Objective To investigate the related factors of speech intelligibility in the prelingually deafened children after cochlear implantation. Methods 47 prelingually deafened children who had received cochlear implantation and their families were investigated with questionnaires and analyzed with Fisher test. Results The age when cochlea implanted, the age when hearing aided, the time after the cochlear implantation and the time the cochlea opened were related with their speech intelligibility rating. Conclusion Suitable time for implantation, the hearing aid and making reasonable rehabilitation programme play a crucial role in the hearing rehabilitation of prelingually deafened children after cochlear implantation.

OBJECTIVE:To compare the effects of prophylactic application of 3 different antibiotics on prognosis in patients underwent breast lesion resection. METHODS:1 066 patients with breast lasion resection from 12 hospitals of Shaanxi province were divided into trial group(360 cases),control group A(352 cases)and control group B(354 cases)according to random num-ber table. Trial group was given first generation cephalosporin cefazolin;control group A was given second generation cephalospo-rin cefuroxime;control group B was given third generation cephalosporin cefoperazone sodium and tazobactam sodium. The dosage regimens of 3 groups were as follows:relevant drug 2 g added into 0.9%Sodium chloride injection 100 ml,ivgtt,0.5 h before sur-gery,medication course≤24 h after surgery in trial group. Those indexes of 3 groups were observed,such as post-operative ADR, incision healing,infection,hospitalization duration,phamaceutical costs per capita. RESULTS:There was no statistical signifi-cance in the rate of incision healing and the rate of post-operative infection among 3 groups(P>0.05). The incidence of post-opera-tive ADR,hospitalization duration and phamaceutical costs per capita in observation group were significantly lower or shorter than in control group A and B,with statistical significance(P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Cefazolin is better than cefuroxime and cefo-perazone sodium and tazobactam sodium to reduce the postoperative adverse reaction,antibiotics cost per capita and hospital drug cost per capita,shorten the hospitalization duration.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical experiences and access the auditory performance and speech intelligibility of cochlear implantees with inner ear malformations. METHOD: A retrospective study was performed on the surgical characteristics and the mapping characteristics after implantation of patients who received mult-channel cochlear implantation from 2000 to 2007 in Xijing Hospital. Matched with normal implanted, rank -sum test was performed to compare scores of categories of auditory performance (CAP) and speech intelligibility rating(SIR). RESULT: After the regular rehabilitation, the long term follow-up of the auditory performance and speech intelligibility were very positive. There was no significant difference between normal group and malformations group. CONCLUSION The cochlear implantation can be performed safely in patients with malformed inner ear. The results suggest that cochlear implantation could also provide long-term benefits to those malformed inner ear cases.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cochlea ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Cochlear Implantation ; rehabilitation ; Cochlear Implants ; Deafness ; rehabilitation ; surgery ; Ear, Inner ; abnormalities ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Speech Perception ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: To explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based whole tumor texture analysis in differentiating borderline epithelial ovarian tumors (BEOTs) from FIGO stage I/II malignant epithelial ovarian tumors (MEOTs). Materials and Methods: A total of 88 patients with histopathologically confirmed ovarian epithelial tumors after surgical resection, including 30 BEOT and 58 MEOT patients, were divided into a training group (n = 62) and a test group (n = 26).The clinical and conventional MRI features were retrospectively reviewed. The texture features of tumors, based on T2-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, were extracted using MaZda software and the three top weighted texture features were selected by using the Random Forest algorithm. A non-texture logistic regression model in the training group was built to include those clinical and conventional MRI variables with p value < 0.10. Subsequently, a combined model integrating non-texture information and texture features was built for the training group. The model, evaluated using patients in the training group, was then applied to patients in the test group. Finally, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic performance of the models. Results: The combined model showed superior performance in categorizing BEOTs and MEOTs (sensitivity, 92.5%; specificity, 86.4%; accuracy, 90.3%; area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.962) than the non-texture model (sensitivity, 78.3%; specificity, 84.6%; accuracy, 82.3%; AUC, 0.818). The AUCs were statistically different (p value = 0.038). In the test group, the AUCs, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 0.840, 73.3%, 90.1%, and 80.8% when the non-texture model was used and 0.896, 75.0%, 94.0%, and 88.5% when the combined model was used. Conclusion MRI-based texture features combined with clinical and conventional MRI features may assist in differentitating between BEOT and FIGO stage I/II MEOT patients.

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) on transformation of dendritic cell (DC) and T cell in vitro.

METHODSMouse-derived immature dendritic cells and T lymphocytes were co-cultured in vitro, which were divided into 4 groups (TSLP stimulation group, TSLP stimulation and its receptor blocking group, ovalbumin stimulation group and ovalbumin stimulation and TSLP receptor blocking group). IL-4, IL-8 and IFN-β in cell culture supernatant were detected after 2 days by ELISA. SPSS 13.0 software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTSIL-4 levels of TSLP receptor blocking groups [(48.84 ± 1.56) pg/ml, (52.53 ± 2.36) pg/ml]were significantly lower than those of corresponding TSLP stimulation group and ovalbumin stimulation group [(72.55 ± 7.76) pg/ml, (80.47 ± 21.93) pg/ml;t = 5.994, P < 0.05;t = 2.534, P < 0.05]. However, there were not significant differences of IL-8 and IFN-β expression between corresponding two groups of whether or not TSLP receptor blocking (all P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONTSLP receptor blockade in vitro can inhibit T lymphocyte transformation to Th2, which may provide a new therapeutic strategy for clinical Th2 dominant diseases such as allergic rhinitis and asthma.

Animals ; Cell Transdifferentiation ; Cells, Cultured ; Coculture Techniques ; Cytokines ; antagonists & inhibitors ; Dendritic Cells ; drug effects ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Th2 Cells ; cytology

PURPOSE: An older female predominance has been reported among chronic cough patients in Western countries, which is considered to be associated with a higher cough sensitivity in females. However, the characteristics of Chinese chronic cough patients remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the age and sex distribution as well as their relationship with cough reflex sensitivity to capsaicin in Chinese chronic cough patients. METHODS: We analyzed the demographic features of 1,882 consecutive chronic cough patients who attended our cough clinic in Guangzhou, China. Cough sensitivity to capsaicin, which was defined as the lowest concentration of capsaicin causing 5 coughs or more (C5), was measured in 539 of the 1,882 patients and 68 healthy volunteers. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 43.0 ± 13.7 years and patients aged <50 years accounted for more than two-thirds of the study population. Around 87% of the patients were never-smokers. The proportion of females (51.5%) was almost equal to that of males (48.5%). The pattern of the age and sex distribution was consistently reflected within most common causes of chronic cough, while a female predominance was shown in patients with cough-variant asthma and patients aged ≥50 years. Female patients had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than male patients (log C5: 1.58 ± 0.84 vs. 2.04 ± 0.84 μmol/L, P = 0.001), and patients aged ≥50 years had higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin than patients aged <50 years. CONCLUSIONS: In China, patients with chronic cough have a roughly equal sex distribution and a middle-aged predominance, irrespective of a higher cough sensitivity to capsaicin in females and older patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02591550
Age Distribution ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Asthma ; Capsaicin ; China ; Cough ; Female ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Male ; Reflex ; Sex Distribution

Even though a large amount of researches showing the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture, there are the researches indicating the absent difference between acupuncture and sham-acupuncture (placebo), which provides the doubts on the specificity of acupuncture. It may be considered that acupuncture intervention is complica-ted and may produce unique non-specific effect, which results in the failure to evaluate effectively the acupuncture efficacy. The influential factors of the non-specific effect of acupuncture include the interaction between physician and patient, expectancy, physician authority, acupuncture treatment experiences, etc. It may be also relevant with the anticipated biological effect, Hawthorne effect, Pavlovian conditioned reflex, etc.