Adenosine ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; metabolism ; Humans

OBJECTIVEWe aim to evaluate the cytotoxicity and antibacterial effects of Silagum-Comfort (SLC) silicone-based soft liner varnish containing Ag/TiO2 in vitro.

METHODSSilicone-based liner circular specimens, with a diameter of 10 mm and a thickness of 2 mm, were created and divided into six groups randomly. Ag/TiO2 was incorporated into the SLC varnish based on the agent/material weight rate of 0, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, and 2.5%. The mixed varnish was used to polish the SLC specimens. Antibacterial specimens (ATSLC) were created. Methyl thiazolyl diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assay method was used to evaluate the 3T3 cell cytotoxicity of ATSLC in vitro. Surface roughness (Ra) measurements of ATSLC were obtained. The antibacterial effect of ATSLC on Candida albicans was examined using the pelliclesticking method.

RESULTSThe cytotoxicity of ATSLC was graded from 0 to 2. The Ra of ATSLC increased when Ag/TiO2 agent concentration increased. However, the differences were not statistically significant compared with the 0 group. With increasing Ag/TiO2 concentration, the antibacterial agent concentration and the antibacterial rate of ATSLC also increased. When the Ag/TiO2 antibacterial agent concentration reached 2.0% and 2.5%, the antibacterial rate increased to 97.5% and 96.5, respectively.

CONCLUSIONVarnish containing Ag/TiO2 has excellent antibacterial effect and can significantly improve the antibacterial effect of silicone-based soft liner.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Candida albicans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Paint ; Silicones ; Titanium

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of warm needling combined with Zhangmo decoction (see text) on endometrial receptivity in patients with clomiphene (CC)-induced ovulation.

METHODSOne hundred and sixty cases were randomly divided into a CC group (group A), a CC+ progynova group (group B), a CC+ Zhangmo decoction group (group C) and a CC+ Zhangmo decoction + warm needling group (group D), 40 cases in each one. In the Group A, CC alone was applied. In the group B, progynova was jointly used on the 8th day of menstrual cycle. In the Group C, Zhangmo decoction was jointly used on the 5th day of menstrual cycle. In the group D, based on treatment of the Zhangmo decoction, warm needling was applied at Guanyuan (CV 4), Zhongji (CV 3) and Zigong (EX-CA 1) etc. The endometrial thickness and type, pulsatility index (PI), resistance index (RI), ratio of S/D on day of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and pregnancy rate were observed in fou groups.

RESULTSThe PI, RI and S/D in the group C and D were obviously lower than those in group A and B (all P < 0.01). The endometrial thickness was (7.7 +/- 1.49) mm in group B, (8.2 +/- 1.54) mm in group C and (8.9 +/- 1.51) mm in group D, which were significantly different from (6.4 5 +/- 1.26) mm in the group A (all P < 0.01) also there was a significant difference between group C and D (P < 0.05). The rate of endometrial type A was 65.0% in the group D, which was significantly higer than 27.5% in the group A, 32.5% in the group B and 35.0% in the group C (all P < 0.01). The pregnancy rate was 30.0% in the group D, which was obviously higher than 12.5% in the group A, 15.0% in the group B and 17.5% in the group C (P < 0.05). The endometrial thickness and rate of endometrial type A in the pregnant were obviously higher than those in the non-pregnant (both P < 0.01) while PI, RI and S/D was lower than those in the non-pregnant (P < 0.01, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONWarm needing combined with Zhangmo decoction could improve endometrial thickness, morphology and uterine spiral artery to improve pregnancy rate, which has superior effect to clomiphene, clomiphene combined with progynova and clomiphene combined with Zhangmo decoction.

Chorionic Gonadotropin ; metabolism ; Clomiphene ; administration & dosage ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; administration & dosage ; Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Fertilization in Vitro ; Humans ; Infertility, Female ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Ovulation Induction ; Pregnancy

Objective To improve the diagnosis and treatment of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephri- tis(XGP).Methods The clinical data of 18 cases(5 males and 13 females;mean age,47 years)with XGP were analyzed.Of them,6 had the lesion on the left,and 12 on the right.Before operation,XGP was mis- diagnosed as renal calculus with hydronephrosis in 4 cases,ureteral calculus with severe hydronephrosis in 3 cases,renal tuberculosis in 3 cases and renal carcinoma in 8 cases.Results Of the 18 cases,7 were diag- nosed to have XGP by frozen section during operation and 11 cases had a definite diagnosis by pathological examination after nephrectomy.After a follow-up of 6-124 months,no recurrence was observed in all these 18 cases.Conclusions Preoperative diagnosis of XGP is difficult.This disease is clinically characterized by foam cells in urine smear,low-density value of kidney CT and ineffective antibiotic therapy.Combined a- nalysis of clinical data and improvement of clinical recognition of XGP is the key to avoiding delayed diagno- sis or misdiagnosis of XGP.

The effect of PubMed on the development of biomedical journals and the role of its Linkout function in extending the effect of journals were analyzed , followed by a description of the technologies and methods for the full-text seamless link of journal Websites and PubMed using its Linkout function with Biomedical and Environmental Sciences as an example .

Objective: To learn the levels of thyroid hormone indicators among interventional and diagnostic radiologists, so as to provide insights into occupational health monitoring of radiologists. Methods: Demographic information, body mass index (BMI), thyroid hormone indicators and cumulative individual doses over 5 years among interventional and diagnostic radiologists were collected through the personal dosimetry monitoring database of Ningbo Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Health Examination Center of a tertiary hospital in Ningbo City. The thyroid hormone indicators of different job types and cumulative individual doses over 5 years were analyzed, and factors affecting the thyroid hormone indicators were identified using a multivariable ordinal logistic regression model. Results: There were 159 interventional and 159 diagnostic radiologists included, and the proportions of abnormal thyroid hormone indicators were 9.43% and 12.26%, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). The levels of triiodothyronine and free triiodothyronine in interventional radiologists were lower than those in diagnostic radiologists [(1.54±0.41) vs. (1.68±0.34) nmol/L, (5.13±1.07) vs. (5.55±0.87) pmol/L; both P<0.05]. The levels of triiodothyronine and free triiodothyronine were significantly different among radiologists with cumulative individual doses over 5 years of <1.5 mSv, 1.5-<3.0 mSv and ≥3.0 mSv [(1.69±0.31), (1.69±0.40) vs. (1.52±0.41) nmol/L, (5.60±0.83), (5.32±0.94) vs. (5.14±1.09) pmol/L; both P<0.05]. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis identified BMI (<18.5 kg/m2, OR=0.111, 95%CI: 0.028-0.436) and cumulative individual doses over 5 years (<1.5 mSv, OR=6.259, 95%CI: 2.368-16.547) as the factors affecting triiodothyronine, and job types (diagnostic radiologists, OR=3.171, 95%CI: 1.529-6.574), BMI (18.5-<24.0 kg/m2, OR=0.393, 95%CI: 0.184-0.842), and gender (men, OR=3.449, 95%CI: 1.294-9.190) as the factors affecting free triiodothyronine. Conclusion Occupational exposure has a certain impact on the thyroid hormone indicators among interventional and diagnostic radiologists, and the main influencing factors include BMI, radiation dose, job type and gender.

Objective To explore the interaction between serum melatonin and the status of disease and probe the effect factor of serum melatonin change in asthmatic children.Methods Serum melatonin was measured in asthmatic children with 15 cases of mild persistent asthma,15 cases of moderate persistent asthma,15 cases of severe persistent asthma,15 cases of stable asthma and 15 cases of normal subjects by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results The levels of serum melatonin in the 5 groups of mild persistent asthma,moderate presistent asthma,Severe Persistent asthma,Stable asthma,control subject were(22.76?5.16)ng/L,(16.79?3.35)ng/L,(11.54?1.45)ng/L,(22.06?3.36)ng/L,(28.72?4.32)ng/L,respectively.There were significant differences between any of them(Pa

The expression of Survivin, CDK4 and Ki-67 and the clinical significance in pediatric acute leukemia (AL) were investigated. The expression of Survivin, CDK4 and Ki-67 proteins was detected by using immunohistochemical assay in 37 children with AL and 10 children with normal bone marrow as controls. The positive expression rate of Survivin, CDK4 and Ki-67 was 45.9 %, 56.8 %, and 40.5 % respectively in 37 AL children, which was significantly higher than in control group accordingly (P<0.05). The expression of Survivin was positively correlated with CDK4 (P=0.007) and Ki-67 (P=0.008). In conclusion, all Survivin, CDK4 and Ki-67 proteins are over-expressed in pediatric AL and involved in the modulation of apoptosis and proliferation in pediatric AL.

The expression of silence of death domains (SODD) and its clinical significance and relationship with phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 proteins in bone marrow cells of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were explored, and the expression of SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 in Jurkat cells treated with chemotherapeutic drugs was detected in order to find a new chemotherapeutic target. The expression of SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 proteins in bone marrow cells was detected by immunohistochemistry in 25 children with ALL. The apoptosis rate was measured by Annexin-V-Fluorescence/PI double-labeling flow cytometry and the expression of SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 proteins determined by Western blotting in the Jurkat cells. It was found that the expression of SODD and active P65 in ALL was significantly higher than that in normal control group (P<0.05). The expression of the SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 proteins in the high-risk (HR) group was significantly higher than that in the standard-risk (SR) group (P<0.05). The Pearson rank correlation analysis revealed that there was a positive correlation between SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 expression (P<0.01, r=0.69). VCR could effectively induce the apoptosis of Jurkat cells, and down-regulate the expression of SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 proteins in a time-dependent manner, but DNR could not down-regulate the expression of SODD effectively. It was concluded that SODD may be closely related to the clinical classification and prognosis of ALL in children. The expression of SODD and phospho-NF-kappaB-p65 had a definite synergistic relationship with the onset and development of ALL. VCR could down-regulate the expression of SODD and inhibit the NF-kappaB activation, which could recover the sensibility of apoptosis in leukemic cells.

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of B7-H4, a negative costimulatory molecule, in mediating the immunomodulatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells C3H10T1/2 (C3H10) on T cell polarization. Methods The lentiviral vectors that carried the shRNA targeting mouse B7-H4 were transfected into mouse mesenchymal stem cells (C3H10-B7-H4). The cells were co-cultured with PHA-acti-vated mice spleen lymphocytes before and after the transfection. ELISA was performed to detect the concen-trations of cytokines in supernatants of cell culture in order to elucidate the effects of B7-H4 expressed by C3H10 on T cell polarization. A mouse model of experimental allergic encephalitis (EAE) was established. Fifty C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups including control group, EAE group, C3H10 group (injec-ting EAE mice with C3H10 cells), C3H10-NC group ( injecting EAE mice with C3H10-NC cells) and C3H10-B7-H4 group (injecting EAE mice with C3H10-B7-H4 cells). ELISA was performed to detect the soluble form of IL-2, IL-17, IFN-γ and IL-4 in plasma samples. Results Knocking down the B7-H4 gene with shRNA significantly decreased the expression of B7-H4 on C3H10 cells, which weakened the inhibitory effects of C3H10 cells on the secretion of IL-2, IL-17 and IFN-γ by spleen lymphocytes. The therapeutic effects of C3H10-B7-H4 cells on mice with EAE were weakened after silencing the B7-H4 gene expression, which was manifested as higher nerve function score and earlier onset and bring forwarded peak time of EAE than those of the C3H10 group. Treating EAE mice with C3H10-B7-H4 cells was less efficient in inhibiting the expression of IL-2, IL-17 and IFN-γin plasma. However, knocking down the B7-H4 gene had no signif-icant effect on the expression of IL-4 in terms of treating EAE with C3H10 cells. Conclusion The co-inhib-itor molecule B7-H4 expressed on C3H10 cells mediated the treatment of EAE with C3H10 cells by regula-ting Th1 and Th17 effector T cells.