OBJECTIVETo study the levels and roles of cytokines TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP).

METHODSThe levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in BALF were measured using ELISA in children with MPP at acute stage (n=45) and at remission stage (n=30). Twenty children without lung lesions severed as the control group.

RESULTSThe TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 levels in BALF were higher in children with MPP at acute stage than those in the control group (P<0.05). The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in BALF at remission stage were reduced to the levels similar to the control group and were significantly lower than those at the acute stage in children with MPP. However, the levels of IL-10 in BALF remained at higher levels at remission stage in children with MPP.

CONCLUSIONSThe levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 in BALF increase in children with MPP at acute stage, suggesting that the cytokines may be involved in the pathogenesis of MPP.

Adolescent ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Interleukin-10 ; analysis ; Interleukin-6 ; analysis ; Male ; Pneumonia, Mycoplasma ; etiology ; immunology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; analysis

The life sciences platform based on Oracle database technology is introduced in this paper. By providing a powerful data access, integrating a variety of data types, and managing vast quantities of data, the software presents a flexible, safe and scalable management platform for biomedical data processing.
Computational Biology ; Database Management Systems ; Medical Informatics Applications ; Software

Objective To analyze obese children serum lipid level in order to understand the relationship between serum lipid and cardiovascular disease in obese children.Methods One hundred and fifty-three children(109 male and 44 female)aged 4-16 years old with obesity who attended the outpatient clinic of Beijing Children′s Hospital were collected.Percentage body fat (%BF),body fat (BF),fat-free mass (FFM) was estimated by using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and calculate.Waist and hip circumference,waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was estimated by soft tape measure and calculate.Skinfold thickness of scapular bone below (S) and triceps muscle (T),S/T rate was estimated by skin fold meter and calculate.Serum total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride(TG),high density lipoprotein(HDL-C),low density lipoprotein(LDL-C),apolipoprotein(Apo) AI and Apo B levels were also measured.SPSS 11.0 software was used to analyzed the data.Results The cardiovascular disease related was the prevalence of high TC levels(3.3%)or high LDL-C level(6.0%) and high TG level(24.7%) was rather low.HDL-C level was reduced in 31.3% of obese children.In children over 10 years old,%BW and %BF showed a weak correlation with HDL-C(r=-0.202,-0.211).Conclusions In obese children,serum lipid as well as Apo level should be exa-mined in order to evaluate angiocardiopathy.

BACKGROUNDSeverity scoring systems are useful tools for measuring the severity of the disease and its outcome. This pilot study was to verify and compare the prognostic performance of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score II (SAPS II) and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in neuro-intensive care unit (N-ICU) patients.

METHODSA total of 1684 patients consecutively admitted to the N-ICU at Xuanwu Hospital between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 were enrolled in this study. The data-base included admission data, at 24-, 48-, and 72-hour SAPS II and GCS. Repeated measure data analysis of variance, Logistic regression analysis, the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic were used to evaluate the performance.

RESULTSThere was a significant difference between the SAPS II or GCS score at four time points (F = 16.110, P = 0.000 or F = 8.108, P = 0.000). The SAPS II scores or GCS score at four time points interacted with the outcomes with significant difference (F = 116.771, P = 0.000 or F = 65.316, P = 0.000). Calibration of the SAPS II or GCS score at each time point on all patients was good. The percentage of a risk estimate prediction corresponding to observed mortality was also good. The 72-hour score have the greatest consistency. Discriminations of the SAPS II or GCS score at each time were all satisfactory. The 72-hour score had the greatest discriminative power. The cut-off value was 33 (sensitivity of 85.2% and specificity of 74.3%) and 6 (sensitivity of 70.6% and specificity of 65.0%). The SAPS II at each time point on all patients showed better calibration, consistency and discrimination than GCS. The binary Logistic regression analysis identified physiological variables, GCS, age, and disease category as significant independent risk factors of death. After the two variables including underlying disease and type of admission were excluded, we built the simplified SAPS II model. A correlation was suggested between the simplified SAPS II score at each time point and outcome, regardless of the diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONSThe GCS scoring system tends to be a little weaker in the predictive power than the SAPS II scoring system in this Chinese cohort of N-ICU patients. The advantage of SAPS II scoring system still exists that it dose not need to take into account the diagnosis or diseases categories, even in the special N-ICU. The simplified SAPS II scoring system is considered a new idea for the estimation of effectiveness.

APACHE ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; Female ; Glasgow Coma Scale ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; statistics & numerical data ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Dielectric barrier discharge ion source-mass spectrometry ( DBDI-MS) can achieve in-situ and efficient detection of samples without tedious pretreatment, and has become a popular analytical method. To improve the detection sensitivity, a novel mass spectrometric method based on gold nanoparticles ( AuNPs)-assisted paper-based injection mode and DBDI-MS technology was developed for the fast determination of four veterinary drugs. The detection signal strength was improved by 8-31 times compared to the veterinary drugs which were tested without AuNPs-assisted paper based injection. Under the optimal conditions, the experimental data of four veterinary drugs showed a good linear relationship between the signal and the concentration in the respective range, with correlation coefficient ( r ) of 0. 951-0. 996. Moreover, the recoveries were between 79. 4% and 96. 5% at three spiked levels. This method has many distinct advantages, such as low detected limitation, low cost and high efficiency, and is also very suitable for fast on-site detecting, showing great potential in feed quality control.

OBJECTIVETo determine the minimum alveolar concentration (EC(50) and EC(95)) of sevoflurane in body movement response to surgical incision during combined anesthesia with dexmedetomidine, sevoflurane and fentanyl.

METHODSTwenty-six ASA class I or II patients (aged 18-60 years) underwent selective surgery for lumbar disc herniation under general anesthesia with the combination of with dexmedetomidine, sevoflurane and fentanyl. All the patients received infusion with 0.5 mg/kg dexmedetomidine for 10 min before anesthesia induction with intravenous injection of 3 µg/kg fentanyl 8% sevoflurane inhalation. Upon loss of consciousness, sevoflurane concentration was reduced to 5% with intravenous injection of 1-2 mg/kg succinylcholine, and intubation was started after muscles relaxation. Anesthesia was maintained by sevoflurane and dexmedetomidine (0.2 µg·kg(-1)·h(-1)). Before the surgery, a steady state end-tidal sevoflurane concentration was maintained for at least 10 min. The first patient of the series was tested with 1.5% sevoflurane, and the concentration was adjusted according to modified Dixons up-and-down method (with a step size of 0.2%). Probit analysis was used for calculating EC(50), EC(95) and the 95% confidence interval (CI).

RESULTSThe EC(50) of sevoflurane was 0.94% (95%CI of 0.76%-1.07% ) and EC(95) was 1.23% (95%CI 1.09%-2.05% ).

CONCLUSIONThe EC(50) and EC(95) of sevoflurane are 0.94% and 1.23%, respectively, for suppressing body movement in response to surgical incision during combined anesthesia with sevoflurane, dexmedetomidine and fentanyl.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anesthesia ; methods ; Anesthetics ; administration & dosage ; Dexmedetomidine ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Fentanyl ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Male ; Methyl Ethers ; pharmacokinetics ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Alveoli ; metabolism ; Reference Values ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo assess the effect of total hip replacement on lumbago in patients with unilaterally developmental hip dysplasia.

METHODSFrom January 2001 to January 2006, 39 adult patients with unilateral developmental hip dysplasia co-exiting lumbago were included. Among them, there were 32 females and 7 males, age from 38 years to 73 years. According to Crowe classification system, there were 4 in type I, 20 in type II,8 in type III and 7 in type IV. They were performed total hip replacement. The Harris Hip Score and the Oswestry Disability Index were used to evaluate hip and spine symptoms in same patient before and 3, 24 months after operation.

RESULTSThirty-nine patients were evaluated, both hip and spinal pain and function were significant improved. The mean Harris score increased from 44 to 84 (P < 0.01). The mean Oswestry Scores dropped from 36 to 25 (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSpinal function and lumbago is improved after total hip replacement in patients with unilateral developmental hip dysplasia at 3 months, which is maintained and enhanced in 2 years.

Adult ; Aged ; Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hip Dislocation, Congenital ; complications ; surgery ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; etiology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies

AIMTo investigate the effect of pretreatment with taurine on liver injury changes and the change of tumor necrosis factor alpha and NFkappaB expression following rats limbs ischemia/reperfusion.

METHODSThe model of limbs ischemia/reperfusion injury on rats was adopted in the experiment. Wistar rats were randomized into 4 groups (n = 10): Control group, T group, I/R group and TR group. Levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and MDA in the plasma, MDA, MPO, calcium in liver tissues were measured by colorimetric method. The content of TNF-alpha in plasma and liver tissues was determined by radioimmunoassay. The morphologic changes were observed with HE staining. The expressions of NF-kappaBp65 in liver tissues were tested by immuno-histochemistry method.

RESULTSIt was found that against the control group, the test values of ALT, AST, et al. and expressions of TNF-alpha, NF-kappaB increased in I/R group and TR group, but values of those in TR group were lower than in I/R group.

CONCLUSIONTaurine can decrease the levels of TNF-alpha and NF-kappaB. It can mitigate the liver injury after limb ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

Animals ; Extremities ; blood supply ; Ischemia ; physiopathology ; Liver ; blood supply ; Male ; NF-kappa B ; genetics ; metabolism ; Protective Agents ; pharmacology ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Taurine ; pharmacology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the accuracy of reports of suicide in the national death registry systems and to estimate a more accurate suicide rate.

METHODSTwenty-three sites from the Disease Surveillance Points Network-one of the national death registry systems-were selected and 1 932 of the deaths that occurred at these sites from August 1995 through August 2000 in which the official cause was classified as "accidental" or "mental illness" were selected for detailed household surveys focusing on reassessing the cause of death. Valid interviews were completed in 1 653 of these cases. The original cause of death recorded on the death certificate was compared with the finding of the detailed household survey and the result was used to adjust the suicide rate.

RESULTSAfter detailed investigation, 16 of the 857 (1.87%) deaths reported on the death certificate as suicide were considered accidental deaths, 39 of the 721 (5.41%) accidental deaths were considered suicide, 17 of the 35 (48.57%) cases reported as undetermined accidents were considered suicide, and 6 of the 40 (15.00%) cases in which mental illness was the recorded cause of death were considered suicide. After adjustments for errors in the reported cause of death and for missing deaths, the reported crude suicide rate of 13.65/100 000 in China was adjusted to 22.99/100 000 (95% CI: 21.78/100 000 - 24.25/100 000).

CONCLUSIONAfter adjustments the actual suicide rate for China was higher than the reported rate indicating that suicide was an increasingly important public health problem for China.

China ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Public Health ; Suicide ; statistics & numerical data

Animals ; Extremities ; blood supply ; Heparin ; pharmacology ; Male ; Mesentery ; blood supply ; Microcirculation ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury ; Splanchnic Circulation ; drug effects