Objective To assess the courses of evidence-based medicine among graduate students. Methods A sample of 118 graduate students who took the course were surveyed twice by using the same self-designed questionnaire at the beginning and the end of the course.Pre-post comparison was conducted to measure the impact. Results The students were able to grasp the most of the contents of the course,and reshaped their opinions on evidence-based medicine,with which,a positive impact on their medical practice was expected. Conclusion The course of evidence-based medicine for graduate students has resulted in a positive consequence.

Objectives To understand current status of the admission and treatment for the patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in central hospitals of Shanghai area,and to evaluate the severity of patients admitted to the hospital with CAP by the criteria set in the Guidelines for Diagnosis and Treatment for CAP developed by the Chinese Medical Association in 2006 and provide evidence for its popularization and application throughout the country.Methods Medical records of 137 patients with CAP admitted to the hospital from January 1,2005 to September 30,2006 were retrospectively studied and analyzed with SPSS 10.0 software.Chi-square test and ANOVA were used to evaluate the severity of the patients with CAP by the criteria set in the Guidelines and to correlate it with pneumonia severity index (PSI).Statistical analysis was performed for the difference between length of hospitalization,cost,length of intravenous use of antibiotics,the number of risk factors,and fatality during hospitalization between three groups of patients categorized based on the severity criteria in the Guidelines.Results There existed a good relationship between the criteria for severity of CAP by the Guidelines and PSI,with a Pearson's coefficient of correlation of 0.577,P

The expression of estrogen receptor (ER) in thymus of female BALB/c mice at different ages was investigated. The results showed that the expression of ER in thymus was increased from 1 to 8 weeks after birth. ER positive cells were thymic epithelial cells and thymocytes. ER existed not only in the cytoplasm, but also in the nucleus.

Background It is well known that tissue factor (TF) is expressed in tumor cells and neovascular endothelial cells of tumor.It plays an important role in the formation of new blood vessels as well as the growth and metastasis of tumor.However,whether TF is expressed or not in choroidal melanoma(CM)is unclear.Objective This study is to investigate the expression of TF in a choroidal melanoma cell line and human choroidal melanoma.Methods The expression of TF was studied in the optimal choroidal melanoma-1 (OCM-1) cell line and ten specimens from CM patients using immunhistochemistry.Ten normal eye specimens from donators were used as controls.Results The TF protein was mainly expressed in the cytoplasm.It is over-expressed in OCM-1 cells with positive rate of 85.33±5.47%.Hyper-expression of TF also was found in human choroidal melanoma with a positive rate of 41.60±14.17%.The integrated optical density (IOD) of positive cells in CM was 33853.67±16445.30,and only 5.65±4.26% of positive cells was found in normal human choroidal tissue.The IOD of TF expression in normal human choroidal tissue was 426.43±316.62.Conclusion The overexpression of TF in CM cells may be a new immunotherapy target for CM treatment.

Objective To investigate the effect of ketamine injected via the radicular arteries on spinal cord. Methods Twenty healthy mongrel dogs of both sexes weighing 12-18 kg were randomly divided into 2 groups ( n = 10 each): control group (group C) and ketamine group (group K). The animals were anesthetized with intravenous pentobarbital 30-35 mg/kg, fentanyl 50-100 μg and vecuronium 0.2 mg/kg and maintained with propofol ically ventilated after tracheal intubation. A catheter was inserted into T8 poster intercostal artery and advanced toward the opening of radicular artery which supplies the spinal cord. Ketamine 100 mg (in 2 ml of normal saline)was injected via the catheter in group K. Three hours after ketamine administration, the animals were sacrificed. A 1.5 cm long segment of spinal cord at the level of T8 was removed for microscopic examination and determination of the expression of NSE, S100β and Tau protein by immuno-histochemistry. Results There was no significant difference in the number of Nissl' s staining-negative neuronal cells and the expression of NSE, S100β and Tau protein in the spinal cord between the 2 groups ( P ＞ 0.05 ). Conclusion Ketamine injected via the radicular arteries does not induce spinal cord injury.

Actins ; metabolism ; Female ; Glomus Tumor ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Skin Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; surgery ; Thigh ; Vimentin ; metabolism ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE:To establish a method for the content determination of kaempferol in Kaempferia galanga. METH-ODS:HPLC was performed on the column of Diamonsil ODS2 C18 with mobile phase of methanol-0.4% Phosphoric acid solution at a flow rate of 1 ml/min,detection wavelength was 367 nm,column temperature was 30℃,and injection volume was 10 μl. RE-SULTS:The linear range of kaempferol was 0.001 58-0.158 mg/ml;RSDs of precision,stability and reproducibility tests were low-er than 3%;recovery was 95.52%-99.32%(RSD=1.47%,n=6). CONCLUSIONS:The method is simple,accurate and reproduc-ible,and can be used for the content determination of kaempferol in K. galanga.

Objective To investigate the effect of exercise preconditioning on the expression of nerve growth factor(NGF) and its receptor TrkA as well as learning-and-memory abilities in rats suffered from focal cerebral ischemia.Methods Thirty-six male SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (Sham-MCAO,n=12),focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion group (MCAO,n=12) and exercise preconditioning + cerebral ischemia-reperfusion group (EX+MCAO,n=12).Rats in EX+MCAO group were placed in the treadmill device and accepted 4 weeks exercise training.Then method of middle cerebral artery occlusion was applied to prepare transient focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion model.Garcia's method was used to assess the neural function in rats.Western blotting was applied to test the expression of NGF and TrkA protein in the successfully established experimental MCAO rats.Morris water maze experiment was uti lized to test the learning-and-memory abilities of the rats.Results (1) Compared with Sham-MCAO group,the expression of NGF in rats' brain tissue was lower in MCAO group (cerebral ischemia 1h reperfusion 24h) (P＜0.05).The expression of NGF of EX+MCAO group was higher than that of MCAO group,but still lower than that of Sham-MCAO group (P＜0.05).(2)The expression of TrkA in rats' brain tissue was higher in MCAO group compared with Sham-MCAO group (P＜0.05).Compared with MCAO group,the expression of TrkA was even higher in EX+MCAO group (P＜0.05).(3)On the fifth day in the Morris water maze test,the latency of MCAO group was significantly longer than that of Sham-MCAO group((9.36± 1.18)s vs (4.86± 1.52) s,P＜0.05).However,compared with MCAO group,the latency in EX+MCAO group ((6.02± 1.04) s) was shorter,but still longer than Sham-MCAO group (P＜0.05).There was no significant difference among the three groups in the average swimming speed (P＞0.05).Conclusion Exercise preconditioning can up-regulate the expressions of NGF and TrkA protein,which can also improve the learning-and-memory abilities in rats suffered from focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of plum-blossom needle tapping plus moxibustion in the treatment of post-stroke neurogenic bladder(PSNB). METHODS: A total of 60 PSNB patients were equally randomized into control group (16 men and 14 women, 65.6±7.9 years in age, 10.1±6.3 months in the duration of disease) and treatment group (18 men and 12 women, 63.8±8.5 years in age, 9.8±6.5 months in the duration of disease). Patients of the control group were treated by asking the patients to make a pelvic muscular exercise and passive intermittent urethral catheterization. For patients of the treatment group, a plum-blossom needle was used to alternatively tap the bilateral Shenshu(BL23), Qihaishu(BL24), Guanyuanshu(BL26), Xiaochangshu(BL27), Pangguangshu(BL28), Huiyang(BL35), Shangliao(BL31), etc., followed by performing moxibustion over the skin of Shenque(CV8), Guanyuan(CV4), Qihai(CV6) and Zhongji(CV3), etc. about 15 min. In addition, patients without spontaneous urination were also received urethral catheterization as those in the control group. The treatment was given once every day except the weekends and for two months. The integrated symptom score was assessed. The frequencies of diurnal urination and urinary incontinence, and the urination volume every time were respectively recorded for consecutive 3 days before and after the treatment, and the residual urine volume was also measured. The therapeutic effect was evaluated based on the status and frequency of diurnal urination and residual urine volume each time. RESULTS: Of the two 30 cases in the control and treatment groups, 2(6.7%) and 5(16.7%) were cured, 8(26.7%) and 12(40.0%) experienced marked improvement in their symptoms, 13(43.3%) and 11(36.7%) were improved, 7(23.3%) and 2(6.7%) failed, with the effective rates being 76.7% and 93.3%, respectively. The effective rate of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05). After the treatment, the integrated symptom score, residual urine volume, and frequencies of diurnal urination and urinary incontinence were significantly decreased, and the diurnal urination volume was obviously increased in comparison with their own pre-treatment in both groups(all P<0.05)． The therapeutic effect of the treatment group was significantly superior to that of the control group in reducing the integrated symptom score, residual urine volume, and frequencies of diurnal urination and urinary incontinence(P<0.05), and in increasing the diurnal urination volume(P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Plum-blossom needle tapping plus moxibustion is an effective option for the treatment of PSNB in improving symptoms, in reducing the residual urine volume and frequencies of diurnal urination and urinary incontinence, and in increasing the diurnal urination volume, deserving being promoted in primary care.

AIM:To observe the neuritogenic actions of botulinum neurotoxin serotype A heavy chain ( BoNT/A HC) on cultured Neuro-2a cells and to investigate the related signaling mechanisms for the effect of BoNT /A HC. METHODS:Neuro-2a cells were treated with different doses of BoNT/A HC (0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 nmol/L), and then the cells were harvested at 24 h, 48 h and 72 h of BoNT/A HC exposure for detecting the neurite length and the percen-tage of the cells with neuronal processes by immunofluorescence staining .The most efficient dose of BoNT/A HC was cho-sen for exposure to Neuro-2a cells as the above.Whole cell protein was harvested at different time points for detecting the protein levels of phosphorylated ERK 1/2 ( p-ERK1/2 ) and phosphorylated Akt ( p-Akt ) by Western blot .RESULTS:Low doses of BoNT/A HC stimulated the neurite outgrowth , and increased the percentage of the cells with neurites com-pared with the negative controls (P<0.05), especially in the group with 1 nmol/L of BoNT/A HC treatment.Meanwhile, the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt was increased after treated with BoNT/A HC.There was an increasing tendency for the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 after the exposure of the cells to BoNT/A HC.The obvious increase in p-ERK1/2 was seen from 60 min to 5 h with 1 nmol/L of BoNT/A HC treatment ( P<0.05 ) , and the increased protein level of p-Akt was mainly observed at 15 min and 60 min ( P<0.05 ) .CONCLUSION: BoNT/A HC stimulates the neuritogenesis .The neuritogenic mechanism of BoNT/A HC on Neuro-2a cells might be realized by activation of the phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt.