Objective To study the relationship between mental effort and personal time perspective during the process of individual changing bad habits.Methods 230 graduate students were collected to attend this longitudinal study of 21 days by experience sampling method.The data on mental effort and performance were obtained from the process of daily change of the bad behavior.Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) was applied to graduate students.The survey results were analyzed by hierarchical linear modeling (HLM).Results In 21 days,the mental effort of subjects showed very clear downward trend,the trend of the change was statistical significant (total score(5.63±2.62),t=-5.590,P＜0.01).Mental effort didn't have significant difference in five kinds of behavioral objectives (keeping early hours,exercising daily,dieting,reading daily,limiting screen time) (P＞0.05).The male obviously put more effort than the female during the study(t=2.743,P＜0.01).Both Present Hedonism and Futurism were inversely related to mental effort,which was statistical significant (t=-2.504,P＜0.05;t=2.39,P＜0.05).Both Present Fatalism and Futurism had the effects on the changing trend of the mental effort regulatory,which was statistical significant (t=-3.099,P＜0.01;t=-2.400,P＜0.05).Conclusion The mental effort of changing the behavior will gradually decline during the process of habit establishment.The mental effort of subjects who had present fatalism or futurism show a faster decline.

The effects of angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan on elastic properties of aorta in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension were assessed. The ascending aortic distensibility in 26 patients (48 +/- 3 years) with mild to moderate essential hypertension before and after 12 weeks of treatment with losartan (50 mg/day) was evaluated by using two-dimensional echocardiography. M-mode measurements of aortic systolic (Ds) and diastolic diameter (Dd) were taken at a level approximately 3 cm above the aortic valve. Simultaneously, cuff brachial artery systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) pressures were measured. Aortic pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep) was calculated as Dd x (SBP-DBP)/(Ds-Dd) x 1333 and stiffness index beta (beta) was defined as Dd x Ln (SBP/DBP)/(Ds-Dd). Blood pressure significantly decreased from 148 +/- 13/95 +/- 9 mmHg to 138 +/- 12/88 +/- 8 mmHg (systolic blood pressure, P = 0.001; diastolic blood pressure, P = 0.003). There was no significant difference in pulse pressure before and after treatment with losartan (53 +/- 10 mmHg vs 50 +/- 7 mmHg). The distensibility of ascending aorta increased significantly as showed by the significant decrease in pressure-strain elastic modulus from 4.42 +/- 5.79 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 to 1.99 +/- 1.49 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 (P = 0.02) and stiffness index beta from 27.4 +/- 32.9 to 13.3 +/- 9.9 (P = 0.02). Although there was a weak correlation between the percent changes in pressure-strain elastic modulus and stiffness index beta and that in diastolic blood pressure after losartan treatment (r = 0.40, P = 0.04 and r = 0.55, P = 0.004, respectively), no correlation was found between the percent changes in pressure-strain elastic modulus and stiffness index beta and that in systolic blood pressure (r = 0.04, P = 0.8 and r = 0.24, P = 0.2, respectively). Our study demonstrated that angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan has a beneficial effect on aortic distensibility in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension and this effect is partly independent of blood pressure reduction.
Aorta/*physiopathology ; Aorta/ultrasonography ; Echocardiography ; Elasticity ; Hypertension/*drug therapy ; Hypertension/*physiopathology ; Hypertension/ultrasonography ; Losartan/*therapeutic use ; Receptors, Angiotensin/*antagonists & inhibitors

To assess the left ventricular regional relaxation abnormalities in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) by quantitative tissue velocity imaging (QTVI), Doppler echocardiography and QTVI were performed in HCM (n=10) and healthy subjects (n=11) at apical long-axis, two-chamber and four-chamber views. Regional early diastolic velocity (rVe) and regional atrial contraction (rVa) were measured at each segment of ventricular middle, basal and annular levels. Mean rVe and mean rVa at three levels as well as mean rVe/rVa ratio were calculated. Our results showed that transmitral inflow peak velocities during early diastole (E) and atrial contraction (A) were also measured and E/A ratio was calculated. The rVe of all left ventricular segments in HCM were lower than those in healthy subjects (P<0.05), but compared with healthy subjects majority of rVa in HCM were not different except inferior wall and anterior wall. E between HCM and healthy subjects was different (P=0.036), while mean rVe between them was significantly different (P<0.0001). Mean rVa and mean rVe/rVa of three levels were lower in HCM than in healthy subjects (P<0.05), but there were no differences in A and E/A between them (P=0.22, P=0.101). Left ventricular regional myocardial relaxation is reduced in HCM. Transmitral inflow E and A are influenced by preload, relaxation of myocardium and atrial contraction, etc., while rVe and rVa reflect myocardial relaxation function independently. QTVI is more sensitive and more accurate than conventional Doppler imaging for characterizingregional diastolic properties in HCM.
Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/*physiopathology ; Cardiomyopathy, Hypertrophic/*ultrasonography ; Diastole ; Echocardiography, Doppler, Color/methods ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/*physiopathology ; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular/ultrasonography ; Ventricular Function, Left

Objective To study the medication regularity of compound herbal formulae in treating patients with advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods Compound herbal formulae published on journals for the treatment of NSCLC were searched and collected from CBM, CNKI, and Wanfang Data for database establishment. Frequency analysis, cluster analysis, and association rule analysis were used for data mining, and regularity of main Chinese medicinal herbs and herbal pairs (combinations) were investigated. Results There were 107 compound herbal formulae (involving 193 Chinese medicinal herbs and 1298 frequency) for NSCLC. 42 Chinese medicinal herbs were used for more than 9 times. Cluster analysis on the tastes and properties of the 42 Chinese medicinal herbs found that, among the four qi, cold showed the highest frequency (409);among the five tastes, sweet showed the highest frequency (627);among the meridians, lung meridian showed the highest frequency (546). Cluster analysis divided main Chinese medicinal herbs into 9 types, including yin-nourishing herbs, heat-clearing herbs, qi-tonifying herbs, blood-enriching herbs, blood circulation activating herbs, hemostasis herbs, phlegm-reducing herbs, qi-descending herbs, lung-astringing herbs. Associate rule analysis obtained 26 rules for Chinese medicinal herbal pairs, 18 rules for Chinese medicinal herbal combination, most of which were combinations for tonifying qi, nourishing yin, and clearing heat. Conclusion Chinese compound herbal formulae for the treatment of NSCLC mainly use Chinese medicinal herbs with properties of cold and mildness, with the tastes of sweet and bitter, with meridians of lung, spleen, and stomach, with the treatment of tonifying qi, nourishing yin, and detoxication.

Objective To improve the diagnostic accuracy of pulmonary mucormycosis(PM) by investigating imaging appearances of PM,including CT and PET-CT.Methods A retrospective analysis of unenhanced MSCT(n=14),dynamic enhanced MSCT(n=10) and 18F-FDG PET-CT(n=3) examinations was conducted in 14 patients with surgically and pathologically proven PM.Results CT findings:13 patients had multiple patchy consolidation.Nine had thick-walled cavitiess(n=26) and 4 had pulmonary embolism,1 had solitary irregular masses,3 had adjacent bronchus invasion,4 had pleural effusion,14 had no mediastinal adenopathy.All the patients after renal transplantation had varied ground-glass opacifications and interlobular septal thickenings.The solid portion of lesions had strong enhancement with CT attenduation of (25±8) HU.PET-CT findings:3 cases were found with homogeneously or inhomogeneously increased 18F-FDG uptake(SUVmax 6.2,4.6,3.6).Conclusions PM presents with widespread but lacked specific imaging features.A suggestive diagnosis could be made in some patients with imaging appearances of multiple thick-walled cavities,rapid changes,and complicated with pulmonary embolism or invaded bronchus and sleevelet sign.

To evaluate the effects of left ventricular contractility on the changes of average image intensity (AII) of the myocardial integrated backscatter (IB) and cyclic variation in IB (CVIB), 7 adult mongrel dogs were studied. The magnitude of AII and CVIB were measured from myocardial IB carves before and after dobatamine or propranolol infusion. Dobutamine or propranolol did not affect the magnitude of AII (13.8 +/- 0.7 vs 14.7 +/- 0.5, P > 0.05 or 14.3 +/- 0.5 vs 14.2 +/- 0.4, P > 0.05). However, dobutamine produced a significant increase in the magnitude of CVIB (6.8 +/- 0.3 vs 9.5 +/- 0.6, P < 0.001) and propranolol induced significant decrease in the magnitude of CVIB (7.1 +/- 0.2 vs 5.2 +/- 0.3, P < 0.001). The changes of the magnitude of AII and CVIB in the myocardium have been demonstrated to reflect different myocardial physiological and pathological changes respectively. The alteration of contractility did not affect the magnitude of AII but induced significant change in CVIB. The increase of left ventricular contractility resulted in a significant rise of the magnitude of CVIB and the decrease of left ventricular contractility resulted in a significant fall of the magnitude of CVIB.
Adrenergic beta-Agonists ; pharmacology ; Adrenergic beta-Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Coronary Circulation ; Dobutamine ; pharmacology ; Dogs ; Echocardiography ; methods ; Hemodynamics ; drug effects ; Myocardial Contraction ; drug effects ; physiology ; Propranolol ; pharmacology ; Systole ; Ventricular Function, Left ; physiology

Survivin is a member of inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) family which has strong ability of antiapoptosis. Survivin is prominently expressed in transformed cell lines and in all the most common human cancers in vivo, but it is undetectable in terminally differentiated adult tissues. We designed a human survivin antisense oligonucleotides. RT-PCR and Western blot clearly showed that survivin mRNA and protein were decreased by this antisense oligonucleotide. The inhibition of SMMC-7721 cell proliferation was demonstrated by MTT assay. The inhibition rate (43.28% +/- 3.65%) was much higher than the inhibition rate (6.76% +/- 0.92%) of the control group. The apoptosis rate (33.68% +/- 2.89%) obtained by transfecting cells with the use of antisense oligonucleotide was higher than the apoptosis rate (14.12% +/- 1.24%) of the control group. And the result of TUNEL revealed that, when SMMC-7721 cells were exposed to homoharringtoine at low concentration and were transfected by antisense oligonucleotide, the apoptosis rate of the cells was significantly higher than that of other control group. These results indicate that antisense oligonucleotide may have the potential for selective tumor therapy in future.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Humans ; Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; Microtubule-Associated Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Neoplasm Proteins ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology

The effects of angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan on elastic properties of aorta in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension were assessed. The ascending aortic distensibility in 26 patients (48 +/- 3 years) with mild to moderate essential hypertension before and after 12 weeks of treatment with losartan (50 mg/day) was evaluated by using two-dimensional echocardiography. M-mode measurements of aortic systolic (Ds) and diastolic diameter (Dd) were taken at a level approximately 3 cm above the aortic valve. Simultaneously, cuff brachial artery systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) pressures were measured. Aortic pressure-strain elastic modulus (Ep) was calculated as Dd x (SBP-DBP)/(Ds-Dd) x 1333 and stiffness index beta (beta) was defined as Dd x Ln (SBP/DBP)/(Ds-Dd). Blood pressure significantly decreased from 148 +/- 13/95 +/- 9 mmHg to 138 +/- 12/88 +/- 8 mmHg (systolic blood pressure, P = 0.001; diastolic blood pressure, P = 0.003). There was no significant difference in pulse pressure before and after treatment with losartan (53 +/- 10 mmHg vs 50 +/- 7 mmHg). The distensibility of ascending aorta increased significantly as showed by the significant decrease in pressure-strain elastic modulus from 4.42 +/- 5.79 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 to 1.99 +/- 1.49 x 10(6) dynes/cm2 (P = 0.02) and stiffness index beta from 27.4 +/- 32.9 to 13.3 +/- 9.9 (P = 0.02). Although there was a weak correlation between the percent changes in pressure-strain elastic modulus and stiffness index beta and that in diastolic blood pressure after losartan treatment (r = 0.40, P = 0.04 and r = 0.55, P = 0.004, respectively), no correlation was found between the percent changes in pressure-strain elastic modulus and stiffness index beta and that in systolic blood pressure (r = 0.04, P = 0.8 and r = 0.24, P = 0.2, respectively). Our study demonstrated that angiotensin II receptor antagonist losartan has a beneficial effect on aortic distensibility in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension and this effect is partly independent of blood pressure reduction.
Angiotensin Receptor Antagonists ; Aorta ; diagnostic imaging ; physiopathology ; Echocardiography ; Elasticity ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; diagnostic imaging ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; Losartan ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To investigate the predictive values of electrocardiogram P wave dispersion (PWD) and P wave peak time in lead Ⅱ (PWPT Ⅱ) for new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with essential hypertension. Methods A total of 120 essential hypertension patients diagnosed as new-onset atrial fibrillation in the First People's Hospital of Changzhou City from July 2021 to June 2023 were selected as atrial fibrillation group, and 240 essential hypertension patients without atrial fibrillation in the same period matched by age and gender were selected as control group. Electrocardiograms under sinus rhythm were obtained from the patients in the last year through the electronic medical record system. The basic clinical data and electrocardiogram indexes were compared between the two groups; the correlations of PWD and PWPT Ⅱ with new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with essential hypertension were analyzed by binary Logistic regression; the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn, and the intra-observer and inter-observer agreement tests were conducted by the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Results Heart rate (HR) of the atrial fibrillation group was significantly lower than that of the control group, while the body surface area (BSA), PR interval, PWD and PWPT Ⅱ were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors (age, gender, HR, body mass index, BSA), binary Logistic regression analysis showed that PWD (OR=1.124, 95%CI, 1.095 to 1.155) and PWPT Ⅱ (OR=1.252, 95%CI, 1.186 to 1.320) were significantly associated with new-onset atrial fibrillation (P < 0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of PWD and PWPT Ⅱ for predicting new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with essential hypertension was 0.892 and 0.797 respectively, and the AUC of combined prediction by PWD and PWPT Ⅱ was 0.910. Both the intra-observer and inter-observer agreement for PWD and PWPT Ⅱ measurement were excellent (ICC>0.9). Conclusion Electrocardiogram PWD combined with PWPT Ⅱ has high application value in predicting new-onset atrial fibrillation in patients with essential hypertension.

To examine the role of nitric oxide in the beta-adrenergic vasodilation of epicardial coronary arteries in dogs, 12 dogs were instrumented for measurement of left anterior descending coronary artery diameter by transthoracic echocardiography before and after dobutamine (5 microg/kg/min IV) with and without intracoronary infusion of NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) (1 mg/kg). In all 12 dogs, the diameter of left anterior descending coronary artery increased significantly from 2.35 +/- 0.25 mm to 2.59 +/- 0.24 mm (P<0.001) after dobutamine administration. In 6 of the 12 dogs, the percent change in left anterior descending coronary artery diameter induced by dobutamine decreased significantly from 12.5% +/- 8.6% to -1.5% +/- 5.4% (P<0.05) after the administration of intracoronary L-NMMA (1 mg/kg for 5 min) to block nitric oxide synthesis from L-arginine. The study demonstrated that nitric oxide formation contributes to the beta-adrenergic dilatory response of epicardial coronary arteries to dobutamine in dogs.
Adrenergic beta-Agonists ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Coronary Vessels ; physiology ; Dobutamine ; pharmacology ; Dogs ; Echocardiography ; Female ; Male ; Nitric Oxide ; physiology ; Receptors, Adrenergic, beta ; physiology ; Vasodilation ; physiology ; omega-N-Methylarginine ; pharmacology