BACKGROUND:After years of development, various in vitro loading devices for vascular tension stress have been created both at home and abroad, mainly including rectangular base stretching method, circular base deformation method and four-point bending beam load method. Although the circular base deformation method can wel reflect the real situations in vivo such as the expansion of the alveoli and vascular pulsation, the strain on the membrane is actinomorphic. The four-point bending beam load method can just bring limited strain range and load time, along with a difficult strain regulation.
OBJECTIVE: To develop anin vitro loading device for vascular tension stress using the rectangular base stretching method.
METHODS:Thisin vitro loading device for vascular tension stress developed according to mechatronics design consisted of power supply module, control module, drive module and data acquisition module. The device could achieve the tensile control on silicon diaphragm by high-precision control of the motor rotation angle and rotational speed.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Through tests and experiments, the device could meet the required range of parameters and simulatein vitro human tensile stress environment, which is preliminarily considered to develop successfuly, achieving that: (1) two work patterns: stress mode and strain mode so as to solve the standardization of silicone substrate as loading device; (2) tensile stress can be adjusted in a range of 0-5×105 Pa; (3) tensile strain can be adjusted in 0-40% range; (4) stretching frequency can be in the regulation of 0-80 times/min and the stretching time can be controled.

Objective To approach the changes of serum insulin and peptide C and determine their relationship with inflammatory reaction in patients with severe multiple trauma. Methods The serum insulin, peptide C, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-10, C reactive protein (CRP) were detected in 30 patients with severe multiple trauma at days 1,3 and 7 after trauma to analyze the dynamic changes of serum insulin and peptide C and their correlations with Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅲ ( APACHE Ⅲ), cytokines and CRP. The changes of cytokines and CRP were also compared with those of serum insulin and peptide C in patients with different outcomes. The changes of serum insulin and peptide C of 35 healthy subjects were detected and used as control. Re-sults The serum insulin and peptide C levels of patients were higher than those in control group at each time point after trauma, with remarkably positive correlation with APACHE Ⅲ. Whether the serum glu-cose and age were controlled or not,serum insulin and peptide C were positively correlated with IL-10 at each time point and with TNF-α and CRP at days 3 and 7. The levels of serum insulin, peptide C and IL-10 were decreased with time in both groups with different outcomes. Meanwhile, the levels of TNF-α and CRP were decreased in the survival groups but increased in the death groups. The levels of above indices in death group were significantly higher than survival groups at the same time point. Conclusions The increasing of serum insulin and peptide C is correlated with inflammatory reaction after severe multiple trauma. The dynamic changes of both indices can either reflect injury severity or be used as an effective index in dynamically monitoring anti-inflammatory degree of the organism.

OBJECTIVE :To explore the influencing factors of rational drug use(RDU)and time length of effect after intervention on RDU.METHODS:A field investigation was carried out on the core indices of international RDU index by the way of comparison.The investigation was carried out at three stages:1 year before intervention,1 year after intervention,and 4 years after intervention.Data statistics was analyzed by SPSS 11.1 software.RESULTS:The number of drug varieties per capita dropped from 2.76(before intervention)to 2.09(1 year after intervention),and remained 2.08(P

Objective To investigate in vitro activity of antimicrobial agents against Enterococcus spp . isolated from clinic specimens in a hospital.Methods 188 Enterococcus spp . isolates from specimens sent by clinic depart-ments in June 2013-July 2014 were identified and performed antimicrobial susceptibility testing.Results Of 188 En-terococcus spp . isolates,119 were Enterococcus faecium (E.faecium),60 were E.faecalis ,and 9 were E.avium, these strains were mainly isolated from urine (34.57%)and blood specimens (19.15% ).No daptomycin and linezolid-resistant strain was detected;resistant rates of E.faecium to vancomycin was 1 .68%,to penicillin, ampicillin,high concentration gentamycin,erythromycin,and levofloxacin were all > 70%;except tetracycline, resistant rates of E.faecalis to the other antimicrobial agents were all lower than E.faecium,resistant rates of E. faecalis to penicillin and ampicillin were 16.67% and 13.33% respectively.Conclusion Daptomycin has high activity against Enterococcus spp . in this hospital.

Randomization is the key to ensure the balance of confounders between the comparison groups in clinical trials, and it is the statistical basis for making the study results comparable. A simple randomization in a clinical trial with large sample-size allows for a balanced comparison of the number of subjects and confounding factors between groups, but in a clinical trial with small sample-size, it is necessary to use a restricted randomization method (the blocked randomization). Block randomization ensures that the number of subjects between groups is basically equal, maximize the effectiveness of clinical trials as the standard error of the treatment-effect estimate is decreased, which affords big rewards in scientific accuracy and credibility.

Objective To purify native F1 antigen from E pestis EV76 strain and determine its ef-ficacy against Y. pestis. Methods A new purification method was developed by the substitution of physical disruption ( glass beads) for organic solvent ( acetone and toluene) one, followed by a combination of ammo-nium sulfate fractionation and SephacrylS-200HR column filtration chromatography. Groups of mice were im-munized with F1 antigen adsorbed to 25% aluminum hydroxide in PBS by intramuscular route. The immu-nized animals were challenged subeutaneously(s, c. ) with 104 CFU of Y. pestis strain 141 at 18 weeks after the primary immunization. Results There was no IgG titre difference between two groups of mice with one-dose immunization, whereas in the two-dose immunization groups, the group F1-40 μg induced a statistically higher antibody titre than the group F1-20 μg. Complete protection was observed for animals immunized with purified F1 antigen by s.c. route. In contrast, the control mice immunized with aluminum hydroxide suc-cumbed to a same dose of Y. pestis 141 challenge. Conclusion This purification strategy is a simple and ef-fective, and can be operated in a large scale. Native F1 antigen extracted from Y. pestis EV76 is highly im-munagenic, and can be used as a key antigen component to develop sub-unit vaccine of plague.

Objective To investigate the biological characteristics and epidemiological significance of Yersinia pestis strains in Qilian County,Qinghai Province,in order to provide a scientific basis for plague prevention and control.Method Totally 67 strains were separated from kinds of host in Qilian County,Qinghai Province from 1958 to 2011,to do biochemical test,toxicity test,virulence factors evaluation,plasmid analysis and different region (DFR) genotyping.Results According to biochemical typing,48 of the 50 strains tested were Qing-Tibet Plateau ecotype,15 were Qilian Mountain ecotype,and the remaining 4 were different ecotypes from the plague foci in Qinghai plateau.The strains had 8 genomovars,and were given priority to genomovar8 (42 strains),secondly,genomovar44 (15 strains),genomovar5 (4 strains),genomovar7 (2 strains),genomovar19 (1 strain),genomovar30 (1 strain),genomovar32 (1 strain),and genomovar34 (1 strain).A proportion of 95.52％ (64/67) of the strains contained 3 kinds of plasmid-6 × 106,45 × 106,and 52 × 106;85.07％ (57/67) contained all the four virulence factors,and 96.00％ (48/50) were velogenic strains.Conclusion The strains separated in Qilian County,Qinghai Province have the characteristics of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau plague's pathogen and have strong toxicity,so we should enhance the plague monitoring and give more publicity to plague prevention to prevent animal plague spreading to human.

Objective:To investigate the association between indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase(IDO)expression in tumor tissue,its periph-eral blood activity, and the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapyin patients with breast cancer. Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC)and high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)were used to measure IDO protein expression in tumor tissue,and kynuren-ine(Kyn),tryptophan(Trp),and IDO activity(Kyn/Trp)in peripheral blood before neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 53 patients with breast cancer from Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between September 2015 and December 2016.The correlations between the expression and activity of IDO and the efficacy of chemotherapy were analyzed.Results:In tumor tissue,IDO expression-before neoadjuvant chemotherapy was related to clinical tumor stages(P=0.006),node stages(P=0.020),clinical stages(P=0.045),and estrogen receptor(ER)status(P=0.014).High IDO activity before neoadjuvant chemotherapy in peripheral blood was associated with high IDO expression in tumor tissue(P=0.004),and was also correlated with clinical tumor stages(P=0.019)and node stages(P=0.047). Univariate analysis showed that the clinical efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with pre-chemotherapeutic clinical tumor stages(P=0.049),ER status(P=0.025),and molecular subtype(P=0.014),while pathologic complete response(pCR)was related to pre-chemotherapeutic clinical tumor stages(P=0.014).Importantly,the clinical efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and pCR were both related to IDO expression and activity before chemotherapy(all P<0.05).Multivariate analysis showed that pre-chemotherapeu-tic IDO activity in peripheral blood was the only independent factor that affected pCR(P=0.032).Conclusions:Tumor tissue IDO expres-sion and peripheral blood IDO activity before chemotherapy were associated with chemotherapy efficacy,and could provide promising information for the clinical prediction of chemotherapy sensitivity.

Objective To explore the change of peripheral galectin (Gal)-3 and N-terminal B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with chronic heart failure.Methods A total of 89 patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) were enrolled.Peripheral Gal-3,NT-proBNP were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Electrochemical luminescence method.The expression levels of Gal-3,NT-proBNP in patients with different kinds of heart failure and cardiac functional grading were analyzed.Results There were significant differences in expression levels of Gal-3 and NT-proBNP between patients with HFPEF and patients with HFREF.There was significant differences of Gal-3 and NT-proBNP in patients with NYHA heart function class Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ.Gal3 was positively correlated with NT-proBNP (r =0.230,P =0.030) and negatively correlated with LVEF (r =-0.533,P =0.000).NT-proBNP was negatively correlated with LVEF (r =-0.372,P =0.000).Conclusion Peripheral Gal-3,NT-proBNP could be considered as two important markers for judging severity of illness in patients with CHF.

Objective To explore the change of peripheral galectin (Gal)-3 and N-terminal B-type brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with chronic heart failure.Methods A total of 89 patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) were enrolled.Peripheral Gal-3,NT-proBNP were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Electrochemical luminescence method.The expression levels of Gal-3,NT-proBNP in patients with different kinds of heart failure and cardiac functional grading were analyzed.Results There were significant differences in expression levels of Gal-3 and NT-proBNP between patients with HFPEF and patients with HFREF.There was significant differences of Gal-3 and NT-proBNP in patients with NYHA heart function class Ⅱ,Ⅲ and Ⅳ.Gal3 was positively correlated with NT-proBNP (r =0.230,P =0.030) and negatively correlated with LVEF (r =-0.533,P =0.000).NT-proBNP was negatively correlated with LVEF (r =-0.372,P =0.000).Conclusion Peripheral Gal-3,NT-proBNP could be considered as two important markers for judging severity of illness in patients with CHF.