血糖水平对18F-FDG PET/CT图像质量的影响

目的 研究血糖水平对18F-脱氧葡萄糖(FDG) PET/CT图像质量的影响.方法 80例行体格检查或评价肿瘤性质的受检者,按空腹血糖水平分为9组(组间距为1mmol/L),第1组为血糖正常组,即血糖＜6.0mmol/L(10例);第2～9组血糖水平高于正常,分别为6.0～6.9mmol/L(11例),7.0～7.9mmol/L(13例),8.0～8.9mmol/L(11例),9.0～9.9mmol/L(11例),10.0～10.9mmol/L(8例),11.0～11.9mmol/L(6例),12.0～12.9mmol/L(5例),≥13.0mmol/L(5例).受检者做完PET/CT检查后,图像质量由2位有经验的医师独立判断.同时根据肝不同层面的标准摄取值(SUV)最大值(SUVmax)及SUV平均值(SUVavg)分别计算肝图像噪声.采用SPSS 12.0软件进行统计学处理.结果 (1)9组之间图像质量评分、肝噪声差异有统计学意义(P均＜0.05).将第2～9组图像质量评分、肝噪声分别与第1组进行比较,第2～7组与第1组差异无统计学意义(P均＞0.05);第8,9组与第1组比较差异有统计学意义(P均＜0.05),且评分低于第1组.(2)血糖水平与图像质量评分呈负相关(r=-0.52,P＜0.05);血糖水平与肝噪声呈正相关(SUVmax、SUVavgr值分别为0.33和0.60,P均＜0.05);SUVavg所算噪声与血糖水平的相关性优于SUVmax.结论 图像质量随血糖水平的升高而下降,血糖＜12.0mmol/L时与血糖正常者PET/CT图像质量差异无统计学意义,但当血糖水平≥12.0mmol/L时图像质量将显著下降.     

Prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and relation to glycemic control therapies at baseline in the BARI 2D cohort

Abstract   We evaluated the associations between glycemic therapies and prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) at baseline among participants in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) trial on medical and revascularization therapies for coronary artery disease (CAD) and on insulin-sensitizing vs. insulin-providing treatments for diabetes. A total of 2,368 patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD was evaluated. DPN was defined as clinical examination score >2 using the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI). DPN odds ratios across different groups of glycemic therapy were evaluated by multiple logistic regression adjusted for multiple covariates including age, sex, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and diabetes duration. Fifty-one percent of BARI 2D subjects with valid baseline characteristics and MNSI scores had DPN. After adjusting for all variables, use of insulin was significantly associated with DPN (OR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.15–2.13). Patients on sulfonylurea (SU) or combination of SU/metformin (Met)/thiazolidinediones (TZD) had marginally higher rates of DPN than the Met/TZD group. This cross-sectional study in a cohort of patients with type 2 diabetes and CAD showed association of insulin use with higher DPN prevalence, independent of disease duration, glycemic control, and other characteristics. The causality between a glycemic control strategy and DPN cannot be evaluated in this cross-sectional study, but continued assessment of DPN and randomized therapies in BARI 2D trial may provide further explanations on the development of DPN.     

Counterfactual (‘if only’) thinking in women with chronic widespread pain

The study explored the counterfactual thinking that women with chronic and widespread pain showed in response to what they themselves considered to be particularly stressful situations. Counterfactual thinking in 125 women sick‐listed due to chronic and widespread pain was investigated in terms of structure, function and control focus. The women were asked, for each of three types of problems that they indicated in a questionnaire to affect them most strongly, to describe a typical occurrence of it and to complete a counterfactual sentence in connection with it of the type ‘If only . . .’. The majority of counterfactuals pertained to predominantly somatic problems (e.g. musculo‐skeletal problems, pain and fatigue) classified as being affective rather than preparative and self‐focused rather than external, whereas in counterfactuals relating to predominantly psychological/psychosocial problems a preparative function and an external focus were more prominent. The numbers of problems listed and the numbers of situations responded to counterfactually were positively correlated. The counterfactuals, although often related to somatic problems, generally concerned psychological or psychosocial matters such as finances and paid or unpaid work. A contextual approach to elucidating counterfactual thinking based on subjects' own experiences is seen as providing valuable insight into what bothers them most. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correspondence analysis as a screening method for indicants for clinical diagnosis

In clinical diagnosis, a patient's symptoms are observed and the probabilities of various diseases are assessed. A widely used method of formalizing this approach is independent Bayes in which symptoms are assumed to be independent conditional on the disease category. Correspondence analysis provides a method for examining the dependence between symptoms and assists in the selection of a reduced set of symptoms for the application of the independent Bayes method. This approach is illustrated on two data sets concerned with patients attending Accident and Emergency departments with chest pain and acute abdominal pain, respectively.     

Recovery profile of single motoneurons after electrical stimuli in man

The H-reflex of 120 soleus motoneurons was recorded using fibre EMG. The recovery profile of these motoneurons was studied during monitoring surface H-reflex records in 28 adult subjects. The spectrum of motoneurons tested was homogeneous with two extremes of neurons having different characteristics. A motoneuron population (forming about 69% of our sample) had a high threshold level for electrical stimuli, short recovery time, and short recovery fringe time (called type A). A second population of motoneurons (forming about 20-30% of our sample) had a low threshold level for electrical stimuli, long recovery fringe time (called type B). During an isometric muscle contraction every motoneuron showed an early shift in recovery time (i.e. each had a shorter recovery time) with shortened recovery fringe time. These changes were larger for motoneurons type B than motoneurons type A. With paired identical electrical stimuli of varying interstimulus intervals a motoneuron may fire in response to the conditioning and test stimuli giving an H2, but not in response to both stimuli. This occurred for interstimulus intervals of 4-11 ms. A strong inhibition period was recorded with interstimulus intervals of 12-80 ms in which all motoneurons did not show any recovery. Most motoneurons recovered in orderly fashion between 80 and 300 ms of interstimulus interval, and this recovery coincided with the fast recovery recorded in surface H-reflex. All motoneurons were recovered by 3000 ms of interstimulus intervals. These findings emphasize the importance of eliciting the H-reflex every 3-5 s in H-reflex methodology in order to be assured that all excited motoneurons have been recovered.     

Timing deficits in apraxia of speech

Summary This paper deals with a particular aspect of speech motor control in patients suffering from apraxia of speech. Three experiments are reported concerning the phase relations between individual speech gestures. These include the timing of laryngeal, velar and labial movements relative to lingual gestures.A total of 8 patients and 12 normal controls were examined using speech material which was designed according to appropriate phonetic paradigms. Evaluation was performed on the basis of speech signal parameters referring to the kinematics of inter-articulatory phasing. Deviations of the patient group were found in all three experiments. This suggests that disturbed phase relations of individual speech movements are a general feature of apraxic speech. It is further hypothesized that the described motor symptoms are the origin of a variety of phonemic errors. Support for this view is provided by appropriate examples which refer to the examined paradigms. By this argument, much of the disturbed phonemic structure of apraxic speech may be accounted for by timing deficits.     

胶质细胞活化对慢性前列腺炎/慢性盆腔疼痛综合征(CP/CPPS)大鼠脊髓背角P物质的影响

目的探讨胶质细胞活化对慢性前列腺炎/慢性盆腔疼痛综合征（chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndromes,CP/CPPS）大鼠脊髓背角P物质的影响。方法完全福氏佐剂和3%角叉菜胶前列腺内注射造成CP/CPPS模型,脊髓插管给药胶质细胞活化抑制剂Propentofylline干扰CP/CPPS模型大鼠,免疫组织化学方法观察正常组、疼痛模型组、药物干扰组脊髓节段（L6和S1）背角的胶质细胞的活化和P物质的定性定位,并用放射免疫的方法观察三组脊髓背角P物质的变化。结果脊髓背角胶质细胞活化阳性细胞数疼痛组明显增加,药物干扰组明显减少;P物质主要表达于脊髓背角且疼痛模型组明显增多,药物干扰组明显减少。结论胶质细胞活化是CP/CPPS大鼠脊髓背角P物质变化的重要原因,胶质细胞活化抑制剂的应用将是治疗CP/CPPS的新亮点。     

Quantification of Basal and Stimulated ROS Levels as Predictors of Islet Potency and Function

We have developed a luminol-based assay using intact islets, which allows for quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In addition, an index capable of characterizing metabolic and mitochondrial integrity prior to transplantation was created based on the capacity of islets to respond to high glucose and rotenone (mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I inhibitor) by production of ROS. To validate this assay, lipid peroxidation and antioxidative defense capacity were evaluated by detection of malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and glutathione peroxidase activity (GPx), respectively. Also, flow cytometric analyses of ROS (dihydroethidine), apoptosis (Annexin V, active caspases), necrosis (Topro3), and mitochondrial membrane potential (JC-1) were done in parallel to correlate with changes in luminol-measured ROS. ATP/ADP ratios were quantified by HPLC and the predictive value of ROS measurement on islet functional potency was correlated with capacity to reverse diabetes in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic NOD.scid mouse model as well as in human transplant recipients. Our data demonstrate that levels of ROS in islets correlate with the percentage of apoptotic cells and their functional potency in vivo. The ROS indices following glucose and rotenone exposure are indicative of metabolic potency and mitochondrial integrity and can be used as surrogate markers to evaluate the quality of islets prior to transplantation.