OBJECTIVE A meta-analysis was undertaken to provide evidence-based clinical trials comparing radiofrequency ablation with partial nephrectomy for small renal mass. METHODS We searched through the major medical databases such as Pub Med, EMBASE, Medline, Science Citation Index, Web of Science and CNKI (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure Database) and Wangfang (Database of Chinese Minist...

Development of the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) requires the presence of both the normal host prion protein (PrPC) and the abnormal pathological proteinase-K resistant isoform (PrPSc). Reduction of PrPC levels has been shown to extend survival time after prion infection. In this report, based on analysis of the known sequences of human PrP, we constructed two...

AIM Systemic pharmacotherapies have limitation due to blood-labyrinth barrier, so local delivery via the round window membrane opens a path for effective treatment. Multifunctional nanoparticle (NP)-mediated cell specific drug delivery may enhance efficacy and reduce side effects. Different NPs with ligands to target TrkB receptor were tested. Distribution, uptake mechanisms, trafficking, and b...

Background and objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of cytomembranic programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) and its clinical significance in locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Patients and methods Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies from 85 patients with histological diagnosis of locoregionally advanced NPC treated with radical intensity...

We have identified previously a destabilizing adenine- and uracil-rich element (ARE) in the 3'-UTR of bcl-2 mRNA that interacted with ARE-binding proteins to down-regulate bcl-2 gene expression in response to apoptotic stimuli. We have also described three contiguous 2'-O-methyl oligoribonucleotides (ORNs) in both sense and antisense orientation with respect to the bcl-2 ARE that are able to re...

multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system in which t cells experience a second phase of activation, which ultimately leads to axonal demyelination and neurological disability. the recent advances in stem cell therapies may serve as potential treatments for neurological disorders. there are broad types of stem cells such as neural, embryonic, mesenchymal and hem...

We study various generalizations of reversal-bounded multicounter machines and show that they have decidable emptiness, infiniteness, disjointness, containment, and equivalence problems. The extensions include allowing the machines to perform linear-relation tests among the counters and parameterized constants (e.g., “Is 3x 5y 2D1+9D2 < 12?”, where x; y are counters, and D1; D2 are parameterize...

Transdermal scopolamine may be used to reduce drooling in children with disabilities. Side-effects include dilated pupils and a reduction in the near point of accommodation (the closest point at which clear vision is possible). Two male children with epilepsy, one with spinal dysraphism (aged 7y 6mo) and one with cerebral palsy (aged 5y 8mo), who have undergone treatment for drooling with trans...