ObjectiveTo explore the value of simvastatin in improving endothelial function in the patients with acute coronary syndromes in shorter time.Methods60 patients with acute coronary syndrome(acute myocardial infarction and unstable angina/non-ST elevation myocardial infarction) were randomized to be treated with placebo(n=30) or simvastatin 20 mg daily(n=30) for 3～5 d.At the admission and endpoint,Brachial ultrasound was used to measure endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilatation(FMD) and response to endothelium-independent nitroglycerin. ResultsFMD was unchanged with placebo,but increased with simvasatin,from(2.65±2.95)% to(4.19±2.59)%(P=0.027).Responses to nitroglycerin were similar during the time course of the study in the 2 groups.The improvement of FMD was not correlated with the level of TC(R2=0.081,P=0.37),LDL-C(R2=0.056,P=0.46) or HDL-C(R2=0.073,P=0.40).ConclusionSimvastatin initiated early after acute coronary syndromes rapidly improves endothelial function in short course.No correlation has been detected between the pharmacological effects of simvastatin with the fall in TC and LDL-C.

The effect of phenol concentration on the structure and function of microbial communities,which were cultured in different conditions using coking wastewater biofilm as seeding,was investigated by Biolog and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE)methods.The less number of bands of cultivated sam-ples on the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis fingerprint of 16S rRNA gene indicated reduction of di-versity after enrichment and cultivation.Some bands on the DGGE gel were significantly influenced by the phenol concentration in medium.The results of Biolog showed that the original biofilm sample had the highest substrate utility capacity as measured by average well color development(AWCD).But low concen-tration of phenol enriched sample S7 showed more diverse activity on the utility of Carboxylic acids.The principal component analysis(PCA)of Biolog data revealed that the metabolic patterns were similar when using the same phenol concentration,although the sample S7 much less similar to other cultivated samples.These results suggested that the enrichment and cultivation with phenol supplemented decreased the diver-sity and also changed the metabolic function of the microbial community.Lower phenol concentration in-creased the microbial community metabolic activity.The phenol degrading capacity of isolates from each samples indicated that the enrichment and cultivation condition had changed the type and property of cul-truable bacteria.Based on these results,we concluded that the different microorganisms will be isolated un-der different cultivation condition.

Objective Therapeutic hypothermia has become a standard neuroprotective treatment in term newborn infants following perinatal asphyxia,but active cooling with whole body surface or head cooling is both complex and expensive.The clinical feasibility of passive cooling in treatment of full term infants with severe asphyxia was investigated.Methods Thirty-two severe asphyxiated term newborns treated with hypothermia were analyzed,who were randomly divided into 2 groups:passive cooling group(n =17) and active cooling group(n =15).Active cooling group adopted MTRE ALLONTM-thermo regulatory systems,passive cooling group using natural cooling method.Hypothermia treatment time was 72 hours.At the end of treatment,the clinical manifestations,biochemical parameters and clinical efficacy of infants between the 2 groups were compared.Results During treatment all infants had no cardiac arrhythmia,hypoglycemia,sustained metabolic acidosis,blood-borne infections,local cold injury or bleeding.Infants in passive cooling group had a relatively wide range of rectal temperature fluctuations[average (33.47-0.71) ℃] and infants in active cooling group had a relatively narrow range of rectal temperature fluctuations[average (33.66 ± 0.29) ℃],but there was no statistically significant difference in their mean rectal temperature(t =1.941,P =0.055).One patient died in active cooling group,but there were no significant differences in suckling age,length of hospital stay,neonatal behavioral neurological assessment score,abnormal cranial ultrasound and MRI between the survivors of the two groups(all P ＞0.05).Conclusions In NICU,environmental temperature is relatively stable,passive cooling for asphyxiated newborns appears to be feasible for maintenance of hypothermia with a lower risk of adverse reactions.

Objective To explore the immunogenicity of recombinant chimeric 6Aβ15-T including the Aβ1-15 epitope and a T-helper epitope formulated with different adjuvants and to evaluate its feasibility as a candidate vaccine for Alzheimer disease (AD).Methods The recombinant chimeric antigen 6Aβ15-T formulated with Al adjuvant, Freund′s adjuvant or MF59 adjuvant was administered to two strains of mice .The 6Aβ15-T-immunized group without adjuvants ( Mock) and non-immunized group (Control) were included in this study as control groups .The specific antibody and cellular immune response of the chimeric antigen were evaluated .Results In BALB/c strain mice, three types of adjuvants could substan-tially boost the immunogenicity of chimeric antigen 6Aβ15-T and produce a high level of specific-Aβ(β-amyloid) antibod-ies.In C57BL/6 strain mice, the existence of adjuvants enhanced the immune response of 6Aβ15-T antigen, but the mice in Mock group also produced a strong antibody response .In two strains of mice, prevalence of anti-AβIgG1, which was an indicator of Th2 polarization, was observed in the 6Aβ15-T-immunized mice.Additionally, the Al adjuvant induced a high-er level of IgG1 antibody titers, and the ratio of IgG1/IgG2a was the largest.As expected, the 6Aβ15-T antigen formulated with or without adjuvants induced PADRE-specific, but not Aβ42-specific T cellular immune response .Conclusion The 6Aβ15-T antigens formulated with different types of adjuvants could induce strong Th 2-polarized Aβ42-specific antibody re-sponses without activating self-reactive Aβ42-specific T cells in two strains of mice .The results suggested that the recombi-nant chimeric antigen 6Aβ15-T is a good candidate vaccine for AD .

OBJECTIVETo identify enterovirus 71 (EV71) strains isolated from patients with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Guangdong and Fujian provinces from 2000 to 2001 by using phylogenetic analysis.

METHODSAll 25 samples were first tested for enteric viruses by RT-PCR using enterovirus specific primers EV-1 and EV-2, and then were identified for EV71 by RT-PCR using EV71 specific primers 159S and 162A. The amplicons of 485bp segment (part of the VP1 gene) were cloned into pGEM-T and sequenced. A phylogenetic tree was constructed by comparison of the sequences with other 12 EV71 strains isolated from China, Japan, Hungary, and the United States including the prototype BrCr.

RESULTSThe positive rate of EV71 was about 20%. The sequence analysis showed that the new isolate (GZH2000) shared 94%-96% nucleotide identity with three strains isolated in 1998 and 2000, and 91% with a strain isolated in 1987 from Chinese mainland, but shared only 82%-84% homology with EV71 isolates studied abroad.

CONCLUSIONSEV71 is one of the important pathogens of HFMD in south China. The strains isolated from mainland were closely related with most isolates from Taiwan, but different from most EV71 strains reported abroad. The symptoms of EV71 infection in mainland were not as intensive as those described in Taiwan's outbreak.

Adolescent ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Enterovirus ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease ; virology ; Humans ; Infant ; Phylogeny ; Sequence Analysis ; Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid

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

OBJECTIVETo analyze the mortality distribution characteristics and epidemiological trend of lung cancer in 2004 - 2005 in China.

METHODSA total of 142 660 482 person years (72 970 241 person years in male, 69 690 241 person years in female) was covered in the Third National Retrospective Sampling Survey of Death Causes in China, 2004 - 2005. All death records of cancer of trachea, bronchus and lung were extracted. According to the different variations such as gender, urban or rural areas and three territory regions-Eastern, Central and Western China for lung cancer deaths, crude, age-adjusted, area-adjusted death rate, the constitute proportion to all cancer deaths, age-standardized death rate by Chinese standard population and by world standard population and rank of cancer-specific mortality were calculated. The statistic indexes of mortality were compared with that of previous retrospective death surveys in 1973 - 1975 and 1990 - 1992.

RESULTSIn the National Death Survey 2004 - 2005, there were 43 993 deaths caused by lung cancer with crude death rate of 30.84/100 000, age-standardized death rate by Chinese standard population of 20.24/100 000 and 27.62/100 000 by world standard population, accounted for 22.70% of total cancer deaths (193 841 cases). There were a total of 30 167 cancer deaths in male with crude death rate of 41.34/100 000 and 13 826 in female with crude death rate of 19.84/100 000. Lung cancer mortality was increased with age. In urban areas, the lung cancer was ranked the first cancer death causes with crude death rate of 40.98/100 000 (19 628/47 899 806), accounted for 27.29% of all cancer deaths. While in rural areas, the lung cancer was the second cancer death following liver cancer with crude death rate of 25.71/100 000 (24 365/94 760 676), accounted for 19.99% of all cancer deaths (121 905 cases). There were different death rates by different location division. Lung cancer crude death rate in east was the highest with rate of 37.85/100 000 (19 893/52 556 694) and in west was the lowest with rate of 21.76/100 000(8774/40 322 563). Crude death rate of lung cancer increased by 75.83% compared with the second survey (crude death rate was 17.54/100 000) in 1990 - 1992, increased by 464.84% compared with the first survey (crude death rate was 5.46/100 000) in 1973 - 1975, showing a significant uptrend.

CONCLUSIONLung cancer is the most important cancer affecting the health of Chinese urban residents. The mortality has been increasing significantly.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cause of Death ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; epidemiology ; Death Certificates ; Female ; Health Surveys ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

Objective To retrospectively study revisions for infected total hip replacements in 30 cases and discuss the bacteriological characters of the infected total hip replacements,difficulties and strategies in the revision.Methods Thirty revisions of infected total hip replacements were reviewed retrospectively.There were 12 males and 18 females,with mean age of 62.5 years(31-86 years)at revi- sion surgery.Infection was presented one month to four years(mean seven months)after THA operation. The diseases for initial operation included femoral neck fractures in 12 cases,femoral head necrosis in 11,hip osteoarthritis in five and rheumatoid arthritis in two.Twelve eases were treated by one-stage revi- sion and 18 by two-stage revision.Results Before the revision operation,the hip infection were diag- nosed by bacterial culture in 18 cases including five with Staphylococcus epidermidis,four with Staphylo- coccus aureus and nine with other bacteria.Bacteria growth appeared on the specimens from 23 hip joints during the revision surgery but not on the specimens from seven hip joints.Of 12 one-stage revisions,10 cases were followed for mean 16 months,which showed infection recurrence in two eases.Of 18 two-stage revisions,13 cases were followed for mean 20 months,which showed one case with infection recurrence. The mean Harris hip score was improved from preoperative 44 to 84 at follow-up.Conclusions 1) The main bacteria in the infected hip are antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus.2)Because the revision op- eration is difficult,careful preparation before revision is important for success.The fresh surgeon should not attempt.3)The revision strategies should vary according to specific status of the cases.The infection recurrence rate is lower when using a two-stage revision strategy.4)Application of antibiotic bone cement can help improve treatment effect and facilitate functional recovery of the joints.5)The scientific rehabil- itation after operation is very important to functional recovery.

Objective To report the experience of the application of microsurgery in joint replace- ment.Methods There were 22 cases,10 cases with segmental acetabular defects treated with the pedicle sartorius muscle iliac bone grafting,5 cases with vascular repair following major vascular injury of extremity during operation,6 cases with neural repair following neural injury during operation,1 case with serious injury reconstruction by elbow joint replacement and free flap.Results The operations succeeded in 22 cases without any postoperative infection.The mean follow-up was 40.1 months (3-72 months) in 22 cases,in which the joint function improved and the operative result was satisfactory with no joint pain.Conclusion Microsurgical technique can reconstruct bone and tissue defect effectively in joint replacement.

Through the examples of explanatory and pragmatic trials on acupuncture for migraine and the comparison between research objectives, experiment environment and trial designs, the design of current clinical trial should focus on: (1) Making a point of continuum research on efficacy-effectiveness at trial design type; (2) Thinking highly of therapeutic effect criteria that could have a better show of trial purpose; (3) More use of qualitative research embedded in the randomized controlled trials. With these improvements, the effects of acupuncture could be evaluated more scientifically, objectively and comprehensively.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Migraine Disorders ; therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Research Design