[Design of a multifunctional urine bag]

At present, there are many monitoring devices for vital signs parameters for clinical selection, but urine monitoring has not received enough attention. The traditional manual visual measurement, intermittent measurement of urine pH value, and other methods are still in use, so the authors designed a multifunctional urine bag. The urine bag can set up an alarm system per unit time according to patient's age and condition as well as set up urine pH value detection area in hard plastic measuring bottle. This device can not only accurately monitor urine volume per unit time, but also hopefully realize the alarm automation of abnormal urine volume per unit time, as well as real-time dynamic monitoring of urine pH value. It is helpful for medical staff to make accurate judgment on patients' condition changes, to guide the formulation and modification of clinical treatment plans, and to reduce the workload of clinical nursing staff to a certain extent.

3 T MR cholangiopancreatography appearances of biliary ascariasis

AIM

To evaluate the 3 T MR cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) appearances of biliary ascariasis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Nine patients with a MRCP diagnosis of biliary ascariasis were reviewed. All patients had endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) or surgical confirmation of the disease.

RESULTS

On thin-slab MRCP imaging, Ascaris worms are clearly demarcated within the biliary tree. All the identified worms demonstrated a characteristic three-parallel-lines appearance. The middle high-signal intensity line is sandwiched between two low-signal intensity lines and they are in turn surrounded by high signal bile. On thick-slab MRCP the worms also show the three-line sign but with less clarity. However, thick-slab MRCP has the advantage of providing three-dimensional ERCP-like images of the pancreaticobiliary system.

CONCLUSION

The "three-line" sign appears to be a characteristic sign of biliary ascariasis on 3 T MRCP.

Molecular cloning and temporal-spatial expression of I element in gregarious and solitary locusts

It has been reported that many genes and small RNAs are associated with density-dependent polyphenism in locusts. However, the regulatory mechanism underlying gene transcription is still unknown. Here, by analysis of transcriptome database of the migratory locust, we identified abundant transcripts of transposable elements, which are mediators of genetic variation and gene transcriptional regulation, mainly including CR1, I, L2 and RTE-BovB. We cloned one I element, which represents the most abundant transcripts in all transposable elements, and investigated its developmental and tissue-specific expression in gregarious and solitary locusts. Although there are no significant differences of I element expression in whole bodies between gregarious and solitary locusts at various developmental stages, this I element exhibits high expression level and differential expression pattern between gregarious and solitary locusts in central and peripheral nervous tissues, such as brain, antenna and labial palps. These results suggest that I element is potentially involved in the response of neural systems to social environmental changes in locusts.