Objectives To observe the changes of the detrusor excitability and contractility and to study the mechanism of the unstable bladder. Methods Detrusor strips were obtained from prostectomy patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. According to the results of urodynamic examination, patients were divided into detrusor instability (DI) and detrusor stability group(DS). Test of mechanical tension and stimulations with electricity and carbachol were performed on the excitability and contractility of the detrusor strips from 8 patients selected from each of the groups in vitro . Results The minimum tension of the detrusor strips when contraction occurred in DI and DS was (0 324?0 132)g and (0 822?0 216)g, respectively. There was significant difference between DI and DS ( P

Objective To define the assessment dimensions of community-based elderly care service.Methods Firstly 11 assessment dimensions of elderly care service needs were teased out through literature review and group discussion, these were illness, self-care ability, vision, risk of falls, willingness/information self-expression ability, the comprehension in others' willingness/information, depression, anxiety, family care ability, self-desires for old-age support, family-desires for old-age support.Then 37 experts were invited to reconfirm and empower theose assessment dimensions with two rounds of Delphi method.Results Results showed that the enthusiasm and authority degree of experts were favorable in two rounds, and the results from the second round showed strong opinion coordination.Finally, 12 assessment dimensions were confirmed, in which financial situation of the aged added and used for reference.After weight calculation, illness was weighted the highest (0.11), while vision and the degree of anxiety were weighted lowest in 11 dimensions (0.07).Conclusion The reliability of the assessment dimensions of the aged service needs is high.This study had positive significance on the solution of the dilemma in elderly care at the present stage.

Objective: This systematic review examined whether radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a safe treatment modality for benign thyroid nodules (BTNs). Data Sources: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library database were searched for articles that (a) targeted human beings and (b) had a study population with BTNs that were confirmed by fine?needle aspiration cytology and/or core needle biopsy. Study Selection: Thirty?two studies relating to 3409 patients were included in this systematic review. Results: Based on literatures, no deaths were associated with the procedure, serious complications were rare, and RFA appears to be a safe and well?tolerated treatment modality. However, a broad spectrum of complications offers insights into some undesirable complications, such as track needle seeding and Horner syndrome. Conclusions: RFA appears to be a safe and well?tolerated treatment modality for BTNs. More research is needed to characterize the complications of RFA for thyroid nodules.

At present time, the widely used hepatitis B virus( HBV) vaccines consist of only the small hepatitis B surface antigen expressed in yeast or CHO cells. The frequency of non-responders to these vaccines has increased the demand for a more immunogenic vaccine. Some studies have suggested that the addition of preS region to the vaccine will improve its efficacy. However, the large protein (L) containing the whole preS region can not be effectively expressed in vitro. To overcome this problem, two chimeric contructs, SS1, surface gene containing preS1 region at C-terminus and SS2, surface gene containing preS2 region at C-terminus, were constructed and effectively expressed in our previous studies. Here we further constructed an expression vector containing both SS1 and SS2 expression cassettes by separation and ligation the SS2 cassette to a linearized SS1 expression vector pAO815-SS1. The recombinant vector was transformed into Pichia pastoris GS115 by electroporation. A high-level expression strain (GS115-SS1S2) was established by primary screening for His+ transformants and further analysis for induction products. ELISA results demonstrated that the expressed protein had S, preS1 and preS2 antigenicities simultaneously. Western blotting showed that the product can bind to all of the three antibodies, anti-S, anti-preS1 and anti-preS2. The expression protein was present in the form of particles of 20-35 nm diameter and the yield of recombinant particles reached 300-600 mg/L by fermentation. The SS1 and SS2 polypeptides kept intact in purified particles, suggesting that the stability of preS region has been significantly improved.
Animals ; CHO Cells ; Cricetinae ; Cricetulus ; Epitopes ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens ; genetics ; immunology ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; immunology ; Peptide Fragments ; genetics ; immunology ; Pichia ; genetics ; Protein Precursors ; genetics ; immunology ; Vaccines, Synthetic ; immunology

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between CCAAT/enhancer binding protein alpha (C/EBPalpha) gene mutations and the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

METHODSThe whole coding region of C/EBPalpha gene were screened in 48 cases of AML and 11 normal subjects by PCR-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and sequencing.

RESULTSC/EBPalpha mutations were detected in 5 of 48 AML patients. Four duplications and 1 deletion were confirmed by DNA sequencing. All of those are newly identified mutations.

CONCLUSIONSDifferent mutation types of C/EBPalpha gene exist in a small number of patients with AML and might be related to the pathogenesis of some leukemias.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; CCAAT-Enhancer-Binding Protein-alpha ; genetics ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mutation

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the techniques of posterior lumbar interbody fusion and pedicle screws in the treatment of degenerative scoliosis and evaluate their clinical significance.

METHODSTwenty five patients with degenerative scoliosis were treated operatively during 1997 - 2002. Among the 25 patients, 13 patients were treated with Brantigan I/F carbon cages in 28 intervertebral spaces, 7 patients were treated with Prospace cages in 15 spaces, 1 patient was treated with CONTACT cages in 2 spaces. The correcting effects, complications and follow-up results were analyzed retrospectively.

RESULTSThe average correction rate of scoliosis was 59% and the rate of pain relief was 88%. There was a case of pseudoarthritis and a case of embolism. During follow-up, correction rate and height of disc spaces were not lost nor shift of interbody cages.

CONCLUSIONPosterior pedicle screws combined with interbody fusion is a safe and effective treatment for degenerative scoliosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Bone Screws ; Female ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Scoliosis ; surgery ; Spinal Fusion

Objective:To investigate the expression of interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase-M(IRAKM)in systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) and its relationship with immunoregulation .Methods:103 patients with SLE were divided into active stage group (n=55) and stable stage group(n=48) according to their disease activity score (SLEDAI),and 40 healthy persons were chosen as control group.Real-time quantitative PCR ( RT-PCR ) was used to detect the expression of IRAKM mRNA in peripheral blood monouclear cells of the three groups .The levels of anti ds-DNA antibody and anti Sm antibody in serum were detected by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The levels of serum complement C3 and C4 were measured by immune scattering turbidimetry .Factor analysis of variance was performed to analyze the differences of all the observed indicators in the three groups .The correlation between IRAKM and autoantibodies and complements of SLE was analyzed by Pearson or Spearman .Results: The expression level of IRAKM mRNA of SLE patients in the active stage group and stable stage group were significantly lower than that in the control group ( P<0.05).Moreover,the expression level of IRAKM mRNA in the active stage group was lower than that in the stable stage group ,and the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05 ) .Compared with the control group , the levels of anti ds-DNA antibody and anti Sm antibody in the active stage group and stable stage group were significantly increased ( P<0.05 ) ,and the levels of complement C 3 and C4 were obviously lower(P<0.05).The changes of serum levels of autoantibodies and complements in the active stage group were more remarkable than those in the stable stage group ( P<0.05 ) .The expression level of IRAKM mRNA in the SLE patients was negatively correlated with the levels of anti ds-DNA antibody and anti Sm antibody (P<0.05).However,it was positively correlated with the levels of complement C3 and C4 ( P<0.05 ) .Conclusion: IRAKM participates in the immune regulation process of SLE through negative regulation,and its expression level is closely related to the degree of SLE disease activity .

Objective To detect the feasibility of magnetically labeled swine bone marrow mesenehymal stem cells(MSCs)with SHU 555A combined with poly-L-arginine(PLL),under MR imaging in vitro and in vivo.Methods Swine mesenehymal stem cells were isolated and culture-expanded 3 passages in vitro,then magnetically labeled by incubation with SHU 555A(25?g Fe/ml,Resovist,Schering)for 24 hours with 750 ng/mL poly-L-lysine(PLL;average MW_275 kDa)added 1 hour before incubation.Cellular iron incorporation and detention at 0 d,4 d,8 d,12 d,16 d,20 d after labeling was qualitatively assessed using Prussian blue and quantified at atomic absorption spectrometry.Cell viability was assessed by trypan-blue exclusion test.Cell suspensions underwent MR imaging with T_1-and T_2-weighted spin-echo and fast field-echo sequences on a clinical 1.5 T MR system.At last,1?10~6 SHU 555A labeled and unlabeled MSCs were transextracardially implanted into the infracted and normal myocardium approximately 2 week following the ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery in 1 swine respectively,and finally performed 1.5-T MRI within 1 week after infarction.Results①Intracytoplasmic particles stained with Prussian blue stain were detected for all cells with mean cellular iron content of(13.13?2.30)pg per cell.With division of stem cells, the stained particles decreased gradually with iron content(0.68?0.20)pg per cell.at 16 days after labeling, approximately to the prelabeled baseline values.(0.21?0.06)pg per cell(P＞0.05).The viability of the labeled cells at various time points were not significantly different with that of nonlabeled cells(P＞0.05).②MR images showed signal intensity changed most obviouly in T2*WI in vitro.The percentage change of signal intensity increased with increasing cell numbers,and decreased with the time.As few as 5?10~4-1?10~5 cells could be detected by using this approach.③Two injected sites containing MR-MSCs were detected in vivo,presentingas low signal intensity areas with the T_2*WI scanning sequence.Conclusion Swine bone marrow MSCs can be labeled with SHU555A-PLL and depicted with a standard 1.5-T MR imager in vitro and in vivo.(J lntervent Radiol,2007,16:115-121)

Aim To observe the effects of realgar nano-particles on B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Raji cells in vitro. Methods Realgar nanoparticles and crude realgar particles were characterized with a laser particle size analyzer, a transmission electron microscopy (TEM)and an atomic force microscopy(AFM). The morphological changes of proliferation of Raji cells brought about by the use of realgar naoparticles and crude realgar particles were observed with a light mi-croscope. The membrane changes of Raji cells treated with realgar naoparticles and crude realgar particles were observed with AFM. The ultrastructures of Raji cells were observed with TEM. The inhibitory effects of Raji cells treated with realgar naoparticles and crude realgar particles were measured with MTT. The nuclear apoptosis morphologies of Raji cells were observed with fluorescence microscopy. The apoptosis rates and the cell cycle distributions of Raji cells treated with real-gars were measured with flow cytometry. Results The size of realgar nanoparticles and crude realgar particles was (79 ± 8)nm and (1. 89 ± 0. 2)μm,respectively. Light microscopy showed that realgar nanoparticles could inhibit the aggregation growth of Raji cells. AFM showed that Raji cells treated with realgar nanoparticle became shrank, had smaller volume and lost the growth state of stretching out. Raji cells treated with crude realgars did not change significantly. TEM showed Raji cells treated with realgar nanoparticle had damaged subcellular organelles and mitochondria with increased vacuoles. The Raji cells treated with crude realgar did not change significantly. MTT assay showed that when treated with the final concentration of 50 mg ·L - 1 of realgar nanoparticle for 24 h,the cell survival rate of Raji cells was (40 ± 2)% . When treated with the same concentration of crude realgar,its survival rate was (65 ± 3)% . When treated with 50 mg·L - 1 of realgar nanoparticle for 48 h,its survival rate was only 10 % ,and when treated with crude realgar ,its survival rate was (42 ± 2 )% . Fluorescence micro-scope indicated that the Raji cells treated with realgar nanoparticle had obvious nuclear apoptosis,which was not obvious in crude realgar group. Flow cytometry showed that the total apoptosis rate of Raji cells in-duced by realgar nanoparticles and by crude realgar was 11. 14%,15. 9%,respectively. Compared with those treated with crude realgar,the Raji cells treated with realgar nanoparticles presented a significantly higher ratio cell distribution in G1 phase and an obvious decreased ratio in S phase. Conclusion Compared with crude realgar particles,the same dose of realgar nanoparticles can significantly inhibit the proliferation of Raji cells,destroy their sub-cellular structure,and induce the cell apoptosis of Raji cells.

Objective To identify the pathogenic genes and mutations in a family with Usher syndrome type 2.Methods A three-generation family including 7 individuals was enrolled in this study.There were 2 male patients and 5 unaffected individuals.All participants was underwent related ophthalmologic examination,including best corrected visual acuity,slit-lamp,indirect ophthalmoscopy,electroretinogram (ERG),optical coherence tomography and visual field test.DNA was extracted from 3 ml peripheral venous blood of all participants.A total of 136 hereditary retinal disease target genes were screened and the DNA sequence was performed by Next-generation sequence analysis.Then the suspected mutations compared with databases to identify the suspected mutations,which should be verified with non-affected family members and 100 normal subjects by PCR and Sanger sequence.Results The sequence result showed that 2 patients,the proband and his brother,carried complex heterozygous mutations in the USH2A gene:c.5459T＞C (p.M1820T) in exon 27,c.802G ＞A (p.G268R) in exon 5 and c.1190T＞A (p.I397K) in exon 7.The c.5459T ＞ C and c.1190T ＞A mutations in USH2A have not been reported in the literature and database.Although their mother carried c.5459T＞C (p.M1820T) and c.802G＞A (p.G268R),and their father carried c.1190T＞A (p.I397K) heterozygous mutations,the parents did not present phenotype.These mutations were not detected in other normal family members.The result was supported by co-segregation analysis.Conclusion The heterozygous mutations c.5459T＞C (p.M1820T),c.1190T＞A (p.I397K) and c.802G＞A (p.G268R) in USH2A gene cause Usher syndrome in this family.