Objective To detect the serum levels of epidermal growth factor（EGF）in rheumatoid arthritis（RA）patients,and explore the possible role of EGF in RA.Methods The serum level of EGF was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）in 38 RA patients diagnosed according to dianostic criteria for RA by American Rheumatism Association and 20 healthy controls.Rheumatoid factor（RF）,erythrocyte sedimentation rate（ESR）and C-creative protein（CRP）were also measured in these 38 RA patients.The relation beween the serum level changes of EGF and the corresponding clinical indexes in the two groups was statistically analyzed.Results Compared with the healthy individuals,the serum EGF levels of RA patients increased significantly（P 0.05）.Compared with simple bone rarefaction patients,the serum levels of EGF increased significantly in the bone erosion patients（P 0.05）.The serum levels of EGF in RA patients had no correlation with RF,ESR and CRP levels（P 0.05）.Conclusion The evident increase of serum EGF level in RA patients,especially in bone erosion patients,suggests that EGF may partly play a role in the pathogenesis of RA.

Objective:To explore the influence of the veneering porcelain thickness on the compressive strength of zirconia all-ceramic crown.Methods:25 zirconia basement crowns with the thickness of 0.5 mm were made by CAD-CAMsystem,and then were divided into 5 groups randomly with the veneering porcelain thickness of 0.5(A),1.0(B),1.5(C),2.0(D)and 2.5 mm(E)respectively. The compressive strength of the samples was measured by a testing machine.Statistical analysis was conducted by SPSS13.0 software. The microstructure of the fractured bonding interface of the specimens was observed by scanning electron microscope(SEM).Results:The compressive strength in group A,B,C,D and E were:(1 279.96 ±42.85)N,(2 235.44 ±50.14)N,(2 216.38 ±48.97)N, (2 169.22 ±60.40)N and (2 028.70 ±47.37)N respectively(A or E vs B,C or D,P <0.01;A vs E,P <0.01;B vs C or D,P >0.05;C vs D,P >0.05).SEMobservation found that in group A and E the bonding interface was uneven and loose,the cracks and spores in veneering porcelain appeared more and larger,and had a more intensive distribution.Conclusion:When the veneering porce-lain is too thick or too thin,the compressive strength of zirconia all-ceramic crown decreases,the thickness of the veneering porcelain should be controled in an appropriate range.

Objective To obtain highly purified botulinum neurotoxin A light chain(BoNT-ALC) protein in E.coli by genetic engineering and multi-step purifications, and identify its metalloproteases activity.Methods The full-length of BoNT-ALC was cloned from BoNT A by PCR and inserted into plasmid pET-22b.Then pET-22b-ALC was transformed into E.coli BL21( DE3) strains and induced by IPTG.The protein was purified by Ni-NTA sepharose,anion exchange column and gel filtration.The enzymatic activity of the protein was identified by SNAP-25.Results and Conclusion A highly purified and homogeneous protein is obtained, which shows good enzymatic activity.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of ZEB2 and E-cadherin mRNA and protein in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) tissues. METHOD: The expressions of ZEB2 and Ecadherin in 39 cases of NPC tissue and 12 cases of nasopharyngeal inflammation tissue were detected by Real-time PCR method and immunohistochemical technique. To assess their correlations with clinicopathological parameters of NPC and the interrelationship between them. RESULT: Both the expression of ZEB2 mRNA and protein were higher in NPC tissues than that in inflammation tissues (P < 0.05). Abnormal expression of ZEB2 mRNA and protein in NPC were significantly associated to N stage and clinic stage (P < 0.05), but the difference in expression between the different gender, age and T stage were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Both the expression of Ecadherin mRNA and protein were higher in NPC tissues than that in inflammation tissues (P < 0.05). Abnormal expression of Ecadherin mRNA and protein in NPC were significantly associated to N stage (P < 0.05), but the different expression between the different gender, age, T stage and clinic stage were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). In NPC tissues, the expression of ZEB2 mRNA was negative correlated with the expression of E-cadherin mRNA (r = -0.367, P < 0.05). The expression of ZEB1 protein was negative correlated with the expression of E-cadherin protein (r = -0.322, P < 0.05), the differences were both statistically significant. CONCLUSION The expression of ZEB2 was up-regulated in NPC, while the expression of E-cadherin was down-regulated, their expression was significantly negative correlated, and might be associated with metastasis of NPC, ZEB2 may promote the invasion and metastasis of NPC by inhibiting the expression of E-cadherin.
Antigens, CD ; Cadherins ; metabolism ; Carcinoma ; Down-Regulation ; Homeodomain Proteins ; metabolism ; Humans ; Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; metabolism ; Nasopharynx ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Repressor Proteins ; metabolism ; Up-Regulation ; Zinc Finger E-box Binding Homeobox 2

Objective To investigate the dose-response relationship of the treatment temperatures and heating time on human cervical carcinoma hela cells,aiming at providing experimental evidences for clinical hy-perthermia. Methods Hela cells were heated at 37 ～ 70 ℃ in temperature-controlled water baths, the tempera-ture was divided into nine groups,each time was divided into eight subgroups (1 ～ 30 min). The morphology changes of cells after hyperthermia were detected by inverted microscope. Proliferation rates were measured by MTT colorimetric assay. The apoptesis rates were determined by flow eytometric analyse. The levels of prolifera-ring cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were measured with immunohistochemistry. Results lnereaseing the heating time at the same temperature, or increaseing heating temperature at the same time, the cell proliferation, survival rates and PCNA expression decreased. There was no significant morphological change about cells ,but have small amount of apoptosis and a direct role of the suppression and destruction at 41 ℃ and 43 ℃ group. A large num-ber of cells shrinked to round and a major role for apoptosis at 46℃ group. Cell necrosis was major role at 50 ℃and 55 ℃ group. More than 55 ℃ for necrotic cells. Conclusion With the increase of heating temperature and heating time, its treatment of Hela cells gradually enhance. So combining dose-effect relationship of hyperthermia temperature and time can reach the best therapeutic effects.

To investigate physicians' knowledge about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in tertiary hospitals in northeast China.Physicians from 77 tertiary hospitals in northeast China were surveyed with a questionnaire,which included questions such as risk factors,symptoms,exacerbations,comorbidities and diagnostic criteria of COPD.Besides cigarette smoking,air pollution and pulmonary infections,only 22.5％ (40/178) physicians recognized that the biomass fuels may induce COPD.Totally 59.0％ (105/178) physicians recognized the importance of spirometry to the diagnosis of COPD.Besides dyspnea,cough,sputum production,wheezing and chest tightness,only 23.7％ (42/177)of physicians considered that limitation of activity was an important symptom of COPD.65.5％ (116/177)physicians believed that recurrent lung infections was one of the most important comorbidities of COPD.However,less than 30％ [20.9％ (37/177)-28.8％ (51/177)] physicians were aware of the other important comorbidities.The physicians of tertiary hospitals in northeast China need to be systematically educated on COPD to meet the new guideline.

Heteroclitin D (H.D) was successfully isolated from Kadsurae Caulis by using flash chromatography and recrystallized by methanol, 10.2 mg of H.D was obtained from 4.86 g of crude extract, and the purity determined by HPLC was 99.4%. The structure was identified by UV, IR, MS, and NMR analysis. The fast, simple and efficient method can be applied to the preparation of reference substance of H. D.

A high-speed counter-current chromatography (HSCCC) method was successfully developed for the preparative separation and purification of deoxyschizandrin from Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus in one step. The purity of deoxyschizandrin was 98.5%, and the structure was identified by MS, UV and NMR. This method was simple, fast, convenient and appropriate to prepare pure compound as reference substances for related research on Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus.

Through the deep study of the surgical relident training of our country,we discover that the self-administration mode of surgery resident team is an effective way of optimizing resident standard training. In this mode,human resources and organization are effectively set up with modern management strategy. And with the characteristic training of the mode,we have got a good training effect.

DNA barcoding and HPLC specific chromatogram were used to identify three kinds of Plumeria flowers respectively. DNAs extracted from the three Plumeria species were amplified by PCR with universal primers, and the psbA-trnH region was selected. All the amplified products were sequenced and the results were analyzed by MEGA 5.0. Chemometric methods including principal components analysis and hierarchical clustering analysis were conducted on the SAS 9.0 software to demonstrate the variability among samples. In conclusion, the psbA-trnH of all samples were successfully amplified from total DNA and sequenced. These three varieties of Plumeria can be differentiated by the psbA-trnH region and clustered into three groups respectively through building neighbor joining tree, which conformed to their germplasm origins. However, it was hard to distinguish them by HPLC specific chromatograms combined with chemometrics analysis. These indicated that DNA barcoding was a promising and reliable tool for the identification of three kinds of Plumeria flowers compared to HPLC specific chromatogram generally used. It could be treated as a powerful complementary method for traditional authentication, especially for those varieties which are difficult to be identified by conventional chromatography.