewal capability but not to apoptosis or cell death, which can be correlated to the down-regulation of embryonic stem (ES) cell-like genes Oct4, Sox2 and c-Myc. MTT assays showed that LDM inhibited the growth of mouse P19 EC cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner.

[Familial aggregation and sibling heritability in Kashin-Beck disease].

Objective: To explore the family aggregation and the role of hereditary factors in the pathogenesis of Kashin-Beck disease (KBD).

Methods: With a stratified sampling method, the general population of 14 villages of Linyou County were studied, from whom 225 KBD probands were selected using systematic sampling at the rate of (1/2). A total of 304 siblings of the probands were ascertained, and in these sibling pairs, the segregation ratio, heritability in different age groups and weighted mean heritability of the siblings were estimated using the methods of Li-Mantel-Grart and Falconer.

[Genetic polymorphism analysis of 8 short tandem repeat loci on chromosome 2 in Chinese Han population in Shaanxi Province].

Objective: To analyze the genetic polymorphism of 8 short tandem repeat (STR) loci on human chromosome 2 in Chinese Han population in Shaanxi Province.

Methods: Blood samples anticoagulated with EDTA were collected from 176 unrelated Chinese Han individuals in Shaanxi Province. The DNA was extracted for PCR amplification of the relevant fragments, and the amplified products were analyzed using the ABI 3730 Genetic Analyzer.

[Expression of nestin and neurogenin 3 in the human fetal pancreas].

Objective: To examine the expression of nestin and neurogenin 3 (Ngn3), the markers of pancreatic stem cells, in the human fetal pancreas.

Methods: The human fetal pancreas tissue of 12 and 14 weeks were examined for the expression of nestin and Ngn3 using the techniques of immunofluorescence dye and RT-PCR.

Results: Both nestin and Ngn3 expressed widely in 12 and 14 weeks before in human fetal pancreatic tissue.