Objective To evaluate the effects of interventional thermotherapy(60℃)via hepatic artery on the vascular permeability of hepatic tumor tissue and normal liver tissue in VX2 tumor-bearing rabbits.Methods Thirty white rabbits were used in this experiment,Thirty VX2 tumor-bearing rabbits models were established by direct injection of VX2 tissue particle into the liver parenchyma and were randomly and equally divided into three groups:(1)non-perfusion group(n=10),used as control group; (2)normal thermal perfusion group(n=10),a perfusion of 30ml saline at 37 4±0.5℃ via hepatic artery in 15 minutes was used;(3)hyper-thermai perfusion group(n=10),a perfusion of 30ml saline at 60±0.5℃via hepatic artery in 15 minutes was used.The vascular permeability of the tumor tissue and the normal liver tissue was estimated with Evan's blue method.Results In all three groups the vascular permeability was significantly incleased in tumor tissue than that in normal liver tissue(P＜0.05).Normal thermal perfusion resulted in a significant increase in the permeability of vasculature(JP＞0.05).Hyper-thermal peffusion resulted in a significant increase in vascular permeability of tumor tissue (P＜0.05),and vascular permeability was increased in tumor tissue mole markedly than that in normal tissue(P＜0.05).Conclusion Hyperthermia hepatic arterial perfusion can increase vascular permeability for both tumor tissue and normal tissue in VX2 tumor-bearing rabbits.

Recently, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) have been suggested to contribute to physiopathology and therapeutic effects. Leukotriene B4 receptor 2 (BLT2), a member of the GPCR family, plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases, including cancer and asthma. However, no studies on BLT2 SNP effects have been reported to date. In this study, we demonstrate that the BLT2 SNP (rs1950504, Asp196Gly), a Gly-196 variant of BLT2 (BLT2 D196G), causes enhanced cell motility under low-dose stimulation of its ligands. In addition, we demonstrated that Akt activation and subsequent production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), both of which act downstream of BLT2, are also increased by BLT2 D196G in response to low-dose ligand stimulation. Furthermore, we observed that the ligand binding affinity of BLT2 D196G was enhanced compared with that of BLT2. Through homology modeling analysis, it was predicted that BLT2 D196G loses ionic interaction with R197, potentially resulting in increased agonist-receptor interaction. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the first to describe a SNP study on BLT2 and shows that BLT2 D196G enhances ligand sensitivity, thereby increasing cell motility in response to low-dose ligand stimulation.
Asthma ; Cell Movement* ; Humans ; Ligands ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; Receptors, G-Protein-Coupled ; Receptors, Leukotriene B4 ; Therapeutic Uses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the types of female college students' personality-based contraception behavior. METHOD: A Q-methodology was used to identify factors in female college students' personality-based contraception behavior. The 32 selected Q-sample from each of 28 subjects were classified into a shape of normal distribution using a 9 point scale. The collected data was analyzed using a QUANL PC program. RESULT: Three types of contraception behavior of female college students were identified. Type I is corporate responsibility, Type II is self-protection type, Type III is perceived risk of pregnancy. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that sexual health education for contraception behavior promotion should focus characteristics influencing on contraception attitudes. Also, efficient contraception should be educated by continuous qualitative research based on contraceptive experiences of college students.
Contraception Behavior* ; Contraception* ; Education ; Female* ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Qualitative Research ; Reproductive Health

OBJECTIVETo review articles aiming to present an overview of the principles, progress, uses and limitations of laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) in posterior fundus circulation research.

DATA SOURCESThe data used in this review was obtained mainly from the studies reported in PubMed using the key terms "laser speckle", "ocular blood flowmetry" and "retinal imaging".

STUDY SELECTIONRelevant literatures on studies of LSFG were selected.

RESULTSLSFG is a unique, noninvasive imaging instrument to quantitatively visualize posterior fundus circulation in vivo. This review delineates the LSFG principles and development, demonstrates its extensive applicability for measurement of retina, choroid and optic nerve head circulation, compares it with other retinal imaging technologies and discusses unresolved issues.

CONCLUSIONSLSFG is a noninvasive, two-dimensional objective diagnostic technique that has become a powerful method for the clinical and scientific assessment of posterior fundus circulation. Further studies may help to develop a more comprehensive evidence-based measurement and facilitate the correlation with other methods for chorioretinal circulation assessment.

Eye ; blood supply ; Fundus Oculi ; Humans ; Laser-Doppler Flowmetry ; methods ; Optic Disk ; blood supply

Oxazolidinones are a potent class of synthetic antimicrobial agents with activity mainly against Gram-positive strains.In this review,we summarize the mechanism of action and resistance,as well as the safety from clinical experience of oxazolidinones.The structural modifications and structure-activity relationships of oxazolidinones derivatives will also be presented.

BACKGROUNDRecent studies have showed that the fine mesh stents are associated with a significant reduction in both clinical and angiographic re-stenosis of the coronary arteries. To maintain a very satisfactory radio-opacity using the stents, Guidant of the USA has designed a new type of bare metal stents (BMS)-Multi-link (ML) Vision/ML MiniVision stents. The clinical outcomes of Asian patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) after implanting the Multi-link Vision or MiniVision stent were investigated in this study.

METHODSAn observational, prospective, multi-center, non-randomized post marketing registry was conducted to demonstrate the efficacy of the BMS-ML Vision/ML MiniVision stents. The primary end point of the registry was clinical target lesion revascularization (TLR) at a 6-month follow-up. The major secondary end points included the rate of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and serious adverse events (SAE) in hospital and at 6 months; and the rate of clinical TLR as a function of the type of angina. A total of 429 Asian people with 449 lesions from 14 centers were selected for this study. The average reference diameter of the lesions was (3.0 +/- 0.5) mm, and the mean length was (15.7 +/- 5.0) mm.

RESULTSThe successful rate of the procedure was 99.3%. Twenty-five percent of the lesions were treated by direct stenting without pre-dilation. Eighty-six percent of the lesions were implanted with ML Vision stent. After the 6-month follow-up, the rate of clinical TLR was 1.4%. The MACE, SAE and target vessel revascularization (TVR) were 6.8%, 3.5% and 1.4% respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe current registry showed the excellent 6-month clinical outcomes of ML Vision/ML MiniVision stents in Asian patients with CAD.

Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; methods ; Chromium Alloys ; Coronary Disease ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Registries ; Stents

BACKGROUNDAs an important determinant of patient satisfaction, waiting time, has gained increasing attention in the field of health care services. The present study aimed to illustrate the distribution characteristics of waiting time in a community hospital and explore the impact of potential measures to reduce outpatient waiting time based on a computer simulation approach.

METHODSDuring a one-month study period in 2006, a cross-sectional study was conducted in a community hospital located in Shanghai, China. Baseline data of outpatient waiting time were calculated according to the records of registration time and payment time. A simulation technique was adopted to investigate the impact of perspective reform methods on reducing waiting time.

RESULTSData from a total of 10,092 patients and 26,816 medical consultations were collected in the study and 19,947 medical consultations were included. The average of the total visit time for outpatients in this hospital was 43.6 minutes in the morning, 19.1 minutes in the afternoon, and 34.3 minutes for the whole day studied period. The simulation results suggested that waiting time for outpatients could be greatly reduced through the introduction of appointment system and flexible demand-orientated doctor scheduling according to the numbers of patients waiting at different time of the workday.

CONCLUSIONAdoption of an appointment system and flexible management of doctor scheduling may be effective way to achieve decreased waiting time.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Appointments and Schedules ; Computer Simulation ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Hospitals, Community ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Outpatients ; Patient Satisfaction ; Time Factors

PURPOSE: To compare the clinicopathological data and long-term survival of gastric cancer patients in China and Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who had undergone gastrectomy for gastric cancer between 1998 and 2009 in 2 high-volume institutions in both China (n=1,637) and Korea (n=2,231) were retrospectively evaluated. Clinicopathological variables, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and surgery-related complications were assessed for all patients and compared between the 2 institutions. RESULTS: Chinese patients included in the study were significantly older and had a significantly lower body mass index (BMI) than the Korean patients. Esophagogastric junction tumors were more frequent in Chinese patients. However, the number of patients with stage I gastric cancer, the number of harvested lymph nodes, and the number of total gastrectomies were significantly higher in the Korean population. Korean patients also presented with fewer undifferentiated tumors than Chinese patients. Furthermore, Korean patients had prolonged OS and PFS for stage III cancers only. BMI, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, tumor invasion, number of positive lymph nodes, and distant metastases were all independent factors affecting OS and PFS. CONCLUSIONS: Although China and Korea are neighboring Asian countries, the clinicopathological characteristics of Chinese patients are significantly different from those of Korean patients. Korean gastric cancer patients had longer OS and PFS than Chinese patients. Influencing factors included TNM stage, tumor invasion, and lymph node metastasis.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Body Mass Index ; China* ; Disease-Free Survival ; Esophagogastric Junction ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms*

PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of ethanol embolization for the treatment of arteriovenous malformation (AVM), and the complications, if any, arising. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-three patients with AVMs underwent 145 staged sessions of ethanol embolization. AVMs were located in an upper extremity (n=14), a lower extremity (n=10), the pelvis (n=7), the thorax (n=1), or the abdomen (n=1). Eighty-five transcatheter embolizations and 60 direct percutaneous puncture embolizations were performed, and seven patients underwent additional coil embolization of the dilated outflow vein. The therapeutic effectiveness of embolization was evaluated in terms of the extent to which an AVM was obliterated between baseline and the final angiogram. Complications were classified as minor or major. RESULTS: In 13 patients (39%), AVMs were totally obliterated. In eitht patients (24%), more than 75% were obliterated; in three (9%), the proportion was 50-75%; and in four (12%), less than 50%. Five patients (15%), were not treated. The reasons for failure were the difficulty of approaching the nidus due to previous surgical ligation or coil embolization of the feeding artery, the subcutaneous location of an AVM, post-procedural infection, and massive bleeding during the follow-up period. Twenty-one minor complications such as focal skin necrosis or transient nerve palsy developed during 145 sessions of (an incidence of 14%), but these were relieved by conservative treatment. The five major complications arising (3%) were cerebral infarction, urinary tract infection, acute renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis, permanent median nerve palsy, and infection. CONCLUSION: Ethanol embolization by direct percutaneous puncture or using a transcatheter technique is an effective approach to the treatment of an AVM. However, to overcome the considerable number of complications arising, further investigation is required.
Abdomen ; Acute Kidney Injury ; Arteries ; Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Cerebral Infarction ; Embolization, Therapeutic ; Ethanol* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ligation ; Lower Extremity ; Median Nerve ; Necrosis ; Paralysis ; Pelvis ; Punctures ; Rhabdomyolysis ; Skin ; Thorax ; Upper Extremity ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Veins

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the changes of periprosthetic bone mineral density in femur after hip resurfacing arthroplasty.

METHODSFrom July 2002 to June 2005, a comparative study was carried out on 52 hips in 52 patients. Twenty-six patients (26 hips) who underwent Birmingham hip resurfacing arthroplasty (group BHR), and 26 patients (26 hips) who performed cementless total hip arthroplasty with Versys System stem (group THA). The periprosthetic bone mineral density of the femur was measured through dual energy X-ray absorptiometry of the Gruen zones at pre-operation, post-operation 3, 6, 12 and 24 months in patients from both group BHR and group THA. The bone mineral density of femoral neck in group BHR was measured too. Changes of bone mineral density ratio in proximal femur between pre-operation and post-operation were compared and analyzed.

RESULTSThe mean ratio of bone mineral density of the proximal femur in group BHR reduced by 5.8%, 4.9%, 2.6% and 0.4%, in group THA reduced by 7.0%, 10.6%, 1.0% and 4.1% at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months respectively. In group BHR, the mean ratio of bone mineral density in range of interest 1 decreased to 89.7% at 6 months and increased to 103.8% at 24 months, in range of interest 7 decreased to 95.1% at 6 months and increased to 103.7% at 24 months. In group THA, the mean ratio of bone mineral density in range of interest 1 decreased to 90.8% at 6 months, 94.4% at 24 months and in range of interest 7 decreased to 94.2% at 3 months, 96.7% at 24 months. In group BHR, the bone mineral density of femoral neck was restored to the pre-operation level at 6 months. The bone mineral density in superior-lateral zone of femoral neck decreased to 97.1% at 3 months and increased to 107.4% at 24 months respectively. The bone mineral density in inferior-medial zone of femoral neck increased to 117.9% at 24 months.

CONCLUSIONThe bone stock of proximal femur can be well preserved and recovered quickly after hip resurfacing arthroplasty.

Adult ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; methods ; Bone Density ; physiology ; Female ; Femur ; physiopathology ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period