Objective:To measure and analyze the corneal biological parameters of Tibetan junior middle school students who have lived in Mozhugongka County of Lhasa city for a long time.Methods:A cross-sectional study was performed.The basic information including gender, age and grade of 1 784 Tibetan junior high school students who have lived in Mozhugongka County of Lhasa city for a long time was collected, and the corneal biological parameters were measured in May, 2020.The available data of 690 students were obtained in this study.Unilateral eye of each subject was randomly selected for statistical analysis using computer random number method.Three hundred and forty-five right eyes and 345 left eyes from 366 males and 324 females were included.There were 461 eyes from students aged 12 to 15 years, and 229 eyes from students aged 16 to 20 years.Sirius 3D corneal topography and anterior segment analysis system were used to measure the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT), central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior chamber depth (ACD), iridocorneal corneal angle, simulated K1 and simulated K2, thinnest point position.Histogram and Q-Q chart were used to assess the distribution of continuous variables except the thinnest point position of cornea.The differences in biological parameters were compared between males and females, 12-15 years group and 16-20 years group as well as right eyes and left eyes.The literature of corneal biological parameters from other ethnic group was reviewed and compared with the Tibetan subjects.This study complied with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by an Ethics Committee of Tibet Hospital (No.QZYY2019-IRBPJ-21).Results:The ACD of the right eye of the students was (3.31±0.27)mm, which was significantly greater than (3.26±0.26)mm of the left eye ( t=0.745, P=0.012). Mean TCT, CCT, iridocorneal angle, simulated K1 and simulated K2 were (504.99±30.73)μm, (509.10±35.82)μm, (47.45±5.70)°, (43.15±1.89)D, and (44.16±2.29)D of the right eye, and thoes of the left eyes were (503.34±29.22)μm, (508.36±28.75)μm, (47.86±5.88)°, (43.06±1.40)D and (44.16±1.53)D, respectively, with no significant differences between the right and left eyes (all at P>0.05). The ACD and iridocorneal angle were significantly greater, and the simulated K1 and simulated K2 were significantly smaller in males compared with females (all at P<0.05). There were no significant differences in TCT and CCT between males and females (both at P>0.05). The corneal biological parameters were not signficantly different between different age groups (all at P>0.05). The thinnest point of cornea distributed mainly at inferior temporal quadrant zone for the right eyes, and superior temporal quadrant zone for the left eyes. Conclusions:Corneal biological parameters of Tibetan junior high school students in high altitude areas might be different from those of other ethnic students.Ophthalmologists should pay attention to this population in diagnosis and treatment of corneal diseases and refractive error.

OBJECTIVETo analyze the mortality trends and disease burden of malignant tumors in rural area of Feicheng city from 2000 to 2010, and to provide basic information for the prevention and treatment of malignant tumors in this area.

METHODSThe data of cancer mortality from 2000 to 2010 from Feicheng Cancer Registry database were checked. Mortality rate, standardized mortality rate, potential years of life Iost (PYLL), standardized potential years of life lost (SPYLL), average years of life lost (AYLL) and other indexes were calculated and analyzed. The trend of the standardized rates transformed by the natural logarithm over time was assessed by Prais-Winsten regression method in which the errors was assumed to follow a first-order autoregressive process. STATA 12.0 was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSIn average, the crude mortality rate was 199.67 per 100 000 (264.69 per 100 000 in males and 137.24 per 100 000 in females), and the standardized mortality rate was 157.00 per 100 000 (200.49 per 100 000 in males and 101.31 per 100 000 in females). There were no significant changes in the trends of all standardized rates. For males, the mortality rates of lung and colorectal cancers increased significantly, and for females, the rates of lung and breast cancers had increased trend while the rate of esophageal cancer showed a downward trend. There were no statistically significant changes in other main malignant tumors. During 2000 to 2010, the PYLL of malignant tumors in Feicheng was 183 685.0 person-years, and PYLL rate was 23.3 per 1000. The SPYLL was 153 091.0 person-years, SPYLL rate was 19.4 per 1000, and AYLL was 14.8 years.

CONCLUSIONSThere are no obvious changes in the trends of standardized mortality rates in rural area of Feicheng over the past 11 years. For males, the mortality of lung cancer and colorectal cancer is increasing, and for females, the rates of lung and breast cancers have an increasing trend while the rate of esophageal cancer shows a decreasing trend. The prevention and control of digestive malignant tumors, lung cancer and breast cancer are getting seriously important and should be the focal point in this issue.

Breast Neoplasms ; mortality ; China ; epidemiology ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; mortality ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Life Expectancy ; trends ; Lung Neoplasms ; mortality ; Male ; Neoplasms ; mortality ; Rural Population

OBJECTIVETo prepare colon-targetting tablets of total alkaloids of Sophora alopecuroides and evaluate the effect of pectins of different degree of esterification (DE) on sophoridine release profiles in-vitro.

METHODWet granulation technique was employed to prepare petin-based matrix tablets, then tablets were coated the optimal formulation with Kollicoat MAE 30 DP based on the optimal formulation and analysed their release.

RESULTCoated formulation E could target total alkaloids of S. alopecuroides to colon and various DE of pectin exerted different effects on sophoridine release. The release of low DE pectin-based matrix tablets coating with Kollicoat MAE 30 DP approximatedly fitted zere-order eqution, which was erosion depended.

CONCLUSIONLow DE pectin-based matrix tablet coating with Kollicoat MAE 30 DP can deliver sophoridine to colon, hence improve the effectiveness of sophoridine.

Alkaloids ; chemistry ; Animals ; Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Colon ; chemistry ; Esterification ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Pectins ; chemistry ; Quinolizines ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Sophora ; chemistry ; Tablets ; chemistry

When to design clinical trials in the treatment of depression, we should follow some general rules of ordinary clinical trials, and also have to consider the characteristics of depression and test drugs, as well as the influence of these characteristics.Due to the questionable efficacy of active drug in the treatment of depression,placebo control could apply a potent evidence to clarify the absolute efficacy of test drugs.In this ar-ticle, the present situation of placebo control in these studies was intro-duced, we interpreted the general considerations on placebo control of these studies from ethnics and safety aspects, and analysed the factors which may contribute to the drug-placebo difference, and finally provid-ed suggestions about how to design these studies with placebo control, which may help sponsors and drug research units to obtain a systematic understanding of placebo control in these studies.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of activated brain regions in Parkinson's disease (PD) during tactile stimulation.

METHODSTwenty-one patients with early PD[mean age (60.43 +/-9.65)y] and twenty-two age-matched healthy controls [mean age (59.23 +/-11.12)y] were enrolled in the study. All the patients were tested by the United Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) as the evaluation of the disease severity. A block design was used when the finger tactile stimulation was given to the subjects. The hypoactive and hyperactive regions of PD patients were confirmed first, which were identified as regions of interest (ROI). ROI analysis was performed to quantify BOLD signal changes when subjects were under tactile stimulation. The correlations of signal changes with disease severity, and correlations of hyperactive with hypoactive regions were analyzed.

RESULTSRight primary sensory and motor cortex, right supplementary motor area (SMA), bilateral caudates, bilateral precuneus, bilateral occipital visual cortex and left middle temporal gyrus were hypoactivated in PD, while right prefrontal cortex (PFC) and right caudate were hyperactivated. The hypoactivation of right SMA was negatively correlated with disease severity. All the hypoactive and hyperactive regions were positively correlated with activation of caudates. There was a positive correlation between hyperactive PFC and hypoactive regions.

CONCLUSIONSThe signal change of SMA is directly related to disease severity in early PD, and caudates may play a significant role in PD tactile processing. The hyperactivation of PFC may be not a compensation but a pathophysiological change related to PD neural dysfunction.

Aged ; Brain ; physiopathology ; Female ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Mechanoreceptors ; physiology ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease ; physiopathology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Time Factors ; Touch ; physiology ; Touch Perception ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in subjects with different glucose metabolism status.

METHODSBetween January, 2015 and October, 2015, a total of 934 subjects without a previous diagnosis of diabetes visiting the Department of Endocrinology or Health Examination Center underwent oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), which identified 266 subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT group), 243 pre-diabetic subjects, and 425 patients with diabetes mellitus group. The baseline characteristics and laboratory test data of the subjects were collected. The diagnosis of CKD was established for an eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) or a ACR≥30 mg/g, and the prevalence of CKD were compared among the 3 groups. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the OR value of the risk factors of CKD.

RESULTSThe prevalences of CKD in NGT, pre-diabetic and diabetic groups were 10.2%, 26.3% and 32.5%, respectively. Pairwise comparisons showed that the prevalence of CKD was significantly higher in pre-diabetic group (P<0.001, OR=3.17, 95% CI 1.94-5.17) and diabetic group (P<0.001, OR=4.27, 95% CI 2.72-6.65) than in NGT group, and was comparable between the pre-diabetic and diabetic groups (P=0.115, OR=1.35, 95% CI 0.95-1.91). Logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for age, gender, blood pressure, hypertension, blood lipids and uric acid, showed that pre-diabetes (OR=2.03, P=0.044) and diabetes mellitus (OR=2.22, P=0.016) were independently associated with CKD.

CONCLUSIONGlucose metabolism status has a significant independent impact on the incidence of CKD, suggesting the importance of early detection of pre-diabetes and timely interventions in pre-diabetic subjects in prevention CKD.

Diabetes Mellitus ; epidemiology ; Glucose ; metabolism ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prediabetic State ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; epidemiology ; Risk Factors

The purpose of the present study was to observe the expression of Axin protein during cardiac remodeling in rats. Cardiac remodeling animal models were prepared with the methods of jugular venous norepinephrine (NE)-infusion or arterial-vein fistula (AVF). The ultrasonic parameters of rat hearts were recorded before sacrifice. The expressions of Axin protein were determined by Western blot in rat hearts from different remodeling models as well as cultured cardiac fibroblasts from adult rats. Cardiac concentric hypertrophy and fibrosis was induced by 3-day jugular vein infusion of NE in rats. The expression of Axin in the left ventricles increased significantly compared with that of the control group. Cardiac eccentric hypertrophy without fibrosis was induced by A-V fistula for one week in rats, and no change in Axin protein expression in the left ventricles was observed. In cultured adult rat cardiac fibroblasts, NE treatment for 24 h increased significantly the Axin protein level. It is therefore concluded that Axin protein was expressed in rat heart and increased significantly in left ventricles during NE-induced rat cardiac remodeling, which may be relevant to cardiac fibrosis.
Animals ; Axin Protein ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Fibroblasts ; cytology ; Heart Ventricles ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; Norepinephrine ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Ventricular Remodeling ; physiology

This article summarized the clinical experience of Professor WANG Meng-yong in treating lupus nephritis from the symptoms and essence. Professor WANG Meng-yong believes that treatment for lupus nephritis should attach importance to clinical features of setting deficiency of liver, spleen and kidney as the essence and toxin and blood stasisas symptoms, in which the essence is deficient and the symptoms are excess and combination of external and internal pathogenesis. He flexibly uses methods of nourishing liver and kidney, tonifying spleen, and stomach, clearing heat and cooling blood, activating blood and promoting diuresis to alleviate water retention, which have obvious efficacy, effectively avoid adverse reactions and reduce the risk of recurrence, and improve patient prognosis.

Objective To investigate the role and significance of fiberoptic bronchoscopy in diagnosis of congenital airway dysplasia.Methods The clinical data of 606 children with bronchoscopy who were admitted to Department of Respiratory Medicine,Nanjing Children's Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from Mar.2008 to Mar.2012 were retrospectively analyzed.Results Among the 606 children,airway dysplasia were found in 120 cases,duded tracheobronchomalacia in 47 cases,racheobronchial stenosis in 31 cases,tracheal bronchus in 27 cases,laryngomalacia in 9 cases,abnormalities or variations at the bronchi opening in 16 cases,airway diverticulum in 8 cases,tracheal esophageal fistula in 5 cases,and 23 children in the 120 cases had 2 or more deformity.Conclusions The fiberoptic bronchoscopy plays a decisive role in diagnosis of congenital airway dysplasia.Fiberoptic bronchoscopy should be performed in suspicious children as soon as possible to determine the cause.

To get insights into the principles of gene expression changes during cardiac hypertrophy, three rat cardiac hypertrophy models were prepared, i.e., suprarenal abdominal aortic stenosis (SRS), arterial-vein fistula (AVF) and continuous jugular vein infusion of norepinephrine (NEi). The cardiac function and structure were analyzed by echocardiograph as well as histological examination. Total RNA of left ventricles was extracted and gene expression profiles were analyzed by cDNA microarray. SRS and NEi induced concentric cardiac hypertrophy and AVF induced eccentric hypertrophy in rats, among which NEi caused obvious cardiac fibrosis. The changes of gene expression profiles were compared comprehensively across different pathologic cardiac hypertrophy models. While gene expression profiles of different cardiac hypertrophy models compared with pairs, parts of the genes involved were found overlapped, and mostly the gene expression changed in the same direction between two models, but some of them changed in the opposite directions. Expression levels of 19 genes were found changed across all cardiac hypertrophy models, and genes relatively regulated in a specific model was also found when comparison of all the three models was carried out. Novel clues for further study might derive from the results mentioned above, and some genes might be the marker genes of cardiac hypertrophy or the targets of therapy.
Animals ; Aorta, Abdominal ; surgery ; Arteriovenous Shunt, Surgical ; Cardiomegaly ; etiology ; genetics ; Constriction ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Norepinephrine ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Oligonucleotide Probes ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Venae Cavae ; surgery