HIFU technique has been applied in clinic tumor therapy for over ten years. It is the important indication of a new development stage of the ultrasound in medicine. In the paper, the present status of HIFU for tumor treatment is introduced and its future development is discussed too.
Equipment Design ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Neoplasms ; therapy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Transducers ; Ultrasound, High-Intensity Focused, Transrectal ; instrumentation ; methods

Fiber-optic biosensor is now becoming a new research direction in biosensors. In recent 10 years it has got a compelling development and has been applied to medical pathogens, food toxicity, water pollution, biochemical weapons, fast detection for environmental samples, etc. In this paper its development is given out in detail.
Biosensing Techniques ; instrumentation ; methods ; Equipment Design ; Fiber Optic Technology ; Humans ; Immunoassay ; instrumentation ; methods ; Optical Fibers

With the development of stem cells and regenerative medicine (treatment of various diseases using stem cells) research, the induction of differentiation of human stem cell technology has also made significant progress. The development of chemical biology offers a variety of small biological molecules for stem cell biology. This review focuses on how small molecule compounds (natural and synthetic) induce differentiation of stem cells.
Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; drug effects ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; methods ; Humans ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Regenerative Medicine ; trends ; Signal Transduction ; Small Molecule Libraries ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Stem Cells ; cytology ; Wnt Proteins ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo determine the association between viral load of high risk type human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) and stage of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) lesion.

METHODSCervical exfoliated cells were collected from 1997 women aged 35-45 in a cross-sectional screening study. HPV DNA was detected by hybrid capture 2 (HC2) system, and viral load was measured by the ratios of relative light units compared to standard positive control (RLU/PC). Log10RLU/PC were categorized into four groups: negative (< 0), low viral load (0 - 1.12), medium viral load (1.13 - 2.23), and high viral load (2.24 - 3.37). Cervical lesions were diagnosed by biopsies as normal, CIN 1, CIN 2-3, and squamous cervical cancer (SCC). Association between HR-HPV and CINs were evaluated by unconditional multinomial logistic regression.

RESULTS100% (12/12) SCC, 97.3% (72/74) of CIN 2-3, 58.3% (74/127) of CIN 1, and 11.5% (205/1784) of normal women were positive for HPV DNA. The median log10RLUs for the positive women with SCC, CIN 2-3, CIN 1 and in normal women were 2.60, 2.32, 2.18 and 1.18 respectively. The odds ratio (OR) between low viral load of HPV DNA and CIN 1 was 3.8 (1.9 - 7.3) while between high viral load and CIN 2-3 was OR=865.9 (200.1 - 3738.0) which showed that higher viral load could increase the risk of cervical lesions (P <0.001).

CONCLUSIONBoth cervical cancer and CINs were highly influenced by HR-HPV viral load.

Adult ; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia ; epidemiology ; virology ; China ; epidemiology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Papillomaviridae ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Papillomavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; virology ; Risk Factors ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; virology ; Viral Load

OBJECTIVETo establish a model for predicting the density of Aedes albopictus based on the climate factors.

METHODSThe data of Aedes albopictus density and climate changes from 1995 to 2001 in Guangzhou were collected and analyzed. The predicting model for Aedes albopictus density was established using the Artificial Neural Network Toolbox of Matlab 7.0 software package. The climate factors used to establish the model included the average monthly pressure, evaporation capacity, relative humidity, sunshine hour, temperature, wind speed, and precipitation, and the established model was tested and verified.

RESULTSThe BP network model was established according to data of mosquito density and climate factors. After training the neural network for 25 times, the error of performance decreased from 0.305 539 to 2.937 51x10(-14). Verification of the model with the data of mosquito density showed a concordance rate of prediction of 80%.

CONCLUSIONThe neural network model based on the climate factors is effective for predicting Aedes albopictus density.

Aedes ; physiology ; Animals ; Climate ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Seasons ; Software

OBJECTIVETo explore the different effects of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and low density lipoprotein on carotid plaques (LDL-C).

METHODSA total of 101 510 serving and retired workers of a company who participated in the health examination in 2006-2009, 5852 participants were selected as study subjects by stratified random sampling according to the age and sex ratio. These subjects took their health examination in 2010-2011 including the carotid ultrasound. Finally, 5361 eligible participants with complete data were included in the analysis. The detection and weighted rates of carotid plaques were calculated for four groups: normal SBP and LDL-C group (3524 subjects), normal SBP and high LDL-C group (356 subjects), elevated SBP and normal LDL-C group (1308 subjects) and elevated SBP and high LDL-C group (173 subjects). The effects of different baseline SBP and LDL-C on detection rates of the carotid artery plaques were analyzed by logistic regression.

RESULTSThe detection rate of carotid plaques in normal SBP and LDL-C group, normal SBP and high LDL-C group, elevated SBP and normal LDL-C group, elevated SBP and high LDL-C group was 33.7% (1186/3524), 41.3% (147/356), 64.8% (847/1308), 68.8% (119/173) (χ(2) = 425.75, P < 0.05) and the weighted detection rate was 36.0%, 42.0%, 64.5% and 68.3% respectively. For men, the detection rate was 44.2% (877/1985), 51.1% (97/190), 70.6% (657/930), 71.3% (82/115) (χ(2) = 194.02, P < 0.05) and the weighted detection rate was 31.2%, 36.1%, 49.8% and 50.3% respectively. For women, the detection rate was 20.1% (309/1539), 30.1% (50/166), 50.3% (190/378), 63.8% (37/58) (χ(2) = 180.17, P < 0.05) and the weighted detection rate was 30.9%, 46.3%, 70.3%, and 88.1% respectively. After adjusted for other risk factors, the OR (95%CI) value was 1.37 (1.05 - 1.78), 2.05 (1.74 - 2.43) and 2.12 (1.45 - 3.12) for normal SBP and high LDL-C group, elevated SBP and normal LDL-C group and elevated SBP and high LDL-C group respectively compared with normal SBP and LDL-C group.

CONCLUSIONElevated SBP and high LDL-C were risk factors of the carotid artery plaques. Compared with high LDL-C, elevated SBP may add a higher risk for carotid plaques.

Adult ; Aged ; Blood Pressure ; Carotid Stenosis ; blood ; epidemiology ; physiopathology ; Cholesterol, LDL ; blood ; Dyslipidemias ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Risk Factors ; Systole

OBJECTIVETo analyze the effect of gold standard, blind comparison and different cut-points choosing on screening techniques assessment, and to promote the application of evidence-based medicine theory in screening study.

METHODSA screening study for cervical cancer in rural China in 1999, where 1997 women had been tested for pathology as gold standard and simulating situations without gold standard, blind comparison and under different cut-points. Indices such as detectable rate, sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each technique. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves were drawn and areas under ROC curves between screening techniques were tested.

RESULTSWithout gold standard, diagnostic techniques could not be evaluated correctly, and without the blind comparison, the sensitivity and specificity of the tests would be subjectively increased. Furthermore, use of different cut-points led to different sensitivities and specificities of test.

CONCLUSIONSGold standard, blind comparison and perfect cut-points can improve the quality of screening test and drawing ROC curves is an effective way to confirm cut-points and evaluate diagnostic techniques. It is necessary to enforce the application of evidence-based medicine theory in scientific research.

Adult ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; methods ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; ROC Curve ; Technology Assessment, Biomedical ; methods ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVESTo investigate the prevalence of oncogenic type of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and identify the high risk population for conducting immuno/chemoprevention of cervical cancer.

METHODSAll married women aged 30 to 50 with no history of hysterectomy, pelvic radiation and non-pregnant from certain villages of Xiangyuan and Yangcheng County were invited. This study was conducted through two phases. In phase one, subjects sampled the vaginal secretions using the collectors after signing the informed consent. And physicians sampled exfoliated cells from cervix in the phase two. All the specimens were tested with the Hybrid Capture 2 test. The data was managed and analyzed by VFP and SPSS software.

RESULTSThere were 9,683 women participated in this study. Local women welcomed this study and population compliance rate was 75.4%. In tested population, we found 2,666 subjects of HPV DNA positive and HPV prevalence was 27.5%. The rates of different age group were 24.5% (30-34 yrs), 27.4% (35-39 yrs), 28.2% (40-44 yrs), 27.4% (45-50 yrs) respectively and had no significant differences (P = 0.604). The rates were slightly increased with the higher education level and had no differences (P = 0.106). The rate in mountain areas was higher than that in half-mountain areas (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONSThe prevalence of HPV infection is indeed high in this region. Local women and health professionals welcome the activities of cervical cancer screening and prevention. It is an emergent task to improve their sanitary condition and prevent them from cervical cancer in these women. A women health cohort is established successfully among high HPV exposed women in rural China. The extensive biologic specimen repository has been successfully established to simultaneously study the etiology, early detection, and immuno/chemoprevention of cervical cancer.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; DNA, Viral ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Papillomaviridae ; isolation & purification ; Papillomavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Prevalence ; Tumor Virus Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; virology ; Vaginal Smears

This study was purposed to investigate whether phenylhexyl isothiocyanate (PHI) can reduce p16 gene methylation level or not. The myeloma U226 cell line was cultured with PHI of 0, 5, 10 micromol/L for 72 hours, then DNA was extracted. Hydrosulfite was used to treat the genome DNA of healthy adult, PCR amplification was carried out by using this DNA as template. The gene chip detecting methylation changes of 3 CpG in promoter region of p16 gene was constructed by designing a pair of probes which contain one methylated and one unmethylated probes. This pair of probes was used to detect 3 consecutive sites of CpG island in p16 gene. The standard curve was constructed by using gene chip after the methylated and unmethylated DNA were mixed at different ratio. Then treated samples of U266 cells were dotted on gene chip, obtained results were compared with standard curve to get the quantitative results. The results indicated that the probes on chip had excellent reproducible ability and precision, the methylation level of p16 gene in U266 cells treated with 0, 5 and 10 micromol/L of PHI was determined as 78.2%, 61.7% and 54.8%, respectively. It is concluded that the PHI can reduce the methylation level of p16 gene in U266 cells.
Cell Line, Tumor ; CpG Islands ; DNA Methylation ; Down-Regulation ; Genes, p16 ; Humans ; Isothiocyanates ; pharmacology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

OBJECTIVEAn accurate clinical TNM staging of lung cancer is essential for the precise determination of the extent of the disease in order that an optimal therapeutic strategy can be planned. This is especially true in patients with marginally resectable tumors. Clinical over-staging of the disease may deny a patient the benefit of surgery, whereas under-staging may oblige a patient to accept a fruitless or even harmful surgery. We aimed to analyze preoperative clinical (c-TNM) and postoperative surgico-pathologic staging (p-TNM) of lung cancer patients in order to evaluate the accuracy of our clinical staging and its implications on the surgical strategy for lung cancer.

METHODSWe did a retrospective comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer surgically treated from January 1999 to May 2003. Preoperative evaluation and c-TNM staging of all patients were based on physical examination, laboratory studies, routine chest X-ray and CT scan of the chest and upper abdomen. Other examinations included sputum cytology, bronchoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, bone scintiscan, brain CT/MRI, and mediastinoscopy whenever indicated.

RESULTSIn the present study the comparison of c-TNM and p-TNM staging of 2007 patients with lung cancer revealed an overall concurrence rate of only 39.0%. In the entire series the extent of disease was clinically underestimated in 45.2% and overestimated in 15.8% of the patients. Among all c-TNM stages the c-IA/B stage of 1105 patients gave the highest rate (55.2%) of underestimating the extent of disease. Clinical staging of T subsets was relatively easy with an overall accuracy rate of 72.9%, while that of N subsets was relatively more difficult with an overall accuracy rate of 53.5%. Analysis also showed that c-IV stage may not be an absolute contraindication to surgery, because in half of the patients, c-M1 turned out to be p-M0, providing the possibility of resectional surgery depending on the status of T and N.

CONCLUSIONFor reasons to be further determined, the present preoperative clinical TNM staging of lung cancer remains a crude evaluation. Further efforts to improve its accuracy are needed.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; pathology ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; pathology ; surgery ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Staging ; Pneumonectomy ; Retrospective Studies