Hazardous Substances ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Occupational Exposure ; Workplace

Aged ; Diastole ; Female ; Humans ; Tachycardia, Ectopic Atrial ; physiopathology ; therapy

Objective To investigate the change in GABA receptor-activated current in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in rats with neuropathic pain. Methods Twenty adult SD rats of both sexes weighing 100-150 g were randomly divided into 2 gorups: sham operation group (group S, n = 5) and neuropathic pain group (group NP, n= 15). Neuropathic pain was induced by ligation of right L5 spinal nerve. The animals were sacrificed at 5 days after operation. The L5 DRG( neurons in group NP and L3-5 DRG neurons in group S were immediately isolated. Whole-cellpatch- clamp technique was used. The extracellular solution contained GABA 100μmol/L.The frequency and amplitude of the GABA-activated current in DRG neurons and the changes in action potential (threshold potential, rheobase and overshoot) and resting potential before and after GABA administration were recorded. Results GABA 100μmol/L induced rapid inactivation of inward current in most neurons. Compared with the baseline before application of GABA, in group S GABA induced depolarization,increased resting potential and decreased amplitude and rheobase of action potential in large and medium DRG neurons, while in group NP GABA increased resting potential but induced no significant change in threshold potential and rheobase and overshoot of action potential. The frequency and amplitude of GABA-activated current and the degree of change in resting potential and rheobase and overshoot of action potential were significantly lower in group NP than in group S.Spontaneous discharge occurred in small DRG neurons in both groups. No GABA-activated current was observed in all DRG neurons with spontaneous discharge. Conclusions Neuropathic pain is induced by decreasing GABA-mediated inhibition signals in large and medium DRG neurons leading to increased excitability of neurons.

The rice Rim2/Hipa is a stress-induced transposon superfamily recently identified in Oryza genomes. Genomic variation was found in the Rim2 core region among rice genetic resources/genomes, indicative of high genomic divergence accumulated during the Rim2 evolution. Based on the divergence and quiescent state of the Rim2 elements, a Rim2 paralog display-based fingerprinting approach was developed to effectively identify rice genetic resources and explore their genetic relationships within a set of rice germplasm including 45 accessions ofO. sativa and 8 accessions of its wild relatives O. rufipogon. A dendrogram showed not only clear genetic diversity of rice germplasm, but also considerable genetic differentiation among wild rice resources. The wild rice relatives were either clustered as an independent group, or among the japonica varieties. This Rim2-based fingerprinting approach could also serve as a sensitive tool to identify rice hybrids from their parents, and variety stability, demonstrating its great potential in evolution study ofrice genomes and in rice breeding and seed production.

Catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation is an evolving field,especially for chronic atrial fibrillation.Several approaches have been performed in clinic practice,which include circumferential pulmonary vein ablation/isolation,left atrial linear ablation,CFAE ablation,pulmonary vein denervation or stepwise ablation.However,a standard approach has not been established.The total successful rates vary from 21% to 95%.The investigations in the mechanism of chronic atrial fibrillation and methods of three-dimensional mapping,and the usage of new source and technique of ablation will increase the successful rate,decrease the recurrence rate and procedure time.The long-term result of ablation of chronic atrial fibrillation and its impact on the structure and function of heart need further investigations.

Objective To explore the association of the calcitonin receptor (CTR) allelic polymor- phism in the 1377 bp region with the risk of idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH) in the Han nationality in Hubei area,and to study the pathogenesis of IH.Methods The CTR genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism in 76 patients with IH and 126 healthy controls from the Han nationality in Hubei area,using restriction endonuclease AluI.Results The distribution frequen- cies of AluI alleles in the 2 groups followed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.The distribution frequencies of the CC,TC and TT genotypes were 73.7% ,17.1% and 9.2% in IH patient group,and 89.7% ,9.5% and 0.8% in control group;the distribution frequencies of C and T alleles in the 2 groups were 84.2% ,15.8% and 94.4% ,5.6% ,respectively.The distribution frequencies of T and TT alleles were higher,while those of C and CC alleles were lower,compared with control group;the differences between the 2 groups were signifi- cant (P＜0.05).Conclusions The results indicate that the C/T single nucleotide polymorphism in the CTR gene play a significant role in the mechanism of IH in the Han nationality in Hubei area in China.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the role of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) pathway in erectile dysfunction (ED) caused by the absence of testosterone (T).

METHODSWe randomly divided 30 eight-week-old healthy male SD rats into groups A (control) , B (castration), and C (castration + androgen replacement). The rats in groups B and C were castrated surgically, and those in C injected with T undecanoate (100 mg/kg) at 1 week after castration, while the others with 0.9% normal saline instead. At 1 month after treatment, we determined the serum T level, intracavernous pressure (ICP), and mean carotid arterial pressure (MAP) of the rats, and detected the expressions of ERK1/2 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by Western blot.

RESULTSThe serum T level was significantly lower in group B ([1.27 ± 0.48] nmol/L) than in A ([17.14 ± 1.07] nmol/L) and C ([16.24 ± 1.90] nmol/L) (P < 0.05), and so were ICP and MAP (P < 0.05). The expression of ERK1/2 showed no statistically significant differences among the three groups (P > 0.05), that of phosphatase ERK1/2 was markedly higher while that of eNOS remarkably lower in group B than in A and C (both P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAndrogen replacement may improve the erectile function of castrated rats by regulating the ERK1/2 pathway.

Androgens ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Hormone Replacement Therapy ; MAP Kinase Signaling System ; Male ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 ; metabolism ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III ; metabolism ; Orchiectomy ; Penile Erection ; Penis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the changes of different urinary symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients after transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and its correlation with preoperative clinical parameters.

METHODSTwo hundred and eighty-one BPH patients were followed-up 3 - 6 months after TURP, whose postoperative International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Quality of Life (QOL) score were compared with those of preoperation. The relationship between the symptom score changes and clinical data were analyzed. The patients aged (70 +/- 6) years, with preoperative prostate volume (75 +/- 39) ml, T-PSA (5 +/- 5) ng/ml, Qmax (8 +/- 3) ml/s, average tissue weight resected (32 +/- 19) g. Before operation, mean IPSS was 24 +/- 7, QOL 4.6 +/- 1.0, mean obstructive symptom score was 3.6 +/- 1.2, mean irritation symptom score was 3.5 +/- 1.0.

RESULTSAfter operation mean IPSS was 7 +/- 7 and QOL was 1.2 +/- 1.1, which were significantly decreased. The deduction rate of the mean obstructive symptom score was greater than that of the mean irritative symptom score. Among the 7 urinary symptoms, nocturia and frequency were the two that changed least, with postoperative score of 2.2 +/- 1.1 and 1.2 +/- 1.4 respectively.

CONCLUSIONSScores of urinary symptoms and QOL of BPH patients were significantly improved after TURP. The improvements of the symptom scores and QOL are correlated to the preoperative scores. There is no correlation between symptom score improvements and patients' age, preoperative prostate volume, T-PSA, Qmax and tissue weight resected. Improvement of average obstructive symptom score is greater than that of irritative symptom score. Among the seven symptoms, nocturia is the one with lowest improvement after TURP.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Postoperative Period ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; complications ; surgery ; Transurethral Resection of Prostate ; Treatment Outcome ; Urination Disorders ; etiology ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo explore the optimal treatment for craniocerebral trauma complicated with thoraco-abdominal injuries.

METHODSA total of 2165 cases of craniocerebral trauma complicated with thoraco-abdominal injuries admitted to our hospital between July 1993 and June 2003 were retrospectively studied. Among them, 382 cases sustained severe craniocerebral trauma (in which 167 were complicated with shock), 733 thoracic injuries, 645 abdominal injuries and 787 thoraco-abdominal injuries. On admittance, 294 cases had developed shock. With the prime goal of saving life, respiratory and circulatory systems and encephalothilipsis were especially treated and monitored. Priority in management was directed to severe or open injures rather than to moderate or closed injures. For cases with cerebral hernia due to intracranial hematoma and severe shock due to blood loss, cerebral hernia and shock were treated concurrently.

RESULTSAfter treatment, 2024 (93.49%) cases survived and the other 141 (6.51%) died. Among patients who had severe craniocerebral injury with shock and those without, 78 (46.71%) and 53 (24.56%) died, respectively. For patients who had underwent craniocerebral and thoraco-abdominal operations concurrently and those who had not, the death rates were 58.49%-65.96% and 28.57% respectively, indicating a significant difference (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSTreatment for hematoma hernia, shock and disturbed respiration is the key in the management of multiple trauma of craniocerebral, thoracic or abdominal injuries, especially when two or three conditions occurred simultaneously. Unless it is necessary, operations at two different parts at the same time is not recommended. It is preferred to start two concurrent operations at different time.

Adult ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; surgery ; therapy ; Encephalocele ; etiology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Multiple Trauma ; surgery ; therapy ; Retrospective Studies ; Shock, Hemorrhagic ; etiology ; therapy ; Thoracic Injuries ; surgery ; therapy

Objective To construct and implement the training model of eight-year medical education with characteristics of Shanghai Jiaotong University. Methods Based on survey,discussion and consultation,the experiences of long schooling medical education in Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine were summarized.Training plan and education reform scheme were established. Results Training objective,guideline and major reform measures had been clarified.The training plan and reform scheme were under process of implementation. Conclusion The training objective of eight-year medical education should be further confirmed.The curriculum should be in accordance with the training objective,and education reform is important and necessary for the eight-year medical education.