BACKGROUNDThe mechanisms of action for volatile anesthetics remain unknown for centuries partly owing to the insufficient or ineffective research models. We designed this study to develop three strains derived from a wild-type Drosophila melanogaster with different sensitivities to volatile anesthetics, which may ultimately facilitate molecular and genetic studies of the mechanism involved.

METHODSMedian effective doses (ED(50)) of sevoflurane in seven-day-old virgin female and male wild-type Drosophila melanogaster were determined. The sensitive males and females of percentile 6 - 10 were cultured for breeding sensitive offspring (S(1)). So did median ones of percentile 48 - 52 for breeding median offspring (M(1)), resistant ones of percentile 91 - 95 for breeding resistant offspring (R(1)). Process was repeated through 31 generations, in the 37th generation, S(37), M(37) and R(37) were used to determine ED(50) for enflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane, desflurane, halothane, methoxyflurane, chloroform and trichloroethylene, then ED(50) values were correlated with minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) values in human.

RESULTSFrom a wild-type Drosophila melanogaster we were able to breed three strains with high, median and low sevoflurane requirements. The ratio of sevoflurane requirements of three strains were 1.20:1.00:0.53 for females and 1.22:1.00:0.72 for males. Strains sensitive, median and resistant to sevoflurane were also sensitive, median and resistant to other volatile anesthetics. For eight anesthetics, ED(50) values in three strains correlated directly with MAC values in human.

CONCLUSIONSThree Drosophila melanogaster strains with high, median and low sensitivity to volatile anesthetics, but with same hereditary background were developed. The ED(50) are directly correlated with MAC in human for eight volatile anesthetics.

Anesthetics, Inhalation ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Chloroform ; pharmacology ; Drosophila melanogaster ; drug effects ; growth & development ; Enflurane ; pharmacology ; Female ; Halothane ; pharmacology ; Isoflurane ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Male ; Methoxyflurane ; pharmacology ; Methyl Ethers ; pharmacology ; Trichloroethylene ; pharmacology

Objective:To assess the relationship between the characteristic of drug resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii and the syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) in intensive care unit(ICU).Methods:Sixty-six strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were isolated from sputum specimens of patients in our ICU from March 2005 to February 2006.The data of the drug sensitivity test in vitro was analyzed.The relation between the syndrome of TCM and drug resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii was probed.Results:The 66 strains of Acinetobacter baumannii were drug resistant to multiple kinds of anti-bacterial drugs(sensitivity rate

BACKGROUNDCompared with smaller aneurysms, giant intracranial aneurysms (GICAs) have a poorer prognosis and require more meticulous surgical planning and techniques to exclude them from the circulation. GICAs continue to challenge the limits of neurosurgical techniques. A series of 170 patients with GICAs were reviewed for understanding the clinical characteristics, surgical treatment and outcomes of patients with GICAs.

METHODSCollected data of 170 consecutive patients with GICAs from January 1995 to July 2007 were analyzed. The clinical characteristics in this study included age, sex, intracranial aneurysms size, the first presentations, locations and Hunt & Hess grade. Surgical methods included direct clipping of the aneurysm neck, parent artery reconstruction, proximal artery ligation, trapping and wrapping. Surgical results were evaluated postoperatively by the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS).

RESULTSGICAs were more commonly diagnosed at age 30 to 50 years with a mean age of 39.3 years and without obvious gender preponderance in our study (88 male and 82 female patients). The size of the GICAs ranged from 2.5 cm to 8.0 cm (mean, 2.9 cm). Hemorrhage (41%), mass effect (34%) and headache (12%) were the first 3 most common presentations. Regarding the Hunt & Hess classification, at admission there were 100 cases in grade 0, 24 in grade 1, 21 in grade 2, 16 in grade 3, 8 in grade 4 and 1 in grade 5. There were 84 cases of GICAs treated by direct neck-clipping, 47 by parent artery reconstruction, 19 by proximal artery occlusion (with 4 combined with revascularization), 18 by trapping and 2 by wrapping. The follow-up study (ranging from 6 to 115 months, mean 32 months) showed good results in 108 cases, moderate disability in 26 and severe disability in 15 according to GOS. Six cases died.

CONCLUSIONSSurgical treatment is an effective treatment for GICAs. Surgical strategies should be made carefully and individually. Doppler ultrasonography, neuroendoscope and intraoperative angiography are useful to perfect surgical results.

Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glasgow Outcome Scale ; Humans ; Infant ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; methods ; Treatment Outcome

BACKGROUNDOculomotor palsy is a common complication in patients with posterior communicating aneurysm. This study was conducted to investigate the postoperative recovery of patients with posterior communicating aneurysm complicated with oculomotor palsy and to analyze the factors influencing length of recovery.

METHODSFrom 2000 to 2006, 148 patients with posterior communicating aneurysm were treated at our hospital, with 74 of them having concurrent unilateral oculomotor palsy. All of the patients underwent craniotomy after the diagnosis by means of whole-brain digital subtraction angiography (DSA). The patients were divided into two groups for observation of postoperative recovery during the follow-up period. Patients in group A were treated with simple pedicle clipping of the aneurysm while patients in group B were treated with pedicle clipping of the aneurysm and decompression of the oculomotor nerve.

RESULTSOf the 40 patients in group A, 20 underwent surgery within 14 days and completely recovered from oculomotor palsy in 10 - 40 days. Fourteen patients underwent surgery within 14 - 30 days, of whom 12 completely recovered within 30 - 90 days and 2 cases recovered incompletely. The remaining six patients underwent surgery after more than 30 days; of these, four patients recovered completely and two recovered incompletely. Of the 34 cases in group B, 15 underwent surgery within 14 days and completely recovered from oculomotor palsy in 10 - 40 days. Sixteen patients underwent surgery in 14 - 30 days, of whom 14 completely recovered in 30 - 90 days and 2 recovered incompletely. The remaining three patients underwent surgery after more than 30 days, of whom two patients recovered completely and one recovered incompletely.

CONCLUSIONSEarly diagnosis and surgical treatment of patients with unilateral oculomotor palsy induced by posterior communicating aneurysm are important to full postoperative recovery of the oculomotor nerve. No correlation was found, however, between decompression of the oculomotor nerve, such as excision or puncture of the aneurysm, and postoperative recovery time.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; complications ; pathology ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ophthalmoplegia ; etiology ; pathology ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo explore the significance of the trans-longitudinal fissure keyhole approach for distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysms.

METHODSFrom March 2000 to October 2002, the trans-longitudinal fissure keyhole approach was adopted for 11 cases of distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysms, which including 9 cases of A2 segment and 2 cases of A3 segment.

RESULTSAll cases were clipped successfully without any obvious neurological deficit and surgical death. Post-operative digital subtraction argiography demonstrated that all aneurysms disappeared. There was no need for foreign blood transformation. The mean hospitalization was 11 days.

CONCLUSIONSThe keyhole approach is an effective and minimal-invasive approach in treating distal anterior cerebral artery aneurysms. It can also shorten hospitalization, decrease foreign blood transformation rate and reduce medical cost.

Adult ; Angiography, Digital Subtraction ; Anterior Cerebral Artery ; surgery ; Cerebral Angiography ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; diagnostic imaging ; surgery ; Male ; Microsurgery ; methods ; Middle Aged ; Neurosurgical Procedures ; methods

Objective:To explore the clinical efficacy of modern rehabilitation techniques combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) external application in the treatment of knee stiffness.Methods:Prospective cohort study. A total of 80 patients with knee stiffness meeting the entry criteria admitted to the People's Hospital of Bozhou from January 2019 to December 2021 were selected and divided into the observation group ( n=40) and the control group ( n=40) according to the random ball touching method. Both groups were given routine physiotherapy. The control group was treated with TCM external application on the basis of the physiotherapy, and the observation was treated with modern rehabilitation techniques on the basis of the treatment of the control group. The goniometer was used to measure the knee flexion and extension before and after treatment, and the VAS scale was used to assess the knee pain. Fug l-Meyer motor function score was used to evaluate lower extremity motor function. Results:After treatment, the knee flexion [(96.43 ± 4.63) ° vs. (89.58 ± 4.67) °, t=6.59] in the observation group was higher than that of the control group ( P<0.01), and the extension [(8.32 ± 2.03) ° vs. (11.69 ± 2.37) °, t=6.83] in the control group was lower than that of the control group ( P<0.01); VAS score (2.06 ± 0.49 vs. 3.65 ± 0.76, t=11.12) was lower than that of the control group ( P<0.01), and Fugl Meyer motor function score (28.97 ± 3.76 vs. 20.43 ± 3.04, t=11.17) was higher than that of the control group ( P<0.01). Conclusion:The application of modern rehabilitation techniques combined with TCM external application in the treatment of knee stiffness can improve the range of motion of the knee joint, reduce the VAS score of pain, and improve the motor function.

Objective: To assess the relationship between the characteristic of drug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)in ICU.Methods: The 73 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were isolated from sputum specimenpatients of in-patients in our ICU from March 2005 to February 2006.The data of the drug sensitivity test in vitro was analysised.The relation between the syndrome of TCM and drug resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa was probed.Results: The 73 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were drug resistant to majority kinds of anti-infective except Piperacillin-Tazobactam,Piperacillin,Cefoperazone-Sulbactam,and Amikacin.The mains syndromes of TCM of all patients infected Pseudomonas aeruginosa were deficiency-excess complex(虚实夹杂证) and excess pattern(实证)(97.26%).The mains of deficiency-excess complex(虚实夹杂证) were Qi vacuity and phlegm obstruction(气虚痰阻证)and Yin vacuity internal heat(阴虚热郁证).The mains of excess pattern(实证) were phlegm-heat(痰热郁阻证)and phlegm-stasis(痰瘀互阻证).Conclusions: Combined ?-lactam antibiotics and aminoglycoside antibiotics is the first selection to treat the multidrugresistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Indentifing patterns and determining treatment in TCM could be tried in the treatment of patients infected Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

OBJECTIVETo establish the median of serum markers for second trimester screening in Qingdao region and to assess the influence of median correction on the performance of screening.

METHODSMaternal serum alpha-fetoproteins (AFP), human chorionic gonadotrophin, free beta subunit (β -HCG) and unconjugated oestriol (uE3) were assayed for prenatal screening of 18 188 singleton pregnancies at 15-20(+ 6) weeks gestation from January 2009 to July 2010. The median of serum markers was calculated based on above results and applied for risk estimation in screening for fetal aneuploidy from August 2010 to March 2011. The screening performance, specified in terms of detection rates (DRs), false positive rates (FPRs) and odds of being affected given a positive result (OAPR) were compared between the two groups. The risks of 45 affected pregnancies detected during the study were estimated with both Caucasian and corrected medians.

RESULTSThe average level of AFP in local pregnancies was similar to that of the Caucasian population, whilst β -HCG and uE3 were respectively 11% and 33% higher than those of Caucasians. The multiple of median (MoM) value was between 0.94 and 1.02 for the dataset based on the corrected median. At a cut-off of l in 270, FPR has decreased from 5.2% to 4.9%, and DR of Down syndrome has increased from 60% to 69.2%, and OAPR has increased from 1:79 to 1:59 when evaluating risk based on the corrected median. For the 45 affected pregnancies, three Down syndrome pregnancies could be missed because their risk estimates were lower than the cut-off level based on Caucasian median.

CONCLUSIONIt is useful to establish and apply population and laboratory-specific medians in order to improve the performance of prenatal screening and diagnosis.

Adult ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Estriol ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Lindane ; blood ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; methods ; alpha-Fetoproteins ; analysis

A 61-year-old male patient was simultaneously diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT). The lung adenocarcinoma and IMT harbored two distinct types of ALK translocation, LOC101927285-ALK, and TPM3-ALK, respectively. The ALK Ventana showed strong positivity on both lesions. The patient was therefore given an endobronchial cryotherapy and ALK inhibitor crizotinib. The tumors showed durable response however the left lung adenocarcinoma relapsed at 17th month post-crizotinib treatment. Tissue re-biopsy on the resistant tumor revealed an ALK exon 23 C1156Y missense mutation in addition to LOC101927285-ALK mutation. Further RNA-based sequence uncovered that the noncoding region rearrangement is the fusion mutation of EML4-ALK. The patient was therefore received alectinib, and the tumor exhibited partly response. Overall, it is very rare that two types of pulmonary tumors exist in one patient driven by two distinct ALK fusions, which emphasizes the necessity of gene sequencing in clinical decision-making and individualized therapy.

A 61-year-old male patient was simultaneously diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma and inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT). The lung adenocarcinoma and IMT harbored two distinct types of ALK translocation, LOC101927285-ALK, and TPM3-ALK, respectively. The ALK Ventana showed strong positivity on both lesions. The patient was therefore given an endobronchial cryotherapy and ALK inhibitor crizotinib. The tumors showed durable response however the left lung adenocarcinoma relapsed at 17th month post-crizotinib treatment. Tissue re-biopsy on the resistant tumor revealed an ALK exon 23 C1156Y missense mutation in addition to LOC101927285-ALK mutation. Further RNA-based sequence uncovered that the noncoding region rearrangement is the fusion mutation of EML4-ALK. The patient was therefore received alectinib, and the tumor exhibited partly response. Overall, it is very rare that two types of pulmonary tumors exist in one patient driven by two distinct ALK fusions, which emphasizes the necessity of gene sequencing in clinical decision-making and individualized therapy.