Median arcuate ligament syndrome complicated with gallbladder stones: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is a rare disease caused by compression of the celiac trunk artery by the median arcuate ligament (MAL). It can cause symptoms of postprandial abdominal pain, weight loss, and nausea and vomiting. CASE SUMMARY: A 55-year-old woman was admitted due to abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. On admission, the patient presented with epigastric pain that worsened after eating, without signs of peritoneal irritation. Computed tomography angiography of the upper abdomen showed compression of the proximal segment of the abdominal trunk, local luminal stenosis with angular "fishhook" changes, which changed significantly during forceful inspiration and expiration; gallbladder stones; and multiple cysts in the liver. Abdominal duplex ultrasonography showed that peak systolic velocity was 352 cm/s. After diagnosis of MALS was confirmed, an arch ligament release procedure was performed. MALS has no specific symptoms and can be misdiagnosed as other abdominal diseases. Awareness of MALS should be improved to avoid misdiagnosis. The commonly used treatment option is MAL release and resection of the peripheral ganglion of the celiac trunk artery. CONCLUSION: The diagnosis and treatment of MALS must be individualized, and MAL release is effective and provides immediate symptomatic relief.

Thermal conductivity of disordered two-dimensional binary alloys.

Using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, we have studied the effect of disorder on the thermal conductivity of two-dimensional (2D) C1-xNx alloys. We find that the thermal conductivity not only depends on the substitution concentration of nitrogen, but also strongly depends on the disorder distribution. A general linear relationship is revealed between the thermal conductivity and the participation ratio of phonons in 2D alloys. Localization mode analysis further indicates that the thermal conductivity variation in the ordered alloys can be attributed to the number of inequivalent atoms. As for the disordered alloys, we find that the thermal conductivity variation can be described by a simple linear formula with the disorder degree and the substitution concentration. The present study suggests some general guidance for phonon manipulation and thermal engineering in low dimensional alloys.

Downregulation of the adenosine a2b receptor by RNA interference inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma cell growth.

To investigate the biological effect of adenosine A2b receptor (A2bR) on the human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2, three A2bR siRNA constructs were transiently transfected into HepG2 cells. The results showed that A2bR siRNA reduced the levels of A2bR mRNA and protein. In order to further detect the function of A2bR, we established a stable hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (HepG2) expressing siRNA targeting the adenosine A2b receptor. Targeted RNAi significantly inhibited tumor cell growth in vitro, and flow cytometry (FCM) showed that significantly more cells expressing A2bR siRNA were in the G0/G1 phase compared to the untransfected group ((89.56% ± 3.15%) versus (56.19% ± 1.58%), P < 0.01). These results indicated that silencing the expression of adenosine A2b receptor in HepG2 cells can suppress cell growth effectively by blocking the cell cycle. Downregulation of adenosine A2b receptor gene expression with RNA interference could be a new approach to hepatocellular carcinoma therapy.

A three-dimensional finite element study on the biomechanical behavior of an FGBM dental implant in surrounding bone.

Dental implants made of functionally graded biomaterials (FGBM) have been receiving increasing attention due to their unique advantage of being able to simultaneously satisfy biocompatibility, strength, corrosion resistance, etc., which a single composition with a uniform structure cannot satisfy. This paper investigates the biomechanical behavior of a threaded FGBM dental implant/surrounding bone system under static and harmonic occlusal forces by using a three-dimensional finite element method. The implant is a mixture of a bioceramic and a biometal with a smooth gradient in both the material composition and properties in the longitudinal direction. The interaction of the implant and the supporting bone tissues is considered. Three contact conditions at the implant-bone interface are used to model different osseointegration stages. A comprehensive parametric study is conducted to highlight the influence of the material properties, the volume fraction index, the occlusal force orientation, and the osseointegration quality on the maximum von-Mises stress, deformation distribution, natural frequencies, and harmonic response.

Adenosine A(2b) receptor is highly expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

High levels of adenosine accumulate in hypoxic tissues during the rapid growth of tumors, suggesting activation of adenosine receptors may facilitate tumor progress. The relevance of adenosine receptors to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in particular the adenosine A(2b) receptor (A(2b)), is not yet fully understood. The aim of this study was to assess whether A(2b) was differentially expressed in normal and cancerous tissues and evaluate the clinicopathological correlation of A(2b) level in HCC. Expression of A(2b) in tumor cells was investigated by immunohistochemical staining. Protein analysis was done by Western blotting and evaluation of A(2b) mRNA expression levels utilized quantitative real-time PCR analysis of tissue samples of 64 hepatocellular carcinomas and in their paired adjacent normal tissues. Western blot data suggested that A(2b) was expressed predominantly in the cell membrane and cytoplasm of tumor cells and that the intensity of A(2b) protein expression was consistently higher in HCC than in adjacent normal tissues. Levels of A(2b) mRNA in HCC were significantly higher than in adjacent tissues, as measured by real-time PCR (P<0.001). With regard to venous invasion, satellite lesions and advanced pathologic Tumor-Node-Metastasis (pTNM) stage, the A(2b) level tended to be higher than that seen in negative cases (P<0.05). Our findings demonstrate that A(2b) expression is up-regulated in HCC, the expression level of A(2b) is correlated to tumor progression in HCC, and suggest that A(2b) may be a novel target for HCC therapeutic strategy.