Objective To isolate and observe Pityrosporum yeasts from a patient with onychomycosis. Methods The involved nail specimens were investigated by means of culture, pathological and scanning electron microscopic examination and 20% KOH preparation. Results Physical examination showed that each finger and toe nail appeared brownish black, rough and thick, some of the fore part of the nail plate detached from the nail bed. Fingernail specimen's culture results showed that Trichophyton rubrum grew on Sabouraud's dextrose agar and Pityrosporum ovale grew on the medium containing rapeseed oil. The pathological examination revealed P.ovale yeast involvement in the fissure of the nail plate. Under the scanning electron microscopy, a lot of P.ovale yeasts with characteristic collarette structure inserted in the nail tissue was noticed. In the 20% KOH preparations of nail incubated at 56℃for 1h and stained with Quink Parker ink, spores and hyphae were identified morphologically with P.ovale and T.rubrum respectively. The patient received intermittent pulse therapy with itraconazole, the color of the nails became much brighter 1 to 2 months after the fourth cycle of therapy, but no further improvement was observed afterwards. P.ovale and T.rubrum grew again 6 months after treatment when the clippings of the fingernail were cultured. Conclusion This is the first document of onychomycosis related with P.ovale in China.

Objective To study the morphological,biologic response of cultured human keratin ocytes to Candida albicans and the molecular mechanism.Methods ①A yeast form of C.albicans was added t o a monolayer of keratinocytes.The adherent organisms were observed by scanning and transmission electron mi-croscope at different incubation periods.Boiled C.albicans and latex beads of a similar size(3.2?m)were also inoculated for comparison.②The effect of supernatant from the co-culture of keratinocytes with inta ct C.albicans on keratinocyte growth was measured by the fluorescence intensity and cell count.③Keratinocytes were incubated with C.albicans or latex beads,and the level of cytok ine in the keratinocytes and supernatant were measured with enzyme -linked im munosorbent assay kits.Results①The number of adherent C.albicans increased with the lapse of time,whi le boiled C.albicans did not adhere at all.Many latex bead s adhered to the keratinocytes,and were then easily phagocytised.Fibril -like structu res stretched from the keratinocyte s adhered to the organisms or latex beads.②The conditioned medium of 50%concen tration significantly promote cell growth,while that with boiled C.albicans or latex beads moderately stimulate d keratinocyte growth.③Ker-atinocytes treated with intact C.albicans had significantly higher level of IL-1?in the supernatant but lower in the cell extract.Both TGF -?and bFGF increased either in the medi a or in the extract.Conclusion These results suggest that keratinocytes have non -specific phagocytic activ ity.C.albicans are able to adhere to ker-atinocytes and stimulate the release of various cytokines from keratinocytes,which may induce an inflammatory reaction and cell growth.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; diagnostic imaging ; Head ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Tomography, Spiral Computed ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Young Adult

Objective To analyze the test results of hepatitis B virus surface antigen(HBsAg) ,alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) ,anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ,anti-treponema pallidum (TP) antibodies among voluntary blood donors ,and to provide basis for recruiting low-risk voluntary blood donors and reducing blood abandonment . Methods 551 133 blood samples derived from voluntary blood donors which had accepted enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening in Chongqing Blood Center from 2008 to 2012 were collected and were subject to HBsAg ,ALT and anti-HIV , anti-HCV ,anti-TP antibodies detection .Laboratory information management system ITSWELL was employed to read ,save and gather the test results ,and whether the samples were qualified was determined .Results Total of 37 534(6 .81% ) substandard blood samples were detected .Among them ,the substandard rates of HBsAg ,ALT and anti-HCV ,anti-HIV ,anti-TP antibodies were 1 .10% ,3 .79% ,0 .51% ,0 .33% and 1 .08% ,respectively .Conclusion Strengthening the screen of blood detection reagents and building the team of voluntary blood donors will contribute to the safety of clinical blood transfusion .

Humans ; Malocclusion ; therapy ; Orthodontics, Corrective ; Treatment Outcome

Humans ; Mouth Diseases ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Orthodontics, Corrective

Objective To explore the effects of lower esophageal leiomyoma on esophageal dynamics.Methods A total of 25 patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma,31 patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and 16 healthy controls were selected.The differences of high resolution esophageal manometry results were compared among the groups.The t-test or one way analysis of variance was performed for normally distributed measurement data comparison.Rank sum test was used for non-normally distributed measurement data comparison.Results Among 25 patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma,14 patients accompanied with acid reflux,heartburn,chest pain or other GERD symptoms.In the group of patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma,the lower esophageal sphincter pressure (LESP),the lower esophageal sphincter relaxation rate (LESRR),low esophageal body pressure and peristaltic contraction percentage were (9.00 ± 6.30) mmHg (1 mmHg =0.133 kPa),53.0 ％ (0,334.0％),(34.66±18.33) mmHg and 55.6％ (0,100.0％),respectively,which were lower than those of the healthy control group ((16.25 ± 3.71) mmHg,86.5％ (49.0％,103.0％),(57.75 ± 22.49) mmHg,100.0％ (80.0％,100.0％)),and the differences were statistically significant (t=-4.150,Z=-2.353,t=-3.601,Z=-3.798; all P＜0.05).However there were no significant differences in esophageal dynamics indexes between patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma accompanied GERD symptoms and without GERD symptoms (all P＞0.05).There were no significant differences in esophageal dynamics indexes between the GERD patients and patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma accompanied GERD symptoms (all P＞0.05).LESRR level of patients with lower esophageal leiomyoma (71.4％(45.5％,150.0％)) increased after endoscopic submcosal dissection (Z=-2.194,P=0.028).Conclusions Lower esophageal leiomyoma may affect esophageal motor function,which contributed to anti-reflux esophageal function decline.Lower esophageal leiomyoma combined with gastroesophageal reflux symptoms are not uncommon.

Today, the understanding of the sequence and structure of biologically relevant targets is growing rapidly and researchers from many disciplines, physics and computational science in particular, are making significant contributions to modern biology and drug discovery. However, it remains challenging to rationally design small molecular ligands with desired biological characteristics based on the structural information of the drug targets, which demands more accurate calculation of ligand binding free-energy. With the rapid advances in computer power and extensive efforts in algorithm development, physics-based computational chemistry approaches have played more important roles in structure-based drug design. Here we reviewed the newly developed computational chemistry methods in structure-based drug design as well as the elegant applications, including binding-site druggability assessment, large scale virtual screening of chemical database, and lead compound optimization. Importantly, here we address the current bottlenecks and propose practical solutions.

Objective To evaluate the role of orexin in the sleep disorder after isoflurane anesthesia in rats.Methods Sixty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats,aged 10-12 weeks,weighing 280-320 g,were randomly divided into 2 groups (n =32 each) using a random number table:control group (C) and isoflurane group (Ⅰ).Group Ⅰ inhaled 1.2％ isoflurane from 8:00 to 13:30 to induce anesthesia,followed by 0.5 h of recovery.Group C received no anesthesia and the other procedures were similar to those previously described in group Ⅰ.The induction time and awakening time were recorded.Eight rats were randomly chosen to record the movement condition (locomotor time and activity) from 14:00 to 8:00 the next morning.Before beginning of anesthesia,at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia,and at 4 and 10 h after the end of anesthesia,6 rats were randomly chosen in each group to count the orexin/c-fos double-labeled neurons in hypothalamus.The ratio of activated orexin neurons (orexin/c-fos double-labeled neurons to orexin positive neurons) was calculated and plasma orexin-A concentration was detected.Results The induction time was (2.14 ± 0.17) min,awakening time was (8.7 ± 0.5) min,and EEG showed that there was no typical burst and suppression patterns in group Ⅰ.There was no significant difference in the number of orexin positive neurons between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).Compared with group C,the time for locomotor activity was significantly prolonged,and the activity was increased during the night (P ＜ 0.01),the number of activated neurons,ratio of activated orexin neurons and plasma orexin-A concentration were decreased at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.01).The plasma orexin-A concentration was lower at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia,while higher at 10 h after the end of anesthesia than before beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.05).The number of activated neurons was significantly larger and ratio of activated orexin neurons was higher before beginning of anesthesia and at 10 h after the end of anesthesia and the plasma orexin-A concentration was higher at 4 and 10 h after the end of anesthesia than at 4 h after beginning of anesthesia in group Ⅰ (P ＜ 0.05 or 0.01).Conclusion The development of sleep disorder after isoflurane anesthesia during the day time in rats is related to the regulatory role of orexin in it.

Acanthoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Adenoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Keratin-14 ; metabolism ; Keratin-5 ; metabolism ; Keratin-6 ; metabolism ; Keratosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Poroma ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Sweat Gland Neoplasms ; classification ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery