n Aloe-emodin induced the apoptotic of systemic scleroderma skin fibroblasts and could significantly inhibit the proliferation and collagen synthesis in cultured fibroblasts.

Sixty-eight cases undergoing living related renal transplantation in First Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University between April 2004 and August 2007 were selected.The informed consent was obtained from the donors and recipients.The clinical data about operation assistance were retrospectively analyzed,including the pre-operation air sterilization in operation room,preparation of apparatus,one-off utensils and medicine,donor position fixation,assistance in kidney perfusion and preparation,management and usage of medicines,and steps of assistance during operation by instrument nurse.The results show the operational apparatus and utensils were prepared well,and the nurses knew well operation process and worked in harmony with the surgeons.For the 68 donor kidneys,the warm ischemic time was 1-6 minutes,and cold ischemic time was 10-118 minutes.The operations for both donors and recipients ran smoothly and lasted for 2.5-4 hours.Blood loss was less than 200 mL.Vital signs were stable during operation,and no complications happened.Good pre-operative preparation,strict management of personnel participating in operation,and training of assistant techniques are the preconditions for operation assistance.Rigorous aseptic management and correct preservation of organs are the keys for assistance for living donor kidney transplantation.Short warm and cold ischemic time of the donor kidneys are of great importance for the success of operation and the long-term survival of transplanted patients.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of manipulation treatment combined with auricular point sticking on vertebral artery cervical spondylopathy. Methods 120 patients with vertebral artery cervical spondylopathy were randomly divided into 3 groups, 40 cases in each. The comprehensive group received manipulation treatment and auricular point sticking. The manipulation treatment group received manipulation treatment only and the auricular point sticking group received auricular point sticking only. The peak systolic velocity (Vp), end diastolic peak flow velocity (Vd), mean peak flow velocity (Vm) of the vertebral-basilar artery were checked before and after treatment. Results The clinical cure rates (80%) was higher in the comprehensive group than in the manipulation treatment group (52.5%) and in the auricular point sticking group (47.5%) (P<0.01). The Vp, Vd, Vm in 3 groups improved obviously after treatment (P<0.05), especially in the comprehensive group (P<0.01). Conclusion Manipulation treatment with auricular point sticking is more effective on vertebral artery cervical spondylopathy than simply manipulation treatment or auricular point sticking.

Objective To study the clinical efficacy of wrist-ankle acupuncture on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after work-related injury. Methods 62 patients were divided into observation group (n=30) and control group (n=32). The observation group accepted wrist-ankle acupuncture combined with Paroxetine, and the control group accepted Paroxetine only. They were assessed with Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) before, 6 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment. Results The scores of CAPS, HAMD and HAMA reduced in both groups (P<0.01) after treatment, and the reduction rate was greater in the observation group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Wrist-ankle acupuncture may further relieve PTSD after work-related injury

Objective To investigate the preventive and therapeutic effects of vesiculation moxibustion on rat hepatic fibrosis (HF).Methods Thirty rats were randomly allocated to treatment, model and control groups, 10 rats each. A rat model of HF was made by intraperitoneal injection of carbon tetrachloride. At three weeks after model making, the treatment group was treated by vesiculation moxibustion 6 hrs twice a week, for a total of 4 weeks. Body weight, liver wet weight, liver index, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) contents, and serum and liver typeⅢ procollagen (PCⅢ), typeⅣ collagen (Ⅳ-C), hyaluronic acid (HA) and laminin (LN) contents were measured in every group of rats.Results There were statistically significant differences in HF severity grade and HF tissue collagen analysis indices between the model group of rats and the treatment group or the control group (P<0.01,P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in body weight, liver wet weight and liver index between the model and control groups of rats (P<0.01). There were statistically significant differences in liver wet weight and liver index between the treatment and model groups of rats (P<0.01). There were statistically significant differences in serum ALT and AST contents, and serum and liver PCⅢ,Ⅳ-C, HA and LN contents between the model and control groups of rats (P<0.01,P<0.05). There were statistically significant differences in serum ALT and AST contents, and serum and liverⅣ-C, HA and LN contents between the treatment and model groups of rats (P<0.01,P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in serum PCⅢ content between the treatment and model groups of rats (P<0.01).Conclusion Vesiculation moxibustion has some preventive and therapeutic effects on rat hepatic fibrosis.

Objective:To observe the pronunciation of consonants among children with developmental speech sound disorder and explore the correlation between mispronounced consonants and short-term memory so as to determine the pathogenesis of the disorder.Methods:Thirty-six children with developmental speech sound disorder and aged 4 to 13 years were evaluated. Their pronunciation of consonants at the phoneme and lexical levels was tested to record the error types and error rate. Twelve of the children were then randomly chosen to form a voice disorder group. Another 10 healthy counterparts constituted a control group. The short-term memory of both groups was assessed and any correlation between pronunciation and short-term memory was analyzed.Results:The children with a developmental speech sound disorder differed significantly from the controls in terms of the numbers of errors in articulating blade-alveolar, blade-palatal and velar consonants. On the phoneme level, the highest substitution error rate occurred when pronouncing lingua-palatal consonants (42.86%), followed by supradental consonants (32%). The highest distortion and non-acquisition error rates were with blade-palatal consonants (14%) and lingua-palatal consonants (9.5%). On the vocabulary level, the highest substitution, distortion, ellipsis and non-acquisition error rates appeared when pronouncing lingua-palatal and velar consonants, velar and blade-palatal consonants, supradental consonants as well as blade-palatal consonants. Significant differences were found between the phoneme and lexical levels in the substitution of supradental and blade-palatal consonants as well as in the ellipsis of blade-alveolar consonants. They were moderately associated with pronunciation level. There was, however, no significant difference in working memory span between the two groups, and no significant correlation was observed between working memory span and pronunciation level.Conclusion:The mispronunciation of consonants by children with developmental speech disorders is higher at the lexical than at the phoneme level. They mainly substitute lingua-palatal and velar consonants and elide supradental consonants, which may be related to short-term memory span.

Objective:To further improve the understanding of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), we retrospectively analyzed and summarized the clinical characteristics, treatment status, and survival status of patients with PNH in Zhejiang Province.Methods:This study included 289 patients with PNH who visited 20 hospitals in Zhejiang Province. Their clinical characteristics, comorbidity, laboratory test results, and medications were analyzed and summarized.Results:Among the 289 patients with PNH, 148 males and 141 females, with a median onset age of 45 (16-87) years and a peak onset age of 20-49 years (57.8% ). The median lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) level was 1 142 (604-1 925) U/L. Classified by type, 70.9% (166/234) were classical, 24.4% (57/234) were PNH/bone marrow failure (BMF), and 4.7% (11/234) were subclinical. The main clinical manifestations included fatigue or weakness (80.8%, 235/289), dizziness (73.4%, 212/289), darkened urine color (66.2%, 179/272), and jaundice (46.2%, 126/270). Common comorbidities were hemoglobinuria (58.7% ), renal dysfunction (17.6% ), and thrombosis (15.0% ). Moreover, 82.3% of the patients received glucocorticoid therapy, 70.9% required blood transfusion, 30.7% used immunosuppressive agents, 13.8% received anticoagulant therapy, and 6.3% received allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The 10-year overall survival (OS) rate was 84.4% (95% CI 78.0% -91.3% ) . Conclusion:Patients with PNH are more common in young and middle-aged people, with a similar incidence rate between men and women. Common clinical manifestations include fatigue, hemoglobinuria, jaundice, renal dysfunction, and recurrent thrombosis. The 10-year OS of this group is similar to reports from other centers in China.

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hypomethylating agents (HMA) in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) .Methods:A total of 409 MDS patients from 45 hospitals in Zhejiang province who received at least four consecutive cycles of HMA monotherapy as initial therapy were enrolled to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HMA. Mann-Whitney U or Chi-square tests were used to compare the differences in the clinical data. Logistic regression and Cox regression were used to analyze the factors affecting efficacy and survival. Kaplan-Meier was used for survival analysis. Results:Patients received HMA treatment for a median of 6 cycles (range, 4-25 cycles) . The complete remission (CR) rate was 33.98% and the overall response rate (ORR) was 77.02%. Multivariate analysis revealed that complex karyotype ( P=0.02, OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.18-0.84) was an independent favorable factor for CR rate. TP53 mutation ( P=0.02, OR=0.22, 95% CI 0.06-0.77) was a predictive factor for a higher ORR. The median OS for the HMA-treated patients was 25.67 (95% CI 21.14-30.19) months. HMA response ( P=0.036, HR=0.47, 95% CI 0.23-0.95) was an independent favorable prognostic factor, whereas complex karyotype ( P=0.024, HR=2.14, 95% CI 1.10-4.15) , leukemia transformation ( P<0.001, HR=2.839, 95% CI 1.64-4.92) , and TP53 mutation ( P=0.012, HR=2.19, 95% CI 1.19-4.07) were independent adverse prognostic factors. There was no significant difference in efficacy and survival between the reduced and standard doses of HMA. The CR rate and ORR of MDS patients treated with decitabine and azacitidine were not significantly different. The median OS of patients treated with decitabine was longer compared with that of patients treated with azacitidine (29.53 months vs 20.17 months, P=0.007) . The incidence of bone marrow suppression and pneumonia in the decitabine group was higher compared with that in the azacitidine group. Conclusion:Continuous and regular use of appropriate doses of hypomethylating agents may benefit MDS patients to the greatest extent if it is tolerated.