Mutation spectrum and differential gene expression in cystic and solid vestibular schwannoma.

Purpose: We sought to characterize the mutation spectrum of NF2 and the differential gene expression in cystic and solid vestibular schwannomas.

Methods: We collected tumor tissue and blood samples of 31 cystic vestibular schwannomas and 114 solid vestibular schwannomas. Mutation screening of NF2 was performed in both tumor and blood DNA samples of all patients.

Surgical management of extensive jugular paragangliomas: 10-year-experience with a large cohort of patients in China.

Objective: Jugular paraganglioma (JP) is a rare vascular lesion. Surgical treatment is challenging as differing degrees of skull base invasion and cranial nerve infiltration complicate the procedure. The infra-temporal fossa type A (IFTA) approach has been advocated as the primary surgical strategy.

Reaction-induced microsyneresis in oxide-based gels: the assembly of hierarchical microsphere networks.

Rigid and stable networks composed of litchi-shaped microspheres were formed via hierarchical self-assembly (SA) of oxide-based nanoparticles (NPs). The phenomenon of the apparent changes from NPs networks to microspheres networks after the gelation was similar to normal microsyneresis. However, in-situ composition evolution results indicate that the SA is driven by interparticle dehydration, but not affinity difference between the network for itself and for the solvent.

Long-term facial nerve function following facial reanimation after translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma surgery: A comparison between sural grafting and VII-XII anastomosis.

The aim of this study was to compare the recovery of long-term facial nerve function between patients who received sural grafts and those who underwent hypoglossal-facial anastomosis techniques following translabyrinthine vestibular schwannoma surgery. This study included 25 patients with vestibular schwannomas treated with translabyrinthine tumor removal. All patients had large tumors with a mean tumor size of 3.

Microdebrider removal under suspension laryngoscopy: an alternative surgical technique for subglottic hemangioma.

Objective: To describe microdebrider removal of subglottic hemangiomas and evaluate the efficacy of this procedure.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at an otorhinolaryngology department. Seven consecutive patients with subglottic hemangiomas who failed to respond to pharmacologic treatment were treated by microdebrider removal under suspension laryngoscopy.

Inhibition of leukemic cells by valproic acid, an HDAC inhibitor, in xenograft tumors.

The chimeric fusion protein, AML1-ETO, generated by translocation of t(8;21), abnormally recruits histone deacetylase (HDAC) to the promoters of AML1 target genes, resulting in transcriptional repression of the target genes and development of t(8;21) acute myeloid leukemia. Abnormal expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, especially p21, is considered a possible mechanism of the arrested maturation and differentiation seen in leukemia cells. A new generation of HDAC inhibitors is becoming an increasing focus of attention for their ability to induce differentiation and apoptosis in tumor cells and to block the cell cycle.

Vitrectomy with or without preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab for proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Purpose: To compare safety and functional outcomes of vitrectomy with or without preoperative intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Design: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Methods: PubMed, Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register were searched to identify potentially relevant randomized controlled trials.

Computational identification of active enhancers in model organisms.

As a class of cis-regulatory elements, enhancers were first identified as the genomic regions that are able to markedly increase the transcription of genes nearly 30years ago. Enhancers can regulate gene expression in a cell-type specific and developmental stage specific manner. Although experimental technologies have been developed to identify enhancers genome-wide, the design principle of the regulatory elements and the way they rewire the transcriptional regulatory network tempo-spatially are far from clear.

Subfornical organ mediates sympathetic and hemodynamic responses to blood-borne proinflammatory cytokines.

Proinflammatory cytokines play an important role in regulating autonomic and cardiovascular function in hypertension and heart failure. Peripherally administered proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), act on the brain to increase blood pressure, heart rate, and sympathetic nerve activity. These molecules are too large to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, and so the mechanisms by which they elicit these responses remain unknown.

[Cochlear implants for the patients with cochlear nerve defects].

Objective: By watching the effects of cochlear implants in the children with cochlear nerve defects, to evaluate the relationship and efficiency of HRCT AND MRI in diagnostic for cochlear nerve defects.

Method: The imaging dates and the post-operative effects of the 10 cochlear nerve defect patients were retrospectively analyzed.

Result: Three patients with bilateral IAC stenosis by HRCT and cochlear nerve defects by MRI but no other abnormal.

Historical long-term exposure to pentachlorophenol causing risk of cancer--a community study.

Background: Pervious studies suggested occupational workers exposure to pentachlorophenol (PCP) might contribute to increased risk of cancer. However, few studies have focused on associations between PCP and cancer risk at the community level.

Objective: The present study was to explore the cancer risk for the community population living long-term in a PCP contaminated area.

Reconstruction of the thoracic tracheal defects with portions of deepithelialized myocutaneous flaps after resection of a large tumor.

Objective: To study the possibility of using portions of deepithelialized myocutaneous flaps to the reconstruction of thoracic tracheal defects after resection of a large tumor.

Methods: From June 2007 to June 2012, five cases of defects of the thoracic trachea were reconstructed by applying portions of deepithelialized myocutaneous flaps. The patients were 27-61 years old with 4 male cases and 1 female.

[Effect of valproic acid against angiogenesis of Kasumi-1 xenograft tumor in nude mice].

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on angiogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia in vivo and vitro, and to explore its molecular mechanism. Human t (8;21) AML cell line Kasumi-1 cells were treated with VPA at different concentration for 3 d, the mRNA and protein expression levels of Ang1 and Ang2 were determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot respectively. Nude mice model with xenograft Kasumi-1 tumor was established by subcutaneous inoculation of Kasumi-1 cells.

A Special Material or a New State of Matter: A Review and Reconsideration of the Aerogel.

The ultrahighly nanoporous aerogel is recognized as a state of matter rather than as a functional material, because of its qualitative differences in bulk properties, transitional density and enthalpy between liquid and gas, and diverse chemical compositions. In this review, the characteristics, classification, history and preparation of the aerogel were introduced. More attention was paid to the sol-gel method for preparing different kinds of aerogels, given its important role on bridging the synthetic parameters with the properties.

Early interference with p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling in hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus attenuates angiotensin II-induced hypertension.

Blood-borne angiotensin II (ANG II) can upregulate p44/42 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and ANG II type-1 receptors in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN), a critical cardiovascular and autonomic center. We tested the hypothesis that brain p44/42 MAPK signaling contributes to the development of ANG II-induced hypertension. The ANG II infusion (120 ng/kg per min, subcutaneously) induced increases in phosphorylated p44/42 MAPK and ANG II type-1 receptors in the PVN after 1 week, before the onset of hypertension, that were sustained as hypertension developed during a 2- or 3-week infusion protocol.

[Effects of bromopropane exposure on expression of DNA methyltransferases and level of histone acetylation in testis of male rats].

Objective: To investigate the changes in the expression of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and activities of histone acetyltransferase (HAT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) in the testis of male rats exposed to bromopropanes (BPs).

Methods: Twenty-seven male rats were randomly divided into three groups to be intraperitoneally injected with 1-BP,2-BP, or corn oil (as a control) for two weeks. The sperm count and morphology in the epididymis were evaluated.

Effect of endostar combined with cisplatin on expression of VEGF and Sema3A of Lewis lung cancer rats.

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of endostar (ED) combined with cisplatin(DDP) on model of C57BL/6 rats, and to further investigate the inhibiting mechanism of endostar from tumor angiogenesis.

Methods: Lewis lung cancer cells were inoculated in C57BL/6 mouse, then the mouse were randomized into control group (group A), ED (group B), DDP (group C) and ED/DDP (group D). They were treated according to the plan.

Current evidence on the relationship between two polymorphisms in the NBS1 gene and breast cancer risk: a meta-analysis.

Introduction: Published studies on the association between Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1(NBS1) gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk have been inconclusive, and a meta-analysis was therefore performed for clarification.

Methods: Eligible articles were identified by a search of MEDLINE and EMBASE bibliographic databases for the period up to March 2012. The presence of between-study heterogeneity was investigated using the chi-square-based Cochran's Q statistic test.

Occupational exposure to pentachlorophenol causing lymphoma and hematopoietic malignancy for two generations.

Objective: Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is characterized as likely carcinogen of lymphoma and hematopoietic neoplasm. But the carcinogenicity to human was uncertain based on population studies. A systematic review was conducted to explore two kinds of associations, one was between the workers exposed to PCP with lymphoma and hematopoietic neoplasm, the other was between childhood lymphoma and leukemia with their parents exposed to PCP.

The role of preexisting diabetes mellitus on incidence and mortality of endometrial cancer: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Objective: The results of cohort studies are controversial regarding the association between preexisting diabetes mellitus (DM) and the risk of endometrial cancer (EC) incidence and mortality. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess whether an association exists between them in prospective studies.

Methods: The PubMed and EMBASE database were searched for prospective cohort studies of preexisting DM on EC occurrence, mortality outcomes, updated up to June 2012.

Prediction of novel long non-coding RNAs based on RNA-Seq data of mouse Klf1 knockout study.

Background: Study on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been promoted by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). However, it is still not trivial to identify lncRNAs from the RNA-Seq data and it remains a challenge to uncover their functions.

Results: We present a computational pipeline for detecting novel lncRNAs from the RNA-Seq data.

Removal of large or giant sporadic vestibular schwannomas via translabyrinthine approach: a report of 115 cases.

Background/aims: The present study was a retrospective analysis of surgical outcomes of large or giant vestibular schwannomas (VSs) via a translabyrinthine approach (TLA).

Methods: One hundred and fifteen sporadic large or giant VSs (maximal diameter in the cerebellopontine angle ≥31 mm) were operated via TLA between January 2001 and December 2010. We divided patients into two groups: cystic VS (CVS) and solid VS (SVS) group.