The regulation of foreign gene expression in Insect-Baculovirus Expression System is very complex. In this report, the effect of 5'-UTR in the expression of hGH gene in cultured Sf9 cells was examined. A 18 bp length in the end of 5'-UTR of hGH (human Growth Hormone, hGH) cDNA including a stem-loop structure was deleted by PCR. The truncated hGH cDNA, delta 1hGH was cloned in pFastBac1, named pFast-Bac-delta 1hGH. After transforming into E. coli. DH10Bac, which have a shuttle vetor-Bacmid, the delta 1hGH was integrated into Bacmid by site-specific transposition, and an expression vector, rBacmid-delta 1hGH DNA was acquired. By transfecting the cultured Sf9 cells with the recombinant expression vector DNA, pure recombinant virus, rAcV-Bac-delta 1hGH was obtained, and hGH gene was expressed. Immuno-blot and Chemiluminescent assay revealed that the expressed hGH had normal immunological activity, the amount of hGH expression level in Sf9 cell supernatant infected with rAcV-Bac-delta 1hGH containing the truncated 5'UTR was four to five times higher than that infected with rAcV-Bac-hGH.
5' Untranslated Regions ; genetics ; Animals ; Base Sequence ; Cells, Cultured ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Genetic Vectors ; genetics ; Human Growth Hormone ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Insecta ; cytology ; genetics ; Recombinant Proteins ; isolation & purification ; metabolism

OBJECTIVEIn order to develop plans for effective intervention measures, prevalence and health-seeking behavior related to reproductive tract infection among floating married women of childbearing age in Fengtai district in Beijing were studied.

METHODSCross-sectional study was carried out. Two thousand and sixty-nine eligible women were randomly selected from strata based on their home provinces. From June to July 2001, the subjects were given face-to-face interview at the Fengtai family planning clinic in Beijing using standard questionnaire followed by gynecologic examination and laboratory tests.

RESULTSThirty point three percent of the subjects were found to have reproductive tract infections (RTI) by laboratory tests. Prevalence rates of bacterial vaginosis, candida and trichomonas vaginitis were 22.2%, 4.9% and 2.1% respectively. Prevalence rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, condyloma acuminatum and syphilis were 2.2%, 1.6%, 0.5% and 0.2% respectively. Of these infected women, only 43.1% (270/626) were symptomatic, and 61.5% (166/270) of these women with symptoms had sought treatment.

CONCLUSIONCompared to other results in the literature, we found a relatively high prevalence of RTI in our study population. Only a small proportion of these infected women were symptomatic but only few of them sought treatment. We suggested that the provision of more family planning service and promotion of RTI knowledge to the floating women of childbearing age.

Adolescent ; Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Infection ; epidemiology ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Travel ; Trichomonas Vaginitis ; epidemiology ; Urban Health ; Vaginitis ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Vaginosis, Bacterial ; epidemiology ; Women's Health Services

BACKGROUNDBoth uniportal and triportal thoracoscopic lobectomy and sublobectomy are feasible for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to compare the perioperative outcomes of uniportal and triportal thoracoscopic lobectomy and sublobectomy for early-stage NSCLC.

METHODSA total of 405 patients with lung lesions underwent thoracoscopic lobectomy or sublobectomy through a uniportal or triportal procedure in approximately 7-month period (From November 2014 to May 2015). A propensity-matched analysis, incorporating preoperative variables, was used to compare the short-term outcomes of patients who received uniportal or triportal thoracoscopic lobectomy and sublobectomy.

RESULTSFifty-eight patients underwent uniportal and 347 patients underwent triportal pulmonary resection. The conversion rate for uniportal and triportal procedure was 3.4% (2/58) and 2.3% (8/347), respectively. The complication rate for uniportal and triportal procedure was 10.3% and 9.5%, respectively. There was no perioperative death in either group. Most patients had early-stage NSCLC in both groups (uniportal: 45/47, 96%; triportal: 313/343, 91%). Propensity score-matching analysis demonstrated no significant differences in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, numbers of dissected lymph nodes, number of stations of lymph node dissected, duration of chest tube, and complication rate between uniportal and triportal group for early-stage NSCLC. However, the duration of postoperative hospitalization was longer in the uniportal group (6.83 ± 4.17 vs. 5.42 ± 1.86 d, P = 0.036) compared with the triportal group.

CONCLUSIONSUniportal thoracoscopic lobectomy and sublobectomy is safe and feasible, with comparable short-term outcomes with triportal thoracoscopic pulmonary resection. Uniportal lobectomy and sublobectomy lead to similar cure rate as triportal lobectomy and sublobectomy for early NSCLC.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Loss, Surgical ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Operative Time ; Pneumonectomy ; adverse effects ; methods ; Prospective Studies ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; adverse effects ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To explore the reliability and validity of the Children' s Impact of Event Scale (Chinese version, CRIES-13) and to determine the value and the optimal cutoff point of the score of CRIES-13 in screening posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD), so as to provide evidence for PTSD prevention and identify children at risk in Wenchuan earthquake areas. Methods A total of 253 children experienced the Wenchuan earthquake were tested through Stratified random cluster sampling. The authors examined CRIES-13's internal consistency, discriminative validity and predictive value of the cut-off. PTSD was assessed with the DSM-Ⅳ criteria. Area under the curve while sensitivity, specificity and Youden index were computed based on the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Optimal cutoff point was determined by the maximum of Youden index. Results 20.9% of the subjects were found to have met the DSM-Ⅳ criteria for PTSD 7 months after the Wenchuan earthquake accident. The Cronbach' s coefficient of CRIES-13 was 0.903 and the mean inter-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.283 to 0.689, the correlation coefficient of the three factors with the total scale scores ranged from 0.836 to 0.868 while the correlation coefficient among the three factors ranged from 0.568 to 0.718, PTSD cases indicated much higher scores than non-PTSD cases, the Youden index reached maximum value when the total score approached 18 in CRIES-13 with sensitivity and specificity as 81.1% and 76.5% respectively. Consistency check showed that there were no significant differences between the results of CRIES-13 score ≥32 and clinical diagnosis (Kappa=0.529) from the screening program. Conclusion CRIES-13 appeared to be a reliable and valid measure for assessing the posttraumatic stress symptoms among children after the earthquake accident in the Wenchuan area. The CRIES-13 seemed to be a useful self-rating diagnostic instrument for survivors with PTSD symptoms as a clinical concern by using a 18 cut-off in total score. Consistency check showed that there was no significant difference between the screening result of CRIES- 13 score ≥ 32 and clinical diagnosis.

OBJECTIVETo investigate whether IL-10 gene modification on immature dendritic cells (iDC) could induce autoimmune tolerance in rat experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM).

METHODSEAM was induced by cardiac myosin immunization on day 0 and day 7 in rats. A total of 2 x 10(6) mature DC (mDC), iDC, pcDNA3 transfected iDC, pcDNA3-IL-10 transfected iDC or PBS were injected intravenously at 5th immunization day. Three weeks later, echocardiography and HE staining were performed to observe the cardiac function and myocardial inflammation. Th1/Th2 cytokines were detected by ELISA and MHC-II molecules, costimulatory molecules were identified by flow cytometry. In vitro T lymphocyte proliferation assay and adoptive transfer of DCs were performed to determine the antigen specific tolerance induced by IL-10 gene modification on iDCs.

RESULTSEAM rats treated with pcDNA3-IL-10 transfected iDC showed improved cardiac function and reduced inflammatory cells infiltration into myocardium. Moreover, lower Th1 and higher Th2-type response was induced, MHC-II and costimulatory molecules down-regulated and antigen specific immunological responses towards cardiac myosin inhibited in pcDNA3-IL-10-iDC treated EAM rats.

CONCLUSIONTreatment with IL-10 gene modified iDCs could ameliorates EAM by inducing Th2 polarization and down-regulation of MHC-II molecules and costimulatory molecule expressions.

Animals ; Animals, Genetically Modified ; Autoimmune Diseases ; immunology ; Bone Marrow Cells ; Cell Line ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Genetic Therapy ; Immune Tolerance ; Interleukin-10 ; genetics ; immunology ; Myocarditis ; immunology ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred Lew

BACKGROUNDMedian sternotomy is considered the most usually performed procedure in cardiac operations. This study aimed to assess clinical effectiveness of bilateral pectoralis major muscle flaps (BPMMF) for management of sternal osteomyelitis and mediastinal infection following median sternotomy.

METHODSClinical data were collected and retrospectively analyzed from twelve patients who underwent the BPMMF transposition for management of sternal osteomyelitis and mediastinal infection following median sternotomy from January 2006 to June 2009. Procedure consisted of rigorous debridement of necrotic tissues, dead space obliteration using the BPMMF, and placement of drainage tubes connected to a negative pressures generator for adequate drainage.

RESULTSNo patients died of drainage, and all 12 patients had viable BPMMF when discharged from hospital. At 1 week post discharge, 2 patients presented with sternal infection but recovered following local debridement and medication. No patients showed infection recurrence during the follow-up period over 10 months.

CONCLUSIONSSternal osteomyelitis and mediastinal infection following median sternotomy may be effectively managed through rigorous debridement of infected soft tissues, resection of the damaged sternal segment, transposition of the BPMMF to fill the damaged sternum resulting from debridement, and adequate postoperative drainage.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Debridement ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinitis ; surgery ; Middle Aged ; Osteomyelitis ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Sternotomy ; adverse effects ; Sternum ; surgery ; Surgical Flaps ; Surgical Wound Infection ; surgery

BACKGROUNDStreptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) is a major causative agent of severe infections, including sepsis, pneumonia, meningitis, and otitis media, and has become a major public health concern. We report the pneumococcal serotype and sequence type (ST) distribution, and antimicrobial resistance of 39 S. pneumoniae strains from seven hospitals in China.

METHODSBlood/cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and sputum isolates from patients were analyzed to determine S. pneumoniae serotypes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the Neufeld Quellung reaction, the multilocus sequence types (MLST) by PCR and sequencing, and susceptibility to antimicrobial agents by the VITEK Gram Positive Susceptibility Card.

RESULTSA total of 39 isolates were collected including 21 blood/CSF and 18 sputum isolates. Conventional serotyping by the Quellung reaction required 749 reactions. In contrast, PCR based typing needed only 106 PCR reactions. The most frequent serotypes from the blood/CSF isolates were 14 (38.1%), 19A (14.3%), 23F (9.5%), and 18C (9.5%). In the sputum isolates the most frequent serotypes were 19F (33.3%), 23F (16.7%), 19A (11.1%), and 3 (11.1%). The incidence of penicillin resistance in the blood/CSF and sputum isolates was 66.7% and 55.6%, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that patients = 5 years old had a higher resistance to penicillin when they compared with the patients = 65 years old (P = 0.011). Serotypes 14, 19A and 19F were significantly associated with penicillin resistance (P < 0.001). ST320, ST271, and ST876 isolates showed high resistant rates to several antibiotics including penicillin (P = 0.006). All of the isolates of serotype 19A were resistant to both penicillin and erythromycin, and they were all multi-drug resistant (MDR) isolates.

CONCLUSIONSThe specificity and sensitivity of multiplex-PCR are good, and this method represents a substantial savings of time and money, and can be widely used in the laboratory and clinical practice. Data from this research showed an extremely high prevalence of penicillin resistance and an increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) rate in S. pneumoniae. A distinctive emergence of serotype 19A was observed which was also associated with the increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, nationwide surveillance of pneumococcal resistance and serotypes is strongly warranted.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Humans ; Infant ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Middle Aged ; Molecular Typing ; methods ; Multilocus Sequence Typing ; methods ; Pneumococcal Infections ; microbiology ; Serotyping ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; classification ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo compare the instructive value of the 6th and 7th editions of the UICC-AJCC staging system in prognosis of esophageal cancer (EC) patients.

METHODSThe staging and prognosis of 1397 esophageal carcinoma patients undergoing curative resection from Jan. 2003 to Dec. 2006 in our hospital were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed according to the 6th AJCC staging system and the 7th UICC-AJCC staging system.

RESULTSThe 5-year overall survival (OS) of EC patients with curative resection was 38.5% (481/1250 cases), with a follow-up rate of 89.5% (1250/1397 case). In overall terms, both the editions were statistically significant discriminators of OS (P < 0.05). The 5-year OS of stages I, II and III patients were 64.9%, 43.5%, 25.2% according to the 6th edition, and 63.5%, 44.5%, 23.5% according to the 7th edition, respectively. Distinct differences in survival were present among patients categorized as stage Ia and Ib according to the 7th edition (P < 0.05), with a 5-year OS of 80.0% and 58.3%, respectively. Similarly, according to the 7th edition, the 5-year overall survivals (OS) of the stages IIIa, IIIb and IIIc patients were 28.2%, 18.4% and 16.7%, respectively, showing that the prognoses were significantly different (P < 0.05). In addition, according to the 7th edition, the prognoses of patients in stages N0, N1, N2 and N3 were also significantly different (P < 0.01), and the 5-year OS were 50.0%, 31.5%, 18.7% and 16.7%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSBoth the 6th and 7th editions of UICC-AJCC staging system are significant discriminators for survival of esophageal cancer patients. The 7th edition is proved to be more accurate in prognosis. The number of lymph node metastases is an important predictor of prognosis.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; classification ; pathology ; surgery ; Esophagectomy ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymph Node Excision ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

Objective To analyze clinicopathological characteristics and the potential risk-related factors of female breast hyperplasia in different age groups.Method From Jan 2015 to Dec 2016,patients diagnosed with breast hyperplasia in 12 hospitals were evaluated.All patients completed the self-designed questionnaires on women'health,including basic demographic information,clinic examination information,radiologic information and pathologic results.The patients were divided into a young group (＜ 45 years old) and an elderly group (from 45 to 75 years old).Results There were 3 684 cases of breast hyperplasia,including 2 291 cases in young group and 1 393 cases in elder group,respectively Clinically breast pain type were most commonly observed in both young and older groups (50.3％ vs.42.7％,P ＜ 0.001).While pathological research based on biopsy showed that breast adenopathy were the most common changes in both groups (67.9％ vs.61.7％,P ＜0.001).More breast cancer cases were identified in elder group than that in young group,especially in clinically lump type patients (9.4％ vs.4.2％,P ＜ 0.001).Compared with elder group,patients in young group have different distribution characteristics regarding to fertility factors,lifestyle factors and psychology scale including anxiety and depression.Conclusion Distributions of clinicopathological characteristics and risk factors of female breast hyperplasia differ across different age groups.

OBJECTIVEAn accurate clinical TNM staging of lung cancer is essential for the precise determination of the extent of the disease in order that an optimal therapeutic strategy can be planned. This is especially true in patients with marginally resectable tumors. Clinical over-staging of the disease may deny a patient the benefit of surgery, whereas under-staging may oblige a patient to accept a fruitless or even harmful surgery. We aimed to analyze preoperative clinical (c-TNM) and postoperative surgico-pathologic staging (p-TNM) of lung cancer patients in order to evaluate the accuracy of our clinical staging and its implications on the surgical strategy for lung cancer.

METHODSWe did a retrospective comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer surgically treated from January 1999 to May 2003. Preoperative evaluation and c-TNM staging of all patients were based on physical examination, laboratory studies, routine chest X-ray and CT scan of the chest and upper abdomen. Other examinations included sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, bone scintiscan, brain CT/MRI, and mediastinoscopy whenever indicated.

RESULTSIn the present study the comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer revealed an overall concurrence rate of only 39.0%. In the entire series the extent of disease was clinically underestimated in 45.2% and overestimated in 15.8% of the patients. Among all c-TNM stages the c-IA/B stage of 1105 patients gave the highest rate (55.2%) of underestimating the extent of disease. Clinical staging of T subsets was relatively easy with an overall accuracy rate of 72.9%, while that of N subsets was relatively more difficult with an overall accuracy rate of 53.5%. Analysis also showed that c-IV stage may not be an absolute contraindication to surgery, because in half of the patients, c-M1 turned out to be p-M0, providing the possibility of resectional surgery depending on the status of T and N.

CONCLUSIONFor reasons to be further determined, the present preoperative clinical TNM staging of lung cancer remains a crude evaluation. Further efforts to improve its accuracy are needed.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pneumonectomy ; Retrospective Studies