AIM: To detect the amount of heavy metals and As salt in Dangyao Tablets. METHODS: The method for detecting the heavy metals and As salt in volume 1 of 2000 China Pharmacopoeia. RESULTS: The(amount) of heavy metals in 15 batches of Dangyao Tablets was little less than 20.0 mg/g;As salt was little less than 2.0 mg/g. CONCLUSION: The amount of heavy metals and As salt in Dangyao Tablets is in the limit of the standard.

Objective To investigate the changes in metabolic indexes and anesthesia administration during perioperation in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplantation. Methods Eleven patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation were selected. Their pH, BE, HCO 3 -, K +, Ca 2+, blood glucose, PT, APTT and FIB were assessed at 60 min of pretransplantation, 20 min and 40 min of liver transplantation, 20 min and 40 min of new liver reperfusion. Results The pH, BE, HCO 3 -, K +, Ca 2+ during 20 min and 40 min of liver transplantation decreased more significantly than those during pretransplantation 60 min, PT and APTT extended markedly, the level of blood glucose did not change markedly; pH, BE, HCO 3-, K +, Ca 2+ and the level of blood glucose during new liver reperfusion 20 min and 40 min increased significantly compared to those during liver transplantation 20 min and 40 min; PT, APTT and FIB did not change markedly. Conclusion Metabolic indexes during liver transplantation change more markedly than those during pretransplantation or new liver reperfusion.

Objective To optimize the exposure parameters and reduce the irradiation dose level in infants and young children during digital radiography (DR) chest radiography under the premise of satisfied image quality.Methods The thoracic thickness of 100 patients were measured.Determined the aluminum equivalent of the thoraxes of the infants and young children by comparing the grayscale value and the aluminum step wedge.Another 100 infants and young children of experimental exposure were performed with the aluminum step wedge as a phantom,under AEC control,kV was the only variant to explore the optimal exposure parameters with dose monitor simultaneously.At last,clinical validation was performed.Images quality was compared with x2 test.The radiation dose of two groups was compared with t test.Results The maximum,minimum,average thoracic thickness and their correspondent aluminum equivalent were 13.5 and 2.3 cm,8.0 and 1.4 cm,(10.6 ± 1.3) and 2.0 cm,respectively.The average thoracic thickness of experimental group was (10.1 ± 2.2) cm.The range of entrance surface dose was 0.068-0.056 mGy while the tube voltage range was 55-65 kV.The exposure index range was 0.60-0.74.The visual inspection of aluminum step wedge was from grades 8 to 11 with satisfying image quality at lower radiation.The infant chest X-ray photography exposure parameters formula have been optimized,that was kV =thoracic thickness (cm) × 2 + 38 (constant),mAs (0.8-1.0) with SID =100 cm,without filter grid.Compare to the conventional parameters,the image quality of new method had no significant differences (P ＞ 0.05).The actual average entrance surface dose was (0.048 ± 0.007) mGy,lower than AEC group (0.066 ± 0.008) mGy.The difference was statistically significant (t =16.781,P ＜ 0.001).Conclusions The optimized formula kV =thoracic thickness (cm) ×2 + 38(constant),mAs (0.8-1.0) with SID =100 cm was credible for lowering the radiation exposure with good image quality for clinical diagnosis.

Objective To study the difference in pathogenicity and genotype between two isolates of Veronaeae botryosa with different temperature tolerance. Methods Two strains of Veronaeae botryose were isolated from two patients with phaeohyphomycosis in Jiangsu and Henan province respectively. Of them, the Jiangsu strain could grow well at 37 ℃, but Henan strain could not grow at 36 ℃. Eighty mice were equally classified into immunocompetent and immune-suppressed (induced by cyclophosphamide) groups to be inoculated with the two strains of Veronaeae botryosa respectively. Ten mice remained uninoculated and served as the control. The general condition, growth and organic involvement of mice were observed for 4 weeks followed by the killing of surviving mice. Homogenated tissue samples were obtained from liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain; then, tissue culture, direct microscopy and pathological examination were performed. Genomie DNA was extracted from tissue samples and subjected to random amplified polymor-phic DNA (RAPD) analysis. PCR was performed to amplify the intemal transcribed spacer (ITS) of rDNA followed by sequencing Results Systemic phaeohyphomycosis was induced in both immunocompetent and immune-suppressed mice by the Jiangsu strain of Veronaeae botryose; the mortality was 30% in immune-competent mice and 65% in immune-suppressed mice with statistical significance between the two groups. In immune-suppressed mice inoculated with the Jiangsu strain, the infection rate was 100% in the lung,signifi-cantly higher than in other organs; on direct microscopy the infection rate reached 64.7% in the liver, and 70.5% on tissue culture. There was no significant difference in the infection rate among these organs in immunocompetent mice inoculated with the Jiangsu strain, with the infection rate being 57.8% in the lung and 42.1% in the liver. Increased infection rate was observed in the lung of immune-suppressed mice com-pared with immunocompetent mice (P < 0.05). No definite infection was seen in immunoeompetent or immune-suppressed mice innoculated with the Henan strain. RAPD analysis and sequencing revealed that there was a base variation (A/G) at position 236 of ITS gene between the two strains. Conclusions The two strains of Veronaeae botryosa have different genotypes. Systemic phaeohyphomycosis can be caused in immunocompetent and immuno-suppressed mice by the Veronaeae botryosa isolate from Jiangsu Province; the mortality was higher in immuno-suppressed mice than in immunocompetent mice. The pathogenicity of Veronaeae botryose is associated with the immune status of hosts. In immuno-suppressed mice, lung is the organ most susceptible to infection by Veronaeae botryosa.

Objective To propose a novel computer-aided segment algorithm, and retrospectively investigate its effect on radiologist's sensitivity and specificity for discriminating malignant masses from benign masses basing on ultrasound images. Methods Four hundred and sixty-six images of 100 masses obtained by conventional ultrasound were processed by a novel segment algorithm. Radiologists who were blind to the histology results were invited to analyse the original and computerized images respectively. The sensitivity and specificity were calculated by means of a binary outcome using receiver operating characteristic(ROC) analysis. Results By using the segment algorithm, the quantity of the image was obviously improved, especially the margin and calcification of the masses. The diagnostic performance of the radiologists was also improved. The sensitivity rose from 70.32% to 90.52% while the specificity was 74.31%. The area under the ROC curve increased significantly (P<0.01) from 80.8% to 90.5%. Conclusions The proposed segmentation algorithm can improve the diagnosis performance of the radiologists by meliorating the quality of the ultrasound image.

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of PECS block under ultrasound guidance in multimodal analgesia after modified radical mastectomy.Methods Sixty female patients aged 18-65 years, ASA grade Ⅰ or Ⅱ, undergoing elective unilateral modified radical mastectomy were enrolled.Patients were randomly divided into PECS group (group P, n=30) or control group (group C, n=30).Two groups of patients were given flurbiprofen axetil 1 mg/kg via intravenous injection before operation.After general anesthesia induction, patients in group P received ultrasound guided pectoral nerves block with 30 ml of 0.375% ropivacaine.Patients in group C didn`t receive nerve block.Anesthesia maintenance was performed by combined intravenous-inhalation Anesthesia.Postoperative VAS pain scores (at 0, 3, 6, 12, and 24 postoperative hours), does of intraoperative remifentanil, rescue analgesic requirements in the first 24 h after surgery, adverse reactions were recorded.Results VAS score in group P was lower than that in group C at 0, 3, 6 and 12 h after surgery (P<0.05), there was no difference at 24 h.The dose of remifentanil and the rescue analgesic requirements in group P were lower than those in group C (P<0.05).There was no significant difference in postoperative adverse reactions between the two groups.Conclusion As a supplementary mode of multimodal analgesia, PECS block is a safe and reliable technique that provide better analgesia effect for modified radical mastectomy.

Objective:To analyze the changes in T lymphocyte subsets, B lymphocytes and NK cells in children with active tuberculosis (TB) and their clinical significance.Methods:T lymphocyte subsets, B lymphocytes and NK cells in peripheral blood samples of 106 patients with acute TB (TB group) and 106 healthy children (healthy control group) were detected by flow cytometry and compared between different groups.Results:The percentages of CD3 + T, CD4 + T and NK cells as well as the CD4 +/CD8 + T cell ratio were significantly lower in the TB group than in the healthy control group ( Z=-3.783, P=0.000; Z=-5.401, P=0.000; Z=-3.434, P=0.001; Z=-2.014, P=0.044). The percentages of double negative T (DNT) and B cells in the TB group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group ( Z=2.765, P=0.006; Z=6.880, P=0.000). No significant difference in the percentage of CD8 + T or double positive T (DPT) cells was observed between the two groups ( P>0.05). The expression of peripheral lymphocyte subsets varied in TB children of different age groups (0-<3, 3-<6, 6-<10 and 10-<16 years old). There were significant differences in CD3 + T, DNT and B cells among the four age groups ( H=10.081, P=0.018; H=14.583, P=0.002; H=8.498, P=0.037). The percentage of CD4 + T cells was significantly lower in children with extrapulmonary TB than in those with pulmonary TB ( Z=-3.068, P=0.002). No statistically significant difference in other lymphocyte subsets was found between children with extrapulmonary and pulmonary TB ( P>0.05). Conclusions:Tuberculosis could lead to immune dysfunction in children. Dynamic monitoring of the changes in peripheral lymphocyte subsets in children with TB could be conducive to better assessment of immune status and providing personalized treatment.

Objective To compare the immune effects of Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) capsid protein VP1 expressed bacterially, recombinant adenovirus rAd/VP1 and recombinant plasmid pcDNA3/VP1which express VP1 protein in mice. Methods After expressed in prokaryotic cells, VP1 protein was purified. Recombinant adenovirus rAd/VP1 and recombinant plasmid pcDNA3/VP1 were amplified and extracted. Six to 8-week-old, male BALB/c mice were divided into four groups randomly. Each group contained 18 mice. The mice of pcDNA3/VP1 group or VP1 protein group were immunized intramuscularly with three injections at three weeks apart, of recombinant plasmid pcDNA3/VP1 at a dose of 100 μg/mouse or recombinant protein VP1 at a dose of 50 μg/mouse. The mice of rAd/VP1 group were immunized intramuscularly twice at two weeks interval with rAd/VP1 at a dose of 1.2 × 107 PFU. The control group was mock-immunized with 100 μl of PBS intramuscularly. Mice were bled from the retroorbital sinus plexus every two weeks after each immunization. ELISA and micro-neutralization test were used to detect levels of CVB3-specific IgG antibody and neutralizing antibody titers in the sera of immunized mice. Three weeks after the last immunization, the cytotoxic T lymphocyte(CTL) killing activity of spleen lymphocytes was detected with CCK-8 assay. Subsequently, virus titers in the sera of immunized mice were determined by the 50% cell culture infective dose( CCID50 ) assay on HeLa cell monolayers and percentage of animals surviving were observed after lethal CVB3 attack over a period of 21 days. Results The titers of specific IgG antibody and neutralizing antibody in sera of VP1 protein immunized mice were higher than other groups( P ＜0.05 ). While CTL killing activity of spleen lymphocytes of VP1 protein immunized mice was lower than mice in rAd/VP1 group( P ＜0. 05). Virus titers in sera of VP1 protein immunized mice were lower than the mice in pcDNA3/VP1 or rAd/VP1 groups ( P ＜ 0.05 ), while survival rate was significantly higher than these two groups ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion VP1 protein induced higher level of humoral immune response and acquired obvious immune protection effects in mice. The immunizing potency of VP1 protein vaccine surpassed plasmid pcDNA3/VP1or recombinant adenovirus rAd/VP1. It appeared to be a promising candidate among the three different vaccines.

Objective The aims of this study were to investigate the expression of DKK2,a WNT signaling pathway regula-tor,in nephroblastoma cells and tissues of children,the effect on the proliferation of nephroblastoma SK-NEP-1 cells,and to explore its mechanism. Methods The relative expression of DKK2 in nephroblastoma cells and tissues was analyzed by qRT-PCR and im-munoblotting assays. Overexpressing DKK2 SK-NEP-1 cells were set as the experimental group( DKK2 group);the blank control plasmid group was set as a control group( Vector group),transfected with pcDNA3. 1 ( +) -Flag-DKK2 plasmid( Experimental group)and pcDNA3. 1( +) -Flag-Vector plasmid(Control group). The over-expression of DKK2 was confirmed in SK-NEP-1 cells by RT-PCR and immunoblotting. CCK-8 and cell cloning assays were used to determine the effect of DKK2 on cell prolifera-tion;flow cell cycle and apoptosis assays were used to confirm the effect on cell proliferation in overexpressed DKK2 cells. The xen-graft formation assay in nude mice was to verify the effect of DKK2 on proliferation in overexpressed DKK2 cells;the mechanism of DKK2 in inhibitory proliferation was analyzed by qRT-PCR,Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with normal renal epithelial tissues,DKK2 mRNA was down-regulated in children with nephroblastoma,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0. 001). Compared with the control group,transfected DKK2 cell viability was significantly inhibited after treatment for 24,48 and 72 h( P<0. 05),cell clone formation in the experimental group was significantly inhibited(31. 11% ± 2. 14% ) ( P<0. 05),the cell cycle in the experimental group was significantly arrested at the G1 phase(P<0. 001),and the apoptosis rate in the experimental group was significantly increased(P<0. 001). Compared with the control group,the tumor weight and volume in nude mice were significantly low in the experimental mice which were injected DKK2 overexpression cells(P<0. 001). Active-β-cate-nin and downstream genes were significantly inhibited in over-expressed DKK2 SK-NEP-1 cells. Conclusion DKK2 is down-regulated in human cutaneous nephroblastoma and participates in the mechanism of nephroblastoma by antagonizing Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.