Acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS) is an inflammatory lung injury induced by a variety of factors, and these diseases are associated with high rates of mortality due to the lack of effective treatments. Based on the latest research in ALI/ARDS, it is widely accepted that generalized inflammatory responses play a critical role in initiating and developing process of ALI/ARDS. We make a brief review on the immune-pathogenesis and the signaling pathways of ALI/ARDS from the perspective of inflammation, thereby helping develop novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of patients with ALI/ARDS.

Objective To investigate the effects of lncRNA FENDRR on the proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis of LUSC H226 cells and its molecular mechanism. Methods The expression levels of FENDRR in normal lung epithelial cells BEAS, lung adenocarcinoma A549 and H1299 cells and LUSC H226 cells were detected by qRT-PCR. H226 cells were transfected with FENDRR-siRNA as the experimental group, or with FENDRR-siNC as a negative control group. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 assay. Cell migration and invasion were detected by Transwell assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry. The protein expression levels of MEK, p-MEK, ERK and p-ERK were determined by Western blot. Results FENDRR levels in H226 cells were significantly lower than those in normal lung epithelial cells. Compared with the negative control group, the knockdown of FENDRR could significantly promote the proliferation, migration and invasion of H226 cells, inhibit the cell apoptosis, and increase the protein levels of p-MEK and p-ERK. The addition of ERK inhibitor U0126 rescued the effect of FENDRR knockdown on H226 cells. Conclusions The knockdown of lncRNA FENDRR can promote the proliferation, migration and inhibit the apoptosis of H226 cells through ERK/MAPK pathway.

Objective To explore and evaluate the effects of participatory teaching approach in the teaching of medical research methods. Methods The students of clinical medicine of Grade 2007 who took the elective course of medical scientific research method were taken as traditional teaching group, taught by teachers only, while the students of clinical medicine of Grade 2008 and 2009 as participatory teaching group, adopting the way of teachers' lectures and students' participation. At the end of the course, the questionnalre survey method combining interviews was used to investigate the teaching effectiveness, using descriptive analysis and chi-square test to compare the effectiveness between the traditional teaching methods and the participatory teaching methods. Results Compared with the traditional 'teachers centered' method, the 'participatory teaching approach' had better teach-ing results. Through the study of this course, 54 students (42.9%) learned how to conduct scientific research topics, 44 students (34.9%) mastered the design of the questionnalre, 59 students (46.8%) enhanced their ability of data analysis. Students' learning motivation and satisfaction were higher, and 117 student's participation (92.8%) were satisfied with the curriculum setting. Conclusion In medical research method teaching, the effect of participatory teaching method teaching is superior to the tradi-tional teaching method, and students' motivation and satisfaction are higher.

Objective To evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of sevelamer hydrochloride in treating maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients with hyperphosphemia.Methods A multicenter,open-labeled,self-control study was performed.Phosphate binders were discontinued during a two-week washout period.Patients with more than 1.78 mmol/L serum phosphorus after two-week washout period were eligible for the trial.The dose was adjusted every two weeks as necessary to achieve serum phosphorus control. Sevelamer hydrochloride was administered to 138 MHD patients for 10 weeks and a second two-week washout period followed.Results A total of 111 from 138 patients fulfilled the whole 14-week study. Mean serum phosphorus and calcium-phosphate products starte to decline after two-week sevelamer hydrochloride treatment. By the end of 10-week sevelamer hydrochloride treatment, mean serum level of phosphorus [(1.85±0.50) vs (2.57±0.54) mmol/L,P＜0.01],calcium-phosphate product [(4.16± 1.72) vs (5.79 ± 1.50) mmol2/L2,P＜0.01 ] and low density lipoprotein [(1.64±0.76) vs (2.31 ±0.87) mmol/L,P＜0.01] were significantly decreased,while the adjusted serum level of calcium and serum intact parathyroid hormone kept steady.Both serum phosphorus and calcium-phosphrus product increased after the second washout period, but the levels were still lower as compared to pre-treatment [(2.26±0.71) vs (2.57±0.54) mmol/L; (5.12±1.63) vs (5.79±1.50) mmol2/L2,P＜0.01].Of the 138 patients involved,214 episodes in 106 patients and 121 episodes in 89 patients were reported as adverse events and adverse drug reaction respectively. Gastrointestinal symptoms,of which most were mild or moderate,happened to 68.1％ (94/138) patients. Conclusions Sevelamer hydrochloride can control serum phosphorus and reduce the levels of calcium-phosphorus product and cholesterol.Slight gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation are common during the treatment.

BACKGROUNDSelection of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) remains controversial. Since there is a trend to expand the transplant criteria for HCC patients, we reviewed the data of patients with HCC who had received OLT at our institute to determine their survival and prognostic factors.

METHODSA total of 67 patients with HCC who had undergone OLT from April 2001 through December 2003 were reviewed retrospectively. Selection OLT candidates with HCC was dependent on the anatomical characteristics and/or the severity of underlying liver cirrhosis. The 67 patients were followed up for more than 6 months after transplantation. Their survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Univariate and multivariate analyses using the Cox proportional hazards regression model were performed to reveal the factors affecting the survival rate.

RESULTSNo perioperative death occurred in this series. The 1- and 2-year cumulative survival rates were 90.0% and 65.6%, and the disease-free survival (DFS) rates were 77.5% and 62.5% respectively. Univariate analysis revealed the tumor size, portal vein tumor thrombus (PVTT), serum alpha-fetoprotein level, bilobular distribution of tumors, pTNM stage and histological differentiation were statistically significant factors affecting the DFS (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed tumor size and PVTT were independent and statistically significant factors affecting the DFS (P = 0.005 and 0.010, respectively). In this series, all but 2 received systemic chemotherapy, among them 13 had tumor recurrence within 8 months after OLT.

CONCLUSIONSOLT is indicated for patients with HCC, even for some patients with end-stage liver disease who may survive longer without tumor recurrence. Adjuvant chemotherapy may decrease the recurrence of HCC after OLT.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; mortality ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; mortality ; surgery ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate