Corneal densitometry is a biological property of corneal tissue, which is related to the transparency of cornea, and can be used to describe the degree of corneal transparency.At present, corneal densitometry has been used in the auxiliary diagnosis and severity evaluation of corneal diseases, as well as in the evaluation of the surgical outcome and the postoperative follow-up, even some systemic diseases affecting the cornea.The measurement of corneal densitometry is an objective, non-invasive and repeatable method to evaluate corneal transparency, which has important reference values for the monitoring of corneal and systemic health.In this article, the application of corneal densitometry in clinical practices was reviewed.

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the radiation dose caused by 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in PET/CT examination and to optimize the concerned radiation protection. Methods Thirty patients from our conventional PET/CT examination were simple randomly selected, and they all underwent whole body PET/CT imaging. The radioactive dose of injected 18F-FDG was recorded. The internal radiation dose was calculated and the external radiation dose from patients was measured with the 451P-DE-SI ion chamber survey meter. The staff's dose was recorded with thermoluminescent detector (TLD). All dosimetry data were processed and analyzed statistically with Excel 2003. Results The injected radioactive dose of 18F-FDG was (432.9±51.8) MBq, and effective dose equivalent received per patient was (8.23±0.99) roSy. The correlation coefficient (r) of the dose equivalent rate and distance was-0.994 by power function curve fitting, and that of dose equivalent rate and time was - 0.988 by exponential curve fitting. The staff's dose was lower than the annual dose limit. Conclusions The patient's internal radiation dose caused by 18F-FDG in PET/CT examination is low, nonetheless, the clinician should always consider optimizing and minimizing the necessary radiation received by the patients. The patients having been injected with 18F-FDG should stay in one place to decrease their radiation to the public. From the medical point of view in optimizing radiation exposure, there may still be a potential to lower the injected 18F-FDG activity.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate advantages and disadvantages of preexisting metal post,casting metal post,ceramic post,and fiber post for clinical application,and to evaluate mechanical function,esthetical performance,and biocompatibility of fiber post.METHODS:Articles were retrieved with the key words of "fiber post,post-core restoration,dental materials,cement material,binder" in both English and Chinese between January 1990 and October 2008.Inclusion criteria:Articles addressing clinical application of fiber post for repairing residual root and crown were included.Exclusion criteria:Duplicated studies or Meta analysis was excluded.A total of 24 articles were included to investigate mechanical function,biocompatibility,and stickiness and retention of fiber post.RESULTS:Traditionally,metal post was easily folded and corrosive; in addition,esthetical performance and biocompatibility were still dissolved.Intension,hardness,esthetical performance,corrosion proof,fatigue resistance,and biocompatibility of fiber post were superior to those of traditional metal post.Furthermore,fiber post was able to highly adhere to root canal dentin via resin splicing agent,which could prolong useful life of dental prosthetic restoration,reduce root folded onset,and benefit for dental storage and repairing.Light mass of fiber post was another advantage compared with metal post.If the repair was failure,fiber post was easily taken out and reused.The combination of fiber post and resin nucleus was beneficial for dental prosthetic restoration which was highly closed to original structure of natural teeth.CONCLUSION:Fiber post was characterized by suitable elastic modulus,great esthetical repairing effect,reliable stickiness,easy identification and removal,high achievement ratio of repairing,and convenient operation; therefore,fiber post was a new and ideal material for clinical application.

Objective To monitor the antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, determine the prevalence of penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and plasmid-mediated tetracycline-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae (TRNG) in Xi'an region, and to analyse the trends in antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Methods In total, 647 strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae were isolated from patients with gonorrhea in sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic settings from 2002 to 2009. Agar dilution method was used to detect TRNG and determine the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of antibiotics, and paper acidometric method to detect PPNG. Results Of these 647 strains, 216 (33.4%) were TRNG, 290 (44.8%)were PPNG. The prevalence of TRNG strains remained between 28.3% and 49.2% in 2002-2009, except for 17.3% in 2005; the prevalence of PPNG strains increased from 37.1% in 2002 to 64% in 2005, but declined from 2006 to 2009 (32.3%). The prevalence of resistance to spectinomycin maintained at a low level (0 to 2.8%) over these years, while that to ciprofloxacin remained higher than 80% from 2002 to 2009, and accounted for 100% in 2005, with the exception of 51% in 2006. Ceftriaxone resistance was observed in none of these strains except 4 isolates in 2003, but the susceptibility to ceftriaxone decreased yearly. Conclusions Neisseria gonorrhoeae is highly sensitive to spectinomycin, which should serve as the first treatment choice for gonorrhea.Full dose is necessary for the application of ceftriaxone in the treatment of gonorrhea. Ciprofloxacin should not be used to treat gonorrhea.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stroke ; complications ; Urinary Retention ; drug therapy ; therapy

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of dermatomyositis with muscular perifascicular atrophy (PFA).MethodsA series of 104 consecutive patients clinically and pathologically diagnosed as dermatomyositis by muscle biopsy in our laboratory from December,2003 to August,2011,were enrolled in this study. Muscle biopsy of all the enrolled patients had shown PFA of muscle fibers.ResultsAmong the 104 patients,34 were males and 70 were females with a mean age of 45 years old.Among them,8 cases had normal electromyogram;42 had normal serum creatine kinase level;11 were diagnosed as carcinoma;75 were found to be combined with interstitial lung disease (ILD).Based on morphologic changes of muscle biopsy,they were divided into pure PFA group with 54 cases and PFA plus focal damage group with 50 cases.Compared with the pure PFA group,there was prominent mononuclear cell infiltration into perimysial intermediate sized vessels and membrane attack complement (MAC) deposition in the intramuscular capillaries in the PFA plus group.Skin biopsy had been taken in 12 cases together with muscle biopsy and had shown the border effectof both PFA and interface dermatitis in muscle and skin.ConclusionsOur study suggests that chronic immune vascular damage and insufficiency in dermatomyositis may cause ischemia and focal myofiber damage in watershed regions. The incidence of ILD in our dermatomyositis patients with PFA is high.

Objective To study the frequency and correlate factors of lipid accumulation in muscle fibers in inflammatory myopathies Methods Muscle biopsy specimens were routinely processed for histopathological and histochemical studies Excepting inflammatory changes, lipid droplets were observed by ORO staining According to the amount of lipid droplets in the muscle fibers, these cases were separated into two groups, and then the differences in muscle power, serum CK level, morphologic changes of muscle, courses and corticosteroids administration between two groups were compared Results 37 7% specimens showed lipid accumulation in muscle fibers distinctly As compare with the lipid normal group, in the lipid increasing group, the generalized muscle fiber degenerating were more common and muscle weakness were more prominent Although more patients have long term therapy with steroid in lipid increasing group, there were no significant differences between these two groups Conclusions Lipid accumulation in muscle fibers was present in some patients with inflammatory myopathies Increasing of lipid droplets might result from the muscle fiber degenerating and might turn to impair the muscle function reversely

Objective To explore the impact of puerarin treatment on autophagy in rats with traumatic brain injury (TBⅠ) and the underlying mechanism.Methods Seventy five Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomized into 5 groups:sham group (S group,n =15),traumatic brain injury group (TBⅠ group,n =15),TBⅠ + puerarin treatment group (TBⅠ + Pue group,n =15),TBⅠ + JNK inhibitor group (TBⅠ + SP group,n =15),and TBⅠ + JNK activator + Pue (TBⅠ + An + Pue group,n =15).Feeney method was applied to make rats with TBⅠ model.Mter that,head water content and neurological deficit score (NDS) were measured and recorded at day 1,3 and 7 in each group.Western blot was used to measure the JNK activity and autophagic marker proteins,including LC3B and Beclin1.Results Compared to S group,the head water content and NDS were decreased significantly among the others (P ＜ 0.05).The head water content and NDS in TBⅠ + Pue and TBⅠ + SP groups was decreased remarkably compared with TBⅠ group.Combined with puerarin and animycin treatments failed to reduce head water content and NDS compared to the TBⅠ + Pue group.Activated autophagy could be observed in TBⅠ group compared to S group.Compared to group S,LC3Ⅱ,Beclin1 and P-JNK1 were increased significantly.Pue and SP could reduce their expressions,respectively.Combined with puerarin and animycin treatments failed to reduce LC3Ⅱ,Beclin1 and P-JNK1 compared to TBⅠ + Pue group.Conclusions Puerarin could protect rats with TBⅠ via inhibiting autophagy,JNK signal pathway could involve the process of puerarin regulating autophagy.

OBJECTIVE:To explore the effectiveness and safety of pranoprofen combined with sodium hyaluronate in the treat-ment of moderate and severe dry eyes. METHODS:180 patients with moderate and severe dry eyes were divided into observation group and control group by random number table method,with 90 cases in each group. Control group was given Sodium hyaluro-nate eye drops,one drop each time,tid,and received physical therapy as cleaning eyelid,hot compress and glandulae tarsales mas-sage. Observation group was additionally given Pranoprofen eye drops,one drop each time,tid. A treatment course lasted for 2 weeks. The monocular corneal fluorescence staining score,break-up time of tear film(BUT),dry eye symptom scores,ShirmerⅠtest (SIT) before and after treatment,clinical efficacy and ADR were compared between 2 groups. RESULTS:2,4 weeks after treatment,monocular corneal fluorescence staining scores and dry eye symptom scores of 2 groups were significantly lower than be-fore treatment;BUT and SIT were significantly longer than before;those indexes after 4 weeks of treatment were significantly bet-ter than after 2 weeks of treatment;those indexes of observation group after 2,4 weeks of treatment were significantly better than those of control group at the same time,with statistical significance (P<0.05). The total effective rate of observation group was 94.44%,which was significantly higher than that of control group(78.89%),with statistical significance(P<0.05). Both groups suffered from eye irritation symptom to different extent,and no other severe complications was found. There was no statistical sig-nificance in eye irritation symptom score between 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:For moderate and severe dry eyes,prano-profen combined with sodium hyaluronate can effectively control ocular inflammation and improve tear film stability. It shows defi-nite therapeutic efficacy and good safety.

Crocetin, a naturally occurring carotenoid, possesses antioxidant and antiatherosclerotic properties, of which the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the effects of crocetin (0.1, 1, 10 μmol·L(-1)) on angiotensin II (Ang II, 0.1 μmol·L(-1)) induced expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion. The effects of crocetin on the activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) were also observed. The results demonstrated that crocetin notably suppressed Ang II induced NF-κB activation (P<0.01) and VCAM-1 expression (P<0.05, P<0.01) in HUVECs, accompanied by a markedly reduced monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion (P<0.05, P<0.01). In addition, preincubation with crocetin resulted in a significant enhancement of cellular antioxidant capacity (P<0.05, P<0.01), while Ang II induced intracellular ROS decreased markedly (P<0.05, P<0.01). These results indicated that crocetin was capable of suppressing Ang II induced VCAM-1 expression and monocyte-endothelial cell adhesion by suppression of NF-κB activation, which might be derived from the enhancement of antioxidant capacity and subsequent reduction of intracellular ROS.
Angiotensin II ; metabolism ; Antioxidants ; pharmacology ; Carotenoids ; pharmacology ; Cell Adhesion ; drug effects ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Humans ; Monocytes ; cytology ; NF-kappa B ; metabolism ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; metabolism ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism