Measurement of Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a noninvasive,simple,and reproducible procedure to assist in assessment of disease severity and evaluation of response to treatment in asthma children.This review discusses the value of FeNO in children with asthma,and the association between FeNO and other noninvasive methods.

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of UV-B radiat io n exclusively on a variety type of leukoderma .Methods In open trail, 45 cases of a variety of leukoderma were randomly selected including preg nant striates (20 cases), stretch marks (1 case), postoperative petechia (4 case s), traumatic petechia (10 cases), radiation petechia (2 cases), generalized vit iligo (6 cases) and leukoderma with unknown cause (2 cases) were treated with Re lume UV-B re-pigmentation generator (photo range 290-320 mm), once per week with an adjusting dose for 3-20 treatments. Results 42 cases c ompleted with followed-up after 14 months of UV-B radiation microphototherapy. 64.3% (27 cases) achieved excellent results, including 10 cases of pregnant str iates, 8 cases of traumatic petechia, 4 cases of postoperative petechia and 5 c ases of peneralized vitiligo. 28.6% patients were satisfied with results (12 ca ses), including 7 cases of pregnant striates, 1 case of traumatic petechia, 1 c ase of generalized vitiligo, 1 case of stretch mark and 2 cases of leukoderma wi th unknown causes. 7.1% (3 cases) had no effect. 33.3% (14 cases) required suppl emental treatment after 2-5 months of the initial therapy. Conclusion The UV-B radiation microphototherapy is effective in restoring pigmenta tion in those affected by a variety of leukoderma except radiation petechia. The result of repigmentation is related to the type of leukoderma.

BACKGROUND:In recent years, the use of chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR-T cells) has achieved good results in the treatment of hematological malignancies. OBJECTIVE:To summarize the CAR-T technology, and its anti-tumor mechamism, progress in the treatment of hematological malignancies as well as its safety and coping strategies. METHODS:A search of PubMed, CNKI, Wanfang by computer was performed for articles related to CAR-T published from January 2010 to January 2016, using the keywords of CAR-T in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The main principles that CAR-T cells fight against tumors are as follows: (1) resistance to immune escape through down-regulation of MHC; (2) production of interleukin-6, -10 indirectly influences the growth of tumor cells; and (3) tumor microenvironment changes inhibit tumor growth. The use of CAR-T in the treatment of hematological malignancies has been developed by leaps and bounds in recent years. Current studies concerning B cell lymphoma mainly focus on anti-CD19 CAR-T cells that have certain therapeutic effects on acute myeloid leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. However, its safety and effectiveness have yet to be studied.

Aim To investigate the effect and mechanism of action of chronic morphine treatment on the neurosteroidogensis of primary cultured rat cerebral cortical neurons(CCNs).Methods The effect of morphine on the production of pregnenolone(PREG),dehydroepiandrosterone(DHEA),allopregnanolone(AP),pregnenlolone sulfate(PS)and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate(DS)in cell culture media was measured by solid-phase extraction and LC-MS,with methyltestosterone(MT)or estrogen sulfate(ES)as internal standards.The dependence-like changes of CCNs were determined by testing the p-CREB level in the nuclear lysates using western blot.Results Compared with the control group,morphine treatment significantly reduced levels of PREG and DS respectively;opioid agonist DAMGO significantly reduced levels of PREG,DS and PS respectively,and increased the level of AP significantly.Compared with the morphine group,?-opioid-antagonist CTAP concomitant with morphine increased the level of PREG significantly.Compared with the control group,chronic morphine treatment or DAMGO treatment significantly increased the level of p-CREB in the CCNs.Compared with the morphine treatment group,?-antagonsit CTAP significantly reduced the level of p-CREB.Conclusion ?-opioid receptor mediated the inhibitory effect of morphine on levels of neurosteroids,and changes of neurosteroid levels might be related to morphine dependence.

Cardiac enlargement is an important symptom of vascular and heart disease. The cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) is an important index used to measure the size of heart. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between aging and cardiothoracic ratio. This paper also presents an improved C-V level set method to segment lung tissue based on X-ray image, which used to automatically compute CTR. In the investigation carried out in our school, we got more than 3 120 chest radiographs from medical examination of the working population in Beijing, and we systematically studied the effects of age and gender on the CTR to obtain reference values for each group. The reference values established in this study can be useful for recording and quantifying the cardiac enlargement, so that it may be useful for calling attention to the cardiovascular diseases and the heart diseases.
Aging ; Algorithms ; Cardiomegaly ; pathology ; Heart ; diagnostic imaging ; Heart Diseases ; diagnosis ; Humans ; Lung ; diagnostic imaging ; Myocardium ; pathology ; Radiography, Thoracic ; methods ; Reference Values

Objective To assess the efficacy and safety of leflunomide in active ankylosing spondylitis.Methods Totally 62 cases of active ankylosing spondylitis were included,and divided randomly into leflunomide group(n=26)and methotrexate group(n=36).The patients in leflunomide group received an oral leflunomide loading dose of 50 mg or 40 mg once daily for the first 3 days followed by a maintenance dose of 50 mg or 40 mg once weekly,according to whether the bodyweight was more than 50 kg or less than 50 kg,respectively.The patients in methotrexate group were prescribed oral methotrexate 5 mg once in the first week,10 mg once in the second week,15 mg once in the third week and thereafter weekly.Sulfasalazine was prescribed 0.75 three times daily in both groups.The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index(BASDAI)and The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index(BASIM)scoring instruments were used to assess the responsiveness to leflunomide and methotrexate at entry,three months,six months,twelve months and eighteen months after treatment,respectively.Laboratory data including peripheral blood counts(WBC,HGB,RBC),erythrocyte sedimentation rates(ESR),liver enzymes,serum creatinine,urinary sediments were detected at the same time.Sacroiliac joints CT scan and other involved joints x-ray radiograph examinations were taken at entry,six months,twelve months and eighteen months after treatment,respectively.Results Twenty-two cases in leflunomide group and 29 cases in methotrexate group were followed up to eighteen months.BASDAI in leflunomide group was significantly lower(P

Objective To study the immunological changes and clinical features of pachydermodactyly.Methods Thirteen cases of pachydermodactyly were studied and the literature about this disease was reviewed.Results The mean disease onset age was (16?3)years,11 of whom were male,2 were female;clinical feature was chronic non-inflammatory bulbous swelling of proximal interphalangeal joints,most of which distributed symmetrically;there were no abnormal results in immunological examination;X-ray showed only soft tissue swelling with no articular or bone damage.Conclusion Pachydermodactyly belongs to rheumatological diseases,and should be differentiated from other arthritis involving PIP joints.

AIM:Surfactants and their blend play important roles in the preparation of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs).In this study,four types of surfactant were employed to investigate the influence of the surfactants on properties of SLNs in the absence of model drugs thereby avoiding the interaction between the surfactant and the drug.METHODS:The physicochemical properties of the colloidal systems,such as mean particle size,distribution range and Zeta potential,were investigated by laser diffractometry and the DSC analysis was performed as well.RESULTS:It was found that ionic surfactants,such as sodium deoxycholate, increased the Zeta potential of nanoparticles leading to improve the physical stability of the system.But it showed obviously relative low emulsification efficiency in the preparation.Non-ionic emulsifier,especially Pluronic F-68, offered additional steric stabilization effect avoiding aggregation of the fine particles in the colloidal system.CONCLUSION:The formulation in the study for the first time combined four types of additives including ionic surfactant (sodium deoxycholate),non-ionic emulsifier (Pluronic F-68 and Tween-80),and lecithin to obtain favorably stable nanosuspension,which could stabilize for more than six months without creaming.

A total of 104 patients with cervical squamous cell cancer (Figo Ⅰ b2-Ⅱ b) were recruited during March 2006 and October 2011.One group (A,n =50) received preoperative intravenous neoadjuvant chemotherapy while another group (B,n =54) had interventional arterial chemotherapy plus bilateral uterine artery embolization.Surgery was performed for those with a change of cancer size either as complete or partial remission at Week 2 post-chemotherapy according to the WHO evaluation criteria.Otherwise radiotherapy was implemented.The ratio of surgery after chemotherapy was 70％ (n =35) in Group A versus 87％ (n =47) in Group B (P ＜ 0.05).For Group A,there were blood vessel invasion (n =6,17％),lymph node metastasis (n =8,23％) and positive margin (n =1,3％).For Group B,(n =7,15％),(n =9,21％) and (n =1,2％).There was no significant inter-group statistic difference (P ＞ 0.05).Preoperative chemotherapy is effective for cervical squamous cancer (tumor diameter ＞ 4 cm)with fewer side effects.

Experimental, clinical and epidemiologic studies have provided strong evidence that physical training has beneficial effects on cardiovascular health. Numerous investigations have demonstrated that exercise increases coronary blood flow and myocardial perfusion. Importantly, training also can stimulate angiogenesis and accelerate collateral vessel growth in animal models with coronary artery occlusion. Cardiac adaptation such as increased vascularity or capillary density has been evidenced after regular endurance exercises. More recently, several studies indicate that physical training induces high levels of myocardial heat shock protein and antioxidant protein expression, which may play an important role in myocardial protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury.