Objective To explore the value of cardiovascular magnetic resonance feature tracking (CMR-FT) in quantita tive evaluation of myocardium deformation in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).Methods Sixteen HCM patients (HCM group) and 18 healthy volunteers (control group) were enrolled and measured with CMR-FT.The differences of left ventricular (LV) end diastolic volume (LVEDV),LV end systolic volume (LVESV),LV ejection fraction (LVEF),left ventricular mass (LVMASS) and LV global radial strain (RS),LV global circumferential strain (CS) were compared between the two groups.The correlations between segmental wall thickness and segmental RS and CS were studied.And the correlation among global RS,CS and LVEDV,LVESV,LVEF,LVMASS were analyzed.Results LVMASS in HCM group was higher than that in control group ([133.74±79.13]g vs [76.87±14.15]g,P=0.01).No sig nificant differences of LVEDV,LVESV,LVEF were found between HCM group and control group (all P＞0.05).Global RS and CS were significantly lower in HCM group than those in control group (RS:[27.05 ± 13.35]％ vs [40.62 ± 4.92] ％,P＜0.01;CS:[-8.68± 5.56] ％ vs [-20.73 ± 1.56] ％,P＜0.01).No significant correlations was observed between segmental wall thickness and segmental RS (r=-0.41,P＜0.01),CS (r=0.28,P＜0.01),respectively.In HCM group,no significant correlations was observed between global RS (r=-0.36,-0.41,0.22,-0.36),CS (r=0.34,0.10,0.22,0.42) and LVEDV,LVESV,LVEF,LVMASS,respectively (all P＞0.05).Conclusion CMR-FT is conducive to quantitative evaluate myocardial deformation in HCM patients.

Objective To explore a simpler, more economic and reproducible method to reproduce a model of high oxygen induced acute lung injury (HALI) in rats. Methods An animal feeding box equipped with a controllable high oxygen was designed. 100 Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into normal control group and HALI group by random number table method, with 50 rats in each group. Each group was randomly subdivided into five subgroups according to the duration of exposure to high oxygen, namely 0, 24, 48, 72 and 96-hour subgroups, with 10 rats in each subgroup. The rats in normal control group were kept in cages with ambient air, and the rats in HALI group were kept in an oxygen tank in which the oxygen concentration was higher than 90% volume ratio, with the temperature maintained at 25-27 ℃, humidity of 50%-70%, and CO2 concentration < 0.5% for 23.5 hours every day. The arterial blood of rats was collected for analysis of blood gas at all time points, and the oxygenation index (OI) and respiratory index (RI) were calculated. Then the rats were sacrificed and the right lung was harvested, which was sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). The changes in histopathology were observed with light microscopy, and pathological score was recorded. The left lung was harvested for the measurement of the wet/dry weight ratio (W/D). Results With the prolongation of high oxygen exposure time, the degree of lung injury in HALI group was gradually increased, and the degree of derangement of alveolar structure appeared in an increasing degree, with destruction of the alveolar wall, widening of alveolar space, and appearance of edema, and inflammatory cell infiltration. A small quantity of red blood cells exudation could be found in some rats. The pathologic changes were most obvious at 48-72 hours after exposure. With the prolongation of high oxygen exposure time (0, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours), the OI (mmHg, 1 mmHg = 0.133 kPa) in HALI group was gradually decreased (446.67±29.93, 306.19±37.23, 269.70±29.00, 253.81±43.40 and 245.58±35.25), RI, pathological score of lung tissue and W/D ratio were gradually increased [RI: 0.25±0.04, 0.31±0.06, 0.38±0.06, 0.46±0.07 and 0.44±0.03; pathological score of lung tissue: 0.00±0.00, 0.90±0.74, 2.90±1.20, 4.70±1.57 and 4.80±1.23; lung W/D ratio: 3.84±0.61, 4.14±0.46, 4.56±0.34, 5.32±0.27 and 5.18±0.25]. Statistically significant differences were found in 72-hour group as compared with that of other groups (all P < 0.05), while no significant difference was found between 96 hours and 72 hours groups (all P > 0.05). There were significant differences in changes between 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours as compared with those of the normal control group: OI (mmHg): 24 h 306.19±37.23 vs. 435.65±25.34 and 96 h 245.58±35.25 vs. 465.42±24.75; RI: 24 h 0.31±0.06 vs. 0.24±0.04 and 96 h 0.44±0.03 vs. 0.24±0.06. The same as true in pathological scores of lung tissue: 24 h 0.90±0.74 vs. 0.00±0.00 and 96 h 4.80±1.23 vs. 0.00±0.00; lung W/D ratio: 24 h 4.14±0.46 vs. 3.79±0.44 and 96 h 5.18±0.25 vs. 4.12±0.91, all P < 0.05. Conclusions A self-designed high oxygen box is simple, easy to operate and reproduction of HALI model can be attained. Sustained exposure to high concentrations of oxygen (≥ 90%) for 24 hours can replicate the HALI model successfully, and the most serious injury appears at 48-72 hours after exposure.

Objective To explore the nutritional status and determinants among rural stranded children under 7 years of age. Methods The group of stranded children (n=7585) and the children for control (n=7557) were identified by multi-stage stratified cluster sampling. The ascertainment methods mainly included questionnaire, anthropometric measurements and laboratory examination. Results In this study, there were three groups, including the group of stranded children whose single parent left home to look for better job somewhere, the group of stranded children whose parent both left home and the third group serving as control. Prevalent rates on the following items were: stunting -- 14.9%, 17.9% and 16.3%, underweight -- 7.2%, 8.3% and 7.6%, wasting -- 3.1%, 3.4% and 3.3% and anemia -- 18.9%, 20.6%, 18.7% respectively. The prevalent rate of stunting in the group of children with both parents away from home was significantly higher than that those with only one parent did. The prevalence rate of anemia in the group with both parents away from home was significantly higher than that in the control group. Based on multivariate non-conditional logistic regression analysis, the determinants of stunting among the stranded children were: age, with low birth weight, living alone, being the only child in the family, mother's education level, frequency of eating breakfast and snacks every week, motives of caretakers and the relationship between children and the caretakers. The determinants of underweight among those stranded children were: age of child, with low birth weight, the frequency of eating snacks every week, motives of the caretakers and having rickets. Conclusion The nutritional status among rural stranded children was relatively poor, especially in those whose parents were both away from home, which calls for urgent improvement.

BACKGROUNDAcinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important pathogen related to serious infections and nosocomial outbreaks around the world. However, of the frequently used methods, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) in Acinetobacter baumannii genotyping lack the direct molecular proof of drug resistance. This study was conducted to establish a typing method based on drug resistant gene identification in contrast to traditional PFGE and AFLP in the period of nosocomial epidemic or outbreak.

METHODSFrom January 2005 to October 2005, twenty-seven strains of Acinetobacter species from Intensive Care Units, the Second Affiliated Hospital in Ningbo were isolated, including both epidemic and sporadic events. Susceptibility test, PFGE, AFLP and drug resistance gene typing (DRGT) were carried out to confirm the drug resistance and analyze the genotyping, respectively. PFGE was used as a reference to evaluate the typeability of DRGT and AFLP.

RESULTSTwenty-seven strains of Acinetobacter displayed multiple antibiotic resistance and drug resistant genes, and beta-lactamase genes were detected in 85.2% strains. The result of DRGT was comparable to PFGE in Acinetobacter strains with different drug resistance though a little difference existed, and even suggested a molecular evolution course of different drug-resistant strains. AFLP showed great polymorphism between strains and had weak ability in distinguishing the drug resistance.

CONCLUSIONCompared to AFLP and PFGE, DRGT is useful to analyze localized molecular epidemiology of nosocomial infections and outbreaks, which would benefit clinical diagnosis and therapy.

Acinetobacter Infections ; microbiology ; Acinetobacter baumannii ; classification ; drug effects ; genetics ; Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; genetics ; physiology ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genotype ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Polymerase Chain Reaction

Objective To explore the effect of edaravone (ED) on the neurological functionaldeficits, apoptosis and expression of caspase-3 protein following focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion(I/R)injury in rats. Methods A total of 24 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly allocated intothe sham-operation group, cerebral I/R group, normal saline treatment group and ED treatment group, 6rats in each group. Rat models with focal cerebral I/R injury induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) were established using a modified suture method. ED (3mg/kg) or equal volume of normalsaline was injected intraperitoneally immediately after cerebral ischemia and 12 h after reperfusion in thetreatment groups;the rats in sham-operation group underwent the same modeling procedure withoutischemia by nylon suture. The neurological behavioral deficits were evaluated 24 h after I/R injury;,immunohistochemical staining and Western blot assay were applied to detect the change in the expressionof caspase-3 protein; in situ TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay was used tostudy the change in neuronal apoptosis. Results The scores of neurological behavioral deficit scale,the positive cells and expression of caspase-3 protein, and the apoptotic cells in the ED treatment groupwere significantly decreased, compared with that of the I/R group and normal saline treatment group(P<0.05 for each comparison). Conclusion ED may effectively reduce neuronal apuptosis andneurological functional deficits after cerebral I/R injury, which might be related with the inhibition of thecaspase-3 protein expression.

Twenty Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains were isolated from chickens and geese in the field outbreaks during 2005 and 2006 in some regions of Jiangsu and Guangxi province. Assessment of the virulence by MDT and ICPI, RT-PCR and sequence analysis of fusion protein gene were used to compare the properties of NDV isolates. The results indicated that MDT and ICPI of the isolates were 45.3h - 58.2h and 1.61 - 2.00 respectively, which confirmed that the all NDV isolates were highly virulent. And their hemagglutinin were not resistant to heat and belonged to fast pattern of elution. The results of nucleotide sequencing and phylogentic analysis of fusion protein gene showed that the twenty strains shared homology from 79.7% to 100% among themselves, from 78.1% to 83.4% and from 80.2% to 90.1% with NDV LaSota, F48E8, respectively. The putative amino acid sequences of fusion protein at the cleavage sites of all the isolates were 112R-R-Q-R/K-R-F117, with the motif characteristics of the virulent NDV strain, which was in accordant with the results of assessment of the pathogenicity. The phylogentic tree based on sequences of fusion protein gene variable regions (47-420nt) revealed that the 18 strains belonged to sub-genotype VIId and the others belonged to an old genotype III of NDV, revealing that subgenotype VIId virus was responsible for the NDV outbreaks in some regions of Jiangsu and Guangxi promince recently.
Amino Acid Motifs ; Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Chickens ; virology ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Geese ; virology ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Newcastle Disease ; epidemiology ; genetics ; Newcastle disease virus ; genetics ; pathogenicity ; Phylogeny ; Poultry Diseases ; epidemiology ; genetics ; virology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Viral Fusion Proteins ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between Chinese medicine (CM) constitutive susceptibility and syndrome diversity in diabetic nephropathy (DN).

METHODSEpidemiologic investigation on constitution adopting the "Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire" (CCMQ), and survey on syndrome type by CM syndrome scale (preliminary) were carried out in 180 DN patients. Cluster analysis on symptom items was used to determine the syndrome type, and canonical correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between patients' constitution and syndrome.

RESULTSBaseline levels in all enrolled patients were not different statistically. Cluster analysis showed 8 syndromes existed in DN patients, namely: I, qi-yin deficiency with qi-stagnancy type; II, yin-yang deficiency with heat-water-blood stasis type; III, qi-yin deficiency with dampness-heat type; IV, yin-yang deficiency with blood-stasis and heat type; V, qi-yin deficiency with stagnant heat type; VI, yin-yang deficiency with inner dampness-heat stagnancy type; VII, yin deficiency with heat stagnancy type; and VIII, Kidney (Shen)-Spleen (Pi) deficiency with stagnant heat type. Correlation analysis on the 8 syndromes and the 9 constitutions showed statistical significant correlations between syndrome III and dampness-heat constitution (P=0.0001); syndrome IV and blood-stasis constitution (P=0.0001); and syndrome VII and yin-deficiency constitution (P=0.0180).

CONCLUSIONCertain relationship revealed between CM constitutions and syndrome types; constitution decides the disease genesis, its syndrome type and prognosis, as well as the change of syndromes.

Aged ; Body Constitution ; Cluster Analysis ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo explore the association of Chinese medicine constitution susceptibility to diabetic nephropathy (DN) and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 (T869C) gene polymorphism.

METHODSTGF-β1 gene polymorphism detected with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was screened for 180 DN cases and 180 type 2 diabetic mellitus (T2DM) cases without combined DN. Patients with DN were surveyed epidemiologically with constitution in the Chinese medicine questionnaire (CCMQ). Binary logistic regression analysis was utilized to study the correlation between nine types of Chinese medicine constitution and TGF-β1 (T869C) gene polymorphisms.

RESULTSThe DN group has a higher frequency of TGF-β1 (T869C) gene polymorphism than the T2DM group, and CC/CT genotypes than the T2DM group [CC, CT, TT (DN group): 88, 87, 5 (cases) versus (T2DM group) 71, 73, 36 (cases), P<0.05]. The phlegm-dampness constitution, damp-heat constitution, and blood stasis constitution have correlations with TGF-β1 (T869C) gene polymorphism.

CONCLUSIONChinese medicine constitutions were associated with TGF-β1 (T869C) gene polymorphism, a potential predictor of susceptibility to DN in T2DM patients.

Aged ; Body Constitution ; genetics ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; genetics ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) on adhesion and migration of melanocytes in vitro.

METHODSHuman melanocytes were obtained from normal human foreskins. Culture dishes covered with fibronectin were used to perform melanocytes adhesion assay, and cell motility was assessed using the Transwell micropore filter method.

RESULTbFGF and alpha-MSH increased melanocytes adhesion on culture dishes covered with fibronectin. bFGF stimulated melanocytes migration through micropore filter while alpha-MSH had no significant effects.

CONCLUSIONbFGF and alpha-MSH could promote the adhesion and migration of melanocytes, which suggests that two agents may play a role in the repigmentation of vitiligo.

Cell Adhesion ; drug effects ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cells, Cultured ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Melanocytes ; cytology ; alpha-MSH ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo learn the prevalence of birth defects in Chongqing.

METHODSA total of 6579 children aged 0 - 4 were chosen by multistage cluster sampling method in central economic districts of Chongqing. A total of 32 kinds of birth defects were selected. All the birth defects, except for the visible congenital malformation, must be diagnosed by the hospital in county. And municipal experts would make a consultation for those that couldn't be diagnosed at the level of county. Investigators trained strictly made a body examination and inquired medical history from May to September in 2010.

RESULTSA total of 6541 subjects, aged from 0 to 4, were recruited in the present study, and 216 of them were born with birth defects. The total prevalence was 33.48‰ (95%CI: 29.09‰-37.87‰). There were 25 kinds of birth defects in total, the first five were hernia (20.15‰), congenital heart disease (2.17‰), polydactylism (2.02‰), cryptorchid (1.86‰) and funnel chest (1.86‰). The prevalence among boys was 52.99‰ (178/3359), higher than girls 12.29‰ (38/3092) (χ2=82.42, P<0.05). The prevalence in each group aged 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 were 39.30‰ (36/916), 38.79‰ (41/1057), 36.46‰ (56/1536), 28.38‰ (47/1656), 27.99‰ (36/1286), respectively. There were no statistical differences in each group (χ2=4.83, P=0.31). The prevalence in countryside was 40.17‰ (136/3386), higher than that in town 26.18‰ (80/3065) (χ2=9.83, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe rate of birth defects in Chongqing was moderate, and boys and kids in rural areas had a higher prevalence rate than their counterparts.

Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Congenital Abnormalities ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Prevalence