Hepatitis B is a serious infectious disease worldwide, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the direct cause of this disease. In recent years, as an essential part of its evolutionary process, HBV mutation has been extensively studied domestically and globally. However, the study on the conserved sequences in HBV sequences is still in its infancy. In this study, we applied multiple EM for motif elicitation (MEME) algorithm to discover HBV motif and proposed a new metric, conservative index (CI), to carry out phylogenetic analysis based on HBV sequences. Then, the constructed phylogenetic tree was subjected to reliability assessment. The results demonstrated that the new metric CI combined with the MEME algorithm can effectively help to discover motifs in HBV sequences and construct a phylogenetic tree based on them and to analyze the evolutionary relationship between HBV sequences; in addition, the possible ancestral sequences of samples may be obtained by conservative analysis. The proposed method is valuable for the exploratory study on large HBV sequence data sets.
Computational Biology ; Conserved Sequence ; Evolution, Molecular ; Hepatitis B virus ; genetics ; Humans ; Nucleotide Motifs ; Phylogeny ; Reproducibility of Results

Adult ; Endoscopy ; Epistaxis ; etiology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nasal Cavity ; surgery ; Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic ; complications ; surgery

OBJECTIVE To realize the status and the impact factors of nosocomial infection among Jizheng patients.METHODS To investigate 562 former inpatients suffered from Jizheng in hospital from Jan 2004 to Dec 2005.RESULTS The incidence rates of nosocomial infection that calculated by the patients and the cases were 14.59% and 16.55%,respectively.Infection mostly occurred on the 22nd day in hospital on average.The main infection sites were lower respiratory tract(48.78%),urinary tract(15.85%),and alimentary tract(12.20%).The most risk factor was aging.CONCLUSIONS The high incidence of nosocomial infection is due to various factors.We should take measures respectively aiming at different factors to reduce the occurrence of nosocomial infection.

Hepatitis B is one of the most serious global threats to human health. Phylogenetic analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can reveal the evolutionary relationship between HBV sequences and thus provide a basis for the prediction and treatment of hepatitis B and other aspects. In this study, we performed sequence analyses on the HBV sequences of five clinical HBV samples and the HBV sequences retrieved from the GenBank, EMBL, and DDBJ to construct a phylogenetic tree and analyze sequence structures. The experimental results revealed that the C gene of one cloned sequence had a recombinant structure of HBV B/ C subtype. Moreover, the phylogenetic results proved the existence of a newly found subtype HBV/B6 in Xishuangbanna of Yunnan Province, China. The experimental conclusion represents certain value for phylogenetic studies of HBV in Yunnan ethnic minority groups.
DNA, Recombinant ; genetics ; Genes, Viral ; genetics ; Genotyping Techniques ; Hepatitis B virus ; classification ; genetics ; Humans ; Phylogeny

Animals ; Carcinogens ; toxicity ; Female ; Lung Neoplasms ; chemically induced ; pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Mice, Inbred Strains ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Urethane ; toxicity

Objective To explore the effects of theophylline plus salmeterol/fluticasone propionate combination product (SFC) on clinical control,lung function and airway inflammation in asthmatics.Methods A total of 146 asthmatics received 200 mg theophylline plus 50/250 μg SFC twice daily for 24 weeks.The level of asthma control was assessed by the asthma control test.Testing of lung function and inflammatory markers in induced sputum were performed.And 142 asthmatics received 50/250 μg SFC twice daily for 24 weeks as control.Results Asthma was completely controlled in 61 and 59 in the theophylline plus SFC and SFC groups respectively after a 24-week treatment period (P ＞ 0.05).Theophylline plus SFC improved the FEF25％ 75％ value,indicating small airway function,to a greater extent than SFC [(66.7 ± 18.2) ％ & (56.6 ± 17.4) ％,P ＜ 0.01].Percentage of eosinophil and concentration of eosinophil cationic protein in induced sputum were significantly lower in the theophylline plus SFC group than those in the SFC group [(4.1 ±2.3)％ vs.(6.2±2.7)％ & (63.9±39.4) vs.(90.3 ±46.2) μg/Lrespeetively] (all P ＜ 0.01).Conclusion The therapy of theophylline plus SFC may provide greater improvements in small airway function and airway inflammation.

BACKGROUND:More recently, the focus has been on searching for a compound Chinese medicine for reinforcing kidney, which cannot only inhibit bone absorption, but also promote osteogenesis to protect against osteoporosis. OBJECTIVE:To explore effects of drug serum of Jianbuhuqian pil s on proliferation and function of osteoblast-like cel s in vitro. METHODS:Twenty-four adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into low-dose, medium-dose, high-dose and normal saline groups, and given intragastric administration of 1.5, 3.0, and 6 g/kg Jianbuhuqian pills and equal volume of normal saline, respectively twice daily for 1 week. At 1 hour after final gavage, rats were decapitated to prepare drug sera used for culturing osteoblast-like cells. At 24, 48 and 72 hours of culture, the cellular morphology was observed, as well as the cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity was detected by MTT assay and alkaline phosphatase staining, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Compared with the normal saline group, the cel density began to increase significantly in three Jianbuhuqian groups at 24 hours after culture, mitotic figures were easy to be observed, cel s were in overlapping growth, much secretions and matrix accumulation appeared, especial y in the high-dose group. The obsorbance values in Jianbuhuqian groups were significantly higher than that in the normal saline group. After 24 hours of culture, the obsorbance values in the medium-dose and high-dose groups were significantly increased compared with the low-dose group, and the values showed significant differences among three Jianbuhuqian groups after 48 and 72-hour culture. In addition, the alkaline phosphatase activity presented overt increase in the Jianbuhuqian groups compared with the normal saline group, and significant differences could be found among Jianbuhuqian groups. To conclude, the drug serum of Jianbuhuqian pil s can promote the activity of osteoblast-like cel s in a time-and concentration-dependent manner.

AIM:To investigate the safety and effect of femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery with Cionni modified capsular tension ring (MCTR) implantation in the management of traumatic lens subluxation.METHODS: Totally 11 patients (11 eyes) with traumatic lens subluxation were divided into three groups according to the severity of lens dislocation, ranging from 90° to 120° (4 eyes), 120° to 180° (5 eyes) and 180° to 270° (2 eyes).The contact LenSx femtosecond laser cataract surgery platform was applied to create the capsulotomy, prepare nuclear fragmentation and make corneal wound creation.Anterior vitrectomy was performed in some patients during the surgery.After capsular retractors insertion and phacoemulsification, the MCTR was inserted to the capsular bag and fixed to the sclera.Finally, the IOL was implanted into the capsular bag.Postoperative visual acuity, intra-and post-operative complications, anterior capsular opening, IOL and MCTR position and intraocular pressure (IOP) were assessed.RESULTS:The duration of follow-up was 2mo.All the operations were completed successfully.Five eyes underwent cataract surgery combined with anterior vitrectomy.Four eyes had been inserted with 2-eyelet MCTR and seven eyes with 1-eyelet MCTR.The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after operation was better than 0.5 in 4 eyes, between 0.3 and 0.5 in 3 eyes, between 0.1 and 0.3 in 3 eyes, and less than 0.1 in 1 eye.Compared with preoperative BCVA, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).All the IOLs were stably centered and the eyelet of MCTR was fixated steadily between the iris and the anterior capsule.The common intra-and post-operative complications were subconjunctival hemorrhage, incomplete capsulotomy, residual cortex, secondary glaucoma and posterior capsular opacification.CONCLUSION:Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery can improve the success rate of capsulorhexis, and reduce the difficulty of nuclear fragmentation.Femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery combined with MCTR implantation is an ideal surgical method for traumatic lens subluxation.

Objective To prepare controlled release microspheres of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)& calcium alginate and observe their effect on proliferation of human umbilical vein endo- thelial cells(HUVEC)in order to provide theoretical basis for controlled release of VEGF facilitating an- giogenesis of tissue engineering bone.Methods VEGF-calcium alginate microspheres were prepared by using the needle extrusion/external gelation method to investigate physicochemical character and in vitro release of VEGF.According to the different ingredients added into the culture medium,the seconda- ry cultured HUVEC were divided into four groups,ie,control group,microsphere group,VEGF group and VEGF-calcium alginate microsphere group,in which the proliferation of the cultured HUVEC was ob- served with cell counting method,MTT method and flow cytometry.Results The calcium alginate mi- crospheres were revealed as spherical shape and evenly distributed,with mean grain diameter of(560?50)?m,carrying capacity of 0.72 ng/mg and the encapsulation efficiency of 54%.Smooth controlled re- lease in VEGF-alginate microspheres lasted for more than 10 days.Proliferation of the cultured HUVEC was accelerated the most in VEGF group at the beginning but in EGF-calcium alginate microsphere group at midanaphase compared with other groups,with statistical difference(P＜0.05).There was no statis- tical difference upon cell counting,cell activity and time point of cell cycle between control group and mi- crosphere group.Conclusion VEGF-sodium alginate microapheres can continue activity of VEGF,re- lease VEGF for over 10 days and promote proliferation cultured HUVEC for a long time.

OBJECTIVETo explore the correlationship between platelet count and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or Western medicine (WM) in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

METHODSA total of 356 patients with confirmed diagnosis of active RA from 9 clinical centers were randomly assigned to the TCM group (184 cases) and the WM group (172 cases). The TCM group was treated with basic therapy (administration of glucosidorum tripterygll totorum and Yishen Juanbi Pill) and TCM syndrome differentiation dependent treatment, while the WM group was treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and slow-acting anti-rheumatic drugs. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed with ACR20, the joint damage degree of both hands was evaluated by X-ray.

RESULTSThe platelet count was positively correlated to the X- ray grading of joint damage, namely, patients with a more severe joint damage often presented a higher platelet count. After treatment, in patients with joint damage of X-ray grade II or III and effectively treated with TCM, also in patients with joint damage of grade III and effectively treated with WM, the platelet count was lower than that in those treated ineffectively.

CONCLUSIONPlatelet count is closely correlated to the efficacy of drug therapy, therefore, it may be taken as an important index for judging the curative effect of therapeutic approach in treating RA patients.

Adult ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; therapeutic use ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; blood ; drug therapy ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Platelet Count ; Treatment Outcome ; Tripterygium ; chemistry