Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

The natural history of 383 patients of schistosomal cirrhosis, discovered from 1960-1990 in Donjing township Shanghai suburb, where schistosomiasis had been controlled for more than 10 years, was studied. The cumulative survival rate in 243 patients who had splenecto-my 11-30 years previously (group I ) was much higher than that of 140 patients without splenectomy (group II ), and the time for 75% survival rate of these 2 groups were 18 and 4 years respectively, being much longer in the splenectomized patients without ascites and those operated before age of 30 than those complicated with ascites and those operated between the age of 31 - 50 or after 51 years of age.The complications and mortality rate of group I were significantly lower than that of group I , indicating that splenectomy not only prevented the complication of portal hypertension but improved the general health and resistance of the patients against other pathogens as well.There was no significant difference between group I and group II in the ratio of the avarage death age of the deceased patients to the life expectancy of the general population, suggesting that the life span of a number of patients without splenectomy are not substantially shortened in an area where schistosomiasis had been controlled.

Disinfectants ; analysis ; Disinfection ; Drinking Water ; analysis ; Environmental Monitoring ; methods

The herbs used as the material for traditional Chinese medicine are mostly planted at mountain areas where there is appropriate weather condition. Due to the complex terrain condition in mountain area, the planting at such places is always associated with a scattered pattern, which inevitably bring difficulty to the work of accurate measurement for the planting area. Advanced research about monitoring the planting area for medicine-herb under complex environmental condition is so critical and meaningful for developing the medicine-herb planting to a large scale and an industry. Therefore, this research, taking the planting of Herpetospermum pedunculosum in Luding county as an example, utilizes RS&GIS: using the image data from TM and ETM datum as the remote sensing information source, integrating GPS data from quadrat survey on the spots, and analyzing on a GIS platform, to extract the planting area of H. pedunculosum in Luding county. The results indicate that: (1) the method and technology used to estimate the planting area of H. pedunculosum are feasible and can be applied to monitoring the planting area of medicine-herb at mountain area under complex environmental conditions: (2) the planting area of H. pedunculosum in Luding county is estimated to be 857. 246 acres by the methods utilized in this research, which is closed to the value from local statistical data with an error range less than 5%; (3) in consideration of those inevitable errorrs generating from the procedures such as remote sensing data acquisition, data preprocessing, data interpretation, and so on, and the fact that the classification of remote sensing data, which must be implemented by those above procedures, was used directly to extract the herb type, the accuracy of area estimation for the herb is significantly influenced by the accuracy of classification for herb type, and the estimated area is inevitably associated with some error.
China ; Cucurbitaceae ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Geographic Information Systems ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Remote Sensing Technology ; methods

Objective To study the CT and MR characteristic features of the respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma of olfactory clefts. Methods (1)The CT and MRI findings of 29 patients with histologically proved respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma in the olfactory clefts were retrospectively reviewed.All patients underwent CT and 8 of them underwent MRI. Location, CT and MRI features, and associated findings of the disease were reviewed;(2)The CT findings, olfactory clefts width, total nasal distance, and the ratio of OC to the total nasal distance of the case patients (29 cases) and the control patients (33 patients with sinusitis) were compared to investigate the correlation of the olfactory clefts distance and the incidence of respiratory epithelial adenomatoid hamartoma in olfactory clefts. Results All patients were associated with sinusitis, and 23 had sinonasal polyps, 1 had papilloma. On nonenhanced CT, the OC lesions with the OC widening were isodense to gray matter in all cases, and the lesions caused the adjacent bony expansion and absorption rather than erosion; 15 cases were bilateral diseases and 14 were unilateral;The olfactory clefts width of the case patients and the control patients were (1.03±0.24) cm, (0.71± 0.17) cm, respectively. There was statistically significant difference (t=4.963, P<0.01) for the olfactory clefts width between the case patients and the control patients, and there was no significant difference (t=1.640, P>0.05) for the total nasal distance, and was significant difference(t=6.029,P<0.01)in the ratio of OC to the total nasal distance between the two groups. On T1WI, the disease appeared isointense in 6 patients and slightly hypointense in 2 patients compared with gray matter. On T2WI, the lesions revealed heterogeneous isointense in all patients. Regular cribriform pattern was found on MR T2WI and enhanced TlWI. Conclusions The unilateral or bilateral olfactory cleft opacification in chronic sinusitis patients with or without sinonasal polyposis, with involved OC widening and the adjacent bony walls compressed and remodeled may highly suggests the presence of REAH in the OC. The lesions showed inhomogeneous isointense signal on T2WI images, regular cribriform pattern enhancement are typical imaging feature of this entity.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; epidemiology ; Dyslipidemias ; epidemiology ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Hypertension ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Smoking ; epidemiology

Proteomics, which has been widely used in life science, is an emerging discipline following genomics. It can help to explore the pathogenic mechanism and early onset marker of Bacillus anthracis, playing an important part in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of B.anthracis. In this paper,the application of proteomics in the research of B.anthracis is reviewed.

Pololike kinase 1(Plk1)contain an Nterminal Ser/Thr kinase catalytic domain and a Cterminal region that contains two poloboxes.As a key regulator of multiple steps during cell cycle across eukaryotic species,many proteins interact with Plk1.Plk1 is highly expressed in malignant cells and serves as a negative prognostic marker in specific human cancer types.Plk1 is a potential target for cancer therapy.Some novel smallmolecule inhibitors of pololike kinase 1 provide novel opportunities for cancerdrug discovery,such as BI 2536,ON01910.

OBJECTIVETo explore the role of gastro-pulmonary infection route in the development of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), so as to improve the management of VAP.

METHODSForty-three patients who received mechanical ventilation (MV) were enrolled in the study. Intra-gastric contents were labeled with (99)mTc-DTPA. Randomized two-period crossover trial was employed to determine the radioactive level in the oropharyngeal and bronchial secretion when patients were in supine or semi-reclining position. Gastric juice, oropharyngeal secretion and tracheal lavage fluid were collected for bacterial culture every other day. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was harvested from those suspected of VAP for quantitative bacterial culture. Infrequent-restriction site amplification (IRS-PCR) was employed in the identification of the identity of the bacteria from intra-gastric colonization with those causing VAP. The sIgA content in the BALF was determined.

RESULTSThe gastroesophageal regurgitation rate was higher (89.7%) with lower aspiration rate (28.5%) in patients receiving MV. Moreover, the aspiration rate and the radioactivity of deep tracheal aspirates in patients in supine position were significantly higher than those in semi-reclining position (P < 0.01). There was high homology of the bacteria isolated from intra-gastric colonization with that causing VAP (55.8%). The sIgA content in BALF in VAP patients was evidently lower than that in non-VAP patients (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONRegurgitation and aspiration of stomach contents are very common in patients receiving MV. Intra-gastric colonized bacteria might be one of the important origins causing VAP. The lowering of sIgA in BALF in patients with MV could be a risk factor for VAP.

Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; microbiology ; Cross-Over Studies ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Pneumonia, Bacterial ; etiology ; Posture ; Prospective Studies ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Radiopharmaceuticals ; Respiration, Artificial ; adverse effects ; Respiratory Tract Infections ; etiology ; Stomach Diseases ; etiology ; Supine Position ; Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate

Background Researches showed that multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) is able to assess the retinal function in the eyes with acute Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada ( VKH ) syndrome. But the mfERG characteristics of convalescence stage of VKH are still below clear. Objective Present study was to compare and follow up the variation process of visual acuity and mfERG in acute and recovery stages of VKH syndrome. Methods This was a clinic-based retrospective study. Visual acuity, mfERG and fundus fluorescence angiography ( FFA ) were recorded from 35 eyes of 18 acute VKH cases. The period of follow-up in recovery stage lasted about 18 months with the repetitive recording results for 4 times. Results In this study, the visual acuity range in acute stage VKH was 0. 01 to 1.0, and 91.4% (32/35 eyes) was below 0.6. Compared with normal control group, the visual acuity was significantly decreased (P＜0.01). The response densities (amplitudes) of N1 ,P1 waves of the first-order kernel were significantly lowed in all the 6 rings,and the implicit times of 1-4 rings of both waves were significantly prolonged in acute VKH eyes(P＜0. 05). The abnormalities of retinal function showed a regional difference at the posterior pole retina with the dominant change in the first ring,showing a cutting off78% in the P1 amplitude. The abnormal degree of mfERG was more serious as the the increase of retinal eccentricity. In 2 months of convalescence after glucocorticosteroids therapy,the range of visual acuity were 0. 1-1.2 ,and the amplitudes of N1, P1 of 1-2 rings were greatly elevated in comparison with acute on-set (P＜0. 05 ). However, there was still a remarkable difference in the amplitudes of from 1 through 6 rings,comparing with normal. The response density of P1 wave from whole recording region was only 44% of normal. Though the visual acuity was stable during the follow-up duration, a decreasing tendency in N1 and P1 amplitudes were seen. The implicit times of both wave shortened only in 1-3 rings in recovery stages of VKH (P＜0.05). Conclusion VKH syndrome cause serious damage of posterior retinal function.Macular region is the site with greater retinal functional lesion and restore before and after medication. This hardly recovery of retinal function can last over one and half year,even satisfied visual acuity is stable after proper treatment.