Objective To investigate the vessel structure changes of carotid artery with age in normal adults with a newly-developed 3-dimensional ultrasound imaging modality.Methods One hundred and twenty-five normal adult volunteers were divided into five groups:group A,20-29 years old,25 cases;group B,30-39 years old,27 cases;group C,40-49 years old,28 cases;group D,50-59 years old,23 cases;group E,older than 60 years old,22 cases.The straight sections of common carotid arteries were scanned by full-volume three-dimensional ultrasound probe.With a vessel plaque quantification software (VPQ),the following parameters were obtained:intima-media thickness (IMT),vessel total area (VTA),vessel lumen area (VLA),vessel wall area (VWA),and normalized wall index (NWI).Results IMT,VTA,VWA,VLA and NWI were all positively correlated with age (r =0.79,0.48,0.77,0.27 and 0.67 respectively,P =0.00),and there was significant difference among age groups (P ＜0.01).IMT,VTA,VWA increased with age gradually whereas VLA increased only in group E and NWI showed no significant difference between group E and D.VWA and VTA of males were significantly greater than those of females in group A,B and C,and VLA of males was significantly greater than females in group A and B.There was no significant difference in IMT and NWI between gender groups.Conclusions Age is an important factor to carotid remodeling,and IMT,VTA and VWA increase with age,but VLA keeps constant in people under 60-year-old while NWI becomes stable in people over 50-year-old.It is essential to consider the physiological changes of carotid with age when pathophysiological process of atherosclerosis is involved.

Objective To compare and analyze the clinical characteristics of acute central cervical spinal cord injury with only upper extremity involvement and with both upper and lower extremity involvement.Methods A retrospective case control study was made on clinical data of 76 patients with acute central cervical spinal cord injury hospitalized from January 2010 to December 2013.Nerve injury involved was only upper extremity in 39 patients (upper extremity group),but both upper and lower extremities in 37 patients (upper-and lower-extremity group).In upper extremity group,there were 35 males and four females,age was 21-80 years [(52.5 ± 13.4) years],injury resulted from traffic accidents in 24 patients,ground-level falls in eight,high-level falls in six and heavy-object hit in one,and level of injury was C3/4 in 16 patients,C4/5 in 14 and C5/6 in nine.In upper-and lower-extremity group,there were 30 males and seven females,age was 36-78 years [(59.6 ± 9.7) years],injury resulted from traffic accidents in 16 patients,ground-level falls in 11,high-level falls in seven and heavyobject hit in three,and level of injury was C3/4in nine patients,C4/sin 18 and C5/6in 10.Sagittal diameter of the cervical spinal canal,maximal canal compromise,maximal spinal cord compression,degenerating factors of the cervical spine and treatment protocols were determined.Upper extremity function was assessed with the American spinal injury association (ASIA) score.Results There were significant differences between upper extremity group and upper-and lower-extremity group in sagittal diameter of the cervical spinal canal [(7.5 ± 1.5)mm ∶ (6.8 ± 1.2)mm],maximal canal compromise [(28.9 ±9.6)％ ∶ (34.9 ± 10.6)％],ASIA score at admission[(31.6 ± 11.8)points ∶ (22.7± 11.3)points)] and ASIA score at last follow-up [(46.2 ± 4.2) points ∶ (40.2 ± 4.0) points] (P ＜ 0.05),while the maximal spinal cord compression in upper extremity group [(15.7 ± 11.9)％] had no significant difference from that in upper-and lowerextremity group [(17.0 ± 10.6) ％] (P ＞ 0.05).Lower prevalence of posterior osteophyte of the vertebral body was noted in upper extremity group than upper-and lower-extremity group (15％ ∶ 51％) (P ＜0.01).Twenty patients (49％) in upper extremity group were surgically treated,while 31 patients (84％) in upperand lower-extremity group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Compared to acute central cervical spinal cord injury with both upper and lower extremity involvement,the injury with only upper extremity involvement is much common in younger patients and is characterized by lowered frequency of osteophyte,large buffer space,mild nerve damage,preferred non-operation treatment and good prognosis.

Objective To investigate and analyze the mental health status of the students from poor families and non-poor students by comparative study.Methods Conducting the cluster sampling methods,the author investigated 885 medical students with questionnaires.We input data with Epidata 3.0 software and described it with SPSS 11.0 statistical software,which also did the nonparametric rank sum test.Results 92.7％(667/719) students from poor families considered their economic status among the general level or much lower level.There were 41.9％(294/702) students from poor families who thought families' financial difficulties had positive effects on mental health.92.3％(664/719) students from poor families were never afraid that people around knew they were in work-study program.87.5％(629/719) students from poor families were satisfied with their life.Facing psychological problems,there's no difference with dissatisfaction in daily life and recourses for help between students from poor families and non-poor students except psychological consultation center and lovers P＞0.05).Conclusion Compared with non-poor students,the mental health of students from poor families in medical universities is good.The universities are supposed to pay more attention to the mental health of students who are neither poor nor non-poor and few students from poor families who are negatively impacted by their families' financial difficulties.

Objective To study the effects and mechanism of p-hydroxyacetophenone (PHA ) on bile secretion ,choles-terol metabolism and blood lipids .Methods Cystic duct cannula was cannulated and bile were collected in SD rats .PHA was administrated in the high cholesterol rats .The activity of HMG-CoA reductase was determined by spectrophotometry in reac-tion system .Samples of liver were obtained in experiment hypercholesterolemia rats and Real-time PCR test was conducted for AQP8 ,CYP7A1 ,OATP and NTCP .Results Secretion of bile were increased ,cholesterol in bile were reduced and secretion of total bile acid were increased in rats by PHA .The level of serum cholesterol in hyperglycemia rat model was reduced signifi-cantly and inhibitory ability had been limited in the activity of HMG-CoA reeducates by PHA ,but the gene transcription inclu-ding AQP8 ,CYP7A1 ,OATP ,and NTCP were promoted ,which are related to function of excretion of biliary acid and trans-formation of cholesterol .Conclusion These results suggest that PHA ,as a lead compound ,might be of significance for fur-ther development for a bile secretory and lipid lowering agent .

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of the time of initial diagnosis with the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). METHODS: A total of 803 patients who were diagnosed to have COPD for the first time in our hospital between May 2015 to February 2018 were enrolled in this study.The diagnoses of COPD and asthma COPD overlap (ACO) were made according GOLD guidelines and european consensus definition.Lung function of the patients was graded according to the GOLD guidelines. RESULTS: The patients with COPD had a mean age of 61.8±9.9 years,including 726 male and 77 female patients.The course of the patients (defined as the time from symptom onset to the establishment of a diagnosis) was 3(0.5,8) years.Among these patients,85.2% had a moderate disease severity (FEV1%<80%),and 48.3% had severe or very severe conditions (FEV1%<50%);47.0% of them were positive for bronchial dilation test.In the overall patients,295(36.7%) were also diagnosed to have ACO,and the mean disease course of ACO[3(1,9) years]was similar to that of COPD[3(0.5,8) years](>0.05).A significant correlation was found between the disease course and the lung function of the patients.Multiple linear regression analysis showed that an older age and a longer disease course were associated with poorer lung functions and a greater disease severity. CONCLUSIONS The delay of the initial diagnosis is significantly related to the severity of COPD.
Age Factors ; Aged ; Asthma ; diagnosis ; Delayed Diagnosis ; adverse effects ; Disease Progression ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Time Factors