Background Central corneal thickness (CCT)is an important parameter to evaluate corneal healthy status and is crucial for surgical planning.However,clinical study found that the center of cornea does not correspond to the thinnest point of cornea.Thus,it is essential to characterize the minimum corneal thickness(MCT) and its location.Objective Present study was to determine the thickness and location of MCT and its relationship to the fellow eye using Pentacam High Resolution technique.Methods The 564 eyes from 282 Chinese myopic patients were reviewed in this study.The CCT,MCT,pupillary central corneal thickness(PCT) and x-y coordinate of thinnest point were bilaterally measured.Written informed consent was obtained prior to the ocular biomedical measurement.Results CCT was (540.07±31.78) μm in the right eyes and (539.24±31.06) μm in the lefi eyes; PCT was (540.25±30.75)μm in the right eyes and (539.48±31.00)μm in the left eyes.MCT was (537.87± 31.91)μm in the right eyes and (536.35±31.24)μm in the left eyes,showing significant differences in all the parameters between the right eyes and left eyes expect for PCT(CCT:P=0.046;PCT:P=0.065 ;MCT:P=0.000).The C CT,PCT and M CT were significantly correlated between the right eyes and left eyes (r =0.97,0.97,0.98,P＜ 0.01).Bland-Altman plot showed a good consistence between the both eyes.The mean distance from the center was (0.50±0.21) mm in the right eyes and (0.56±0.22)mm in the left eyes,showing a significant difference (P =0.000).The difference between CCT and MCT was approximately (2.20±1.74)μm in the right eyes and (2.88±1.75) μm in the left eyes.The location of MCT in both the right eyes and left eyes tended to symmetry along the vertical midline.The distance between the R (x,y) to transformed L (x,y) was (0.29 ± 0.17)mm and the angular distance was (28.28±28.21)degree.Conclusions This study offers a range of MCT and its location in Chinese myopic patients.The difference exists between the CCT and MCT in bilateral eyes.The location of the thinnest point tends to be symmetrical along the vertical midline between the both eyes.The changes of these parameters may be helpful for the diagnosis of some corneal diseases.

OBJECTIVETo study and compare the prophylatic efficacy of levetiracetam, valproate and phenobarbital on febrile convulsions in rats.

METHODSSixty Wistar rats were randomly administered with levetiracetam (200 mg/kg), valproate (250 mg/kg), phenobarbital (30 mg/kg) or normal saline (8 ml/kg) for 5 days. Five days later, febrile convulsions were induced by hyperthermal bath (45 Celcius degree). The latency, duration and the severity of seizures were observed.

RESULTSIn all the three drug-treated groups, the latency was significantly prolonged, and the duration and the severity of seizures were notably reduced compared with the saline group (P<0.05 or 0.01). The phenobarbital group had the shortest duration of seizures and the least severe seizures among the three drug-treated groups. There were no significant differences between the levetiracetam and valproate groups.

CONCLUSIONSContinuous administration of levetiracetam, valproate or phenobarbital is effective in preventing recurrent febrile convulsions in rats. Phenobarbital appears to be more effective than levetiracetam and valproate. There were no significant differences in the prophylactic efficacy between levetiracetam and valproate.

Animals ; Anticonvulsants ; therapeutic use ; Male ; Phenobarbital ; therapeutic use ; Piracetam ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Recurrence ; Seizures, Febrile ; prevention & control ; Valproic Acid ; therapeutic use

0.05).Conclusion GH improves FAH of children with GHD.Height at the initiation of puberty is the most significant determining factor for the long-term efficacy.Hence,it is important that the diagnosis should be made and treatment be initiated as early as possible to afford children with GHD the opportunity to make up much of their height deficit before puberty.Adequate dosage of GH should be used for the children taking initial treatment at puberty to attain satisfactory FAH.

OBJECTIVETo study the content variation of furmarid acid and isofraxidin in Sarcandra glabra from 21 different provenances and provide the basis for resource utilization and quality optimization of S. glabra.

METHODHPLC method was developed to determine the contents of furmarid acid and isofraxidin in 330 samples of S. glabra which were collected respectively from 21 different provenances.

RESULTThere were significant differences in the contents of isofraxidin and furmarid acid in S. glabra from different provenances. The contents of isofraxidin and furmarid acid dropped off from low altitude to high altitude, which were also close with longitude and latitude. The content of isofraxidin in S. glabra at central area of natural distribution was the highest. The different parts of the plant had different results, the influence on the contents of the acitive components in stem were more obvious than the leaf.

CONCLUSIONThis simple, accurate and reproducible method could be use to determine the contents of furmarid acid and isofraxidin in S. glabra. The results represented the status of medicines quality and difference of Chinese S. glabra. These agreed with the traditional views that the medicines quality of Sarcandra glabra in Jiangxi, Fujian, Zhejiang was better. These provenances were considered as important areas of medicines breeding and bases building on S. glabra in future.

Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Coumarins ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Fumarates ; chemistry ; Magnoliopsida ; chemistry ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Plant Stems ; chemistry ; Reproducibility of Results

Objective To explore the risk factors on the symptoms of lumbar intervertebral disc herniation so as to develop a predictive model for the disease. Methods With a populationbased case-control study, 303 of 50 123 residents were diagnosed as having lumbar intervertebral disc herniation symptoms. 152 cases and 167 healthy controls, matched by gender and age, were randomly chosen as case and control groups. Questionnaires were used to collect information on the exposure to risk factors and logistic predictive model was then established. Results Through non-conditional logistic regression analysis, data showed that the positive family history of lumbar vertebra disorder, lumbar treatment or surgery, mental stress, acute low back injury, permanent work pose, and body mass index ≥23.0 kg/m2 were the risk factors among residents from the countryside. The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve of logistic predictive model was 0.809. When 0.4 was set as the classification cutoff, the total predictive correct rate, sensitivity, and specificity were 74.0%, 73.7%, and 74.3% respectively. Conclusion The occurrence of lumbar disk herniationcan in countryside population was affected by multi-variables including genetic and environmental, and could be predicted with the logistic regression model established by our group.The positive predictive results could be used to alarm the patients and doctors for prevention and treatment of the disease.

Ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) is valuable for clinical application, however, traditional ex vivo culture negatively affects long-term hematopoietic reconstitution ability. In the hematopoietic system, the expression of Notch receptors and their ligands has been widely reported. Active Notch signal inhibits the differentiation of HSCs while promotes their expansion, suggesting that ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells could be enhanced by manipulating Notch signal pathways. In this article the Notch signal pathways, Notch signal and maintenance of hematopoietic progenitor cells, Notch signal and expansion of hematopoietic progenitor cells and molecular mechanism of Notch signal maintaining undifferentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells were reviewed.
Animals ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Receptors, Notch ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction

AIMTo prepare capsaicin transfersomes and evaluate them in vitro and in vivo.

METHODSCapsaicin transfersomes were prepared by high shear dispersing machine and evaluated by entrapment efficiency, release rate, in vitro skin permeation and distribution in different tissues in vivo.

RESULTSCapsaicin transfersomes were composed of single unilamellar vesicles with an average diameter of 150.6 nm. Capsaicin entrapment efficiency increased distinctly with increasing of concentration of lecithin and entrapment efficiency is 96.7% while concentration of lecithin to 8%. Cumulative release amount of capsaicin is in direct proportion to the ethanol concentration in the receptor medium. In vitro capsaicin cumulative penetration amount showed higher levels in transfersomes than cream and suspension in rat abdominal skin. Abdominal skin cumulative penetration amount in vitro of capsaicin transfersomes in mouse was significantly higher than that from rat and men. In the same way, abdominal skin epidermal membrane cumulative penetration amount in vitro of capsaicin transfersomes was significantly higher than that from derma and full skin in human abdominal skin. The capsaicin tissue distribution of capsaicin injection by multiple celiac injections in rats is different: bone > plasma > skin > muscle. There is a similar result by multiple thigh topical application of capsaicin transfersomes: bone > skin > plasma > muscle.

CONCLUSIONEntrapment efficiency of capsaicin transfersomes reached the criterion of China Pharmacopoeia (> 80%) and capsaicin skin penetration can be increased by capsaicin transfersomes. It should be noted that the diverse characters and levels of skin may probably affect the permeating capability of capsaicin. Capsaicin tissue distribution in bone and muscle is similar and is different in plasma and skin by multiple injections and topical skin apply.

Administration, Cutaneous ; Animals ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Capsaicin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Humans ; Lecithins ; chemistry ; Male ; Mice ; Particle Size ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Skin Absorption ; Sodium Cholate ; chemistry ; Tissue Distribution

Objective To reveal the cooperation between American military medical research institutes by analyzing the scientific research cooperation networks in order to provide reference for domestic military medical research and its cooperation. Methods A co-occurrence matrix of high frequency research institutes was established by identif-ying the data using literature data analyzing tool TDA and analyzed by visualized tool Ucinet. Results The densely distributed academic cooperation networks in American military medical research institutes were characterized by small world properties and rapid internal knowledge flow with neither absolute knowledge barrier nor knowledge mo-nopolies. The number of co-authorship papers published by military medical research institutes was rather large and tended to increase year by year. The small size research institutes preferred to cooperate between each other. American military medical research institutes did not arbitrarily cooperate with high level research institutes and u-sually cooperated with the same kind of research institutes, including military medical universities, first class uni-versities, and top enterprises. Geo-factor was the most important factor for cooperation in research. Conclusion Frontier basic research, applied basic research, applied military and civilian research should encourage the exten-sive cooperation between military research institutes and excellent civilian research institutes by making full use of the geo-advantages of military medical research institutes. Administrative order and policies should be taken to pro-mote cooperation in military applied research field.

OBJECTIVECapsaicin transfersomes were prepared and its quality specifications were evaluated.

METHODCapsaicin transfersomes were prepared by high shear dispersing machine and evaluated on the entrapment efficiency, drugs release rate and in vitro skin permeation.

RESULTCapsaicin transfersomes is composed of single unilamellar vesicles, with average size of 150.6 nm. Capsaicin entrapment efficiency achieved 96.7% while concentration of lecithin used was 8%. cumulative release amount of capsaicin was in direct proportion to the ethanol concentration in the medium. The in vitro rate cumulative penetration rate of capsaicin was higher in transfersomes than in cream and suspension in rats. Adomen skin cumulative penetration rate in vitro of capsaicin transfersomes in mouse was significantly higher than that from rat and men. In the same way,cumulative penetration rate in vitro of capsaicin transfersomes through abdomen skin epidermal membrance was significantly higher than that with derma and full skin in men.

CONCLUSIONEntrapment efficiency of capsaicin transfersomes reached 96.7%, meeting the criterion of China pharmacopia( > 80%), skin penetration of capsaicin was enhanced by a capsaicin transfersomes preparation and was affected by diverse characters and levels of skin.

Administration, Cutaneous ; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Animals ; Capsaicin ; administration & dosage ; pharmacokinetics ; Drug Carriers ; Drug Delivery Systems ; methods ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Mice ; Particle Size ; Phosphatidylcholines ; administration & dosage ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Skin ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Skin Absorption ; drug effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the safety and efficacy of the transabdominal-hiatal approach of radical gastrectomy for the advanced proximal gastric cancer.

METHODSThe clinical data of 40 advanced proximal gastric cancer patients with involvement of distal esophagus admitted in Tongcheng People's Hospital from June 2003 to September 2006 were analyzed retrospectively. Patients included 27 men and 13 women with a mean age of 56.1 years (range: 37 to 76 years). The data were compared with those of 40 proximal gastric cancer patients undergoing standard thoracoabdominal approach (control group) during the same period.

RESULTSAs compared with the control group, the transabdominal-hiatal approach showed less blood loss [(181.3 ± 63.7) ml vs.(248.8 ± 79.7) ml], shorter operating time [(4.1 ± 0.6) h vs. (5.3 ± 0.7) h], shorter ICU stay [(6.5 ± 5.7) d vs. (19.4 ± 18.0) d] and shorter postoperative hospital stay [(14.0 ± 2.3) d vs.(18.7 ± 3.0) d] (all P<0.05). The complication rates of transabdominal-hiatal approach group and thoracoabdominal approach group were 7.5% (3/40) and 10.0% (4/40), and the 5-year survival rates were 51.3% and 60.0%, respectively (both P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe transabdominal-hiatal approach of radical gastrectomy for proximal gastric cancer is safe and effective, which may substitute the standard thoracoabdominal technique.

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; methods ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Stomach Neoplasms ; surgery ; Treatment Outcome