Objective To investigate the principal indicators of self-care ability in activities of daily living for the persons with physical disability. Methods Persons with physical disability were asked to select the top 3 items out of 27 items of activities of daily living in 3 levels. Results A total of 1960 questionnaires were send out, and 1862 were returned. For all the subjects, the items related with personal hygiene, such as toileting, self-cleaning and bathing, were selected 899 times (16.1%). The items related with personal health, as visiting community clinics and community exercising, were selected 570 times (10.2%). The items related with social interaction, as making a telephone and chatting, were selected 500 times (9.0%). For the persons with physical disability of first grade, the major items most selected were eating, entertaining, self-cleaning and transferring; and self-cleaning and housework for those of second grade; self-cleaning, community activities and housework for those of third grade; and community and interaction for those of fourth grade. Conclusion The persons with physical disability mostly focused on the activities related with personal hygiene, health and social interaction, and varied with the severity of disability, from self-cleaning to housework and social participation.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and side effects of oral Fructus bruceae oil combined with radiotherapy in the treatment of esophageal cancer.

METHODSA total of 80 patients with esophageal cancer were equally and randomly divided into two groups. The patients in Group A were treated with radiotherapy (60-65 Gy, 6-7 weeks) and oral Fructus bruceae oil (20 mL, 3 times per day for 12 weeks), while the patients in Group B were treated with radiotherapy alone. The short-term effect was evaluated by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) and quality of life (QOL) was evaluated by the Karnofsky scoring (KFS). The outcome measures included complete remission (CR) rate, partial remission (PR) rate, effective rate as CR+PR, patients' QOL and adverse effects.

RESULTSAfter 12-week treatment, the CR and CR+PR were significantly higher in Group A than those in Group B (P <0.05). There was an improvement in esophageal obstruction of 87.5% and 60.0%, respectively, and in KFS of 84.6% and 43.9%, respectively, in Groups A and B.

CONCLUSIONOral medication with oral Fructus bruceae oil could effectively improve the efficacy of radiotherapy in esophageal cancer, including a reduction in esophageal obstruction, and also reduce the side effects of radiotherapy; thus it would be very promising for clinical application.

Administration, Oral ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; radiotherapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Quassia ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

To investigate chemical constituents from Radix Pittospori, chloroform extract of the roots was subjected to column chromatography with various chromatographic techniques. The structures were elucidated on the basis of physico-chemical property and spectral analysis. Two triterpenoids were identified as 22-acetyl-21-(2-acetoxy-2-methylbutanoyl)-R1-barrigenol(1) and 3alpha-hydroxyl-20-demethylisoaleuritolic-14(15)-ene-28, 30-dioic acid (2). Compound 1 is a new triterpene and compound 2 is isolated from this plant for the first time.
Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rosales ; chemistry ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical outcome of floating knee injury treated by open reduction and internal fixation.

METHODSThe course of treatment of floating knee in 78 cases by open reduction and internal fixation were reviewed. There were 59 males and 19 females, aged from 17 to 58 years old, with an average age of 37.5 years. Intramedullary nail, pressure plate hollow screw, multi-function single side external fixation holder and other internal fixature were used in the operation. Early exercises were followed postoperatively.

RESULTSAll patients were followed-up for 8 to 35 months (mean 18.6 months). According to the criterion of Karlström, of the 48 cases with femoral shaft fracture, 45 were excellent and 3 were good. In the 11 cases of bimalleolar fracture, 5 were excellent, 3 good, 1 fair and 2 bad. Of the 19 cases of mixed fracture, 9 were excellent,6 good, 3 fair and 1 bad.

CONCLUSIONStrict sterilization, non-invasion and standard internal and external fixation could make the fracture anatomical reduction and firm fixation. It is beneficial to early rehabilitation exercise. Complications such as malunion, and stiff joint could be avoided. The clinical outcome were satisfactory.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; Humans ; Knee Injuries ; pathology ; physiopathology ; surgery ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

The relationship of HLA-A, -Cw alleles on HIV infection and AIDS disease progression in the Chinese Yi ethnic group of Sichuan province were investigated. The genetic polymorphisms of HLA-A, -Cw alleles of 102 unrelated healthy Chinese Yi ethnic individuals, 68 HIV-1 infected and 21 HIV positive long-time survivors were typed by PCR-SSP assay. Statistic signifiance was determined by the χ2 test with the SPSS software. No significant differences were observed between the HLA-A, -Cw alleles of the 68 HIV-1 infected and 102 non-infected Chinese Yi control individuals. Whereas the prevalence of A*3601,Cw*14(01-03)and Cw*0304 was significantly higher in 21 long time survivors compared with 102 healthy controls with P values of 0.016, 0.016 and 0.000 by χ2 or the Fisher exact test respectively. The result implies that A*3601,Cw*14(01-03) and Cw*0304 may be associated with slow AIDS disease progression in the Chinese Yi ethnic group, further studies on this association may yield insight on the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection.

The 109 whole blood samples were collected from HIV-1 infected former blood donors in Henan and Shanxi. The RNA templates were extracted from plasma and used for the full gag gene amplification and sequencing. The sequences were divided into 3 groups according to sampling year. The Entropy software was used to identify the amino acids with composition difference among different groups of amino acid sequences. The results showed that there existed 8 and 13 amino acid sites with the statistical significance difference, respectively, in sequences in year 2004 and 2005, compared to those in 2002. Among them, there existed 5 amino acid sites in two groups. Of 16 amino acid sites, the increasing polymorphism and the decreasing polymorphism along the sampling year were observed in 10 and 6 amino acid sites respectively. Of 10 sites with increased polymorphism, 8 sites were located in the CTL epitopes recognized and presented by the main HLA alleles existed in Chinese population. The 6 sites with decreasing polymorphism all existed in main domains of Gag proteins.
Blood Donors ; China ; epidemiology ; Genetic Variation ; HIV-1 ; genetics ; Humans ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; gag Gene Products, Human Immunodeficiency Virus ; genetics

Fragments encoding amino acids 76-130 in the linear conserved region (LCR) of A/Hubei/1/2010 (H5N1) HA2 was fused to hepatitis B core antigen (HBc) to generate a LCR-HBe virus-like particle (VLP). Results showed that the fusion protein of LCR-HBc was highly expressed in this prokaryotic expression system. The purified LCR-HBc particle stimulated high levels of IgG production in mice with a titer of > 1:12 800, and provided 50% cross-protection against lethal challenge by H1N1 viruses.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Animals ; Female ; Hemagglutinin Glycoproteins, Influenza Virus ; immunology ; Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype ; immunology ; Influenza Vaccines ; immunology ; Interferon-gamma ; biosynthesis ; Lung ; pathology ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Molecular Sequence Data

OBJECTIVEThe current available assays for HIV subtyping, such as sequence-based phylogenetic analysis or heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA), are labor-intensive and time-consuming. The authors have just developed a simple and rapid subtype-screening assay for subtypes B, C, and CRF01-AE using a single nested multiplex PCR.

METHODSProviral DNA from HIV-positive samples was extracted and subjected to first round PCR with universal primers for gag region that can detect HIV-1 M group isolates. In the second round PCR, three pairs of subtype-specific primers, respectively detecting subtype B, C and CRF01-AE, were added into one tube. The PCR products of different subtypes could be distinguished in agarose-gel electrophoresis. Another pair of primers exclusively detecting the prevalent recombinant B/C strains CRF07-BC and CRF08-BC were designed and used. Additionally, all of these samples were sequenced and analyzed phylogenetically.

RESULTSPhylogenetic analysis showed that out of 119 samples, there were 43 subtype B samples (Euro-American B 11, Thailand B 32), 54 subtype C, 17 CRF01-AE, 3 subtype A and 2 subtype D samples. The subtype B, C, and CRF01-AE specific primer sets detected 35 (81.4%), 46 (85.2%), and 13(76.5%) samples with accuracy and specificity. Non-specific bands occasionally appeared but did not interfere with interpretation of the results. The primer pairs for CRF07-BC and CRF08-BC amplified target sequences were confirmed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The specificity of all these subtype-specific primers was found to be 100%.

CONCLUSIONA simple and rapid assay was developed for screening subtypes B, C, CRF01-AE, CRF07-BC and CRF08-BC in China. This assay may have potential application in HIV laboratories in China and worldwide.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; virology ; Base Sequence ; China ; DNA Primers ; HIV-1 ; classification ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Phylogeny ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of autologous bone marrow-derived stem cell (BMSCs) transplantation in the treatment of liver failure and decompensated hepatic cirrhosis.

METHODSBone marrow was harvested (65-95 ml) from 24 patients in the transplantation group. The BMSCs were isolated and infused into liver or spleen of patients via hepatic or splenic artery. At different time points after the transplantation, the patients' liver function and prothrombin time (PT) were evaluated, and the survival rate and symptoms of the patients were recorded.

RESULTSAll the serum biochemical indexes remained stable 2 weeks after the transplantation, and at 4 weeks after transplantation, albumin level increased significantly in comparison with the preoperative level (P<0.05). At 12 weeks, the albumin level further increased (P<0.01) along with Pre-ALB (P<0.01), while total bilirubin, tolal bile acid, PT and fibrinogen were all significantly lowered (P<0.05), and globulin, ALT, and AST remained unchanged (P>0.05). One week after the transplantation, improved appetite was observed in 22 cases (91.67%), and 21 cases (87.5%) showed better physical strength; at 2 weeks, hepatic face improved in 15 cases (62.5%), and spider telangiectasia was significantly reduced in one case; at 12 weeks, the survival rate of the patients was 62.5%, and 9 died or gave up treatment due to chronic liver failure complicated by spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatorenal syndrome, or DIC. No complications associated with the transplantation occurred in these patients.

CONCLUSIONBMSC transplantation can significantly improve the liver function of patients with terminal liver disease with good safety and effectiveness.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Bone Marrow Transplantation ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Liver Failure ; physiopathology ; surgery ; Liver Function Tests ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; methods ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

This study was aimed to investigate clinical and prognostic significances of 4 target antigens (CD19, CD20, CD22 and CD33) for antibody-based immunotherapy and to evaluate the applications of these antibody-based target therapy to adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The immunophenotype of 220 adult patients with ALL were analyzed by four-color flow Cytometry, and cytogenetic and molecular parameters were detected by conventional cytogenetics, fluorescence in situ hybridization, real-time quantitative PCR, nested PCR and DNA sequencing. The results showed that CD19 positive (CD19(+)) cases were more in female (46.4% vs. 23.4%, P = 0.006), elderly patients aged > 60 years (14.4% vs. 2.1%, P = 0.022), CD33(+) co-expression cases (47.8% vs. 12.0%, P = 0.001) and genetic high-risk group (55.8% vs. 20.8%, P = 0.002) compared with CD19 negative (CD19(-)) cases; CD20(+) cases had lower co-expression of CD13 than CD20(-) cases (31.6% vs.67.1%, P = 0.000) and no significant prognostic indications for CD20(+) was observed; CD22(+) cases had higher relapse rate at 12-month than CD22(-) cases (93.9% vs.57.1%, P = 0.041) in B-ALL patients; CD33(+) cases had higher incidence of Ph(+) than CD33(-) cases (43.5% vs.19.4%, P = 0.007) and significantly correlated with Ph(+) (r = 0.261, P = 0.006). It is concluded that elucidation of the characteristics of the target antigens (CD19, CD20, CD22, CD33) used for antibody-based immunotherapy will help hematologists making the correct decision whether and when to use these antibody-based target therapies.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD19 ; immunology ; Antigens, CD20 ; immunology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma ; genetics ; immunology ; Sialic Acid Binding Ig-like Lectin 2 ; immunology ; Sialic Acid Binding Ig-like Lectin 3 ; immunology ; Young Adult