We aim to provide an overview of clinical and demographical features and neuropathological research on frontotemporal dementia (FTD) from China over the past decade. We reviewed the demographic features, clinical presentations, and neuropathology of the FTD-spectrum disorders from the 49 cases in China published since 1998. On the basis of these findings, we retrospect the history and speculate on future progress in terms of FTD in China. We found that most published papers comprise case reports with a few retrospective studies with small sample sizes. Behavior variant FTD (bvFTD) was the most common diagnostic subtype, of which 35% were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Parkinsonian syndrome. More than 47% patients with FTD had age onset before 65. There were no differences in age of onset and sex distribution between diagnostic subtypes. The spectrum of neuropathological diagnosis of bvFTD was frontotemporal lobe degeneration (FTLD) with tau protein or ubiquitin-immunopositive inclusions, and FTLD without intracellular inclusions. Median survival in bvFTD was 14 years. This paper provides an overview of the current status and pointers for future research directions of FTD in China.

This study examined the effect of long-term administration of low-dose FTY720 on survival of murine cardiac allograft and the possible mechanism. Murine models of abdominal heterotopic heart transplantation were established. Low-dose FTY720 (0.3 mg/kg) was administrated to the animals 4 days before the transplantation of cardiac allografts until the occurrence of rejection or the observation terminals. The animals without FTY720 treatment and those with syngeneic cardiac grafts transplanted served as controls. The mean survival time (MST) of grafts, and T lymphocyte subsets in grafts, peripheral blood and lymphoid organs were measured by histopathological examination or flow cytometry, and compared among groups. The results showed that the MST of allografts in FTY720-treated mice was more than 40 days, significantly longer than that in the untreated group (MST=8 days, P<0.01). After the long-term administration of FTY720, the proportion of CD4(+) and CD8(+) lymphocytes in peripheral blood was diminished significantly, but the proportion of CD4(+) lymphocytes was increased in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and spleen. Immunofluorescence staining revealed that the infiltration of CD4(+) and CD8(+) lymphocytes in allografts was significantly inhibited after long-term administration of low-dose FTY720. It was concluded that low-dose long-term administration of FTY720 could promote T lymphocytes in lymphatic organs and decrease their infiltration in allografts, resulting in the inhibition of rejection and the long-term survival of allografts.

BackgroundA growing number of studies indicate that sensationalist reporting of suicide is associated with increases in suicide rates, but in the light of some negative findings, the issue has remained controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the best current evidence on the association between celebrity suicide stories and subsequent suicides.MethodsLiterature searches of six data sources (Medline, Psychlit, Communication Abstracts, Education Resources Information Center, Dissertation Abstracts and Australian Public Affairs Database (APAIS)) were conducted. Studies were included if they (1) adopted an ecological design,(2) focused on celebrity suicide,(3) had completed suicide as outcome variable,(4) analysed suicide rates across all suicide methods,(5) used data from after World War II and (6) satisfied basic quality criteria.Results10 studies with totally 98 suicides by celebrities met the criteria. The pooled estimate indicated a change in suicide rates (suicides per 100 000 population) of 0.26 (95% CI 0.09 to 0.43) in the month after a celebrity suicide. There was substantial heterogeneity between studies, which was explained by the type of celebrity (entertainment elite vs others) and the region of study, as indicated by mixed-effects meta-regression. The region-of-study-specific effect of reporting a suicide by an entertainment celebrity was 0.64 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.73) in North America, 0.58 (95% CI 0.47 to 0.68) in Asia, 0.36 (95% CI -0.10 to 0.61) in Australia and 0.68 (95% CI 0.51 to 0.85) in Europe. There was no indication of publication bias.ConclusionsReports on celebrity suicide are associated with increases in suicides. Study region and celebrity type appear to have an impact on the effect size.

Previous studies of theory of mind (ToM) in old age have provided mixed results. We predicted that educational level and cognitive processing are two factors influencing the pattern of the aging of ToM. To test this hypothesis, a younger group who received higher education (mean age 20.46 years), an older group with an education level equal to that of the young group (mean age 76.29 years), and an older group with less education (mean age 73.52 years) were recruited. ToM tasks included the following tests: the second-order false-belief task, the faux-pas task, the eyes test, and tests of fundamental aspects of cognitive function that included two background tests (memory span and processing speed) and three subcomponents of executive function (inhibition, updating, and shifting). We found that the younger group and the older group with equally high education outperformed the older group with less education in false-belief and faux-pas tasks. However, there was no significant difference between the two former groups. The three groups of participants performed equivalently in the eyes test as well as in control tasks (false-belief control question, faux-pas control question, faux-pas control story, and Eyes Test control task). The younger group outperformed the other two groups in the cognitive processing tasks. Mediation analyses showed that difficulties in inhibition, memory span, and processing speed mediated the age differences in false-belief reasoning. Also, the variables of inhibition, updating, memory span, and processing speed mediated age-related variance in faux-pas. Discussion focused on the links between ToM aging, educational level, and cognitive processing. Supported by Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (number: 30870766) and Anhui Province Natural Science Foundation (number: 11040606M166).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the utilization of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for the detection of splenic artery steal syndrome (SASS) after orthotropic liver transplantation (OLT). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 247 patients underwent OLT. The blood tests and color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) were performed at various time points post-operatively. CEUS and celiac angiography were conducted in patients suspected of SASS. If the diagnosis of SASS was confirmed, splenic artery embolization was performed to enhance hepatic artery flow. CEUS and angiography were performed for assessment of post-interventional clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Among 247 patients, 3 patients died post-operatively, and 8 patients were suspected of SASS by elevated liver enzyme levels and slim or undetectable hepatic arterial Doppler blood signals by CDFI at various time points post-operatively. CEUS in 8 patients showed a delayed and weak contrast-enhanced blood signal in the hepatic artery associated with a rapid and intense enhancement of portal venous blood. No narrowing of a hyperintense signal was observed in the hepatic artery by CEUS. The 8 diagnoses of SASS were proven by celiac angiography that showed delayed perfusion of the hepatic artery and rapid filling of the splenic artery. Immediately after the interventional procedure, CEUS demonstrated a significantly enlarged hyperintense blood signal in the hepatic artery. CONCLUSION: Approximately 3.27% of SASS occurs after OLT. SASS is identified as a sluggish and weak hyperintense blood signal in the hepatic artery without the narrowing and interruption of hypeintense signal in CEUS. CEUS is an effective imaging modality for detection of SASS following OLT. © 2012 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Schlieren method is an effective method for studying the sound field in transparent medium which called phase objects. The method is used to research the acoustic field by analyzing the refractive index changes induced by the acoustic wave. Calculations of the sound pressure distribution radiated by the line-focus ultrasonic transducer are implemented, and the acoustic field in the focal spot area is obtained. Then the diffraction light intensity on the Fourier transform plane in a Schlieren system is calculated with two-dimensional Fourier transformation when the phase object is the ultrasonic wave. Because the light intensity of the different diffraction spots on the back focal plane of the transform lens depends on the sound pressure, the sound pressure in the focal spot area can be determined using Schlieren technique. A Schlieren system is set up. The images of the line-focus ultrasonic field are obtained and the sound pressure in its focal point area is measured non-invasively by measuring and comparing the light intensities of the different diffraction spots. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10804085).

In this paper, a new composite nano-particle for both contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging and cell therapy is introduced. The carbon nanotubes are used for carriers due to their unique hollow structure, nano-diameter and good biocompatibility. The targeted protein, the hematoporphyrin and the gold nanoparticles are assembled on the surface of the carbon nanotubes. The targeted protein is used as tumor localization. As a kind of sonosensitizer, the hematoporphyrin can produce the singlet oxygen while being activated by ultrasound and are studied for its effects of antitumor and apoptosis induction recently. It is worthwhile to note that the singlet oxygen has a very short lifetime and will transfer to triplet oxygen with light emission band at 1268 nm, or 634 nm and 703 nm. Triplet oxygen is the ground state of the oxygen molecule and much of them will form nano oxygen bubbles under body temperature which can be used as contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging agent. At the same time, the gold nanoparticles which have good biocompatibility can absorb the light emission and produce the acoustic signals of some bandwidth. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10804085, 11174223 and 50603019), and the Shanghai Nano Special Foundation(No. 1052nm05400).

In this paper, the piezoelectric effect of cell's membrane at nano-scale is preliminary investigated. For a eukaryotic cell, either it or every organelle in it is enclosed in a similar membrane made of the phospholipid bilayer. A lot of cell's physiological activities, such as signal transduction, ion transport and macromolecules delivery, realize through the membranes. Fundamentally, the realization of these physiological functions originates from the physical properties of the phospholipid bilayer. Here, the detection results of the dynamic piezoelectric effect of the plasma membrane and the nuclear envelope of rat A7r5 aorta smooth muscle cell at nano-scale using PFM are present. The results verify that cell membrane is piezoelectrically active due to ordered arrangement of polar phospholipid molecules in the liquid crystalline state. Consequently, this indicate that the ultrasound acting on the membrane structure will lead to the change of membrane potential, suggesting the piezoelectricity of cell membrane maybe play key roles in physiological activities of cells, further in drug/gene delivery, cancer treat, and so on. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10804085 and 11174223).

Bubble fusion have been discussed for a decade since Taleyarkhan' reported that fusion could take place under the condition of acoustic cavitation at SCIENCE in 2002, and a lot of theoretical and experimental investigations have been engaged to probe the nuclear effect of acoustic cavitation (NEAC). The self-nucleated NEAC in focusing acoustic field is preliminary investigated in this paper. The 5.5 MeV alpha particles from radioactive Am241 sheets placed in heavy water for bubble nucleation are used to avoid the possible influence of external incident neutrons on the counting of emitted neutrons. In consideration of the penetration depth of alpha particles in heavy water is very small (~ 40 μm) due to its heavily ionizing radiation, different focusing acoustic transducers are designed in order to focus the acoustic energy around Am241 sheets. The experimental datas show that the cavitation counts Ccav.on, is higher than the cavitation-free counts Ccav.off, and the neutron increment △C, i.e. the difference between Ccav.on and Ccav.off, is statistically significant. Besides, the tritium content of the test liquids also increases. The experiment results verify that self-nucleated acoustic cavitation in focusing acoustic field can help to intensify nuclear effect. One of the reasons may be that the cavitation bubbles increase the collision cross section of deuterium. This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10974145 and 10804085).