Objective To evaluate the clinical value of selective arterial chemotherapy after radiotherapy for advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (stageⅢ,Ⅳa). Methods Sixty patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma were randomized to receive either combined elective arterial chemotherapy and radiotherapy (IACT group, 30 patients) or combined general intravenous chemotherapy and radiotherapy(IVCTgroup, 30 patients). Four weeks after radiotherapy, the effect of two methods was compared. Results The efficiency rate and the 1-year local disease control rate were 93.33 %, 92.86 % in IACT and 70.00 %, 71.43 % in IVCT, respectively. There were outstanding differences between the two groups(P

This study aimed to explore the mechanism of volatile oil from purslane in treating itch induced by eczema through establishing the itch model,stimulating the keratinocyte with capsaicine (CAP).SD rats were divided into the control group,the model group,the high dose group of volatile oil from purslane,and low dose group of volatile oil from purslane.After finishing the experiment,the morphology of keratinocytes was observed by immunofluorescence technique,while Ca2+ concentration was detected by flow cytometry,and the contents of leukotriene A4 methyl ester (LTA4),interleukin-31 (IL-31) and hydroxy trptamine H1 (HTH1) were quantified by ELISA assay.The expression of TRPV1 mRNA in keratinocytes was tested by RT-PCR,while the protein level of TRPV1 was quantified by western blot.Compared with the model group,it was found that the cell count of positive keratinocytes,the Ca2+ concentration,the levels of LTA4,IL-31 and HTH1,and the mRNA and protein expressions of TRPV1 in the high dose and low dose groups were significantly decreased (P ＜ 0.05).In conclusion,it was demonstrated that the volatile oil from purslane may relieve itch through inhibiting the activation of TRPV1 and reducing secondary inflammatory reaction.

Objective To investigate the value of combined detection of multi-tumor markers in the diagnosis of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to establish the discriminant equation. Methods Using a protein chip, 12 tumor markers in the serum from 98 patients with HCC and 67 patients with benign liver diseasewho had been admitted to Daping Hospital from November 2003 to April 2006, and 46 healthy individuals during he same period were analyzed. A discriminant equation was established to discriminate primary HCC from benign liver diseases. All the data were processed by variance analysis and chi-square test. Results The positive rates of the tumor markers were 89% (87/98) in patients with primary HCC, 19% (13/67) in patients with benign liver disease and 4% (2/46) in healthy individuals. There was statistical difference in the serum level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), eareinoembryonic antigen (CEA), ferritin (FER), CA19-9 and CA125 among the 3 groups (F =59.530, 40.472, 31.708, 75. 897, 153.066, P <0.05). Combined detection of AFP, CEA, FER, CA19-9 and CA125 improved the diagnostic accordance rate to 89%, which was significandy higher than the diagnostic accordance rate (64%) when only AFP was detected (X2 = 16.362, P <0.05). The accuracy of the discriminant equation was 90%. Conclusions Combined detection of multi-tumor markers is superior to AFP detection. Combined detection of multi-tumor markers can be used in screening of the HCC patients in HCC high risk population and in the early diagnosis of primary HCC.

Objective To analyze the clinical features of patients with cholelithiasis treated in our hospital in the recent 10 years to explore the changing tendency of the spectrum of cholelithiasis in the Jiaodong region. Methods The clinical data of 2899 patients receiving operation for cholelithiasis in this hospital between January 1998 and January 2008 were retrospectively analyzed. The clinical parameters of sex, age and the lesion sites were reviewed. Compared with the clinical data of cholelithiasis patients in 1991, the data of the 2899 patients were statistically analyzed by SPSS 12.0 package.Results Significant differences existed in sex, e peak morbidity, and lesion sites. The ratio of male patients and female patients with cholelithiasis in differents site had obvious diversity. The constituent ratio of the female was manifestly higher than that of the male. The peak morbidity age range of cholecystolithiasis was 40 to 69. The peak age of gallbladder stones combined with common bile duct stones was 70 to 79, which was the same as that of common bile duct stones. The peak age of intrahepatic bile duct stones was 40 to 59. The constituent ratio of cholecystolithiasis was obviously higher than cholelithiasis in other sites. The incidence of cholecystolithiasis increased with age. Conclusion In the recent 10 years, female's ratio of gallbladder stones and intrahepatic stones was higher than male's.The morbidity of cholelithiasis significantly increased in aged patients. The spectrum of cholelithiasis has changed significantly.

Objective To study the prognostic predictive value of quantitative dectroencephalography (qEEG)for patients with large middle cerebral artery infarction (LMCAI).Methods The scores of routine electroencephalography (EEG),qEEG and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) of the patients within 72 hours after symptom onset were recorded.The short-term prognosis (death or survival) was evaluated at 1 month after the onset.The long-term prognosis (good or poor) was evaluated at 3 months after the onset.All the observed data in each prognostic group were compared.Results A total of 105 patients were included in the study.There were significant differences in the margin of amplitude integrated electroencephalogram (aEEG) (upper margin:19.11 ± 7.80 μV vs.11.87 ±6.41 μV;t =2.392,P =0.019; lower margin:11.90 ± 4.78 μV vs.7.58 ± 4.15 μV; t =3.327,P =0.022),Synek-classification (x2 =48.114,P =0.000) between the short-term survival group and the death group; in patients with left LMCAI,there were significant differences in the absolute energy of the β-activity (13.16 ±12.66 μV2 vs.19.20 ±17.96 μV2;t =-2.781,P =0.039),spectral edge frequency 95％ (SEF95％) (9.17 ± 3.24 Hz vs.10.36 ± 3.76 Hz; t =-5.614,P =0.002) between the short-term survival group and the death group.There were significant differences in the age (59.33 ±13.67 years vs.68.87± 10.473 years; t =-3.215,P =0.002),GCS scores (10.86±2.80 vs.9.21 ±2.51;t =2.511,P =0.015),SEF95％ (13.80 ±5.40 Hz vs.10.93 ±4.68 Hz; t ＝2.311,P =0.024) and sides of infarction (x2 =4.737,P =0.030) between the long-term good prognosis group and the poor prognosis group.Conclusion qEEG can be used as an effective means of monitoring for evaluating the prognosis of patients with LMCAI.

OBJECTIVESTo explore whether the angiotensin I -converting enzyme (ACE) I/D (insertion/ deletion) polymorphism is associated with the susceptibility to high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) in the Han Chinese.

METHODSOne hundred and forty-seven HAPE-p (HAPE patients) and 193 HAPE-r (HAPE resistants) were enrolled from the Yushu earthquake reconstruction workers in Qinghai province where the altitude is over 3 500 m above sea level. Blood samples were collected from each of the HAPE-p and HAPE-r groups. Information about physiological phenotypes was obtained via fieldwork investigation. The ACE-I/D polymorphism in HAPE-p and HAPE-r was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

RESULTSThe SaO2 was significantly lower while HR was significantly higher in HAPE-p group than those in HAPE-r group. The genotype frequencies of ACE-I/D for II, ID, DD in HAPE-r and HAPE-p groups were 0.430, 0.446, 0.124 and 0.435, 0.469, 0.095, respectively, the allelic frequencies of I and D were 0.650, 0.350 and 0.670, 0.330, respectively. The OR of ID, DD and D alleles relative to II for HAPE was 0.961 (0.610-1.514), 1.322 (0.634-2.758) and 1.080 (0.783-1.489). There was no significant difference of the genotypic and the allelic frequencies in ACE-I/D polymorphism between HAPE-p and HAPE-r groups.

CONCLUSIONSThere is no relation between ACE-I/D polymorphism and HAPE in the Han Chinese.

Alleles ; Altitude ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; genetics ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Pulmonary Edema ; genetics

Halophilic microorganisms play important rules in salt field ecosystem and salt production. In this study, halophilic bacteria and haloarchaea from soils of Lianyungang Taibei and Yancheng Sanwei salt fields were analyzed. The halophilic bacterial and haloarchaeal types from both the soils were similar, but each soil had its distinctive species. A total of 17 halophilic bacteria were identified, among them, Halomonas was found from both the soils, while Pontibacillus and Halobacillus were isolated from Sanwei salt field only. Using uncultured 16S rRNA gene library technology, 13 haloarchaeal soil 16S rRNA genes were identified from both the saline soils. Halobacterium and Haloplanus were found from Taibei salt field, while Halobac- terium, Natronobacterium, Halogeometricum and Haloarcula were identified from Sanwei salt field. Ten haloarchaeal 16S rRNA gene sequences showed 92%~97% identities with the GenBank sequences that ap- pear to represent novel soil haloarchaeal species. This study provides important information that is useful for further investigation and application of halophiles of saline soil fields.

A microfluidic chip with micropillar arrays for three-dimensional (3D) cell culture was designed and validated.The chip consisted of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channel plate and a glass cover plate.One cell culture chamber composed of two rows of micropillar arrays and two lateral channels for transporting the culture medium were integrated on the PDMS channel plate.The spacing between micropillars directly affects the chip performance, which is critical for the design of the chip.In this work, the spacing between micropillars was optimized by numerical simulation and experimental validation.With the optimized microfluidic chip, the mixture of cells and extracellular matrix mimics could be steadily injected into the cell culture chamber, the nutrients in the culture medium from the lateral channels could quickly diffuse into the chamber, and the cell metabolites could also timely diffuse out of the chamber.To test the stability of the microenvironment in the microfluidic chip, neural stem cells were three-dimensionally cultured.

Objective To explore the epidemical pattern of acute schistosomiasis in Poyang Lake area so as to provide the scientific evidence for control-strategy-making. Methods The data of acute schistosomiasis in 12 counties along Poyang Lake from 1960 to 2007, including the data of 2 special investigations from 1982 to 1984 and from 1987 to 1989 were collected and analyzed with the retrospective investigation methods. Results There were 29 864 cases of acute schistosomiasis in 12 counties of Poyang Lake area from 1960 to 2007, accounting for 85.5% of the total acute schistosomiasis cases of Jiangxi Province. The largest number of cases existed in Yugan County, accounting for 18. 7%. The peak of acute schistosomiasis prevalence was in 1987 with 2 088 cases. However, the case of acute schistosomiasis declined significantly, keeping at a low level, since 1990. During the 2 special investigations, the people whose age were lower than 30 years old, were the susceptible populations of acute schistosomiasis (86. 1% and 82. 9% , respectively) , most of them were peasants and students, and the infection rates were 57. 4% and 21.2%, 61.7% and 21. 8%, respectively. Fishing and swimming were the main infection ways, with the infection rates of 43.0% and 44.9% , respectively. The peak season of infection was from April to October. Conclusions The river bank and continent of Poyang Lake are the main infection areas, the spring and autumn are the main epidemic seasons and the susceptible populations are the peasants, fishmen and young students. It is very important to enhance the comprehensive prevention and treatment measures in the key areas and population for schistosomiasis control.

Objective To undemtand the rhythm of urinary iodine level of children aged 8-10 in Chongqing city.Methods In April 2008,using the stratified random sampling method,we sampled 60 children aged 8-10 in a lodging primary school in Chongqing(20 per age group,half male and half female),the urine samples were collected in the morning and at 10:00,12:30,16:00,iodine in urine was detected by method of Ce and arsenic catalytic speetrophotometry(WS/T 107-2006).The difference of the urinary iodine level was compared by age,sex and time of day.Results The median urinary iodine of 60 children was 265.07μg/L on the overall.Irrespective of the stratification factors,excluding morning urinary iodine(366.75μg/L)and urinary iodine at 10:00(338.30 μg/L),the urinary iodine between 12:30(235.15μg/L)and 16:00(251.50μg/L)was not significant(all P>0.05),statistically significant differences(all P<0.05)were found between any two.The urinary iodine of 8-year-old group at different times of the day was significantly different(all P<0.05),except between morning urinary iodine (298.90 μg/L)and at 10:00,16:00(279.00,286.59 μg/L),between urinary iodine at 10:00 and 16:00(all P>0.05).The 9-year-old group's urinary iodine were not significantly different between morning urine(366.15μg/L)and 10:00(368.10 μg/L),and between 12:30(244.00 μg/L)and 16:00(186.30 μg/L,all P>0.05),significant differences were faund at other times of the day(all P<0.05).The 10-year-old group of urinary iodine changed very little before 12:30 (382.85,449.60,337.00 μg/L, all P > 0.05 ), followed by rapid decline to 16: 00 (269.35 μg/L), and compared with the morning urine and 10:00, there was significant difference(all P < 0.05).Regardless boys or girls, the urinary iodine at different times qf the day was significantly different (all P < 0.05),except between morning urinary iodine(337.32,309.28 μg/L) and at 10:00(316.15,288.27 μg/L), between urinary iodine at 12:30(251.18,211.45 μg/L) and 16:00(235.02,211.45 μg/L, all P > 0.05). Conclusions The change of urinary iodine level in children aged 8 - 10 was not obvious before noon, changes can be seen in the afternoon.Urinary iodine level before 10:00 is indicative.