OBJECTIVE: The brain TXA(2) and PGI(2) levels in a new rodent model of impact acceleration diffuse brain injury alone and with hypotention and hyperthermia in combination were observed to look into the relationship between TXA(2), PGI(2) levels and different types of head injury. METHODS: Thirty-two SD rats were randomized into sham, head injury alone, secondary insult alone and head injury with secondary insult groups. At 4 hours after injury or experiment, all the rats were decapitated and their brains were sampled for radioimmunoassay (RIA) measurement. RESULTS: Compared with that of sham group there were no changes in TXA(2) and PGI(2) levels in injury alone group while there was a significant augmentation in PGI(2) level in insult alone group. Both TXA(2) and PGI(2) level in injury with secondary insult group increased significantly in comparison with that of sham at 4 hours postimpact. CONCLUSIONS: PGI(2) providing energy and precursors to the injured tissue and producing some vasoactive arachidonic products, especially TXA(2), is closely connected to the severity of brain damage.

OBJECTIVE: To study the changes of brain TXA(2) and PGI(2) levels in a new rodent model of impact acceleration diffuse brain injury with hypotention and hypoxia and the effect of diaspirin cross linked hemoglobin solution (DCLHb) on brain TXA(2) and PGI(2) levels. METHODS: Thirty-two male SD rats were randomized into sham, head injury alone, head injury with secondary insults and injury with insults followed by DCLHb administration groups. Animals were physiologically monitored throughout the experiment and the prostanoids were measured via radioimmunoassay (RIA). RESULTS: There were no changes in TXB(2) and 6-keto-PGF1alpha (stable metabolites of TXA(2) and PGI(2)) levels in injury alone group while TXB(2) level in secondary insults group elevated significantly and both TXB(2) and 6-keto-PGF1alpha levels in injury with insults followed by DCLHb administration augmented significantly in comparison with the corresponding value of sham at 4 h postimpact. CONCLUSIONS: The only increase in TXA(2) level in secondary insults rats suggests that there may be both thrombotic episodes and vasoconstriction leading to focal increase in micro-circulatory resistance which contributes to a decreased focal cerebral blood flow (CBF). And it is hypothesed that DCLHb may exert its protective properties through increasing PGI(2) production in injured brain by affecting CBF and cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP).

Objective: To study the relations between neck/shoulder or low back pain and their daily behavioral habits among middle school students in Shenzhen. Methods: We randomly chose 3 952 students from 10 high schools in Shenzhen to complete the questionnaires. Data was gathered and analyzed, using the IBM SPSS 23.0. Results: Of the 3 952 participants, 20.3% had neck/shoulder pain and 15.2% had low back pain. Among students experienced neck/shoulder pain, female (25.3%), high school (24.5%) and boarding students (24.4%) experienced higher rates of neck/shoulder pain (P<0.05). Female students (17.9%) also had higher rate of low back pain (P<0.05). Results from logistic regression analysis showed that factors as: gender, type of school, taking naps on the desk, staying up late, self-perceived stress from learning, overloading homework, time spent on mobile phone and TV, spending long time on computer etc. were related to the neck/shoulder pain (P<0.05). Factors as: gender, naps on the desk, stay up late, self-perceived stress, overloading homework, time spent on mobile phone and TV etc., were related to low back pain (P<0.05). Conclusion: Neck/shoulder pain and low back pain were both commonly seen while high self-perceived stress, sedentary behaviors and poor sleeping habits were associated with both neck/shoulder and low back pain in high school students in Shenzhen.
Female ; Habits ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Neck Pain ; Risk Factors ; Schools ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Pain ; Sleep ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

During the past 100 years, there had been four global pandemics on influenza that had greatly influenced the health and life of the people. This article summarized the features, experiences and lessons learned on these four influenza pandemics so as to prepare related measures targeting the possible pandemics/epidemics in the foreseeable future, in China.
China ; Humans ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Influenza, Human/epidemiology* ; Pandemics

Single herbs and Chinese patent medicine preparations often have bad taste, such as bitterness and astringency, which is one of the key factors affecting patients' medication compliance, and would affect the therapeutic effect and restrict the extensive application in clinical practice. Therefore, how to make use of taste masking techniques to improve the bad taste of traditional Chinese medicines has become an important project. Through the collection and summarization of Chinese and foreign journals and papers in recent years, this paper discussed the generation mechanism of bitter taste, the new methods of masking bitter taste and the evaluation me-thods of bitter taste, in order to provide references for the taste masking of Chinese patent medicines preparations.
Astringents ; China ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Nonprescription Drugs/pharmacology* ; Taste

There is a large gap between the number of membrane protein (MP) sequences and that of their decoded 3D structures, especially high-resolution structures, due to difficulties in crystal preparation of MPs. However, detailed knowledge of the 3D structure is required for the fundamental understanding of the function of an MP and the interactions between the protein and its inhibitors or activators. In this paper, some computational approaches that have been used to predict MP structures are discussed and compared.
Computational Biology ; methods ; Membrane Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Models, Molecular ; Protein Conformation

OBJECTIVE：To investigate the contents of 5 kinds of heavy metal as copper （Cu），arsenic（As），cadmium （Cd），mercury（Hg）and lead （Pb）in Yougui pills ，and to evaluate its safety risk. METHODS ：Using yttrium （89Y），indium （115In）and bismuth （209bi）as internal standard ，the contents of each element were determined by ICP-MS. ICP-MS condition included that atomization gas flow rate was 0.95 L/min，auxiliary gas flow rate was 1.2 L/min，plasma gas （argon）flow rate was 18 L/min，pump speed was 30 r/min. RF power of inductively coupled plasma was 1 200 W，the voltage in simulation stage was 1 750 V，the voltage in pulse stage was 1 300 V，the voltage of deflection device was －12 V，and the detector was in analog and pulse dual-mode. The determination methods of various elements were investigated ，and 45 batches of marketed Yougui pills were determined. Hazard index （HI）was used to analyze the non-carcinogenic risk of each element and calculate the maximum residual limit（MRL）of each element. RESULTS ：The linear range of Cu ，As，Cd，Hg and Pb ranged from 10-200，1-50，0.4-30，0.2-6 and 2-100 μg/L（all r＞0.999 0），respectively. The limits of quantitation were 0.67，0.23，0.20，0.07，0.27 μg/L. The limits of detection were 0.20，0.07，0.06，0.02，0.08 μg/L. RSDs of precision，stability and reproducibility tests were all lower than 3.5％ （n＝6 or n＝5）. Average recoveries were 92.96％-100.89％（RSD＝2.23％-3.62％，n＝3）. Average contents of Cu ，As，Cd，Hg and Pb in 45 batches of Yougui pills were 2.72，0.28，0.07，0.05，0.62 mg/kg，and superimposed HI of each element was less than 1. The contents of 5 kinds of heavy metals in Yougui pills were lower than the proposed MRL （MRL of Cu ，As，Cd，Hg and Pb were 20，2，1，0.2，5 mg/kg or 111.11，4.44，2.22，1.48，8.89 mg/kg respectively ）. CONCLUSIONS ：Established method can be used for the determination of content of 5 kinds of heavy metal in Yougui pills ；the heavy metal pollution rate of marketed Yougui pills is low and the safety risk is small.

PURPOSE: Radiation therapy targeting axilla and groin lymph nodes improves regional disease control in locally advanced and high-risk skin cancers. However, trials generally used conventional two-dimensional radiotherapy (2D-RT), contributing towards relatively high rates of side effects from treatment. The goal of this study is to determine if three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), or volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) may improve radiation delivery to the target while avoiding organs at risk in the clinical context of skin cancer regional nodal irradiation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients with locally advanced/high-risk skin cancers underwent computed tomography simulation. The relevant axilla or groin planning target volumes and organs at risk were delineated using standard definitions. Paired t-tests were used to compare the mean values of several dose-volumetric parameters for each of the 4 techniques. RESULTS: In the axilla, the largest improvement for 3D-CRT compared to 2D-RT was for homogeneity index (13.9 vs. 54.3), at the expense of higher lung V₂₀ (28.0% vs. 12.6%). In the groin, the largest improvements for 3D-CRT compared to 2D-RT were for anorectum Dmax (13.6 vs. 38.9 Gy), bowel D200cc (7.3 vs. 23.1 Gy), femur D₅₀ (34.6 vs. 57.2 Gy), and genitalia Dmax (37.6 vs. 51.1 Gy). IMRT had further improvements compared to 3D-CRT for humerus Dmean (16.9 vs. 22.4 Gy), brachial plexus D₅ (57.4 vs. 61.3 Gy), bladder D₅ (26.8 vs. 36.5 Gy), and femur D₅₀ (18.7 vs. 34.6 Gy). Fewer differences were observed between IMRT and VMAT. CONCLUSION: Compared to 2D-RT and 3D-CRT, IMRT and VMAT had dosimetric advantages in the treatment of nodal regions of skin cancer patients.
Axilla* ; Brachial Plexus ; Carcinoma, Merkel Cell ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Femur ; Genitalia ; Groin* ; Humans ; Humerus ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Melanoma ; Organs at Risk ; Radiotherapy* ; Radiotherapy, Conformal ; Radiotherapy, Intensity-Modulated ; Skin Neoplasms* ; Skin* ; Urinary Bladder

PURPOSE : To evaluate clinical and three dimensional (3D) dosimetric parameters associated with esophageal injury after radiotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). MATERIALS AND METHODS : The records of 254 patients treated for NSCLC between 1992 and 2001 were reviewed. A variety of metrics describing the esophageal dose were extracted. Chemotherapy was given in 143 patients (56%). The RTOG toxicity criteria for grading of esophageal injury were used. The median follow-up time of all patients was 43 months with the range of 0.5~120 months. Logistic regression, contingency table analyses and Fisher's exact tests were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS : Acute toxicity occurred in 78% patients (199/254); grade 1,138; grade 2, 38; grade 3, 22 and grade 4, 1. For acute toxicity> or =Grade 2, BID-RT, age, nodal stage> or =N2, and most dosimetric parameters were predictive. Late toxicity occurred in 17 (7%) of 238 patients; grade 1, 5; grade 2, 4; grade 3, 5 and grade 4, 3. The median and maximum time to onset of late toxicity was 5 and 40 months after radiotherapy, respectively. Late toxicity occurred in 2%, 3%, 17%, 26%, and 100% of patients with acute grade 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 toxicity, respectively. For late toxicity, the severity of acute toxicity was most predictive. CONCLUSION : A variety of dosimetric parameters are predictive for acute and late esophageal injury. A strong correlation between the dosimetric parameters prevented a comparison between the predictive abilities of these metrics. The presence of acute injury was the most predictive factor for the development of late injury. This suggests that late injury may be "consequential" and that aggressive treatment of acute effects may reduce the risk of late injury. Additional studies to better define predictors of RT-induced esophageal injury are needed
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Drug Therapy ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Radiotherapy

To prepare doxorubicin-loaded N-octyl-N'-succinyl chitosan polymeric micelle (DOX-OSC) and study the biodistribution of DOX-OSC in mice, DOX-OSC was prepared by dialysis method. By using doxorubicin injection (DOX-INJ) as control, DOX-OSC and DOX-INJ were administered to mice through caudal vein at a dose of 5 mg x kg(-1) body weight. The RP-HPLC method was established to determine the DOX levels in the plasma and other tissues of mice. The tissues distribution and targeting efficiency were evaluated by pharmacokinetic parameters (AUC, MRT) and targeting parameters (Re, Ce and Te). The drug loading and entrapment efficiency of DOX-OSC were (35.8 +/- 0.4)% and (75.3 +/- 1.1)%, respectively. The diameter and zeta potential of DOX-OSC were (174 +/- 12) nm and (-37.1 +/- 3.0) mV, respectively. The transmission electron microscope result showed DOX-OSC with spherical shape. The biodistribution results showed that the concentration of DOX of both DOX-OSC and DOX-INJ decreased rapidly in blood after iv administration. While free DOX levels in blood at 12-96 h were not detectable for DOX-INJ, in contrast, DOX level in blood at 96 h was still found for DOX-OSC. In contrast to DOX-INJ group, DOX-OSC showed a higher targeting efficiency in the liver and spleen. The AUCs of DOX in the liver and spleen were 20.0 and 47.4 times and the MRT were 11.2 and 37.2 times, respectively. And the levels of DOX-OSC in the heart and kidney tissues were significantly reduced. And the drug distribution of DOX-OSC in the heart and kidney tissues were 17.0% and 11.4%, respectively. Hence, DOX-OSC shows an excellent drug loading capabilities and a higher targeting efficiency in the liver and spleen. That the levels of DOX-OSC in the heart and kidney tissues are significantly reduced, might improve the treatment efficacy of DOX and decrease the side effects.
Animals ; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Area Under Curve ; Chitosan ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; Doxorubicin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Female ; Liver ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Micelles ; Particle Size ; Polymers ; Spleen ; metabolism ; Tissue Distribution