Description: Two new species of the genus Dugesia from Southern China are described by applying an integrative approach, including \nmorphological, karyological, histological, and molecular information. In the molecular phylogenetic tree, the two new species, \nDugesia pendula Chen & Dong, sp. nov. and Dugesia musculosa Chen & Dong, sp. nov., fall into an Eastern Palearctic/Oriental \nclade and an Oriental/Australasian clade, respectively, while sharing only a rather distant relationship. The separate specific \nstatus of the two new species is supported also by their genetic distances. Dugesia pendula is characterized by the following \nfeatures: symmetrical openings of the oviducts into the bursal canal, a duct between seminal vesicle and diaphragm, small \ndiaphragm, dorsally located seminal vesicle, a penis papilla suspended from the dorsal wall of the male atrium, and mixoploid \nkaryotype with diploid complements of 2n = 2x = 14 + 0 \xe2\x88\x92 1 B-chromosome and triploid complements of 2n = 3x = 21 + 0 \xe2\x88\x92 1 \nB-chromosome, with all chromosomes being metacentric. Dugesia musculosa is characterized by the following features: \nasymmetrical openings of the oviducts into the bursal canal; a ventrally displaced ejaculatory duct with a terminal opening; \ntwo diaphragms; a bursal canal provided with a strong, thick layer of circular muscle, which extends from the copulatory bursa \nto the common atrium and gonoduct; the left vas deferens opening at the midlateral wall of the seminal vesicle, while the right \nsperm duct opens at the dorsolateral wall of the seminal vesicle; and karyotype consisting of complicated diploid and \naneuploid mosaicism, with diploid complements of 2n = 2x = 16 and 2n = 2x = 16 \xe2\x88\x92 17th-18th, with all chromosomes being \nmetacentric. The uncommon karyotypes, combined with the asexual reproduction of aneuploid animals, are evaluated in the \ncontext of the relationship between ploidy levels and reproductive modalities in the genus Dugesia.

Description: Background: Assessment of inflammatory activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) is crucial to the prediction of relapse. Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) is an accurate tool for assessing inflammatory activity in UC patients. This study aimed to evaluate whether CLE could be used to predict UC relapse reliably. Methods: In total, forty-three patients with documented UC were analyzed in this study. Patients identified as having obvious active inflammation by conventional colonoscopy were excluded. The mucosa of each patient's sigmoid colon and rectum was assessed by CLE before targeted biopsies were taken. The patients were then followed up for at least 12 months to evaluate relapse according to the Simple Clinical Colitis Activity Index. The correlation between CLE classification and UC relapse was evaluated. Results: Seventeen of 20 patients with histologically confirmed normal or chronic inflammation were diagnosed as having non-active inflammation by real-time CLE and 22 of 23 patients with histologically confirmed acute inflammation were diagnosed as having active inflammation by CLE. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of CLE in real-time diagnosis of active inflammation were 95.7%, 85%, and 90.7%, respectively. The agreement between CLE and conventional histology was excellent (kappa value = 0.812). Two of 18 (11.1%) patients who were classified as having non-active inflammation by CLE relapsed, while 16 of 25 (64%) patients classified as having as active inflammation relapsed. The relapse rate of patients with active inflammation was significantly higher than of those with non-active inflammation (P 〈 0.001). Conclusions: CLE is comparable to conventional histology in predicting relapse in patients with UC.

Description: Background: Although cardiac troponin I gives excellent accuracy in the identification of myocardial necrosis, it can also be elevated in a series of diseases other than acute coronary syndromes.Case presentationWe present two cases of Chinese patients with a high serum troponin I level after an acute episode of paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia with normal coronary arteries via angiography. Conclusion: Abnormal troponin elevations can be seen in patients presenting with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and angiographically-normal coronary arteries. Caution is advised with the use of invasive assessments such as coronary angiography in the differential diagnosis of patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia and elevated troponin levels.

Description: Abstract. Based on a mononuclear precursor [Mn(Hstp) 2 (4,4′-Hbpy) 2 ] ( 1 ), a hetero-metallic complex, [Mn 2 Ni(stp) 2 (4,4′-bpy)(H 2 O) 4 ] ( 2 ) [stp = 2-sulfoterephthalate, 4,4′-bpy = 4,4′-bpyridine] was synthesized by solvothermal reaction. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the Mn II ion of the precursor 1 is hexacoordinate by four oxygen atoms from two Hstp 2– anions and two nitrogen atoms from two protonated 4,4′-Hbpy, and hydrogen bonding plays a significant role in constructing 3D supramolecular structure. While complex 2 features a self-weaving framework from 1D straight chains and 2D wavy networks with double helical chains. Magnetic behavior of complex 2 was analyzed in connection with its crystal structure, which exhibits the weak antiferromagnetic interactions between the Mn II and Ni II ions.