BACKGROUND: Dysfunction of vascular endothelium is the initial event of atherosclerosis. Although there are many approaches to evaluate the function of vascular endothelium, few are widely used in clinic. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the brachial and superficial femoral endothelium-dependent dilation, i.e. flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelium-independent dilation, i.e. nitroglycerin-mediated dilation (NMD), of elderly patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), and to investigate the correlation and characteristics between brachial and superficial femoral FMD and NMD.DESIGN, TIME AND SETTING: Non-randomized concurrent control trial was performed at Department of Geriatric Cardiology, Chinese PLA General Hospital from October 2000 to May 2002.PARTICIPANTS: Thirty-three PAD patients were selected as PAD group, including 27 male and 6 female, aged (79±6)years, who had more than one focus of plaque and arterial stenosis more than 50% in artery of lower extremity by Doppler ultrasound. Accorded with the standard for Health of China Academy of Geriatrics in 1995, 40 healthy retired cadres undergoing health examination were selected as control, including 29 male and 11 female. In addition, 30 patients with coronary arteriosclerotic heart disease or cardiovascular risk factors (excluding age and sex) were selected as risk factor group.METHODS: Using non-invasive approach, high resolution color Doppler ultrasound diagnosis system was applied to detect the basic caliber of upper and lower extremtity arteries in all participants, then the blood flow of the tested artery was blocked and the vascular caliber was detected again after the blood flow was restored to evaluate the endothelium-dependent dilation. The tested subjects took 0.6 mg nitroglycerin to induce vasodilatation after detecting the basic caliber of upper and lower extremtity arteries, then the difference between the two detections was regarded as the endothelium-independent dilation.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The endothelium-dependent dilation and endothelium-independent dilation of upper and lower extremtity arteries.RESULTS: Both FMD and NMD of the brachial artery and the superficial femoral artery in 33 PAD patients were significantly lower than those of healthy controls and non-PAD patients with cardiovascular risk factors (t=-11.82-10.91, P <0.05). In old PAD patients, the superficial femoral FMD and NMD were significantly lower than brachial FMD (t=3.535,3.315, P < 0.01); There was close relationship between the brachial and superficial femoral FMD (r=0.931 4, P < 0.01), so was the NMD (r=0.919 1, P < 0.01).CONCLUSION: The superficial femoral FMD and NMD may reflect the vasoreactivity of PAD patients more directly and sensitively than those of brachial artery. There is close relationship between brachial and superficial femoral arteries.

Objective To evaluate the efficiency of control measures of the noise from a boiler room. Methods The main noise sourcs of the boiler room for attendant apartment near Wuhu railway station including air-blower and water pump were isolated using sound absorptive materials,a kind of modified PVC as sound isulator.The noise levels of the operation table for boiler workers and rooms of attendant apartment were measured before and after adopting noise control measures,then were evaluated based on GB12348-1990,the Criteria for Evaluation on the Noise of Industrial Enterprises. Results The equivalent sound levels of day and night were 76.1 and 73.5 dB(A) for the operation table for boiler workers,68.4 and 54.6 dB(A) for rooms of attendant apartment before and after noise control. The noise levels of above two monitoring points met the requirement of GB12348-1990 after the noise control. Conclusion The modified PVC sound insulator could effectively screen the noise from the boiler room.

Objective To study the clinical significance of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 and interleukin (IL)-18 mRNA in the diagnosis and evaluation of disease severity of primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) in children. Methods The ex-pression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-18 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were measured by real-time lfuorescent quantitative polymerase reaction (RT-PCR) in 77 children with PNS and 30 healthy children (control group). Results In children with steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome (SSNS), the expression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-18 mRNA before treatment and at 1, 4 weeks after hormone therapy were signiifcantly lower in children with simple type nephrotic syndrome than those in children with nephritic type nephrotic syndrome (P<0.05). The level of TGF-β1 mRNA before treatment was signiifcantly lower in children with SSNS than that in children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS). With the extension of hormone therapy, the expression levels of TGF-β1 mRNA showed a trend of declining in children with PNA. In children with SRNS, the expression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-18 mRNA before treatment and at 1, 4 weeks after hormone therapy were signiifcantly lower in children with simple type NS than those in children with nephritic type nephrotic syndrome (P<0.05). In children with SSNS, the levels of TGF-β1 and IL-18 mRNA were signiifcantly higher in acute phase than those in the remission phase. Conclusions At the early stage of PNS, the detection of the expression levels of TGF-β1 and IL-18 mRNA is useful for evaluatation of disease activity, clinical identiifcation of nephritic type nephrotic syndrome and simple type nephrotic syndrome and early prediction of SRNS.

Objective To examine the difficulty and discrimination of academic skill diagnostic test(ASDT).Methods About 1000 primary school students were administered the ASDT,and data were analysed by SPSS11.0 program.Results The difficulty of sub-tests ranged from 0.49～0.78(low edition),0.52～0.86(high edition);while the discrimination of sub-tests ranged from 0.31～0.55(low edition),0.21～0.56(high edition).The coefficients for test-retest and the whole test ranged from 0.36～0.61(low edition),0.39～0.60(high edition).Conclusion ASDT developed in the present study attains acceptable psychometric properties.

Objective:Our purpose was to investigate the function of angiotensis converting enzyme(ACE) in the occurrence and development of pregnancy-induced hypertension(PIH). Methods:The study group included 30 pregnant women diagnosed with PIH( 10 mild, 10 moderate, 10 severe). Thirty healthy pregnant women were selected as the control group. The serum was assayed for the activity of ACE by using color comparison method, hippuric acid used as the substrate. Results:The activity of ACE of the study group was significantly higher than that of the control group. Significantly positive correlationships existed between mean blood pressure, degree of adema, level of urine protein,and uric acid. Conclusion:The elevation of serum activity of ACE is related to the occurrence and development of PIH.

Objective To investigate the effects of arsenic trioxide(As2O3) on the cell proliferation and apoptosis of C6 glioma cells in vitro.Methods The C6 glioma cells were treated by 1,3,5 μ mol/L of As2O3 with different duration and observed under the microscope and electromicroscope.The viability of C6 glioma cells was examined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay,and cell cycle and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry.Results After treatment of 1,3,5 μ mol/L As2O3,C6 glioma cells were inhibited obviously with a dose- and time-dependent manner (P ＜0.05) by MTT.During flow cytometry,more increasing apoptotic cells were found in different concentration As2O3.Characteristic morphological changes were observed in As2O3 intervention by transmission election microscopy including cell shrinkage,physaliphore,nuclear condensation and apoptosis and so on.Conclusion As2O3 can inhibit the cell proliferation and induce the apoptosis of C6 glioma cells.

OBJECTIVE:To explore the work model of clinical pharmacists that tailored to the needs of clinical pharmacy in China.METHODS:The definition and the contents of pharmaceutical diagnosis were expounded.Based on the contents and clinical experience,a pharmaceutical diagnosis table was designed and its clinical application was exemplified.RESULTS & CONCLUSION:The pharmaceutical diagnosis table can help pharmacists in their clinical practice to find problems related to drug use and improve pharmacists’ job skill and pharmaceutical care quality to serve for clinical pharmaceutical practice.

Objective To explore the effectiveness and safety of endoscopic papillary balloon dilation( EPBD ) for the removal of common bile duct stones. Methods Three hundred and twenty consecutive patients with common bile duct stones on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) who met all eligibility criteria were randomly assigned endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) or EPBD.Complications were classified by an expert panel unaware of treatment allocation and outcome. Results After a single ERCP, all stones were removed from 112 patients ( 70% ) assigned EST and 104 ( 65% )assigned EPBD. Mechanical lithotripsy was used to fragment stones in 36 (22. 5% ) EPBD procedures and 32 ( 20. 0% ) EST procedures. Early complications occurred in 5.6% EST patients and 8.1% EPBD patients. No patient died. Gallstone disease recurrence, which is a long-term complication, is 7. 5% ( 12/160) in EST patients and 2.5% (4/160) in EPBD patients, P ＜0. 05. Conclusions The success rate of EPBD was similar to that of EST. We found no evidence of previously suggested higher risk of pancreatitis with EPBD, and suggest that EPBD is preferred in patients who are not suitable for EST, such as those with high risk of bleeding. This procedure is a valuable alternative to EST in patients with bile duct stones.

Laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy ( LTRS ) was used to study the inhibitory effect of indol on staphyloxanthin biosynthesis in Staphylococcus aureus cells and the dynamic changes of this pigment content inside bacterial cells during batch cultivation. The Raman spectra of Staphylococcus aureus cells cultivated for different time and exposed to various doses of indol were acquired. The intensity of 1523 cm-1 band was used for the quantification of staphyloxanthin, in the meantime, the pigment was measured by UV spectrometry. The experimental result showed that an excellent linear relationship existed between the intensities of Raman peak at 1523 cm-1 of bacterial cells and the pigment contents estimated by UV spectrometry, with a correlation coefficient of 0 . 9772 . The spectral data at population level as well as single cell level revealed that indol could inhibit the production of pigment in dose-dependent manner, and the pigment content in bacterial cells incubated with indol decreased by 70%. Under the batch growth condition, the pigment amount in Staphylococcus aureus cells reached the maximum value during the middle exponential growth phase ( 12 h ) and the heterogeneity of pigment content in bacterial cells within certain populations at various time points was relatively small, with RSDs of 39. 2% to 61. 1%. This investigation indicates that LTRS can be served as a reliable method for the analysis of staphyloxanthin content at single cell level.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of fast track surgery (FTS) application in arthroscopic reconstruction of anterior cruciate ligament.Methods A total of 80 cases of anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) tear patients were randomized into two groups.While the experimental group (n =42) was treated with the conception of FTS, and the control group(n =38) was treated with the traditional methods.The postoperative pain, knee Lysholm score, quality of life score (SF-36), knee joint activity (EUROPEP), and postoperative infection were compared between the two groups.Result The VAS score of post-operation pain (VAS) 1 h(1.80±1.13) ,6 h(1.91±0.98), 12 h(1.73±0.95) ,24 h(1.68±0.65) ,48 h(1.69±0.90) ,the time stay in hospital (7 ± 1), total cast (205 600 ± 7 600) yuan, were significantly decreased compared to the traditional therapy group(VAS : (7.00± 1.56), (7.41±0.93), (6.82±1.12), (6.65±0.76), (6.34±0.88) ,P ＜0.05 or P＜0.01;(12± 1) d, P =0.021;(28 600±5 400) yuan, P =0.042).Recovery time of ROM of experimental group was significant lower than control group (P ＜ 0.05).But the comparison of patients, satisfaction of post-operation in two groups was inverse(P=0.007).The Lycholm scores of post-operation of FTS group were remarkably higher than the control group and the scores of prior treatment(85.1 ± 14.2) vs (73.6 ±12.3);P＜ 0.05).Conclusion The new methods of FTS can apparently accelerates recovery after ACL reconstruction,reduces complications, shorten time stay in hospital, cut down the total cost, and improve the experience and the satisfaction of patients.It was safety and feasible.