Background Heideberg retina tomography Ⅱ(HRTⅡ) can offer the quantitative description of optic disc topography and optic nerve fiber layer thickness.The normal optic disc parameter by HRT Ⅱ from Chinese has been reported,but the comparisons between males and females or the left and right eyes are lack.ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to measure the optic disc topography of healthy people with HRT-Ⅱ.Methods Four hundreds eyes from 108 healthy male subjects and 92 healthy female subjects aged 10-72 years were measured with HRT Ⅱ in this study.The parameters of optic disc including disc area,cup area,rim area,cup/disc area ratio,rim/disc area ratio,cup volume,rim volume,cup depth,maximal cup depth,height variation,mean RNFL thickness,and RNFL cross-sectional area were analyzed and compared between the gender or left and right eyes.Oral informed consent was obtained from all of the subjects before this procedure.Results There were no significant differences in measuring parameters by HRTⅡ between female and male subjects (P＞0.05) or between right eye and left eye (P＞0.05).Conclusion The results can be used as a normal reference of optic disc parameters of HRT Ⅱ.

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the value of △Np63α in predicting tumor recurrence after curative resection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients.Methods We analyzed △Np63α protein cxpression in 304 clinicopathologically characterized ESCC cases by immunohistochemistry.Results We found △Np63α expression was positive in 122 (40％) of 304 cases.△Np63α expression was higher in the cancer tissue than in non-tumorous control tissue at protein level(P =0.034).There was a significant difference of △Np63α expression in patients categorized according to invasive depth (P =0.001),tumor position (P =0.001) and lymph nodes metastasis condition (P =0.001).Multivariate analyses showed that △Np63α was an independent prognostic marker for ESCC recurrence.Conclusion △Np63α is associated with outcome of ESCC and can be a novel predictor for poor prognosis of ESCC patients after curative resection.

Objective To evaluate the role of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of neonatal pneumonia.Methods From April to October 2015, 100 neonates admitted to the Neonatal Department of Xi′an Children′s Hospital underwent lung ultrasound, using the 12 regions method. All intercostal spaces of the upper and lower parts of the anterior, lateral, and posterior regions of the left and right lung were examined. Arterial blood gas analysis parameters of each case were recorded at the same time, including arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PO2), arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2), pH value and oxygen saturation (SO2). A skilled sonographer analyzed the ultrasound images before being aware of the patient′s clinical condition. According to the ifndings, the patients were classiifed into 2 groups: neonatal pneumonia group and non-pneumonia group. All the patients with neonatal pneumonia underwent lung ultrasound score (LUS), and the correlation between LUS and PO2, PCO2, pH value and SO2 was analyzed.Results A ifnal diagnosis of neonatal pneumonia was conifrmed in 62/100 patients. The ultrasonographic manifestations of neonatal pneumonia were as follows: rocket sign (33/62 patients, 53%), ground-glass sign (35/62 patients, 56%) , waterfall sign (31/62 patients, 50%), white lung (8/62 patients, 13%), subpleural lung consolidation (35/62 patients, 56%), pleural line abnormalities (26/62 patients, 41%), pleural effusion (7/62 patients, 11%), atelectasis (3/62 patients, 4%) , and pneumothorax (1/62 patients, 1%). The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of lung ultrasound in the diagnosis of neonatal pneumonia was 96.77%, 86.84%, 93.00% of 92.30%, of 94.28%, respectively. The correlation coefficients between LUS and PO2, PCO2, pH value, SO2 were-0.82, 0.64,-0.58,-0.74,P<0.05, respectively.ConclusionLung ultrasound is a reliable tool for diagnosing neonatal pneumonia with high sensitivity, with high practical value in assisting clinicians to carry out appropriate treatment in combination with LUS.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the pathogenic bacteria distribution and susceptibility of lower respiratory tract infection in patients in our respiratory ward.METHODS All the clinical isolates from sputum or secretion of lower respiratory tract from 2003 to 2007 were analyzed retrospectively.RESULTS A total of 1529 clinical isolates were collected,including 1326 strains of Gram-negative bacilli(86.7%) and 203 strains of Gram-positive cocci(13.3%).The proportion of Gram-negative bacilli was higher in lung underlying diseases group when compared with non-lung underlying diseases.Haemophilus parainfluenzae and H.influenzae were susceptible to spectinonycin,doxycycline and third-generation cephalosporins.Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumanni were susceptible to meropenem,cefoperazone/sulbactam and cefepime.Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli were susceptible to meropenem,cefoperazone/sulbactam and amikacin.The major Gram-positive isolates were highly resistant to azithromycin,erythromycin,penicillin.All Staphylococcus aureus isolates were susceptible to vancomycin.Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were highly susceptible to meropenem,levofloxacin,cefazolin and vancomycin.CONCLUSIONS Infection caused by Gram-negative bacilli are predominant in lower respiratory tract infection patients,especially in the patients with lung underlying diseases.Antibiotics resistance of some pathogens become increasingly severe.Therefore,the rational use of antibiotics is important for the containment of bacterial resistance.

BACKGROUND: Epidural block(EB) is one of the effective and widely used remedies for lumbar disc herniation(LDH) . Animal experiments have been conducted to study the changes in the local tissue structure in the spinal canel after several treatments with EB.OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of EB for LDH on the local tissue structures in the spinal canel.DESIGN: A non-randomized and controlled clinical observation.PARTICIPANTS: Department of Pathology and Laboratory of Electron Microscope of an Affiliated Hospital of a University.SUBJECTS: Forty patients with LDP, who failed to respond to EB treatment and subsequently received discectomy in the Department of Orthopaedics,First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from May 1992 to December 1997, were enrolled in this study, with 20 patients receiving discectomy but not EB treatment serving as the control group.METHODS: From the 60 cases, totally 120 specimens of yellow ligament and the disc tissues were obtained during discectomy for optical microscopical examination. A portion of the yellow ligament and the lumbar disc tissues were chosen from EB group(12 cases) and non-EB group(10 cases), respectively, for electron microscope examination(involving altogether 44specimens) . The changes in histology and ultrastructnres in the specimens were compared between the two groups.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Main results: the reactive proliferation of the tunica adventitia and inflammatory reaction of the intervertebral disc and yellow ligament; ② Secondary results: changes in the ultrastructure of the anulus fibrosus, nucleus pulposus and yellow ligament.RESULTS: No significant difference was found between the two groups either in light microscopy or electron microscopy in the degree of smoothness and the inflammatory reaction of the cavosurface of the yellow ligament and the disc tissues, nor in the cellular ultrastructures and fibrous arrangement.CONCLUSION: There is no direct relationship between lumbar EB and epidural scar adhesion formation. EB does not affect the ultrastructures of the local tissues in the spinal canal, but care must be taken of the sterilization in the surgical procedure, as chronic inflammatory reaction in the yellow ligament and disc tissues can be present in some patients.

AIM　In order to improve the biological activity and reduce the side effects and toxicity, a series of novel estrogen receptor antagonists were designed. METHODS　The key triphenylethylene intermediates were obtained by the McMurry reaction. The target compounds were prepared by etherification. The binding affinities of the target compounds for the estrogen receptor in rat uterine cytosol were measured by a competitive binding assay and their estrogen agonistic/antagonistic properties were investigated in the 3-day uterine weight assay in the immature rats. RESULTS　Thirty-five new compounds have been synthesized and their geometric configuration were determined by X-ray crystallography and 1HNMR spectral data. CONCLUSION　All of the test compounds showed affinity for the estrogen receptor (IC50<10-6 mol.L-1), especially compound 35 with IC50 1.07×10-8 mol.L-1. Some compounds are antagonists, inhibiting uterus growth; others are agonists, promoting uterus growth. Compounds 14 and 27 are superior antagonists to tamoxifen.

Objective To investigate the humoral and cellular immune responses in patients with acute brucellosis, and evaluate dynamic changes of regulatory T-lymphocytes (Foxp3+ Treg) in the peripheral blood of patients during treatment, in order to clarify the relationship between immunosuppression and the therapeutic effect in human brucellosis.Methods Sixty-five patients with brucellosis hospitalized at the Third Department of Infectious Diseases, Heilongjiang Agriculture and Reclamation Bureau General Hospital between July 2015 and November 2015 were included.Twenty-eight patients were treated with conventional therapy (group A: patients received 3 courses of treatment.Each lasted for 20 days with one-week interval), and 37 patients were treated with conventional therapy in combination with immunopotentiator (group B).Thirty healthy volunteers were enrolled as the controlled group.The ratio of CD3+CD4+ Foxp3+ Treg cells in the peripheral blood of brucellosis patients were measured by flow cytometry (FCM) at the end of each course of treatment.Data in accordance with normal distribution were described as mean±standard deviation.Comparison between two groups was done by two sample t test.Comparison among multiple groups was performed by analysis of variance and SNK test.Data that did not fit the normal distribution were analyzed by multiple-sample nonparametric test.Results After the first (20 d), second (50 d) and third course of treatment (80 d), the ratios of Foxp3+Treg in the peripheral blood of 65 acute brucellosis patients were 2.83%, 3.77% and 4.03%, respectively, which were all significantly higher than control group (1.69%;t=5.97, 9.05 and 5.66, respectively, all P<0.01).At the end of the first course of treatment, the ratios of Foxp3+Treg in group A and B showed no statistically difference (t=0.33, P>0.05), while those were both higher than control group (t=7.09 and 4.94, respectively;both P<0.01).At the end of the second course, the ratio of Foxp3+ Treg in group B was higher than group A (t=2.22, P<0.01), and both of them were higher than control group (t=10.79 and 7.25, respectively;both P<0.01).At the end of treatment, Foxp3+ Treg in group A was also significantly higher than the other two groups (t=6.02 and 6.45, respectively;both P<0.01).Conclusions In patients with acute brucellosis treated with the standard antibiosis treatment in combination with immunopotentiator, the ratio of Foxp3+Tregs significantly increases and maintains at a high level, which suggests that extra immunopotentiator may be not helpful for the treatment of brucellosis at the very early stage.

Objective To compare the short-term effects between interventional arterial embolization and iodine-131 therapy in treating Graves'disease.Methods A total of 84 patients with Graves'disease (GD),confirmed by clinical data and laboratory tests,were divided into two groups:interventional group(n=42)receiving arterial embolization and iodine-131 group(n=42)receiving iodine-131 therapy.Before and after the treatment thyroid angiography and SPECT/CT imaging were performed to determine the shape and size of the thyroid,and radioimmunoassay method was used to measure serum levels of FT3,VF4,TSH and TRAb at 3.6 and 12 months after the therapy.The results were compared and statistically analyzed.The occurrence of complications was observed. Results No statistically significant difference in short-term therapeutic effects was found between interventional group and iodine-131 group.The occurrence of early severe complication was much higher in interventional group than that in iodine-131 group,while the occurrence of hypothyroidism was obviously higher in iodine-131 group than that in interventionai group.Conclusion Both interventional embolization and iodine-131 therapy have reliable effect for the treatment of Graves'disease.Iodine-131 therapy may be used in patients who plan to receive initial treatment or in patients who failed to effectively respond to other kinds of therapies,while interventional embolization may be employed in patients who are not able to receive surgery or in patients who have failed to respond to antithyroid drug treatment,or in patients whose iodine-131 intake rate is too low to undergo iodine-131 therapy,especially in patients with refractory and intractable hyperthyroidism. Interventional embolization can be regarded as an alternative treatment for Graves'disease.

Pretreatment with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) reduces ischemic damage after focal cerebral ischemia, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) were reported to ameliorate functional deficits after stroke in rats. Here we investigate the synergistically therapeutic effects of BDNF gene-modified MSCs on cerebral infarction. We transfected MSCs with the BDNF gene using a lentivirus-based system and investigated whether the BDNF-modified MSCs contributed to improved functional recovery in a rat transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Compared to untreated rats, rats that received both MSCs and BDNF-MSCs showed significantly more functional recovery. The difference in modified neurological severity score(mNSS) was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Recovery was better in BDNF-MSCs than in MSCs (P < 0.001). At the second week and second month after the systemic delivery of blank vector-modified MSCs and BDNF-modified MSCs, the treated rats exhibited more significant recovery than the control, including the accumulation and living of enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP)-positive cells in the infarct area and surrounding areas, neuron-like changes, expression of surface markers of neural cells, and a large amount of BDNF expression in the BDNF-MSCs-treated group. Our findings suggest that BDNF-gene-modified rMSCs can migrate to surrounding areas of the cerebral infarction lesion, differentiate into neural cells, and survive for extended periods. With the synergy of BDNF, they may promote the recovery of the neurological function following cerebral infarction and represent a new strategy for stem cell-based therapy.
Animals ; Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery ; genetics ; therapy ; Lentivirus ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred F344 ; Recovery of Function ; Transfection