In the face of conversions of private medical institutions in the United States,the federal and state governments of the United States have developed corresponding laws and policies to adapt to the situation.The paper made an analysis of the profile and causes of the changed business nature of such institutions,and an introduction to the laws on which such change took place,the roles and responsibilities of government departments,the assets disposal and tax exemption status as well as the pricing policies.

Objective To understand the issues in the conversion of private medical institutions and explore the possible options.Methods Case study and in-depth interview were employed in 6 converted medical institutions.Results The reasons for conversion were diversified,and the process was not standardized.The attitudes towards how to deal with the net assets differed so much among the executives.The legislation and supervision by the government were still under-developed.Conclusion The process for the conversion should be standardized and the ownership of the net assets should be clearly defined.The legislation and supervision on private medical institutions should be enhanced.

Adrenomedullin (AM) is a novel vasoactive peptide. The actions of AM include vasodilatation, reduction of arterial pressure, inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell transference and proliferation, diuretic and natriuretic, inhibition of aldsterone secretion. Furthermore AM modulates extra cellular matrix deposition. So adrenomedullin plays an important role in the regulation of cardiovascular remodeling. This paper reviews the relationship between AM and cardiovascular remodeling.

Objective of this study is to re-compute the national hospitalization rate in China using the second-hand data and explore the practical use of systematic review in health policy research field.Methods Domestic literatures on hospitalization rate in the last six years were collected and quality assessment was done.Merging analysis was used based upon systematic review approach.Results 25 reported literatures on hospitalization rate of urban and rural residents were included into the study.After merging analysis,the hospitalization rates were 4.70% for the country,5.31% for the urban and 4.26% for the rural.They are higher than the reported hospitalization rate in National Health Services Survey (NHSS)in 2003.After merging with the NHSS data,the hospitalization rate were 4.12%,4.85% and 3.82% respectively.Conclusions Systematic review can be applied in health service and policy research field.Data merging and information processing methods are diversified and could be selected upon research purpose and data attribute.Computation methods in systematic review in health policy research still need to be developed.

Uncoupling protein 4 (UCP4) is a member of the multigenic uncoupling proteins (UCPs), specific expressing in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. UCP4 plays an important role in Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, brain trauma and other central nervous system diseases by uncoupling, decreasing mitochondrial membrane potential,regulating Ca2+ homeostasis and oxidative stress. This article reviews UCP4 and its roles in the central nervous system diseases in order to provide certain basis for the development of UCP4targeted medication.

This paper introduced the latest healthcare management and the service delivery system including health resources in Macao,highlighting the developed legal system,government financing policies for health sector,the well-developed medical service referral system,favorable development supports for private medical institutions,and remuneration incentive policies for health workers in Macao.These may serve as the useful implications and recommendations for health reform and development in mainland of China.

Abstract: Objective To compare the application value of metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) with traditional culture in diagnosis of pulmonary infection pathogens. Methods　The clinical documents of 310 patients with suspected pulmonary infection admitted to the General Hospital of Center Theater Command from February 2021 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The results of mNGS and traditional culture were analyzed, followed by comparison on the positive rate, sensitivity, specificity, accuracy (ACC), positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) between the two methods. Results　 The study revealed that mNGS can simultaneously detect multiple pathogens, with the highest efficiency of detection for bacteria and the lowest for fungi. And the sequencing numbers of bacteria, fungi and viruses shown by mNGS were significantly different (H=70.361, P<0.001). In comparison, mNGS displayed a higher positive detection rate (88.40%) than traditional culture (29.70%) (χ2=162.373, P<0.001), but the consistency between the two methods was not significant (Kappa = -0.003, P=0.902). The sensitivity, specificity, ACC, PPV and NPV of mNGS were 91.29%, 28.26%, 81.94%, 87.96%, and 36.11% respectively, compared to corresponding 30.30%, 73.91%, 36.77%, 86.96% and 15.60% of traditional culture respectively. Through analysis, it is confirmed that the sensitivity and specificity between the two methods were statistically significant (91.29% vs 30.30%, χ2=148.120, P<0.001 and 28.26% vs 73.91, χ2=13.793, P<0.001). Conclusions　mNGS can significantly improve the detection rate of pathogens in pulmonary infections and provide a complementary tool besides to traditional culture method for accurate anti-infection therapy. Furthermore, both traditional culture and mNGS pathogen detection methods are highly dependent on sample quality and detection quality control. mNGS requires the correct interpretation of comprehensive, non-destructive pathogenic genetic information to accurately identify pathogens.

Objeetive To investigate the clinical efficacy of treating stomach cance belonging to spleen and stomach deficient cold type with self-designed formula and chemotherapy.Methods 100 patients of stomach cancer belonging to stomach and spleen deficient cold were randomly grouped into a control group and a treatment group,with 50 cases in each group.The control group was only treated with chemotherapy,and the treatment group was additionally treated with self-designed Chinese formula on the basis of the control group.After 3 months' treatment,the curative effect,the improvement of life quality,the changes of body weight,the improvement of peripheral blood and immune function,and the occurrence of adverse reaction were observed.The survival rate of patients after 1,3 and 5 years' treatment was investigated.Results ① Short term curative effect:the total effectiveness of the control group and the treatment group was 60.0％ (30/50) and 30.0％ (15/50) respectively,with the treatment group being better than the control group(Z=-2.100,P＜0.05);② life quality:theimprovement rate of life quality in the treatment group and the control group was 64.0％ (32/50) and 20.0％ (10/50) respectively,with the treatment group being better than the control group (Z=-3.259,P＜0.05); ③ body weight:the improvement rate of body weight in the treatment group and the control group was 24.0％ and 16.0％ respectively,and there was no significant difference (Z=-1.815,P＞0.05) ; ④ peripheral blood:the peripheral blood abnormality rates of treatment group was obviously lower than the control group (Z=-4.286,P＜0.05) ;⑤ immune function changes:CD4+、CD8+、and the activity of NK cell of two groups after the treatment [the treatment group was (40.8 ± 4.1)％,(26.1-3.2)％,(83.57-2.52)％ respectively; the control group was (31.7±2.9)％、(33.8±3.0)％、(92.88±3.83)％ respectively] wasobviously improved compared with the same group before the treatment [the treatment group was (34.2±3.5)％,(31.0±2.0)％,(85.01±2.92)％ respectively; the control group was (34.0±3.2)％,(30.9±2.2)％,(85.02± 3.48) ％ respectively].The immune indexes (CD4+、CD8++、CD4+/CDg+and the activity of NK cell)in the treatment group presented significant difference (P＜0.01) than the control group after the treatment.⑥adverse reaction:compared with the control group,the occurrence rate of adverse reaction of the treatment group was obviously lower than the control group,and there was significant difference (Z=-5.297,P＜0.05).⑦survival rate:the survival rate of patients after 1,3 and 5 years' treatment in the treatment group was better than the control group,and there was significant difference (x2=5.263,12.96,7.895,P＜0.05).Conclusion The combination of self-designed Chinese formula and chemotherapy could effectively relieve the clinical symptoms,improve the immunity,reduce the occurrence of adverse reaction,and improve the life quality of patients with stomach cancer belonging to stomach and spleen deficient cold type.

Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy of pingyangmycin (PYM) injection on infantile hemangioma located in the parotid gland region. Methods Twelve patients were treated by intralesional injection of PYM. When necessary, the injections were repeated at an interval of one week, but not more than 3-4 sessions within a therapeutic period. Normally, the secondary therapeutic period was performed 1 month later. The general and local adverse responses were recorded and the clinical outcomes were assessed with a follow-up of 1 to 3 years. Results Complete clinical resolutions were achieved in 10 patients. 2 patients received one injection, 3 patients received 2 injections, 3 patients received 3 injections, and 2 patients received 4 injections. The remaining 2 patients with partial resolution received 6 and 7 injections respectively. No clinical recurrence was observed during the follow-up of 1 to 3 years. No ulcerations or postoperative sears in injection regions were presented. The function of facial nerve was remained normality in all patients. The systematic side effects included transient pyrexia and poor appetite appeared in partial patients. No allergy cases were found. Conclusion Treatment of infantile hemangioma located in parotid gland region with PYM injection reveals a high rate of complete clinical resolution, with fair cosmetic results and short treatment time, and it does not damage the facial nerve or form local scar.The treatment time of PYM injection seems to be positively related to size of the lesions.

Objeetive To investigate the outcome of microvascular reconstruction of the tongue with anterolateral thigh flaps in the treatment of middle-late stage tongue cancer patients. Methods From December 2003 to March 2007,nine patients underwent simultaneous reconstruction of the tongue and oral floor defects with anterolateral thigh flaps after resection of squamous cell carcinoma of tongue.The flaps ranged from 7 cm×10 cm to 10 cm×12 cm in size,and were adjusted to the defect of the tongue and oral floor.The vascular pedicle included descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery and the accompanying veins.The outcome of reconstruction was evaluated by follow-up examinations,considering the contour and mobility of the reconstructed tongues,the swallowing function and the speech function.Results All of the donor sites were closed directly,with minimal donor-site morbidity. All patients recovered unevenffully from surgery,with no immediate postoperative complications:no flap necrosis,no wound infection or wound dehiscence.The transplanted flaps survived well.The average follow-up period was 18 months.During the follow-up period there was no tumor recurrence and the contour of the reconstructed tongues showed sufficient bulk.The patients demonstrated good mobility of the reconstructed tongue.The swallowing and speech function recovered satisfactory.Two months postoperatively the patients were able to ingest a solid or semisolid diet,and six months postoperatively the patients developed intelligibe language.Conclusion The anterolateral thigh flaps are suitable and reliable for the microsurgical reconstruction of the large defects caused by middle-late stage tongue cancer.