A portable instrument for arteriosclerosis assessment containing sensor module, acquisition board and embedded module was developed for home care in this paper. The sensor module consists of one ECG module and three pulse wave extraction modules, synchronously acquiring human ECG and pulse wave signal of carotid, radial, and dorsal, respectively. The acquisition board converts the sensor module's analog output signals into digital signals and transmits them to the embedded module. The embedded module realizes the functions including signal display, storage and the calculation and output of pulse wave velocity. The structure of the proposed portable instrument is simple, easy to use, and easy to expand. Small size, low cost, and low power consumption are also the advantages of this device. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed portable instrument for arteriosclerosis assessment has high accuracy, good repeatability and can assess the degree of atherosclerosis appropriately.
Arteriosclerosis ; diagnosis ; Equipment Design ; Humans ; Monitoring, Ambulatory ; instrumentation

Objective:To evaluate the clinical outcome of transcrestal maxillary sinus floor elevation(TMSFE)in the presence of pseudocyst.Methods:14 cases with pseudocyst were treated by TMSFE.In the operation following osteotome,pseudocyst was not ex-cised and sinus floor membrane was elevated,15 implants were placed for the 14 cases.Definite prosthesis was delivered about 6 months after implant placement.CBCT examination was done before,immediately after and 1-year after surgery,the cyst condition, the gain of vertical bone height and implant stability over time were observed.Results:Pre-operation residual ridge height of the alveo-lar crest was (6.85 ±1.07)mm.The sinus membrane was successfully elevated in all sites without perforation (mean elevation height,6.93 ±2.07)mm.All 15 implants were ossteointegrated.At 1-year revisit the gained bone height was (12.76 ±2.03)mm. Cyst grew bigger in 3 cases,not changed in 3 cases,became smaller in 5 cases and disappeared in 3 cases.Conclusion:Pseudocyst excision is not necessary in TMSFE.

Objective To study the efficacy of disodium pamidronate in the treatment of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) complicated by hypercalcemic crisis.Methods A total of 9 patients (12 cases) admitted into our hospital were diagnosed as PHPT complicated by hypercalcemic crisis.Of them,4 patients had parathyroid carcinoma,3 patients had parathyroid adenoma,2 patients had parathyroid hyperplasia.The intravenous disodium pamidronate was given for 12 times in all 9 patients.Serum calcium were monitored before and after treatment.Results Before the treatment,the serum calcium levels was 3.75 (3.66,3.99) mmol/L.On the second and third day after the treatment with disodium pamidronate,the serum calcium levels were 3.44 (2.95,3.78) mmol/L and 2.79 (2.50,3.14) mmol/L.The lowest level of serum calcium after treatment was 2.25 (2.00,2.55) mmoL/L.There were significant differences in the level of serum calcium of different days (P ＜ 0.05).On the second and third day,the change of serum calcium were 0.46 (0.10,0.88) mmol/L,0.60 (0.25,0.75) mmol/L,there were no differences.After intravenous disodium pamidronate,the serum calcium level decreased below 3.5 mmol/L in (2.27 ± 0.65) days,and were kept below 3.5mmol/L for 18.45 ± 12.30 days.Conclusions Disodium pamidronate can decrease serum calcium levels in hypercalcemic crisis caused by primary hyperparathyroidism effectively with mild adverse events.

Budd-Chiari Syndrome ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Angiography ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography

Objective To evaluate the value of real time continuous blood glucose monitoring system (RT-CGMS) versus intermittent blood glucose monitoring (IGM) in the critically ill patients under intensive insulin therapy (IIT).Methods A systematic searching randomized and controlled trials (RCT) in databases was performed for meta-analysis by Review Manager 5.2 software.Outcomes were hypoglycemia episode,alteration of mean blood glucose level,the percentage of time at a blood glucose level within optimal target range,and the early mortalities.Results Six studies,totally 531 patients,were included in this meta-analysis.The pooled SMD of mean blood glucose level was =-0.21 (95％ SMD:-0.43-0.01,P=0.07).The pooled SMD of percentage of time at a blood glucose level within optimal target range was 0.20 (95％ SMD:-0.09-0.49,P =0.18).The pooled OR of hypoglycemia episode frequency was 0.20 (95％ CI:0.09-0.43,P ＜ 0.01).The pooled OR of early mortalities was 0.35 (95％ CI:0.14-0.89,P =O.03).Conclusions In critically ill patients under the intensive insulin therapy,RT-CGMS had obvious beneficial effect on reducing hypoglycemic events.RT-CGMS had no obvious beneficial effect on keeping blood glucose level within optimal target range.

Objective To investigate the effect of Xuebijing injection on release of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in endotoxin-induced cells. Methods HMGB1 concentration and mRNA expression were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and RT-PCR, respectively. The effects of Xuebijing injection with 2, 10 and 50 mg/ml on HMGB 1 concentration in the culture medium of 200 ng/ml lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophage-like RAW 264.7 cells and BRL-3A hepatocytes, and HMGB1 mRNA expression in lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages were observed. Results 50 mg/ml Xuebijing injection significantly decreased HMGB1 concentration in the culture medium of lipopolysaccharide-induced macrophages and hepatocytes(P< 0.01), and inhibited HMGB1 mRNA expression in macrophages. Conclusion Xuebijing injection inhibits endotoxin-induced release of HMGB1.

Objective:To investigate the expression of P33~(ING1) protein in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) and its clinical significance. Methods:All samples of normal and cancer tissues from 30 patients with OSCC were examined for protein expression of P33~(ING1) by SP immunohistochemical staining.Results:The positive rate of P33ING1 in OSCC was 40%, that in normal oral mucosa tissue 100% (P

Objective To evaluate the feasibility,safety,and cosmetic results of single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy by using conventional instruments. Methods From January 2013 to May 2014,clinical data of 52 patients undergoing single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The appendectomy was performed by using conventional instruments through three 5-mm trocars via a 2-cm curved incision above the umbilical margin. Results The single-incision laparoscopic appendectomy was successfully completed in all the 52 cases without conversion to conventional laparoscopic or open surgery.The mean operative time was 43 ±7 min (range,30 -90 min).The average postoperative hospital stay was 2.5 ±0.5 days (range,1 -7 days).During follow-up visits for 1 -3 months,there were no postoperative complications.The scars were not obvious in all the patients. Conclusion Laparoscopic appendectomy can be achieved through a single incision by using conventional instruments.This approach is feasible,safe,and concealing.

Objective To explore the effects of basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF) pre-inducing on marrow stroma cells(MSCs) which were induced into dopaminergic neurons.Methods The rat MSCs were isolated primarily from the femurs and tibias of the Wistar rats.MSCs were cultured,proliferated and purified by passage culture.After being induced by bFGF,cultuered MSCs were divided into experimental groups(GM1 group,GDNF group and GDNF+ GM1 group) and control group.The surface markers of the differentiated neuron,such as neurone specific enolase(NSE),glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP) and TH were detected by immunocytochemistry after MSCs were cultured in induction media for 3 days and 7 days.Results In control group,the NSE expression of MSCs was very low.Many NSE-positive cells and TH-positive cells were found in the experimental groups at 3 or 7 days after induction.The percentage of NSE-positive and TH-positive cells of GDNF+GM1 group was significantly more than the other experimental groups(all P

Recently, there are many prominent problems about the quality ofIndigo Naturalis. To explore the underlying reasons, both ancient and modern herbal literatures were reviewed. Through the organization of recordings onIndigo Naturalis, the traditional process method required soaking and fermentation, stiring and depositing, foaming and shade drying. The currently usedIndigo Naturalis was mostly isolated and purified from crude deposit -“Cu-Dian.” The modern process technique ofIndigo Naturalis was gradually deviated from the traditional processing method. This paper also discussed the quality standards ofIndigo Naturalis. The author considered that the current standard on descriptions ofIndigo Naturalis characteristics was deviated from the traditional morphological features ofIndigo Naturalis, which should be further researched and verified. Therefore, this study provided certain references for the quality control and market supervision ofIndigo Naturalis.