OBJECTIVE:To develop a method for concentration determination of voriconazole in human plasma and apply it in the clinic. METHODS:UPLC-MS/MS method was adopted. Using ketoconazole as internal standard,the determination was per-formed on Shim-pack VP-ODS column with mobile phase consisted of water(containing 1‰ formic acid and 2 mmol/L ammonium acetate)-acetonitrile(gradient elution)at flow rate of 0.3 ml/min and column temperature of 40℃.The electrospray ion source,pos-itive ionizing pattern and multiple reaction monitoring were used;the mass transition ion-pairs of voriconazole and internal standard were m/z 351.2→282.2 and m/z 532.1→490.2. RESULTS:The linear range of voriconazole were 1-10 000 ng/ml (r=0.999 5,n=5),and the limit of quantitation was 1 ng/ml;RSDs of inter-day and intra-day were all lower than 10%;method recovery was higher than 90%(RSD<8%),and extraction recovery was higher than 70%(RSD<8%). The plasma concentrations of voriconazole in 10 patients with invasive fungal infection determined by this method were 507.33-7 011.24 ng/ml,and those of 3 patients were outside the recommended treatment concentration range. CONCLUSIONS:The established method is fast,accurate and sensitive,and can be applied for the therapeutic drug monitoring of voriconazole.

Objective To study the impact of respiratory frequency and amplitude of patients with the thoracic or abdomen tumor on 4DCT' s reconstructed image.Methods 75 thoracic or abdomen tumor patients who performed a scanning with belly belt-type respiratory gating on 4DCT between November 2012 to March 2013 in our hospital were retrieved.Reviewed their respiratory frequency,amplitude and fault distance of 4DCT' s reconstructed image and analyzed the correlation fault distance of the reconstructed image.The correlation analysis was used by bivariate Spearman method.Results Among these reconstructed images,fault distance more than 6 mm could be seen in 11 cases,fault distance ranging from 3 mm to 6 mm could be found in 46 cases,and distance less than 3 mm could be detected in 18 case.Respiratory frequency correlated significantly with the amplitude (rs =0.369,P =0.000);the respiratory rate had a tight association with the fault distance of the reconstructed image (r,=0.273,P=0.018);and respiratory amplitude was associated obviously with the fault distance of the reconstructed image (r,=0.696,P=0.000).Conclusions Both 4DCT reconstructed image and respiratory amplitude are significantly correlated to the continuity of the respiratory frequency.The smaller the respiratory frequence and amplitude change are,the better continuity will be.

This article describes a method totransfer physiological data through carrier-current communication.The microcontroller measures the data of heartrate and body temperature and sends them through the serial port tothe carrier-current module implementing carrier-current communication.This method can be used totransfer physiological data through short distance less than200meters.

Objective: To observe the changes of perfusion index (PI), bispectral index (BIS), heart rate (HR), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and respiratory rate (RR) under pulling stimuli in children undergoing open inguinal hernia repairs with spontaneous ventilation, so as to evaluate the clinical value of PI in monitoring the stress response. Methods: Thirty children undergoing selective open inguinal hernia repairs with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I or II were recruited. Anesthesia was induced with fentanyl and propofol, and was maintained with sevoflurane after the insertion of laryngeal mask. The PI, BIS, HR, SBP and RR were observed at the following time points: before induction of anesthesia (T0), before pulling hernia sac (T1), at the time point of pulling hernia sac (T2), 1 min after pulling hernia sac (T3) and 5 min after pulling hernia sac (T4). Results: Compared with the baseline level at T0, the PI value at T1, T3 and T4 increased significantly (P=0.000, P=0.033 and P=0.000, respectively). The BIS, HR and SBP values at T1-T4 were significantly lower than baseline levels at T0 (all P=0.000). The PI values at T2 and T3 reduced significantly compared with T1. The HR value at T2 was significantly higher than that of T1 (P=0.033). Compared with the SBP values at T1, the SBP values at T3 and T4 were significantly higher (P=0.000 and P=0.011, respectively). And the RR values at T2 and T3 were higher than that at T1 (both P=0.000). The proportion of children with positive stress response based on PI was significantly higher than that based on other variables (all P=0.000). Conclusion: Perfusion index can reflect the noxious stimuli of the pulling hernia sac effectively and immediately.

Objective To evaluate the short and long-term effect and explore the potential influential factors of focused ultrasound in the treatment of nonneoplastic epithelial disorders of vulva (NNEDV). Methods Clinical data of 583 patients suffering from NNEDV which was treated with focused ultrasound admitted from Jan. 2004 to Jun. 2014 to the hospital the authors served were collected. The treatment effects, complication rate, and potential influential factors were retrospectively analyzed. Results The total effective rate of focused ultrasound in treating NNEDV was 97.43%, the recurrence rate was 28.65%, and the complication rate was 9.09%. The effective rate was significantly increased after a course of strengthened treatment (P<0.05). The incidence of complications of CZF300 (high-power and short term model) treatment was significantly higher than that with CZF- 1(low-power and long term model, P<0.001). Conclusions A good clinical effect is predictable with focused ultrasound in the treatment of NNEDV. More promising results could be attained with multiple strengthened treatment, and a lower complication rate can be obtained with a low-power and long term treatment strategy.

Objective To investigate the correlation between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and glucose fluctuation in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Methods Sixty-eight T2DM patients admitted to Beijing Military General Hospital from March to August 2012 were enrolled in the study,including 32 cases with CIMT thickening (CIMT ≥ 0.9 mm) and 32 cases with normal CIMT (CIMT ＜0.9 mm).The 72 h continuous blood glucose levels were monitored from the day of admission.Results There were no significant differences in the gender,age,body mass index (BMI),systolic and diastolic blood pressure,HDL-C,LDL-C,CHO,TG,glycosylate hemoglobin (HbA1c),fasting blood glucose(FBG) and postprandial average blood glucose (MPBG) between two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The atherosclerosis (AS) score and mean amplitude of glycemic excursion (MAGE),glucose standard deviation,frequency of glycemic excursion (FGE) and absolute mean of daily differences (MODD) in patients with thickening CIMT were (11 ± 7) years,(6.9 ± 3.0) mmol/L,(2.8 ± 1.2) mmol/L,(3.4 ± 1.5) times/d,(2.8 ± 1.3) mmol/L,(4.5 ± 1.0) score,respectively ; while those in patients with normal CIMT were (8 ±6) years,(4.2 ± 1.1) mmol/L,(1.6 ± 0.5) mmol/L,(2.2 ± 0.8) times/d,(2.0 ± 1.0) mmol/L,(3.3 ±0.6) score,respectively.There were significant differences between two groups (all P ＜ 0.05).Pearson correlation showed that CIMT was positively correlated with MAGE,FGE,MODD,course of disease,diastolic blood pressure,LDL-C,MPBG and AS score (P ＜ 0.05).Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that MAGE,MBPG were the influencing factors of CIMT.Conclusions The CIMT of patients with T2DM is closely correlated with glucose fluctuation,indicating that reduction of blood glucose fluctuation and MAGE,MPBG levels may delay the occurrence of diabetic macroangiopathy.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the effects of microRNA-378*( miR-378*) on the survival and apoptosis of human mesenchymal stem cells ( hMSCs ) .METHODS: The expression of miR-378* was determined by microRNA arrays and quantitative real-time PCR ( qRT-PCR) .H2 O2 was used to induce hMSCs apoptosis.By transfection of miR-378*mimic or inhibitor, we up-regulated or down-regulated miR-378* expression in hMSCs.The effect of miR-378*and connective tissue growth factor ( CTGF) on hMSC survival and apoptosis were detected by MTT, LDH, caspase-3/7 and TUNEL assays.RESULTS:The expression of miR-378*was up-regulated in the old hMSCs compared with the young hMSCs.H2 O2 increased the expression of miR-378*, decreased the expression of CTGF.Up-regulation of miR-378*re-sulted in increasing apoptosis and decreasing survival of hMSCs.Conversely, down-regulation of miR-378*resulted in de-creasing cell apoptosis and increasing survival.The regulation of miR-378*on hMSC apoptosis and survival was attenuated by inhibiting the expression of miR-378* and CTGF together.Direct repression of CTGF expression inhibited the hMSC survival and increased apoptosis.CONCLUSION:miR-378*enhances apoptosis of hMSCs by repressing the expression of CTGF.

The study on the effective core formulae (CEF) not only summarized traditional chinese medicine (TCM) treatment experience, but also helped reveal the underlying knowledge in the formulation of TCM prescriptions. The aim of the present paper was to investigate the method of data mining for the discovery of core effective formulae for lung cancer. In the present study, a prescription fingerprint approach was used to characterize the staged prescription information of patients. The D index was used to screen potential beneficial herbs. Then, based on a herbal compatibility network, the maximal clique searching algorithm (BK algorithm) and survival analysis were applied to discover CEF for lung cancer, and a mining analysis was made for the 322 cases from Longhua hospital. The correlation between prescriptions and survival time was analyzed by prescription fingerprints. Forty-three potentially beneficial herbs were obtained, and two CEFs were significant for the survival time by a parametric survival model based on lognormal distribution, the results were verified by a multivariate survival model. The rules of combination of the two CEFs basically conform to TCM onco-therapeutic theory of strengthening the body resistance and the actual conditions in clinic. All results showed that the established approach was feasible for discovering the core effective formulae for lung cancer and mining survival data for complex TCM onco-therapy.
Algorithms ; Data Mining ; Drug Prescriptions ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Survival Analysis

In vertebrate visual system, information is firstly processed in retina. With the development of the multi-electrode recording technique, concerted activity has been extensively observed in retinal ganglion cells of different species. However, the role of concerted activity in visual information processing is still unclear and under debating. This article reviews the recent studies focused on concerted activity among retinal ganglion cells, discussing the issues about its category, detection and physiological function.
Animals ; Cell Communication ; physiology ; Humans ; Photic Stimulation ; Retina ; physiology ; Retinal Ganglion Cells ; physiology ; Visual Pathways ; physiology ; Visual Perception ; physiology

Objective: To explore the relationship between expressions of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors and syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in gastric carcinoma and to establish prognostic indicators for gastric carcinoma. Methods: A total of 72 patients with gastric carcinoma were divided into six groups according to TCM syndrome differentiation. Specimens were collected after operation and ER and PR protein expressions were detected by EnVision immunohistochemical method. Results: The common syndromes in female patients with gastric carcinoma were disharmony between liver and stomach, yin impairment due to stomach heat, and insufficiency of both qi and blood; while in males, interior retention of stagnant toxin, interior retention of phlegm and dampness, and deficiency-cold in spleen and stomach were common. Different TCM syndromes were related with gender (P<0.01), pathology (P<0.01), cell differentiation (P<0.05), infiltration depth (P<0.01), lymphaden metastasis (P<0.05), distant metastasis (P<0.05), and TNM stage (P<0.01). Deficiency and excess syndromes were associated with gender (P<0.05), pathology (P<0.05), tumor location (P<0.01) and TNM stage (P<0.05). The deficiency syndromes were common in female patients. The total positive rates of ER and PR expressions were 8.33% and 37.5% respectively. There was a significant difference in PR expression among different TCM syndromes (P<0.01). PR expression was significantly higher in the syndrome of yin deficiency due to stomach heat than in the other syndromes. The PR expressions in deficiency syndromes were significantly higher than those in excess syndromes (P<0.01). No correlation was found between ER expression and different TCM syndromes. Conclusion: There is a correlation between PR expression and different TCM syndromes in gastric carcinoma.