Using arterial spin labeling blood flow and its histogram analysis to distinguish early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma from lymphoid hyperplasia

To investigate the feasibility of arterial spin labeling (ASL) blood flow (BF) and its histogram analysis to distinguish early-stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) from nasopharyngeal lymphoid hyperplasia (NPLH).Sixty-three stage T1 NPC patients and benign NPLH patients underwent ASL on a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imaging system. BF histogram parameters were derived automatically, including the mean, median, maximum, minimum, kurtosis, skewness, and variance. Absolute values were obtained for skewness and kurtosis (absolute value of skewness [AVS] and absolute value of kurtosis [AVK], respectively). The Mann–Whitney U test, receiver operating characteristic curve, and multiple logistic regression models were used for statistical analysis.The mean, maximum, and variance of ASL BF values were significantly higher in early-stage NPC than in NPLH (all P < 0.0001), while the median and AVK values of early-stage NPC were also significantly higher than those of NPLH (all P < 0.001). No significant difference was found between the minimum and AVS values in early-stage NPC compared with NPLH (P = 0.125 and P = 0.084, respectively). The area under the curve (AUC) of the maximum was significantly higher than those of the mean and median (P < 0.05). The AUC of variance was significantly higher than those of the other parameters (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that variance was the only independent predictor of outcome (P < 0.05).ASL BF and its histogram analysis could distinguish early-stage NPC from NPLH, and the variance value was a unique independent predictor.     

应用磁共振波谱研究针刺合谷穴前额叶神经递质Glu与GABA相关性＊

目的 探讨手针针刺健康受试者右侧合谷穴，前额叶Glu⁺、Glx⁺及GABA⁺浓度变化差异及相关性，从兴奋和抑制性神经递质关系方面初步探讨针刺效应的脑机制。方法 录入健康志愿者76名，随机接受手针及纤毛针两种刺激，并采集刺激前和刺激时BOLD功能磁共振脑成像（fMRI）及磁共振波谱（MRS）数据，分析手针和纤毛针组刺激前与刺激时Glu⁺、Glx⁺、GABA⁺浓度差异及相关性，以及Glu⁺、Glx⁺与GABA⁺浓度的相关性。结果 手针及纤毛针组间和组内各亚组（依据不同BOLD信号）针刺前与针刺时Glu⁺、Glx⁺、GABA⁺浓度差异无统计学意义（P均>0.05）。但手针组整组的Glu⁺、Glx⁺、GABA⁺，零、负激活亚组的Glu⁺、Glx⁺和零激活GABA⁺针刺前与针刺时浓度呈正相关（P均<0.05）。针刺前手针组整组、零、负激活亚组的Glu⁺、Glx⁺均与GABA⁺呈正相关q（P均<0.05）；纤毛针组整组、正、负激活亚组Glu⁺、Glx⁺均与GABA⁺及零激活Glu⁺与GABA⁺均呈正相关（P均<0.05）；针刺时手针组整组、负激活亚组Glu⁺与GABA⁺呈正相关，零激活亚组Glx⁺与GABA⁺呈正相关（P均<0.05）。结论 针刺前与针刺时Glu⁺、Glx⁺与GABA⁺多呈正相关，可作为针刺脑机制研究的神经递质观察指标。     

槲皮素通过抑制氧化应激改善3×Tg-AD小鼠的认知功能障碍＊

目的 探讨槲皮素（Quercetin，QT）对含有3个突变等位基因（PS1、APP、Tau）的纯合子小鼠（3×Tg-AD）的认知功能改善作用及其机制。方法 通过基因鉴定确定小鼠的基因型，将9月龄的3×Tg-AD小鼠和其同窝野生对照小鼠随机分为4组：野生型组（wildtype，WT）、野生型 + QT组（WT + QT）、模型组（3×Tg-AD）和模型小鼠 + QT组（3×Tg-AD + QT），每组8只。WT + QT组和3×Tg-AD + QT组的小鼠灌胃给予QT 15 mg/kg/天，WT组和3×Tg-AD组的小鼠灌胃给予等体积溶剂，共治疗8周。第7周进行水迷宫实验检测小鼠的学习记忆能力。采用ELISA法检测小鼠脑组织中的肿瘤坏死因子-α（tumor necrosis factor-α）、白介素-1β（interleukin-1β）和小鼠血清中谷胱甘肽-过氧化物酶（glutathione peroxidase，GSH-Px）的含量；试剂盒检测小鼠血清中丙二醛（malondialdehyde，MDA）和总超氧化物歧化酶（superoxide dismutase，SOD）的含量以及脑组织中一氧化氮（nitric oxide，NO）的含量；Western blot检测脑组织中核转录因子E2相关因子2和Kelch样环氧氯丙烷相关蛋白1的表达水平。结果 3×Tg-AD组小鼠存在明显的认知功能障碍；而3×Tg-AD + QT组小鼠的学习记忆能力明显提高（P < 0.05）。另外，3×Tg-AD组血清中MDA水平较WT组升高，SOD与GSH-Px水平较WT组下降；3×Tg-AD + QT组小鼠血清中MDA水平下降，SOD和GSH-Px水平则升高。3×Tg-AD组小鼠脑组织中的NO、TNF-α、IL-1β水平明显升高；3×Tg-AD + QT组小鼠脑组织中的炎症因子水平均明显降低（P < 0.05）。3×Tg-AD组小鼠脑组织中的Nrf2表达降低，Keap1表达升高；3×Tg-AD + QT组中，Nrf2表达上调，Keap1表达下调（P < 0.05）。结论 QT可能通过抑制炎症因子和MDA，Keap1的水平，上调SOD，GSH-Px，Nrf2的表达，发挥改善3×Tg-AD小鼠学习记忆能力的作用。     

Numerical Integrators for Dispersion-Managed KdV Equation

In this paper, we consider the numerics of the dispersion-managed Korteweg-de Vries (DM-KdV) equation for describing wave propagations in inhomogeneous media. The DM-KdV equation contains a variable dispersion map with discontinuity, which makes the solution non-smooth in time. We formally analyze the convergence order reduction problems of some popular numerical methods including finite difference and time-splitting for solving the DM-KdV equation, where a necessary constraint on the time step has been identified. Then, two exponential-type dispersion-map integrators up to second order accuracy are derived, which are efficiently incorporated with the Fourier pseudospectral discretization in space, and they can converge regardless of the discontinuity and the step size. Numerical comparisons show the advantage of the proposed methods with the application to solitary wave dynamics and extension to the fast & strong dispersion-management regime.     

中医药调控益生菌防治肺炎的研究进展＊

肺炎是呼吸系统疾病中的常见疾病，发病率高，可伴有多种并发症，严重时可危及生命健康。肺炎患者多伴有肠道菌群失调，表现为有益菌减少，且益生菌可通过“肠-肺轴”影响肺部免疫参与肺炎的发生发展。中医以“肺”与“大肠”两者之间的生理及病理关系为基础，通过整体观念和辨证论治发挥了治疗肺炎的独特的优势。近年来，许多研究表明中医药在治疗肺炎的过程中具有改善肠道微生态作用，但肺炎的中医辨证分型与肠道菌群的相关性尚不明确。本文从中医辨证分型论治肺炎的角度出发，总结不同辨证分型的肺炎与肠道菌群结构特征，阐述中医治疗肺炎过程中对于益生菌的调节作用和“证型—中药—益生菌”的对应关系。通过讨论益生菌在防治肺炎中的关键作用，展望中医辩证联合益生菌治疗肺炎的应用前景，以期为肺炎的防治提供新思路和新靶点，也为将来指导不同肺炎证型患者选择适合的中药及益生菌提供理论依据。