The improvement of the electroosmotic pump properties and the effects of the bi-directional electrostacking system on the pre-concentration factor were investigated.A portable electrokinetic flow analysis system with electroosmotic driving and bi-directional electrostacking unit was introduced.The improved system with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was employed to separate,pre-concentrate and determine Cr(Ⅵ) and Cd(Ⅱ)in mineral water.The detection limit of Cr(Ⅵ)and Cd(Ⅱ)was 9 ng/L and 10 ng/L(3б of blank,n=11),respectively.Their recoveries of 200ng/L Cr(Ⅵ) and 100ng/L Cd(Ⅱ) added to samples were(105～107)±2% and (104～106)±2%(n=3).

BACKGROUNDSevoflurane preconditioning (SP) has been shown to invoke potent myocardial protection in animal studies and clinical trials. However, the mechanisms underlying SP are complex and not yet well understood. We investigated the hypothesis that the cardioprotection afforded by SP is mediated via the Wnt/glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β)/β-catenin signaling pathway.

METHODSTwo models were established: a Langendorff perfused rat heart model and the H9C2 cell hypoxia/reoxygenation model. Both rats and H9C2 cells were randomly divided into 6 groups as follows: S group, ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) group, DMSO group, IWP group, SP group, and SP + IWP group. Hemodynamic parameters, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in coronary effluent and cell culture supernatant, and the infarct size were measured to evaluate myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injuries. To determine the activity of Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway, the expressions of Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β, and β-catenin were measured by Western blotting.

RESULTSSP improved cardiac function recovery, reduced infarct size (18 ± 2% in the SP group compared with 35 ± 4% in the I/R group; P < 0.05), decreased LDH activity in coronary effluent, and culture supernatant. IWP-2, an inhibitor of Wnt, abolished the cardioprotection by SP. In addition, Western blotting analysis demonstrated that the expressions of Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β, and β-catenin significantly (P < 0.05) increased in the I/R group, compared with the S group; and compared to I/R group, SP significantly (P < 0.05) increased Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β, and β-catenin expressions. Pretreatment with IWP-2 significantly (P < 0.05) abolished SP-induced Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling activation.

CONCLUSIONSThe results showed for thefirst time that cardioprotection afforded by SP may be mediated partly via the Wnt/GSK3β/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Animals ; Cell Hypoxia ; drug effects ; Cell Line ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta ; Hemodynamics ; drug effects ; Male ; Methyl Ethers ; therapeutic use ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; drug therapy ; prevention & control ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Wnt Signaling Pathway ; drug effects ; genetics ; beta Catenin ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo compare the detection sensitivity of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations between allele specific oligonucleotide PCR (ASO-PCR) and bi-loop probe and specific primer quantitative PCR (BPSP-qPCR).

METHODSA total of 96 non-small cell lung cancer specimens were selected from West China Hospital from September 2009 to December 2010. ASO-PCR was developed to detect the presence of classical EGFR mutations. A total 39 available specimens were also tested by BPSP-qPCR.

RESULTSEGFR mutation detection rate was 30.2% (26/96) by ASO-PCR. The mutation rate was higher in female than in male patients [45.5% (20/44) vs. 17.3% (9/52), P = 0.003], non-smokers than smokers [44.1% (26/59) vs. 8.1% (3/37), P < 0.001] and adenocarcinomas than other subtypes of lung cancer [37.0% (27/73) vs. 8.7% (2/23), P = 0.01]. Among mutation negative cases by ASO-PCR, BPSP-qPCR increased the rate of detection of 19-del and L858R mutation by 10.3% (4/39) in adenocarcinomas and non-smoking subset. Overall, the mutation detection rate of BPSP-qPCR was higher than that of ASO-PCR [66.7% (26/39) vs. 41.0% (16/39), P = 0.02].

CONCLUSIONBPSP-qPCR has a better detection sensitivity than that of ASO-PCR.

Adenocarcinoma ; genetics ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; genetics ; DNA Mutational Analysis ; Female ; Genes, erbB-1 ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; genetics ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sex Factors ; Smoking

OBJECTIVETo investigate the positive frequency and distribution of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody(GAD-Ab) in phenotypic type 2 diabetic(T2DM) patients.

METHODSSera of 2035 phenotypic T2DM patients were screened for GAD-Ab with radioligand assay. The positive frequency of GAD-Ab and its relation with clinical features were analyzed.

RESULTS(1) The positivity of GAD-Ab in clinic-based, phenotypic T2DM patients was 7.1% (145/2035), comparable to that of data from Caucasians as shown by UKPDS(8.7% vs. 9.8%, P = 0.391) and ADOPT (8.0% vs. 4.2%, P = 0.000) but higher than that of Japanese in Ehime study(7.1% vs. 3.8%, P = 0.000). (2) The positive frequency and distribution of GAD-Ab titer were related to clinical features, including age at onset, body mass index (BMI) and fasting C peptide levels. Patients with younger age at onset (0.33 vs. 0.11, P < 0.05), less BMI (0.34 vs. 0.10, P < 0.05) and lower C peptide levels (0.38 vs. 0.11, P < 0.05) would have higher GAD-Ab titers.

CONCLUSION(1)The positivity of GAD-Ab in adult-onset phenotypic T2DM in Chinese was similar to that of Caucasians but higher than that of the Japanese. (2) The distribution of GAD-Ab titers was associated with clinical features, with high GAD-Ab titers for those having younger age at onset, less BMI and lower C peptide levels.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age of Onset ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Antibodies ; immunology ; metabolism ; Body Mass Index ; Case-Control Studies ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Female ; Glutamate Decarboxylase ; immunology ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phenotype ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the effect of prophylactic administration of atropine before carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) on the happening of intraoperative and postoperative hypotension,bradycardia or cardiovascular complications. Methods Seventy-seven patients with carotid atherosclerosis, admitted to our hospital from November 2008 to May 2010 and performed CAS, were chosen in the study. Prophylactic administration of atropine before CAS was performed on 42 patients and the other 35 without atropine administration were adopted as control group. The clinical data of these patients were analyzed and the high risk factors of cardiovascular events (hypotension or bradycardia) at the perioperative period were observed. The incidence of cardiovascular complications at the perioperative period was also recorded and compared. Results No significant differences on the clinical data, high risk factors of cardiovascular events and morphological characteristics of the vessels were noted between the 2 groups (P＞0.05). The operation procedures were almost the same between the 2 groups. As compared with the control group, the atropine treatment group enjoyed significantly lower incidences of intraoperative or perioperative bradycardia and cardiovascular complications at the perioperative period (P＜0.05). Conclusion The prophylactic administration of atropine before CAS decreases the incidence ofbradycardia and cardiovascular complications during and after CAS.

Objective:To compare the perioperative complications and prognosis of intracorporeal and extracorporea lileal conduit urinary diversion(ICUD or ECUD)following robot-assisted radical cystectomy(RARC).Methods:The data of 95 patients who underwent RARC treatment in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from March 2016 to June 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Among them, 37 underwent ICUD and 58 underwent ECUD. In the ICUD group, there were 32 males and 5 females, aged(68.0±7.8) years, body mass index (BMI) of (24.1±3.4) kg/m 2, American Society of Anesthesiologists(ASA)score of 1-2 in 4 cases(10.8%), ASA score of 3-5 in 33 cases(89.2%), preoperative hemoglobin of(126.5±14.2)g/L, albumin of(39.0±2.2)g/L, and C-reactive protein of 4.0(2.0-8.5) mg/L. In the ECUD group, there were 53 males and 5 females, aged(67.5±9.0)years, BMI of(24.2±3.6)kg/m 2, ASA score of 1-2 in 16 cases(27.6%), ASA score of 3-5 in 42 cases (72.4%) , preoperative hemoglobin of(129.0±12.4)g/L, albumin (38.2±3.1) g/L, and C-reactive protein of 4.9 (3.1-14.4) mg/L. There was no significant difference in preoperative data between the two groups ( P>0.05). The two groups underwent RARC and pelvic lymph node dissection similarly. The ICUD group underwent a total intracorporeal ileal conduit and the ECUD group underwent extracorporeal ileal conduit with direct vision through a median incision in the lower abdomen.There were 32 cases (86.5%) and 46 cases (79.3%) undergoing expanded pelvic lymph node dissection in the ICUD group and the ECUD group respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant ( P=0.374). The complications were graded according to the Clavien-Dindo grading system. The perioperative complications and prognosis of the two groups were compared. Results:The operation time of the ICUD group and the ECUD group were (430±63) min vs. (410±69) min, respectively ( P=0.163). The estimated blood loss were (435±233) ml vs. (388±277) ml, respectively ( P=0.182). Intraoperative blood transfusion were 10 cases (27.0%) and 12 cases (20.7%)( P=0.475). None of the above differences were statistically significant. Postoperative albumin of the ICUD group and the ECUD group were (31.5±2.4) g/L vs. (31.0±2.8) g/L ( P=0.387), postoperative C-reactive protein were 30.9 (10.4-52.1) mg/L vs.29.5 (14.4-58.5) mg/L ( P=0.655) and postoperative hemoglobin were (110.0±13.8) g/L vs. (113.7±13.4) g/L ( P=0.187). The postoperative feeding recovery were 4(3-5) d vs. 4(3-5) d ( P=0.752) and the postoperative hospital stay were 13(10-19) d vs. 13(11-18) d ( P=1.000). There was no statistically significant difference in perioperative data. The postoperative pathological examination results of ICUD group and ECUD group showed that there were 17 cases (45.9%) vs.19 cases (32.8%) in T a/T 1/Tis stage, 12 cases (32.4%) vs. 18 cases (31.0%) in T 2 stage, 5 cases (13.5%) vs. 19 cases (32.8%) in T 3 stage, 3 cases (8.1%) vs. 2 cases (3.4%) in T 4 stage, respectively and the difference was not statistically significant( P=0.166). The number of lymph nodes removed were (18.2±6.7) vs.(16.5±7.9)( P=0.178) and the number of patients with positive lymph nodes were 6(16.2%) vs.11(19.0%), respectively( P=0.733). None of the patients had positive margins. There was no statistically significant difference in pathological examination overall. There were 14 cases (37.8%) in the ICUD group and 21 cases (36.2%) in the ECUD group experiencing complications within 30 days after operation and the difference was not statistically significant( P=0.872). The complications within 90 days after operation were 14 cases (37.8%) vs. 24 cases (41.4%) respectively and the difference was not statistically significant( P=0.731). Clavien-Dindo grade Ⅲ-Ⅴ complications in the two groups were 1 case (2.7%) vs.1 case (1.7%) respectively, with no significant difference ( P=0.849). One patient in the ICUD group developed an intestinal anastomotic leakage and underwent reoperation for repairing and 1 patient in the ECUD group developed mechanical intestinal obstruction and underwent reoperation. The rate of readmission within 90 days after operation of the ICUD group was lower than that of the ECUD group, but the difference was not statistically significant [3 cases (8.1%) vs. 11 cases (19.0%), P=0.090]. Postoperative follow-up was 13-53 months and the median follow-up of ICUD group and ECUD group were 19 months and 31 months respectively. There was no significant difference in the survival curve between the two groups( P=0.746). The 1-year survival rate was 91.9% in the ICUD group and 91.4% in the ECUD group. Routine re-examination of urinary system CT or B-ultrasound was performed 3 months, 6 months and 1 year after surgery. The incidence of ureteral dilatation/hydronephrosis in the ICUD group was lower than that of the ECUD group, with 4.1%(3 sides) vs. 14.7%(17 sides)( P=0.020). Conclusion:Compared with RARC+ ECUD, RARC+ ICUD does not increase the incidence of complications within 90 days after surgery and may reduce the risk of upper urinary tract dilatation.

Objective To analyze the modeling elements and subjects of the animal model of skin photoaging, and to provide a reference for the preparation and improvement of the model and a basis for the scientific evaluation of the subject.Methods By searching and collecting relevant literature on the preparation of animal models of skin photoaging from 2010 to 2022 in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and PubMed database, the model animal species, gender, modeling method, modeling cycle, radiation source and its distance from the modeling site, cumulative radiation volume, detection indicators, and subjects (drugs or treatments) recorded in the literature were collated and summarized, and a database was established for statistical analysis.Results 257 articles that met the inclusion criteria were selected. Among them, the most common animal model was SKH-1 hairless mice, followed by SD rats and KM mice; the gender of animals was mainly female, medium-wave ultraviolet B (UVB) was often used as the radiation source, the distance between the radiation source and the modelling site was mostly 30 cm, and the modelling period was usually 40-60 days. The cumulative dose of long-wave ultraviolet A (UVA) was between 100-150 J/cm², and the cumulative dose of UVB was between 5-10 J/cm². The tests used after model establishment were skin histopathological examination, skin tissue homogenization, fibre staining, immunoblotting, etc. Subjects included Chinese herbal medicines, Chinese herbal extracts, Chinese patent medicines, Chinese herbal compound medicines, chemical drugs, biological agents and other treatments, while the animal model of skin photoaging was also used for clinical efficacy studies of external Chinese medicine, physiotherapy and positive control drugs.Conclusion In skin photoaging animal experiments, female SKH-1 hairless mice are often used, and UVB is used as the radiation source. The modeling period is usually 40-60 days, and the minimum erythema dose (MED) is incremented week by week. The cumulative UVB irradiation dose ranges from 0 to 10 J/cm², which has the advantages of high success rate, good reproducibility and high similarity with clinical disease.

Beijing has been one of the epicenters attacked most severely by the SARS-CoV (severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus) since the first patient was diagnosed in one of the city's hospitals. We now report complete genome sequences of the BJ Group, including four isolates (Isolates BJ01, BJ02, BJ03, and BJ04) of the SARS-CoV. It is remarkable that all members of the BJ Group share a common haplotype, consisting of seven loci that differentiate the group from other isolates published to date. Among 42 substitutions uniquely identified from the BJ group, 32 are non-synonymous changes at the amino acid level. Rooted phylogenetic trees, proposed on the basis of haplotypes and other sequence variations of SARS-CoV isolates from Canada, USA, Singapore, and China, gave rise to different paradigms but positioned the BJ Group, together with the newly discovered GD01 (GD-Ins29) in the same clade, followed by the H-U Group (from Hong Kong to USA) and the H-T Group (from Hong Kong to Toronto), leaving the SP Group (Singapore) more distant. This result appears to suggest a possible transmission path from Guangdong to Beijing/Hong Kong, then to other countries and regions.
Genome, Viral ; Haplotypes ; Humans ; Mutation ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; SARS Virus ; genetics

BACKGROUND: There is limited information about thymosin α1 (Tα1) as adjuvant immunomodulatory therapy, either used alone or combined with other treatments, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of adjuvant Tα1 treatment on long-term survival in margin-free (R0)-resected stage IA-IIIA NSCLC patients. METHODS: A total of 5746 patients with pathologic stage IA-IIIA NSCLC who underwent R0 resection were included. The patients were divided into the Tα1 group and the control group according to whether they received Tα1 or not. A propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed to reduce bias, resulting in 1027 pairs of patients. RESULTS: After PSM, the baseline clinicopathological characteristics were similar between the two groups. The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates were significantly higher in the Tα1 group compared with the control group. The multivariable analysis showed that Tα1 treatment was independently associated with an improved prognosis. A longer duration of Tα1 treatment was associated with improved OS and DFS. The subgroup analyses showed that Tα1 therapy could improve the DFS and/or OS in all subgroups of age, sex, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), smoking status, and pathological tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, especially for patients with non-squamous cell NSCLC and without targeted therapy. CONCLUSION Tα1 as adjuvant immunomodulatory therapy can significantly improve DFS and OS in patients with NSCLC after R0 resection, except for patients with squamous cell carcinoma and those receiving targeted therapy. The duration of Tα1 treatment is recommended to be >24 months.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/surgery* ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Humans ; Immunomodulation ; Lung Neoplasms/surgery* ; Neoplasm Staging ; Propensity Score ; Retrospective Studies ; Thymalfasin