To investigate the effects of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction, a compound Chinese herbal medicine, on the proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis of cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) from neonatal rats induced by angiotensin II, and to explore the mechanism of Xuefu Zhuyu Decoction in improving myocardial fibrosis.

Objective To screened out items with large proportion of technical analysis in obstetrics and gynecology physical examination by using statistical parameters Kappa index and to evaluate effect and clinical significance of Kappa index based on objective data and students' and teachers' subjective feeling.Methods We made Kappa index screening with double-blind method and established the Kappa index table for teachers and students.Students were randomly divided into conventional teaching group (n =26) and teaching reform group (n =29).Students in conventional teaching group traditionally followed the teacher to carry on the practice while those in teaching reform group received training according to the numerical value index and had examination after training.We paid attention to each student's weak points,provided personalized guidance and communicated with students actively.Results We found that it was uneasy for beginners to quickly grasp four step obstetrics palpation in-spection according to Kappa index.There were statistical differences in operation of gynecological physical examination between two groups (P =0.016).Conclusions Application of Kappa index can help us screen out skills in the operation suitable for training for eight-year program medical students.With quantitative evaluation,we can improve quality of clinical practice teaching in department of obstetrics and gynecology and guide educational reform.

Objective To investigate the effect of psychological stress on serum iron concentration of SD rats and its mechanism. Method SD rats were randomly divided into four groups: control group (CG), psychological stress 1w group (PG 1w) and 2w group (PG-2w), and psychological stress 2w with 1w free group (PG 2w-1w). The animal model of stress was tested for 1w, 2w, and 2w with 1w free from stress. The iron concentration of serum, liver, spleen and the expression of liver hepcidin were detected by atomic absorption spectrometry and Western blot respectively. Result (1) Compared with control group, serum iron concentration of rats under stress decreased. (2) Free of psychological stress 1w later, serum iron concentration was not significantly changed. (3) Iron concentration of liver and spleen was increased significantly compared with control group, and the expression of liver hepcidin was also increased. Conclusion Psychological stress may cause serum iron of rats to decrease obviously, and it was restored after 1w free from psychological stress. The mechanism is supposed to be increase of iron storage in liver and spleen by hepcidin in rats under psychological stress.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the volatile oil of olibanum and apply scientific evidences for its applications.

METHODThe volatile oil was analyzed by GC-MS.

RESULTOne hundred components were identified,accounting for 91.26% of the total volatile oil, and the main components were octyl acetate, beta-elemene. It contains some transdermal absorption enhancers.

CONCLUSIONThe components of olibanum volatile oil were complicated; the connatural transdermal absorption enhancers make it possible to use in external preparation.

Acetates ; isolation & purification ; Boswellia ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Oils, Volatile ; isolation & purification ; Sesquiterpenes ; isolation & purification

Background and purpose:Aberrant DNA methylation that leads to the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes plays important roles in development and progression of breast cancer. Clinically, related gene methylation is considered to be a promising biomarker for tumor diagnosis and prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the methylation status ofSox17 gene in breast cancer tissue and its corresponding plasma circulating DNA, as well as to investigate its value in breast cancer early diagnosis and prognosis.Methods:TheSox17 gene promoter methylation status was detected by MSP in 86 cases of breast cancer, 36 normal breast tissues and its paired plasma DNA, the results were analyzed with corresponding clinical and pathological features.Results:The frequency ofSox17 gene methylation rate among 86 breast cancer tissues was 77.9%(67/86), and was 61.6%(53/86)in plasma circulating DNA, however, noSox17 gene methylation was found in normal breast tissues.Sox17 gene promoter methylation in plasma circulating DNA was signiifcantly associated with the methylation status in tumor tissues (r=0.502,P=0.000). In breast cancer tissue specimens,Sox17 methylation status was significantly correlated with tumor stage (χ2=6.18,P=0.041) and lymph node metastasis (χ2=13.54,P=0.001);Sox17 gene methylation rate was signiifcantly correlated with tumor stage (χ2=27.06,P=0.000), tumor size (χ2=9.65,P=0.007) and lymph node metastasis (χ2=20.80,P=0.000) in plasma samples, and there was no signiifcant difference ofSox17 gene methylation between patient age, histological grade and ER, PR, HER-2/neu status.Conclusion:Sox17 gene promoter methylation plays an important role in the carcinogenesis and development of breast cancer, and may be associated with the prognosis of breast cancer. Furthermore, methylatedSox17 gene may be a useful tumor biomarker in plasma circulating DNA for breast cancer detection and disease monitoring.

Objective: To identify the different protein expression profiles between human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and normal oral mucosa tissues, and provide experimental data for further study of the development mechanism of OSCC. Methods: 10 cases of OSCC and paired normal oral mucosa tissues were collected and analyzed through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Results: (1) The average protein spots of OSCC were 2 325±390, while that of normal oral mucosa tissues were 2 487±281. (2) 29 differential protein spots were found between OSCC and normal oral mucosa. Moreover, these protein spots were all down- regulated in OSCC compared with normal oral mucosa. Among these spots, 3 were identified as fibrin beta, triosephosphate isomerase (TIM) and unknown protein through mass spectrometry and bioinformation. Conclusion: Down-regulation of fibrin beta, Triosephosphate isomerase(TIM) and unknown protein are found in the development of OSCC and the mechanism needs further study.

Background Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) is a main method of treating severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) , but intraoperative bleeding often occurs, which affects the intraoperative process and final prognosis.Intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR), a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monoclonal antibody,has been used in PPV,so the evaluation of therapeutic effect and safety of PPV associated by IVR is very important.Objective This study was to evaluate the effect of IVR-assisted 23G PPV on patients with severe PDR.Methods The clinical data of 82 eyes of 77 patients with severe PDR who received 23G PPV from August 2012 to December 2013 were respectively analyzed,including 49 eyes undergone IV R-assisted 23G PPV (IVR combined with PPV group) and 33 eyes undergone 23G PPV only (simple PPV group).IVR (0.5 mg/0.05 ml) was performed on the eyes 5-7 days before PPV in the IVR combined with PPV group,and only PPV was carried out in the simple PPV group.Operative duration, endodiathermy times, incidence of iatrogenic retinal holes, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (LogMAR), postoperative bleeding, re-operation rate, Ⅰ phase attached rate of retinas, occurrence rate of neovascular glaucoma and temporary ocular hypertension rate were compared between the two groups.Results The average operation duration was (71.90-± 26.42) minutes in the IVR combined with PPV group, which was significantly shorter than (96.76±25.15) minutes in the simple PPV group (t =-4.300, P＜0.05).Endodiathermy time in the IVR combined with PPV group was significantly less than that in the simple PPV group (0.76±0.14 versus 2.18±1.64) (x2 =-4.284,P＜0.01).The BCVA at postoperative 3 months was (0.70±0.50) and (0.74±0.50) in the IVR combined with PPV group and simple PPV group,which was significantly improved in comparison with before operation (1.73±0.50,1.70±0.470) respectively (t=-0.151,0.118,both at P＜0.01),but no significant difference in the postoperative BCVA between the two groups (t =-0.318, P =0.758).The incidence of iatrogenic retinal holes was significantly lower in the IVR combined with PPV group than that in the simple PPV group (6.12％ versus 21.20％) (x2 =4.193 ,P=0.041).In addition,the postoperative bleeding rate was also significantly different between the IVR combined with PPV group and the simple PPV group (2.04％ versus 15.15％) (x2=6.580, P=0.010).No significant differences were seen in the incidence of re-operation rate, I phase attached rate of retinas,occurrence rate of neovascular glaucoma and temporary ocular hypertension rate between two groups (all at P＞O.05).Conclusions IVR before 23G PPV can reduce the risk of intravitreal bleeding during operation and after surgery,shorten operation duration and lessen the incidence of iatrogenic retinal break.The BCVA after IVR-assisted PPV improves as good as simple PPV.

Objective To evaluate the safety to perform 23G vitrectomy with scleral incisions at 5.0 mm behind the limbus.Methods This is a prospective uncontrolled case study.The data of 140 consecutive primary 23G vitrectomy patients (145 eyes) were enrolled in this study.There were 56 males (59 eyes) and 84 females (86 eyes),with the mean age of (56.34 ± 9.98) years and axial length of (23.99± 2.57) mm.There were 139 phakic eye and 6 aphakic eyes.All the eyes received 23G pars plana vitrectomy with scleral incisions at 5.0 mm behind the limbus.To measure the normal Chinese adult parameters of anteroposterior axis of the eyeball,lens thickness and scleral distances from the limbus to the plane passing through the lens posterior apex,the head CT scans of 105 patients without eye diseases in our hospital were studied during the same period of time for these vitrectomy surgeries.Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between age,anteroposterior axis of eyeball,lens thickness and scleral distances from the limbus to the plane passing through the lens posterior apex.Results Surgical related complications included retinal tears close to the scleral incision sites (3/145 eyes,2.1％) and lens injury (3/121 eyes,2.5％).No other surgical complications occurred,such as retinal hemorrhage,supra-choroidal expulsive hemorrhage and iatrogenic retinal detachment.Based on CT images,the average scleral distance from limbus to the plane passing through the lens posterior apex,anteroposterior axis of eyeball and lens thickness was (6.72± 0.81),(24.39± 0.97),(4.22 ± 0.47) mm,respectively.The results of Pearson correlation analysis showed that age and lens thickness had statistically significant correlation (r=0.328 9,P=0.000 6).Conclusion Primary 23G pars plana vitrectomy with incisions at 5.0 mm posterior to the limbus is safe.

Post competency-based medical education complies to the development and philosophy of modern medicine. This paper completely illustrates how to construct a scientific and diversified assessment evaluation system guided by post competency for medical students which combines formative assessment and summative assessment. Through the objective measurement and timely feedback of various abilities of medical students, the closed-loop feedback system of assessment and evaluation can be constructed to guide the exploration and practice of teaching process in reverse.

Background and purpose: Regional lymph node metastasis was significantly associated with the prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study was designed to compare paclitaxel liposome plus cisplatin (LP) with gemcitabine and cisplatin (GP) in patients with regional lymph node metastasis of advanced NSCLC as a ifrst-line treatment. Methods:A total of 55 patients were randomly assigned to receive either liposomal paclitaxel (175 mg/m2) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2) or gemcitabine (1 000 mg/m2) and cisplatin (75 mg/m2) every 3 weeks. Results:Objective response rate (ORR) of lung primary foci was 37.9%in the LP arm and 30.8%in the GP arm (P>0.05) and the disease control rate (DCR) was 91.3%and 80.8%respectively (P>0.05);ORR of regional metastasis lymph node was higher in the LP arm (44.8%vs 15.4%, P<0.05).There was no signiifcant difference in DCR (93.1%vs 73.1%, P=0.101), although slight trends favoring paclitaxel liposome were seen;There was signiifcant difference in median overall survival (17.0 vs 12.0 months, P<0.05). LP was associated with significantly less thrombocytopenia and gastrointestinal side effects (P<0.05), but no signiifcant difference was observed in hyphemia, leucopenia, hepatotoxicity, renal toxicity and allergic reactions (P>0.05). Conclusion: Liposomal paclitaxel plus cisplatin is superior to gemcitabine plus cisplatin with less toxicity and better tolerated, it deserves further research and clinic application for patients with regional lymph node metastasis of advanced NSCLC.