BACKGROUND: Gong's nonverbal intelligence test(GNIT) is a nonverbal and cross-cultural test of intelligence designed primarily to suit the use in the minority groups and those with linguistic difficulties by Professor Gong Yao-xian. At present 5 unified norms of the minority groups as well as norms of Chinese Han children and adult aged below 55 years have been developed, but the norms for the elderly above 56 years of age are not available. Nonverbal intelligence test is especially suitable for the elderly and has therefore wide applications.OBJECTIVE: To establish regional norms of the GNIT for healthy elderly people above 56 to enable the completion of nonverbal intelligence test norms suitable for each age groups.DESIGN: A controlled study with stratified sampling of healthy elderly retirees over 56 years of age in the community.SETTING: Department of Physiology in Medical College of Henan University of Science and Technology; Center for Psychology, Xiangya Second Hospital,Central South University.PARTICIPANTS: Healthy elderly retirees above 56 years of age in Luoyang cityor the counties were selected on a voluntary basis with stratified sampling according to the proportion of each region. The selected subjects aged between 56 and 101 years, and 8 age groups were divided at the interval of 5 years(about 200 people in each age group). Totally 1 460 subjects were selected, including 679 male and 781 female subjects.METHODS: With the instruments and manual of GNIT, the subjects were tested for color identification, classification, blank-filling with numbers or graphs, characters and encoding tests. The results were original scores, scale scores and intelligence quotient.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The norms of GNIT for the elderly above 56 years of age.RESULTS: The norms included three scores, namely the original scores, scale scores and standard deviation scores. To test of reliability and validity of the norms, retest was performed in 40 1 or 2 weeks after the initial test, resulting in the test-retest reliability coefficient ranging from 0.59 to 0. 89, with the total test-retest reliability coefficient of 0.83. The correlation coefficients the original scores between the subtests ranged from 0. 35 to 0. 63, and the correlation coefficients between the standard deviation scores of the verbal intelligence quotient(VIQ), performance intelligence quotient(PIQ) and full intelligence quotient(FIQ) of Wechster intelligence scale for children(WAIC-RC) were 0.43,0.51 and 0.54 respectiyely, based on a study of a sample of 50 elderly subjects.CONCLUSION: Primary regional norms of GNIT for elderly subjects above 56 years of age have been established to measure mainly the perception and reasoning factors loaded with also visual motor psychological factors and abstract summary factors, with satisfactory reliability and validity equivalent to similar tests.

OBJECTIVETo explore beryllium oxide induced oxidative lung injury and the protective effects of LBP.

METHODSIntoxication of animals were induced by once intratracheal injection and LBP intervention by intragastric administration. The content of HIF-1, VEGF and HO-1 of lung tissues were measured by kits. The pathological changes of lung tissue were showed by pathological section. The changes of lung ultrastructure were observed by electron microscope.

RESULTSPathological changes of the lung tissue in beryllium oxide exposure group rats were in line with the characteristics of beryllium disease in human. Compared with the control group, HO-1 was increased in beryllium oxide exposure 40 d group and low doses of LBP group, compared with the control group, HO-1 was increased in beryllium oxide exposure 80d group and LBP treatment groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, HIF-1 was increased in beryllium oxide exposure 40 d group, LBP treatment groups, beryllium oxide exposure 60 d and 80 d groups (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared with the control group, VEGF was increased of all phases, especially in beryllium oxide exposure 40d and 80 groups, LBP treatment groups and beryllium oxide exposure 60 d (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The content of HO-1 of beryllium oxide exposure group was higher than the LBP treatment for 40d group but below LBP treatment for 80 d group (P < 0.05). The content of HIF1 of beryllium oxide exposure group was higher than high dose of LBP treatment for 60d group and LBP treatment for 80 d group (P < 0.01). The content of VEGF of beryllium oxide exposure group was higher than LBP treatment for 40 d group and high dose of LBP treatment for 60 d (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSBeO can cause abnormal expression of related genes of lung tissue in rats, LBP has protective effects on BeO caused lung injury.

Acute Lung Injury ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Acute-Phase Proteins ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Beryllium ; toxicity ; Carrier Proteins ; pharmacology ; Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) ; metabolism ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit ; metabolism ; Lung ; drug effects ; pathology ; Membrane Glycoproteins ; pharmacology ; Oxidative Stress ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; metabolism

Humans ; Soft Tissue Neoplasms ; Mesenchymoma/diagnostic imaging* ; Paraneoplastic Syndromes/pathology*