Objective:To observe the clinical effect of combining four-channel electrical stimulation with electroacupuncture of the antagonistic muscles in treating post-stroke spastic foot drop.Methods:Ninety stroke survivors with spastic foot drop were randomly divided into a control group, an electrical stimulation group and an observation group, each of 30. In addition to routine rehabilitation training, the electrical stimulation group was given four-channel electrical stimulation for 4 weeks, the electrical stimulation was delivered with a pulse duration of 200μs and an intensity of motor threshold at 30Hz, while the observation group also received electroacupuncture of the antagonistic muscle. Before and after the treatment, the three groups were evaluated using the clinical spasticity index (CSI). Stride frequency, stride length, and the supporting and swing phases on the affected side were also measured. Electromyography (EMG) was also conducted.Results:After the treatment, the average CSI scores of all groups had decreased significantly, with that of the observation group significantly lower than the electrical stimulation group and control group′s averages. The average gait descriptors of the three groups had also improved significantly, with significantly greater improvement in the observation group than in the other two. The average H reflex latency was significantly longer and Hmax/Mmax was significantly smaller in all three groups, but the observation group′s average values were again significantly better than those of the electrical stimulation group.Conclusion:Electroacupuncture of the antagonistic muscle enhances the effectiveness of four-channel electrical stimulation in relieving foot drop symptoms and improving gait after a stroke.

Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal ; epidemiology ; Disease Susceptibility ; Humans ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE Oxidative sress is one of the key factor responsible for occurrence and development of hepatic fibrosis, a common consequence of chronic liver injury of multiple etiology. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) serves as a major regulator of a celular defense system against oxidative stress. Xiaochaihutang (XCHT), a compound of seven botanical extracts used for liver diseases traditionally in East Asia. However, few studies have investigated its anti-hepatic fibrosis effects and pathophysiological mechanism of action. The present study was designed to confirm the anti-hepatic fibrosis effects and explore its potential mechanism of action by investigating the intervention of Nrf2 pathway. METHODS Liver fibrosis was induced by repeated injection of Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) over a period of 9 weeks. Starting from the 6th week, the animals in treatment groups were given the appropriate dose of XCHT granules and silybin. Biochemical parameters, histological changes of the liver and alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) were determined. The expressions of Nrf2, Keap1, Nqo1, HO-1, Gclc and Gclm were assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS CCl4 caused a significant fibrosis damage in the rat liver and the liver functions and fibrosis degree were significantly improved by XCHT (5 g·kg- 1 and 10 g·kg- 1). XCHT (5 g·kg- 1 and 10 g·kg- 1) treatment significantly decreased the number of cells labeled with α-SMA antibodies. Moreover, XCHT (5 g·kg-1 and 10 g·kg-1) significantly increase Nqo1, HO-1, Gclc and Gclm expressions in the liver. CONCLUSION These studies establish XCHT is a potentially useful therapeutic agent for treatment of hepatic fibrosis and it might be via regulation of Nrf2 pathway in rats against oxidative stress, making further efforts to inhibiting the activated HSCs. Activation or up-regulation of Nrf2 pathway may be an alternative treatment strategy for liver fibrosis.

Research on polymer impurities has always been important in the quality control of cephalosporins. Research on polymers in cephalosporins that lack active amino groups on the C-7 side chain has not been reported. Therefore, our study used cefazolin sodium, which is widely used in the clinic, as an example. The polymer in cefazolin sodium and its product "cefazolin sodium pentahydrate for injection" was analyzed by column switching liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. Two polymer impurity peaks were detected and the possible structures of these polymers were suggested. Through two-dimensional liquid chromatography, the chromatographic peaks following Sephadex gel chromatography and high-performance gel chromatography were compared to those obtained by reverse high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for cefazolin sodium as reported in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The HPLC method proves more suitable for polymer detection than Sephadex gel chromatography and high-performance gel chromatography. The method of polymer detection for cefazolin sodium was established using the method of related substances HPLC as described in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia.

OBJECTIVETo observe and compare perioperative myocardial enzyme changes in 107 patients with congenital (CHD, n = 53), rheumatic (RHD, n = 40) and coronary artery (CAD, n = 14) diseases, and to find whether different diseases can affect the release and recovery of myocardial enzymes after heart operations.

METHODSOn the day before operation and the 1st, 3rd, 5th and the 8th day after operation, the venous blood was taken to measure the release of myocardial enzymes: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), MB isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and LDH-1.

RESULTSAll the enzymes measured before operation in three groups were in the normal range; their release increased abruptly on the 1st day postoperatively to 2 - 15 times of those before operation; on the 3rd day, they recovered to some degrees, and on the 8th day they recovered to normal in all groups except LDH and LDH-1 in rh and CAD groups. Because the aortic cross-clamp time (CCT) had a good positive correlation to the release of myocardial enzymes, those patients whose CCT was over 60 minutes in three groups were compared revealing that the CCT was not different between three groups (P < 0.05). The release of CK, CK-MB and AST was significantly higher in CHD60 group than those in CHD60 and CAD60 groups, they recovered afterwards; while the release of DH and LDH-1 was higher in CAD60 group than those in CAD60 and in CHD60 groups from the 1st day to the 8th day postoperatively.

CONCLUSIONSThe release of all the 5 enzymes measured before operation was in normal range in selected CHD, RHD and CAD patients. The release peak and the recovery order of all enzymes were the same in three groups. The release of CK, CK-MB and AST was higher in CHD60 group than those in RHD60 and CAD60 groups on the 1st day. The release of LDH and LDH-1 was higher in RHD60 group than those in CHD60 and CAD60 groups from the 1st day to the 8th day postoperatively. The shorter the CCT is, the less the release of myocardial enzymes. Using the release of LDH and LDH-1 to evaluate the recovery of myocardial injury after open-heart operations was recommended.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Child ; Coronary Artery Bypass ; Coronary Artery Disease ; blood ; enzymology ; surgery ; Creatine Kinase ; blood ; Creatine Kinase, MB Form ; blood ; Female ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; blood ; enzymology ; surgery ; Humans ; Intraoperative Period ; Isoenzymes ; blood ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardium ; enzymology ; pathology ; Rheumatic Heart Disease ; blood ; enzymology ; surgery ; Time Factors

OBJECTIVETo analyze the cervical cancer mortality and distribution profiles by areas and population in 2004 - 2005 and the changes in the last 30 years.

METHODSThe demographic information and cervical cancer death data came from the Third National Retrospective Sampling Survey of Death Causes which including 158 sampling areas (including 61 cities and 97 villages; 52 in the east region, 49 in the middle region and 57 in the west region) covered 31 province-level regions in the interior of China by multiple stage stratified clustering sampling. The total number of the samples were 142 660 482 person years (72 970 241 person years in male and 69 690 241 person years in female). The crude and age-specific death rate was calculated. The standardized death rate was calculated by using 5 years interval from the census data of 2000. In addition, the mortality data was compared with the two previous national death surveys in 1970's and 1990's, respectively.

RESULTSIn the sampling region of the third retrospective death causes survey from 2004 to 2005, the crude death rate of cervical cancer was 2.86/100 000 (1995/69 690 241), which accounting for 2.86% (1995/69 667) and ranking 9th of all cancer death causes in female population. The crude death rates of cervical cancer were 2.88/100 000 (1326/46 091 419) and 2.83/100 000 (669/23 598 822) for rural areas and urban areas, respectively, the Chinese population adjusted death rates of rural and urban areas were 2.01/100 000 and 1.67/100 000, respectively. The standardized death rates of cervical cancer in 1973 - 1975 and 1990 - 1992 were 11.10/100 000 and 3.25/100 000, respectively, which accounting for 17.91% and 4.86%, respectively; in 2004 - 2005, the crude death rates increased by age, rose remarkably from the age of 40 and arrived the peak of 20.83/100 000 (82/393 624) at the age of 85. The mortality among 35 - 44 year-old group was higher than those in 1990's. The crude death rates of the middle, west and east areas were 3.41/100 000 (827/24 225 738), 3.25/100 000 (636/19 563 647) and 2.05/100 000 (532/25 900 856), respectively, the Chinese population adjusted death rates of the middle and west areas were about twice that of the east (2.35/100 000 in the middle, 2.38/100 000 in the west, and 1.19/100 000 in the east).

CONCLUSIONThe mortality of cervical cancer was higher in rural areas than that in urban, as well as higher in the middle and west areas than that in east area in the interior of China in 2004 - 2005. Younger trend of cervical cancer death was observed; the mortality of cervical cancer and constituent ratio in the female tumor death continued to decline compared to those in 1973 - 1975 and 1990 - 1992.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cause of Death ; trends ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasms ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Young Adult

Objective To investigate the current staffing of nurses and need of hospital nursing human resources in China.Methods Data were collected from 181 secondary and tertiary hospitals and 9774 nurses in mainland China by questionnaires.Results The average doctor-nurse ratio was 1 ∶ 1.39 in tertiary hospitals and 1 ∶ 1.31 in secondary hospitals.The doctor-nurse ratios in 164 hospitals (97.6％) and the proportion of nurses in health care staff in 105 hospitals (61.8％) had not reached the standard set by the Ministry of Health of China.62.3％ nurses held secondary diploma for their initial nursing education.The constituent ratio of nurses held secondary diploma decreased,while the ratio of nurses held advanced diploma and bachelor degree increased in the last 5 years from 2003 to 2007.Sixty percent of newly employed nurses were contract nurses in 2003.The proportion increased to 78％ in 2007,and in some regions it accounted for more than 90％ of new nurses.The needs and constituent ratio of nurses with.secondary diploma and advanced diploma would decrease while nurses with bachelor degree and master degree would increase in the next 5 years (from 2009 to 2013).Conclusions The nursing shortage is still severe in China,and nursing staff mainly held secondary diploma for their initial nursing education.Most of new nurses were employed as conwact nurses.The need of hospitals for nurses has increased,especially for nurses with higher educational level such as bachelor degree and master degree,while the need for secondary diploma hold ers have decreased.The need for advanced diploma holders has increased in the last 5 years and would decrease in the next 5 years,but they would still be the majority of employed nurses.The authors suggested that the staffing of nursing manpower,the work environments and career development of contract nurses should be improved,and the initial nursing education should be upgraded to meet the needs of hospitals.

The pediatric reference intervals in clinical laboratory play an important role in diagnosis of illness,therapeutic monitoring,prediction of prognosis and health evaluation.Compared with establishing reference interval for adults,there are more challenges to establish pediatric reference intervals.Therefore,the procedure and key technologies of direct method and indirect method are stated based on the characteristics of children population and pediatric,by which to define,transfer and validate pediatric reference intervals.This study will provide systematically methodological ideas for clinical laboratories to establish pediatric reference intervals.

OBJECTIVETo study the risk factors for neonatal ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) and the changes of isolated pathogens in the last eight years.

METHODSThe clinical data of 230 neonates who were admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and received mechanical ventilation for equal to or longer than 48 hrs in 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. The isolated pathogens were compared with those of eight years ago.

RESULTSThe incidence of VAP (25.2%) in the year 2008 was lower than that of eight years ago (36.1%; P<0.05). The development of VAP was negatively correlated with the gestational age and the birth weight, but positively correlated with the duration of mechanical ventilation, intubation times, duration of hospitalization, presence of gastrointestinal bleeding and need for blood products transfusion. The main isolated pathogens were opportunistic antibiotics resistant bacteria, and the majority was gram negative bacilli (77%). The most frequently detected gram negative bacilli were Klebsiella (20%), Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (18%) and Acinetobacter (13%). Streptococcus mitis was the most frequently detected gram positive bacilli (14%). The distribution pattern of pathogens isolated in the same NICU eight years ago was somewhat different: Klebsiella (23%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17%), Acinetobacter (16%), Streptococcus mitis (11%), Fungi (1%) and Candida albicans (1%).

CONCLUSIONSThe incidence of VAP is correlated with gestational age, birth weight, duration of mechanical ventilation and hospitalization, intubation times, presence of gastrointestinal bleeding and need for blood products transfusion. The main isolated pathogens are usually antibiotic resistant opportunistic bacteria. The detection rate of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia increased and that of Pseudomonas aeruginosa decreased when compared with eight years ago.

Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Newborn ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; Risk Factors

China ; epidemiology ; Deficiency Diseases ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Iodine ; deficiency ; Sodium Chloride, Dietary