AIM:To analyse the risk factors of age, sex, course, best corrected visual acuity(BCVA),diopter and fundus features of high myopes with progressive high myopia. METHODS: A total of 167 patients with high myopes were categorized into four groups: group 1,age of 29 years or younger; group 2,between the age of 30 to 49 years; group 3,between the age of 50 to 69 years and group 4,age of 70 years or older. The refractive errors of all patients were measured without cycloplegia with an autorefractometer. Data of the spherical equivalent(SE) of the refractive errors in diopters (D)and fundus examed by direct ophthalmoscope were used in statistical analyses.RESULTS: The number of female was statistically larger than that of male(P＜0.01),also the disease course was correlated to the age. The visual acuity of high myopes significantly decreased as they grew older including the higher incidence of lacquer cracker, submacular hemorrhage, Fuchs spots, chorioretinal atrophy . CONCLUSION: Female maybe a risk factor of high myopia, advanced age is an important factor of visual acuity decrease. High myopes ought to be treated early to delay the progress of myopia and development of macular degeneration.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) standardization serves as an important foundation of TCM modernization and internationalization, and TCM standardization strategy is the core of the subject. Recently, some developed countries and developing countries with a better economic basis have set development strategy for TCM standardization. China is at the beginning on TCM standardization strategy study. This paper explored the methods for setting TCM standardization development strategy. Firstly, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of TCM were analyzed based on SWOT method to set development tactics. On the above basis, the authors defined the total goal and stage goal under the guidance of the relevant laws and regulations. To achieve the strategic goal, priority areas were formed by literature analysis and expert inquiry method, and the safeguard measures were formulated by expert symposium. Secondly, the draft for development strategy of TCM standardization was made based on the above content. Finally, the authors revised and formed the official development strategy of TCM standardization.

Angiopoietin-1 ; chemistry ; physiology ; Angiopoietin-2 ; chemistry ; physiology ; Angiopoietins ; physiology ; Animals ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; therapy ; Embryonic and Fetal Development ; Humans ; Neoplasms ; blood supply ; Receptor, TIE-2 ; chemistry ; physiology ; Signal Transduction

Animals ; Aorta ; pathology ; Apolipoproteins E ; deficiency ; Atherosclerosis ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Glycosides ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Mice ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Polygonum ; chemistry ; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo develop a method of three-dimensional computer aided design (CAD) of post-and-core restoration.

METHODSTwo plaster casts with extracted natural teeth were used in this study. The extracted teeth were prepared and scanned using tomography method to obtain three-dimensional digitalized models. According to the basic rules of post-and-core design, posts, cores and cavity surfaces of the teeth were designed using the tools for processing point clouds, curves and surfaces on the forward engineering software of Tanglong prosthodontic system. Then three-dimensional figures of the final restorations were corrected according to the configurations of anterior teeth, premolars and molars respectively.

RESULTSComputer aided design of 14 post-and-core restorations were finished, and good fitness between the restoration and the three-dimensional digital models were obtained. Appropriate retention forms and enough spaces for the full crown restorations can be obtained through this method.

CONCLUSIONSThe CAD of three-dimensional figures of the post-and-core restorations can fulfill clinical requirements. Therefore they can be used in computer-aided manufacture (CAM) of post-and-core restorations.

Computer-Aided Design ; Dental Prosthesis Design ; methods ; Humans ; Post and Core Technique

BACKGROUNDStatins and ezetimibe have been reported to change the balance of cholesterol metabolism, but few studies have been performed on Chinese patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in cholesterol metabolism markers in patients with coronary heart disease.

METHODSForty-five patients with coronary heart disease were treated with 20 mg/d of simvastatin for four weeks. Subjects were then divided into two different therapy groups according to whether they reached the target values for total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol level. Patients who reached the target values remained on simvastatin and those who did not reach the target values took a combination of simvastatin plus 10 mg/d ezetimibe until the 12th week. The concentrations of cholesterol synthesis markers (lathosterol and desmosterol) and absorption markers (campesterol and sitosterol) were measured on the 1st, 4th, and 12th week of the study by gas chromatography.

RESULTSAfter treatment with simvastatin for four weeks, the levels of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased significantly compared to levels measured during the 1st week (P < 0.05). On the 12th week the levels of total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein cholesterol had decreased significantly (P < 0.001) compared to levels during the 4th week. By the 12th week the levels of campesterol and sitosterol in the combination group had decreased significantly (P < 0.05) compared with levels measured during the 4th week.

CONCLUSIONSCoronary heart disease patients with high cholesterol synthesis at baseline might gain a greater benefit from simvastatin treatment. Combination therapy with simvastatin plus ezetimibe in patients with low cholesterol synthesis at baseline might increase the success rate of lipid-lowering through decreasing the absorption of cholesterol.

Adult ; Aged ; Azetidines ; administration & dosage ; Cholesterol ; metabolism ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Coronary Disease ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Ezetimibe ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Simvastatin ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo develop a method of surveying the digitalized partially dentate cast in order to accomplish computer aided design (CAD) of removable partial denture (RPD) frameworks.

METHODSThe stone cast of a partially dentate patient was scanned using a three-dimensional laser scanner. Points on the surface of the digitalized cast, termed as a "point cloud", were obtained. The point cloud was then imported into self-developed Tanglong software to sample and uniform. New module of identifying the surveying lines was specially written in Tanglong using C++. A straight line was created in the center of the cloud point. Then the cloud point surrounding the straight line was divided into many parts. Local coordinates were established to indicate the information of angle and distance of every point to the straight line. Surveying lines were produced step by step electronically by identifying the closest and farthest points relative to the straight line and then connected together. Different surveying lines were obtained by adjusting the angle of the straight line. After the surveying lines were decided, the undercut areas could be marked and the depth of undercut was calculated automatically. The blockout of the undercuts could also be achieved by moving the location of the point cloud in undercut area.

RESULTSSurvey lines of digitalized partially dentate casts were generated in computer. The undercut area and its depth were identified and the undercut could be blocked out. The shape of survey lines on the digitalized casts was similar to that on the physical casts drawn using traditional method.

CONCLUSIONSThe new module in Tanglong software was developed specifically for surveying partially dentate casts. It had a user-friendly interface with the easy-to-understand menus. The success of surveying dental casts digitally would make it possible to CAD of RPD frameworks.

Computer-Aided Design ; Dental Models ; Denture, Partial, Removable ; Humans ; Software

Studies have found that metformin is not only the preferred drug for lowering blood sugar, but also shows lipid-lowering and weight-loss effects. The purpose of this study was to use a hyperlipidemia hamster model to investigate the lipid-lowering effect of metformin and its effect on important metabolic pathways in lipid metabolism disorders. Fifty golden hamsters were divided into a control group, a model group, metformin high- and low-dose groups, and a simvastatin group. A high-fat diet was fed for 1 week to create the model, and then drug was administered for 11 weeks with the high-fat diet. Serum was taken for measurement of blood lipid and blood glucose at 2, 6, and 9 weeks after administration, and at weeks 3, 5, and 9 feces and urine were collected for ¹H NMR metabolomics tests. After 11 weeks of intravenous injection of [U-¹³C₆] glucose, serum was collected for a ¹³C NMR metabolic flux test. The results showed that the administration of metformin can significantly reduce blood lipids and glucose levels and can significantly affect metabolic pathways such as sugar metabolism, lipid metabolism, ketone metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and intestinal flora metabolism. The results of the metabolic flux analysis showed that the high-fat diet reduced the metabolism of tricarboxylic acids by 37.48%. After administration of low and high doses of metformin the metabolism of tricarboxylic acid increased by 98.14% and 143.10%, respectively. After administration of simvastatin tricarboxylic acid metabolism increased by 33.18%. The results indicate that metformin has a significant effect on promoting energy metabolism. This study used a combination of metabolomics and metabolic flow to explore the effect of metformin on lipid metabolism disorders and quantifies changes in the key pathway of energy metabolism-the tricarboxylic acid cycle. This study provides useful information for the study of the efficacy and mechanism of metformin, as well as a practical technical method for the screening of lipid-lowering drugs based on a hamster model.

To identify the active constituents in vitro and blood-absorbed ingredients in vivo from Yin Chen Hao decoction provides scientific evidence for probing its prevention and treatment mechanism on acute liver injury. An ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-QTOF/MS) method was applied for analysis of Yin Chen Hao decoction and the serum samples of mice with con-A induced acute liver injury after preventive oral administration for 14 days (the use of all laboratory animals in this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Naval Medical University, 19YF1459400). A total of 90 chemical constituents were identified from Yin Chen Hao decoction, mainly were flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, quinones. 5 prototype compounds were identified in the serum, including chrysophanol, deoxyrhapontin-8-O-gallate, mussaenosidic acid, herniarin, emodin. The established UPLC-QTOF/MS method could efficiently and sensitively identify the constituents in vitro and blood-absorbed ingredients of Yin Chen Hao decoction, primarily clarify the material basis of its hepatoprotective effect, and provided a scientific basis for the quality marker selection and the pharmacodynamic material basis research on the decoction.

This study was aimed to investigate the activation of P38MAPK/STAT3 and expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase during sodium nitroprusside (SNP) inducing apoptosis of human leukemia cell line K562 and to explore the molecular mechanisms of SNP-inducing apoptosis in K562 cells. The K562 cell were treated with different concentrations of SNP and were cultured for different time. Cell apoptosis was analysed by cell morphology, DNA agarose gel electrophoresis, DNA content, and Annexin-V/PI labeling method. The TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay was used to quantitate the in situ cell apoptosis. The expressions of phosphorylated p38MAPK or STAT3 were analysed by flow cytometry, while the expression of hTERT mRNA in transcriptional level was measured by fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. The results showed that SNP inhibited K562 cell growth. The K562 cell apoptosis was confirmed by typical cell morphology and DNA fragment, peak of sub-G1 phase, TUNEL and Annexin-V/PI labeling. A majority of K562 cells were arrested in G0/G1 phase. After treatment with SNP at 0.5-3.0 mmol/L, the expression of phosphorylated-P38MAPK and phosphorylated-STAT3 increased first and decreased afterwards. Incubation of K562 cell with SNP (2 mmol/L) could increase the expression of phosphorylated-P38MAPK and phosphorylated-STAT3 at 12 hours and 24 hours respectively, and down-regulated at 72 hours and 48 hours. SNP could decrease the expression of hTERT-mRNA in time-and dose-dependent manner. It is concluded that SNP can significantly induce K562 cells apoptosis, its mechanism may be related to the activation of P38MAPK and suppression of phosphorylated-STAT3 and hTRET-mRNA.
Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Humans ; K562 Cells ; Nitroprusside ; pharmacology ; RNA, Messenger ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; STAT3 Transcription Factor ; genetics ; metabolism ; Telomerase ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; genetics ; metabolism