Application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in renal space-occupying lesion puncture biopsy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in percutaneous renal space-occupying lesion puncture biopsy. METHODS: Ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous needle biopsies were performed on 55 patients with renal space-occupying lesions, and the results were analyzed retrospectively. The US group included 36 patients receiving conventional US, and the contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) group included 22 patients, including 19 patients receiving CEUS directly and 3 patients receiving additional enhanced ultrasound due to the first conventional ultrasound puncture failure. The relevant data were subjected to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that the successful rate of obtaining effective tissue (100% vs. 75%) and the puncture accuracy (100% vs. 88.89%) in CEUS group were significantly higher than those in US group (P < 0.05). CEUS-guided puncture biopsy of renal mass, especially in the case of urothelial carcinoma of the renal pelvis, outperforms conventional ultrasound, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Percutaneous renal space-occupying lesion puncture biopsies aided by CEUS yield more effective tissue and improved puncture accuracy.

Parallel subgenome structure and divergent expression evolution of allo-tetraploid common carp and goldfish.

How two subgenomes in allo-tetraploids adapt to coexistence and coordinate through structure and expression evolution requires extensive studies. In the present study, we report an improved genome assembly of allo-tetraploid common carp, an updated genome annotation of allo-tetraploid goldfish and the chromosome-scale assemblies of a progenitor-like diploid Puntius tetrazona and an outgroup diploid Paracanthobrama guichenoti. Parallel subgenome structure evolution in the allo-tetraploids was featured with equivalent chromosome components, higher protein identities, similar transposon divergence and contents, homoeologous exchanges, better synteny level, strong sequence compensation and symmetric purifying selection. Furthermore, we observed subgenome expression divergence processes in the allo-tetraploids, including inter-/intrasubgenome trans-splicing events, expression dominance, decreased expression levels, dosage compensation, stronger expression correlation, dynamic functionalization and balancing of differential expression. The potential disorders introduced by different progenitors in the allo-tetraploids were hypothesized to be alleviated by increasing structural homogeneity and performing versatile expression processes. Resequencing three common carp strains revealed two major ecotypes and uncovered candidate genes relevant to growth and survival rate.

The correlation between ultrasonographic features, bFGF, and the local invasiveness of thyroid papillary carcinoma.

The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between ultrasonographic features, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), and the local invasiveness of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).A total of 350 samples of thyroid nodules were collected. Routine ultrasonography was performed before the operation and routine pathological diagnosis and bFGF detection were performed after the operation.'These 350 samples of thyroid nodules included 90 samples of nodular goiter, 36 samples of focal thyroiditis, and 224 samples of PTC. A total of 326 thyroid nodules were examined for bFGF. The results revealed that the difference in the expression of bFGF between the benign and malignant groups was statistically significant (P < .05) and the difference in the positive expression of bFGF between the invasive and non-invasive PTC groups was statistically significant (P < .05).Whether the shape of PTC is regular or not and whether there is micro-calcification in PTC and other ultrasonographic features, the size and location of the lesions and the age of the patient help make a preliminary prediction of local invasiveness before the operation. Postoperative detection of bFGF is helpful for further risk assessments of PTC.

[Comparative study of main components of ginseng on immune function of rats].

Ginseng and its effective components are famous for their influence to enhance human immunity, regulate endocrine and antioxidant action. However, the different effects of different components are not clear. In this study, Wistar rats were used to study the effects of main components of ginseng, including total ginsenoside, panaxadiol saponins, panaxtrol saponin and ginseng polysaccharide. The results showed that the effects of panaxadiol saponins and ginseng polysaccharide on improving animal immune organ weight, plasma interleukin 2 (IL-2), interleukin 6 (IL-6), plasma gamma-interferon (IFN-γ), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were better than that of the other groups. Total ginsenoside and panaxtrol saponin can effectively increase the concentration of spleen NK cells (NKC) while panaxadiol saponins and ginseng polysaccharide can significantly increase the concentrations of rat plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), corticosterone (CORT) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). As for the effect of increasing organization nitric oxide (NO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA), total ginsenoside is better than that of other groups. In brief, different components in ginseng possess different effects on enhancing immunity, regulating endocrine and resisting oxidation. Panaxadiol saponins and ginseng polysaccharide are better in enhancing immune, and total ginsenoside shows advantages in resisting oxidation and stress.

[Heritability of body weight and fork length for Oncorhynchus masou masou].

Body weight and body length have been considered as the most important production traits for the fish genetic improvement. For cold-water fish, body length was usually substituted by fork length. In order to estimate the heritability of body weight and fork length of the sixth generation Oncorhynchus masou masou, which was introduced into China, the method of unbalanced nest design and an artificial insemination technigue were used. Twenty-nine full-sib families and fourteen half-sib families were obtained. Body weight and fork length of O. masou masou were measured in 12 and 24 months after fertilization. Based on full-sib and half-sib families data, the causal components of phenotypic variance were calculated. The results showed that, (1) during the whole growth phase of O. masou masou, the coefficient variation (CV) of fork length was higher than body weight, and CV of 12-month old was higher than that of 24-month old; (2) body weight and fork length of O. masou masou among sires and dams among sires were significant difference (P<0.01) both at 12 months and at 24 months; (3) the maternal component estimates were significantly larger than those of paternal ones for body weight and fork length traits both at 12 months and at 24 months; (4) for 12 months of O. masou masou the heritabilities of body weight and fork length were 0.41~0.51 and 0.46~0.54, respectively. For 24 months the values were 0.55~0.60 and 0.53~0.59, respectively; and (5) it was concluded that the heritability of growth traits in O. masou masou was relatively high and this highlights the potential to improve its growth through selective breeding. This study shows important data supporting for further genetic improvement of O. masou masou.

[The genetic diversity of diploid and triploid crucian carp from six populations in Heilongjiang River System].

Twelve microsatellite markers from silver crucian carp were used to investigate the genetic structuring of the diploid and triploid crucian carp from six natural populations in Heilongjiang River System. In the six populations, the number of average allele (A) is from 5.8 to 6.8, the number of effective allele (Ne) is from 2.8 to 4.6, the expected heterozygosity value (He) is from 0.5592 to 0.6962 and the average PIC value is from 0.5962 to 0.648, which indicated that the genetic diversity of the populations investigated is rich. According to genetic deviation index (d), deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was found in these populations and all of them showed heterozygosity excess. Kruskal-Wallis test indicated that there was no significant variance in different ploid level and populations. No extra alleles that present with the increase of ploid level were found. The coefficient of gene differentiation between populations(GST)was 0.0398 which indicated low values of genetic differentiation between these populations. Genetic distance was calculated and cluster analysis was also carried out. The results showed that distance between polyploid and diploid in same water was the nearest. Among populations, Songhua River and Ussuri River were the nearest, Xinhuangpao Lake and Moon Bay Lake were nearer, and Shuangfeng reservoir has the largest genetic distance with others.