Moxibustion therapy is a commonly used external treatment method for numerous conditions and general health care. Besides the effects of the drugs, infrared-heat and radiation spectrum are also the manner of action. By collecting the literature about thermal radiation and infrared spectrum features of moxibustion, the author reported the novel studies on the thermal effect of moxibustion including factors that impacted the temperature, infrared spectrum features, apparatus based on infrared technology employed in clinic for moxibusiton and characteristics of temperature sensitivity. The author also identified some existing problems and provided advice for future application and research.

China ; Female ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; prevention & control ; therapy

New investigations indicated that half of the people in the world had the risk of vitamin D deficiency.The main reasons for vitamin D deficiency was that people ignored the importance of using vitamin D supplement in special ages and seasons.Children were potentially at high risk for vitamin D deficiency.Vitamin D deficiency during childhood could cause rickets,growth retardation,skeletal deformities and might increase the risk of osteoporosis and hip fracture in later life.Vitamin D deficiency were also related with cancer,autoimmune disease,endocrine system disease,nervous system disease,hypertension and infection.

Objective To investigate the correlation of the the positive rate and necrosis rate of retropharyngeal lymph nodes with the clinical effects of intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (PNC).Methods Seventy-two patients with PNC,50 males and 22 females,with the median age of 50,underwent IMRT delivered into 33 times.The retropharyngeal lymph nodes involved and positive lymph nodes of neck were delineated on the CT image.The median dose and median fractionated dose for gross tumor volume (GTV) were 70.0 and 2.12 Gy respectively,and the median dose and median fractionated dose for clinical target volume (CTV) were 70.0 and 2.12 Gy respectively.The patients were followed up for 36 (5-54) months.Results The metastasis rate of the neck lymph nodes was 90.3％,the metastasis rates in the regions Ⅰ-Ⅴ were 2.8％,86.0％,51.4％,20.8％,and 37.5％,respectively.The metastasis rate of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes was 79.2％,and specifically the metastasis rates of the left,right,and bilateral retropharyngeal lymph nodes were 51.4％,45.9％,and 18.1％,respectively.The cross metastasis rate was 6.9％.Necrosis of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes was found in 15 cases.The necrosis rates of the left,right,and bilateral retropharyngeal lymph nodes were 21.6％,27.2％,15.4％,respectively.Retropharyngeal lymph nodes metastasis was significantly correlated with N stage and clinical stage(Fuzhou 92:r =-0.383,-0.314,P ＜ 0.05 ; UICC:r =-0.434,-0.306,P ＜ 0.05).Local recurrence was observed in 4 patients,6 patients had distant metastasis,and 7 patients died.The positiveness of retropharyngeal lymph nodes was significantly correlated with the recurrence rate,distant metastasis rate,survival rate,and disease free survival rate (r =0.085,0.138,-0.140,-0.124,P ＜ 0.05),and the necrosis of the retropharyngeal lymph nodes was significantly correlated with the recurrence rate and distant metastasis rate (r =0.256,-0.057,P ＜ 0.05),and not significantly correlated with the survival rate and disease free survival rate.Conclusions Retropharyngeal lymph nodes metastasis in NPC is correlated with the N stage and clinical stage.The positiveness of retropharyngeal lymph nodes is significantly correlated with local recurrence,distant metastasis,and survival.Necrosis of retropharyngeal lymph nodes in NPC is significantly correlated with local recurrence and distant metastasis after IMRT.

Objective To observe MRI features of the localized intra-articular form of pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) within the knee joint. Methods Fifteen patients with pathologically proved localized intra-articular form of PVNS were retrospectively reviewed, and the MRI appearances were observed. Results Solitary nodule or mass within the knee joint was detected in all 15 patients. The lesion located in the infra-patellar fat pads in 11 patients. Most lesions were round or oval, with a well-defined margin. The maximum diameters ranged from 2.0 cm to 6.0 cm, with a mean value of 3.1 cm. The signal intensity of these lesions was characteristically heterogeneous on SE T1WI, TSE PDWI, and TSE T2WI, and the whole signal was similar to that of muscles on SE T1WI and TSE PDWI, but a little higher on TSE T2WI. Prominent low signal intensity on T2WI because of deposition of hemosiderin was found within 14 lesions, and 9 of 15 lesions showed characteristically low signal marginal rim. Conclusion MRI features of the localized intra-articular form of PVNS include a well-defined solitary nodule or mass locating in the infra-patellar fat pad, heterogeneous signal intensity, and prominent interior focal low signal or peripheral low signal rim on T2WI.

The incidence of open-angle glaucoma has been rising year after year in China, which has caught much at-tention from ophthalmologists.There are various methods to evaluate the disease progression of an open-angle glaucoma pa-tient.These methods can be divided into two classes:functional assessment and structural assessment.We survey these two classes of methods in this paper.

Diabetic macular edema (DME) is thickening retina with two disc diameter,which is the leading cause of blindness in diabetic retinopathy patients.The initial studies demonstrated that laser treatment of DME prevented further visual deterioration but did not improve visual acuity.Although glucocorticoid slow-release system can extend the time of effective drug concentration,to help glucocorticoid better carry out its biological effect,further studies are needed to warrant their safety due to increasing intraocular pressure and cataract progression.Novel studies identifying the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the eye with DME allowed for the development of an alternative anti-VEGF therapy,which revolutionized the management of DME by not only preventing vision loss,but also improving overall vision.Anti-VEGF therapy is becoming the first-line treatment of DME.However,present treatment modalities including anti-VEGF for DME had limitations,which build on the current understanding of DME pathogenesis.Further in-depth study of the development and outcome of DME is needed to optimize the therapeutic schemes,based on objective and scientific observation of treatment response.Finally we need to fully utilize the public health services and clinical management resources for diabetic patients,to prevent the visual impairment of DME before its occurrence.

Ubiquitin plays a vital role in both protein degradation and many kinds of cellular functions, such as DNA damage repair, cell cycle regulation, cell growth and immune system function.Ubiquitin modiifed enzyme zinc ifnger protein A20 is considered to be an important gateway for the regulation of immune and inlfammatory responses, which is a key negative regulator in NF-κB signaling pathway. Dendritic cell (DC) is a full-time antigen presenting cell that identifies inflammatory response or pathogenic microorganism by multiple receptors, and is a key moderator for immunity homeostasis. Researches in recent years showed that A20 plays an important role in regulating the function of DC, which may take part in the occurrence and development of inlfammatory bowel disease. In this article, the regulation of A20 in the immunoregulation of DC and its function on the pathogenesis of inlfammatory bowel disease were reviewed.

Objective To discuss incidence and related risk factors of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) after acute subcortical infarction (SI).Methods One hundred and eighty-two patients with acute SI were divided into two groups:VCI group (81 cases) and no-VCI group ( 101 cases) according to VCI diagnostic standard.Sex proportion,age,culture degree between two groups were compared,and correlation was analyzed between the quantity of risk factors and the incidence of VCI.Results The incidence of VCI after acute SI was 44.5％(81/182).According to age stratification,the incidence of VCI in the patients of 56-65 years was 35.4％ (23/65),in the patients of 66-75 years was 45.3％ (48/106),and in the patients of 76-85 years was 90.9％ (10/11 ).The age in VCI group was significantly higher than that in no-VCI group [(69.93 ±6.91) years vs. (67.62 ±5.56) years,P =0.014],and culture degree was significantly lower than that in no-VCI group (P =0.028).The sex proportion between two groups had no significant difference (P =0.876).The more accompanying risk factors,the higher incidence of VCI.Conclusions Along with the increase of age,the incidence of VCI after acute SI is higher.The more accompanying risk factors,the higher incidence of VCI.

AIM:To determine whether imperatorin would enhance the effect of doxorubicin therapy on cervi -cal cancer in vitro.METHODS:The viability of HeLa cells treated with imperatorin and doxorubicin was determined by MTT assay in vitro.The expression of Bcl-2 protein family ( Mcl-1, Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bad and Bax ) in HeLa cells treated with imperatorin and doxorubicin was evaluated by Western blot analysis .The apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane poten-tial (ΔΨm ) in the HeLa cells treated with imperatorin and doxorubicin were analyzed by flow cytometry .A Mcl-1 expres-sion vector was constructed , and its role in the cytotoxicity of imperatorin plus doxorubicin to HeLa cells was detected by MTT assay.RESULTS: Addition of imperatorin significantly enhanced the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin to HeLa cells in vitro.Mcl-1 expression was down-regulated by imperatorin but was not influenced by doxorubicin in the HeLa cells .A com-bination of imperatorin and doxorubicin induced apoptosis and ΔΨm collapse more significantly compared with the treatment with imperatorin or doxorubicin alone .Furthermore, the imperatorin-induced sensitization for doxorubicin cytotoxicity to HeLa cells was abolished by the transfection with Mcl-1 expression plasmid .CONCLUSION:The combination of doxoru-bicin with imperatorin enhances the antitumor effect of doxorubicin on cervical cancer cells via targeting Mcl -1.