Atherosclerosis (AS) is pathologically important basis of many kinds of coronary atherosclerosis disease (CAD). It can be substantially protected by raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL).In view of mechanism, drugs for raising HDL include: cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitors, peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor agonists, liver X-activated receptor agonists, farnesoid X receptor antagonists or agonists, lipoprotein lipase activators, niacin, and phenytoin and lecin : cholesterol acyltransferase activators, etc. This review aimed to the progress of drugs for regulating high-density lipoprotein and their mechanism, in view of clinical and preclinical aspects.

NO-1886 increases LPL mRNA and LPL activity in adipose tiss ue, myocardium and skeletal muscle, resulting in an elevation of postheparin pl asma LPL activity and LPL mass in rats. NO-1886 also decreasess plasma TG con centration and causes a concomitant rise in plasma HDL-C, reduces plasma gluco se, improves insulin resistance and ?-cell dysfunction. Therefore, the LPL act ivator NO-1886 or other possible LPL activating agents are potentially benefici al for the treatment of hypertriglyceridemia, hypo-HDL cholesterolemia, and pro tection from atheroscleroosis and diabetes.

What the medical moral qualities of medical students in adult’s higher education are has an important relation to that of the medical personnel,for most of them come from basic medical units.Whether to develop their good medical moral qualities or to improve their abilities of cognition,conviction and practice,the final purpose is to arouse their enthusiasm of participating in educational reform.In order to enhance their medical moral characters,the courses of medical ethics need to reform entirely both in content and form.

Objective To determine whether cyclosporin A(CsA) could exert neuroprotective effects after diffuse axonal injury (DAI) in the rat. Methods Twenty four SD rats were randomly assigned into three groups: non injur group ( n =8); control brain injury group ( n =8), in which normal saline was given; and experimental group ( n =8), the injured rats were treated with CsA. The beam balance test device and Morris water maze were used to test for balance and cognitive performance. Results Control brain injury animals displayed severe defects in balance and cognitive performande after diffuse axonal injury. Compared with control brain injury animals, rats treated with CsA displayed better motor performance in beam balance tests and improved learning ability in the Morris water maze. Conclusions It is demonstrated that CsA exhibits substantial neuroprotective activity in a rat model of DAI. These findings support that CsA is a useful therapeutic agent in the treatment of DAI.

Objective To investigate the effect of α-lipoic acid on cerebral injury induced by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in dogs. Methods Twelve adult healthy mengrel dogs of both sexes weighing 13.5-17.5 kg were randomly divided into control group (group C) and α-lopoic acid group (group L) (n = 6each). In group L α-lipoic acid 50 mg/kg was injected iv immediately before CPB. The animals were anesthetized with intraperitoneal 2.5% pentobarbital 25 mg/kg, intubated and mechanically ventilated. PaCO2 was maintained at 35-40 mm Hg. Femoral artery and vein were cannulated and Swan-Ganz catheter was inserted into pulmonary artery for MAP, CVP and CO monitoring and blood sampling. Blood samples were obtained immediately before aortic cross-clamping (T0, baseline), at 30 and 60 min after aortic cross-clamping (T1,2) and 30 and 60 min after aortic unclamping (T3,4) for measurement of plasma concentrations of TNF-α, S100β protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE). Results In group C CPB significantly increased plasma TNF-α, S100β protein and NSE concentrations as compared with the baseline values at T0. Pretreatment with α-lipoic acid significantly attenuated CPB-induced increase in plasma TNF-α, S100β protein and NSE concentrations in group L. Plasma S100β protein and NSE levels were positively correlated with plasma TNF-α level. Conclusion Pretreatment with α-lipoic acid is effective in attenuating CPB-induced inflammatory response and cerebral injury.

Objective To explore the relationship between S100β, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and postoperative cognitive dysfunction(POCD) in the elderly. Methods Cognitive function was evaluated using a battery of nine neuro-psychological tests before operation,at one week after operation. The old people were divided into POCD group(n=121) and normal group(n=439). Their S100β and NSE levels in all group were detected by enzyme linked immunesorbent assay(ELISA) before anesthesia,at the end of surgery and 6h,24h after opera-tion. Meanwhile relativity between S100βand NSE levels and factors of postoperative cognitive dysfunction were an-alyzed. Results S100βand NSE levels increased significantly at the end of surgery in both groups, but the levels in normal group were significantly lower than those in POCD group at the same stage(P<0.05). S100β and NSE levels were obviously relative to POCD. Conclusion S100β and NSE levels have close correlation with POCD in the elderly.

Humans are negatively affected by parasitic infection.However, recent researches revealed that to some extent, parasitic infections are advantageous to humans.Parasitic infections are found to benefit patients of inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune disease and allergic disorder.Furthermore, they promoted studies on pathogenesis of these diseases, and therefore on safe and effective therapeutic strategy.In addition, by taking the Caenorhabditis elegans as model organism, researchers have made a breakthrough in the area of life science, including signal transduction, functional genomics and drug screening.

Objective To analyze the implementation effects of peer-assisted learning on critical thinking ability of undergraduate nursing students. Methods A total of 411 college nursing students were selected with 203 students of Class One, Class Three, and Class Five from Grade 2012 majoring in nursing were taken as the control group, 208 students of Class Two, Class Four, and Class Six as the experimental group. In the course of basic nursing practice, the control group was trained by the traditional practice, and the experimental group was trained by the way of peer mutual aid. Critical thinking disposition inventory Chinese version (CTDI-CV) was adopted to evaluate the level of critical thinking ability of the nursing students of both groups. SPSS 17.0 was used and the data of the two groups were compared by t test. Results The score of experimental group students' critical thinking ability and the score of 7 dimensions including their seeking truth, analysis ability, self-confidence, inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity, open mind and systematic ability were higher than those before the experiment (P<0.05). The total score of the experimental group students' critical thinking ability and the score of 5 dimensions including seeking truth , analysis ability, self-confidence, curiosity and cognitive maturity were higher than those of the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Peer-assisted learning is beneficial to the improvement of critical thinking ability of nursing undergraduate students.

BACKGROUND: Most reported biomechanical studies on sacroiliac joint injury and fixation use cadavers or artificial bone models to simulate the sacroiliac joint injury.OBJECTIVE: To analyze the vertical stability of anterior plate fixation for sacroiliac joint dislocation using three-dimensional finite element method. METHODS: The anterior plate fixation model of unilateral sacroiliac joint dislocation was constructed on the basis of the three-dimensional finite element model of a complete pelvis. An axial load of 500 N was applied on the model; the cloud pictures of stress, strain and displacement were obtained after calculation and compared with that of the complete pelvis under the same conditions.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Stress concentration occurred at the internal fixation system; the maximum stress was found at the screws near the injured sacroiliac joint, far greater than the maximum stress of the complete pelvis under the same condition. The maximum strain was found in the healthy sacroiliac joint; the fixed sacroiliac joint had no strain. The maximum displacement was found in the injured sacroiliac joint; it was about twice longer than the complete pelvis. These findings indicate that the vertical stability of pelvis is poor using anterior plate internal fixation treatment for sacroiliac joint dislocation; and stress concentration occurs at the screws and plates.

Objective To explore the surgical method, clinical result, biomechanical property, and surgical indication of treatment of thoracolumbar burst fractures with titanium mesh fusion device. Methods 22 patients with the thoracolumbar burst fracture and paralysis were treated by anterior decompression and spinal stability reconstruction with titanium mesh fusion device and a titanium plate. In this group, the fracture was at the 12th thoracic vertebra in 7 cases, the 1st lumbar in 14, and the 2nd lumbar in 1. According to Frankel’s classification, 4 cases were of Grade A, 6 of Grade B, and 12 of Grade C. 20 patients experienced the kyphosis deformity. The kyphosis angles varied from 12 to 29 degrees with a mean of 19.5 degrees. Results The period of postoperative follow up varied from 0.6 to 2 years with an average of 1.2 years. The neural function was improved for more than 1 grade. 15 cases could control urination after the surgery. The kyphosis angles were reduced to 3 to 8 degrees with a mean of 5 degrees. The complications caused by the implants were not found. Conclusions To treat the thoracolumbar burst fractures with paralysis, the compressive elements from anterior side of the spinal cord should be completely removed. Since the titanium mesh fusion device plus a plate can reconstruct the spinal stability that satisfies spinal biomechanical property, it presents important application value.