Objective The purpose of this study is to compare the most comfortable levels and neural re-sponse imaging threshold between children of cochlear implants with large vestibular aqueduct syndrome and normal inner ears. Methods Thirty-eight implanted children participated in this study and were divided into two groups. Group A consisted of 32 patients with normal inner ears and group B 6 patients with radiographically proven large vestibular aqueduct syndrome. All of the patients were the recipients of the cochlear implants by Advanced Bionics. The initial time for the first programming session was approximately one month after surgery. The psychophysical tests included M- level tests. Programming techniques used in the test were suitable for the age of patients. Sound-Wave 1.4 software was used to test tNRI. Results Using the rank sum test, M-level and tNRI of electrode 3,7,11 and 15 did not differ significantly between group A and B(P>0. 05). Conclusion The parameters of mapping are not significantly different between the implanted children with large vestibular aqueduct syndrome and normal inner ear. The management and procedures of mapping used to the subjects with normal inner ear can be applied to the children with large vestibular aqueduct syndrome.

Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; Drug Delivery Systems ; Genetic Therapy ; methods ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; therapy ; Humans

Objective To investigate the factors affecting pulse transit time during anesthesia. Methods Sixty cases of gastrointestinal surgery under general anesthesia were investigated.The pulse transit time (PTT),BP and HR were measured at the time before and after intravenous anes-thesia induction,and at the time before and after the injection of vasoactive drugs,respectively. Results Compared to at the time before injection,HR,SBP and DBP increased significantly,and PTT decreased significantly (P <0.01 )at the time after injection of atropine and ephedrine.Com-pared to at the time before injection,HR and PTT increased significantly,while SBP and DBP de-creased significantly (P < 0.01 )at the time after injection of nicardipine.While HR and PTT de-creased significantly,and SBP,DBP increased significantly (P <0.01 )with the injection of pheny-lephrine.Obvious negative correlation between SBP and PTT was observed before and after induc-tion;meanwhile,only weak correlation between DBP and PTT was observed,and no obvious correla-tion between HR and PTT was detected.SBP and PTT were well negatively correlated with the injec-tion of atropine,ephedrine,nicardipine or phenylephrine.Conclusion All the PTT changes during anesthesia were found to be negatively correlated with the systolic blood pressure.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of SalB on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) apoptosis induced by hypoxia and serum deprivation (hypoxia/SD) in the vitro. Methods BMSCs were cultured in the vitro and randomly divided into control group, hypoxia/SD group and SalB group.SalB group was composed by four groups and were pretreated by complete medium with 0.1、 1、 10、 100 mg/L SalB for 1 hour. And after that they were washed with phosphate buffer for 2 times, added by IMDM with 0.1、1、 10、 100 mg/L SalB and cultured with hypoxia/SD group together in the same condition of hypoxia/SD for 6hours. The control group was cultured for 6 hours in the condition of aerobic and enough serum. Apoptosis was detected by Hoechst33342 staining with inverted phase contrast, fluorescence microscope and Annexin V/PI dual-color flow cytometry. Results Significant apoptosis of BMSCs was induced by hypoxia/SD in the vitro.The early apoptosis of BMSCs induced by hypoxia/SD was significantly decreased by SalB of 0.1、 1、 10 mg/L(P＜0.05) . Conclusion0.1、 1、 10 mg/L SalB can decrease the early apoptosis of BMSCs induced by hypoxia/SD.

Objective: To observe effects of Yiangxuefukang Granules on the contractile function of uterine smooth muscles. Methods: Both the uteri of Sprague Dawley rats within 4～6 days postpartum and the uteri isolated from women of caesarean operation were used to study the effects of Yiangxuefukang Granules on the contractile amplitude, frequency and vitality of uterine smooth muscles. Results: The Granules significantly increased the contractile amplitude, frequency and vitality of both rat uterine smooth muscless in vivo and human uterine strips isolated.Conclusion: The Granules can be used in the treatment of the postpartum hemorrhage and the poor uterine involution caused mainly by lacking in the strength of uterine contraction.

Objective To evaluate the clinical outcome of NB09 (China Pediatric Neuroblastoma cooperative group 09) protocol on children with high-risk and ultra-high risk neuroblastoma. Methods The clinical and follow-up data of pa?tients who suffered from high-risk (n=7) and ultra-high risk (n=31) neuroblastomas and admitted in Tumor hospital of Tian?jin Medical University between January 2009 to January 2013 were retrospectively reviewed (27 boys and 11 girls). The age at diagnosis was 19-160 months (median age was 36.5 months). In the high risk group, patients were evaluated and operated after 4 to 6 circles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In ultra-high risk group, patient received chemotherapy before and after op?eration, then autologous stem cell transplantation and tumor bed radiotherapy. After chemotherapy, retinoic acid treatment was given to patients in ultra high risk group as in high risk group. Results At the end of treatment, 25 patients achieved complete remission; 5 patients achieved partial remission; 3 patients were in stable disease;5 patients were deteriorating in their conditions which lead to 2 deaths. In total, the response rate reaches upto 86.8%. By the end of follow up, 15 patients had a disease-free-survival, 9 patients survived with tumor, 7 died from recurrence and 7 died from deteriorating conditions. Survival time ranged from 6 to 52 months (median survival 25.5 months). The 1-, 2- and 3-year overall survival were 91.7%, 64.5%and 57.3%respectively. Kaplan-Meier curve and Log-rank test showed no statistical significance between high risk and ultra-high risk neuroblastomas. Conclusion The outcome of NB09 protocol for high risk and ultra-high risk neuroblastoma was preliminary affirmed. It is worthy of further clinical verification.

Objective To investigate the imaging characteristics of mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma of the kindey (MTSCC-K).Methods Five cases of pathologically confirmed MTSCC-K were analyzed retrospectively.All patients underwent CT scanning,and 4 cases underwent conventional MR and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) scanning.MR enhancement ratio for the tumor was calculated according to MR signal intensity of pre-and post-contrast in tumor and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of tumor and normal renal cortical.Results Two case located in the right kindey,and 3 cases located in the left kindey.The maximum diameter of lesions ranged from 3.2 cm to 7.1 cm.Five cases showed nearly round shape with clear borderline.Pseudocapsule was found in 4 cases,3 cases had necrosis and cystic,and 1 case had calcification.There were no hemorrhage,fat and invasion of adjacent tissue.Isodensity or hypodense tumors were found on plain CT.Isointense or hyperintense tumors were found on plain T1WI,while isointense or mixed-signal tumors were found on plain T2WI.Slightly homogeneous or heterogeneous enhancement was observed on dynamic enhanced CT or MR,and the solid component of tumors showed hyperintense on DWI and hypointense on ADC.The mean CT value of tumor at the plain,cortical and nephrographic phase was 32.6 HU,46.5 HU and 66.5 HU,respectively.The mean ADC value of tumor and normal renal cortical was 1.23 × 10-3 mm2/s and 2.31 × 10-3 mm2/s,respectively.The mean MR percentage of enhancement value of tumor was 32.7％ and 104.9％,respectively.Conclusions The imaging characteristics of MTSCC-K include nearly round shape,pseudocapsule,clear borderline,necrosis,cystic and calcification.There is no invasion of adjacent tissue and seldom malignant appearances.Isodensity or hypodense can be observed on plain CT,isointense or hyperintense on plain T1WI,and a mild continuously enhancement on dynamic enhanced scanning.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and toxicity of neoadjuvant regional arterial chemotherapy in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer. Methods The clinical data of 158 patients with advanced gastric cancer and with the same clinical stages who were admitted to Renji Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University from February 2002 to May 2005 were retrospectively analysed. Preoperative regional arterial chemotherapy was applied to 76 patients (test group) and the remaining 82 patients only received surgical treatment (control group). The chemotherapy regimen was epirubicin (50 mg/m2) + cisplatin (60 mg/m2) + 5-fluorouracil (1000 mg/m2).This regimen was modified to oxaliplatin (130 mg/m2) + 5-fluorouracil (1000 mg/m2) since 2003, and surgery was performed 6-11 days after the chemotherapy. All patients received postoperative intravenous chemotherapy.The clinical effects, radical resection rate, operative complications and long-term survival of the two treatment methods were evaluated. All data were analysed using the chi-square test and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results The radical resection rate was significantly higher at 86% (65/76) in the test group compared with 71% (58/82)in the control group ( x2 = 5.01, P ＜ 0. 05 ). The toxicity of the chemotherapy in the test group was mild. The postoperative complication rate was 20% (15/76) in the test group and 16% (13/82) in the control group, with no significant difference between the two groups (x2 = 0.41, P＞0.05). The median survival time was 41 months in the test group and 23 months in the control group. The 5-year overall survival rate was higher in the test group (44.6%) than that in the control group (29.1%) (x2 =3.95, P＜0. 05). Conclusions Neoadjuvant regional arterial chemotherapy is well tolerated by patients with advanced gastric cancer. It is also effective for increasing the radical resection rate and improving the long-term survival.

Objective To construct shifting mutant of cysteine-rich region to 3?@terminal of Tat gene of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) HXB2 strain, and to analyze the immunogenicity of mutant protein (Tat-cct) after prokaryotically expressed and purified. Methods The cysteine-rich region (nucleotides 64--111) of Tat gene was shifted to 3'terminal of Tat of HIV-1 HXB2 strain by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Tat mutant DNA sequence was obtained. Prokaryotie express plasmid pET32a-Tat-cct was constructed and transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3), then Tat-cct protein was expressed and purified. BALB/c mice were immunized with the fusion protein Tat-cct, and immunogenicity of the immunized serum was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results The recombinant plasmid pET32a-Tat-cct expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and the relative molecular mass of the purified fusion protein was 31 000. The serum antibody titer of mice immunized with Tat-cct recombinant protein was 1 : 1600, which binded specifically with both Tat-ect protein and Tat protein (amino acids 1-101). Conclusions The recombinant protein Tat-cct of Tat mutant strain can be expressed efficiently in E. coli and well retains immunogenicity, which provides valuable information for basic research of HIV-1 Tat vaccine.

Objective Deleting the cysteine-rich region (22-37 amino acids)of HIV-1 HXB2 Tat protein(whole length is 101 amino acids) to improve its stability and expression level in E.coli and to analyze the immunogenicity of Tat protein without the cystein-rich region [Tat(△C)protein]. Methods Tat DNA deleted the cysteine-rich region (64-111 nucleotides), named as Tat(△C)DNA, was obtained in vitro by PCR and cloned into pET-32a vector. pET-32a-Tat(△C)plasmid and the pET-32a-Tat plasmid were established and transformed into E.coli BL21(DE3) strains respectively to express and purify the protein. Three rabbits were vaccinated with pET-32a-Tat(△C)protein, then testify the reactivity of sera from rabbits by ELISA and Western blot. Results The dense of the purified pET-32a-Tat(△C)protein was 7.12 mg/ml,which was greatly more than pET-32a-Tat protein(1.50 mg/ml). Dimer of pET-32a-Tat protein can be observed just after the protein purification and stored at 25℃ and 4℃ for 7 days, but dimer of pET-32a-Tat(△C)protein was not formed at the same condition. Experimental rabbits were immunized with pET-32a-Tat(△C)protein and produced high titre of anti-pET-32a-Tat(△C)serum(1∶320 000), the antibody can react specifically with Tat(△C)protein, Tat protein (1-101 AA)and synthetic Tat(1-86 AA) protein. Deletion mutation of the cysteine-rich region of Tat protein was first performed in the study. Conclusion The expression level in E.coli and the stability of Tat protein deleted the cysteine-rich region can be increased greatly, and the protein remains good immunogenicity. The results may provide a novel antigen for further development of HIV-1 Tat vaccine.