Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Humans ; Language ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Translations

Cardiovascular Diseases ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Environmental Exposure ; adverse effects ; Humans

Objective To explore the effect of acupuncture at Yanglingquan (GB 34) on white matter structure of stroke patients. Methods 6 stroke patients with left hemiplegia in recovery stage were recruited. The sham acupoint was as control, the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data in a 1.5 T SIEMENS scanner before and after acupuncture at Yanglingquan point was collected. Differences between the two conditions were compared with the Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS), which is one of FSL tools. Results The brain areas included left precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior temporal gyrus, supplementary motor area, inferior frontal gyrus, internal capsule, fornix and bilateral inferior parietal gyrus, in which the verum acupuncture had stronger effect on fractional anisotropy (FA) than the sham acupuncture. White matter tract such as pyramidal tract, arcuate fasciculus, corpus callosum and other inter-cortex association fibers passed these brain areas. The fiber tracts and brain areas were found to be involved with multiple brain networks of motor compensation, somatosensory, language and cognition. Conclusion Compared with the sham point, acupuncture at Yanglingquan point can change the microstructure of stroke patients' white matter, mainly in the inaffected side and related to multiple functional networks.

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.

Background Whether the wearing of bifocal lenses can delay the development of myopia in school childhood is in controversy.To assess the effect of bifocal lenses using evidence-based medicine method is of important significance.Objective Present study was to compare the effect of bifocal lenses with single vision lenses in retarding myopia progression in school-aged myopic children.Methods This was a evidence-based medicine study.The systematical literature search was performed from MEDLINE(1966 to October 2010),EMBASE(1974 to October 2010),Cochrane Library,Chinese Biomedical Database(1978 to October 2010),and Chinese Clinical Trial Registry combined with hand searching of related bibliographies of journals and books were applied to collect the randomized-controlled clinical trial about bifocal lenses.Screening,evaluation and data extraction of the retrieved literature were performed by two investigators independently.Mata-analysis was used to assess the progression of refraction and axial length among included randomized clinical trials.Results Three high-quality randomized-controlled clinical trials meeting the inclusion criterion were included in this meta-analysis.The results showed that the weighted mean difference in progression of refraction was 0.22D between bifocal lenses and single vision lenses(95% CI:-0.24-0.67),and the difference was statistical insignificance(P=0.35).The weighted mean difference in progression of refraction during the follow-up durations of 6,12,18,24 and ＞30 months were 0.15(95% CI:-0.09-0.38),0.17(95% CI:-0.05-0.39),0.42(95% CI:-0.14-0.98),0.23(95% CI:-0.21-0.66) and 0.03(95% CI:-0.40-0.46),respectively without statistical significance.The weighted mean difference in elongation of axial length between two interventions was -0.17mm(95% CI:-0.26-0.08) with a statistically significance(P=0.000).Conclusion Based on currently available studies,bifocal lenses could not significantly slow the progression of myopia in myopic school-aged children in comparison with single vision lenses.Because only few high-quality studies are currently available,this conclusion need to be supported by more large-sample-size clinical trials.

Objective To investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of different subtypes (IgG,IgM and IgA) of anticardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and anti-β2-glycoprotein Ⅰ antibodies (aβ 2GP1),as well as lupus anticoagulant (LA) in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).Methods IgG/IgM/IgA,IgG,IgM,IgA aCL and anti-β2GP1 were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 100 patients with SLE (42 patients were diagnosed as secondary antiphospholipid syndrome),44 healthy controls and 32 patients with other connective tissue diseases excluding SLE and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS).Meanwhile,LA was tested by modified Dilute Russell's viper venom time (dRVVT).The correlation between antiphospholipid antibodies and clinical manifestation was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis.The postiverate of antiphospholipid antibodies in SLE patients,health controls and patients with other connective tissue diseases were compared by chi square test.The concentrations of antiphospholipid antibodies in different groups were compared using independent sample Kruskal Wallis test.The diagnostic efficacy of antiphospholipid antibodies in SLE patients was analyzed by crosstable using clinical diagnosis of APS as gold standard.P ＜ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results The prevalence of IgG aCL (x2 =15.031,P ＜ 0.001),IgA/G/M (x2 =11.678,P =0.003) and IgA (x2 =6.17,P =0.036) antiβ2GP1 were significantly higher in patients with SLE than in the other two groups.IgA/G/M (r =0.207,P=0.039),IgG (r=0.230,P=0.021) and IgA (r=0.217,P=0.030) aCL,IgA/G/M (r=0.218,P=0.029) and IgA (r =0.255,P =0.01) anti-β2GP1,as well as LA (r =0.233,P =0.02) were associated with thrombotic events.IgA/G/M anti-β2GP1 (r =0.22,P =0.029) and LA (r =0.254,P =0.011) were associated with pathological pregnancy.23.1％ (6/26) aCL positive SLE patients were IgM and/or IgA aCL positive.53.6％ (15/28) anti-β2GP1 positive SLE patients were IgM and/or IgA antiβ2GP1 positive.In SLE patients,the specificity and sensitivity of IgA/G/M aCL for APS were 98.3％ and 26.2％,respectively.The specificity and sensitivity of IgA/G/M anti-β2GP1 were 84.5％ and 40.5％,respectively.The specificity of at least two isotypes positive for APS (both aCL and anti-β2GP1 were 98.3％),was higher than IgG aCL (94.8％) or anti-β2GP1 (93.1％).The sensitivity of at least one isotype of aCL (47.6％) or anti-β2GP1 (42.9％) positive for APS were higher than IgG aCL (40.5％)and anti-β2GP1 (21.4％).Conclusions IgG and IgM aCL together would be better than IgA/G/M aCL for APS screening.IgA/G/M anti-β2GP1 would be better for APS screen due to higher sensitivity and strong association with thromboembolic events and pathologic pregnance.IgA aCL or anti-β2GP1 was associated with thromboembolic events.IgA aCL or anti-β2GP1 would be useful for APS diagnosis in IgG and IgM aCL or anti-β2GPl negative patients.

Objective To evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on the expression of 8-Oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) mRNA in rat hippocampal neurons subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation and restoration (OGD/R).Methods Hippocampal neurons isolated from pathogen-free neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats born within 3 days,were cultured primarily and seeded in 96-well plates (100 μl/well) or 6-well plates (2 ml/well) at the density of 1 × 106 cells/ml.The cells were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=30 each):control group (group C),group OGD/R,and different concentrations of dexmedetomidine groups (DEX1-3 groups).The cells were cultured in normal culture medium in group C and the cells were subjected to OGD/R in the other groups.In DEX1-3 groups,dexmedetomidine with the final concentrations of 0.1,1.0 and 10.0μmol/L were added,respetively,at 2h before OGD.At 24h of restoration,hippocampal neurons were stained with haematoxylin and eosin (H.E) for examination of pathological changes,the cell survival rate was detected by MTT method,the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were detected by colorimetric method,and the expression of OGG1 mRNA was detected by RT-PCR.Results The pathological changes of neurons were obvious in group OGD/R,and the pathological changes of neurons were significantly mitigated in DEX1,DEX2 and DEX3 groups.Compared with group C,the cell survival rate and SOD activity were significantly decreased,MDA content was increased,and the expression of OGG1 mRNA was down-regulated in OGD/R,DEX1,DEX2 and DEX3 groups (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with group OGD/R,the cell survival rate and SOD activity were significantly increased,MDA content was decreased,and the expression of OGG1 mRNA was up-regulated in DEX1,DEX2 and DEX3 groups (P ＜ 0.05).There was no significant difference in the indices mentioned above between DEX1,DEX2 and DEX3 groups (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusion Dexmedetomidine may protect hippocampal neurons against oxidative stress injury by up-regulating the expression of OGG1 mRNA in rat hippocampal neurons subjected to OGD/R.

Background Chronic administration with inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase (N_?-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester,L-NAME) induces persistent hypertension,cardiovascular remodeling,surrounding vascular fibrosis, necrosis and hypertrophy of myocardium,and inflammation in cardiovascular system.Local RAS involves in hyper- tension and remodeling of cardiovascular system,via increasing production of oxygen free radicals (OFR).Objec- tive To elucidate the preventive and therapeutic effect of antioxidant Ebselen and/or VitE on hypertensive heart damage in NO~- deficient rats induced by L-NAME.Methods Thirty-two Wistar rats were administered with L- NAME 50 mg/(kg?d) by gavage for 8 weeks,and randomized to received a placebo(L),or Ebs(S,30 mg/kg?d), or VitE(V,40 mg/kg?d) or Ebs 30 mg/(kg?d)+VitE 40 mg/(kg?d),with 8 normal Wistar as control. Body mass and SBP were measured fortnightly.Plasma and homogenate of heart were collected for NO,Ang Ⅱ, GSH-PX,MDA and O_2~- determination.Results Eight weeks after L-NAME administration,SBP in experimental groups was obviously higher than that of control (P

ObjectiveTo investigate influence of sedation and analgesia on stress reaction of post-cardiac surgery in infants with congenital heart disease.MethodsForty children with congenital heart disease were randomly divided into 2 groups after cardiac surgery.The analgesia group was given 0.5-2.0 ?g/(kg?h) fentanyl intravenous infusion in 20 children undergoing cardiovascular surgery.The control group was given 5-8 mg/(kg?dose) lbuprofen orally.Midaiolam 0.01-0.20 mg/(kg?h) was used in 2 groups for sedation by intravenous infusion or 0.05-0.10 mg/(kg?dose)by intravenous push intermittently.The effects and adverse effects of sedation and analgesia were observed on 2,8,24,48 h after surgery in each group.The levels of cortisol,growth hormone,insulin and blood glucose were measured,respectively.ResultsThere were significant differences in Ramsay,Comfort value on 2,8,24 h(Pa

·Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are common outer retinal degenerative problems, which are also the predominant causes of most blinding retinal diseases. Retinal prosthesis is a promising solution for such photoreceptor degeneration diseases.Most of current concepts for a retinal prosthesis are based on neuronal electrical stimulation. In the past twenty years, retinal prosthesis has been developed in two different directions: epiretinal prosthesis and subretinal prosthesis. Each prosthesis technique has its advantages and disadvantages. For epiretinal prosthesis, it is easier to be implanted and has the advantage of keeping most of the electronics in the vitreous cavity, off the retinal surface, which greatly helps in dissipating the heat generated by the implant device. In this paper, a brief overview of retinal prostheses concepts is introduced. After that, several important aspects of epiretinal electrical stimulation will be discussed. Moreover, some practical epiretinal prosthesis devices developed by researchers in United States, Germany and Japan in the past have been reviewed. We hope that the devices will be used widely in the near future.