To describe a modified simple iris suture for pupillary dilation technique during vitrectomy in cases with a miotic pupil.Four translimbal incisions were created with a sharp straight blade at 1:30,10:30,4:30,and 7:30 o'clock,respectively.The straight needle of 10-0 polypropylene suture and a Sinskey IOL hook was used to displace the pupillary margin toward the limbus.In 3 cases,four sutures caused a 6-mm to 9-mm square-shaped pupil,and the pupil was allowed to return to a smaller size at the end of the operation.It is simple and may reduce postoperative complications.

Background Central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) is a common retinal vascular disease.Intravitreal injection of ranibizumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody, is being a useful approach to the treatment of macular edema secondary to CRVO.However,little literature about choroidal thickness variations following intravitreal injection of ranibizumab for CRVO is published up to now.Objective This study was to observe the dynamic changes of macular choroidal thickness after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab in CRVO eyes.Methods A self-controlled series cases study was designed.Thirty-one eyes of 31 CRVO patients were included in Tianjin Eye Hospital from June 2013 to November 2014,with the males 19 and females 12 and mean age of (51.13±16.65) years.Ranibizumab (5 mg,5 ml) was intravitreally injected in the CRVO eyes once per month for 3 times by the same operator.A enhanced depth image (EDI) mode of spectral-domain OCT system was employed to measure the choroidal thickness at subfoveal, 1 mm from fovea nasal and 1 mm from fovea temporal before and 1 month,2,3 months after first injection in both CRVO eyes and contralateral healthy eyes, respectively.The best LogMAR vision was recored.This research protocol was approved by the Ethic Committee of this hospital, and written informed consent was obtained from each individual prior to any medical examination.Results Retinal bleeding was exhibited in the CRVO eyes in color photography,and fundus fluorescein angiography showed the fluorescine leakege in the early phase and fluorescine accummulation in the late phase.The mean choroidal theckness value was (325.32±83.04) , (294.83±80.61), (315.95±90.77) and (314.81±84.98) μm before injection and 1,2,3 months after injection,respectively,showing a significantly difference among various time points (F =7.96,P =0.00) , and the choroidal theckness values were evidently reduced in various time points after injection in comparison with before injection (P =0.01,0.01,0.00).The choroidal thickness value at foveal was (314.81±84.98) μm in the CRVO eyes 3 months after injection,and that in the fellow eyes was (260.47±55.90) ,with significant difference between them (t =2.95, P =0.01).The LogMAR vision was 0.17±0.09,0.37±0.23,0.42±0.26 and 0.49±0.21 before and 1,2,3 months after injection,with the significant difference among various time points (F =21.50, P =0.00) and showed considerable improvement after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab(all at P＜0.01).The mean retinal thickness value was (244.14-±23.28) μm in the fellow eyes, and those in 1 month, 2,3 months after injection were (523.81 ± 147.61), (352.13 ± 166.71),(376.39±209.46) and (369.00±225.61) μm in the CRVO eyes, showing obvious reduce after intravitreal injection, with significant difference among different time points (F =7.09, P＜0.01).Conclusions Choroidal thickness at macular fovea is obviously increased in CRVO eyes compared with the contralateral healthy eyes.Intravitreal injection of ranibizumab can reduce choroidal thickness and therefore improve vision.EDI OCT is available in the evaluation of dynamic change of choroidal thickness.Macular choroidal thickness could be used as a predictor of CRVO prognosis following intravitreal ranibizumab.

Acinetobacter baumannii ; drug effects ; isolation & purification ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Extremely Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; etiology

Objective To investigate the prognostic factors of life and functional outcome of the first hemiparetic stroke patients. Methods One hundred and eighteen stroke subjects were registered prospectively. The Barthel index (BI) , Rankin scale (RS) , Mortricity index(MI) , Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) , Montgomery-Asberg depression scale (MADRS) and a scale of general state and risk factors were used to evaluate at the 48th hour, the 15th day and the 90th day after stroke. Results The patients' performance, as demonstrated by their scores with all the evaluation instruments, changed significantly at all the time points of evaluation after stroke (P ＜0.05). There was no significant difference between the performance at the 48th hour and the 15th day after stroke ( P ＞ 0.05 ). But at the 90th day after stroke, the activity of daily living performance and the depression status recovered significantly (P ＜ 0.01 ). Logistic regression analysis showed that, such factors as pneumonia, urinary incontinence within 48th hour and deep sensation disturbance might adversely influence patients' activity of daily living performance at the 90th day after stroke; the muscle strength of upper extremities at the 48th hour, and MMSE scores at the 15th day after stroke acted as the protective factors. Conclusions The stroke patients improved significantly with regard to their clinical and functional manifestations when evaluated 90 days after stroke onset. The main factors influencing the activity of daily living performance 90 days after stroke onset included deep sensation disturbance,pneumonia, urinary incontinence and muscles strength of upper extremities at 48th hour, and MMSE scores at the 15th days after onset.

Adult ; Arterio-Arterial Fistula ; pathology ; Coronary Vessels ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; pathology

BackgroundSeveral cornea collagen crosslinking methods have been used to treat keratoconus.However,the safety of these methods is dissatisfactory.Glyceraldehyde is a very potent and highly reactive crosslinking agent,with little toxicity,but its effect on corneal biomechanical property is poorly clear.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to evaluate the biomechanical effects of glyceraldehyde collagen crosslinking on rats cornea.Methods Fifteen clean SD rats were randomly divided into 0.005 mol/L glyceraldhyde group,0.050 mol/L glyceraldhyde group and blank control group.Glyceraldhyde drops was topically administered in the right ryes 2 times per day for consecutive 7 days in the 0.005 mol/L and 0.050 mol/L glyceraldhyde groups,and no any eye drops was used in the blank control group.Seven days later,the rats were sacrificed.Transparency of corneal buttons in these different groups was evaluated.The central corneal strips of 2 mm×6 mm with 2 mm scleral tiasue were obtained for the biomeehanical stress-strain measurement,including ultimate stress ( MPa),ultimate strain (％) and 6％ elastic modulus (MPa).Corneal collagen fibril density was assessed by histological examination under a light microscopy.The use of the animals followed the Regulations for the Administration of Affair Concerning Experimental Animals by State Science and Technology Commission.ResultsThe words could be clearly displayed transcorneally in all the three groups.When strain was 6％,the stress was (0.463±0.065 ) MPa in 0.005 mol/L glyceraldehyde group,(0.846±0.240) MPa in 0.050 mol/L glyceraldehyde group,both showing a significant increase in comparison with (0.195±0.103 ) MPa of the blank control group (P=0.029,0.000 ).Following the crosslinking treatment,the ultimate stress was significant elevated in 0.050 mol/L glyceraldehydes group compared with the blank control group ( ( 10.759 ± 3.337 ) MPa vs.(5.295± 1.313 ) MPa,P =0.007 ),but no significant change between the 0.005 mol/L glyceraldehydes group and the blank control group ( ( 6.043 ±2.084) M Pa vs.(5.295 ± 1.313 ) MPa,P =0.660 ).Corneal ultimate strain was lower in the 0.005 mol/L glyceraldehyde group and 0.050 mol/L glyceraldehyde group than the blank control group (36.57％ ±3.09％ vs.43.87％ ± 1.89％,P =0.009;28.53％ ±1.89％ vs.43.87％ ± 1.89％,P =0.000).However,significantly increased 6％ elastic modulus were seen in the 0.005 mol/L glyceraldehyde group and 0.050 moL/L glyceraldehyde group compared with the blank control group ( ( 7.718 ± 1.076 ) MPa,( 14.102 ± 4.011 ) MPa vs.( 3.252 ± 1.717 ) M Pa),with statistically significant differences ( P =0.029,0.000).Histological examination showed a increase of collagen fiber density in the 0.050 mol/L glyceraldehyde group.Conclusions Corneal collagen crosslinking induced by glyceraldehyde strengthens biomechanical intensity and increases the density of corneal collagen fiber.But the safety of glyceraldehyde crosslinking for keratoconus needs further study.

A sesquiterpene synthase (AsSS4) full-length open reading frame (ORF) cDNA was cloned from wounded stems of Aquilaria sinensis by RT-PCR method. The result showed that the ORF of AsSS4 was 1,698 bp encoding 565 amino acids. Prokaryotic expression vector pET28a-AsSS4 was constructed and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS. Recombinant AsSS4 protein was obtained after induction by IPTG and SDS-PAGE analysis with a MW of 64 kD. Enzymatic reactions using farnesyl pyrophosphate showed that recombinant AsSS4 protein purified by Ni-agarose gel yielded five sesquiterpene compounds, cyclohexane, 1-ethenyl-1-methyl-2, 4-bis(1-methylethenyl)-, β-elemene, α-guaiene, α-caryophyllene and δ-guaiene. This paper reported the first cloning and functional characterization of AsSS4 gene from A. sinensis, which will establish a foundation for future studies on the molecular mechanisms of wound-induce agarwood formation in A. sinensis
Alkyl and Aryl Transferases ; biosynthesis ; genetics ; Azulenes ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; Escherichia coli ; Open Reading Frames ; Polyisoprenyl Phosphates ; Recombinant Proteins ; biosynthesis ; Sesquiterpenes ; metabolism ; Sesquiterpenes, Guaiane ; Thymelaeaceae ; enzymology ; genetics

Serum levels of CXC chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) and chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) were determined in 50 patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1 DM) and 30 normal control subjects by ELISA method.The results showed that serum levels of CXCL10 and CXCR3 in T1DM patients were significantly higher than those in normal subjects [(258.17 ± 39.12 vs 96.47 ± 26.91) ng/L,(851.87 ± 70.04 vs 441.82 ± 72.24) pg/ml,both P＜0.05].Serum level of CXCL10 in patients dropped sequentially with durations of diabetes ＜6 weeks,≥6 weeks or ＜3 years,and ≥ 3 years,being statistically significant between groups (P＜0.05).These results suggest that serum levels of CXC10 and CXCR3 may reflect the immune activity in T1DM.

Objective To observe the morphological changes of macular capillary in type 2 diabetic mellitus (DM) patients without clinical features of diabetic retinopathy (DR) by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods This is a prospective clinical case-control study. Forty-three eyes of 22 patients with DM without clinical features of DR (case group) and 40 control eyes of 20 age-and sex-matched healthy physical examination subjects (control group) were enrolled in this study. All subjects underwent OCTA examination with mode of retinal blood flow imaging, macular 3 mm×3 mm and 6 mm×6 mm area, signal strength>45. Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, foveal capillary density, parafovea capillary non-perfusion, and micro-aneurysm in shallow capillary vessel layer were evaluated. Results In case group, the mean FAZ area was (0.397±0.141) mm2 and the mean foveal capillary density was (44.6±0.62)%. In control group, the mean FAZ area was (0.253±0.112) mm2 and the mean foveal capillary density was (48.6±0.58)%. FAZ area of eyes in case group was larger than that in control group (t=1.017, P<0.05). There was no difference of foveal capillary density between two groups (t=1.499, P>0.05). The spider web-like FAZ and normal foveolar avascular zone were observed in eyes of control group. The parafovea capillary non-perfusion, abnormal foveolar avascular zone, micro-aneurysm and tortuosity of vessels were observed in eyes of case group. Parafovea capillary non-perfusion (χ2=4.542), micro-aneurysms (χ2=5.183) were seen more often in case group than control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Type 2 DM patients have abnormal retinal vascular microcirculation before DR using OCTA, including larger FAZ area, parafovea capillary non-perfusion, abnormal foveolar avascular zone, micro-aneurysm and tortuosity of vessels.

Objective To investigate how gene silence of CD40 by small interfering RNA(siRNA)influences the balance between Th1 / Th2 and Th17 / Treg in rats with experimental autoimmune myocarditis(EAM). Methods Lewis rats were divided into a normal - control group,EAM group,CD40 siRNA - therapy group and siRNA - control group by using random number table. EAM,CD40 siRNA - therapy and siRNA - control groups were immunized on day 0 and day 7 with purified porcine cardiac myosin to establish EAM,and CD40 siRNA was administered intravenously on day 7. The basic data of each group were observed,and the rats were executed on day 21 to study the pathology of myo-cardial tissues and the myocardial histopathology scores were calculated,and than the changes in electrocardiograms (ECG)and echocardiogram were recorded. Enzyme - linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to determine the levels of interferon(IFN) - γ,interleukin(IL) - 10,IL - 17 and transforming growth factor(TGF)- β in peripheral blood. Results (1)The overall incidence of EAM,CD40 siRNA - therapy and siRNA - control group was 100% ,and no rats died from day 0 to day 21.(2)There were only 2 premature rats in EAM and siRNA - control groups,and the ECGs of normal - control group and CD40 siRNA - therapy group were normal.(3)The echocardiogram of EAM,CD40 siRNA - therapy and siRNA - control group,displayed the left ventricular dilatation,hypertrophy of the left ventricle, the weakening of the left ventricular wall motion,and heart failure,and pericardial effusion was discovered. The left ven-tricular fractional shortening(LVFS)and the left ventricular ejection fraction(LVEF)of rats treated by CD40 siRNA were higher than those of rats in the EAM group[(46. 70 ± 8. 25)% vs(34. 28 ± 11. 81)% ,(80. 92 ± 11. 76)% vs (64. 03 ± 12. 60)% ,F = 0. 652,0. 234,all P ﹤ 0. 05].(4)Pathologic examination of the EAM group,CD40 siRNA therapy group and siRNA control groups,showed myocardial fiber fracture,myocardial tissue necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration. But myocardial tissue pathological scores of the cardiac tissue of CD40 siRNA therapy group was lower than those of the EAM group(2. 10 ± 1. 07 vs 3. 40 ± 0. 72,F = 1. 290,P ﹤ 0. 05).(5)ELISA method examination re-vealed that the levels of IFN - γ,IL - 4,IL - 17 and TGF - β in EAM group were increased compared with those of nor-mal control group[(1 245. 55 ± 244. 56)ng/ L vs(501. 53 ± 18. 93)ng/ L,(78. 03 ± 10. 47)ng/ L vs(30. 77 ± 1. 74)ng/ L,(80. 82 ± 13. 33)ng/ L vs(27. 98 ± 3. 01)ng/ L,(156. 27 ± 12. 11)ng/ L vs(4. 33 ± 0. 79)ng/ L,t =7. 408,10. 764,9. 250,30. 608,all P ﹤ 0. 05]. However,the levels of IFN - γ and IL - 17 in CD40 siRNA therapy group were lower than those in the EAM group[(940. 62 ± 128. 40)ng/ L vs(1 245. 55 ± 244. 56)ng/ L,(60. 42 ± 12. 40) ng/ L vs(80. 82 ± 13. 33)ng/ L,t = 2. 704,2. 745,all P ﹤ 0. 05],while the levels of IL - 4 and TGF - β were higher [(97. 91 ± 13. 62)ng/ L vs(78. 03 ± 10. 47)ng/ L,(178. 84 ± 12. 10)ng/ L vs(156. 27 ± 12. 11)ng/ L,t = 2. 835, 3. 229,all P ﹤ 0. 05]. Conclusions The administration of CD40 siRNA markedly reduces myocardial inflammation of EAM rats and improves their cardiac function,which can be explained by Th1 - type and Th17 - type cytokines inhibi-ted,Th2 - type and Treg - type cytokines increased,and so then the imbalance of Th1 / Th2 and Th17 / Treg corrected.