Objective To investigate the expression of EphA8 in colon cancer and its clinical significance.Methods Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot were respectively used to assess the expressions of EphA8 mRNA and protein in normal colon mucosa cell line and colon cancer cell lines.Immunohistochemistry for EphA8 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were performed in 98 cases of colon cancer and 12 matched normal mucosa tissues.CD31 immunohistochemical staining was used for microvascular density (MVD) counting.The relationships between the expression of EphA8 and the expression of VEGF and MVD,the clinical pathological significance,and the prognosis of patients were analyzed by statistical methods.Results EphA8 mRNA expressions were significantly higher in colon cancer cell lines than those in normal mucosa cell line (t =11.98,13.54,P ＜0.001).EphA8 protein expressions were significantly higher in colon cancer cell lines than those in normal mucosa cell line (t =4.63,P =0.006;t =4.92,P =0.004).The high expression of EphA8 was closely related to tumor size (x2 =22.97,P＜0.001),TNM stage (P＜0.001),differentiated degree (P =0.007)and lymph node metastasis (P＜0.001),distant metastasis (x2 =6.97,P =0.008) and poor survival rote (x2 =17.3,P ＜0.001).But it was not associated with the gender and age (x2 =1.36,P =0.30; x2 =0.83,P=0.44).Besides,EphA8 had positive correlation with the VEGF and MVD (r =0.434,P ＜0.001; r =0.584,P ＜0.001).Conclusion EphA8 may play important roles in the development and metastasis of colon cancer,which has potential clinical values in the therapeutic intervention and prognosis of colon cancer.

In recent years, 40Hz auditory steady state response (ASSR) has been paid more attention when the depth of anaesthesia monitored because its same source with the middle latency auditory evoked potential (MLAEP), strong anti-jamming ability and close relationship with consciousness level. This article brings forward some effective and steady methods for extracting ASSR according to its characteristics. The results of these methods are analyzed and compared based on the actual records from clinical practice. And thus an extraction method fit for monitoring the depth of anaesthesia is determined.

It is very significative to perform real-time and effective monitor of the depth of anesthesia during the clinical operation. With the introduction of muscle-relaxing agents in general anesthesia, the two major indices to judge the depth of anesthesia have been obscured, which makes it more difficult to judge the depth of anesthesia. In recent years it has been found that 40Hz Auditory Steady State Response (ASSR) has a very good characteristic to monitor the depth of anesthesia. This article makes use of parametric-model method to extract 40Hz ASSR, which has a higher speed than Moving Time Average (MTA) when tracing the transition process of the patient from being conscious to being unconscious.

Objective To explore the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and nitric oxide (NO) on coronary collateral blood flow (CCBF) in a rabbit model of physical ischemic training (PIT),and to provide a foundation for the study of the mechanism of collateral circulation formation in PIT.Methods Models of intermittent myocardial ischemia were established in 55 rabbits by installing a water balloon constrictor on the left ventricular coronary artery.The rabbits were then divided into a sham-operation group,a pure ischemia group,a PIT group,a PIT group with NO inhibition pretreatment,a PIT group with VEGF inhibition treatment,and a PIT group with both NO and VEGF inhibition pretreatment.Microspheres were injected at modeling and before sacrifice before and after ischemic stimulation.At the termination of the experiment the ischemic myocardial tissue of the left ventricular anterior wall was sampled,and then relative CCBF was measured using the microspheres.Results There was no significant difference among the 6 groups before training.After training prominent differences among the groups were observed,with the PIT group having the greatest increase in CCBF.CCBF in the pure ischemia group,the PIT group,and the PIT group with NO inhibition pretreatment were significantly higher than in the sham-operation group.Significant differences were also found between the PIT group and the three pretreatment groups.CCBF in the PIT group with NO pretreatment and VEGF inhibition was significantly different from that in the NO pretreatment group,while it was not found in the group with VEGF inhibition pretreatment.The CCBF in the group with VEGF inhibition pretreatment and the group with NO inhibition pretreatment was similar.Conclusions PIT can improve CCBF to the remote ischemic myocardium when combined with VEGF and NO pretreatment.Blocking VEGF or NO can reduce CCBF after training,and both VEGF and NO are involved in the formation of collateral circulation,with VEGF playing the major role.

Acid/base mutants of glycosidases, namely thioglycoligases, are able to catalyze thioglycosides synthesis. Now, many thioglycoligases, including ?-thioglucoligase, ?-thiomannoligase, ?-thiogalactoligase, ?-thioxyloligase and ?-thioglucoligase, have been developed from bacteria and archaebacteria, and applied in synthesizing various thioglycoligases. Recently, thioglycoligases have been used to glycosylate the glycoprotein and firstly generate the thioglycoprotein. The novel extended synthetic function of glycosidases would promote the development of glycobiology, biotechnology and pharmacy.

Objective To understand the feedback of seven-year students of clinical medicine about the application of PBL teaching method and investigate its related factors.Methods Four classes of seven-year students of clinical medicine of Nanjing Medical University which had received PBL teaching method were randomly selected in grade 2009 and 2010 (243 students)and 233 valid questionnaires were analyzed statistically.The questionnaire has four main parts and they are about basic situation,factors that may affect the PBL Teaching,students' subjective attitude,their effect evaluation and suggestion for improvements.SPSS 11.0 was used to analyze the first part of the resuhs withx2 analysis(P＜0.05).Results 233valid questionnaires were recovered and 79.0％(184/233) of students held a favorable position toward PBL application in their course.It is irrelevant to no other related factors but the accessibility of information(P=0.000).More than half of the students think it is suitable for PBL on the clinical medical students(57.5％,134/233),PBL teaching is more free and easy(51.9％,121/233)and can improve their awareness of participation(72.5％,169/233).However more students (193) are in favor of more traditional teaching combined with PBL,with the former dominated.Conclusion PBL teaching method in seven-year clinical medical program has been proved to be quite effective.Though with certain drawbacks,it is a good supplement to the traditional teaching methods in many aspects,and it is definitely of great significance in improving the quality of teaching.

Humans ; Vertigo ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potentials

Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Tai Ji

Objective To determine whether isometric handgrip exercise can increase collateral flow to the ischemic myocardium in acute coronary occlusion patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).Methods Sixty-five patients with one-vessel CAD were randomly assigned to either an isometric exercise (IME) group or no-exercise (NE) group.Patients in the IME group performed isometric handgrip exercises (50％ of the maximum voluntary contraction) during 1 min of coronary balloon occlusion.Patients in the NE group remained sedentary during the procedure.The collateral flow index (CFI),heart rare (HR),systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were determined prior to and at the end of 1 min of coronary occlusion.Results In the IME group the average CFI improved significantly more during the occlusion than in the NE group.The differences in HR,SBP and DBP were also significantly grcatcr in the CFI group than in the NE group controls.Conclusion Isometric exercise can induce significantly increased coronary collateral flow in CAD patients during acute vessel occlusion.

Objective To investigate the mastery of clinical students' doctor-patient communi-cation skills and to assess the teaching effectiveness about the doctor-patient communication, and then propose some improvement ideas. Methods We conducted a study in students of clinical medicine of Nanjing Medical University in Grade 2009, using Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) after internship, which included graduation assessment of doctor-patient communication skills. Then we analyzed the doctor-patient communication skills and related scores of students trained in different clinical medical programs. Results The average score of doctor-patient communication skills of 549 students was (82.72±4.23), of which, the average score of 329 five-year students of clinical medicine was (81.88±4.23) and the average score of seven-year students was (83.96±3.91) in. The average score of seven-year students of clinical medicine was significantly higher than five-year students (P=0.000). Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between the total score of OSCE and the score of doctor-patient communication skills in both five-year and seven-year students of clinical medicine (five year program students' score correlation coefficient was 0.520, P=0.000;seven year pro-gram students' score correlation coefficient 0.416, P=0.000). Conclusion The teaching effectiveness of doctor-patient communication has proved to be quite effective, and it is definitely of great significance in improving clinical students' doctor-patient communication skills. The score of the assessment of the doctor-patient communication reflects not only the training effectiveness of the communication skills, but also the comprehensive capacity.