Clinical and pathological analysis of 504 cases of elderly ocular tumors

AIM:To analyze the composition, distribution and characteristics of the elderly primary ocular tumors. <p>METHODS: This was a retrospective study and all 504 cases with primary ocular tumors aged 60 years or older were collected in Shanxi Eye Hospital, during the year 2000-2012. The onset age, location and pathological pattern were analyzed.<p>RESULTS: There were 346 cases of benign ocular tumors(68.7%), and 158 cases of malignancy(31.3%).Papillomas was the most common type of the benign with 83 cases(16.5%), followed by a variety of inflammatory cysts and lesions with 69 cases(13.7%)and 64 cases(12.7%)respectively. Among malignant tumors cases, eyelid basal cell carcinoma originated from epithelial was the most common with 72 cases(14.3%), followed by skin appendages sources malignant tumors with 39 cases(7.7%). Concerning the location of ocular tumors, there were 282 cases of eyelid tumor(56.0%)occupied the first position followed by conjunctival tumor with 157 cases(31.2%). <p>CONCLUSION: The prevalence and type of primary ocular tumor in elderly people are significant differences from the general population and children's, and the proportion of malignant tumors tended to increase along with the increase of age

Comprehensive analysis of tandem amino acid repeats from ten angiosperm genomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The presence of tandem amino acid repeats (AARs) is one of the signatures of eukaryotic proteins. AARs were thought to be frequently involved in bio-molecular interactions. Comprehensive studies that primarily focused on metazoan AARs have suggested that AARs are evolving rapidly and are highly variable among species. However, there is still controversy over causal factors of this inter-species variation. In this work, we attempted to investigate this topic mainly by comparing AARs in orthologous proteins from ten angiosperm genomes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Angiosperm AAR content is positively correlated with the GC content of the protein coding sequence. However, based on observations from fungal AARs and insect AARs, we argue that the applicability of this kind of correlation is limited by AAR residue composition and species' life history traits. Angiosperm AARs also tend to be fast evolving and structurally disordered, supporting the results of comprehensive analyses of metazoans. The functions of conserved long AARs are summarized. Finally, we propose that the rapid mRNA decay rate, alternative splicing and tissue specificity are regulatory processes that are associated with angiosperm proteins harboring AARs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our investigation suggests that GC content is a predictor of AAR content in the protein coding sequence under certain conditions. Although angiosperm AARs lack conservation and 3D structure, a fraction of the proteins that contain AARs may be functionally important and are under extensive regulation in plant cells.</p

The Biological Function of Kupffer Cells in Liver Disease

Kupffer cells, which have a characteristic morphology and a kind of phenotype, are the resident macrophages in liver, serve as the largest population mononuclear phagocytes in the body, and are localized in the periportal zone. They have phagocytosis capacity and release all kinds of cytokines, chemokines, and soluble biological mediators. Owing to the different functions of Kupffer cells, they play an important role in liver diseases. In this chapter, we review the role of Kupffer cells in infectious disease, fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, liver ischemia-reperfusion injury, liver transplantation immunology, as well as liver cancer and metastases

Mathematical Modeling and Analysis of Drill String Longitudinal Vibration with Lateral Inertia Effect

Comparative analysis whether considering the lateral inertia or not, aiming at the longitudinal vibration of the drill string in drilling progress, is proposed. In the light of the actual condition, the mechanical model of the drill string about vibration is established on the basis of the theoretical analysis. Longitudinal vibration equation of the drill string is derived from the Rayleigh-Love model and one-dimensional viscoelastic model. According to the Laplace transform method and the relationships among parameters of the model, the solutions to complex impedance at the bottom of the drill string are obtained, and then the comparison results are analyzed, which is the lateral inertia effect on longitudinal vibration characteristics. The researches show that the smaller the length of the drill string, the greater the cross-sectional area of the drill string, the greater the damping coefficient of bottom hole on the bottom of the drill string, and the more evident the effect on the dynamic stiffness of the drill string with lateral inertia effect. The Poisson ratio of the drill string only has some effects on it taking account of the lateral inertia effect, and the influence is relatively small compared with the former three conditions

Comparison of the refractive error changes among young children in ten years interval

AIM: To compare the optometric examination results of myopic young children between those diagnosed in the period from 1998 to 2000 and those diagnosed in the period from 2008 to 2010; and to find out the causes of myopia and factors that worsen the condition, and suggest methods of its prevention and treatment.<p>METHODS: This study was a retrospective case study. We randomly selected sample from out-patient department register of cases and divided them into two main groups, ‘ten year before group'(TYBG)(1998/2000 year cases)and ‘ten years later group'(2008/2010 year cases)(TYLG). Each group was further subdivided into three sub-groups by age: under-six years old children group(CG), seven-twelve years old primary-school group(PSG)and thirteen-eighteen years old middle-school group(MSG). The optometric examination results were statistically analyzed.<p>RESULTS: The difference of the mean dioptre between the TYBG and TYLG was strongly statistically significant, also forward-lead trend of age when children suffered from myopia was found(<i>P<</i>0.01). There was a significant increase of dioptre among PSG and MSG in TYLG compared to TYBG(<i>P</i><0.01). After analyzing the relationship between dioptre and age, this study showed an increase of the proportion of myopia patients from 35.2% to 50.0% in PSG in ten years interval. This proportion decreases in MSG and remains stable in CG. All cases had been divided into slight myopia, medium myopia and high myopia, depending on their own myopia dioptre. The biggest difference of myopia dioptre were seen in MSG where the proportion of medium myopia patients increased 11.4% and high myopia patients increased 7.9% in TYLG.<p>CONCLUSION: Our study shows that the age of getting myopia was forward lead, the dioptre increases by 1.00 degree and the prevalence of myopia is increasing gradually. This situation may due to the modern life style and changes of living standard of the population. Therefore, prevention of myopia should concentrate more on younger children at kindergarten and primary school stage students

Study on Perfume Stimulating Olfaction with Volatile Oil of Acorus Gramineus for Treatment of the Alzheimer's Disease Rat

ObjectiveTo probe into the therapeutic efect of perfume stimulating olfaction with volatile oil of Acorus Gramineus on the Alzheimer's disease (AD) rat.MethodsTotally 50 adult SD rats, male, weighing 300±10 g, were randomly divided into 5 groups, normal group (group A), olfactory nerve severing model group (group B), AD model group (group C), AD model plus perfume stimulation group (group D), AD model olfactory nerve severing plus perfume stimulation group (group E), 10 rats in each group. After perfume stimulation, Morris maze test was conducted for valuating the learning and memory ability; Malondaldehyde (MDA) content, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities in the brain, and the brain weight were detected.ResultsCompared with the AD model group, the average escape latency and swimming distance in 6 days were significantly shorter than those in the group A, B, D (P<0.01), with no significant differences between the group C and the group E (P>0.05); Compared with the group A, B and D, MDA content in the group C significantly increased (P<0.01), and SOD and GSH-Px activities significantly decreased (P<0.01), and brain weight/body weight decreased significantly in the group C (P<0.01), with no significant differences between the group C and the group E (P>0.05).ConclusionPerfume stimultating olfaction with volatile oil of Acorus Gramineus can significantly increase the learning-memory ability, decrease MDA content and increase SOD and GSH-Px activities and weight of brain in AD rats

Quercetin inhibits porcine intestinal inflammation in vitro

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Quercetin (Que) on inflammatory reaction in intestinal porcine enterocyte cells, IPEC-J2, induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS).Methods: IPEC-J2 cells were pretreated with Que and then incubated with LPS. Cell viability, cell morphology, nitric oxide (NO) content, gene expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), were then evaluated.Results: LPS incubation at 10 μg/mL for 24 h showed no effect on the viability and cell morphology of IPEC-J2, while Que pre-incubation significantly enhanced the viability of IPEC-J2 and improved cell morphology (p &lt; 0.05). Que decreased the expression levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 mRNA and IL-8 mRNA raised by LPS (p &lt; 0.05). Interestingly, both LPS and Que demonstrated no influence on the release of NO.Conclusion: Pre-treatment of Que shows a positive effect on intestinal porcine enterocyte cells and inhibited porcine intestinal inflammation in vitro induced by LPS, but the mechanism may be not associated with NO-related signaling pathway. Therefore, Que might have a potential effect as a veterinary drug or feed additive for the treatment of enteritis in pigs.Keywords: Quercetin, Inflammatory cytokines, Intestinal porcine enterocyte cells, Lipopolysaccharid