Liver Stiffness Measurement can Predict Liver Inflammation in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Normal Alanine Transaminase.

Background And Aims: To determine whether liver stiffness measurement (LSM) indicates liver inflammation in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) with different upper limits of normal (ULNs) for alanine aminotransferase (ALT).

Methods: We grouped 439 CHB patients using different ULNs for ALT: cohort I, ≤40 U/L (439 subjects); cohort II, ≤35/25 U/L (males/females; 330 subjects); and cohort III, ≤30/19 U/L (males/females; 231 subjects). Furthermore, 84 and 96 CHB patients with normal ALT (≤40 U/L) formed the external and prospective validation groups, respectively.

Research on a bimetallic-sensitized FBG temperature sensor.

Temperature measurement is of great significance for research in the health monitoring of large structures and earthquake precursors. Against the frequently reported low sensitivity of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) temperature sensors, a bimetallic-sensitized FBG temperature sensor was proposed. The sensitization structure of the FBG temperature sensor was designed, and the sensor sensitivity was analyzed; the lengths and materials of the substrate and strain transfer beam were analyzed theoretically; 7075 aluminum and 4J36 invar were chosen as bimetallic materials, and the ratio of the substrate length to the sensing fiber length was determined.

Defects and asymmetries in the visual pathway of non-human primates with natural strabismus and amblyopia.

Strabismus and amblyopia are common ophthalmologic developmental diseases caused by abnormal visual experiences. However, the underlying pathogenesis and visual defects are still not fully understood. Most studies have used experimental interference to establish disease-associated animal models, while ignoring the natural pathophysiological mechanisms.

Antithrombotic treatment strategy for patients with coronary artery ectasia and acute myocardial infarction: A case report.

Background: There is no consensus on the antithrombotic treatment strategy for patients with coronary artery ectasia (CAE).

Case Summary: This case reports the dynamic observation of a patient for 48 mo after a diagnosis of CAE with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The first antithrombotic agents used were aspirin (100 mg/d) and clopidogrel (75 mg/d).

lncRNA DLG1-AS1 promotes cervical cancer cell gemcitabine resistance by regulating miR-16-5p/HDGF.

Aim: To investigate the long non-coding RNA DLG1 Antisense RNA 1 (lncRNA DLG1-AS1) mechanism in cervical cancer cells with gemcitabine (GEM) resistance.

Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect DLG1-AS1, miR-16-5p, and hepatoma-derived growth factor (HDGF) expression in cervical cancer cells. The effects of DLG1-AS1 knockdown on cell viability, proliferation, and apoptosis were investigated in GEM-resistant cervical cancer cells.

[Complex network analysis of law on Chinese herbal drugs intervention on radiation induced lung injury].

To mainly analyze the prescription rules of Chinese herbal drugs for radiation induced lung injury, optimize the prescriptions, and provide a reference for the clinical treatment of radiation induced lung injury. The major Chinese databases CNKI, CBM and Wanfang data were searched to obtain the literature on Chinese herbal drugs for radiation induced lung injury. BICOMS 2 software was used to extract and collect all Chinese herbal drugs information and generate the co-occurrence matrix; NetDraw and Gcluto software were then used to make network map and visualization matrix for analysis.

Sonographic features of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma predicting high-volume central neck lymph node metastasis.

Objective: To study the correlations between the sonographic features of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) and the presence of high-volume lymph node metastasis.

Method: Medical records of 2363 PTMC patients were reviewed form October 2013 to December 2015. All the patients with lymph node metastasis identified by histopathology were included.

Cardiac Hypertrophy is Positively Regulated by MicroRNA‑24 in Rats.

Background: MicroRNA-24 (miR-24) plays an important role in heart failure by reducing the efficiency of myocardial excitation-contraction coupling. Prolonged cardiac hypertrophy may lead to heart failure, but little is known about the role of miR-24 in cardiac hypertrophy. This study aimed to preliminarily investigate the function of miR-24 and its mechanisms in cardiac hypertrophy.

Laparoscopic versus open liver resection for colorectal liver metastases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies with propensity score-based analysis.

Background: This meta-analysis collected studies with propensity score matching analysis (PSM) and focused on comparing the short-term and oncological outcomes of patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM) who underwent laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) versus open liver resection (OLR), to provide relatively high-level evidence of the additional value of LLR in treating patients with CRLM in comparison with OLR.

Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases. Bibliographic citation management software (EndNote X7) was used for literature management.

Spleen atrophy related immune system changes attributed to infection of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in mouse model.

The spleen is one of the most important peripheral immune organs, which is frequently affected in infectious diseases. Infectious diseases can induce splenic alterations including splenic atrophy and functional alteration, while splenic atrophy may in turn interferes with recovery of infectious diseases. Angiostrongyliasis is an infectious disease by Angiostrongylus cantonensis (A.

[Growth Differentiation Factor 15 Inhibits Elevated Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinase 1 Induced by Pooled Serum in Patients with Coroanry Artery Ectasia].

Objective: To observe the effects of coroanry artery ectasia (CAE) patients' pooled serum on the main proteinases and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and explore whether the growth differentiation factor 15(GDF 15) can regulate the characteristic changes induced by CAE patients' pooled serum.

Methods: Serum samples were collected from 32 CAE patients, 30 patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), and 31 subjects with normal coronary arteries (CON) and then mixed in the same volumes by groups. Then human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells were cultured with the media containing 25% pooled serum.

Spatial second-order interference of pseudothermal light in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer.

The spatial second-order interference of two independent pseudothermal light beams in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer is studied experimentally and theoretically. The similar cosine modulation in the second-order coherence function as the one with entangled-photon pairs in a Hong-Ou-Mandel interferometer is observed. Two-photon interference based on Feynman's path integral theory is employed to interpret the results.

In vivo suppression of microRNA-24 prevents the transition toward decompensated hypertrophy in aortic-constricted mice.

Rationale: During the transition from compensated hypertrophy to heart failure, the signaling between L-type Ca(2+) channels in the cell membrane/T-tubules and ryanodine receptors in the sarcoplasmic reticulum becomes defective, partially because of the decreased expression of a T-tubule-sarcoplasmic reticulum anchoring protein, junctophilin-2. MicroRNA (miR)-24, a junctophilin-2 suppressing miR, is upregulated in hypertrophied and failing cardiomyocytes.

Objective: To test whether miR-24 suppression can protect the structural and functional integrity of L-type Ca(2+) channel-ryanodine receptor signaling in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes.

Thalamic neurons in the pigeon compute distance-to-collision of an approaching surface.

The thalamofugal and tectofugal pathways in birds are two parallel visual pathways to the telencephalon and might be comparable to the geniculocortical and colliculo-pulvinar-cortical pathways in mammals, respectively. It is known that some tectal neurons in the tectofugal pathway can signal the time-to-collision of an approaching object. Here we show by single cell recording in the pigeon that a population of visual neurons in the nucleus opticus principalis thalami (nOPT) in the thalamofugal pathway is able to detect the distance-to-collision of a large surface approaching towards the animal.

Response characteristics of the pigeon's pretectal neurons to illusory contours and motion.

Misinterpretations of visual information received by the retina are called visual illusions, which are known to occur in higher brain areas. However, whether they would be also processed in lower brain structures remains unknown, and how to explain the neuronal mechanisms underlying the motion after-effect is intensely debated. We show by extracellular recording that all motion-sensitive neurons in the pigeon's pretectum respond similarly to real and illusory contours, and their preferred directions are identical for both contours in unidirectional cells, whereas these directions are changed by 90 deg for real versus illusory contours in bidirectional cells.