Adult ; Aortic Aneurysm, Thoracic ; complications ; diagnosis ; Hoarseness ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Male

·AIM: Impairment of choroidal perfusion was found in AMD patients. We postulated that vasoactive agents,which can reduce choroidal blood flow resistance, might prevent the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV). D-Timolol and L-Timolol are hypotensive agents used in cardiovascular and glaucoma therapy. Their effects on laser-induced experimental CNV rat model and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were thus evaluated.·METHODS: Male Brown Norway rats were anesthetized to receive Nd:YAG laser to break the Bruch's membrane. D-Timolol and L-Timolol were given once daily through intraperitoneal injection after laser treatment for 4wk. Fluorescein angiography was performed on 2wk and 4wk. HUVEC were tested by proliferation assay and adhesion assay with D-Timolol and L-Timolol at different concentrations.· RESULTS: D-Timolol reduced the fluorescein leakage to 83% of the control group in laser-induced rat's CNV model at a dosage of 15mg/(kg·d). L-Timolol had no effect on CNV formation even at a higher dosage of 20mg/(kg·d). D-Timolol inhibited the endothelial cells proliferation significantly by 300mg/L. L-Timolol also significantly inhibited the cell proliferation at 1 000mg/L. But at a lower dose such as 300mg/L, no significant inhibitory effect was found. Both drugs showed no effect on cell adhesion function in cell culture experiments.· CONCLUSION: D-Timolol was found to prevent CNV development in laser-induced model in vivo and inhibit vascular endothelial cells proliferation in vitro. L-Timolol had no effect on cell proliferation at the same dose, and neither on rat CNV model. The results indicate these two isomers have different functions on rat's CNV prevention and on HUVEC cell proliferation.

OBJECTIVE: To compare inhibition effects of arsenacetylic acid(ASAC) on experimental H22 hepatoma-bearing mice in different forms of administration. METHODS: The mice were divided into 5 groups at random after inoculated with H22 hepatoma into their right axillas hypodermic by intraperitoneal injection(ip) and intravenous injection(iv), and then injected with normal saline,cyclophosphamide and different dosage of ASAC, observe the rate of tumor strain becoming tumor, the inhibition effects of the subjects and the effects of the subjects on mice's viscera. RESULTS: Compared with ip,either high, moderate or low dosage of ASAC by iv did have an obvious inhibitory effect on tumor and the tumor inhibition rates were 46.59%, 46.31% and 32.48% respectively; however, the spleen index in groups that of lower dosage of ASAC by two forms of drug administration were increased; there were death by poisoning in the group that iv with high dosage of ASAC.CONCLUSION: Compared with ip, the administration of ASAC by iv has a better effect on tumor.

Epiretinal membrane (ERM) is a relatively common macular disease that forms along the surface of the internal limiting membrane (ILM) of the retina to some reason.The pathogenesis is not clear.Microincision vitrectomy surgery has been confirmed as a minimally invasive and very safe modality of treatment.Deciding when to perform a vitrectomy can be difficult.There are many factors which can affect the postoperative visual acuity,such as age,the thickness of macular,integrity of photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction.

Background Clinical research showed that the corneal endothelial cell density value from different corneal specula microscopies exist diversity.The relevant literature of SP02,Tomey EM-3000 and SP3000P is still seldom up to now. Objective This research was to assess the repeatability of endothelial cell density measurements by SP02,Tomey EM-3000 and SP3000P respectively and the agreement among 3 kinds of endothelial microscopes.MethodsFifty-four healthy volunteers with the age 17-38 years old were included this research.The written informed consent was obtained from each subject before examination.The corneal endothelial cell densities in the right eyes were analyzed with SP02,Tomey EM-3000 and SP3000P respectively for 3 times under the automatic mode,and the analytical procedure of SP3000P measurement were divided into automatic mode SP3000P (A) and manual correction modes SP3000P( M).The repeatability of each specula microscopy was analyzed by calculating the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and coefficient of variation ( CV ),and the 95％ confidence intervals and plotting Bland-Altman graphs were used to analyze the agreement among these methods.ResultsThe mean corneal endothelial cell densities in the population ＜24 years were significantly higher than the ones ≥ 24 years (t =3.692,P＜0.05 ),but no statistical difference was found between different gender ( t =0.335,P =0.739 ).The mean corneal endothelial cell densities were ( 3058 ± 260 ),( 2954 ± 229 ),( 2668 ± 258 ),( 2734 ± 268 ) cell/mm2 ; the ICCs were 0.957,0.940,0.972 and 0.972 and the CV were 0.063,0.061,0.056,0.058 for SP02,Tomey EM-3000,SP3000P (A) and SP3000P ( M ) respectively.The 95％ confidence intervals were ( - 100.8 - 306.8 ),( 162.6 - 617.4 ),( 109.9-494.1 ) and ( -0.6 - 132.6 ) cell/mm2 for between SP02 and Tomey EM-3000,SP3000P ( A ) and SP02,SP3000P(A) and Tomey EM-3000,SP3000P(A) and SP 3000P(M) respectively.ConclusionsSP02,Tomey EM-3000 and SP3000P(A) have good repeatability in the measurement of corneal endothelial cell density,however the outcome is different.Therefore,it is not interchangeable for the detection of corneal endothelial cell density.The differences of corneal endothelial cell density obtained from these instruments shall be paid high attention for their differences.SP3000P(A) and SP3000P(M) can be used interehangeably and SP3000P(A) is a preferable choice due to its convenience and quickness.

Objective To investigate the status of disease stigma among patients with cervical cancer and explore the influencing factors. Method Two hundred and six patients with cervical cancer participated in the study by the social impact scale (SIS) and general information questionnaire and the relevant factors were analyzed. Results The average score of SIS was (68.04 ± 17.36). The influencing factors included the following factors age, marriage, income, profession, education and disease course (P<0.05). Conclusions The stigma in patients with cervical cancer is at a higher level and the influencing factors are diverse. It is significant to relieve their stigma and better their quality of life by strengthening psychological intervention and health instruction and establishing social support system.

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is a common clinical disease that seriously threatens human health and life. Accurate location of the upper airway obstruction is the key to the diagnosis and treatment of OSAHS. Acoustic pharyngometry uses sound reflection to quickly assess the cross-sectional area and volume of the upper airway. Acoustic pharyngometry represents a simple, quick, non-invasive method for measuring upper airway dimensions which could predict sleep apnea risk. In this article we sought to introduce the application of acoustic pharyngometry in the diagnosis and treatment of OSAHS.
Acoustics ; Humans ; Larynx ; Pharynx ; diagnostic imaging ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Syndrome

In the past few decades, our understanding of platelets has made great progress. Platelets play an unexpected central role in cancer and greatly affect the behavior of cancer cells. At the same time, the physiology and phenotype of platelets are also affected by cancer cells. Therefore, platelet-based tumor targeted therapy strategies have attracted the attention of researchers, but the limitations of their application require more attention. In this paper, the strategies of platelet-based tumor targeted therapy are summarized, and the strategies of platelet mimicking nanocarrier delivery, platelet hitch riding, platelet membrane coating biomimetic and engineered platelet targeting are mainly introduced. The easy activation, hard storage and unknown functional and phenotypic changes of platelets were discussed. At the same time, the strategy of platelet-based targeted tumor therapy is reviewed from theoretical basis and practical application. The development potential of platelets in the field of tumor diagnosis and treatment is discussed, which will provide some theoretical reference for the study of platelet-related tumor diagnosis and targeted therapy.

Objective To determine whether the susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury in aged heart is higher than that in adult heart and,if so,to clarify the mechanisms underlying this change.Methods Wister rats(5-or 20-month-old)were randomly divided into 4 groups(6 animals in each group).The rats were subjected to 30 minutes of myocardial ischemia via ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery,followed by 3 hours of reperfusion(Young-MI/R group and Old-MI/R group);A silk suture around the left anterior descending coronary artery was not ligated in young and old rats(Young-sham group and Old-sham group).Myocardial apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynueleotidyl transferase biotin-d UTP nick end labeling(TUNEL)staining and caspase-3 activity was detected by using a caspase-3 colorimetrie assay.Nitrotyrosine content,a footprint of in vivo ONOO~-formation,and total NO content were determined by ELISA and chemiluminescence method respectively.Results A significantly exacerbated cardiac reperfusion injury was found in Old-MI/R group as evidenced by increased TUNEL positive myocytes[(19.0?2.1)% vs.(14.6?1.7)%],and increased myocardial caspase-3 activity[(436?35)?mool/mg vs.(340?32)?mol/mg] compared with Young-MI/R group(P＜0.05).Aged hearts had a markedly increased basal NOx level compared with young adult hearts.Marked higher myocardial nitrotyrosine content was found in OId-MI/R group[(7.25?0.18)nmol/g]than that in Young-MI/R group[(4.68?0.15)nmol/g] (P＜0.05).Conclusions In aged hearts,high levels of NO might form highly toxie derivant, ONOO~-,and its subsequent nitrified protein.This may attribute to the increased susceptibility of the aged heart to isehemic-reperfusion injury.

Objective To investigate the feasibility of a new polyclonal antibody specific to fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and its application in enrichment of circulating fetal nucleated red blood cell(NRBC) for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis. Methods A polyclonal antibody against a synthetic peptide comprising residues 69-78 of the γ-chain of HbF was prepared and conjugated to carrier protein KLH as the immunogen according to the specific antigenic determinant. The peptide-KLH solution was mixed with freund's complete or incomplete adjuvant and immunized goat to prepare specific polyclonal antibody against the γ-chain of fetal hemoglobin. After purification with protein G, maternal blood was obtained from 32 pregnant women at 22 to 39 weeks of gestation. NRBCs were separated and then stained with antibody against the γ chain of HbF. All the positive cells were collected by micromanipulator under microscopic observation, and whole genome was amplified by improved primer extension preamplification (PEP). Multiplex polymerase chain reaction amplification at nine different polymorphic short tandem repeat (STR) loci was also used to determine origin of the positive cells isolated from maternal blood. Results NRBCs stained with antibody against the γ chain of HbF were found in all of the blood from the 32 cases. Attached positive cells with anti-HbF staining have unique morphological characteristics, low nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio, brown cytoplasm and blue dense nucleus after hematoxylin counterstain under microscopic observation, which can distinguished NRBCs with other cells. A total of 183 NRBCs were found in all of 32 pregnant women at a range of 0.6～1.8 cell/ml venous blood. The accurate rate was 90.6% by the STR genotype identification. Conclusion The antibodies specific to fetal γ-chain of fetal hemoglobin with synthetic peptide technology may have wide clinical utility in identification of fetal NRBCs from maternal circulation for non-invasive prenatal genetic diagnosis.