Identification of common core genes and pathways in childhood sepsis and cancer by bioinformatics analysis.

Introduction: Sepsis and cancer are both leading causes of death worldwide, and they share several pathophysiological characteristics. Some studies have suggested a possible association between sepsis and cancer; however, few have investigated the core genes involved in both diseases.

Methods: Core genes common to both sepsis and cancer were identified using pediatric sepsis datasets (GEO: GSE26378, GSE4607, GSE8121 and GSE13904) and cancer databases (TCGA: BRCA, COADREAD, ESCA, KIRC, LIHC, LUAD, STAD).

Leishmania infection and blood sources analysis in Phlebotomus chinensis (Diptera: Psychodidae) along extension region of the loess plateau, China.

Background: Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was one of the most important parasitic diseases in China, caused by Leishmania protozoans and transmitted by sand flies. Recently VL cases have reappeared in China, including the extension region of the Loess Plateau. The purpose of this study was to collect fundamental data on the host-vector VL system in the Loess Plateau to assist in the development of prevention and control measures.

Phylogeny of certain members of Hyrcanus group (Diptera: Culicidae) in China based on mitochondrial genome fragments.

Background: Species of the Anopheles hyrcanus group are widely distributed in Palearctic and Oriental regions and some of them are important malaria vectors. The cryptic species of An. hyrcanus group was almost impossible to identify based only on their morphology.

Correlation between adult pyrethroid resistance and knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations in Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) field populations in China.

Background: Arboviral disease transmitted by Aedes albopictus such as dengue fever is an important threat to human health. Pyrethroid resistance raises a great challenge for mosquito control. A systematic assessment of Ae.

The weight of computer mouse affects the wrist motion and forearm muscle activity during fast operation speed task.

The frequent use of the computer mouse was reported to be associated with the development of the musculoskeletal disorders in the wrist, forearm, and shoulder regions. This study was to examine the effect of the mouse weights and operation speeds on the wrist motion and muscle activity. 25 subjects (20 males and 5 females) were instructed to repetitively point-and-click the mouse between two targets displaced in the monitor with five different weighted mice (weights around 70, 100, 130, 160, and 190 g) at the fast (50 repetition/min) and slow (25 repetition/min) operation speeds.

Akt pathway is required for oestrogen-mediated attenuation of lung injury in a rodent model of cerulein-induced acute pancreatitis.

Background: The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) is known to be an endogenous negative feedback or compensatory mechanism that serves to limit pro-inflammatory and chemotactic events in response to injury. The aim of this study is to elucidate whether Akt plays any role in 17β-estradiol (E2)-mediated attenuation of lung injury after acute pancreatitis (AP).

Materials And Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent cerulein-induced AP.

Assessment of common bile duct using laparoscopic ultrasound during laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Background: Several reports have shown that laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS) examination of the bile duct is promising and suggest it as a primary method for bile duct imaging during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This study was designed to evaluate the feasibility of LUS during LC, and the occurrence rate of common bile duct (CBD) stones during LC.

Materials And Methods: One hundred and fifteen consecutive patients with gallstones were enrolled into this study.

Clinicopathologic features and predictors for survival of mucinous and non-mucinous appendiceal adenocarcinoma.

Background/aims: We report a study in patients with mucinous and non-mucinous appendiceal adenocarcinoma treated surgically whose records were examined to elucidate their clinicopathologic features and prognostic factors for survival.

Methods: The medical records of 34 patients with mucinous and non-mucinous appendiceal adenocarcinoma (1991-2005) were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: There was no significant difference between mucinous and non-mucinous tumors in patient demographics, clinicopathologic features, type of operation and outcome.

Clinicopathologic features and outcomes following surgery for pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma.

Background: Pancreatic adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC) is a rare pancreatic malignancy subtype. We investigated the clinicopathological features and outcome of pancreatic ASC patients after surgery.

Methods: The medical records of 12 patients with pancreatic ASC undergoing surgical treatment (1993 to 2006) were retrospectively reviewed.

A case of gastrointestinal stromal tumor with hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is an uncommon malignant tumor that has recently been drawn to the attention of clinicians because of the protean clinical spectrum, endocrinological pathogenesis, aggressive metastatic features, poor prognosis, oncogenic tyrosine kinase receptor mutation and its brilliant revolutionized inhibitor imatinib. However, very few cases of GIST and hypoglycemia have been reported worldwide and they are usually associated with normal or low insulin levels. Here, we report on a rare case of GIST with postabsorptive hypoglycemia, extraordinary hyperinsulinemia and low insulinlike growth factor I (IGF-I).

PIK3CA exon 20 mutation is independently associated with a poor prognosis in breast cancer patients.

Background: Prognostic factors that could select breast cancer patients with poor survival, and influence clinical trials of targeted therapy, are needed. However, the reported observations regarding the impact of PI3KCA mutation on breast cancers are controversial.

Methods: We analyzed exons 4, 7, 9, and 20 of PI3KCA on a series of 158 patients.

Pancreaticoduodenectomy versus Frey's procedure for chronic pancreatitis: preliminary data on outcome and pancreatic function.

Purpose: Several surgical treatments have been proposed for treating chronic pancreatitis (CP), including standard pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), pylorus-preserving PD, Beger's procedure, and Frey's procedure; however, few studies have compared pre- and postoperative pancreatic function in patients undergoing surgery for CP.

Methods: Between 1996 and 2003, 42 patients with CP underwent pancreatic head resection; as PD in 17 and as Frey's procedure in 25. Frey's procedure was chosen if the pancreatic duct was dilated more than 5 mm.

Primary angiosarcoma of the spleen in a child with long-term survival.

Primary angiosarcoma of the spleen is a very rare and aggressive neoplasm with poor prognosis. Splenic angiosarcoma rarely occurs in the pediatric group (18 years or younger). Survival duration for pediatric patients is very limited.

Anaplastic carcinoma of the thyroid arising more often from follicular carcinoma than papillary carcinoma.

Background: Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), a rare and highly malignant tumor, has long been thought to arise from well-differentiated carcinoma (WDC) such as follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). The purpose of this study was to test this notion by examining whether and, if so, how often ATC harbors the oncogenes that are commonly associated with WDC, such as RAS in FTC and BRAF in PTC.

Methods: We analyzed the mutation hotspots of BRAF (codon 600) and N-, K-, and H-RAS (codons 12, 13, and 61) in 16 ATCs.

The effect on forearm and shoulder muscle activity in using different slanted computer mice.

Background: Frequently using non-slanted computer mice will cause musculoskeletal discomfort and symptoms in forearms and shoulders. Ergonomic mice with different slanted angles may have various effects on forearm and shoulder muscle activity.

Methods: All of the twelve subjects performed the same text-editing task with the five different slanted mice.

Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma mimicking giant cell carcinoma of the pancreas.

Extranodal follicular dendritic cell (FDC) tumors are rare. Recognition of the morphological spectrum of FDC tumors is important to clinical diagnosis. Herein is presented a case of pancreatic FDC sarcoma with unusual clinicopathological features.

Combined resection and multi-agent adjuvant chemotherapy for desmoplastic small round cell tumor arising in the abdominal cavity: report of a case.

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare, highly aggressive malignancy with distinctive histological features: a nesting pattern of cellular growth within dense desmoplastic stroma, occurring in young population with male predominance. The mean survival period is only about 1.5-2.

Effects of dopexamine on regional blood flow and leukotriene production in multiple splanchnic sites in endotoxemic rats.

Background/aims: This work examines the effects of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on splanchnic blood flow and tests the potential effect of dopexamine in preventing LPS-induced decrease in splanchnic blood flow, also analyzing its influence on regional leukotriene production.

Methodology: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were grouped and subjected to i.v.

Outcome of pancreaticoduodenectomy for chronic pancreatitis.

Background And Purpose: Some patients with chronic pancreatitis may require surgery, mainly because of disabling medically intractable pain, suspicion of malignancy or complications related to chronic pancreatitis. This study analyzed the efficacy of pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for patients with chronic pancreatitis in terms of pain relief, control of local complications and pancreatic endocrine/exocrine function.

Methods: This retrospective analysis included 24 consecutive patients with chronic pancreatitis who received PD from April 1995 to March 2003.

Splenic angiosarcoma metastasis to small bowel presented with gastrointestinal bleeding.

Primary splenic angiosarcoma is a very rare, aggressive neoplasm with a high metastatic rate and dismal prognosis. This neoplasm usually presents with abdominal pain, splenomegaly, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. Splenic angiosarcoma with bleeding gastrointestinal metastases is extremely rare.

Management and outcome of bleeding pseudoaneurysm associated with chronic pancreatitis.

Background: A bleeding pseudoaneurysm in patients with chronic pancreatitis is a rare and potentially lethal complication. Optimal treatment of bleeding peripancreatic pseudoaneurysm remains controversial. This study reports on experience at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (CGMH) in managing of bleeding pseudoaneurysms associated with chronic pancreatitis.

Melatonin reduces pancreatic prostaglandins production and protects against caerulein-induced pancreatitis in rats.

Melatonin has been used to treat experimental pancreatitis, although not all the drug's therapeutic mechanisms of melatonin have been defined. Prostaglandins (PGs) are proinflammatory mediators that exert their effects mainly locally during inflammatory diseases. The present study was undertaken to examine whether treatment with melatonin influences local PG production.

Primary angiosarcoma of the spleen.

Background And Objectives: Primary splenic angiosarcoma is a very rare and aggressive neoplasm with a high metastatic rate and dismal prognosis. Since only a few cases have been adequately reported in the medical literature, we report here a further six cases.

Methods: The records of all cases of primary splenic angiosarcoma treated at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from April 1991 to July 2004 were retrospectively reviewed.

Delayed neutrophil apoptosis attenuated by melatonin in human acute pancreatitis.

Objectives: This study evaluated the expression of neutrophil apoptosis and the effects of melatonin at different concentrations on delayed neutrophil apoptosis in different severities of acute pancreatitis in patients.

Methods: The study population was comprised of 10 patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and 10 with mild acute pancreatitis (MAP). A total of 10 mL of blood was drawn 24 hours after the onset of the clinical disease for isolation and incubation of the human neutrophils with 4 different concentrations of melatonin.

Morphogenesis and molecular basis on naked seed rice, a novel homeotic mutation of OsMADS1 regulating transcript level of AP3 homologue in rice.

The floral organs are formed from floral meristem with a regular initiation pattern in angiosperm species. Flowers of naked seed rice (nsr) were characterized by the overdeveloped lemma and palea, the transformation of lodicules to palea-/lemma-like organs, the decreased number of stamens and occasionally extra pistils. Some nsr spikelets contained additional floral organs of four whorls and/or abnormal internal florets.