Who can benefit more from its twelve-week treatment: A prospective cohort study of blonanserin for patients with schizophrenia.

Background: Blonanserin (BNS) is a well-tolerated and effective drug for treating schizophrenia.

Aim: To investigate which types of patients would obtain the most benefit from BNS treatment.

Methods: A total of 3306 participants were evaluated in a 12-week, prospective, multicenter, open-label post-marketing surveillance study of BNS.

Gene Is Associated With Clinical Response to SNRIs in a Local Chinese Han Population.

The relation between the () gene and major depressive disorder (MDD) has been studied in a local Chinese Han population. MDD is associated with the rs2032582 () and rs1128503 () single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of but not with rs1045642, rs2032583, rs2235040, and rs2235015. This study aims to explore the potential correlations of therapeutic responses with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) in a local Chinese Han population.

A New Insight of Kartogenin Induced the Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) Selectively Differentiate into Chondrocytes by Activating the Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7 (BMP-7)/Smad5 Pathway.

BACKGROUND Rotator cuff injury is the most common cause of shoulder disability, and although the repair technique has improved, the rate of rotator cuff reduction after repair is still high. The fibrocartilage region, which appears to be histologically inserted, cannot be regenerated. In recent years, studies have reported that mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have enhanced cartilage regeneration in the tendon and bone interface after rotator cuff repair, which has become a hot topic of research.

Increased hepatic progenitor cell response and ductular reaction in patients with severe recurrent HCV post-liver transplantation.

Objectives: Post-liver transplant (LT) hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients may develop allograft cirrhosis and rarely fibrosing cholestatic hepatitis (FCH), while others have a stable course. Hepatic progenitor cells (HPC) may be implicated in liver injury and fibrogenesis through ductular reaction (DR). We studied HPC response and DR in three distinct post-LT patterns of HCV: stable recurrence, allograft cirrhosis, and FCH.

[Case-control study on midterm follow-up effects of the extended release of posterior clearance in total knee arthroplasty].

Objective: To evaluate the midterm follow-up results of extended release of posterior clearance in total knee arthroplasty.

Methods: A total of 120 patients with knee osteoarthritis were equally randomly assigned to the experimental group and control group, and underwent unilateral TKA from March 2010 to March 2012. In experimental group, there were 21 males and 39 females with an average age of (62.

Strategies to minimize hypertrophy in cartilage engineering and regeneration.

Due to a blood supply shortage, articular cartilage has a limited capacity for self-healing once damaged. Articular chondrocytes, cartilage progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells, and mesenchymal stem cells are candidate cells for cartilage regeneration. Significant current attention is paid to improving chondrogenic differentiation capacity; unfortunately, the potential chondrogenic hypertrophy of differentiated cells is largely overlooked.

Revealing the hidden networks of interaction in mobile animal groups allows prediction of complex behavioral contagion.

Coordination among social animals requires rapid and efficient transfer of information among individuals, which may depend crucially on the underlying structure of the communication network. Establishing the decision-making circuits and networks that give rise to individual behavior has been a central goal of neuroscience. However, the analogous problem of determining the structure of the communication network among organisms that gives rise to coordinated collective behavior, such as is exhibited by schooling fish and flocking birds, has remained almost entirely neglected.

[Effect of anxin granules combined with tirofiba on patients with acute myocardial infarction after elective percutaneous coronary intervention].

To investigate the influence of Anxin granules combined with tirofiban on acute myocardial infarction (AMI) Patients after elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). One hundred and twenty AMI patients were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. The patients in the two groups were all given Tirofiban 30mins before PCI .

Visual sensory networks and effective information transfer in animal groups.

Social transmission of information is vital for many group-living animals, allowing coordination of motion and effective response to complex environments. Revealing the interaction networks underlying information flow within these groups is a central challenge. Previous work has modeled interactions between individuals based directly on their relative spatial positions: each individual is considered to interact with all neighbors within a fixed distance (metric range), a fixed number of nearest neighbors (topological range), a 'shell' of near neighbors (Voronoi range), or some combination (Figure 1A).

[Short-term result of hip resurfacing arthroplasty in the treatment of patients with femoral head necrosis].

Objective: To study short-term results of hip resurfacing arthroplasty (HRA) in the treatment of patients with avascular necrosis of femoral head (ANFH), and to explore indication and strategy in this surgery.

Methods: From December 2006 to December 2009, 37 patients (43 hips) with avascular necrosis of femoral head were treated with total hip resurfacing arthroplasty. Among the patients, 25 patients were male and 12 patients were female, with an average age of 44.

Recognition of linear stress fibers based on Hough transform.

Objective: To present an algorithm based on Hough transform for recognition and extraction of linear stress fibers formed on exposure to lysophosphatidic acid (LPA).

Study Design: A ridge set of head points with lower shoulders is calculated, followed by a thinning process shrinking long, narrow regions to regions of single pixel thickness, then converted into a rectangular map whose value is the number of regional points in the path of a straight line at the angle and intercept determined by two coordinates. The location of the maximum in the map is sought, and the corresponding line with an unlimited length is constructed from the paired coordinates.

The NF-κB pathway mediates lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-induced VEGF signaling and cell invasion in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Objectives: Our previous report has implicated the involvement of VEGF-VEGFR-2 h signaling in LPA-induced EOC invasion. However, the mechanism by which LPA regulates VEGF and VEGFR-2 expression remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we systematically examined the signal transduction pathways activated by LPA and further evaluated whether LPA's effect on VEGF-VEGFR-2 signaling and EOC invasion was mediated by the activation of NF-κB pathway.

Patellar reshaping versus resurfacing in total knee arthroplasty - Results of a randomized prospective trial at a minimum of 7 years' follow-up.

Objective: To compare the results of primary total knee arthroplasty with patellar reshaping or resurfacing.

Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients were randomized into patellar reshaping group and patellar resurfacing group. Patellar reshaping includes resecting the partial lateral facet of the patella and the osteophytes surrounding the patella, trimming the patella to match the trochlea of the femoral component.

Automated 3D trajectory measuring of large numbers of moving particles.

Complex dynamics of natural particle systems, such as insect swarms, bird flocks, fish schools, has attracted great attention of scientists for years. Measuring 3D trajectory of each individual in a group is vital for quantitative study of their dynamic properties, yet such empirical data is rare mainly due to the challenges of maintaining the identities of large numbers of individuals with similar visual features and frequent occlusions. We here present an automatic and efficient algorithm to track 3D motion trajectories of large numbers of moving particles using two video cameras.

Multimodal clinical imaging to longitudinally assess a nanomedical anti-inflammatory treatment in experimental atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease causing great morbidity and mortality in the Western world. To increase the anti-inflammatory action and decrease adverse effects of glucocorticoids (PLP), a nanomedicinal liposomal formulation of this drug (L-PLP) was developed and intravenously applied at a dose of 15 mg/kg PLP to a rabbit model of atherosclerosis. Since atherosclerosis is a systemic disease, emerging imaging modalities for assessing atherosclerotic plaque are being developed.

Segmentation and thickness measurement of glomerular basement membranes from electron microscopy images.

An algorithm for segmentation and thickness measurement of the glomerular basement membranes (GBM) in electron microscopy kidney images is presented. Differences in intensities and variations between GBM and other components in the image are employed. Regions of extreme intensities such as the black area of blood cells and white areas of urinary spaces are pre-excluded.

Perinatal exposure to di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate leads to restricted growth and delayed lung maturation in newborn rats.

Background: Pregnant women and infants have significant exposures to the most commonly used plasticizer di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP).

Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of DEHP exposure on growth and lung maturation in rats and determine if DEHP regulation of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 gene (Hsd11b1) expression in the lung tissue plays a role in its effects on lung maturation.

Method: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were treated from gestational day 12 to postnatal day (PND) 21 with DEHP orally at dosages of 0, 10, 100 or 750 mg/kg/day, respectively (n=8 for each group).

A semi-automatic algorithm for measurement of basement membrane thickness in kidneys in electron microscopy images.

In this paper, we present a semi-automatic algorithm for measurement of the glomerular basement membrane thickness in electron microscopy kidney images. A string of sparsely spaced points are manually inputted along the central line of the basement membrane (lamina densa) to be measured. The gaps between successive input points are lineally interpolated.

[The use of uncemented extensively porous-coated femoral components in the management of Vancouver type B2 periprosthetic femoral fractures].

Objective: To assess the outcome of patients with Vancouver type B2 periprosthetic fractures treated with femoral revision using an uncemented extensively porous-coated implant.

Methods: From October 2002 to May 2007, a retrospective clinical and radiographic assessment of 10 patients with Vancouver type B2 periprosthetic fractures treated with femoral revision was evaluated, among which 4 was cement fixation, 6 was non-cement fixation in the index procedure.

Results: The mean follow-up for these patients was 44 months (range, 12 to 67 months).

Rapid reversal of parenteral-nutrition-associated cirrhosis following isolated intestinal transplantation.

Introduction: Liver disease and the development of hepatic fibrosis are complications associated with total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Patients developing cirrhosis and portal hypertension in the setting of intestinal failure have a high mortality and may require combined liver and intestinal transplantation which carries much higher morbidity and mortality than isolated intestinal transplantation.

Discussion: Recently, regression of hepatic fibrosis in patients with TPN liver disease has been described following intestinal transplantation.