The clinical data of 19 cases of giant cell arteritis (GCA) including 8 males and 11 females aged 21-92 y (average 62.2 y) from July 2002 to September 2008 were retrospectively reviewed.Among 19 patients,15 first visited the neurology department and 4 the rheumatism department;8 had fever and 16 had headache as primary symptom;the ESR ranged from 20 to 130 mm/1 h (average 71.1 mm/1 h).Fourteen patients were diagnosed as GCA at admission and 18 were treated with steroids hormone and all got remission except 1 death and 2 recurrences.If temporal artery biopsy is not acceptable,integrated analysis of signs,symptoms,laboratory tests,treatment effectiveness and follow-up is important for the correct diagnosis of GCA.

Objective:To observe the clinical effect of warm needling moxibustion at Zhongji (CV 3) and Zusanli (ST 36) in treatment of urinary retention after gynecological surgery. ＜br> Methods: Forty patients with urinary retention after gynecological surgery were randomly divided into two groups by the randomized method, 20 cases in each group. Patients in the treatment group were treated by warm needling moxibustion at Zhongji (CV 3) and Zusanli (ST 36). Patients in the control group were treated by inductive urination. The therapeutic effects of the two groups were observed after one course of treatment. ＜br> Results:The total effective rate was 95.0%in the treatment group and 70.0% in the control group. The difference in the total effective rate between the two groups was statistically significant (P＜0.05). ＜br> Conclusion: Warm needling moxibustion at Zhongji (CV 3) and Zusanli (ST 36) is more effective than inductive urination in treating urinary retention after gynecological surgery.

Objective To observe and analyze the change state of serum inflammatory mediators of patients with secondary septic shock after chemotherapy for acute leukemia .Methods 56 patients with secondary septic shock after chemotherapy for acute leukemiawere were selected as the group A,56 patients without secondary septic shock after chemotherapy for acute leukemia were selected as the group B ,56 healthy persons of the same age were selected as the group C,then the serum inflammatory mediators levels of three groups were detected and compared,and the serum indexes of group A with different severity degree of shock were compared, then the detection results of group A and group B with different types ( lymphocytic leukemia and nonlymphocytic leukemia)were compared.Results The serum inflammatory mediators levels, including TNF-α, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and other inflammatory factors, including PGE2 , sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and sCD44, there were group A >group B >group C, severe shock >moderate shock>mild shock ( all P<0.05 ) .The above serum inflammatory mediators and other inflammatory factors levels of different types in group A were higher than those in group B, and the above mediators in lymphocytic leukemia of group A and group B were higher than those in nonlymphocytic leukemia (all P<0.05).Conclusion The serum inflammatory mediators of patients with secondary septic shock after chemotherapy for acute leukemia show higher expression state,and the influence of shock degree and leukemia types for the expression are great.

Objective To observe the efficacy of Qingre Jiangzhuo prescription in the treatment of overweight subjects of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods Two hundred and four cases were divided into 2 groups in a randomized, paralleled, contrast, prospective study. The control group was treated with metformin tablet and the trial group was treated with Qingre Jiangzhuo prescription. The efficacy and safety of the two groups were compared on HbAlc, FBG, P2BG, TC, TG, BMI and AE after 12 weeks. Results After treatment, all indexes of the trial group were markedly improved compared with before treatment (P 0.05). The rate of AE in the trial group was less than that in the control group. Conclusion Qingre Jiangzhuo prescription has curative effect on type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with better safety.

In the present paper, the contribution of the largest principal component and the number of principal component needed for accumulative contribution 95% are selected as indices of electroencephalogram (EEG) in mental fatigue state in order to investigate the relationship between these parameters and mental fatigue. The experimental results showed that the contribution of the largest principal component of EEG signals increased in the prefrontal, frontal and central areas, while the number of principal component needed for accumulative contribution decreased by 95% with the increasing mental fatigue level. The parameters of singular system of EEG signals can be regarded as useful features for the estimation of mental fatigue and have larger application value in the study of mental fatigue.
Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Mental Fatigue ; Principal Component Analysis

Objective To establish a continuous monitoring assay of serum argininosuccinate lyase (ASL) activity with automatic biochemistry analyzer, and perform methodology validation and preliminary clinical application.Methods According to the chemical reaction catalyzed by ASL and the working characteristics of automatic biochemistry analyzer, an enzyme coupled reaction system with high specificity was set up, and the methodology validation was performed.Three hundred and nine patients with various liver diseases, 269 non-liver disease patients and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in this study.Serum ASL, ALT, and AST level were determined in all subjects.Results A new kinetics assay of ASL activity was set up with automatic biochemistry analyzer.The methodological validation demonstratod that inter-assay and intra-assay coefficient of variation were 4.0% and 5.9% respectively and the mean recovery was 100.5%.The linear range was 0-167.7 U/L.The lowest detection limit was approximately 0 U/L.The interference test showed that there is no significant interferences while the concentration of bilirubin is less than 342 μmoL/L or commonly used anticoagulants is employed at their routine concentrations.However,interference was significant when Hb level is more than 0.06 g/L.Preliminary study of clinical application showed that there was no significant difference of serum ASL level between non-liver disease group and healthy group ( q = 0.027, P = 0.979 ), but there was significant differences for both serum ALT and AST levels (ALT:q =6.461,P =0.000;AST:q =6.481,P =0.000).Conclusions A continuous monitoring assay for the determination of serum ASL activity is successfully established. Serum ASL may be a good biomarker for liver injury.

Objective: Our aim was to study whether the cellular bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) profile was associated with the parameters of pulmonary function tests. Methods：Lung function tests and BAL were carried out in 18 untreated, non-smoking patients suffering from sarcoidosis and 18 normal subjects. Results：（1）Lung function tests were normal at rest in patients with sarcoidosis（P＞0.05）, the single breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity decreased (P＜0.05)，and the small airway function decreased too (P＜0.05).（2）The percentage of lymphocytes in BALF of sarcoidosis increased comparing with the normal subjects（P＜0.01），and the ratio of CD+4 to CD+8 in BALF increased significantly in sarcoidosis（P ＜0.05）, furthermore, the increase of both the percentage of lymphocytes and the ratio of CD+4 to CD+8 in BALF of sarcoidosis were well nagatively correlated with the decrease of the percentage of DLCO (r=-0.67, P＜0.01 and r=-0.55, P＜0.05, respectively), the decrease of mid-expiratory flow at 50% of vital capacity (FEF50%) was well correlated with the increase of the percentage of lymphocytes in BALF of sarcoidosis (r=-0.54, P＜0.05). Conclusion：Pulmonary diffusing capacity（DLCO) was significently correlated with BALF lymphocyte phenotype，so was small airway function，and can act as the marker of activity of sarcoidosis.

Objective To determine the correlation between serum asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) and non-spoon-shaped blood pressure of non-dialysis chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients,also to observe the impact of the serum ADMA level on the structure and function of left ventricle.Methods One hundred and twenty cases of non-dialysis CKD patients underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were divided into three groups:CKD1-2,CKD3,CKD 4-5.Serum ADMA concentration was measured using liquid chromatograph and other clnical data such as uric acid (UA),left ventricular mass index (LVMI),24 h urine protein,and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were collected for further statistical analysis.Results (1) With the decline of renal function,ADMA concentration was increased,from CKD 1-2 (1.70±0.48) μmol/L rose to CKD 4-5(4.46±1.56) μmol/L (P ＜ 0.05).(2)There were 42 cases of CKD patients with hypertension and 78 cases of CKD patients with normal blood pressure.The serum ADMA levels in hypertension group was significantly higher than those in non-hypertensive group [(3.53±1.70) μmol/L vs (2.01±0.65) μmol/L,P ＜ 0.05].(3)There were 50 cases of non-spoon-shaped normotensive CKD patients and 28 cases of spoon-shaped normotensive CKD patients.Serum ADMA level and LVMI in non-spoon-shaped group were significantly higher than that in spoon-shaped group when kidney functions appeared to be equal (P ＜ 0.05).(4)Serum ADMA level was positively correlated with UA(r=0.352,P ＜ 0.01),LVMI (r =0.345,P＜ 0.05),24 h urine protein(r =0.200,P ＜ 0.05),and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (r =0.309,P ＜ 0.01),but negatively correlated with the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)(r =-0.329,P ＜ 0.01) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)(r =-0.011,P ＜ 0.01).Multiple regression results showed that eGFR,UA,LVMI,hs-CRP,24 h urine protein were associated with ADMA level.The regression equation was Y =1.991-0.011 × [eGFR] + 0.002 × [UA] + 0.008 × [LVMI] + 0.036 ×[hs-CRP]-0.084× [24 h urinary protein].Conclusions Serum ADMA level begins to increase in early stage CKD and it progressively increases with the decline of renal function,also the non-spoonshaped blood pressure ratio and the left ventricular damage increase.Kidney function,urine protein and microinflammatory state may impact on the serum ADMA level.

Thirty male weanling WAK strain rats were divided rondomly into 6 groups. All of the diets were pure synthetics according to AOAC. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd group were given diets containing 6, 15 and 24 ppm of zinc respectively, and 10% protein for all three groups, on the other hand, the 4th, 5th and 6th group were given diets containing 5% 10% and 20% of protein respectively, and 15 ppm of zinc.After feeding in stainless steel cage singly for 50 days rats were given intubately solution of 65Zn containing 1.5 ?Ci per 100g of body weight. Then the faeces and urine of rats were collected on 5 consecutive days, and the zinc absorption and retention of all of the tested rats were determined with method of 65Zn as tracer. The results indicated that. (1) The zinc absorption and retention of rats fed on the lowest zinc level were increased significantly. (2) The zinc absorption and retention of rats fed the lowest protein level were decreased significantly, and were improved clearly by increasing protein intake level. (3) The urine excretion of zinc is very low and can not be used as an index in zinc metabolism research. The methodology for determining zinc absorption and retention in organism with method of 65Zn and total zinc is discussed.