Animals ; Atherosclerosis ; Humans ; Serine Proteinase Inhibitors ; Serpins

Purpose To explore the clinical value of131I-whole body scan (131I-WBS) and 18F-FDG PET/CT on the metastatic management of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) after operation.Materials and Methods Serum thyroglobulin (Tg) of 27 patients after DTC surgery was measured one day before131I therapy, and the patients underwent131I-WBS on 3-5 days after131I therapy. According to the results of Tg and 131I-WBS, all the patients were divided into 4 types as follows: type I: Tg (+),131I-WBS (-); type II: Tg (+),131I-WBS (+); type III: Tg (-),131I-WBS (+); and type IV: Tg (-), 131I-WBS (-). Then the patients received18F-FDG PET/CT scan within a week after 131I-WBS. The results of131I-WBS and18F-FDG PET/CT scan were analyzed according to histopathologic findings or clinical and imaging follow-up of at least 6 months as diagnosis standard.Results The examinations uncovered that metastasis occurred in 52 lesions of 22 cases out of the 27 cases.131I-WBS revealed 24 metastatic lesions (46.2%) in 8 cases (36.4%), and18F-FDG PET/CT showed 35 metastatic lesions (67.3%) in 15 cases (68.2%), the difference with statistic significance (χ2=4.46 and 4.74,P<0.05). Metastasis were confirmed in 13 type I cases (100.0%); 5 type II cases (100.0%); 3 type III cases (100.0%) and 1 type IV case (16.7%), respectively. The rate of detecting metastasis by 18F-FDG PET/CT was 100.0% in type I, 20.0% in type II, 0% in type III respectively, the difference with statistic significance (χ2=9.14 and 10.11,P<0.05); and 100.0% in type IV, the difference without statistic significance (χ2=1.25,P>0.05). Based on that, therapeutic plans were modified for 13 patients with type I metastasis and 1 patient with type IV metastasis.Conclusion131I-WBS and18F-FDG PET/CT are complementary for detecting metastatic lesion and help to decide the following treatment of DTC patients after surgery. Moreover,18F-FDG PET/CT shows advantages in detecting metastatic lesion in Tg-positive and negative131I-WBS type of DTC patients after surgery, thus can provide an important clinical guidance for this type of patients.

To set up a new rapid method for the rapid determination of influenza virus H5N1 and H7N9 basing on the Multi-Analyte Suspension Array (MASA) technology. Sequence analysis and design of degenerate primers and specific probes were set in the comparison and analysis of H5, N1, H7 and N9 genes. In combination with MASA technology, these primers and probes were used for the determination of samples of H5N1 and H7N9 and other subtypes ( H1N1, PH1N1, H5N2, H3N2 and H9N2). We developed a rapid determination method. This method had high specificity and sensitivity that could detect H5N1 and H7N9 at one time, and could detect samples that containing 10 copies of H5N1 and H7N9. This determination method could be used for rapid determination of influenza virus H5N1 and H7N9 at one time.
Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Influenza A Virus, H7N9 Subtype ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Influenza, Human ; virology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; methods

OBJECTIVETo seek the effective treatment for peripheral neuropathy induced by chemotherapeutic drugs.

METHODSSixty-four cases of peripheral neuropathy induced by Paclitaxel or Oxaliplatin were randomly divided into an acupuncture group and a medication group, 32 cases in each group. The acupuncture group was treated with therapeutic principle of dredging meridians and collaterals, tonifying qi and eliminating blood stasis, supplementing liver and kidney, nourishing blood and tendon. Hegu (LI 4), Taichong (LR 3), Zusanli (ST 36), Qihai (CV 6) and Quchi (LI 11) etc. were selected. The medication group was treated with intramuscular injection of Cobamamide. The neurotoxicity of two groups was compared with questionnaire of peripheral neuropathy induced by chemotherapeutic drugs before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe total effective rate for sensory nerve disorder of acupuncture group was 66.7% (20/30), which was superior to that of 40.0% (12/30) in medication group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture is more effective than Cobamamide for treatment of peripheral neuropathy induced by chemotherapeutic drugs, especially for moderate and severe sensory nerve disorder induced by paclitaxel.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Organoplatinum Compounds ; adverse effects ; Paclitaxel ; adverse effects ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; chemically induced ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the value of a back propagation (BP) network in determining the risk factors of uterine myomas.

METHODSUsing stratified randomized sampling method, 1260 women were surveyed by questionnaire. 1:2 matched case-control study was conducted in 113 cases of uterine myomas. Neural network tools box of Software MATLAB 6.5 was used to train and simulate BP artificial network. The mean impact value (MIV) for each input variables was analyzed, and was compared with multiple logistic regression analysis and log-linear model for interaction between factors.

RESULTSBP artificial neural analysis showed that the leading risk factors for uterine myomas were delayed menstruation, family history of uterine myomas, cervicitis, menstrual disorder, induced abortion, pelvic inflammatory, oral contraceptive medication, and elytritis, with mean impact value -0.0405, 0.0361, 0.0162, 0.0143, 0.0135, 0.0117, 0.0094, 0.0087, respectively. Both BP artificial neural and logistic regression analysis showed that the sequence of leading risk factors were similar in the whole, but there were some differences observed, induced abortion was proved to be an important cooperation variable through logline model analysis respectively.

CONCLUSIONCompared to the conventional statistics method, BP artificial neural network could deal with the interaction between covariables preferably, thus provided a powerful method to risk factor analysis.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Leiomyoma ; epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors ; Uterine Neoplasms ; epidemiology

A diving decompression procedure is a specific rule that divers should follow when they ascend and get out of water. It comes from the decompression theory and algorithm and is designed for the prevention of decompression sickness. With the ， ， development of diving technology and diving medicine the decompression procedures are constantly innovated and the new ， decompression procedure can be used in diving practice after safety verification. In principle the safety verification of ， decompression procedures should be conducted on animal experiments before human experiments and the risks of ， decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity should be systematically assessed. However the assessment methods used in ， ， ， different studies differ greatly thus it is urgent to establish a standard and universal verification system. Traditionally the risk ， ， assessment of decompression sickness and oxygen toxicity is mainly carried out by observing the incidence detecting bubbles ， theoretical calculation and lung functional test. Furthermore biochemical indicators are increasingly becoming important ， ， supplements. Due to the special underwater environment the diving operation is prone to accidents. Therefore in addition to ， verifying the safety of the new decompression procedure exploring its safety decompression limit is of great significance for the formulation of emergency decompression procedures in emergency situations. The specific approach is to shorten the decompression time and assess the safety until the critical time for detecting bubbles without the occurrence of decompression ， ， sickness is found. Future studies should continue to optimize safety assessment methods explore sensitive biochemical markers ， clarify species associations and improve verification efficiency and reliability of results.

Objective To study the cytotoxicity against brain microvessel endothelial cells and blood compatibility in rats of OX26 conjugated endomorphin (EM) loaded hyperbranched polyglycerols-poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)(HBPG-PLGA) nanoparticles.Methods Prepared nanoparticles were divided into group B (HBPG-PLGA nanoparticles),group EP (EM-HBPG-PLGA nanoparticles) and group OEP (OX26-EM-HBPG-PLGA nanoparticles).The cytotoxicity against brain microvessel endothelial cells (BMECs) of nanoparticles of different groups were measured by MTT test,haemolysis test,normal haemotological parameter and several primary items of coagulation system were tested after nanoparticles of different groups and different dosages injection on rats.Results ①All the three groups of nanoparticles induced decreased cell viability in a dose dependent manner in MTT test,whereas all groups of nanoparticles showed low cytotoxicity against the BMECs during 30 to 600 μg/ml.②There was no significant difference in haemolysis ratio (P＞0.05) and normal haemotological parameter (P＞0.05).③There was no significant difference between the low dosage of all the three groups of nanoparticles and the control group on the function of coagulation system in rats (P＞0.05).④Compared with C group,high dose groups demonstrated longer prothrombin time (PT),activeated partial thromboplasting time (APTT) and lower fibrinogen (Fbg) (P＜0.05).At the same time,compared with the low dose subgroups,PT and APTT were prolonged,Fbg significantly decreased in the high dose subgroups (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).Conclusion OX26 coupled with EM-HBPG-PLGA nanoparticles showed low cytotoxicity against BMECs and had no significant effect on the coagulation system in rats with low concentration and low dosage.

Objective To prepare a novel brain active-targeting endomorphin (EM) loaded hyperbranched polyglycerols-poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (HBPG-PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) and study its mechanism of passing across blood brain barrier (BBB) in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC).Methods The OX26 (transferring receptor monoclonal antibody) conjugated EM loaded HBPG-PLGA NPs was constructed according to water-in-oil-in-water emulation solvent evaporation technique as a novel biodegradable brain active-targeting drug delivery system.The properties of the NPs were evaluated by transmission electron microscope (TEM) in vitro.Through flow cytometry and laser scanning confocal microscope,the mechanism of passing across BBB was evaluated.Results The preparation methodology of NPs was optimized and established.The mean diameter was (170±20) nm and Zeta potential was about-27 mV.Core-shell construction was showed on TEM.Cellular uptake study showed that the uptake of NPs was via a caveolae-mediated endocytic pathway,then endomorphin and carrier were divided into two parts in BMEC.Conclusions The OX26 conjugated EM loaded NPs were stable,and demonstrate remarkable effects on crossing BBB.Cellular uptake by BMEC is a very important mechanism of the NPs' brain activating-targeting effect.

Objective To assess the efficacy of intedeukin (IL)-1Ra,a recombinant human IL-1receptor antagonist,plus methotrexate ( MTX ) in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis ( RA ) refractory to MTX therapy.Methods A total of 54 patients with active RA,who had been taking MTX at a stable dosage,were randomized to receive daily subcutaneous injections of IL-1Ra (80 mg) or placebo.The proportion of patients who had a response as assessed by ACR20,ACR50 and ACR70 was analyzed using Chi-square test measures.Baseline variables and DAS28 were analyzed using Student's t-test (parametric) or Wilcoxon's rank sum test (nonparametric) as appropriate.Results After 24 weeks,more patients achieved clinical benefits treated with IL-1Ra plus MTX compared with MTX alone (64％ vs 17％,P=-0.004) as determined by the ACR20 improvement.In the IL-1Ra group,an ACR50 response was observed in 38％ and an ACR70 response in 17％.None of the patients treated with MTX alone achieved ACR50 or ACR 70 improvement.However,9 of 42 (21％) patients in the IL-1Ra group,who showed therapeutic response initially,had secondary drug failure to IL-1Ra therapy thereafter.A significant increase in mean DAS28 from baseline was found in the nonresponders to IL-1Ra,compared with placebo.Conclusion IL-IRa is effective for the treatment of patients with active RA by blocking IL-1.However,the efficacy of IL-1Ra is lost soon in about one-fifth of patients in soite of initial good resoonse.

Objective To compare the effect of perineal cleansing with the potassium permanganate or sterile water on mid- stream urine culture. Methods Mid- stream specimens of urine were obtained from inpatients in our hospital between January 2002 and December 2006. All these patients may be diag-nosed as urinary tract infection. The urine specimens were divided into the potassium permanganate group (n=1572, the sterilization group) and the sterile water group (n=544). The change of positive and contami-nation rate of mid-stream urine culture from the specimens was observed. More than two kinds of germs in one urine specimen were defined as contamination. Results 830 patients with urinary tract infection had been enrolled. 2116 specimens were collected and 531 strains of causative organism were detected. The positive rate of the sterilization group and the sterile water group was 20.04% and 39.71%, respectively,and such difference was significant. The rate of identical causative organism from the same patient whose spec-imen was cultivated twice in the sterilization group was 0.012% and the rate was 0.105% in the sterile water group. The difference was significant. The rate of different or one kind of causative organism from the same patient whose specimen was cultivated twice in these two groups hadn't significant deviation. The contami-nation rate of the sterilization group (0.028%) was significantly higher than that of the sterile water group (0.007%). Conclusions Perineal cleansing with sterile water can reduce the false negative rate of mid-stream urine culture without increasing the contamination rate. Potassium permanganate sterilization is re-sponsible for the high false-negative in mid-stream urine culture.