Prevalence and risk factors for dementia and mild cognitive impairment among older people in Southeast China: a community-based study.

Background: With the aging population, the number of individuals with dementia in China is increasing rapidly. This community-based study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among older adults in China.

Methods: In this study, 20,070 individuals aged ≥ 65 were recruited between January 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023, from ten communities in Xiamen City, China.

A genetic analysis of Chinese patients with early-onset Parkinson' s disease.

Genetic factors play an important role in early-onset Parkinson's disease (EOPD). The genetic spectrum of patients with EOPD varies widely among different ethnicities, with extensive investigations having been performed in Caucasian populations; however, research in Chinese populations remains limited. In this study, we performed multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification assay and whole-exome sequencing in 15 unrelated Chinese EOPD patients with age of onset before 40 years.

Interictal pattern on scalp electroencephalogram predicts excellent surgical outcome of epilepsy caused by focal cortical dysplasia.

Objective: Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) represents an essential cause of drug-resistant epilepsy with surgery as an effective treatment option. This study aimed to identify the important predictors of favorable surgical outcomes and the impact of the interictal scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns in predicting postsurgical seizure outcomes.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 210 consecutive patients between 2015 and 2019.

Propofol-induced vasodilation of mesenteric arterioles via BK channel and gap junction.

The present study aimed to investigate the role of propofol in mediating the vasomotor activity of the mesenteric arteriole (MA) of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. The pressure myograph technique was used to examine the effect of different concentrations of propofol on the relaxation of blood vessels in the 2-3 mm MA segments freshly separated from the SD rats. The whole-cell patch-clamp technique was applied to observe the outward current of single vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) obtained from the MAs of the SD rats.

CDK3 expression and its clinical significance in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase 3 (CDK3) in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and to evaluate its association with the clinicopathological characteristics of patients with NPC. CDK3 expression was examined in three NPC cell lines and one nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line by western blot analysis and in 94 specimens of NPC and 40 specimens of inflamed nasopharyngeal tissue by immunohistochemistry staining. CDK3 was overexpressed in the three NPC cell lines, 5-8F, CNE1 and CNE2, compared with the NP-69 nasopharyngeal epithelial cell line, and was primarily expressed in the cytoplasm.

Transplantation of microencapsulated umbilical-cord-blood-derived hepatic-like cells for treatment of hepatic failure.

Aim: To investigate intraperitoneal transplantation of microencapsulated hepatic-like cells from human umbilical cord blood for treatment of hepatic failure in rats.

Methods: CD34+ cells in umbilical cord blood cells were isolated by magnetic cell sorting. In the in vitro experiment, sorted CD34+ cells were amplified and induced into hepatic-like cells by culturing with a combination of fibroblast growth factor 4 and hepatocyte growth factor.

Development of neonatal mouse and fetal human testicular tissue as ectopic grafts in immunodeficient mice.

Aim: To investigate the stepwise development and germ cell gene expression in allografted neonatal mouse testes and the differentiation of immature human testicular cells in xenografted human testes.

Methods: Immunodeficient nude mice were used as hosts for allografting of neonatal mouse testes and xenografting of human fetal testicular tissues. Stepwise development and stage-specific gene expression of germ cells in allografts were systematically evaluated and parallel compared with those in intact mice by periodically monitoring the graft status with measurement of graft weight, histological analysis and determination of five stage-specific genes.

[Conversion of human umbilical cord blood-derived cells into hepatocyte-like cells in a culture system mimicking hepatic injury].

Objective: To explore the effect of the microenvironment induced by damaged mouse hepatic cells on the conversion of human umbilical cord blood-derived cells into hepatocyte-like cells.

Methods: A hepatic injury-like microenvironment was mimicked using carbon tetrachloride damaged mouse hepatic cells, where mononuclear cells (MNC) from human umbilical cord blood were cultured in a compartment separated by trans-well membrane. Histochemical staining, reversed transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and gene sequencing were performed for the information on the conversion of human umbilical cord blood MNC.

[Establishment of animal model for in vitro spermatogenesis by heterotopic grafting of neonatal mouse testis].

Objective: To establish an in vitro model for the development of mouse spermatogenic cells into sperm by using the immunodefective mouse as the incubator.

Methods: Tissue grafting was performed using testis from 1-2 days old Kun-ming mice as donor tissue and immunodefective mice as recipients; the expression of TESK1 mRNA in grafts was determined by RT-PCR and the spermatogenesis further observed with histological analysis of grafts.

Results: Molecular biological and histological analyses showed that grafts post-grafting not only expressed TESK1 mRNA as in normal mouse testis, but also exhibited similarities in the structure of seminiferous tubules and component of spermatogenic cells, including sperms.