Objectives: To observe the efficacy of encephalo-duro-arterio-synangiosis (EDAS) or in combination with endovascular embolization in the treatment of patients with moyamoya disease complicating intracranial aneurysms and to investigate the therapeutic strategy for moyamoya disease complicating intracranial aneurysms. Methods: A total of 27 patients (28 aneurysms) with moyamoya disease complicating intracranial aneurysms confirmed by cerebral angiography were recruited. Nineteen patients were presented as hemorrhagic disease and 8 patients were presented as cerebral ischemic disease. For 10 patients with arterial trunk aneurysms, they were treated with endovascular embolization, and then were treated with unilateral EDAS 7-10 days after embolization. Three months later the contralateral EDAS were performed. As for the aneurysms located in the peripheral arteries (n = 17) , if the embolization could be performed (n =9), the aneurysms were obliterated with coils or ONYX glue, otherwise the ipsilateral EDAS should be performed (n = 8). Results: Circled digit oneEighteen aneurysms in 19 patients (20 aneurysms) were embolized successfully and 2 patients were failed (one aneurysm in lenticulostriate artery and the other in posterior choroidal artery). After embolization, 3 patients with peripheral aneurysms had contralateral limb weakness, and recovered within 1 week to 3 months. Circled digit twoThere was no bleeding and rebleeding for 10-60 months follow-up after EDAS. Among the patients with cerebral ischemia, 2 had recurrence of TIA within 3 months after EDAS, but they had no recurrence of the symptom after 3 months. Circled digit threeThe angiography of 21 patients (21 aneurysms) 3 to 15 months after EDAS showed that the aneurysms treated with embolization did not reoccur (12 aneurysms); 8 of 9 peripheral aneurysms without eml)olization were disappeared; and significant retention of contrast agent in 1 aneurysm was found. All 21 patients showed better communication between the superficial temporal artery and intracranial angiogenesis. Conclusion: Endovascular embolization is one of the important means for the treatment of moyamoya disease complicating intracranial aneurysms. EDAS may promote the occlusion of peripheral aneurysms.

Objective To investigate the value of soluble epithelial cadherin(sE-cad)in the differential diagnosis of pleural effusion. Methods Patients were divided into malignant pleural effusion group,infective pleural effusion group and transudation group.sE-cad in pleural fluids obtained during the first thoracocentesis was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The concentration of sE-cad in all kinds of pleural effusions was compared.The cut-off value of sE-cad for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant pleural effusion was determined by ROC curve.The diagnostic value of sE-cad was also compared with common tumor markers such as CEA,CA199,CA125 and NSE.Results The concentration of sE-cad was significant higher in the malignant pleural effusion than in the benign pleural effusion[(38.38?4.15)ng/mL vs(14.17?0.80)ng/mL,P

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Tree-Drawing Test in medical college students.Methods The study randomly selected 312 aged 19 to 23-year-old medical students to take part in TreeDrawing Test.In addition,a total of 275 college students were selected to receive re-test,30 days late and Pearson correlation coefficient of two tests were calculated.The three raters were invited to assess 30 trees painting score,analyzing the Kendall coefficient of concordance between the scores to verify raters' reliability; parts of students also participated in the 16PF test,SAS,SDS test,analyzing the correlation coefficient between the various test results,in order to assess the effectiveness of the Tree-Drawing Test.Results The re-test reliability in different time was 0.570-0.733 and 0.341-0.713 (P＜0.05),the raters' reliability was 0.491 ～ 0.626(P＜0.05),there are some correlations between Tree-Drawing Test and 16PF,SAS,SDS.Conclusion The Tree-Drawing Test has good reliability and validity; it can be applied to the detection of college students' psychological assessment and psychological problems.

Objective To explore the incidence and risk factors of bacterial infection after othtotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Methods Altogether 56 OLT recipients from January 2005 to October 2007 were included in the study. The incidents and the related variables of the infection were analyzed retrospectively. The related variables were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression model to identify the significant risk factors. Results Bacterial infection was confirmed in 29 recipients (51.8%). Among them, the lung infection was the most common site (53.7%). The Gram-positive cocci were 46.3%, while the Gram-negative bacilli were 53.7%. The risk factors for bacterial infection included duration of the operation and detained respirator using. Conclusion Bacterial infection is a major complication following OLT. Surveillance for the risk factors, enhancement the skill of operation, and improving the recovery of respiratory function is the key to decreasing the incidence of bacterial infection after transplantation.

0bjective To determine the immunogenicities of DNA vaccines expressing tat-rev-integrase(c-half)-vif-neffusion genes(TRIVN) derived from prevalent B', B'/C and AE recombinant subtypes of HIV-1 in China. Methods Two DNA vaccines were constructed by inserting the codon optimized tat-revintegrase(c-half)-vif-nef fusion genes derived from B' and B'/C subtype of HIV-1 into mammalian expression vector pSVI. 0. DNA vaccine containing tat-rev-integrase (c-half)-vif-nef fusion gene derived from HIV-1AE2f has been constructed previously. In vitro expression efficiencies of three DNA vaccines were determined by Western blot and their immunogenicities were compared by immunizing female BALB/c mice. IFN-γ ELISPOT assay was used to read out the specific T cell immunity. Results The constructed DNA vaccines were validated by restriction enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing. Western blot assay showed three constructed DNA vaccines could be expressed at a comparable level in vitro. After vaccination, AE-TRIVN mounted T cell immune responses at (948.0 ± 330.0) SFCs/106 splenocytes, followed by the mixed DNA vaccine[ (500.0 ± 155.0) SFCs/106 splenocytes ], RL-TRIVN r[ ( 195. 1 ± 44.0) SFCs/106 splenocytes ]and CN-TRIVN [ (89.5 ± 17.0) SFCs/106 splenocytes]. Interestingly, we observed that single DNA vaccination induced specific T cell responses predominantly targeting Integrase (C-half) and Vif, whereas the mixed DNA could significantly improve T cell responses against Nef. Conclusion AE-TRIVN was the most immunogenic among the three DNA vaccines and the mixed DNA vaccination could change the immunogenic hierarchy of T cell epitopes across the fusion genes vaccine.

Objective To find out the potential risk factor of plague in Wanzhou section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, and to provide scientific basis for prevention and control of plague. Methods Rodents were captured by rat traps/cages at night and identified into species in Wanzhou section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area from 2001 to 2009. Flea was counted and serum antibodies against plague F1 of rats, cats and dogs were detected by indirect hemagglutination (IHA). Plague surveillances were performed in human beings and rats. Results The rodents captured belonged to 9 species, 2 families, 2 orders and 1 classes. The average indoor rodent density was 1.16% (961/82 558), and was 1.12% (1345/119 671) outdoors. Rattus norvegicus was the dominant species,accounting for 50.37%. The proportion of R. Flavipectus was 3.80% in 2004, 4.50% in 2008 and 10.12% in 2009,showing an increasing trend year by year. There were three kinds of mice infected fleas in Wanzhou, which including Xenopsylla cheopis, Leptopsylla segnis and Ctenocephalides felis. The average rate of flea infected mice was 1.18%(82/6959) and the total flea index was 0.036. No F1 antibody against plague was detected in 6959 dogs and 160 cats serum samples. Conclusions No plague is found in Wanzhou section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area. But R.Flavipectus, Xenopsylla cheopis and Leptopsylla segnis are dominant species in Wanzhou section, and the proportion of which shows an increasing trends year by year. There is a potential risk of plague outbreaks in Wanzhou section of the Three Gorges Reservoir area.

The uhrastructure and atrial natriuretic peptide(ANP)mRNA in myocardium of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were studied along with the effect of rosiglitazone.It was found that the myocardial ultrastructure was demaged in diabetic rats.Rosiglitazone may ameliorate the lesion in myocardium,and lower the ANP mRNA in diabetic rats(1.14?0.05 at 6 weeks and 1.12?0.09 at 10 weeks vs 0.97?0.14,both P

Different processed products of Coptidis Rhizoma have its unique odor, which is an important assessment index for pro- cessed products identification of Coptidis Rhizoma. Objectify odor as an entry point in this study, an electronic nose technology was used, and a suitable method for Coptidis Rhizoma measurement was built firstly. Then different processed products of Coptidis Rhizoma were detected by the method built. Finally, different processed products were identified by combining with chemometrics based on the objective odor information obtained. Electronic nose detection indicated that a significant difference in odor between different processed products was performed. Coptidis Rhizoma processed or not can be distinguished based on statistical quality control (SQC) and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). Principle component analysis (PCA) model showed that Coptidis Rhizoma and its various processed products discriminated obviously. In addition, in order to identify the processed products of Coptidis Rhizoma, a correct recognition rate of 100% was acquired by discriminant factor analysis (DFA) , and the initial identification rate and cross-validation recognition rate of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) is 100%, 94.4% respectively. In conclusion, differentiationin odor of different processed Coptidis Rhizoma was performed by the electronic nose technology used, and different products Coptidis Rhizoma were dis- criminated by combining with chemometrics. This research can be a reference for objective identification in odor of traditional Chinese medicine, and is good for the inheritance and development of traditional experience in odor identification.
Chemistry, Pharmaceutical ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Coptis ; chemistry ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Electronic Nose ; Odorants ; analysis ; Principal Component Analysis ; Rhizome ; chemistry

BACKGROUNDCarotid stenosis is one of the common reasons for patients with ischemic stroke, and the two invasive options carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) are the most popular treatments. But the relative efficacy and safety of the methods are not clear.

METHODSAbout 521 articles related to CAS and CEA for carotid stenosis published in 1995 - 2011 were retrieved from MEDLINE, Cochrane Library (CL), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) China Journal Full-Test database. Of them, eight articles were chosen. Meta-analysis was used to assess the relative risks.

RESULTSThe eight studies included 3873 patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis, including 1941 cases in the carotid stent angioplasty group, and 1932 cases in the carotid endarterectomy group. Fixed effect model analysis showed that within 30 days of incidence of all types of strokes, surgery was significantly highly preferred in CAS patients (CAS group) than the CEA patients (CEA group), and the difference was statistically significant (relative ratio (RR) = 1.80, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.380 - 2.401, P < 0.0001). But the incidence of death in the two groups is not showed and is not statistically significant after 30 days (RR = 1.52, 95%CI: 0.82 - 2.82, P = 0.18). The rate of cranial nerve injury in the CAS group is lower than the CEA group (RR = 0.14, 95%CI: 0.05 - 0.43, P = 0.0005). The incidence of CAS patients with myocardial infarction is lower than the CEA group after 30 days, but statistically meaningless (RR = 0.22, 95%CI: 0.05 - 1.02, P = 0.05). The stroke or death in CAS patients were higher than the CEA group after 1 year of treatment (RR = 2.58, 95%CI: 1.03 - 6.48, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSIONSCompared to CAS, carotid endarterectomy is still the preferred treatment methodology of symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. Future meta-analyses should then be performed in long-term follow-up to support this treatment recommendation.

Objective To investigate the effect ofplatelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and conditional medium of U87 glioma cells on the migration ability of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) to understand the possible role of PDGF in the directional migration of hMSCs toward gliomas. Methods hMSCs were isolated from the whole bone marrow by adherent culture, and the expression of PDGF receptor (PDGFR-α, β) in the cells was examined by RT-PCR. In vitro migration assay was performed using transwell inserts to observe the effect of PDGF (0, 5, 50, and 125 ng/mL) and the conditional medium on the directional migration ability ofhMSCs. The changes in the migration ability of hMSCs in response to addition of anti-PDGF antibody in the conditional medium were investigated. Results RT-PCR detected the expression of PDGFR- αand PDGFR-β mRNA in the isolated hMSCs. In the cell migration assay, both PDGF and the conditional medium induced directional migration of hMSCs (P<0.05), which was significantly suppressed by anti-PDGF antibody P<0.05). Conclusion With chemokine-like activities, PDGF concentration-dependently enhances the directional migration of hMSCs toward gliomas in vitro.