Knowledge Discovery in Databases is gaining attention and raising new hopes for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) researchers. It is a useful tool in understanding and deciphering TCM theories. Aiming for a better understanding of Chinese herbal property theory (CHPT), this paper performed an improved association rule learning to analyze semistructured text in the book entitled Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica. The text was firstly annotated and transformed to well-structured multidimensional data. Subsequently, an Apriori algorithm was employed for producing association rules after the sensitivity analysis of parameters. From the confirmed 120 resulting rules that described the intrinsic relationships between herbal property (qi, flavor and their combinations) and herbal efficacy, two novel fundamental principles underlying CHPT were acquired and further elucidated: (1) the many-to-one mapping of herbal efficacy to herbal property; (2) the nonrandom overlap between the related efficacy of qi and flavor. This work provided an innovative knowledge about CHPT, which would be helpful for its modern research.
Data Mining ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Materia Medica ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Qi

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the possibility of dissemination of lung cancer cells through blood during the operation for lung cancer.

METHODSThe blood samples were taken from 52 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 5 patients with benign lung diseases at four different intervals during the operation. The transcription of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) messenger ribonucleic acid was assayed by means of nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). A549 (a human adenocarcinoma cell line) served as positive control. The sensitivity has been tested using quantificationally diluted A549 cells.

RESULTSThe CEA mRNA positive rates of all four time spots are as follows: 31% (16/52) at beginning of the operation (sample taken from peripheral vein), 54% (28/52) at ligating the pulmonary vein (peripheral vein), 54% (28/52) at ligating the pulmonary vein (pulmonary vein) and 54% (28/52) at 1 hour after ligating the pulmonary vein (peripheral vein). There is no relationship between the tumor identity and the positive rate of CEA mRNA. The positive rate of CEA mRNA is higher in patients with centrally located lung cancer than that in patients with peripherally located lung cancer, similar phenomenon is also found between patients with advanced lung cancer and the patients with early stage of lung cancer. No negative control samples was found to be positive for CEA mRNA, the sensitivity of our test was 1 x 10(-6).

CONCLUSIONSThe cancer cell dissemination during operation was demonstrated indirectly in our study, the time of pulmonary vein ligation (later or earlier) may affect the quantity of tumor cells released into circulation. Patients with lung cancer of central type and late TNM stage have more possibility of cancer cell dissemination during operation. More effective means may be needed to avoid the dissemination of cancer cells.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; blood ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Seeding ; Neoplasm Staging ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating ; RNA, Messenger ; blood ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo take intervention measures for health promotion after investigation of occupational health needs among employees, to analyze the economic input and output of the intervention measures, and to analyze the feasibility of health promotion through cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis.

METHODSA survey was conducted in an enterprise using a self-designed questionnaire to investigate the general information on enterprise, occupational history of each employee, awareness of occupational health knowledge, awareness of general health knowledge, awareness of hypertension, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, etc., lifestyle, and needs for health knowledge. Intervention measures were taken in the enterprise according to the investigation results, and then investigation and economic analysis of investment in health promotion, economic benefit, and absence of employees were performed using the questionnaire.

RESULTSAfter intervention, the awareness rate of the Code of Occupational Disease Prevention increased from 4.5% to 15.3%, the awareness rate of the definition of occupational diseases increased from 4.5% to 73.5%, and the awareness rate of the prevention and control measures for occupational diseases increased from 38.4% to 85.8%. Before intervention, 25.4%of all employees thought salt intake needed to be reduced, and this proportion increased to 92.5% after intervention. After the control strategy for health promotion, the benefit of health promotion that results from avoiding absence of employees and preventing occupational diseases was more than ten times the investment in health promotion, suggesting a significant benefit of health promotion conducted in the enterprise.

CONCLUSIONThe return on health promotion's investment for enterprise is worth. Health promotion really not just contribute to improve hygienic knowledge but increase the economic benefit.

Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Health Promotion ; economics ; Occupational Health Services ; economics ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Workplace

The purpose of the present study was to explore the relation between the modulation of cerebral blood flow and the latency of hyperbaric oxygen-induced convulsion. There were two parts in this study. First, the effect of acetazolamide or (and) indomethacin on the latency of hyperbaric oxygen-induced convulsion was observed. Seventy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 7 groups: the acetazolamide 200, 20, 10, 7.5, 5, 2.5 mg/kg body weight and normal saline (NS) group. Forty rats were divided into 5 groups: indomethacin 20, 10, 5, 2.5 mg/kg body weight and NS groups. Another 40 rats were divided into 5 groups which were administered with indomethacin in the dose of 0 mg/kg (NS), 0 mg/kg (NS), 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight. Thirty min later the first group was given NS, and all the other four groups were given acetazolamide with a dose of 7.5 mg/kg body weight. The animals were given acetazolamide or (and) indomethacin intraperitoneally, and 20 min later they were exposed to the pressure of 6 ATA (absolute atmosphere) of pure oxygen. The time from exposure to the onset of seizure (clonic-tonic convulsion) was recorded for each animal according to behavioral observation. Second, the change of maleic dialdehyde (MDA) was measured after acetazolamide and (or) indomethacin treatment. Seventy-two SD rats were randomly divided into 9 groups: Control, 6 and 16 min respectively with NS, acetazolamide, indomethacin, and both acetazolamide and indomethacin group. The dose of acetazolamide was 7.5 mg/kg body weight and the dose of indomethacin was 20 mg/kg body weight. After injection of drugs, the animals were subjected to the pressure of 6 ATA of pure oxygen in respect to its time course group. Then the rats were decapitated and the cerebral cortex was dissected and homogenized. The content of MDA was determined. We found that (1) when the dose of acetazolamide is higher than 7.5 mg/kg, it shortened the latency to hyperbaric oxygen-induced convulsion significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the latency between every to hyperbaric oxygen-induced convulsion significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the latency between every two groups of rats treated with different doses of indomethacin. But when the rats were administered acetazolamide of 7.5 mg/kg body weight after being pretreated with indomethacin of 20 mg/kg body weight, the outbreak of convulsion was put off remarkably (P<0.05). (2) In comparison with the control, the content of MDA in the group treated with acetazolamide increased significantly (P<0.01), but when the rats were treated with both acetazolamide and indomethacin, the content of MDA was reduced significantly both in 6 and 16 min exposure time projects (P<0.05, P<0.01). These results suggest that acetazolamide which dilates the brain arterioles can obviously shorten the latency of hyperbaric oxygen-induced convulsion and aggravate the oxidation of the brain. Indomethacin can resist acetazolamideos effect on the latency and oxidation level when the animals were exposed to the hyperbaric oxygen. The activity of carbonic anhydrase correlates closely with the oxidation injury.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the HIV-1 drug resistance associated mutations and examine the susceptibility of HIV-1 with these mutations to antiretroviral in treatment-naive individuals in Liaoning province from 2004 to 2008.

METHODSRNA was extracted from 20 plasma samples of diagnosed untreated HIV-1-infected treatment-naive patients by drawing method. After the viral loading (VL) test, the protease and nucleoside reverse transcriptase coding regions were amplified by RT-PCR, nested PCR and sequence analysis directly. Levels of resistance and prevalence were evaluated according to the Stanford University HIV Drug Resistance Database's algorithm (http://hivdb.stanford.edu).

RESULTSAmong the 20 plasma samples, 13 got PCR products because of their VL values higher than 1000 copies/ml.Meanwhile, the 13 samples got 65 sequences by using 5 primers each. Polymorphisms in subtype H and circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) CRF10_CD sequences were identified. An overall prevalence of 30.8% (4/13) resistance to NNRTIs, 7.7% (1/13) to PI and no NRTIs mutations were found. The most frequent substitutions (4/13) in the RT region at positions P225H, K238S, V179D, K238T and a major position I54S in PR implied to a multiple drug-resistance. A71V or L10V only, respectively, substitution in PR was found in 3 samples, but no any worse with drug sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONHIV-1 polymorphisms in subtype H and CRFs CRF10_CD sequences were identified circulating in Liaoning. A major mutation position I54S in PR implied that it would be the time to commence a higher level drug regimen.

Anti-HIV Agents ; pharmacology ; China ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; genetics ; Drug Resistance, Viral ; drug effects ; genetics ; Genotype ; HIV Infections ; drug therapy ; virology ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation ; RNA, Viral ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of perfluorocarbon and ligustrazine in protecting the lungs against ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

METHDSForty SD rats with ischemia-reperfusion lung injury were randomized equally into control, ligustrazine, perfluorocarbon, and perfluorocarbon plus ligustrazine groups and received the corresponding treatment via the tail vein 5 min before reperfusion. The lung tissues were harvested and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected 3 h after reperfusion. The pathological changes and pathological scores of the lung tissues were analyzed.

RESULTSMDA and MPO levels were significantly lower and SOD activities significantly higher in the lung tissues in the 3 treatment groups than in the control group (P<0.05). The rats in the combined treatment group showed a significantly lower MPO level and a significantly higher SOD activity than those treated with ligustrazine or perfluorocarbon alone (P<0.05). No significant difference was found in TNF-α levels in the lung tissues among the 4 groups (P>0.05). The lung tissues in the control group showed obvious edema and exudation, and the tissues in ligustrazine and perfluorocarbon groups showed no edema but with a few red blood cells and exudation; no edema was found in the combined treatment group with only a small amount of exudation. The pathological scores differed significantly among the 4 groups.

CONCLUSIONPerfluorocarbon and ligustrazine, especially in combined use, can promote endogenous oxygen free radical scavenging, decrease peripheral blood proinflammatory cytokines, and inhibit neutrophils filtration in the lungs of rats with ischemia/reperfusion lung injury.

Animals ; Cytokines ; Fluorocarbons ; pharmacology ; Lung Injury ; drug therapy ; Malondialdehyde ; metabolism ; Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Pyrazines ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury ; drug therapy ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Animals ; Gene Expression ; Genes, p53 ; Liver ; drug effects ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Microcystins ; toxicity ; Mutation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence, etiology and clinical characteristics of adrenal lesions detected by abdominal computed tomography (CT).

METHODSThis retrospective study was conducted in patients with adrenal lesions detected by abdominal CT examinations in Nanfang Hospital between July, 2014 and June, 2015. The clinical data of the patients were collected for analysis of the demographics, comorbidities, imaging characteristics, biochemical profiles, clinical diagnosis and intervention.

RESULTSA total of 939 patients with adrenal lesions were identified from 19 004 patients undergoing abdominal CT scan over the defined period. The mean age of the patients was 53.2 years and 560 of the patients were male. Among the total cases with adrenal lesions, the percentages of cases with adrenal masses tended to increase progressively with age. Endocrine studies were done in 270 of the total patients, which identified non-functioning masses in 38.9%, primary aldosteronism in 16.3%, Cushing's syndrome in 4.1%, subclinical Cushing's syndrome in 7.0%, and pheochromocytomas in 7.0% of the cases. Adrenal incidentalomas was detected in 191 patients, with a detection rate of 1.0% among the overall patients undergoing abdominal CT scans. Imaging study detected adenomas (70.3%), cortical carcinomas (2.4%), and metastases (0.5%). Of 191 patients with adrenal incidentalomas, only 76 (39.8%) underwent endocrine evaluation, including 34 with nonfunctioning adrenal masses, 17 with pheochromocytoma, 7 with primary aldosteronism, and 5 with subclinical Cushing's syndrome.

CONCLUSIONs The overall detection rates of adrenal lesions and adrenal incidentalomas by abdominal CT were 4.9% and 1.0%, respectively, in our cohort of patients undergoing the examination over the defined period. Although most of the lesions were benign and nonfunctioning, malignant and functional lesions were also detected. As many as 60% of the patients with adrenal incidentalomas did not have hormonal testing. Clinicians need to have greater awareness of adrenal incidentalomas and standard protocol for its management should be established.

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical characteristics of nosocomial septicemia in the early stage after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in children with major β-thalassemia.

METHODSThe clinical data were retrospectively analyzed of 55 consecutive children with major β-thalassemia who developed septicemia early after HSCT between January, 2011 and June, 2016.

RESULTSAmong the total of 416 consecutive children with major β-thalassemia undergoing allogeneic HSCT, the incidence of nosocomial infection early after transplantation was 77.16% (321/416), and 55 (17.13%) children showed positive findings in blood culture test. The infections occurred most commonly in the oral cavity (65.5%), followed by the respiratory tract, intestinal tract and skin. Gram-negative bacteria, including Escherichia coli (27.3%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (21.8%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (9.1%), were the most common causes of infections. Fungal (Candida tropicalis) infection caused septicemia in 1 case. Of all the pathogens, extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria were found in 6 cases, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in 2 cases, and multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in 2 cases.

CONCLUSIONGram-negative bacteria are the major pathogens causing septicemia in children early after HSCT for major β-thalassemia, and the bacteria show a high level of drug resistance. Adequate preventive use of antibiotics and care of the oral cavity, the respiratory tract, and the perianal region following the transplantation are important measures to control nosoconial infection in these children.

OBJECTIVETo establish a method for gene delivery in murine renal tissue using lentivirus vector encoding miR-483-5p.

METHODSThirty-five C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into control group, low-dose treatment group (5 µL each kidney) , and high?dose treatment group (20 µL each kidney), and in the latter two groups, the lentivirus vector encoding miR-483-5p were injected in the renal cortex. The tissue samples were collected at 7 and 21 days after the injection. A transgenic mouse model with inducible systemic overexpression of miR-483-5p was established in TG483 mice. The Cre-loxp system was used to create a mouse model with renal tubule-specific expression of miR-483-5p. The levels of BUN in the mice were detected and HE staining and fluorometric TUNEL assay were used to observe the morphological changes of the kidneys; real-time qPCR was used to detect miR-483-5p expression in the renal cortex.

RESULTSThe mice with overexpression of miR-483-5p had normal renal function without obvious pathological changes or apoptosis in the renal tissue. Renal cortex injection of 20 µL lentivirus resulted in obviously increased level of miR-483-5p at 21 days (1.2∓0.43 vs 8.6∓1.09, P<0.001). miR-483-5p showed a low expression (0.9∓0.09 vs 1.7∓0.19, P<0.05) in TG483 mice and a high expression in the kidney of the transgenic mice established using the Cre-loxp system (1.6∓1.13 vs 12.36∓3.89, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe transgenic mice with renal tubule-specific expression of miR-483-5p show normal renal function, and this model facilitates further study of the role of miR-483-5p in the kidney.