Risk Prediction Models for Sarcopenia in Dialysis Patients: A Systematic Review.

Nowadays, numerous studies have developed risk prediction models for sarcopenia in dialysis patients. However, the quality and performance of these models have not been integrated. The purpose of our study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current risk prediction models for sarcopenia in dialysis patients and to offer a reference for the development of high-quality prediction models.

Elevated branched-chain amino acid promotes atherosclerosis progression by enhancing mitochondrial-to-nuclear HO-disulfide HMGB1 in macrophages.

As the essential amino acids, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) from diets is indispensable for health. BCAA supplementation is often recommended for patients with consumptive diseases or healthy people who exercise regularly. Latest studies and ours reported that elevated BCAA level was positively correlated with metabolic syndrome, diabetes, thrombosis and heart failure.

Advances in electrical impedance tomography-based brain imaging.

Novel advances in the field of brain imaging have enabled the unprecedented clinical application of various imaging modalities to facilitate disease diagnosis and treatment. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a functional imaging technique that measures the transfer impedances between electrodes on the body surface to estimate the spatial distribution of electrical properties of tissues. EIT offers many advantages over other neuroimaging technologies, which has led to its potential clinical use.

Nϵ-Carboxymethyl-Lysine Deteriorates Vascular Calcification in Diabetic Atherosclerosis Induced by Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell-Derived Foam Cells.

Nϵ-carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), an advanced glycation end product, is involved in vascular calcification (VC) in diabetic atherosclerosis. This study aimed to investigate the effects of CML on VC in diabetic atherosclerosis induced by vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC)-derived foam cells. Human studies, animal studies and cell studies were performed.

Retrograde Balloon Dilation outside the Main Branch Stent to Restore the Occlusion of Side Branch in Chronic Total Occlusion Bifurcation Lesions.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of a chronic total occlusion (CTO) can be challenging when a bifurcation is present at the distal cap. We described a case of retrograde balloon outside the main branch stent to restore the occlusion of side branch in CTO bifurcation lesion through the jailed wire.

Middle- and high-molecular weight adiponectin levels in relation to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Objective: Adiponectin (APN) circulates as high-molecular weight (HMW), medium-molecular weight (MMW), and low-molecular weight (LMW) forms. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common cause of chronic liver disease. Currently, the role of LMW, MMW, and HMW APN remains largely unclear in NAFLD.

PP2Cm overexpression alleviates MI/R injury mediated by a BCAA catabolism defect and oxidative stress in diabetic mice.

Diabetic patients are sensitive to myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (MI/R) injury. During diabetes, branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) catabolism is defective and mitochondrial phosphatase 2C (PP2Cm) expression is reduced. This study aims to elucidate the relationship between PP2Cm downregulation and BCAA catabolism defect in diabetic mice against MI/R injury.

Irreversible electroporation-mediated shRNA knockdown of the HPV18 E6 gene suppresses cervical cancer growth and .

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a physical, non-thermal cancer therapy, which leads to cell death via permanent membrane permeability. This differs from reversible electroporation (RE), which is used to transfer macromolecules into target cells via transient membrane permeability. Given the electrical impedance of the electric field, RE co-exists outside the central zone of IRE ablation.

A modified total arch replacement combined with a stented elephant trunk implantation for acute type A dissection under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest and selective antegrade cerebral perfusion.

Objectives: Since the optimal management of patients with acute aortic dissection is unclear, this study analyzed total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation in the treatment of acute type A aortic dissection.

Methods: Between February 2008 and February 2013, 86 consecutive patients admitted to our hospital for acute type A dissection underwent total arch replacement combined with stented elephant trunk implantation under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The Bentall, David, and Wheat procedure was performed on 46, 12 and two patients, respectively.

Stress-induced growth-differentiation factor 15 plays an intriguing role in cardiovascular diseases.

Objective: To provide an overview of the current knowledge of growth-differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) in heart disease.

Data Sources: To identify relevant publications, we searched PubMED database combining the textual terms of heart, cardiac, cardiovascular disease with GDF-15.

Study Selection: Well-controlled, relatively large-scale, retrospective studies as well as meaningful individual cases were all selected as materials.

Effect of chronic pretreatment of angiotensin-converting receptor blocker on no-reflow phenomenon in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Aims: Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) exert favorable effects on the vascular system, which are not directly related to hypertension lowering function. The no-reflow phenomenon determines the prognosis in patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Early ARB treatment has many beneficial effects on the prognosis after AMI.

Efficacy and safety of Firebird sirolimus-eluting stent in treatment of complex coronary lesions in Chinese patients: one-year clinical and eight-month angiographic outcomes from the FIREMAN registry.

Background: Off-label application of drug-eluting stents (DES) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was not uncommon in daily practice, however DES in treating Chinese patients with complex lesion subset was under-investigated. The primary objective of the FIREMAN registry was to evaluate the long term efficacy and safety of the Firebird sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) in treating patients with complex coronary lesions. Here we report the mid-term of one-year clinical outcomes and eight-month angiographic follow-up results of FIREMAN registry.

[Comparison of benazepril monotherapy to amlodipine plus benazepril in the treatment of patients with mild and moderate hypertension: a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, parallel-controlled study].

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of the fixed combination of amlodipine 5 mg/benazepril 10 mg once-daily therapy, compared with benazepril, 10 mg, monotherapy in patients with mild and moderate hypertension, and to evaluate the 24 h antihypertensive efficacy and the duration of action by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

Methods: In a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel controlled trial, 356 cases of hypertensive patients after 2 weeks wash-out, and then given 4 weeks of benazepril 10 mg monotherapy, 220 patients with mean seated diastolic blood pressure (SeDBP) remained ≥ 90 mm Hg (1 mm Hg = 0.133 kPa) were randomly divided into benazepril 10 mg/amlodipine 5 mg (BZ10/AML5) fixed-dose combination therapy group (once a day, n = 113), and benazepril monotherapy group (daily 20 mg, n = 107).

[Allelopathy of grape root aqueous extracts].

Taking the tissue-cultured seedlings of grape cultivar Red Globe as test objects, this paper examined the effects of their root aqueous extracts on seedling's growth, with the allelochemicals identified by LC-MS. The results showed that 0.02 g x ml(-1) (air-dried root mass in aqueous extracts volume; the same below), 0.

Prenatal alcohol exposure reduces the size of the forelimb representation in motor cortex in rat: an intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) mapping study.

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) often exhibit sensorimotor dysfunctions that include deficits in motor coordination and fine motor control. Although the underlying causes for these motor abnormalities are unknown, they likely involve interactions between sensory and motor systems. Rodent animal models have been used to study the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on skilled reaching and on the development and organization of somatosensory barrel field cortex.

Effects of distal protection on left ventricular function in acute anterior myocardial infarction: a Doppler echocardiographic study.

Whether distal protection devices (DPDs) during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can improve myocardial function in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is still under debate. Using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), we evaluate the global and regional left ventricular systolic and diastolic functions in patients with anterior AMI using DPDs compared with conventional PCI. Ninety-six patients with anterior AMI were randomly assigned to either PCI with DPDs (DPD, n = 46) or traditional PCI (control, n = 50) groups.

Genetic analysis of tongue size and taste papillae number and size in recombinant inbred strains of mice.

Quantitative trait loci (QTLs) analysis has been used to examine natural variation of phenotypes in the mouse somatosensory cortex, hippocampus, cerebellum, and amygdala. QTL analysis has also been utilized to map and identify genes underlying anatomical features such as muscle, organ, and body weights. However, this methodology has not been previously applied to identification of anatomical structures related to gustatory phenotypes.

[Study on FTIR spectra of finger nails of normal people and patients of esophagus cancer].

To investigate the application of human finger nails in the diagnosis of cancer, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was employed to study the finger nails from some normal people and some with esophagus cancer and others with an operation for curing esophagus cancer five months ago. The results showed that there are obvious differences between FTIR spectra in them in spectral parameters such as frequency, intensity and band shape etc. The changes in the phosphate symmetric stretching vibration v(s) (PO2-) and asymmetric stretching vibration v(a)s(PO2-) modes are uniform, the v(s) (PO2-) and v(a)s(PO2-) absorption peaks of cancerous ones shift to high wave number compared with those of normal people, while those with operation shift to low wave number compared with those of cancerous ones.

Genetic analysis of posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF) size in somatosensory cortex (SI) in recombinant inbred strains of mice.

Background: Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping is an important tool for identifying potential candidate genes linked to complex traits. QTL mapping has been used to identify genes associated with cytoarchitecture, cell number, brain size, and brain volume. Previously, QTL mapping was utilized to examine variation of barrel field size in the somatosensory cortex in a limited number of recombinant inbred (RI) strains of mice.

The opposite-direction modulation of CD4+CD25+ Tregs and T helper 1 cells in acute coronary syndromes.

Different subsets of T lymphocytes have different functions in atherosclerosis advancement. T helper 1 cells and T regulatory 1 cells have been demonstrated to play opposite roles in rupture of atherosclerotic lesion. However, the role of novel subset of T regulatory cells, known as CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T cells, remains largely unknown in coronary artery disease (CAD).

Steep pulsed electric fields modulate cell apoptosis through the change of intracellular calcium concentration.

A steep electric pulsed field with low intensity (150-250V/cm) and relative long time (10 min) was applied to adherent liver cancer cell line SMMC-7721 and the liver cell line HL-7702. Results showed that the electric field with intensity of 200 and 250V/cm could trigger cell apoptosis, whereas the SMMC-7721 cell was more sensitive to the electric stimulation than the HL-7702 cell. Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope (LSCM) was used to measuring the real-time change of cytosolic free Ca(2+) concentration.

Characterization of products from photooxidation of toluene.

Photooxidation reaction of toluene in smog chamber systems was initiated by the UV radiation of toluene/CH3ONO/NOx mixtures. The products of the photooxidation reaction of toluene and its subsequent reactions were analyzed directly utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). Detailed assignments to FTIR spectrum of gas-phase products were given.