OBJECTIVETo evaluate the applicability of immune-related response criteria (irRC) in treating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) by Chinese medicine (CM).

METHODSTotally 97 stage III a-IV NSCLC patients were predominantly treated with comprehensive CM. Curative effects were evaluated by three methods such as Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), Oncologic Curative Effect Evaluation Criteria of Chinese Medicine in Solid Tumor (draft, abbreviated as CM criteria), and irRC. The correspondency and consistency between irRC, RECIST and CM criteria were analyzed and compared. The objectivity of irRC in evaluating curative effect of Chinese medical treatment for NSCLC was assessed.

RESULTSThe correspondency rate of irRC to RECIST was 59. 79% with Kappa value of 0. 379 (U test, P <0. 01). The two criteria had certain correspondence, but with an unsatisfactory consistency. The correspondency rate of irRC to CM criteria rate was 83. 51% with Kappa value of 0.751 (U test, P <0. 01). The two criteria had good correspondence and consistency.

CONCLUSIONSCM criteria had good consistency with CM criteria in evaluating curative effect for Chinese medical treatment of advanced NSCLC. Its results could objectively reflect features and advantages of CM for treating advanced NSCLC.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; immunology ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; standards ; Treatment Outcome

The design principles of a noninvasive ventilator's turbine are studied and discussed in this paper. The design is completed from its several aspects and in combination of related theories, using SolidWorks tools. Abundant experimental results prove that this design's technical specifications meet all the requirements.
Equipment Design ; Respiration, Artificial ; instrumentation ; methods ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Background Oxidative stress is thought to be responsible to diabetes-complicated cataract.Our previous study demonstrated that as an iron chelator,deferiprone can protect lens from oxidative damage.Objective This further study aimed to investigate the role of deferiprone on the formation of diabetic-complicated cataract.Methods Forty 6-week-old Wistar rats were included in the study and randomized into 4 groups.Eight of them were used as the normal control group.Diabetes mellitus animal models were established in 22 rats by the carbonhydratediet and fat diet and the intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg streptozocin (STZ).The deferiprone of 50 mg and 100 mg were intragastrically given in 8 model rats respectively after 3 days once a day for 8 weeks.The opacification of lenses was examined under the slit lamp weekly after treatment.The animals were sacrificed and the lenses were obtained at the eighth week of deferiprone injection.The concentrations of water-soluble protein ( WSP),urine-soluble protein (USP) and alkali-soluble protein (ASP) in rat lens suspension were detected by Bradford method.The super oxide dimutese (SOD),malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) were determined spectrometically using xanthine oxidase,thiobarbituric acid,dithio bis-nitrobenzoic acid.Results No evidently differences were found in the content of the WSP,USP and ASP among the these groups( F=1.73,0.18,0.09,P＞0.05).The contents of MDA in 50 mg deferiprone group and 100 mg deferiprone group were ( 1.05 ± 0.10 ) mmol/g and ( 1.05 ± 0.22 ) mmol/g respectively,showing a significant decline in comparison with diabetic model group (P＜0.05).The SOD and GSH contents in lens were (321.29±16.57) U/mg,(322.07±22.16) U/mg and (7.83±0.65 ) mg/g,(7.70±0.77 ) mg/g respectively in 50 mg deferiprone group and 100 mg deferiprone group and were considerably elevated in comparison with ( 298.70± 14.69 ) U/mg and ( 5.47 ± 1.01 ) mg/g of diabetic model groups ( P＜0.05 ).No significant differences were found in the indexes mentioned above between 50 mg and 100 mg deferiprone groups(P＞0.05).Conclusions Deferiprone can reduce oxidative stress and improve the energy metabolism of the lens in diabetic rats.

OBJECTIVENosocomial infections (NIs) have become a matter of major concern in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The objectives of this study were to investigate the incidence of nosocomial infections of newborn infants in NICU and to explore the risk factors and strategies of infection control.

METHODSThe study enrolled 638 hospitalized newborn infants from Apr 2003 to Dec 2004. The clinical data, such as the clinical manifestation, the condition of colonized bacteria, were collected and analyzed by using SPSS software.

RESULTThere were 88 times of nosocomial infections in 74 newborn infants. The overall incidence of nosocomial infections was 11.6%. The mean duration from admission to first episode of NI was 7.98 +/- 4.58 days. The incidence density was 14.9 per 1000 NICU patient-days. Catheter-correlated hematogenous infection rate was 18 per 1000 umbilical or central line-days; the ventilator-associated nosocomial pneumonia rate was 63.3 per 1000 ventilator days. The smaller the gestational age and the lower the birth weight, the higher the incidences of nosocomial infection. The duration of hospitalization was longer in these infected infants than those non-infected infants. Univariate analysis indicated that gestational age < or = 32 W, the parenteral nutrition, birth weight < or = 1500 g and mechanical ventilation, apnea, small for gestational age infant, central venous catheter (P < 0.05) were risk factors for NIs. Multivariate analysis identified 3 independent risk factions: the parenteral nutrition ([OR] = 7.185 [95% CI, 3.399 - 15.188]), birth weight < or = 1500 g ([OR] = 3.310 [95% CI, 1.100 - 9.963]) and mechanical ventilation ([OR] = 2.527 [95% CI, 1.092 - 5.850]). The most common infection was pneumonia (45.4%). The mortality rate of nosocomial infections was 4.1%. Bacterial surveillance was examined by nasopharyngeal and rectal swab culture immediately on hospital admission and then once a week. The incidence rate of NIs was 24.8% in patients whose nasopharyngeal and rectal swab culture indicated bacterial colonization, and 1.9% in patients without bacterial colonization (chi(2) = 79.7, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONIt is important to identify the high risk factors for nosocomial infections in newborn infants in NICU. Reducing the duration of the parenteral nutrition and the virulence manipulation as far as possible and getting the message of individual bacterial colonization in NICU may be conducive to decrease of the incidence of nosocomial infections and provide reference for rational clinical drug administration.

Birth Weight ; immunology ; physiology ; Catheterization ; adverse effects ; Child ; Cross Infection ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Infection Control ; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal ; Parenteral Nutrition ; nursing ; Pneumonia ; epidemiology ; Respiration, Artificial ; adverse effects ; Risk Factors

Background:Mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) and IDH2 genes are important for both the integrated diagnosis and the prognosis of diffuse gliomas.The p.R132H mutation of IDH1 is the most frequently observed IDH mutation,while IDH2 mutations were relatively rarely studied.The aim of the study was to determine the pathological and genetic characteristics of lowergrade gliomas that carry IDH2 mutations.Methods:Data from 238 adult patients with lower-grade gliomas were retrospectively analyzed.The status of IDH1/2 gene mutations,telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) promoter mutations,O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter methylation,1p/19q co-deletion and the expressions of IDH1 R132H,alpha-thalassemia X-linked mental retardation,and p53 were evaluated.Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated via Kaplan-Meier estimation using the log-rank test.Results:Totally,71％ (169/238) of patients were positive for IDH mutations,including 12 patients harboring mutations in IDH2.Among the 12 patients with IDH2 mutations,ten patients harbored the R172K mutation,one patient harbored the R172S mutation and one harbored the R172W mutation.Of these,11 tumors occurred in the frontal lobe and showed morphology typical of oligodendroglioma.The proportion of grade Ⅱ tumors was higher than that of grade Ⅲ tumors in IDH2 mutant-gliomas.IDH2 mutations were frequently associated with TERT promoter mutations,1p/19q co-deletion and MGMT promoter methylation.IDH2 mutations were associated with better outcomes compared with IDH wild-type gliomas (P ＜ 0.05).However,the PFS and OS did not differ from that of IDH1 mutant patients (P =0.95 and P =0.60,respectively).Conclusions:IDH2 mutations are more frequent in oligodendrogliomas and associated with a better prognosis.IDH2 mutations may segregate in distinct clinico-pathological and genetic subtypes of gliomas,and therefore may merit routine investigation.

Adult ; Hematoma, Epidural, Spinal ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Spinal Fractures ; complications ; surgery ; Thoracic Vertebrae ; injuries ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein in peripheral blood (PB) in children with aplastic anemia (AA) and their roles in the pathogenesis of AA.

METHODSThe expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein of mononuclear cells in PB were measured by Western blot in 68 children with AA before and after treatment and in 60 normal children (control group). The correlation between Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein expression and the correlation of the Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein expression with blood Hb, WBC and platelet levels were analyzed.

RESULTSThe expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein in PB in the acute phase in the AA group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment (recovery phase) the expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein increased obviously compared with those in the acute phase (P<0.05). The Foxp3 protein level was positively correlated with the NFAT1 protein level (r=0.812, P<0.05). Both the Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels were positively correlated with blood Hb, WBC and platelet levels in children with AA in the recovery phase (r=0.537, 0.579, 0.655 respectively; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels in PB are reduced in children with AA, suggesting that they are involved in the pathogenesis of AA. The measurement of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels may be useful in the severity evaluation of AA.

Adolescent ; Anemia, Aplastic ; blood ; etiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; NFATC Transcription Factors ; blood

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), because of its good targeting, minimal invasion, and safety, is becoming a very active area in cancer prevention and treatment, in which the photosensitizers have proved to be the core element for PDT. We developed a new HPLC method for analyzing porphyrin photosensitizers using Shiseido Capcell PAK C18 (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm) as the column at 30 °C, methanol-1% aqueous solution of acetic acid as the mobile phase in a flow rate of 1.0 mL · min(-1) in a gradient elution mode, and the detection wavelength at 380 nm. This method, showing good specificity, precision, accuracy and robusty via methodology validations, can be applied to the purity test and assay of porphyrin photosensitizers, and has played a key guide role in the R&D of the new porphyrin photosensitizer--sinoporphyrin sodium.
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Photochemotherapy ; Photosensitizing Agents ; chemistry ; Porphyrins ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo discuss the mechanical virtual reality when acupuncture on Jianliao (TE 14) so as to get perform perceptual knowledge of acupuncture for beginners through studying 3D reconstruction of surrounding tissues of this acupoint.

METHODSRelated tissues were segmented and reconstructed by establishing mathematics model based on the operational platform of VOXEL-MAN (vision reappearance); and mechanical model was constructed and fused with related data of virtual human (touch reappearance); data communication between the force feedback apparatus and the operational platform of virtual human were set up by interchanging vision reappearance module and touch reappearance module.

RESULTSIn Linux system, the operator could experience the mechanical changes while needle-tip passing various tissues of Jianliao (TE 14) as well as lifting and thrusting evenly in needling process through the force feedback apparatus.

CONCLUSIONBased on the platform of VOXEL-MAN, the sensation of needling at jianliao (TE 14) could be reappeared idealy by strength feedback instrument, so that the beginners could imitate, learn and practice the virtual acupuncture.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Computer Simulation ; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Therapy, Computer-Assisted ; User-Computer Interface

Based on the principle of non-covalent interactions between oligopeptides and paclitaxel for improving the solubility of paclitaxel, an oligopeptide, N terminal-W(L)-FFGREKD-C terminal (W8), was designed and the solubilization effect of W8 on paclitaxel was detected through experiments. The binding efficiency and the possible optimal conformation were optimized by molecular docking program. The solubilization effect of W8 on paclitaxel was determined by RP-HPLC. And the solubilization mechanism of oligopeptide to paclitaxel was proposed at molecular level. It was indicated from the docking result that there existed pi-pi interactions and several hydrogen-bond interactions between the oligopeptide and paclitaxel. After being solubilized by the oligopeptide, the aqueous solubility of paclitaxel was increased to 28 times. This study provided basis for further research of the solubilization of paclitaxel by oligopeptide and confirmed a novel approach for the design of safe oligopeptide solubilizing excipient.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; Drug Design ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Oligopeptides ; chemistry ; Paclitaxel ; chemistry ; Protein Binding ; Solubility ; Temperature