Objective To observe the relationship between carotid artery elasticity and ultrasonic classification of carotid plaques in elderly patients,and to provide the clinical basis for clinical treatment and prevention of atheroselerosis.Methods 682 elderly patients undergoing health physical examination were randomly selected in our hospital from February 2010 to February 2012.Clinical data were surveyed by using questionnaire method.Carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound detection and brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (PWV) were measured and analyzed.The relationship between carotid artery elasticity and ultrasonic classification of carotid plaques in elderly patients were evaluated.Results A total of 186 cases with carotid atherosclerotic plaques (CAP) were found in 682 cases,accounting for 27.3％,among whom there were 123 patients (18.0％) with hard plaques and 63 patients (9.2％) with soft plaques.Patients with CAP were divided into hard plaque group and soft plaque group.There were significant differences in carotid intima media thickness (IMT) among carotid plaque grade 1 versus 2 versus 3[(0.8±0.2)mm,(0.88±0.23)mm,(0.97±0.17) mm,respectively,P＜0.05].There was a positive correlation between PWV and carotid plaque grade in the hard plaque group (r＝0.30,P＜0.05),but not in soft plaque group.Conclusions Arterial elasticity is an index for vascular disease,and is closely related to the severity of carotid atherosclerosis,which can be used as one of predictive indexes for carotid atherosclerosis.

Objective To investigate the biosynthesis of arbutin by suspension culture of crown gall of transgenic Panax quinquefolium. Methods Hydroquinone in methanol(60 mg/mL) was added to the medium of the crown gall of P.quinquefolium after precultured for 20 d,then they were co-cultured for another 60 h.The product was isolated and purified by column chromatography and its structure was identified by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data.The dynamic curve of biotransformation was investigated by quantative analysis of arbutin with HPLC.Results The product could be obtained from both of the culture and medium,which was isolated and elucidated as 4-hydroxyphenyl-?-D-glucopyranoside(arbutin).After co-cultured for 60 h,the mole conversion ratio of hydroquinone is 88.4%,the product contents in culture and medium are 63.69 mg/flask and 1.86 mg/flask,respectively,and the excretion ratio of arbutin reaches the highest(2.92%).Conclusion It's the first time around the world that the crown gall of transgenic P.quinquefolium is used as a biotransformation system and arbutin which shows varied pharmacological activites have been got successfully.

Objective To assess the relationship between endometrium damage and focal distance of high intensity focused ultrasound ablation(HIFU).Methods 150 patients with requirement of atoke from Ⅱ type uterine fibroids under HIFU were collected and divided into two groups by the location of fibroids,one was antetheca group, and the other was posterior group,which were further divided into three groups,A group(25 cases),B group(25 cases), and C group(25 cases),in which their distance were 15mm,18mm,and 20mm from endometrium respectively.Those patients were treated with HIFU,and improvement of symptoms was assessed by uterine fibroids symptom (UFS) score,energy efficiency factor(EEF)was served as total energy required by treatment,the closest distance from mar-gin of necrosis of fibroids to endometrium and the rate of ablation were detected by MRI,as well as integrity of endo-metrium and vaginal bleeding were observed on postoperative 2 days and 3 months.Results After treatment by HIFU,significant improvement of symptoms was found,especially for the fibroids in antetheca(t =3.868,P =0.01), moreover,as for the fibroids in antetheca,the obvious efficacy was found in B group and C group(F =4.711,P <0.05),while for posterior fibroids,the efficacy was not associated with the location of HIFU(F =3.898,P >0.05).In addition,high rate of ablation and low EEF for the fibroids in antetheca was found(t =9.818,11.224,respectively,all P <0.01),and the highest rate of ablation in A group was revealed(F =105.673,P <0.01),followed by that of B group,the worse was C group.While in posterior fibroids,the distance was not associated with the rate of ablation(F =0.485,P >0.05).There was significant difference of integrity rate for endometrium between antetheca and posterior fibroids on postoperative 2 days(93.33% vs.77.33%,χ2 =7.67,P <0.05),and the rate in antetheca fibroids was higher than that of posterior fibroids(94.67% vs.82.67%)on postoperative 3 months.After postoperative 2 days,as for the fibroids in antetheca,the rate of integrity in B group(100.00%)and C group(100.00%)was higher than that in A group(80.00%),while in posterior fibroids,the highest rate was in C group(100.00%),followed by B group, which of A group was the worst(60.00%);After postoperative 3 months,in the fibroids of antetheca,there was no sig-nificant difference of rate between B group and C group,which were higher than that in A group(84.00%),while in posterior fibroids,the highest rate was in C group(100.00%),followed by B group(84.00%).In addition,significant difference between varied focal distance and improvement of vaginal bleeding existed in antetheca and posterior fibroids(P <0.05),for example the score of vaginal bleeding in B group and C group at postoperative 3 months was lower than that in A group(F =7.292,P <0.01),while for posterior fibroids,the efficacy of C group was higher than that of B group(F =14.559,P <0.05 ).Conclusion Although improved efficacy of Ⅱ type uterine fibroids is offered by HIFU,for the minimum damage of endometrium,its focal distance is varied with the locations of fibroids, namely,the safe distance in antetheca is more than 18mm,while that in posterior fibroids is more than 20mm.

Microneedles have been developed rapidly in the field of transdermal administration in the past few decades. In recent years, the development of microelectronics technology has expanded the applications of microneedles by combining with microelectronic systems, especially in biological diagnosis and treatment. Different types of microneedles have been designed to extract blood and tissue fluids for detection, or as electrodes to directly detect blood sugar, melanoma and pH in real-time in vivo, both show good prospects for real-time detection applications. In this paper, we review the design of materials and structure of microelectronic-based microneedles, and discuss their advances in biological diagnosis.
Administration, Cutaneous ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Electrodes ; Microinjections ; Needles