BACKGROUND: Reumatoid arthritis (RA) is a well-known autoimmune disease. Recently, polyglycosides of tripterygium wilfordii hook F (T Ⅱ), a traditional Chinese herb, has been widely used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.But the effects of TⅡ on the joints' synovium inflammation and whether TⅡcan prevent the reumatoid arthritis need to be investigated further.OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of T Ⅱ on the relative data of ankle joints of adjuvant arthritis (AA) rats.DESIGN: A randomized controlled experiment based on rats. SETTING: Departments of Histology and Embryology and Neurobiology, West China School of Preclinical and Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University. MATERIALS: A total of 20 healthy clean grade female SD rats, aged 2 to 3 months old, weighing 185-215 g, were provided by the Experimental Animal Center of West China Medical Center of Sichuan University. Fre und's complete adjuvant (FCA) was produced by Sigma Company. TⅡ was produced by Zhuzhou 3rd pharmacy of Hunan Province (certification number: 2005 No 055172, 10 mg/pill).METHODS: The experiment was completed in Department of Histology and Embryology and Neurobiology in Sichuan University from May 2004 to March 2005. ① All the 20 rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 5 rats in each group by lots: normal group, without Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) injection and TⅡ administration; model group, with FCA intradermal injection (0.2 mL) into the left hind paw and without TⅡ administration; TⅡ preventive group, first we use the same way as model group to replicate the AA model in rats, then on the 7th day AA rats were feed by TⅡ 30 mg/kg every day for 7 days; TⅡ therapeutic group, AA rats model were built with the same way as model group, on the 19th day AA rats were feed by TⅡ 30 mg/kg every day for 7 days. During this period, the swelling dimension of hind paw both primary and secondary are mea sured before immunization with FCA and after immunization, that was, on the 2nd, 10th, 15th, 19th, 22nd and 26th days. ② Arthritis index have been recorded according to inflammatory state of other three uninjected limbs.③ On the 28th day, all the rats were killed, the ankle joints are collected after perfusion-fixation. These joints were sectioned and colorated with H. E staining. Then we observe the histopathological changes in the synovium of ankle joints. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Swelling dimension of joints and arthritis index, histopathology of anklebone joint's synovium. RESULTS: All of the 20 rats completed the experiment without missing. ① On the 2nd day after FCA injection, the primary hind paw of other three groups beside normal group appeared obvious swelling; from 2nd to 26th days, the volume of hind paw in other three groups was larger than that of normal group (t=2.315-3.041, P ＜ 0.05). The volume of primary hind paw in TⅡ preventive group at different time points (10th, 15th, 19th, 22nd and 26th days) was obviously less than that of model group (t=2.064-2.683, P ＜ 0.05). The volume of primary hind paw in TⅡ therapeutic group on the 22nd and 26th days was less than that of model group (t=2.112-2.578, P ＜ 0.05). Fifteen days after FCA injection, the volume of secondary hind paw in model group and T Ⅱ therapeutic group was larger than that of normal group (t=2.201-2.546, P ＜ 0.05). On the 15th, 19th, 22nd and 26th days, the volume of secondary hind paw in T Ⅱ preventive group was obviously less than that of model group (t=2.373-2.425, P ＜ 0.05). The volume of secondary hind paw in T Ⅱ therapeutic group on the 26th day was obviously less than model group (P ＜ 0.05). ② On the 14th day after FCA injection(after T Ⅱ preventive administration for 7 days), arthritis index of model group was (8.3±2.0) points, while arthritis index of TⅡ preventive group was (0.4±0.95) points (t=2.64, P ＜ 0.05), there was an obvious decline in T Ⅱ preventive group compared with model group. On the 26th day after FCA injection (after TⅡ therapeutic administration for 7 days), arthritis index of model group was (11.2±0.7), whileinflammatory disease in AA rats and prevent the secondary arthritis in the rats of AA as well.

Objective To evaluate the application value of low-dose CT (LDCT) in physical examination for coal miners with different exposure time.Methods The consecutive three-year imaging data of 972 coal miners with over 20-year exposure were retrospectively reviewed.All miners were divided into 3 groups according to different exposure time,including 317 cases with less than 10 years,299 cases with 10-20 years and 356 cases with more than 20 years.All subjects underwent LDCT examination every year during three consecutive years.Results Baseline LDCT:As the exposure time was prolonged (with less than 10 years,10-20 years and more than 20 years),the number of coal miners has increased with non-calcified pulmonary nodules,interstitial pulmonary lesions,clinically cured or stable stage of pulmonary tuberculosis,pulmonary calcification and pulmonary fibrous stripes,but without statistically significant difference.The detection rates of lung bullae,aorta and coronary artery sclerosis were also increased mildly,with the prolonged exposure time.There was no significant correlation between exposure time and detection rates of bronchiectasis,pulmonary inflammatory lesions,lymph node enlargement or calcification,pleural lesions.The exposure time of 6 cases of malignant nodules and 2 cases of active tuberculosis was more than 10 years.During a two-year follow-up using LDCT scan,there were no significant changes in most of intrapulmonary,pleural and mediastinal lesions.Neither were in pulmonary nodules less than or equal to 4 mm.Three pulmonary nodules with 4-8 mm diameters were enlarged.Most of the inflammatory lesions have changed in size.Conclusion The LDCT scan has a certain value for chest physical examination of the coal miners with different exposure time.It is very necessary to screen the high-risk population of coal miners with exposure time of more than 10 years using LDCT.LDCT reexamination has significant value for pulmonary nodules and inflammatory lesions with diameter of more than 4 mm.Most of intrapulmonary,pleural and mediastinal lesions have no obvious change in the short term,and make an annual reexamination unnecessary,neither does a negative baseline LDCT.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of the innovative topical ozone therapy for infantile atopic dermatitis.Methods:Sixty children with atopic dermatitis were divided into a treatment group and a control group.The treatment group was showered with ozonated water (3-5 times a week) and smeared with ozonated oil (twice a day),while the control group was washed with warm running water and smeared with base oil,adding moisturizer if necessary.The treatment course was 2 weeks.Efficacy and side effect were evaluated.Results:The skin exudation was reduced and erosion was healing after 3-5 days topical ozone therapy for infantile atopic dermatitis.The effective rates were 80.0％ and 20.0％ in the treatment group and control group for 1 week,and 89.6％ and 30.7％ for 2 weeks,respectively,with significant difference between the 2 groups (P＜0.001).Conclusion:Innovative treatment of infantile atopic dermatitis with topical ozone application is safe and effective,which is worth popularizing in clinic.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of propranolol for problematic infantile hemangiomas. METHODS: Oral propranolol was administered to 68 infants with heamngiomas diagnosed by clinical evaluation and adjuvant examination at 1.0~2.0 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, divided to 2 or 3 times. The patients revisited once a month. The changes of the tumor size, texture, and color were monitored and recorded at a regular interval.The adverse effects after medication were observed and managed accordingly.The short-term results were evaluated using a 4-grade system. RESULTS: All the 68 infants were followed up for 3-13 months, except that 1 infants combined with other diseases and 4 withdrew.The overall response was Scale 1 in 8 infants, Scale II in 13, Scale III in 29, and Scale IV in 13. No serious adverse effects were seen, but none cured entirely as well. CONCLUSION Oral propranolol is safe and effective for infantile heamngioma with good short-term result. It could be used as the primary drug for problematic infantile hemangiomas at the rapid growth stage of hemangiomas.
Female ; Hemangioma ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Propranolol ; therapeutic use ; Prospective Studies ; Skin Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Subcutaneous Tissue

Changes in the intrinsic characteristics of brain neural activities can reflect the normality of brain functions. Therefore, reliable and effective signal feature analysis methods play an important role in brain dysfunction and relative diseases early stage diagnosis. Recently, studies have shown that neural signals have nonlinear and multi-scale characteristics. Based on this, researchers have developed the multi-scale entropy (MSE) algorithm, which is considered more effective when analyzing multi-scale nonlinear signals, and is generally used in neuroinformatics. The principles and characteristics of MSE and several improved algorithms base on disadvantages of MSE were introduced in the article. Then, the applications of the MSE algorithm in disease diagnosis, brain function analysis and brain-computer interface were introduced. Finally, the challenges of these algorithms in neural signal analysis will face to and the possible further investigation interests were discussed.