OBJECTIVETo systematically review the clinical efficacy of acupuncture on the patients with low back pain (LBP).

METHODSRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) about pure acupuncture therapy versus other treatments in treating LBP were electronically searched in PubMed, CBM, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang Data from January 2004 to May 2014. The observed index on the results were the changed scores of VAS, ODI, JOA and RMDQ. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as the extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality. The results of Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.2 software.

RESULTSTen RCTs involved 751 patients were finally included. The results of Meta-analysis indicated that the role of pure acupuncture group in improving the VAS score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -.32, 95% CI (-1.41, -1.22); Z=27.28, P<0.00001; the role of pure acupuncture group in improving the ODI score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -5.07, 95% CI (-7.50, -2.65); Z=4.10, P<0.0001; the role of pure acupuncture group on improved JOA score was better than that of the control group and the combined effect size was RR=2.83, 95% CI (2.02, 3.63), Z=6.90, P<0.00001. The role of pure acupuncture group in improving the RMDQ score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -2.80, 95% CI (-3.49, -2.11), Z=7.95, P<0.00001.

CONCLUSIONThe result of meta-analysis demonstrates that pure acupuncture may have a favorable effect on self-reported pain and functional limitations in LBP patients.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the resistance phenotype of acinetobacter baumannii and the expression of ade efflux pump gene. METHODS: Non-repetitive 51 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were collected in Peking Union Medical Hospital between Feb. 2004 and Feb. 2005. The active efflux system adeB structural gene and sequence were identified by PCR. RESULTS: The tested strains were not susceptible to common broad-spectrum antibiotics. Multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii carried adeB active efflux pump gene. CONCLUSION: The multiple-drug resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii is independent of ?-lactamase. It maybe related to other drug resistance mechanism. The effect of active efflux system is possibly one of the major mechanisms of multidrug resistance of acinetobacter baumannii.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of estimating chronologic age based on the grades of mandibular third molar development. To evaluate whether mandibular third molar could be used as an indicator for estimating the age under or over 18 years. METHODS: The mineralization status of mandibular third molar of 1 845 individuals aged 10 - 30 was graded and marked based on Demirjian's classification of grades reformed by Orhan. Gender difference was examined by t-test. A cubic regression model was established to analyze the correlation between third molar and chronologic age. Each grade of age cumulative distribution diagram and ROC curve was respectively performed to evaluate the relationship between third molar and the age of 18. Using Bayes discriminant analysis, an equation was established for estimating the age of 18. RESULTS: The inner-rater reliability was 0.903. Statistical analysis showed a moderate correlation between age and grade. Significant differences of both genders were found only in grade D and H (P < 0.05). Males at the grades from 1 to D and females at the grades from 1 to C were under 18 years old, and both males and females at grade H were over 18 years old. The area under the ROC curve was 0.797 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Third molar development shows a high correlation with age, and combined with other indicators, it can be used to estimate the age of 18.
Age Determination by Teeth/methods* ; Asian People ; Bayes Theorem ; China ; Female ; Forensic Dentistry ; Humans ; Male ; Molar, Third/diagnostic imaging* ; Radiography, Panoramic ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sex Characteristics

Aim To study the effect of (S) -1, 8-(2-methyl phosphate ethoxy )-6-fluorine-7-( 4-methyl- pi-perazine-1-base )-3-[ S-benzyls-based-4-( for nitroben-zene methylene group amino )-1 , 2 , 4-all triazole-3 base]-quinoline ( 1-H )-4-ketone ( M18 ) on apoptosis of hepatocarcinoma SMMC-7721 cells in vitro. Meth-ods With different concentrations of M18 at different time used to treat SMMC-7721 cells, human breast cancer MB-231cells, human colon cancer HCT-116 cells, human hepatocarcinoma HEPG-2 cells, mouse bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells ( BMSCs ) in vitro,the inhibition effects of M18 on cell proliferation were examined by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was de-termined using Hoechst 33258 fluorescence staining and TUNEL method. Mitochondrial membrane poten-tial (△ψm ) was measured using a high content screening image system. Protein expression of caspase-3 , p53 and cytochrome C was detected with Western blot analysis. Results Treatment with M18 ( 4 ~32μmol·L-1 ) potently inhibited the proliferation of the cancer cells in time-and dose-dependent manners ( the IC50 value at 24 h in SMMC-7721 cells, MB-231cells,
HCT-116 cells and HEPG-2 cells was 8. 65 μmol · L-1 , 9. 37 μmol · L-1 , 12. 74 μmol · L-1 and 9. 40μmol · L-1 , respectively ) . In contrast, M18 had weak cytotoxicity against BMSCs with IC50 value of 38. 96 μmol·L-1 . Levofloxacin had weak cytotoxicity against SMMC-7721 cells with IC50 value of 735. 10μmol·L-1 . Treatment of SMMC-7721cells with differ-ent concentrations of M18 for 24 h increased the per-centage of the apoptosis cells ( P <0. 05 ) and de-creased the mitochondrial membrane potential. In ad-dition, M18 increased protein expression of p53, caspase-3 and the cleaved activated forms of caspase-3 in SMMC-7721 cells. Treatment of SMMC-7721 cells with M18 significantly increased cytochrome C in the cytosol, and decreased cytochrome C in the mitochon-drial compartment. Conclusion The mitochondrial-dependent pathways are involved in M18 induction of apoptosis of SMMC-7721 cells.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation of vasectomy with the risk of prostate cancer in Chinese men.

METHODSWe systematically searched the databases CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library for the literature relating the relationship between vasectomy and the risk of prostate cancer in Chinese males up to December 2014. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, two investigators independently selected the eligible publications, evaluated their quality, and extracted relevant information, followed by a meta-analysis with the software STATA 12.0.

RESULTSNine studies were included in the analysis involving 1 202 cases of prostate cancer and 4,496 controls. Random-effect model analysis revealed no statistically significant correlation between vasectomy and the risk of prostate cancer (OR = 1.05; 95% CI 0.62-1.79), with an obvious heterogeneity (P < 0.001, I2 = 85.7%). No significant publication bias was found among the included studies (Egger, P = 0.824; Begg, P = 0.348).

CONCLUSIONThe results of our meta-analysis do not support the association of vasectomy with the increased risk of prostate cancer in Chinese population.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; ethnology ; etiology ; Risk Assessment ; Vasectomy ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVE To study the in virto interaction of allicin combined with cefoperazone against clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.METHODS The protocol was designed by checkerboard method and the MICs of allicin combined with cefoperazone against the 17 strains of sensitive and 14 strains of drug-resistant P.aeruginosa were determined by broth dilution method,the FIC index was calculated according to MIC results.The combined effects were confirmed by FIC index.RESULTS The percentage of the FIC index less than 0.5,from 0.5 to 1,from 1 to 2,and more than 2 was 41.2-64.3% 35.7-41.2% 0-17.6%,and 0%,respectively.CONCLUSIONS Synergism and additivity of allicin combined with cefoperazone against P.aeruginosa are their main action,there are little autonomy and no antagonism.Allicin can significantly improve the antibacterial activity of cefoperazone against drug-resistant P.aeruginosa.

Background and purpose:Proteasome inhibitors such as bortezomib,represent an interesting new class of potential anticancer drugs.In the present study,we explored the sensitivity of ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3 to paclitaxel,proteasome inhibitors and their combination,and also studied the involvement of GSK-3?/Mcl-1 signaling pathway in the regulation of apoptosis induced by those agent.Methods:Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT)assay was applied to examine the cell viability,Annexin-V/PI apoptosis detection kit was used to determine the apoptosis rate of different groups,and western blot assay was introduced to evaluate the expression levels of phosphorylated GSK-3?and Mcl-1.Results:In the MTT assay,the cell viability ratios of combination group at serial time points from 12 to 72 hr were(65.2?5.8)%,(58.3?14.4)%,(35.3?5.0)%,(19.2?1.5)% and(11.4?2.5)%,and there were significant differences as compared to the treatment of paclitaxel alone(P

PURPOSE: Many epidemiological studies have investigated environmental risk factors for the development of acoustic neuroma. However, these results are controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of case-control studies to identify any potential relationship between history of noise exposure, smoking, allergic diseases, and risk of acoustic neuroma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed to identify relevant articles. Two researchers evaluated the eligibility and extracted the data independently. RESULTS: Eleven case-control studies were included in our meta-analysis. Acoustic neuroma was found to be associated with leisure noise exposure [odds ratio (OR)=1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.05-1.68], but not with occupational noise exposure and ever noise exposure (OR=1.20, 95% CI: 0.84-1.72 and OR=1.15, 95% CI: 0.80-1.65). The OR of acoustic neuroma for ever (versus never) smoking was 0.53 (95% CI: 0.30-0.94), while the subgroup analysis indicated ORs of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.81-1.10) and 0.49 (95% CI: 0.41-0.59) for ex-smoker and current smoker respectively. The ORs for asthma, eczema, and seasonal rhinitis were 0.98 (95% CI: 0.80-1.18), 0.91 (95% CI: 0.76-1.09), and 1.52 (95% CI: 0.90-2.54), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis is suggestive of an elevated risk of acoustic neuroma among individuals who were ever exposed to leisure noise, but not to occupational noise. Our study also indicated a lower acoustic neuroma risk among ever and current cigarette smokers than never smokers, while there was no significant relationship for ex-smokers. No significant associations were found between acoustic neuroma and history of any allergic diseases, such as asthma, eczema, and seasonal rhinitis.
Adult ; Asthma/complications ; Environmental Exposure/*adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; *Leisure Activities ; Neuroma, Acoustic/epidemiology/*etiology ; Noise/*adverse effects ; Occupational Exposure/adverse effects ; Risk Factors ; Smoking/adverse effects

According to the hardware characters of the high intensive focused ultrasound (HIFU) serial-parallel robots, this paper presents an algorithm of 2-grade interpolation scheme which includes the rough and fine interpolations. Both pre-acceleration and post-acceleration are employed to meet the restrictive requirements of coordinated dynamic performance and the detailed procedure of the interpolation algorithm is given too.
Algorithms ; Artificial Intelligence ; Computer Simulation ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Robotics ; Ultrasound, High-Intensity Focused, Transrectal ; instrumentation ; methods

AIMTo investigate the changes of lipid peroxidation level and expression of heme oxygenase-1 of the rat liver with chronic hypoxia and hypercapnia, and the effects of Safflower injection (a compond of Chinese Traditional medicine).

METHODSThirty male SD rats weighing 180 approximately 220 g were divided into three groups (n=10): control group (N group), chronic hypoxia and hypercapnia for four weeks group(F group), and Safflower injection group (H group). SOD and MDA in liver tissue were measured by spectrophotometric method. And methods Immunohistochemical assay was used to detect the distribution of HO-1 protein. Pathological changes in liver tissues were observed in HE staining section. The mRNA expressions of HO-1 in liver were detected by semi-quantitative RT-PCR.

RESULTSThe activity of SOD of the liver in F group were significantly lower than those in N group, and the content of MDA were significantly higher. The activity of SOD of the liver in H group were significantly higher than those in F group, and the content of MDA were significantly lower. In F group there were multiple dispersed immunoreactivity cells in liver. And compared to those in F group, the immunoreactivity cells were significantly decreased in H group. HE staining revealed that there were many hepatocytes with obvious adipose degeneration. Hepatic pathological damage in H group was slighter than that in F group. The expression of HO-1 mRNA of the liver in F group were significantly higher than those in N group (P < 0.01), and those in H group were significantly lower than those in F group (P < 0.01) .

CONCLUSIONChronic hypoxia and hypercapnia increases the level of oxidative stress. Safflower injection have a protective effect, maybe because of the accommodation of the expression of HO-1 of the liver and the elimination of free radicals.

Animals ; Carthamus tinctorius ; chemistry ; Chronic Disease ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Heme Oxygenase (Decyclizing) ; genetics ; metabolism ; Hypercapnia ; physiopathology ; Hypoxia ; physiopathology ; Lipid Peroxidation ; drug effects ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; physiology ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism