Objective To determine whether treatment with Gliclazide (Diamicron) is able to prevent development of microvascular complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods This trial was carried out in seven centers of the National Diabetes Mellitus Collaborative Study Group. Two hundred and eighty five patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited from six areas of China and divided into Gliclazide group (n=155) and Glibenclamide group (n=130). Age, sex, duration of diabetes and body mass index were recorded at entry. Fasting and 2h postprandial blood glucose were measured monthly while HbA 1c was determined at 3 month interval. Retinal photography and fluorescein angiography were performed in the 1st and 3rd year.Results There were no significant differences in age, sex, blood pressure, duration of diabetes, mean blood glucose and HbA 1c between the Gliclazide and Glibenclamide groups at baseline, in the 2nd and 3rd follow up year. There were no significant differences in retinopathy between the two groups at baseline, but at the end of the 3rd year, the subjects in Gliclazide group with retinopathy progression over one grade were significantly less than those in Glibenclamide group (2.58% vs 18.46%, P

Objective To investigate the value of procalcitonin (PCT) on predicting the severity and prognosis in patients with early acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).Methods A prospective observation study was conducted. A total of 113 patients with ARDS undergoing mechanical ventilation admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Affiliated People's Hospital ofJiangsu University from October 2012 to April 2016 were enrolled. Based on oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2), the patients were classified into mild, moderate, and severe groups according to Berlin Definition. Twenty-five healthy volunteers were served as controls. Demographics, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation Ⅱ (APACHE Ⅱ) score, and Murray lung injury score were recorded. Within 24 hours after diagnosis of ARDS, the serum levels of PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) were determined by enzyme-linked fluorescence analysis (ELFA) and immune turbidimetric method, respectively. The patients were also divided into survival and non-survival groups according to clinical outcome within 28-day follow-up, and the clinical data were compared between the two groups. Spearman rank correlationwas applied to determine the correlation between variables. The predictive value of the parameters on 28-day mortality was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC). Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis was used to compare different PCT levels of patients with 28-day cumulative survival rate. Results After excluding patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria and loss to follow-up, the final 89 patients were enrolled in the analysis. Among 89 ARDS patients analyzed, 27 of them were mild, 34 moderate, and 28 severe ARDS. No significant differences were found in age and gender between ARDS and healthy control groups. Infection and trauma were the most common etiology of ARDS (55.1% and 34.8%, respectively). Compared with healthy control group, both CRP and PCT in serum of ARDS group were higher [CRP (mg/L): 146.32 (111.31, 168.49) vs. 6.08 (4.47, 7.89), PCT (μg/L): 3.46 (1.98, 5.56) vs. 0.02 (0.01, 0.04), bothP < 0.01], and the two showed sustained upward trends with the ARDS course of disease. Compared with mild group, severe group had significantly higher APACHE Ⅱ and Murray scores. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that both serum PCT and CRP in patients with ARDS was correlated well with APACHE Ⅱ score (r values were 0.669 and 0.601, respectively, bothP < 0.001), while PCT was weakly but positively correlated with Murray score (r = 0.294,P = 0.005), but not the case of CRP (r = 0.203,P = 0.052). APACHE Ⅱ score and serum PCT in non-survival group (n = 38) were significantly higher than those of the survival group [n = 51; APACHE Ⅱ score: 26.00 (23.00, 28.50) vs. 21.00 (17.00, 25.00), PCT (μg/L): 6.38 (2.82, 9.49) vs. 3.09 (1.08, 3.57), both P < 0.01], but Murray score and CRP level were similar between survivors and non-survivors. The areas under ROC curve (AUC) of APACHE Ⅱ score and PCT for predicting 28-day mortality were 0.781 and 0.793, respectively, which were better than those of AUC of Murray score and CRP (0.606 and 0.561, respectively, allP < 0.05). The AUC of APACHE Ⅱ score combined with PCT was significantly higher than that of PCT (0.859 vs. 0.793,P = 0.048) or APACHE Ⅱ score alone (0.859 vs. 0.781,P = 0.038). Using a PCT cut-off value of > 4.35μg/L for predicting 28-day mortality, the sensitivity and specificity was 92.2% and 63.2%, respectively, and the positive and negative likelihood ratios were 2.50 and 0.12 respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis indicated that the patients whose PCT more than 4.35μg/L, had lower 28-day cummulative survival rate as compared with those with PCT ≤ 4.35μg/L (log-rank test: χ2 = 5.013,P = 0.025).Conclusion The elevated serum PCT level in patients with ARDS seems to be correlated well with the severity of lung injury, and appears to be a useful prognostic marker of outcome in the early phases of ARDS.

Objective To evaluate the CT and MR features of renal oncocytoma in order to improve the ability for recognition and ima-gingdiagnosis.Methods The CT and MR findings of renal oncocytoma in 12 patients proved by pathology were retrospectively analyzed.Results CT scans were performed in 12 patients,one of which was accompanied with the contralateral renal angiomyoliptoma.In all lesions, seven were in the right kidney and five in the left.The lesions were round or oval in shape with the diameter 1.5 cm-12.3 cm.On pre-contrast scan,the homogeneous density was found in 3,calcification in 2,and central scar tissue in 5.On post-contrast images,the parenchyma of tumor was obviously enhanced in the cortical phase.However,the enhancement was attenuated in the parenchymal phase.Seven patients underwent MRI at the same time,exhibiting iso-or hypointensity on T1 WI in 4 and heterogenous hyperintensity on T2 WI in 5.Dynamic contrast enhanced MRI demonstrated homogenous enhancement in 1 and heterogenous enhancement in others with delayed enhancement of the central scar.Conclusion Most renal oncocytomas show certain characteristics on CT or MRI, which are helpful for preoperative diagnosis and surgical therapy.

Objective To study the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells modified by brain-derived neuro-trophic factor ( BDNF) gene on the repair of spinal cord injury by electrophysiological assay .Methods Thirty healthy Spra-gue-Dawley rats (male and female) were randomly divided into 3 groups:Blank group, 10 rats (removal of the lamina only and exposed spinal dura mater );spinal cord injury (SCI) group,10 rats;and cell transplantation after SCI group , 10 rats. Eight rats of them were selected randomly and detected their SEP and MEP , and evaluated the degree of recovery of motor scores in the rats at 1 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d, 30 d, and 60 d.Result Since 4 days after cell transplantation , the process of hind limbs changes was as follows:at the 1-4 days after injury , the injury side hind limb had flaccid paralysis , mopping the floor walk, the movement of contralateral hind limb was gradually recovered from the initial injury , the injury side hind limb had spastic paralysis in 5-9 days after SCI;during 10-14 days, the injury side had a few activities;the contralateral side re-covered to a less normal state;At 15-21 days, activities of the injury side improved obviously , until the 30th day.The activ-ity and muscle tension degree of the injury side recovered most obviously .After 30 days no more obvious improvement was ob-served.Immunohistochemistry showed that the transplanted mesenchymal stem cells , which were induced and labeled firstly , survived at the damage spinal cord , and behavioral observation found that the cell transplantation improved exercise capacity of the rats injured before .Conclusion Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells modified by BDNF gene can partially promote the recovery of nerve transmission function and nerve regeneration .

[Objective] To construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid containing a gene encoding a 41-3 kilodalton blood stage antigen (p41-3) of Plasmodiu falciparum isolate FCC1/HN, and to determine the sequence of p41-3 gene and analyze the homology of the sequences of 341-3 gene of different P. falciparum isolates. [ Methods] Two pairs of primers were designed according to the known sequence of p41-3 gene. Using PCR technique, the p41-3 gene was obtained by amplification from genomic DNA of isolate FCC1/HN. By cloning target gene into a eukaryotic expression vector, pcDNA3, a recombinant plasmid pcDNA3-p41-3 was con structed and trarsferred into E. coli DH5α. The positive clones were screened and identified by agarose gel electrophoresis, endonu clease digestion and PCR technique. The correct recombinant plasmid pcDNA3-p41-3 was used as template, and the nucleotide se quence of p41-3 gene was determined by the dideoxy chain termination method. Using softwares to analyze the structure and sequence homology of p41-3 gene between isolate FCC1/HN and FCBR. [Results] The p41-3 gene was specifically amplified from genomic DNA of Plasmodiumm falciparum isolate FCC1/HN, and the correct recombinant plasmid pcDNA3-p41-3 was screened and identi fied. The result of sequence determination showed that the p41-3 gene of isolate FCC1/HN was 2 137 base pairs in full length, encod ing 375 amino acids. Isolate FCC1/HN and isolate FCBR exhibited 98.98 % homology in the nucleiotide sequences and 99.73 % ho mology in the encoded anino acids of p41-3 gene. [Conclusion] The eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3-p41-3 is successfully con structed and nucleotide sequence of p41-3 gene of isolate FCC1/HN is determined. The p41-3 genes of isolate FCC1/HN and isolate FCBR share quite high homology.

Objective To determine the influence of continuous mild sedation versus usual sedation on the sedative effect and inflammatory factor level in ICU patients with multiple trauma.Methods In this prospective, randomized double-blind investigation, 58 multiple trauma patients hospitalized from October 2013 to April 2015 were randomized into continuous mild sedation group (continuous group, n =30) and conventional sedation group (conventional group, n =28) using the sealed envelopes.Between-group differences were made on the duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay in the ICU, ratio of inception of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), tracheotomy rate, accidental extubation rate, sepsis rate, multiple organ failure (MOF) rate and mortality.Serum inflammatory factor levels of the patients were recorded.Results There were 3 deaths (10％) in continuous group versus 4 deaths (14％) in conventional group (P ＞ 0.05).Patients in continuous group showed significantly less time spent on mechanical ventilation [(4.8 ±2.7) vs.(8.9 ±3.1)d] and in the ICU [(10.7 ± 5.4) vs.(16.9 ± 7.3) d] compared with conventional group (P ＜ 0.01).Between-group differences were insignificant regarding the ratio of CRRT inception, tracheotomy rate, accidental extubation rate, sepsis rate and MOF rate (P ＞ 0.05).Serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, Creactive protein (CRP) were lower in continuous group than those in conventional group at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post-ICU, but significant differences were only observed at 48 h (P ＜ 0.05).At these time periods, serum IL-10 levels in continuous group were significantly higher than those in conventional group (P ＜0.05).In receiver operative characteristic curve (ROC) analysis, the area under the curve for IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and CRP in continuous group was 0.726, 0.608, 0.729 and 0.757 respectively at 48 h post-ICU, indicating a predictive value of these markers for sepsis.Conclusion Continuous mild sedation results in shortened length of stay in the ICU and decreased inflammatory response in the treatment of patients with multiple trauma.

A novel method was developed for the rapid determination of multi-indicators in corni fructus by means of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) based least squares support vector machine was investigated to increase the levels of quality control. The calibration models of moisture, extractum, morroniside and loganin were established using the PSO-LS-SVM algorithm. The performance of PSO-LS-SVM models was compared with partial least squares regression (PLSR) and back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN). The calibration and validation results of PSO-LS-SVM were superior to both PLS and BP-ANN. For PSO-LS-SVM models, the correlation coefficients (r) of calibrations were all above 0.942. The optimal prediction results were also achieved by PSO-LS-SVM models with the RMSEP (root mean square error of prediction) and RSEP (relative standard errors of prediction) less than 1.176 and 15.5% respectively. The results suggest that PSO-LS-SVM algorithm has a good model performance and high prediction accuracy. NIR has a potential value for rapid determination of multi-indicators in Corni Fructus.

Objective:To evaluate the outcomes of lesser arc perilunate injuries (Perilunate disloca-tions)treated with arthroscopically assisted mini-invasive reduction and fixation.Methods:Between 2012 and 2014,5 patients who had a perilunate dislocation were treated with arthroscopically assisted re-duction and percutaneous fixation.The mean follow-up was 17.8 months (range,10 to 32 months). Clinical outcomes were evaluated on the basis of range of motion;grip strength;Mayo wrist score;Quick disabilities of the arm,shoulder and hand questionnaire;and patient-rated wrist evaluation score.Radio-graphic evaluations included carpal alignments and any development of arthritis.Results:The range of flexion-extension motion of injured wrist averaged 84% of the values for contralateral wrist.The grip strength of the injured wrist averaged 90% of the values for the contralateral wrists.The mean Quick Disabilities of the arm,shoulder and hand score was 1 ,and the mean Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation score was 5 .According to the Mayo wrist scores,the overall functional outcomes were rated as excellent in all the patients.Reduction obtained during the operation was maintained within normal ranges in all the patients.Arthritis had not developed in any patient at the end of the follow-up.Conclusion:Arthroscopic mini-invasive reduction with percutaneous fixation is a reliable and favorable alternative in the treatment of perilunate dislocations according to our early results.

0.05). Conclusions There is no difference in immune responses to rectal cancer patients undergoing laparoscopic total mesorectal excision with anal sphincter preservation and those having open surgery.

Objective To understand the primary structure and potential antigenic epitopes of antigen Pf332(Ag332) of P.falciparum iso late FCC1/HN.Methods　Based on the published Pf332 gene sequence , nine pairs of primers were designed for the PCR amplification of the Pf332 gen e fragments from genomic DNA of P.falciparum isolate FCC1/HN. The amplified gene fragments were subcloned into pMD-18T vectors and sequenced. The sequences were aligned using DNAstar software to obtain the full-length sequence of the gene Pf332. The primary structure and sequence homology of Ag332 were analyzed by SAPS, Tmpred, SingalP and Blastn programs. Three fragments, R0, R1 and R2, cor responding to nt#9595-10083, nt#10339-10767 and nt#10855-11247 of Pf332 gene were subcloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3-S separately. The Balb/c mice were immunized with pcDNA3-S-R0, pcDNA3-S-R1 and pcDNA3- S-R2 separately, and the expressions of the recombinant proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry assay. The protective immune responses elicited by DNA I mmunization were analyzed by ELISA and parasite growth inhibition tests in vitro .Results　Nine Pf332 gene fragments were specifically amplif ied, subcloned into pMD-18T vectors and sequenced. Pf332 gene of the P.falci parum isolate FCC1/HN was 16,377 bp in length, encoding a protein of 5,458 ami no acids, about 615.28kDa. The Ag332 contains 17 regions of highly degenerated Glu-rich repeats, with 30.18% Glu in total amino acids of Ag332. Ag332 of P.falciparum isolate FCC1/HN and 3D7 exhibited 94.55 % homology in amino acid residues. The results of immunohischemistry assay showed that R0, R1 and R2 were expressed in mice muscle tissue. The amount of IgG antibody of the groups immu nized with pcDNA3-S-R0, pcDNA3-S-R1 and pcDNA3-S-R2 were higher than those of blank and pcDNA3 groups (P＜0.05). The result of parasite growth inhibition test showed that the immunized sera at 1∶5 dilution of groups of pcDNA3-S-R0, pcDNA3-S-R1 and pcDNA3-S-R2 had an incomplete inhibitor y effect on P.falciparum growth. Conclusion　The antigen Pf332 is an large protein containing highly degenerated Glu-rich repeats. Pf332 gene fragments, R1 and R2 encoding potent antigenic epitope repeats.