Premonitory urges located in the tongue for tic disorder: Two case reports and review of literature.

BACKGROUND: Premonitory urges (PUs) was defined as the uncomfortable physical sensations of inner tension that can be relieved by producing movement responses. Nearly 70%-90% patients with Tourette syndrome reported experiences of PUs. CASE SUMMARY: In this paper, we present two cases of young patients with PUs located in their tongue, which is very rare and easily misdiagnosed in clinical work. Both two young patients complained of an itchy tongue and cannot help biting their tongue. These two cases were worth reporting because it was rare that PUs was the initial symptom and located in the tongue. The results indicated that PUs seem to play an important role in the generation of tics. CONCLUSION: Thus, PUs may be the first process, and an essential part, of the formation of tics.

Workplace violence against medical staff of Chinese children's hospitals: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In China, medical staff of children's hospitals are commonly exposed to violence. However, few studies on medical violence are conducted in the settings of children's hospitals. The aim of this study is to assess the incidence, magnitude, consequences, and potential risk factors of workplace violence (WPV) against medical staff of children's hospitals. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional design was used. A self-administered questionnaire was utilized to collect data on 12 children's hospitals. The questionnaires were distributed to a stratified proportional random sample of 2,400 medical staff; 1,932 valid questionnaires were collected. A chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were conducted. RESULTS: A total of 68.6% of respondents had experienced at least one WPV incident involving non-physical and/or physical violence in the past year. The perpetrators were mainly family members of patients (94.9%). Most of the WPV occurred during the day shift (70.7%) and in wards (41.8%). Males were 1.979 times (95% CI, 1.378 to 2.841) more likely than females to experience physical violence. Emergency departments were more exposed to physical violence than other departments. Oncology was 2.733 times (95% CI, 1.126 to 6.633) more exposed to non-physical violence than the emergency department. As a result of WPV, victims felt aggrieved and angry, work enthusiasm declined, and work efficiency was reduced. However, only 5.6% of the victims received psychological counseling. CONCLUSION: Medical staff are at high risk of violence in China's children's hospitals. Hospital administrators and related departments should pay attention to the consequences of these incidents. There is a need for preventive measures to protect medical staff and provide a safer workplace environment. Our results can provide reference information for intervention strategies and safety measures.

Blockage of PTPRJ promotes cell growth and resistance to 5-FU through activation of JAK1/STAT3 in the cervical carcinoma cell line C33A.

Gene therapy is a promising therapeutic approach for chemoresistant cervical cancers. Therapeutic interventions targeting the key factors contributing to the initiation and progression of cervical cancer may be a more effective treatment strategy. In the present study, we firstly determined the expression of protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor J (PTPRJ) in 8-paired human cervical tumor and non-tumor tissues. We observed a striking downregulation of PTPRJ in the human cervical tumor tissues. Next, we investigated the roles and the function mechanism of PTPRJ in the human cervical carcinoma cell line C33A by loss- and gain-of-function experiments. Our study indicated that C33A cells with loss of PTPRJ expression showed a significantly increased cell viability, rising growth and migration rate, as well as a G1-S transition. We obtained the opposite results when we overexpressed PTPRJ in C33A cells. Our further study indicated that PTPRJ levels were highly correlated with cell survival when the C33A cells were treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), an important chemotherapeutic agent for cervical cancer. In addition, the signaling pathway screening assay showed an obvious alteration of the Janus kinase 1/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK1/STAT3) pathway. PTPRJ negatively regulated the activation of the JAK1/STAT3 pathway by decreasing the phosphorylation levels of JAK1 and STAT3. In addition, PTPRJ also regulated the expression of the downstream factors of STAT3, such as cyclin D, Bax, VEGF and MMP2. Our results suggest that PTPRJ may be a promising gene therapy target and its therapeutic potential can be fulfilled when used alone, or in combination with other anticancer agents.

Oleuropein induces apoptosis via activation of caspases and suppression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B pathway in HepG2 human hepatoma cell line.

Oleuropein is a polyphenol, that is found in extra­virgin olive oil. Previous studies have shown that oleuropein inhibits cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in breast cancer, colorectal cancer and thyroid cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of oleuropein in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. The results of Cell Counting Kit 8 and flow cytometric analysis indicated that oleuropein effectively inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis in HepG2 human hepatoma cells in a dose­dependent manner, through activation of the caspase pathway. Proapoptotic Bcl­2 family members, BAX and Bcl­2, were involved in oleuropein­induced apoptosis. The phosphatidylinositol 3­kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT) signaling pathway was also shown to be involved in this process. Oleuropein was demonstrated to suppress the expression of activated AKT. In addition, AKT overexpression promoted cell survival following treatment with oleuropein, while inhibition of AKT promoted cell death. Furthermore, the data demonstrated that oleuropein induces the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and that the function of oleuropein is, at least partially, ROS­dependent. These results suggest that oleuropein may be a promising novel chemotherapeutic agent in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Antiparasitic efficacy of Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin from Costus speciosus (Koen ex. Retz) Sm. against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis.

The present study aims to evaluate the antiparasitic activity of active components from Costus speciosus against Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. Bioassay-guided fractionation was employed to identify active compounds from C. speciosus yielding 2 bioactive compounds: Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin. In-vitro assays revealed that Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin could be 100% effective against I. multifiliis at concentrations of 0.8 and 4.5 mg L(-1), with median effective concentration (EC50) values of 0.53 and 3.2 mg L(-1), respectively. All protomonts and encysted tomonts were killed when the concentrations of Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin were 1.0 and 5.0 mg L(-1). In-vivo experiments demonstrated that fish treated with Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin at concentrations of 1.0 and 5.0 mg L(-1) carried significantly fewer parasites than the control (P<0.05). Mortality of fish did not occur in the treatment group (Zingibernsis newsaponin at 5.0 mg L(-1)) during the trial, although 100% of untreated fish died. Acute toxicities (LD50) of Gracillin and Zingibernsis newsaponin for grass carp were 1.64 and 20.7 mg L(-1), respectively. These results provided evidence that the 2 compounds can be selected as lead compounds for the development of new drugs against I. multifiliis.

[Correlations among metabolic syndrome and mild cognitive impairment].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlations between metabolic syndrome (MS), its individual components and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS: We selected 168 MS patients and 150 healthy control subjects from our hospital from June 2009 to June 2010. Socio-demographic characteristic data including gender, age, education level, height, weight waist circumference and blood pressure, past history of coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and unhealthy habit of smoking and drinking, were investigated. The patient levels of fasting plasma glucose, fast insulin glycated, hemoglobin and blood lipids were measured on the next day. All subjects were evaluated with regards to the scores of Montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA), clinical memory scale (CMS), daily living skills assessment (ADL) and Hamilton depression scale (HAMD). RESULT: (1) MCI was more frequently detected in MS subjects than that in the healthy controls (24.4% vs 1.2%); (2)the scores of general MoCA and several parts of MoCA were lower in the MS subjects (scores of general 26.8 ± 0.5, EF4.40 ± 0.04, NAM2.60 ± 0.06, MEM3.60 ± 0.20, ATT5.60 ± 0.09, LANG2.60 ± 0.08, ABS1.50 ± 0.10, ORT5.40 ± 0.13)than those of the controls (scores of general 27.6 ± 0.4, EF4.50 ± 0.05, NAM2.70 ± 0.08, MEM4.20 ± 0.11, ATT5.70 ± 0.08, LANG2.60 ± 0.09, ABS1.60 ± 0.07, ORT5.40 ± 0.10). No statistically significant differences existed in the scores of general MoCA and several parts except for memory and abstract (P > 0.05). The scores of general CMS and several parts of CMS were lower in the MS subjects (scores of general 72 ± 8, memory function reflected in memory 14 ± 2, associating study 14 ± 3, free image memory 14 ± 4, recognition of meaningless figure 16 ± 3, recollection ability of human figure 14 ± 3) than those in the controls (scores of general 85 ± 7, memory function reflected in memory 16 ± 2,associating study 16 ± 3, free image memory 17 ± 3, recognition of meaningless figure 18 ± 3, recollection ability of human figure 17 ± 3). And the differences had statistical significance (P < 0.05); (3) a high degree of education was a protective factor of MCI (OR = 0.512, P = 0.011) while diabetes, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome were the independent risk factors of MCI (OR(1) = 4.240, P(1) = 0.014; OR(2) = 7.230, P(2) = 0.023; OR(3) = 8.620, P(3) = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome are the independent risk factors of MCI.

Swine infection with H9N2 influenza viruses in China in 2004.

In 2004, H9N2 influenza A viruses were isolated from pigs with respiratory syndrome in commercial swine farms in Henan province, China. Antigenic and genetic characterization were performed for seven swine H9N2 influenza viruses. The hemagglutinin antigenicity of swine H9N2 viruses was similar to those of avian H9N2 viruses of A/duck/Hong Kong/Y280/1997 (Dk/HK/Y280/97)-like sublineage prevalent in China. It is noteworthy that the neuraminidase of these isolates had no deletions in the stalk, which was seldom observed in those viruses of Dk/HK/Y280/97-like sublineage. Genetic analysis revealed that all seven isolates had an -R-S-S-R- motif at the HA cleavage site, which was the same as those of Dk/HK/Y280/97-like viruses established in avian population in China. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the seven swine H9N2 viruses were completely derived from avian influenza viruses of Dk/HK/Y280/97-like sublineage. The present results indicated that avian-to-pig interspecies transmission of H9N2 viruses continued to exist in China through 2004; therefore, surveillance of swine influenza should be given a high priority.