BACKGROUND: Differentiation of embryonic stem (ES) cells into cardiomyocytes in vitro has been studied in great detail in the world. However, much of what is currently known about cardiomyocyte differentiation from ES cells has been learned from studies on mouse in China, few studies are on human ES cells.OB JECTIVE: To investigate the differentiation effcacy of human ES cells into functional cardiomycytes with the human H14 ES cell line.DESIGN: Suspending method was used to form pseudo-embryo proper of human ES cells so as to observe ratio of pseudo-embryo proper with rhythmic contraction and expression of specific gene of myocardium in various differentiated phases.SETTING: Molecular Biology Laboratory of Stanley Ho Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, the Chinese University of Hong Kong.MATERIALS: Human ES cell line H14 was obtained from WiCell Research Institute (Wisconsin, USA) with a license agreement.METHODS: The experiments were carried out in the Molecular Biology Laboratory of Stanley Ho Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, the Chinese University of Hong Kong from August to December of 2006.The H14 ES cell colony was used to form embryoid bodies (EBs) by using suspending method. Four days later,pseudo-embryo proper was cultured in gelatin-coating 6-well culture plate (5-10 embryo proper/well) and spontaneously differentiated into moving pseudo-embryo proper. Rhythmic contraction was observed under microscope and RT-PCR was used to detect expression of special genes of myocardium.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Ratio of pseudo-embryo proper with rhythmic contraction and expression of specific gene of myocardium in various differentiated phasesRESULTS: Spontaneously contracting cells appeared as cluster and were identified in approximately 2% of EBs at differentiation day 8 and increased to as many as 10% of the EBs by day 16. The beating rate of contracting cells arranged at 70-100 beats per minute. RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that cells isolated from spontaneous beating areas within the EB expressed the cardiac transcription factors GATA-4 and Nkx2.5, cardiac progenitor gene Isl-1 and cardiomyocyte marker gene α-MHC.CONCLUSION: This is the first time to report human ES cells can effectively differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes in China.

OBJECTIVE:To provide reference for rational use of analgesic drugs for advanced cancer,moderate to severe pain. METHODS:The data of narcotic drugs and first type psychotropic drugs were collected from hospital information system of a third grade class A hospital during 2012-2014,and then analyzed in respects of amount,consumption sum and DDDs,etc. RE-SULTS:The amount of narcotic drugs and first type psychotropic drugs kept stable basically,and the consumption sum of them during 2012-2014 was 1 566 289.92 yuan,1 525 220.23 yuan and 1 531 277.44 yuan. The consumption sum of Morphine hydrochlo-ride tablet increased the fastest,increasing by 89.78% in 2013 and 142.81% in 2014,compared with the year before;those of other drugs had negative growth rate. DDDs of Morphine hydrochloride sustained-release tablets were the highest among all the narcotics and first type psychotropic drugs and increased year by year,increasing from 26 848.00 in 2012 to 47 158.00 in 2014. CONCLU-SIONS:The use of narcotic drugs and first type psychotropic drugs conform to the specifications,but they still need strict supervi-sion to promote safe and effective use of them in the clinic.

Objective To study the value of SF-36 in evaluating the life quality of Chinese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD). Methods The SF-36,MRC score and spirometry were collected from 50 patients with COPD,the validity was documented by performing correlation analysis and stepwise multiple regression analysis. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. Results The MRC score was significantly correlated with seven of the eight components(P

Animals ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; pharmacokinetics ; Iodine Radioisotopes ; pharmacokinetics ; Leukocyte Common Antigens ; immunology ; Male ; Mice ; Radiation Monitoring ; methods ; Rats ; Tissue Distribution

Objective To investigate the relationship between acute radiation proctitis and radiation dose,volume as well as radiation time,in the process of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for the cervical cancer patients.Methods A total of 51 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer were enrolled from January 2011 to December 2013.Those patients were then classified into grade 1 to 4 groups,according to the RTOG/EORTCtoxicity grading standard.The exposure dose volume and the average dose of rectum under the standard plan were evaluated with dose-volume histogram (DVH).The ANOVA test was used for analyzing Dmax,D mean,D1 cm3,D2cm3,D40 and V40 values of rectum and the average exposure dose of rectum.Results The average time of acute radiation proctitis with clinical symptoms was (23.06 ± 12.01) d after radiotherapy.Dmaxvalues of rectum in grade 2 group was lower than those in grade 3 and 4 groups (F =5.268,P ＜ 0.05).Moreover,D1 cm3 and D2 cm3 values of rectum in grade 1 and 2 groups were also lower than those in grade 3 and 4 groups (F =4.893,4.406,P ＜ 0.05).There was no statistically significant difference between D40 and V40 values.Conclusions The acute radiation proctitis could be frequently found around 20 days during the IMRT for cervical cancer patients.Mild and moderate acute radiation proctitis are more common,while severe acute radiation proctitis is rare.Minimizing Dmax,D1 cm3 and D2 cm3 values of rectum might reduce the incidence of severe acute radiation proctitis in cervical cancer patients receiving IMRT.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of high altitude on cognitive flexibility.

METHODSSimulated hypoxia at an altitude of 3 600 m was performed in a hypobaric chamber. Twenty-three volunteers without hypoxic experience were selected and the mean age was about 25.1 years. The physiological parameters (heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation) were measured. Task switch paradigm was used to explore the cognitive flexibility in each phase, and the changing anxiety state was evaluated simultaneously.

RESULTSReaction time (RT) switch cost in hypoxia phase showed a significant increase compared with the baseline; anxiety level in hypoxia phase was higher than the adaptation phase; a remarkable negative correlation between anxiety level and RT switch cost was found in adaptation phase, whereas a positive correlation was found in landing phase.

CONCLUSIONHigh altitude (3 600 m) affects cognitive flexibility and anxiety state. Anxiety before the hypoxia exposure improves the cognitive flexibility performance, while anxiety after the hypoxia exposure hampers the performance because of the post-hypoxia effect.

Adult ; Altitude ; Anxiety ; Cognition ; physiology ; Humans ; Hypoxia ; psychology ; Male ; Reaction Time

Objective To study influencing factors for giving up chemotherapy during initial treatment in elderly patients with multiple myeloma.Methods A total of 156 elderly patients diagnosed as multiple myeloma from 2000-2010 were retrospectively analyzed.And 123 young patients with multiple myeloma were selected as control group.The causes for giving up the chemotherapy and its related factors were recorded and analyzed.Results The rate of giving up the initial chemotherapy was higher in the elderly than in young patients [58.3％ (91/156) vs.35.0％ (43/123),P＜0.05].51.7％ of the elderly patients did not accept chemotherapy after diagnosis.The main factors for giving up the initial chemotherapy in elderly patients were critically ill,economic difficult and the low tolerance.However,the economic difficulty was the first cause in the young group.Conclusions The rate of giving up the chemotherapy in the elderly patients is high.Old age,severe conditions,economic difficulty,and low tolerance are the independent factors.

Background Both functional and morphological changes in amblyopic development are known to occur at various levels in the central visual pathway.However,whether the retina is involved or not during amblyopic progression remains controversial.Objective This study was designed to compare the thicknesses of the fovea and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of the normal fellow eye of amblyopic eye using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in children with myopic anisometropia.Methods Twenty-two patients with unilateral myopic anisometropic amblyopia were included as the anisometropia amblyopia group.Ten unilateral myopic anisometropic amblyopia subjects received treatment and recovered were used as the amblyopic cure group,and 11 individuals with simple myopic anisometropia without amblyopia were enrolled as the control group.OCT was performed on both eyes of all the subjects with informed consent.Fovea retinal thickness and RNFL thickness from the superior,inferior,nasal and temporal quadrants in the peripapillary region were evaluated.The measurement parameters were bilaterally compared in all the individuals by paired t test.The multiple regression model was used to analyze the correlation of retinal thickness with amblyopia patients.This study was approved by the Ethic Committee of this hospital.Written informed consent was obtain from each subject prior to the eye examination.Results Fovea retinal thickness increased in the amblyopic eyes compared with the fellow eyes,showing a statistically significant difference between them (P =0.001).However,no significant differences were found in the fovea retinal thickness between both eyes in the amblyopic cure group and simple myopic anisometropia without amblyopia group (P =0.778,0.943).Among the anisometropia amblyopia group,amblyopia cure group and simple myopic anisometropia without amblyopia group,the RNFL thicknesses of the temporal quadrant was significantly thicker in the higher myopic lateral eyes than those of the fellow eyes (P＜0.001,P =0.003,P =0.046).However,the differences in the superior,inferior,nasal and the average RNFL thickness were not statistically significant between the two eyes (P＞0.05).A negative correlation was found between the inferior retinal thickness with age (r=-0.559,P=0.016).Conclusions The fovea may be affected in unilateral myopic anisometropic amblyopia.There is no significant difference in the RNFL thickness between simple myopic eye and unilateral myopic anisometropia amblyopic eye.Improvement in amblyopia is coming along with the reduction of the thickness of the fovea.

Objective: To explore therapeutic effect of in-hospital intravenous alprostadil injection on patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicated diabetic nephropathy (DN) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), and evaluate their long-term prognosis.Methods: A total of 80 AMI + DN patients undergoing PCI were selected from our hospital.They were randomly divided into alprostadil group (n=40) and routine treatment group (n=40).Renal function after PCI, cardiac function during hospitalization, serum creatinine (Scr) level on 72h after PCI and incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) within one-year follow-up were compared between two groups.Results: Compared with routine treatment group on 72h after PCI, there was significant reduction in Scr level [(126.92±35.28) μmol/L vs.(104.32±22.91) μmol/L], and significant rise in estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR, (55.23±31.48) ml·min-1·1.73m-2 vs.(62.14±36.23) ml·min-1·1.73m-2] in alprostadil group, P<0.05 both.Postoperative one-year follow-up indicated that there were no significant difference in incidence rate of MACE and percentage of kidney replacement therapy between two groups, P>0.05 all.Conclusion: Intravenous alprostadil injection based on routine treatment possesses significant therapeutic effect on renal function in AMI + DN patients after PCI, and it's safe

Objective To investigate the effects of acetylated HMGB1 on cognitive function in rats with sepsis associated encephalopathy (SAE) and the effect of HMGB1 inhibitor.Methods Forty-eight males mice were randomly assigned to three groups (n=16): sham group (group S),cecal ligation puncture group (group C),cecal ligation puncture+sodium butyrate group (group B).Cecal ligation puncture was applied to establish the SAE model,and group S received sham operation.Rats in groups S and C were injected with normal saline 5 ml/kg 30 min and 4 h after CLP,respectively.The rats in group B were intraperitoneally injected with sodium butyrate 500 mg/kg 0.5 h and 4 h after CLP,respectively.All animals were performed Morris water maze test on 4th day after operation,and the exploring time of space exploration experiments were assessed on 7th day after CLP surgery.IL-6,BDNF,HMGB1 and acetylated HMGB1 expression in hippocampus of all rats were determined by Western Blot.Results Compared with group S,the latency of rats in group C was longer and the exploring time was shorter (P<0.05).Compared with group C,the latency of rats in group B was shorter and the exploring time was longer (P<0.05).Compared with group S,the expression of IL-6,HMGB1 and acetylated HMGB1 in group C increased (P<0.05) and the level of BDNF decreased (P<0.05).Compared with group C,the expression of IL-6,HMGB1 and acetylated HMGB1 in group B decreased (P<0.05) and the level of BDNF increased (P<0.05).Conclusion HMGB1 inhibitor sodium butyrate can inhibit the expression of acetylated HMGB1 in the hippocampus of SAE rats,and reduce the cognitive impairment induced by sepsis.