Clinical benefits of routine examination and synchronous repair of occult inguinal hernia during laparoscopic peritoneal dialysis catheter insertion: a single-center experience

Hernia - Occult inguinal hernias (IH) predispose peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients to the symptomatic IH formation after starting PD, which may cause complications. We conducted a retrospective...     

Viral transmission and evolution dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 in shipboard quarantine

ObjectiveTo examine transmission and evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in shipboard quarantine of the Diamond Princess cruise ship.MethodsWe obtained the full SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences of 28 samples from the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data database. The samples were collected between 10 and 25 February 2020 and came for individuals who had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 during the quarantine on the cruise ship. These samples were later sequenced in either Japan or the United States of America. We analysed evolution dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 using computational tools of phylogenetics, natural selection pressure and genetic linkage.FindingsThe SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the cruise most likely originated from either a single person infected with a virus variant identical to the WIV04 isolates, or simultaneously with another primary case infected with a virus containing the 11083G > T mutation. We identified a total of 24 new viral mutations across 64.2% (18/28) of samples, and the virus evolved into at least five subgroups. Increased positive selection of SARS-CoV-2 were statistically significant during the quarantine (Tajima’s D: −2.03, P < 0.01; Fu and Li’s D: −2.66, P < 0.01; and Zeng’s E: −2.37, P < 0.01). Linkage disequilibrium analysis confirmed that ribonucleic acid (RNA) recombination with the11083G > T mutation also contributed to the increase of mutations among the viral progeny.ConclusionThe findings indicate that the 11083G > T mutation of SARS-CoV-2 spread during shipboard quarantine and arose through de novo RNA recombination under positive selection pressure.     

高压氧中毒小鼠脑微血管图像分析定量研究

本文采用计算机图像定量测量方法，对高压氧中毒后小鼠软脑膜微血管和大脑皮质毛细胞血管内皮细胞碱性磷酶活性进行了定量检测。结果表明，ＨＢＯＩ后小鼠软脑膜毛细血管开放数目减少，毛细血管密度降低。     

Distinguishing depression and negative symptoms in unmedicated patients with schizophrenia

Depression can occur in schizophrenia but can be difficult to distinguish from negative symptoms of the illness. To evaluate whether concurrent use of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) could successfully separate depression and negative symptoms, we examined ratings on 69 unmedicated schizophrenic inpatients. A classical BPRS depression subscale score correlated highly (rho = 0.80) with the HRSD total score. The classical BPRS "negative symptom" subscale score was unrelated to both the BPRS and HRSD depression summary measures. Among individual HRSD items, negative symptoms correlated only with work/activities and retardation. The findings suggest that negative and depressive symptoms may be assessed independently.     

Novel stop-gain RNF170 variation detected in a Chinese family with adolescent-onset hereditary spastic paraplegia

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) is a heterogeneous group of inherited neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive lower limb spasticity. Recent studies revealed that biallelic variants in RNF170 gene cause autosomal recessive complicated HSP with infancy onset. Here, we report an adolescent-onset HSP patient from a consanguineous Chinese family, with lower extremity stiffness, spastic gait, and unstable straight-line walking as the main manifestations. Whole-exome sequencing identifies a novel RNF170 mutation c.190C>T (p.R64*), which co-segregates with the disease in this pedigree. Functional analysis, including quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot, indicates that both the mRNA and protein levels of mutant RNF170 are significantly reduced, which confirms the loss-of-function mechanism. Our study expands the spectrum of RNF170-associated HSP, while the RNF170 protein-involved degradation of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor in neurodegenerative motor neuron disorders deserves further investigation.     

Serum levels of interferon-α and-γ in acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection

To evaluate the potential implication ofin vivo interferon production in the pathogenesis of different forms of acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection, serum levels of interferon- and- were measured using immunoassay techniques in 20 patients with acute hepatitis B who subsequently cleared the virus (group Ia), 8 patients with acute hepatitis B who became HBsAg carriers (group Ib), 55 patients with chronic hepatitis B (group II), and 15 healthy controls. None of the controls had interferon- or- detectable in serum, while 15% and 100% of group Ia patients, 25% and 100% of group Ib patients, and 22% and 15% of group II patients, had raised serum levels of interferon- and-, respectively. Serum interferon- was detected significantly more frequently in group Ia and Ib patients than in controls and in group II patients. Among patients with acute hepatitis B, serum levels of interferon- and- showed no significant difference between group Ia and group Ib patients. Among patients with chronic hepatitis B, interferon- was detected significantly more frequently in patients with serum HBV-DNA (31.4% or 11/35) than in those without (5% or 1/20), whereas interferon- was detected significantly more frequently in patients with chronic active hepatitis (28% or 7/25) than in those with chronic persistent hepatitis (3.3% or 1/30). In conclusion, in acute hepatitis B, serum levels of interferon- and- did not show a significant difference between patients who subsequently cleared the virus and those who became HBsAg carriers. In chronic hepatitis B, the raised serum levels of interferon- correlated with the presence of viral replication, while the raised serum levels of interferon- correlated with the presence of histological evidence of active hepatitis.     

The expression of cytokeratin 18 in transitional cell carcinoma comparing with hepatoma

The epithelium in kidneys and urinary bladders contain CK18 as in liver cells. The modulation of cytokeratin 18 during tumor transformation in hepatoma had been previously recognized through a series of biochemical and immunological approaches. A 14 KD hepatoma related molecules was found in the previous studies. We would like to utilize the hepatoma transformation model to study the changes in CK18 in transitional cell carcinoma, using immunoblotting and western blotting techniques. The result is that transitional cell carcinoma retain their CK18 molecule. Furthermore, CK18 related molecules similar to those seen in hepatoma also present in transitional cell carcinoma. The conclusions are transitional cell carcinoma contains CK18 related proteins similar to those seen in hepatoma tissues. We suggest that this element would be responsible for the change during the malignant transformation processes.     

11C-acetate clearance in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

This study assessed 11C-acetate turnover (clearance) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Data were acquired by dynamic PET after the intravenous injection of 4.625 MBq.kg-1 body weight of 11C-acetate for 30 min. Tomograms were reconstructed and evaluated visually. A time-activity curve of the nasopharynx and neck was generated and the clearance rate of 11C-acetate from the nasopharynx in the slow phase and from NPC was calculated using 0.693/T1/2. Ten patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and nine normal subjects were studied. The clearance of 11C-acetate from the normal nasopharynx was rapid and biexponential, in contrast to the rapid uptake followed by extremely slow clearance in patients with NPC. The clearance rate (mean +/- S.D.) was 0.0074 +/- 0.0042 in NPC and 0.0263 +/- 0.0152 in controls in the slow phase, being significantly different between the two groups with no overlap. All nasopharyngeal carcinomas were clearly visualized, in contrast to no obvious retention in the normal nasopharynx. Our initial results indicate that 11C-acetate clearance can be used to differentiate nasopharyngeal carcinoma from a normal nasopharynx. This finding may lead to new applications of 11C-acetate in oncology.