Rho(Ras homologue) family play an import ant role in intracellular signal-transduction pathways. Not until recently have they been found to overexpress in many kinds of tumors such as testicular germ cell tumor,colorectal tumor,breast cancer,ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and prostate cancer and been linked to the tumorigenesis and metastasis. So the members of the Rho family of small guanosine triphosphatases would be new marker s for tumor diagnosis、new markers for the prediction of metastatic potential an d new important prognostic factors. Moreover,they have the potential as therape utic targets for the prevention of cancer invasion and metastasis. In this artic le, we review the recent progress in this field.

ObjectiveTo study the protection of Chinese herbs on the ischemic brain of rats. Methods 75 Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups, Group 1 for false operation. For the other four groups, the common carotid artery was exposed then was ligatured and cut off, Group 2 for model. From the 20th hour after operation on,Group 3, 4, 5 were fed with complex prescription of Chinese medicine named Prescription 1, 2 and 3 once a day respectively. 3 hours after taking medicine, Groups 2-5 were put in the hypoxia environment for 1 hours, then taking the medicine for 7 days. On the 7th day after operation,the blood was taken from R. atria then the rats were killed and the whole right brains were cut off. Malonaldehyde (MDA), notric oxide synthetase (NOS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the brain tissue and serum, and calcium in the brain were measured respectively. ResultsThe three prescriptions can decrease the quantity of MDA both in brain tissue and serum and the calcium in brain tissue(P<0.05-0.001).Prescription 1 can enhance the activity of SOD in brain tissue while the others can decrease the activity of NOS. The hippocampus cells show tidy, and the number of the necrotic cells decrease greatly among them, Groups 4 and 5 are better than Group 3.Conclusions Prescriptions 1-3 can protect the brain tissue of the rat form ischemic brain injury.

Objective To explore the mechanisms of recovery from aphasia by using speech-activated single photon emission computed tomography(SPECT)brain imaging.Methods The SPECT brain imaging of 7 aphasic patients caused by various brain disorders were performed while they were at rest and performing oral reading,respec- tively,with an one-day interval.A semi-quantitative analysis of regional cerebral blood flow(rCBF)was conducted using region of interesting(ROI).The change of rCBF before and after reading was calculated and compared to ana- lyze the role of both hemispheres in the recovery from aphasia.Results It was found that the activation pattern of brain region was associated with the speech performance of the patients.The activated brain regions were mainly loca- ted at the left hemisphere in 5 patients whose reading capacity was relatively better,and mainly at the right hemi- sphere in the other 2 patients who had poor performance in reading.Conclusion After a focal lesion of the left hemisphere,the recovery of speech function might be mainly attributed to the repair of the damaged left hemisphere language network.When the left-hemispheric centers were permanently impaired,the brain would recruit some right- hemisphere regions for speech processing,but this strategy was less effective than the repair of the original speech-rel- evant network.

Equipment Failure ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pacemaker, Artificial

Objective To understand the sleeping time and the prevalence of sleep disturbances in children aged 3-12 years in Wuxi city.Methods Two thousand and three hundred seventy six children aged 3-12 years were investigated with questionnaires from June to September 2003.Results The average sleep time of 1 day in each age group was 11.61,10.91,10.68,10.27,9.81, 9.67,9.61,9.57,9.60,9.61 hours, respectively. The total prevalence of sleep disturbance was 25.5%. Among them, the sleep snoring prevalence was 7.8%; choke/gargling was 0.63%;mouth breathing was 6.6%;sleep apnea was 0.34%;rubbing teeth was 7.7%;sleep talking was 4.2%;somnambulate was 0.63%;enuresis was 1.4%;limber spasm was 3.2%;sleep inquietude was 6.2%。Conclusion Prevalence of sleep disturbance in children age 3-12 years was high and sleep time was shorter in Wuxi than that in other cities.

Objective To study the protective effect of peperphentonamine hydrochloride (PPTA) on the cochlea afferent nerve system damage induced by gentamicin (GM) of guinea pigs. Methods Thirty-six health guinea pigs were randomly divided into three groups:the normal group with saline; GM group with muscle injection of GM [100 mg/(kg·d),14 d] and PPTA group with peritoneal injection of PPTA [10 mg/(kg·d),14 d] on the ABR was analyzed , and the expression of Caspase-3 was tested by Western blot. TUNEL (after coloration)was performed to observe the apoptotic index,and its morphological changes were observed by TEM. Results After trial, the threshold of control group, GM group, PPTA group were 14.58 ± 1.16, 65.95 ± 1.17, 36.13 ± 1.17;the apoptosis index: 1.09 ± 0.14, 23.17 ± 0.88, 8.84 ± 0.49; the Caspase-3:1.09 ± 0.11, 2.55 ± 0.20, 1.67 ± 0.07. There were significantly difference among three groups (P<0.05). Morphological changes: cells apoptosis and the synapase were damaged seriously in GM group; the injury was less serious in PPTA group. Conclusion PPTA plays a protective role on GM-induced cochlea afferent nerve system damage of guinea pigs.

Objective To inject PPTA into the cochlea of guinea pigs through scala tympani fenestration ,to study the protective effect of PPTA injection on the cochlear damage induced by gentamicin and mechanism of oxy-gen free radical .Methods Randomly divided were the guinea pigs with normal hearing into three groups :the con-trol group ,GM group and PPTA group .We injected the artificial perilymph 10μl /d into cochlea through scala tym-pani fenestration on control group for 3 days ,injected GM 160 mg · kg -1 · d-1 on GM group for 3 days ,injected the PPTA 10 μl /d into the cochlea through scala tympani fenestration and injected GM 160 mg · kg -1 · d-1 at the same time on PPTA group for 3 days .We tested ABR and analyzed the hearing changes .We tested the OFR level reacted by SOD and GSH of the cochlea tissue .SEM and TEM were performed to observe the change of cell mor-phology .Results For ABR ,the control group was 12 .75 ± 3 .796 ,GM group 28 .230 ± 4 .953 ,PPTA group23 .47 ±9 .211 dB SPL(P<0 .05) .For SOD ,the normal group was 50 .241 ± 9 .080 ,GM group 28 .230 ± 4 .953 ,PPTA group 43 .089 ± 4 .587 U/mgprot(P<0 .05) .For GSH ,the normal group was 3 .03 ± 0 .33 ,GM group 1 .51 ± 0 .13 ,PP-TA group 2 .50 ± 0 .16 Ggsh/L(P<0 .05) .The changes of hair cells of PPTA group were obviously less severe than that of GM group .For TEM ,the changes of spiral ganglion and stria vascularis of PPTA group were obviously less severe than that of GM group .Conclusion Injecting PPTA through scala tympani fenestration can protect cochlea by generating the excess of OFR when confronting against GM .

Objective To provide anatomical basis for lateral antebrachial neurocutaneous flap pedi-cled with inferior cubital artery perforator in repairing tissue defects around elbow joint. Methods Thirty embalmed upper limbs of adult cadavers perfused with red latex were used for this study, and followings were observed:①The course and distribution of lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve; ②Anastomoses between inferior cubital artery and nutrient vessels of lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve. Mimic operation was performed on other side of fresh specimen. Results ①The main trunk of lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (LACN) lined in the radial forearm and distributed in the 1/3 region of lateral forearm. ①The nutritional vessels of the flap were plurisegmental and polyphyletic. The inferior cubital artery which was relatively constant reached to skin through "V"-shaped peak formed by communicating branches of cephalic vein and deep venous system. They also gave off large number of small veins, which closely aligned with perineural branches and neural stem vascular chain of lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve. Conclusion The lateral antebrachial neurocutaneos flap pedicled with inferior cubital artery perforator can be formed to repaire tissue defects around elbow joint.

OBJECTIVE Epidemic diseases have been recorded in traditional chinese medicine(TCM) for a long time,this paper describes the cognition of TCM on treatment and prevention for epidemic diseases.METHODS This topic was discussed from etiology,pathogenesis,and the process of epidemic diseases in TCM.TCM holds that the occurrence of epidemic diseases is the result of the combined effects of the seasonal and environmental factors,and the internal factor of human body and the epidemic pathogenic factors play the same important role in the process of epidemic diseases.The diagnosis patterns of syndrome differentiation were six meridians,differentiation of Wei,Qi,Ying,and blood,and syndrome differentiation of Sanjiao.RESULTS TCM emphasizes the harmful effects of pathogenic factors on human body,while it pays more attention to the sufficiency of vital Qi defeating the pathogenic factors and the maintenance of human body positive vital Qi.Beside the treatment method,also have some preventive methods been described in TCM,such as different sterilization methods.CONCLUSIONS TCM has its unique system in struggle against epidemic diseases.It is useful and effective in preventing and treating the epidemic diseases.